by George Olney
"Remember, people, we want to do things as legally as possible. We are part of the Cluster government and want to stay legally and peacefully on Cauldwell. For the people to allow us to stay, we need to have clean hands when the facts come out. Command says they're planning to spin everything towards the idea that we were working to free Cauldwell from secret Imperial tyranny. Leaving aside the fact that we need Cauldwell as part of the Cluster - especially because of the Imperial caches - that's actually close to the truth. Don't do anything to discredit the idea.
"Ettranty - and again I'm sorry about this, Shana - is the only exception. We simply cannot let him report on us. Logan, Ettranty's yours." He went down the list of Council members, assigning their capture to his platoons, finally returning to Shana. "Andews is the other must-have. Shana, I'm pretty sure you know him."
She nodded. "Oh, I'm quite familiar with him. I don't know Femiam, though."
"She got to Cauldwell after you dropped out of sight," Captain Gldblum replied. "I don't think she's going to be a problem. Since she showed up, Femiam's actually been playing a moderating role as far as she could, trying to reign in some of Ettranty's excesses. That might be only common sense from her standpoint, but she's looking like one of the good guys - so far as there are any in the current government. Intel thinks we might be able to work with her in the new setup. We've been monitoring her and her daughter closely and she certainly shows no signs of being overly corrupt. Actually far less so than most of the current leadership.
"At any rate, she's either at her office or her apartment and neither one is secured any more than normal. Lana used to be well known on the party circuit, but these days she sticks close to Mommy for some reason. Intel thinks they're trying to heal a rift between the two of them. Certainly, Lana is less of a wild type than she used to be. They'll be at the party, but we can be reasonably sure they'll both leave together and head back to home base. That's where I want you to plan to get them - either going to or returning from the party. If you get them before they arrive, people who miss them will just think they decided to skip the party.
"Andews is an entirely different problem and one reason why I'm assigning him to you, Shana. The guy's so security conscious, he's almost as paranoid as Shangnaman. His routes to and from his office are erratic and constantly change. His office is highly secure and so is his apartment. The only place we know he doesn't have personal guards around him is his apartment, but given the way he behaves, we're pretty sure he has secure escape routes in it. To say it again, he's a major priority because he also has with commo with Central. Andews is the other one besides Ettranty we have to isolate and take down at all costs, but we aren't really sure of his weaknesses."
"Oh, he has a weakness," Shana said with a mildly disgusted smile. "He likes high priced call girls. He takes a different one with him every time he appears at a social occasion. At least, I've never seen him with the same one twice. It's almost his trademark in upper level society.
"Where I used to be," she added with a grin. Shana thought for a moment and an idea came to her. "In fact, I think that's how we'll take him."
The captain looked at her quizzically. "Turn the call girl?"
She shook her head with a grin. "Captain, you forget I'm a woman sometimes."
#####
Inside the safe house, Victrix observation and subversion teams were getting briefed on the upcoming operation. "Strike's going to be taking down the key Council members, people," the Lieutenant said, reading the list.
"Why Strike, Lieutenant?" one of his men groused. "We've been watching these characters for years. Why not us?"
"Well, capturing key enemy personnel is a Strike mission," the Lieutenant replied reasonably. "Besides, Shana's boys are going to be collecting Andews and Femiam."
The grouser settled back. "Oh, Shana. Well, that's all right, then."
"Glad you approve Thomsn," the Lieutenant said dryly. "Shana's going to need a cover ID and clothing to match. Guess who's going to shop in the most exclusive women's store in Beauregard for what she wants?"
"Lieutenant, you don't mean..."
"Aye," he said with a nod, "and you have the thanks of a grateful Corps for volunteering. I'll download you Shana's list. Just tell the sales rep you have an expensive girlfriend."
Catching sight of a grin on one of the women at the meeting, he thoughtfully added. "Lukaanen, you go with this character. Make sure he buys the right stuff, especially with the cosmetics. You'll be his girlfriend's sister. You ought to be able to guess Shana's dress size close enough, anyway."
The two lucky Gladii just looked at each other in shared martyrdom as the meeting broke up.
#####
Totally hidden by its suppresser field, the cutter landed behind the safe house and dark figures wearing inactive body hugging stealth suits got off, moving quickly through the back door. The Lieutenant waiting to welcome his visitors knew that there were two women in the party instead of one, Shana and someone he didn't know.
He also wished the stealth suits weren't so damned complicated, power hogs, and hard to manufacture. If they were general issue instead of restricted to Strike and scouts, his people could just literally vanish. There were definite advantages to that.
After the two of them pulled the stealth hoods off their heads, Shana indicated the other woman. "I've brought Captain Dass here to help me get into costume. Do you have everything I need and a place to change?"
The Lieutenant nodded. Strange, he thought, Shana was brown haired. Now she'd done something to her hair to give it a lighter brown color, shot through with shallow gray streaks. It made her look a little older and very different. More sophisticated. "There's an unused bedroom upstairs, third door on the left," he replied. "That's yours."
Shana turned to one of her Strike troopers, obviously a senior noncom from his blocky, weathered face. "Sergeant Stauer, you and your teams move out and pick up the Femiams. I'll get going on my part."
"Aye, Lieutenant," he replied. "We'll be back soon enough. Stay out of trouble."
Shana smiled and waved towards Corporal Smythe. "I don't have to worry, Sergeant. I've got a good overwatch."
Sergeant Stauer gave Smythe a long look that plainly said he expected to get his Lieutenant back in one piece and in functioning order. Then he and his men were out the back door and part of the night.
Shana didn't watch him go. Instead, she turned to Julie and said, "Let's go so you can do your part, Captain." Both went upstairs grinning.
In the unused bedroom, Shana stripped and sat at a night stand to begin working on her makeup while Julie laid out her costume for the night. It didn't take Shana long, but the results were startlingly different from her normal appearance. Eye shadow, eye liner, makeup, and lipstick all combined to give her a different and more worldly look that was stunning and completely unlike her. She was reasonably certain that anyone she met in Cauldwell wouldn't recognize her. Once she finished her makeup, Julie helped arrange her hair in a fall over her left ear that only added to her sophisticated appearance.
Studying Shana's handiwork, Julie applied a few finishing touches to her makeup, then reached for what looked like a tube of mesh. She commented, "You know, I really couldn't wear this in public. Might be fun to wear it for a guy, but there's too little dress, too much me showing."
"Besides, it's not a uniform," Shana cracked. "Give it here."
She stepped into it, then pulled the mesh tube up. Looking on appraisingly, Julie said, "Well, it gives you plenty of cleavage, but I still say there's way too little cover in that thing. You're basically naked."
Shana grinned. "It's a smoke dress, girl. Just watch and let my body heat activate it, oh unsophisticated and innocent soldier."
After a moment, the mesh hugging Shana turned into a tightly clinging mist that thickened and faded constantly all over her body from her breasts to just above her knees, an effect that would attract and fix the male eye. The dress was erotic but not revealing, sin
ce no part of her was clearly exposed; only hinted at by a momentarily thinning patch of mist. Shana gracefully waved manicured hands with pastel painted nails at her own figure. "See? That's why it's called a smoke dress. Perfectly legal, but it'll get a guy's motor running any time. Just the thing for a high priced call girl or a woman letting it hang out at a really wild party. I had one back when I was a newscaster for the kind of parties I used to attend. They cost a mint, but I can sure tell you they're worth every little bit of the price."
Once Shana put on her high heels, diamond earrings, and diamond choker, Julie critically studied the effect. "I like it. I just can't figure out when I'd dress up like that. Makes me wish we'd get a little decadent on occasion."
Shana looked in the mirror, applied a few final touches to her makeup, and smiled as she picked up her clutch bag. Then she affixed a tiny bolt gun to the small of her back under the mist and headed for the bedroom door. "Sister," she said as she swept out of the room, "if you only knew."
The Lieutenant was talking to one of his men as he heard the click - click of a pair of high heels coming into the main room of the safe house. Wondering who had such outlandish footwear, he turned and got a good look at Shana as she sinuously strode toward him with a sensuous, knowing expression on her face. The sight stopped both his actions and his thought processes.
With a feline smile, Shana appraised his stunned expression. It looked like she was getting the right effect. She gently put a hand under his chin and pushed his open mouth closed. "Don't wait up, mate," she said in a sultry voice. "But if you do, kindly monitor my channel. I'm leaving four of my teams here with you for emergencies.
"Oh, and call us a cab," threw over her shoulder as she headed for the front door, collecting the two (also stunned) men in her team as she went.
#####
"Mother, do we really have to go to this thing tonight?" Lana asked.
Clarine shrugged. "Matic wants us there. The whole Guidance Council will attend. It's supposed to be a show of solidarity in the face of the election results. Certainly none of the PMGG will be there."
Lana grabbed her wrap from the hall table. "Maybe that's a good thing. Once those people get into power, they might clean this place up. I swear, Cauldwell is worse than Central."
Clarine looked grim. "Don't be too sure of that. Nobody's been arrested or assassinated yet - at least that I know of - and I'm trying to keep it that way. Matic's got some sort of plan for the PMGG, but I haven't been able to find out what, and I'm not certain I want to know. Remember, he can have us both removed simply with a word. I don't want you starting trouble, Lana. Too much rides on keeping Matic's good will."
Lana grimaced. "I'll be a good girl, Mother. But I'm not going to say I like it."
Clarine nodded, satisfied with the result if not happy with the reason. "That will have to do, dear. Let's just keep going until I can find a way to get out of this situation. I'm sure time will give us an opportunity."
The two were in the empty hall outside their apartment, headed for the waiting cab, when six big men wearing stealth suits suddenly materialized from nowhere and surrounded them. Clarine's heart stopped. To her, stealth suits meant only one thing - the Imperial Office of Investigations. How had they gotten here? Had Matic decided to remove her?
One of the men spoke in a deep harsh voice. "Narsim Femiam, Sim Femiam, you need to come with us."
"I'm - I'm - sure there's been a mistake..." Clarine started to stutter out.
"No mistake, Narsim Femiam," he interrupted. He pulled off his hood, displaying features of a type Clarine knew. "We're Corps of Gladius. We got you out of trouble once and we're not going to hurt you now."
Lana was frightened. Gladius or not, the whole situation was scary. Were they under arrest? When another of their captors spoke, she stared at him for a moment in surprise.
The speaker pulled off his hood, showing much younger features than the first man. "It's me, Lana. Jamie. Just come with us. You'll be all right. I won't let anyone hurt you."
Lana took a deep shaky breath and looked at her mother. "Let's go, Mother. It's Jamie Kardo. Jamie wouldn't hurt us."
Grimly surveying her captors, Clarine said in a low voice, "For the Lord Above's sake, Lana, I hope you're right."
#####
The expensive courtesan walking down the exclusive residential tower's hall was attractively, if not blatantly, dressed in a thin light colored ruffled blouse, dark bolero jacket, and cling pants, a discreet but sexually attractive costume suitable to her stature and tonight's appointment. Like everyone else at the top level of Cauldwell's society, she knew all about Narsima Antony Andews. She was arm candy for tonight's party and recreation afterwards, but the thought didn't bother her. It was how she made a very comfortable living, after all. This assignment was important. Andews paid well and tonight was her chance for a big bonus. She intended to earn it.
Her plans were derailed when two large men in stealth suits suddenly materialized, one on either side of her. "Sim," one of them said, "your appointment has been canceled." He made a motion with one hand and she felt a sting on the back of her neck, then everything went black.
Shana stepped out of a nearby service closet and waved her two men to put the courtesan inside it. "Leave her in here. When she wakes up tomorrow, it won't matter what she says."
"Remember," she said as they started back down the corridor, "we think Andews has detectors inside his apartment, so don't try to follow me in. Just keep monitoring. I'm trying not to get into trouble, but if I do, just take the door down."
She looked at one of the black clad figures. "Do you understand that, Smythe?" she said in command tones. "I'm a big girl and I can handle myself. Follow orders."
He replied, "Aye, Lieutenant, but I still have your back."
She smiled. "You do, but stay in the hall and stay unseen until I tell you. No telling who else is in these halls. Now fade out, you two." They disappeared as she watched. Then she calmly walked up the hall to Andews's door and pushed the door button.
When Andews opened the door he appeared quite pleased with her. He also made it vary apparent he had no idea who she was. His grand wave gestured her inside and simultaneously emphasized the opulence of his apartment. He began puttering around, preparing to leave as Shana, for her part, gazed around the luxurious room to his obvious approval.
Shana was carefully searching the somewhat overdone room with the contact lens in her left eye, looking for scanners and security alarms. She found quite a few. They could still take him here, but there would be alerts aplenty unless she could disable the control box first. She thought she found it, but didn't want to take the chance.
There was also a small device on a table near the doorway. It was a portable alert Andews carried in case he was attacked before he could get to his personal flyer. That was another problem. It was beginning to look as though grabbing this guy after the party was going to be a better bet. Maybe after she got him to bed. It would be easier to trace connections and disable the control box after he was sated and asleep.
Her plans became moot when the front door slid aside with no warning. Matic Ettranty slid the override into the pocket of his robe as he entered, a thunderous look on his face. "What's the meaning of this, Ettranty?" Andews blurted, shaken that his vaunted security could be so easily bypassed.
"I've disabled all of your silly devices," Ettranty snarled. "What we have to say to each other shouldn't be monitored. Get rid of the whore."
Andews waved Shana to a back bedroom. She nodded quietly and casually put her clutch bag on a small table as she left. "This one appears quite desirable," he told Ettranty quietly. "I will enjoy her later. She can't hear anything in the bedroom anyhow. It's quite soundproof."
Once he was sure she was in the bedroom with the door shut, Andews turned on Ettranty. "Now what in the name of hell are you doing here?"
"We have a major problem," Ettranty answered. "I cannot contact any of my men for some reason
and I don't like it. Something's happening and I don't know what it is."
"You're afraid of shadows. We're firmly in control here and nothing the PMGG can do to overcome that fact," Andews shot back. "Besides, those men are the best the Emperor has, the reason they've been assigned to us for over a decade. There is nobody on Cauldwell that can stop them."
"Possibly," Ettranty rumbled, "but I don't take chances. I intend to alert our ship. We need to be gone from Cauldwell within a matter of hours if things, whatever they are, turn against us."
"That's ridiculous!" Andews said.
Ettranty glared at him. "You will not use that tone to your superior. If I say we leave, we are gone. If it becomes necessary, I will leave you here to take the fallout and the Emperor won't turn a hair."
Andews turned pale, both at the threat and the knowledge that Ettranty was right about Shangnaman's reaction. He looked down. "As you wish. What do you want me to do with the woman? Surely there's no need to be precipitous with her. Truthfully, I don't know why I haven't seen her before. She's quite spectacular."
Ettranty waved a thick hand. "Send her off now."
Suddenly, he got a thoughtful look on his face. "No! If she's not familiar to you with all your whore mongering, she may be connected to whatever is happening. At any rate, she is irrelevant. Kill her."
One of Shana's earrings was the receiver for the bug in her clutch bag. The other was her communicator, but she hadn't wanted to use it while Andews's scanners were in operation. Hearing her father casually decree her death shook her. It was time, she decided, to end this. She had no desire to confront him, but it looked as though she had no choice. She reached to the small of her back and palmed the tiny bolt gun clipped to her dress. Time to call the boys. Thank the Lord Above that her father had deactivated all the alerts and scanners! //"Lalane, Smythe, time to come on in. Be aware that there are two major targets in the room. Ettranty and Andews are together and one or both may be armed. On my command."//
