The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight

Morgan’s eyes flashed again at that, this time with heat, and Drakon understood exactly why. It grated on him, too, that this Alliance officer, a man who by all rights should have died a hundred years ago, had not only crushed the mobile forces of the Syndicate Worlds but also smashed an enigma fleet attacking Midway Star System. The Syndicate Worlds had been in arm’s-length contact with the alien enigma race for more than a century but had learned less in that time than the Alliance had somehow figured out in a much shorter period. They had all been saved by Black Jack, but mingled with their thankfulness were very strong feelings of envy and resentment.

Black Jack must have been in survival sleep for that century, Drakon thought. He didn’t seem to have aged much if at all. Had the Alliance actually lost him after the battle at Grendel? There were unconfirmed intelligence reports that that might have been the case, that Black Jack had been in a damaged survival pod. Or had the Alliance deliberately kept their hero in cold storage for decade after decade until they decided things were desperate enough to thaw him out? That was what the Syndicate government would have done with a hero who was big enough to possibly challenge them. The Alliance government claimed to be different from the Syndicate government, but was it?

Morgan sat silent before looking back at Drakon and smiling again. “I could get to him. Like Rogero got to that Alliance battle cruiser commander. When Black Jack gets back, I’ll send him some messages. Hero-worship stuff. Adoring-female attention. He’ll bite.”

Drakon returned her gaze, seeing how she was draped across the sofa, her tight skin suit emphasizing every curve. Beautiful and dangerous, a combination that set the little monkey that all men carried in their heads to jumping up and down with excitement. And Morgan knew it. “Black Jack might already have a woman. There are some rumors.”

“Not a woman like me.” Morgan winked and stood up. “It’s worth trying, right?”

He tried to weigh the idea dispassionately, feeling a spark of jealousy at the thought of Morgan with Black Jack, and doing his best to bury that feeling. Leverage over Black Jack. Inside information on what he intended. It was impossible to overstate how valuable those things could be. “Maybe. Did you discover anything else?”

“Nope. If there are any more snake sleepers out there, none of them are in command positions in the ground forces,” Morgan declared confidently.

That was good news. If anyone could have found those sleepers, it would have been Morgan.

* * *

SUB-CEO Akiri never knew what killed him.

The assassin who entered his room through bypassed alarms and locks stabbed a nerve paralyzer into Akiri’s neck, waited a moment to confirm that Akiri was dead, then headed for the next target.

Mehmet Togo, blessed with keener instincts or perhaps the protection of guardian ancestors that he had secretly continued to revere despite official Syndicate discouragement of such “superstition,” awoke as the assassin entered his bedroom. Grabbing his weapon, rolling off the bed, and firing as he dropped to the floor, Togo watched dispassionately as the killer fell backward and lay unmoving. In his haste, he had aimed a killing shot rather than an incapacitating one, an inexcusable failure which meant the assassin would be answering no questions.

* * *

SUB-CEO Marphissa’s life was saved by an unauthorized secondary hatch alarm that she had rigged up and bribed the cruiser’s electrical officer to ignore. The silent alarm woke her in time for Marphissa to seize the hand weapon that every prudent Syndicate CEO, sub-CEO, and executive kept near at hand in the event that someone else sought improved promotion opportunities. As the assassin finished bypassing the regular alarm and entered her stateroom Marphissa put a shot into his chest, then, despite strict regulations to capture intruders so they could be subjected to exhaustive interrogation, slammed three more shots into him as he hit the far bulkhead.

Regulations be damned; she had no intention of letting the killer get back up again.

* * *

SUB-CEO Marphissa’s call came in as Iceni was receiving Togo’s report. “I have alerted all mobile forces, but it appears that there was only one assassin,” Marphissa said. “No others have been detected, and no one was killed, so I was either the first target or the only target. I do not think this was a . . . routine . . . assassination attempt.”

“I agree,” said Iceni. “We also had an assassin strike down here. Sub-CEO Akiri was not as fortunate as you. He and the assassin are both dead.”

“Someone struck at both me and Sub-CEO Akiri?”

“That’s correct. In the same night.” Iceni looked at Togo. “Have my bodyguards found anyone else inside the complex?”