planet below. It looked so much like the home they had fled. But it was no home to him.
If Airini was not there, it was just a rock.
PART II :
THE SPACE IN BETWEEN
“God grant that men of principle shall be our principal men.”
— Thomas Jefferson
7
SENECA
C AVARE
I NTELLIGENCE D IVISION H EADQUARTERS
----
W ATCHING THE Z ELONES CARTEL SPLINTER and crumble in an avalanche of murders, bombings and firefights was turning out to be rather amusing, if morbidly so.
Olivia Montegreu had been in power for so long and had kept such an iron grip on her power, there were no clear successors to step into the vacancy her death created. The power vacuum which resulted was leading to a great deal of violence, but it was almost exclusively merc-on-merc violence. Lower-level leaders were trying to set up their own little fiefdoms in some places. The other cartels were also taking advantage of the chaos, but Montegreu had weakened them so much they were having a hard time of it.
Rumors circulated that a large contingent of former Triene cartel members who had been unwillingly absorbed by Montegreu were poised to make a significant push to take over the Zelones headquarters on New Babel.
Graham Delavasi didn’t want to count his riches too soon, but it was possible the Zelones cartel was going to disintegrate entirely.
There would still be as much crime and as many criminals as there had ever been; such was the nature of life. But Montegreu had become a threat to the natural balance between law and law-breakers, between order and chaos.
With her gone and her organization in ruins, the balance should return.
He was working toward a good mood as he headed out of his office for a meeting—and bumped smack into Tessa Hennessey in the doorway.
“Whoops!” She backed up and rubbed at her nose. “Glad we caught you. We were coming to see you.”
‘We’ included Will Sutton, who had deftly dodged Tessa’s post-collision boomerang. Graham jerked a nod and reversed course to return to his office. “I’ve got a minute, but not much longer. What’s up?”
“OTS is going after Dr. Canivon and Devon Reynolds.”
He frowned. “Well, we kind of already knew that, didn’t we? It stands to reason they would.”
“Sure, but now they’re really going after them, as in devoting substantial resources and manpower to hunting them down with the intent to kill them.”
“All right. Neither of them are in Federation territory, so what can we do?”
Tessa grinned flippantly. “Oh, nothing. IDCC security is all over it. I just wanted you to know Cleo and I were getting results.”
He gave her a wry chuckle. So they were. “Will, what’s your role here?”
Sutton jerked his head toward Tessa. “The next part.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And the next part is?”
“They’ve put out a hit order on the two key sponsors of the H+ bill, Senators Abrami and Lerado.”
Instantly Graham went around behind his desk, accessed the Level V security layer and opened a new mission file. “Okay. Any more details?”
“Many. They’ve hired the contracts out to two separate hitmen. One’s the old Shao triggerman, Hsieh, but I haven’t been able to get the other name so far. Deadline is twelve hours before the scheduled vote Thursday on H+. The goals are to not only remove two of the biggest Prevo supporters, but also to intimidate other senators into voting against the bill—hence the twelve-hour buffer. They’re leaving time for word to get out and spread fear in the Parliament.”
“That’s helpful. Anything else?”
She shook her head.
“Good work. Now get out of here and let me move on this. Forward me everything new you uncover, no matter how irrelevant it might seem.”
She beamed with pride and scooted out the door.
Graham glanced up at Will while entering a series of instructions into the system. “I don’t want to move the targeted senators into protective custody, because it
If Airini was not there, it was just a rock.
PART II :
THE SPACE IN BETWEEN
“God grant that men of principle shall be our principal men.”
— Thomas Jefferson
7
SENECA
C AVARE
I NTELLIGENCE D IVISION H EADQUARTERS
----
W ATCHING THE Z ELONES CARTEL SPLINTER and crumble in an avalanche of murders, bombings and firefights was turning out to be rather amusing, if morbidly so.
Olivia Montegreu had been in power for so long and had kept such an iron grip on her power, there were no clear successors to step into the vacancy her death created. The power vacuum which resulted was leading to a great deal of violence, but it was almost exclusively merc-on-merc violence. Lower-level leaders were trying to set up their own little fiefdoms in some places. The other cartels were also taking advantage of the chaos, but Montegreu had weakened them so much they were having a hard time of it.
Rumors circulated that a large contingent of former Triene cartel members who had been unwillingly absorbed by Montegreu were poised to make a significant push to take over the Zelones headquarters on New Babel.
Graham Delavasi didn’t want to count his riches too soon, but it was possible the Zelones cartel was going to disintegrate entirely.
There would still be as much crime and as many criminals as there had ever been; such was the nature of life. But Montegreu had become a threat to the natural balance between law and law-breakers, between order and chaos.
With her gone and her organization in ruins, the balance should return.
He was working toward a good mood as he headed out of his office for a meeting—and bumped smack into Tessa Hennessey in the doorway.
“Whoops!” She backed up and rubbed at her nose. “Glad we caught you. We were coming to see you.”
‘We’ included Will Sutton, who had deftly dodged Tessa’s post-collision boomerang. Graham jerked a nod and reversed course to return to his office. “I’ve got a minute, but not much longer. What’s up?”
“OTS is going after Dr. Canivon and Devon Reynolds.”
He frowned. “Well, we kind of already knew that, didn’t we? It stands to reason they would.”
“Sure, but now they’re really going after them, as in devoting substantial resources and manpower to hunting them down with the intent to kill them.”
“All right. Neither of them are in Federation territory, so what can we do?”
Tessa grinned flippantly. “Oh, nothing. IDCC security is all over it. I just wanted you to know Cleo and I were getting results.”
He gave her a wry chuckle. So they were. “Will, what’s your role here?”
Sutton jerked his head toward Tessa. “The next part.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And the next part is?”
“They’ve put out a hit order on the two key sponsors of the H+ bill, Senators Abrami and Lerado.”
Instantly Graham went around behind his desk, accessed the Level V security layer and opened a new mission file. “Okay. Any more details?”
“Many. They’ve hired the contracts out to two separate hitmen. One’s the old Shao triggerman, Hsieh, but I haven’t been able to get the other name so far. Deadline is twelve hours before the scheduled vote Thursday on H+. The goals are to not only remove two of the biggest Prevo supporters, but also to intimidate other senators into voting against the bill—hence the twelve-hour buffer. They’re leaving time for word to get out and spread fear in the Parliament.”
“That’s helpful. Anything else?”
She shook her head.
“Good work. Now get out of here and let me move on this. Forward me everything new you uncover, no matter how irrelevant it might seem.”
She beamed with pride and scooted out the door.
Graham glanced up at Will while entering a series of instructions into the system. “I don’t want to move the targeted senators into protective custody, because it
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