[This is not a "sex story". It is a story about a society where people have superfast reflexes... and guns.]
"Are you sure this is a bright idea?" said Croft.
"What do you mean?" said the Silencer.
"I mean here we are, you, me, and Annie, in a lone ground car, approaching Mo Quandry's stronghold on Grafton," said Croft. "Who's to say that a group of his men won't just wipe us out?" He had an image in his mind of the ground car being surrounded by gunmen. The gunmen would open fire, raking the car with blaster fire before even the Silencer could move or react.
The Silencer snorted derisively, and the image in Croft's mind vanished.
"Well?" said Croft.
"You don't understand, Clifford, that's not the way things are done," said Annie. "Fighting other than one-on-one isn't honorable."
"But that's exactly what they did at your ranch," said Croft.
"We were all alone there," said Annie. "Quandry wouldn't do anything like that in public, even in front of his own men."
"I'd just feel more comfortable if we had brought some allies of our own."
"If you're feeling uncomfortable, we can let you off here," said the Silencer.
Croft said nothing.
They approached the sentry gate. The Silencer stopped the ground car and lowered the window, to face a pair of sentries.
One of the sentries looked at the Silencer, recognized him, and then, looking obviously startled, gave a second look to confirm what he thought: this was the Silencer?
"Do... do you have an appointment?" said the sentry.
"I'm here to see Quandry," said the Silencer, his voice low and deadly.
"Ah, uh..."
"I suggest you let me in," said the Silencer.
The sentry looked nervously at the second sentry, who also looked nervous, confused, and dazed, all in the same instant.
"I'm not going to ask again," said the Silencer calmly, making no move towards his weapon.
The sentry, who was standing up with easy access to his blaster, had an advantage over the Silencer. But he didn't feel lucky. "Opening the gate, sir."
The gate opened. The ground car moved forward.
"So far so good," Croft muttered. He eyed the Graftonites in the compound. What was there to prevent a group of them from ganging up and shooting them all dead even before they stepped out of the ground car?
If the Silencer was concerned, he didn't show it. He parked the ground car in front of what looked like a main building. When he got out, another sentry said, "Sir, you can't park there."
The Silencer just looked at the man; recognition dawned on the man's face, and he took a step back.
It was like that with everyone they encountered as they walked into the building. The Silencer stopped twice to ask for directions. Even though he didn't identify himself, answers were quickly forthcoming.
They shortly found themselves in a large office. A Graftonite sat behind the desk.
"Where is he?" the Silencer asked bluntly, not bothering to identify himself or even to explain further who he was referring to.
"I'm in charge," said the man. "He's not here."
"Where is he?" said the Silencer.
The man said nothing.
"I'm not going to ask a third time," said the Silencer. "As I suspect you're not the only person who knows where he is, I consider it fair warning to let you know that I view you as quite expendable."
The Graftonite shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "He'll kill me if I tell."
The Silencer's blaster was out and in his hand and pointed at the man's head. "Even if that's true, you'll live a longer life than the alternative."
The man sweated, staring at the blaster pointed at him. He made no move for his own weapon; he knew who the Silencer was.
"August," he whispered.
"What?" said the Silencer.
"He just left a few hours ago for August," said the Graftonite. "That's all I know!"
"If you're lying, I'll be back for you," said the Silencer coldly.
They went back to their groundcar. Croft expected some kind of ambush before they left the compound. But, much to his surprise, there was none.
"I guess I'll never understand you Graftonites," said Croft.
The Silencer said nothing.
"We should have stayed and sweated out the full truth from him," said Croft. "We don't know what Quandry's plans for August are."
"That doesn't concern me," said the Silencer.
"Why not?" Croft asked.
"I don't need to know what he's doing in order to kill him," said the Silencer coldly. He didn't like all these questions.
"But how will you know where on August to find him? It's a big planet."
"He'll make his presence known," said the Silencer, sounding annoyed. "Now keep quiet."
Annie turned to the backseat and put a finger to her mouth. Croft nodded.
********
Croft angled his starfighter behind the Silencer's as they headed towards August. He saw the tinny holo of the Chief on his miniholodisplay.
"Quandry's coming here?" said the Chief. "Where specifically? What is his plan?"
"I didn't get the full details on that," said Croft.
"What can he possibly accomplish here?" said the Chief. Then a thought struck her. "He can't... no, he can't be planning to invade August, can he?"
"The orbital blockade tracked a group of twenty fighters that slipped out of atmosphere several hours ago," said Croft. "That's not enough for an invasion force, even for Graftonites."
"Still, I'm going to put our ground forces on alert and seal up the airspace above the planet. We'll have the skies filled so tightly with our ships that no one will get through."
"Chief, do you really believe there is any blockade that these people can't get through?" said Croft wearily.
The Chief blinked. "You're quite right, of course, Mr. Croft. Well, we'll just have to do the best we can. Now, you say that your Silencer friend is going to kill Quandry."
"That's the general plan, yes."
"How will that help us? How will that prevent Quandry from being replaced by a deputy who will carry out his policies?"
"Well, it won't," said Croft.
"Then why are you planning to have him killed?"
"I'm not," said Croft. "Perhaps I wasn't clear. This isn't exactly my plan. It's the Silencer's idea."
The Chief looked surprised. "Well, you should dissuade him from it. We can't eliminate Quandry until we have fully thought out the consequences."
"I'm afraid I don't have much influence in this area," said Croft. "The Silencer's pretty upset with Quandry."
"Why?" said the Chief.
"He didn't like the taxes," said Croft bluntly.
The Chief looked confused. She didn't understand that at all.
Croft thought of the bodies of the five dead gunfighters. Then he thought of something Annie had said. And then, at that moment, it came together.
"Chief, I have it," said Croft.
"What?"
"I know how to stop the Graftonites in their tracks. I know how to stop the invasions, and how to make Quandry lose all his support. I also know exactly how to do all of it," said Croft.
"How?"
Croft checked to make sure the channel was scrambled. It was. Still, he didn't want to risk having the transmission intercepted and decoded. "I can't explain right now. But trust me. I think I know how we can discredit this entire invasion movement."
The skies around August were indeed sealed up by the time Quandry's two squadron of fighters reached orbit--there were all varieties of battleships, monitors, cruisers, and fighters crisscrossing the planet, eagerly on the alert for intruders.
Quandry and his men slipped through the blockade effortlessly, just as Croft had predicted. League fighters zoomed down in pursuit, but they arrived too late; Quandry's fighters zoomed over their destination; and when they got there, each Graftonite pilot ejected, sending their fighters crashing harmlessly into the sea off the east coast of August. It was a measure of skill that Quandry's men sent their fighters out of harm's way; for even they appreciated the beauty and majestic construction of Sarney Sarittenden.
The capitol of August. The capitol of the entire League.
Quandry and his men drifted downwards on portable gravitators. In moments they were on the grounds of the capital. In the distance they could hear the first sounds of the pursuing fighters. But they would be too late. Way too late.
********
President Lo Rareen was just sitting down to lunch with some of his cabinet when the door burst open. A palace guard ran in. "Sir, we've got to get you out of here."
The sound of blaster fire could be heard in the distance.
Rareen dropped his electronapkin. "What is it?"
"We're under attack!"
"Here, in the capitol?" said Rareen.
"Yes," said a new voice.
Several men in denim stood at the door. The guard turned, his gun raised-
And was shot. He fell to the ground.
The Graftonite who had shot him stepped forward. "Allow me to introduce myself, Mr. President. My name is Mo Quandry."
********
"I'm picking up some kind of alert," said Croft, adjusting the comm in his fighter.
"Listen to channel 42," came the Silencer's voice.
Croft turned to the channel. A holo of a broadcaster appeared. "-just moments ago Graftonite terrorists stormed the palace itself. Gunfire was heard inside. There is no word on whether League President Rareen is-"
"I told you he would tell us exactly where he is," said the Silencer lazily.
"What can he hope to accomplish by this?" said Croft. "Does he really think he can get the League to surrender by grabbing the President?" It didn't make any sense to him.
"It doesn't matter what he thinks," said the Silencer.
"Why not?"
"Because in two hours he'll be dead," said the Silencer, in a tone that didn't tolerate any argument.
By the time they had landed their fighters at Sarney Sarittenden Spaceport, they heard the rest of it. Mo Quandry was holding the President and several cabinet members hostage. He wanted a ransom of two billion credits. If he didn't get it, the President and the cabinet members would be killed.
"He can't seriously believe the League will pay such a large amount," said Croft.
"It doesn't matter what he believes," said the Silencer.
"Because you're going to kill him, I know," said Croft. "But I am still wondering what he's attempting to do. Does he really expect the League to pay?"
"Of course not," said Annie. "It should be obvious." And it was, to a Graftonite. So she explained it to him. "He plans to execute your President to get your League to take harsher measures against Grafton. That in turn will turn even more of the population against the League. I think perhaps John's Peaceful Debate was not quite the failure that you might've thought it was."
