Knight Errant

by Paul Barrett

  “And you’re certain you’ve never been to Meta Brévé?”

  “If you have the time, I’ll name off the sixty-seven planets I’ve been to. I can assure you Meta Brévé will not be on the list.” She leaned forward in her chair, placing both thin-fingered hands on the desk. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on.”

  “It seems a company on this planet is supplying one of the nobles on Meta Brévé with weapons and technology, and that company is yours.”

  “Mine?” she scoffed. “Hardly. We don’t have the capital to finance an operation like that, and we don’t deal in arms tech. Even if we did, to what end? The Planetary Council would never allow it, and the punishment for getting caught is death. That is a very harsh accusation, Mister Grey,” she stood up. “And I won’t have it. If you’re trying to blackmail me…”

  Hawk held up a hand and said, in the calmest voice he could muster. “Please, Ms. Selan. I have no intention of blackmail. I’m not some rogue captain with information looking for a quick Standard. I have a message for you. Bill sent me. The cargo has arrived, and is ready for pick up.”

  The color drained from her face. She almost fell back down in her chair, suddenly looking much older. “I had no idea.”

  “What do you mean?” Hawk asked.

  “All those things you said, are they true?”

  “Yes,” Hawk answered. “So what happens now?”

  “I’m supposed to contact a Mister Farkinan and relay the message you just gave me.”

  “That’s it.”

  “Yes. It’s one of the favors I’ve been asked to do.” Her green eyes regarded him. “How are you involved in all of this?”

  “My ship is the cargo that’s ready for pick up. Someone is going to a great deal of trouble to get it, and I want to find out where they are. I don’t suppose you have direct access to this Farkanin.”

  “No, I’m supposed to send the message through a relay station.”

  “The money to finance the Meta Brévé operation is coming from your company accounts. Why is that?”

  “Why someone wants your ship I can’t explain. The money I can. Years ago, my husband and I financed this firm and eventually took over its operation. I had my own marketing firm, so Bill, my husband, ran this one. Well, he wasn’t much of a businessman and got into financial trouble. He also had a drinking and gambling problem that didn’t help matters.”

  Hawk shifted in the chair at the mention of the man’s drinking problem. She paused; he gestured for her to continue.

  “We were going to have to sell the company until a man named Carl Noearm came to Bill and offered to help the company back on its feet. And all we would have to do was an occasional favor. Nothing that would interrupt the company’s business and nothing illegal, just things the man might be too busy to do himself. I tried to talk Bill out of it because there was something about the man I didn’t like.”

  “Did he have black hair, a cybernetic arm and a patch on his right eye?” Hawk asked.

  “He had the arm and a cybernetic right eye. No patch.”

  “Your instincts serve you well. His real name is Moran, and he’s deadly dangerous.”

  “I couldn’t dissuade Bill, so he agreed to this man’s deal. Technically it was his company, and he could do it. Unfortunately, he died three years ago, and I’m still stuck with the deal. I have to admit not much has been asked of us from his end other than delivering the message that you mentioned. I swear to you I know nothing about the money being funneled to Meta Brévé. I would never agree to do anything like that.”

  “Which is probably why you weren’t told about it. Moran did it and neglected to mention it to you.” Hawk was silent a moment, thinking. “Why would they do that?”

  “I beg your pardon,” Rianna said.

  “Why would they use you to send a message? Why not transmit straight from the Meta Brévé outpost?”

  “I don’t know. Paranoid.”

  “They’re getting too paranoid for their own good. The more links in a chain, the better a chance it will break. Ship?”

  “Yes, Captain,” came the reply in his ear.

  “Can you tap into this computer’s message base?”

  “I could. It will be politer if you ask for the code.”

  “That’s what I meant.” He looked at Rianna. “Would you be willing to give us a code to your message base?”

  “Certainly. What are you going to do?”

  “We’ll need you to send the message you’re supposed to send, and my ship will have a stringer attached to it so we can find out its destination. I think I have a good idea where it’s going though.” He paused a moment. “I’m sorry to tell you this. I think Mister Farkinan is someone in your own company.”

  “That’s impossible,” she declared.

  “Nonetheless, I think that’s the case. Someone has to be controlling the money from this end.”

  “That could be done by a computer.”

  “Computers keep records that can be hacked and stolen unless someone is around to do a core dump if necessary. As you’ve seen, these people are paranoid to the extreme. They’re going to have someone who can wipe the system if things get bad.”

  “I don’t believe anyone in my company is capable of that.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Hawk said. “If you are, I’ll apologize. However, I fear you’re going to be disappointed.”

  While waiting for the trace, Hawk returned to the conference room to find Laura and Talec discussing the fine points of a working contract. He sat in on the talks, adding input when necessary. After about two hours, they had an agreement.

  “I’ll get this to our lawyers, and they’ll have a final draft ready by late next week,” Talec said.

  “Great,” Hawk told him. “We need to wait for something from Mrs. Selan. Can we wait here?”

  “Certainly.” He gathered up the electronic papers and placed his datapad in its case. “Speak with you later,” he said as he walked out the door.

  “How did it go?” Laura asked as soon as the door closed.

  “Almost as well as could be expected when I told her she has a mole in her company,” Hawk said.

  “She has a mole?” Laura asked in surprise.

  “Almost certain.” Hawk explained his reasoning.

  “Makes sense. You don’t think it’s her, do you?”

  “I doubt it, but I dropped a motion monitor as a precaution. Ship?”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  “Has Ms. Selan left her office?”

  “Of course not. I would have told you.”

  “That’s my girl. If she is guilty,” he told Laura, “she’s being very cool about it.”

  “So, what do you think of all this money we’ve made you?”

  They spent the next half hour going over the plans and contract. Despite recent events, Hawk found himself well pleased with what Laura told him. Wolf and Gerard’s plans were going to pay off handsomely for everybody involved, provided they all survived.

  “Captain.”

  “Yes, Ship.”

  “The stringer has come back. You were right. It’s someone in the company.”

  24

  Extraction

  Jonas Wilkinson, Vice President of Seladyne Propulsion, sat in his office and stared at his monitor. The message that the package had arrived finally showed up. He expected to see it sometime this afternoon and was not disappointed. A tag tracer had been attached to it, which he also expected.

  He anticipated these events because his employers had informed him the group they sought might show up on his doorstep; he had made a point to keep a watch out for them.

  Sure enough, they had arrived yesterday, strolling in as if they had not a care in the universe. Jonas immediately recognized both of them from the holos the Corporation had sent him, so he knew the other four and the ship must be nearby.

  As soon as he spotted them, he sent a high priority message. The reply came back this morning, telling
him a capture team was en route. He needed to wait for their arrival. If any of the vessel’s crew approached him, he was to feign ignorance.

  Jonas chose to overlook the last part of the message. He would confess ignorance before no one. With confidence born from a taste of power, he knew he could deal with any rag-tag mercenaries, no matter how exceptional their spacecraft. He would set these insignificant pawns in their place and show those above him that he deserved their admiration.

  Soon after he received the message there came, as also expected, a knock at his door. Before he could reply, the door flew open and the man and woman from the holos walked in, followed by the bothersome Rianna.

  Determined to take the upper hand, Jonas glared at Rianna and, in a hard voice, said, “Rianna, what’s the meaning of—”

  “Shut up,” the man he identified as Hawk told him in a voice of steel. “I have a few questions, and you have a few answers. It’s very simple. I ask, you answer.”

  “Now look here―” Jonas started again.

  “I haven’t asked you anything yet,” Hawk said in a deadly tone, staring into Jonas’ eyes.

  Jonas’ pride warred with his fear. Even though he knew mercenaries could be brutish, he refused to let this mustached thug, with his insultingly long mercenary-styled hair, push him around. Help would arrive soon, so he had to stall and let the bully think he had cowed Jonas. “Very well, ask away.”

  “How long have you been funneling money through this corporation for your operations?”

  “About a year and a half. They’re not my operations.”

  “No,” Hawk agreed, “the operations are financed and run by Unicybertronic Technologies.”

  “You catch on quick for a Neanderthal mercenary.”

  The man appeared unfazed by the insult. “Why do they want my ship?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I don’t care. Torture me, if you think it will help.”

  “That option hasn’t been ruled out,” Hawk’s eyes narrowed in a manner that Jonas would have laughed at were it not so intimidating.

  “Why?” Rianna said, whimpering like a child.

  “Why what?” Jonas didn’t bother to hide his disdain.

  “Why would you do this to my company?”

  “Your company?” Jonas laughed. “You seem to forget it’s our company and, before long, it will be my company. Once Unicybertronic’s plans are completed, I’ll have the money and the power to take over. We already have very lucrative contracts drawn up. Unfortunately, there’s no place for you in my plans.”

  “I won’t let you do this.”

  “You won’t be able to stop me. When the time comes, you can walk out or be carried out.”

  “There’s a flaw in your plan,” Hawk told him.

  “Oh.” Jonas favored Hawk with a haughty stare. “What’s that?”

  “It relies on UCT capturing our ship, and that’s not going to happen.”

  “Of course it is,” Jonas told him. “There are already interdiction units moving in. You’re trapped.”

  “Thanks for the warning.” He looked at the woman named Laura. “Guess it’s time for us to leave.” He turned back at Jonas. “You’re coming with us.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Then you thought wrong.”

  Laura spoke up. “I can immediately think of four Council edicts you’ve broken, and I’m sure they’ll find others once we turn you in.”

  “There’s no bounty on me, so you have no authority to take me in.”

  “You can explain that to the Council,” Hawk said.

  “Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but I’m not going anywhere with you. It doesn’t matter what edicts I’ve broken because very soon after Unicybertronic has your ship the Council will cease to exist.”

  “That sounds a lot like treason to me,” Hawk walked up to the desk and stood directly in front of Jonas. “I’ve heard enough. To use your words, you can walk out or be carried out.”

  Jonas stood up. “You can’t threaten me.”

  It was time to end this man’s pretense of control. Hawk lashed out over the desk with a ridgehand and struck Jonas across the temple. The man’s knees gave out, and he plummeted to the floor. His jaw made a loud clacking sound as it struck the top of the desk.

  “Now then,” Hawk stared down at the stunned man, “let me introduce myself. I’m Captain Sean Grey, Commander of EC Team Seven, attached to Force Thirteen. You are under arrest for suspicion of treason, violation of the Tech Restricted Planet Code, and whatever else we can come up with.”

  “Force Thirteen?” the man mumbled, only semi-conscious.

  “That’s right.” Hawk walked behind the desk. He helped Jonas stand up, twisting his right arm behind his back at an uncomfortable angle. “You picked the wrong person to spill your guts to. I imagine your fellow conspirators forgot to mention that.” He forced the still dazed man over to the door. Turning to Rianna, he said, “Thank you for the help.”

  “What’s going to happen to him?”

  Laura answered. “The Council will be interested in what he knows, so I suspect they’ll question him quite thoroughly. Once they’ve finished, he’ll be sent somewhere far away for a long time.”

  Rianna stared at Jonas, her expression pained. She opened her mouth, closed it; paused a moment, and then said, “Please get him out of here.”

  Hawk pushed Jonas out the door.

  “I’m sorry about this,” Rianna said to Laura.

  “Don’t be,” Laura told her. “None of it was your fault. The people you dealt with are masters at manipulating others.” Laura smiled at her. “They’ve been doing it to us quite well, so you’re in good company.”

  Rianna smiled back. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” Laura said as she started to leave, “we’re going to need it.”

  Laura and Hawk walked down the corridor, Jonas in front of them. A few people gave them curious stares. Something in Hawk’s gaze told them not to interfere. A buzz of whispered conversations started in their wake. Hawk and Laura paid no attention.

  Halfway to the lobby, Hawk sensed a change in Jonas’s posture; a slight tensing of the muscles told him the man had recovered from his stun and was considering doing something stupid.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Hawk told him calmly while applying pressure to the bent arm. “I’ll stop you cold before you get two meters.”

  Jonas’s shoulders slumped.

  “Hawk, Laura, you there?” Gerard’s voice said in their ear.

  “Yeah,” Hawk answered. “We’re on our way out.”

  “You might want to slow down a moment. There’s a minor problem out here. I’ll see if I can take care of it.”

  “What kind of problem?”

  “Rough estimate, seventy men, armed with assault lasers.”

  “Boy,” Laura murmured. “They’re not even trying to be subtle anymore.”

  “Ship, keep your sensors open,” Hawk told her. “You might have some company too.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain. Nothing so far.”

  “Anything we can do to help, Gerard?”

  “Walk on through and keep your hands on Jonas. You’ll have to trust me; I’m going to be busy.”

  “Problems?” Jonas asked, his voice a mixture of sneer and hope.

  “It looks like your rescue party has shown up.”

  “You’re trapped.” The triumph returned to Jonas’s dark eyes. “Why don’t you give up now and save yourself some pain?”

  “Your powers of underestimation are staggering,” Hawk informed him. “How did you get so far ahead in the corporate world?”

  “Obsequiousness,” Laura said. “He’s willing to bow down before the great overlords at UCT.”

  “Only as long as it suits me.”

  “That may be longer than you expect,” Laura told him.

  “Or not as long as you might hope,” Hawk said. “If we’re go
ing to be captured, we won’t have any more use for you.”

  Hawk left the rest unspoken. The fear visible on Jonas’ sallow face told him the meaning had gotten through.

  Gerard studied the situation from his vantage point a block away. Everything had been calm, with nothing to break the monotony other than the usual traffic of a typical workday. Gerard had begun to hope they had gotten a step ahead of their antagonists.

  He should have known better.

  The first hovervan had pulled up in front of Seladyne Propulsion’s dull glasteel building about fifteen minutes ago. Gerard saw nothing unusual about it, which immediately made him wary. Gray metal, with no company logos, no fancy designs. Bland enough to be suspicious.

  His suspicion grew when the van settled to the ground, and no one exited the vehicle.

  Other vans, identical to the first, pulled up one by one. By the time seven duplicate vans sat parked in front of the building without one person having emerged, Gerard had moved from suspicion to absolute certainty. He sent a tiny “bumblebee” drone buzzing past the vans. A dash with the robot into an open window which emitted cigarette smoke showed ten armed and armored men piled in back. The drone retreated before the smoking passenger noticed it.

  Gerard considered pulling in Wolf and Ashron, then decided he might be able to help Hawk and Laura leave less conspicuously and with no bloodshed.

  As he listened to Hawk talk to their prisoner, he prepared for the task ahead. Within the confines of the van, Gerard closed his eyes and recited equations; the world around him faded to silence as he opened a breach into the aether. His senses traveled through the gray, swirling void, passing into the building and searching until he located Hawk and Laura.

  In the aether, they appeared as colored, humanoid-shaped patterns. Laura was a swirling, sparkling white cloud. Hawk looked muted red that moved sluggishly but occasionally showed the spark of the manipulation ability he once possessed.

  Once he tuned to them, he used Hawk’s physical contact to link to Jonas’s murky brown pattern. When he had them established, he opened his eyes and brought outside stimuli back to the front. Holding the patterns was easy once he had them fixed. The actual manipulation he planned to invoke was incredibly draining. Especially on this high-tech planet, where the connection with the aether was tenuous and hard to maintain. He wanted to wait until the last possible moment to activate it.