When the kiss ended, she smiled, and his heart spun in very familiar circles.
“I will admit,” she said huskily, “that I suggested to my grandfather the negotiations shouldn’t end until the cast is off. Just so we all know.”
Epilogue
The bridge of the pirate destroyer Blood Savage was very quiet. The dead aren’t generally very talkative.
The Ship’s Mage leaned his head against the simulacrum, obviously trying not to look too closely at the body of the ship’s nominal captain. The old pirate had recognized the gas before it had taken effect and tried to resist.
The ship’s new – and always true – commander knelt by the body, cleaning blood off the blades sticking out of his forearms. He knew the Mage was terrified of him – had been even before he’d ordered the pirate scum that made up most of the Savage’s crew gassed and then gutted the stubborn captain.
“We have a call on the Link,” the only other living person on the bridge announced. With the scum dead, there were only a dozen living souls left on the ship. Enough to get it somewhere, but not enough to fight. But the commander didn’t want a fight now.
“Put it on,” he ordered, rising from his crouch and dropping into the captain’s chair. There was a little bit of blood on it, he noted absently. They’d have to clean it up.
A slim, shaven-headed older man in a gray business suit appeared. The background could have been the office of any one of ten billion mid-level managers anywhere in the Protectorate.
“Report, Agent,” the man snapped.
“The operation was a failure,” the Agent said calmly. “Hand Montgomery intervened. I attempted to complete the mission regardless, but he pulled the Flotilla and Patrol together and engaged our little fleet. I was forced to activate the Clean Sweep Protocol and disengage.”
“The agents with Wong and McLaughlin have already reported,” the man in the image told him calmly. “This is an expensive disaster, Agent. Destroyers. Gunships. Perhaps worse, we have reason to believe Montgomery is getting suspicious.”
“How did he even find us?” the man on the Blood Savage’s bridge demanded. “We were in deep space, no one had the location.”
“He took the Alan-a-dale intact,” the older man told him. “Even took a prisoner. Thankfully, it appears the Link was destroyed before it could be found.”
“Damn,” the Agent breathed. “Clean Sweep took out any Link they could have found here,” he noted. “That technology is safe.”
“Thanks to the prisoner, and your pawns’ lack of caution in the Link’s use, he suspects its existence.”
“Then we remove him,” the Agent replied. “It has been done before.”
“A Hand falls, another rises,” his superior replied. “It attracts attention. Almost as much as destroying entire colonies – an action, may I remind you, Agent, which was not within your permitted scope. Massacres will not help us if they even hint at our involvement.”
“The only proof Montgomery has is of murderous pirate scum. We picked them carefully,” the Agent reminded his superior. “Clean Sweep was no great loss to humanity.”
“No. But it drew attention to the fact that someone has something to hide. They’ll be looking for us now.”
“Let them,” the Agent replied. “They will find only dead ends and the dead.”
The other man shook his head.
“You have crossed too many lines this time,” he warned his agent. “Your team is being recalled. I have other agents in place to watch the aftermath – an aftermath, I may note, that appears to be likely to make this sector more stable. The exact opposite of your mission.
“Bring your team home,” he repeated. “We will review your actions in detail once you’re here.”
The Agent bowed and gestured peremptorily for the Mage to start setting up the jump sequence.
“It will be as you command… Vice-Director Ricket.”
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Other books by Glynn Stewart
Starship’s Mage
Starship’s Mage: Omnibus
Hand of Mars
Voice of Mars
Alien Arcana (upcoming, see www.faolanspen.com for latest estimated launch date)
Castle Federation
Space Carrier Avalon
Stellar Fox
Battle Group Avalon (upcoming, see www.faolanspen.com for latest estimated launch date)
Stand Alone Novels
Children of Prophecy
City in the Sky
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Epilogue
Other books by Glynn Stewart