Lionheart: The Unseen Saboteur, part 2 (2 of 4)

	Dainvillo shook his head.  "The whole thing was wrong, right from the
beginning.  I had been recalled to Lionheart from deep in the field, leaving
behind a mission that was on the verge of success.  I returned and received
my new orders less than one day before the event itself would take place."
He gave Reanyn a somber look.  "That never happens, not in my kind of work.
Not even in emergencies.  Not that I ever heard of."
	He shook his head again.  "And then there was the intel.  Somehow we knew
that there was an infiltrator and a traitor on station, but we didn't know
who either was.  That happens sometimes, when get partial intelligence from
the other side, but knowing where and when they would meet... that just
wasn't right.  Not for real scro infiltrators.  If we had a man on the other
side, feeding us intelligence, maybe he could get his hands on information
about an infiltrator and a traitor being on station.  Maybe.  But for him to
pass us intel on when and where the two would meet, that would mean that
someone on the other side had that information in the first place.  And that
it was common knowledge among the scro higher-ups.  I never heard of an
infiltrator that was that sloppy.  I sure as the abyss wouldn't be, if it
were me meeting a scro traitor.  No-one on our side would know the where and
when of me meeting him.  I'd choose the time and place myself, at my
discretion as I read the situation."
	He seemed to be looking for confirmation, so Reanyn nodded again.  He knew
nothing of high level espionage, but it made sense.
	"So the whole thing just didn't seem right.  I was being brought in late to
handle a situation that didn't seem right.  So I knew there was something
they weren't telling me.  Now, that's not out of the ordinary.  In my line,
the higher-ups don't you everything, not most of the time.  But part of my
mission was the way in which they wanted the principles eliminated.  The
infiltrator they wanted disappeared, killed quietly.  The traitor they
wanted very visible; it was supposed to look like the scro had pegged him.
They even furnished me with a scro weapon to do the job."
	"Which explains the crossbow bolt," said Reanyn.
	The lieutenant nodded.  "Don't ask me why they wanted it to look scro;  I
haven't figured that part yet.  And, as I said, I had my orders and they
were, I thought, lawfully given.  The thing felt a little wrong, but I am a
soldier.  I did the mission, just the way I was instructed.  Go to the
Astrolabe under the cover of retrieving a spherechart for the admiral - an
old chart that apparently had already been taken from the tower ahead of
time and of which there were no other known copies.  Therefore the chart
would be impossible to find, and the staff would be set on a search of the
lower levels of the tower.  The purpose was twofold.  It gave me a official
excuse to be there, and it would keep the staff occupied, busy, and away
from the Astrolabe itself.  There were to be no witnesses, and both targets
were known to be dangerous, so keeping them occupied was also a protective
measure to some extent.  After the search was underway, I was easily about
to slip out and make my way up to the Astrolabe proper.  I was given the
codes and authority to program the Astrolabe with a relatively simple
illusion, one which would hide me as I lay in wait for the targets.  The
instrument is voice activated, so I had rehearsed the exact words to speak
many times before actually doing it."
	The lieutenant paused for a moment before continuing.  "And then... they
arrived.  The infiltrator arrived first - I couldn't know that at the time,
though.  I knew that the traitor would be a real elf and the infiltrator an
insectare, but from across the room I couldn't tell.  He just looked like a
uniformed elf from where I stood.
	"The infiltrator was early, and it was maybe twenty minutes before the
traitor showed.  He paced back and forth in the meantime, eyeing the
trapdoor, and once he almost walked right into me.  The illusion was
strictly visual, not auditory, and though I'm well trained in stealth it was
hard to keep from stepping out of his path when he came straight toward me.
But he might have heard my footstep, so close was he, and that might have
spooked him, tipped him off.
	"So I was already a little tense myself by the time the traitor finally
showed.  I had the crossbow ready and I was ready to use it and get the job
done.  I was standing behind the trapdoor, so that those coming up would
have their back to me."
	Reanyn nodded.  "I assumed as much, from the angle the crossbow bolt must
have come from."
	"I chose the spot because it was unlikely that anyone would walk there -
though the infiltrator nearly did - and compromise my hiding place.  But
what I hadn't taken into account was that someone coming up the stairs would
have his back to me, that I wouldn't be able to see the face...  When the
traitor appeared, I raised my crossbow and waited.  I didn't fire
immediately; I couldn't know for certain that he even was the traitor.  Any
of the staff working in the tower could have wandered up there for one
reason or another - I had to wait until he made contact with the infiltrator
and confirmed that he actually was the traitor and not an innocent
bystander.
	"The infiltrator had halted near the black table - you have seen the room?
- and he was facing towards me as the traitor entered.  The traitor halted
at the top of the stairs, his back still to me.  He said `You are the one
they sent?' and the infiltrator nodded.
	"The traitor's voice was familiar to me, though I could not place it.  But
he had just confirmed that he was the traitor, and I was set to peg him.
Still I did not fire, for the other part of my mission was to retrieve
whatever documents the traitor had taken, as you will recall.  I had to know
that the documents were present, or whether the traitor might have secured
them elsewhere.
	"To my surprise, though, it was the infiltrator who pulled a sheaf of
papers from an inner pocket.  `This is the proposal,' he said, slowly
circling the other man and then holding it out to him.  `It is possible that
some compromise may be reached.'
	"Now I wasn't paying too much attention to what he was saying, not at that
moment anyway, though I did give it a good deal of thought after the fact.
All I knew was that I had my target and all factors were present.  In my
work, hesitation can mean the difference between success and failure.  I
took aim on the traitor and fired.
	"That's when he turned, naturally following the motion of the insectare,
and I saw his face for the first time.  I stress this:  I did not see his
face until I had fired.  That was the first moment I knew that the `traitor'
was Colonel Alynium.  Would I have fired had I known?  I have pondered that
question.  I think I would have, my training is too ingrained.
	"I was in shock, but I forced myself to think only of the situation at
hand.  Insectare can be deadly; I could not afford to hesitate.  I had
secured a blowgun and several darts tipped with poison.  You may think this
a strange weapon when facing a creature as dangerous as an insectare, but
the poison was discovered by Fleet intel some time ago and is utterly and
instantly lethal to any insectare, though it will only make a normal elf
very sick.  I did not even see the crossbow bolt strike the colonel.  To my
mind, he was already a dead man and I was focused on the second target.  I
raised the blowgun to my lips and the dart flew.  My aim was good, and the
insectare had not even had time to turn when it caught him in the back of
the neck.  He dropped like a stone.
	"At the same moment as I fired, some young idiot stuck his head up through
the trapdoor.  He was facing away from me, so I never saw his face, but he
screamed and snatched the trapdoor down, slamming it.  I heard the rasp as
he drew the bolt, locking me in, but my mind was racing."
	He was quiet for a moment.  "I was not well acquainted with Colonel
Alynium, sir.  I suspect I would never have been chosen for this mission if
my superiors had been aware that I knew him at all.  I had in fact only met
him twice before in my life, but I knew of him.  He had served honorably and
well with my father, and in fact had saved his life.  My father is a
cripple, sir, missing both legs beneath the knee, but he would be dead were
it not for the colonel.  And my father spoke of him often... I could not
believe that the man was a traitor.
	"But I had only instants to act.  The young fool who had locked the
trapdoor would be fleeing down the stairs to get the guardsmen.  I estimated
that I had only seconds before they arrived.  I had not time to think of
what I had done.  I had to act.
	"I raced to the body of the insectare, and quickly retrieving the papers he
held I pulled him back into the corner where I had hidden.  Originally I had
intended to take his body out of the Astrolabe with me when I left, but this
was now impossible.  The place would be flooded with guardsmen in moments.
If I was fortunate, I could get out, but not with the body.  So I determined
to hide it.  Quickly I reprogrammed the illusion to cover both myself and
the body - just in time, for mere moments later the trapdoor swung open and
the first guardsmen entered.
	"I had shoved the body against the curve of the wall, and I stood before
it.  If one of the guardsmen had happened to walk a few paces in that
direction... but they never did, and soon more guardsmen arrived, and more,
until the room was nearly filled.  Then the investigating commandant arrived
with his assistant, and ordered the room cleared.  That was when I left."
	"You left?" asked Reanyn, surprised.  "How?"
	The lieutenant shrugged.  "I had come prepared for a difficult exit.  I was
clothed in the same armor and uniform as the tower guardsmen.  Once the room
was suitably filled with them, I merely stepped from my hiding place.
No-one took any particular notice of me, then or later as I made my way from
the tower.  It's a simple trick, sir; I've used it before.
	"I escaped the tower unseen, but due to the complications I exited late.
This meant I had missed my window for regrouping with those who had given me
my mission.  This wasn't a problem;  I had a secondary and a tertiary
fallback plan.  But it meant I had several hours to kill before I would see
them.  I found a safe place and laid low.  But all I could think of was
Colonel Alynium, and how wrong the whole thing had been..."  His voice
trailed off for a moment, and he looked away.  "I had the papers I had taken
from the insectare.  My orders were that I should return them to my
superiors unopened.  But..."  He shook his head angrily.  "I opened them at
last.  Read them.  And what I discovered was that Colonel Alynium was no
traitor.  That I had slain an innocent man.  I had been used as a tool for a
political assassination."
	Both men jumped at a sudden knock at the door.
	"I must go," said the lieutenant quickly.  "They'll be watching you,
watching to see if I'll make contact.  I've evaded them so far, but I'm
taking a terrible chance, talking to you."  He turned to the open doors
leading out to the balcony.
	"Wait," said Reanyn, "you still haven't told me-"
	"Seven hours," said Dainvillo, giving him a quick look.  "Go to the Garden.
  If it's safe for me to contact you then, I will.  If not I'll find another
time.  I'll bring the packet the insectare carried.  With it, and my
testimony, there should be proof enough to set the matter right."
	Again there was a persistant knock at the door, and Reanyn instinctively
glanced back in that direction.  "Who gave you your orders?" he asked,
turning back, but the lieutenant was gone.
	Reanyn stepped onto the little balcony.  The balcony stood at least four
stories above the street, and the walls were sheer, yet there was no sign of
the lieutenant.  He glanced upwards.  The roof of the building was at least
twenty feet straight up.  Where... ?
	The knocking sounded yet again, this time accompanied by a voice.  "High
Captain?  Are you there?"  Muffled as it was by the door, he could still
tell it was Lieutenant Trielle.  She sounded tired and angry.
	He stepped to the door, opening it.
	She looked frustrated and tired.  "Sorry to disturb you, sir," she said,
not sounding apologetic in the least, "but something kind of important has
come up.  I've just been reassigned and transferred off station."
	"What?"
	She gave him a bitter nod.  "The orders just came down.  It seems that I'm
suddenly desperately needed to do paperwork on some moonlet in a sphere I've
never heard of."
	Reanyn was thunderstruck.  "I don't believe it."
	"Believe it, sir.  Apparently my willingness to help you in your
investigation brings fateful consequences.  No good deed goes unpunished."
	He shook his head.  "They're shipping you off station just because you're
helping me," he said.
	She nodded.  "I don't know what this about - what any of this is about -
but there's more to this investigation than...  Whatever it is, they don't
want you to find it, that's all I can figure.  They want a nice clean
answer.  Someone to make the whole thing just go away.  You say `a scro
infiltrator killed the colonel' and they pat you on the head and send you
off with a promotion and nobody has to know the truth.  And never mind that
my entire career gets sacrificed in the meantime."  She started out angry,
but somewhere towards the end she sounded like she was on the edge of tears.
	"Trielle," he said, "I'm sorry... I never realized this would fall on you."
	She shook her head.  "Not your fault," she said, though her voice was still
bitter.
	"When do you leave?"
	"Within the hour.  Which is why I came here."  She lifted a piece of paper.
  "I didn't have time to do everything you wanted me to before the orders
came down, but I did manage to assemble a list of everyone on station who
has authority and knowledge of how to program the Astrolabe."  She shoved it
into his hands.  "And as for the document you found on the insectare, the
one signed by the colonel, I had a handwriting expert take a look at the
signature and compare it to other signatures the colonel's made.  He says
he's ninety percent certain that it wasn't forged.  I thought you'd find
that interesting."
	Reanyn nodded slowly.
	Trielle took a long breath, then let it out slowly.  "That's it.  I don't
know who the bastard is that's behind all this, but I hope you find him.  I
only wish there was more I could give you."
	He took the list from her.  "Thank you," he said, and meant it.  "I think
I'm very close to figuring all this out."
	"Find him," she said.  "Whoever he is, find him."
	He stood there a moment after she had gone, just staring at the open
doorway.  At last he lifted the piece of paper she had given him.  He
scanned it quickly for the name he thought most likely to be there.  Then,
surprised, he looked it over again.
	Admiral Nyntoch was not on the list.

					*	*	*

	The Garden, as it was called, was on the lowest level of the station, well
below streetlevel and the various storage decks beneath the cobbled streets.
  More accurately, it was the lowest level, for it occupied the whole lower
half of the station, a gigantic circular enclosure where trees, plants, and
woodland animals of every description lived and thrived.
	There were probably thirty different entrances scattered throughout the
Garden, but so far as Reanyn knew, there were only three `public' accesses,
each a tunnel connected to the upper `street' level and lined by steeply
pitched stone steps leading downward.
	Entering the Garden was a bit of a trick.  The station's gravity plane ran
horizontally exactly between the `top' of the Garden and the `bottom' of the
deck immediately above.  This meant that gravity reversed itself as one
passed through the gravity plane.  `Up' in the Garden was `down' on the
decks above.  A person standing on the landing at the bottom of the tunnel
which led to the upper levels was confronted with a gaping square hole in
the ground, beyond which was the medium bright sunlight of the Garden and an
apparent `drop' of over four hundred feet, straight down to the `bottom' of
the crystal dome that made up the `sky' of the garden.  There were trees and
vegetation surrounding the hole, of course, all appearing to grow upside
down.
	For a first time spacefarer, it could be an intimidating and dizzying
sight.  Most spelljammers, though, were unconcerned, having been acquainted
with the gravity planes on spelljamming ships.  The way to enter the Garden
was not to jump into the hole feet first - for upon entering the other side
the person would find himself suddenly upside down, and would fall headfirst
back into the hole and then bob in the gravity plane - but rather to `fall'
forward, letting the upper body lead and step off the edge at the last
possible moment.  The motion of the fall would carry the person through the
gravity plane and into the other side of it, where the sudden reverse force
of gravity would slow his momentum.  The step would carry through and the
person would find his foot planted firmly on the opposite edge of the floor.
  And he would be standing on the other side of the hole, facing away from
it.
	Reanyn had been aboard spelljamming vessels since he was hardly more than a
boy, and was well acquainted with gravity planes and their effects.  For him
the maneuver was almost second nature.
	Still, in the moments after he had stepped through the plane, a sense of
wonder filled him, and he stared in awe.
	He had heard of the Garden before.  But knowing that such a thing existed
and actually seeing it were two different things.
	The first thing that struck him was the light.  The primary of this sytem
was a dark blue fireworld, so blue that it was nearly purple, yet here
within the Garden gentle yellow light filtered down between the leaves and
branches of the towering trees.
	And there were trees.  All around him.  Mighty oak, slender pine,  towering
elm... of all different sizes, from scrubby little sprigs of undergrowth to
some of the hardwood trees, which stretched upward, high and higher.  One
tree even stretched up so high that the topmost limbs brushed against the
crystal dome that made up the ceiling.  That was at least four hundred feet,
probably higher.
	It was as if he had stepped through a magical portal into some Elysium
woodland.  He stood on the white marble paving stone that ringed the four
sides of the square hole he had stepped through  It was perhaps two feet
wide all the way around, but beyond it was... soil - grass, wildflowers, a
few small bushes and brambles.
	It was a small clearing in the forest - for that is what it was - which
surrounded him.  He could see that there were paths winding through the
trees, but in many places the undergrowth had been allowed to grow
unchecked. The air even seemed fresher here, sweetened with the scent of
pine and wildflowers.
	The Garden had been created to emulate one of the groundling forests that
most elves preferred and took solace in.  The wood elves on station
especially would be comforted by an idyllic place such as this.  But Reanyn
had been born in the Void and had traveled the stars since he was young.
Being here, in this place that emulated the idyllic nature that most elves
revered, he felt like a stranger.
	There was a sudden burst of motion, and a group of brilliantly
multi-colored birds took to wing, emerging from the lowest branches of a
nearby tree and scattering in all directions.  He was momentarily surprised.
  He knew that there were woodland animals which roamed the Garden - deer,
rabbits, various birds, even a few small predators - but he was still taken
aback.  As he followed one of the birds up with his eyes, he caught sight of
the platforms girdling some of the larger tree trunks, high above, and the
hanging bridges and walkways that connected them.  They were so cleverly
worked to blend into the branches and leaves of the trees that at first he
hadn't noticed them.  There were a pair of elves crossing on one of the
hanging bridges, too far off to be seen as more than vague figures.
	Reanyn wondered how they had gotten up there.  He didn't see any obvious
ladders or steps from where he stood, but there was a lot of undergrowth
surrounding him, so perhaps there was a way up that was hidden from sight.
And as large as this place was, there could certainly be any number of ways
up into the hanging platforms.
	Reanyn started to take a step forward, then suddenly halted.  Dainvillo had
told him to go to the Garden in seven hours time, promising that if he could
he would meet him.  But how?  Reanyn could see the benefits of a secret
meeting here, but looking around at the imposing depths of the forest he was
keenly aware of the difficulties too.  There were doubtless hundreds of
culdesacs and hideaways here where a conversation could be held without fear
of being overheard, but how would Dainvillo find him?  It would be like
searching for a needle in a haystack.
	He considered the problem.  There were at least five entrances to the
Garden that Reanyn knew of for certain, probably more, and each of them were
spread throughout the `city' above and the Garden below.  So it would likely
be impossible for Dainvillo to be watching all the entrances at once.
	He glanced up.  Unless...  unless there was some place high enough in the
trees which overlooked all five of the entrances.  That didn't seem likely
but it was possible.  So perhaps Dainvillo was up there somewhere, watching
him even now.  And then again, perhaps not.  Either way, Reanyn was curious
about how to get up to the walkways.
	There were five separate paths, each well-worn by the tread of many feet,
which lead off into the forest.  Reanyn oriented himself towards the tallest
of the great oak trees - he could see that it had more platforms on it than
its neighbors - and stepped into the forest on the path that seemed most
closely to lead in that direction.
	He followed it for some time, twisting and turning around the boles of the
great trees in shade so deep in some places that it almost seemed like it
was twilight instead of midday (which by local reckoning it was).  He had
lost sight of the tree he was heading for the moment he had stepped into the
forest, having only been able to orient himself to it because it towered
over its neighbors, but he was heading in the right general direction.
	Until abruptly the path veered off in a ninety degree turn to the right,
emerged into another small clearing, and halted at the bank of a small pond.
	Reanyn came to a stop.  The path seemed to end at the bank of the pond, and
though he could see the far side of the water, he did not see any further
paths.  A tiny stream fed the pond from the far side, trickling down from
six inch high ledge in a miniature waterfall.  The water was smooth and
calm, dark but not brackish, with a few lilies growing naturally near the
sandy bank.


_______________________________________________________________
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com