Free The Only Game in the Galaxy by Paul Collins Page B

ignominiously snared in an ixsin web, was an angry Bodanis.
    Both glared at her.
    ‘How the hell did you do that?’ Bodanis said. ‘How did you get me out of that tube and leave my guards behind?’
    Anneke showed him the scooper. He clicked his finger. ‘Okay. You used a Dyson jump-gate, no doubt keyed to my specific DNA. Clever. Didn’t know they made ’em that small – or portable.’
    ‘They don’t. At least not publicly. But RIM’s been developing the miniaturisation technology for years now.’
    Bodanis looked at her. ‘RIM? They’re behind this?’
    ‘Who else?’
    ‘Nonsense,’ said Sasume. ‘Why would RIM want us sidelined?’
    Anneke puzzled over that for a moment but gave up. ‘I can’t answer that. Yours is not to reason why, yours is but to do and …’
    She left that hanging. Sasume and Bodanis exchanged looks. Anneke removed a tiny cylinder from her pouch, then loaded in a six-pack of darts.
    Sasume’s nostrils flared. ‘What is on those?’ she asked.
    ‘An alkaloid. Tetsin .’
    Sasume laughed. ‘The gentleman’s poison. How civilised of you.’
    ‘What are you talking about?’ Bodanis asked.
    ‘Don’t worry,’ said Sasume. ‘We won’t feel any pain or discomfort. Indeed, I believe we’ll experience a final euphoria.’
    Bodanis fixed Anneke with a steely gaze. ‘You’re killing us?’
    Anneke shrugged. ‘It’s just business.’
    Bodanis snorted. ‘This is crazy. We’re on the same side, Anneke. We’re fighting the same devil!’
    ‘And who would that be?’
    ‘You know very well!’
    Anneke felt a disconcerting sense that Bodanis was telling the truth. She also found herself liking the old man.
    ‘He thinks you two are the devils.’
    Bodanis laughed. ‘Well, he’s right. There are no angels in this.’
    ‘Just the lesser of two evils, right?’ said Anneke. She raised the silver cylinder. ‘Time to die.’ She could not keep a hint of sadness out of her voice.
    ‘Get on with it then!’

M AXIMUS stood on the high battlements of Quesada Tower, as he had once stood before, long ago. He gazed up at the night sky and at the dull bronze shimmer of the atmospheric shield, through which stars glinted an icy copper.
    As on that other occasion, the Envoy appeared at his back, unannounced, unwarned even by Maximus’ internal implants. Not for the first time he wondered how the alien did that.
    ‘The Hatsu renovation was successful?’ he asked.
    The Envoy remained expressionless, as usual. ‘I believe the Hatsu neuronosis significantly suppressed Anneke Longshadow’s normal moral response long enough for her mission to succeed.’
    ‘She believed that “Hatsu” was entirely her own – invention?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And Jeera –?’
    ‘Jeera Mosoon has been recovered. I took delivery myself.’
    Maximus breathed out. ‘She’s – all right?’
    ‘She was alarmed at my appearance and I was forced to sedate her, but otherwise she has taken no harm. I have had all toxins and allergens washed from her system. There will be a delay before she is – presentable.’
    Maximus nodded, saying nothing.
    ‘You do not ask about the other mission parameters?’ said the Envoy.
    ‘I am sure you will tell me.’
    ‘We have downloaded the deciphered set of coordinates from Jeera Mosoon.’
    ‘Does Anneke know the retinal uploader she used just made a copy instead of uninstalling?’
    ‘It is unlikely. Your precautions were warranted.’
    ‘Why?’ said Maximus.
    ‘Anneke has disappeared.’
    Now Maximus turned, locking eyes with the alien. ‘Killed in action?’
    The Envoy shrugged. ‘We do not know. She has simply disappeared.’
    ‘And Bodanis and Sasume?’
    ‘Dead.’
    ‘In what manner?’
    ‘She was not able to destroy them in the hospital, as you hoped. Hence, framing the Imperial Myotan Combine for such a despicable action will not be possible.’
    Maximus shrugged. ‘It was a low probability outcome …’ He shifted his gaze back to his study of the