“Nolan, we need to discuss this next job.” Taia’s voice echoed in his earpiece. “Agent Styver’s dossier—“
“Agent Styver is full of shit!” Nolan growled. “He lied about Wolfe, so he could be lying about this, too.”
“But what if he’s not?”
The question hung in the air, a momentary silence broken only by the sound of Nolan’s labored breathing and the pounding of his pulse in his ears.
“What if—“
“If it’s true“—which Nolan hoped it wasn’t—“then I’ll handle it. But if these last two jobs have shown me anything, it’s that Agent Styver only gives us what he wants us to know, and that’s never more than the tip of the iceberg. So there’s going to be more to this than he said. And I’m going to find out what. Then, and only then, will I decide what to do.”
Silence echoed in his helmet, Taia’s way of either signaling agreement, sulking, or both.
“What’s the word on everything that’s happened the last few days?” Nolan asked, more in an attempt to pass the last few minutes of his trek home than anything else. “How’s Agent Styver spinning this?”
Another few seconds passed before Taia spoke. “The news is calling it a dust-up between rival gangs, though they’re saying it’s a few isolated incidents between the White Sharks, Rücksichtslos, Los Espadones, and Five Hand Syndicate. A few people—mainly Jonas Alex and a few more blowhards like him—are blaming it on terrorists. But no one’s got any proof beyond a few unreliable eyewitness reports. Agent Styver did a good job scrubbing everything on our trail.”
“No, you did that, Taia.” Nolan grinned. “Knowing you, you didn’t leave anything for the Protection Bureau to clean up.”
“True,” Taia replied. “My latest algorithmic upgrade has become quite effective at wiping you from video footage. You’re a ghost to the CCTV feeds. At least those I can access.”
Nolan wouldn’t put it past the Protection Bureau to have their own private network of cameras around New Avalon—and every corner of the Nyzarian Empire. But the fact that Agent Styver hadn’t brought up either of his conversations with Wolfe meant there were blind spots in the Protection Bureau’s vision.
“Oh, and I’ve got some good news for you.” An image popped up on Nolan’s HUD, showing a familiar figure lying in a hospital bed. Tubes and wires connected Jadis to all manner of machines, but there was a steady beep, beep that filled Nolan with hope. “Surgery was a success, and her doctors give her a good chance of pulling through.”
A sudden, overpowering sense of relief flooded Nolan. “Good,” he said, his throat thick. Happiness surged within him and, for a moment, the pain of his wounds disappeared, replaced by a soothing warmth that spread through his chest.
He’d been so preoccupied by his battle with the White Sharks that he’d forgotten about Jadis fighting a battle of her own. Yet now, to hear that she had lived, had clung to life despite the long-shot odds, lifted a measure of the weight off his shoulders. She would live and in doing so, remove one name from the list of people who had died because of him. Less guilt to carry around over the failures of his past.
“And it appears like Bex’s sedation is wearing off,” Taia told him. The footage of Jadis disappeared, replaced by the video feed of his apartment’s living room. Bex hadn’t yet stirred, but her heart rate had risen, her eyes beginning to move beneath her eyelids. “She’ll be awake in a few minutes.”
That sight shattered Nolan’s momentary happiness. “Best we get back before she’s up, then.”
With a mental command, he kicked the boot thrusters up to full. The ion engines roared to life and propelled him through the day-lit sky above Grove District. He wove between the buildings, keeping to the rooftops as much as possible to avoid scrutiny from anyone below. Wolfe’s energy cells had more than enough power to carry him the five kilometers back to Shimmertown, but the camouflage cells of his suit would be strained to their limits trying to keep him hidden in the full light of Solaria’s shining face.
The animated white snot-cloud appeared around one of the taller Grove District tenement buildings, greeting him with its too-wide smile and too-sparkling eyes. Nolan felt none of the weird character’s happiness—too much had happened in the last few days, and now this.
Shutting off the thrusters, Nolan dropped onto his rooftop. “Perimeter check.”
“All clear, boss,” the AI answered. “No sign of any undue interest.”
“Good.” Nolan strode between the neon billboards, opened the hatch, and clambered down the rungs set into the wall of the vertical shaft. Dread coiled in his stomach as he reached the bottom, and the knots grew tighter with every step that brought him closer to his workshop. Once inside, he waited patiently for Taia to remove his shredded combat suit, then lowered himself into his cushioned wheelchair. He threw on a clean shirt—he could shower to wash away the blood later—and spent a moment listening to the quiet whirring of Taia’s robotic arms setting to work trying to salvage the remnants of his suit.
Finally, he could avoid it no longer. Bex would be waking up any moment now. Time to face her and deal with what came next.
He rolled himself through the workshop door and into the living room, grimacing as the movement sent twinges radiating through his chest, stomach, and arms. Wolfe’s bullets had done more damage than he’d realized, and his body’s strange healing ability was working overtime to try and repair the damage. Yet he forced himself to keep moving despite the discomfort. He needed to be there when Bex woke up. The last thing he wanted was for her to panic if she didn’t recognize her surroundings. He needed her calm—as calm as she could be, given her circumstances.
“My preliminary scans reveal no visible signs of brain damage,” Taia chirped in his earpiece. “However, a field neuro exam will reveal if she’s suffered any neurological impairment as a result of her seizure.”
“Thanks.” Nolan stopped his wheelchair a couple of feet away from the couch where Bex lay. Silverguards were trained to react immediately and violently to any perceived threat, and Nolan had fought enough for one week. Better let Bex wake up slowly and easily.
The woman’s eyelids fluttered and she stirred, shifted on the couch, and gave a little half-grunt, half-groan. “Wh…” Her throat, hoarse from days without water, labored to form words. “What…”
“Easy.” Nolan spoke in a quiet, gentle voice. “Have some water.” He reached for a bottle of water that one of Taia’s robotic arms handed to him and poured a trickle into the woman’s throat. “You’ve been out a few days.”
Bex swallowed, coughed, swallowed some more, and waved the bottle away. “What happened…to me?” Her voice was raspy and weak, barely above a rough whisper. “Why…do I feel like a mech…just stomped…the shit out of me?”
Nolan chuckled. “Heavy Detox protocol will do that to you. To be honest, I’d rather face-off with a mech any day.”
Bex’s eyes widened as consciousness returned fully. She gave a sharp intake of breath and seemed to jerk away from him, then froze in place.
“You know who you are?” Nolan asked the first question of the field neuro exam.
The woman nodded.
“I need to hear it aloud.” Nolan studied her eyes; they were clear and lucid, but that only meant she was awake. “You were seizing for close to ten minutes. I need to make sure there’s no brain damage.” He fixed her with a hard gaze. “Your name.”
“Bex.”
“Do you know where you are?” The second question.
Bex glanced around, her eyes narrowing. “A pretty swanky joint for being in the middle of Shimmertown.” Her gaze darted back to him. “Even for a Silverguard.”
“So you remember who I am, then?”
“You said your name was Nolan.” Her voice grew stronger as she recovered her strength.
“I’d call that test a success, then.” Nolan cocked his head. “Right, Taia?” he asked in his mind.
“Time will tell if there’s anything
permanent,” the AI replied, “but so far all seems normal.”
“Good,” Nolan said aloud. “Which means there’s just one more question I need answered.”
Bex shot him a quizzical look. “And what’s that?” She struggled to push herself up to a sitting position, but her body was still too weak. “If you ask for my measurements, you and I are going to have a problem.”
Nolan shook his head. “Bring it up, Taia,” he mentally told the AI.
The screen on the wall next to the door sprang to life, and Bex flinched in surprise. However, her eyes flew wide and her face turned pale white as Taia brought an image of a face onto the screen.
It was her face.
“So tell me,” Nolan said, drawing the pistol he’d taken off Ledren Eberhart and pointing it at her, “who the hell is Rebecca Ajeen, and why does the Nyzarian Empire want you dead for acts of terrorism?”
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Thank you for reading Assassination Protocol, book one in Cerberus.
We hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. We just wanted to take a moment to encourage you to review the book on Amazon and Goodreads. Every review helps further the author’s reach and, ultimately, helps them continue writing fantastic books for us all to enjoy.
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Fantasy Books by Andy Peloquin:
Hero of Darkness (Dark Fantasy):
Book 1: Darkblade Assassin
Book 2: Darkblade Outcast
Book 3: Darkblade Protector
Book 4: Darkblade Seeker
Book 5: Darkblade Slayer
Book 6: Darkblade Savior
Book 7: Darkblade Justice
Queen of Thieves (Grimdark):
Book 1: Child of the Night Guild
Book 2: Thief of the Night Guild
Book 3: Queen of the Night Guild
The Silent Champions (Military Fantasy):
Book 1: Shields in Shadow
Book 2: Battle for Peace
Book 3: Steel and Valor
Book 4: Courage to Sacrifice
Book 5: Ragged Heroes -- (companion novel)
Book 6: The Last March -- (companion novel)
Heirs of Destiny (Action/Adventure):
Trial of Stone (Book 1)
Crucible of Fortune (Book 2)
Secrets of Blood (Book 3)
Storm of Chaos (Book 4)
Ascension of Death (Book 5)
The Renegade Apprentice (Book 6)
About the Author
I am, first and foremost, a storyteller and an artist—words are my palette. Fantasy and science fiction are my genres of choice, and I love to explore the darker side of human nature through the filter of fictional heroes, villains, and everything in between. I'm also a freelance writer, a book lover, and a guy who just loves to meet new people and spend hours talking about my fascination for the worlds I encounter in the pages of speculative fiction novels.
Fantasy and science fiction provide us with an escape, a way to forget about our mundane problems and step into worlds where anything is possible. It transcends age, gender, religion, race, or lifestyle--it is our way of believing what cannot be, delving into the unknowable, and discovering hidden truths about ourselves and our world in a brand new way. Fiction at its very best!
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Download the FREE prequel to see where Nolan's journey as Cerberus truly began!
Assassination Protocol: An Intergalactic Space Opera Adventure (Cerberus Book 1) Page 26
