The Black Guard: Book II: Evolution (Black Guard Series 2)

by C. R. Daems

  Valhall's mic glowed when Art Vega picked it up. "I've spoken to the other families on Valhall, and they are in favor of a central government and military."

  "Lariw?" Joshsa asked, looking to his left.

  Mason, representing Lariw, gave an almost word for word repeat of Valhall's response. The two democracies followed with a tentative agreement, subject to their government's approval. Then the two theocracies gave tentative agreement, after a caveat by the Omom Nastya, representing Blackwood.

  "I understand everyone's concern, but a central government could impose rules which would be inconsistent with our God. So I withhold my vote until I see the specifics of such an agreement."

  "Understood, Omom Nastya," Joshsa said with a slight grin. I thought he knew everyone's response before he asked, including Lerman's, and had a strategy for dealing with those against the alliance, but it eluded me. "General Lerman?"

  "I understand your concerns and the attractiveness of banding together, but unlike Omom Nastya who may agree if the wording of the agreement doesn't infringe on Blackwood's religious rights, such an agreement would destroy the Jax's way of life. The Jax are therefore not interested."

  "That would put you against a Helix Alliance," Joshsa said, raising an eyebrow.

  "No. The Jax does not oppose you forming an alliance, nor would we expect any support from the alliance in the event of trouble. If the alliance held any ill will against the Jax, that would be your aggression, not that of the Jax."

  "You're an arrogant bunch, just like your companion standing behind you. She thinks she's special because she's wearing a man's uniform. Any of my guards could take her in a fair fight. Of course, the Black Girly Guard doesn't believe in fair fights, does it? They earned their reputation shooting unarmed civilians and sneaking up on their opponents and shooting them in the back. I hear the men are average, but my guards have heard the women are called the Black Tramps," Joshsa said loudly. He pretended to laugh, but it was strained.

  He was setting me up for something, because he wasn't armed—maybe trying to goad me into touching my weapon and justifying the guards to shoot me. Sensing trouble, I scanned the room, watching the guards for signs they were preparing to draw their weapons. There were a total of seven that concerned me: the five Outpost security guards as well as Valhall and Lariw's two guards.

  "What about it, girly!" shouted the Valhall security guard standing on Joshsa's left.

  Sensing he was an intentional distraction, I glanced right. Sure enough, the two Outpost guards on the right side were drawing their weapons. To my relief, Lerman dropped to his knees.

  I slapped my Mfw. It swiveled up enough to target the two guards and I fired twice, hitting each in the head, a precaution in case they were wearing body armor.

  Now the guard who had shouted and the two guards on either side of me were reaching for their weapons as well as the Outpost security and the Valhall guards next to him. I shot the Valhall guard as his gun cleared his holster, then the other outpost guard. I then dropped into a split, firing at the Lariw guard on the way down to the floor.

  Two bursts from multifunctional weapons exploded near me as I hit the floor. I looked left to shoot the guard there, only to see him being thrown backward, his uniform torn to shreds as well as half his face. Looking back to the right, I saw the other guard, his body riddled with pellets, staggering backward. It appeared the two had fired a burst of pellets at me a split second after I had begun dropping to the floor but shot each other instead.

  I sprang up, surveying the room. The seats were empty with the delegates on the floor, behind chairs, or crouched against the wall near their security.

  "Weapons on the ground, now!" I said into the silence. "Or I'll shoot to kill." A quick look around the room convinced the delegations' guards to put down their weapons.

  "Lerman, your guard murdered seven guards without justification. She will be held accountable—"

  "Joshsa, I would say your guards need to be held accountable, but I guess they have been. I'm sure you have cameras recording this meeting. Play them and let the delegates decide who incited the action and who drew first."

  "Outpost will have justice for the murders. I've summoned more guards with shields."

  Lerman opened his Mfi. "Captain Wolf. Call battle stations. If I don't call back every fifteen minutes, you will destroy this building. Also, notify Jax that if they don't hear from you within twenty-four hours, we are at war with Outpost, Valhall, and Lariw."

  Joshsa stood staring at Lerman with his face a mask of shifting emotions: hate, rage, fear, and finally resignation. Just then, ten Outpost troops burst into the room. Joshsa said something in his Comm devise that caused them to relax, although they stayed back against the wall. He then spent several minutes on his Comm devise. Not too long afterward the monitors lit with several different views of the conference room with a time stamp of nine hundred hours, which had been the starting time of the meeting.

  "Now, run the videos to where the Valhall guard began shouting," Lerman said then looked at Nastya. "Omom Nastya, as a neutral party would you mind recording the time each guard touched their weapon?"

  "I'd be glad to in the interest of truth and justice," she gave a small bow to Lerman.

  By now, everyone had returned to their seats and was watching the action as it progressed frame by frame, with Nastya stopping the videos to record on her tablet the time each one of us reached for a weapon. When she finished, she displayed her results on the monitor. The total action, from the first shout to my last shot, took just under six seconds. And the results showed that the two Outpost guards had drawn their guns before I drew mine and each guard had their gun out of its holster before I fired.

  "I think it's clear who started the shooting and that it was a trap intended to kill my security. It's one of many reasons the Jax would never partner with Outpost, Valhall, or Lariw—you weren't to be trusted when you arrived a century ago, and you haven't changed. I'm leaving. If I don't make it back to my ship or my ship home, the Jax will destroy your ability to leave this system for a thousand years." Lerman rose and headed for the elevator.

  I watched the ten new Outpost guards who Joshsa had summoned. When Lerman had entered the elevator, I followed. We exited at the sixth floor, collected our gear, called for a shuttle, and were picked up two hours later without incident.

  "I'm glad I ducked," Lerman said on the ride back to the Deathstalker.

  "Me too, sir. They had it set up to kill you. They would have blamed it on me causing the incident and you being caught in the crossfire," I said.

  He was silent for a long time. "You're right. They never expected the Jax to join their alliance. They were hoping to create an incident just short of a war to convince the other system leaders they needed to band together. Hopefully, you ruined their carefully laid plan. I doubt Nastya wants any part of them, and I suspect the democracies will reconsider when they hear what happened, especially if they think joining will put them at war with the Jax. Given that, this was a worthwhile trip."

  CHAPTER THREE

  Blackwood: Change can be difficult

  When I stepped down from the shuttle, Hada Attali stood waiting, with a huge smile of welcome. She grabbed me in a bear hug that made me feel I was home and among family.

  "The rumors are running wild, everything from we are at war with the other Helix systems to you were killed in a fight with Outpost security. Since I just hugged you and you feel solid, I can discount that rumor. Everyone is dying to hear what really happened, but you're going to tell your sister first." Hada linked her arm into mine and half dragged me down the trail and off to our favorite meditation place: a small bare slab of rock, just big enough for the two of us to sit precariously perched on the shear face of gray granite. It was partly hidden by a mighty waterfall that fell hundreds of meters into a turbulent river of crashing white water that fought its way over boulders and through narrow canyons into a lush green valley far in the distance. "All r
ight, what happened?"

  "General Lerman decided to make a statement ..." I went on to explain, between interruptions, my assignment with Lerman.

  "So we aren't at war?"

  "We didn't leave on good terms, but I don't think we're officially at war. Maybe someday, but not today." I had mixed feelings about the assignment, the meeting, and Lerman. He had gone to Outpost to make a statement—and had succeeded based on his mood on the way back to Jax space. He had taken a huge risk on me winning the game without himself knowing the rules. He had risked his life and mine for some benefit that wasn't obvious to me. And what would have been the ramifications of losing? Maybe in time I would understand. "How did your assignment go, Hada?"

  "Another monarch who had earned his people's hatred," Hada said with a snort. "He made the mistake of thinking I was one of his subjects. That might have worked last year, but I remembered my uppity-sister's sage advice and told him I wasn't his puppy, servant, or subject and would leave if he wouldn't let me and my people do our job—it worked. He still fought me until we saved his life a week later. There were three attempts. His younger brother eventually replaced him. The brother isn't well liked, but at least he isn't hated. No Guard died, and I didn't let the client intimidate me, so I count it as a successful assignment."

  "Very successful. What's been happening here while I've been away?"

  "Your addendum to the historical history of Captain Embry has everyone wanting to learn the whip. Since you weren't here, they've been consulting me. That turned out to be fortunate. If they had attempted to learn it on their own, the space gods only know what part of themselves they would have carved off. Most had never used the whip since their basic introduction after their promotion and didn't realize how lethal it was. I had several leather whips made for practice after one lieutenant nearly cut off his foot. Fortunately, he only ruined a good pair of boots."

  * * *

  Two days later, I turned in my post assignment report to Wexler and joined the new third phase candidates.

  "Candidates, attention!" Creech barked as I approached the group.

  "At ease." I surveyed the group of three men and three women.

  "Captain Sapir's latest assignment eloquently demonstrated why we spend so many hours practicing how to shoot and why less than one hundred percent is not adequate. We are going to spend the next several classes discussing what she did and why, and then you will attempt to duplicate the result."

  The next several weeks went by quickly as I settled back into a pleasant routine: working with Creech with the third phase candidates, teaching the whip to the available Guard officers, spending time working out with Dragons Hada and Dobrin—who was back from a post assignment leave—and relaxing and talking with Hada for hours late into the night. Life was good.

  * * *

  "Captain Sapir, Commander Wexler would like to see you," Corporal Yaron said after a low bow.

  "Thank you, Yaron." Since he didn't say when, I assumed immediately and followed him back to Wexler's office. On entering, I bowed low, looking at the ground.

  "Sit." He waved me to the only other chair in the office. "I've just returned from a meeting with the JCC. General Lerman admits it was a mistake attending the Outpost meeting. He had hoped to discourage the formation of a Helix Alliance, never believing the three family-run systems planned to use him to discredit the Jax and in so doing to convince the other systems they needed an alliance for protection against us. He let our superiority cloud his judgment. If you hadn't demonstrated the need for him to stay out of your line of fire, he would probably be dead and you blamed for starting the fight. It turns out he achieved his objective but only thanks to the Black Guard. The Committee has changed our name officially from the Guard to the Black Guard. Lerman said you impressed him with your performance on the firing range, but he still can't believe you killed seven men in less than six seconds with single shots to the head when you drew last."

  "Technically, sir, I only killed five. Two shot each other," I said.

  "One does not argue with a general, Sapir. I'm sure they just saved you two pellets. Anyway, the obvious treachery on the part of the family-run systems convinced several leaders of the other systems that an alliance wasn't a good idea and a couple of those systems are interested in talking with us about providing them naval protection."

  "I would have been tried for murder except for the general's bluff," I said, thinking about his call to the Deathstalker.

  Wexler laughed. "That was no bluff, Sapir. Tradition: once a Jax gives an ultimatum, there is no taking it back. Otherwise, no one will believe you next time." He stared at me, awaiting my acknowledgement. Not about Lerman but the necessity for caution before issuing ultimatums.

  I nodded my understanding.

  He gave me a brief nod in return. "The JCC are pleased with your revised third phase training and have released you for assignments. They emphasize it isn't for saving the general's life but because you belong on assignment …" He gave a snort, "And they just happen to have the perfect non-standard assignment for you. One that may kill two birds with one bullet, as the saying goes." Wexler stopped for a drink of his kaffa, and the skin around his eyes crinkled with amusement.

  I leaned forward in response. To me, an assignment was like going on a new adventure with family.

  "The current leader, the Holy One of Blackwood, is old and expected to die within weeks. Her replacement is planning on making some changes in her security, which she feels are not going to be popular."

  "Do you know what kind of changes?" Few people liked change, so the amount and kind of grief she would get depended on the type of people who disliked the changes: hundreds versus thousands, the poor versus the rich, or the weak versus the powerful.

  "She plans to replace the group who has traditionally guarded the Holy One and the palace." Wexler gave a wry grin. "Those in power don't hire us and pay our rates if there is a cheaper option unless it involves their personal safety. When their personal safety is involved, they tend to be willing to spend whatever is necessary to hire the best. Your performance at Outpost convinced Omom Nastya, the next Holy One, that you are worth the expense."

  "Just her?" I wondered if she had a family or others she wanted protected.

  "Her and her daughter, who is being groomed to succeed her. And there will be travel involved." He laughed. "That made you a three-time winner: Nastya, Lerman, and I all agree you are the logical choice. You will have a team of twenty, which should tell you how important this is to everyone concerned."

  "Who will be on my team, sir?" It didn't really matter. Everyone in the Guard was qualified and family in my mind, but I was curious if I knew my new team.

  "Lieutenant Elijah and Senior Sergeant Catz and Haber, who was recently promoted. In addition to those three, you have another six double-dragon recipients from action at New Keif and Lanzhou, six others who have previously served with you, and six privates. It's a good team."

  "Yes, sir. When does Omom Nastya expect us?"

  "She expects you in three days. Everyone should be on Sasser Mountain tomorrow, and the Crouching Tiger will be in orbit two days from now. You should be in Blackwood on the third day as the contract states. Be careful, Sapir. The Gurk are Blackwood's equivalent to the Jax Guard and nasty. They aren't going to like being replaced."

  * * *

  "Guard, attention!" Lieutenant Elijah shouted as I entered, and the room became deathly quiet. I surveyed the group in front of me, noting familiar faces that gave me flashes of past assignments: Lanzhou, Molova, New Keif, Halo, Faithful, and North Song. These were not only good friends I had spent good and bad times with, but also family, which now included the six new Guards.

  "At ease," I said, and everyone relaxed into a parade rest and those who had served with me smiled. "I see some of you think you're going to a party."

  "Yes, sir!" shouted everyone except for the six new Guards.

  "And I suppose you have already corrupted the new
members of the team with wild stories of masquerade parties and my untraditional behavior?"

  "Yes, sir!"

  "Well then, I guess it's too late to get rid of you," I said, shaking my head and frowning. "Lieutenant Elijah, Senior Sergeants Catz and Nadel, introduce me to the new members."

  The three approached and bowed low. Elijah spoke first, "Per your orders, I've broken the Guards into two groups. Senior Sergeant Catz commands one team and Senior Sergeant Nadel the other. Sergeant Catz."

  "Sir, my team consists of Sgt. Haber, Corporals Alpert, Reti, Krebs, Jaffe, Rong," she said as she pointed to each, who each bowed low to me in turn, "and privates Hale, Coklin, and Kemp." Each bowed in turn.

  "Sir, my team consists of Sergeant Ganz, Corporals Toch, Preis, Volpe, Kott, and Uziel, and privates Suton, Aldit, and Craris." Nadel pointed at each member, who bowed in turn.

  "Our tradition has not changed. We're Jax, and we're expected to fight to the last Guard. That is surprisingly easy to do. Duty is however not always so easy. Tomorrow, for those interested, we are going to the planet Blackwood and our duty will be to keep the Omom Nastya, who will assume the position of Holy One, and her daughter alive. That will be your duty and my first priority; dying is neither a priority nor part of your duty. Understood?"

  "Yes, sir." This time the shout was louder.

  "There is food and drink waiting outside. Mingle. If you don't know someone, go up to them and introduce yourself. We may not always be in uniform," I said to smiles and laughs from those who had been on assignments with me. "Dismissed."

  I spent the next two hours talking with every member of my detail, reminiscing over old times and getting to know the new privates—they were now part of my family and neither the least-favorites nor throw-a-ways.

  * * *

  "What do you think of this assignment, Captain?" Elijah asked in the shuttle on the ride to the Crouching Tiger.