Chapter 20 snippet (new writing)

When he stepped out of the shuttle, a team of Sagnar security was waiting for him. Smiling tightly, he walked towards them. They weren’t likely to find his weapon, he mused, since male officers were reluctant to feel up another man’s groin.

With a motion of his hand, the security chief told him to stop. A burly man, the armor and weaponry on him doubled his size. None of them really impressed him much, he reflected, he could take all four of them out if need be…however this time he was here to conduct business, not kill.

He relaxed and allowed an agent to search him. They frisked him down, and he nearly laughed aloud. It was typical, he mused, that they never felt the groin up! After the frisking was done, they ran a scanner of his body. The small scrambler he had on the pistol would keep them from picking it up.

“He’s clear,” the agent said.

“Sir,” the chief said, approaching him. “What brings you here?”

“As I told your controller,” he said, keeping his eyes locked on the chief’s. “I have information pertaining to the issues in the Beta Scorpii sector.”

“Excuse me sir,” the chief said. “But since that isn’t public knowledge, how do you know?”

“I have information from friends of mine for the First Space Lord,” he said. “And I won’t reveal it to anyone else.”

The chief moved with a speed that would’ve left him speechless if he wasn’t so experienced. One moment he was standing before him, the next the chief’s combat rifle was pointed at his head. With the tip of it touching his forehead, the chief spoke.

“I’m sure you would like to tell me what you know, sir,” he said.

“I won’t tell it to anyone other then the First Space Lord,” he said, his pulse not even rising.

“You do know I have a rifle to your head?”

“This information is for your superior only,” he said. “And no one else.”

The chief looked at him for long moments. Glaring at him, he dropped the rifle and motioned to his team. They all took up places around him without saying a word. A tight smile crossed the chief’s face as he shook his head.

“You’ve got some guts,” he said in admiration. “I’ll give you that.”

He didn’t reply to the chief, just looking at him instead. If the man before him had any concept of honor and duty, he mused, then he wouldn’t find his actions surprising in the least. His employers had sent him to do a job, and complete it he would.

You don’t ever take on a job for someone that you can't complete, he thought, keeping his face a mask.

With a motion of his hand, the chief had them moving. As they crossed the spaceport, he looked around. This was the first time he had ever been on the Sagnar home world. Might as well take in the sights, he mused, since who knew when he would be back this way again.

As they stepped outside, he found the buildings around him to be interesting. Unlike the architecture on Earth, which was crowded due to burgeoning population numbers, Sagnar was planned differently. The cities, while still distinguishable as cities, were green in nature. Building were space out further apart with more natural terrain between them. With the antigrav technology available, the Sagnar had built up instead of out, which had buildings towering two to three miles in the air.

Looking at the metal spires, he couldn’t help but be impressed. Here was a Federation, which while smaller then the Alliance could give them real headaches if they ever decided to do to war. That was way he saw it, the Alliance would have their hands full. It was by now means a shoe-in that they would win if, and when, war came between the two different governments.

They crossed a busy street, the traffic a combination of electric cars and fusion-powered vehicles. An occasional antique gasoline powered vehicle would rumble by. If he didn’t do the work he did, he mused, this would be the place he would settle down on. However, his superiors weren’t the kind to allow him many breaks…

Before him was a massive glass and steel building. Craning his head back, the top of it disappeared into the clouds. He had heard that the Admiralty had a major building, but he hadn’t known just how big. While the people he worked for had many members, their existence was, for the most part, secret, so huge buildings like this were unknown to him.

Entering the lobby, he marveled at the waterfall within. The sound of the three-story drop was soothing to him as they crossed the carpeted room. Smiling, he noted the fireplace as they stepped into a lift.

The doors sealed behind him and he felt the stomach churning motion of it upwards. They had to be using repulser-lift technology to go this fast, he told himself, subtly watching his captors. None of them were truly watching him, which was a damn shame. Knowing that fact, he could have killed all four before they ever reached their destination.

Coming to a stop, the lift doors slid aside. The chief lead them out onto a floor even more ornately furnished then the lobby. Before him, the room was carpeted from wall-to-wall. A fireplace crackled at one end, and high-backed English sitting chairs filled the room. At the other end, a set of dark, cherry doors sat.

They continued until they reached the doors, which opened automatically. Stepping inside, he found a room appointed very similarly to outside. A desk, a red oak, sat by a window, which commanded a view of the city and the surrounding countryside. Two sitting chairs were arranged before the desk, side by side.

Sitting behind the desk was a white haired man, looking at him with eyes wary from experience. He had heard about First Space Lord Majors; his reputation preceded him throughout space. A tenacious man, Majors was known for hunting down his Federations enemies without mercy. If someone were stupid enough to pick a fight with the Federation, he was known to boast, then God help them with the consequences!