Industry & Intrigue (32 page)

There was a series of light
knocks on the door. It was R
al, he used the his code to identify himself. She
walked over and let him in. He briefly glanced at the body of the
admin officer. He was carrying a long case and set it down on the
desk. Lucina closed the door and walked over as he unclasped the
case and showed her the contents.

Inside was the
most powerful and
accurate rifle in existence, a Huntington A10. A long barreled
sniper rifle. The smooth wood of its butt and grip shined, it was
brand new. There was something different about it though.
“Modified?” she asked.

“
Yes
,” replied Ral. “Its scope has been
enhanced. You should have a crystal clear view of your target. The
shot range has also been improved. You will have an extra hundred
meters before the bullet is significantly affected by wind and
gravity.” That was the downside to making long-range kills. The
bullets dipped after a long enough distance, reducing the
accuracy.

L
ucina picked it up and tested the weight.
She looked through the scope. It was the clearest sight she had
ever seen on a rifle. She looked up at Ral, waiting to hear the
remaining details.

“
The target will arrive in the
university courtyard at twelve o’clock. That gives you twenty
minutes to get into position and be ready
,” he said. “There is one location
far enough away that will give you the shot without raising instant
suspicion; the clock tower on top of the southern block. I will
take care of the guards and wait until you are done to ensure no
one else enters.”

“
No Portal?” asked Lucina.
Portal was
the name of a mage the Arm used to get their assassin’s
into and out of locations without leaving traces. He was
well-practiced in aeromancy and could whisk himself and others
through air portals. Lucina didn’t even know his real
name.

“
No
,” replied Ral. “The Scepters are
also on security. We could risk detection if we used Portal. Once
you take the shot you will have to make your way down from the
tower on the outside. Leave the gun, it doesn’t matter. They won’t
be able to trace it. Once you are on the ground I will meet you
outside the southern gate.”

Lucina nodded, memorizing all the
details.

“
Remember, no one must be able
to identify you with the shot. If anyone sees you while making your
way down you will have to kill them,” Ral reminded her.

“
Of course
,” she replied. It wouldn’t be
the first time she had to take care of witnesses.

“
Good
. Bring the rifle and follow me to
the south block,” he said.

Lucina put the rifle back into
its case and clo
sed it up. She lifted it in one hand and followed Ral. She
locked the door behind her. The whole plan would go awry if someone
discovered the admin’s body before she had took her
shot.

The admin building was normally
busy, but with the d
elegation visiting, most of the staff were elsewhere. The
few workers around were too preoccupied to notice the two
assassins.

The south block was part of the
science department
. However since classes were not on today, it too was
deserted. Ral led Lucina through several arched corridors,
eventually stopping at a corner. He slowly peered around to look,
then leaned back.

“
One guard. Wait
here
,” he
said. He walked around the corner and Lucina poked her head around
to watch.

Ral approached the guard and
the man
said, “Sir, this area is off limits while the delegation is
on campus. Could you please turn around?”

“
Are you
certain
?”
said Ral, in realistic surprise. “I could have sworn Professor
Cuthbert asked me to meet him here. Ral was a good
actor.

“
I haven’t
seen anyone else here. You must
have misheard him,” said the guard.

Ral nodded
. “Hmm, never mind, I’ll have
to meet him elsewhere.”

The guard relaxed. Then Ral stepped
forward and drew his long daggers. The guard went for his gun but
he was too slow. His hand was still on his holster when the two
blades slammed into his chest. Ral pulled them out as quickly as he
had put them in and the guard slumped to the ground.

Ral gave a low whistle and
Lucina walked
around the corner herself. Ral opened the door the man had
been protecting and dragged the body in. When Lucina was inside, he
closed it.

“
Get into position. I’ll
stay
here
and keep watch until I hear the shot.” He wiped the blood off his
daggers on the guard’s clothing.

Lucina climbed
the stairs with the
heavy, sniper rifle. She was soon sweating from the exertion, but
did not slow down. She needed to be in position before the target
was in place. She had five minutes left.

When she finally
reached the top,
she shoved open the metal door. There was a small balcony below the
large clock face. She set the case down and looked down each side
of the balcony. She tied rope to the back section and let it fall.
The end touched the rooftop of the building below.

She returned
to the front of the
balcony and opened the case. She checked the ammunition, it was
loaded and ready. She lifted the gun up to the edge of the balcony
and placed the butt against her shoulder. She placed her finger
near the trigger and her left hand held the forward section with
complete steadiness.

Sh
e looked down the scope. She had an
excellent view of the courtyard, a large crowd was gathering. She
moved the rifle slightly and saw the pavilion. It looked like
university officials were seated, but her target had yet to
arrive.

She kept the
rifle in position
and focused her breathing to a steady and even manner. It didn’t
take long, she saw one of the officials walk up to the podium and
start speaking. The audience then clapped and several more people
walked onto the pavilion. There were over a dozen
newcomers.

They took their seats, but
none
were
her target. Then he stepped into view. The Galrian Foreign
Minister, Atoli Rossiv. She had his face memorized from her
assignment file. He shook hands with the woman who had introduced
him. She then gave the podium over to him.

It was time. He stepped up to
the podium and started to speak. Lucina took in
several deep breaths and a
single drop of sweat ran off her forehead and trailed down the scar
on her cheek. She held her finger over the trigger and lined up the
crosshairs with Rossiv’s face. She breathed in once more and pulled
the trigger.

Chapter 29

“
Why are you
stil
l
watching that?” asked Michael. Reese lowered the telescope and
turned away from the window. They were situated in a chemistry lab
on the upper level of the science block. It was a good distance
from the university courtyard, but with Michael’s telescope he was
able to see the foreign delegation.

Michael was uninterested in the
event
.
“Nothing but politicians puffing themselves into importance,” he
said.

He agreed to let Reese watch
from the lab w
indows, only because he had work he wanted to complete. He
had a key to the labs; many of the chemistry students required
access at odd hours.

“
What else is there to do?
Classes are off for today
, I have all my work done. You look too
preoccupied in your-, what are making anyway?” asked
Reese.

“
Not all of us are
natural
ly
gifted like you. We have to keep practicing on our chosen field in
order to become the best,” said Michael. He had a pair of leather
gloves on and was slowly pouring a clear liquid into a large
beaker. The beaker had another liquid inside that was giving off
white fumes. It was surrounded by an ice-bath, whatever his friend
was doing was temperature sensitive.

“
It’s a new explosive.
N
itroglycerin,” explained Michael.

“
Explosive?” Reese was
concerned now. “Why
in the hells would your professor get you to make an
explosive?”

“
He didn’t. This is a
personal project.”

Reese wasn’t surprised.
“Oh, and the
chemistry department has no problem with a first year student
making explosives in one of their labs unsupervised?”

“
Obviously they don’t
k
now and
they don’t need to,” replied Michael. “Once I’ve made it, I’ll
safely test it and write up a report which I’ll keep to myself
until I go to work for Southwest Rail.”

“
You’re so damn obsessed with
the flare rock companies
. I don’t get it.” Southwest Rail Incorporated was
the largest rail company in Alkos and they had also gained a market
share of the flare-rock mines in Naikos. This had led to massive
growth and expansion as the company made a fortune off the energy
rich minerals.

Michael stopped pouring and set
down his still half full beaker.
‘Flare-rock is the future. It’s going to
replace coal. It already has in Southwest’s latest engines. Think
where it’ll lead, engine powered ships, faster and smaller
carriages, more powerful machinery to do work for us. If I can find
a way of mining it faster with explosives, I’ll be set for life.”
He picked up the beaker and continued pouring.

Reese lo
oked back out the telescope
towards the ceremony. He saw the Galrian foreign minister step up
towards the podium. A loud crack suddenly rang out. It was the
sound of a high-caliber gunshot.

Reese gasped as
he saw the Galrian
official fall down, his blood covering the pavilion. One woman ran
over to check, but he was dead. The bullet hit him in the head.
People were screaming and running away in a panic and the Imperial
Guards tried to keep control of the courtyard.

“
Fuck
,” swore Michael. Reese looked away
from the chaotic scene. The gunshot had startled his friend and he
had accidently poured the remaining liquid into the larger beaker
all at once. From his friend’s reaction, Reese guessed that it was
not good for that to happen. He couldn’t see a change in the
mixture though, it could be fine.

Michael piled more ice into the
bucket and shook his head.
“Was that a gunshot?” he asked.

Reese nodded. “You won’t believe this.
Someone killed the Galrian minister.” He took another look through
the telescope. The guards had swarmed over the pavilion and were
restoring order.

“
What!” said Michael, shock in
voice. “It sounded like it came from right above us.”

Reese agreed
. “A powerful rifle. The blast
on one of them is powerful enough to sound close even if you’re not
near them.”

“
No fuck
ing kidding,” said Michael. He was
keeping a careful eye on his mixture in the beaker. “It made me
drop the entirety of the glycerol into the mix. I hope the
temperature stays low enough. The reaction could
run-away.”

“
I don’t know what that means,
but it doesn’t sound good. Do we need to get out of here?” asked
Reese.

“
Calm do
wn,” said Michael in a reassuring
manner. “I have it under control as long as the temperature stays
low. But, uh, if you see red smoke, then run.”

Reese
opened his mouth, but nothing came
out. He was still in shock at witnessing the
assassination.

“
It’s going to be fucking
chaos
here.
Security will be looking everywhere for that shooter,” said
Michael.

“
Worried about your
experiment?” asked Reese.

Michael shook his head. “Once it’s fully
mixed I can put it in the cold storage. After twenty four hours,
it’ll be fine. A Galrian official assassinated on Alkon soil, there
could be a war.”

“
Y
ou’re right,” said Reese. The thought was
sobering to him. He had no desire to see another war, the few
childhood memories he had of the Estaran Civil War were traumatic
enough.

Before Michael could reply
there was a
resounding smash as a grey-cloaked figure burst through one
of the lab windows and rolled along the floor. Reese and Michael
stood in stunned silence. The figure stood up and turned to look at
them. It was woman, her short blonde hair sticking out from beneath
her hood. She turned her head and Reese could see her face more
clearly. There was something startlingly familiar about her. Like
from a half-remembered dream.

The woman
scowled. She pulled out a
dagger and approached Michael. He realized what she intended and
started protesting. “No don’t,” he said in protest and backed away
from her.

However familiar she
looked
,
Reese wasn’t going to stand by and watch her attack his friend. He
grabbed a nearby container of acid and threw it at her. She had
lightning reflexes and ducked, the container missing
her.