by Drew Wagar
“So the rumours are true?”
“I would expect them to have some basis in fact.”
Jim exchanged a long look with the President, and then nodded very slightly.
Anything is better than the life I’ve been living recently; have they deliberately made my life boring so I would jump at any chance for action? I wonder what Rebecca would make of all of this? I guess I’ll never know…
“ Assuming I go, how do you expect me to sneak past the Dark Wheel and this… the Falchion? As I recall they are all Elite Combateers. Even with your best pilot… ”
“Technology,” the President said with a grin. “A solution close to your heart. I think you will appreciate it.”
He pressed a few code words into the table top holofac. The image of a small ship appeared, rotating, with attached schematics and data associated with it. Jim frowned; it was an unfamiliar, yet somehow traditional, design.
“ Allow me to introduce the Constrictor,” the President said. “One of our most advanced military prototypes. It is capable of point six light mach, far faster than even the SuperCobra with which you were familiar. Fitted with the latest in AI navigation and M5 multi-tronic combat computers. It is invulnerable to anything less than a long duration high power military laser. We tested it in battle against four military asps with four of our top pilots and it caned them. It can out-fly and out-fight an Elite combateer on its own with no help from you.”
Four on one and it beat them? Just a computer? Impressive!
“A ship like that is virtually…”
“…invincible. More than a match for a single Imperial Courier,” the President finished for him. “Please try not to damage it. It is, shall we say, rather expensive.”
Jim was still staring at the schematics, lost in appreciation.
“How do I find the assassin?”
“Fortunately, all Galcop files contain a witchspace fold. It’s a marker we can trace. I doubt the Dark Wheel or the assassin are aware of it, but the Chief of Staff would know. The ship has already been keyed to follow it, but you will need to be discrete. If we can recover the file, we can call off the war. It is as simple as that.”
“Why not just send in the marines?”
“I said discrete! Jim, this has got to be off the record. I need someone I can trust. Someone who understands the nuances of the situation. I need your specialism, not a bunch of muscle bound… ”
“… and if it goes wrong you and Galcop can wipe their hands of it all.”
“ Plausible deniability?” the President acknowledged with a grim smile. “Not really. If it does all go wrong, I will have no choice but to send in the marines. I would rather not have to do that, as it would be the end of my term in office. Galcop taking down civilians in full view of the public? I do not want a war with the Dark Wheel, and I seriously doubt they want one either. That alone shows me how important Raxxla is. Naturally I am happy to give you anything you desire as payment.”
“We’ll talk about that if I’m successful.”
“You will do it?”
“I’ll do it.”
“I knew you were our man. Locate the thief and recover the Raxxla file at all costs. You will leave immediately. It is essential that we re-establish the status quo… ”
Rebecca stared at the man in shock, her eyes wide and her face pale. She reached for her blaster and grasped it reassuringly.
“The Dark Wheel? Then what the hell are you doing here?” she hissed. “I should shop you; the rewards alone…”
“I’ve already told you. We need your help.”
“I’m not helping a bunch of murdering bastards!”
“The Dark Wheel doesn’t murder people in cold blood, Rebecca.”
“Yeah?”
“And, if you don’t mind me saying so, you have an interesting attitude to murder given that you are someone who has dealt death to hundreds.”
“Pirates have it coming.”
“Aren’t they merely victims of circumstance? Desperate, failed traders?”
Rebecca changed the subject and then glared at him. “I suppose Mahl, Janu and the others just had some unlucky accidents, what a co-incidence… They found your ID, it was you!”
“Murders have been committed, no doubt about it,” the man continued, “but not by us. We’re merely getting the blame.”
“And I’m supposed to take your word for it, am I? Listen buster, I don’t even know your name, let alone what your angle is.”
“I have had a number of names over the years,” the man said with a sudden grin, “but you can refer to me as Iacobus.”
“Iacobus,” she replied, struggling to pronounce it. “Bit old fashioned isn’t it?”
“I’m an old man,” Iacobus leant back again with a laugh. “What do you know about us, Rebecca?”
“Not much. You’re a bunch of crazy old space hippies, tripping out on adventures and pretending to be mystical, going off on quests to look for dreams and fairy stories. A load of ageing wizards, so they say.”
Iacobus smiled. “A fair description.”
“And you’re going to tell me different.”
“Not exactly. The Dark Wheel primarily exists to guard things: items of importance, secrets of value.”
“Such as?”
“Secrets important enough to kill for.”
“You’re going in circles.”
“Let me be plain. Someone is murdering Galcop staff, claiming to be the Dark Wheel. It wasn’t us. Someone is murdering my people too. Your assassin is the one after us, and he was previous in the employ of Galcop. Perhaps he is behind these murders too.”
“ He’s not my assassin,” Rebecca said coldly.
“Do you agree with my hypothesis?”
“It makes sense,” she said slowly as if agreeing. Then she raised her voice impatiently, “Apart from one big question. Why? You dumb ass! That assassin was a hired hand! He was employed by Galcop to kill me and Ji… Mr. Fey.. McKenna. Why would he start attacking them?”
Iacobus smiled at her stutter. “A higher price? A new contract? Assassins aren’t known for their loyalty.”
“But why? Who would want to kill the Dark Wheel and Galcop at the same time?”
“The Federation or the Empire?” Iacobus was obviously leading her along.
“What’s the motive? They would risk a war. After the Q-bomb affair none of them want that!”
“Perhaps Galcop themselves.”
“Huh?” Rebecca hadn’t seen that coming.
“Consider this. Assume for the moment that you, in fact, trust me implicitly…”
Rebecca coughed theatrically. “Oh yeah, right.”
“…Galcop and the Dark Wheel have agreements that go back many decades. Just suppose a new government decides that these agreements are too onerous, no longer desirable for some reason. A senior Galcop figure arranges for this assassin to murder their own people, plants evidence to indicate our guilt in order to give it a mandate to pursue the Dark Wheel. They know our ‘agreed code’, after all. The Dark Wheel members are also murdered by this same assassin. A Galcop plot to eradicate us and we have no choice but to fight back. Galcop has a mandate for a just war against us. Galcop emerges without a stain, and our secrets are available without interference.”
Rebecca looked thoughtful. “It would have to be someone high up. The President or the Military Chief of… not much different to what happened to us over the Q-Bomb!”
“My point exactly. Galcop has a history of assassinating its own staff. They aren’t the most trustworthy organisation.”
“Damn Galcop!” Rebecca snapped, and then frowned again. “Wait a minute. We had a bomb, and we knew about their plan to attack Achenar. They had a good reason for killing us, we were a threat. Why does Galcop want to attack the Dark Wheel? Answer that! What is it that you people know that is so dangerous?”
Iacobus sighed, looking rather wistful. “As I mentioned, we have an agreement with them that goes back many
decades. They agreed not to search for it, we agreed to keep secure all information about it, preventing it from falling into the hands of… the unworthy.”
“Search for what?”
Iacobus paused, looked at her with a level gaze and then intoned a single word.
“Raxxla.”
Rebecca stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. “Raxxla. You idiot. Look, just tell me where this assassin is and I’ll go try to kill him, no need for all of this cloak and dagger nonsense. I thought you were being serious…”
She looked back at him, he hadn’t moved. She frowned.
“…you are serious!”
“Indeed.”
“ You don’t really expect me to believe in Raxxla do you? What about the Ontiatian asteroid eater or the ed ible poets of yesteryear? What a load of rubbish! I stopped believing in Raxxla when I left my incubator!”
“It doesn’t bother me whether you believe or not,” Iacobus replied. “In fact, it might be better if you didn’t. Nevertheless, it is the reason Galcop is attacking the Dark Wheel.”
“No way does Galcop believe in Raxxla, they live in the real world, not fairyland!”
“Even if Galcop as a whole doesn’t believe, whoever is behind these attacks does. The Dark Wheel briefed a number of Galcop officials on limited aspects of our knowledge of Raxxla. They had access to a Galcop file. Would you like to take a guess as to who they are?”
Rebecca look at him, eyebrows raised. “Mahl and the rest?”
Iacobus nodded. “We believe they were killed because they knew something about Raxxla, either some high official in Galcop is pursuing this, or Galcop themselves have been infiltrated by someone else who is.”
“What is so important about Raxxla then? What is it?”
“I am forbidden from giving you exact details. Suffice to say that Raxxla holds the key to the future of us all, every life form between here and the edge of the charts is subject to its power. If abused, everything could be lost. That is why we guard it so fervently.”
“I thought you lot were supposed to be searching for it! Are you telling me you’ve actually found it?”
Iacobus merely smiled at her. “Raxxla was found long ago, in a manner of speaking.”
Rebecca had little time for philosophical musings and grew impatient. “Whatever. Look, I’ll kill the assassin either way, just tell me where he is.”
“I can’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because I don’t know where he is.”
Rebecca stared. “Then what was the point of this whole conversation? You’re just wasting my time!”
Several people looked over in her direction.
Iacobus smiled to himself, almost as if in fond recall. “You are hot headed, aren’t you?”
“Screw you!”
“And you have a short temper and a tendency to profanity.”
“Can we quit with the character breakdown?” Rebecca hissed.
Iacobus resumed. “Finding the assassin is not that straightforward.”
“So how do I….”
“We have intercepted a Galcop transmission. They have received a number of covert messages from one of their operatives. We’ve been able to deduce the subject was Raxxla, but we’ve not uncovered any further detail other than a time and location trace. They are launching a covert mission to rendezvous with the current keeper of the file, with a new prototype ship called ‘The Constrictor’.”
“So I take them out.”
“No!” Iacobus looked quite alarmed. “They are your guide! We’d like you to follow the Galcop mission until you discover where they are headed. It should lead you to the assassin. Retrieve the Galcop file first and only then dispose of the assassin. We must regain control of the knowledge of Raxxla.”
“You want me to kill on demand,” Rebecca sounded slightly uncertain. “You’re asking me to become a bounty hunter.”
“You’ve killed before. You’re not naïve, Rebecca, however much it would suit you to appear so. If you want to be Elite, you need to make the hard choices. The assassin is a murderer and you will have no qualms about him. The Galcop mission is an illegal covert operation, outside of jurisdiction in flagrant disregard of an agreement which has kept the peace in this galaxy for decades. Galcop can’t come after you officially without admitting the whole sordid affair.”
“They could just assassinate me though!”
“So consider them to be criminals of the highest order, it’s not too difficult. You can deal with Galcop, Rebecca. Raxxla is too dangerous, too powerful to fall into the hands of these untrustworthy folk.” Iacobus shrugged. “Besides, we’d compensate you, of course.”
“Oh, that’s sweet of you,” Rebecca said acidly.
“The reward would be…”
“How much?” she interrupted, her trader instincts coming to the fore.
“More wealth than you can imagine.”
“Don’t count on it, I can imagine quite a bit.”
“One million credits now, another million when you return with the file and vid proof of the demise of the assassin.”
Rebecca’s years of experience allowed her not to react, though her head spun with numbers. Her trader instincts immediately sensed an opportunity.
Traders’ maxim – ‘Everything is negotiable’!
“I want ten million, or no can do,” she said in an offhand manner, casually looking at her fingernails.
“Don’t try my patience, young lady,” Iacobus returned, sternly.
“Seven.”
“Two.”
“Five mil, one in advance… and that’s my last offer. If I’m so valuable, you’ll pay it.”
Iacobus sighed. “Five million. Success would grant you something far more significant than mere money. You would be offered membership of the Dark Wheel itself.”
Five million! Membership of the Dark Wheel? Are they serious? They must really be desperate!
Rebecca shook her head to clear it. “Sounds lovely. What if I say no?”
“Do you think you’re likely to?”
“I like to keep my options open.”
“Then we part company now. You can enjoy the rest of your drink and continue pursuing your fruitless quest. No more contact will be made. You will not encounter the Dark Wheel again. It is unlikely you will find the assassin on your own.”
“ Why can’t you just go en masse? The assassin couldn’t hold off a combined attack from you guys even if he could take you out individually.”
The man sighed. “Firstly, a number of Dark Wheel ships would attract immediate attention. We’re in hiding if you recall. Communication is difficult. Galcop would instantly be aware, alter their plans and the assassin would not show his face. He’s wily, only striking when the odds are in his favour. He only appears on a one to one basis.”
“True enough.”
“Secondly, you can pose as a normal trader without difficulty. You won’t arouse suspicion. Neither Galcop nor the assassin will know you are coming. You’re an unknown.”
“Thanks very much,” Rebecca said snidely.
“Thirdly, the members of the Dark Wheel are simply getting too old for this kind of thing. You on the other hand, are young and fresh, not to mention the best combateer we’ve seen in decades.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Rebecca preened.
“It is not empty praise,” the man replied solemnly. “The Dark Wheel does not choose just anyone. We are very selective. Few have the calling, and fewer are chosen. I need a decision from you, I have limited time here.”
“What about you?”
“If you decline or if you fail I will endeavour, along with my colleagues, to protect Raxxla. It seems likely at this stage that we will die in the attempt. We need you, Rebecca. If it will help, I’ll beg and grovel. Although at my age it will take me a moment, my knees aren’t what they used to be…”
“Alright, alright!” Rebecca snapped. “You’ve got a deal.
What now?”
The man smiled, and handed her a small comm-tab. “This contains everything you need to track the Galcop mission.”
Rebecca accepted it. “How will I find you?”
“Once you’ve achieved the mission, I will find you. You’ll also find some information on some less well-known ship outfitters. There are some upgrades I suggest you invest in.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Remember Rebecca, there is nothing more important than Raxxla. Do not underestimate the severity of your assignment. We will be watching.”
Rebecca remained in the bar for a while after Iacobus left. She was in two minds as to what to do. This clue would likely lead her to the assassin. At that point she could either try to laser him into oblivion and just make off, ambition achieved, or she could try to carry the mission out for the Dark Wheel.
She flipped through the comm-tab information briefly. There was a fair bit to digest. The technical upgrades caught her eye; military shield enhancements, naval energy units, ported and polished drive intake manifolds, high compression injectors – a veritable catalogue of serious performance upgrades, some less than legal, from some well hidden specialist ship modification companies.
The credit numbers Iacobus had mentioned danced in front of her eyes – enough to keep her going for the rest of her life in more than satisfactory comfort.
I could almost buy my own space dredger for that kind of cash!
She laughed. It would be more than enough for her live a life of luxury and throw credits out of the airlock for the rest of her life. More money than three generations of her family had made in space in their combined lives, before tax.
Who you gonna share that with then?
Rebecca gasped as memories from two years before jolted their way back into her mind. She felt her stomach twist with emotion. They’d been arguing again – no surprises there! He’d been telling her how to run her life again. She’d told him to get lost, but he’d taken her in his arm and… .
OH, STOP IT, DAMMIT! WHY CAN’T I STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM? JUST GO AWAY!
