"S.G. Hagen" One of the nice things about short stories is that a weak idea is often never realized to be one. Novella and novel length works on the other hand are a different matter entirely. This is my way of saying that I'm not completely sure of this work. I can be both my easiest and hardest critic, I have a hard time being completely objective about my work. Oh well, enough of this. I wrote this beast a year or two or three ago. At the time it was more of an exercise in writing something of this length. Genrally I'm pleased with it but overall, well like I said, I'm not sure if the basic premise was meant for something this size. Such is life though. Hope you enjoy. Send all comments, concerns, questions, complaints, compliments and criticisms to yours truly and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I plan to be making weekly posts consisting of three or four chapters at this time. That which does not kill us must have missed us. -Friedrich Nietzsche S. Hagen u8842885@muss.cis.McMaster.ca The Good Life, The High Life and The After Life. [working title] CHAPTER 1 It was an excellent plan. Yuri puts on the right clothes, the right attitude and drops about a hundred IQ points. Then she wanders around playing airhead until the slavers nab her. After that she sits tight and waits for the cavalry. Problem was Yuri wasn't the type to sit and wait. Philasa Drast, Guns, Bad Karma and Babes. (Unreleased, under litigation, unauthorized, biography of the Lovely Angels.) The city of Motrono, on the planet Taris 4, was quiet. Most of its five hundred thousand inhabitants were asleep except for a few thousand shift workers and night people. Near the bay, three black stealth drop ships hovered in a triangular formation. The flat black ships were only visible to the naked eye when they moved and only because of how they temporarily obscured the stars. Most people would not even recognized them for what they were. Powerful ECM equipment rendered them invisible to all but the most powerful sensors. Air traffic controllers had been keeping air traffic away from the sectors the ships had been in all evening. They didn't know why and knew they were not likely to find out any time soon. In the Ops bay of the lead ship a woman sat, seeming apart from the men and women of the cities SWAT team. Her medium length red hair was held from her face with a black ribbon, a similar ribbon had been tied around her slender neck. She wore a pair of v-cut shorts that were silver in colour, her top was the same colour as were the calf hugging, knee high boots she wore. The uniform showed a lot of her creamy gold skin, too much in the opinion of those with conservative tastes and ideology. Kei was not the sort of person to let what other people thought bother her overly much though. She around, checking up on the activity of the SWAT team she shared the bay with. Most were quiet now, making last checks of their equipment. At least they were professionals Kei thought, feeling a little better. She brushed her hand across the pistol grip of the heavy laser pistol she wore in a holster along her right thigh. Captain Asam, the Ops commander, walked past her. He had been in the back making sure the battle frames and cymechs were ready to go. Reaching out she grabbed his arm before he could pass. He looked down into intense brown eyes set in a beautiful face. In an almost absent way he noted her long legs, the sensuous curves of her body. Any other time he would have been very interested but at that time he had too much on his mind. "Yes?" He asked. Kei looked at the man, calm, cool, it seemed he didn't have a worry in the world. He was either an unfeeling bastard or a consummate pro. Slightly above average height, in excellent shape, she could feel muscle in the arm she held. His short brown hair was only beginning to grey at the temples, dark blues eyes patiently regarded her as he waited for an answer. "When?" Was all she said. "It should be any minute." "I've heard that before and I don't want to hear it again unless it's the truth." There was anger in her quiet tone. Asam felt her fingers tighten on his arm for a second and was surprised at her strength. "We are doing our best, no Op ever goes completely to plan." He decided to withhold the, you should know that, part. "It was your idea." Kei accused. "I'm aware of that, thank you." A touch of anger coloured his voice as his composure cracked ever so slightly. "You will take responsibility." A statement, not a question. "Of course." "If anything happens to Yuri you're dead." Kei let go of his arm and settled back into her seat. He nodded and left. Kei stared at his back. Yesterday she and Yuri had been laying bets on who could seduce him first. Now she was thinking about killing him. Closing her eyes, she let her mind drift free, trying to keep her thoughts away from her friend. Asam did not let Kei's threat bother him. He understood her, he had lost two partners in his career. He still was not sure why the trouble consultants had been assigned to him, to the Op really. From what little he had been able to ferret out they were finishing something that might be personal. They wanted the criminal organization they were after brought down. He might find out what their personal stake in it some other time. At the present he could not afford the time to speculate about it. The Captain climbed the ladder up to the command section of the drop craft. Coming up behind his com officer he laid his hand across her shoulder. "Sir?" She turned to look at him. "Have you got it yet?" "We're in the general area, but it's a circle with a diameter of almost five klicks. I'm having trouble pinpointing the signal." "Why?" "Interference." "Are they onto us?" "No, it looks like it's accidental. Probably due to the structure they're in I'd guess." "How long?" Asam asked. "Next pulse should come soon. I'm certain I can get a lock from that one, or the next. Let's say ten minutes max." "Too long." He said softly. "Don't worry Captain." She smiled. "We'll pull the prima donna out before any one has time to offend her sensibilities." The com officer didn't care much for the trouble consultants, Yuri in particular. Her reasons for such feelings were petty and childish, she admitted to herself, but then so was Yuri. "Those two may cop the attitude but don't let it fool you Lieutenant." He told her as he left her side and continued forward to the pilot's station. "Mryia make sure your ready to go as soon as we have a location." He said to her. "I'm all ready on it." She told him. "All ships are holding their engines at full readiness. The techs are going to bitch about it but we'll be able to move and move fast on a moments notice." "Good." Asam said. The large storage room, like so much of the deserted factory, no longer served its original purpose. Yuri's hands were secured to an old shelving bracket above her head. The thin cord chafed at her wrists and her shoulder's hurt. She really hated that kind of thing. There was an angry red mark on the left side of her face. Her blonde dyed hair was dishevelled, her blouse ripped but the rents were covered by her jacket for the most part. Her skirt had a tear in it and there were several holes and runs in her stockings. The man standing in front of her was named Valemar. She had read his file. Tall, wiry, chrome cyber eyes stared out from his face, a distinctive gentleman to say the least, Yuri thought. His head was shaven showing several input jacks mounted in his skull. He wore tight leather pants and a t-shirt with no sleeves. "Who are you?" He asked Yuri, not for the first time. "You have my ID." Yuri sobbed, not for the first time, tears poured down her face, streaking her mascara even more. Valemar back handed her. Hard enough for her teeth to cut into the inside of her cheek but not doing any other damage. Yuri once again thought of how much she hated that sort of thing as she tasted her blood. "Not the answer I wanted." He screamed into her face. What had he been eating Yuri wondered. She resisted the urge to tell him that she would talk if only he would go gargle for a week with a germicide. You are supposed to be a terrified sixteen year old she told herself, act like it. She began to cry even harder. "Stow your bawling girl or I'll give you something to cry about." Yuri acted like she was trying to make a valiant and vain attempt to do just that. No one seemed to appreciate it. What kind of heartless bastards were these peoples she asked herself but then, she knew the answer. Slavers, among other things. "Who are you?" He asked once again. "Ismae Grey. Just like it says on my ID." Yuri sobbed. Hopefully they would believe it this time. She hated being helpless and the beating didn't help much. Valemar shook his head slowly. Then, with an almost regretful look on his face, he slammed his fist into her stomach. White light danced in front of Yuri's eyes, breath exploded from her lungs, saliva mixed with blood ran down her chin. Her body arched as much as the bonds would allow. "Valemar, I'm surprised." The big man who came into the room said, becoming the center of attention. "You know not to damage the merchandise, really I didn't think you went in for this sort of thing." Alamon was a very powerful underworld figure. Yuri and Kei had been assigned to track him down two weeks ago, half a galaxy away. He had acquired some information that was considered very dangerous in the wrong hands. While they had already retrieved the information it had been considered prudent to find the man and capture, or kill, him just to be sure they had taken care of all possible ways the information could spread. It had taken them a while to finally track him down, several thousand people killed along the way, not their fault, as well as a few friends. He was a well built man, his muscle was covered by a generous layer of fat though. It made him look obese, one would think he was slow and harmless. It was a dangerous thing to think. Greasy blonde hair worn long, muddy brown eyes, not a pleasant sight. The fact he was referring to Yuri as merchandise did not impress her all that much. She didn't have much time for any angry thoughts though. She was too busy trying to force air back into her tortured lungs. It felt as if there was an obstruction in her throat. "I need her to tell me who she really is." "Have you tried checking out her ID." Alamon asked, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "Blade does her ID check out." He asked, turning to his decker. "As far as I can tell." She said. "I've gone pretty deep to." "Well?" Alamon turned his gaze on Valemar. "She killed three men in the pens." Valemar told him. "Really." He turned to look at Yuri more closely. "One might wonder how she hid weapons in clothes that barely hide her." "She didn't use a weapon, bare hands, well feet for the most part. When I got in there she had just crushed Cansor's trachea with her hand cuffs." "Isn't it policy to cuff their hands behind them so things like that can't happen?" Alamon asked, a bit of anger in his tone. He hated incompetence. "They were." Valemar told him. "Most interesting." Alamon rubbed his chins looking at Yuri very closely. "I suppose we should find out if she really is who she says." He conceded the point to Valemar. "But do try to keep damage to a minimum." "We could sell her to one of our blood game clients, we know she can fight and they won't mind a few scars." One of Alamon's men suggested. "Perhaps but the best return would come from selling her as a pleasure slave." "That would be like selling someone a mountain lion when they asked for a kitten." Valemar said. "So, I have several clients who would enjoy breaking her." "You people make me sick." Yuri sobbed, she had got her breath back, perhaps she was not using it in the most productive way but she felt the need to assert herself. "No doubt, but we are rich." Alamon said nonchalantly as he took a seat close to her. "Continue." He told Valemar. Valemar spun on his heel, hand extended, the blow split her lower lip. "Well girl, what do you have to say now." Yuri spat a spray of blood and saliva onto his face and shirt. He looked shocked for a second. He reached up and wiped some of the blood off his face. Then he growled and cocked his hand back, forgetting Alamon's earlier warning not to damage her. Yuri recognized a man planning to kill when she saw one. That she had made mistake flashed through her mind. Yuri dropped all her weight onto her arms, ignoring the pain of the cord cutting into her wrists. She snapped her legs up, jackknifing her body, slamming her heels into the underside of his jaw. Valemar's body jerked, went limp. His head snapped back, there was a cracking sound as bone broke. His fist brushed her face, no force behind it. He fell to the floor. Yuri pushed herself up, taking the weight off her arms. She could feel blood from her cut wrists trickling down her forearms. Everyone in the room was silent. Alamon looked at the body of his second. Valemar had not been a friend, Alamon didn't have any friends, couldn't afford to. What he had been was someone who Alamon could trust not to put a knife in his back, as long as he never showed weakness. That was infinitely more valuable to Alamon. "Get that body out of here." Alamon snapped. "Someone tie her legs." Several men and women rushed to do his bidding. Yuri fought, though she knew it was useless. If she didn't fight she would prove what they were beginning to suspect, and she wanted to get a few licks in while she could. She broke one woman's nose with a kick, doubled a man over when she hit him in the crotch. It didn't help though. In the end they had tied her feet to another shelving bracket. "Garman." Alamon's tone was deadly soft. "Convince our guest to talk." A short, stocky man stood. He took a riot club from the floor and approached her. Yuri found herself begging and crying, most of it was faked. She was terrified, but she didn't let that control her. "You want to talk?" Garman asked. "Please don't do this." She said, knowing he would. "Wrong answer." He slammed the club into her side. Yuri screamed as she felt a rib snap. "Captain Asam." The com officer called, looking over her shoulder. Asam looked up from snapping ballistic plates onto the armour cloth body stocking he wore. He would not be going in with his men, his reflexes had been slowed by age and his presence would be a danger. Still stray shots killed as well as directed ones. "I've got the prima donna's location pin pointed. Lamar island." Asam felt the ship begin to move as Mryia acted. "In the deserted factory complex. I called up the file. It's been empty for five years but three years ago some one bought it though according to the records it's still empty." "Good." Asam pulled his pistol out of his holster and cocked it. "Get a map transferred to all section commanders." He pushed the pistol into his holster. He walked to the rear of the bridge section, grabbed the lader and slid down into the Ops bay. "All right boys and girls, it's showtime." He yelled. "Lock and load." A flurry of activity exploded around him as his people made last second preparations. The ramp at the back of the drop ship was beginning to open for launch of the flight capable battle frames and cymechs. Asam looked at his watch. It was almost thirty minutes later than he had planned to extract Yuri. She should be fine but he couldn't help feeling he had sentenced a woman young enough to be his daughter to her death. It was a grim thought. He climbed back up the ladder to the bridge. Kei picked up the Serec-Anderson submachine gun she had chosen. Pushing the drum magazine into it she thought about Yuri, before she had gone off with her hair dyed that stupid shade of blonde to play bait. Cocking the weapon she made a promise to herself. If Yuri didn't make it out then the worse disaster they had ever been involved in would pale in comparison to the funeral pyre she would raise. It was not realistic but it did make her feel better. "Yuri you better not die on me or I'll never forgive you." Kei said quietly to herself. "Want to talk now?" Garman asked, his tone almost civil. Yuri was not feeling her best. Her lower right arm was broken, she was putting only a little weight it for traction. It was a fairly clean break at least, that was something. Her left eye was swollen shut, she had felt something warm and sticky leaking from the socket earlier. Several more ribs had broken, fortunately the internal damage they had so far done was minor. Added to that were many welts, bruises, cuts, and abrasions. To top it all off she had to go to the bathroom. The silliness of the thought made Yuri smile. "You think something's funny bitch." Garman grabbed her chin, she winced as he reopened her split lip but put her smile back on. "Oh go to hell you slimy, boneheaded, sad excuse for a sentient being." Yuri said around her swollen lips and the blood in her mouth. She met his gaze with her one good eye and broadened her smile. "It's useless, she won't talk." Garman said. "Maybe we could try drugs?" "Oh who gives a damn any more." Alamon said tiredly. "Kill her, we'll figure it out later." He was getting bored with the entire exercise. Garman nodded and cocked his arm back. Yuri guessed this next hit was not going to be the taps he had given her before. He looked quite ready to crush her skull. Her mind exploded into all directions at once. There were thousands of things she had wanted to do but now never would. The operation had gone sour and she couldn't expect extraction, she was dead. Then her mind focused fully on Kei. Poor Kei, without her around who was going too keep her out of trouble Yuri thought. Then the absurdity of that thought hit her. Kei was sitting safely in one of the drop ships right now. She laughed, ignoring the pain it caused her. Garman stopped his swing, he looked at the Yuri, not understanding what was going on. He looked at Alamon who just shrugged his shoulders and drew a finger across his throat. Garman nodded and prepared to swing again. Still laughing she looked right into his eyes. Something from her earlier days at the 3WA training academy on Shimogu came back to her. Live fast, love hard, die young and go with a gun in your hand, a motto of young women and men who believed they were immortal. Three out of four wasn't bad though, Yuri decided. The drop ships made a full combat landing, actually damaging their landing gear. The techs are really going to hate us, not to mention our kidneys, Mryia thought as she opened all external hatches. Asam slid down the ladder from the cockpit, all ready his ear piece com link was filled with noise from all the teams. To anyone else it may well have sounded like bedlam but he heard a symphony. All around him people were moving into their positions. The flight capable cymechs and battle frames were all ready penetrating the structure. So was Kei. He had seen her grab a map board, a locator and a flight harness. Then she had gone out the ramp with the air assault section. He had not even thought about stopping her. "Mryia." He switched his com frequency over to Air Tactical Secure. "Get these birds in the air. On my go signal flame the two bridges leading to this island." "Don't you think that is a little extreme sir?" She asked but her drop ship was all ready taking to the air, the other two following. "Yes, but do it anyway and any aircraft not emitting a friendly signal are to be considered enemy, take them out." "Yes sir." Mryia said, Asam was certain she was smiling. He switched back to Ground Tactical Secure frequency and began giving his orders. Yuri watched as his back swing stopped, then the club began moving towards her head. Garman's skull seemed to explode as a high energy particle beam passed through his left temple and exited the right side of his neck. She tired to decide what it meant. Then Yuri felt herself falling. For what seemed like an eternity to Yuri she was in a daze. Then the screams brought her back. She could hear gunfire far off but getting closer. Better late then never she thought. She pulled her wrists apart, trying to ignore the pain from broken bones grating together, and the cord came loose. That had been some close shooting. It had Kei written all over it. She thrust her legs apart and the cord around her ankles unwound just as easily. Someone was running at her. Yuri grabbed the riot club Garman had dropped when he died, twisted up and slammed it into a woman who tried to jump over her. She was on the woman's back in a second, driving the handle of the club against the woman's skull, behind her ear. She saw Alamon duck off into a door, partially hidden by an old storage cabinet. Yanking the assault rifle out of the woman's hand Yuri pushed herself up and set off after the man, revenge dominating her thoughts. She had no time for pain though she didn't doubt she had to clear a reasonable portion of her calendar for it later. It was not easy to keep up with him, many times she lost sight of him but fortunately there were not many places he could go, the corridor was almost straight with few branch offs. He went down several flights of stairs, Yuri following as fast as she could push her abused body. She knew she was not really in the shape to be doing it, but she had a stubborn streak. Her bare feet slapped against the floor of the corridors and on the steps sounding loud to her ears. Alamon didn't even know he was being followed and had even slowed his run, his booted feet obscured the sounds of Yuri's approach. He carried a machine pistol in his hand but didn't expect to have to use it. Down in the sub basement of the factory was an elevator that would take him to a hidden space craft resting on the floor of the bay. He always had a bolt hole. He wondered about the girl they had been questioning, had she been involved in what was happening? Was it the police or another criminal organization. He would try to find out later, once he had escaped. Yuri felt as if she was on her tenth wind. She was having trouble breathing. Please don't let lung be punctured she thought. Her adrenaline high was gone, she had trouble believing it had ever existed. She found herself wishing for one of the wet ware packages that allowed one to shut off the pain centers of the brain. So what if most recipients ended up killing themselves without even knowing they had pushed themselves to death. It would have been worth it. Then she saw him, stopped just ahead in front of a set of elevator doors. "Freeze or your dead." She yelled and then wondered if the rifle was even cocked. Alamon spun and fired. Yuri felt a round pass though the fleshy part of her left arm. From the small amount of shock she guessed it had been an low calibre, armour piercing round, probably the only reason she was still on her feet. Yuri pulled her trigger and missed by almost four meters. Suffering from a concussion, Yuri thought, dizzy, blurry vision, no depth perception, and I try to hit him with a short burst. She held the trigger down and swept the rifle back and forth hopping the ammunition would last. She caught him in the knees, almost taking his lower legs from the rest of his body. He conveniently pitched forward into her reverse swing. The hollow points chopped away at his head and chest. The bolt locked back when the magazine emptied. She let go of the rifle and it clattered loudly on the floor. Yuri turned slowly and began to walk back the way she had come. I've been kidnapped, beaten, and killed one of the bigger crime lords in the galaxy, Yuri thought. What next? I'm going to Disney World she thought, smiling at the ridiculousness of it. One of Alamon's men suddenly came into the room, perhaps making for the same bolt hole his employer had hoped to use. He looked at Yuri, he looked at the bloody pile of flesh lying near the elevator doors. He drew his pistol. Before it was even out of the holster he jerked back, a hole appearing in his chest. More holes appeared and the wall behind him was coated in red. He hit the wall, a hail of bullets holding him there. Yuri looked behind her. In one of the maintenance accessways high in the wall was a red headed form. It had to be Kei. She was leaning out of the accessway, one hand holding a ladder rung, the other holding her SMG, glad for the muzzle break. She finally stopped firing and let the body, minus most of its chest, slide to the floor. Kei had traced Yuri by means of the homing device that had been implanted in Yuri's buttocks. It sent out a pulse strong enough to be traced anywhere within two hundred kilometers, randomly every several minutes. It also emitted a tight frequency, low level signal constantly that could be tracked up to five hundred meters. Kei slid down the ladder with one hand on the side. The other still kept her SMG pointed at the body in case it was not as dead as it should be. Once she reached the ground she ran to Yuri and threw her arms around her friend. "Yuri." Kei cried, hugging her tightly. Yuri didn't let the pain that caused bother her, just happy to see Kei. "Don't you ever do this to me again." Kei said fiercely. Kei released her after a moment and stepped back to look at Yuri. The smile was instantly gone from her face. "Those bastards." Kei snarled. "I'll kill them." "I'm all right." Yuri lied. "And the bastards are all ready dead for the most part." "Your not all right." Kei said to Yuri. "You look like you've been through a shredder." Kei touched her com link and switched to Medical Tactical Unsecured frequency. "This is tri whisky alpha. I want air medevac on my signal and I want it yesterday!." Kei turned the receiver off so she didn't have to listen to some one berate her for improper radio procedures. "Come on." Kei helped Yuri to the elevator. "This will take us up to the surface of the island." Kei had checked the building plans earlier and was fairly certain it would. The doors of the elevator stood open. Kei helped Yuri over the body of Alamon into the elevator. "I swear if there's not a hospital ship waiting for us I'm going to rip Asam and anyone else I can lay my hands on, into bloody chunks." Kei growled. Yuri began to giggle. It was a mixture of shock, hysteria, relief and the humour she found in Kei's over protectiveness. Kei looked down at Alamon's body as the doors began to close. "So much for bringing him in alive." Kei said. "Oops." Yuri said, then she passed out, Kei grabbing her before she hit the floor. CHAPTER 2 "Dr. Gravst was really giving Kei a hard time today about all the classes she had cut. The same ones I missed but I am passing after all. Well Kei decided to be obnoxious, as usual. She told her that she was hypolevetic and if she doesn't have fun at least once a day she'll go into a boredom coma and die." "Needless to say the good Doctor wasn't impressed. I think I still have the password for Dr. Gravst's computer system. It looks like I'll have to alter another of Kei's grades again." An excerpt from Yuri's journal.(Age 16) The music was too loud but its saving grace was that it was actually good. Yuri didn't so much mind loud music but couldn't abide it if it was bad. She also approved of the many speakers that floated on AG platforms, out of the reach of any overzealous fan. It was preferable to speaker stacks that caused ones' ears to bleed if they were in the front rows. She pushed her way through the crowd of rock enthusiasts that filled the concert hall. Her leather miniskirt, white mesh blouse, fishnet stockings, stiletto heels and leather jacket could actually be considered conservative compared to what some of the other people were wearing. On the back of the jacket was a flaming skull in side view with a pair of fiery wings coming out the back. It was the symbol of the United Galactica tactical aerospace squadrons. On the left shoulder was a skeletal hand holding five aces, each with a 36 on it. Written in latin was "Cheating Bastards". She had won the jacket in a poker game. Kei had won an aerospace fighter bomber after beating a straight flush with a royal flush. And the thirty sixth called themselves cheating bastards. Yuri had a patch over her left eye socket. A 3WA medical ship had arrived only hours after Kei had saved her on Taris 4. 3WA med techs were among the best in the galaxy, they had to be. It was tribute to them, medical technology, and the Luciren genetic program that she was back on her feet only a week later. Except for a few bruises there was almost no outward sign of what had happened. Except for her missing eye. The doctors had decided it was not worth the time to save the eye, even if they had there would have been a sixty two percent loss in acuity and a twelve degree decrease in peripheral vision. Yuri had talked to a cyberdoc but he had told her that replacing only one eye was usually trouble and it was better to do the pair. Then he had started making all kinds of suggestions of other modifications they could do. Yuri had decided to stay with what she knew worked. 3WA med techs had pulled some of her DNA samples and were growing her a new eye. As soon as it was completed they would put it in. Her right arm still hurt a little and the doctors had told her to go easy on it for a week or two until the bone matrix had fully healed. Yuri was glad she had been able to remove the cast. She was getting close to an open aisle when she felt a hand grab the back of her thigh and started sliding up. She spun around to face a highly inebriated young man who looked a few years older than her. Yuri was about to launch into her speech about keeping ones hands to themselves and about respecting women. That was before he reached forward, grabbed her skirt, and started pushing it up. Then she gave him a close up of the bottom of her shoe. Oooh, Yuri winced in sympathetic pain, bet that hurt a lot she thought as he flipped over backwards, a trail of blood, from his nose, in the air. She turned away smiling. It was nice to know the beating and loosing one of her eyes had not effected her too much. Yuri and Kei had decided to spend their off time on Beronvus, mainly because it had been so highly recommended. Yuri was on sick leave until her eye was replaced, and Kei was getting a free ride as it were. A long with a number credit vouchers 3WA had given them another number of nice things such as the tickets and back stage passes for the concert. All they had asked was that the two trouble consultants not get into trouble. She pushed her way through a crowd of people standing in front of the gate that led to the good seats. Yuri showed the woman at the gate her ticket and walked through. Kei was standing on her front row center seat and screaming obscenities at the warm up band. Typical rock concert behaviour Yuri noted. The red head was wearing tight black leather pants, high heeled boots and a lacy black camisole. The studded wrist band was more then decoration. It contained a small laser and garotte cord. She had acquired it on one of their first cases. While Yuri would normally accuse anyone else of being overly paranoid for carrying such weapons to a concert it was in fact 3WA policy. In the event of reprisals trouble consultants were to be armed, covertly of course, at all times, if possible. Not that Kei or Yuri had had any problems with reprisals. Living enemies were very rare in their case. Still Yuri was of the opinion the Kei carried weapons like children carried security blankets. Funny enough Kei thought the exact same think about Yuri. Yuri took the seat beside Kei, grabbing the red head's belt to pull her down. "Show a little tact." Yuri said. "Stop being such a wet blanket." Kei tossed her head back to get her hair out of her eyes. "Do you see anyone else showing any tact." "Maybe we could set a precedent." "No thanks." Kei got back up on her seat and started yelling at the warm up band again. Shortly after the warm up band had left the stage and the roadies were setting up for the main act Kei dropped back into her seat. "You packing anything?" Kei asked. "We were searched before we came in here, you do know what that means?" Yuri said with mimed patience. "Yeah, you had to carry something small." "Slim line derringer and a bloody card." "Wait a minute, if your going to be throwing that thing around with your vision as it is I don't want to be on the same planet." "Thanks a lot." Yuri sulked. "Well it's true. Even when you had both eyes you could never use the damn thing very well." "In your opinion." Yuri's voice was ice. "Not just mine." Kei told her smiling. "Who else?" Yuri demanded. Any answer Kei was going to give was lost in the opening rift the guitar player launched into and the deafening roar of the crowd. Yuri leaned back in her seat and glowered at her shoes for a few minutes. Then the music made her forget her anger. Yuri found her self caught up in the music. It was better then she had heard, better then she had believed it could be. The guitarist had her instrument plugged into her neural interface socket and was making the instrument do things that were just short of amazing. The bassist was totally relaxed. He looked like he was asleep on his feet and only the movement of his fingers showed otherwise. His music seemed to support the rest, giving it a strong foundation. The lead singer was attractive, he knew how to play and audience and most surprising was that he could sing. Their drummer was pleasant surprise, most bands used drum machines. He looked like big mech, whether that was a costume or not Yuri didn't know. The two back up singers were obviously only there as decoration but Yuri could forgive that. "Sugar Coma" was launching into its sixth song when a tall and very stout woman in motorcycle leathers ran in front of Yuri and Kei and started screaming basic concert endearments at the band. Kei stood up, grabbed the woman's shoulder and spun her around. "Push off." Kei told her. "Your blocking my view." "Stuff it you little tart or I'll tear your arms off." The woman snarled. "I'm supposed to be scared of an overgrown social delinquent like you?" Kei asked. "Ladies." Yuri stood up and interposed herself between Kei and the woman, facing the woman. Yuri didn't really want Kei to get into a fight. They were supposed to be on their best behaviour. She also didn't like the way the lead singer had been eyeing the little altercation. Yuri was not about to give him the satisfaction of seeing a cat fight. All she had to do was diffuse the situation for a minute or two and security would clear everything up. They had been told to keep a low profile after all. "Let's not be barbarians." Yuri smiled at the woman. The woman looked Yuri up and down quickly. All she could feel for the little woman in front of her was disdain. Non the less she took advantage of Yuri's blind side for her uppercut. Yuri only had time to jerk back slightly before the punch hit her to the side of her nose. Her head jerked back, she could feel the blood begin to run out of her nose. I think the cow broke my nose, Yuri thought. She shook her head and then looked up at the woman. The woman looked down at Yuri, amazed that she was still on her feet. Not what she had expected at all. Kei smiled and stepped back to give Yuri some room. "At least there's no cameras allowed in here." Yuri said in a resigned tone. Had the woman had any idea of who she was dealing with it might have given her some warning. As it was she was totally unprepared. Yuri shifted back and drove her foot into the woman's stomach, then she shattered a kneecap. She stepped back and fired off a spin kick that took the falling woman in the head. "Nice moves." Kei said, "Been watching kung foo vids again I see." "Skill and natural ability." Yuri told her. "Good then you won't need my help to handle her friends." Kei indicated several men and women, who were dressed much like the unconscious woman at Yuri's feet, heading towards them. "Oh well." Yuri sighed. Then she blocked the first man's punch and broke his arm. Security arrived just in time to stop a riot from starting. They had help from the band who played some calmer sets to relax everyone afterwards. The people who had attacked Kei in Yuri were in no state to disagree with the story the two trouble consultants told. That Kei and Yuri also had back stage passes swung favour in their direction. They were soon sitting back in their seats while their attackers were tossed out. "I liked the way you two handled yourself." Dennis, the lead singer told Kei. They were back stage during the after show party. "Thanks." Kei took a drink of her rye and coke. "You two wouldn't be happening to look for work would you?" "Why do you ask?" "Well I could use two bodyguards who could also double as back up singers." Dennis told Kei. "And how much would this be worth to you?" "Well let's say rooms, meals and travel expense free to start with and five thousand each show for you and you friend to split." "Not interested." Kei told him as she leapt up too sit atop the grand piano. "Well how much would interest you?" "There's not enough money in the universe." Kei leaned down to finger a few piano keys. "And why do you say that." Dennis took a seat on the piano bench. "Because Yuri and I have jobs that satisfy us, and because I have no doubt that the body guard duties would extend into your bed." She told him, swinging her legs onto the piano and turning onto her stomach staring him in the eyes. "Well you can't blame a guy for trying." He smiled, looking down her top. "Yes I can." Kei told him. Dennis shrugged his shoulders and started playing the piano. He launched into a love song. Kei found it all rather endearing. The bands doctor put his med scanner away in his coat pocket. He was shorter than average and balding but it looked good on him. Not quite handsome, his nose was a bit too big and his eyes seemed to be squinting all the time. "Your nose isn't broken, close mind you but still no bone damage. The swelling should be going down even now." He told Yuri. "Thanks." Yuri was holding a cold pack over her nose. She slid off the examination table. "How long ago were you involved in that accident?" The doctor asked, looking at the screens behind the table that had all her medical information on them. "Pardon?" Yuri picked up her jacket and slid her arms into the sleeves. "You have a lot of old injuries, all of them are healing nicely, must have been what, two months ago?" "About that." Yuri smiled, lying. Healing fast was a basic requirement for a trouble consultant. "So what happened?" "Slammed my ground effects racer into a track pylon at almost two hundred klicks." She lied again. It was better then the truth at the moment. "Well perhaps I can show you a thrill that will keep you away from such a dangerous past time." He said slyly as he expertly backed her against a wall, his hands on either side of her shoulder, holding her there. Not a bad opening, Yuri thought. His smile was that of a predator. Being the in house physician doctor for rock band may not have been the most respectable position but he did enjoy a number of fringe benefits, such as the young women. All in all he thought he had a very good deal. "Can I tell you something?" Yuri asked softly, almost hesitantly. "Of course." He leaned close and brushed his lips across hers. "It's sort of a secret." Yuri leaned forward and put her lips to his ear."I'm not caressing you." She whispered. "This is a slim line derringer that has been pressed into your groin. It's got two .38 hollow points filled with mercury. Let me go or I scream rape and you start singing soprano." Her voice was smooth. The evening was cold. Except for a region four hundred kilometers on either side of the equatorial line, Beronvus was covered in glaciers. Cities in the equator region were built in valleys for extra protection. In the day it was quite warm but at night the glaciers reminded everyone of their presences, even Termma, which sat right on the equator. Kei shivered slightly and wrapped the jacket the bassist had given her tighter around her shoulders. "I'm bored." Yuri said, she traced her fingers through the cold water of the fountain they sat on. "Too bad the party ended so fast." "You'd think those vice cops would have something better to do." "Yea I guess." Kei said. "Hey, why was that doctor giving you the major cold shoulder?" "Oh him." Yuri smiled. "He thought I would be "ever so thankful". Yuri said in her little girl voice. "For the simple fact he told me my nose wasn't broken. He got more than a little fresh but I convinced him that it wasn't a good idea." "Wait a minute. You didn't stick a weapon into his crotch and threaten to emasculate him did you?" "No I politely asked him that he respect my wishes and he being a gentleman did just that." Yuri's tone dripped with sarcasm. "Well can't you figure a better way to stop unwanted advances. A knee in the groin works just as well and the tabloids don't get a nice story about us being overly violent." Kei said angrily. "Well excuse me." Yuri took her hand out of the water and laid it across the bridge of her nose. "The next time some one tries to rape me I'll let them do so just so we can get a reputation as good little girls who let anyone walk all over us." Yuri said with anger and tears in her voice. "Yuri!" Kei almost yelled. "I didn't mean that. Look I'm sorry." Kei told her. "Good." Yuri said brightly, all anger and tears gone from her voice. "Why do I always let her fake me out?" Kei asked the sky. "So do you want to continue ranting at the sky or do you want to do something useful?" Yuri asked her. "Should we go back to the hotel?" "It's not even midnight, or is it. I forget this planets time cycle. Anyways the night is still young." "Well I've heard of a after hours jazz club with a few nice pool tables." Kei said. "Sounds nice." Yuri said as she stood up. "By the way, why aren't you spending the evening with Dennis?" "Oh he offered." Kei stood. "But he expected me to share him with his back up singers and any other woman who caught his interest. He had a rather inflated opinion of himself." "Come on." Yuri shivered. "Let's go somewhere warm. I'm freezing." CHAPTER 3 People are often surprised to discover that many of the agreements and deals that have a great effect on many others are all too often made in dimly lit bars and restaurants. Varman Rouge, Mega Corporations and Governments. The Slime Chase. Alpha Centauri III had been one of the very first planets to be colonized by Terrans, using one of the first warp drives, which had had a nasty habit of occasionally destroying the ship using it. It had been a grand dream to build a civilization using all that had been learned from the past mistakes made on Earth. They had learned well and their mistakes were much grander than any of the ones Earth could boast of. It was a dirty planet with crowded cities, undeveloped farm land, high crime rates and no useful industry to boast of, unless one considered organized crime an industry. The city of New Toronto was possibly the worst off all the cities. Strangely enough, or perhaps not so strange, it had a large number of five star restaurants and very nice bars, controlled by the Yakuza. If one was brave, or foolish enough, or if they had enough bodyguards, they could enjoy possibly the finest dining in all of UG space. Bann Takmal placed his utensils across the fine bone china plate. He wiped his mouth with his napkin, smiling. The 3WA liaison officer had found the meal particularly enjoyable. His lovely dinner companion couldn't say the same. Catherine Sato was with United Galactica Intelligence. Usually when she and Bann met it was he who had to do the cajoling and buy the dinner, but not this time. She needed a big favour from him, or more to the point, from 3WA. She was not impressed with the entire situation. "Thank you for the most delicious meal." Bann smiled. "Stop your gloating Bann, it's unbecoming. Miss Jiinas needs help. Help that only your organization can provide." "Why can't you do it. I mean UG intelligence has its own resources that should be more than up to this." "We'd rather not be directly involved." Catherine said hesitantly. "Neither would we." Bann told her. "Well we can't get involved. We are having enough trouble with Mega corporations. If we help the owner of one directly it will cause all kinds of problems. At this point we can not afford to take sides, not until the United Galactica is in a greater position of strength." "So you want 3WA to do your dirty work for you. You know as well as I do 3WA was formed as an answer to threats that could threaten the entire United Galactica. While I sympathize with Miss Jiinas I can not authorize 3WA trouble consultants for use as bodyguards." "Tamikia Jiinas is a very powerful woman. She has connections throughout the business community as well as the governments of many planets. Do you realize how much of a danger that represents if it were in the hands of a person with a less favourable opinion of the United Galactica?" "So you want me to authorize trouble consultants to provide protection on a hypothetical basis?" "More or less." Catherine said. "I'm not really convinced but I will run a check to see if any trouble consultants can be spared. Even if they are assigned we'll probably pull them out after a short time. Unless of course we find something that does indeed represent a credible threat." He pulled a laptop computer from his briefcase and plugged the interface cable into the neural socket at his left temple. He had no real need to run the check. 3WA had been keeping an eye on Tamikia Jiinas for quite a while. The Central Computer had been suggesting a 3WA investigation for almost a month. A few days ago he had had travel suggest Beronvas to the Lovely Angels as a nice place for a rest. Throwing in a refit for their ship at the planet's shipyards had ensured they would go. Costly, but worth it. Bann worked on his tax returns for almost ten minutes before looking up at Catherine. "Your very lucky, as is Miss Jiinas. We have two trouble consultants who are available, on Beronvas no less, which if I recall is where she is residing at this time. Unfortunately one is currently convalescing. It would be against my better judgement to activate them at this time." "Bann you know I wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't important and I hate the idea of making you activate a hurt operative but this is very important." She said, wondering at the convenience of 3WA trouble consultants being present on the planet. She wondered if Bann was jerking her chain. It would be just like him. Bann stared at his computer keyboard for a minute, looking as if he was in deep thought. He was actually trying hard not to smile. Being one up on the intelligence agent was a rare occurrence for him. "Okay. I'm still not sure there is a problem but you seem to think there is. I'll have one of our courier ships make the run and deliver the messages, more secure then FTL communication." He winked at her. It only took him a few seconds to uplink with the courier ship that sat in high orbit awaiting his go signal. Once he gave them the go ahead everything went forward without his assistance. He turned his attention back to his taxes and spent several more minutes on them. "Okay, that's taken care of. He pulled the interface cable from his neural jack. "The Angels will be on the case in about seven hours." "The Lovely Angels, the Pair!!" Catherine said horrified. "I wanted you to protect Tamikia, not get to her first." "Chill." He smiled. "You should know that most of the things the press reports is just hype. They've never failed to solve a case." He put his deck back into the briefcase. "I have a very bad feeling about all this." Catherine told him. "Such is life." He stood and moved around the table to pull the chair back for her. "Let's go." The intelligence agent tossed a handful of universal credits on the table to cover the tip. She preceded Bann out to the cloak room and then into the well lit and protected parking lot. Now that he had finished with all the games Bann found his eyes drawn to Catherine's rather attractive figure. Dealing with the blue eyed, blonde was one of the more pleasant aspects of his job. "What are you doing tonight Catherine?" "Why?" She pulled on the leather jacket she had retrieved from the cloak room. "Like to spend the night together." "Maybe." She straddled her motorcycle, the skirt rode up her legs and Bann did his best not to stare. "You're not planning on leaving halfway through after getting me all fired up like last time are you?" She arched an eyebrow. "That wasn't my fault, I didn't want to leave." He protested. "Well do you think that practical little car of yours can keep up with my baby." She lay a hand across the gas tank of her red racing bike. "You'd be surprised." He smiled. "The next shuttle for the ship I'm on leaves in about thirty minutes. If you are on board it....." She trailed off suggestively. "Sounds fair." "See you there." She kicked her cycle's starter and raced out of the parking lot, her hair streaming out behind her. Catherine didn't believe in helmets. It was a bit of stupidity that Bann found so charming. Bann tossed his briefcase into his car and jumped in after it. He was moving at a good pace before the car's door was even fully closed. His only real worry was what medical was going to do to him when they found out he had taken Yuri off the injured list. He would worry about it tomorrow. CHAPTER 4 "You can't always get what you want." Rolling Stones, song lyric Late twentieth century. "Is that my blouse?" Yuri asked as she brushed out her hair. "Might be, it is a little tight around the chest." Kei told her. "And around waist as well no doubt." "My, that was a rather catty remark." "You should know." Yuri looked around the room for her purse. "What about breakfast?" Kei took a seat on the foot of her bed. "I don't care, anywhere you want. I'll pay." "You'd better, considering how much money you hustled off those guys last night." "They really fell for the, "I don't know which end of a pool stick to use" act, didn't they." "The vacant look in your eyes and that mindless giggle helped a lot." Kei told her. "Where did you learn those bank shots." "Some old vid, The Colour of something." "Any good?" "I thought the lead was cute." Yuri found her purse. "How about the place across the street?" "For breakfast?" Yuri sild the purse strap over her shoulder. "Yea." "Sounds good to me." "Then let's go." Kei stood. "Nose still bothering you?" Kei asked as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Just a little, I suppose it will teach me not to get involved in your fights." "Are you possibly suggesting I need your help?" "No, but it may very well be true." Yuri dabbed the corners of her mouth with her napkin. "Oh sure." Kei snorted. "I suppose you could watch your own back from now on?" "It might be safer." "For who." "Yuri, you do realize that continuing this conversation may be hazardous to your health." "Oh I'm so scared." Yuri dead panned. "I'll give you reason to be scared." Kei stated. "You would attack a blind person." Yuri accused. "Only half blind and as soon as the med techs put your new eye in I'll......" "Beat the hell out of me." Yuri supplied. "Well I was thinking more on the lines of short sheeting your bed but if your into pain." "Careful Kei." "What do you want to do today anyway?" "I don't know, rent a plane and see the glacier fields?" "Sounds sort of boring." "Why don't we just be spontaneous, something interesting will happen, it always does." Yuri pushed her chair back. "Excuse me." An attractive, middle aged woman said as she approached their table. "You would be the Lovely Angels, correct?" Kei and Yuri made a quick examination of the woman. She was average height, slim, dark brown eyes, blonde hair, conservatively dressed in a skirt, blouse and jacket. About two meters behind her were a man and a woman whose presence screamed body guard to the trouble consultants. "Maybe." Kei said, unsure about the woman. "Yes." Yuri admitted, hoping it was the right thing to do. "I'm Tamika Jiinas. Over the past months several kidnapping attempts have been made on myself and my family and recently there have been a few attempts on my life. I need your help." "Uh huh." Kei said. "Perhaps you haven't realized, we're 3WA not mercenaries, we can't be hired. There's also the fact we are not baby sitters. Perhaps Miss Jiinas you should go to the planetary authorities with your problems." Tamika shook her head, a smile on her face. She placed a briefcase on the table and opened it. Slowly, as not to make the trouble consultants nervous, she removed several sealed envelopes. All bore 3WA markings. "This is for you." She handed one of the envelopes to Yuri. Yuri inspected it, making sure the seal had not been broken, then she opened it. There were several pages inside but she only read the first one. Paper work still had its uses even in a society that almost always used computers. In some ways it was more secure. As long as your courier wasn't compromised hard copy information was very safe. Still, to deal with the possiblilities of fraud 3WA, most of the United Galactica angencies and many of the Mega Corps made use of verification chips. Yuri removed the small chip from the top right corner of the page. Verification chips were very hard to forge, they had both software as well as hardware codes. Yuri took a reader from her purse and slid the chip into it. She scanned the page again, seeing the encrypted bits of information that were the final bit of verification. The possiblity of being able to forge the chips and the encrypted data was slim "It's authentic." Yuri popped the chip free and let it fall on the table. "I've been taken off the injured list, we are reactivated." "That's ridiculous." Kei slammed her hand against the table. She looked up at Tamika. Tamika handed her another envelope. Kei scowled as she broke the seal and pulled out the documents. She peeled the verification chip off the front page and handed it to Yuri. Yuri looked over at the pages in Kei's hands and the readout on the small screen of the reader. "They check out." She told Kei. Kei began flipping through the pages, scanning each quickly. When she finished she tossed them onto the table. "Well it seems we have been assigned to one Tamika Jiinas's case. From the description given, this is her." Kei nodded at Tamika. "One more thing." Tamika handed Yuri a small envelope. Yuri opened it and removed the page. There was no verification chip but it was not the sort of document that needed one. She re-read it twice just to make sure she had not misread it the first time. "What does it say?" Kei asked. "That we are supposed to be on our best behaviour and give Miss Jiinas our full cooperation, to play nicely as one of the signers put it. There are also a few veiled threats and the signatures on it are pretty high up, Goulet and others." "Let me see." Kei took the paper from Yuri. "I don't know, we can forge most of these ourselves." "The other two are authentic so we are working for her." Tamika was not sure she liked them taking about her as if she was not there. "Can't we protest this or something?" Kei asked. "Your not finished convalescing no matter how much speed heal is floating around in your blood, and that eye should be replaced." "We could but I don't think it would be worth the trouble it would cause. We might as well do it, hopefully it will be a slack mission." "I suppose." Kei conceded. "I think we can cancel any plans we thought to make." "You were right though, something did come up." "Unfortunately." "Well Miss Jiinas..." "Tamika please." "Well Tamika just let us get our luggage together and we can leave." Kei told her. "No need. I've all ready had your belongings removed from your hotel room and sent to my mansion." "Major invasion of privacy." Yuri said. "I thought you would appreciate the efficiency." Tamika said, seeming not at all bothered by Yuri's complaint. "Come on Yuri." Kei stood. "Not much we can do about it now." "I just hope none of my underwear goes missing this time." Yuri said quietly as she dug a hand full of crumpled currency from her purse and tossed it onto the table. "We'll have to stop off at the Drackon ship yards." Kei told Tamika. "Why?" She asked. "To pick up a friend." Tamika led them out of the restaurant, the body guards fell in behind them, to a black Rolls Royce parked just outside the doors. Before they exited the restaurant the female bodyguard had removed a small remote from her jacket pocket, and started the car with it. The male bodyguard opened the door to the passenger compartment while his partner circled around to the drivers door. "Nice car." Kei said. "Thank you." Tamika entered the car. "They still make these?" Yuri asked as she got in after Kei. "Only about a hundred every other year. Rolls Royce is more dedicated to warp drives these days. The cars are made only as a way of staying in touch with past traditions." Tamika told them. "Candice, take us to the ship yards please." She said into the intercom. "We'll need information on your security system." Yuri told her. "These lap tops." Tamika indicated the two small computers beside her. "Contain all the information you will need." Kei picked up the computers and handed one to Yuri. "I'll handle personnel and equipment, you take the security system." Kei said. "Fine." Yuri unwrapped a interface cord and plugged herself into the computer. Kei followed Yuri's example. Tamika watched them work. There actions when she had first met them had worried her but now she felt reassured. Neither woman was quite what she had expected from what she had heard. They were dressed much more modestly then she would have thought. Yuri was wearing a dark blue skirt that ended below her knees, a white blouse and black slippers. Kei had on a pair of tight jeans, a red blouse and ankle high boots. Neither seemed to be armed which both surprised her and worried her. They were supposed to be providing protection after all. She watched them work, Kei using a lot of key strokes to access the information she wanted. Yuri seemed to give herself fully over to the lap top, almost never using the keys. "We're here." Tamika told them a few minutes later. "Pardon?" Kei looked up from the lap top. "The ship yards." "Oh." Kei pulled the interface cable from the jack behind her ear. "I'll be back in a minute." She opened the car door and slid out, closing it behind her. Yuri didn't even seem to notice. She was deeply engrossed in her work. A few minutes later the car door opened again. Instead of Kei a large, black, feline leapt into the car. Tamika might have screamed if not for the fact that Yuri took a second to scratch the cat behind its ears and then push its head off her lap. Kei slid in after, taking up her lap top after she had closed the door. "Don't mind Mughi." Kei told her. "He's rather harmless." "Are you sure." Tamika inched back. "I'd bet your life on it." Kei said as she plugged the interface cable back into her neural socket. "I feel so much better." Tamika said sarcastically. "Can I get you something, a drink or a small mammal?" She asked Mughi. Mughi yawned. "Home." She told the driver. Kei finished her work first and toggled the lap top off. She tugged the interface cable from behind her ear and let it fall across her legs. She rubbed at her temples for a moment to ease a small discomfort. Sims, computers, she hated having to plug her head into anything, except weapon systems. The psytechs told her it was psychosomatic, Kei told them where they could put their theories. "Would you like something to drink?" Tamika asked. "No thanks." Kei reached down and removed a small disk from the computer. "This contains all my recommendations but I'll give you the basics now." She handed the disk to Tamika. "That was fast." Tamika took the disk. "We're good. First of all you will need about two hundred more security people so we can set up a proper defensive perimeter. Make sure you can trust them." "No problem. I have several installations on this planet, I can pull trustworthy personnel from them." "Good. Now I think you could use some armour, tanks, or better yet battle frames." Kei said hopefully. "I can get battle frames, how many?" "Let's say fifty heavy ground based models and twenty five that are flight capable as well as support crew." "You'll have them in about six hours." Tamikia told her. "You can do that?" Kei was truly surprised. She was asking for more than she needed in hopes she would get the numbers she actually felt would be able to do the job. "I own several arms companies right out and have stock in quite a few others. Getting weapons won't be a problem." "Perfect. Your biggest problem now is that you're too open to air strikes. I think twenty SAM launchers will take care of that. We'll also set up thirty AA batteries around your house to take care of anything that makes it past the missiles." "Any particular missile in mind?" "No, they're all similar enough for our purposes." "Any thing else?" "Arm any of your household staff you can trust and who know how to handle a weapon. Make them think they are the only one with a weapon just in case you have a leak. What do you carry?" "Carry?" "Weapons." Kei said. "Nothing." "Wrong answer. You know how to fire them?" "Yes." "Good, we'll find you something then. How about you kids?" "I suppose we could give Catherine something. She's responsible and an excellent shot, at least on the target range." "All right. Like I said, the rest of my recommendations are on that disk. Put them into effect as soon as possible. If I think of anything else I'll tell you." Kei leaned back into the seat. "I'm sorry I ruined your vacation." Tamika said. "Don't be. Things like this do tend to happen. It just would have been nice if they had put Yuri's new eye in." "What?" Yuri asked, looking up from her work. "Just telling Tamika about you fetish for rubber undergarments." Kei smiled. "Uh huh." Yuri went back to her work. "I hate it when she does that." Kei shook her head. "What?" Tamikia asked. "Tunes me out like that. Once she starts fooling around with a computer it takes something big to get her attention." "Some of my computer specialist are like that." Tamikia said. "Pet hackers?" Kei asked. "I prefer to think of them as somewhat tame." "You know I often think Yuri was lucky she got into 3WA, if she hadn't she'd have probably been arrested for computer crimes." Kei seemed to think about it for a minute. "Well maybe not arrested, but she'd certainly be wanted for them." "She still breaks ice doesn't she." "Mostly on cases but occasionally for a bit of fun and to keep her reflexes up. I think its sort of sad but she's a bit of a wallflower." Kei smiled. "Many of my companies have a lot of trouble with people like that." "Well its not like Yuri steals any thing or dumps viruses." Kei said indignantly. "Thanks for defending me." Yuri shut off the computer. "Nice to have you back. What do you think?" Kei asked. "There's not much I can think of that would make the security system better. It's on the cutting edge. I suppose we could rig up some panic buttons, disguise them as jewellery and tune them to our coms system." Yuri closed the lap top. "Sounds good." Kei said. "What sort of computer do you have running things, that information wasn't included?" Yuri asked Tamikia. "A Heckler and Kotch 5000 D." She told Yuri. "That would explain it. A properly programmed 5C could take care of you better then many of the things we could suggest, and a 5D."Yuri shook her head. "I didn't even know they were out on the market." "They're not, but I have some connections. It's a good computer." Tamikia said. "I prefer their weapons." Kei said. "You would." Yuri told her, she reached down and pushed Mughi off her feet. "Oh sure, and that VP70M you acquired isn't one of you prize possessions." "I'm not denying that they made good weapons and still produce a very fine limited edition but they are a computer company now." "Do you have any other ideas." Tamikia asked them. "To improve you security, no. As for the other attempts on you life and the kidnappings, they all seem strictly amateur. We have no idea who's behind it but you have quite a few potential enemies as well as anyone looking to make a lot of money. The possibilities are almost limitless." "Give us a little time, we'll solve this case." Yuri said. "We always do." Kei told her. Tamikia could not help but feel worried. "Very Nice." Kei said as the crossed through the large double doors that led into the large tiled foyer that was lit by the skylights high above. "Thank you." Tamikia said. "The house is my main center of operation." "The stone of the outside walls won't stop a determined attack." Yuri said as she looked around. The painting on the wall looked like a Picasso but it couldn't be, at least she thought it couldn't be. "There's twenty five centimeters of dura alloy behind the stone." Tamikia told her. "Think that will stop a determined attack?" Kei needled Yuri. "If not we can always use something really dense, like your brain." Mughi moved a few steps away, as if he sensed a fight brewing. "Oooh." "Would you two like to see your room." Tamikia asked, interrupting them. "I've put you in the same room but I can change that if you want." "No, that's fine." Yuri said. "Oh good, I'll have a maid show you to your room." As if Tamikia's words had worked magic a young woman in a maids uniform was there. She gave Mughi a nervous glance but came forward non the less. Discrete servants, Kei thought making a mental note to be more observant. Cute uniform, Yuri thought, cute girl. Moves like a fighter though, interesting. "Anna, could you take Kei and Yuri to the room I had prepared for them." "Yes ma'am." Anna gave Tamikia a small bow. "If you will come with me." She said to Yuri and Kei. She led the two trouble consultants and Mughi off towards the family wing. Tamikia was about to head to her offices when her Majordomo, Pell, came into the foyer and headed straight towards her. "Ah Pell, good. The 3WA agents have arrived, make sure they get anything they want." "Of course, but Tamikia, I'm not sure about those two. They do have a rather unsavoury reputation and they will not be a good influence on your children." Tamikia was rather surprised by that. Pell was usually tolerant of almost everybody. She knew Kei and Yuri had a bad reputation but she also knew the press tended to be more interested in selling news than in telling the truth. She mentally shrugged. If Pell didn't approve of the trouble consultants that was a minor problem. She had better make her opinion on the matter clear though, she thought. "Pell, those two young ladies have never failed a case. Right now their job is to protect my daughters and myself. As for being a bad influence I'd rather have Catherine and Susan corrupted than dead, or worse." "Of course." He said, a slight hint of surprise in his voice. "I never suggested otherwise. I'm sorry I upset you." "Don't be sorry Pell. I put you in charge of the household because you would question me." She reached out and patted Pell's shoulder then turned and left him, heading for her offices. CHAPTER 5 "It's all fun and games till someone gets hurt, then it's just fun. When someone gets killed it's our job and when an entire city is destroyed it's not our fault." Remark attributed to Kei by an anonymous reporter. "You should see the view from the bathroom." Kei said as she walked into the bedroom, a towel wrapped around her, steam flowing out of the door behind her. "Why would anyone want a great view from a bathroom?" Yuri asked, more rhetorically than anything else. "I don't know, you can make the glass cloudy or even opaque just like the window in this room though." "That would lessen ones' worries about voyeurs." "Nice room she gave us." Kei said as she tossed herself onto one of the canopied beds. Yuri nodded. The room had two beds in it, several chairs, two couches, a coffee table in front of each. A book shelf covered the wall opposite to the beds. It held an entertainment center, two computer workstations and of course books. The door leading to the bathroom was between the beds. Opposite to the door that led out into the hall way was a picture window that made up the outside wall of the room. Yuri sat on the window bench staring out at the manicured lawns and the forest two hundred meters away. She knew that the security system covered the forest so well that every animal in it could be counted and identified. It would be nearly impossible to get through the forest undetected. Her fingers tapped absently at the keys of the lap top she had found in the room. She hardly paid any attention to it, so absorbed by the view as she was. "So why do you think 3WA went to so much trouble to get us here?" Kei asked from the bed where she was towelling her hair dry. "You noticed that to." Yuri looked away from the view to see Kei nod. "I suppose we'll find out some day. At least we're getting the Angel refitted almost two years before the set date or it being trashed." "Bet you politics are involved one way or another." "Probably." Yuri said as she looked at the screen of the computer. When did I load a game into this thing? She wondered. "How long do you think this case is going to last?" Kei opened one of her suit cases and began tossing clothes onto the bed. "Not too long." Yuri turned the computer off. "I mean how long do you think they can afford to just leave us here?" Yuri stopped and considered the implications of what she had just said. "They wouldn't." Kei said, having reached the same unpleasant conclusion Yuri had. "Of course not." "Good." Kei said knowing that neither she or Yuri were all that reassured. By silent agreement they both decided to forget it. Kei put on her undergarments then took a seat at the vanity table to brush out her still damp hair. Yuri simply stared outside, letting her mind wander. A few minutes later Yuri was snapped back to the present by a knock at the door. "Yea." Kei called. "It's Tamika, can I come in?" She called from the other side of the door. "Sure, it's not locked." Kei said. Yuri went back to looking out the window. Tamika pushed the door open, entered the room and took a look around. She had not been quite sure what to expect, guns strewn about the room with a scattering of immodest clothing had filled her mind. She was almost disappointed. Yuri was sitting on the window bench, staring dreamily out the window. Kei was sitting at the vanity, checking her bangs for split ends. "So what can we do for you?" Kei asked, finished with her hair. "I just came to tell you that your suggestions have been put into effect or soon will be. Also I'm going to a formal party tonight...." "Great, we love parties." Kei interrupted. Yuri came out of her thoughts and turned her head towards Tamika. "Well I only want one of you to come with me, the other will stay here and ensure the safety of my children." "Have fun with the kids Kei. Now what should I wear?" Yuri said. "Oh no Yuri, I took the less pleasant aspect of the case last time." "I seem to remember that I was the one being tied up and beaten and you may think that's fun but I'm not into it." "Yea, but I had to sit in that drop ship worrying about you." "Why do I get the feeling you two don't care for children?" Tamika asked. "No offence meant." Kei said. "Let's flip a coin." Yuri suggested. "Let's not, no matter what the admin types say you're still on the injured list. Stay here with Mughi acting as back up. The house is a lot safer." "That's hardly fair." Yuri told Kei. "But the fact you might be at a disadvantage at the party has nothing to do with what's fair." "Okay, I'll stay, but you owe me big." Yuri pouted. "My children aren't that bad." Tamika insisted. "Well usually at least." "Oh sorry Tamika, we just like to uhh party, yea that's it." Kei finished lamely. "Your both going armed." Yuri said as she stood and stretched. "I seem to recall you saying something like you had a target range?" Kei asked Tamika. "Yes, in the sub basements." "Might you also store arms there, pistols, rifles, and other assorted party favours?" Kei leaned back in her chair. "Of course." "Good, just let me get dressed then we'll go looking." Kei stood and walked to her suit cases. Tamika walked over to look at something she had seen on the pillows of one of the bed. It was a grey plush cat with a red ribbon around its neck. She picked it up. It was a beautiful toy, very well made, eyes that seemed almost real. It was nice to find a little something innocent with the trouble consultants. "This is very cute." She said. "That's Yuri's." Kei said. "She needs it for security." "I can understand that." Tamika placed the cat back on the pillow. "It's great." Yuri came up beside Tamika and picked up the cat. She reached into a hidden opening in the cat's stomach and pulled out a pistol. "Kei thinks that something under the pillow is enough but I like the extra surprise this provides. I can even fire out of it, the round exits right between the eyes." Tamika sighed and turned away. Yuri slid the pistol back into the cat and then placed the plush animal gently back on her pillow. She bent down to fix the ribbon and touched the cat's nose before straightening. She saw Kei looking at her with a smile. Yuri stuck her tongue out. "So what are you comfortable shooting?" Kei did up the last button on her blouse. "Assault rifles, rail pistols, the very occasional heavy assault weapon." Tamika said. "Assault rifles tend to be a bit conspicuous." Yuri said. "Oh I don't know, remember our graduation party? You could have brought a field piece in there without anyone commenting." "Well let's go down to the range and see what we can find before we start trotting out the artillery." Yuri said. "Come on, we can take the elevator in the next hall way." Tamika said as she headed to the door. Kei and Yuri followed her. "Bang." Yuri said as she sighted down range with the Heckler and Kotch rail rifle. "Having fun?" Kei asked slyly. "Okay, I'll admit they make a fine as weapon as they do a computer." Yuri pulled the first stage of the trigger and the laser sight came on. She squeezed the second stage and fired a burst into the human shaped target, blowing its head from the rest of the body. "Nice grouping." Kei commented, looking at the scoring screen. Yuri put the weapon on safe and ejected the magazine. She touched a recessed button inside the weapon where the magazine had just been. A single flachette fell into her hand. She looked at the fin stabilized dart. So small but so deadly. "Too bad you couldn't use the grenade launcher." Kei said. "Let's not get greedy." Yuri let the flachette fall beside the magazine. She turned and walked into the weapons lock up. "See anything you like?" Yuri asked Tamika who was looking at a rack of rail pistols. "I never realized how many damn weapons I have down here." She shook her head. "You are very lucky. Did you buy them all?" Kei asked, coming into the room. "Some, most are samples from the companies I own or own stock in." "Must be nice." Kei pulled a DEFTEC combat shotgun from its place in the rack. "I think the Berreta Streamline Four would be a good choice." Yuri took the pistol from the rack. "Rail pistol, sixteen rounds, one in the barrel if you don't care about safety. Accurate up to a fifty meters, reliable, easily concealed, it should suit your needs." "It lacks stopping power." Kei said as she put the shot gun back in its rack. "Sure, if you want to drop an elephant." "What about a small mech, or a full conversion borg?" "Not a pistol in the galaxy that can do that." Yuri handed Tamika the Berreta. "What about a Terror?" "Only in bad vids." "Blood bath twelve was not a bad vid." "Excuse me ladies." Tamika interrupted them. "Mind if I give this a test." She held up the pistol and a magazine. "Go for it." Kei said. Tamika walked to the firing point, slid the magazine into the grip and aimed down range. She slowly squeezed the trigger, controlling her breathing. The weapon discharged. The score screen read a hit in the center of the target's head. "Well?" Tamika said smiling. "Nice, if the person you're trying to shoot lets you take the time you need and refrains from firing at you." Kei told her. "And you're so much better?" Tamika said defensively, realizing even as she said it how stupid it sounded. Kei took the pistol from Tamika and tossed it to Yuri. Yuri lifted her hand, waited for the pistol to pass near and closed her fingers over it all in one smooth motion. Turning on her heel, she waited until the pistol's barrel lined up on a target and began to fire. The smooth turn continued, Yuri emptying the magazine as fast as the targets presented themselves. While few of her hits were dead center to the head, they were all stopping shots. "Now it isn't realistic to expect you to be that good." Kei said once Yuri finished. "That is after all why you have body guards and why we've been assigned to you." "Try firing from a kneeling position or prone." Yuri handed her the pistol and a new magazine. "It will make you that much harder to hit." "And remember to use surprise. No one will expect you to be armed. If you can wait until your target gets close and then." Kei put her hands together with her trigger fingers extended to form a pistol shape. She made a firing motion. "And don't be afraid to just blow off an entire magazine. Keep their heads down and make them waste time." Yuri said. Tamika nodded then knelt down and began to fire, trying for speed rather then accuracy. She fired twenty magazines worth of ammunition before the trouble consultants were pleased. Tamika had to admit she had picked up several tips that could prove quite helpful. "What about my daughter?" Tamika asked a few minutes later while she ran a diagnostic check on the pistol. "Catherine?" Kei asked. "Yes." "Get her down here and we'll see what we can do." Tamika put the pistol aside and walked to the phone on the wall. Kei walked back onto the range where Yuri was firing at a holographic target sequence with the rail rifle she had used earlier. "A weapon for Tamika's daughter, what do you think?" Kei asked Yuri. "How old?" "Fifteen." "Something small, easily concealed, it doesn't have to have a lot of range." Yuri said. "How about a hold out pistol, the one you used in the Jenki sting was nice." "Perfect." Yuri said after a moments thought. She walked into the weapons lock up to see if she could find one. Kei picked up the rifle, slid a new magazine in, and began to fire. Catherine rode the elevator to the sub basement. She was fifteen and at the awkward stage between child and adult. She was an attractive child, one could tell that she would be quite beautiful in a few years, unfortunately Catherine couldn't. Adolescent insecurities preyed on her. She twined her long, dark brown hair in her fingers, her brown eyes held a down cast look to them. She was in two minds about the presence of the Dirty Pair in the house. In one way they were two women who Catherine idolized in a strange sort of way. They were counter culture heros to many young people. On the other hand they were both very attractive and between her mother and all the female servants the last thing she needed were more beautiful women to feel inferior to. The doors of the elevator slid back revealing the range to Catherine. She stepped out of the cubicle. The one with long, black hair, Yuri she recalled, was firing down range with a machine pistol. Catherine remembered once being told that machine pistols were inherently unstable and not very accurate. No one, it seemed, had ever told the 3WA agent about it, her score was high and continued to increase. And that, she noted, was with only one eye. The eye patch some how made Yuri look dashing, glamorous almost. The red head, Kei, was talking to Catherine's mother, using a tone Catherine had trouble believing her mother would take. Life seemed even more screwed up to the insecure teenager. "So you must be Catherine." Yuri said, snapping Catherine out of her thoughts. "Yea." Catherine mumbled. She noted that Yuri was not using a condescending tone, that made her feel better. "Glad you're here. Try a few shots with this." Yuri held out a small pistol. "See if you like it." "Pardon?" Catherine was confused. "Your mother decided it might be a good idea if you were armed." Kei told her. "Really?" "Yes." Yuri said smiling as she put the pistol in her hands. "Down range." She pointed at the targets. Catherine shifted the pistol in her grip, walked up to the firing point. raised the pistol and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. "Just a sec." Yuri knelt down behind Catherine and reached around the girls slim shoulders. "You have to press this button." She placed Catherine's thumb against a concave surface on the back of the pistol. "That will connect the battery to the magnetic coils. Safety feature." Yuri pushed on Catherine's thumb and there was a small click. Yuri stood up, letting Catherine aim again. "Go for a head shot." Kei told her. "That pistol is notoriously ineffective against armour, hold outs are like that." Catherine shifted her aim, pulled the trigger. The projectile barely hit the top of the target six meters away. "You're pulling the trigger." Kei said. "Squeeze it and the entire grip. When it fires it should be a surprise." "Control your breathing." Yuri said after Kei had finished speaking. "Breathe in, half out, aim and fire." "I know." Catherine muttered. She did know, she had just forgotten. She did what they said though and fired again. Almost dead center in the targets head. She fired a few more times, more head shots. "Try it kneeling." Kei instructed. Catherine dropped to her knee and fired some more shots. She found it harder but quickly got the feel for it. When she ran out of ammunition Yuri handed her another tube magazine of the teflon coated, steel balls. Halfway through the magazine the weapon's power cell went dead. "Good enough." Kei took the pistol from Catherine. "You won't need to get off that many shots anyway." Yuri told her. "Why not?" Catherine and Tamika asked almost simultaneously. "You want to work with surprise." Yuri said addressing Catherine. "No one is to know you're armed. If it comes down to using that weapon you'll only get a few shots off, probably at very close range." Kei had slid a new battery into the pistol and pushed a new magazine into it. "Don't connect the battery and the coils until you're going to use it." Kei handed her the pistol and a holster. "Do I have to give you the standard lecture about weapons safety?" Kei asked her. "No." Catherine said as she took the weapon. "Fine, I can't remember the standard lecture anyway. I'll just give you the warning one of my instructors gave me. Fool around with that, treat it like a toy, and I'll shoot you in the knee caps." Kei smiled, taking some of the bite out of the warning, but not all of it. "Yes ma'am." Catherine said. "Kei." The red head's smile was warmer. "Where should I keep this?" Catherine held out the pistol. "That's a stealth holster. It will clip on almost anywhere. Put it into the waistband of your jeans and pull the tails of your shirt over it." Yuri told her. Catherine did so, she could hardly feel the pistol but was sure it must be creating a huge bulge. "About tonight." Tamika said to Kei. "Yes." The red head turned. "I'll send my tailor up to fit you for something to wear at the party." "This isn't some jab at my taste in clothing is it?" Kei asked. "No." "She's lying to spare your feelings dear Kei." Yuri said. "You have no taste. Can I borrow this?" Yuri held up the rail rifle and looked at Tamika. "You can have it." Tamika said as she walked over to the elevator and tapped the call button. The doors opened immediately. "We can't accept gratuities." Kei said, getting back at Yuri for her earlier comment. "If anyone asks I stole it." Yuri said as she followed the others into the elevator. The doors closed and the elevator began its ascent. CHAPTER 6 "I mean they were like the biggest zeros I ever met. There was this party once and Yuri was doing a wallflower act, sitting in the back, plugged into that computer of hers. We all thought she was doing her homework but later we found out anyone who gave her a hard time suddenly had a criminal morals charge. Not that I can prove anything but do I really need to? Kei was just as bad but in a different way. She was fine until some one ticked her off and then the next day at least one person was getting their nose reset. Like I still don't know how they got into the sorority and why no one ever kicked them out. They must have had something on somebody." Buffy Vanderbrass. as quoted in: Phalasia Drast's Guns, Bad Karma, and Babes. (Unauthorized, unreleased, and under litigation Biography of the Lovely Angels.) "What do you think?" Kei asked as she pulled her hair over her shoulder to tie it off with a black ribbon. "Clothes or case?" Yuri asked from where she lay on the bed, looking at Kei's back. "Either, both." "You look fabulous, that tailor really knows her stuff. I'll probably be fine, you might have some trouble, stay on your toes." "I don't need a tailor to look good." Kei remarked as she spun on the heel of one of her black pumps to face Yuri. She was wearing a black dress that left her shoulders bare and clung to her tightly down to her waist where it flared out into a skirt that ended just below her knees. An embroidered seam ran down the back of her black stockings and the pumps had a dull shine on them. Yuri had to admit, with a tinge of jealousy, that it did things for Kei that were just amazing. It looked like it had been made for her, which was possible considering Tamika's resources. "So what do you want in the way of weapons?" Yuri asked. "I don't know, the smallest pistol I have won't fit into this purse." Kei held the small handbag up. "Yuri be a dear, you have all those cute little pistols. Lend me one." "Cute little pistols." Yuri said slowly. "You are so kind." she slid partway off her bed and reached under it. She came up with a briefcase. Inside the case were several pistols packed in foam. Yuri ran her hands over the guns then pulled out two. "Energy or ballistic?" Yuri asked. "Better go with ballistic you've never had much luck with energy weapons." Yuri shrugged her shoulders and put one of the pistols back in the case. She handed the other to Kei. "Tan Mai." Kei was looking at the pistol. She took a magazine from Yuri and slid it into the weapon. She put the pistol, and two more magazines, into her purse. "Now all I need is something for back up." "I have a few hold out pistols." Yuri told her. "No, I have a better idea." Kei smiled. She walked to the wardrobe where all her clothes were packed and searched through the small chest of drawers. "Here it is." Kei said, holding up a knife. "Hold this." She tossed the knife to Yuri while keeping the sheath. Yuri couldn't help but panic a little as the thorn of steel spun towards her. Her first grab slapped the handle and sent it off on a different tangent. Her next grab caught it but at the expense nick on her thumb. "That was stupid." Yuri said putting her cut thumb to her mouth. "Sorry, thought you were more coordinated. Maybe your reflex boosters need a check." Yuri stared and the knife in her hand and then at Kei, very tempting she thought. She took her thumb from her mouth, the bleeding had already stopped. It was a small cut. Kei took a seat on her bed and pulled the skirt of her dress up around her waist. She unclipped the garter clasps on her left stocking and pushed it down. After strapping the sheath to the inside of her thigh she pulled the stocking over it, careful not to put a run in it, then snapped the clasps back on. The opening of the sheath was above the stocking top. "Here." Yuri handed Kei the knife handle first. "Thanks." Kei took the knife and slid it into the sheath. She stood and let the skirt fall back into place. "How does it feel?" Yuri asked. "Fine. Does it show?" "Turn around." Kei did so. "No." "Good. I'm ready then." She picked up her handbag from where it lay on the bed. "Don't get into too much trouble Kei." Yuri warned. "We'll see." Kei smiled. "I might as well see you off. I'm sure that Tamika will have a few things to tell me." Yuri stood up. "Look on the bright side." Kei turned to make a final check in the mirror. "This give you a chance to use those oft neglected maternal instincts of yours." Kei headed towards the door. "The only thing I have maternal instincts for are fast, sporty vehicles that have outrageous price tags." Yuri said dejectedly as she followed Kei out of the room Very interesting, Yuri thought as she slipped deeper into the police computer system. She had decided to see what the police had uncovered about the attempts made on Tamika and her family. Yuri didn't expect much, she was certain the information Tamika had provided was more in-depth than what the police might have. Still breaking into the system was good practice. She had discovered a promising looking back door. She knew that any unguarded path that looked so inviting couldn't have gone unnoticed by the police computer techs. She had suspected a trap and she had found one. It was a nasty piece of work. A brain fryer if she ever saw one. And what would the reaction be if it became known that the police were putting killer programs in their system? Something to think about Yuri decided as she began to circumvent the program. She was almost through when someone shook her knee, moving the deck on her lap. Usually the work she did with the keyboard was inconsequential to her work but she had lately she had been experimenting with transferring some of the control functions to the clumsy input device, more to show off really. That cost her. Suddenly the dormant attack program was active. She put up every defense she had, tossed out enough ghosts to keep a hundred programs busy and got ready to punch out. The program was not deceived and made straight for her. She downloaded some offensive programs and lashed into it with all the skill she had. The program faltered, nano seconds at the most, she punched out. Yuri looked down, back in the real world once again. She found Susane, Tamika's five year old daughter, looking up at her. Yuri looked at her deck, eight of ten red LEDs were blinking. The design of the hardware was meant to protect the user, the circuits burning themselves out when the attack program entered them, in theory stopping it. According to the manufacturer only one was needed. Fortunately Yuri had never believed in advertising and had gone with redundancy. She was glad she had, shivering slightly at the thought of what that program have done to her wetware. The nastier programs tended to use positive bio feed back. Not satisfied with just stopping a heart, instead they increased the heart rate until cerebral arteries started to blow. Not one of the more pleasant ways to die and very little chance of resuscitation afterwards. The press would be getting a nice little story about what the planet's police had hidden in their computer system. "You wanted something?" Yuri asked Susane. "Are you a pirate?" The five year old asked. She was very cute, blonde hair in a ponytail, green eyes with intelligence and curiosity in them, her green dress matched her eyes, a blue sash around it matched the ribbon in her hair. "No I'm not a pirate, well at least not professionally." "Why do you wear an eye patch then?" That confused Yuri for a second until she remembered childhood stories of old Earth water pirates. These days when she thought of pirates she thought of slick corporate raiders, hackers, and the occasional mercenary unit that dealt in piracy. None of them would wear an eye patch any longer then it took them to get a replacement. "I'm wearing this patch because I did a very stupid thing." "Huh?" Susane looked confused. "Let's just say I did something that seemed like a good idea at the time and it turned out not to be." "Did it hurt?" Inquisitiveness and empathy warring for dominance in the child's eyes. Yuri smiled. "Only for a little while." Yuri told her. Catherine, who had left the entertainment room for drink, came back at that moment. She noticed the flashing lights on Yuri's deck and knew what they meant. "What happened?" She asked. "Nothing much." Yuri leaned back into the couch. "Susane, didn't mom tell you not to be a nuisance?" Catherine asked her little sister. "I wasn't bothering her." The young girl stated but she sounded if she might start crying. "She wasn't bothering me." Yuri told Catherine, the last thing she wanted was a bawling five year old to deal with. "Told you." Susane said, vindicated. "But your deck." "Nothing that can't easily be put right." Yuri lied. "And I do have some things I have to do." Yuri put the deck on the coffee table after shutting it off and removing the data jack. She reached over and pulled her tracer kit towards her. "Come on Susane, let's watch a Vid." Catherine led her sister to the large flat screen. Yuri opened the kit and took out several trays. Looking at the contents she wondered what Tamika might wear. Diamond studs, she thought, she had been wearing diamond studs when she had picked them up and when she had left with Kei. Yuri found a pair and placed them down. One was the activator, the other was the signaller. "Mughi." Yuri said to the big cat sitting on the other side of the couch. "I want you to set these for our com frequency." She touched the small box containing the ear rings. Mughi twisted around, one of the tentacles on the side of his head picking up the box, the other scooping up a small electronic tool kit. He jumped off the couch onto the floor where he would be able to work. The problem with the ear rings were that they could only produce a signal for a short time. Yuri had all ready inserted a program into the house computer that would turn every com into a signal relay and booster but that would only work if Tamika was in the house or on the mansion grounds. If the ear rings were a bit larger it would not be a problem. Yuri rummaged through the kit until she found what she needed. An old lip stick tube and a signal booster. Mughi laid the completed ear rings on the table and Yuri gave him the booster. With his knowledge of electronic systems, the surprisingly nimble tentacles and his ability to effect electric fields Mughi could do in minutes what would take Yuri an hour. Yuri considered what other things Tamika might wear that she could put a panic button in. She couldn't think of any thing else though and had to hope the ear rings would be enough. She would have liked to rig something up for Susane but decided the girl might not appreciate the seriousness of it. Catherine was another matter entirely. "Catherine, come here for a minute." Yuri called to her, pitching her voice to carry over the loud music the girls had playing. "What?" Catherine asked as she approached Yuri. "That ring you're wearing, how long have you had it?" Yuri asked her. "This one." She looked down at the jade set ring. "Only about two weeks but I've been wearing similar ones for almost eight years." "Perfect." Yuri smiled. She looked through the kit and took out several rings that were close matches. "Try these on, see if any of them are a good size." "What are they for." Catherine asked as she took off her own ring and began trying on the others. "Panic button. If anything happens you activate it and it gives Kei and myself warning." "It can't have that much range." Catherine said as she found one that was almost a perfect fit. "You'd be surprised but I have set up relay points. Actually that ring has a range of almost thirty kilometers and can broadcast its signal for almost twenty minutes." "Impressive." Catherine said. "My ear rings," Yuri touched the triangular piece of metal dangling from her ear. "Are actually com links, I can reach the Lovely Angel from almost ninety Kilometers but the ship does have a tight frequency scanner. Effective range is more like ten kilometers." "Do those ear rings have the same set up." Catherine indicated the studs sitting on the table. "Unfortunately no. Once you go under a certain size the drop off in effectiveness is exponential. It's too bad your mother doesn't go for bigger jewellery. Here let me see the ring." "Here." Catherine took the ring off and dropped it into Yuri's palm. "To activate this you twist the stone, either way, until you feel a click, then press down on the stone. Mughi," she said to the cat as it approached the table with the tuned booster. "Set this one up." She placed the ring on the table. Catherine was still not comfortable with the ferocious looking cat and backed away a few steps. "I guess that's it." Yuri began to pack away the kit. She slid the booster into the lipstick case and placed it beside the ear rings. "Can I ask you something?" Catherine said. "Sure." Yuri finished putting away her equipment. "You went to a normal school didn't you?" "Now that's an interesting question, what exactly do you meant by normal?" "Well a regular school, the sort most people go to." "I went to Meizuira University, I suppose you could call it a regular school, in the loosest sort of definition of regular." "I've gone to a few very exclusive private schools, but mostly I have had private tutors all my life. Shortly before the kidnapping attempts started I told my mother I wanted to go to a regular school." "To see how the other half lives?" Yuri asked her. "No. Because I want to have fun." "Well I did have a lot of fun. Probably because of Kei but let's not let her know that." "So when you were my age what sort of things did you do?" Catherine took a seat on the couch beside Yuri. "Came real close to failing psychology." Yuri leaned back against the couch. "Pardon." "I know it doesn't sound like fun but there is a nice story behind it." "You see during one semester Kei and myself had a spare after lunch then the psychology class in question then the rest of the day free. Kei suggested that if we skipped that lecture we'd have time to see some movies, check out some bars with our false ID and scope out a few members of the opposite sex. There were also a few minor crimes which have since been purged from every know data base in the known universe." Yuri smiled as she thought back on those times. "What happened?" Catherine asked her. "Missed a lot of classes, saw some good movies, found out our forging techniques needed work and met a lot of laimoids." Yuri laughed. "What about your psychology class?" "Oh let's just say a copy of the final found its way into our hands and we did reasonably well. You know thinking back on that I come to realize just how bad of an influence Kei has had on me." Mughi placed the ring he had tuned on Yuri's knee. Yuri handed it to Catherine. Catherine slid it on, wondering if a regular school was such a good idea after all. Kei stifled a yawn. She decided she should have let Yuri come instead. God she was bored. The string quartet would have been fine for a funeral but Kei was far from dead. She wasn't sure she could say the same for the majority of others in the large hall though. The hall had a high ceiling, white pillars stretched from floor to ceiling along the walls. There were many alcoves, like the one Kei was in, that offered people places to sit. A buffet lined one of the walls. Waiters bearing trays of drinks moved though the crowd. Kei didn't feel like eating and alcohol was off limits. She was so bored. When she had first arrived she had stayed with Tamika, who had introduced her as business partner to several groups of people. Kei scanned the crowd discretely for what must have been the hundredth time and picked out Tamika talking to several older gentleman. An hour ago things had gone from excruciatingly boring to incredibly painful. A very annoying man, who had introduced himself as Thomas Valwrom the third, had decided he was going to make her night. He was only a few years older then Kei but looked older and acted younger. She had tried to loose him several times but had not had much luck. If she didn't have to watch Tamika she would have hidden in the ladies rest room. He prattled on endlessly about how he was going to inherit his fathers fabulously successful electronics firm in only a few years and how it would make him very rich. Only if his father was a complete idiot Kei thought disgustedly. Thomas was an fool who would not know a board room from his elbow. She leaned back in her seat and swirled her drink, soda water and lime, lazily. She felt another yawn coming and let it show, hoping the idiot in front of her might take the hint. He didn't, obviously thick as a brick. Kei looked around the room again, she saw three new guests enter. Like she had done with all people arriving she watched them. they all seemed to belong and she might have passed them by if not for the man on the right. He twitched, almost constantly. It might be drugs, it could be neurological disease, or it might be the effects of a bad reflex boost that had been pushed to far. When one had their reflexes jazzed too high without the proper controls they tended to react to everything without realizing what they were doing. A constant twitching was the effect. Kei slid her hand into her purse, wrapping her fingers around the pistol's grip. She watched the two men and the woman as they moved into the room. She had a relatively clear shot at them, and would for about five seconds more she guessed, noting the group of people slowly moving into her field of fire. The three looked around smoothly, locked on Tamika and began moving towards her. The twitcher reached into his coat, Kei let him pull his pistol out fully before firing on him. She put three shots into his head, a tougher shot but she didn't have to worry about armour. The woman had an SMG out, how she had hidden it was a trick Kei would have liked to know. She didn't have time for aiming, she went for center of mass. If the woman had been wearing armour it didn't do her much good. The last one had his pistol out and was looking around for the source of the attack. Bad move Kei thought, most unprofessional. If he had tried to take Tamika out there and then he might have succeeded. Kei fired, shattering his wrist, causing him to drop his pistol. She fired twice more, one to each knee. Disarmed and alive for questioning. Yuri would be so jealous. At that moment the people supposed to be providing security for the party seemed to realize what was happening. They didn't take any chances and sprayed the would be assassins with auto weapon fire, killing the one Kei had hoped to talk to. Kei noticed Tamika slip something back into her purse. At least no one had seen she was armed. The red head put her own weapon back in her purse and took out her 3WA ID. She would be having a nice conversation with planetary police no doubt. She looked up and noticed Thomas staring at her. "Go away." She told him flatly. Surprisingly enough he did. "Should have tried shooting some one earlier." Kei said quietly to herself as she stood up. "So what do you think?" Tamika asked Kei as they entered the mansion. She handed her coat to one of her maids and caught up to Kei. "They were professionals." Kei told her. "Not the best but good enough. If one of them was still breathing I could tell you more." "What did the captain say to you?" "Little of use. A bit of this, a lot of that, a few rather stupid things, and some poorly veiled threats. The normal crap I get from planetary police when they think I have no right being on their balls of rock. Oh, she also promised me that she'd send me all the information the autopsy and computer searches turn up." "You don't expect much do you?" "No. It will take weeks if not years for any of the DNA prints to turn up a positive ID and that's supposing their DNA is registered somewhere. By the time any useful information is found the trail will be cold and useless." "So you just have to wait until the next attempt is made." Tamika sighed. "And that's assuming you can get one alive and make them talk." "If we get our hands on a live body we can make it talk." Kei stated flatly. "I don't appreciate being bait." Tamika said as they turned into the family wing. "Who does, ask Yuri how she lost her eye." Kei took her pistol from her purse, ejected the magazine and safetied it. Tamika stopped in front of the door to the entertainment room hearing noise behind it. She pushed it open softly and the music grew louder, but not much. She smiled. "Cute, isn't it." Tamika pushed the door open wider so Kei could see in. "Adorable." Kei agreed as she winked at Mughi and put a finger to her lips. She took out the camera she had used earlier to take pictures of the bodies. She put it to her eye and pressed the record button. Catherine was sleeping in front of the vid screen which had shut itself off. Yuri lay on the couch, looking rather innocent in sleep. Her skirt was tangled around her ankles and her blouse was bunched up below her breasts. Susane had curled up between the couch back and Yuri and was asleep also. Yuri was suddenly awake but she didn't move. After taking a look around she relaxed and brushed the hair out of her eyes. "I'm almost positive I told these kids to go to their rooms." Yuri said. "Haven't dealt much with children have you." Tamika gathered Susane up in her arms. The five year old mumbled sleepily then was quiet again. "How did you guess." Yuri yawned. Tamika took Susane out of the room. "These pictures will look so cute, unlike most of the pictures of you which are only fit for porn mags." Kei laughed softly as she held up the camera. "If you don't want to die you'll give me the camera." Yuri told her. "Don't be ridiculous. They will go straight to 3WA public relations. You know they've been dying to get some nice pictures of us, granted your half naked but it has an innocent air to it." Kei smiled. "I swear." Yuri said as she pulled her skirt up and pushed her blouse down. Tamika slipped back into the room and woke Catherine. The girl yawned and left the room. "Good night girls." Tamika said as she followed her daughter out. "Don't stay up too late." Then she was gone. "Anything of great interest happen?" Yuri stood and stretched. "Attempted assassination." Kei told her. "Body count?" "Three out of three bad guys dead. I had an unwanted assist on the last one." "Oh well. The police doing the standard check?" "Yes." "Don't expect much?" "No." Kei walked across the room to the stereo and turned the music off. "So we wait?" Yuri yawned again and dropped back on the couch. "Looks like it." Kei turned. "Party any fun?" "Loads." Kei lied, smiling. "Damn. Yuri said. CHAPTER 7 1. Operating an illegally modified spacecraft. 2. Exceeding safe speed in a heavy traffic zone. 3. Unsafe manoeuvers. 4. Threat to other spacecraft. 5. Refusal to comply to an official order by orbital control. 6. Resisting arrest. List of charges placed against Kei and Yuri (Ages 17 and 16) by the Mezuiliuan space police. Dropped due offenders age and the crashing of all computer files related to the case. Tamika leaned back in her grav chair, it bobbed slightly before the effect fields compensated. Her gaze rested on one of the several monitors that covered her desk. She reached forward and tapped the screen to get a printout. The laser printer began to hum softly. "Tanis." She called out into the room. "Get in touch with my tax lawyers. I need to know what the UG capital gains tax will cost me if I take over the entire industrial capability of Gelves world and if there are any loop holes. Oh and start some tea." "Yes ma'am." The computer answered in its soft contralto, voice. "Have on of my hackers get into Manson's account and remove the money he's been embezzling, then report him to the proper authorities. If he manages to get away have a price put on his head. Dead or alive, preferably dead, mangled in fact." "How much should the price be?" "Half the interest the embezzled funds have earned, that should be enough." "Yes ma'am." The computer said. "That's all." She looked at the other monitors on her desk, tapped a few keys, shrugged her shoulders. Nothing else that really needed her personal attention. She would have the computer check the accounts for Ty Tech and that cleared her work load for the next several hours. She spun her chair around and stared out the large, tinted, picture window that took up the entire outside wall of her office. Yuri, Kei and Mughi were out on the lawn with her daughters. The two trouble consultants had been up since very early in the morning, Tamika wondered if they had even slept. They had checked the house, looking for anything suspicious, attics to sub-basements, quite a bit of work. Then they had put subcutaneous transmitters into her daughters and herself at breakfast. Tamika rubbed at her arm, the pain had long since faded but she did not like having a transmitter inside her. After that the trouble consultants had left to check out the perimeter defence and security. Her security commanders had sent in reports praising the trouble consultants. If she didn't count Kei breaking the arm of one of the guards they had handled themselves very well. It made her feel better. They were wearing those revealing uniforms however and she couldn't help remembering Pell's earlier comment about them corrupting her children. She pushed the thoughts away, also remembering what she had told him. At least they're probably cool she thought. "Now if you do end up going to a university one of the first things your going to want to do is pledge a sorority." Kei told Catherine. She was lying on a bench under a large tree, its canopy providing shade from the late morning sun. She reached down, pulled a blade of grass from the lawn and began chewing on it. "Why?" Catherine asked, she was sitting on the same bench. "A sure way to get involved in parties for one thing." Kei took the blade of grass from her mouth. "Lots of sort of friends who will try to screw you around while your trying to do the same to them. Make sure you have a friend you can trust to watch your back and you should be fine. It's great fun." "I don't get it." "It sounds confusing at first but once you get into the flow of things it makes a lot of sense, or at least it did to me." "What did Yuri think about all this?" "Who do you think explained it all to me? Oh granted she looks innocent enough but she's been known to tamper with brakes and put a person's credit rating in the toilet. Quiet yes but not harmless." "Do you have any other suggestions?" Catherine asked. "It wouldn't hurt to have your mother buy you a nice car maybe a yacht with a good fold drive. Being able to make a trip to another system is always a good way to make people very jealous of you." "That's important, making people jealous?" "No, but it is good for laughs. Remember school only happens once." "Strangely enough it sounds like good advice." Catherine said sagely. Yuri sat on the lawn, her back up against a sleeping Mughi. Susane was also using the cat as furniture, she didn't seem alarmed by him like her sister. Yuri listened to the five year old's triad as she picked shapes out of the clouds. Yuri found herself being reminded of the imaginary worlds one could see in the soft billowy clouds. Susane had an excellent imagination and was not ashamed to let it run wild. She was brought out of the quiet reverie by the soft beeping from her left ear ring. She reached up and brushed her hand across it to activate the comlink. She answered the call quietly as not to disturb Susane. There was a flesh coloured com dot pasted to her neck which acted as a microphone. It was the ship yards calling to tell her that the refit on the Angel had been completed and they could pick it up. She thanked the person, signed off and then called Tamika. The buzz of the phone on her desk took Tamika's attention from what was going on outside. She turned and placed a hand on the speaker, activating it. "Yes." She said. "Tamika, this is Yuri." Tamika was slightly surprised at getting a call from Yuri when they were only about twenty meters away from each other. "What can I do for you?" "I got a call from the ship yards and the Lovely Angel is ready. I'd like to bring it back here so we can use it if necessary. Would it be a problem if Kei or myself went and got it?" "You can both go, the grounds are more than secure enough. Take that walking carpet with you, my people are beginning to complain, he's terrifying them." "Thanks, we'll be back soon." "Good. You can take whatever vehicle you want from my garage." "Thanks again. Good bye." Yuri shut her com off. "See you later Susane." Yuri stood. "Come on Mughi." She tapped his side with the toe of her boot. He woke but waited until Susane was no longer leaning on him before getting to his feet. "Where are you going?" She asked. "To get my ship. I'll give you a ride when we get back." Yuri knelt so she was almost eye level with the five year old. "Promise?" She asked. "Promise." Yuri reached out to straighten one of the bows in Susane's hair then stood and strode across the lawn to Kei. "Come on Kei, we're going to pick up the Angel." "Doesn't Tamika want one of us to stay?" Kei asked. "No, she's letting us get out for a while. I guess we did a good job of securing the place." "Nice of her. Catherine we'll continue the conversation when I get back." Kei stood. "Sure." Catherine said. "Are you filling that poor girls mind with bad advice?" Yuri asked as she set off for the garage. "And what would you consider good advice. Lock yourself in a room and study every single hour of the day? I'm telling her how to enjoy her self." "Did you tell her to find a friend who could hack into the schools' files and change her marks?" "You never did that." Kei said. "Do you actually think you passed on the basis of your scholastic merit?" Yuri asked lightly. "Where do you want me to send your body?" Kei smiled. Always a bad sign with that tone of voice Yuri knew. "Kei, your shoes are untied." Yuri said. Kei looked down. Why she could never be sure. Only Yuri could get her to fall for a line like that. Yuri took full advantage of it and swept Kei's feet. Then she sprinted towards the entrance of the underground garage, Mughi at her heels. "You little.." Kei yelled as she got to her feet and ran after Yuri. When Yuri was far enough into the garage she stopped and turned to face Kei. She waited until the redhead was only three meters away before speaking. "Tamika said we could take what ever we want." Yuri smiled. Kei stopped short, just in front of Yuri. She looked around the huge garage and at all the vehicles it contained. She let out a whistle of appreciation. "I'm still going to hurt you Yuri." Kei called over her shoulder as she walked between a set of APCs. Yuri smiled and headed in the opposite direction, Mughi at her heels. The place was incredible to the point of being ridiculous. She wondered if Tamika had actually decided on the set up or if some architect had decided if for her. There were so many damn vehicles in the place as well, a number of them military. "How about a tank?" Kei yelled from somewhere behind Yuri. "Can't parallel park a tank." Yuri yelled back as she scanned a row of racing bikes. "Yuri come here." Kei called a few seconds later. Yuri left off her examination of the bikes and headed in the direction of Kei's voice. She circled around a tank, Mughi leapt atop it, dropping down on the opposite side. Kei was waiting for her, sitting in a black sports car. It was low, streamlined and looked like it would cut through the air like monfilament. "I'll take this one." Kei smiled up at Yuri. "Any reason." Yuri leaned against it and stumbled forward as her hand slid off the car. "This thing is frictionless!" Yuri said. "Almost. I had a bitch of a time getting the door open." "It's ridiculous. Why would anyone design a car like this?" "I think it's a prototype that never got into production. Some bored engineer with nothing better to do probably designed it. It's probably the only one in existence." "Could be. It's just the sort of thing an engineer would come up with. A good idea but impractical, probably due to cost." "Whatever. Go get the keys." Kei said. "Why should I get them?" "Because if I do you'll grab the driver's seat." "Would I do that?" Yuri asked innocently. "In a second." "So true." "Get in the back Mughi, and don't tear the upholstery. Yuri see if you can get me a pair of sun glasses while you're at it." Kei called as Yuri set off towards the chief mechanics office. "I suppose you'll want me to make your bed next." Yuri muttered. The office was small, enough room for a desk, several chairs and a large cabinet full of keys. The woman in charge didn't seem to want to give Yuri the keys to the car, in fact she seemed horrified by the thought someone would even consider driving it. She told Yuri the car had never been driven. Yuri tried to reassure her by telling the woman that they would break it in. It had the opposite effect. It took a bit of convincing but Yuri finally got the keys. "Here." She called to Kei a short time later, tossing her crystal rod that contained the starting codes for the car. "Thanks." Kei slid the rod into a slot on the steering column. The fusion generator began to hum. The indicators on the dash went into the red then fell back into the green. "Yea." Kei whispered. Yuri walked around the car, grabbed the door handle and her hand slipped from it. This is stupid, she thought, reaching under the handle to find a patch that offered some grip. She climbed into the car and slammed the door behind her. "Shall we go?" Yuri handed Kei one of the two pair of mirror shades she had received from the woman in the office. "Road trip." Kei said as she put the car in gear and edged it around the tank. Once in the clear she shifted up, popped the clutch and raced out of the garage. The chief mechanic stood in the doorway of her office and shook her head as the crown jewel of her charges left. Things just would not be the same. The car was stopped at the west gate of the inner shield wall. The captain of the guards smiled when he recognized them. "Off to town ladies?" He asked, touching a switch on the inside arm of his armour that caused the gate to open. "Girls just want to have fun." Kei told him, quoting some old, obscure song lyric. She put her foot down on the accelerator, the rear tires spun and sprayed the guards body armour with loose gravel. She turned the wheel sharply and passed through the half open gate. "You almost ruined the paint job." Yuri said. "What sort of active defences have been set up between the inner and outer walls?" Kei looked around the area. "Dormant warbeasts for the most part." Yuri leaned back in her seat. "Those things take forever to get back up to speed." Kei saw it as an easily exploitable weakness in security. "Not these, specially designed. Extra adrenal and endocrine glands, as well as a symbiotic bacteria that produce stimulants and other nasty drugs. They can be functional within ten seconds of activation and fully operable in forty." "With all those drugs they can't be too stable." Kei said. "Probably not. Oh yea, each is fitted with a laser cannon." "Tamika is certainly pushing the bounds of legality isn't she." "It's the golden rule, she who has the gold makes the rules. Anyway it's not that bad. Each has a cortex bomb set to go off if they leave the area between the shield walls. If one goes rouge nothing embarrassing will happen. Unless you happen to be within the shield walls." "Very nasty." "Remind me never to get Tamika ticked off at me." Yuri told Kei. They were stopped once again at the outer wall gate. It was more decorative than the inner wall but almost as an effective barrier. Then they were out on the road. "Do you think the fan jet is real or just for looks?" Kei asked. "Well, there is one way to find out." Yuri said suggestively as she reached over and flipped the safety cover off the ignition control. "Should I?" Kei tapped the green touch sensitive plate, the car shook as it aerodynamics changed slightly, in preparation for the firing of the fan jet. Her hand hovered over the red activation plate. "Of course you shouldn't. We don't know what the effect will be, if it is a real fan jet it probably can only be used on a special test track, especially if this is a prototype vehicle." "I suppose you are right." "None of which is going to actually keep you from activating it so what the hell." Yuri tightened her four point restraint harness. Kei smiled an pushed her hand against the control. Ten seconds and nearly a kilometer later the fan jet cut out. As Kei fought to keep the car from going airborne she wondered if the jet had blown or if a safety feature had cut it. As the car slowed to two hundred kilometers an hour she reached over nonchalantly and closed the safety cover. "Quite a ride." Yuri dead panned. "Adequate." Kei matched the lack of emotion. "All the stress indicators went into the red right after we hit four hundred then dropped back into the yellow at four fifty." "Maybe we blew the diagnostic chips or maybe its a wimp safety factor." Kei mused. "Think we did any damage?" "Wouldn't surprise me one bit." They dropped the car off at a high security parking lot in the space port. Shortly after they had arrived in town the fan jet assembly had started making funny sounds that Kei didn't particularly like. As she got out of the car she activated the internal fire extinguishers which flooded the engine compartment with foam. Better safe than sorry she thought. A moving side walk took them from the public space sport into the ship yards. Mughi had his usual effect on people, the Angels found that they had a large clear space around them. They showed their identification to the security personnel and were allowed to enter. The Lovely Angel had just been pulled out of the work hanger and it shone in the mid-day sun. They cycled the port hatch open and entered their ship. "So what's new?" Kei asked as she started the pre-flight check. "Let's see." Yuri took a sheaf of freshly printed paper from the printer tray at her elbow. "I like the new seats and a stereo in the cockpit was a nice idea." Kei increased the volume a few decibels. "We have a new fusion reactor, a Hurricane mark two." Yuri said it like it was supposed to mean something to Kei. "An overall increase of thirty six percent in available power." "Useful." "Here's something you'll like. Total replacement of the thrust system which means a whopping fifty two percent increase in speed and a forty five percent increase in acceleration." Yuri was impressed. "We can take her out on the racing circuit." Kei laughed. "What about manoeuvring?" "Just a sec." Yuri flipped through the pages. "Ah here. They didn't do anything directly but the increase in power and speed translates into a sixteen percent jump." "Crucial. What about my suggestion for the warp drive." "You don't really think that suggestion had a chance?" "It might have." "Okay I'll check." Yuri flipped through the pages. "Living quarters, environmental control, gravity control, weapons systems, Ah here it is, warp drive. It says, and I quote, "We apologize but at this time the inclusion of a Brock/Hogan gravity compensator is impossible." End quote." "Oh sure we've put are lives on the line to protect the entire galaxy and they won't even give us a lousy prototype, experimental, ridiculously expensive grav compensator. What was that about weapons?" "No real changes except...Oh damn, they replaced the targeting computer." "So, isn't that good." "Not really, Mughi and myself have been playing around with the old targeting computer for the past few months. Overall we only get a small improvement in targeting and it is a completely different system." Yuri was upset. "Oh well." Kei said, not seeing any reason for Yuri's distress. "Anything else?" "Not much. General improvements in living quarters, the auto chef has been replaced, the entertainment system was upgraded and this is nice. They put a new lighter composite armour on the vital areas of the ship. A fifty six percent improvement in protection." "So we soak up more damage, move faster, dodge better and while we don't hit much harder it will probably seem like we do. The ship is also a nicer place to spend time in now, I think we got a nice deal. Uh oh." "What?" Yuri asked. "I just got a red light on thrust unit number seven." "Let me check it out." Yuri took an interface cable and plugged it in behind her ear. She turned to the key board on the console. Kei watched as Yuri went to work. The warning for the thrust unit disappeared from the diagnostic screen. "What did you do?" Kei looked at the screen. "Corrected a problem in the diagnostic program. There was a little glitch." "The last time you did something like that you ended up blowing an entire thrust array on that frigate." "Why do you always have to bring up my past errors?" "It's my purpose in life." Kei smiled. "Like remember that time you increased the fuel flow of Francine's car. Totally ignored all the safety specs in the maintenance computer. When the engine blew and set all those fires it was quite an impressive show." "That should have worked perfectly and that was years ago." "Only about four." "Okay but you have to admit that things like that don't happen all that often." "No I don't." "Well you should." Yuri sulked. "Maybe in another lifetime." Kei began the final checks, then one of the communication screens flashed to life. "What?" "Panic buttons have been activated, both Tamika's and Catherine's." Yuri told her. "Not likely a mistake then." Kei shunted power to the AG units and the ship began to rise. "The house computer has been closed up tight." Yuri said. "Sounds bad. What the hell were those codes, oh yea. Beronavas air control this is zulu charlie tango niner requesting double alpha clearance." Kei shut off the com. It was up to air traffic control to keep anyone out of their way now. "Should we call the police?" The Angel turned hard under Kei's hand and began to pick up speed. "No, if someone is monitoring police bands we loose the element of surprise." Yuri called up navigation programs which flashed onto secondary screens. "Good point. What's the maximum speed we're allowed in atmosphere?" "Mach four and only at an altitude above two thousand meters." "Well it's not as if they can take away my pilots license." Kei brought the trust units on line and the ship shot forward, Nap Of the Earth. "I hope you didn't screw the thrust units up." "So do I." Yuri said. "Why?" Tamika demanded as she was pushed towards the ship, a squashed, black sphere with oversized thrusters. "Ah the lady looks for a reason for your betrayal." Daniel said, looking at the person known as Pell. Daniel was tall, attractive, reed thin, long black hair and beautiful lavender eyes that couldn't be natural. "Why did you do it Pell." Tamika demanded once again of her majordomo. "That's the thing Miss Jinnas." Daniel smiled as he stopped in front of the ship's hatch. "He is not Pell but one of my men. Miss Jinnas meet Thomas. Thomas is sort of an idiot." "What!?" Thomas said angrily. "Mark is dead because you didn't know the girl was armed. You weren't even aware that Miss Jinnas was armed but fortunately I had the foresight to have her searched." "Now Tamika, if I may be so bold to use you first name." He turned his attention to her. "You see almost a month ago we captured Pell after you sent him on that little fact finding junket. We wiped his mind, keeping a little for a personality program, and put Thomas into his body. Expensive but we are being well paid. Thomas is fairly useless but he does seem to be able to loose himself in others personalities. I think its because he doesn't have one of his own." "I got you in here." Thomas stated flatly. "Oh and that is so impressive." Sarcasm lashed like a whip from Daniel. "You shut off some security programs and convinced on sight security that the ship was supposed to be landing here. Real tough. I suppose that doing it after the 3WA agents left did take some intelligence." Thomas cringed back from Daniel as if the words could actually hurt him. "Daniel, something is closing from the west, it's flying NOE very fast." Andrea called from the bridge. "How fast." Daniel brought his comlink to his mouth. The Lovely Angel passed over head, slightly below mach one. The mass of air it pushed ahead of itself was enough to push Daniel and the others against the ship. It tore things off the roof of the house, stirred the water of the pool into whitecaps and shattered windows of a green house. "That fast." Daniel barely heard Andrea's voice over the other noise. "In." Yelled Daniel as he pushed Tamika and Thomas into the ship, sealing the hatch behind him. "Get us the hell out of here." He yelled into the com. He felt the ship rumbled slightly and then with a jerk it took to the air. They won't catch us now he thought. Kei bled speed faster than was safe. She touched controls and vernier thrusters spun the Angel one hundred and eighty degrees. Bringing the main thrusters back onto line she stopped she ship almost instantly. The restraint harness dug into her, forcing air out of her lungs. Yuri, who had not fully tightened her harness, slammed face first into the instrument panel hard enough to bloody her nose. "Tamika and her kids are in that ship." Yuri said, pinching her nostrils closed. "Are you sure?" Kei fought to steady the ship. "The subcutaneous transmitters I put in show them to be in there." "Breem Motors six." Kei said as the computer matched the ship. She took the forward firing gatling cannons off safe. "Heavily modified for speed." Yuri looked at the readings she was getting. "Probably not much in the way of weapons." "Too bad for them." Targeting circles appeared on the screen. The Breem began to lift off. Kei pressed the triggers. The cannons spun out deadly streams of metal that cut trenches into the patio stone and rebounded off the armour of the ship. "Damn." Kei switched over to the lasers mounted in the angels wings. "They're moving out." Yuri said. "Thanks for the update." Kei brought the thrusters back to life and followed. She fired the lasers but the beams of coherent light glanced off the reflective armour. "Dammit." Kei yelled. She increased the power to the lasers. "Hold it Kei." Yuri told her. "What!" "If you use too much power you could seriously fry that ship. We can't take the chance with Tamika, Catherine and Susane aboard." "What do you suggest?" Kei took the lasers off line and increased the Angel's speed. The Breem Six was pulling ahead. "Missiles, right into the engine section. It will shut her down relatively safely." "Do it." Kei said. "I'll call the police now that surprise doesn't matter." Yuri nodded and turned to her controls. She armed two low explosive missiles that were perfect for surgical strikes and uplinked their sensors into the Angel's targeting computer. It was too easy. She looked up at the status screen. "Oh hell." Yuri growled. "What?" Kei kept her eyes on the screens, shadowing the fleeing craft. "They're broadcasting ECM at incredibly high levels and at very short range. As far as the missiles are concerned it doesn't exist and our targeting computer isn't too sure either." "Try for a lucky shot." Kei suggested. "Oh that's all we need, a rouge missile looking for a target." "Do we have any LOS missiles." "No." Yuri shook her head. "Your going to have to follow them closely. It's going to take time to set up ECCM." "I'll try but if that thing gets into tight quarters it may be able to out manoeuver us." "Fuck." Yuri said. "What now?" "This stupid targeting computer uses entirely different protocols. I don't know how long it will take." "The ship is heading towards the city." "Great." Yuri shook her head "Just try to keep up with them." Yuri looked down at the small computer screen and began to run counter counter measures. The two ships flew low, tearing up soil, uprooting trees with the wave of air they pushed in front of them. Kei kept on their tail, never more than twenty meters separating the two craft. As the entered the city both ships were forced to slow down as they dodged around buildings. The Breem Six's pilot tried to loose them in the canyons of glass and steel but the Angel would not be shook. "Well?" Kei asked as she swung around a skyscraper, getting in behind the fleeing ship once again. "Partial lock at best." Yuri said, continuing her work. Every time she though she had the pattern it would slip away from her like an elusive dream. The Angel shook, the vibration travelling through its hull. "What was that." Yuri asked, not looking up from the screen. "Helicopter, we sheared its rotors off." "Blame it on them." Yuri said. "They already took down a small building." "Wasn't our fault." Yuri said absently. Kei flipped the Angel onto its side to pass through the narrow space between a row of buildings. The starboard wing tip tore the roofs off several cars before she could increase the ships altitude. The wave of air the craft pushed ahead of them and the area of low pressure they left behind was too much for many of the windows of the buildings they passed. Glass panes blew out of their frames and fell to the ground below, shattering and spraying the streets with deadly shrapnel. The other ship turned into a canyon of buildings that stretched for many kilometers through the center of the city. It began to pull ahead and Kei matched its speed. It was a few seconds later that she noticed that they had broken the sound barrier. This is not good she thought. Suddenly the other ship began to climb, Kei stood the Angel on its tail and went ballistic for a few seconds. The wash from her engines as well as that from the Breem Six caused even more damage to the area below them. "We'll hit the atmospheric envelope in forty five seconds." Kei said, grunting a bit due to the high Gs the were pulling. The inertial dampers were having trouble compensating. "If you are going to do something you better do it now." "I almost got it."Yuri said. The green circle on the targeting screen suddenly went red and centered on the other ship's engine structure. "Gotcha." Yuri said. "Do it." Kei told her. "Missiles away." Yuri tapped the firing control. The two missiles dropped out of the bay, their engines already engaged. They were marked with red dots on the Angel's screen. "Hope this doesn't kill them." Kei said. "Amen." Yuri whispered. The missiles hit. Daniel held onto the acceleration straps as the ship approached space. He wished that they had not had to pull the inertial compensators when they put in all the extra thrust units. The G's the ship was pulling were not pleasant. Tamika's youngest daughter had already passed out. He lost his footing when the ship suddenly shuddered. The force of acceleration was beginning to ease, they were slowing down. Alarms were going off. He pulled himself up and turned on one of the ships' coms. "What's happening?" He yelled. "We lost engineering and the drives." Andrea's voice came out over the com, a touch of panic in her voice. "What?" "No engines, no power, no luck." Andrea explained. "Shit." Daniel swore. "All right." He turned towards Tamika. "Get in the escape pod." He pointed to the emergency hatch with his machine pistol. Tamika gathered up Susane and led Catherine across the lurching deck to the escape pod with Daniel following. There was only one pod, the others had been removed during the refit. Bad planning Daniel thought. Thomas tried to enter, Daniel pushed him back. "What?" "I'm letting friends die in the bridge, I've lost some good people in engineering, and you think I'm going to save you?" Daniel asked him. The ship was hardly moving now. Soon it would reach it's apex and start falling. Thomas went for the pistol in his waistband. Daniel blew him away then shut the hatch. He motioned Tamika and her children into the rear of the pod then separated himself from them with a security net. He took a seat at the controls and launched the pod. "A life boat just launched." Kei said. "They're on it." Yuri told her. "Right." Kei deployed the small anti-personnel lasers and locked them on the small craft. The lasers played across the life boats hull, cutting away control surfaces. "It's crippled, can't run now." "Where is the Breem Six going to impact?" Yuri suddenly asked. "You don't know?" "Uh oh." Yuri turned to the computer and began to run probable trajectories. "Well?" Kei asked as she followed the life boat down. "Fifty percent probability it lands in the city, forty that it hits the suburbs, five that it comes down outside of town and five that it explodes in the air scattering flaming wreckage for kilometers." "Lovely." Kei said. Daniel cursed as the small craft stopped responding to the controls. He had hoped to link up with his contact in space but that was now impossible. All he could do was land and hope a hostage would allow him to make his escape. He wrestled with the controls for what little manoeuvering was still available and began emergency landing procedures. Tamika made sure Susane and Catherine were tightly strapped into the crash couches before securing herself. Daniel wished he had had a chance to tighten his harness. "Bet that wasn't fun." Kei said as she watched the life boat slide to a halt. "Any landing you can walk away from." Yuri said. "Assuming they walk away from it." "Police are showing up." Yuri saw several gunships closing in on the area. "Bout time." Kei dropped the Angel's lading gear and cycled down the AG units. The ship descended on the diminishing effect fields. "Let's have a nice chat with some kidnappers." Yuri pulled her pistol from its shoulder holster. A nasty smile forming on her face. The landing gear adjusted to keep the ship level on the rough ground. Kei shut the ship down and followed Yuri out. They closed on the life boat quickly, their weapons levelled at it. Mughi loped along off to the side, he would circle around and come in from behind. The exit hatch swung open and Daniel stepped out. He held Susane around the waist with one arm, his other hand held a machine pistol pushed into the struggling child's side. "Ladies." He smiled. "If you'd be so kind to give me the override codes to your ship I'll be off. I'll put the child into an escape pod and leave her just out side of the gravity well." He kept his back to the life boats hull as he slid away from the hatch. "Go in and make sure Catherine and Tamika are all right." Yuri told Kei. "I'll handle this." Kei bobbed her head in agreement and entered the ship. "Let her go." Yuri brought her pistol up. "You don't seem to get the general idea here do you?" Daniel said. "Do you actually think I'd be stupid enough to believe you?" "Well I was sort of hoping." He admitted. "Let her go or I'll blow your head from you shoulders." Yuri pulled the first stage of the trigger and a targeting laser sprung from the barrel, a red dot appeared on Daniel's face. Daniel blinked as the laser light hit his eyes. She was serious, not to mention psychotic, he decided. He let go of Susane, put his weapon on safe and tossed it away. Susane ran to Yuri, wrapping her arms around the young womans' legs and hugging them tightly. She was crying and Yuri could feel the tears against her skin. She placed one hand on Susane's head and pulled the trigger. The round hit Daniel in the shoulder, knocking him back against the life boat. He slapped a hand against the wound and slid down the hull, leaving a trail of blood. Susane cried harder and held to Yuri tighter. Tamika, Kei and Catherine came out of the ship. Kei walked to Daniel, pulled him to his feet, spun him and pushed him against the life boat before cuffing his hands behind his back. The police gun ships began to land. Yuri slid her pistol back into the shoulder holster. She bent down and gently untangled Susane's arms from her legs. "Come on, I promised you a ride in my ship." Yuri said as she brushed hair away from Susane's eyes. She stopped crying and looked up at Yuri. The resilience of youth, Yuri thought. CHAPTER 8 "Okay, yea I'll give you that they went a bit overboard. I would really like to talk to them about it but to be truthful they scare the hell out of me. Now if you want to talk to them about it...No. ...I thought not. What do you say we have a few drinks and talk about other things?" Alleged conversation between a 3WA liaison officer and an official of Amnesty Interstellar. Kei leaned back in the chair and fought off the urge to put her feet up on the desk. She would have to thank Tamika for providing her with the office space. Having ones own office provided a nice edge when you had to deal with planetary police forces Kei thought. Usually the situation was reversed. "Now what can I do for you corporal Laminsen?" "That's Captain!" The angry woman snapped. "How quaint." Kei said. "Now I believe you wanted to discuss something?" "How about almost a billion in damages." She stood, slamming her hand on the desk. She was a plain woman though her anger brought out certain pleasing aspects in her features. Tall, thin, short blonde hair, blue eyes so dark they were almost black. Her uniform, knee length blue skirt, white blouse and blue jacket, was immaculate. "Talk to the pilot of the Breem Six." Kei told her. "I would but a pile of carbon doesn't speak so well." The Captain returned to her seat. "You know," Kei decided to go on the offensive. "If you bunch of desk jockeys got off your asses Miss Jinnas wouldn't have to request outside help." She smiled sweetly. "Why you little over rated, under dressed, psychopathic slut." The captain said from between clenched teeth. "What makes you think we couldn't handle this?" "If we had not been here Miss Jinnas and her children would be goddess knows where and you'd be feeling stupider than usual." "There would also be several more buildings standing." "We didn't take down any buildings." "Your sonic boom certainly did. Several structures had their foundations cracked and have to be demolished for safety reasons." "The other ship went mach first, we were simply following." Kei told her levelly. Suddenly she was the one fighting to keep her temper. "Well that is certainly convenient, how about two helicopters and several cars just for starters?" "An unfortunate accident, er accidents, all of which stemmed from the fact we were in pursuit of criminals. We followed all the standard procedures, I suppose your people never caused damages during a high speed chase?" "Not to the tune of one billion. The fact that the ship crashed safely outside the city is amazing considering your prior reputation." "We planned to have that ship come down safely, the missile spread was fired to ensure just that." Kei made a mental note to have Yuri purge certain information from the flight recorders. "And one more little snipe about our reputations and you'll pulling teeth out of the back of your throat." The quiet and calm way that Kei said it told the Captain she meant it. "Is that a threat." "It's a promise." "Do you know the penalty for this sort of thing?" "A week on the resort world of my choice, two weeks if I actually do it." Kei looked her straight in the eye. "You think your so hot don't you?" "At least I can get a date." "I want the prisoner." The Captain said, deciding to change tracks and stop arguing. "Pardon?" Kei had expected something else. "The prisoner. While I extend thanks for you capturing him." She drawled sarcastically. "He is to be turned over to me this instant." "Fine, once we are finished interrogating him." "No, now!" The captain pounded a fist on the desk. Kei decided it would not be worth arguing the point or trying to take a stand. "I'll go get him for you." Kei stood. "I'll go with you." Captain Laminsen stood also. "No you won't. We have him in a secure area of the house. Miss Jinnas has requested that it remain that way so unless you have a warrant...." "Just go get him." The captain growled. Kei left the office. She told the two guards standing out side the door to ensure that the captain did not do any site seeing. That taken care of she went to a nearby elevator. She typed a code onto the key pad in the elevator then took it down to one of the deeper sub basements. Kei had no idea why Tamika needed a fully operable med lab and hospital in her house but she was not really all that curious. It was deep underground and full of all sort of toys that could convince people to talk. She stopped in front of a door and typed another code into the key pad beside it. If they were going to stay much longer, she thought, they'd have to get the palm readers set for them. The room was fairly large but filled with so much medical equipment it felt cramped. Daniel had been strapped to a table in the center of the room. The table had been raised so he was in a standing position. The wound on his shoulder had been bandaged but there was evidence of other damage. On a instrument tray beside him were several laser scalpels, a pneumatic injector and a jumble of drug bottles. "So has he decided to talk?" Kei asked Yuri. "Beyond his name, the fact he was hired through a representative and that he was supposed to meet a ship in orbit for extraction, nothing." "Check the ship?" "Yes, there was a cargo ship in the location he gave me. It left the same time we took out the Breem. By the time he told me of it, the ship had already warped." "That's all you've got out of him?" "Yes." "Daniel." Kei said turning. "Do you want to tell us anything else?" She picked up a laser scalpel. "Not particularly." He said as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Give it up Kei. The toad has the most amazing resistance to pain. As for drugs, well he has enough filters in his body that the minute I pump something into him its neutralized." "Can we overload the filters?" "If you want him to die of an overdose." Yuri told her. "Will he have time to talk?" "Unfortunately no." "We could surgically remove the filters." Kei pressed a switch on the laser scalpel and a blade of light formed around the tip. "It would take months, he's probably had them put in over the years." "You are one of the most annoying men I have ever met." Kei turned off the laser scalpel and tapped his nose with it. "And she's met a lot of men." Yuri supplied. "I don't need your help." Kei glared at Yuri. "Sorry." "Daniel here's what we are going to do." Kei tossed the scalpel back onto the instrument tray, knocking the injector off. "First I'm going to drag you down the hall way to the mind surgery theatre. Then I'm going to make a brain tape of you and then just for fun I'll personally ash you body." "After that Yuri and I will go down to the mind morgue and pick you out a nice new body, something cute I think, you'll love it." She smiled evilly. "After that we will see how well you stand up to pain and drugs." Daniel tried to maintain his calm but was having difficulty. Kei read that in him and her smile broadened. Didn't like that did you you bastard she thought. Of course it was an empty threat but he didn't know that, and neither did Yuri which added to the realism. To Daniel death was an acceptable risk, the thought of being dumped into a new body scared the hell out of him. It was why he had truly despised Thomas. And the word cute made him think female. It was not that he was sexist but after thirty two years as a male he didn't feel like trying to adapt. As scared as he was Kei could tell he was not about to talk. Damn, she thought, he is a tough one. "I have a better idea." Kei smiled again as a better idea did in fact come to her. "Yuri do you remember Strieb?" "Sure but what......Oh." Yuri said, she couldn't help but to smile. Daniel began to feel very worried. "Daniel I've decided against a human body. No instead we'll go to a pet store and find the cutest, fluffiest little animal there is, put your mind tape into it and then give you to a cosmetic testing lab." "You wouldn't!" Fear evident in his voice, a sheen sweat had covered his fore head. "But of course we would." Kei said sweetly. "You know I always felt guilty that poor, innocent animals had to suffer for my make up needs. Much better that a guilty animal suffers." "Well Daniel are you sure you don't want to talk? Kei asked him. "You're a heartless bitch." He growled. "Oh my virgin ears." Yuri said with mock startlement. "Less insults and more information or they'll be spraying Channel 41 into your pinned open eyes." "Okay already." He shouted. "We were hired to do a kidnapping on Miss Jinnas and her kids. We were told Catherine was the most important, than Susane, than Tamika. If we had to we could kill Tamika and Susane. Once we grabbed them we were to link up with a ship that would provide extraction. We would warp to a secured location, be paid and that was it." "All well and good." Kei said quickly, not wanting to let on that she was surprised by the fact they had considered Catherine most important. "Who hired you?" "I don't really know." "Which name do you prefer, Fluffy of Snowball?" "It's the truth, I don't really know." "I doubt you'd take a job unless you knew who to finger if things went bad. Spill it." "Whoever hired us went through so many intermediates it was impossible to back trace." "I'm loosing my patience." Kei told him. "Okay. I knew that we'd have a lot of time while we were waiting for Thomas to scope the place out and get the information he needed to get us in. I put one of my people, Toni onto trying to trace our employer. She was one of the best ferrets I've met. Now, thanks to you, she's ash." "Your breaking my heart." Kei told him. "She had a lot of trouble, someone had gone to a lot of trouble to muddy the trail, quite a few people were killed and she almost lost it several times but she did get a name." "A name?" Kei looked at him. "We don't even know if the name is the end of the trail, it was just where the trail ended." "What was it?" "Melkar." "What else do you know?" "That's it, I swear. Now what are you going to do?" "Assuming you've told me the truth." "I have." "We're going to give you to the police now that we're finished with you." "Is there anything you don't want me to tell them?" He asked, regaining his composure. "Now why would I want you to do that?" Kei reached down for the laser scalpel. "Of course if you do tell them what you've told us then whoever hired you might decide to have you killed. Your choice but I'd never tell you to lie to the police." She cut the straps holding him to the table. "You were bluffing weren't you?" Daniel asked Kei. "You really think so?" Kei gave him a cold, cold smile. "Unfortunately, no." Daniel considered trying to take Kei down and making a run until he noticed Yuri covering him with her rail pistol. He decided not to provoke them and didn't resist when Kei put the cuffs on him. The elevator soon had them up in the main levels of the house again. When the doors opened they found Captain Laminsen waiting for them. The two guards Kei had talked to were flanking her with their weapons held in such a way that said they were not pointed at the Captain but easily could be. Considering she only had a service revolver and they were in body armour it was a very effective deterrent to her wandering. "Captain Laminsen, so good of you to meet us, sorry it took so long." Kei smiled. "Here's your prisoner." "How did he get those bruises?" The Captain said, indicating his face. "He fell down." Yuri told her. "I see an accident, like your weapon going off." Captain Laminsen said. "Strange that, accidental discharges are almost unheard of in rail pistols." "I thought it weird also." Yuri said. Daniel smiled, the rational part of his mind told him to keep out of the argument but he ignored that part so often. "Ladies, you should really leave the Captain alone. After all she is rather old and the poor dear just has no idea how to dress and..." "Shut up!" Laminsen shouted into his face, loosing her cool. She did her best to ignore the smirks on Kei's and Yuri's faces. "You're going to be spending a very long time in prison." She spun him around and pushed him towards the exit. "You think so Captain." He said as he was led off. "My lawyers will have me free in a few months top." "We'll see." The captain said. "He does have a certain style." Kei said, watching their diminishing forms. "Not bad looking either." Yuri added. "Do you think he'll get off?" "I wouldn't be to surprised." "I suppose that fact I threatened to turn him into a lab animal precludes me from ever dating him." "I'd think so, I on the other hand only shot him and tortured him a bit." "And why would he go out with you when he could have me?" Kei asked. "He has intelligence." Yuri explained. "He also has a set of perfectly functioning eyes." "Do you want to make a wager?" "What? That we'll probably never see him again and if we do he'll probably try to kill us." "So true." Yuri sighed. "Come on. let's go talk to Tamika." Kei grabbed Yuri's arm and headed towards Tamika's office. Tamika sat at her desk staring at her computer screens but not really seeing them. She was still slightly in shock from the days events. As head of huge interstellar company it had not been the fist time an attempt on her life and freedom had been made, but it was the first time it had come so close to family and friends. Poor Pell, she thought. She had met him almost ten year prior. He had tried to hijack one of her freighters and had come very close to succeeding. Dumping him out an airlock seemed such a waste to Tamika so she had offered him a job. He had worked his way up in her organization, proving his loyalty which she had rewarded by making him her majordomo almost two years before. Now he was dead and the bastards who had done it had not even had the decency to let his body die with him. "Oh Pell." She said softly into the cold light of her computer screens. "Once you were so sharp, they'd never have got you. Soft living took too much of your edge." Not much of a eulogy she thought. "Are we interrupting anything?" Yuri said from the doorway of the office. "No." She smiled slightly. "I'm just feeling sorry for myself. Come in." "Thanks." Kei came in behind Yuri. "So have you come up with anything?" Tamika asked after they had taken seats. "Maybe." Kei said, smiling slightly. "Don't be coy!" Tamika snapped. If only they weren't so young she thought, they could almost be her daughters. Gods, what a thought. It made it hard to deal with them sometimes. "Sorry." Yuri apologized for both of them. "No," Tamika leaned back in her chair. "No, I'm sorry, its just that...." "We understand." Yuri told her. "The information we have isn't much." Kei started. "We can't be totally sure of it and all we have is one name. Whoever wants you laid down a pretty convoluted trail." "Tell me, if it doesn't mean anything to me I have ties into almost every data base in the know galaxy." "Daniel told us the trail ended at and person called Melkar." Yuri said. "And that Catherine was their primary target." Kei added. A stunned look appeared on Tamika's face. "Are you all right?" Kei asked her. "Sure." she sounded absent. "I take it you know the name." Yuri leaned forward. "Pardon?" "Planetary control to orbiting craft please respond." Kei tried. "What?" Tamika looked at the two trouble consultants, confusion on her face. "If you don't warp back in I'll be forced to pump a stimulant or something into you." Yuri told her. "I'm sorry. I was just lost in thought." "So what's the story?" Kei put her foot against Tamika's desk and kicked herself and the chair back and meter. "I do know a Melkar but I have trouble believing he could be involved. Well that's not entirely true, especially considering what you said about Catherine. I'd rather not believe he's involved." Tamika sounded upset. "So fill us in." Kei pulled her chair back up beside Yuri's. She was mildly annoyed at all the cryptic comments she was getting. "Okay. Sit back children." Tamika stood and circled around her desk. "Let Tamika Obachan tell you a story." She took a seat on the edge of her desk, smiling slightly. "Should I ask for a glass of milk?" Yuri whispered to Kei. "Why don't you go get your stuffed cat." Kei whispered back. "Where to start?" Tamika asked the air, spoiling any chance for Yuri to make another witty remark. "About twenty years ago, sometime after my seventeenth birthday my father ate the barrel of a revolver, which is a colourful way of saying he killed himself. A rather old fashioned way to end one's life but it was a rather old fashioned life." "That left me in control of his moderately successful company that had dealt mostly in warp drives and thrust units. Being young and foolish I decided to expand." "I borrowed heavily, using the company for collateral. The fact that I did this with quite a few banks was illegal, I'll not mince words about that. It's amazing what you can get away with when you have a good hacker to cover you trail." "I spent three years running around the galaxy, buying, investing in and even stealing anything with a profit potential all the time hoping that my creditors and investors wouldn't suddenly realize what I had done. They found out eventually but by then it was too late. I was in the fortune one hundred and paying back all my loans was a snap." Tamika sighed as she remembered those days. If a law had been made she had felt it was like a personal challenge for her to break it. Insider trading, black mailing, fraud, whatever worked. Of course she had spent four years in court after everything was done but she had had an entire law firm defending her. "Near the end of the first year I travelled to Liamas II to talk to a Vecroy Melkar about purchasing his cybernetics company. I wanted his patents but he wouldn't sell." "He was very stubborn but devastatingly handsome and fatally charming. We became lovers, saw each other when ever we could. That became less and less as all my responsibilities took up more of my time. We finally ended it by mutual agreement and parted on good terms." "Catherine is his daughter, our last romantic meeting was both enjoyable and productive. I was happy enough, I had wanted a child but wasn't to thrilled by the thought of a husband. Vecroy had a lot of good qualities and the bad ones were dealt with by a bit genetic manipulation." "We met again three years later, I was buying a shipping line or something similar and he was trying to arrange cheap transport of his products with that line. He had attempted to branch out and hadn't done so well. I offered to buy his company and leave him in charge. That was the wrong thing to say. He didn't take well to pity. This time when we parted it was on very bad terms." "Did you tell him about Catherine?" Kei asked. "No, I didn't think he really needed to know and considering how much of a bastard he proved I didn't want him to know her." "Have you ever told Catherine any of this?" Yuri's curiosity was peaked, it had all the makings of a soap opera. "No, she's never asked and I would rather she never found out about Melkar. I suppose if she ever asks I'll tell her." "And who would Susane's father be?" Yuri wondered if Tamika could top the story she had told so far. "That really isn't important to this conversation." Tamika said, disappointing Yuri. "About six years ago Melkar launched a custody suit, I guess he found out about Catherine. It would not have been too hard for him to figure it out, based on the dates and such. He had several sleazy lawyers and some fabricated charges of me being a bad parent. I put one of my law firms on it and re-bribed the judges to ensure a fair trial. I won and that was the last I really heard of him." "Until today." Kei said. "Until today." Tamika agreed. "So why is he interested in Catherine?" Yuri crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair. "Six years ago I asked that very same question so I put some people on it. They found out that he had got himself involved with a group who call themselves The Imperial Foundation." "Sounds like a bunch of vacumn heads." Kei said. "Aren't they the people who believe all the worlds colonized should be united under the rule of one power?" "That's them." Tamika told Yuri. "One of their members will take the augustus position of emperor while the others form the core of the imperial nobility." Tamika said it in such a way to show she was not impressed. "I think I know who you mean now." Kei said. "Weren't they linked to the SBG a few months back?" "Yes, being a member stopped being a trendy thing after that." "They don't have much power." Yuri said. "So it appears on paper, or publicly accessible data bases but some of the available evidence has suggested that they might have larger holdings than earlier suspected." "Any idea who might be providing them with funds?" Kei asked. "Well none of the mega-corporations would, we don't like the idea of a unifying power. Such a government would be a major threat to the free enterprise system we like dealing with and we'd hate to give up the worlds we own." "Possibly one or two of the unaffiliated worlds, they could provide a lot of raw resources. One of the bigger sources would be small companies who want more power but just can't get it." "Like Melkar's." Yuri said. "Exactly." "So why would Catherine be important to him?" "He wants my company and Catherine is a very good way to get it." "So he trades Catherine for your position." Kei guessed. "No, that wouldn't work. If anyone else were to take control of my holdings they'd loose a lot of vital contacts I've built up, that's where my real power lies. People put a lot of faith in me. He could use Catherine to force me to do what he wanted but that would be chancy. I would not take kindly to such an attempt." Tamika's voice went hard and cold. Kei and Yuri didn't doubt for a second that Tamika's anger would be dangerous thing to have directed at someone. "Then what would he do?" Yuri asked her. "Catherine will take control of my company and more importantly my majority of the shares, when I retire or die. As my daughter she'll no doubt retain the faith that people have in me. If Vecroy had the time he could easily convince her to follow his dreams. She's young enough now that she'd trust him." "Especially if you were dead." Kei added. "Why do you think he waited so long since his last attempt to get her and now?" Yuri asked. "I had people watching him after he tried to get custody of her. As time passed I let the surveillance ease up. I guess he decided it was a good time." "Do you have any information on him?" Yuri queried. "Probably but I'll have to dig it all up. Ladies right now I'm feeling very tired." She stood. "If you'll excuse me." She indicated the door. Kei and Yuri stood, Tamika escorted them out of her office and locked the door behind her. "We'll talk about this tomorrow." Tamika yawned then walked down the hall towards the family wing. "Now what?" Kei asked once Tamika had disappeared from sight. "We have an excellent lead, let's see what else we can find out." "Why don't you check out the data bases, see what 3WA and UG intelligence has on this guy." Kei told her. "Why do I always have to do the computer stuff?" "Because you like it." "Oh yea." They set of towards their room, both woman were silent, each lost in thoughts about the case. They loud music coming from ahead of them and finally located its source in the entertainment room. They stopped in front of the open door and looked in. Catherine way lying on the couch, her face buried in a pillow. From the way her shoulders were shaking Yuri and Kei could tell the girl was crying. "What's the matter with her?" Yuri asked Kei. "She offed one of the kidnappers, I don't think its sitting to well with her." "Poor kid." Yuri said sadly. "You're not much older than her." "Do you want me to talk to her?" Yuri said. "No, I'll take this. Go and start working with your computers." "Right." Yuri was slightly relieved. "Good luck." She put a hand on Kei's shoulder then was quickly walking towards their room. Kei straightened her shoulders and tried to remember something that might be useful in such a situation. She came up blank and decided to wing it. Entering the room she crossed to the couch, sat down and placed a hand on Catherine's back. "How you doing?" It sounded lame to Kei but it was all she had. "I killed one of them." Catherine sat up, wiped tears from her face. "I took out the pistol, I aimed at his head, like you said. I fired and...and...it...it was...I.I.I......." Kei reached a hand around Catherine's shoulder and pulled her close. She could guess how bad it had been. Yuri had favoured the hold out pistol for a few weeks. It made some of the messiest wounds Kei had ever seen. They should have given the girl a laser. Twenty twenty hind sight. "I understand." Kei said after letting Catherine cry for a while longer. "I c-c-couldn't fire at the others. I knew I should but I just st-st-stared at the body. I was a coward." Her tone was full of self-disgust. "Never believe that!" Kei's voice was fierce. "Yuri and I never believed you'd have to use the weapon, we gave it to you because it was something else we could do to ensure security. You confused them, made them waste time searching for things that weren't there. Catherine, had they left even a minute sooner we would have never caught them." "But I froze. You and Yuri never freeze." "There are reasons, most of it experience, very little of it pleasant." Kei thought back on her first days as a 3WA training candidate. They had not been particularly enjoyable. The instructors had wanted their students to realize that they were not playing games. Their had been very graphic vids, even more graphic sims, trips to morgues, all so they could get a good idea what death looked like. "Take a look at this ladies and gentlemen, you'll notice how the heat of the laser caused the water in the tissue to boil off and the small explosion it caused." Throwing up all over a cadaver was not one of her favourite memories, at least she had not been alone. "Even now." Kei said. "There are times, after combat is over, after the small details have been taken care of, after I'm safely aboard the Angel, that I have to lie down and shake for a while. More than once Yuri's spent time leaning over a toilet throwing up." As have I Kei thought. "Don't you ever get use to it?" "I hope not, I've met people who have become use to it, I don't want to be like them." "Really?" "Really." She smiled. "Come on, you need some sleep." Kei stood and walked over to the stereo to turn it off. "What if I have nightmares?" Catherine asked as they left the room. "They'll pass, just be strong enough to face them." Kei had to wonder whether it was good advice she was giving but it was all she could offer. "Kei, will this end soon?" Catherine walked towards her room. "I hope so, I think so." Kei said. "Promise?" She stopped and looked back over her shoulder at Kei. "Sorry." Kei smiled sadly and shook her head. "Oh well." Catherine turned and continued on to her room. Kei sighed then walked towards her own room. CHAPTER 9 I think Yuri and Kei had a sense of immortality, not surprising considering how lucky they often were. Angels is certainly the right name for them, some greater power seems to be watching over them, a whole flock of guardian angels more than likely. The problem was that the people around them tended to lack such divine protection. I suppose they never realized this. Is it any wonder their plans often did not take other people into consideration until it was too late? Philasia Drast's Guns, Bad Karma and Babes. (Unreleased, unauthorized and under litigation biography of the Lovely Angels.) Tamika stepped out of her shower, the soft rug on the bathroom floor absorbing some of the water that dripped from her. She took a towel from her assistant and wrapped it around herself. "So is there anything of great importance?" Tamika asked. "Not much really, you should take care of that problem on the moon of Triesius." "Why don't you handle it, I have some things that need my personal attention. Has all the data on Melkar been dug up and loaded into the accessible files?" "Yes." "Good, have a report ready for me at the end of the day." "Yes ma'am." She said, then left, going to her own office. Tamika dried herself off and completed the rest of her morning rituals before leaving the bathroom. She took a well tailored, dark grey, business skirt/suit from her closet. It's long skirt ended just below her knees and the jacket had a slight military look to it. A white blouse with a red tie completed the outfit. She let her hair hang down her back and pulled her bangs back with two small, ebony combs. Almost as a after thought she pulled her pistol from under a pillow on her bead and slid it into the jacket's inner pocket. Kei and Yuri were waiting in her office when she entered. Yuri was wearing a blue dress that matched her eyes, the long skirt almost brushed the floor. Kei had on a pair of tan walking short and an off white shirt. The khaki jacket that had been tossed on the floor was no doubt hers. "Good morning ladies." Tamika walked towards the wet bar. "My, don't we look dressed this morning, can I interest you in breakfast?" "Just some tea if it wouldn't be a problem." Yuri said. "Expresso." Kei said. Tea had already been put on as well as coffee. The expresso maker had come on when Kei mentioned her desire for some. Tamika filled a cup with tea and another with coffee. Yuri came over and took her tea, putting some sugar in it. "I suppose you want to see what information I have on Melkar?" Tamika returned to her seat behind the desk. "A good place to start." Kei walked over to the bar to wait for her drink. "Yuri already dug up some data, let's see if your people have anything she couldn't find." "Right." Tamika touched a few of the controls on the steel and glass desk causing two screens to swing out of the desk top and a portion of the glass top to become a key board. "Vecroy Melkar, age 50, born january seven, 2091, owner of Melkar Cybernetics, no criminal record worth mentioning, citizen of United Galactica, the planet Sesstan, and the planet Teern which is not a member of the UG." "Not too exciting." Kei took her cup of expresso from the machine. "True. Do you want to hear the rather boring stuff, parents, genetics, early schooling?" "No." Yuri said, taking a seat, placing the cup and saucer on her knee. "I already dug up the boring stuff." "Okay, then let's take a look at the man." Tamika brushed her fingers over the keyboard. The windows darkened, some of the lights went out and there was a low hum as she activated the holo projectors. A man, a bit under two meters, appeared in the middle of the room. He had blue eyes, blonde hair, muscular build, very handsome, except for his smile which made his mouth look hard. He wore a very expensive looking pin stripped suit. Nice holo projectors, Yuri noted. "Nice body." Kei said. "Pretty good for a man of fifty." "This was taken two years ago but yes, he has held up remarkably well." Tamika agreed. "Why don't you have anything more recent?" Yuri asked. "He's made himself very scarce over the past few years, no one really has any idea where he is." "Which means he could have been on that ship waiting in orbit." Kei looked the hologram up and down. "And he could also have been almost anywhere in the galaxy with a rock hard alibi." Yuri said. "If Melkar was behind this he was in that ship, its the sort of person he is. My psych techs tell me that he is the type who likes to get as close to the action as he can as long as he doesn't put himself at too great of a risk." "Would have been nice if we could have nailed him that easily." Kei said. "No such luck." Tamika turned her attention to the keyboard. "Here's something I'd like you to see." She touched a few keys. The hologram's clothes disappeared. "Nice, can you make it dance?" Kei asked. Yuri blushed but didn't look away. "Now girls, let's keep our minds out of the gutters." She touched a few more keys. This time skin on one half of his body faded out to reveal cybernetic limbs. His arm and leg with some torso mods, his eyes and other skullware. "Both his arms and legs, torso enhancements, heart, kidneys, liver, lung modification, eyes, and other things. This is all based on information about four years out of date. Once again my psych techs tell me that he may have gone the way of full conversion by now." "Not much into humanity is he?" Kei looked the hologram over. "I'm willing to bet he's quite insane now but my opinion is no doubt coloured." Tamika admitted. Kei put her hands together in the shape of a gun and pointed them at the hologram. "How do you take down a full conversion borg?" "Missile launcher, assault cannon." Yuri suggested. "Might work." Kei pulled her hands apart. "Do you need to know anything else?" "How converted was he when you met him?" Kei asked. "I think he only had his eyes replaced then. I believe he lost his originals in a vehicle accident, decided to go for cybernetics instead of clonal replacements." "Sounds like he could be a megalomaniac." Yuri said. "Been reading your dictionary again?" Kei taunted. "At least I can read." "So do you two have a plan?" Tamika interrupted. "Glad you asked." Kei said. "Yuri." "You cancelled a visit to some sort of convention thing on Peledies nine didn't you?" "How did you know that?" Tamika could not remember mentioning it to the trouble consultants. "I checked your calendar." Yuri explained. "But that's protected." "Is it?" Yuri asked. "You'll have to forgive Yuri." Kei told Tamika. "If the defenses aren't trying to fry her hardware, crash her software and burn her wetware she isn't likely to notice them." "Are you sure there were defenses?" Yuri tried to remember if there had been any. "Tanis." Tamika activated the computers voice interaction mode. "Has there been any unauthorized entry into my personal calendar?" "No such access is evident." The computer told her. "Check deeper." "There is a thirty one percent chance of unauthorized access." The computer conceded. "Great, she breaks into my system and doesn't even leave a trace." Tamika scowled at Yuri. "Who has access to my calendar?" She had an idea about what might have happened. "Yourself and trouble consultant Yuri." "I see." Tamika looked nastily at Yuri. Yuri looked very uncomfortable, Kei stifled a laugh. "Sorry." Yuri tried. "Do you do this sort of thing to everyone that you're assigned to?" "She likes you." Kei said. "Lucky me. If 3WA ever decides they no longer want your services you'll have to come and work for me." "What would you be offering as starting salary?" "Perhaps we'll talk. Yes I did cancel the trip. With all that has been happening I considered it a wise thing to do." "What exactly is it, the convention?" Kei asked. "It's sort of a meeting for medium sized corporations. They get together with one or two other corps and make deals that benefit all of them. It's also a chance to trade information and set things up. When I first started out I found it very useful. Now I go just to see which of the up and comers might be a threat so I can buy them out." "Nasty." Yuri said. "You should go." Kei told Tamika. "Why?" "It will draw Melkar out." Yuri said. "Pardon?" "If we don't get him soon he'll simply wait until 3WA pulls us off this case." Kei said. "We have a month, maybe two at the most before 3WA decides there is no more threat. They'll think we took care of the problem when we took out Daniel or when Kei killed those three at the party. The stuff we have so far on Melkar won't mean much, especially considering how we got it. We've been running on intuition for the most part and while 3WA gives our hunches respect they don't trust them enough to let us sit around waiting for a maybe." Yuri told Tamika. "How long can Melkar wait?" Kei asked. "Just from what I've read and heard so far he can probably wait a couple of years before trying again. Catherine will be vulnerable to manipulation for several years yet, especially from a father if she had just lost her mother." "I could give her warning." Tamika said. "What if she doesn't believe you, what if she needs help and he's the only one there, you can't be sure." "So you don't think there's anything I can do?" "Who knows." Kei shrugged her shoulder. "You're the owner of this Mega corp, can you do anything that would stop him from taking over if he got his hooks into Catherine?" "No, nothing that would hold up if Catherine backed him. I could make Susane my primary heir, but that would just make her a target as well." "We also have to draw him out so we can take him down." Yuri said. "He's a dangerous man, he might decide to kill you and your family simply because you stopped him from getting what he wanted, your psych techs seemed to believe he was more than a little unstable. Once he's dead he's no longer a threat." "That's rather cold....but true. How do you know if he'll even show if I go to Peledies nine?" "Too much of a temptation, if he sees a chance to get you and you kids he'll take it, it matches his psych profile." Yuri told her. "And what if he sends someone else?" "He won't." Kei's tone held no doubt. "He won't have time to arrange free lance help and cover his trail. If he can't do that he'll be in on it personally. His psych profile again." "You're sure of that?" "Your own people did make the report. Mind you, I never trust these things one hundred percent but it makes sense." "I don't like the thought of putting my children in such a dangerous position unless it's absolutely necessary, but what's your plan." "Can you get a ship here, cruiser class at least, chartered for a run to Peledies nine?" Yuri asked. "Yes. I own several shipping lines and having one diverted won't be a problem. I can get something here by tomorrow." "Make sure it's a ship that wasn't already going there, that will make it less likely Melkar will have agents on it. Once it's here we go right there." Kei said. "Melkar will know what I'm doing a few minutes after I do it, you can't hide something like that. He'll be able to catch us before or after we warp, even if I use secure channels and codes he'll find out in a few hours." "That's what we're counting on, he probably won't try for us until after we reach the Peledies system. More than likely he'll try to board and take you, he won't have a very big ship, he won't need one. We can take him out with the Angel, quick and clean." Kei slammed her left fist into her right palm. "And if he doesn't show?" "Then you go to your convention and we come up with another plan." Yuri said. "I suppose that is something. I'll get to work on getting the ship, if its going to be big it might as well be one of the best, first class all the way. I'll use secure channels, that will slow Melkar down a bit, make it seem less suspicious. Are you sure he won't have anything big in the way of space craft?" "Trust us." Kei said, echoing Yuri's smile. "Why do I feel like I should be running, screaming onto the streets?" "PMS." Yuri suggested. CHAPTER 10 Enjoy a quiet, restful, and enjoyable cruise on one of our luxury space liners. Our attentive and expert staff will make your journey a true pleasure. Get away from the hassle of everyday life as you travel between the stars. Excerpt from Dark Matter Cruise Lines travel brochure. "Dark Lady to Lovely Angel, request an ETA." "Dark Lady expect us there in about ten minutes." Kei said into the com. "Affirmative, have a safe trip." The voice said. "So what's taking so long?" Kei asked Yuri. "One of the techs at air traffic control has some problem with my pilots license, says something about a medical suspension." Yuri said angrily. "Might be the fact you are missing an eye." "Like that really matters." "Well we don't have all day, let me fly her." "Don't worry, we'll get clearance any second now." "Tower to Lovely Angel, you have clearance." The man said, sounding a little surprised. "Thank you." Yuri shut off the com. "Geek." She stuck her tongue out in the direction of the tower. "How did that happen?" Kei began to make final course adjustments. "As if I didn't know." "Little computer program I was saving for a rainy day." Yuri engaged the AG units. "Isn't that illegal?" Tamika asked over the com from down in the ready room where she and her children sat. "Only if I'm caught. I'm such a bad girl." Yuri powered the thrust units up and the Angel began to climb steeply. "Go faster." Susane called over the com. "Yuri's too much of a wimp." Kei said. "Wimp," Yuri said. "I think not." The Angel's thrust plates went from pale blue to almost black as the ship went ballistic. They were high enough that the contained thrust wash posed no danger to anything below. Kei and Susane were impressed with the sudden speed, Tamika groaned slightly, Catherine found herself torn between joy and terror. Yuri wished that the inertial compensators had a bit more power. She watched as the internal indicators began to creep into the red. She began to wonder if exceeding the safety margin had been a good idea. Then, suddenly, they were out in space and Yuri took the opportunity to slow the Angel, due to the heavy traffic. "Approaching Dark Lady, two degrees to port, four degrees dorsally." Kei told Yuri. Yuri made the corrections. "Any problem getting the ship here?" Yuri asked into the com. "None." Tamika answered. "What about the passengers?" "Most weren't at all happy by the sudden change in plans but new tickets with a bump in level made most of them happy." "Sounds expensive." Kei said. "Minor expense." Tamika told her. "I think I used up a weeks interest on one of the accounts set up for that sort of thing." "Nice ship." Yuri noted as they closed on the Dark Lady, information about the ship was being projected on one of the screens. "Very." Kei agreed as she looked at the information the computer was supplying. The Dark Lady was a Darnell three cruiser. It was just over a kilometer in length, had a shape like a rectangular box but with smooth curves instead of sharp corners. It looked like it might be streamlined but Kei doubted anyone would actually try to make planetfall with it. It was painted a light grey and the many portholes along its length were points of lights. No one said anything for several minutes, looking out at the spectacle in space. Yuri looked at the laser range indicators and she to cut her velocity. She had to be careful, in space there were so few other points of reference that it was too easy to misjudge distances. "Dark Lady to Lovely Angel." Came from the com. "Do you wish us to take over for docking?" "That won't be necessary, open the landing bay up, we're coming in." Yuri said. "Affirmative, welcome to the Dark Lady." The voice on the com signed off. Yuri slid the Angel under the much larger ship and slowed her ship considerably. They skimmed the keel for almost six hundred meters until a patch of light showed them the opening into the converted cargo bay. She brought the ship to a halt under the entrance then activated the ventral thrust units on minimum power for half a second. The Angel drifted into the docking bay, clamps gently locked onto the ship and pulled it fully into the ship. The hatch below them closed, sealing the bay from space. "Air pressure almost at standard level." Kei said, watching the environmental controls. "Very fast." Yuri began to run the shut down procedures. "How long would it take us to get out of here in an emergency?" "Once we were in the Angel?" "Yea." "Let's say ten seconds for emergency start up, five to have the hatch open, two if we blow it, and six to get out." "Sounds a bit too fast, I'd say twice as long." "Whatever." Yuri shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, the welcoming comity is here." Yuri used her chin to indicate the main screen. "Let's go then." Kei undid her restraint harness. They met up with Tamika and her children at the port airlock. Mughi would be staying aboard to watch the ship. Kei overrid the safety features and cycled both doors of the airlock. A wave of air rushed into the Angel, ruffling hair and clothes, the Dark Lady had a standard air pressure slightly higher than the Angel. Tamika took the lead, walking down the short set of boarding stairs onto the hard deck. Waiting for them were a group of people in ship's uniform. The Captain was in his dress uniform, black pants, a white shirt with black tie, and a double breasted black jacket with the gold bars of his rank on his shoulders. It was a sharp uniform Yuri decided. The Captain himself was a handsome man, rugged good looks. Tall, short brown hair showed from under his hat, hard blue eyes, a few days growth of beard on his face. Behind him were three men and two women, ships security, not in dress uniform. This is not a happy man, Kei thought. "Miss Jinnas." He stepped forward and dropped his head slightly. "Captain." Tamika said, noting the man's displeasure. That was the problem with the best ship's captains, they tended to forget who owned the ships they commanded. "I am not pleased with the situation." He stated flatly. "I understand Captain Halson but I had need." "You are aware that quite a few passengers complained about the unexpected change in destination. More than half have left." "And all of them have been compensated for the inconvenience and most will not hold any bad feelings towards this ship or the Line." Captain Halson looked at her for a second. From what he had heard about the woman in front of him, his employer, she was not the type to indulge in fancies of this sort. She had to have a good reason for having his ship pulled off its regularly scheduled run. If the passengers had been compensated he had no more reasons to complain. A small voice in the back of his head told him he would have reasons soon enough. Tamika's expression told him that she was sorry for causing him trouble but would do it again in a second if she had to. He noticed a slight distortion in the way her jacket hung, she was armed. Either she was paranoid or she was in trouble. His eyes flicked over to her children then passed them by to rest on Kei and Yuri. 3WA trouble consultants, the Dirty Pair. Miss Jinnas was in trouble, one way or the other. The raven haired one wore a pair of loose black pants that were tied off just below the knee. White stockings continued down her calves, she wore high heeled black pumps. A white blouse with a black jacket, the sleeves rolled up past her elbows, completed the outfit. A pair of dark sunglasses covered her eyes, her hair was drawn back with a white ribbon. She had to be armed but he could see no evidence of it. The red head had on a pair of faded jeans, low boots, and a red t-shirt with "KILLING FOR LOVE" in black letters on the front. Her leather jacket looked like someone had crashed a car into it several times. She had her hair pulled over her right shoulder and tied with a black ribbon. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes and she smiled at the Captain as their eyes met. "If you will come with me." He said before the silence could get uncomfortable. "Certainly." Tamika said. The Captain sent two of his security personnel ahead of them while the other three fell in behind them. He led them into one of the service corridors instead of using the main passageways. Less chance of their being seen. The Captain stayed beside Tamika, answering the few questions she asked of him. Susane and Catherine walked just behind their mother, talking quietly. Kei had fallen in behind the children while Yuri walked in front of the Captain and Tamika. Halson noticed this, a slight anger flaring in him that they didn't trust his security. Yuri noticed that one of the security people ahead of her was using a comlink, no doubt in touch with the bridge which would be scanning these corridors. That pleased her, the better ship security was the easier her job. They exited the service corridors near the center of the ship. "I've set aside the entire set of secure suites for you. You're close to the bridge so you share its security. You're far from the outside skin of the ship, there's a life support unit on one side of the suites and the main galley on the other. No one will be able to obtain entrance to the suites except through the doors which will be guarded." "What about ceiling or floors?" Kei asked. "Above us is the ship's computer core, high security, below us is engineering, high security. All you have to worry about is if the fusion reactors blow and if that happens it won't matter where you are on the ship." Kei nodded, satisfied with his answer for the time being. The Captain opened the doors that led into a corridor. There were three doors on each side of the corridor, leading to the suites. Two of the security personnel stationed themselves outside the entrance to the hall way. He showed them into the corridor. "All of the suites are unoccupied, the doors can be coded to thumb, palm, voice, or retinal prints or all of them if you want." "Thank you." Tamika said. "You're welcome ma'am, now if you'll excuse me." He turned and left the hall, closing the door behind him. Kei reached out and touched the lock plate of the door right next to them. When it opened she herded Tamika, Catherine and Susane inside. "Yuri, you stay here." Kei said as she began to pull small components from her pocket and fit them together. "Play bodyguard while I do a sweep of the area and ensure that the Captain was right about our safety." She completed the 3WA scanner. "Fine." Yuri told her. Kei left and Yuri closed and locked the door. She let her carry on bag fall to the floor and drew her pistol from its shoulder holster. Then she made a search of the room. "Yuri?" Tamika said as the trouble consultant came out of the second bedroom. "Yea." "Why are you wearing those sunglasses?" "I don't want anyone to know where my blind side is, these hide the patch." Yuri touched the frame of the sunglasses. "Won't they hamper you?" "No, they have light intensifiers, IR, as well as flare compensators and a few other surprises." Yuri told her. "Crucial." Catherine said from the couch. "Can I get a pair?" she asked her mother. Tamika didn't answer her daughter, she was thinking about the glasses. She had to have a factory somewhere which would be able to crank out similar ones. Considering her daughter's interest they would probably sell very well. If she could talk Yuri into doing a commercial spot for them they would sell thousands upon thousands and once the religious and other groups started whining about Yuri being used as the spokeswoman they would sell even more. "I'll think about it." She told Catherine as she filed her plans away for later consideration. Yuri continued her search of the suite, checking out the small kitchenette. "Can we look around the ship?" Susane asked. "Not yet." Yuri called. "Kei and I have to take a look around first just to make sure everything is alright." "Oooooh." She whined. "That's very unpleasant." Tamika told her daughter. "Were not going to have to spend the entire trip in here are we?" Catherine asked. "Considering that the trip is only going to take eighteen hours all told I don't see that staying in the cabin for the entire time will be that much of a chore." Tamika said. "Don't worry." Yuri reassured the children. "I'm pretty sure that there won't be any problems but we do to be certain of that." She walked over where she had left her carry on bag and picked it up. Taking a seat on the couch, Yuri opened the bag. She reached in and pulled out a sub-machinegun. She safetied it then began to strip the weapon. Kei stood outside the door of the suite that Yuri and the others were in. She looked down at the scanner and called several recordings from memory to check them again. No bugs, explosives, or other nasty surprises she had been able to detect. Satisfied, she shut it off and placed her hand on the call plate. A few seconds later the door opened. Yuri was sitting on the couch, her feet on the coffee table, she held a remote that had unlocked the door. Susane and Catherine were absent but Kei heard sounds coming from one of the bedrooms. Tamika was sitting at one of the room's workstations. "You want to look around now?" Kei asked. "Sounds like a plan." Yuri stood. She took the SMG from the table and gave it to Tamika as she passed the work station. "The breach is empty, use it if you have to." "Thank's." Tamika said absently as she took the weapon and lay it on top of the computer, hardly slowing her work. Kei and Yuri left the room, making sure the door was locked behind them. They left the suites and after talking to the security personnel they split up to cover more ground. Yuri worked her way from mid-ship to the bow. Her first stop was in the casino. She visited the cashiers window and charged ten thousand in chips to Tamika. She noticed a sign stating that one had to be over twenty one to gamble in the ship's casino. Rather old fashioned she thought as she hit the roulette table. She didn't pay too much attention to where she placed her chips, more interested in the people. People who frequented casinos were often in need of money. If Melkar had an agent on the ship they could possibly find the bodies they needed here. Most of the people in the room were passengers having a little fun, some were professionals. The professionals would be the ones she had to worry about. "Ma'am." The man at the roulette wheel pushed a stack of chips at her. "Would you like to make another bet?" "No thank you." Yuri said as she placed the chips on a tray and left the roulette wheel for a better vantage point. A place opened up at the crap table so she took it. She took the dice and began to bounce them across the table. Several throws later she had over a hundred thousand and had seen enough. She was about to put down the dice when a woman in ships uniform approached her. "Excuse me Miss, could I see some ID?" "You have to be kidding?" Yuri said as she let the dice drop onto the table. "No." The woman's tone was serious. Yuri took her 3WA ID from her pocket and handed it to her. The woman frowned as she looked at the card. No idea what to do, Yuri thought, enjoying the woman's predicament a little. "I'll have to ask you to leave." She handed the card back to Yuri. Yuri shrugged her shoulders, picked up the tray with her winnings and went to the cashiers window. After getting them credited to a ships account she left the casino to continue her examination of the ship. Kei headed for the first class lounge at the stern of the ship. She stopped at the pool for a quick look, personal reasons prompting her, before continuing on. There was a crew member at the entrance to the lounge who took it into his head to stop Kei. Kei was not to surprised considering how she was dressed. "Excuse me Miss, I'm sorry you can't go in there." Kei considered her options. She could place her palm on the reader by the door, since she had already recorded it into the lock of Tamika's suite it would verify her as a fist class passenger. She could pull out her 3WA ID and explain to the man there were few places that she couldn't go. The same could be done if she pulled out her pistol but it would be less pleasant. She locked her eyes with his and stared him down. He stood aside to let her past. Kei smiled and drew her hand across the palm reader as she passed so he would not call security. She did not want to give security any unneeded distractions. The lounge was big. Its far wall and the roof were part of the ship's hull. All of the far wall and part of the roof were transparent giving everyone in the lounge a panoramic view of the space behind them. She could see the pale blue glow of the Dark Lady's huge engines to either side of the window. It had a dangerous beauty to it Kei thought. Deftly removing a glass of champagne from a passing tray for a bit of camouflage she began to move through the crowd. She dipped a finger into the effervescing liquid and placed the finger in her mouth for a taste. Not bad she thought, but didn't drink any. The people in the lounge were rich, famous or wishing they could be. She recognized two simsense stars, an aging rock musician and a talk show host. Most of the people in there would not even consider getting involved in anything highly illegal. The ones who were not rich or famous could be dangerous. Some people would do almost anything to get their next first class ticket. She wandered through the room, turned down several offers ranging from dinner to something involving leather and chains. Satisfied there was nothing else worth checking she made for an exit. Before leaving she dropped the champagne glass and its contents into a potted plant. There were other places she had to check out. Almost two hours later the trouble consultants met mid-ship in the lower decks. "What do you think?" Kei asked. "If Melkar has an agent aboard she, or he, will be able to find bodies, I doubt they'll find any talent." "I agree, though as cannon fodder they could still pose a problem. Do you think its probable he has an agent aboard?" "Tamika owns several Lines, each with a large number of ships. I think putting one on every ship would be expensive but he still may have done it." "I myself doubt he has anyone aboard." Kei said. "I don't think he'd waste time with a cruise ship." "I suppose. Here, keep watch for a minute, I want to try something." Yuri removed a slim wallet from an inside pocket of her jacket. She approached a door marked "DATA TERMINAL" and "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY". She flipped open the wallet and took out a card key which she slid into the key slot. Slipping a small laser pick over the card into the slot she triggered an override protocol. The door slid open. Yuri put the key and pick back into the wallet and the wallet back into her pocket. She took a seat in front of the computer terminal and hacked into the system. It took her only a few seconds to call up the data she wanted. A list of everyone who had brought weapons aboard, who had turned them over to the crew and who had retained them. The list was short and she discounted most of the names almost instantly. It always surprised her that so few people carried weapons. Didn't they know that the universe was a dangerous place? She wondered as she called for a print out. "Will that be of any use?" Kei asked from the doorway. "Doubtful, but you never know." Yuri shut the computer down and got out of the chair. "Can you be sure that no one snuck any weapon onboard?" "Pretty tough. They have chem sniffers, weapon detectors and general scanners in the walls of most of the corridors. They even have a complete list of the weapons we brought aboard, right down to that lock blade Gerber of yours." "You're a useful thing to have around you know." Kei said as Yuri closed the door. "Makes having to constantly save your life almost worth it." "Thank you ever so much." Yuri said sarcastically." "Let's go." They did. "I think I'm going to hit the pool for a while before dinner." Kei said as she stood up from the couch. "Well since the casino is no longer an option for me I think I'll go with you." Yuri said. "You don't mind a third?" Tamika asked. "Not at all." Kei said as she kicked off her boots. "What about me?" Catherine asked as she came out of the bedroom. "I don't feel like going to the pool." "Me neither." Susane chimed from where she had been playing a video game. She had obviously decided she wanted to see the ship now. "We can get bodyguards from ship security." Kei told Tamika. "I doubt that they will be in any danger anyway." "You'd trust the bodyguards?" Tamika reached for the phone. "I'll know when I see them." Tamika picked up the phone and made the arrangements. Kei and Yuri went to change. Kei had changed into her black string bikini and put a robe on over it by the time the bodyguards arrived. She quickly looked them over. Both women wore ships uniforms, low rank insignia, they looked like normal crew. It took Kei a few seconds to pick out their concealed weapons and she could see the way they held themselves in a constant state of readiness. Kei nodded at Tamika. Tamika gave each a few quick instructions then let her children go. "Why's Yuri taking so long?" Tamika asked. "She has a few things to take care of, she'll be here momentarily." As if on cue Yuri came through the door. "Well, let's not stand around, we have leisure time to use." Yuri said. Tamika grabbed a medium length robe and followed the trouble consultants out of the room. Both Kei and Yuri were wearing bikinis, Yuri's blue, and shorter robes than the ship supplied. Tamika felt herself beyond the bikini stage and instead had chosen a one piece bathing suit that flattered her. The pool was in a large space near the stern of the ship, almost completely filled by an competition sized swimming pool. There were two bars, one was in the middle of the pool on a raised island. The three women seated themselves in comfortable lounge chairs near the pool's deep end. On the ceiling was a holo projection of a blue sky with a sun that bathed the room in harmless light. Impossible to tan or burn. After several minutes Kei attracted a waiter so they could order drinks. Tamika let herself relax, for a while she just forgot about her worries. Kei watched the people with more then a casual interest for a short time before deciding that no one there was going to offer much of a threat. She also noticed about a quarter of the waiters were really ship's security. Nice to know they were around. Yuri took an info pad out of her bag, set it on her lap then turned it on. "I could get use to this." Kei said, taking a sip of her semi alcoholic drink. "I hope you didn't set me on this course just because you wanted to lounge around a pool." Tamika told her. "This is just a fringe benefit." Kei smiled. "Nice to know. Of course after this is all over you'll have to go back to your drab existence." "So true." Kei lamented. "You don't think you could adopt us do you?" "Might not be a bad idea. At least then I could beat some good manners into you two." Tamika said it as if she was savouring the thought. "Would you really?" Kei feigned excitement at the thought. "Careful what you say Kei." Yuri didn't look up from her info pad. "All we need is some scummy reporter to hear you and the gossip rags are printing up sick stories about us...again." "Is that why you're reading a trashy gossip rag?" Tamika asked Yuri as she looked at the info pad. Elvis spotted on Alpha Centauri, who or what the hell is Elvis she wondered. "I'm not reading it." Yuri told her. "Oh I see, your just staring at it while contemplating the mysteries of the universe." "She's not reading it." Kei told Tamika. "No doubt she's breaking into some secure files or something like that." "Pardon?" "Do you mind if I tell her Yuri?" Kei asked. "Go ahead." Yuri said. "You see Tamika that harmless looking info pad is a very powerful hacking deck. The information is being projected on the inside of the lenses of her glasses." "You're kidding?" "No. Her earring comlink works on a tight beam that works like a modem for the computer. There's also a fine fiber optic cable running from the earring into the arms of her glasses and a microsoft plug in her neural interface." "That sounds very impressive, 3WA issue." "No. Yuri came up with the design herself a few years back when she realized that pulling out a deck was a bad thing to do in certain situations." "Such as?" Tamika asked. "Such as when a friend tells you its perfectly alright to borrow a car and an hour later a cop has pulled you over and is running a check on the car which is in fact stolen." Yuri told Tamika. "That was so choice though. You use the cop's own link with the police computer to purge all the charges and records then send him away on a false report so he can't even give us a ticket for speeding." "You two are going to be a bad influence on my children aren't you?" "Probably." Kei said, leaning back in her chair. "I wonder where they are?" Tamika asked. "Just give me a sec." Yuri said as she slipped into the security system. All of the public areas of the ship were monitored, it didn't take her long to find Susane and Catherine. "Susane is in the ice cream parlour on deck two putting a reasonable dent in a large sunday." "She's going to ruin her appetite for dinner." Tamika said. "Catherine is in one of the observation decks talking to her bodyguard. Let me activate the directional mike on the camera and, yes, that's got it. Seems right now sex is the topic, and Kei, the bodyguard is really cutting up your previous advice." "Bitch." "I'm going to have a very hard time fixing all this." Tamika muttered. CHAPTER 11 It fascinates me that the sex lives of the Lovely Angels have received so much attention. I have a good idea why but exactly who started the stories about their sexual tastes and how flexible those tastes are is still a mystery to me. I suspected that it might be the gossip rags but inquiries have been less then profitable. I did get a suggestion to take a look towards the catholic church. Vatican II had no comment but to condemn my soul to hell and other such stuff that I ignored. The inquisition hit team that started dogging me a few days later was much harder to ignore. I may have upset someone. Philasia Drast's Guns, Bad Karma and Babes. (Unauthorized, unreleased and under litigation, Biography of the Lovely Angels.) One of the waiters pulled back Yuri's chair for her then slid it forward for her to sit. Yuri reached down and pushed the hem of her black cocktail dress down her legs. Tamika and her children as well as Kei were being seated around the table. Kei and Yuri were seated on opposite sides of the table from each other. "High life." Kei mouthed, Yuri laughed quietly. Kei was wearing short black skirt, with a white blouse and a black jacket. Neither of them were being overly imaginative in clothing but the dinner was not supposed to be a fashion show. Captain Halson came up to the table and made a half bow to his guests before taking a seat. He was wearing his dress uniform again, looking very sharp. He did not look upset as he had earlier and Kei thought it improved his looks quite a bit. Yuri noticed a ring on his finger, she couldn't identify the symbol but it looked like a family crest. As he took his seat at the head of the table he noticed Yuri looking at him. He smiled at her, Yuri dropped her gaze to the table top. "Good evening, ship time that is." He smiled. "I hope you all enjoy your meal." He then introduced all the guests around the table, Yuri promptly forgot them. The waiters began to serve the dinner. The Captain was an excellent host, keeping a pleasant if meaningless conversation going around the table. Kei watched the silent interaction between the Captain and Yuri. Yuri seemed to be playing hard to get, a dangerous ploy considering all the other attractive women on the ship. Of course he seemed to be set on Yuri. A mistake he will come to regret, Kei thought cattily. Yuri was not sure what she was feeling, she had not felt that way around an attractive man for almost four years. He made her feel like a sixteen year old. "So I heard you did very well at the casino." Halson said to Yuri, hoping to break the cycle they had been locked into. "Sort of." Yuri said, a faint blush on her face but she met his gaze. "It's too bad you had to leave." He said to her, smiling. "You know its strange that they didn't ask to see my ID until after I had won a bit." Yuri returned his smile. "I did fairly well at the casino." A young man near the end of the table said, trying to get Yuri's attention. "Won a few hundred in chips." Yuri and the Captain shared a smile as they continued to stare into each others eyes. She's got him, Kei thought. "Casino?" Tamika asked. "I was working." Yuri explained, breaking her gaze with the Captain, turning to face Tamika. "Where did you hide the cards this time?" Kei asked as she took a fork full of salad off her plate. "I didn't play any card games." Yuri shifted her gaze to Kei and stared daggers at her. "I could teach you a few." Another young man said to her, his dinner companion, an attractive but plump woman, kicked him under the table. Yuri restrained the urge to laugh at him. The Captain excused himself near the end of the meal and left the dining room. Yuri mumbled something that sounded like an apology and left the table half way through her desert. "Is she going to be alright?" Tamika asked Kei as she put her coffee cup down. "I hate to tell you this mom." Kei said, a piece of cheesecake halfway to her mouth. "Yuri isn't a virgin any more." She then savoured the desert. "That's not what I meant, well not exactly." "Yuri may not look it but she doesn't need anyone looking after her, usually." "Can we go now mom." Catherine asked her mother. The bodyguards were standing off to the side of the table. Tamika nodded and her children were quickly gone. "Want to go get a drink?" Kei asked. "Sure, why not." "We'll put it on Yuri's tab." Kei smiled as she stood. "How much do you think she won at the casino?" "Well if we can't get more than a couple of drinks we'll know it wasn't much." They headed towards one of the nearer bars. Vincent looked up at Yuri, she held herself supported above him, eye closed, moving her hips up and down slowly, her partly opened lips forming a smile, a flush of red across the bridge of her nose and cheeks. The eye patch had been a surprise, he had thought the glasses more of a disguise. The fine traces of bruising around the patch told him the injury was, like the others he had seen, recent. She was healing unnaturally fast but there were still traces. As ridiculous as it was he felt a protective urge towards the young woman. Then he had no time for extraneous thoughts as Yuri increased the speed of their love making. He closed his eyes and let the sensations take him away. Yuri traced a finger along Vincent's jaw, it was too bad he had not shaved, it would have made things more enjoyable, not that it had not been enjoyable enough. He opened his eyes and turned to look at her. "Aren't you satisfied yet?" He asked, exasperation in his voice. "Satisfied, we're not even halfway through yet." She told him. Yuri stretched in the bed, enjoying the feel of silk sheets sliding against her skin. She looked around the room for a second, she had liked it the moment she had entered. The suites they had were well decorated but the Captain's cabin had a more personal atmosphere to it. The interesting and intriguing touches made the place nice to be in. Vincent wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him. Yuri slid up against his body, feeling his interest renew. "Could you tell me something?" He asked after a gentle kiss. "As long as it isn't about my rumoured sexual past." Yuri told him, a little breathlessly. "I'll save those questions for another life time. Why are you here?" "I'm escorting Tamika and her family to Peledies nine. You know that." "That's what you say but, no offence, you are 3WA and you are more than bodyguards. I guess what I really want to know is that if you are putting my passengers, my crew and my ship in danger." "Do you think I would truly do that." Yuri felt hurt. "You wouldn't want anyone to get hurt but I feel you might be willing to take the chance." "I can't predict the future. I doubt your ship will be in any danger, If there is going to be a problem it will happen after you warp." Yuri told him, not meeting his gaze. "I like you Yuri, I'd hate if I had to hate you." He said it softly but it tore at Yuri like he had yelled it. Yuri closed her eyes on some tears, steadied her emotions. She did not like it when innocents were hurt, though she knew in the end it was not her fault, the Central Computer had cleared her and Kei every time. Now Vincent seemed to think that their presence meant that his ship was doomed. What really hurt was that he could be right even though they did not think the ship was in danger. Vincent felt Yuri stiffen and pull away slightly. He cursed himself for an idiot, what had he been thinking asking her a question like that. He pulled her to him again and whispered reassurances to her. Then they made love again, forgetting earlier questions and upsets. "Do you know where my other stocking is." Yuri asked from the bed as she clipped her fist stocking to her garter belt. "Here." Vincent took the black silk stocking from where it hung on the lamp and handed it to Yuri. "Thanks." Yuri slid her leg into it. Vincent had taken a shower and was already dressed in his work uniform. Plain grey pants, a white shirt he left open at the collar and a grey jacket with several convenient pockets. He was also armed. "You are such a fascinating young woman." He told Yuri. "Well since we've already slept together I'll take it that that isn't just a compliment to get me into your bed." Yuri stepped into her dress and pulled it up her body. "Can you close this for me?" Yuri turned around and pulled her hair over her shoulder. Vincent pulled the material at the back of the dress together and activated the seal tabs. Seal tabs were far above zippers or buttons in aesthetics. Yuri let her hair fall back into place as she turned around, put her arms around him, and kissed Vincent deeply. When Yuri released him Vincent smiled at her then began to laugh. "What is it?" Yuri asked, very curious as to what he found so funny. "I just took a shower and now I smell like sex again. My first officer is bound to give me a hard time about this." "I could shoot this person for you." Yuri said absently as she scanned the room for her shoes. "Not this time, I need her too much." "Should I be jealous." Yuri took a seat on the bed to put her shoes on. "Maybe." Vincent took his hat from a table by the door. "Farewell." He called to Yuri as he left his room. "Bye." Yuri said, wondering where her handbag was. Yuri almost floated back to the suites, she felt centered and relaxed. Sure there were better ways of achieving such a state than sex but none of them nearly as much fun as far as she was concerned. She didn't even freak when Kei leaned out of one of the unoccupied suites and pulled her in. "Problem?" Yuri's tone was unconcerned. "Enjoy yourself?" Kei smiled at Yuri. "Perhaps." Yuri said. "Very naughty, I'm telling." "Jealous?" "Not really, vaguely interested would be a better description. Was he good?" Kei smiled. "A lady doesn't discuss such details." "What does that have to do with you?" "Go away Kei, I'm going to take a hot shower." "You did use the proper protection didn't you?" "Of course." Yuri told her. "Good. The ships going to be warping in about ten minutes so you don't have that much time for your shower. "Oh well." Yuri left Kei, heading towards their suite. Kei smiled at Yuri's back and then went to the door of Tamika's suite. The ship was just about to warp when Yuri entered Tamika's suite. She had showered and changed into her uniform. Tamika winked at her. Yuri blushed. A soft tone chimed through the cabin then a soft voice announced the ship was about to warp. Yuri got a juice from the fridge in the kitchenette as reality went strange for a nanosecond, the powerful drives playing havoc with the dimensional planes. Some people suffered bad effects from warps up to the point of having to be sedated. Yuri didn't mind it, Tamika and her children hardly noticed it and Kei actually found it pleasing. "We've entered the danger zone." Kei drawled. "Big surprise." Yuri took a seat on the couch and opened the bottle of juice. "Where are your children?" "Susane's napping and Catherine is reading a book she picked up. Yuri nodded and took a drink of her juice. "What do you think will happen?" Tamika asked as she took a seat beside Yuri. "My guess would be a small ship, a corsair probably. Fast and quick. Hijacking a ship is nearly impossible but getting a small team on board to do a snatch and fade is possible." Yuri told her. "You can't be sure of that can you?" "No but it is the most sensible plan. The Dark Lady doesn't have much in the way of arms but its armour is thick and strong. You'd need a battleship to engage it effectively and we can run like hell if we have to. How likely is it Melkar has a fast battleship?" "What if he does?" "We could be in a lot of trouble." Kei said cheerfully from across the room. "Could be fun thought, haven't gone head to head with a big ship except in computer games." "Ignore her." Yuri told Tamika. "I always do when she starts talking stupid." "Hardly a nice thing to say Yuri." Kei shook her head slowly. "What have I gotten myself into?" Tamika looked to the roof of the cabin. "Wait and see." Yuri told her. An hour later Yuri got the first warning though the microsoft plug she had tuned to ship internal frequencies. "Let's get to the Angel." She got to her feet, grabbing her carry on bag. Kei was right behind her. "What's happening?" Tamika asked as she headed towards the bedroom Susane was in. "Something just started jamming us on all frequencies, sensors went blank, stuff is happening at light speed." Yuri told her as she crossed the room, drawing her pistol, to the suites door. She opened it and looked up and down the hall. Kei gathered up her carry on bag then went to pound on the door of Catherine's room. "Let's go." Kei shouted. "All clear." Yuri called across the room to Kei. Catherine came out of her room at almost the same time Tamika rejoined them, Susane in her arms. "I'll lead." Yuri said. "Stay close." She left the room and got them into one of the service tunnels. She had had to argue a little bit with the security personnel but convinced them they were needed elsewhere. Susane began to get scared and Tamika spent more time comforting her daughter than looking for ambush. Catherine felt like bolting at shadows but she managed to stay calm. Kei brought up the rear. An alarm went off, sounding general quarters. "Battle stations." Kei said. "For a small ship?" Tamika asked. "Probably just a precaution." Kei said. "Bet you there's panic in the main corridors." Yuri called back. "Good thing half of the passengers left." Kei said. Before they reached the hold the Lovely Angel was in Kei called Mughi for a status report to make sure everything was alright. Yuri opened the door to the hold and dashed across the floor to their ship. She cycled open the airlock and motioned for the rest of them. Kei stayed at the door, covering them until they were all on board then she followed. Unnecessary maybe, but they did it by the book. Yuri closed the lock after Kei was in then followed her to the cockpit. She stopped at the ready room to make sure Tamika and her children were strapped in then continued on. Kei was already in the pilots chair running the emergency start up program. Yuri slid into the co-pilots chair and began to bring all the systems on line. "Situation report." Kei said. "Still being jammed." Yuri accessed the ships net. "We still have short range coms but only if the signal is overpowered." "If they could get a message through how long for help to arrive?" Kei began to engage the AG units. "Far range patrol frigates might make it in about an hour or so, a high speed gunboat could make it from planet in about two hours." "On our own then." "As usual." "Let's dance." Kei decompressed the docking bay. "The attack, as far as I can tell, is coming relative to the Lady's top. We can use it for cover." "Good." Kei was about to open the docking bay doors when the Dark Lady shook. "What was that?" "Give me a sec." Yuri called up the larger ship's diagnostics. "Oh shit." "What?" "Heavy missile barrage just cut engine efficiency by more than half. The ship is taking proper defensive measures." "Isn't this ship's main defence running like hell?" "It was." "Beautiful, I can just see the headlines now." She opened the docking doors and the ship slid out into space. There was noise behind them. Yuri turned to see Tamika lowering one of the suicide seats behind them. The suicide seats were named so because they offered almost no protection beyond the restraint belts. Yuri knew she should tell the woman to return to the ready room but doubted she would listen. Keeping close to the Dark Lady Kei brought the Angel up to the ships top. Yuri played around with the sensors until she was able to cancel out most of the jamming. Mughi must have been making some improvements she thought. Their sensors locked onto the attacking ship and called its profile out of memory. "What the hell is that?" Kei asked as she cleared the Dark Lady and the enemy appeared on the main visual screen. "Star Hauler cargo ship." Yuri read off a computer screen. "Three kilometers of refitted freighter. Armoured all the way to hell and all its arms in pop up turrets. It could go anywhere and no one would raise an eyebrow." A section of the Dark Lady's armour was blown off right next to them. "Fuck" Kei yelled as she hit the Angel's thrusters. "Straight at its bow, it can't depress it's guns far enough to target us, I hope." "What's it using anyway?" "Rail cannons." "Oh great." Kei increased the power to the Angel's thrust plates. "How long can the Lady hold out?" Tamika asked. "Not long. I suspect the reason that it's not flamed out already is that they think you and the kids might still be aboard." Yuri said. The Angel shook slightly. "Now what?" Kei cried. "Just a graze. Tore some armour off, minor breach in the hull, the repair systems has already sealed it." Yuri read off one of the screens. "Just a graze she says." Kei began evasive manoeuvers. "We're under their guns." Yuri said. "Slow down I want to show them what we have." "Claws out." Kei smiled. "Missiles armed. I'm going for a mixed spread, some high explosive to peel the hull and a group of armour piercers with proximity fuses that will go off when they reach the engine." "Nasty, use that nuke we've been saving for a rainy day." "Already done." "You have nukes?" Tamika asked. "Doesn't everyone?" Kei asked. "Missiles away." Yuri sung out. The sensors marked the missiles with red dots, the three women in the cockpit watched the spread converge on the large ship. The ship disappeared behind a flash of light as the weapons impacted. "Suck on that you bastards." Kei whispered. The light faded and died. The ship was still there. "Mother puss buckets." Yuri said. "Fuck, fuck and fuck again." Kei yelled. "Watch your language." Tamika said without any real conviction. "What happened?" "I was wrong, they're armoured all the way to hell and back." Yuri said. "You'd have thought that the EMP from the nuke would have done something." Kei looked at the sensor readings. "Probably did but the most important areas on that ship are not in the bow." "Shouldn't we pull up?" Tamika asked as she noticed the heavily scarred, but still intact, bow was beginning to fill the screens. "Oh yea." Kei increased the Angel's angle of climb. "Keep close to the hull and hope they don't have any in close defenses." Yuri told her. "So how much shielding do you think this beast has on its systems?" "Well if it has been modified according to standard specs it would have taken more than the EMP our one nuke set up to take them out." "Bet you anyone in the hull was killed at least." Kei said. "Probably, hey is that a high power sensor array?" Yuri pointed at a bulge on the ships back that was covered in sensor rods. "Looks like one, I thought that style was still military only." Kei swerved the Angel around a rail gun turret. "Guess they have some interesting contacts." Yuri targeted the sensor array with several of their rear mounted lasers and burnt several holes through it. Kei dropped the Angel down behind the ship, took it out beyond the thruster wash and turned it around, keeping out of the gun's firing arc. "Now what?" Yuri asked. "Could put our remaining missiles up its tail, see if that works." "Doubt it would do more them slow them a little. We don't have much left in the way of missiles. Just high explosive really." "I didn't think it would work either." Kei admitted. "Do we have any weapons that would damage that monster." Yuri tapped the screen that showed the Star Hauler. "We would if you hadn't been so set against that spinal mount rail cannon." Kei told her. "It would have cut our bathroom space by half." Yuri said defensively. "Besides, who'd have thought we would need it. I thought it was just another of those urges for overkill you get." "It was but you have to admit it would be useful." "So would a Hades II class destroyer and if wishes were weapons we would be all set." "We'll just have to board them." Kei said. "Oh joy." Sarcasm all too evident in Yuri's tone. "What do you think, one, two hundred to one odds on their ground." Kei speculated. "Just the way we want it." Yuri said with blatantly false bravado. "So how do we get in?" "Could ask nicely." "Five hundred meters from the stern, there's a large cargo hatch." Tamika said. "What." Both Kei and Yuri asked. "I own several Star Haulers, we've done a few conversions like this one. In all of them the cargo hatch is a weak point. The thing is just too damned useful to get rid of but always too easy to get through." "Check it out." Kei told Yuri. Yuri turned to the computer and began calling up information. "If we go in you'll have to take your kids into one of the attack pods and wait for us. They're small, even if we don't succeed Melkar will never find you and you can wait for pick up." Kei told Tamika. "No, I'm going with you." "It will be very dangerous, you could get killed." Kei told her straight. If Tamika wanted to go with them she would not try to stop her. "I've taken that risk before." "Okay, Susane and Catherine will still go in the pod. Mughi, go with them. Get them in." Kei told Tamika and Mughi. "Back in a minute." Tamika got up and headed for the ready room, Mughi at her heels. She entered the room and began to unbuckle Susane. "What's happening mommy?" Susane asked. "Don't worry." Tamika took Susane up in her arms. "Come along Catherine." Tamika left the ready room and went to the launch bay. Mughi already had one of the pods open and was waiting inside. Tamika entered and strapped Susane into one of the seats. "Mommy's going to leave you for a little while but I'll be back for you." She told her. "I want to stay with you." Susane began to cry. Tamika pulled a med kit from the wall brackets, opened it and took out a sedative autoinjector. She set the dosage then pressed it against Susane's neck. Within seconds her youngest daughter was asleep. "Do you want one." She asked Catherine who was strapping into the seat beside Mughi, at some point she had stopped being afraid of the big cat. "No." Catherine told her mother. Tamika nodded, put the autoinjector back in the kit and the kit back on the wall. "Here." Tamika handed Catherine her pistol and the magazines for it. "Use it if you have to." Tamika considered telling her what she had once been told before going on one of her companies black ops. The last bullet is for yourself. She didn't though. Where there was life there was hope. "Take care of them Mughi." Tamika told the cat. Mughi was unsure of many things about humans but he understood mother, cub relationships. Tamika could see that in his eyes. The pod's hatch sealed after she left. Tamika turned around and walked towards the bridge. She head the servo-clamps push the pod into the launch tube and felt the ship shake as it left the Angel. She wanted to be with her children but knew that it was important she confront Melkar this last time. Kei met her just outside the cockpit. "Yuri says we have a good chance of getting in. We're doing it." "Good." Tamika said. Kei went back into the cockpit and Tamika followed her. "Everyone ready?" Kei asked. "Yes." Yuri told her. "Ready." Tamika said. "Good." Kei hit the Angel's thrust control and took it around the larger ship's starboard side. She flipped the Angel ninety degrees to the star hauler so the Angel's bottom was to the ship. "Activating adhesion plates, don't hurt the landing gear too much Kei." "Don't worry." Kei dropped the Angel onto the other ship, hitting the breaking thrusters as the landing gear contacted the other ships hull. The stop was rather sudden, Tamika had first hand experience with why suicide seats were named so. "Don't worry." Yuri mimed Kei. "You almost ripped the landing gear from its housing." "Like you could do better. Come on." Kei undid her restraint harness." "Are we in any danger from the ship's guns?" Tamika unstrapped herself. "No, they can't get anything this close to the hull, all their guns are ventral and dorsal." "Nice to know." "Let's go get some party favours." Kei called as she made her way towards the Angel's arms locker. "After you." Yuri said to Tamika. Tamika nodded and left the cockpit. CHAPTER 12 As a marine it is inevitable that you will have to board a ship at least once in your career. Don't let those vids fool you, it's not a pleasant thing to do. You're fighting an enemy on their own ground as it were. They can open the airlocks dumping you into hard vacuum, they can pump poisonous gasses through the ventilation systems, they can cut gravity or increase it to the point where all but mechs will be pinned to the floor. Make sure you outnumber your enemy by at least two to one and have a good mix of skills on your teams. Even then you can expect to have a high casualty rate. Excerpt from United Galactica Space Marines text book; Space Tactics. "What do you think?" Yuri asked, taking the rail rifle from the weapons rack. "It will clash with everything you own." Kei said. "Funny." Yuri's tone made it evident she thought Kei was anything but. "Does it have enough ammunition?" "Six hundred rounds." Yuri lay her hand across the stock bandolier that held several cassettes full of flechettes. "You do remember that lecture we had on fire control don't you?" Kei pulled on her grenade harness. "You're one to talk." Yuri slung the weapon over her shoulder. Kei picked up her assault cannon from where it lay on the floor, made a quick examination of the weapon then cocked it. "Quite a bit of fire power." Yuri said. "Why this little thing." Kei said as she pulled the sling over her shoulder. Rounds for the weapon lined the sling. Tamika came into the arms locker wearing an armour cloth body glove with a chameleon field. Several neutral grey armour plates had been clipped over her most vulnerable areas. She wore an SMG low on her left hip. "Loose all the plates except for a couple of the abdominal and pectoral ones." Kei said indicating the armour. "They'll just get in your way." "What about the ones on my back?" "Never put your back to the enemy." Kei told her. "Try this." Yuri handed her a Deviant 4 gyrojet rifle. "Plug it into your neural interface, it's best used as a sniper rifle." Tamika took the weapon, checked its balance and then slung it. They left the arms locker, Tamika paused to plug the weapon into her data jack. Yuri went into her room to get an armoured brief case. Kei opened a ventral airlock, a boarding tube had been attached to the other ships hull. Jumping down onto the space chilled metal she took a sensor reading. "Forty centimeters." Kei told Yuri. "What type of metal?" "Standard hull armour." "Think we can burn through?" "Only one way to find out." The Kei climbed back into the Lovely Angel. "What if there's an ambush waiting for us?" Tamika asked. "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it." Yuri said. "Get clear." Kei said as she took a heavy plasma torch from a locker. It was a big device, she had to carry it slung over a shoulder. It would have made a good weapon except for the fact its maximum range was only a meter. "Do you think they know what we're up to and have depressurized the cargo hold?" Yuri asked Kei. "Thank you for bringing that up, just one more problem we don't need." "Sorry." "I'll just cut a small hole so we can take a look." Kei told them as she removed a set of goggles from where they hung on the torch and pulled them on. Kei pointed the heavy torch down at the hull, set the cutting beams radius as small as she could and pressed the igniter. There was a short burst of light and a wave of heat from the beam. Suddenly air rushed out of the hole, ruffling Kei's, Yuri's and Tamika's hair. "Looks like they have a greater pressure than us." Kei put the torch on the floor. "Hand me the fibercam." "Here." Yuri handed her the camera. Kei fed the fiber optic cable into the hole she had cut then turned the camera on. "Looks clean, big empty cargo hold, let me switch to IR just to see if anyone is hiding. No, zero hot spots, nothing human." Kei said. "Could be cymechs, surface temperature set to match surrounding air." Yuri looked down at the screen. "They arranged that in the last minute or so?" "Good point." "Okay, time to do some serious cutting. Here." Kei handed Yuri the camera. She picked up the plasma torch again and reset the beams, checking the safety features. Setting her feet wide apart she hit the triggers. Yuri and Tamika closed their eyes and turned away from the intense light. Kei felt the heat from the torch, if it was not for shielding she would have been burnt. Then the tool's charge ran out. Kei unslung the torch and put it up on the Angel's deck, careful not to let any of the hot parts touch. She pulled the goggles off and tossed them beside it. Yuri looked down at where the hull had once been. Now there was a hole leading into the other ship. She aimed the nozzle of a coolant canister down at the hole, squeezed the handle, rapidly cooling the hull. Some of the metal near the edges flaked and cracked. "Ready?" Kei asked. "Ready." Both Tamika and Yuri said. Kei drew her laser carbine, jumped down into the ship and realized her mistake almost instantly. The Angel's artificial gravity was at a right angle to the bigger ship's. As soon as she passed into it the pull on her changed. She fell to the floor, her back hitting the deck plates. "Ow." Fortunately the fall had only been a meter and no serious damage had been done. Yuri climbed carefully through followed by Tamika. "That wasn't very bright." Yuri helped Kei to her feet. "Now you tell me. Come on we have to find you a terminal." Yuri took a moment to seal the Angel's airlock and activate the security program with the comlink in her earring. "Over here." Kei called from across the hold, she was standing by an open door with Tamika. Yuri joined them. Kei pointed at a computer terminal in the hall way the door opened into. Yuri stepped out and kneeled by the terminal, placing her briefcase on the floor. She placed her palm against a reader on the case. There was a click and a hiss as the case opened. She took out her deck, custom built, mostly Heckler and Koch parts. It was flat black, a red heart on the back of the flip up screen. She plugged one interface cable into the terminal, the other into her data jack. "Why don't you just use the hijacking program?" Kei asked. "Too many defenses between a peripheral slave like this and the mainframe for it to work. We'll have to get access at either engineering or the bridge." "Well Melkar is likely to be on the bridge." Tamika said. "So that's where we'll go." Kei said. "What was that about a hijacking program?" Tamika asked. "Yuri collects black lab stuff and illegal programs. One of these days she's going to get caught. She has stuff even 3WA would frown upon. Don't tell anyone or she'll be forced to kill you." Kei was smiling but Tamika could not help feeling she was telling the truth. "What are you using this time?" Kei leaned over Yuri's shoulder for a look. "A never mind program. It's choice. It makes the computer ignore us totally, as far as the security systems concerned we don't exist as....of....now." Yuri said with flourish. "Nice." Kei told her. "I've also downloaded the ship's plans into internal memory." Yuri touched a finger to her temple. "You have to tell me where you get your programs." Tamika said. "No I don't." Yuri said in a friendly enough tone but it was a flat refusal. Tamika began to realize just how dangerous these young ladies could be if someone made an enemy of them. Kei recied the hall as Yuri disconnected herself and the deck then packed it away. She sealed the case went back into the hold and slid it across the floor to the hole they had entered from. "Aren't you worried someone might try to steal it?" Tamika asked. "Yes but the case will blow up if anyone but me tries to open it." Yuri's tone was matter of fact. "Interesting security system." "The same we have on the Angel." Yuri smiled. "They're are toys and no one else is allowed to play with them. Come on let's go." She headed up the corridor to where Kei was waiting. Tamika followed. They made their first contact with the ships crew several minutes later and six decks above where they had started. Kei heard them first and dragged Tamika into a short maintenance corridor. Yuri leapt up and pulled herself up and into some conduits that lined the ceiling. From their hiding places all three watched a group of six men and women pass by, they carried weapons but not in a ready position. Kei guessed they were heading towards the cargo bay, even with Yuri's program some sort of alarm must have sounded. Yuri waited until they had passed then swung down. Her lower legs were wrapped around a conduit and she hung upside down in the middle of the corridor. Her long black hair almost brushed the floor. It was a tough shot but it would not be her first. The rail rifle was set on full auto. The only sound it made was the crack of the flechettes as they left the barrel at many times the speed of sound. Attacking from behind may not have been honourable but it was smart. Kei stepped out of the maintenance access and opened up with her laser carbine. In a few seconds all six of the ship's crew were dead and they had not even had a chance to get off any attacks of their own. "Show off." Kei said to Yuri who was still hanging upside down. Yuri put her rifle on the floor and V'd her fingers, smiling. She then swung up, grabbed a piece of the support structure, freed her legs and dropped gracefully to the floor. "Mercs." Kei said as Tamika joined her standing over the dead bodies. "How do you know?" "They all have different weapons." "But they are wearing the same uniforms." Tamika indicated the bloody one piece ship suits they all wore. "Someone is trying to mould them into a fighting force." Yuri said from behind Kei. "So we have a crew that is unused to working together and a ship that is undermanned. That's a plus for us." Kei kicked one of the bodies. "How do you know the ship is undermanned." Tamika asked. Yuri switched her rifle to semi auto and put a shot into the head of each one of the bodies to make sure they were dead. "If it had a full crew we would have run into some one almost as soon as we left the cargo bay. Plus that cargo bay would have been full of supplies needed for a large crew." Kei told Tamika. "Come on." Yuri said. "Someone is bound to miss these six sooner or later. Better we're not around when they do." "Well." Yuri whispered. "Boarding party." Kei said as she slid back into the side corridor. She put the small mirror she used for looking around corners back into one of her belt pouches. "How many?" Tamika nervously stroked the stock of her rifle. "About thirty, six cyborgs." "They're in our way." Yuri brushed a lock of hair back from her eyes and wished she had thought to tie it off. "Not for long." Kei took her assault cannon off safe. "We can take out about half before they realize what's happening." Yuri said. "If we get among them they'll be hampered by their own people." "Unless they are willing to shoot allies." Yuri saw fit to bring up. "You're little Miss pessimist today aren't you." Kei's tone was soft but still angry. "Sorry." Yuri said. "Tamika hang back. With the camera sights on that rifle you can cover us without too much trouble." "Okay." Tamika nodded. "Let's rock." Kei said. The men and women waiting in the ready room were not expecting an attack. They were taken fully by surprise when Yuri and Kei burst into the room. Yuri sprayed a hail of metal darts into the room, Kei targeted the borgs with her cannon. Within seconds their numbers were cut by the half Yuri had predicted. Tamika used a piece of heavy equipment for cover and the rifles array of sights ensured she didn't have to expose herself too much. The gyrojet ammunition was very deadly at such close range. Yuri twisted to her side as one of the mercs squeezed a burst of rounds off at her, one of the rounds grazing her arm. Gripping the pistol grip she swung her rifle around, using it like it was a small sub machinegun. Squeezing the trigger she cut him in half and took out the people on either side of him and wasted a lot of ammunition. Another empty cassette was ejected from the receiver group. As she pushed another ammo cassette into the weapon she wondered how many shots she had left. Kei dodged back as the big cyborg swung its axe, almost cutting her in half. As it was she ended up with a cut along the back of her right arm. Jamming the rifle up against its chest she pulled the trigger. The recoil knocked her back several steps. The heavy, fin stabilized sabot flipped the borg over on it's back as it punched through. Organic and inorganic fluids leaked from the ragged hole. An axe, Kei though as she targeted another borg, a bloody axe. Someone had jacked into one too many fantasy sims. Tamika ducked as a stream of bullets chewed into her cover. A piece of the equipment was blown out and cut across her thigh, tearing at the armour cloth. Too fucking close she thought. She pushed the rifle up above the equipment, using the camera sights to target her attacker without leaving the cover. She closed her eyes, all the information entering her visual cortex came from the gun camera. The sites locked on the woman with the machinegun. Pulling the trigger Tamika put a fist sized hole in her chest. Termination with extreme prejudice, she thought. Switching to full auto and rolling out from behind the cover Tamika hit the remaining live targets in quick succession. Then it was over. "Well that was fun." Kei took the empty magazine from her cannon and reloaded it from the rounds on her sling. Yuri looked down at the flashing light on her rifle. Almost empty she though. One of the bodies on the floor groaned, she put him out of his misery. The last cassette fell to the floor. "Things usually get this messy?" Tamika stepped onto the bloody floor of the ready room. "Yes." Kei slapped the magazine back into her cannon. Yuri let the rifle clatter to the floor as she began to search for a replacement. She had not been entirely to pleased with the rail rifle anyway. It was a bit too long for inclose fighting and felt a little unstable. She stepped over a body that was missing half its head and saw something that made her gasp. She flipped a dead man onto his front and pulled off the back pack he wore. She bent down and slid her arms into the packs straps, ignoring a little of the blood on them. It was very heavy but she managed to stand up straight, barely. I have to spend more time in gyms, she thought. An armoured belt ran from the pack to a five barrelled gatling gun. She pulled the weapon to herself with the belt. The weight of both the pack and the gun were too much for her but once she activated the AG units that was no longer a problem. There were several indicators on the gatling gun she read the information quickly, pleased to note that the weapon had a full load of HESH and AP rounds. A cord ran from the weapon to a bloody headset lying on the ground. She pulled it up, wiped it off and put it on, using the band to hold her hair back. A small eye piece swung up over her missing eye which made it next to useless. Instead of switching it around she spliced a fiber optic lead into the arm of her glasses. Targeting information scrolled across the lens. Very nice, Yuri thought. "Why do you get all the best toys." Kei asked coming up behind Yuri. She had added an automatic shotgun to her arsenal. "Clean living." Yuri turned the comlink in the headset on. "Sure." Kei came back sarcastically. "There's a lot of talk on the coms net. They know something is going on but don't know what. They suspect their security has been breached." "Swift aren't they." Tamika slid a new magazine into her rifle. "Assuming that isn't misinformation." Kei said. "Let's not get sloppy." Yuri warned. "We better get moving." Kei set off towards an exit with Yuri following and Tamika bringing up the rear. Kei considered the men and women blocking the way ahead. They were not much of a threat but the two cymechs were another matter entirely. She pushed her mirror back into her belt pouch and crawled back to Yuri and Tamika. "It's not good." She told them. "Can we go around?" Tamika asked. "It would mean backtracking and chancing running into another group. We can't afford the time." From what Yuri had picked up over the com net she knew the Dark Lady couldn't last much longer. "Yuri, you're going to have to take point." Kei told her. "There's two heavy cymechs and your weapon is about the only one that has a chance of taking them down." "A chance." Yuri said. "Great." She stood and started the barrels spinning on their silent bearings. "Wish me luck." Yuri activated the recoil compensators. "Luck." Kei said. The bulkiness of the weapon system dictated that she preform no acrobatic feats. She simply stepped out into the corridor, dropped to one knee and pulled the trigger. She swept the barrels back and forth, blowing the hell out of the walls. The soft targets didn't have a chance, the heavy projectiles tore them apart. The two cymechs charged her, it seemed to Yuri her fire was not having much of an affect. One raised its arm on which a large energy cannon was mounted. Yuri pushed the rate of fire close to red line and locked her fire on it, blowing the entire arm off with the stream of metal. The other cymech had pulled ahead, it was almost on her. She swung the gatling gun to cover it and hosed it with fire. Its chest armour finally disintegrating, allowing her to chop away at its internal structure. It collapsed to the ground a meter away from her. In the corner of her glasses she noted that the ammo counter had dropped to an alarmingly low number and several warning messages were flashing warnings of impending problems. The second cymech, less its arm, came up behind its fallen comrade and was much too close for Yuri's comfort. Even as she locked onto it she pushed the fire selector up to maximum, ignoring the warnings the weapon's computer was giving her. The cymech sprang at her, Yuri fell backwards, glad that the back pack was padded. The hail of bullets slowed the mech down and pushed it up as it passed over her. It took almost a full second of point blank fire before it was gone from Yuri's field of vision. The ammo ran out a moment later. Yuri stared up at the large hole in the ceiling. Bitchin, she thought then wondered if the mech was about to step on her head. "Pretty intense." Kei said, looking down at Yuri from where she stood at her friends head. "Is it dead?" "And then some." Kei smiled. "I believe the phrase, in the vernacular, is majorly blown away." Tamika said from somewhere behind Kei. Yuri released the harness and then took the hand Kei offered to get to her feet. She turned to look at the cymech which had almost been cut in half from its head to crotch. She turned again to look at the bodies at the far end of the corridor. "I know what I want for Christmas this year." Yuri said. She pulled the cable from the head set, keeping it for the com and more importantly as a hair band. "Get in line." Kei said. "Are you two really this fascinated by weapons or is this something you just do to keep people from getting close to you and learning that you are sensitive and caring individuals?" Tamika asked. "Huh?" Kei said. "What?" Yuri asked. "Never mind." Tamika shook her head. "Too many psychology courses in university. Don't we have to get to the bridge." They left, Yuri stopping for a few seconds to pick up an assault rifle from where its late owner had dropped it. "I think we should split up." Yuri told Kei. "Chancy." Kei said. "But good tactics." "Okay, rock, paper, scissors?" "Fine." Yuri said. They shook their fists three times then Kei held her hand out flat, Yuri had V'd two of her fingers. "You and Tamika take the upper passage, I'll take the lower." Yuri said. "Shouldn't we stay together?" Tamika asked. "If we split up it increases the chances someone makes it to the bridge as well as dealing with reinforcements who could be waiting along either route." Kei explained. "See you in a while." Yuri grabbed hold of a ladder and slid down it. "Come on." Kei took the corridor that lead to the bridge. Kei didn't notice the man hiding in a maintenance alcove until he stepped out in front of her with a rifle levelled at her chest. Sloppy of me. Kei thought, those alcoves are great places to hide. Should have suspected it. "Hands up and away from the trigger." He barked out. Kei judged the distance between them and considered that he had not seen Tamika yet. She did what he said. "Throw the weapon down." He told her. "Are you sure of that?" "What?" He was slightly confused. "It might go off." "Okay, put the weapon down on the ground, then unbuckle your holster, keeping your hands away from the weapon then remove the cannon and put it down to and the grenades. No sudden moves." He waved the rifle menacingly. Kei did what he said. He watched her closely. So closely that he did not notice Tamika move in for a shot. Kei was bent down and unbuckling her holster when she fired. The gyrojet tore into his head and took it from his shoulders, his weapon going off as his body fell back. The shot went high over Kei's head and hit the ceiling. "Nice shooting." Kei gathered up her weapons. "No problem." Tamika told her, a little breathlessly. They continued on. Yuri almost didn't see the woman leaping at her. She almost didn't block the knife slash at her throat. Almost didn't count. They both slammed into a door which slid open behind Yuri and dumped both of them into a bathroom. Yuri twisted around to keep her head from cracking against a sink. The woman put all her weight behind the knife as she pushed it at Yuri's exposed throat. Gritting her teeth she got her feet between the woman and herself then kicked out. The woman, older than herself and whip thin Yuri noticed, stumbled back against a wall. Yuri followed. Using and infighting technique Kei had taught her she took the weapon from the woman and then twisted her arm up behind her back. Stupid, Yuri thought as she noticed the pistol the woman wore, the same one she was trying desperately to reach. Why use an in close weapon, Yuri thought as her pistol slid from its shoulder holster, when you have a ranged weapon. She put her pistol against the back of the woman's head and squeezed the trigger. The lifeless body slid to the ground. Turning, Yuri put her pistol back in its holster. She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Taking a moment she straightened her sunglasses and pushed a few loose strands of hair under the band of the headset. Picking up her assault rifle from where it had fallen Yuri began to run, hoping to make up lost time. "How do we handle this?" Tamika asked. There was a group of guards in front of the access to the bridge level. "The easy way." Kei armed one of her grenades. "Isn't that dangerous?" "Only for them." She tossed the grenade then pushed Tamika to the floor. The force of the explosion washed over them, alarms started going off. "I guess Yuri's program wasn't as good as she thought." Kei stood and helped Tamika to her feet. "Everything has its limits." Tamika said, reasonably sure she was reaching hers. "Come on the bridge is close by." Kei stepped over a body and opened a blast door. The two men in front of the elevator saw Yuri silhouetted in the door way as she stepped through. Both of them had their weapons ready but Yuri had surprise and boosted reflexes on her side. She squeezed the trigger of her weapon. Not a bad little toy she thought, firing from the hip. Pulls a little to the left though. The men went down, both dead. The single shot one of them had fired had missed her by over a meter. She stepped over the bodies and tapped the elevator call button, before stepping off to the side. She suspected a set up of some sort. When the doors opened a hail of gunfire erupted from it. A young man stepped out holding a light machinegun. He looked in horror at the two bodies, believing he had killed them. Yuri didn't give him long to wallow in guilt. She drove the stock of her rifle into the side of his head pushing a piece of his skull deep enough into his brain to kill him. After pulling his body out of the elevator she set the timers on two of her grenades, placed them on the floor of the elevator then sent the elevator up to the next level. Pulling the cover from a ventilation duct Yuri stuck her head into it, looked up and down then crawled into it. The elevator doors opened and four crew members began to fire into it then stopped, confused when they saw it was empty. Their confusion didn't last long. The grenades exploded killing two of them and severely wounding the other two. Yuri pushed open a vent and pulled herself into the acrid smoke filled corridor. Alarms were going of but it didn't matter. They didn't need quiet any more. Taking a moment, she killed the two survivors before running down the corridor, heading for the bridge. The two trouble consultants arrived at the bridge within a minute of each other. Kei came close to shooting Yuri before realizing her mistake. "Nice shotgun." Yuri said looking at the weapon pointed at her. "You're still not mad at me for that prank are you?" "Good to see you made it." Kei pointed the weapon at the floor. "Likewise." Yuri slipped pass Kei to look at the door of the main bridge. "This will take a few seconds." Yuri removed a grenade with a pink circle on the end and handed it to Kei. Taking a small tool kit from where it was stuffed in one of her back belt pouches she started on the door. Kei took a matching grenade from her harness and set the timers, but not arming them, before placing them carefully on the floor. "What are those?" Tamika asked. "O'Donell neurostun eight." Kei told her. "Effective in seconds, breathed in or absorbed through the skin, nonpersistant, knocks any one out in seconds, only a ten percent allergic rate." "What if you're allergic?" "It's not pretty. Here." Kei handed her a slap patch. "That's the antidote." She placed a patch on her own neck and Tamika did likewise. Kei placed one on Yuri's neck, careful not to disturb her too much. Yuri cut a fiber optic lead and spliced it into another. The locks in most ships were not impossible to pick but they were tough. In most cases Yuri would have preferred to rewrite the access programs but she had not brought her deck. Bad planning on her part she had to admit. Convincing the hardware of the lock that it should open the door was a major pain in her opinion but it was faster than several other options she had. "Okay, get ready." Yuri told Kei as she placed a set of bypass links into the lock. "When I complete this bridge the door opens, when I partially remove it, it closes. If I fully remove it getting it open from this side becomes impossible. "Gotcha." Kei armed the grenades. Yuri pushed the links in. There were a few discharges of energy, Yuri felt her fingers go numb, and the door slid open. Everyone on the bridge looked surprised. Kei tossed the grenades in. Pulling the links partially out Yuri sealed the doors. "Ow." Yuri looked at the electrical burnt holes in her gloves. "I'm pretty sure I saw Melkar." Tamika said. Kei swung the assault cannon to the ready position. She ejected the mag and counted the rounds. Two left. She should not have wasted all those shots on the cymechs but she had not wanted to be upstaged by Yuri. She slid the magazine back in. Yuri looked her rifle over, she had half a clip left. Not all that useful she thought. Her pistol had a full magazine less one and she had two full clips for it. The pistol was of even more questionable use than the rifle. Tamika put her last magazine into her rifle. She ran a diagnostic on all the sights. The SMG had not been fired yet. "Let's go." Kei said. Yuri winced as she shoved the links back in and the shock hit her. They entered the bridge, weapons ready. Yuri pulled the links out to seal the entrance behind them. The bridge was much larger than it would have been in a normal freighter and there were more stations. A huge screen on the ceiling displayed the Dark Lady. She was badly damaged but still running. The crew lay on the floor or slumped over their stations. In the middle of the room stood Melkar wearing a ship suit with a leather jacket over it marked with the rank of a commodore. He smiled at them. He wore his blonde hair shorter than they had last seen, his blue eyes held a look of amusement. He stood straight, his hands clasped behind his back. Age had not touched him in two years, still as handsome as ever, Tamika noticed. "I'm pleased that you have managed to make it ladies." He said in a smooth tone. "Tamika I must admit I'm surprised to see you here. That suggests Catherine and Susane are no longer aboard the Dark Lady so I can destroy it." "Try it bastard." Kei swung her cannon up and fired the two remaining rounds. Vecroy was knocked back a few steps by each round, he almost fell over. He straightened, there were two holes in his jacket over his right breast. He reached up to the holes, flexed his fingers a few times then closed them into a fist. Extending his hand he opened it. The two sabots rang out as they hit the floor. "Hardly nice." He shook his head. "You'll hate this." Kei swung the shotgun around her body and began firing. Yuri switched her rifle to full auto and burnt off what was left in the clip in only a few seconds. Vecroy stood straight, jerking only slightly as the rounds impacted against him. A slug from the shot gun tore the skin off half his face revealing the metal skull beneath. Yuri's bullets tore clothing and skin away revealing more cyberware. One of his eye covers was shattered by a spread of shot revealing the camera behind it. Then their weapons ran out. Both women dropped the empty weapons. "Got that out of your systems, feel better now?" Vecroy said, the half of his face still covered by flesh smiled. "Full conversion borg." Yuri said. "Maybe a grenade?" "I wish we had that minigun." Kei tapped her laser carbine. "Or a missile launcher." "Would you two mind using what passes for your brains for a short while?" Vecroy asked. "What?!" Yuri yelled. "You can't win so you might as well give up. Tamika my dear while I can and will use Catherine for what I need it would be much easier if you joined willingly with me." "Why?" Tamika asked. "Because what we will need to do is fairly radical. Your board of directors won't let Catherine do any of it for at least several years, they may not control the majority of shares but they can stonewall my attempts. You on the other hand would have no problem, they think your divinely touched." "So you need me to achieve your dreams of empire that much sooner. Do you actually believe in this cause or do you just want power?" "Isn't power better then slavery or death? You are perhaps on of the most powerful people in the known galaxy, you know the true value of power." "And you think this little scheme will actually work?" "I know it will work, I have history on my side. England, old Earth, for King and for country, they built one of the greatest empires ever known on the planet, covering continents." "Which collapsed." Yuri said. "And Japan. In a space of less than fifty years the Japanese people went from preindustrial, almost medieval, to a point where they were willing to take on the United States of America. They fought and beat the Russians, and the Chinese and all of it they did by rallying behind their Emperor, the many times great grandson of Amaterasu Oomikami." "Unfortunately I think he might have a point." Kei said. "Histroy is on his side." "Ah, a voice of reason." Melkar smiled. "Let's talk about you two. We could find a place for you. Wouldn't you like to have the respect you so richly deserve. Wouldn't you like to get away from the press and their treatment of you. All we have to do is fake your deaths, easy enough, and then you work for us and eventually take up a position in the new power structure." "And you'll be the Emperor of it all." Tamika said. "Of course not. The Emperor or Empress will be a fairy tale type figure. The type of person the masses can love and who will be, unfortunately, a target for assassins. I'll be in the background, an advisory position or something, where the real power is. So what do you say." "Arch duchess Yuri." Yuri said dreamily, surprising Tamika. "I prefer Countess myself." Kei mentioned. "Whatever you want." Vecroy said triumphantly. "All those boring affairs of state you have to attend and no doubt older fashions would come back into style. Corsets aren't my thing." Kei said disgustedly. "Probably wouldn't be all that much fun anyway." Yuri said as she pulled her pistol from its shoulder holster. "You're wasting your time." Vecroy growled. "Not really." Tamika said as she opened up on him. The small gyrojet missiles tore even more of his fake skin and clothing off and seemed to have a greater effect but it was her last clip. Kei pulled the receiver group of a weapon from one of her belt pouches. Yuri emptied the clip of her pistol at Melkar, hoping to take out his eyes. She was also buying time for Kei. From another belt pouch Kei removed the grip for the weapon. The two pieces clipped together easily, the powerful battery in the grip charged up the magnetic coils of the rail weapon. Pulling a three round magazine from another belt pouch she pushed it into the weapon. The small rail weapon had recently been released by Kuan Yin and was advertised as a mech killer. The three rounds slammed into Melkar who was knocked over onto his back. "That was too easy." Kei laughed. "You're right." Melkar's synthesized voice sounded a bit strained but he was quickly on his feet. There were three large dents in his chest but Kei doubted none of the rounds had pierced. "Shit." Kei's hand went to her belt pouch for the last magazine. Yuri was sliding a new magazine into her rail pistol, Tamika cocked the SMG and began to fire. Vecroy raised his left arm, thin steel coils whipped out to wrap around Kei's weapon while others encircled her neck. The weapon was torn from her hand and she was drawn towards Melkar. He grabbed her throat and lifted her off the floor, the steel whips retracted back into his arm. What was left of the flesh around his lips smiled. "You should have cooperated." He told her. While Kei had several witty and clever comebacks she didn't have the ability to talk with her throat being crushed. Yuri dove between his legs, hoping he was distracted with Kei. Unfortunately he was not. His kick tore the skin on her upper right arm and almost snapped bone. With her left hand she pointed her pistol up to where his arm joined his torso and fired the full load. His fingers jerked open and Kei fell, she tucked and rolled to get away from him. Yuri sprang away from his left leg which almost caught her in the ribs. "You two are just prolonging the inevitable." He told them. His left arm was at his side, the hand opening and closing in different patterns. Diagnostic check, Yuri guessed, upset she had not done more damage. "Maybe not." Tamika said from across the room. Coming to realize her weapon was useless against him she had changed tactics. In her hands was a large energy rifle that she had found in the Bridge's arms locker. She tossed the rifle to Kei and took out another. "Nova weapons Starfire." Kei looked at the weapon. "I've heard good things about them." Tamika was going to throw Yuri one of the weapons but she shook her head as she made her way behind Melkar. Kei took the weapon off safe, a high pitched hum filled the room but quickly dropped lower until it was no longer audible. She brought it up to her shoulder and squeezed the trigger, going for a head shot. Tamika fired as well, walking her fire up and down his chest and abdomen. This could be more effective Kei thought. The only effect the super hot plasma seemed to have was to burn away the rest of his clothing and flesh. The damn cameras in his head were even holding out, who the hell makes them she wondered. Tamika regretted never taking over Melkar's company when she had the chance. It seemed to do good work. Melkar made a growling sound as he approached the two women, wondering who he should kill first. He also had to considered the dark haired one behind him but she was not well armed and therefore not a threat. The plasma rifles were a different story. His internal diagnostic checks showed he was still within his operating parameters but that was changing fast. The damn heat was getting close to fusing his servo motors as well as having a detrimental effect on his computers. He would kill Kei first, her death might make Tamika give up. Why couldn't things be easy, he wondered. Kei increased the power output level of the plasma rifle. The stress indicator jumped into the red for a moment and a third of the remaining power was drained off. Melkar actually stopped. Yuri made a quick hand signal to Kei. "Tamika hold your fire." Kei yelled. Melkar's internal repair and damage control systems were being pushed to the limits, draining power from several other systems including his external sensors so he missed the significance of what had happened. Yuri ran straight at his back, sprung up, doing a hand stand on his shoulders. She could feel the plasma heated metal through her gloves and was glad she would not be there long. Her right hand slapped a microsoft plug into the neural interface in his neck. She pushed off with her left, landing on his right side. His hand snapped out shattering Yuri's sunglasses. Yuri didn't mind, a few centimeters closer and it would have been her skull. "You're missing an eye." He growled. "Let me balance your face." The fingernails on his hands snapped out, becoming blades, and he stalked towards Yuri, or at least he tried to. His foot seemed to have trouble finding the ground, then he collapsed onto his knees. "What happened?" Tamika asked. "Loaded a microsoft with every smart virus I have. They'll punch through almost any defense there is." "That had to be a lot of smart viruses." Tamika said, remembering Yuri's penchant for collecting illegal software. "They are very illegal aren't they?" "Well, I think nanotech is considered to be slightly less of a danger but both technologies are right up there in the only God needs to know security levels." "Ooh, poor Melkar. Are you having some trouble?" Kei said with false concern in her voice. "Perhaps you should lie down." She kicked him in the head, laying him flat out on his back. "Shouldn't something more impressive happen?" Tamika asked Yuri, looking over at the body. "Now that you mention it." Yuri said softly. "Considering he had to have at least one component that would explode when the computers went down." "You mean he's not finished yet?" Kei was standing with a foot on each side of the prostrate cyborg. It was still jerking about. "Think not." Yuri said. "Toss me your rifle." Kei called to Tamika, letting her own drop. Tamika handed her weapon to Kei. Kei cracked the weapon open and yanked several pieces of systemtry from the rifle. Placing the barrel up against his torso where his left arm joined she closed her eyes and turned her face away as she pulled the trigger. The weapons entire charge was drained off, fusing the system. The backwash of heat dried out the mucus membranes in Kei's nose. The arm had been blown messily from the rest of his body. "Give me another rifle." Kei said evilly. "There has to be a better way." Yuri began to look through the other lockers in the bridge. Kei altered the next rifle and took his head from his shoulders. "He's still twitching." Kei said angrily. "And it seems more coordinated." Tamika told Yuri. "Blow his other arm off." Yuri called from where she was rummaging around in a tool locker. Kei picked her first rifle up off the floor and hoped there was enough energy left. They only had one more fully charged rifle left. She blew his arm off, her nose began to bleed. "Damn." Kei said, pinching her nostrils closed. "Stand back." Yuri came up to the body carrying a suit case sized plasma torch. A more practical version of the one Kei had used to cut through the star haulers hull. "You'll probably want to turn your back." Kei told Tamika who was already doing so. Yuri put on the welding goggles which were so dark she couldn't see anything. That stopped being a problem when she fired up the torch. The light reflected from the dull grey walls was still bright enough that Kei and Tamika had to squint. Yuri moved the magnetic field projector around the cyborg's chest, the super hot plasma cutting the metal easily. She had to use a probe to keep the metal of his carapace from melting back together. Halfway through the job her probe melted in half and she had to get another. The charge indicator was almost at zero when she finished. Stripping off the goggles she grabbed another of the probes from the case to pry the chest off. Kei gave her a hand, using a knife to cut inorganic muscles and connections. They pried it off then kicked it to the side. Inside the chest cavity were attachment sites for the inorganic chest muscles they had cut through, power feeds, a few motors, several small computers and a clear container holding Melkar's brain. "Not quite against humanity as we first thought." Yuri said. "Pitty he didn't go for full conversion, the viruses would have done the full job." "Separate computer to control life support for his brain." Tamika said, "Biological/cybernetics interface attached to brain stem, no internal brain modifications." "There's a talented hacker in there, fighting all my viruses." Yuri shook her head. "What do you think this will do?" Kei asked as she pulled the brain container from the body, disconnecting the feeds to it. "No!" Yuri shouted then knocked Kei back. A fusion generator in the body's abdomen, no longer controlled by the brain, exploded. It was contained but had they been close they might have been hurt. "That answer you question?" Yuri asked Kei. "Yes." Was all Kei said as she placed the brain on the floor. "Look at that." Tamika was excited. "The legs are still moving. If I can just beat everyone else to his company I'll be able to corner the cybernetic market." "So what do we do with this?" Yuri looked down at the brain. "Could turn it over to the UG police." Kei said. "Perhaps Tamika should decide." Yuri looked at her. Kei walked to the arms locker and removed the remaining rifle. She handed it to Tamika. Tamika took the rifle, looked at it for a second then powered it up. It took her seven shots to breach the container, the eighth boiled off the fluid the brain had been suspended in, the ninth turned it into carbon. "I hate french cooking." Yuri wrinkled her nose at the smell of baked brain. "Look at this." Kei removed something from the wreckage of Melkar's chest. It was a brain tape. "Guess he didn't want to risk loosing any experiences. Won't do him much good." She snapped it into several pieces and let them drop. "Well that's that." Yuri said. "Except for a wounded ship." Tamika pointed at the ceiling screen which had only been slightly damaged in the fight and still showed the Dark Lady. "And a ship full of nasties." "Minor problem, right Yuri." Kei walked over to the gunners station. "Of course." Yuri agreed and she took a small, armoured case from a belt pouch. She opened it revealing a slightly scarred rectangular computer disc. Yuri went to the computer and slid the disk in. "this may take a bit." Pulling the interface cable free from the computer tech's neural socket she plugged herself into the computer. "I'm not sure we have that much time." Kei looked at the gunners screen which was projecting much more detailed information on the Dark Lady's status. While several of the duty stations had been destroyed in the fire fight the gunners station had been protected by the gunner. Unfortunately nothing had protected her. Kei pushed the body out of the chair and took a seat. "Let's see." Kei said, thinking out loud. "I could stop the ship but that would attract attention and until Yuri's got full control that's not a good thing. Plus engineering will just override us. Could cut power to the guns but that would likely cause the same problems. Could go and kill all the gunners myself but I don't have the time." "Could you screw up the targeting computers." Tamika suggested. "Yea, right." "Just an idea." "What do I look like, a computer geek." Kei mumbled as she cut the power to the guns. "I thought you said that would attract attention." Tamika looked over Kei's shoulder. "What can I say. I'm desperate." "Chief gunner to bridge," A woman's voice came over the ships com. "We just lost power, what's happening?" "Diagnostic check." Kei tried. "What? Let me speak to the Commodore." The woman demanded. "He's tied up at the moment." Kei said. "Engineering this is weapons. I think the bridge has been compromised. Return power to the guns and re-secure the bridge." They heard over the com. "Oh no you don't." Yuri said as she went to work. She punched into the computer systems, preforming a cyber lobotomy on several nodes. Then she went to work doing the impossible. All through the ship every doorway locked open except for the one leading to the bridge. While most of the airlocks were one entry spheres there were a few in the cargo holds which had been designed for utility and not safety. There were also a number of emergency hatches, supposedly only openable if the pressure outside the ship was above a certain level. Those protocols were no longer in effect though. Before anyone knew what was happening the airlocks and emergency hatches opened. "Oh my." Kei said, seeing all the internal environmental sensors flash red. "What happened?" Tamika asked. "Everyone on the ship decided to step out for a breath of hard vacuum." Kei said. "Don't you think that was a little excessive?" Tamika turned angrily on Yuri. "Sorry Jimminy Cricket. Next time I'll try to find a gentler way to neutralize over two hundred hostile crew members. We are looking at a time limit." Yuri said to her, not really upset. "Kei do you want to get the Dark Lady on the com and tell them everything is all right." CHAPTER 13 Last minute rescues are our stock and trade. Well they would be if we got their sooner. Remark attributed to Kei by an anonymous reporter. Captain Halson stood in the middle of his small bridge, listening to his bridge officers as they reported the ships status to him. A tremor ran through the Dark Lady, another thrust unit blowing up he suspected. It had been several minutes since the opposing ship had stopped broadcasting a surrender order. Since then there had been nothing. It had been even longer since they had stopped firing, not that they needed to any longer. Speed was down to less than twenty five percent, thrust units were blowing. The Dark Lady would likely tear itself apart without any help from the other ship. "Status report." He, yelled to make himself heard above the others. "They're just sitting out there, matching speed with us. Maybe they plan to board us." "They'll have to get closer." The Captain said. "And they'll have a fight on their hands." He pounded a fist into his palm. "Sir." His com officer called. "They've stopped jamming us." "What?" "All channels are clear, the sensors are clean to." "Send out an SOS on all frequencies." "Yes sir." The com officer activated the distress beacon. "This is interesting, there seems to be a number of bodies behind that ship, maybe explosive decompression." "What could have caused it?" "Not sure. Uh sir, there's a message coming in from the other ship." "Let's hear it." "......calling the Dark Lady. This is 3WA agent Kei calling the Dark Lady. Come in Dark Lady. I am aboard the prize ship...uh.., hey Yuri what's a good name for this beast?" "The Yuri." Yuri suggested, her voice was very faint over the com. "Right, get real." Kei told her. "Well how about the Titanic." Yuri said. "Major bad karma there." Kei commented. "I got it, The Edmand Fitzgerald." "Why does that sound so familiar?" Yuri's speculative tone evident even over the com. "Don't know. I think I heard it in an old song. This is the prize ship Edmand Fitzgerald calling the Dark Lady, come on you guys answer me." "This has to be real." Halson said, shaking his head. "Open up a channel." "Done sir." "Dark Lady to Fitzgerald, we're in a bad way." "How bad?" Kei's concerned tone came over the com. "Well if we can shut down in the next few minutes my engineers tell me the engines may not explode. We have heavy casualties and several fatalities." "Shut down all your unnecessary systems." Kei told him. "We'll start docking procedures. Yuri how long till the ship's repressurised?" "Say about a minute." "Hold your course Dark Lady, we'll close the distance. Make sure your initial sweep teams are armed, we can't be sure that all enemy have been dealt with." Kei said. "Understood." Halson said. "Thank you. Out." He ended the communication. "Okay let's get moving." He told his crew, hope returning to everyone. "Evacuation procedures, call sick bay and tell them to get ready to move. Look alive everyone, this is not a drill." All around him people began to move. He smiled. "How's it going?" Kei looked over Yuri's shoulder. "I've almost got complete control, there's only a few minor peripheral systems that are still controlled by the original programming. Should have it completed in a minute." "Who owns this ship now?" Kei asked casually. "Well if Melkar is the owner it's now property of the UG and will be sold off to pay any injured parties. Tamika's shipping line is a likely candidate of course." "And if he isn't the owner?" "Depends if an owner steps forward, not a wise thing to do. I doubt anyone will try to claim ownership. And I know what you're thinking, there is no way you can keep it." Yuri's tone was no nonsense. "Oh well." Kei lamented. "I'm engaging boarding tube link up." she tapped a few controls. "So now what?" Tamika asked from where she was examining Melkar's body. "I'm going to bring the turrets in." Yuri reached over towards the gunner's station. "Other than that?" "Once we turn the ship over to Vincent we leave, grab your kids, and go to Peledies nine. No reason to stay here. Oh Kei, fire up the FTL com and get in touch with UG intelligence. Tell them that they should lock up all of Melkar's holdings." "Ahhh, I hate talking to UGI, they hate us." Kei whined. "Your closest to the radio." Yuri explained. "Thank you ever so much." There was a pounding at the bridge door. Yuri looked up from where she and Tamika were cataloguing Melkar's body with a camera they had found. Kei swung her chair around to stare at the door. "Forgot to take the locks off that door." Yuri stood. "Maybe you should." Kei said testily. She was still upset over her conversation with UGI. "What if its members of the original crew?" Tamika asked. "Doubt they'd knock." Yuri took the panel of the locking mechanism and pulled out a hand full of the locking electronics. There was a loud click and the door slid back. Captain Halson, his bridge crew and a security team entered, quickly taking positions on the bridge, pushing bodies out of the way. They were all armed but none of them looked like they had been involved in any fighting. "Let's go." Yuri said. "Just a second." Vincent came over and directed Yuri off the bridge and down the corridor. Kei and Tamika followed at a discrete distance. Vincent stopped, turned around and looked deep into Yuri's eyes. Yuri smiled back at him up until the moment her slapped her. Yuri put her hand against the stinging part of her face, fighting off the urge to cry and to take his life. "You may not have meant this to happen but it did." Vincent told her. "I'm sorry." Yuri said, wondering why the hell she was apologising. "I know. Goddess help me, I still want you." He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers, surprising Yuri for the second time in a space of less than a minute. "I'll contact you when I make planet fall, you can decide if you want to have anything to do with me." He turned and went back to the bridge. "I'm surprised you didn't introduce your knee to his crotch." Kei came up beside Yuri, looking at the red mark that marred the pale skin on her cheek. "So am I." Yuri told her, a little breathlessly. "Yuri's got a boyfriend." Kei sang softly. "And Kei doesn't." Yuri replied in the same way. "Show some maturity." Tamika told them as she started off along the way they had come. They arrived in the cargo hold without any problems. They had met a few refugees from the Dark Lady, a med team had taken care of the wounds they had obtained during the earlier fighting. Yuri picked up her briefcase before opening the Angel up then pulled her pistol from its shoulder holster. "Do we have to?" Kei asked as she freed her laser carbine from its holster. "Yes, we have to." Yuri told her. "The last thing we need is to have someone hiding aboard the ship." It took them ten minutes to sweep the Angel. Once they were done Kei returned to the airlock to seal the hole they had cut into the ship. The seal was a little like an umbrella, opening up within the hole, barbs on the ribs digging into the metal, holding it in place. From inside the Angel she sprayed a can of sealant down over the plug, the foam hardening almost instantly. Once she had it well covered she reduced the pressure in the Angel's airlock by twenty percent and watched the gauge for a minute. When it didn't change she was satisfied there were no leaks. Sealing the hatch she depressurized the boarding tube then retracted it back into the Angel. Yuri and Tamika went to the arms locker to put away the weapons. Yuri removed all ammunition and energy cells from the weapons before placing them in their proper spaces. She stripped Kei's assault cannon and dropped the parts into a bath of cleaning solvent. When they were finished they continued up to the bridge. Kei was already there, bringing the ship to life. "Hey Mughi." Yuri called into the com as she took a seat. "You out there? Fire up your signal beacon." She used the agreed upon frequencies and the proper encryption set. "There it is." Yuri pointed to a orange dot on the main screen a moment later. One of the secondary screens flickered to life and Mughi's head filled it. Then the cat was pushed aside and Catherine was looking into the camera. "Mom! Are you all right?" "I'm fine Cathy, we'll be with you in a minute." Tamika said happily. Yuri and Kei smiled as they finished the start up procedures. Kei deactivated the adhesion pads on the landing gear and the Angel floated free. She waited until the landing gear had folded into the ship then set a course that would take them to the pod. Chapter 14 Of course we give them a hard time. It's our job. Comment made by an unknown reporter when asked about the presses treatment of the Lovely Angels. The Angel spun slowly downwards as Kei tried to get the best landing angle. "Are you sure the landing gear is going to hold?" Yuri asked Kei. "Of course I'm sure, kind of, almost, reasonably so." "I feel so safe." Tamika said over ship's com from the ready room. "Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch. Is that all you can do?" "I can also ruin careers." Tamika said. "True." Kei agreed. "Brace for landing." The ship settled down onto the landing pad. Almost before the landing gear had touched ground, service robots came up and started to insert power cords and grounds into the Angels' various receptacles. "Told you the landing..." Kei was interrupted by a shrill alarm and the collapse of the ship's forward landing strut. Everyone was thrown forward, Yuri's head hit the console. "Gear would hold." Kei finished lamely. "I thin I readdy bode by dose dis time." Yuri said. "Let me see." Kei said as she turned Yuri's face so she could see. Yuri's nose was definitely broken this time. "Yep, it's broken. When you get it set you can get another nose job, have a little more taken off." Kei said brightly. "I hab never hab a dose job before." Yuri said angrily. "Dis is your fault." "You just have to learn to wear your restraint belts tighter." "Dey chafe." Yuri pulled a handkerchief from one of her belt pouches and began to wipe away the blood. It was painful but she was reasonably sure it was not too bad. Any competent plastic surgeon could set it perfectly. "Poor baby." Kei said in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Uh oh, we got press." Great, Yuri thought. Not only would the jackals be writing stories that would make them look bad, all the pictures of her would show her with a broken nose. "Let's go and face the vultures." Kei said, resigning herself to it. There were quite a few reporters and camera crews around the landing area, as well as rubber neckers who wanted to see what was going on. With Mughi in the lead they cut through the crowd with surprising ease. Questions were yelled from the throng but Kei and Yuri had plenty of practice in ignoring the press. They were almost at the limousine when one of the reporters tried to get Tamika's attention. "Miss Jinnas, could we have a statement?" A short man called out. "About what?" Tamika slid Susane, who was still sedated, into the limo. Then she turned around to face the reporters. Kei and Yuri wanted to kill her but couldn't do anything. The press had got their hooks into her. "What about the allegedly destroyed ship?" A woman in the back of the crowd called up. "And all the deaths reported?" The short man called. "What about the rumour that this was arranged with the destroyed ship a bait in a trap." A tall, gold eyed androgyne called. That was so close to the truth that Yuri wondered who his or her contact was. "How were the Dirty Pair involved in this." The short man called loudly, taking a calculated risk. Both Kei and Yuri turned in unison to stare at the man. He looked very nervous as if he wanted to run. They kept a tight reign on themselves. There were too many cameras and reporters for them to beat the little toad into paste. They did memorize his face though and if they ran into him again he would be very sorry. "I'll arrange for a press conference later. As for now I have no comment except to say it wasn't their fault." It was not the answer the press wanted. They exploded into a verbal flood that Tamika ignored. She ushered Catherine into the limo then followed. Yuri and Kei smiled at each other as they climbed in, Mughi right behind them. The limo rose on its effect fields and drove off, leaving an enraged press behind. Epilogue Angels don't die, they just fall from grace. Yuri took a gulp of her martini and felt the alcohol burn down her throat. Her teeth were numb. "Your eyes are beautiful." The man on the seat beside her said. Tall, red hair worn short, brown eyes, dark complexion, handsome, and a tailor made three piece suit. "Thank you." Yuri responded, hiding the elation she felt at the compliment. It had only been two days since the 3WA med techs had replaced her eye. She liked having predatory vision back. "Another drink for the lady." He called to the bartender. Six, Yuri thought as she put her empty glass on the bar. Quite a few drinks to buy some one. She had not encouraged any of in. The curse of fatal beauty she thought. She was drinking a new form of alcohol, one that the human body could break down very fast, though the hangover tended to be just as nasty if not more so. Kei thought it was stupid, she believed if you were going to drink you had to get drunk. It was very expensive though and when the gentleman beside her had waved his credit card around saying he was paying she couldn't help but start ordering it. Since he had no doubt wanted her to get drunk so he could take advantage of her she felt no guilt what so ever. "Romeo. Hit your thrusters." Kei told the man as she came up behind Yuri. He turned to look at Kei. Kei could read what he thought in his eyes. She also was reasonably sure what he would do. "Not meaning to be rude but perhaps you should leave." He told her. "The lady has no interest in your company." Kei was considering the best way to handle him and the implied insult when Yuri dumped her fresh drink into his lap. A waste of a perfectly good martini she thought. He leapt to his feet, almost upsetting the stool. "Perhaps you should go." Yuri told him. "If that's the way you want it." He said angrily. "It is." He stormed off. "Bye lover boy." Kei said as she took the vacated stool, fortunately all of Yuri's drink had been absorbed by the man's pants so the seat was dry. "He'll be spreading rumours in a few minutes." Kei told Yuri. "Big deal." Yuri signalled the bartender for another drink. "The Central Computer has cleared us fully. I just got the report. There was no way we could have expected Melkar to have access to such a powerful ship, direct quote." "No big surprise." Yuri took a sip of her drink. "How many have you had?" "Forget, not many." "You didn't honestly expect Vincent to stay did you? He's a true starship Captain. As soon as Tamika offered him a new command he had to go. A ship will always be first in his heart." "That makes me feel soooo much better Kei." Yuri sulked. "Oh come off it, your acting like a child, more so than usual. If he had not left you would have left him. Neither of you had careers that are conducive to a long term relationship." "Stop trying to cheer me up." "Tamika sent me word. She's got UG clearance to form a strike force to take out all of Melkar's holdings no matter where they are. A new form of corporate takeover, or maybe not so new." "Sounds like she'll have fun." Yuri fished the olive out of her drink and ate it. "Told me Catherine is heading off to school and if I gave her any bad advice she'd kill me." "You'd deserve it." Yuri tossed back her drink. "Come on." Kei decided to try a different approach. She stood and helped Yuri to her feet. "Where to?" Yuri asked, she felt unsteady and considered removing her high heels before she realized she had taken them off earlier. "First a walk to sober you up a bit." Kei tossed some universal credits on the bar and hoped they would cover Yuri's bill as well as leaving a reasonable tip. "Then to this little pool place I heard of where you can hustle some idiots." "Okay." Yuri said. It sounded reasonable to her. Of course Yuri thought nearly anything would sound reasonable to her at that point. It was a good thing Kei had chased off her admirer. Obviously six drinks in just a little over an hour was bad no matter how fast one broke the alcohol down. "Oh, and we have to pick up a small mammal for Mughi." "He's not craving live meat again?" Yuri asked, feeling her stomach roll at the thought. "Fraid so." "Send him out after muggers." "Next time." "Kei." "Yes." "You're my best friend." "Thank you." "I'm only telling you this because there's a good chance I'm going to vomit all over you in the immediate future." "Great." The redhead sighed.