Molehunt (16 page)

Charming
, thought Maximus.
But efficient
.

Maximus opened the door of the tailor's workshop carefully, scanning the alleyway outside with eyes, ears and devices. It was clear. He exited quickly, crossing the alleyway, and diving into a maze of similar lanes and back streets. Soon he was blocks away, and angry.

Things were getting messy. There were too many dangerous loose ends. He needed to get everything back under his tight control. And the only way to do that was to move his agenda forward. He'd have to go to the next level.

He smiled.
Galaxy, brace yourself
.

Maximus's path to Reema's End was complicated. First he had to get leave from RIM. This was not easy. Not only was this a difficult time, with the mole hunt in full cry, but also he had few plausible excuses. His health wasn't poor nor did he have any known relatives to conveniently become ill.

In the end, he hit on an excuse by sheer luck. And he had Anneke Longshadow to thank for it.

With the new allegations about Longshadow's past, the mole hunt should have died down, but some people within RIM Command felt that a deliberate smear campaign had been launched against her. This was good. Whatever happened, his plans now required the very disorganisation and paranoia that was tearing RIM apart. He sided with the faction that believed Anneke was being smeared, then got himself sent undercover, to Se'atma Minor.

First he visited the agency's dermal reconstruction unit. When he emerged, several uncomfortable hours later, his hair colour had changed, his nose was longer and thinner, his complexion darkened, and more.

With a new datapass issued by RIM he travelled to Se'atma by jump-gate, arriving there late one afternoon. He checked briefly on Arvakur, learning that the investigator was still a long way from getting to the bottom of the matter, and then procured another datapass.

Then Maximus took a series of almost random jumps: Theta Three, Pegasus Prime, Irongate, Helm Four, and Hesperia. He found a different victim and used a new datapass for every trip and, since he had brought along a portable dermal reconstructor, he also altered his appearance marginally with each jump.

Finally, since there was no legal jump-gate into the Cygnus Sector, he was forced to take passage on a trader that left Thor's World for Reema's End.

Next time, I'll charter my own spaceyacht
, he thought as he sat crouched in the tiny cabin the trader provided for paying passengers. The craft reeked of ancient sweat and recycled body odours, and the crew was dull, stupid and violent.

Still, nobody, but nobody, could have tracked his movements.

A week later the trader entered the Telugus system. When the ship docked at Reema's End he was the first through the opening docking hatch, the first to tender his datapass, and the first to slide into the teeming anthill that was Reema's End.

Instantly he noted the low gravity. Point 5 G, he estimated. The smell was an improvement on the trader, but then anything would be.

Despite never having been there before, Maximus made his way unerringly to the best hotel at the station. After days of the trader's cramped and filthy cabin, he desperately needed to sleep in a decent bed in clean quarters. The poverty of Reema's End was reflected in the weird mix of transporters, including ultralight pushbikes powered by sets of elaborate ceramic gears and levers driven by lightweight propellers, only practical in low gravity.

He paid the desk clerk in anonymous cash, then locked himself in his room. He sent a coded message to his employer, setting up a meeting for the next day, showered, then took two grams of
n-doze
and crashed out on the comfortable body-adjusting bed.

Bliss
, he thought, as he drifted into sleep,
is a clean bed
.

He woke in the night, startled. His needler came up fast from beneath his pillow. Something lashed out, knocking the gun from his hand. The lights came on.

Maximus blinked up at the four men surrounding his bed. He smiled. ‘Escort service, I presume?'

The leader scowled. ‘Get dressed. Lob Lotang will see you now.'

‘I arranged the meeting for tomorrow.'

‘I said now.'

Maximus found his own needler pointing at him. He shrugged, got up, dressed, and retrieved the cube holding the defence readouts. Smoothly palming the device he activated its built-in self-destruct mechanism.

‘Now move,' said the leader.

And move they did. Two in front, two behind.
Lucky me
, thought Maximus.
An escort guard
. But another thought came on the heels of that:
Or a gallows march
…

They wound their way through an astonishing maze of passageways that followed no logical sequence. Maximus would have bet that no two corridors were parallel. They encountered surly groups of armed men and women who backed away when they saw who was crossing their territory, muttering apologies.

Maximus admitted to himself that he wouldn't have liked to try this path on his own. Over an hour later they reached their destination. The facade was disappointingly ordinary.

They stopped outside a hatch. The guards there had banned weapons on display, but they were more of a ‘Keep Out' sign than anything else. Maximus was led inside, through more hatches, and along more corridors. The headquarters, their destination, was outfitted like a king's palace.

There was deep carpet on the floor and the walls were panelled in Terran oak. This far from Earth, it was seriously expensive. Fake-view windows showed panoramic alien vistas in what seemed to be real time.

‘Leave us,' said a voice. ‘Not you, Quag.' The lead escort stayed while his associates bowed and backed out of the room. Maximus eyed the dark doorway from where the voice emanated. ‘Good morning …'

‘Call me Nathaniel,' said Maximus.

‘Of course, Nathaniel. I am Lob Lotang.' A man stepped out of the doorway. Maximus was impressed. Lotang was the tallest human being he had ever seen. At least 240 centimetres tall, and unlike most giants, he was heavily muscled and well built. A powerful, wealthy man, spending time on a nasty, sewer station like Reema's End.
Like to like
, Maximus mused.

Lob Lotang crossed to what appeared to be a real king's former throne and sat down. Maximus shot a look at Quag as though he might be missing something.

‘Brave of you to walk into the lion's den like this, Nathaniel,' said Lob.

‘Nobody's that brave,' said Maximus. ‘Or that stupid.'

Ahhh,' said Lotang. ‘You come … equipped?'

Maximus smiled his most evil of smiles. ‘Let's just say that if I'm not out of here in ten minutes this entire station will be stardust.' He looked at the ceiling. ‘On the bright side, you wouldn't need skylights.'

Quag barked something that sounded obscene and stepped forward.

‘M'lord, this is not possible. We woke him from deep sleep. Our encephaloscan clearly showed he was in delta phase. He was not expecting us and so could not have activated any device. We never took our eyes off him.'

‘Calm down, Quag,' said Lotang. ‘I am sure our esteemed visitor equipped himself with some kind of fail-safe device long before he set foot on Reema's End. Just as I would have.'

Maximus gave a shallow bow.

‘It's always nice doing business with an equal, Nathaniel.'

‘The feeling is mutual, Mr Lotang.'

They both laughed.

‘Now,' said Lotang briskly. ‘You have my readouts?'

Maximus held up the cube. Lotang could see the self-destruct light blinking. His eyes narrowed.

‘What is this? Do we not have a deal?'

‘We do. I merely wish to assure myself that you have what I want.'

Lotang smiled but it was the smile of a killer dealing the death blow. Lotang nodded at Quag, who fetched a metal briefcase from a wall cavity, placed it on a desk and opened it. Inside were several vials of green liquid. A shimmering stasis field could just be seen.

‘I suggest you leave the stasis field on at all times,' said Lotang.

‘In this instance that would be extremely foolhardy of me to accept,' replied Maximus. ‘Of course.'

Lotang flicked his hand. Quag shut off the field and stood back while Maximus ran a quick analysis of the content of the vials. He nodded to Quag who restored the field.

‘I have one further request,' said Maximus.

Lotang went quite still. ‘It would be unwise to test my patience further.'

And it would be unwise to underestimate my willingness to send us all to meet our ancestors.'

A ghost of a smile played about Lotang's lips. ‘Go on,' he said.

‘There is a woman. Anneke Longshadow.'

‘A RIM agent.'

‘Yes. She's turned rogue. No telling what she's capable of. Especially on your home turf.'

‘She is of little consequence to my organisation.'

‘Ah, but that's the sticking point.' Maximus wagged his finger.

‘Continue.'

‘I want you to kill her for me.'

‘And why should we do this?'

‘She is an inconvenience to me.'

‘That is no matter to me … Nathaniel.'

‘It is your fault she is an inconvenience to me.'

‘Explain.'

Maximus recounted his story, of how it was because of the blundering of an agent of Lob Lotang's Quesada Clan that Anneke had discovered a mole existed in RIM Command, thus endangering his position and their pre-existing plans.

Lob evinced surprise, but Maximus saw the man's mouth twitch in annoyance. ‘I will look into this matter,' Lob said. ‘If what you say is true, then she shall be dealt with. RIM agents can be bothersome, do you not agree, Nathaniel?'

‘Oh, absolutely. Scum of the universe.'

‘And now the cube, if you please.'

Maximus deactivated the self-destruct on the memory cube and handed it to Quag, who passed it to his master.

‘Oh, just in case anyone gets funny ideas,' Maximus said, ‘there's a trip switch that gets activated unless I send a signal to it.' He shrugged at Lotang's icy stare. ‘Self-preservation is the hallmark of the Terran empire, Mr Lotang. We've learnt that you can't trust anyone.'

Lotang relaxed. ‘Then we should synchronise our watches. There is a similar device on the vials.'

‘Touché,' Maximus said. ‘A pleasure doing business with you, Mr Lotang.'

Lotang held up the cube reverentially. When he spoke it was as if he spoke to himself alone.

‘History is right. Only the great and the terrible are capable of great and terrible things …'

I
T would not be the last time Anneke Longshadow wondered if she were certifiably insane. She had been cooped up for three weeks on one of Fat Fraddo's contraband ships with a crew of unwashed thugs. On the positive side, it was at least ex-navy and very fast.

All this because of a dying man's last word and a few shards of fragmented disk debris.

Definitely crazy.

To make things worse the cooling system was failing. In two days the internal temperature of the ship had risen twenty degrees, and tempers among the crew were fraying. Anneke kept to herself most of the time.

But it was during mealtime that things came to a head. Anneke fetched her tray from the dispenser and was about to return to her cabin with her food when she bumped into three crewmen queued up behind her.

‘Sorry' Anneke said, trying to sidestep them.

‘You think you're too good to eat with the crew?' one of the men demanded.

‘I've not got time for this,' Anneke said. ‘I have a date with a story spool. Maybe next time. Now if you'll excuse me?'

The man slammed his palms against the bulkhead, blocking her exit.

That was a big mistake. After she had broken the first man's arm, she cracked the skull of the second and threw the third halfway across the mess hall.

Satisfied with the result, Anneke wheeled around and almost collided with a man called Mobus, the unofficial spokesperson for the crew. He took in the damage with a sweeping look, and then advanced on her.