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Chapter 2

The next morning after being allowed to shower, I dressed and waited for someone to call for me.  Once inside I was no more than a prisoner in my own room.  The mechanism did not respond to my touch, for reasons I had yet to discern.  I looked over at the holocam.  It remained silent. 

Standing I tightened the knot that held the mask and headband in place and waited doing a few warm up exercises to pass the time.

After an hour, I was beginning to get restless.   I reminded myself that they did not always remember to let me out.  The holocam was one way, just like the door.  I could manipulate it, but that would mean demerits. 

Last time they had forgotten me for three days, until one of Lord Fall’s assistants had reminded him I was still in here.  I was smarter now.  I kept enough food and water for a week stashed in the corner.  Food that I had purloined over several months as it was difficult to get by the Sentinels assigned to watch over me. 

The intercom glowed as Theirrian’s head and shoulders appeared floating above it.  I bowed, my eyes never leaving his face.  He glowered at me, it was early still and he looked like he had spent the night out again.  I wondered why he was the one calling me.  Normally it would be one of the Masters getting me up for training, or one of the squad leaders if they needed me for a mission.

“Meet me in the briefing room on the third floor.  Do not use the lift.”

I did not even get to acknowledge the instructions before he disappeared.  The series of clicks let me know I was free to leave.  Bolting as soon as the door opened wide enough, I sprinted down the corridors and up stairs.  Servants pressed themselves against the walls as they saw me coming.  I ignored their frightened stares, but part of me could not let it go, the anger building in a dark deep place.  I skidded to a halt at the open door of the briefing room.  Theirrian looked up from his stopwatch.

The executive assistant for Fall Intergalactic, he looked the part.  Tall, blonde and deeply tanned he was my opposite in everyway.   I did not so much envy him as resent what he stood for.  As executive assistant, Theirrian was third in the chain of command and my immediate superior.  He was extremely popular on the holovids, a constant favorite among the females, but he was also completely self-absorbed, vain and controlling.  I never used to question his motives, he had seemed above reproach, as I had grown older and had begun to understand more of how the galaxy worked, I realized he was not worthy of such devotion.  He was a puppet, a figurehead, nothing more.  He had no more control of FI than I did.  He was a disappointment, but I was careful never to let that thought slip out into the open.

“Two minutes even.  Your best time yet.” There was a flash of blue as he looked me over.

I nodded, I was not even breathing hard.  It would take more than a half-mile sprint to do that.

“You will spar with Qadira on the main training ground this morning.”

Panic fluttered around me like moths in a flame.  Qadira was constantly trying to kill me, not caring to disguise her hatred of me.  The fact that I was the youngest co-tac in the history of Fall Intergalactic offended her.  She had been trying to get another one of her Sal’Ori’s in the squad, but I had beaten her in the preliminaries.   Qadira had demanded a rematch, but I had beaten her candidate then too.  After the matches were over, she had cornered me demanding I step down.  I had refused and she had threatened to have me removed, but Zulyekha had overruled her.  I remained as co-tac, for now.

The Sentinel who had been guarding me appeared in the doorway red faced and sucking down great gulps of air. Theirrian turned, irritation flickering across his face.

“Having trouble keeping up San?”

“No, sir.”

 “If you can’t keep up with him I’ll assign you somewhere else.”

“That would be preferable sir.”

I glared at him and he blanched fear spiking in yellow and ochre.  Stammering an excuse, he left the room the door shutting behind him.  Theirrian stalked over to where I stood.  I immediately straitened, fists clenched at my sides.  Irritation and frustration flickered around him turning his normally quiescent aura into a kaleidoscope of color.  I shut myself away from him as resignation filled me.

“What do you do to them? He’s the third one this week to ask for reassignment.”  He glared down at me.  “I’m going to reauthorize the tazers.”

I met his blue gaze for a brief moment as dread seized me.  He didn’t need to do that!  I wasn’t threatening them.  They just didn’t like me.  If he gave my guards tazers there would be no end to the pain they could inflict and there would be nothing I could do about it.

He grimaced and I flinched as he raised a hand.  “See, that is exactly why.  Don’t you ever do anything besides glare at people? If you look at me like that again, I’ll use one on you myself.”  He sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes.  “There is no getting around it, they are just too scared of you.  I have to give them something to work with.  No one wants you on their squad, not even for the covert missions. And it wouldn’t hurt you to at least try to talk.  It would make you seem more . . .” He stopped, waving a hand in the air as if he couldn’t find the right word.  I knew what he was thinking.  It would make me seem more human.  I frowned behind my mask.  Even he didn’t think of me as human.  Theirrian was the only other person at the manor, besides Dr. Himura, who treated me with some semblance of respect.  To hear him talk like this hurt.  It shouldn’t have.  But that didn’t stop the tearing feeling in my chest.  At least with Qadira and the others I knew exactly where I stood.  I was nothing.  She treated her pets better.  But, Theirrian had been one of the few who acted like I mattered.

“Anyway, you know what I’m getting at.  Remember that Qadira is probably going to try to hurt you again.  Although after the reaming Drake gave her last time, she might not.”  He chuckled.  “He was furious at loosing that whole squad and blamed your not being there for the failure.  She might hate you but she knows that your presence is valuable.”

He came to stand near me, just out of my arms reach.  Even he didn’t trust me.  I shifted my weight looking past him out the window to where the training ground cut into the side of the hill.  Qadira would ask to spar with me.  She loved to show off in front of her Barendi cohorts.  That and if I was defeated by her again, I would have too many demerits.  I shivered, that meant being confined to the detention center.

“She wants to see how far you have progressed since last time.”

You mean she wants to see if she can succeed in getting me sent to the DC, I thought to myself.  She knows what happens when I am sent there.  She likes to come down and watch.  I sighed, there was no getting out of the fight.  I would just have to do my best and hope it was good enough.  Although against her, that wasn’t likely.

All Barendi of the royal So’Avi clan receive training in hand-to-hand combat and often are very proficient.  Qadira was an expert in hand to hand while I was still learning, a fact that she loved to flaunt because I was a co-tac.  Just because I was, didn’t mean I had mastered all aspects of hand to hand combat.  I was much better with a sword or my pistols.  Then there were my technopathic abilities.  In my line of work, if I had to use hand-to-hand combat, I had failed. 

“You are due there now.  So I would get going if I were you.”

The main training ground was outside in a flat area cut into the side of the hill.  The steep cliff face on the one side had seating cut into it.  I growled in frustration noticing that it was nearly full with spectators, mostly Qadira’s friends. Their gaudy dress marring the clean white lines of the rough-hewn rock.  Off duty Sentinels stood out in the house grays.  This was a bigger turn out than I thought this fight warranted.  The crowd stilled, a hush over the grounds as she walked across the arena towards me.

Tightening the knot behind my head, I took my stance across from her, my boots shifting a little in the loose powder.  She was wearing her white and pink sparing uniform complete with facemask, her long dark hair done up in a tight bun.  She thought it made her look mysterious and alluring, I just preferred not to have to see her face.

Her confidence was a suffocating purple cloud around me.  She was going to beat me and knew it.  It was one of the reasons she wore the white.  I had yet to be able to end a fight without being covered in dust.  She however, seemed to remain spotless.  As Barendi, being dirty or having dirt on ones clothes was a sign of being disgraced.  I shut her out needing to focus if I was going to show her otherwise.

Two cameras hovered over us keeping track of our movements.  Great, the egomaniac was going to record the match.  I ignored them, let her record it. As we circled each other, I spotted Sarin in the stands.  As the Baroness of Sal’Or, she was nearly as powerful as Zulyekha herself.  She controlled several star systems and the entire Sal’Ori clan.  She had arrived only a few weeks ago, but had already caused an up roar at the manor.  The servants and employees hated her.  The other Sentinels kept their distance as much as possible.  Her reputation for cruelty was only exceeded by her capacity for it.  I had yet to see her up close, and hoped it would stay that way.

Qadira had taken advantage of my distraction and I barely avoided the foot flying at my head.  I spun out of the way and followed up with my own kick.  The crowd roared their approval of her attack.  We went back and forth for several minutes, exchanging blows. 

I had improved since last time.  My reaction time was better and my anticipation of her next move was more precise.  I was still losing ground to her, but I could tell from the way she was breathing that she was getting frustrated.  She had yet to land a clean hit. 

Blocking her punches, I stepped back to give myself some space.  She pressed the attack just as I expected.  Diving forward I slammed my palm into her midsection driving her back.  She gasped reeling and stood glaring at me for a moment.  Booing echoed through the arena.  Let them boo as long as they didn’t start throwing things again.

With a growl, she ran at me.  I back flipped out of the way, as she leapt into the air a roundhouse kick aimed at my head.  I landed a few feet away and was startled to find the kick had been a feint.  She was too close to avoid.  I could see the wicked gleam in her eyes as she drove her fist toward my shoulder.  I twisted at the last moment.  There was a flash of metal and a searing line of pain erupted along my arm and I trembled.  Catching me off balance, she landed several more blows, finally knocking my legs out from under me.  Flinging my arms up, I blocked her foot only inches from my face.  With a backward roll, I made it to my feet.  A boot slammed into the side of my head spinning me to the ground.  I shook my head frustration building to fever pitch as the crowd screamed for more blood.

The next blow knocked the wind out of me.  I rolled to the side avoiding the kick aimed at my ribs.  I struggled to get my breath back as I stood, my arm throbbing.  The gong sounded signaling the end to the fight. 

Stepping back, she removed her mask and grinned at me.  I clutched my arm, a warm trickle of blood running down it.  Now I could see the hilt of the dagger in her fist.  She often kept a short one hidden on the inside of her wrist.  Stupid not to have anticipated that, I scolded myself, you know how much she loves to inflict pain.  I glared at her, anger working its way through the pain.  I hated her, hated the fact I should have known better.  Hated having to spar with her, hated everything about this horrible place.  If Master Hijin found out about this, I didn’t finish the thought, looking up at the cameras.  I needed to get rid of the video, but they were too far away for me to sense them.  Besides that there were too many witnesses in the stands.

“It seems that I win again.”

I looked over at her, only because you cheated-again, I thought as I glared at her.  She smirked back. 

“Don’t look at me like that.  I just do what is necessary to win the match.  It’s not my fault you are weak.  For an assassin you sure do lack the killer instinct.”

The dust devoured the blood that splattered around me as I stepped forward anger driving me.  She was calling me weak!  I wasn’t the one who had to cheat to win the fight.  Qadira gestured to someone.  Sarin loomed over me seeming to come out of nowhere.  I jerked way from her as she grabbed for me.  I was too slow.  Her diamond tipped nails sank through the leather of my jacket as if it was paper cutting into my skin.  She lifted me, my feet dangling just above the ground.  Fear overran the anger as I struggled to free myself while not actually touching the Sal’Ori.  Some strange emotion was emanating from her in noxious crimson waves.  I had never sensed anything like it before, but what ever it was, it was bad.

“Here comes, Mother.” Qadira sneered at me.

I pried at Sarin’s fingers kicking her, desperate to get loose.  Lady Zulyekha Fall hated me and never missed an opportunity to make sure I knew it.  Often, in the most painful manner at her disposal.

“You are getting me dirty.” Sarin growled at me, fingers suddenly around my throat cutting off my air.  I kicked her again, my fear of Zulyekha overriding any fear of Sarin herself.

Sarin stopped strangling me long enough to look at Qadira, “He’s afraid of her?”

“And for good reason, here she comes.” She turned back to me grinning.  “You forgot didn’t you?  Stupid boy, I hope she beats you in front of everyone.”

I ignored the jarring thud as Sarin threw me down, my attention focused on the tall figure striding towards me.  My mouth was dry and tasted like dirt.  I knew what was going to happen, but that did not make it any less frightening.  I might be the co-tac, but that meant nothing to her.  To her I was nothing but a slave.  No, she treated the slaves better.

Her long jacket billowed around the trim pants as she walked toward us.  Her face was sculpted marble betraying no emotion.  Like Sarin and Qadira, she was full-blooded Barendi, the marks of the So’Avi clan tattooed across her forehead.

A light breeze kicked up the dirt around her heels as she stopped next to Qadira.  I got to my feet painfully aware of the state of my uniform, spotted with sweat and dust.  Even for a Barendi her aversion to dirt bordered on obsession.  I was surprised she would even come down from the stands.  It was then that I noticed the slim rod in her right hand.  She had brought a tazer down with her.

My stomach seemed to try to twist itself inside out making me feel ill.  Couldn’t she let it go, just this once?  I realized I was playing with the ragged end of the headband and forced my hands to my sides.  I could not let her know how agitated I was, she would see it as weakness.  The sight of the tazer had shaken me.  Pain could be endured.  But those damn things did more than hurt, they drew on my abilities, making it impossible for me to shut them down.  The harder I tried the more power they took.  Every blow would take a toll on my strength, wearing me down exponentially.  Over zealous Sentinels had beaten me unconscious so many times last year that Theirrian had finally been forced to ban them.

“Nice work Qadira.  Now if you will leave the rest to me.  I have some unfinished business to attend to.”

The corner of Qadira’s mouth lifted in a smirk as she looked over at me, “Of course Mother.”

Perfect features settled into a mask of contempt and I backed away still holding my injured arm.  The tazer split the air and slammed into my leg with a crack.  I had forgotten how far she could reach.  She held it there as my whole body twitched, kinetic energy crackling along the tazer.  I sank to my knees as she raised it again.  Air exploded out of my lungs as she brought it down on my injured arm.  Blackness enveloped me for a moment.  I fought it.  If I passed out now, she would claim that the punishment had not been fully received.  I blinked trying to get my eyes to focus.  She stood over me a wicked smile tearing at her face.  The next blow laid me out.  The darkness rushed in eager to claim me and I struggled to remain conscious.  I choked on the dirt that filled the mask as I lay face down, her foot between my shoulder blades.  I struggled to breathe as she leaned down.   My fingers clutching at the dust in a vain attempt to pull away from her.  She grabbed my hair, jerking my head up.

“If I find out that you have failed Drake again, I will make sure that even the thought of failure is painful.” 

Her weight left.  I lay still in the dirt not wanting to move.  Not sure if I could.  Watching little puffs of dirt spiral out in front of me as I breathed in jerking gasps.  She called for Sarin.  Her muffled footsteps faded and I closed my eyes.  Next time she would probably kill me.  I would just have to make sure I didn’t fail again.  Easier said than done.  For now, I would just lay here and try not to move or think the early autumn sun hot on my head.  My arm was throbbing with each heartbeat, but the dirt seemed to have stemmed the flow of blood.  A shadow fell over me and I opened my eyes.  Sarin peered down at me for a moment, disgust all over her face.  Grabbing the back of my uniform, she yanked me to my feet.  Zulyekha was already gone, but her presence remained.  I barely felt the throbbing where her blows had landed, the degradation was much more painful. 

“Aw poor little thing, he’s trembling.”  Sarin snickered.

“He hates those tazers.  They’re the only thing that can really hurt him.” Qadira smiled at me again.  “Theirrian won’t let me have one.  He says I abuse him, but I thought that was the point.  Oh well, I’ll get my hands on one sooner or later.  Take him down to the bath hall, he can clean up and change, and then he is to report back to mother.  This was his last chance to prove he could defeat me.  I bet Master Hijin will be very interested in this video.”

My heart seemed to stutter.  More demerits would mean fewer rations and more missions, plus having to endure the detention center.  I was already underweight and height for my age group as it was.  Not that there was anyone else my age among the Sentinels, I was younger than the next oldest by at least six years.  Then there would be Doctor Sanjim and all her tests to endure in the detention center.  I shuddered.

“It would be my pleasure.”  The gleam in Sarin’s eyes as she turned was pure wickedness. Irritation flickered to the surface and I bit my lip to quell the desire to speak, it wouldn’t do any good anyway.  I couldn’t even remember how to form the words.  Sighing I followed Sarin into the manor, limping as my leg refused to want to work.  Her long skirt, slit up the side, flowed around long muscular legs as she walked.  I noticed that she carried a weapon strapped to her right thigh, but it was not registering in my perception.  That was enough to make me worry.  Another non-metal, non-energy based weapon.  Why had I not been trained to look for such things before?  Shoving the thought away, I stepped into the cool interior of the manor just behind her.  I had no one and no way to ask.  Right now there was a more pressing matter.

I needed to get free of her and I thought I knew just how to do it.  I watched the corridors as we walked, me just behind her.  She had one major weakness that I was hoping to be able to exploit.  I spotted a Sentinel posted at the next junction.  He would do the trick. 

I could tell the instant she spotted him.  Her anticipation was jarring, all raw and feral in its intent.  We drew near; something else began creeping up, something that clung like tendrils of webbing.  I mentally brushed it away, unsure of what it was.  She stopped to talk to the Sentinel whose apprehension I ignored.  Edging away, I took the opportunity to dart down a servant’s passage.  I could get in big trouble for ditching an escort, but right now, I didn’t care.

***

The large bath hall was divided into four sections.  One side was for females of the different species, the other males each with two sections.  One for bathing, the other for dressing.  The shower areas had never been renovated, except to replace faulty plumbing.  The stone glistened with condensation the air close and musty.  The steady drip of water was a soothing background noise after the jeering of the spectators.  Extra uniforms were available, neatly folded on the shelves in the dressing area.  I made sure they had my size before peeling mine off and throwing it in the sanitizer.  I set my mask, headband and the new uniform along with a clean towel on one of the low benches just outside the shower area.  The sound of falling water filled the room, automatically turning on as I walked past the sensors built into the round entrance. It was thankfully empty being the middle of the day.  I tried to avoid the other Sentinels as much as possible.   Their resentment of me caused problems.  That and I hated having to wear my mask into the shower.

I stood under the warm cascade; who ever had designed these had not given much thought to water conservation.   The water ran off the ledge overhead in one unbroken sheet down the length of the room.  Ten people could have all showered at the same time.  I stepped into the small space between the cascade and the stone.  I held my hands out letting the water splash me, the stinging on my arm slowly fading in the warmth.  Dirt and blood turned the water a murky pink around my feet.

I smiled to myself.  It had been too easy to loose Sarin.  All it took was one good-looking face and she could not resist.  She had not been here long, but her reputation had spread through the ranks.  Holding my breath, I stuck my head under the water, my hair streaming past my face.

Some day I would beat Qadira.  I would have to.  I could not stand always loosing to her.  Even if she did cheat, it really was not an excuse.  I was supposed to be the covert tactical operations specialist, only the most skilled and proficient fighters could become a co-tac.  So why couldn’t I beat her?

Fear.  I was afraid of her, and not the good kind of fear.  This was a visceral mind numbing terror, not unlike the fear Zulyekha inspired, that left me trembling and incoherent.  I had never got over the horror of the first time she had tried to kill me.   Straightening up, I pulled wet tendrils of hair out of my face. I had just turned nine, she was fourteen at the time and already had her mother’s condescending demeanor.  I leaned back against the warm, wet stone, the memory washing over me.  I had just finished a grueling training session with Master Hijin.  We had been practicing with the sword and I was worn to a frazzle.  She had seen fit to let me go to my chamber after I had managed to defeat twelve full-fledged Sentinels.  I figured they were just going easy on me because of my age.  I hadn’t even been able to leave the room before Qadira had made it down from the observation deck.  She stated the very thing I had been thinking and offered to fight me herself.  Master Hijin forbade it, stating that while she was rested, I had been fighting non-stop for over two hours.  Qadira had been furious and if I had not been so bone tired I would have been more cautious.

She ambushed me on the way to my chamber.  The Sentinel sent to escort me had been in on it.  I still don’t remember much of the fight.  If you could call it that.  She was armed, I wasn’t.  She won I nearly died.  It was only due to a kind hearted servant that I had lived at all.  I had spent three days in sickbay recovering.  No one had asked what had happened and the incident was never investigated.  Qadira was already Queen of the Manor and it was a lesson I had never forgotten.

Now she had Sarin too.  I did not want to admit it, but she really did intimidate me, and not just because she was taller.  I had fought numerous opponents who were many times my size.  There was just something about Sarin, a dangerous, calculating malevolence that did not so much want to win, as to crush and humiliate.  And that was just after one encounter with the Sal’Ori.

I sighed and stepped through the curtain of water.  Wrapping the towel around my waist, I realized the mask and headband were gone.  I dressed as quickly as stiffening muscles would allow.  My body tense as I listened, I had not sensed anyone.  If this was someone’s idea of a joke, they would soon find that I was not easily amused.  I sat down on the bench thinking.  There would be a guard waiting for me outside to take me to my chamber.  If I went out with out the mask it would mean an instant trip to the detention center.  Something I wanted to avoid at all costs.

The soft splat of a foot stepping into a puddle was the only warning I got. I dove forward a fist brushing the back of my head.  Continuing my forward movement, I rolled to my feet, spinning around to confront my attacker.  Wet hair smacked me in the face and I yanked it out of the way trying to see.  How had I not sensed them? I got the impression of tallness and white fabric, but the movement was too fast, my opponent too close. A fist slammed into my midsection driving the air from my lungs.  I sagged, my body too abused to take any more.  Hard fingers bit into my arms and I found myself pinned down on the bench, a knee in my stomach.

“You are one sneaky little shit.” Sarin leered down at me as I struggled to breathe.  “You took me by that cute Sentinel on purpose didn’t you?”

I glared at her.  Any guard should know to walk behind their charge, not in front.  Besides, it wasn’t like I had arranged for that Sentinel to be there.  I struggled to breathe and to free my arms from her grip.  She was horrifically strong and I felt like a small child caught in the claws of a large, dangerous predator. I did not want to admit it, but she was scaring the hell out of me.  She laughed.

“Nothing to say, little man?”  She removed her knee I and took a deep breath.  Why was she down here?  There was no need for her to keep this close an eye on me.  She stood up holding out the mask and headband a strange glow in her eyes, “I don’t know what turns me on more your cocky attitude or your lithe little body.”

Sitting up I stared at her, was she crazy.  No one was allowed to see me with out the mask.  And what was with this strange energy that seemed to be trying to strangle me?

She tossed her waist length blonde hair over her shoulder, “You don’t look anything like I thought you would.  No wonder Zulyekha makes you wear this mask.  I knew she was hiding you for a reason, but who knew it was to conceal how young you are?” I flinched as she ran a finger down my cheek, “Not even old enough to shave yet.  What nothing to say?  Oh, that’s right you don’t talk.”

Scowling at her, I reached for the mask and she yanked it up out of my range.

“On no, it’s not going to be that easy,” She smiled, “quite the opposite in fact.  It is not my fault that you ran off and I had to come in here to make sure of where you were.  But, you won’t be telling anyone about me coming in here will you.”  Her smirk sent shivers down my back.  A sudden nervous tension had my stomach hurting.

“You have no idea how much I could get for holos of you do you?  I wonder how much the girls would pay to see what I saw.” She grinned manically and I felt my cheeks get warm.  I stood to confront her ignoring the apprehension building in my gut.

Before I could blink, she had grabbed my wrist and twisting my arm forced me to turn.  What was with her, I could not sense anything from her.  There was no way for me to anticipate her moves.  It was as if she wasn’t even there.  She pulled me back against her pinning both my arms.  I was shaking with outrage my vision tinged in red.  Blood dripped steadily onto the tile, crimson vivid against the white.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.” Her lips brushed my ear as she spoke making me shudder.  Hatred, white hot and livid welled up in me.  I hated her, hated that she could render me completely helpless.  “Not yet anyway.” 

She shoved me forward hard enough that I tripped over the bench and went down in a heap on the other side. She laughed the sound echoing in the empty room.  Shoving myself up on trembling arms, I turned to glare at her.

She held up two fingers, “That’s the second time I’ve tossed you on your ass today.  But, I digress.  You are not in top form at the moment.  Here, you’ll need this.”

She tossed the mask and headband down on the bench.  Snatching them up, I tied them into place, pulling my loose hair out of the way.  My fingers trembled as I tightened the knots anger making me yank them too tight.  Standing I realized my pants were wet where I had fallen in a puddle.  Was there anything else that could go wrong today because it seemed like I should have reached my quota.  Taking a breath to get under control I walked past her to a medikit on the wall.  Getting it down I got out the dermaspray and doused my arm.  It stung for a moment and then settled into a comfortable numbness.  Readjusting the jacket, I gave her one last glare and left, her laughter following me out.

Chapter 1

I hate blood.  The sharp metallic taste and the way the smell seems to linger in the back of my throat.  It makes me want to gag.  Right now, it was everywhere.  My uniform and hooded cloak splattered with the dark blossoms of another man’s life.  I took a deep breath trying to ignore the stench and the warm slick spots on my exposed skin.  The body slowly slumped to the ground as my blade slid clear.  The gurgling of the man’s last breath echoing in the courtyard amplified by the stone walls.  The thonk of his helmet on the ground vibrated up my legs.  My fingers tightened around the hilt of my sword, the leather protesting with a soft squeak.  Another death and how many more before the night ended?

I closed my eyes and returned to my waiting stance, the sword held at the ready.  Centering myself, I opened my eyes seeing the murky aura of the dying men like a low-lying mist at my feet.  Moonlight glowed on the pools of blood turning them molten.  Fear wrapped in agony wound its way up my legs, slimy noxious tendrils that threatened to break my concentration.  I resisted the urge to brush it away.  Anyone seeing me do so would have questioned my sanity.  I knew from experience that no one else could see it.  I dismissed it from my mind.  My job was not finished.

My next target stood at the end of the courtyard.   I shifted my weight to the balls of my feet waiting for the command.  They were dead, I was alive, that was all that mattered.  Or so I told myself, but the nagging in the back of my head was not appeased.

“Are you certain these were your elite guards, Yusik?  It took them less than five minutes to die with out even managing to counter attack.  You are either lying, or stupid.”

I did not look at the man standing just a few steps to my right, the man who had brought me here and ordered me to kill.  My full attention was on the man who stood at the far end of the confined space.  Even at this distance, I could see his hands trembling as he clutched the wooden staff.   His hate and indignation out weighed his fear, writhing around him like lethal serpents of green and bronze.

“What . . . what have you done to him, Drake?”

“It is a weapon.  The promise and the threat of sorrow will begin and end at the tip of its blade.”

I glanced at the man speaking.  Lord Drake Fall, the most powerful man out side of the Hyperia, smiled.  Triumph glittered around his large form.  He was not usually so blunt about his view of me.  I shivered but tried not to let it show.  It was unnecessary and wasteful movement.  I shivered again and caught myself as he glanced over at me.

“Calm down.” He growled.

With a slow nod, I acknowledged the command.  The gurgling at my feet had stopped.  He glared at me for a moment longer and with a grunt turned back to face the other man.  I stifled a sigh, looking back to Yusik.  I remembered him as a hard but fair man with a rare gentle smile.  It had been years since he had been at the Manor on planet Belarus where I lived.  His reaction at seeing me was no different from what I expected.  Many things had changed in the last seven years.  I just never would have believed he would turn traitor, selling information to one of Fall Intergalactic’s major competitors.

“Now are you ready to admit your mistake, Yusik?  Or shall I have it start on the members of the household?”

“No, I alone am to blame.  They knew nothing of my plan.”  His voice was strong and sure now his eyes never wavering from us, as if he had made up his mind about something.  Had he resigned himself to death?  Surely he wouldn’t go down that easily.  I flexed my fingers as the joints began to ache from holding the hilt of the sword too tightly.  The movement didn’t release the tension as it normally did and the ache seemed to spread up my arm.

“You admit you have been helping the rebels on Byne.”

“Yes.”

“Then there is nothing more to say.  Finish it.” Lord Fall growled at me.

I started forward. Something didn’t feel right, there was a strange prickling along the base of my skull.  Yusik’s confident manner was gone.  He scowled at me, air rasping in and out of his open mouth.

“Drake, you fool.  What have you done?”  He growled under his breath, “I am sorry child, I was hoping that I would be able to rescue you at some point, but it seems that you are no longer a child.  Only a monster exists there now.”

I blinked and stopped a few steps from him.  He thought I was a monster, but why, I was only doing what I had been trained to do.  He knew that I had been chosen for this life, he had been there the day they discovered my abilities.  His anger was palpable, making the air around him quiver with unreleased energy.  I took a step back, preparing myself for him to attack.

“You are an abomination and if I am to die, I will take you with me.”

I moved to the side to avoid his headlong rush feeling sluggish as if I was trying to move through water.  The ache had spread rapidly and my joints were on fire, my vision blurring.  Disoriented I was unable to avoid him as he whipped around slamming his cane into my leg.  Down on one knee I parried his next hit, the blow ringing through the sword.  His hate wrapped around me, digging into me with sharp claws making it difficult to concentrate.  With a leap, he drove me to the ground.  The sword clattered on the stones, knocked from numb fingers.  I barely managed to grab his arm as he stabbed down with his dagger.  Where had that come from?  I should have been able to sense it.  Even now, with it only inches from my face I could sense nothing.  That and the prickling sensation was spreading, sapping my strength.  Panic kept trying to break through my composure.

“Get up!  What the hell are you doing?” Drake’s shout echoed through the courtyard.

I ignored the shout focusing on keeping the knife from my throat.  Yusik growled as he bore down with all his weight, his eyes glowing unnaturally in the moonlight.  My arms were shaking with the strain of keeping the larger man at bay.  I grimaced as the tip of the blade pricked my skin.  Desperate, I brought my knees up to my chest and put my feet in his stomach.  Shoving up with all my strength, I sent him flying over my head.  I staggered to my feet, the ground seeming to tilt under me.  What was this odd feeling?  It was growing stronger as it spread.

Yusik clambered to his feet and a low mirthless chuckle reverberated around me. 

“I knew it wouldn’t be easy, to draw you out.  Leaking that information seems to have done the trick.  It is a shame that so many of us had to die.  But, if it means that we can achieve our goals, then the sacrifice is worth it.  You deserve worse than death for what you have done Drake.”

The tingling intensified until it was a buzzing; I shook my head trying to get rid of it.  I could feel my control slipping.  I took a step forward and stumbling, went to one knee.  What was going on?  I looked up.  Yusik was smiling, his teeth glowing white in the moonlight.  He had seen his death, it showed in his eyes and in the flickering blackness that was steadily creeping over him.

“You were our objective the whole time.  This had nothing to do with the information leak.  We just wanted an opportunity to destroy you and now, we have.  You should be feeling disoriented about now.  My men had been treated with a special compound for the last several months.  Each drop of blood on your skin is laced with a powerful neurotoxin that specifically targets your nervous system.  By killing these men you sealed your own fate.” He shook his head, the smile fading, “I didn’t want to kill you outright.  Is it just to kill someone who doesn’t even realize they are evil?  But now there is no time to debate the matter.  I will finish you now there is no need to let it drag out.”

I lurched to my feet, my whole body was tingling painfully.  I gasped as pain erupted behind my eyes.  He had allowed his own men to be killed just to get to me.  I knew people loathed me, but this was beyond that level into the realm of insanity. 

If he wanted to kill the person truly responsible, he should put that dagger through Drake’s heart, not mine.  I gagged, agony ripping through me.  Part of me that I rarely allowed to voice itself was screaming at me to kill him.  But that would not change my situation.  It had been a trap from the start and I had walked right into it.  I couldn’t control the trembling that was quickly becoming a violent shaking.  It took all my will power to remain standing.  The screaming in my head was getting harder to ignore.  Yusik chuckled, the sound slicing through me.  Fear clenched my heart in its icy fingers.  How long had it been since I had been at someone’s mercy? 

“So this is your ultimate weapon, Drake Fall.  It is no wonder you bed a Barendi, you are just like them, wicked and conniving.  How pathetic that you hide behind a wretched twisted child.”

His words sent anger rushing through me.  Wretched?  Twisted?  It was not my choice to be this way.  Nothing was ever my choice.  Something slammed into my chest throwing me back.  I bit back a yelp as my head bounced off the stone pavers.  I blinked several times trying to focus through the pain.  It hurt to breathe, my chest on fire.  What was that?  What had he hit me with?  I was able to focus enough to see what looked like his cane sticking out of my chest, just under my right collarbone.  I went to pull it out, but as soon as my fingers touched it, agony swept through me.  What was this thing?  A non-energy based weapon?

“Now I’ve got you.” Yusik’s voice was low, and carried ominously through the night as he strode towards me.  I struggled to get up, but my limbs wouldn’t move. 

“Drake you are an idiot.  The Revolution will overthrow your corporation and without him, you will lose everything.  You can kill me, but you will never stop the Revolution.”

My despair overwhelmed me, the screaming in my head drowning out all other senses.  I felt as though I was falling.  Forever falling into a deep void where nothing but pain and suffering awaited me, the hopelessness that lived there was a terrible desperate force.  It swallowed me whole.  Fear, rage, hate and misery combining to create a force that I could not control.  A white-hot sphere of light enveloped me for an instant and then was gone.  I lay trembling trying to comprehend what had just happened.  Yusik was gone; all that was left was dark stain on the stones.  My poison addled mind took a moment to realize the gravity of what had just happened.  I had lost control.  The screaming had abated somewhat but still made itself known.  Footsteps rang across the courtyard vibrating painfully through me.

I made it to my knees feeling light headed and nauseous.  Lord Fall strode toward me his eyes shadowed.  Apprehension wrapped around me.  I was not supposed to release my full power with out the command.  The screaming in my head was getting harder to contain as the poison clouded my mind.  He would never accept such excuses, even if I could voice them.  He stood over me, without warning reached out grabbing the cane sticking out of my chest.

“What the hell were you thinking, you stupid little shit.  I did not tell you to use that.  If you can’t control it, you are useless.”

I gasped as he yanked the cane free, my hands going to my chest as if it would stop the pain.  Blood oozed in warm rivulets from between my fingers.   More blood dripped from the spiked end, gleaming in the moonlight.  He held it up inspecting it, but was careful not to let any of the blood get on him.

“Huh, simple but effective.  I thought it was just his cane.  Oh, well.  I guess we better get you to the ship and see about an antidote.  Although, I’ve got half a mind to let the poison run its course.”

The end of the cane connected solidly with the side of my head and the courtyard faded from existence in a flurry of stars.

Awareness returned in bits and pieces.  First the pain, then a dull glow and a low humming at the very edge of perceptible sound.  Voices hovered around, flitting from one side to the other.  I didn’t try to comprehend them, just let the sound wash over me.

“Vital are stable.”

“Inhibitor is within acceptable parameters.  Spiking at seventy-five percent of maximum containment.  Capacitor is nominal, bleed off of kinetic energy is at point oh nine.”

“Increase to one point zero and hold.”

“Spike at eighty percent.”

“Adjust accordingly.”

“Spike at eighty two percent.”

“Increase dosage of napro.”

“Increasing to 2 mils per minute.”  The pain faded to a tolerable level, no longer a blinding agony.

“Spike has dropped three percent.”

Something began beeping, a soft yet irritatingly insistent sound.

“He’s conscious.”

“Get all non essential personnel out of here.  Bren, adjust inhibitor for emergency containment and raise the shield.”

“Adjusting.  Shield up at one hundred percent.”

I opened my eyes.  Drake was standing on the other side of the shield, the two medics working at a station behind him.  His expression did not change as he looked at me.  I tensed, restraints biting into my arms.  The table I lay on was tilted so that I was nearly standing.  Bright white antiseptic light flooded the area with its coldness.

“I want a full work up done on that compound.  Are the preliminary results back?”  He crossed arms bigger than my thighs over a massive chest.

“Yes.  It was transmitted by osmosis and immediately began attacking the nervous system.  Muscle control and coordination where the first to be affected.”

“That was obvious from what happened.  Tell me something I don’t know.”

“It has already caused some minor brain damage.”

“Is it reparable?”

“Chances are excellent with the proper treatment.”

“Go ahead with treatment.  Otherwise keep him under observation.  No contact.”

“Yes sir.”

It was two days before they let me out of sick bay.  I shuffled down the corridor between the two brawny Sentinels sent to escort me.  The deck seemed to tilt under me and I stumbled knocking into the Sentinel to my right.  Fear blossomed into a cold fire in my gut.  I could not be this weak, he wouldn’t need me anymore.

“Gods and demons, can’t you walk, stupid little runt.”

A heavy fist clubbed the side of my head and the deck reached up and smacked me.  I lay there for a moment blinking slowly trying to control the spinning.  The Sentinels argued above me.

“Lay off Tamik, he just got out of sickbay.”

“Who the hell cares?  It’s because of him that we’re delayed getting home.  My wife’s going to be furious.”

“Lets just get him to the IC.  We can go grab a drink after, how’s that sound.”

Tamik grumbled something unintelligible.  I managed to roll to my side, my hands still bound behind me.  The IC was what they called the isolation chamber where I stayed during these longer trips.  It was a small room insulated and shielded to keep me from messing with any of the technology on the ship.  I had never tried to take over the ship, but apparently they thought I could.  Nothing like being treated as a dangerous criminal before even committing the crime. 

I flinched as the guard reached for me.  He laughed, a short derisive bark.  One hand under my arm he hauled me to my feet.

“Come on co-tac, I bet you could use a good stiff drink too, not that you’re going to get one.”  He snorted.  I shot a glare up at him.

“All he’s going to get is punished for what happened dirtside.  I heard that Drake just about blew a thermal coupler.  I guess he wanted that rebel alive and our trusty little co-tac here burnt him to a crisp.”  Gerad patted me on the head, almost sending me back to my knees.

“Lets just dump him off and be done with it.  This kid gives me the creeps.”

Part of me was glad I was medicated.  It takes the edge off, blunts the colors and dulls my perception of others emotion’s.  They all hated me to varying degrees.  It gets tiresome feeling nothing but hate and fear.  We hadn’t gone very far when Drake appeared in the corridor striding toward us.  Fear returned with a vengeance, and my legs got weak. 

“I’ll take him from here, Sentinels.”

He grabbed my elbow, whipping me around in front of him.  A flash of alarm seared me, his anger raking through the drug induced haze.  He was in a murderous mood.  Gerad looked back and forth between the two of us.  I didn’t look him in the face, focusing instead on the front of his uniform.

“Yes, sir.”  They both saluted and started off at a crisp trot.

I glanced sideways up at Drake.  His blue eyes narrowed to slits.  I sucked in a startled breath as he backhanded me across the face.  The blow stinging right through my mask.  With out a word he turned dragging me along with him.

The air was cool and brisk as we walked down the extended ramp.  It was a perfect autumn evening.  The stars hung close and brilliant.  Taking a deep breath I reveled in the sharpness of the air, how it bit into my throat.  It had rained earlier and everything seemed to glisten in the floodlights.  I winced as my guard shoved me forward.  Even after three days, I was stiff and sore from the beating Lord Fall had given me.  He could be unforgiving at best and ruthless at worst.  I sighed and looked up at my home. 

The vast manor sprawled on the hillside like some great spiny beast.  The tall spires were dark, lit only by the exterior floodlights.  Fall Manor was one of the oldest buildings on the planet.  Originally built by the first family to incorporate the planet, each successive generation had expanded the grounds, until it overran the hillside.  It still housed the Fall family, owners of Fall Intergalactic, the largest family owned conglomerate in the galaxy. The family I had served since I was a small child.

Lord Fall would no doubt already be in his wing of the manor.  I looked up as I walked across the pavement.  The light was on in his study on the top floor of the main tower.

I slowly climbed the steps up to the servant’s entrance on the main level.  I suppressed the anger that was building in my chest, Lord and Lady Fall owned me, owned my abilities.She would be coming to stay here, with us in three weeks.     I shook my head, it was a waste of energy to allow myself to be upset.

We descended to the sublevels where my chamber was. I hesitated at the entrance to the lower barracks.  The stone archway glistened with condensation in the low light, the corridor stretching away into darkness.

The Sentinels, guardians of the Fall family for generations slumbered in their chambers.  Each chamber housed four guards.  The day guard was already in their chambers.  The night guard was on duty.  I was neither.  As the covert tactical operations specialist, or co-tac, I specialized in offensive maneuvers carried out off planet.

My guard stopped at an empty chamber.  This Sentinel squad had been wiped out last month during a mission.  They had been trying to infiltrate and sabotage a Yamagata Shipping space platform and had tangled with the Yamagata corporate militia.  There were no survivors on either side.  The rest of the squads had been subdued for several weeks afterward.  I watched her say a quiet prayer for the dead, touching fingertips to her lips.

Danger and imminent death were part of the job, we all knew that, but it was still hard to take.  They at least had the comfort of the close-knit squads.  I had no one.  No one comforted me, or asked how I felt, most of the time no one even looked at me.

I ran my fingers over the smooth place where their names had been, the burnished metal glinting in the low light.  There had been no funerals.  When they had not returned, they had ceased to exist.  I had been scheduled to go with them, but had been severely injured during a training session the day before.  She gave me a dark look and for a moment I thought she was going to hit me.  Instead she shook herself and turned away, her sadness laying close about her like a shroud.

We continued down the corridor a cold hollowness in my chest.  My chamber waited at the very end of the hall, apart from the others.  The locked door sprang open at her touch, the lights glowing dully in the small space as if the room wasn’t worthy of their effort.  I glanced at her as I walked past, but she wasn’t looking at me.  She was looking at my room.

The only things in the small space were the few things I was allowed.  My pallet was one I had salvaged.  My spare pair of boots stood at the end of the pallet, closest to the door.  A small pile of rations and water containers huddled in the far corner.  She cocked an eyebrow at me but didn’t say anything, shutting the door instead.

Flopping down on the pallet, I unbuckled my boots and eased them off.  Next, I peeled the sweat-encrusted uniform off.  I had not been allowed out of my room on the ship, further punishment for my failure, and it had only a toilet no shower.  Lastly I untied the headband and mask laying the black fabric next to a spare uniform.  My fingers lingered on the metal attached to the headband.  It was dented and scuffed, testament to its harsh treatment and mine.  Sighing I sank down on to the tattered pallet, too tired to bother getting permission to go down to the bath hall.