A Fistful of Credits: Stories from the Four Horsemen Universe (The Revelations Cycle Book 5) Read online

  She shrieked in rage and frustration. She had to get to him or everything was going to fall apart!

  Two of the guards quickly subdued Anton and pulled him back. Others swarmed in to move everyone away from the Yestrellian executive. The room had gone silent as everyone stared at the confrontation.

  Xarbon stared at her as he held a cloth over his bleeding snout. His expression hinted that he thought she’d gone insane, but that didn’t stop him from smiling widely.

  “This party had been growing progressively more tiresome. I should thank you for providing some much-needed entertainment. What do you think, Jardis?”

  “For once, I agree with you completely,” the being holding Jackie said. “This should be fascinating.”

  Jackie finally looked at her captor and was somewhat shocked to see another Gtandan.

  “Perhaps I should make introductions,” the executive almost crooned. “This is my brother Jardis Xarbon. He and I rarely get a chance to visit, so I was pleased he could join us for this leg of our journey. Senior enforcers with the Peacemaker Guild rarely get vacation time.”

  He said that last with a tone of relish.

  Dread filled her as she stared at the porcine being holding her. If this truly was Xarbon’s brother, and he was an enforcer for the Peacemaker Guild, Anton and she were in very deep trouble. Not only had they failed in their mission, but they’d probably be visiting a Gtandan prison in very short order once they arrived.

  They were so screwed.

  * * *

  Their captors hustled Anton and his young partner out of the ballroom and down the corridor. No one spoke as they took a lift to one of the poshest decks on the liner. No doubt, that was where Xarbon was staying.

  They trooped their prisoners through an extravagantly ornate suite of rooms and shoved them into what looked like a private office. The guards forced them into chairs built for Gtandan butts. To say the seats were uncomfortable would have been something of an understatement.

  Xarbon showed Anton his teeth. “As I recall, you once visited me in the company of a mercenary group I hired a number of years ago.”

  Anton stared into the executive’s eyes unflinchingly. “You expect me to believe you remember my scent after twenty years? That seems a little far-fetched.”

  “My people’s sense of smell is quite formidable, but you are correct that a normal member of my species wouldn’t be able to recall meeting you after such a long time.

  “I, on the other hand, have what you might call an eidetic sense of smell. I never forget the person associated with a particular scent.”

  The executive put his hands on his hips and cocked his head. “I’ll have to check my records, but I seem to recall your mercenary company failed to accomplish the task I set out for them. Everyone died, I believe. If so, how are you sitting here in front of me?”

  “That is an excellent question,” Jardis Xarbon said. The translation pendant rendered the enforcer’s tone as deep and slow. “And while I cannot wait to hear the answer to it, I have a few questions of my own.

  “Starting with, what did you hope to accomplish by confronting my brother? I’ve examined the scanner readings obtained when you entered the ballroom. You aren’t armed. This was not an assassination attempt.”

  “We came so that my companion could see the man who killed her father,” Anton said.

  “And who might her father have been?” Xarbon inquired in a polite tone as he looked Jackie over.

  “Colonel Sean O’Hara, commanding officer of the Dire Wolves.”

  The Gtandan seemed to think for a moment before smiling even more widely, showing them his blunt, yellow teeth. “I remember now. I tasked your company to settle a dispute. Not only did they fail to do so, they were so inept that my enemies caught them before they’d even arrived and destroyed them in an ambush.

  “Unfortunate, but hardly surprising considering the record most of you humans have fighting competent opponents. I suppose I hold some responsibility for their deaths. I should have hired someone able to actually carry out the mission.”

  Jackie tried to stand, but a guard shoved her back down into her chair. She glared at the alien. “You betrayed them. I don’t know exactly what you did or why, but you killed my father.”

  Xarbon laughed. “So melodramatic! Oh, this is far more entertaining than I’d imagined! A confrontation to accuse me of terrible crimes you couldn’t possibly prove.

  “It sounds like something out of an entertainment stream. Only those don’t end with the ‘heroes’ being dragged off to serve time in a Gtandan prison.”

  The alien glanced at his brother. “I assume the fact they’re operating under false identities is a crime of some sort, is it not?”

  Anton couldn’t think about both of them as Xarbon. He and Jackie had settled on the target’s last name as his identifier, so he needed a new way to reference the new member of the target’s clan. Perhaps simply Enforcer Jardis.

  Enforcer Jardis nodded. “Altering a Universal Account Access Card violates Trade Guild policy. If they have modified their UAACs, they will face significant penalties.”

  “Then I shall leave them in your hands, dear brother.”

  “Is that all?” Jackie shrieked. “Are you such a coward that you won’t even face me? Fight me, you bastard.”

  Xarbon had taken a step toward the exit, but stopped. “Why would I possibly do that? That implies some level of guilt. I did nothing wrong. It is you who shall pay a penalty for failure. Much like your father.”

  “If that sense of smell of yours is so good, you’d better take a good sniff so you’ll recognize me when I come for you,” the young woman swore. “Which I will.”

  Anton wasn’t certain what she was doing, but it sounded as if she was still trying to achieve their original goal. He couldn’t imagine what use the information would be now. By the time they got out of prison, the corporate codes would have undoubtedly changed.

  The executive stared at Jackie for a long moment. “I do believe you are the kind of being that might appear in another few decades to aberrantly attempt revenge for an event that was not my fault. Perhaps I should remember what you smell like.”

  He took her hand and jerked it up to his nose, twisting her wrist in an obviously painful manner. Anton watched her grit her teeth in pain and rage, but thought he saw a glimmer of triumph in her eyes. Perhaps she’d gotten his identity code after all.

  “Now, I must be off. I undoubtedly have many curious guests. Thank you again for making my party so much more exciting than I had anticipated. I’m certain it will pay dividends for me and my company going forward.

  “Good luck to you, and I certainly hope you haven’t committed any other crimes my brother will need to tack on additional sentences for. That would be an even worse tragedy for you.”

  Anton watched the executive and his guards as they left the room. The only person remaining was the brother. The Peacemaker enforcer.

  Most people from Earth didn’t know much about the Peacemaker Guild. The Galactic Union required a set number of individuals join the guild to assist in enforcing the peace between the various planets and guilds that made up the Union. They often pursued wanted criminals that fled particular worlds, usually for a fee.

  Perhaps he could use that to Jackie’s advantage.

  “Enforcer Jardis—if you’ll forgive my manner of address in keeping you separate in our minds from your brother—this ill-conceived idea was mine. There is no need to involve the girl.

  “She’s barely an adult. One blinded by grief. Do we truly need to involve a child in this mess? I’m more than willing to confess everything and accept responsibility.”

  The Gtandan focused his attention on Anton. “That would depend upon the full tally of your transgressions. I’m not without compassion. You’ve made some serious charges against my brother. Do you have any proof or is this merely wild speculation?”

  Anton suspected he and Jackie would disappear if he sai
d he had such evidence. Blood was thicker than water. The Peacemaker Guild might be the Galactic Union’s equivalent of a national police force, but this was the target’s brother.

  “No,” he admitted.

  “Yes!” Jackie hissed.

  “Be quiet!” Anton told her firmly.

  The alien turned his attention to Jackie. “No. I want to hear what she has to say. If you have proof, it is your duty as a citizen of the Galactic Union to provide it to me.”

  “You’ll forgive me if this sounds indelicate, but he’s your brother,” Anton said. “What would keep you from making us disappear and any evidence with us?”

  The Gtandan showed Anton his teeth. “To begin with, there’s my oath. I don’t know what you’ve heard about the Peacemaker Guild, but we take a very dim view of those who put anything else before their oaths to enforce the peace. If my brother has done something that violates Merc Guild policy, it could create a dispute that upsets the peace.

  “I’ve heard how many humans view the Union. Corrupt and free-for-all. Where someone can pay enough money to get away with virtually anything. You’ve probably also heard that the Peacemaker Guild pursues individuals based on payments made by their accusers, have you not?”

  Anton nodded. “That more or less matches the stories I’ve heard.”

  “I suspected as much. I’ll even grant you that the stories are true, to a degree. But in the law, degrees are critically important.”

  The alien turned his attention to Jackie again. “Those who swear out charges against someone do put up a fee to pay for the criminal’s capture and return. What you might be unaware of is that we can and do release the charged individual if we discover the charges are untrue. I might add that those swearing out false warrants usually find themselves in significant trouble.

  “As I said, the Peacemaker Guild ensures the peace is kept. That’s why each world provides a set number of people to join our ranks. No one species dominates our guild, so we must all work as one to hold the Union together.”

  He turned to Anton. “As to your other charge, yes, Nedget is my brother. That doesn’t mean he won’t be held accountable if he’s done something wrong. If you have proof he violated his Merc Guild-sanctioned contract, there will be consequences.

  “I believe this is the point in our conversation where you either produce your proof or recant your accusation. If you want to see justice done, if you want me to show mercy to your young associate, lay your evidence before me now.”

  Anton sighed and slumped a little. “We hadn’t gotten our hands on the proof yet. We were going to acquire it on Gtandus. I know your brother keeps records of every business dealing in the Yestrellian corporate computers.

  “I paid someone to install a chip reader in my companion’s hand. It’s designed to capture your brother’s corporate security response.

  “My intent was to gain access to the Yestrellian headquarters building, obtain a copy of any evidence, and bring a complaint against him with the Mercenary Guild for breach of contract.”

  The Gtandan enforcer seemed to consider his words as he looked Jackie over. “That explains the little charade about him remembering your scent. Very clever.”

  He looked at her a moment longer and then returned his gaze to Anton.

  “Leaving aside the fact that you have just admitted to another very serious crime, why would you only seek to have the Mercenary Guild find his company in breach of contract?

  “While that would be undoubtedly painful for his company, and likely disastrous for his career, Nedget would still be free.”

  Anton shrugged. “We humans have learned to keep our expectations low when it comes to the Galactic Union. Most of you see us as savages and use the Union’s laws against us.

  “Hell, I almost had to cut off my right arm to get a clause into the contract that allowed the Dire Wolves to investigate our employer if the mission went badly.”

  The enforcer nodded. “Negotiating effective contracts can be challenging. Yet, you say you negotiated a clause allowing you to investigate the conditions that resulted in the adverse termination of your contract? How was it phrased, precisely?”

  “That hardly matters,” Anton growled. “Yestrellian declined to give us any access to the records on their system, and the planetary courts refused to enforce the clause. I’m sure that was another case of money doing the talking.”

  The Gtandan grunted. “I can see where that would be an obstacle. It’s unfortunate your plans this evening didn’t work out as you had hoped. You’re actually closer to a potential solution than you realized.

  “My brother never knows what information he will require during a negotiation. He keeps a complete set of his corporate files with him on all trips off world. It’s on a slate in his room as we speak.” The alien gestured toward the door.

  “I have no idea how you would have gotten into his suite, but I suppose you might’ve been resourceful enough to make that happen. Then, of course, you’d have had to defeat the security system on his room to gain access to his slate.”

  Enforcer Jardis looked steadily at Anton. “It’s a shame there’s no proof of my brother’s wrongdoing. I don’t particularly like him all that much. He’s been something of an ass to me my entire life.”

  After a long moment, the alien stepped toward the door. “I’m going to question him more closely about the events in question. Unfortunately, I expect he’ll completely deny everything and will want me to follow up on your UAAC violations. As I mentioned, the penalties are quite severe.

  “Since my brother has guards outside this suite and his personal rooms are secure, I feel no qualms about leaving you here while I investigate further. When I return, you should be prepared to deal with the consequences of tonight’s events.”

  * * *

  Jackie shifted her eyes to Anton as soon as the door closed behind the alien. “What’s happening? What’s he doing?”

  Her partner shrugged. “He’s playing some kind of game. He either wants to catch us in the act of breaking into his brother’s slate, or he wants us to stew while we wait for him to return and arrest us.”

  She surged to her feet. “We’ve got to get the information before he gets back! If he’s going to arrest us, we won’t be any worse off for trying. For whatever reason, he’s giving us a chance to get the proof we need.”

  Anton didn’t stand. “We shouldn’t rush into this. If it’s a trap—”

  “Then you’ve warned me,” she said, cutting him off. “This is my chance to make the bastard responsible for my father’s death pay. I’m not going to let that slip away. Come help me.”

  He sighed and stood. “I hope you’re right.”

  The office door opened when she approached and the common room seemed to be empty. There were four other doors leading away from the larger area. One of them led to a kitchen and another to a multi-species rest room.

  One of the remaining rooms undoubtedly belonged to Xarbon. The other probably held either his assistant or his guards.

  Only one of the doors opened at her approach. “I’ll take a quick look inside this one while you see if you can unlock the other door,” she told Anton.

  The man never went anywhere without his tools. Frankly, she was astonished their captors hadn’t searched them. Yes, the guards had scanned them for weapons at the ballroom, but that didn’t mean they were without resources.

  It took Jackie less than a minute to determine the room belonged to some flunky. The clothing was definitely not up to Xarbon’s credit balance and—unless he dressed as a female in the privacy of his own quarters—the person staying here was of the opposite gender.

  She returned to the common area and found Anton still hard at work on the locked door. “How’s it going?”

  He grunted. “Someone did an exceptionally competent job of selecting the lock for this door. It’s proving most vexing. I think I should have it in—”

  The door slid open.

  “—just a mo
ment,” he finished.

  Jackie didn’t wait for him to look inside before she entered. The clock was ticking. The peacemaker could already be on his way back.

  The belongings in this room were definitely consistent with someone like Xarbon. It only took her a few minutes to find where he’d hidden his private slate at the back of his closet. A closet, by the way, that was larger than the stateroom she and Anton were sharing.

  The slate was an exceptionally high-end model with all the bells and whistles. It had an external data storage cluster that was undoubtedly spacious and well-protected. This was where she would see if the code she’d stolen did the trick.

  She arranged the slate on the sleeping pad and powered it up. As soon as it prompted her for authentication, she sent the Gtandan’s stolen credentials.