War of the Innocents

by Michelle Breon

“You still don’t trust me. Good. I will protect her with or without your cooperation. It merely makes my job easier.”

  “Tis your job? And theirs?” Nik indicated the two following behind.

  “We are members of an elite group of police. We all swore an oath to protect the innocents and to find those that harm the innocents. Your client, the Cerato, is almost as innocent as they come and you are not far from it. I can only imagine that your entire planet is just as innocent in the harsher ways of this universe. Recent events jeopardize that very innocence. Thus it becomes my job to protect your planet.”

  They walked in silence for a while as Nik digested this pretty speech. He knew the man could be false and leading him into a trap, yet it somehow did not feel that way. Dark and dangerous, yes, but not sinister or underhanded.

  Several minutes later, the man stopped at the end of a dark alleyway. “This is your last chance to back out. What is your answer?”

  Though this appeared to be a trap, Nik instinctively knew it was not. “Aiy, though I may yet regret this.”

  The man nodded and pulled out a scanner. “Please hold still. I trust you as little as you trust me.”

  The scanner beeped at Nik’s boot knives and the men behind him took the blades. When nothing else was found, they returned the knives to him.

  “Follow me,” the man said as he approached the wall of the building next to them. He pushed a button on the wall and a scanner appeared from the wall. He looked into the scanner, then the scanner retracted as a door began to open in the wall.

  Nik followed the man into a dimly lit hallway. As they walked, the lights became brighter until they turned a corner and entered a large room. At the doorway, the man clicked the small device again. Suddenly, Nik could hear the noise from the training room. The man motioned him forward. “Welcome to our world, Nik. You may call me Ethan. Please follow me.”

  Nik followed, amazed at the number of people in the room. They were being trained in hand-to-hand fighting, similar to Tashi’s training back on Llanelyn. The two men behind him fell back, leaving him alone with Ethan as they entered a wide hallway on the opposite side of the training area. Many doors and windows lined the hallway, offering views into the rooms beyond the doors. Several people were in the rooms, training with various weapons.

  At the end of the hallway, Ethan led him through a nondescript door into a small office like room with windows on both sides where he settled into a big black chair behind a desk. Nik could see the fight training as well as the weapons training from here. The two windowless walls were lined with cabinets, with several framed official looking certificates above the cabinets.

  “Convinced yet?”

  “You could be training killers as well as police.” Nik looked around the room for any sign that this was more than it seemed. The certificates looked official enough, the labels on the nearest cabinet drawers read Guard, Tourist, Known Target, and Potential Target. All the cabinets had locks and the video screen in the corner was very sleek and modern. Nothing looked or felt like the Underground.

  “True. But would you stand a chance against either one?”

  Grimly, Nik shook his head. “So what can you teach me?” Nik waited for his normal sense of danger to kick in, but he felt calm.

  “You will learn better fighting skills and train on any weapon that you desire. We can provide you with the technology to detect trouble as well as prevent it, should the need arise. And we will provide you with information that you might not otherwise have access to.”

  Nik nodded, knowing from his own training and Joel’s security tour how valuable everything that Ethan offered was to a bodyguard. “And what do I have to do for all of this?”

  “Keep your client and everyone around her safe.”

  “No money? No additional tasks?” This all sounded too good to be true. There had to be a catch, but instinctively Nik knew Ethan spoke the truth.

  Ethan chuckled again. “Nope. As we say, no strings attached. Since you are not from Earth, you will not be paid, but you will have free use of this training facility when you are here.”

  “And when I no longer come here?”

  “You will owe us nothing. Once the current events settle down, you may return home or you may want to stay here.” Ethan paused, then asked, “So what’s your final decision? Are you in or out?”

  Nik looked from the fight training room to the weapons training room. “She will not like this.”

  “You cannot tell her or anyone else. To do so would be to jeopardize everything you see.”

  “And while I am here, she will be guarded?”

  Ethan nodded. “While she is on this planet, she will be guarded.”

  Nik turned to face him. “I’m in. What about Pieter?”

  Ethan stood up. “I choose who I train and when. I’m still thinking on Pieter. Let’s begin your training right away. Care to show me what you know of fighting?” He indicated the fight training area and Nik nodded.

  Ethan left his office and headed down a different hallway. “You may put your clothes in one of these bins. There are training suits over there. One should fit you. I will meet you in the gym.”

  Multiple hours later, Nik collapsed in a chair in Ethan’s office. Ethan opened a cabinet in the wall and removed a handful of small things. He laid the items on the desk before Nik, picking them up one at a time to explain and demonstrate it. “This is a sound shield. You saw me use this in the garden. It allows no sound to pass a perimeter wall of about six feet. You cannot hear what is beyond, but they cannot hear you either. It allows for private conversation, though you should not use it in a crowded area.

  “This is a life sign detector. It will indicate any life sign within two miles of your position. Useless in the city, but it may be useful to you on Llanelyn.

  “This is your personal recorder and a backup recorder. The scanners do not detect them.

  “And last is our insignia. Wear it at all times, hidden on your person. Do not show it to anyone and do not lose it. It contains a homing beacon that will allow us to find you anywhere on the planet if need be. The only time you should ever show it is if one of us displays ours first. Any questions?”

  “Aiy, hundreds. But for now, how do I contact you again?” Nik picked up the devices and tucked them into a pocket.

  “Come to this training facility anytime. Someone here will know where I am.”

  “I’m not sure I remember how to get to this facility. Twas dark when we came.”

  “Do you have some time in the next day or so to return?”

  “Aiy, tomorrow after dinner. We return home the following day.”

  “I will send someone to the DeWitt home to escort you. Your client is safer there than at the hotel by herself. If you are ready to go, we can leave.”

  Nik nodded and followed Ethan outside. Night had fallen. Nik checked his watch for the time. It was almost midnight. Angel would be sick with worry, but he would be with her soon.

  Ethan led him through the streets to Jason’s neighborhood. “See you tomorrow night.”

  Stiff and sore from Ethan’s training regimen, Nik led the way on the transporter jumps. He let Angel talk about the nightclubs, while he thought about Ethan and his organization. Mischka and Tashi would not approve of the weapons training that Ethan had indicated all his men received, but after seeing Joel’s surveillance and weaponry, Nik understood how out of touch they were. For now, he decided to say nothing to them about the additional training, but to continue. Angel’s safety was all that really mattered in the end.

  Angel noted his soreness and asked why. Nik explained about the training that he and Pieter had been doing at the hotel. He forced a smile. “I have to keep my skills up somehow.”

  Angel dropped the subject, suspecting that he was not telling her the whole story. Pieter just did not look as tough as Uncle Tashi.

  Gillian met them in the transporter chamber on Llanelyn. “Right on time. What’s first, sleep, food, or statu
s?” she asked as she hugged Angel.

  Angel yawned. “A nap I think.”

  Nik resettled the strap for her bag on his shoulder. “Lead the way.”

  Gillian escorted a yawning Angel home. Nik set her bag down and quietly left as Mary led Angel to her room. Mary woke her two hours later for lunch.

  Feeling somewhat refreshed, Angel headed to the Meeting Hall to find Gillian. She handed her the data crystal with the recording from the Peace Conference. “Overall a boring Peace Conference. But I do need to talk to grandpa and Tashi about the identity record changes.” She showed Gillian another data crystal. “You may as well come with me.”

  As they walked across the village, Angel noticed many strange people of different races wandering about the village.

  “Aiy,” Gillian acknowledged. “The hotel tis booked up for several months with people from many planets, not just Earth. The Apaugallas have been recalled for now, as all hotels are booked solid. This year’s recruits are being trained more for a home guard than for travel right now, but until they are ready, the rest are keeping watch.”

  “Any trouble?”

  “No. Most are just curious. However I’ve talked to Tuttenrock about their screening process in more detail. I’ll explain that later.”

  Angel nodded. “When is our next shipment due to leave?”

  “The next shipment that we need Steven for leaves in just over a week for the Racine.”

  “Tis five days in the opposite direction from Krandul.”

  “Aiy. I’ve already let Steven know. Tom will be here before the shipment leaves. He will contact us when he arrives, as his ship is the non-atmospheric type. Though I think you should talk to the Racine again and let them know what happened with the last shipment. We need the medical supplies they are providing. They might want a warship standing by.”

  Angel nodded as she opened the door to the Training Center. They crossed the sparring area, ignoring the training in progress and found Mischka in conference with Tashi and Nik.

  “Come in,” Mischka called. “We were discussing the Id cards.”

  Angel briefly explained the proposed changes and the reasons behind the changes. She handed Mischka the data crystal. “The details are all here.”

  “I will review and then we can talk.”

  Mischka asked about the trip and the peace talks. Angel explained much as she had to Gillian earlier.

  Angel settled into a routine for the next several days. Each morning she checked with the Agricultural Guild on when the shipments were expected to be ready, both the one for the Racine and the one for Tuttenrock that they had always received via the transporter. She also checked with Mischka on travel reports and the Hospitality Guild on the hotels. The shipments were on schedule and the travelers had not caused any problems.

  In the evenings, she read the information sent by Ian on the Chantis Accord, the riots around the ships, and the ships themselves. He even found an old video of the launch of one of the ships and sent that to her. The grainy image was hard to watch but Angel watched it many times, in awe of the courage of the colonists.

  Angel ensured that she was in the Data Center when Tom arrived in the shield ship. He promised to keep the shipment safe and to provide a video of the trip.

  The day before the shipment was to be transported to Tuttenrock, she vidphoned the Tuttenrock Advisor. They chatted for several minutes on the usual pleasantries, then talked about the shipment. She warned him about the mercenaries and more potential travelers.

  “Did the previous Cerato discuss with you our screening process?”

  “Aiy. I would like to add a request to that discussion though. If you have a suspicious traveler that you wish to detain, please notify me. I need to know those who are trying to get here, in case they figure out another way to reach us instead of your transporters.”

  “Tis a reasonable request. I shall inform our transporter operators they are to contact your operators before transporting to a holding cell.”

  “How long can you hold someone in the field?”

  “Several minutos. Why do you ask?”

  Angel informed him of the proposed identity record changes.

  “Interesting. I shall have my Chief Operators check into this.”

  “I have someone checking to see what, if any, upgrades we will need. Do you think you will be able to help us with the upgrades?”

  “Aiy. We will plan to help. Your transporters are mostly our tech.”

  “I know. Danku. We can discuss the costs later.”

  After a few more minutes discussing the shipments, the Advisor wished her a good day and disconnected the call.

  The following day, Tom called in from his ship, voice transmission only. The Data Center operator relayed the call to Angel’s office.

  “Cerato the shipment arrived safely.”

  “Goesh. Danku,” Angel replied with a relieved sigh.

  “However,” as Tom continued, his tone indicated this would be bad news. “A warship was needed again. I’m sending you the video now. The mercs are getting desperate. I cannot say much on an open channel, but you should contact Mr. Caldare.” Angel heard crackling in the background. “I’ll sign off now as the video download has completed.”

  “Aiy. Danku again.”

  Tom disconnected the call and settled in for the cold ride home. The shields were down to twenty percent, several systems had overloaded and had burned out, sending sparks flying. He reduced life support to minimal safe levels, checked on his unconscious navigator, and headed for the nearest space station. The other two ships with him had fared only marginally better.

  Angel watched the several minute video of the attack before she called Steven. She quickly switched to a secure line before sending him the video. As he watched the video footage, his expression turned grim.

  “I’ll check with Tom and make sure my men are alright.”

  “Then twas as bad as it looked.”

  “Yes. Mercs do not generally waste that many munitions on something this small without good cause and better pay. Though my team was able to inflict damage, the concerted firepower of three fully armed merc ships might have succeeded had it not been for the warship. My ships are the best, but even they have limits as to how much they can withstand. This looks like the mercs were trying to find that limit.” He fell silent as he watched the video again. “Let me check with Tom and look into this deeper.”

  “I think I should stop shipments.”

  “No. Do not give in. As long as there is a warship standing by, let’s continue this. I’ll send our latest ship next time, to see how it fairs. Believe it or not, this will help me to build even better ships.”

  “Aiy. Twill be a few weeks before we need to ship anything again. Let me know what you find out.”

  Steven agreed and Angel disconnected the vidphone.

  Steven switched to the secure communications node and contacted Tom. Tom provided the gloomy status report on the ships, but all the men were alive. His navigator was conscious again and the nearest space dock was a day away at the present slow speed. Steven dispatched a freighter with parts to the space dock, then sat back and contemplated the implications.

  Several minutes later, he saved the video footage to a data crystal and left his posh downtown office. The darkness deepened around him as he found a transporter outside his office building and made the jump across the domed city to the industrialized area that housed Ethan’s training facility. Unsurprisingly he found Ethan in his office.

  “Llanelyn has a worsening problem,” he said without preamble, flipping the data crystal to Ethan. He waited silently while Ethan watched the video. “My ships and crew only survived compliments of that warship.”

  Ethan relayed the information his operatives had found on the mercs. “Definitely Drotz backed. I would not be surprised that the next attempt included a trillium warhead.”

  Steven blanched as Ethan handed him the recent Times article on the Chantis Accord a
long with the in depth intelligence reports on the construction efforts of the Drotz. Steven swore profusely. “My men did not sign up for this.”

  “When is their next shipment?”

  “I don’t have the exact date, but the Cerato indicated several weeks.”

  “Good. Check back with me when you have a date and I’ll dig until then.”

  “Time for me to perfect that trillium defense tech I abandoned when that Accord was signed.” Steven strode purposely from the facility.

  Ethan leaned back, contemplating this latest development. Finally satisfied with his plan, he typed out several messages, gathered the necessary files onto data crystals for his operatives. Filing the folder for Llanelyn in the Known Targets drawer, he pulled out a lightweight blanket and settled in to nap while he waited for his men to report in.

  Chapter 14

  One Final Lesson

  For Angel, the few days between talking to Steven and leaving for the next Peace Conference passed quietly. The President’s assistant vidphoned with a request to attend a meeting on the identity records the day before the conference. Angel agreed and indicated that she would transport in the day before that to help adjust to the time difference. The assistant adjusted the hotel arrangements and sent the itinerary to Angel before disconnecting.

  Angel and Nik transported in at the appointed time to their usual transporter near the hotel. They checked in, dropped their bags, and left for dinner with her aunt and uncle. When Angel could barely stay awake, Nik escorted her back to the hotel, glad to have a quiet evening.

  The following morning, Nik answered the knocking on the hotel room door. As expected Ian had arrived. He carried a stack of datapads with him, as usual.

  “Ian, come on in,” Angel called. “Grandmother sent you something. Let me go get it.” She left the room.

  Ian crossed to Nik and spoke quietly so that Angel would not overhear. “Nik, I have one last lesson to teach Angel and I must ask you not to interfere.”