A blade in the hand, p.10
A Blade in the Hand, page 10
"But–"
"No, Tessa. You can't ask that of me. Even without the way I feel about you, I wouldn't let you walk out there, knowing Atah is on your ass."
"Let me? I can take care of myself."
"Yeah, against a threat you can see coming. I'm tagging along to help you with the stuff that comes out of the dark."
"I have excellent night vision," she said, leaning into his embrace.
"What a coincidence. So do I." He kissed her, and she put her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
Finally, she broke the kiss. "All right. But promise me this. You don't die for me. Not today, not ever."
"That was never part of the plan," he said.
They left the Oracle, heading for Gizelle's, and arrived there thirty minutes prior to the meet time. Recognizing their contact when he arrived fifteen minutes later was easy.
A brown hood covered the man's graying hair, and he walked with a limp, as advertised. He carried a half meter by half meter box in his hands, the seals intact.
"Tessa Graham and Magnus Caravaggio of Venture Transport?" The man spoke in a raspy whisper, hard to hear in the crowded tavern.
"I'm Tessa Graham, this is Captain Caravaggio. And you are?"
"Jasper Dahmer, at your service." He set the box between them, a tablet on top with the transport authorization on the screen, and stood next to the table.
"Please, join us, Mr. Dahmer." Magnus gestured to the empty bench across from them, but the man was shaking his head.
"No, thank you. I have another appointment that I just have time to make if I leave in the next few minutes. You are aware of the agreement?"
Tessa nodded. "The box is sealed, and in a CEC – a controlled environment cube. It can't be opened before delivery or the contents will be damaged, in which case we forfeit our fee."
"And it must be presented to the recipient within the next seven days against the same penalty. We’ve deposited half the credits to your account, the other half will be provided upon delivery." Dahmer glanced at the door before dragging his gaze back to the table. "Do you accept the terms?"
Unease flitted under Tessa's skin like tiny shooting stars. "And the queen knows this is coming?"
"She has agreed to receive the sample and consider our proposal, yes." Dahmer tugged on his cuffs, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"You in a hurry, Mr. Dahmer?" Magnus followed the man's gaze to the door, but there was no hint of danger.
"Another appointment, as I mentioned. Do you agree, or should I find another courier?" Dahmer's question was all sharp edges and impatience, but Magnus only nodded.
"We accept."
Tension eased out of the man's face. "Very good. If you'll sign the authorization, I'll be on my way."
Magnus used his finger to scrawl his signature on the form. Dahmer scooped the tablet from under Magnus's hand and scurried from the tavern.
"That guy makes me itch," Tessa said.
"I hear you. You think we should open it?"
She studied the container, seriously considering the option. Finally, she shook her head. "No. But we are damn sure going to make Gaia fully aware of this conversation and our reservations before we turn it over."
"Agreed. Though I am a little surprised at your concern."
She shrugged. "Being mad at her doesn't mean I want her harmed."
Gizelle appeared next to the table. "Hello there. Good to see you again. Care to introduce me to your friend?"
"Care to join us?" Tessa asked after Magnus introduced them.
"Don't mind if I do. Torrance? A round over here, please?" Gizelle called out the order to a passing server before subsiding onto the chair next to Tessa's. "Unusual to see you for the second time in as many years, Magnus, let alone a few weeks. Business or pleasure?"
"It's always a pleasure to see you, Gizelle, but this was a business meeting, and our contact picked the place."
"I see."
"Any news we'd be interested in?" Magnus asked. The question was reasonable, commonplace even, but Tessa caught the thread of tension under his casual tone.
The waiter returned and set their drinks down. Gizelle waited until he moved off before replying. "Since you asked, yes. There have been a lot of rumors flying about a certain assassin." She glanced at Tessa under her lashes. "Seems she is having more trouble than expected on her latest job."
"And that's interesting because...?" Magnus waved his beer in the air, inviting her to continue.
"Oh, you know what fragile things reputations are. And how important said reputation is in the killing game. It's almost as important as their choice of weapon."
"So, you're saying she might be getting desperate?" Tessa asked.
Gizelle's eyes widened, and she laid a well-manicured hand against her ample cleavage. "Did I say she? I'm sure I was never so indiscreet." She finished her drink and rose. "But I'm thinking our gunperson's target would do well to take extra precautions until the threat has passed, whenever that might be and however it might happen."
"Good to know. Thank you, Gizelle." Magnus took another drink, bringing the level down by half.
"Of course," Gizelle said. "What are friends for?" She drifted off, stopping here and there to speak with a customer or give instructions to a staff-member.
"Was she saying what I think she was saying?" Tessa asked.
Magnus finished his drink and hoisted the box onto his shoulder as he stood. "That Atah is getting desperate to keep her reputation intact? Yeah, I think she was."
"Desperation leads to mistakes." Tessa joined him, scanning the room as the pair left the bar. "Which often leads to capture."
"Desperation leads to greater risks, which can lead to mistakes," he agreed. "But in the hands of someone like Atah? It can just as easily pay dividends in the form of a successful kill. We need to watch ourselves."
She raised an eyebrow. "Like we weren't before?"
Chapter Fourteen
Elara, Royal Spaceport
Pulling into Elara's space dock a week later felt almost like coming home. Tessa hadn't expected that. The idea of coming face to face with Sirius still sent a shiver of revulsion through her belly, but the flare of concern she felt for Gaia whenever she looked at the CEC suggested there was more good feeling there than bad.
As she said to Magnus, "I might not trust her, but I don't hate her, and I'm not angry anymore."
"From what you've told me, Sirius isn't directly responsible for what happened on Earth. And he's her brother. Can you really blame her for protecting him?"
"He let it happen, and he lied to me. I don't think the first is forgivable. At least, not to me. As for protecting him... She had a lot of reasons for what she did. I can try to understand that, even if I can't get behind it."
The conversation had ended there, but it gave her a bit to think over. By the time the Oracle docked, Tessa had reconciled the situation enough to leave the ship with Magnus and meet Gaia, and only Gaia, in a nearby receiving area.
The room was a long oval, populated with gel-couches and low tables. The walls held a mixture of artwork and viewscreens tuned to various Simoi planets. One image depicted a water planet, the waves moving ceaselessly under star and moonlight. Tessa watched it, the shoreless oceanscape casting white arabesques in silken ripples across the planet's surface. There was a pattern there, its rhythm captured by the artist with such subtlety that the viewer was mesmerized.
"My husband, Bardan's terra." Gaia stood behind her suddenly, startling Tessa so that she almost dropped the tablet she was holding.
"Your Grace," she said, recovering. "I didn't hear you come in."
"Tessa, we gave up titles long ago," Gaia said. "I didn't travel through the doorway. I thought you might want our meeting to be more... private... than that, so I materialized here, directly from my rooms in the palace."
"Meaning Sirius doesn't know I'm here," Tessa said, guessing.
Gaia inclined her head. "Was I wrong?"
"No, it's better this way. Thank you." Tessa held out the tablet. "The package is from a Tri-Planet Intergalactic. They said you had agreed to look at their product and consider their proposal."
Gaia frowned and called out to her personal DEVA. "Stella2?"
"Your Grace received a liaison working with this group and three other interplanetary consortiums thirty-four days ago. A Ms. Bellarum?" Gaia nodded and Stella2 continued. "This company and the others are offering alternatives to certain materials the Simoi tribes can no longer obtain from the Vladdinians due to the new labor resources boycott you put into place."
"Ah yes. I recall now." The frown eased. "Has Solas been notified?"
"He has. He is meeting with the council now and will pass along your decision to them."
"Very good. He is learning to delegate." She looked at Tessa. "The council has enacted anti-slavery agreements which prohibit the Simoi of all tribes from trading in slave-produced goods."
"The Vladdinians can't have been happy about that," Magnus said.
Tessa snorted. "No, but even they aren't crazy enough to take on the Simoi clans. That's several hundred planets to one. Not good odds, even if you are a warrior culture."
Gaia gave the tablet a cursory glance and reached for the container, but Tessa stopped her.
"Before you open that, you need to know something." She described the encounter with Dahmer and ended with, "We thought you should know before you opened it. That guy was sketchy as hell, and we have no idea what's really in this thing."
"Thank you for the warning." Gaia moved the box into the center of the table. "Stella2?"
Blue light speared down from the ceiling, playing over the CEC like a miniature strobe. "There are no explosives inside, nor anything with a chemical composition that might prove a threat to you or any organic being. There is a high metal content, and a message."
"A message? From whom?" Gaia asked.
"Unknown," Stella2 responded. "It is to be delivered in auditory format rather than written. The packaging is keeping it from playing for me."
"But it isn't a threat?" Tessa asked.
"Not in any way that I can detect using this method," Stella2 replied.
Somehow, the statement didn't offer Tessa the reassurance it should have.
Gaia picked up the tablet and tapped in the access code. "Might as well see what it is, then."
The top of the CEC split down the middle, the two panels sliding back and down into the box. Steam rose from the interior, clouding their view for a moment.
When it cleared, Tessa caught her breath on a gasp. "No. That can't be."
Magnus leaned closer, but Tessa grabbed his arm and propelled him to the door. "Tessa, what the hell? Stop it!"
"Get out, Magnus, you have to–"
The scratch of metal on metal spun her in place, her hands morphing into blasters as she turned. "Gaia, get out of the way!"
"There are no nanocytes, Tessa," Stella2 said. "My scan would have detected them."
Tessa glared at the thing sitting up in its container. A bulbous head perched on a spindly body. The thin arms and legs seemed scarcely capable of movement, let alone support. "Then how is it moving?" she asked.
The robot had been looking up at the ceiling until she spoke, but her words attracted its gaze. The black eyes stared through her like those of a broken doll, blank and empty.
"Our message is for Gaia Komisi, holder of the Black Throne," it rasped. "Are you Gaia Komisi?"
"I am the Queen." Gaia stepped forward, placing herself between Tessa and the android. "Give your message."
"Gaia Komisi, you have been convicted of genocide, of critical sabotage, and of conspiracy to commit mass murder. We, the Human Defense League, have found you guilty and sentence you to death. You will be executed at our earliest opportunity."
The creature fell silent.
"What is that thing?" Magnus pressed against Tessa's hold and she reluctantly moved out of his way.
"It's a reaper," Tessa said. "HiveZ created them to help them kill humans. I thought we'd found and deactivated all of them, but apparently we missed a few."
"The reapers each had a tiny host of non-replicating nanocytes. That is how HiveZ directed them," Stella2 said. "This one has none. Which means either HiveZ withdrew them before abandoning this reaper, or someone cleansed and reprogrammed it."
"Withdrawing the nanocytes doesn't change their programming," Tessa said. "They're prime directive was to murder humans, and we have no evidence that has changed. Magnus, you need to get out of here."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "If that's true, you're just as much at risk as I am, and I'm not leaving."
"Identify yourself," Stella2 ordered the creature.
It turned its gaze upward again, seeking the speaker. "I am Reaper511. I have fulfilled my primary purpose and will now rest." Its misshapen chin settled onto the concave chest, the black eyes closing.
"How many others are out there?" Tessa whispered the question, unsure whether she really wanted the answer or not.
"I'll give this one to Sirius and see if he can access its memory data." Gaia stared at the reaper as if hypnotized.
"Are there other humans on Elara right now?" Tessa asked.
"A few. Diplomats and their entourages, mostly." Gaia studied her carefully. "You think it might be a danger to them?"
"I think it would be safer to bring Hermie in." Tessa tapped her mindlink and sent a quick message. "He can scan them as well as Sirius without exposing others to it."
"Who is Hermie?" Gaia asked.
"He's a converted reaper I captured during the battle for Solara." Finishing the transmission, Tessa turned to the others. "He's on its way. If there are any memories left, Hermie will find them."
"If he can do that," Gaia said. "It will make our job a good deal easier."
"What will you do now?" Tessa asked.
Gaia blinked rapidly. "Do? I should think that was obvious. I'll use whatever information Hermie can give us to–"
"Forgive me, Your Grace," Magnus said. "But the HDL has just declared themselves your judge, jury and executioner. And it doesn't sound like they're going to sit around waiting for you to track them down."
"He's right," Tessa said. "They've made their intentions clear, and though I think tracking them down is a smart move, you can't leave yourself exposed while that's happening."
"Excuse me, Your Grace. But the Venture just docked. Captain Demyanov says she has a delivery for you?"
"Two in one day? For me personally?"
"There is no such thing as coincidence, Gaia," Tessa said. "Have them torch it."
Grim amusement lit Gaia's eyes. "And if it is a legitimate diplomatic message? Tessa, I receive official packages and correspondence nearly every day."
"Val and Alex were needed on a different mission. That's why I took this delivery instead of them. Now they're here, with a delivery meant expressly for you," Tessa said. "That doesn't sound odd to you?"
"I trust Val. She wouldn't bring me anything that would hurt me," Gaia replied.
"Neither would I. And yet, here we are. Aren't you even a little concerned?"
"Of course," Gaia said mildly. "But the truth is, it isn't anything I haven't dealt with my entire reign. Monarchs make a lot of enemies; those who don't aren't doing their job correctly. Threats aren't all that unusual, though they seldom come via outside courier."
"All the more reason–"
Gaia raised a hand, cutting Tessa off. "Stella2? Send Val to me with the package. Have tech and bio-hazard teams standing by."
Chapter Fifteen
Elara, Palace of the Two Thrones
When Val arrived, she had Alex and the twins with her. Hermie was right behind them.
"Look who I found, Boss-Tessa!" Hermie said excitedly. "They were on their way here, so we came together." He frowned. "That is OK, yes?"
Tessa smiled at the little robot. "It is absolutely fine, Hermie."
The twins frisked over to Magnus, twining themselves around his legs to his great embarrassment. "Why are they doing that?"
"They like you." Tessa hid her amused grin as much as she could, but she didn't think Magnus was fooled.
We do. We love Magnus, the twins said.
"Why?" Magnus asked plaintively.
You smell delicious. Dora rubbed her head against his palm, and he caressed the soft fur between her ears reflexively.
"In your message, you said you had a job for me, Boss-Tessa. A reaper? I will keep you safe." The two-foot-tall silver android with his gargoyle features cut a comic figure as he planted himself in front of her. Tessa pointed to the table, and he hopped from the floor to a chair, then walked across the table to examine the inert reaper.
"It is sleeping," Hermie said.
"No, Stella2 turned it off," Tessa said.
Val blinked when she saw the container on the table, a replica of the one she carried. She gave the first container a wary look. "What is that doing here?"
“That’s the delivery we took,” Tessa replied. “What’s that?”
"We picked up this job up at our last delivery." Val set her box on the table and backed away two steps.
Stella2 sent her bright blue light spearing down, scanning it as she had the first container. "The readings are almost exactly the same," she reported. "I think we have a second reaper."
"A second... Damn it! I thought we destroyed those things," Val said.
"Except me," Hermie said. "I was converted instead."
Tessa gave him a distracted smile but didn't reply.
"If this is the same thing, then wouldn't the readings be exact?" Alex asked.
"HiveZ built the reapers from a variety of stolen and discarded tech," Gaia said. "Each one was... is... a little different in composition."
"Does this one have a message, too?" Magnus stood near Tessa, his hands close to his blasters.
"What message did the first one bring?" Val asked.
Tessa gave her a quick run-down as Gaia examined the control panel on the second delivery.
"It's similar to the first, though the sender reads as different. I would like the humans to leave the room while I open it."
