05 - Justiciar

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Ages - Age of Expansion - The Vigilante Chronicles

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After taking down the Yennai Corporation, Barnabas has earned a little break. On the way back to High Tortuga, however, he stops to answer a distress call. How long could it take, after all? Barnabas is about to find out. In what should have been an open-and-shut murder case, questions begin to pile up fast: who, exactly, was this Jotun Naval captain? Why was there a black ops ship lurking nearby, ready to shoot down anyone who tried to approach? Barnabas has made a promise to a friend that he’ll unravel the murder, but the closer he gets, the more he finds himself asking just who this captain was. And just what in hell did he get himself involved with?

TVC 05/01 DEBRIS While hurrying to the Bridge, (After received notice of a stranded ship), Barnabas tripped over Shinigami’s body, which she enjoyed leaving in corridors for him to find and be annoyed. They had a lengthy conversation about Shinigami and her body (See Characters, Shinigami) and arrived at the bridge. Barnabas found Tafa piloting. They reviewed what they knew of the ship. It’s civilian. Has a large cargo hold, probably for food transport as a side business but is mainly for passengers. Lots of bunks.” Shinigami investigated further, and found what they thought was it, as it was approaching from a nearby cloud of debris, which Shinigami now scanned. The scan turned up pieces of two distinct ships, one Brakalon and one Shrillexian. . “What do you think the odds are,” Barnabas asked no one in particular, “that a ship hiding here with two recent wrecks is not connected to the ship making the distress call?” Shinigami smiled, and asked if they should say hello.

TVC 05/02 THE ATTACK “Hail them.” Barnabas nodded at the ship on the screen. “And tell me as soon as you know anything about where this ship originated.” . It was a type of ship he had never seen before—a light, sleek scouting vessel, perhaps. The wreckage of the other ships, however, suggested that this ship had more weapons than most scouts Barnabas had seen. Shinigami tried to hail it, and was greeted with “I do not wish to be seen. How are you seeing my ship? Leave this area. This will be your only warning.” “We can’t leave, unfortunately. We’re responding to a distress call.” “I responded to that call.” The answer had the cadence of someone telling a lie. “The situation has been resolved. As you can see, the distress signal has stopped broadcasting.” Shinigami was still receiving it, but it had been blocked through filters used by that ship. The Jotun ship sent two missiles their way, intending to destroy them. Shinigami took care of them, in her own way, so that they seemed to actually hit her, but she was putting on a false display, to tease them all, so that she could see the surprise in their faces. She had actually destroyed the missiles, and padded the show with pieces of debris, so that the other ship would think they were no longer active. She had also turned the missiles back at their ship. When they saw this they ran, and Shinigami gave chase, which ended when the ship self-destructed. Barnabas decided that this situation definitely needed investigation, and that what had seemed like a nice, simple rescue operation was quickly becoming quite a bit more complicated. And Barnabas was DEFINITELY going to get Shinigami for the trick she had just played on them all.

TVC 05/3 THE STRANDED SHIP When they found the stranded ship, the Srisa, they found that it was a Brakalon ship. When Barnabas peered into the captain’s (Kelnamon’s) mind, the thoughts he saw were not entirely clear: a smashed jar of some kind, a Jotun, and a mess of the usual things that would occur to a captain, such as low food stores and angry passengers. The captain also viewed him as a potential threat. Kelnamon was an unusual shade of greenish brown. Barnabas could not determine if that was due to long hours inside the ship, or simply a Brakalon ethnic group he had not come across before. Gar and Tafa would explore the ship while Barnabas and Shinigami spoke with the Captain.

THE PROBLEMThey discovered that one of the passengers, a Jotun Navy ship’s Captain Huword, had been murdered while his friend, Captain Ferqar, another Jotun captain, was out of the room. His suit had been disconnected, and he had suffocated. They had sent word of the tragedy, and received no answer. A Brakalon ship had been sent out to pick up the Captains, but had never arrived (Some of the wreckage Shinigami had seen). With the Brakalon government ship destroyed, a murderer on board, and a strange authority taking over the case, Kelnamon had plenty of reasons to be worried. They went to see Ferqar.

TVC 05/04 THE INVESTIGATION Barnabas got everyone back on Shinigami (murderer loose), and called Jeltor, to Garner more information about the Captains. Jeltor knew them both, and had been a close friend of Huword, in the academy together. Both Frigate captains. Huword had recently been re-assigned to border scout duty, as had Ferqar, so travelling together common. Jeltor wanted to come to help, but Barnabas didn’t want him in danger, so said no, and promised to get to the bottom of the situation.

TVC 05/05 Barnabas met with Ferqar, reading him as they spoke. He had no memories of a damaged suit, or of killing Huword, so not the murderer. Ferqar questioned his authority to conduct this investigation. OK with it. He explained why they were together, that Huword was going to be on that assignment. “You said Huword wanted to know what he was getting into, and you explained it all away from Jotun ears. Did he come to you, or did you go to him?” There were tinges of guilt and anger. A little of both. “We weren’t friends. We barely knew each other. This was the only connection we had—the breakdown of our careers.”

THE ATTACK ON BARNABAS Shinigami warned Barnabas that someone was coming directly for him. Barnabas excused himself, then went into the corridor, where he was hit hard directly on the back of his head. His attacker wore baggy clothing, half-structured with armor, covering a lanky frame that Barnabas could not quite identify, while a mask and hood obscured the shape of the face. There must be some technology he didn't see in it because there were no eye or mouth holes. It was like fighting a comic book character, which did not make him particularly happy. His attacker was surprised that he hadn’t collapsed to the floor. They fought more, Barnabas finding that the force of the blows might be reinforced by an exosuit. His attacker found that she was losing, and so escaped out the ventilation system, crushing his fingers in the process. Barnabas went back to Ferqar, resuming the conversation, finding that Ferqar had had nothing to do with Huword’s death.

TVC 05/6 Barnabas and Shinigami examine the theory the Captain Kelnamon might be the murderer. Probably not, but Shinigami will search the videos, know where he was and what he was doing. Upon mention, all wanted to see it, so Gar, Tafa, Barnabas and Shinigami watched. Tafa discovers that the attacker is not a biological being. The head is a weird shape, and something about the way the joints function just doesn’t seem right.” And there’s no tension in the torso when she jumps to the ceiling area.” Shinigami had also figured it out, as well as the fact that when she got to the ceiling compartment, she disassembled herself. She’s probably a paying passenger, and a Jotun.

TVC 05/07 A SUSPECT Shinigami had gotten a scan of the attacker when she had earlier tried to enter the ship, and there was definitely Jotun biomatter in a sufficient amounts for this to be another Jotun.” “And,” Gar suggested, “extremely rich. They have a custom biosuit that works extremely well in hand-to-hand combat, and a very good ship and accomplice. Probably waiting for someone from the Jotun government to show up. Was this a Jotun government assassination?” They will canvass the passengers, looking for the assassin. Shinigami will go along, as she has scanners built into her body. Shinigami will tell Captain Kelnamon that we know who the murderer is and that we’ll be searching the ship room by room. Then see if he tries to do anything shady. They came to the main living area of the ship, and sensed someone on one of the catwalks in the upper area, used to clean, water plants, etc. Shinigami said there’s some material blocking me from scanning biomatter, but I got a glimpse. Our Jotun is up there. Barnabas, Shinigami (in her body), and Gar jumped for the catwalks. Barnabas looked up and saw someone in a long cloak. Shinigami was right about the signal-blocking material. As Barnabas turned a corner into a darkened hallway, he was punched by a blow that Should have broken his ribs and knocked a hole in his chest, but his armor saved him, and he only had his breath knocked from his chest. The attacker ran into the shuttle bay, and closed the doors so that they could not enter. Gar had been shot, but not a major injury. Attacker escaped again. Good part was that there were no civilians involved any more.

TVC 05/08 Kantar, the attacker, was a professional assassin (See Characters,Kantar) She had a head start on her pursuers, and enough gadgetry in her ship that she might elude them, given enough distance. She received a beep that told her that Shinigami was in pursuit, so she turned on the cloaking algorithms. The upgrade she had installed on the shuttle used three different generators, all of which cycled through different cloaking mechanisms at unpredictable intervals. Kantar used it on her ship, and she had thought it was unbreakable. But Shinigami is sure that she can crack it. Shinigami decides that she can be paid for her good work in shoes and purses (for guns). And Shinigami will go to the armory to train. What Kantar could do with her biosuit shamed her. Barnabas called Jeltor, told him the news, and that the attacker had escaped again, perhaps heading for Gerris station, the only thing within range of her shuttle. Also, that this might be a political assassination, and that Jeltor might find out things he didn’t want to know.

TVC05/09 Jeltor was beginning to wonder if Huword’s death might not be connected to the Yennai affairs, that this might be something else, entirely. He reviewed what he knew of Huword - falling in and out of love, hanging out with friends, and cultivating a reputation for good work. He was funnier than most people Jeltor knew. Had gotten along with everybody. He always had a bottle of something and a sympathetic ear. Something perhaps due to his demotion? Suddenly Jeltor thought of something, and started paging back into old pictures, messages, he had gotten from him. And he DID recognize the clue when he saw it.

THE INVESTIGATION CONTINUES Norwun docked, met with Captain Kelnamon. There HAD been trouble. Norwun knew, as he had found pieces of a ship when his crew had arrived, the one that had self-destructed. Norwun stood in quiet horror. He had guessed when the guard ship had gone silent that they might need to eliminate certain witnesses. He had anticipated venting the Srisa. They would take care of things quietly; the Brakalon need never know. But if Barnabas was involved... Norwun asked how Barnabas had become involved. It had already been a week, and the Brakalon ship had not arrived, and I had not heard from the Jotun government. I feared that if I stalled for much longer, the murderer might strike again.” So you believe that this was a random murder? Perhaps Barnabas could be convinced! But now Ferqar is gone, also. Kelnamon asked Norwun if he wanted to take over the investigation, and should Kelnamon contact Barnabas about it? Norwun answered, “No, we will contact him. I believe we have recently been contacted by his ship, so he may be aware of our presence already. Thank you for all your help.” So they took Huword’s body, and left. Kelnamon was happy that he had lied so successfully – this hadn’t been an official protocol government team, and he’d be gone long before they would be back. And the engines flared, going in the other direction.

TVC 05/10 Shinigami told Barnabas that they were low on whatever they used for fuel, and would have to lock down Gerris Station until they refueled and came back. He agreed. At Federation Border Station Sven Helen Harari, one of Bobcat’s trainees, took over, and will fix whatever needs fixing, so Barnabas went to the main concourse to relax. But Shinigami notified him that Jeltor needed to talk to him personally, so will meet at Gerris Station. Meanwhile he needed to talk to the Magistrates, Grainger’s request (See Groups, Magistrates) They wanted to know about his current mission. Maybe they could help. So he told them of the happenings, from the beginning. And they suggested that, if it was all to be kept quiet, maybe it was the Navy’s work to kill Huword, and not the Senate’s. Barnabas hadn’t thought of that, and wanted to approach Shinigami with that idea, betting her three pairs of Louboutins (which didn’t exist any more. Tasper Dells. They’re the best ones now!) that they would find evidence to that effect.

TVC 05/11 Kantar was in her room, pacing, on Gerris station. She needed to get off, and she didn’t know how to do that. She’d thought that the Station Administrator had taken a bribe to keep her, but nothing had happened. Then she found out that the station had been locked down, and that no bribe would be huge enough to release any ship. She thought that the Senate was coming for her. So how in hell did she get off this station before they found her?

Norwun spoke to his Senate contact, smoothing things out, and the contact agreed. No one seemed to know anything from behind the scenes, so it could all just go away quietly. But, “Barnabas is already determined to find damaging information on the Senate.” Barnabas must be stopped. His contact ordered, “Good. Deal with him quickly, then follow up with the Srisa. I want it destroyed.” Norwun didn’t like wholesale slaughter. He wished there was anything to be done about it. Those people were as good as dead. He might as well be the one to do it.

Jeltor, on the way to Gerris station, told his wife, Erm, what was going on, that they were going to see Barnabas about why Huword had been killed. “Huword was a traitor,” he said bluntly, “and I would have killed him myself if I’d had the chance.”

TVC 05/12 GERRIS STATION Shinigami tried to dock at Gerris Station, and the station-master would not allow her to dock, as their system would not release any ship that came in. Barnabas convinced him that his “specialist” could solve his problem, so they were allowed to dock.

Then Kantar heard that a Jotun frigate and a personal ship had been allowed to dock, and that it wouldn’t be long before they would find her. She ran.

Jeltor came aboard Shinigami, with his family, and talked with Barnabas. . “I was wrong about everything I told you about Huword. I told you he didn’t have any enemies and that he was good-natured and trustworthy, and none of that was true. He was working with the Senate. He’s been collecting information on all of us for years, and he was just waiting for an opportunity to get ahead by using it. I can’t even imagine what else he’s done with it, but I know he betrayed some of the admirals. They’re in front of the Senate for charges that don’t sound very bad, but their careers will be gone, and they’ll be ruined. And Huword was the one passing them information about the Navy’s technology…which they gave to Yennai, of course.” Barnabas felt badly that he hadn’t realized that Srisa might be in danger, and hoped they’d gotten away. “Well, whoever he was and whatever he was up to, he was in deep.” Barnabas shook his head. “And I’m guessing that the closer we look, the worse stuff we’re going to find.”

Kantar had come to Shinigami, asking to get in. Barnabas let her in, and she saw him running toward her, pulled out a rifle, and fired at him.

TVC 05/13 Kantar came back to Shinigami with them, and told them a little more about Huword, that betraying the admirals to the Senate was only a little of his crimes. Then she ran again. Norwun has a trace on Shinigami, that it is at Gerris station, and he is headed there to confront and kill Barnabas and the assassin.

TVC 05/14 Shinigami wants to go after Kantar again, and Barnabas says no, that she wants them to hunt and find everything about the Senate’s actions. “If we go about this the wrong way, nothing changes. And it’s not the Federation we’re throwing into chaos. It’s a government that isn’t even ours.” And he spoke of what he had found. . “Every species seems to do this. You know, I hoped that we’d get out here and other species would have the trick of forming ethical, workable governments. The more species we meet, however, the more I think corruption just goes hand in hand with sentience.” Nothing ever stays fixed.

Jeltor wants to know who in the Senate is doing this, as it would help them to succeed more quickly. Shinigami told them that a new Jotun ship had docked, and that people were in distress in a locked room. Barnabas ran for his armor, and Jeltor came with him, to investigate what was happening.

Norwun, in his ship the Ur’talis, made adjustments to a system. The station manager was trying all he knew to rescue the entrapped people. Barnabas would try to help, and Norwun would capture and kill him. It wouldn’t be long, now. Reqara had set the trap properly. She was competent and deadly, and she had learned the trick of behaving in a way that didn’t attract attention. She was the one who had set up a special surprise for Barnabas. Now she came to stand by the control panels.

Biset, the Senate genius who had set this up, was pleased that Norwun was acting according to plan. Biset would be the hero of the Senate, but no one would know. And they would all pay, one way or another, later.

TVC 05/15 GERRIS STATION CONTINUED Barnabas arrives at the locked area, Avoids all of the media, and sees Westo Gor’rathi, the Station Administrator (Torcellan.) Decisive, clear, a good job. Wearing his hair in a simple braid, not decorated. “We received a message just before you arrived. It noted that you would be along shortly and we should send you in alone or they will kill the civilians in the section. We asked for more information, but none came.” Barnabas was greeted by voices on speaker as he entered. “You’re sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.” Barnabas entered the room with the civilians, and saw a bomb in the corner, which would go off unless their conversation was satisfactory. He went to it, to examine it, and dropped a ‘bot from his cuff, so that Shinigami could start to disarm it. (See Technology Cuff Bots). Then Barnabas noticed a slowness in his movements, and Shinigami noticed that the room was being vented, and that she would fix the leak. Barnabas just had to play along while she did so, and while Jeltor, Gar, and she enacted the rest of the plan.

TVC 05/16 Gar and Jeltor go off to enter the ship sending the messages and remotely controlling the room, to stop the action. Barnabas settles down, to answer all of the questions put to him. He feints loss of oxygen, speaking more slowly, buying time. Biset is listening, and goes into a rage. Norwun was beginning to realize that this was bigger than he had thought, and wanted to get away, so he tried to blow up Barnabas, and it didn’t work, as Gar and Jeltor came onto his bridge.

TVC 05/17 Shinigami had everything under control, including Norwun’s ship, and had sent videos to him of the captives, unhurt and alive. But the Station Administrator was sending in more mercenaries, so Barnabas had to deal with them, first. Shinigami told him there was a problem, and to get to the Jotun ship ASAP. Reinforcements had come, and Jeltor and Gar needed help. Four more Jotun showed up at the door, ready to help Norwun. Shinigami hadn’t seen them. Gar didn’t waste any time. It was five against two, and the Jotun were trained to fight hand-to-hand. He had to quickly even the odds. He brought his leg up over the back of the Jotun’s chair and bashed his knee into the head of the biosuit. Gar ignored the pain as he brought his knee up repeatedly, bashing it into the Jotun’s input and output array until the thing began to stagger, clearly disoriented and blind. Gar went to help Jeltor.

TVC 05/18 As Barnabas ran to help, he and Shinigami discussed the talk, and decided that maybe Huword really was involved in something that other governments might not like, and was an equal-opportunity asshole, fucking over Jotun and aliens indiscriminately. He saw Jeltor fighting with a small, pink Jotun, Reqara. They group was rapidly put out of commission, having their tanks and suits ripped apart, and only Norwun was left, for Barnabas to question. Shinigami told them to get off that ship ASAP, as something was trying to remotely blow it up, and she wasn’t sure how long she could effectively control the signals. Norwun suicided as they dragged him along, and Barnabas felt regretful that such loyalty had been given to such undeserving entities.

BARNABAS' CAPTURE Barnabas had the ship, and Biset was furious. . The amount of technology they’d discover was unacceptable, and he could only hope they wouldn’t put it to use before the committee’s plan was in its final stages. Biset had put a kill switch in all of the team’s suits, so he had killed Norwun. Biset had to eliminate Barnabas, Gar and Jeltor before they told anyone else of the Committee’s activities. But Barnabas and Jeltor were trying to find proof so that they could expose everything. Biset would invite them in, and fight them himself.

TVC 05/19 While playing a game of chess, (both cheating whenever they could), Shinigami and Barnabas were discussing the technology they had found on the ship. “The alloy that makes up the plating is very interesting. We were researching something similar but couldn’t get it to work. Hopefully, they’ll have some idea what to do with it in the labs. I couldn’t tell what had been done to it.” Barnabas asked, “What about the engines?” Not much new there. Artificial gravity was the enemy in speed. They could take it probably because of their tanks. “Anyway, there is a lot they’ll like, and I’ve left it for them to come get. They know about the attempted remote destruct, so they’ll be careful with it.” They discuss Huword. We don’t know how it started, but we know that at the end he was feeding secrets to the Jotun Senate.” “And doing something else. Maybe it was a bunch of things at once. Everything caught up with him at the same time.” Time to talk to Ferqar, see what he knows, and to Kelnamon again. As they were putting the chess pieces back, Barnabas saw Shinigami replace one piece with a hologram of it. He didn’t say anything, and was waiting to see what she’d be doing with it.

TVC 05/20 THE ASSASSIN Kantar saw Barnabas realize the one thing that would frighten them the most: that another government had found out about what they were doing. Whoever he worked for now, Barnabas had a good team. He was resourceful and honorable. Kantar wanted to trust him with the rest of the plan. She took the risk on contacting her employers. Her employers were the ones who needed to approve this. The call spent long enough connecting that she knew they were questioning whether they should answer. When they finally did, it was from a nondescript white room that could be anywhere. She wanted to convince them that Barnabas would make a good ally, but they didn’t want him, as he was too honorable, and would want to avenge the experiments they showed her that the Committee had done on the Luvendi, the Ubuara, and the Brakalons. The Jotun would be destroyed if this got out, so they would have to fix it themselves. And she agreed with Gil and Wev. This was true. This should never get out. And Kantar agreed, and hoped that Barnabas would go and find some other battle to fight.

Barnabas will speak to Ferqar, and to another Admiral from the Navy, who wants to talk. Ferqar first.

TVC 05/21 Barnabas met Ferqar in a conference room on the Srisa , with Captain Kelnamon’s help and cooperation. Barnabas began the conversation. “I know you didn’t kill Huword. I’ve spoken to the one who did. But it interests me that you had such an ironclad alibi, and it interests me, too, that you and Huword were out here where he wouldn’t have access to backup.” Ferqar accuses Huword of being a sadist. “He’s taking captives?” Shinigami asked. “So it would seem. A few on each colony he had attacked, and he’d done things to them.” Ferqar’s revulsion went so deep he could barely form the words. It was the Senate who had him moved, wasn’t it? They were sending him to kill these people. Why? I hope you’ll hurt whoever Huword was working for.”

TVC 05/22 THE NEW PLAN Jeltor, Erm, Shinigami, Gar and Barnabas were planning their moves for the future . Shinigami had found the incidents Ferqar’d mentioned and had passed the highly graphic information to him with no comment. Even she was disturbed, and she did not get disturbed easily. Ferqar was the one who got Huword “into position”. He knew some of the things Huword had done and was somehow connected to whoever hired the assassin.” Huword had attacked Ubuara, Brakalon, Yofu, Jotun, Torcellan, and even Skaine colonies. Most of the inhabitants were taken elsewhere. “These are all border colonies,” Jeltor said suddenly. “And Huword had just been demoted—we thought. It wasn’t a demotion, was it? They were sending him to do this.” “Which begs the question of who else in the Navy was in on this, because it certainly seems that Huword was acting in the interests of the Senate, instead. It is genuinely possible that no one in the Navy noticed what Huword was doing.” “We’ve been contacted by one of the admirals. They say they have information about Huword. When this comes out, no matter if it was one rogue Naval captain or a whole Senate conspiracy, it’s going to do a lot of damage. But if you don’t expose it, how will people know how bad things were? Something enabled Huword to keep getting away with this. Some part of the system wasn’t working. You have to fix that.” Shinigami, what are your guesses about what we’ll be facing?”

Biset got into his tank, thinking about Huword. Huword had been the perfect agent, well-liked by everyone and willing to engage in any project without asking questions. Biset went to the Bridge, and looked at the remnants of the Yennai Fleet. The senate had confiscated it, and Biset knew he would need it someday. Biset needed the locations of Shinigami and of Srisa.

TVC 05/23 THE AGREED-UPON MEETING Shinigami arrives at the meeting with the Admiral ahead of time, and finds the remainder of the Yennai fleet, as well as others there to fight them. There is also one small ship, but well-armed. Even though it did not have the same number of scars and scorch marks as the black ops ship—in fact, it was nearly pristine—it was clearly of the same make. Barnabas KNOWS that this ship carries the commander of this whole project. The meeting is on a small planet, Gokrun III. Barnabas wants to get as close to that ship as possible for the meeting, as if they are fired upon, it will not be as heavily done if the small ship is in danger. They decide to take down the Yennai fleet first, better than fighting them later. Shinigami went in cloaked, aiming for their engine vents, which had not yet been protected. . After destroying or crippling the first three destroyers, she went after the last four, causing them to fire on each other while trying to hit her. The small ship had landed on the planet, and was not to be seen. But she had traced it, and would be firing on it soon.

TVC 05/24 Biset had landed on the planet, and gone into underground bunkers, with legions of robotic soldiers to defend with. Gokrun III was theoretically a resort planet for the Jotun. No one else wanted it with its salty, storm-tossed seas, but the Jotun liked the novelty of it—and the Jotun Senate, apparently, used the bunkers on its smallest continent to hide their experiments. Biset had been Huword’s direct contact, and was, as far as Kantar could tell, one of the most dangerous members of the committee. Kantar had vowed to do this herself, so had stowed away on Biset’s ship, powering herself down and hope he did not take long enough in space for her to suffocate. A good bet that worked. She would kill Biset, she decided, then decided if she would tell Barnabas or not. He was dangerous. Barnabas could bring their government crashing down. If the committee’s work were made public, every other government would turn on them. She bided her time, watching from the rafters.

TVC 05/25 THE FIGHT Shinigami landed, Barnabas, Garand Jeltor ready to fight. They were underground. The ceiling in the bunker was low, and long pools of water ran down the center and sides of the room. Like the seawater outside, it smelled of salt and kelp. one of the doors lit up and a Jotun voice—recognizable by its faint mechanical whine—said, “Thank you for coming. I knew it would be difficult to get past the Senate’s blockade, but if anyone could do it, you could.” Barnabas asked, “Are you going to show yourself? I promise we’re on your side. We want to bring Justice—the same thing you want.” The voice promised to lead them to a safe place for the meeting. Everyone quiet, and let Shinigami concentrate on mapping this place. I think it’s safe to say that we want to go anywhere but where they’re telling us to go. The group emerged into a second chamber and was immediately faced with a group of robotic warriors, all of whom leveled the arms of their suits to show the barrels of guns, and started firing. As Barnabas countered, they all stopped firing, at the same time. Remote controls. Barnabas heard a scream, and was surprised to find out that it was Shinigami’s battle cry. What she lacked in precision, she more than made up for in sheer power. Now that she knew how to use it, she had more raw power at her disposal than Barnabas might ever be able to summon. Shinigami was ripping the limbs off some robots and using them to beat the others into the ground and push them into the pools of water. They weren’t made to swim, and they sank quickly below the surface. Gar and Jeltor were fighting together, as a team. Then Barnabas saw that the water level in the bunker was rising. He didn’t want to leave, as that would mean leaving his quarry, too. The others followed him, and, as the lights went on in the next room, they saw that easily three times the number of robotic warriors faced them. The person controlling them must have learned their lesson because these did not wait. In unison, they raised their arms—and fired.

TVC 05/26 They were all taking shelter from the bullets, and had decided to kill the person commanding the robots, in the back of the room. Jeltor have any ideas?

THE ASSASSIN AGAIN Kantar lowered herself from the rafters carefully and began to work her way down the back wall. With the robots taken off auto-targeting (Biset didn’t trust what he couldn’t control) and Biset wholly concerned with Barnabas’ strike team, Kantar had a clear shot at Biset. But she didn’t have to kill Biset. Not yet. If she didn’t, after all, between the water and the bullets, he would likely kill Barnabas and the entire strike team. And if he didn’t, Barnabas would kill Biset—and then be weak and undefended against Kantar. In one stroke, she could rid the Jotun of two enemies: one who sickened them from within, and another whose quest for Justice might hurt the innocent. She just did not know what she wanted to do.

Barnabas knew that whoever was using these warriors had not practiced. They did not have what it took. Unfortunately, they still had hundreds of robots at their disposal and thousands of bullets flying each minute, and they might win by sheer luck. He dispatched his enemies with brutal efficiency. He kept taking them down, chipping away at their numbers, washing them away as water would wear away stone... And yet, water was one of his problems. The level was still rising, and it was slowing him down Barnabas shouted to the back, asking who was there. “I am no one, human,” the voice spat. “I am nameless to you. When I am gone, no one will think to look for me. No one will know what truth you were seeking.” Barnabas responded, “Your people will never stand for this! Never, do you hear me? You are the worst of them, and they will revolt against you and show every other species that they did not want this. They will defeat you from within.” And the water stopped rising, and it became quiet. There, at the end of the room, perched on the shoulders of another biosuit, crouched the slim shape of the assassin. “Hello again.” “Hello,” Barnabas replied, surprised into politeness. “So who was that you just killed?” “Who it was doesn’t particularly matter. As to why...” “It was what you said about the Jotun rising and showing the universe that they weren’t a part of this. You don’t mean to destroy us when you learn the truth. I see that now. So I’ll do you a favor. Look up the Infrastructure Revitalization Committee.” There was the sound of a door closing, and she was gone.

TVC 05/Epilogue AFTER THE BATTLE They were in Aebura’s Bar, drinking juice and eating sandwiches, when Tafa started the conversation. “I’ve asked Aebura and Kelnamon to look into any attacks on Ubuara or Brakalon colonies, and to report any other unexplained happenings.” “That will make my predictions and assessments better,” Shinigami agreed. Once Tafa had collected the research, Shinigami set to work crunching the numbers. Together, they made an incredible team, and what Shinigami could do with data, Tafa had a talent for “seeing” in another way—her artist’s eye could sense a distortion in data, and once she pointed out what she saw, Shinigami was often able to make sense of it. “As far as I can tell,” Gar said, “there haven’t been any attacks on Luvendi settlements, mainly because there aren’t any Luvendi settlements. Barnabas said, “We’ll have to see if we can find any Torcellans to work with.” “Try Gor’rathi,” Shinigami suggested. “The Gerris Station administrator. He owes us some favors.” Jeltor had gone back to Jotuna to begin spreading the word among the Naval captains. Whatever committee this was, they had to find out more about it. “We’ll stay here until we get word,” Barnabas decided. “There’s no place safer for the Shinigami, and we can see our friends. I wish there was something to do, but there isn’t until we know more.” Tethra was a safe place. And Elisa was pregnant again.

Grisor, the leader of the committee, was giving a pep-talk to them, telling them that they needed a new contact in the Navy. “When word gets out of Huword’s dealings, there will be a crisis of faith. No one will be above suspicion. No one,” Grisor continued, “except the one who exposed Huword and the Senate in the first place. And who would be better than Captain Jeltor? And he’s on Jotuna right now!”