by Mia R Kleve
“I do?”
“You talk too much.” In the far distance they heard sirens.
* * *
7
“Hey Kurtz, do you hear that?”
“Yeah, I hear it. Sirens. The targets are standing in the lobby, near the doors, but not moving. We’ll have to take them in here. Stand by to enter on my say-so.”
Famed throughout Central Asia for its huge glass and marble lobby, filled with koi ponds and greenery, the Galaxy Hotel maintained the area to be the cleanest public place in all of Nepal. Thousands of people passed through the lobby each day to shop at the exclusive stores along the north side or eat at the restaurants to the west.
With the sun just coming up the crowds were still light. Kurtz didn’t care about collateral damage, though. Having a clear field of fire was his only concern. Sliding behind one of the lobby’s thirty square, marble-encased pillars, his hand closed on the butt of his pistol. Two people blocked his aim, a mother and young girl of eight or nine, so he’d have to cut them down first.
The short woman standing next to the Peacemaker didn’t worry him, so once he’d hit the dog-like Zuul in the back he figured he could take her out as he ran toward the front doors. A quick glance showed nobody was watching him. Drawing the pistol, he held it in both hands and took careful aim at the mother. He would sweep the pistol sideways to take her and her child out with one shot, and with any luck it would go through her and kill the Peacemaker and the middle-aged woman helping it. This might work out better than he’d planned.
Kurtz was about to give the go signal when people outside the lobby doors began screaming and running. Had his team jumped the gun? He looked up to see what was going on, and for one second his gaze left the Peacemaker. When he turned back, the Zuul held its own pistol aimed right at Kurtz’s head. The last image processed before a laser beam struck him neatly between the eyes, was a dot of ruby red at the tip of the Peacemaker’s pistol barrel.
* * *
Much like an old Earth-style police scanner, Jaypaas possessed a small device affixed to her belt that scanned her immediate environment for pinplant signals other than her own. If one was detected, it alerted her so she could decide whether the user posed a potential threat or not. After sweeping the lobby, she only detected one other pinplant user and concluded that had to either be the Human they sought, Matthew Kurtz, or a member of Kurtz’s company.
Using the most advanced decryption algorithms available to the Peacemakers, Jaypaas intercepted an outgoing signal and deciphered it. Then, applying the most recent Tri-V image of Kurtz, she activated a tiny camera on the back of her uniform shirt to scan the area behind her. Using the source of the pinplant signal to narrow down the search area, she spotted a man standing behind a wide column some thirty meters to her right rear. Even though the man exposed no more than slice of the right side of his face, recognition software gave a 98.44% chance it was Kurtz.
“Have you acquired a target, Larry Weiner?” she said.
“Roger that. I’ve got two on the rooftop of the nearest hotel. They have not seen me yet.”
“Are you prepared, JoJo?”
“Always.”
“I give you both one more opportunity to avoid what will surely be life-endangering service.”
JoJo responded for both. “You’re doing it again, Jaypaas.”
“Doing what again?”
“Talking too much.”
For the first time since she’d arrived on Earth, Jaypaas curled her left jowl in her version of a laugh. She could never admit her feelings to anyone else, not even her friends in the Peacemaker’s Guild, but she secretly loved fighting. Not for the first time, or the last, she wondered if she should have been a merc instead of a Peacemaker.
“Larry Weiner, you may fire at the most opportune moment.”
“It’s about time…one of them’s heading right for me.”
* * *
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Earth
Unknown to Qabba, Kurtz, or anyone else, upon learning where the Peacemaker would be staying while in Nepal, Chaar Yadav had anonymously overpaid a trusted technician to install a camera on the side of the hotel across the street. The lens took in the entire front side of the Galaxy Hotel except for the front doors, which were blocked by a covered drive-through. Now she leaned back in bed, propped up against six pillows, and focused on the Tri-V to watch the Peacemaker die.
The camera didn’t have the best angle, but any better and it might have been spotted on the side of the hotel. Security was always uppermost in Chaar’s mind. Fortunately, living in the penthouse of a 79-story condominium building had more advantages than merely being able to view the Malacca Strait twenty miles to the west. It also allowed signals to be received directly and from any direction with minimal interference. In turn, this meant the signal only needed two relays, each using state-of-the-art encryption keys, to hide its ultimate destination.
She stretched and hoped she didn’t have to see Rohit Qabba for a while. The man annoyed the shit out of her with his preening and so-called music. What was that piece he’d played for her called, Shadows in the Key of Fear? What the fuck did that even mean, anyway? The guy was a pretentious prick, no doubt, but as long as he got her money-making jobs she’d put up with his arrogance.
Dawn in Kathmandu hadn’t yet lit the valley formed by the two skyscraper hotels, when she bolted upright. The flash of a laser lit the upper left quadrant of the screen, coming from the roof of the Galaxy. It had started!
Then a laser fired from the hotel where her camera was anchored, back at the roof of the Galaxy. Then both beams crisscrossed each other in mid-air, and she realized it was a firefight between opposing sides.
What the hell?
* * *
8
As Jaypaas took out Matthew Kurtz with a perfect head shot, she heard the distinct sizzle of a laser behind her. Trusting that it was JoJo doing the shooting and not Kurtz’s mercs, she fired a second time at Kurtz’s falling body. The beam cut through his mid-section.
The Zuul whirled in time to cut down a small merc, possibly female, as she pushed through a set of doors far to her right. Two others already lay in a doorway on the left, propping them open with their bodies. Jaypaas saw another merc through the glass, kneeling outside on the curb and aiming. There was no time to scream a warning, so she jumped on top of JoJo just as a rocket zoomed into the lobby trailing smoke.
The rocket missed her left shoulder by inches and exploded against a column twenty feet to the rear. It was an old-style Terran RPG, with a shaped charge warhead. The explosion showered her with steel splinters from the warhead and shards of marble from the column. Pain flared along her back and legs from penetrating hits, while the blast wave knocked her off JoJo Weiner. That saved both their lives.
While Jaypaas writhed in pain, JoJo remained unhurt because the Peacemaker had shielded her. Through the smoke and dust filling the lobby, she found the merc with the RPG loading a second round into the firing tube, centered her sights on the merc’s chest, and fired a one second burst.
By sheer chance, it struck the warhead and set off the charge. The explosion dwarfed the first one, as waves of flame washed over the shooter, the drive-through unloading area, and anything within one hundred feet. JoJo fell on top of Jaypaas, shielding the Peacemaker as the Peacemaker had shielded her.
The metal frames around the glass doors turned white-hot and JoJo felt intense heat, but no flames penetrated into the lobby. In three seconds, it was over, leaving only a blackened hulk still kneeling on the curb holding what had been the RPG launcher. A merc she hadn’t seen staggered through puddles of fire, his blackened skin peeling away even as flames consumed what was left. The head tilted back, and it looked like the merc was screaming in agony, but she heard no sounds.
“Jo! Jo, what happened? Talk to me, are you okay? Jo!”
She raised her head and blinked. It felt like she had a sunburn.
“I’m okay. That was an RPG going
off in the shooter’s hands. It must have had a thermobaric warhead. Jaypaas is hurt, but I can’t tell how bad.”
“I am not critically wounded, as you Humans like to say; I am fine,” the Peacemaker said, doing a pushup until she could get her knees under her body. Blood soaked her clothes in a dozen places. “Are you injured, JoJo?”
“Thanks to you, no. And forgive my saying so, but you look don’t look fine.”
“I am in a great deal of pain, yet my wounds are superficial. Have the police arrived yet?”
“It sounds like they’re close.”
“You stay here, JoJo Weiner. You have done the Peacemaker Guild and the Galactic Union a great service this day, but I would not have you risk further harm.”
“You think I’m gonna stay here?”
“It is the wisest course.”
JoJo got up and stood beside Jaypaas. She frowned up at the taller Zuul and shook her head.
“Not on your life, sister.”
* * *
Pattaya City, Thailand, Earth
A thunderstorm rolling over the Gulf of Thailand formed the perfect backdrop for Shadows in the Key of Fear, or so thought Rohit Qabba. The towering black cloud blotted out the morning sun. He watched lightning flash and fork across the dark sky and thought they looked like bolts from an angry god.
He couldn’t believe he’d finally finished the song after being stuck on it for so long. Listening through old-style headphones, his head dipped side to side in time with the music. The ominous opening stanza had given way to the frantic, discordant transition to the staccato middle when Chaar called. Qabba didn’t want to answer it, but there was no choice. He didn’t bother to hide his irritation, though.
“Hold while I turn down the music.” Walking inside from the balcony, the heavy curtains across the wall of floor-to-ceiling glass cast the room in cool shadows. The vacuum tubes on the ancient Dynaco amplifier glowed orange, providing enough light for him to see the volume knob on the equally antique Marantz pre-amp. “What do you want?”
“The whole thing blew up. Kurtz is dead along with his crew. The Nepali Police might have prisoners.”
“The Peacemaker?”
“Scratched up but otherwise fine.”
“All right. Should there be another attempt?”
“I don’t think so. We’ll have to write off the Brotherhood here on Earth, but we should be fine. I’ve ordered Tegu be taken off the board.”
That got Qabba’s attention. “Is that necessary?”
“I think it is.”
“Then we’re down to three degrees of separation…is that enough?”
“We’ll be fine.”
His impulse was to berate her for fucking this whole thing up so bad. It was supposed to be a simple snatch and grab, and now she was targeting Peacemakers for assassination and fucking that up, too. This wasn’t something his pinplants could help solve, so as Qabba thought about what to do next he lost track of time.
“Rohit? Is everything alright?”
“Yes, I was considering your suggestion. I think you’re right. Despite his usefulness in the past, Tegu has become a liability.”
“I’ll take care of it immediately.”
“Thank you.” He broke the connection but didn’t turn the volume back up on the music. Instead, he accessed a number he didn’t call often and had never wanted to call. If building a network took a lot of time and money, destroying it was both faster and even more expensive. Protecting himself, however, came before everything else.
When the call was picked up, Qabba heard road noises in the background and knew it was a handheld device. “Who?” was all they said.
“Snow White and her dwarfs.”
“That’s six big reds.”
“Four. Snow White herself took care of two dwarfs.”
“When?”
“Soonest.”
The connection went dead. Qabba shook his head. Four million credits was a lot even for him, but he made it a policy that once he’d spent money, he never thought about it again. Then he booked passage on the next luxury starship heading for Karma. It was time to hit the recruiting trail again.
* * *
9
Larry Weiner gulped beer to quell the fire in his mouth. Once that was gone, he downed a glass of water.
“That’s hot,” he said, nodding at the platter of chopped meat in the middle of the table. Nepali meat dishes crowded every available inch of tabletop. Jaypaas had ordered one of everything on the menu as a reward on behalf of the Peacemaker Guild for their help in determining the guilty parties in the attack on the naming ceremony. The Weiners had done their best to make a dent in the heaps of food, but the platters remained full.
“Are you not gonna eat, Jaypaas? You should be celebrating, you cleaned up the rogue mercs.”
The Zuul wiggled her ears. “Larry Weiner, I have another request for you.”
“Sure, anything.”
“I have your records; I know what you have done in the past. If I give you higher access using a Peacemaker code, do you promise not to use it for illegal activities?”
“Jaypaas, I don’t know what you’ve read, but—”
The Peacemaker raised her paw. “What you have done prior to our meeting is of no consequence to me. We have caught those who executed the attack, it is true, but not the one who ordered it.”
Weiner leaned forward, elbows on the table, and got very close to Jaypaas so he could speak in a low tone.
“You’ll give me high-level access codes, so I can track payments back to their source?”
“That is my proposal, yes, on condition that you not use them for personal gain.”
“I’ve got more money than I could ever spend now, so that’s not a worry.”
“Please forgive me pursuing this question further, but for some there is never enough wealth.”
“Is that why you’re a Peacemaker, to get rich?”
Jaypaas paused to search for an appropriate English language response. “Touché, Larry Weiner. What period of time do you anticipate this endeavor may require?”
Weiner grinned. “Not long enough.”
* * *
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Earth
It had taken five days, longer than Weiner anticipated. The intricacy of Chaarumathi Yadav’s network impressed even him, but eventually he put it all together.
The building manager initially resisted helping them, not least because he had never met a Zuul before or seen a Peacemaker badge, but after contacting his corporate offices he couldn’t take them to the penthouse fast enough. Once the elevator arrived at the top, they heard deep, rhythmic vibrations that rattled its cage.
“What are those painful noises?” Jaypaas said.
“I think it’s supposed to be music,” answered JoJo.
The Zuul’s confused tone came through the translator. “Do you find it enjoyable?”
“It sucks.”
Jaypaas knew that was a negative answer and drew back her lips in her best imitation of a Human smile.
“That’s a little scary,” JoJo said. “You might not want to do that anymore.”
“I will remember your advice.” She turned to the manager. “Thank you for your cooperation. Further assistance is not required at this time.”
The man smiled in relief and touched a sensor to open the doors. They had only cracked open four inches when Jaypaas drew her sidearm, alerted to danger by the smell of blood. Two heavily muscled men lay dead in the elevator’s alcove.
“Stand back,” she said to the manager. Dropping into a shooting crouch, Jaypaas and JoJo swept the area with their pistols. They found no targets. A quick inspection of the area showed no blood, but multiple holes in the walls from laser shots.
Crouching between them, JoJo looked up at Jaypaas and shook her head. Beyond the alcove, two highly polished teak doors stood half open. They crept inside, guns first.
* * *
Jaypaas tilted back her snout. Her nostri
ls flared at a familiar scent, although it took nearly two seconds for her to recognize it.
“Get out!” she shouted. “Get out now!”
Across the room, JoJo gave her a questioning look, but Jaypaas knew she might only have seconds. In three strides she was near enough to grab the back of JoJo’s shirt. Lifting the woman in one paw, she ran for the door. The manager stood by the elevators, holding open the doors, but Jaypaas grabbed him, too. Carrying both Humans, she strained to run toward the red Kelaur sign marking the emergency stairs.
JoJo hung limp in Jaypaas’s grasp, but the manager squirmed and kicked. “What are you doing?” he said. “Put me down!”
The Peacemaker ignored him. Gritting her teeth at the pain in her shoulders, she put him down long enough to open the stairwell door, pushed him through, and bolted after him.
“Down the stairs!” she yelled.
When the manager started to protest, she picked him up again and went down two steps at a time, with JoJo out in front. They’d made it down two flights before Chaarumathi Yadav’s luxury condominium exploded, in a blast so powerful it blew off the entire top floor and shook the building like an earthquake.
* * *
10
Larry Weiner was in her hospital room when Jaypaas woke up. The Peacemaker gazed around the room for a few seconds, which allowed her brain to process what had happened.
“How is your wife?” she said.
Weiner nodded. “She’s going to be fine. Nanites are a wonderful thing. You’re fine, too, in case you care.”
Jaypaas cocked her head. “Under what circumstances would I not care?”
“Never mind.”
But she misunderstood that comment, too. “Zuul’s have the same instinct of self-preservation as any other species.”
