The Black Guard: Book II: Evolution (Black Guard Series 2) (23 page)

"There will be a slight delay, Ms. Sharli."

"I heard and I'm happy to wait. I've never been on
a combat shuttle."

* * *

I went out to meet the shuttle when it settled some
forty meters from Sharli's house. A lieutenant and two warrant officers exited
the shuttle and saluted as I approached.

"Ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Sauls, your pilot, and this
is Warrant Officers Velez and Murry, your ECM and weapons operators. Captain
Blatt sends his compliments. Orders?"

"At ease. Your job is to take Ms. Sharli wherever
she wishes to go, without getting her killed. My job is to keep her safe when
she's not under your tender care," I said to eager faces. They were bored
and this was an exciting diversion. "Gentlemen, when Ms. Sharli steps on
your shuttle, I expect one hundred percent of your attention on your responsibilities.
Failure could impact the Jax's way of life."

I saw a few grins which slowly turned to frowns when I
didn't smile.

"That's no joke or even any exaggeration. Ms.
Sharli will decide whether Safort aligns with the Jax or Outpost, and that
could sway other systems to go one way or the other. So, when Ms. Sharli is on
board, you have to be at your best, because this shuttle will be attacked some
time over the next several days. Her assassins have no other choice. They have
tried everything else and failed."

Shortly afterward, Cerff, his entire team, and Ms. Sharli
approached and after introductions entered the shuttle.

"Not like a skimmer," she said and then held
up her hand. "I'm not complaining. The increased security is well worth
the decrease in comfort." She sat and buckled the restraining harness in
place and smiled.

An hour later, we landed and escorted Sharli into the
building and then to her office. I left two with the shuttle and two in the
lobby. Four of us accompanied her into her area. She had three visitors, whom I
accompanied into the room with her and, to their annoyance, stayed during the
meeting. I wasn't ruling out anything: an attack on the shuttle, a single
assassin, or multiple assassins. There were no incidents during the day nor on
the trip home. That night I posted two Guards to guard the shuttle, armed with
ground to air missiles.

The next day, Sharli was scheduled to visit the town of
Snake River to be the guest speaker at a high school graduation.

"These shuttles aren't too comfortable, but they
are fast. Usually takes well over three hours—"

"Incoming. Steady as you go, Sauls. Chaff away,
bank hard!" Velez's voice was loud but steady—signifying this was a
routine event. The shuttle suddenly veered hard to the left. "All clear …
second incoming. Hold steady, flares away … got it. All clear."

"Hold it steady, Lieutenant. I've got the shooter's
position. Captain Sapir, permission to engage?" Murry's voice.

"Do you have a clear shot?" I asked, not
wanting innocent bystanders killed. The repercussions wouldn't be worth it.

"No other heat signatures in the area,"
Murry's voice.

"Permission to engage," I said. A few seconds
later, I heard the pulsed release of the laser.

"Two toasts," Murry said with satisfaction.

"Make sure you are secured. I'm on my approach for
a landing at Snake River," Sauls said, his voice clearly excited. Several
minutes later the shuttle landed and the back ramp opened as Sauls appeared
from the cabin area.

"Nice job, Lieutenant. You and your team are
good." I gave them a respectful bow.

"The colonel sent his number one ranked team,
ma'am. He also said if we … screw up and you don't shoot us, he'll leave us on
Safort when the Tiger leaves for home." He gave me a toothy grin.

"You were right again," Sharli said as I
exited. "I could just imagine what marines felt like being dropped into a
combat zone. Helpless," Sharli said, looking a little less pale.

"You could think of it that way, or you could
consider it being in the loving care of family who are doing their best to get
you on the ground safely," I said with a smile.

She laughed.

"No competition between services?"

"Not on my part. We're all Jax and all ready to
help if necessary to meet our commitments," I said, expressing my genuine
feelings. "The Guard is my immediate family, and the other services are close
relatives."

Sharli was quiet until she entered the church were the
meeting was being held. There, she shook hands, spent time with each individual
who approached her, and gave a ten-minute speech which turned into an hour as
she answered questions and discussed issues relevant to the Snake River
residents. Afterward, food and drink were available. I agreed to answer
questions about the Guard. It kept my team from being distracted by questions,
and to my amusement, helped me with my socialization.

* * *

I suggested we go to Central City a day early, to hopefully
throw off any plans the assassins might be making for her return. We had no
problems on the flight there or that evening at the restaurant or that night in
the hotel. Sharli had an early breakfast, and at my suggestion, left two hours
early for the meeting. I hoped to mess up any well-laid plans to catch Sharli
on the way to the meeting by being unpredictable. It appeared to work, because
we arrived at the conference room early but without incident.

We had just sat down when a police lieutenant opened the
door and stepped in.

"Representative Sharli, Chairman Geraldo would like
to see you, alone." He held the door open. He was tall, over 190 centimeters,
close cut black hair, and had an athletic build. "He's just down the
hall."

When Sharli rose to go, I rose and pointed to Cerff and
Toch, who rose.

"I'm sorry, Captain. The Chairman says he wants to
see Representative Sharli alone." He shrugged to indicate it wasn't his
request.

"I'm sorry too, Lieutenant, but Representative
Sharli is not permitted out of my sight. So, I go with her or she doesn't go
and Mr. Geraldo can come here to see her."

"Is that necessary?" Sharli asked, frowning at
me. "I'm safe here."

"My crystal ball says you are not safe anywhere
until after the vote." I didn't smile.

Her frown deepened, then relaxed.

 
"Alright,
come along. Can't imagine it's anything you can't hear." She left the room
following the police lieutenant, who took her down a long corridor nearly to
the end, stopped, knocked at a door, and opened it.

"Sir, Representative Sharli … and her Black
Guard."

Sharli walked in and I followed, closing the door behind
me and leaving Cerff and Toch outside to guard the hallway.

"Welcome, Captain Sapir. From all accounts you have
lived up to your … reputation and have saved Representative Sharli several
times. The SUC thanks you. The Black Guard is very expensive but well worth the
money. I officially terminate your contract," Geraldo said, with a smile
that looked … amused."

"I believe the contract states
until Representative Sharli votes at the SUC meeting to decide the referendum
on the proposed Helix Alliance
. Terminating it now would be a violation of
the contract," I said, wondering if Geraldo considered the SUC headquarters
immune from assassins.

"Captain Sapir, I'm the chairman of the SUC. I will
sign a waiver if you feel it's necessary. You have done your duty and you are
no longer necessary. Besides, our meetings are confidential." His smile
was not quite so friendly.

"I'm sure if Representative Sharli dies between now
and the vote, Safort would not blame the Jax; however, the rest of the
universe, not knowing the facts, would see it as a failure on our part.
Therefore, unless Ms. Sharli demands I leave, I'll stay until the official vote
on the referendum
has been
completed." I looked to Sharli, whose eyes were going from Geraldo to me
like watching two jugglers with grenades.

She stared at me for a long time before speaking.
"Your crystal ball?"

"Mr. Geraldo may trust the security of the
facility, but it's obvious the people who want you dead have money and are
desperate—a volatile combination. Until you vote, they have a chance to
succeed."

"I could have you forcibly removed, Captain,"
Geraldo said angrily, his face turning pink.

"Mr. Geraldo, let me remind you what I told you at
the beginning of the contract. The Black Guard is only concerned about their
client's safety. If anyone puts our client in danger, we will be justified in
killing them."

"Are you threatening me?" he said in a low
menacing voice.

"No, sir. If you or anyone threatens Ms. Sharli's
safety, I will kill that person. There are no exceptions, no negotiations, and
no compromises."

"Geraldo, I'd feel better with Captain Sapir
staying until after the vote. I agree with her. The people trying to kill me
are ruthless," Sharli quickly interjected, then grabbed my arm and pulled
me toward the door. "Come, Captain, let's wait in the meeting room."

"The Black Guard will regret this," Geraldo
growled as we strode from the room.

"Won't you get in trouble?" Sharli asked
quietly as we walked down the hallway.

"That is not as important as seeing you safe. Since
you will be safe after you vote, that is when I will be comfortable leaving
you."

"You think Geraldo …"

"After we leave, feel free to agree with him and call
me arrogant, heartless, and anything else."

"But you—"

"Thousands of years ago, a very smart man called
Sun Tzu said in his writing,
The Art of
War
, 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.' It appears that may
well apply in The Art of Politics." I shrugged.

Sharli's frown turned to a smile and then a laugh.

Representatives began arriving a couple of hours later.
Geraldo arrived last and to his credit appeared friendly as if nothing had
happened. Sharli to her credit played along. Before the vote was taken, Sharli
recounted her four-week nightmare. It took over an hour because of the
questions around each incident. Ironically, when the formal vote was taken,
several representatives changed their votes.

The proposed Helix Alliance failed by four votes.

* * *

"The JCC will be pleased with the outcome,"
Captain Blatt said as he sipped a glass of wine. He, Colonel Berger, and I had
just finished dinner. "Another system requesting Jax presence."

"I wonder whose idea it was to ambush General
Lerman at the Outpost conference? Talk about the mother of all blunders."
Berger shook his head in disbelief.

"In hindsight," Blatt said. "Wouldn't you
think seven trained guards could kill one Jax security guard? Even a Black
Guard, who they had no way of knowing Lerman would bring."

"A double surprise. A Black Guard and a dragon."
Berger nodded in my direction. "It has not only cost them the alliance,
but also strengthened Jax's influence with the other systems."

"A great historical lesson on several
levels—unintended consequences, surprise, know thy enemy, and revenge. If
they had just ignored Lerman's refusal to join, I believe they would have
gotten the alliance. But they wanted to ruin Jax's reputation."

I laughed. "And what about gambles? No matter how
ill advised, if it works, then you're a genius," I said, thinking of
Lerman's gamble.

Neither man commented but they sagely nodded agreement.

* * *

I smiled as I stepped off the shuttle, seeing Hada
standing there smiling—the perfect homecoming.

"Well Rivka, are you ready for another dose of
socialization?" Hada asked as we walked back down the path to level one,
the officer's terrace.

"Yes, but first … we have to finish my after-action
report." I grinned.

"All right, but you're buying the snacks and
drinks," Hada said.

We stayed up all night laughing and acting like carefree
children. "You must be the most hated Jax on Outpost. You're like their
own private cyclone following them everywhere they go."

Later that morning, I dropped off my report. We spent
the next two days preparing for our trip and working out, while I waited for
Wexler to call me in for a review.

* * *

"The JCC is very pleased with the outcome on Safort,
Sapir. For better or worse, you have become their problem solver … and the
engine of change. The large number of deaths resulting from the boarding action
against the raiders in Heibei space has convinced General Lerman that the
marines need a special boarding unit analogous to the Black Guard. After your
post-assignment vacation, he wants you to design and train the first
batch."

"That should be fun, sir, and I think it will save
lives," I said, thinking it would be worth the effort.

"I agree, but I would suspect only a dragon
wouldn't see it as a competition."

"We're all part of the Jax family."

"True. But because we weed out
individuals—army, marines, and then Guard—too many see it
otherwise. And that brings us to your wanting a Guard shuttle. Isn't that
competing? The navy has shuttles and will lend them to us when we need them, so
why do we need one?"

"I didn't mean the Guard should have shuttles
manned by Guard personnel. On my recent assignments, I've found we are frequently
guarding clients who travel. The marine shuttles are very adequate; however,
they are built to accommodate twenty to thirty troops and are not built for
comfort. The executive shuttles are very comfortable but aren't built to deal
with missile attacks. What I'm suggesting is a hybrid somewhere between an
executive and a combat shuttle, maintained and crewed by the navy but there for
the Guard when required."

Wexler laughed. "I see why the senior officers of
the other services like you. We all talk about the other services as being part
of the Jax family, but you actually see them as family, and they feel that from
you. All right, I'll give the JCC your idea."