ENDEAVOUR NCC-194

Little Princess

Prologue

August 21, 2164

Frav, the Orion representative, awaited his next appointment from the extravagant luxury of his penthouse. He was known as one of the most powerful men in the Syndicate, a man to whom whole governments came to beg favours, and no expense was spared to maintain that image. He lived a life of decadent bliss, to which billions of others looked on, awed and envious. The most beautiful women from around the Syndicate and beyond doted over his grand, well-fed frame. His servants knew his every whim, taste, and pleasure, and catered to them religiously, knowing that the slightest displeasure in him could spell their end. A man who commanded solar systems need suffer no imperfection, no matter how miniscule.

This was the fiction, at any rate, and it was an artfully maintained one. Governments did indeed come to him, people were frightened of his power, but the reality, known to just two – perhaps three – people, was that he had no power whatsoever. He could not even attend to his toilet without authorisation.

He was a valuable puppet for the true master of the Syndicate. A person who remained comfortably anonymous.

Useful, but not indispensable, as he well knew. He was careful never to get too comfortable with his faux power, or to relax into the luxury all around him. It was all props on a stage, and he was but an actor; his 'director' could replace him in a moment if his performance was unsatisfactory.

Distantly, he heard the door open. Booted feet clicked along the stone path that wound from the door to the gazebo, taking in the delicate garden and the bubbling artificial stream that bisected the room. Although it resided on the top floor of a tower in the Orion capital city, Frav's chamber was a slice of natural beauty.

The visitor was an unremarkable man, whose features fell from mind even as one looked at him. He was neither tall or short, fat or thin, and he wore a non-descript black suit and tie, and carried a slim black briefcase. His face was round, his eyes dark, his black hair short. Nothing about him created an impression: he would be impossible to pick from a line-up.

He stopped the appropriate distance from the Orion and bowed ever so slightly. "Mr Frav."

"Mister Black. Right on time. Be seated."

Mist Black sat on the bench indicated and placed his briefcase on his lap. Without shifting his eyes from Frav in the slightest, he said in his slow, even, toneless voice, "She should go."

He referred to Tia, the naked Orion female draped around Frav's wide shoulders. She was the most beautiful woman in the quadrant, if not the cosmos; tall, sculptured, with large firm breasts and long, long, sumptuous legs, a narrow waist, and elegantly curved hips; her triangular face wearing a pout. How could any man, or woman for that matter, look at this perfect creature and not feel their mouth water?

She was unhappy to be dismissed, but unwrapped herself from Frav and started to turn away – unwatched by Mister Black. The Orion caught her slim wrist in his blubbery hand and pulled her back to him. "Anything you say to me, my employees can hear."

Mister Black's eyes still didn't move. "Very well. I have some people I want eliminated."

"Who do you think I am? A low-rent assassin?"

"I think you are a man of business who can get things done. I have a simple proposal. If you are not interested I will take my business elsewhere."

Tia's hands moved up Frav's oiled chest. He nodded. "Very well, Mister Black. I will listen."

He opened his slim briefcase and handed over two pieces of paper, upon which were photographs and brief descriptions of the targets. Frav quickly glanced at the sheets and smiled toothily at his client. "Unwanted family?"

Mister Black closed his briefcase and made no comment.

"Quite a bounty you're offering," Frav tried again.

"I want it taken care of quickly."

"I'll get this circulated."

Mister Black stood, his business concluded. With a second polite bow, he took his leave. Frav turned the pages over again, wondering what these people had done to deserve such high prices. Mister Black had come to him before with jobs to be done. They always carried large rewards, but this was something else again. This was very important to him.

He almost felt sorry for the two wretches. With such a sum on their pretty heads, they wouldn't last long.

He passed the sheets to Tia.