Industry & Intrigue (42 page)

“
Minister Blake and
his dogs getting
ready for war,” said Tessa. “The man is far too eager for it. I
swear he must have been an agorid in previous life.”

Thomas
got out of bed.

“
Where are you going?” she
asked.

“
We both have work to get back
to. You were enjoying your
self to much to notice the time,” he
replied.

She glanced over at the clock in his room.
“Shit, you should have said something sooner. I have to meet the
defense committee in half an hour.” She jumped out of bed and
grabbed her clothes.

“
You’ve had too much on your
mind and you needed to relax. I wanted you to forget your worries
for as long as you could.”

Tessa grum
bled at him as she pulled on
her underwear. “And now I don’t have time to shower. Half of them
will smell the scent of sex on me. Not exactly the impression I
want to give in an official meeting.”

“
Oh I don’
t know,” replied Thomas. “The
meeting would go smoother if everyone knew the tight-fisted
treasury minister had been well fucked and was more amenable to
their pleas for funds.”

She threw
his pants and hit him in the
face. “Ha-ha. You’re hilarious.” She finished getting dressed and
kissed him one last time. “I’ll see you tonight,” she
said.

He nodded. “Don’t let your sister get to
you.”

That was asking the
impossible.
“She’s my sister, she’ll always get to me,” she replied and
she left for the meeting.

Chapter 40

Tanaka
was in the middle of sharpening his
swords when his employer and friend, Hector Cicero walked into the
room. Hector was wearing his Red Knight armor. It was a burnished
gold color. The red sword sigil of the knights was emblazoned
across the front. The armor was imbued with a number of protective
enchantments that ensured the wearer suffered little harm in
combat. He had come from a business meeting; the only time he wore
the armor outside of battle was to impress someone.

“
Ah Tanaka” said the heavy set
human. “Making sure your swords are sharp and ready for battle.
Good to see.” Hector slapped him on the back. Tanaka normally
disli
ked
physical contact, but he and Hector were close and he had become
accustomed to the man’s personal habits over the years.

Tanaka
put his Minakayan long sword back
into place on the rack. His most prized and valued weapons were
stored here. A few he never used and were for display purposes,
others like the long sword, saw regular action.

The sword was a family heirloom dating
back to the Minakayan Period of Warring Clans, several hundred
years ago. Despite its age it was still in excellent condition. It
was forged from Yinaga darksteel; a metal found in the western
mountains of Minakaya. It was highly prized for its strength,
durability and resistance to rust. Once forged a darksteel blade
would never dull or break. The metal was rare though, the Yinaga
mines had been exhausted long ago, and darksteel weapons were worth
a fortune.

“
We have new supply of
firearms
,”
stated Hector, as Tanaka turned to face him.

“
Typhon?” he asked. Tanaka did
not have his traditional Minakaya noble mask covering his face.
Normally only family members were allowed to see a high noble’s
face, but Hector had saved his life several times and a life debt
was an exception to the strict rules of Minakayan nobility. So
Hector would see the concern evident on his white, foxlike
face.

“
Yes. Our men will soon
have those excellent Typhon rifles in their hands.”

Tanaka sniffed.
“I would be
cautious of dealing with her. I have heard rumors about the Mordain
family.”

“
They may be ruthless and I’ll
admit she did bargain an expensive price, but when Typhon makes a
deal they deliver. It
’s costly but the guns are high quality and we
don’t have to worry about them cutting corners like Culsyth, Typhon
honors its arrangements.”

The Red
Knigh
ts had
previously been buying weapons from Culsyth Firearms until
recently. Several faulty guns had misfired during operations in
Naikos and the source of the problem had turned out to be
inadequate material in the loading mechanism. Hector had been
enraged and canceled the contract with Culsyth.

And only too right,
faulty weapons
could led to casualties. They couldn’t do business with anyone that
was willing to endanger their soldiers to save a few
crowns.

Tanaka nodded in agreement.
He
would
also prefer to pay slightly more if it meant having reliable
weapons. “True, but I am surprised you didn’t take the offer for
the new Fleming gun at Huntington Mechanics. It’s all everyone is
talking about.”

“
I saw the
demonstration
. I’ll admit, it was impressive,” said Hector “It’s not the
performance ability that concerns me. It’s the cost and the fact
that it has yet to be proven in battle.”

Tanaka had considered both of
those and while he didn’t dispute Hector’s points, he
felt it was a
mistake not pursuing the new mechanized gun. He had a feeling it
would be another world-changing device, like others developed by
Huntington. Not obtaining and early version of the gun would hurt
them in the future.

But Hector had made up his mind
and gone with Typhon
. “Anyway, with that sorted there’s something I need you to
do for me. Head north to Caer Anvos and take charge of our
garrison,” said Hector.

Tanaka was curious.
“
We have a
new contract?” If they did, this was the first he was hearing of
it.

“
Tegan Mordain helped to sweeten
the deal by offering me information. From inside the imperial
palace,” replied Hector. “All this talk of war means we’re going to
be busy. All of our southern garrisons have been bought up by
Imperial Army contracts. But Ms. Mordain gave me a hint of
something else. In the event of war, we’re going to be offered a
lucrative contract for an operation in Estara.”

Hector didn’t need to
say anymore. There
was only one military operation funded by the Alkos government that
would contract the Red Knights to Estara. Aiding the Estaran
monarchists in retaking the throne.

Hector wouldn’t hesitate at a
contract
like that. He had served in the Royal Estaran Army before
moving to Alkos and was friends with several of its generals. He
loved his money more though and the Estarans had never had the
funds to contract the Red Knights. Until now that is.

“
So in the event it goes
forward; I want you leading our men. No doubt you’ll be answering
to Queen Clara and her generals, but you’ll
still have command of our
units.”

“
I see
,” said Tanaka. “How certain are you
that it will go forward?”

“
Tegan insists that the money is
in place. It’s simply a matter for it to be released by imperial
discretion before the queen can approach us. That’s why you need to
leave immediately. When the contract starts, I want to be able to
tell them I have my best and most-trusted commander ready to serve
the queen.” Hector still retained a soft spot of loyalty for the
ruling house of his homeland.

“
But won’t you need my
help here? The potential of war with Galria.”

“
No, no. I am capable of running
a campaign with government contracts. Our men in the south know how
to fight Galrians, they have experience at it.” Hector was
referring to the time Tal Feros had contracted a large contingent
of the Red Knights during their war with Galria.

“
I will pack everything I
require and take a train from Rainac Station. We have roughly five
thousand un-contracted men in Caer Anvos at the moment. Once I
arrive I will start running through the training operations for an
invasion of Estara.”

The Red Knights were a
tho
rough
mercenary force. They had plans and contingencies for all manner of
military operations. Hector was an equal opportunity soldier and
accepted contracts from anyone, though he usually gave priorities
to Alkon interests.

But in the
ev
ent of
having to fight in an unexpected location, he had learned it was
best to plan. Tanaka had helped develop the plans for a military
invasion of Estara. They had accounted for the Royal Army and the
fact that Estara could receive aid from New Estara or the Kordate
Union.

But even the
best of plans could
not anticipate everything. Tanaka had not made the plans knowing
that Galria and Alkos would be at war. It was an unwelcome
variable, but he would adjust as necessary. If there was a larger
war in the south, the main effect would be less support of arms and
supplies to both sides in Estara.

“
Yes, but be discrete
about it,” said
Hector. “We don’t want is to tip off the republicans they’re about
to be invaded. Make it a training exercise for Naikos. That should
keep suspicion away from any Estaran spies.”

Tanaka nodded. Then he clasped
Hectors wrist with his right hand, while the other
man returned the
gesture. “Victory and honor,” they both said, the motto of the Red
Knights. Hector left the room.

Tanaka walked over to the large
cupboard and opened it.
There were a number of items inside-revolvers,
books, files and a large shelf, full of enormous scrolls. Tanaka
pushed his hands around the end of the scrolls, looking for the
correct one. He found the one with a red and green marker and
pulled it out.

He walked back to his desk and
sat down.
He
placed the paper down and unrolled it. It revealed a detailed map
of Estara. The map was so large the edges were hanging off his
desk.

He put a book on each of the
corners s
o
the map would not roll back. He took his time studying it, becoming
familiar with the general outline and geography of the nation. He
began committing everything he could to memory. The major cities,
rivers, mountain ranges, forested areas and other strategic
locations.

If he was to command a Red
Knight army for Queen Clara, the
re was little chance that they could
attack straight across the border. The imperial government of Alkos
would never allow that, not without risking the ire of Estara’s
allies. No, the initial attack would have to be a sea landing. The
Red Knights had a small, naval contingent but the Estaran exiles
would need to supply most of the required ships.

He cont
inued studying the map until he
finally came to a conclusion as to the best place for a landing;
the Versium Peninsula. It was a short journey across the Summit Sea
from Caer Anvos and was only a short distance south of Haltoria.
Seizing the capital early, would be crucial. For two reasons, it
would serve as a rallying point for Estarans that were undecided
and it would legitimize Queen Clara’s rule. After several hours of
studying the map and making notes, Tanaka rolled it back up and put
it into the wooden cylinder.

Tanaka
packed his weapons and papers into a
large case. When he was done, he picked up his darksteel sword,
attached its belt and put it around his waist. Then he placed his
high lord mask on his face. The mask covered everything, not even
leaving holes for his deep green eyes to see through.

The masks were designed by
Minakayan mages for all noble-born families.
It had no gaps, but one could
easily see and breathe through it, thanks to the magical nature of
it. In fact to the wearer, it felt as if they did not have anything
on their face. Outside of his direct family in the city of Shugo,
he had only ever revealed his face to Hector and one
other.

Chapter 41

“
She’s still not saying
anything?” asked
Niko.

Brenna shook her head.
Inissa Renoch had
been in the interrogation room for sixteen hours, but had yet to
give them anything useful. They had her dead to rights on the
attempted murder of Isaac Gall, but still had nothing to link her
to Mikono. Brenna and Snar had even visited the woman’s brothel and
questioned her working girls, but they were clueless about a
kitsune crime boss. Mikono was smart enough to keep the tarcaine
and sex trade well separated.

Worse news had been the ambush
of a
watch
transport. Both of the officers running the transport had been
killed, though the targets had clearly been the Stoneskin gang
members. After taking out the officers, the attackers had opened
the back doors and shot everyone inside like fish in a
barrel.

“
How’s Inspector Pym?”
she
asked.

“
I don’t know. He’s
on leave. He
refuses to talk to anyone right now.” Inspector Harton Pym was a
watch officer in the Dock district and a good friend of the
captain. His only son had been one of the officers transporting the
prisoners. There was no way the Stoneskins would let this go
unanswered. The watch commander had pressured Niko to find a
solution quickly. They needed to apprehend Mikono and Lorek before
the street war escalated further.