Текст книги "Shrapnel: Fragments from the Inner Sphere"

Автор книги: Elizabeth Danforth

Соавторы: William H. Keith,Ken St. Andre,Jordan K. Weisman,Michael A. Stackpole
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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

The people down here, and in every village or town or city throughout the Successor States, didn't care about who ruled what. The grand galactic game of war and politics only touched them when it stole a child or caused the government to change the faces printed on their money.

In that instant, I also realized what someone like the Little Dragon meant to the people of Akumashima. She was theirsafety net, making sure that whoever controlled the world of Murchison did not disrupt the life in Akumashima. When we blew the opium barge apart, she made certain those who needed the drug got it. whatever the cost to her.

My mind drifted to her gold renketsu,and I shivered. Whata way to live,I thought, then felt angry at myself. Who are you to judge her? She follows orders just like you do. but her orders come from her sense of right and wrong, not from the mouth of whoever pays the bills.

‘I know.’ I mumbled to myself, ‘but someone with that much heart deserves more and better.’ The moment those words came to me, I realized that something about Takara had gotten under my skin. Yes, I found her physically attractive, but that wasn't really it. I sensed something else that could bind us together, then realized my weariness and the mission's pressure had undoubtedly warped my perceptions to a dangerous degree.

Uneasy about spending too much time on the street, I slipped into a ramshackle restaurant offering biiru to baka.I chose a dark booth in the corner far from the door. When a serving girl inquired, I ordered the house special. The beer arrived warm and the noodles cold.

The beer, which tasted like something between swamp water and 'Mech coolant, cut the dust and soot from my throat. I leaned back in the booth and shut my eyes. O.K., Duke Michael, how do I innovate my way out of this one? We knew the Little Dragon would turn on me, but we didn't expect such an explosive betrayal.

I felt a breeze and heard the creak of the bench on the opposite side of my table, but the click of the Sternsnacht's hammer being thumbed back is what snapped me out of my ruminations. I felt the muzzle press against the inside of my knee as I opened my eyes. ‘Hello,' I said, smilng weakly.

The Little Dragon smiled back, but it was pure mockery, and did nothing to mask the fury in her eyes, ‘I did not betray you.’ she said grimly.

I nodded slowly. ‘I know. I just figured that out. If you meant for someone to take me, you would have given them the combination to the door. Besides, you would probably have turned me over to the ISF because they're the ones offering money for my head.’

‘How bad was it?’

I shook my head. ‘I'm sorry.’

Takara slammed her balled left fist into the table. I reached out. took her fist in my hand and squeezed gently until she let the tension drain from it. She tried to pull her hand back, but I held on.

I looked into her eyes. ‘I cannot say I will make it up to you, because you lost far more than money or time could ever replace. I will do my best to make it right.’

She jabbed the Sternsnacht's muzzle into the inside of my thigh, prompting me to slowly release her hand. ‘The only thing you can do to make it right is to get off this world and never come back.’ She met my gaze, and in one electric moment, I thought she would open up to me. Then a shudder rippled through her and the wall went back up between us.

I sighed heavily. ‘O.K., Little Dragon, if that's what you want. Let's find the girl and I'm gone.’

I felt the Sternsnacht withdraw and heard it slide home in the holster. The Little Dragon's expression eased toward neutral. ‘Let's go. Kell. While you were destroying my world, I found Hanako Aido.’ She glanced at her chronometer. ‘We're to meet her in an hour.’

The Little Dragon led the way out of the eatery. I saw her stiffen immediately, and despite my fatigue, I identified the source of her discomfort. The street had emptied. Doors were shut and windows shuttered. Even the stray curs slunk around with tails between their legs.

I turned to reenter the restaurant, but the door slammed loudly in my face. The sound of automatic rifles being cocked filled the street. Raising my hands, I came slowly about to find Takara also making the universal sign of submission.

One of a dozen black-clad ISF ninjas stepped forward. He bowed, and the sun glanced sharply off the mirrored faceplate of his circlevision headgear. ‘I am Talon Sergeant Ittetsue Kimura. I am pleased now, Chu-saKeirru. to accept the surrender of you and your confederate.’ He glanced at the other ISF agents with rifles pointed at us. ‘Resistance would be, ah, unpleasant.’

With the efficiency of some nobleman's valet, Sergeant Kimura stripped me of all weapons and other harmful objects. He also took my belt and boots, clucking happily when he noticed the polymer blade in the bottom of one boot. He even smiled when I asked if I would get a receipt for the things he was taking.

I felt something like a prize bass as he led me through the 'Mech hangar toward the holding cells. The company from the 27th Dieron Regulars that Kurita had left to garrison Murchison had appropriated the facilities the Kell Hounds had left behind during our hasty retreat. When some of the Techs realized who I was, they called out thanks for the store of spare parts we'd left.

I grumbled and Sergeant Kimura beamed. He brought me to the first holding cell and opened the door. He shoved me in and I sprawled at Takara's feet. ‘Our Tai-sawill be back in two hours and will speak with you then.’ With a sinister laugh, he closed the door.

Takara glared at-me. ‘My home is destroyed, the Vatoare-out-for my blood because I didn't turn you over to them, and now the ISF have us!’ She pounded her fist against the gray wall of the cell. ‘Aside from that tiny vent and the locked door, there's no way in or out.’

Hauling myself up onto the lone bunk, I shrugged. ‘Sorry, we build cells to last.’

Takara snarled with frustration and paced diagonally across the cell. ‘I should have known! You're nothing but a disaster for me. The opium barge...this whole thing ...this cell...’

I shook my head. ‘Look, Little Dragon. I don't want to argue with you.’ I nodded at the door. ‘You heard what he said. We've got two hours before the ISF Colonel gets back. We'd best get started.’

She spun about, with fire in her eyes and her hands curled into claws as I unzipped my fatigues. ‘What are you doing?’ She backed to the wall and snarled, ‘This renketsudoes not give you the right!’

I frowned while fumbling with the knot in the drawstring waistband of my shorts. ‘Do you want to get out of here or not?’

The Little Dragon laughed sarcastically. ‘How will sleeping with you get me out of here? Aren't you going to tell me that we'll probably be dead in a couple of hours, so we might as well make the best of it now?’ She stared at me coldly, then her hands drifted to the fastenings of her jacket. ‘Two hours, huh? After you're done, we ought to have an hour and fifty minutes to kill.’

I shot her a nasty glance. ‘Do you mind?’ I reached down and teased up the corner of the plastic pseudo-flesh bandage on my lower abdomen. Foolishly, I ripped it free fast, hoping it wouldn't hurt. ‘Ouch!’

‘What are you doing?’ she said.

I peeled the flesh-colored plastic off an Allen wrench. ‘I'm getting us out of here. It's taken me two days to get captured by the ISF and put in here. Now it's time to follow the plan out to its conclusion ‘ I tossed her the Allen wrench and zipped up my pants. ‘Hid that just below the belt because no one thinks to frisk you there.’

I slid the bunk over to the corner, then stood on it Takara tossed back the octagonal piece of metal and I slipped it into the bolt that held a ceiling plate in place. ‘We figured the ISF would not do a magscan right off, but even if they did, I have a polymer wrench elsewhere on my person. I prefer metal because it doesn't break as easily.’

Arms folded. Takara narrowed her eyes and watched me. ‘Now it begins to make sense. The only reason you would have bumbled around in Akumashima the way you did was because you wanted to get caught. Why come to me?’

I shrugged as I tipped the ceiling plate and slid it up into the darkness above the cell. ‘Davion Intelligence suggested you'd be likely to turn me over to the ISF for the reward. I had to have the ISF capture me, or have someone else turn me in—they would be suspicious if I just surrendered. We knew they'd bring me to this facility, both to rub it in that I'd been captured and because the offworld ISF contingent would be stationed here. Those guys will do anything to get off the planet, and capturing me should be enough to earn them a transfer.’

I grabbed the edges of the hole and pulled myself up into the darkness. I kept my head down, remembering earlier, painful lessons about the chamber's low clearance. Kneeling at the edge of the hole, I peered down into the room. ‘Just move the bunk away from the corner and take my hand.’

Takara reluctantly followed my instructions and joined me in the darkness between the cell's ceiling and the floor above it I lowered the ceiling plate back into place and fastened It down, then turned on the low lights we'd installed in the secret room.

Takara lowered her voice. ‘What is going on? Was Hanako Aido a blind?’

I shook my head. ‘No. she's real and is carrying O'Dell's child. And his father does want her to join them. The only lie was that Kevin is dead. The battle reports say he is, but he's not. We would have taken her offworld when we evacuated. except that the whole thing was a sham. Our DropShip picked up our Mechs over by the Suigin Mine complex, right in the middle of a patrol. There was no reason for Hanako to be out there, so we had to leave her here or jeopardize our whole operation.’

‘Operation?’ The Little Dragon looked very cross.

I smiled to reassure her. ‘About six months ago. the Federated Suns and the Draconis Combine fought a monster battle on Halstead Station. What they fought over turned out to be a huge cache of Star League-vintage books. Davion forces came away with most of them, but they burned everything else,’

‘All that knowledge lost...’

I nodded. ‘We thought it was lost but it turns out that books don't burn that well. The ones on the surface of the pile were destroyed, but those deeper in were only singed. It was an ISF Colonel who discovered it He packed the surviving books into several crates and had them shipped to his new station.’

Takara grinned. ‘Murchison. The Colonel was our own Harrison Ukita. So your raid four months ago was to get the books.’

I nodded enthusiastically. ‘Yup. but Colonel Ukita had plenty of lead time to hide the books as we came in-system. We searched, but we couldn't find them. We knew Kurita would send a unit to drive us off this world, so we hatched this plot and fixed up these cells. We knew that if we retreated without a battle and left plenty of booty behind, the forces here wouldn't go out looking for trouble. In fact, as we evacuated the planet, the 27th Dieron Regulars sent everything but one UnionClass DropShip back to their JumpShip and left the system for the fight on Mallory's World.’

‘And in the six weeks you’ve been gone, the ISF Colonel Ukita has finally recovered the books,’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘You know this for a fact?’

‘Yes. He's put them in crates marked up like weapons and is storing them down in the Mech bay. Davion Intelligence has pictures. He'll load them on the DropShip Fukushusoon and send them offworld. He'll turn them over to the Dragon, or sell them to the highest bidder. The Kell Hounds are going to put in another appearance on Murchison to ensure that doesn't happen.’

Takara brushed her dark hair back from her shoulders. ‘How do you know he won't just hide them again? It takes a week to get from the jump point to this world.’

I shook my head. ‘That's if your ship comes in from the standard jump point over the solar pole. Janos Vandermeer, the Captain of the Kell Hounds JumpShip, knows everything there is to know about non-standard points,’

Takara concentrated. ‘You mean 'pirate points,' right?’

I smiled. ‘Yeah. Now that he's been here once before, Janos says that if he pops into the system at a point on the planetary plane, keeps the larger moon between Murchison and the DropShip, and lets the world's own orbit bring the planet to him. the Kell Hounds should arrive within two days of a signal going out,’

As I explained how the cavalry would arrive, I unbuckled the straps on an equipment container. I pulled out a packet of clothing and tossed it to her. ‘Put these on.’ I said, then hesitated. ‘That is, put them on if you want to help me.’

She ripped open the clear plastic in silence. Pulling the black garment to her chest, she stared at me incredulously. ‘ISF ninja uniforms? Are you mad?’

I shook my head. ‘Not only are they effective for climbing around in the darkness, but none of the Techs or MechWarriors of the 27th are going to watch us too closely. In fact, they'll do their best to avoid seeing what we're doing.’

‘And what will we be doing?’

I pulled a pouch from the container and unzipped it. I held it open so she could see the small cubes of plastique and the detonators attached to them. ‘We plant these where they will cause the most trouble. The detonators will set off the explosions when I punch a button on the remote control.’

I pulled the remote control device from the bag and showed it to her. No longer or thicker than my thumb, and about twice as wide, it had a switch on the side. When I flipped it on. the flat square button on the control's surface glowed a dull red. ‘One touch and all the explosives will go off.’

She nodded. I turned away and quickly changed into the other ISF uniform in the container. I smiled because in discussing the plan, Duke Michael's people had insisted that the file they'd assembled on the Little Dragon indicated that she would betray me to the ISF. For that reason, they only wanted to put enough equipment in the storage area for me. but I insisted they provide two of everything. Though they had protested. I insisted that my native charm would win her over to our side. I didn't actually believe it, but pressed my demand just to irritate Duke Michael's men. Takara's decision to help made me very glad I'd stuck to my guns.

I handed her the sidearms also packed in the container and she laughed gently. She slid the Mauser & Gray M-27 needle pistol from the holster and charged it ‘I think I have discovered your secret, Patrick.’ She hesitated before she said my name, and I felt my heart pounding faster. I was glad the dim light and hood hid my face.

‘I hereby swear you to secrecy,’ I said, reaching into the bag of explosives and giving her a double handful. ‘Eight for you. Eight for me. The detonators are simple. The signal from the remote arms them, then sets them off. This plastique is great. You can mold it to direct the blast.’

She nodded. ‘I know.’

The vision of her apartment flashed in my mind. ‘Yeah, right.’ I started filling the little pockets in my uniform with explosives, then slipped the detonator into my waistband. I handed her the ISF agent's ubiquitous katana,then I slung one across my back. Lastly. I handed her one of the ISF's circlevision facemasks.

I flicked mine on after I'd settled it over my face, adjusted the straps to center the faceplate, then tightened them down. The image I saw was split top and bottom, with front and rear views, respectively. Reaching the control dials on the upper edge of the mask, I adjusted the view.

As a MechWarrior, I'm used to a full 360 degrees of vision because the 'Mech provides a complete battlefield view for the pilot. The image is truncated into an arc of 160 degrees, with ‘forward’ always centered as you move. Everything is easy to see. and after a very short time, the system becomes quite simple to use.

In contrast, I found the split-image system of the circlevision equipment annoying.

I adjusted the mask so that it squashed the rear view to a three-centimeter tall band running across the top of the image area. That gave me a normal view of everything going on in front of me, yet provided enough of a picture that I could guard my back.

I smiled, though the mask's mirrored surface prevented Takara from seeing my expression. ‘O.K. We plant the explosives, then get in touch with the ComStar rep in Hakkinshi. We tell him to release the message the Kell Hounds left with him and, poof, we start things rolling.’

Unused air ducting allowed us to climb up to the 'Mech bay's ceiling. The open girder lattice supporting the arched roof gave us a clear, if precarious, pathway. We moved through the high darkness as Techs and astechs labored below to maintain the 27th Dieron Regulars's stable of 'Mechs. I counted twelve of the massive war machines, which was right for company strength, but two of them were being worked on and one of those had its fusion reactor hanging from a power winch.

Takara and I split up to sow our little bombs. Whenever she'd selected a likely target, she'd wait for me to signal approval, then set the explosives. The only time I waved her off a site was when she wanted to blow up a winch track right above the crates full of books. I hoped the books would be out of the way when we set off the explosives, but I didn't want to take any chances.

We joined up again and descended to the hangar floor itself. Sliding into the multitude of shadows cast by the Mechs, we passed virtually unseen around and through the riot of activity in the 'Mech bay. I know a couple of astechs caught a glimpse of me because I saw them shiver, but they raised no alarm. They had no more love for the ISF than I did.

We planted more explosives on the ground floor during our trek. Huddled together in an area full of storage crates, I signaled to Takara that I had no more explosives, then I pointed at her and shrugged my shoulders. She palled the pocket at her left hip, then held up one finger. I gave her a thumbs-up.

Suddenly, a warning siren sounded and people started to run wildly through the hangar. I flicked on the circlevision mask's magnification function and killed my impulse to laugh. The door to our cell stood open and Sergeant Kimura was bowing profusely to a bald man who had to be Tai-saHarrison Ukita.

‘Let's move, Takara. With all this confusion, maybe we can slip out unnoticed.’

I stiffened as I felt the muzzle of her M-27 press against my back. She slipped my pistol into her left hand, then holstered her own gun. She pulled off her mask and spoke loudly enough for Ukita to hear her. ‘Here he is, Tai-sa.’

It was as though someone had reached a cold hand into my chest and given my heart a squeeze. I sank forward slowly, hugging my arms around my aching stomach. A hoarse whisper was all I could muster as the ISF Colonel approached us. ‘Why. Takara?’

She laughed haughtily. ‘No one plays the Little Dragon for a fool. Kell. You should have listened to Davion Intelligence because they know me far better than you ever will. Helping you helps only Hanako Aido, but helping Ukita can save all Akumashima.’

 

Tai-saHarrison Ukita leaned forward on the oaken desk I'd left behind in my office when we evacuated the planet. He smiled broadly at me, then turned to include the Little Dragon in his welcome. Because she had surrendered her weapons voluntarily, as opposed to having them stripped from her as I had, the ISF had not bound her hands or hobbled her legs. ‘Well, this is an honor. I have a noted mercenary leader and a member of the renketsuin my office.’ He winked at me. ‘Apologies, Chu-sa.and I compliment you on your choice of furnishings.’ He patted the polished surface of my desk lovingly.

I shrugged as best I could with my arms bound tightly forearm-to-forearm. ‘If you wish, I can go to Arc-Royal and get you a complete office set. A man of your importance shouldn't have to settle for a mercenary's cast-offs.’ I squirmed slightly in my chair because, in their search for weapons, they'd missed the remote control tor the explosives. Try as I might, however, there was no way I could activate the device, much less punch the button.

Ukita arched an eyebrow, then looked toward the Little Dragon. ‘And is she a mercenary's cast-off?’

I looked over at Takara. whose expression was impassive, then shook my head.

Ukita rose from my leather chair and came around to where the Little Dragon sat. ‘Takara -renketsu’He cupped her chin in his right hand, but she did not protest. Glancing at me, he smiled. ‘I suppose that name would not mean anything special to you, Chu-sa.This woman belonged to Marquis Jiro Somo before he died. Do you recognize thatname?’

I thought for a moment. ‘Tanadi Computers? He died four years ago.’

‘Bravo, Patrick!’ Ukita clapped his hands once, then stroked Takara's cheek. ‘Do you mind it I call you Patrick?’

I nodded. ‘If it would not be considered rude, I save my Christian name for my friends.’ I shot the Little Dragon a harsh stare, but her eyes were closed as she rubbed her cheek against Ukita's hand. ‘As hospitable as you have been, Tai-sa,I don't think we're friends.’

Ukita nodded. ‘I understand. I think you will appreciate the irony I find in this situation. I came here to recover something you Forced me to lose, and I captured you. I also discovered Takara -renketsuand will be able to return her to her rightful owner.’

He tipped her face up and tightened his hand on her jaw, shocking her into opening her eyes. ‘You realize, don't you. that the writ of manumission Jiro signed tor you was invalidated after his death. His heir wants you back, and it is only by chance that he mentioned his desire for you to me.’

Takara replied in a low, inviting voice. ‘I believe, Tai-sa.that I can convince you that Marquis Gonsai Somo should not be my new owner’ She shifted her head, let her tongue flicker against Ukita's palm, then glanced through the open doorway into what had been my private quarters.

I saw the ISF man swallow hard and stare at her. I leaned forward in my chair and cleared my throat loudly. ‘It you don't mind. Tai-sa,I'm feeling sick. Isn't there some formal processing you want to put me through?’ I looked over at Takara and shuddered. ‘I'd be thankful for some delousing.’

Ukita punched a button on the intercom, summoning two ISF guards. They jerked me to my feet, but before they dragged me out, the Little Dragon commanded them to wait. She left her chair when Ukita nodded his consent and crossed to where I stood. Pressing her warm body against mine, She ran her hands over my torso, then kissed me.

She stepped away from me and pulled Ukita's arm around her waist. Cold sparks flashed in her eyes as she answered Ukita's unvoiced question. ‘Why did I do that?’ She threw back her head and laughed harshly. ‘So that he'll remember and dream about what he can never have.’

My lips burned with her kiss, and I could still feel her caress as the ISF agents led me down a series of passageways I should have recognized. Moving through those cold gray corridors, all I could think about was Takara lying in Ukita's arms. She'd kept me at arm's-length, afraid of surrendering her hard-won independence, then she'd turned and threw herself at Ukita.

You're upset because she betrayed the image ol her that you tried to respect. She demanded that you treat her like a normal person. You did, all the while imagining that she shared her name and her home withyou out of some mutual feeling Then you up and tell her you've used her and that you expected her to betray you all along. The wonder's not that she turned you over to the ISF, you idiot. It's that she didn’t shoot you when she had the chance!

The guards cut the clothes from me before proceeding with a complete body search. They easily discovered the strip of pseudo-flesh on the right side of my chest and gleefully ripped it off despite my entreaties to be careful. They strapped me down on an examination table and forced my mouth open so that some crazed fool could poke and probe my teeth for poison capsules or a false tooth full of microdots.

After that, they forced me through a bath in which two toothless matrons attacked my flesh with harsh bristle brushes. They scrubbed me head-to-toe as though sandblasting two months of dried mud from a 'Mech's armor. Then my guards pushed me into a cold shower, a stinging encounter with a delouser and his spray can. and a second shower that just barely dulled the delousing agent's pungent stink.

Finally, they dressed me again in the clothes they'd cut off me earlier. Without restraining my legs this time, they led me back up to Tai-saUkita's office. Through a window. I noticed how closely the sun hovered to the horizon I'd lost all track of the time, especially during the stay with the Draconian dentist, but now I knew that at least three hours had slipped by. With that realization, thoughts of Takara and Ukita invaded my mind again.

The ISF guards forced me back into a chair so that I could listen to the soft sounds coming from the partially open door into the room beyond my office. She didn't want me to despoil her bedroom when I stayed in her apartment, but she desecrates mine.After they finally grew quiet. Ukita swathed in a black silk robe, slid open the door and dismissed the guards.

Dropping into my chair, he smiled. ‘It really is a pity, Chu-sa.you never...’

I shrugged. ‘Perhaps you'll grant a dying man his last request.’ Leave me alone with her so I can strangle her...

As though reading my thoughts, he smiled. ‘No, Colonel Kell, I'm afraid that would not be possible. It is too bad because she is quite, ah, incredible.’

Takara appeared in the doorway and leaned against the door jamb. Her white kimono was trimmed in dark green and gapped open at the center. Casually, she pulled it tight, then fastened the green sash. She drifted over to the chair she'd occupied before, but only had eyes for Ukita.

Again the ISF Colonel smiled at me. ‘Did you know Takara means 'treasure?' It is true, and she lives up to that name.’ His hand disappeared into one of his robe's pockets and returned holding the remote control for the explosives. ‘Did you feel her take it from you when she kissed you?’

I fought to keep my reaction from showing on my face and to keep my voice even. 'Why don't you flip that little switch and hit the button?’

Ukita laughed. ‘You would like that wouldn't you? Well. Colonel, I'm afraid my little treasure has rendered your efforts, valiant though they may have been, all for naught.’ He glanced out the window to where the egg-shaped DropShip Fukushuwaited. ‘She told me everything. During the first break in our...activities, I authorized ComStar to deliver your message summoning the Kell Hounds. As soon as my men are finished secreting the books on my ship, I will order the crew to reboard and make ready to depart. You see, I'll take you with me so the Coordinator can hold you ransom against the Kell Hounds' neutrality and withdrawal from Mallory's World.’

My mouth tasted like sour vinegar. ‘And the explosives?’

Ukita looked at Takara. ‘Was it during our second moment of respite that you came out here and compiled the list of bombed sites for me?’ She nodded obediently, and Ukita turned back to me with a proud smile. ‘Yes. she gave me a list of the places where you had planted the explosives and my people have disarmed all 15 of them.’ Ukita flicked the remote control's arming switch with his thumb. ‘So I will accept your challenge...’

Takara's dive knocked me into a sprawl as Ukita's thumb stabbed the red button. I saw the momentary look of horror on his face as he realized what she'd done to him, then his body vanished in a flash of argent fire. The heavy oaken desk he'd admired earlier tipped forward, absorbing most of the blast directed into room, then rocked back down onto its feet

The explosion rang sharply in my ears, deafening me. Blood was running from my nose and I started to cough as the smoke from the chair's burning leather choked the room. I felt Takara clawing at the plastic strips binding my arms, releasing me from their grasp. I turned overand saw her hands, bleeding with cuts from the sharp glass she'd used to free me.

Her lips moved, but I couldn't hear anything she said. Her tears cut tracks through the blast grime on her face, paralleling the twin lines of blood streaming from her nostrils. I tore what was left of my shirt and wrapped it around her lacerated hands, then rolled to my feet and approached the door in a crouch.

The two ISF agents sent to investigate the blast came in standing upright, which put their heads in the layer of smoke hovering in the room. I kicked the leader in the knees, sending him careening sideways into the agent right behind him. They both crashed into the wall, then fell to the floor.

I smashed the first agent in the faceplate with my elbow. Pain seared along my arm as the vision device fragmented and sparks sizzled into the bloody ruin of his face. Before I could hit him again, however, his partner grabbed me and wrestled me onto my back. As I wrapped both my hands around his throat, he reciprocated.

Blood pounded explosively through my temples as his fingers dug into my neck. He applied pressure to my carotid artery, cutting off the blood flow to my brain. Shimmering light balls danced in my vision like fireflies as I whipped my head back and forth trying vainly to break his grip while I tightened mine.

Suddenly, I felt him convulse violently, then his grip slackened. Weak as a baby, it was all I could do to roll his body off mine. Then I noticed he didn't lie flat. The hilt of the katana—his own katana—protruded from his ribs just beneath his armpit.

Takara knelt beside him and drew his gun. Seeing it was her favorite Sternsnacht, she appropriated it for herself. When she crossed to the other agent, who still lay writhing in pain, she pressed the muzzle to his chest and stroked the trigger once.

He also wore a Sternsnacht, so Takara jacked a round into the chamber and handed the gun to me. I thought I'd heard the sound of the one gunshot and of the second pistol being armed, but an insistent noise still ringing in my ears made me unsure.