The Prize: Book One (41 page)

The Director meanwhile, sat in his plush, quiet office, deep within the Palace complex looking cynically at the wall screens and the supposedly important people arriving for the birthday celebrations.  It pleased him to think that any one of them could vanish from this plane of existence at a mere touch of a button, and a soft word.  The one thing not perfect in his world, was the fact there was no word from General Tandy, or the Fleet Commander.  Querying traffic control showed no courier ship within detection range out to the hyper-limit, but he put his concern aside and concentrated on finishing up the paperwork at hand.  His Security system automatically skipped from scene to scene, recording everything, and everyone that passed before the all-seeing lens while he worked for his review later if necessary.  The system examined, and cross-referenced identities of those it observed, looking for inconsistencies, falsified invitations, and party crashers.  Mostly, though, the guards and Security checkpoints were mere window dressing.  Their main function was to impress, and intimidate the lesser mortals.  The Emperor himself was untouchable.  The system worked, and it had for a long time, as no one had made an attempt on the Emperor's life in the last one hundred and fifty years.  The Director wasn't sure if that pleased him or not.  He was pleased that his Security measures worked, but he felt a slight prick of disappointment that no one even dared to try and assassinate the Emperor anymore.

Still, it was comforting to sit in his quiet office, and process the seemingly endless stream of data tablets arriving on his desk, or in his data stream.  This was his life.  Soft music played in the background when no one else was around, and occasionally he took a sip of brandy from his native land, savoring the hot, smoky taste.  Safe and secure in his fortress within the Palace, he contemplated the plans for the destruction of the Thrakee and Silurian Empires once he had the CG material on that planet.  He checked the progress of ship construction on the new fleet again, weighing the Naval high commands estimate of ship completion against training schedule.  A war with either of the Empire's main enemies would be costly, and to attack either of them without several massive battle fleet in reserve was simply foolish.  There was also the output of CG material from the collection refinery on Furnace.  Even with increased sun-diver collecting ships, the output of refined ore wasn't equal to the increased effort.  He absently noted the loss of several sun-diver ships due to inferior shields and made a note to have the CEO, and the board of Directors of the sub-contractor responsible for the shield equipment terminated.  That should send the proper message to others who thought they could cheat the Emperor with substandard materials.

The Director noticed the increasing stream of guests arriving on foot and the traffic jam at the main entrance, as the warm summer morning enticed the occupants out of their expensive vehicles to walk, rather than miss the opening ceremony.  His eyes skipped to another screen to locate the cause of the jam, seeing two elegant cars grinding and crashing against each other for a place at the main entrance, the air full of blue/white smoke from their spinning tires.  The guards were attempting to mediate the argument and get the line moving, but were having little success.  Slightly distracted by the scene at the gate, he failed to notice the powerfully built young man in the midnight black uniforms of IMPSEC, and stunningly beautiful woman in a silver dress walking beside him.  They appeared from behind a grove of trees a short distance from the main pedestrian gate, and were soon becoming lost among the brightly clad guests.  He would curse that oversight until the end of eternity, as the couple walked casually, arm in arm, toward the Security checkpoint.

The couple walked through the gate chatting, and smiling at each other, like lovers will, their sole interest in each other.  They ignored the argument at the main gate as it erupted into a full-scale cat fight between two scantily clad, young females.  It was natural, that the sound of a ripping cloth would bring the guard's head around, and the sight of warm, tanned skin, and firm upstanding breasts momentarily lure their attention away from the white and gold invitation card, held out for inspection.  A guard waved the two through with barely a glance at the card, wondering if he should stop the line and follow his teammate over to offer his help.

He knew there might be a chance to cop a feel if they had to separate the two screaming girls.  Who knew, these two might have to go to detention center for discipline.  To his disappointment the moment passed quickly.  One female in a torn dress realized how exposed she was and dived back into the car, effectively ending the fight over possession of a spot at the front gate.  The guard sighed as he went back to checking invitations.  The pair strolled leisurely up the long walkway, to the main entrance beneath the technicolor rainbow of the electronic sun-shield hovering above their heads.  Ever ready to protect the guests from the scorching mid-day sun, or rain, should weather control screwed up and let one of the passing clouds dump its load on the Palace ahead of schedule.  The pair stopped behind the line of impatient dignitaries at the second checkpoint, their attention on each other, whispered loving words in each other's ear as lovers are wont to do.

“What took you so long?”

“It took longer than expected to get ready.”  Penn kissed her.

“Just so long as you are here.”

“Did you manage to find the toilet?”

“No problem at all, it was right next to the Palace substation as I thought, and guess what.  Some silly bugger forgot to lock the door.”  Penn murmured.  Ellis smiled and returned the kiss as young lovers often did.

Several of the guests smiled to themselves as they watched the bi-play, and few of the older males looking wishfully at Ellis's lissome body, remembering younger days, as they waited their turn at the checkpoint.  They deliberately ignored the cold looks from their wives, and the disapproving looks they threw at the young woman.  The males thought the form fitting silver dress the perfect clothing for such an occasion, even though she was obvious not a native of this planet.  Few if any of the civilians knew or cared about a world with the strange name of Earth of all things, or who and what a human being is.  The second Security checkpoint featured a sophisticated weapon detection and identification system, and the halted line gave the Security hover-cam time to scan, and relay each guest's identity to the main IMPSEC computer and check for anomalies. Just as the two lovers were about to set up to the scanner, the automatic lawn sprinklers came on, soaking the unhappy guests in their ornate costumes.  The guards, and the Security cam immediate turned, one to scan for threats, the other hunting around for the shut off valve.  Amidst the grumbling, the tall woman in silver laughter sounded as soft as thistle down, and as sweet as honey.  The confusion was sufficient to cover the slight flash and a wisp of smoke issuing from the back of the Security consults, as water entered.

For perhaps twenty seconds, the video feed to the central data bank went offline until the backup system kicked in, but by then, the two in silver and black were gone. The hover-cam swung back and continued to check the guests, but by the time the data link re-established itself, the two figures had walked through the malfunctioning Security system and strolled on.  The system eventually re-synchronized itself and caught the anomaly, flashing a warning to Director Markoff terminal.  By that time, the Director had left his office to walk down to the main audience chamber, and for a short while ignored the warning ping in his implant.  He never saw the faces of the two in silver and black that flashed up on his screen in his office.  Without a response to the query, the guards went back to checking guest without a seconds thought.  Penn and Ellis ascended the broad marble steps into the Palace to join the line at the last checkpoint, paying no attention to the commotion behind them.

The senior guard finally realized the equipment failure, and halted the line as a precaution.  He briefly wondered if he should call the other guests back, but the press of self-important dignitaries yelling at him, drove the thought out of his mind.  If anything was out of place, the first checkpoint would have already caught it, or the last checkpoint soon would.  The main hallway leading to the grand audience chamber, lay before the arriving guests, wide, imposing, and lined with guards in full combat gear, each stationed exactly three feet from the next.  They watched the guests with hard eyes, their function anything but ceremonial.  Ahead, the festivities had finally started, as regal music floated down the hallway, causing more impatience among the arriving guest, as the waiting line shortening with all the speed of a stampeding herd of turtles.  At last, the pair in silver and black stopped just short of the checkpoint.  In front of them an older Tellurian Var and his wife.  Turning, the guard waved them forward, but as he did, the old man let out a moan of pain and collapsed to the floor in convulsions, foam issuing from his mouth.  His wife let out a blood-curdling shriek, screaming something about a malfunctioning pace maker, where upon the guard immediately called for a medical team and held his hand up to stop the line until they removed the sick man.

This wasn't the first medical emergency of the day, and it wouldn't be the last.  A few frustrating moments later the overworked paramedics crew arrived with a hover stretcher, failing to slow it in time to stop it ramming into the Security scanner with a hard thump.  The guard motioned the next two forward, his eyes flicking back and forth between the next couple, the man on the floor and the Security scanner, the Tellurian on the floor groaning loudly as the two in silver and black stepped around him.  At that exact moment two waiters, one with a loaded tray of fresh drinks, the other with a full tray of empty glasses stumbled slightly over some unseen obstacle on the floor, crashed into each other as they passed through a service doorway.  The clamor of the two silver trays, and dozens of crystal wine glasses crashing to the marble floor snapped the guard's head around as he reached for his weapon.

With his attention split so many different ways, the guard could be forgiven for just glancing at the white and gold invitation the pair offered him, listening with half an ear for his Security consult to warn him of anything out of place.  He waved them on, his eyes searching for any possible threat as the two passed through the now broken Security scanner and walked down the hallway to the grand audience chamber.  Behind them, one of the paramedics pushed the wrong button, causing the stretcher to push against the Security consult and send it crashing to the floor.  It lay there, flashing and spluttering, before dying in a cloud of blue-white smoke.  The guard cursed, and immediately stopped the line until a replacement unit arrived.  He was completely unaware that the scanner was malfunctioning even before it crashed to the floor, and that two, very dangerous people, had just penetrated three layers of Palace Security undetected, with a perfect fake invitation, and a little help from a glowing reddish sphere.

CHAPTER - FORTY ONE:                            Retribution

"Nicely done.  I couldn't have planned it better.”  Penn sub-vocalized.

"As you said, it was all just a matter of timing.”  Their hidden ally intoned.

“Yes, and a little misdirection here and there.  Great touch with the sprinklers and the hover stretcher.”

“Just a little manipulation of matter, and a low frequency EMP micro pulse, and slippery floors.”

“Now it's retribution time.”

“I believe the device I gave you will be adequate for your purposed purpose.”

The prize was Penn's to do with as he wished, and he planned to take his revenge, or at least a down payment on it.  Ellis hadn't tried to dissuade him, simply insisted that she go with him.  In her own way, Ellis was just as capable, and just deadly as Penn, and she had no moral or ethical reservations about using her abilities to help, and protect the man she loved.  It put his mind at ease to know that she could take care of herself, but if anything happened to her… if she died, so would he.  This universe just wasn't worth living in without her.  With so many different humanoid species in the grand ballroom, it was easy to blend with the Empire's elite, all vying for food and drink like pigs at a trough.  Penn looked around the huge audience chamber in disgust.  From this place came the order to kill his parents and friends, to destroy Earth cities and take Earth's future away from the human race.  Only Ellis could understand the depth of the hatred behind his calm face and fixed smile.  He looked around at the glittering throng, his eye full of contempt.  These people had given the Empire the power to crush anything that stood in its path.  When the Empire came knocking, they'd rolled over and played dead, acquiescing to the Emperors demands for tribute, ships, weapons and manpower.  He had no sympathy for any of them, and yet he wondered.  Would it have been better if the Earth had willingly joined the Empire?  Would Earth's dignitaries now be standing here celebrating the Emperor's birthday?  Earth had paid a horrendous price for the individualism she prized so dearly with 4 billion people dead.  Even after all her wars, no government had truly destroyed a people's identity although many had tried.  Several dignitaries caught his eye, and he wondered for a moment if they were from Earth.  They appeared human enough, but in a universe of so many diverse humanoid species, they might be from anywhere.