Archives of the Frontier Universe: An Assassin's Assignment (21 page)

Her master nodded. “Yes, that was my interpretation.”

“Indeed,” continued Rose. “So, did they say
how
they are dead or what exactly happened when this . . . ‘artifact’ was destroyed? And what was it? Clearly, it could not have been some divine conduit . . .” She paused, waiting on affirmation that never came. “Right?”

Her master paused for a long and somehow bothersome moment. “I can’t say. Not for sure. But it sounds like they were at war over it or something like that. It was at least a part of the war and when it was destroyed, something happened to them . . .”

“But what?” pried Rose.

“I don’t have an answer to that right now,” he replied at once. “I’m still in the process of translating other entries. But what is relevant now is this ‘artifact.’ And the reason is, I believe Fontaine’s search on Dailunavein has to do with another like it. One that has survived through the eons. If you recall, that was the whole point of obtaining the memory spike in the first place . . . to get information on Dailunavein. I haven’t yet, but I can almost guarantee that information about an artifact or something similar is in the rest you sent me. It’s only a matter of time before the rest is decrypted, and I would guess that that would happen during the course of your flight here.”

Feeling sort of put out at the lack of information, Rose simply tossed her head and sat back into her pillows. At the foot of the bed, the bird had taken interest in her covered feet and began pecking lightly at them. It was only able to make mild contact, being energy-based as it was. Still, it proved annoying. “Hey, stop that!” hissed Rose, kicking her feet under the blankets. The bird flapped into the air briefly but landed again. Meyer sort of laughed.

Her master, however, seemed to not find the situation worth his time. “I need to get back to work. It won’t be long before our forces will expand our efforts. Warlord Furnocter is supposed to be in charge of that actually. It could be any day now that he calls a meeting to get things in motion. General Morgan will no doubt be one to attend. But at least I should be able to get information from him.”

Rose stretched out in her bed comfortably. “Well, too bad I won’t be able to eavesdrop for you . . . Ah! It could be a longer recovery than I thought.”

As he always did, her master just stared on. “Not a chance, Rose. You’re leaving immediately for Dailunavein.”

She gave a look of deep disappointment. “Ah, immediately?” she groaned, playing it off as if surprised. “But this bed . . . It’s so comfortable, and I’ve been working and fighting for days and . . .”

Ignoring her, her master pointed to Captain Meyer. “Captain, you’re going too.”

At this, she dropped her charade of discontent and looked seriously to Meyer and then to her master. “What, really?” she asked.

Meyer leaned forward slightly, apparently surprised as well. “Sir?” he asked.

“Yes,” confirmed Boss R. “You’re going too. I’ve pulled some strings to have a detachment of our forces on Forcurrier extracted and relocated. You’ll be coming to Dailunavein within the next few days. Rose will travel with you.”

At this, Rose felt genuinely excited. It was not often that she was permitted to work with people she knew (and approved of) for any significant length of time. However, overshadowing her own, Meyer’s excitement was almost laughable.

“Sir!” he repeated, unable to restrain himself. “Thank you! You won’t regret this. I-I thought I was never getting out of here!” He then paused and straightened up professionally, clearing his throat. “Um, yes. Thank you, sir.”

“A bit excited, are we, Captain?” mused Rose.

“He should be,” announced her master. “You two have done well. I want only my best here on Dailunavein. We’ve got a lot of work to do. Now, assemble your teams, Captain. I want you two on the way in an hour’s time.”

“Yes, sir!” replied Meyer respectfully.

“Very well,” sighed Rose, not wanting to leave the bed.

“Good,” returned her master. “I’ll make contact again if I find anything further. See you two soon.” They both bowed, and he disappeared. Before Rose could discipline the red bird, it conjured a portal and escaped. She had lifted a hand to stop it, but the creature was too fast (and probably knew it was in trouble).

“Damn pigeon!” she huffed. “How I’d like to wring that thing’s neck sometimes.”

Meyer gave a louder laugh than necessary, proof positive his reassigning had lifted his spirits tenfold. “I see what you mean now,” he put. “That thing
was
messing with you. Could you even hurt it if you wanted to, though?”

Rose shrugged. “I’d try my damndest.”

Meyer laughed again. “Well, I suppose I better assemble the crew. If what he said was true, several of the installations here should be getting extracted.” He then tossed his head. “Too bad Kyte’s was seized and his men thrown in prison. We could’ve used them.”

“I don’t think so,” replied Rose abruptly. “If they can’t keep cool under pressure, they were a liability waiting to happen. Better that we found out sooner than later.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Still, we got
him
. Now that Command’s got the device, they’ll be concentrating on it and Dailunavein for a while. We should be able to use him as we see fit.” He gazed at Rose expectedly. “It’s your call. You want him imprisoned, given a lousy job, or forgiven?”

Rose paused for a moment. “Well, how has he acted since returning?”

Meyer nodded and pointed his lips. “Cooperative. In my opinion, you made the right choice by sparing his life. You might want to keep him around.”

Rose smiled. “Very good, then. He should be happy enough to be alive and still a part of our team. What I’ll do is demote him and put him directly under your control. Just keep me up to date on his loyalty.”

“As you wish, Byruhme,” he replied happily. “In that case, he’s coming with us. I need to take care of a few things first. I’ll send someone in here to finalize your treatment, and you should be able to get to work as soon as we land.”

Rose gave an irritated expression. “Yes, I’m overwhelmed with anticipation,” she hummed sarcastically.

He smiled and made for the door. “Okay, hopefully, this tour will prove brief. Dailunavein is definitely a step up from here, but I’m not sure if I’m going to enjoy sharing an assignment with the Norvanulls.”

Rose nodded in agreement. “If Boss R has anything to do with it, their authority will be short-lived.” He looked back but with a face that did not appear too hopeful. “We’ll do what we can, Captain,” she insisted. “I’ll see you on the ship.”  

A closing request from the author

Reader, my sincerest thanks for your investment of time in this work!

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Lastly, if you enjoyed this book, be sure to pick up the first in the main series:
The Gates of the Frontier Universe: A Society Called to Arms
. And be on the lookout for the second:
The Gates of the Frontier Universe: A Throne Besieged
.