Black Guard, The (12 page)

The first meeting of the princes was scheduled for three days hence.
The next day, I stood in the dining room with Corporals Ganz and Nadel, and
Private Toch while the Prince, Sophia, and Jovana ate breakfast. Towards the
end of the meal, Badal turned towards me.

"Don’t you ever sit?"

"Not normally, sir. Standing keeps
us alert."

"But you have guards at the
entrance, so you will have plenty of notice if there is trouble."

"That’s a logical assumption, but
I’d rather not wager your lives on the assumption that out of a hundred
attempts on your lives, one hundred times I will get warned in time to be
ready. My detail, our contract, and I would be dead today if the rebels at Lanzhou
hadn’t made logical assumptions about their opposition."

"I see your point and would rather
you didn’t wager my families’ lives on assumptions."

"Sir, you have a Prince Atilio to
see you," I said, reading the message on my Mfi.

"Have him escorted to the
reception room," Badal said, and I relayed the message to Sergeant Preis,
who was on duty at the entrance. He would let the army guard know to escort
him, since he couldn’t leave his post until relieved. Several minutes later,
Badal left the table, and I accompanied him with private Toch following. I
entered first, nodding for Toch to stay outside and guard the door.

"Good to see you old friend,"
Badal said as he entered and shook the man’s hand, who was more interested in
me. Atilio was at least twenty years Badal’s senior, a stocky, overweight man
with grey-streaked hair and a sagging face.

"It’s hard to keep up with the
rumors about you, Badal. It appears most of them are true except for the one
about you being ambushed and killed." He laughed and padded him on the
shoulder. "I’m glad you’re taking precautions. The threat is real, and you’re
in great danger, my friend."

"Wine, Atilio?" Badal asked,
waving towards a long table with a variety of bottles and glasses. At Atilio’s
nod, he selected a red wine, poured two glasses full, and handed one to him.

"The rumor said you hired the
Black Guard, and they had women… But I don’t think any of us thought they were
guards," he said, looking in my direction.

"Captain Sapir, this is Prince
Atilio. Captain Sapir is in charge of the Black Guard detail."

"That will not go down well with
Princes Fermin or Hadarek," Atilio said, still staring at me. Badal gave a
short laugh.

"It should be interesting. Captain
Sapir was in charge at Lanzhou."

Atilio jerked his gaze back to Badal,
then he laughed. "You’re right. It should be interesting—Azarias
meets the Black Guard."

They spent the rest of the day
discussing the new laws and changes to old ones that would be introduced at the
meeting. Every now and then, Atilio glanced in my direction and gave a short
laugh.

* * *

I had just finished a breakfast of
sausage, potatoes, and bread when my Mfi beeped once. Private Krebs’s name
flashed in the upper left hand corner of the screen and Lieutenant Ceder’s on
the right, indicating the message was for Ceder and informational for me.

"Unknown servant wanting entry.
Contacted Gilda." Scrolled across the screen.

It was early and no one was up yet, so
I decided to venture out to see Jarde’s security. As I entered the hallway,
Gilda, the senior housekeeper, was heading for the entrance. She nodded to me.
When we reached the entrance, Ceder, Krebs, and a small thin woman stood
waiting.

"Do you know this woman,
Gilda?" Ceder asked. "She claims she is a replacement for one of your
staff."

"No, but Luisa called last night
and said she was sick. I called the agency we use, and they said they would
send someone this morning," Gilda said.

"Private Krebs has scanned her,
Captain. No metal," Ceder said. "Krebs, scan her eyes and register
her."

"Name?" Krebs asked.

"Savina," the woman said,
smiling at him. He took a retina scan, entered her name, and waved for her to
enter. I held up my hand.

"What position does your sick maid
provide?"

"Kitchen staff. Food preparation
and serving. Why?"

"You and Savina come with me.
Lieutenant Ceder, you too." I turned and walked down to the reception room
and waved everyone in. "Strip, Savina."

"Why?" both Savina and Gilda
said. Ceder frowned.

"I’ve been scanned," Savina
said.

"Because I said to." I didn’t
know her and neither did Gilda, and there is more than one way to kill a
person. Savina’s face turned stubborn looking, and she put her hands on her
hips.

"I’m leaving. I won’t be treated
like this. You can find someone else," she said, looking a Gilda.

"You may leave, Savina, but after
you strip. You have a choice about leaving but not about stripping."

"You have no authority. I have
rights!" she said loudly, her eyes darting around the room.

"Now, or Lieutenant Ceder is going
to tranquilize you. Personally, I’d strip if I were you. The drug produces a
nasty headache," I said, having experienced it as part of my training. It
provided me a real life example of what a person felt and was capable of while
recovering. It had taken me a full ten minutes before my body could function normally
and gave me a headache that lasted for over an hour. After seeing Ceder draw
his weapon, she slowly began removing her clothing and handed each garment to
Ceder, who inspected each article. When she was totally naked, I walked around
her inspecting her body. On the back of her right thigh was a bandage with a
slight, round impression in the middle. I reached down and pulled it away.

"Ouch!" she shouted and made
a grab for it.

"Savina, if I dissolve this pill
in water and make you drink it—"

"No… please." Her voice rose
several octaves, and her face flushed.

"Who was this meant for? Honesty
will get you mercy. Lies will get you much suffering."

"Prince Badal," she sobbed.
"I had no choice—" she began, but I interrupted with a raised
hand.

"You may get dressed,
Savina," I said as I clicked on Jarde’s call number.

"Captain Sapir, how can I help
you?" he asked.

"I have a woman in Prince Badal’s
reception room who I’d like you to take into custody. She’s part of a plot to
poison the Prince."

"I’ll be right over." He cut
the connection and was entering the room before Savina finished dressing. I
handed him the bandage and pill.

"How?" he said, looking from
the pill to Gilda, who stood with tears in her eyes staring at the woman.

"I thought the Captain evil,
depraved, when he insisted my replacement cook strip," Gilda said, looking
at me. "I’m sorry. You were right, and it’s saved the Prince’s life."

"You had her stripped?" Jarde
asked, sounding amused.

"The stakes are high," I
said. "Which means we can expect the Prince’s opponents to use
extraordinary methods to achieve their goal, and the Guard to be unreasonably
cautious."

"Your reputation is well deserved.
Princess Sophia chose well."

* * *

The story traveled quickly, and I heard
a variety of rumors over the next two days. They varied depending on the
speaker’s alliance. The prince’s supporters claimed the woman captain of the
Guard had psychic abilities; his detractors claimed the woman captain was a
debauched individual and had abused an innocent woman for her amusement. It
made me more paranoid as the opposition would now be more careful in the
future. I decided to spread my new paranoia around and called a meeting of my
team leaders.

When they had all arrived, Zinn smiled.
"Lieutenant Ceder, many of us are shocked to learn we are being led by a
depraved woman."

"Yes, Commander Wexler will undoubtedly
have her whipped and relieved of command when we get back. But for now we must
endure her leadership. It’s our tradition and duty," he said, trying his
best to look serious, but he had to laugh when everyone started clapping.
I
love these people—my family.

"And until that time…" I
smiled. "…I want each of you to think evil. Consider what you would do to get
past the Guard. We must assume our enemy isn’t stupid and will be more
cautious, devious, and determined in their future efforts. They haven’t given
up."

"I think the best policy is to
tell your team if they have any doubts to call you," Ceder said, looking
to me. "And if you have any doubts call Captain Sapir or me."

I nodded. "Collectively, we are
stronger than individually. So when there is any doubt, the more people
considering the issue the better."

* * *

The morning of the meeting of the
princes, Badal requested I attend the family breakfast. When everyone had been
seated, he began.

"Captain Sapir, today is the
general meeting of the princes, and I wanted my family to hear your concerns
and any change in procedure you anticipate. By the way, the princes are not
allowed to have guards in the room during the meeting. Anyone entering the room
must be unarmed. The Molova military will be guarding the room and enforce that
edict."

"Are you allowed an unarmed
advisor in the room?" I asked. I didn’t like the idea of Badal being out
of our sight. An assassin’s odds were always good if he didn’t care about being
killed or captured. And zealots certainly didn’t care.

"There are seats against the wall
behind each prince, for runners, servants, and sometimes advisors. But a Black
Guard… They will never allow it."

"You can point out you’ve had two
attempts on your life since leaving home and should be entitled to have an
unarmed observer present who can call for help if necessary. And how can an
unarmed woman be a threat to anyone?"

Sophia choked on the juice she was
sipping. "They might have less to fear from a wild forest cat roaming the
meeting… But their natural prejudices may delude them into agreeing."

"Actually, each state is allowed
up to three unarmed persons available for his needs. There is no stipulation as
to their function. The military are armed and there to ensure there is no
trouble," Badal said, and began eating. There was little conversation for
the rest of the meal. Sophia did send a few amused glances in my direction.

* * *

Badal stood and inspected his red
jacket and white pants before turning towards me. "Here, you will need
this." He handed me a silver earpiece. "Yours will allow us to
communicate and for you to hear any conversations on the open and my personal
channel." I took the piece and placed it in my ear. A small microphone
extended out several centimeters along my cheek. "Well, Captain Sapir, are
you ready for your debut?"

"Yes, sir," I said, removing
my laser and Mfw from their holders and handing them to Sergeant Zinn.

"What about the whip?" he
asked.

"If anyone asks, it’s a symbol of
my rank in the guard and would be harmless against guns."

"Is it?"

"Yes and yes at ten meters."
I smiled. He nodded with a snort and headed for the exit with me and Sergeant
Solow following.

"Sergeant Solow, I want the prince’s
team on alert during the meeting. I’ve already discussed the issue with Colonel
Jarde, who will also have a team on alert."

"Yes, sir."

"Sir?" Badal asked, turning
his head to look at me.

"We have men and women in the
Guard, but not on duty. Then we are just Guards," I said while following
Badal down the hallway with two male servants carrying containers. We exited
his wing into the foyer and then went through the door leading into the
conference area—a one thousand two hundred meter square area created by
the seven attached buildings. A seven-sided, stainless steel table sat in the
middle of the room. Six of the positions were inscribed with the princes’ coats-of-arms
while the seventh had the Molova seal. Each seating position lined up with the
prince’s door leading to his specific wing. Three padded chairs sat against the
wall behind each position. Badal walked to the table, exchanged greetings with
the three other princes already seated, and sat. I followed the two servants to
the right and took the chair closest to the door. After we entered, a Molova
guard closed the door behind us, pulled down a bar locking the door, and then
took up a position in front of it. He was armed with a multi-functional rifle
capable of firing shards, bullets, and a laser beam.

Several minutes later, two additional
princes entered and the doors behind them were locked. As soon as the last door
was locked, a tall man dressed in white entered and stood behind the position
with the Molova seal.

"Welcome, princes of Molova. As
president of Molova, I officially open the 236th Council of Princes. Before we
address the issues on the official agenda, are there any procedural
matters?" Although he was a good thirty meters away and spoke softly, his
voice was clear in my earpiece. A red light flashed in front of one of the two
princes who had entered last. "The Chair recognizes Prince Femin."