Chapter Ten

Tantos Station

Mardoban rolled to a crouch and looked around himself as the marketplace dissolved into chaos. The ground where he and Gilgam were about to have walked was scorched and blackened – from the size of the scar, the Duke guessed that it had been caused by a shot from a powerful beam weapon, rather than an explosion. Around them, people were screaming; most seemed to be panicking and fleeing for whatever shelter they could find, but a few of the more hardened sort had pulled out weapons of their own and were looking about wildly, as if seeking a target.

Mardoban sighed, reached down to his waist, and pulled a metal hilt from a pouch at his belt. He flipped a switch, and a sleek, slightly curving blade extended from it; it was shorter and lighter than the dueling swords he usually preferred, but also easier to conceal. Flipping a second switch, and the blade was suddenly wreathed in a crackling, violet corona of energy. Around the market, several people turned and at the sight of the weapon their eyes widened and they stepped back; they knew the weapon preferred by a knight or noble when they saw it, and probably guessed from it that Mardoban was someone important. So much for keeping a low profile.

The Duke stood slowly, holding the sword before him in a practiced stance; Gilgam took up a position just behind him, beam pistol at the ready. Carefully, the two men scanned the walls and the tops of nearby stalls, looking for their would-be assassin – for Mardoban was certain that this attack was no coincidence. Somebody, he thought, didn't want him to return from this little trip alive.

There. A flash of movement from the roof of one of the shops, what looked to be a beam rifle being raised. Just as the assassin fired again, Mardoban raised his sword in the direction of the shot; the energy beam lanced through the air, and then its trajectory seemed to curve towards the blade of his sword, as though the weapon attracted it. Mardoban didn't understand the science behind how the effect worked, but he knew that it had saved his life many times before, and it did so again now. A good dueling sword, wielded by someone who knew what they were doing, was a shield as well as a blade, and the assassin's blast struck it and dissipated harmlessly. Gritting his teeth, Mardoban pulled his sword back before the assassin could fire again and lashed it forward in a swift arc; a crescent-shaped wave of energy lanced from the blade and shot towards the roof. It wasn't a particularly accurate form of attack, but here, it didn't need to be; it impacted the roof and exploded, shattering it. The Duke thought he could hear the assassin's surprised shout as he fell.

"Sir," Gilgam said behind him, "I think we're about to have company." Mardoban turned in the direction he was indicating and saw several figures shoving their way through the panicked crowd, heading straight towards them. Most of them just looked like regular toughs in a hodgepodge of street clothes and armor, beam pistols in their hands. In the lead, however, was a figure who’s like the Duke had seen before and had haunted his nightmares ever since. Sleek grey body armor, tight black garments beneath it that left not an inch of skin showing, and an empty, featureless black mask behind which he could only imagine cold eyes regarding him inscrutably.

"So, it's true, then," Mardoban muttered. Either the same people who had been behind the Queen's assassination were also backing the current pirate threat, or someone desperately wanted him to believe it was so.

"You have been meddling in things you shouldn't, my lord," the assassin said, his voice cold and almost mechanical. "It's time you learned your lesson in manners."

"So, Specter sold me out, did he?" Mardoban asked, though he didn't believe it. He'd never known Specter to betray a client's confidence. But maybe his enemy's reaction would give him some clue as to what he did know, and what, exactly, was going on here.

The assassin only gave a mirthless laugh. "The informant is irrelevant," he said. "We were planning to kill you before you even set foot on this station. It's time to tie up old loose ends." He raised a hand, and his men arrayed themselves at his sides, raising their weapons. The few remaining members of the crowd nearby scattered.

"Stay behind me," Mardoban muttered; Gilgam nodded and fell back into his shadow, beam pistol raised. The Duke held his sword at the ready.

"Fire!" the assassin ordered, and the pirates with him did so their bolts shooting towards their intended victims, as fast and implacable as the wrath of the Evil One. Before they could impact, however, the dueling sword came up, drawing the blasts towards its blade. Mardoban grunted as they impacted, the sword bucking in his hands as it absorbed that much energy at once, and then he slammed it down, point first, into the ground, releasing the energy in a great surge. The ground rocked beneath his feet, but the Duke and his bodyguard were ready for it and held firm. The pirates, however, were not so fortunate. The shockwave rocked them off their feet; several of them fell, though the assassin wasn't one of them. One of the pirates who remained standing raised his pistol, but before he could fire it Gilgam got off a shot of his own; it struck the pirate in the chest and he collapsed, smoldering.

The remaining pirates scrambled to their feet and fanned out, surrounding their intended victims with pistols raised. Behind them the assassins stood with his arms crossed, not making a move; Mardoban's face tightened in anger at the sight of him. He raised his sword towards the nearest pirate in a mocking salute, and behind him he could feel Gilgam shift as he did the same with his pistol. Then the pirates attacked.

Once again, energy bolts flashed from the muzzles of their weapons; Mardoban raised his sword high in a sweeping arc, trying to gather as many of the bolts to its blade as he could. Behind him, Gilgam fired again; he heard a pirate cry out, but he didn't think it sounded fatal.

The pirates facing the Duke now exchanged glances and holstered their pistols; they had seen that beam weapons weren't effective against his sword and had decided to try another approach. Two of them drew sharp, wickedly barbed knives that crackled with electricity; a third pulled out a long baton that vibrated in his hands. They weren't the equal of Mardoban's own sword, but they were no weapons to scoff at either; more than one knight had thought his or her skills and blade equal to any task, only to be brought down by such as these. Mardoban didn't intend to be one of them.

The pirates charged and Mardoban brought his sword up, while behind him Gilgam fired repeatedly towards his own opponents. The first pirate brought his knife hissing towards Mardoban's throat; the dueling sword caught the blade and pushed it back, the energy from both weapons spitting and crackling as they strove against each other. The other knife-wielding pirate charged from the Duke's other side, but Mardoban saw him from the corner of his eye. His free hand came up quickly and caught the man's wrist before he could strike; a sharp kick to his belly sent his sprawling.

The first pirate chose that moment to press his advantage. He was younger than Mardoban, taller and heavier, and he used that advantage of size and strength to shove him back against Gilgam, pushing forward with an intense expression in his eyes. Mardoban met that gaze and gritted his teeth in concentration; bracing himself, he shoved with all his strength, twisting his arm as he did so. The pirate's eyes widened as his knife went flying, and then the tip of the Duke's sword slammed into his chest. There was a flash of bright violet light as the sword skewered him and then he collapsed, his body sliding off it onto the floor.

The third pirate remained, holding his baton before him like a shield. Then he charged, switching the weapon from one hand to the other lightly as he tried to find a way around the Duke's guard. The baton likely carried a charge, Mardoban knew, and its vibration would amplify the pain from its physical strike. One blow from that weapon could put him out of the fight, so he was determined to make sure it didn't happen. He regarded the pirate carefully, watched his feinting and guessed his pattern – and then the sword came up to meet the baton just as it shot forward for the strike. The baton fell to the ground in two smoking pieces; the pirate looked from them to the Duke with a growing expression of horror on his face, then turned and fled.

Mardoban stepped forward and turned to face Gilgam, who appeared to have shot both the pirates he faced while sustaining only a minor burn on his shoulder. The two men nodded at each other once, then turned to regard the assassin.

"Did you really think those fools would be enough to kill me?" Mardoban asked, smiling thinly. "I'm disappointed."

The assassin inclined his head; though his face couldn't be seen, Maroban thought he was scowling. "I'd hoped they would be sufficient," he said. "Clearly, I was wrong. I shall have to rectify this situation. Fortunately, I came prepared." Reaching down to his side, he drew an object that hung from his belt; Mardoban's eyes widened as he recognized a dueling sword as fine as his own. The assassin flicked a switch on the sword's hilt, and it hummed to life with flickering energy.

"Leave him to me," Mardoban muttered to Gilgam. "You know your pistol won't be much good against that sword."

"Understood, sir," Gilgam said, though it was clear he wasn't happy about it. Mardoban stepped forward, sword raised in a salute to a worthy opponent; the assassin returned the gesture with perfect grace. Then he struck.

The first blow was so fast, Mardoban could barely parry it. The assassin struck with a furious speed, raining blows in a constant barrage designed to put an opponent off-balance and penetrate any opening in their guard. The Duke could keep up, but only barely – he wasn't a young man any longer, and the assassin's strength and speed seemed almost inhuman and pointed to the fact that he had indeed been cybernetically enhanced. Slowly, Mardoban was forced back, overwhelmed by the strength of his enemy's onslaught.

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"You fight well," the assassin hissed behind his mask. "There aren't many who can keep up with my attack for long. But you know how this is going to end."

"I do," Mardoban said, "but that doesn't mean I won't fight to my last breath!" He dropped to the ground, ducking under the assassin's strike and swept out a leg, hoping to trip the man; but when it hit the assassin's calf, his leg only felt solid metal. The Duke shouted in surprise and only barely managed to roll out from under the assassin's retaliatory strike. He looked up to see the masked face looming above him, alien and unreadable. The assassin raised his sword for the kill.

Suddenly he stumbled, sparks shooting from the back of his head. Gilgam appeared behind him, pistol raised; he'd taken the opportunity to shoot the assassin while he was distracted, a blow that would have killed a normal man. The assassin only stumbled, but it was opening enough. Mardoban hauled himself to his feet and brought his sword down, hard, on the assassin's wrist. There was an explosion of sparks and the dueling sword fell from his hand; Mardoban kicked him in the chest and sent him stumbling backwards.

The assassin stumbled to his feet, his head and wrist sparking. His hand wasn't wholly severed, but it was damaged; Mardoban could see the metal and wires exposed where he'd struck. The assassin regarded his hand carefully, felt the back of his skull, and then looked up at his opponents.

"Well-played," he said. "Fortunately for you, I am under orders to avoid capture. But the Commander is not done with you, ast Orlanes. Remember this." He stepped backwards, and then suddenly he shimmered – his personal cloaker must be activating. Mardoban stepped forward, but it was too late. The assassin vanished, leaving the center of the market corridor empty.

"Damn!" Mardoban swore. He stepped forward, sweeping the air in front of him with his sword, but the assassin was gone. The Duke listened carefully, but he could hear no sound of his enemy's breathing or footsteps. The man must have truly fled, not merely feinted. Mardoban growled and thrust his sword back into his belt. The best potential lead he'd had on both the pirates and Aestera's killers, and he'd let it slip from his fingers.

"My lord!" Gilgam called; Mardoban turned to see him kneeling beside the prone form of one of the pirates – the Duke thought it was the same one he'd first knocked out of the fight with a kick. "He's still alive!" True enough, the pirate was groaning and stirring where he lay.

"Thank the Lord!" the Duke shouted, hurrying over. He crouched by the pirate and seized the man by his collar, hoisting his face so that he was looking directly at Mardoban's own. "Now, I have some questions for you. Who are you? Why did you try to kill us? What do you want?"

The pirate regarded him blearily, then cursed under his breath. "I'm dead," he muttered. "I'm the last one standing, and now I'm dead. Of all the damned luck…"

"You're not dead," Mardoban said, "and if you cooperate, you don't have to be. You may have noticed, but your boss ran off and left you hanging. You're in no position to bargain, but if you answer my questions, I might decide to let you live."

The pirate laughed. "He wasn't my boss," he said. "He works for the Commander, same as the rest of us."

"A bit higher up than the rest of you, I'd imagine," Gilgam put in. "Considering that he got the advanced tech and weapons and you didn't."

"True enough," the pirate said. "He's one of the Commander's cronies, been with him from the beginning; the rest of us just get brought in for muscle when they need to do jobs. I don't know why the Commander wanted you dead; I just know the orders we were given. Kill you, be seen doing it. Make chaos."

Mardoban nodded; he'd though it would be something like that. "And do you know anything else about what your boss has planned?"

Before the pirate could answer, they were interrupted by the sound of running feet. Mardoban rose and turned to face a squad of men in plain white armor with black faceplates. Guild security forces, arriving at last.

"Citizen," the leading officer snapped, "what is going on here? Give an accounting for yourself, now, unless you'd rather spend the night in a holding cell."

Mardoban smiled coolly and raised his head, letting the officer get a good look at his face; beside him, Gilgam snapped to military precision. "I am Mardoban ast Orlanes, Duke of Orlanes and regent of the Dozen Stars. This man is Captain Gilgam ast Uran of the Royal Guards, my bodyguard. There was an attempt on my life, but it was unsuccessful; I will compensate the guilds for damage to their station. If your superiors would be so kind as to provide an escort from Tantos Station for the two of us and our prisoner, we would be much obliged. We have business to attend to."

/

"This is unbelievable!" Duke Hiram declared as he gestured dramatically with his glass of wine. "Someone dared to try to take the life of you, my friend and our beloved regent, in my own system no less! An outrage! Heads will roll for this, Mardoban, I promise you!"

"That won't be necessary, Hiram," Mardoban said, staring down into his own wineglass but not drinking from it. He casually strolled over to the window in Tantos Palace's opulent sitting room and looked out over the city below them. Tantos III was not the most hospitable of planets; the air was heavy and nearly opaque, and the heat was somewhat above that which humans could comfortably handle. Still, the planet was rich in metals and gems that were valuable in technology, trade, and simple aesthetics, and so a thriving mining industry had arisen there. The trade in such substances had made the dukes of Tantos wealthy indeed over the course of their history.

The shapes of most of the buildings could only vaguely be made out amid the thick clouds, which concealed all except for rough silhouettes and the countless lights. Those lights, however, could be seen spreading out to the limits of Mardoban's vision, brighter by far than the dull smudge of Tantos's sun in the sky above. Tantos City was the hub of the planet's industry and wealth, and in terms of size and complexity, though not aesthetics, it was a metropolis with few equals in the known galaxy.

"Won't be necessary?" Hiram demanded, coming up behind Mardoban and pulling him from his thoughts. "You were almost killed, man! The pirates have gone too far this time! I don't consider myself a harsh or brutal ruler, but I won't let this go unavenged!"

"There's no need for theatrics," Mardoban said as he turned back to him. "The lead assassin escaped; that much is true. But most of his accomplices died, and I acquired information that will help me greatly in terms of planning our next move. When the pirates make their next appearance, we'll be ready for them."

"Ah-ha," Hiram said shrewdly. "Is it true what I hear, then, that you and your bodyguard managed to take one of the assassins captive?"

Mardoban looked over at Gilgam, who stood patiently in a corner, and exchanged a nod. "It's true," he said. "But the captive pirate isn't the source of the information. I arrived on Tantos Station to meet with an… old acquaintance of mine who had gathered the information and shared it with me."

"Specter, of course," said one of the guild representatives who was also in the room, a sharply dressed man who lounged casually on one of Hiram's sofas. The guildsman had the easy familiarity that suggested someone who came here often and was a welcome guest; unsurprising, considering Hiram's business connections. "Someone should have done something about that ruffian ages ago. He's probably the one who sold you out, my lord regent."

"I doubt it," Mardoban said mildly. "And considering the guilds make use of his services as readily as anyone else, I doubt you're as eager to see him gone as you claim to be." The guildsman stiffened and his fellow representative, an elegant woman who sat on the couch opposite him, sniffed. Mardoban ignored them both. "In any case, I've found the source of the information to be reliable in the past, and I believe that with it, we'll be able to set a trap for the pirates when they next appear."

"Clever, Mardoban," said Hiram, sipping his wine. He leaned forward conspiratorially, his fine clothing crinkling. "But since you've been investigating this matter, tell me, Duke to Duke; is it true that the Queen's assassins are involved in this business? Have they resurfaced at last?"

"Either they have, or someone wants us to think so," Mardoban said. "The assassin I fought was dressed the same as those who took Her Majesty's life, and from the injuries he sustained, I believe he had similar cybernetic implants."

"Lord preserve us!" Hiram muttered. "Were the devils not content with Aestera's death? Are they not going to be satisfied until they've picked us all off, one by one?"

"I don't know what their motivation is," said Mardoban. "Nor am I entirely certain it's the same group. However, the assassin mentioned the title of the pirate leader – the Commander – which is the same as the one that Specter gave me. My captive confirmed that the assassins have been with the Commander from the beginning. Therefore, I think it possible – even likely – that the Commander was the one who planned Her Majesty's assassination or was at least near the top of the operation. I don't know if he attends every raid in person – my prisoner had never met him in the flesh, or so he says – but if he does…"

"You hope to draw him out at last!" Hiram said, and shook his head. "Well, you don't think small, Mardoban. I'll give you that."

"This matter has been hanging over us for too long, Hiram," Mardoban said. "I intend to see an end to it."

Hiram nodded. "Well, I certainly can't say I don't approve," he said. "But still, I assume that you didn't come to me simply because I'm the closest, and I'm not vain enough to think you did it because you enjoy my company and my wine that much. You want something from me, Mardoban, but you know that militarily I'm not the strongest of the council. I'm a businessman, not a soldier."

"But you are certainly the richest man in the Kingdom!" the guildsman said cheerfully; he and his female counterpart raised their glasses in salute. "Maybe the Crown's running low on funds and decided to borrow some from you?"

"It wouldn't be so bad to have a regent in your debt, now, would it?" the guildswoman added, laughing.

Mardoban frowned at them both. "I'm not here for money," he said; he fished the datacard from his pocket and held it up. "I have information here regarding the pirates' next move. They intend to hit your shipments again, Hiram. I'm here because I'm going to help you prepare."

"Haven't these monsters done enough to me?" Hiram muttered angrily. "Why don't they go bother Sateira and leave me in peace for a while?"

Mardoban didn't mention the potential ties between the pirates, Sateira, and Respen; he'd deal with that later, and he wasn't willing quite yet to air that particular information in public. "The perils of success, Hiram," he said. "When you have money and resources, there will always be enemies ready to take them from you. Fortunately for you, you have me here now; you may not be a soldier, but I am. As regent, and as the duke tasked by the council with dealing with the pirate threat, I'm going to do everything in my power to help you plan for this next raid." He held up the datacard again. "And I have the enemy's plans right here."

"Are you sure that the pirates don't know what you know?" Hiram asked. "Surely that 'Commander' of theirs figured out you met with Specter. Doesn't he realize you have his plans?"

Mardoban shook his head. "He's probably guessed I met with Specter, but if he knows what we discussed, then Specter's security is slipping. And the prisoner confirmed that this was to be the next operation, though he didn't know many details. I think the Commander will be wary of a trap, but we can outthink him if we're careful." He put the datacard back in his pocket and grabbed Hiram's wrist. "We can do this, Tantos. Let's get to work."