by MM Glenn
Copyright © 2019 by T.C. and M. M. Glenn
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2019
MMGLENN.Wordpress.com
Burying the Past
As soon as Zerrick Ahn opened the door, he was dead. He just didn’t know it yet. “I take it you are my company this evening?”
“Indeed, Shadi,” she introduced, sliding her jacket off her shoulders. His gaze spoke to his approval, dark eyes tracing her voluptuous curves. The leather dress she wore clung to her figure, which had the intended effect upon the client: to get him to drop his guard.
“A pleasure to meet you, Shadi,” he replied with a lascivious smile. With his mousy features and beady eyes, his expression was more creepy than alluring, but that was probably why he had to pay for women like her. “Can I get you something? A drink, or maybe something stronger? I have some Merakuya honey, or Giggledust, or Inertia.”
The mention of Inertia ignited a thrill of craving in her. With a flirty smile, she hid the hunger, “Oh, no thank you, Mr. Ahn. I never indulge before my task is complete.” He nodded absently, and his grey eyes darkened in distant recognition of the phrase. Shaking his head, he chuckled.
“Well now, far be it from me to distract you from ‘completing your task.'” He led her through the penthouse suite, the massive windows offering a glorious view of the city below. Slick black furniture was stark against light-up white wall panels and tile, and hardly looked lived in at all. The bedroom wasn’t much different, dominated by the king-sized bed at the center, with matching black furniture and fixtures. She entered before him, and the lock clicked behind them.
One of his hands brushed her long blonde hair aside, and he brushed his lips against her neck. “Did they tell you what I was looking for? Before they sent you?”
“Of course, sir. I understand you require a firm touch.” She unzipped her dress and let it fall away, puddling on the floor around her feet. Clad solely in tiny black panties, Zerrick’s appreciation was evident, pressed into the curve of her ass.
“Very nice,” he breathed, clammy hands caressing her skin. He palmed a breast, not quite capturing it in a single hand. His fingers left red marks on her fair skin as they dug in, and she responded with faked moans and sighs. “Let’s get started right away.”
He undressed, his lanky figure even skinnier without clothes. Feigned interest and excitement hid her disgust, but it would all be over soon. She crawled over him, into position, with hands pressed into his shoulder. Interring him between her thighs, she wrapped her hands around his neck, and began to squeeze. “Is this good, sir?”
“A little harder… please,” he demanded in between gasps, pushing his hips up into her. After a few moments of strained sighs and moans from her client, she spoke up again.
“Want to see something incredible?” she asked, flashing him the first real smile of the evening. She didn’t wait for an answer, just wiggled her fingers before his face “Look, no hands!” She giggled darkly, as an invisible force continued to strangle him. His eyes widened in terror and realization.
“And now I can do this.” She pulled the blonde wig off of her head, and a wild tangle of red curls spilled over her shoulders.
“Scarlet!” he managed to gasp out. The name drew hot hatred from her, which she channeled into choking him harder.
“That’s not my name! That’s the name you gave me when you turned me into your drug addled assassin,” she spat. No longer the light, playful voice of a high-end escort. Her voice was dark, like deep space. “My name is Kaydia Voss.”
“Tell me, Zerrick, how does it feel, dying at the hands of the assassin you created? Is the hubris more painful than your lungs bursting?” she purred, and the invisible grip tightened over his windpipe. He didn’t answer, couldn’t answer, not with his trachea constricted and crushed and his eyes bulged out of his head.
Kaydia got up and dressed without a word, replacing her blonde wig. Bottles and vials littered the bedside table, including an achingly familiar cloudy-white one.
You have completed your task, Scarlet. You have earned your reward.
The dead man had said it, though not right now. Not this time, just dozens of times before now. Her mouth salivated, almost on cue. She picked up the vial, swirling the liquid. Even three years since she kicked her Inertia addiction, she craved it. One little taste, to celebrate her revenge. Hands shaking, she swallowed down the need, dropping the bottle on the floor and smashing it beneath her heeled boot.
She walked out to her speeder, and sat in the cockpit for a moment, breathing deep, until the hatred and rage passed through her. She hit a button on the communications device and waited for the click that assured her it was ready.
“It’s done.”
“Very good, Scarlet.” The name made her flinch, lips tightened into a frown. “We are ready to move into phase two. Your contact will be waiting for you at the rendezvous in twenty minutes.”
“I’ll be there,” Kaydia hailed, pulling her speeder into gear.
The Meet
"Sure you don't wanna join in?" Meryik asked, shuffling. "Cards are hot tonight..."
"Naw," Sharn laughed, and then coughed until phlegm came up. "You so don't want old Quinn there in the game. He's a wizard, he is."
Quinn Hale laughed as well. He was a man who seemed to have been designed to blend into a crowd. Handsome, but not distinctively so, with hair too dark to be called blonde and too light to be called brown, and eyes that were either blue or green depending on the light. He wore a khaki jumpsuit, well- laundered but still marked with faded oil stains, and scarred black boots, and an equipment belt with a blaster and a utility knife. "Hardly a wizard," he chuckled.
"God-damned luckiest merc I've ever met," Sharn replied, waving at the silver cuff on his wrist. "And there's that thing..."
"What, my plasma blade?" Quinn rolled his eyes. "Yeah, 'cause I'm clearly a Justiciar, slumming it on Miruta with my IdasTek L322 'Cutmaster' here." He patted the weapon. "Just like I was a Justiciar last night, over at the Velvet Spire, and..."
"Why do you pack a plasma blade?" Meriyk asked, dealing the cards. "It's a bit... eccentric, after all."
Quinn shrugged. "I'm good with a blade, ain't I? And it cuts through damn near everything." He smiled thinly. "And I never cared much for a fair fight." Just then, his wrist beeped, and he checked the display. "And I gotta go, boys. Have a drink on me." He tossed a fistful of credit chips on the table as he rose.
"Business?"Meriyk asked, idly curious.
"Depends on how you define it," Quinn laughed, tossing down the last of his drink. "Remember that blonde from last night?"
Meriyk frowned, then nodded hesitantly. "Shade. No, Shadi. The gymnast with the rack?" He grinned as the memory returned. "Business then? Or pleasure?"
"Bit of both," Quinn laughed, heading for the door. "Bit of both."
In truth, it was very much going to be business. He was playing driver and bodyguard for 'Shadi' –Scarlet, if you wanted to be professional– both for a fat stack of credits and an introduction to the Digital Sun, because freelancing was a dead-end career path for a merc. He didn't know what she was doing. He hadn't asked, although he had an idea –he knew Scarlet by reputation, after all. All he was worried about was meeting her at the rendezvous in ten minutes.
Whistling a
merry little tune, he climbed into the seat of his speeder and kicked it into gear.
***
Kaydia wore deceit like a second skin. Deceit took the form of Shadi, the blonde escort, for a bit longer, as she made her way to the Velvet Spire, to meet her contact. The Velvet Spire was a high-end brothel in the Capital City of Miruta, one of the holdings of the Digital Sun, a legitimate business front for the syndicate. It was used for various cartel business, such as, in this instance, a place for Shadi to conduct her affairs. Management knew the deal, knew better than to ask questions, and provided the cartel's assassin with a cover for her escort persona. She was free to come and go as she pleased.
As much as she wanted to wreak chaos upon the cartel, she had to go slow. Make smart moves. Which meant she needed allies. The first was her in, Linora Sunfell. A former Justiciar like herself, one who had infiltrated deep into the Digital Sun. She’d been feeding Kaydia tips, directing her hits.
The other was Quinn Hale, a for-hire merc who was smart enough not to ask many questions, so long as he got paid. She watched him walk into the bar, with a confident gait, a tune on his lips and a plasma blade armlet. The silver glinted under the low light of the club, and she stiffened, just a little. Why did a merc carry a Justiciar weapon? Was he undercover, here to finally hunt her down for abandoning the Order of the Unseen? Or was it just a prize off a recent kill, a warning against any who might try to start some trouble with him?
You have a Justiciar among your kills, don't you Scarlet?
She drank down the voice, the last vestiges of a conscious beaten down by years of contract killing and drug use. His eyes met hers, as he made his way to her. "Right on time, Mr. Hale. Shall we adjourn to my room, or are you buying me a drink first?"
***
Security at the Velvet Spire didn't hassle him too much, this time. After all, he'd been here yesterday and hadn't torn the place up. So they welcomed him by name and reminded him that this was a peaceful establishment, while looking pointedly at his weapons. And he assured them that he was just there for a good time and that he only started trouble if he was getting paid to start it, and then offered to check his weapons as a sign of his good faith. They let him keep them.
The downstairs three levels of the Spire could have easily passed for a high-end nightclub, because that's exactly what they were. Subdued lighting, tastefully expensive decor, and a layout that mixed dance floors and dining areas and private little alcoves for conversation. The staff were all gorgeous women and handsome men, and all were available for the right price. Quinn, with his jumpsuit and weapons, stuck out among the other patrons.
"Right on time, Mr. Hale," 'Shadi' remarked as he joined her at the bar. "Shall we adjourn to my room, or are you buying me a drink first?"
The question earned him a dirty look from a wealthy man in a dark suit, who'd clearly been planning on approaching her himself. Quinn didn't blame him. The leather dress she wore fit her like a second skin, displaying a supple dancer's body, and it was all too easy to imagine that dress sliding down her curves. What a pity that it was an assassin's body, and that he was here on business. "A drink first, I think," he replied, glancing at the wealthy man. "We've got all night, after all."
It ended up being two drinks, actually, for the sake of appearances. And then she clung to his arm with an easy grace as they made their way through the club and up the elevator, chatting and flirting until the door of her suite locked behind them. And then the persona vanished along with the posture and wig, and a tall, confident woman with a mass of shockingly red hair vanished behind a privacy screen. Scarlet emerged a few minutes later, casually dressed in a black tank top and slacks.
"Our first target is Vouru Kiash, mid-level Digital Sun Officer. Meeting with a representative of a rival syndicate. It's low key –they weren't trying to attract attention with this one," Scarlet explained, pulling up images and surveillance on her datapad. "'Shadi' is providing entertainment for the meeting, your job is to back me up if something goes wrong."
"Discreet backup, or flashy?" he asked. "That is if things go ploin shaped, do I just pull you out? Or do I spread a whole lot of pain and misery around in the process?" He grinned. "I'm good with either. I just want to make sure I'm prepared."
Scarlet narrowed her eyes at him. "Discreet."
He took the datapad, ignoring the electric sensation as his fingers brushed hers. "Okay, and are we just hitting Kiash? Or are we taking care of this... ah..." He consulted the information on the screen. "Balish Klynt?" With a few deft strokes, he copied the file to his pad and then slid it back. "Again, I don't care either way. Just want to make sure."
"We are hitting all of them. Kiash, Klynt, and the bodyguard a piece they will probably have there," she explained, tone steady. "Since Tomix Rungseit took command of the Digital Sun, all the other syndicates have been pushing into their territory. Trying to strike at perceived weakness. A swift, decisive hit is the message they want to send other cartels and the disloyalty within their own ranks." Kaydia explained, leaning back on her elbows.
"Any further questions?"
"Discreet, but with no witnesses. Got it." He pursed his lips at her final question. "And yeah, I do. Since I'm the discreet backup, do you want me sitting out in the speeder? Or do I need to get a nice suit and tag along?"
"Well, I don't usually travel with a bodyguard, so it's going to look suspicious if you came up with me," Scarlet reasoned.
He gave a small shrug and rummaged around in his belt pouches. "Again, either one's fine. But you'll want this if I'm staying outside." With that, he tossed her a small package. Opened, it revealed two small lozenges.
"Those are passive transmitters," he explained. "Designed to be swallowed –souvenirs of a discrete job I took a while back. Top secret government stuff, very hush hush. Keyword and voiceprint coded so they won't broadcast unless you trigger them. And then it's a compressed burst on a randomized cycle –once every three to ten seconds." He leaned back, noting her impassive expression. "They digest or pass through, so I wouldn't swallow one until you're getting ready tomorrow." Another moment's pause as he watched her face. Not a difficult thing, really. She was easy to watch.
"Also," he added with a wink, "plenty of time to have it checked for poison. You don't know me from Prime minister Gamorah, after all. I'm not gunning for you, but I'd be disappointed if you didn't take the precaution."
"Sounds good. And yes, I will have these checked for poisons or drugs or things I am allergic to.” She dropped them on her vanity, mixed among the various makeup and perfume. “Hell, you might kill me by accident, without even meaning to. And then have the Digital Sun come down on your ass."
With that, he turned his attention back to the copied files. "In the meantime, I'll see about committing the blueprints here to memory. And scope out the site. Discretely. Figure out the best approaches, things like that. I really don't like surprises, unless I'm the one doing the surprising."
***
Linora Sunfell stood in the suite of the now deceased Zerrick Ahn, examining the scene of the crime.
"What does it look like happened?" Came a gruff voice from the communicator. Linora examined the body casually.
"Looks like he succumbed to his favorite past time. Autoerotic asphyxiation with a side of Inertia overdose," she reported coolly.
"So, an accident?" the voice queried.
"Possibly, let me just check his data..." Linora glanced through the files on his datapad, looking for the evidence to prove what she’d already discovered by probing his mind. "So, that vacation he took last month? Turns out he was on Sherothi."
"The Shroud were trying to poach my chemist?" Tomix Rungseit snarled.
"Didn't have to try hard..." she murmured, flicking through files and transmitting them to him. "He sent them a shipment of his latest batch of Inertia."
"That rat!"
"It's fine, sir. He only sent them a shipment, not his recipe. Which we still have." Linora smirked. "Once t
he Shroud gets their population addicted to Inertia, they will have to come to us for more supply."
"That is... solid reasoning, Sunfell. You may have a Vigo position in your future. If such a thing ever opens up."
Linora bent over at the side table, examining the broken vial on the floor. She smiled to herself as the cloying scent filled her nostrils. "Oh, I wouldn't be surprised if it did."
Something like a Date
Quinn tucked the datapad away. "But that'll have to wait. I'm supposed to have retained your services for a couple of hours. It'll do bad things to my reputation if I'm out of here in fifteen minutes. You got anything else you want to go over? You're the one on the sharp end, after all."
"Stay awhile,” Scarlet offered. “My, well, Shadi's reputation on the line too, if she can't keep her clients occupied and enthralled for more than 15 minutes." She turned her attention towards her wardrobe, picking out potential outfits for tomorrow. Pleasant tension filled the silence until she broke it by giggling. "There's, uh, nothing stopping us from fucking, at least nothing I know of. It would pass the time." she said, turning now with a wink. "You could be one of the lucky few I fuck and don't kill after or during."
"I could fuck and not get murdered?" Quinn laughed. "What a generous offer!" It was tempting, though. Even in prosaic slacks and tank top, she was stunning. And in that leather dress she'd worn in the bar...? She was an erotic dream come to life.
She picked a strappy black dress with high slits and a low neckline. Holding the dress – could you call that black assemblage of straps and spaces by that word– up against her body she turned towards him. "What do you think? Would this make you stupid enough to lower your guard?" She asked, with a teasing glimmer in her gaze.
He licked his lips, visualizing her in that outfit. And then out of it. "I think it would," he said returning her frank gaze. "I can feel the thought of it draining the blood from my brain." Their eyes met, and lingered for a moment longer, and he was all the more tempted to find out if her teasing offer to fuck were more than a tease. Especially when she didn’t hide the way her eyes traced his figure in return. But they lingered at his wrist, and the desire in her eyes turned to curiosity.
