Blade of the Lucan: A Memory of Anstractor (20 page)

“How long have you been up?” he asked. He sat up and then lifted the covers to glance down at himself.

“Maybe thirty minutes or so. This place is so humid. I felt nasty and icky the whole time we slept, so I had to get up and wash it all off.”

“You look good enough to eat,” he said.

Marian whipped her wet hair to the side and stared at him through slatted eyes. “Don’t get any ideas; I’m still upset with you,” she said.

“Good, because you need to stay in a state of rage so that you won’t hesitate when it comes to Palus. By the way, I forgot to ask, have you been home to see your parents?”

“Why would I do something as stupid as that?” she asked and shook her head.

“You have parents who love you, Marian, but I understand. I just assumed with your nostalgia and being back here, you’d try to reconnect … it was a stupid question. Don’t worry about it,” he said.

“My parents are loyalists to Palus Felitious, Raf. The second I stepped foot in that house, there’d be troopers on me from all over the place.
Thype
them. I was merely their meal ticket, and I feel no love or kinship for them despite us sharing blood. Plus, I didn’t get a chance to tell you, but I ran into another family member who called Fels on me as soon as she thought I was comfortable in her house.” She dried herself off and slipped on her 3B suit, then pulled a dress on over it and a pair of boots.

“You’re my only family, Rafian. I’m not just saying that. So keep that in mind when you’re with another woman and are about to sink what’s mine inside of her, okay?” she spat.

“Must you be so disgusting about it? Come over here,” he commanded.

She walked over and sat next to him. He touched the towel that she had on her hair, and then swung her down gently and lay her on her back.

“I didn’t mean to say it like that. I’m just agitated,” she said and closed her eyes and drew in some breath.

Rafian leaned down and kissed her, brushing his lips against hers. He ran his hand up her arm and when their palms finally touched, he deposited a small pouch filled with crystals inside her hand. Marian sat up suddenly and opened the pouch, and the glittering gems brought a light to her eyes that he hadn’t seen in years.

“You will need those in order to get him, my Phaser queen. I thought about what you said to me, and everything you said was important and true. It will not be enough to kill Palus; hell, any of us could bring a sniper from Anstractor and put him down at range. We need to make it known that Luca has protection: not from the resistance that merely annoys him, but from a mysterious place. A place where warriors reside that can vanish at will, kill at 10,000 paces, and drive a knife,”—he gestured to her blade when he said this—“into the heart of an empire.

“That message needs to come from a true daughter of Luca, not an adopted son like me. Rhee, babe, this mission is important, so don’t hesitate to jump whenever you can—we will get more crystals when we get home. No unnecessary risks, okay? I want you to jump down to Veece and cut out his heart and then jump back to me. I will have a crystal ready to receive you inside of a safe place.”

Rafian got up and went to the water basin and began to clean himself while Marian strapped on her knives. Suddenly, she walked over to him and hugged him despite his wetness, and they held each other there for a time.

“Are you going back to Anstractor now?” she asked with sadness in her voice.

He shook his head and looked off to the side. “Are you joking? I’m not leaving without my wife. What I aim to do now is to fly back to Tyhera, set things up for our departure, and then wait for you. Rhee, you do know that once you do this, we cannot easily return?”

Marian stepped back and crossed her arms and then nodded to him with a smirk. “I know, Raf. I’ve thought this through. Just keep your nano-comm open and wait for me. I will let you know once Palus Felitious is gone from this world.”

T
he one-sided jump. It was the most advanced crystal jump that a Phaser could make without the main black crystal, and Marian had only attempted it once in her career. Now she had to do it when it really counted, and there was no one to talk her through it.

Normally a Phaser used two crystals to open a portal. Two crystals with the same properties would channel one another to perform the transference. The Phaser would only need to be within the portal when it opened in order to teleport from one to the other. A one-sided jump was unnatural: it took one crystal and would tear open an exit in an area of the world that you once visited, or could visualize in your mind’s eye. Miscalculate or lose focus and you could jump into space, or into the sea where you would more than likely die.

Marian held the translucent crystal in her gloved hand and focused her mind. She called on her training to visualize Veece, and reinforced it with thoughts from her troubled childhood. She could see the dusty streets being swept by androids, and the domed rooftop, beautiful in color and simplicity. She focused as hard as she could to see it all, and after a few minutes had passed, she felt herself lighten and the portal tore open in front of her.

Thinking positive thoughts, she stepped through, and as much as she wanted to squeeze her eyes shut in anticipation of her doom, she kept them open. The world shook and became blackness all around her. A second later, she stepped out onto the paved road of the Felitian palace. There were guards everywhere and people milling about aimlessly.

“It worked,” she whispered. “Thank the makers, it worked.”

Marian was dressed in a loose-fitting dress with sandals, and her hair was up. She noticed that many of the women in the area were dressed in a similar fashion and she breathed a sigh of relief. She checked the time and saw it was still afternoon. She would have time to prepare, since Palus was expected to show up in the early evening.

Pushing past the crowd in the square, she started running towards the hotel. After the assassination, she would need to escape, and risking another one-sided jump would be beyond foolish—especially when things went bananas.

She slowed her run to a brisk walk after a time, and checked her hair to make sure it was still pinned up. A large, handsome man intercepted her stride and his shorter, pock-faced friend joined him.

“Hello, Sha’an, you seem to be in a hurry. Is there anything we can do to help you?” the short, ugly man said as he touched her lightly on the arm.

Marian bowed slightly with a tiny smile, and then inhaled to calm herself and looked them over. “Well, aren’t the two of you the Tyheran gentlemen. And here I thought that good manners were a thing of the past. I’m in need of a bath to wash my dirty feet. Those confounded androids have been doing a poor job of keeping the streets free of dust and … oh, just look at them,” she remarked and showed her sandaled foot, rocking it side by side.

“Sha’an, you should really wear boots when you travel these days; it is a hectic time. You may need to run if the resistance shows up, or step past a dead—”

“Jodji!” The tall, pale friend shouted to cut off his less handsome friend. “I’m sorry, Sha’an, my friend forgets himself around a lady. We can show you to the hotel, and help you get situated if you like!”

Marian regarded him with a large, grateful smile but beneath it she wondered when it was that they would try to rob her. It was one of the oldest cons and she had been a victim before, back when she was one of the clueless Elite of Tyhera.  They took her to the Imperator Hotel, a smaller, more luxurious place than the one Marika had stayed in, and when they entered the building, she noticed the clerk wouldn’t take his eyes off them.

“Please let me have a room near the top of the building facing the square where our Emperor will be,” Marian said to the clerk.

He smiled at her and punched in some details, then stopped to look down at her. “It will be 300 credits for the night, Sha’an. Will it be you inside of the room or should we prepare accommodations for your companions?” he said, looking them over with some frustration.

“Oh, only me, thank you, sir,” she said quickly, but she reached forward and touched his hand and then widened her eyes and tilted her head slightly. The clerk took the hint immediately and triggered the security alert. A trooper walked over with a gun in his hand and regarded them curiously before looking at the clerk.

“Valon, please escort these two gentlemen out of the lobby; I believe they’re trespassing,” the clerk said.

“Oh, no! Please don’t hurt them, they were merely trying to help!” Marian exclaimed as the trooper grabbed the men beneath their arms and walked them out of the building. She could barely hide the grin that crossed her face at thwarting their attempt to play her for the fool. She was convincing as a member of Tyhera’s elite, and they had underestimated her.

“Those two would have taken you up to your room, robbed you, and then made sure you couldn’t talk about it,” the man said.

“Well, that is both frightening and concerning,” Marian replied. “Thank you for saving my life.”

“It is my pleasure, Sha’an,” the clerk said with a smile, and she slid him the credits plus an extra 50, which he snatched up quickly with a look of appreciation across his face. As she made to leave, he held up a finger, and then reached below the desk and pulled out two towels with the hotel’s insignia embroidered on them. As she made to thank him he put a finger to his lips and winked at her to let her know that it was a gift.

Marian took the golden towels and sniffed them, and the spicy scent of Tyheran roses combined with something else on the minty side sent her head swimming in pools of nostalgia. With a smile and a flourish, she crossed the lobby and then ran up the stairs to her new room. The hotel was only five stories high, so she got there quickly. She locked the door, removed her sandals, and took a bath.

The style of the room was an exquisite throwback to a time before technology. The bath used actual water instead of cleaning mist, and there were towels all around it so that she could settle in without feeling the cold porcelain of the bowl. She balanced the hot and cold temperature to a satisfactory warmth, poured in the soap, and then lowered her body into it and closed her eyes to relax.

When she had bathed and laid on the bed for an eternity, trying to calm the nerves that came with the anticipation, Marian napped for the better part of an hour. When she woke up, she washed her face and then expanded the two packing cubes Blu had given her. The cubes produced a variety of weapons and clothing along with a holo transmitter.

She found a lime green dress with long sleeves and a low back, and she slipped it on, along with tall brown boots made for combat but still fashionable. She took her sheath from off the bed, strapped this to her upper thigh where it would be accessible, and clipped the pouch of crystals next to it.

When she was finished with her preparations, she tied up her hair and then touched her nano-comm and sat on the bed.

“Raf,” she whispered as soon as the static cleared.

She could hear the whooshing sound and then a familiar voice, deep yet soothing. “My beautiful hatch kitten,” Rafian said into her ear and she closed her eyes and smiled, trying to envision him riding away from some mischief with the Fels.

“Where are you, love? What’s your status?” she asked him.

There was a moment of silence and the whooshing stopped and then Rafian was back, his voice like someone that was running while talking. “I am … one second, babe.” There was the sound of an explosion and laser fire, then laughter and she could hear Blu the Deijen’s voice, loud and excited. Rafian then said, “Let’s just say I am with old friends, catching up.”

“Good to hear. Are you still on Tyhera, then?”

“Yeah, near Korlath city. We just destroyed a Felitian outpost, one of the important ones. Blu says that it will keep their radios silent about the events on Talula. Have you heard anything?”

“No,” Marian said, “I haven’t had a chance to call Illi since my arrival here.”

“Well Illi is a warmonger, so this shouldn’t surprise you. They moved on the settlement this very morning and are in the middle of a firefight to get the rebels out,” he said.

Marian clapped her hands suddenly with excitement. She hopped to her feet and walked to the window. Outside, there was a drone of trumpets as a parade started, and the troopers were beginning to rope people off from the large open square where Palus would speak. “Everyone is doing their part, and it’s almost time for mine,” Marian said. “Raf, once Felitious falls, it is going to be absolute anarchy everywhere. Does Blu know? Are you ready? Are the rebels prepared?”

“They will know when it happens; only you and I are in on that,” Rafian said.

“You don’t trust them, Raf?” she asked with surprise.

“Don’t worry about our friends. I will get them to safety. You just Phaser up and get through your mission. Listen. You may only get one chance at this,” Rafian said and she could hear his breathing pick up as another explosion went off. “I have to go, but call me when it’s done. Do not tell anyone what you’re about to do, no matter how trustworthy. Palus Felitious is everywhere, but we are outsiders. This is your kill to make, Marian. Drive it home. Drive that
cruta
home!”

~ * ~

The massive cruiser hovered above the square in order to allow the crowd to dissipate. It resembled a large cricket, if the cricket was without legs and its wings stayed folded at the sides.

Marian trembled visibly as the anger and anticipation grew within her. She stood amongst a cheering crowd of hundreds looking up at the ship. It was the arrival of Palus Felitious, the so-called “Galactic Ruler of Luca,” and she could not keep her anxiety in check, as it threatened to reveal her true intent.

Using her training to calm herself, Marian thought of the chaos that would consume the city once she had taken her knife and driven it into his heart. The cruel image brought a smile to her face and forced her to relax. She began cheering like the women around her, blending in as best she could, like a good citizen of Tyhera.

The cruiser settled down gently, the tiny legs of the cricket touching the ground and supporting its massive body as the procession near the palace began to play the ceremonial battle song of the Felitians. Marian smirked at how safe everyone was feeling: they had thought that the scortchet bomb would wipe out all of the rebels, but they had not counted on a Phaser like herself blinking out of the galaxy only to return to kill their king when his guard was down. She grew more enthusiastic with her cheers;
why not celebrate the revenge that was about to happen and the removal of the snake that had killed everyone she loved
?

The bridge descended from the ship and a host of Felitian guards marched out in uniformed rows, their black armor shiny and their helmets decorative with bright red tassels protruding from the top. They looked like inky androids with blood gushing from their heads. In any other situation, Marian would have marveled at how pristine and awesome they looked as they poured out of the ship to create a human hallway for their king to walk safely through.

Marian ran at them screaming, pushing the crowd out of her way as she played the part of the intoxicated fan. There were others that did the same, overcome by the joy of seeing “the galaxy’s savior” coming home from another glorious victory. The armored troopers that blocked the crowd from the ship would not let them through and while the one who stopped Marian was not violent, he nudged her back hard enough to let her know not to try it again.

Palus walked down the ramp through his guards with a strong, confident stride. His cloak flowed to the ground in its crimson glory, his golden armor shining brightly underneath. On his shoulders were decorative pauldrons that held his family crest. It was a crow attempting to swallow a sun and despite her misgivings, Marian had to admit that the armor was beautiful.

I should skin him and bring his pretty shell back home for our trophy case,
she thought as she continued to act excited, wanting him to see her amongst those thousands of people. Palus was too busy playing the part of a god to his people to notice another worshipper amongst the throng. He kept his chiseled chin high, its sharp spike of a goatee jutting out in defiance and his tanned, flawless face looking at his palace and the moon that hovered peacefully beyond it.

“You all honor your king,” he said proudly, and the crowd erupted in agreement.

Marian slipped a crystal into her palm as the guards made to build him a path through the crowd. She bent down and tossed it towards the area where she knew their march would lead. She stood up quickly, hoping no one had seen her, then dropped another one at her feet and slipped the carf knife into her palm. Marika had convinced her that the knife’s alien blade could puncture any metal, and she hoped it was true, as she only had one shot at killing him.

The guards began to march and Marian eyed the crystal, hoping it wouldn’t be stepped on or kicked. She cleared her thoughts, silenced the crowd in her mind, and concentrated.

To get this close and miss her chance would be worse than death to Marian. Would they see the crystal, would someone kick it out the way? Each stomp of that oily black procession of death only managed to be a decibel lower than the pounding of her heart. Be calm girl, let fate do it’s work, she thought to herself as she eyed the crystal intently. She could see his head bopping at the rear of his guard, and she could see that the crystal was being kicked around by their marching.