The Black Guard: Book II: Evolution (Black Guard Series 2) (22 page)

"As I told the SUC committee, we are only concerned
with our client's life. That may sound hard, but it is based on years of
experience and intended for the client's sake." I held up my hand to stop
any comments. "You think you know what you saw back there—two men
hijacking a skimmer and kidnapping a woman. And many solutions jumped into your
mind." Before she could react, I continued, "Volpe?"

"Sir, the police's long-range viewer indicated they
let the woman go after we had climbed to two thousand meters.

"Let her go?" Sharli asked, looking
bewildered.

"It was a staged hijacking to divert our attention.
What the idiots don't realize is that any Guard could have shot both men dead
at that distance. That was a practical demonstration of one of many reasons we
don't interfere."

Sharli sat quiet for a long while. Finally, she gave a
choked laugh. "Since my family and I are still alive and unharmed, I guess
I shouldn't tell you how to do your job."

 
"Ms.
Sharli, your instincts are admirable and what you should expect every good
citizen to do. But the rules have changed and what used to be the right thing
to do yesterday can no longer be assumed the right thing to do today. You have
to trust that although our rules may appear heartless, they are intended for your
safety."

"Alright. Let me apologize now for all the nasty
things I'm going to say and think about you over the next couple of
weeks." She laughed.

* * *

"I've been invited to a town meeting in
Lahore," Sharli said as she sat down for breakfast. It wasn't a question,
but it was—should I go?

"I don't think you are in any more danger at a town
meeting than at home. Here, you put your family at more risk, whereas away you
potentially put others at risk."

"Why?"

"Because those that want you dead aren't concerned
about collateral damage. And it's not like they can just walk up to you and
shoot you," I said. "So they will need several gunmen and automatic
weapons. Therefore, when the shooting starts the result will be confusion and
panic, which is a recipe for disaster."

"Damn them," she mumbled. "I can't give
in to them without betraying those that voted for me, not to mention Safort, but
I don't want to see anyone hurt." She turned toward me with a look of
desperation.

"Ms. Sharli, best to ignore the thugs and let the
Black Guard do the worrying. You cannot control their actions or anticipate
what they will do or when." I knew that was easier said than done, but I hoped
it would ease her mind somewhat. I decided to accompany her detail and stay close
to Sharli, because I thought time was getting short and killing her the logical
next move. We left later that morning: Sharli, Cerff and his four-Guard detail,
and me.

"I notice you brought additional Black Guard.
That's good. Lahore is in the southern part of the state and leans toward the alliance,"
Sharli said during the flight.

"Leave the worrying to us." I smiled.

She gave me a weak smile in response.

When we arrived, Cerff left Corporal Preis outside with
the skimmer. Inside, the hall was crowded, with at least a couple hundred
seated on portable chairs to the left and right of a two-person-wide central aisle.
As we drew even with the back row, I noticed an assortment of spacers who
looked like ex-raiders—eight were obvious, judging by their dress and
posture. They each wore an Mfw and were strategically placed to provide maximum
crossfire: two each in the middle of the seated audience to the left, two to
the right, and two leaning against the walls on the right and left sides. Their
configuration would also produce chaos and result in excessive collateral
damage.

Sharli was in the center of the crossfire.

I stopped her with a hand on her arm as I tried to decide
on a defensive plan to save her and minimize the killing that was sure to
follow. Before I could decide, a tall wiry man pushed away from the wall he had
been leaning against.

"Well if it isn't the black bitch who murdered seven
innocent guards at Outpost." An evil smile appeared on his face and his
eyes lit with excitement at the upcoming confrontation. The other seven I had
identified either stood or moved away from the wall they had been standing
against.

Duty
and its
ramifications flashed through my mind.

My first duty is
to my client and my detail, not to these innocent people who have shown up to
hear Sharli speak. However, if I shoot first, I'll have the advantage, and surprise
could possibly minimize the collateral damage. But … I have a duty to the Jax,
which means, like at Outpost, I can't shoot first without throwing blame on the
Jax for starting the fight and throwing their motivation into question.

As Cerff and Ganz moved ahead of Sharli, my focus became
the man baiting me and the other man standing to his left against the back wall.
My mind was at peace with my duty.

"Did you enjoy killing them while they were
distracted by their leader's welcoming speech? The Jax are cowards!" he
shouted, warming to his rant.

Unfortunately, he was also making the audience restless.

"And deviates who—" the man on his left
screamed and thrust out his left hand like a gun while his right rested on his
Mfw. Simultaneously with the shout, the wiry looking man drew his Mfw as did
the man on his left.

I swept through Sharli's legs as I slapped my Mfw
release and fired as Sharli went airborne, and my momentum began me moving
right. Unfortunately, the contact with Sharli caused my first shot to miss the
center of his head, ripping through his cheek instead and spinning him around to
the left. My momentum continued me rotating right and I shot the man who had
just shouted, hitting him dead center between his eyes.

His weapon had just cleared his holster and it dropped
to the floor as he was thrown back against the wall.

As I continued through what would be a 360-degree sweep,
I saw the man who had been in the opposite corner crumbling to the floor with
blood spurting from a face wound. The two who had been in the audience were crashing
over chairs as people were either diving for the floor or rising to flee.

As my sweep finished my 360-degree rotation, I rose in
time to see the wiry man had recovered and was bringing his Mfw to bear on me.
We fired together. He hit me in the shoulder and arm; my shot hit him between
the eyes. He flew backward and crashed into a window, where he hung draped
backward over the sill.

By now, everyone was on their feet and ready to stampede
like terrified cattle.

I fired several rounds into the ceiling and shouted,
"Stop or I'll shoot." I fired twice again before the gunfire overcame
their panic.

"Please, calm down. The danger is over. Panic will
only get some of you injured or killed." I looked to the camera crew near
the front of the room and pointed at them. "Did you film what just
happened?" I asked, and it seemed to distract the audience and calm them
somewhat. At the same time, I helped Sharli up off the floor.

"Yes. We had our cameras going the entire
time," said a young man, grinning. I couldn't blame him. This was going to
be the scoop of the year.

"Good, could you replay it in slow motion, so …
Representative Sharli and whoever is in charge of this meeting can review it to
ensure there is no doubt who drew first?" I said looking at Sharli, who
nodded. She was holding her left elbow in obvious pain. "Those who would
like to leave or go outside while we wait for the camera crew to get set up can
do so now. But please go slowly, so no one gets hurt." I waved to Sergeant
Ganz. "Ms. Sharli, let Sergeant Ganz look at your arm. He's a qualified
medic."

It took an hour for the dead bodies to be cleared out of
the way, the chairs to be reset, and to get the camera crew to set up a feed to
several monitors scattered around the room. Then the meeting's chair, a Mr.
Holt, went through the recording with Sharli, noting the time each person had
drawn his weapon. It was a slow process as the differences in some cases were
fractions of a second and the recording had to be run four or five times. After
fifteen minutes, it became a party as food and drinks appeared and everyone became
glued to the monitor. In the end, it was clear the raiders had drawn first in
every case. We had just finished when the police arrived. Fortunately, Sharli's
two assigned policemen had been there during the fight and the review of the
recording, which shortened the time with the police lieutenant sent to
investigate the incident.

"I had expected you to jump in front of me, not
kick my feet out from under me," Sharli said, sounding thoughtful.

Ganz had determined she hadn't broken anything in the
fall, only bruised the bone in her elbow.

"Although we are willing to die to save your life,
we're not suicidal. If we die, in all probability you die next, since there
would be no one to protect you. So we do our best to get you safely out of the
way so we can engage the person wanting to kill you."

"I would apologize for all the names I called you
for dumping me like you did, but I think I already apologized a couple of days
ago for all the things I was going to call you." she smiled.

"You did, and no additional apology is
necessary."

* * *

The incident at Lahore had caused the Safort government
to round up all the crew from the Wanderer and detain them while they
investigated the involvement of the Valhall crew. The Valhall government
representative on Safort demanded the Black Guard be arrested for unjustified
killing of the Valhall crew, claiming they were there visiting old friends.

I hoped that would disrupt any additional attempts on
Sharli's life, but I couldn't wager her life on it. There was little more than
a week remaining until the vote on the alliance, and whoever was in charge not
only couldn't delay for long but probably figured it was their last
chance—all or nothing.

"Well, Captain, what does your crystal ball say is
next?" Sharli asked, looking far too serious. I had been contemplating
that very question ever since the shooting. There were many possibilities, but
one particularly ugly one stood out.

"I'd like to install recording equipment on all
your communication devices until after the vote."

"Why?" She frowned. "You think they will
try threatening me?"

"Yes, to see your reaction."

"What would be the point? It's a reality."

"No, not you but your daughter and mother, after
the vote," I reluctantly said. "It would be good to have a recording
of that conversation and to know your response."

Sharli staggered to an empty chair and sat. Her face had
turned a pasty white and her lip trembled. She closed her eyes and sat rocking
for a long time. "Thank you, Captain Sapir. You're right. I need to have a
response if that happens. One I've had time to consider. You have my permission
to install the equipment." She rose and went to her bedroom and closed the
door.

* * *

The next four days were uneventful. Sharli had visited
her family-owned store and spent several hours discussing business with her
manager, stayed home two days reading SUC proposals, and visited a town meeting
where she mingled with the people attending. I became increasingly nervous as
the day of the alliance vote neared.

"I need to go into the office today," Sharli
said as she sat down for breakfast. Her mother was in another room working with
Tami on school lessons. "And you were right. Some woman called and
threatened my mother and daughter would die within a year if the alliance
wasn't approved. Did you hear the recording?"

"No. Your conversations are your personal business,
so the recordings are yours to do with what you choose."

"What would you have told such a caller?"

"I don't have a child and haven't seen my mother
since I was six, but if they threatened to kill my Guard detail, who I consider
close family, I would have told them I would see that their organization or
country would pay in kind. I would not kill for revenge, but there are many ways
to exact justice."

Sharli laughed for the first time in days. "I told
her she had better pay someone to be sure my mother and daughter didn't have an
accident, because if they did, I would spend every waking moment lobbying for
an alliance with the Jax, and that beside the recording of this phone
conversation, I have plenty of examples of Outpost and Valhall treachery to
campaign on."

"They now must kill you," I said. You have
left them no other option." I contacted Elijah, Catz, and Cerff. They
appeared seconds later.

"This very brave lady has taken charge of the game.
Her adversaries must now kill her or lose. They have no other option. So, we
are going back to two teams. Lieutenant Elijah, you and Sergeant Catz's
original team are now responsible for Mrs. Alani and Tami. Sergeant Cerff, I
want maximum coverage on Ms. Sharli until the vote."

I clicked my Mfi to the Crouching Tiger.

Blatt answered.

"Your call is early. Is there a problem?" he
asked, frowning with concern.

"How would you like to loan Ms. Sharli a combat
shuttle until the vote on Saturday? The game is coming to an end, and I believe
a combat shuttle will prove to be checkmate." I couldn't help but smile at
his deepening frown.

"Do you want marines? I thought—"

"No marines, just a pilot and an offensive and
defensive equipment operator. Unless I'm wrong, Ms. Sharli has limited her adversaries'
options to just one—killing her. And the easiest way would be to shoot
down her skimmer. If that happens, Jax would lose the alliance vote and eight
Black Guards, including their heartless captain."

"If that happened, Sapir, the JCC would have me
grounded and assigned to them as a clerk so that they could ensure I never had
anything to smile about for the rest of my career. Therefore, Ms. Sharli's
combat shuttle will be there within two hours." He gave a snort and
clicked off.