by Ward Wagher
The door opened and Smith & Jones walked in, wearing camo.
“That was quick,” Ciera said.
“They are parked not far away,” Smith said. “Three men watching an aircar, and not paying particularly good attention. The rest of the team has burrowed close to the keep.”
“You saw them all?” Frank said.
“The idiots were in a single group. I am rapidly revising my opinion of them downward.”
“And that is a good thing,” Frank said.
“So we can probably sweep up the people watching the car too?” Ciera said.
“No question. We up in the gallery, Sir?”
“Yes. Here are the sleepy-darts.”
“How are we going to keep them from backing out of here when it starts to cave in on them?”
Ciera raised an eyebrow. “There are no assets to cover that problem. If anyone slips away, you will need to shoot from the windows. Phillips, Daphne, and I can take care of inside.”
Smith grimaced and shook his head.
“Problems, Sergeant?”
“You know what I mean, Sir. The key to pulling this off tonight is not allowing anyone to get out of here. The six out there are still professionals. Once they see things dropping into the crapper, they are going to try to break contact in the confusion and slip out. If they are any good at all, it will be awfully hard to stop them.”
“What would you suggest then, Sergeant?” Ciera’s voice was cool.
Frank laid his hand on Ciera’s. “Hai, remember where Smith & Jones come from.”
Ciera shook his head. “You’re right. I’m sorry Sarge. You’ve done this before too.”
Smith tilted his head and looked at Ciera. “Okay, Commander. I’ll accept that. Suggest you barricade the kitchen door and leave Beddings there with one of the automatic rifles. Put the Skipper up here with Jones. I’ll be on the roof above one of the stair towers. That way we can slam the back door on them. I can give you a bit of warning before they come in.”
Ciera looked at Frank. “Can you shoot sleepy-darts?”
“Let me shoot a few practice rounds in the basement . I think I will be all right.”
Ciera looked around the room. “Questions anyone? Problems? Smith is right. I am not the only professional here.”
Jones sniffed and began walking toward the stairs.
“I’ll take that as a no,” Frank said. “Eden, let’s get the back door barricaded.”
At exactly 2AM two clicks came through Ciera’s headset. “Okay, places everyone.”
Ciera and Phillips slipped behind the balustrade running on either side of the central staircase. Daphne stretched out on her stomach on the floor behind one of the pillars. Frank and Jones propped the dart guns on the gallery railing above. Blakely trotted towards the kitchen to warn Beddings before he headed for the third floor to be with Prary. Hai had suggested he be up there with Eden.
Frank nodded. So far, so good. He pulled his night vision screen over his eyes.
With a clanging sound the first grenade hit the wall of the keep and then bounced a couple of times on the pavement of the courtyard before it burst with a loud pop. The people inside pulled their breathing masks up and checked the air cylinders. Several more grenades bounced in and they could hear the hissing of the gas cartridges.
Two more clicks over the com. “They’re coming over the wall, now,” Ciera said.
Down the hall from Frank and Jones came the sound of crashing glass and then the pop of the gas grenade. Frank double checked his mask and hoped everyone else did too. No one immediately came through the front door and he assumed they were waiting for the gas to spread. If anyone got a whiff of it, they would be down for several hours. The gas itself was non-persistent and began to break down in about thirty minutes. Unless, of course, they decided to use something lethal this time, he thought.
There was a thump and then another down the hall. “Second floor,” Ciera said conversationally.
Jones, who had been crouched below the balcony rail rolled across to the other side to take cover behind a stone pillar. He pointed to Frank and motioned towards the pillar on his side. Frank eased up behind the pillar.
With a solid bang the front door blasted inward off its hinges. Four-hundred Centaurans to replace the door, Frank thought. Four shadowy figures dashed through the opening. He swung around and started shooting darts with both hands on the pistol. The muted coughs from silenced weapons was followed by someone screaming.
Frank stole a peek over the balcony. There were two bodies lying in the center of the entry hall. He wondered where Ciera was. None of the occupants of the castle had silenced weapons. Slugs whined off the stone pillar, stinging Frank’s face with chips. Frank scrunched closer behind the pillar and next to the rail. Jones rolled out and started shooting towards the hallway with the dart gun. Frank could hear the pfft as he pulled the trigger.
Two quick double-shots of a pistol sounded below. That’s one of ours, Frank thought. It got very quiet. The screaming had subsided to whimpering and then silence. Frank tried to ease his breathing and listen. It was hard to hear over the thumping of his heart. Were there any more?
“Two gomers down on the second floor,” Jones said over the com link.
“Four down in the foyer,” Ciera said.
Over the com link Smith spoke, “Six total came over the wall.”
“We are clear,” Ciera said. “Phillips is down. Beddings, come on back to help secure the tangoes. No lights. Smith, can you stay put for a bit.”
“Affirm.”
Frank stood up and walked along the balcony. Jones had produced a roll of plastic tape and was tying up the two people who had come in through the window. Frank walked back to the central staircase and eased down the steps. When he got to the bottom, he saw the shadow figure of Beddings coming into the room.
Frank keyed his com, “Eden, you and Wendy stay put until we clear the area.” He turned on his pencil light. Ciera was taping one of the people who came in the door. Frank swung the light around. One of the assailants lay next to the wall with the top of his head blown off. The splash on the wall behind him was confirmation. Another assailant lay in the limp sack of potatoes position which confirmed his death, although Frank could not see exactly how he died. Daphne was standing to one side covering the group with her pistol.
“Check on Phillips, Skipper,” Ciera said.
Frank grunted and moved over to the side of the room where Phillips was last. The room was heavy with the smell of voided bowels and the copper metallic tang of blood. The light swung past sightless eyes and a spreading pool of blood. “Looks like he bled out, Hai.”
Ciera muttered an oath and moved to the remaining assailant. “Have any qualms about disposing of the trash?”
“I hear you, Hai. Let’s get these downstairs under lock and key.” He keyed his radio. “Eden, can you come down and help? Wendy needs to stay put for a while. Gerry can stay with her.”
Jones walked carefully down the stairs with one of the assailants over his shoulder. “Sleeping like a baby.”
“So is Phillips,” Ciera said. “Permanently.”
“I’m sorry, Commander,” Jones said.
“Beddings, you know where to put the live ones?” Frank asked.
“Yes, Margrave.” He managed to get underneath another of the sleeping assailants and hoist him to his shoulder. He nodded to Jones. “Follow me, Sarge. Heavy sucker, this one.”
Ciera looked up as Prary ghosted by on the balcony. “He’s quiet! Eden, can you bring down the guy tied up in the corridor there?”
“Of course,” came the rumbled response.
Ciera swore again. “What a mess. I would recommend we try to get this cleaned up before the staff comes around in the morning. We don’t know if someone in the village is reporting back to the duke or whoever.”
“We need to get the aircar and the other three secured too,” Frank said.
Beddings stopped in the doorway an
d turned. “I’ll take care of the cleanup. It is my job, after all.”
“I guess there are some positives to having an ex-marine as a butler,” Ciera said.
Frank snorted. “Some aspects I could really do without. But I’d really like to get the room cleared before Wendy gets down here.”
“I should go up and be with Wendy,” Daphne said.
“Agreed,” Hai said. If you agree, Frank, we can have Prary guard the prisoners and Beddings will clean up here. You and I will need to keep watch so we can send Smith & Jones out to collect the rest of the trash.”
Frank nodded. “I’ll be glad when this night is over with. I’m getting tired of blundering around in the dark.”
“I don’t know, Skipper,” Ciera said. “Looking at the results of tonight I’d say you haven’t lost your touch.”
“Phillips probably doesn’t think so.”
“At least he wasn’t married,” Ciera said. “But Phillips is another little detail I will have to take care of.”
Beddings walked in with a tarpaulin. “They’re wearing Skin-Synth.”
“It’s always something,” Ciera said.
“Beddings, you are going to have to help Eden strip the Skin-Synth off of them. They’ll all be dead by morning otherwise.”
“What about this?” he replied nodding at the room. “If we don’t get the blood and stuff up, there will be stains.”
“Can’t be helped. Go help Eden and be as quick as you can.”
Jones walked back into the room. “Skipper, they is wearing Skin-Synth.”
Ciera and Frank looked at each other. “Okay,” Frank said, “Eden and Beddings are taking care of it.”
Blakely came down the stairs. “Daphne is with Wendy. I thought I should come down and help.” He swung his pen-light around at the carnage. “Oh.”
“Can you help clean up the mess, Gerry?” Frank said.
“I.. uh,” and he gulped. “I guess I will have to.”
“Good man.” Frank patted him on the shoulder.
Ciera keyed his com. “Smith, we’re coming out.”
They heard two clicks in return.
Five minutes later Frank and Hai Ciera moved to opposite corners of the castle wall as Smith & Jones eased across the drawbridge. Frank looked at his chrono and was shocked that only twenty minutes had passed since the assailants came over the wall.
Time slowed down again as he looked first along one wall and then the other. I must find out who is behind all of this and deal with it, he thought. And I must get Wendy out of here. I don’t know what my brother stumbled into, but it was lethal.
The stars slowly wheeled about the sky and dipped behind the shadowed mountains. Finally Frank was able to hear the faint whine of an aircar. As the shadow occulted the sky, he was able to make it out against the darker background. It slid over the wall and eased to the ground in the castle courtyard. He saw two figures emerge and one of them came up the stairs.
“Three turkeys trussed and ready for Thanksgiving, Skipper,” Smith said.
“Remind me to speak to you about improving your sense of humor,” Frank growled.
“The commander suggested we get the bad guys downstairs and the aircar under cover before the guards start coming around.”
“Good idea. I’ll wait up here until we get some more assets.”
“Understood, Skipper.”
Smith trotted back down the stairs and helped Jones drag the helpless assailants from the ‘car. A few minutes later, the hulking figure of Eden Prary came out of the keep and pulled the third from the aircar. Jones came out as Prary returned to the keep. He got into the aircar and maneuvered it into the stables. The slight hum indicated he was moving it on electrics. Behind him on the wall, one of the guards groaned and started to wake up.
And that, Frank thought, takes care of a night’s work.
Chapter Twelve
“You can’t just kill them!”
Frank stared into his coffee cup trying to ignore Wendy’s fierce glare.
“And don’t try to tell me it wouldn’t be you doing it. If Hai kills them you would be responsible.”
Frank shook his head, resigned to the argument. “If we hadn’t prepared ourselves, you and I would be dead right now. There is not much question these are the thugs that killed Jack and Sharon. You had no problems with shooting them down as they came in the door. In fact, you wanted to help.”
“But that’s different.”
“How is it different? We merely postponed the inevitable.”
“You know what I mean. They are now tied up and helpless. They are at your mercy.”
“I do not feel particularly merciful.”
“Well you should. That’s part of your job as the margrave.”
“It is my job to be merciful to those begging for mercy and wishing to change. Believe me; the seven downstairs are not interested in changing. They have no problems with what they were doing.” Frank took a sip of coffee and set the cup down. “Besides, and Gerry reminded me of this, I hold the power of high, and low justice here in the margraviate.”
“What does that mean?”
“Low justice is the day-to-day stuff; minor crimes, disputes and the like. High justice is the capital court. If I have these villains killed, it would not be murder, it would be an execution. I am fully empowered by my title; in fact justice requires I do so.”
Wendy looked at him with her mouth open. ”That is just so barbaric.”
“What am I supposed to do? Turn them loose? We don’t have a jail. If I turn them over to the duke they will be out on the streets again just as soon as I leave.”
“Do we know they were working for the duke?” she demanded.
“Oh yes. What do you think Hai has been doing this morning? A couple of them are singing like birds.”
“He’s torturing them? In our castle, Frank? I cannot believe this. You are turning into a medieval tyrant. You are talking about murdering people and then I find out you are torturing them. I suppose you will have me thrown in the dungeons if I displease you!”
“He is not torturing them. Wendy, you are not listening to me…”
“Oh I hear you very well, Master.”
“Wendy!”
She jumped at his shout and looked defiantly at him.
“Just what do you propose we do instead?”
Wendy turned to Daphne, who was sitting at the table. “Can’t you convince Hai?”
“Wendy, I think this is the right thing to do.”
“Not you too, Daphne! Why does the answer to these problems have to be killing people. It makes us no better than them.”
“Come on, Wen,” Frank said. “This is different from a grudge match. As margrave I am charged with maintaining order. I have to deal with criminals. And those people downstairs aren’t locked up for Drunk and Disorderly. You know that.”
Wendy looked back and forth between Frank, Hai and Daphne. She opened her mouth several times as if to say something, or couldn’t think of what to say.
“Oh, Frank!” she started weeping. “I know you are right. It is just that so many things are happening. We are being forced to do so many bad… no, not bad… distasteful things. And you know what the worst part of this is? We cannot just pull up and leave. You are the protector of those people in the village. And you have an obligation to your brother. We are stuck here, Frank, and I don’t want to be, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
He got out of his chair and walked around the table to put his hands on her shoulders. “I know you are upset about this. I am not too happy about it either.”
“In our years in space, we have never had people chasing us with guns. At least you have done this before.”
Frank leaned forward to massage her shoulders. “It does not get any easier. I had the shakes last night after it was over with. It was just as bad as the first time I was into something like this.”
“How many times did you have people shooting at you?”
“And we are not getting any younger,” she said.
“And we’re not getting any younger,” he agreed.
“Thanks for putting up with me, Frank.”
