The Last Praetorian (45 page)

*****

Walking along the grey, featureless, corridor of
Memphis,
Sofia wondered if all these stations had the same interior decorator.  Her own
apartments on the
Imperial Star
had been richly decorated with thick
carpets, rugs, and pictures.  The stark, regular strip lighting of this
corridor replaced with subtle shades and chandeliers.  Sofia even pointed this
out to Jon who only laughed.

“Not everybody is as rich as your father!  Who would pay for
all those fixtures here and who would pay to maintain them?  No, the rest of
the Empire consists of the functional minimum.”

Sofia assumed that insight also extended to her clothes. 
Not that there was anything wrong with them, the tan coloured blouse, jeans and
ankle length boots that she wore, almost a spitting image of Jon’s own
clothes.  While functional, Sofia secretly missed some of her old dresses,
bright colours, made from the finest silks of the Empire, tailored by the
finest designers in the Empire…  It occurred to Sofia that what she probably
missed more was Jon’s reaction to her appearing in such clothes.  Whenever she
appeared, she could see the shock in Jon’s expression, his sudden indrawn
breath, followed soon after by his grim expression, his disapproval plain for
all to see.  However, Sofia would have had to be blind to ignore his blistering
gaze that would follow her everywhere.  Then again maybe they were unnecessary
after all, as when she appeared from the washroom having changed into these
casual clothes, the heated gaze was still present in his eyes when he raked
them over her body.  However, this time instead of the disapproval that she was
used to seeing, his expression turned to a warm smile and he nodded his
approval, with a simple “I like it.” 

Sofia decided that she liked this reaction almost as much. 
She decided in the future that she would just have to alternate, to keep him
guessing.

At least, unlike on
Transcendence
and
Altair,
she was not attracting so many stares.  With the casual clothes, and her hair
in a neat braid reaching her lower back she did not stand out as much.  Well,
at least not too much, as a person would have to be blind not to notice the
stunningly attractive woman.  Although Jon’s possessive grasp of her hand as he
lead her though the station made it obvious to everybody that she was currently
unavailable.

“Where are we going?” she finally inquired, long since
totally lost by all the twists and turns of the different corridors.

“We are going to meet my contact on the station,” Jon
explained.  “We are just taking a more roundabout route as I want to ensure
that we are not being followed.”  Jon was only too aware of how vulnerable the
two of them were on this station.  At any minute, any turn, an ambush could
spring its trap on the pair.  However, the other part of Jon’s nervousness was
from having to leave his Valerian sword on the ‘
Light
.  It would have
completely destroyed the façade that they were trying to project of a married
pair of young, independent traders.  No trader would ever wear such a thing. 
Instead he had holstered at his side a standard pulse pistol, but Jon still felt
naked without his sword.  Jon knew that is was just superstitious nonsense but
he honestly felt that the blade protected him; Jon secretly feared that the day
he died, the weapon would be out of his reach…

Eventually they came to an unmarked office door, in the
middle of the commercial district.  Jon pressed the announcer and waited
patiently.

“What happens if he or she is not here?”  Sofia whispered,
self-consciously.

Jon just shrugged.  “Albert works longer hours than I do, as
far as I know he does not take holidays or any breaks.  If he is not here, then
I assume it is because he is dead.”

The statement was prophetic, as only moments after he had
finished, a high pitched, suspicious voice blared out of a small speaker above
the announcer button.  “Go away, I am not interested in buying anything, or
converting to this week’s latest religion.”

With a smirk at Sofia, Jon replied.  “Albert let us in, it’s
me, Jon and…” Jon looked helplessly at Sofia trying to think of a suitable
label, shrugging again he simply added, “a friend.”

The voice from behind the grill was silent for a moment, then
the door slid silently open, darkness beckoning from within.  Giving Sofia an
unladylike shove from behind, he quickly ushered her into the room before
stepping inside, the door quickly sliding shut behind them.  The lights
suddenly illuminated, blinding both of them.  When they could eventually see
once more, they both stared at the barrel of the gun pointing at them!

Jon stepped in front of Sofia, worried that Albert could end
up shooting her simply because he didn’t recognise her.  A healthy amount of
paranoia in his job went a long way to avoiding a lengthy jail sentence or a
quick execution from a competitor.  “Albert it’s me, Jon, put the pistol away.”

The barrel wavered for a moment. Then the owner lowered the
weapon onto the table.  Sofia was astonished to see that the owner’s head
barely came above the table. He was a child!  However, on closer observation,
the unshaven face, weathered skin, distrustful blue eyes that Sofia realised
that the man was far older; probably some years older than Jon, and that the
man was a midget!      

“Before you make some insulting comment,” Albert
interjected.  “I am fully aware that I am shorter in stature than others…” It
was obviously a sore topic for him.  “I come from Kessler IV, where the gravity
is much stronger, hence we don’t grow as tall.  However, it has its
advantages,” Albert added, effortlessly lifting the table that he was sitting
behind into the air with one hand.

“Just ignore Albert,” Jon replied.  “He is very
self-conscious.”

“As you would be, if everywhere you went, you were followed
by sniggers and terrible jokes behind your back...” came the indignant reply.

Taking a few steps forward Jon reached the short little man and
with apparently little effort picked him up enfolding him the most almighty
hug.  “It’s good to see you again Albert,” he said.

“Put me down, put me down,” Albert squealed, pounding
futilely on Jon’s back.

Jon lowered him gently to the floor, and Sofia thought she
recognised a softening in the man’s eyes as he glared at Jon.

“For a dead man, you certainly still seem to be very much
alive,” Albert chuckled.

“Dead man?”

“The news channel’s have been broadcasting nothing but
unsubstantiated rumours of the Emperor’s death, your death and even yours Princess,”
Albert addressed Sofia.

“You know who I am?”  Sofia asked, shocked.

“Of course, I know who you are,” Albert sniffed.  “I would
not be very successful in my job if I did not recognise the Imperial Princess,
Sofia Aurelius, daughter of the Emperor.”

“And what exactly is your job?” she asked curiously.

“Albert is an information broker,” Jon explained.  “If
Albert doesn’t know about it, it’s not worth knowing.”

“And how much would you charge Harkov for our location and
our lives?”  Sofia demanded scornfully, less than impressed with the man’s
chosen profession.

“Everything has a price Princess,” Albert hedged.  “However,
somethings have a price that nobody could afford, not even with all your family’s
wealth.  Everybody looks down on me, just because I am short, but not Jon.  He
has never treated me any differently than everybody else.”

“I don’t like big people picking on smaller people,” Jon
interjected firmly.

Albert looked fondly at Jon, nodding his head in thanks. 
“Which is why this information is free.  You need to get off
Memphis
immediately.  Harkov has spies, and assassins throughout the station.  They
have even approached me with offers for your location,” the man sniffed
disdainfully.  “As if I would even contemplate divulging that information for
their paltry sums.  You need to make it to the Eden system, the Imperial forces
there are still loyal to Fleet Admiral Sterling.  He was one of your father’s
oldest and most trusted admirals, he is still loyal to the Empire and will
offer you sanctuary.  Harkov’s forces will not be able to reach you there.  You
will be safe there, but you must go now!”

A red light started to chime incessantly on the small
console that was embedded into Albert’s desk.  “They have found you already!” 
Albert hissed, touching another control on the panel.  A panel on the rear-wall
slid open to reveal a previously hidden passage.  “In my profession a backdoor
is always advisable, it is not on any of the station schematics, it will take
you out near the docking port; now GO!”

“Thank you Albert,” Jon uttered sincerely, grabbing Sofia by
the hand and pulling her in the direction of the newly revealed exit.

“What about you?”  Sofia asked in a concerned voice,
remembering the warning that Jon had conveyed about his own parents.  It was
unlikely that Harkov’s men would treat this little man any better.

“Don’t worry about me,” Albert insisted, pulling an assault
rifle that was almost taller than he was from behind his desk.  “You look after
Jon, there are not enough people left like him in the Empire, trust me I should
know.”

With that Sofia allowed Jon to pull her through the hidden
passage, which shut quickly behind them.  Sofia could hear a muffled explosion
from the other side of the door, followed by Albert’s high-pitched yell, “Just
come and try and get me you bastards!”  Whatever else was said was quickly
drowned out by the booming sound of an assault rifle being fired on full
automatic.  Sofia, however, had no way to telling if this was Albert’s or
Harkov’s men as Jon continued to pull her along the pitch black corridor, the
sound becoming fainter and fainter as they hurried away.

Suddenly a bright light appeared ahead; as another hidden
door slid quietly open.  Sofia had no idea if this had been triggered
automatically by their approach, or Albert had activated it from his office. 
Silently Sofia hoped that Albert was safe, as in the short time that she had
meet him she had grown fond of the man.

Stepping out into the bright naked lights of a corridor,
Sofia had to blink rapidly to adjust her eyes to the sudden piercing light. 
Looking around cautiously, Sofia was glad to see that nobody else was in
sight.  It could be difficult to explain to a stranger how come you just
stepped out of a solid wall! 

Meanwhile Jon was quickly looking around to reorientate himself. 
“Good,” he stated.  “We are not far from our docking bay and the ‘
Light
,
the sooner that we get off this station and to the Eden system, the better I
will feel!”  Jon pushed Sofia on ahead of him, urging her to hurry.

For many years later the gunshot that echoed down the
corridor would haunt Sofia.  Unlike the high-pitched whine of an energy pistol
or rifle, this was more a resounding
crack
, like the first bolt of
lightning in a storm. Before the sound even registered with Sofia she went sprawling
to the ground as a huge weight slammed into her back.  Time seemed to suddenly
slow down to a crawl. For an instant she thought that she had been paralysed,
as she was unable to move from the neck down.  It took a few moments for her
thought process to catch-up and realise that it was not her body that was
frozen, but a large weight bearing down on her, pressing her into the corridor
floor, she could barely breathe, let alone move!

A damp wetness started to spread across her blouse, and for
a moment she thought that she had fallen in a puddle of water.  It was only
when she finally managed to get her hand free and bring it up to her face that
she realised the awful truth, it was not water, it was blood!  The rapidly
expanding pool of blood seemed to spread everywhere!  Sofia thought that she
must have been going into shock, as she could not seem to hear or feel
anything, her ears still resounding from the earlier gunshot.

Taking a deep lungful of oxygen, time suddenly sped up as a
racking cough sounded from above her.  Twisting around Sofia looked into Jon’s
eyes, which were glazed over in pain.  A froth of blood appeared from between
his lips, which started to trickle down his cheek.  Suddenly Sofia realised the
awful truth, the blood was not hers!  It was from Jon!

“Jon!” she cried, trying to twist around to get a better
view.  However, Jon was a dead weight lying across her back.  She dared not
push him away, worried that it could cause him more harm.  However, from the
corner or her eye she saw something far more terrifying approaching.  The sandy
haired man was wearing a crumpled jumpsuit, almost faded through in some
patches from constant wear.  However, it was not that which drew her attention
but the large rifle that he carried in his hands, firmly pointed in their
direction!

“I told Franklin that there was no point in chasing you
across half the station, that sooner or later you would have to return here,
but no!  He insisted on trying to barge his way inside, after your little
friend.  Well, he took half a dozen shots in the stomach as thanks,” he
laughed.  “So this is the infamous Commander Radec, I hear that you took out
Marcel and his entire crew back on
Transcendence
,” he muttered with
grudging respect.  “Lucky I brought Betty here with me,” he stroked the rifle
fondly.  “I don’t particularly want to end up like Marcel.”

With a prod from his toe he pushed Jon off Sofia, rolling
him onto his back so Jon’s eyes stared up sightlessly.  Another bout of
coughing, and a gurgle of blood caused the sandy-haired gunman to step back in
surprise.  For the first time since his approach a look of doubt replaced his
cocky expression.  “That’s not possible,” he muttered taking a closer look at
Jon.  “I hit you with a high explosive round, most of your chest should be
spread across this corridor.  No way man, can you still be drawing breath.”  He
moved closer to investigate.