Reavers (Book 3) (48 page)

Tardos didn’t say a word as he guided the others into another bar.  This one had to be the correct place.  The bouncers were sporting rifles that didn’t belong anywhere but on the battlefield.  They had spent the last several days attempting to track down the right bar, and the locals weren’t helping.  Turned out, the Silver Dragon was a popular name for bars on Aoede - they had been to at least twenty. 

Apparently, Tardos was even less popular than he had suggested.  Every eye was firmly locked on the newcomers, and every hand was resting on a concealed weapon or two.  Revel, Kevin and Andreas quickly closed around Rosalyn as they prepared for a fight.  Tardos quickly moved through the tough looking crowd.  The quartet kept advancing at a slower pace.  The patrons of the bar split their gazes between the two groups, obviously holding no warmth for either the short man or his guests.

Tardos whispered to one of the bouncers at the far end of the room - the man practically had to get on his knees to lower himself to Tardos’ height.  Rosalyn was suddenly worried she hadn’t made a wise choice in choosing only the five of them.  Just one of the bouncers could hold off an invading force single handedly while his secret employers fled.  Rosalyn estimated it would take several divisions of well-trained troopers to take down this place.  Finally, the bouncer nodded and opened a side door.  Tardos gestured for the others to follow as he quickly ducked out of sight.

“Moves quick doesn’t he?” Andreas asked as he kept his defensive position around Rosalyn.

“If you were on the bad side of these . . . gentlemen, I’d figure you’d move quickly yourself,” Kevin said as he eyed the closest bouncer.

As soon as the four cleared the side door, it slid shut, and a strange sensation filled the bottom of their stomachs.

“Relax,” Tardos said in the rapid pace he used when under stress.  “We’re in an elevator.  We’ve gotten past the biggest obstacle.  I thought for a minute there we were going to have a firefight on our hands.”

“Where are we going?” Andreas asked.

“Several levels below the surface,” he said reassuringly.  “Deep enough that the most advanced sensor nets wouldn’t be able to pick us up.”

“Looks like the Cir . . .
they
have a thing for security,” Rosalyn said as she uneasily eyed the small room.

“Well, they do have a lot of responsibility and power resting on their shoulders.  Remember, assassination is the preferred method of career advancement around here.  They have to worry about their own as much as they do about MI or the government.”

“Do they have problems with . . .” Revel started to ask.

“Traitors,” a grim voice interrupted.

The right wall to the small room had silently slid open and a rotund man stood waiting for them.

“Mr. Green!”  Tardos said excitedly.  “It’s been . . .”

“Save the pleasantries for later,” the rotund man said as he raised a hand.  “What are you doing here?”

“We have the most important of information to relay.  We must make . . .”

“That doesn’t explain why
you
are here.  Your captain could have delivered the information without you.”

“Right,” Kevin said with disgust written all over his face.  “And how exactly would she have found her way here?  Maybe if we asked the local tourism board where she could find
the
Circle
,” he shouted the recently forbidden name loudly, causing it to echo up the elevator slightly.  “Or perhaps we should have gone straight to the Protectorates stationed here.  Tell them our captain needed directions.  I’m sure they would have bent over backwards to help track
you
down.”

The rotund man stiffened in annoyance but didn’t argue further.

“In any case,
they
are waiting for you,” the rotund man said finally and hesitantly gestured down a hallway.

Making a point to violently push the man aside, Andreas led the party down the hallway.  The walls were carved out of the ground itself.  Ancient looking support struts held the dark brown soil at bay.  This place had been around for a great long while.  Even historical 3Ps didn’t contain such arcane constructions.  At the end of the hallway was the familiar look of sturdy metal.  Andreas increased his pace. 

Rosalyn couldn’t help but wonder if he doubted the safety of the walls.  The large hulking metal doors opened for them in slow motion.  It was impossible to say if it was for dramatic effect or if the doors were just as old as the rest of the place.  Andreas let out a sigh of relief once he cleared the slow moving doors and was once again back in a solid room of modern construction.

The room was large and mostly featureless.  A raised semi-circle lined the far edge of the room, and a small raised platform stood in the center.  Besides the two bumps in the floor, the room was bare, and the grayish walls gave no personality to the expanse.  Abruptly, the ceiling over the semicircle opened and several chairs lowered down into what were apparently alcoves.  In each of the chairs was a figure robed in a gold fabric that masked any details, included gender, from them.  Each wore a gold mask that concealed their identities.  The masks were perfectly reflective and mirrored the faces of Rosalyn and her crew.

“Have a thing for entrances, don’t they?” Kevin asked mockingly.

“You dare show your face before us?” what sounded like the heavily distorted voice of a man rang out in the chamber.

It was impossible to know which of the robed, masked figures had actually done the speaking.  While annoying, that was undoubtedly the purpose to the ridiculous outfits.

“You know I wouldn’t come here if it weren’t terrifyingly important,” Tardos said in his defense as he bit his lower lip.

“You know, Captain, I’m not sure they
deserve
the information,” Kevin said as he locked disgusted eyes on the members of the Circle.  “We risk our necks to get here, and they have gone out of their way to make us feel downright unwelcome every step of the way.”

Tardos stared at Kevin in horror as Rosalyn chuckled loudly and leaned over to Revel.

“I am
so
glad you brought him along,” she said with a grin.  “He has a point, you know,” she called out to those wearing masks.  “Not that I don’t love the mirror look.  You all remind me of my ship.  In fact, would crystal ball number three turn toward me a bit more; your current angle is a bit . . . unflattering.”

“You would show
us
such impertinence?” one of the female members asked in an equally distorted voice.  It was somewhat difficult to be sure which was the speaker.  The mirror masks concealed lip movement, and the voices sounded eerily similar.  The only thing that gave her away was she moved when she had spoken, even if only slightly.

“I’d show
impertinence
to anyone pompous enough to use the word,” Rosalyn scoffed, “or anyone who would intentionally go through all this nonsense when they have an idea what’s at stake.  Unless the Circle is terribly behind the times, I’m sure you already know about the Freeport incident.”

“You dare talk to us like . . .” the woman’s distorted voice started to shout.

“We have lost a lot of good people lately,” one of the masked figures said as he put a hand on the shouting woman’s shoulder.  “Do you claim to know more about why?”

“Not the why so much as the who,” Rosalyn said proudly.  “Military Intelligence was behind the whole thing.”

The Circle started murmuring among itself as they whispered in silent debate.

“Do you have proof?” one of the mirror-masked men asked.

“We have our sensor logs,” Andreas said, “along with one of their captured missiles ready to hand over to you.  I trust you’ll find they answer most of your questions.”

“Military Intelligence has never been this bold before.  Why would they act like this now?”

“I told you that I don’t know why,” Rosalyn said in annoyance.  “Maybe they wanted to show us they
could
.  Or perhaps something is bugging them and they wanted us out of the way.  Or maybe we have gone overboard raiding the Commonwealth dry and they are sick of it.  Perhaps they just heard you don’t like
impertinence
and wanted to irritate you.”

“Then why bring this information before us?” a second, calmer sounding woman asked - as least she seemed calm despite the heavy distortion.

“Because there is more.”  Rosalyn sighed.  “Have you received word about the CI super freighter?”

The Circle members glanced at one another, uncertain what she was talking about.

“One of my senior captains has failed to report in,” one of the masked men said hesitantly.  “It’s been too long for it to be natural, and the last transmission I received listed a CI super freighter as a possible target.”

“I’m sorry to say your captain is probably dead,” Tardos said.

“How can you know this?”

“We attacked the same super freighter, along with half a dozen other guilds,” Andreas said.  “Information was leaked that it contained a shipment of Eidolonium.”

The Circle members shifted uneasily.  They knew the material and what it would mean to a pirate captain.

“Another MI ambush?” a mirror masked woman asked.

“Your guess is as good as ours,” Rosalyn said, shrugging.  “We were attacked by some
thing
.  Looked like a giant white metal cauliflower if you ask me.  You can have our readings on the thing, but I doubt you’ll believe them.  Whatever it was defied all logic and reason.”

“This is indeed troubling.  We thank you for bringing this . . .”

Abruptly, the lighting in the room went out.  Minimal light escaped through newly opening sections of what had been the walls.  Apparently the room was filled with secret entrances and exits.  Before anyone could react, the lights came back at full strength.  Rosalyn and her party were completely surrounded by dozens of heavily armed guards.

“What’s the meaning of this?” one of the Circle bellowed as he stood.  “We did not summon guards!”

Not one of the armed women and men dared to answer.  Their focus was bound to their rifles and their prey.

“I apologize for the intrusion,” a woman said in a soothing voice as she entered the room from one of the countless formerly secret doorways, “but I thought it was time.”

Unlike the armed guards, the woman was dressed in a silky, black formal evening gown.  It showed off the pleasant aspects of her figure without revealing too much.  She seemed to glide along the floor more than walk.

“You planned to betray us?” Rosalyn shouted at the Circle.

“Explain yourself, Weaver,” a mirrored man shouted at the woman in black.

“There is a traitor among your guests,” the woman said in an oddly sweet tone.

“Tardos wouldn’t hurt a fly!” Andreas said fiercely.  “He’s no threat to anyone.”

“The midget?” the woman asked in surprise.  “Oh, no.  I’m speaking about the wolf in sheep’s clothing.  One of you is an elite trooper.  An infiltrator who
despises
pirates - I could feel his disgust the moment you entered the Silver Dragon.”

After a few quickly exchanged glances, Rosalyn and other others turned to face Kevin.

“Say it isn’t so,” Tardos pleaded.

“Guess the cat is out of the bag,” Kevin said calmly.  “For what it’s worth, I did grow to like you all.  No hard feelings?”

Andreas’ eyes bulged at the nonchalant way Kevin was handling things.  The countless guards tightened their grip on their rifles.

“
No hard feelings
?” Revel seethed.  “I trusted you!”

“If it makes you feel better, I never intended to mislead any of you,” Kevin said.

“What do you mean?”  Rosalyn asked as she slowly backed away.

“My goal is, and always has been, to get to this point.  To obtain an audience with the mighty and powerful Circle.”

“A shame it had to end this way,” the Weaver said with what sounded like true remorse.  “I can tell you are an interesting one; too bad you have to die.”

  In a flash, Kevin knocked the footing out from under Rosalyn, Andreas, Tardos and Revel with a single fluid motion.  Without warning, the guards opened fire on the visitors.  The four fell to the floor, just missing the bolts of death.  The stunned guards didn’t have time to react before Kevin was upon them.

In the blink of an eye, an entire row of armed guards hit the floor.  Retrieving a rifle from a fallen guard, Kevin opened fire on the remaining guards as he darted between them.  His shots were quick and precise.  The guards fired randomly in his direction but couldn’t track his agile movements.  Finally, Kevin came to a stop just a few steps away from the mirror-masked Circle and callously dropped the rifle he had been carrying.

The nearest guards smirked and lined up the still target.  Pulling their triggers produced no results.  Glancing about them, the guards realized Kevin had already blasted each and every rifle.  He had disarmed and disabled a room full of aggressors without killing a single one of them.  Once they realized the totality of their defeat, the guards dropped their rifles and fled the room.  He had spared them - by choice.