What she did find was the Hand had been so impressed with Nerishka, assassin for hire in Valkris’ espionage syndicate—something the world was renowned for supplying—that they’d headhunted her. Justin had been met with resistance for years until something had happened and Nerishka had been abruptly brought aboard.
From what Lyra could discern, Nadine was active in the Silstrand Alliance—not more than three hundred light years from the Ayra System—but her records were also sealed. What Lyra really wanted to know was exactly how Nerishka had fallen into working for the Hand, and where she’d picked up her skill with toxins. Lyra’s curiosity was centered more around what made Nerishka who she was now—advantageous if Lyra wanted to know her organic partner better.
She hadn’t come into this mission for a short-term pairing. She planned to be with Nerishka for as long as was allowed. Not because she liked Nerishka—which she did—but more because the Death Dealer’s reputation was second to none. And as her assistant, helping the Death Dealer on her missions was a privilege few AIs were offered.
Lyra wasn’t about to mess it up.
A CHAT
STELLAR DATE: 10.06.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Belshazzar, en route to Xerxes
REGION: Ayra System (Independent)
Nerishka palmed the door to her would-be assassin’s temporary jail cell and entered the room, a small steel case in her hand.
Her captive lay on the bed, still bound and unable to move. The woman was staring up at the lights on the overhead, the glare making her green-tinged skin seem more pronounced.
<Strange mods. Wonder where she is from?> Nerishka said to Lyra.
<You mean her and her sisters?>
<Yeah. Another thing that’s more than strange. Is this a family of assassins?>
<Not unheard of. If memory serves, you’re from one of those.> Lyra’s response bore a hint of a smirk and Nerishka smiled.
<Touché,> she said as she approached the assassin. “You have a name?”
The woman’s eyes flashed with anger. “You really think I’m that stupid?”
Nerishka chuckled. “I didn’t realize names made people stupid. It would make things a little easier. I guess I could call you ‘Number Three’. I could go with ‘hey you’, but I think that is going to get confusing fast.” After a short pause, Nerishka said, “Chartreuse! That’ll work…although it might be a little too elegant for you. How about Lime?”
The assassin rolled her eyes. “Are you a comedian, or a spy?”
Nerishka sighed in mock sadness. “I guess I’m working at both. Maybe you gave me too much credit? You and your friends—or is it sisters?—you seem pretty passionate about killing me. You never even stop to have a chat first.”
The woman snorted. “You always this funny? Or do you think acting like you’re not a ruthless killer will convince me to not complete my mission?”
Nerishka pursed her lips and tilted her head, studying the green features for a moment. “You think I’m ruthless? I think I’ll take that as a compliment—though it should tell you something about your future.”
“I know who you are, Death Dealer. You don’t have to pretend with me.”
Nerishka shook her head. “Not sure who this Death Dealer person is. I’m just trying to enjoy a vacation. I’ve already killed two of you, though. May as well go for the trifecta.”
The women’s eyes widened a fraction before her features flattened.
Nerishka let out a laugh. “Oh dear. You didn’t know about the second of your sisters I’d killed?” The woman gave no response and Nerishka continued, “Thing is, I defend myself before stopping to answer questions. Can get a little complicated sometimes, especially when I want to know what I did to earn your ire, but I end up killing you instead. Sorry about that.”
After a moment’s pause in which the assassin simply glared in fury, Nerishka’s eyes widened and she snapped her fingers. “I have it. How about ‘Olive?’ Since you have the whole green thing going for you?”
The woman’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Nerishka. “You think this is a game but let me assure you that it is not. We’re on your tail. We have your scent. We know who you are. And you can’t shake us. Wherever you go, we’ll be there, just waiting to pounce.”
Nerishka frowned and wagged a finger at the woman. “You ever thought of doing voice-work in sims? That little monologue was epic…gave me goosebumps.”
Lyra snickered at Nerishka’s words.
<Not at all. Just the right amount, in fact. Her heart rate is rising, so you have achieved your goal—so long as you were aiming for agitation.>
<Lovely. Achievement unlocked.>
<Well done. You may proceed to Level 2.>
Nerishka chuckled as she addressed her captive, “Why don’t you just tell me who you work for. I mean… I’m apparently living on borrowed time anyway. It’ll make this go a lot easier for both of us.>
<For all of us,> Lyra added. <I’m not looking forward to witnessing these sorts of interrogation techniques first hand.>
Nerishka ignored the AI and gave her captive a small smile. “C’mon, Olive. I’m asking nicely. As you can see I haven’t harmed you in any way. I’m being nice, so why don’t you be nice to me?”
The assassin’s jaw muscles tightened. “I’m not sure…your reputation made you sound so professional. Deadly even. But now that I have to listen to your posturing, I think you’re more of an airhead than anything.” The green woman’s lip curled as she spoke revealing a tattoo on the inside of her bottom lip.
Nerishka let out a laugh and was about to respond when Lyra spoke. <I’m detecting nano activity. She’s attempting to terminate herself. I have enough of my own bots in her body that I think I can lock them down, but who knows what else she has up her sleeve.>
The woman’s smile widened, as if she was amused at something. A smile which faded within seconds as she found her suicide had failed. “What? How did you…?”
Nerishka waved a hand. “You have nanotech. I have nanotech. We’re all happy nanotechy people,” she airily. “Plus, my AI is brilliant, and you’re all alone in your little green head. So there is that.”
The woman glared at Nerishka. Or rather glared more; she was doing a lot of glaring. “OK, Olive, out with it. Who do you work for? You’ve got rather impressive stealth gear, so it’s not some back world. Fletcher or the Ayran military? Hegemony? Trisilieds? Scipio?” Nerishka paused before adding, “Orion?”
With the nano Lyra had deployed inside the assassin’s body, Nerishka could read her opponent’s physiological responses to each option. None appeared to be positive.
“You may be able to control your reactions,” Nerishka said after a moment spent gauging the woman’s responses. She patted her case of vials. “Once these cocktails are flowing through you, you’re not going to be able to hide your responses so well. And since we have your mods locked down, you’re going to feel everything.”
The woman snorted. “You think I’m afraid of pain? We were trained to withstand even the worst of torture techniques.”
Nerishka sighed, then placed her case on the table beside her captive’s hip. She lifted the lid and removed an injector, feeling its familiar weight in her palm as she said, “You’re leaving me no choice. I need you to talk, and I don’t have time to waste.
The woman lifted her head to better see what Nerishka held. She let out a laugh and dropped her head back onto her pillow. “What? You’re going to inject me with some of your special nano? Or maybe one of your fancy poisons?” She let out a snicker. “Oh, we know all about your use of poisons. I’d have called you Toxic Trash or something. Death Dealer…what a joke.”
Nerishka swallowed a frustrated grunt, then shrugged as though the woman’s words hadn’t affected her. “Sorry, Olive. Going to have to use the toxins anyway. One can’t simply trust the word of an assassin, now can one?” Lyra’s chuckle echoed in Nerishka’s mind.
Nerishka administered the truth serum, remaining silent as the woman glared at her throughout the process. It didn’t take long for Nerishka to confirm that though the assassin wasn’t completely immune to her serum, the effects of the blend were greatly reduced.
<Stars! For her to be able to withstand that serum so well, she’s definitely working for someone familiar with my toxins,> Nerishka said to Lyra. <This is bad. If our enemy is resistant even to my poisons…this is very bad.>
<Can’t you formulate a toxin specific to her DNA? You mentioned that as an option for Fletcher if we’d had more than one meeting with him.>
<I could. But that would take time to develop. For now, we’re SOL.>
<So what next? Rip her fingernails off? Chop off a finger or two?>
<Wow, Lyra. I had no idea you had such a vindictive streak.>
<Need I remind you that she did try to kill you. All of them did. Which means she tried to kill me too. I’m not all that compassionate with people who try to end me. Even less with those who try to end me repeatedly.>
The assassin’s laughter drew Nerishka’s attention back to the bed. “If you think stopping my nano was enough, you’re sorely mistaken. We’re supposed to report in periodically. Just to confirm we’re alive, you know? And I’ve missed too many check-ins.”
The grin she gave Nerishka was bordering on maniacal and Lyra said in a quiet voice, <She’s scarier than she realizes.>
<Let’s not enable her by telling her that, ok?>
<Not like I was going to. Anyway, we have something interesting going on with her.>
<Do go on,> Nerishka said when the AI paused overly long.
<She’s emitting some sort of signal. I’m trying to access the packet …contents encrypted, of course. Nothing to be too concerned about since we shut her Link down to begin with.>
<Could it have something to do with her required check-in? Maybe she wasn’t just messing with us.> Nerishka raised her eyebrows. <Maybe the truth serum did work.>
“Be warned, Death Dealer,” the assassin called out to Nerishka. “You and your people have scurried around in the shadows for too long. Your time is coming and there is nowhere you could hide that we won’t find you.”
Nerishka barely paid attention to her captive now, focusing more on Lyra who said, <If that is true and the serum worked, and Olive here wasn’t lying, then we have another thing to worry about—>
<What’s going to happen now that she didn’t check in with her Big Bad Green Boss?> Nerishka nodded.
Lyra made a sound similar to a gasp. <Wait, I have something else too. Appears to be activity in her skin.>
Nerishka shifted her attention to the grinning assassin, the movement beneath the woman’s skin easy to see. <Lyra?>
<Yes?> replied the AI, sounding distracted.
<You remember those little black bumps in the patterns of our Olive’s tattoos?>
<Of course, I do,> replied Lyra, her voice rising in a blend of excitement and horror. She barely paused before yelling out, <Get out of here.>
Nerishka did get out. And in time too.
The doors had barely slid closed when the assassin’s body exploded, spraying every surface in the room with blood, guts and unrecognizable body parts.
<That’s going to be an extra room servicing fee, you know,> said Lyra, sounding terribly serious.
Nerishka let out a soft groan.
DISEMBARKATION
STELLAR DATE: 10.12.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Belshazzar, approaching Nimrud Station
REGION: Xerxes, Ayra System (Independent)
Six days later…
Nerishka stared out of the window at Xerxes.
It was the far side of the planet from where she’d make landfall, but down there…somewhere…was the next set of clues. Where she’d uncover what had caused the deaths, and Karsin’s own death would not be in vain.
The suspicion that Karsin’s death may not have had any connection to Fletcher and the events on Xerxes weighed on her mind. But, for now, she chose to focus on one thing at a time.
Soon the Belshazzar would be docking at Nimrud Station and she’d meet up with Dresden and his team. Nerishka wasn’t so much as dreading it as wanting it to be over with as soon as possible.
She frowned as it hit her that she hadn’t even been thinking of getting things over with in terms of the mission. Her focus had been entirely on the ghost from her past. Stars, there was so much that had been swept under the rug between them. It would be a lot to overcome.
And did she want to overcome it? Should she even be wanting to?
<I have a confession to make,> Lyra said softly, her admission accompanied by a pulsing of guilt.
<What’s wrong?> Nerishka asked, taking care to not sound interrogatory.
<Well, I’ve managed to redirect the regular cleaning crews, and with the torture chamber completely sealed, none of the putrefaction odors have filtered into the ship’s systems. However, rather than deal with having to pay for the extra cleaning in our quarters—and unavoidable questions, I explored the option of adjusting the ship’s cabin allocation records.>
Nerishka laughed. <You. Did Not.> She let out another peal of laughter. “That’s called thinking outside the box. Nicely done.”
Lyra’s avatar supplied a frown. <But, I ran into a little trouble with Lazar—the ship’s AI.>
<Uh oh.> Nerishka said, sobering a little. <They aren’t going to space us, are they?>
Lyra let out a snort. <I’m not sure what it is about this system, but I haven’t come across a single cooperative AI among them.>
<Perhaps it’s because we constantly ask them to do illegal stuff.>
Lyra let out an imperious snort. <They never knew that. I’m not so untrained as to tell a random AI our true purpose. I fashion a story to encourage them to help me out. Some of them I distract by redirecting their attention to sudden, urgent malfunctions in their systems. I’m beginning to think I should have done the same thing with Lazar.>
<So how is he posing a problem?> Nerishka asked, wondering if she needed to pack faster. She’d already dressed in her armor for disembarkation. Overtop she wore a dark grey pantsuit, the slim-fitted jacket a shade lighter, her hair altered to a pale blonde, its length brushing her shoulders.
<He’s attempting to hack my hacks…he’s determined to discover what caused the discrepancy. But I’ve manufactured a fix that should ensure we get out of here without suspicion.>
Lyra fell silent for a long moment and Nerishka nudged her, <Care to share?>
<Hmm? Oh, I’m sorry. I’m fending him off, but he keeps on coming. I’m trying not to use drastic measures.>
Lyra sounded tense and impatient, no doubt her annoyance was more at herself than anything.
Then Lyra let out a short, triumphant laugh, <There, take that you brute.> Lyra sent an image of her avatar striking a haughty pose and flicked invisible lint off her shoulder before studying her fingernails. <My solution—which I think was brilliant, just so you know—was to mix up all the bookings. Basically, I threw all the details of all the occupants of all the cabins on all the levels of the ship into the air and tossed them about a little, then dropped them back down.>
<Let the chips fall where they may,> murmured Nerishka.
<Exactly. Now there isn’t a single booking that makes sense. Every single detail is one complicated jumble, and nobody is really connected to any particular cabin anymore.>
<What about people with their own AIs? Won’t those AIs argue for their own booking details?>
<That’s not an issue at all. My aim was to lose our booking along with any connection to this cabin and the mess in your torture chamber.>
Nerishka chuckled. <That’s brilliant. So, you changed our booking and cabin details and even if someone appears with the same details they’ll just be seen as a duplication caused by whatever messed up the ship’s systems.>
Lyra nodded, sending a cheerful grin. <And my ‘solutio
n’ is untraceable. Think of Lazar’s legs wound around and around with a million pieces of string. He will trip himself up over and over again. It’s going to take them hours to figure out that the data cannot be put back the way it was.>
Nerishka pursed her lips, more than impressed. <And passengers will disembark before that, with the ship’s management unwilling to admit something went wrong in the background.>
Lyra grinned again. <Oops.>
Nerishka chuckled. <I didn’t know you had that much sneaky in you, Lyra. You are learning well under my tutelage.>
The AI fell silent for a moment. <I shall ignore that for now.> Her tone returned to business. <We need to be as far from this cabin as possible before the torture chamber is discovered, so the system now has our registered cabin as over on the east side of the Elite Passenger Deck. What we need to ensure is that we are in that cabin before disembark. I’ve rerouted all cleaning bots so they’ll ignore this particular cabin until after the ship departs on its return to Anahita. By then it’ll be too late to initiate an investigation and even harder to connect the cabin to you.>
<I’m impressed, Lyra. I’m beginning to wish that I’d had you along for the ride a lot earlier.>
Lyra sent a blushing smile. <I am finding it quite exciting. I must admit I didn’t. Not at the start. But I’m beginning to grow into the role.>
<You keep growing with this job, that much is certain,> Nerishka said, as she headed for her lab to seal it back up. <We’re going to need an a-grav platform for the pod. Everything else I can carry.>
<Already arranged and tracks covered. I’ve ordered us a private car that will meet us on the concourse after we get through customs.>
Nerishka had already received the details on rules and regs for both the planet and the station and had gained clearance for her weapons—the visible ones, at least.