Reavers (Book 3) (26 page)

His uniform was perfect, not a wrinkle or crease.  He looked like a statue or model, one that had never actually moved or worked in his uniform.  The man saluted briefly and then returned to his perfectly proper stance.  Amazingly, the broad motion hadn’t left a single imperfection in his uniform.

“Sanderson!” Nobue called out, lacking all the warmth he had used to address Gazsi.  “You were due back three days ago.  Where have you been?”

“There were complications,” the proper man said in a detached formal voice.  “It was a personal matter.”

“You should have reported in.” Nobue said condescendingly.  “Personal or not, your duty to MI stands above all other concerns.  I never thought I’d need to remind
you
of that.”

The proper man stiffened slightly, but just as soon as the movement set in it dissipated, leaving no trace it had ever happened.

“However,” Nobue started, dragging out the syllables, “if something could delay
you
from your duty, I’d imagine it would be important.”

Suddenly, Zia giggled.  Everyone turned to find the girl blushing and holding her hands to her cheeks.

“What is it?” Frank whispered.

“He saved the woman he loves,” she said as the blush deepened.  “They . . . they . . .”

“They
what
?” Diana asked as Zia continued to trip over her tongue.

“I can imagine,” Nobue said with a disapproving grunt.  “Sanderson.  What
exactly
happened on Masuyo?”

“Is now the time for a report?” Sanderson asked calmly.  “Don’t you have
guests
to attend to?”

Nobue’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the proper man with condemnation.  Abruptly, he turned to face the four troopers.  Zia’s blush faded.

“For the time being the four of you will be . . .” Nobue started.

“What’s the name of your homeworld?” Zia asked quickly.

Nobue and Gazsi stood slack as their minds focused on the meaningless question.

“Why’d you do that?” Frank asked as he turned to face her.

Instantly, he jumped back.  There was a bright red dot between Zia’s eyes.

“Open that mouth again and I will end you,” Sanderson said in a cold voice.

In the split second that Zia had focused her attention on Nobue, Sanderson had produced a sniper rifle and taken aim.

“What is she?” the proper man asked in a calm voice as he kept his eyes locked on her through the rifle’s sight.

They stared at the man in horror.  From the look in his eyes they knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her.

“She’s a Weaver,” Diana said quickly.  “She didn’t mean any harm.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Sanderson said in an emotionless voice.  “When I heard Nobue was dragging someone in from Hellacus I naturally assumed it would be a Weaver.  I kept my emotions neutral.  Yet she somehow knew about Kindra.  She’s no Weaver.”

“Who’s Kindra?” Frank asked.

“Don’t try to confuse me, or divert my attention,” the proper man said in a warning tone.  “If she so much as opens that mouth it will be the last thing she does.  Now, I will ask again.  What is she?”

Frank turned to look at Diana and Morio.  What could they tell him?  If they lied he’d probably see through it and they’d be right back where they started.  If they told him the truth he’d never believe it.  Diana was in a panic, her gaze shifted randomly between the proper man and Zia.  There was no hope of stopping him by force.  He had produced the rifle from some hidden compartment in a single instant.  His speed and stance betrayed a great deal of skill. 

Frank wondered if someone else could ask him a pointed question, if they could distract him in Zia’s place.  The desperate look on her face denied that.  Sanderson was obviously resisting her abilities.  Nobue and Gazsi had both been disabled instantly while Sanderson had kept his wits.  Morio shrugged in defeat; he had no idea what to do.

An idea hit Frank.  Zia quickly glanced at him and silently shook her head.  He couldn’t think of anything else to do.  Sanderson’s finger tightened on the trigger as he eyed the exchange between the two.  Frank casually walked between Sanderson and Zia.  Raising his hands outward in a defensive posture, he blocked Sanderson’s shot.

“I won’t let you hurt her,” he said with all the bravery he had.

Morio and Diana stared in horror but dared not make any move that might upset the sniper.  Sanderson squinted slightly as he listened for the girl’s voice.  Zia remained as silent as stone.

“You realize,” the proper man said, “that my rifle is more than capable of penetrating cleanly through you.”

“I know.”

“Then why stand in the way?”

“Maybe I’ll slow the shot enough she can dodge it.  I don’t know.  It was all I could think of.”

To the surprise of the gathered troopers, the proper chuckled and a small smile appeared on his face.

“Tell me young man, do you love her?” Sanderson asked.  “
Whatever
she is.”

Frank couldn’t form the words.  All he could do was nod.  Amazingly, Sanderson lowered his rifle and returned it in a flash to whatever hidden compartment in his clothes hid it.  Shaking his head and chuckling to himself, the proper man walked over and placed a hand on Frank’s shoulder.

“Then that’s all I need to know.”  A genuine smile filled Sanderson’s face.  “I’m guessing I wouldn’t believe it even if you told me.  Although, I’ve probably seen more than you give me credit for.  I don’t care if she is a Shard, a mutant, or something
else
.  Brent would have my head if he found out I took down a pair of lovers because I didn’t understand what they were.”

“Who?” Frank asked.

He was instantly knocked to the floor.  It took him a second to realize Zia had hugged him with such force she had knocked the two of them over.  He could feel the moisture pressing against his back as she held him and cried.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she pleaded between tears.

Frank held her until she quieted down.  When she was done crying, Morio and Diana helped them up.

“So that’s it?” Diana asked.  “You threaten to take away her life, and then give up without a decent explanation?”

Morio quickly thrust his elbow into her side.  Sanderson burst into laughter at the display.

“Let’s just say I’ve met enough . . .
unique
individuals to know when I’m in danger and when I am not,” Sanderson said with a smile.  “I doubt this one would hurt a fly if she could help it.  Now, let’s get all of you out of here before Nobue recovers.”

Zia stared in awe as he patted her on the shoulder.

“Now you’re helping us?” Diana asked incredulously as she rubbed her side.

“I have no love for Nobue, and if whatever he was about to do scared her so. . . excuse me, but what are your names?  It seems rude to refer to all of you as she or he.”

Morio made a few quick gestures.  Diana put her face in her palm and moaned.

“He’s not going to understand you,” she whined.

“You’d be surprised, Diana,” the proper man said with a wink.

“You understood him?” Frank said in shock.

“Of course.  I admit I could never be as good at it as he is, but I can recognize advanced stealth techniques well enough to decipher the basics.  In any case, let’s get you all someplace safe.”

“Safe?  From what?” Diana demanded, obviously not trusting the sniper.  “You’re the only one who’s meant us harm so far.”

Before she could protest further, Morio grabbed her arm and drug her along as they followed after the proper man.  Their progress was made in bursts and pauses.  The way Sanderson glanced around and moved showed he was avoiding the other personnel as they went.  He was apparently very good at it, as they never even ran into the shadow of another person.

Finally reaching their destination, Sanderson entered a long elaborate code into a panel next to a door.  Security was very tight here; every door had a similar access panel and was, no doubt, coded.  As the door slid open, he gestured for the others to quickly follow him in.

Diana hesitated, but Morio easily dragged her into the room.  As soon as the door slid shut, a woman wrapped her arms around Sanderson and kissed him.  Abruptly, she realized they weren’t alone and jumped back a step.

“You’ve brought
kids
here?” she asked.  “I thought you said these were your quarters, not some kind of motel.”

“It’s alright Kindra.  They are harmless . . . mostly.  I think.”

Zia blushed deeply as she eyed Kindra.

“Now that we are
safe
,” Diana said as she wrestled her arm away from Morio, “would someone please explain to me why we are trusting this guy?”

“He wants to help us,” Zia said sheepishly as she kept her eyes on Kindra.

“Could have fooled me.”  Diana eyed Sanderson.

“If you don’t trust me,” he said as he took a seat and gestured for Kindra to relax, “why don’t you ask your friend why she . . .
worked
on Nobue?”

Everyone, including Kindra, stared at Zia expectantly.  She diverted her gaze to her shoes and idly kicked at the floor plating.

“He wanted to separate us,” she said faintly.  “He wanted to . . .
hurt
Frank.”

From the way Zia flinched when she said “hurt” it was obvious Nobue had something serious in mind for Frank.

Nobue scratched his chin.  What was it he had been doing?  Glancing around, he realized he wasn’t sitting at his desk.  In fact, he wasn’t even close to it.  He was halfway toward the door.  Had someone summoned him?  Had he summoned someone?  Maybe it was the latter.  The idea he was meeting someone felt right, but he couldn’t bring to mind who he would summon.  Most of the troopers serving Military Intelligence were out on assignment.  Plus, why would he be standing?  If he had summoned some MI trooper, wouldn’t he use his pad for that?

As he continued to scratch his chin, he realized he wasn’t alone.  Turning to face the man in his office he was struck that he knew him.  The face seemed unfamiliar, but he was
certain
he knew the man.  Like a cloud lifting off a mountaintop, the fog on his mind lifted.  Gazsi Kántor, the man’s name was Gazsi Kántor.  He was Nobue’s closest friend and confidant.  Why would he be in his office?  Hadn’t he been on assignment, too?  As Nobue scoured his mind for a hint as to what he was forgetting, Gazsi stood up straight.

“Sorry sir, I must have dozed off,” Gazsi said.

“Dozed off?”  Nobue asked as confusion finally left his mind.  “Never mind that!  What are you doing in my office?”

Gazsi stared at him blankly for a moment.  Abruptly, he started searching his pockets and produced a pad.

“I think I was delivering . . . something.  A report?” Gazsi asked as he hesitantly handed over the pad.

Nobue raised an eyebrow as he took the pad.  Reading over it, everything became clear.  This was troublesome news.  It had no doubt stunned them.  The MI team, the entirety of operation Ouroboros, had been
captured
.  The Freeport was no longer in MI hands, and the plot was a failure.  Returning to his desk, Nobue thought over contingencies.

The MI ship was supposed to have remained undetected until the fighting was nearly over.  Then with the element of surprise and a healthy payload of new prototype ordinance, the MI would launch and wipe out the surviving pirates.  It had been a perfect plan that would have kept the pirates off balance and distracted for months, if not years, to come.

Without pirate interference, MI would have been able to move ahead with countless operations unhindered.  This would complicate things.  Especially in regards to the trouble on Lintilä.  Renoff’s focus had, understandably, been on eliminating the pirates and most of Nobue’s updates about the rim world had been sidelined to one of his direct subordinates.

Isabella shared his concerns over the trouble on the rim, but she didn’t share his opinion about their leader.  However, it turned out she might have been somewhat right in her skepticism.  With this setback, things would get worse before they got better.  To think he had doubted Isabella’s insistence on a contingency plan.  Tapping on his pad, Nobue contacted the waiting fleet.

“There has been a change of conditions.”  As he spoke, the pad translated his words into an intricate code of symbols and shapes that had yet to be cracked by any outside organization.  “Contingency Beta Seven.  Move all operations forward as necessary.  Intrusion is possible.  Make preparations as previously directed.  New timetables will be sent as completed.  That is all.”

“What is it, sir?” Gazsi asked.

“Things are never simple for us, are they?”

“If things were simple, there wouldn’t be a need for MI in the first place, sir.”

“Good point.”  Nobue smiled.  “Is that everything?”

“I think so.  But I can’t shake this feeling I’m forgetting something.  Didn’t someone arrive today?”