"As I've done nothing disloyal... no," replied the scientist just as congenially.
Grayza smiled wickedly. "As I discovered you in the company of wanted criminals and terrorists, obviously engaged in some convert conspiracy with them... I beg to differ"
"That would be... a false assumption on your part," Scorpius replied with his own sly smile.
"Never the less, I believe Central Command will agree with my assessment," she said coming to stand before the half-Scarran commander. "I'm sure your co-conspirators will reveal your betrayal when they are interrogated by my inquisitors on my command vessel"
Rygel swallowed audibly at the mention of the Peacekeeper torturers awaiting them on Grayza's ship. The commander turned toward the others as if they were clearly below her notice, but had to acknowledge them as a sort of formality.
"And one of the things they will reveal to me is the location of John Crichton and the trader Aeryn Sun," she added.
Rygel nearly choked trying to make himself look innocent, while D'argo only glared at Grayza and her men. Chiana looked up at her lover over her gag with pleading eyes, just as the Commandant used the toe of one boot to prod the bound Nebari aside to clear a path so she could pace back and forth unobstructed before her prisoners.
The Luxan growled low at the sight of his beloved having to squirm out of the Peacekeeper's way. "Where the frell is that damn Shrike?" he thought silently. If he had a dram of honor in his worthless hide, he would not have abandoned them, or Chiana - who he claimed to be a friend too - to this fate at Grayza's hands. Part of the big warrior found a savage satisfaction that he'd been proven right about the ex-Enforcer's fidelity.
The only problem was that the affirmation would most probably get them all killed... in a very unpleasant manner.
The Commandant's men completely encircled the group from Moya and Scorpius, allowing them no chance for escape. The guards' attention fully on their prisoners and their leader's oration, none of them saw or were able to halt the black form that seems to appear like a specter out of nowhere, at the rear of their female commander.
"Mele-On," came the tomb-like voice from behind the Peacekeeper Commandant, "Don't"
Grayza spun on her heels to look, and found the tall-cloaked figure standing there holding a pulse pistol on her.
"YOU!" she spat with a mixture of contempt and hatred.
As usual, the Shrike seemed unaffected by any feelings of loathing projected against him. Instead he brought the pistol up closer to eye-level as if he had every intention of firing it and wanted better aim to make the shot.
"Tell your men to drop their weapons and move away," the Enforcer instructed.
"And if I do not?" the Commandant asked almost smugly.
The laser-sight on the assassin's pulse pistol switched on and the red crosshairs settled dead center on Grayza's partly bared chest.
"Then I will kill you," answered Berret in a cold monotone.
Grayza's lips slipped into a crooked half-grin. "Kill? Not 'eradicate'?" she asked. "Kill implies murder of a personal nature. I had though murder for your kind was never of a personal nature"
"As you wish," came the assassin's reply. The level stare told the Peacekeeper the Enforcer wasn't falling for her verbal sparring tactic.
The smug smile faded from Grayza's face. It was obvious to all that she had little doubt the Shrike would do exactly as he said.
"Frelling fenik!" she hissed the curse, but then motioned for her guards to lower their weapons and step away from the crewmates for the moment. As soon as the soldiers moved away, the group from Moya quickly retrieved their own weapons and put as much space between them and the Peacekeeper detachment as the cluttered workshop allowed.
D'argo quickly freed Chiana from her bonds and surprisingly enough, Scorpius aligned himself with the big Luxan and the others without a moment's hesitation. The eager hands of the crewmates clutched weapons, but only held them pointed up partway at their opponents. Neither side bringing guns fully to bear on the other, knowing that to do so would immediately start a firefight probably none would survive in the confines of the workshop.
"Let us not have a shooting match right at this moment," Scorpius told both sides an instant later. "We are all ultimately seeking the same goal... and despite what you believe Commandant, I am not your enemy"
The woman smirked at him. "That is for Central Command to decide," she replied.
"Be that as it may, we have a common purpose," Scorpius continued. "Please instruct your men to shoulder their rifles"
Grayza appeared reluctant to give the command for a moment, but Berret cocked his head in such a way that it was evident that he was looking for a reason to fire his pistol if she resisted further.
With an adverse snarl she gave the order. "Do as he says. Secure your arms"
Her well-trained men responded immediately to the command and safe their weapons before slinging them over their shoulders. Scorpius made a gesture to Moya's crew to do the same and they followed suit, though less hurriedly and without the rapid discipline of the soldiers.
He then turned to the assassin who still held his pistol level at the other PK commander. "If you will, Shrike... please holster your weapon as well"
Berret gave him a glare that said he'd rather turn the gun on the half-Scarran scientist instead, and pull the trigger.
D'argo stepped in before anything further could turn ugly.
"Do as he says," the warrior instructed, "So we can get back to our own frelling business and get the hezmana back to Moya before anything else turns to dren"
Berret looked little incline to obey the Luxan as well, but he did grudgingly lower his weapon a bit. Chiana made her way to his side as she put her own small pistol she'd just retrieved from a pile of weapons back into her belt.
"Do as they want, Berret," she asked. "It'll be okay." Stepping closer to the armored man, she lowered her voice so only he could hear her. "You did good... now trust D'argo and Rygel... trust me"
The Shrike's lips turned downward in a frown, but this time he did what the Nebari asked. The pulse pistol slid back into his cross-draw holster on his heavy belt, and the entire rig disappeared as his cloak covered over it once more.
"You may also dismiss your troops," Scorpius told Grayza, "You have my word as a Peacekeeper Officer that none will harm you while you are here. Consider this a truce of sorts"
"Can you vouch for that treacherous bastard also?" she asked while pointing an accusatory finger at Berret.
Scorpius looked momentarily surprised at the question and the rancor in the Commandant's voice directed at the assassin, but Rygel interrupted before he could ask any questions of his own.
"Yes... you did seem to recognize Chiana's nik-nik," the Hynerian inquired. "Just where and how do you know him from, hum? And you do have the 'treacherous bastard' part right, that I can assure you"
"Does that really frelling matter now?" put in D'argo with more than normal exasperation.
"I have to admit, I am curious also," added Scorpius with a glace at the armored Shrike. "I'm sure we can spare a moment to satisfy our combined curiosity"
Grayza gestured for her troops to wait outside the shop and after the heavy door rolled closed again, she granted their request, glaring once more at Berret as she spoke.
"As well you should be curious about the Shrike. You should know what vile creature it is you have in your mist," she told them. "That fenik came aboard my Command Carrier several weekens ago... claiming to be a exiled Enforcer attempting to regain his standing in his Syndicate House by hunting down certain prey that had escaped him on his last assassination assignment for his masters, and left him with an eradication order on his head"
She turned to look at Chiana and smiled with a hint of grim humor. "That prey he claimed to be hunting was you, child"
"Me?" the gray girl said with some surprise.
Grayza nodded with a cold smile. "Yes... he claimed the only way he could redeem his place in his Scarran House was to find you and carry out your eradication as he had been ordered. He proposed an alliance of sorts for our mutual benefit... he would aid me in tracking you and the others down - seeing it was Crichton I wanted - in return for transportation and safe passage through Peacekeeper territory aboard my command ship. At first I was a little hesitate in allying myself with a member of a criminal organization, but the perceived opportunity of having a Shrike assassin's legendary tacking skills at my disposal... I deemed well worth the risk considering current circumstances.
"So we struck our bargain. He would give me Crichton, and I would help speed his search for the Nebari tralk he wanted. And with his help we traced you down fairly quickly. We were only three solar days behind you and closing in when I foolishly dispatched two attack Marauders along with the Shrike and his Wraith scout ship to intercept your Leviathan. Only as soon as they were out of scanner range, the Shrike used the weapons aboard his craft to cravenly ambush and destroy my ships. It took us almost two solar days after I realized something had gone wrong to find the sector the attack took place in. Another two solar days later we finally tracked him down to Qujaga, but we learned that he had already broken you out of prison and escaped again. It was only mere luck that we were still monitoring comm traffic in the Qujagan system and learned of a second incident at the very same prison. On a hunch, I order my Command Cruiser to return at full speed and we arrived only a half-solar day after whatever operation you carried out there."
Grayza looked at Berret and her lip curled up in a hateful sneer.
"I must say, Shrike... you left quite an impressive body count behind you there"
"Do not put me in a position where I have to add to it, Mele-On," the assassin responded coldly.
Grayza narrowed her eyes at the threat. "Just as you've put me in a position where I will have to end your rampage though the Territories. You will pay dearly for betraying me"
"You can try, Mele-On," Berret tonelessly replied.
"And you may stop using my given name! You may address me as Commandant Grayza or Ma'am"
Berret's only response to the reprimand was a slight upturning of his lips. The smile seemed to have less dark humor in it than usual.
"This is all very enlightening and answers a few intriguing questions," broke in Scorpius, "But now for the moment, let us get back to the matters at hand"
All assembled persons in the room agreed to continue with planning, though some did reluctantly. The discussion turned away from the Commandant and the Shrike, and returned to the matter of John Crichton and Aeryn Sun.
Chiana only half listened to the conversation. Her attention remained on Berret and the events that had unfolded since Grayza and her guards had captured her while she waited in the hidden Transport Pod and then stormed into the meeting. She was honestly impressed and proud with her friend's performance; he had not overly injured or killed anyone despite the near violence of the situation. On that part she was quite happy, and began to have some hope for the ex-assassin again
However the others hadn't noticed, but there was something odd in Berret's voice as he spoke to the Peacekeeper Commander, and the fact that the Shrike had addressed Grayza repeatedly with her given name didn't escape her either.
The Nebari wasn't absolutely positive, but she thought she could hear a hint of unnatural regret in the Shrike's tone. The thought only left her baffled and she tried to tell herself she was mistaken, but the idea stuck firm in her mind. Her instincts were telling her there was something more than meets the eye there.
She would have to wait and catch Berret alone to get to the truth - if she could.
The Nebari knew she still was on very shaky ground with the assassin, but she knew she had to find out exactly what Berret's relationship to the Peacekeeper was. She just wished she could be sure if she wanted to know for the sake of the group as a whole... or for some deep personal reason of her own?
The meeting ended fairly well for the crewmates and Scorpius - but not so well as far as Grayza was concerned. After hearing the group's plans and Scorpius' agreement to assist, she objected venomously. There was no way she was going to let Scorpius near John Crichton - alive, dead, or deconstructed into a million little crystalline pieces.
Lucky, Scorpius had managed to somehow discreetly contact Braca aboard his new Command Carrier.
When the shouting Grayza burst from the workroom into the main warehouse, yelling for her men to arrest everyone inside the meeting, she found only Braca waiting to inform her that her detail had been taken into custody and transported to Scorpius' ship.
Two more troopers appeared and escorted Braca and the cursing Grayza back to a waiting Marauder so that the Commandant could rejoin her men.
Genuinely impressed that Scorpius had efficiently dealt with Grayza and had kept his word not to try and capture the crewmates, D'argo and Rygel stayed behind with the half-Scarran for a moment to work out some last fine details to their plans. The rest of the group left them to their planning. Outside the workshop, the warehouse was fully lit now. Some tech in Braca's crew obviously having repaired the damage Berret had done to the building's main lighting system. The fixtures the Shrike had destroyed in the earlier hunt had merely been night-cycle aisle lighting for any night patrols the warehouse might have employed. A few credits bribe from Rygel had insured that no night guards would be present for the meet.
Outside the gathering, Chiana took the opportunity to question Berret.
"Will you tell me about Grayza?" she asked cautiously.
"There is nothing more to tell," he said, "Events happened as she described. I committed all the acts she alleges"
"I know now you're far from a saint... all of us are," the girl told him. "I'm not judging you for whatever you did to that PK tralk... or that you killed those soldiers in her Marauder crews"
"You know I have done far worse," he replied as he made to turn away. There was no outward sign, but the young thief instinctively knew that Berret did not want to continue that particular discussion with her.
Chiana shook her head and gently took his arm to keep him from walking away from her. For a change she was greatly pleased that Berret did not flinch away from her touch, even though she suspected the lack of reaction was only an indication of the Shrike's deep state of private thought at the moment.
"I know I haven't done a good job of showing it lately, but I'm still your friend, 'Ret," the Nebari waif told him. "There's something more, I heard it in your voice." The Shrike only looked at her with unblinking eyes. Undeterred Chiana continued with her observation, "Its almost as if... you felt sorry for her in a way"
To her wonder, she saw a quick hint of surprise pass over Berret's face. She'd guessed correctly after all!
The Shrike twisted his lips into a small frown, his forehead furrowed in concentration as he attempted to arrange his thoughts. It was an expression that she'd noticed that Berret had come to wear often in the last few solar days as they meticulously planned the meeting with Scorpius.
"Mele-On... Grayza, for the most part I believe means well in this matter. She seeks peace for the Peacekeeper and Sebacean people... despite the means she attempted to deploy by betraying certain of her allies," the assassin began.
"Yeah, I'm sure the Luxans' are less than thrilled with her right now," Chiana put in.
"I believe you would be correct on that matter," Berret replied. "She is attempting to avoid a galactic war between the Peacekeepers and the Scarrans. Such a clash would be devastating to both sides... and most every other species caught in the middle of the conflict. However... she will not listen to reason. I tried several times during my time on her ship to convince her that the Scarrans, that any Scarran, could not be trusted. But she refused to believe me. By willingly betraying her allies, she only confirmed to the Scarrans that she and the Peacekeepers are dealing from a position of weakness. You may as well dump a pail of blood into the water before a school of Thrasher-fish and receive the same results.
"She justified her actions by claiming the survival of the Sebacean race was all, and worth any duplicity to the Luxans or other allies. She could not understand why as a Sebacean myself, I could not accept that as truth. She failed to realize that the fact I am no longer Sebacean because of the Scarran Black Syndicate... is proof that they are treacherous as a entire species, just as I maintain."
"Even so... you don't think she's only glory hunting on this? She really believes she can make a lasting peace and it's not some power trip? Or a way for her to get power for herself?" Chiana asked
Berret briefly shook his head in the negative.
"It is fact, that success with bringing peace would give her power of a sort within the Peacekeeper ranks. But her desire for a peaceful solution is real regardless, and blinds her to the facts that I presented her with. She thinks that my animosity to the Scarrans is simply only a result of my enslavement to the Black Syndicate, and that the Royal Imperium itself will honor a truce... as it is not by nature, a criminal organization"
Chiana's dark eyebrows rose in near astonishment.
"Oh? Is that it?" she asked as she slipped her arm all the way through Berret's and began to slowly walk down the hallway with him. "I'm amazed at just how frelling dumb someone in Grayza position can be"
Berret nodded his head a single time.
"She knows not what she truly deals with."
Chiana considered his words for a moment.
"Just to play Hynerian's Advocate for a microt, are you sure about this? That the Imperium and the Syndicate are virtually the same as far as being able to trust them"
"Yes"
"And that's just not you being prejudice"
Berret paused a moment in his walk to regard her with cold unfeeling eyes.
"Do you really believe that a criminal organization as large as the Black Syndicate could in effect operate unhindered for nearly a thousand cycles within a military monarch society like the Imperium, without secret support from a group high in the royal hierarchy?"
Chiana's beautiful mouth turned downward in a thoughtful frown of her own.
"Now that you mention it... no, I don't," she said. "Something would have to be crooked there"
"And you would be correct to believe so," Berret responded as he began to walk again.
Chiana easily kept pace besides the tall ex-Enforcer. She idly became aware of the sound of metal hitting the floor stones in time with the tall man's footsteps. The fact that Berret's armored boots made any sound at all as they walked told Chiana that the topic had annoyed the Shrike to the point were he wasn't paying attention to the way he moved.
Almost as if he were reading her mind at the moment, Berret caught himself and altered his step. The clicking of armored boot soles vanished and the Shrike moved as silently as always.
Chiana couldn't help but smile briefly to herself as she recalled a time just after the breakout and her rediscovered friend had joined them aboard Moya.
She had still been blind then, but she had joined Berret in his new quarters where on a whim one evening she asked the Shrike if she could try on his Enforcer boots and armor. She swore she heard a tone of amusement in the ex-assassin voice as he gave her permission to indulge herself.
She attempted to don the metal plates but found them too cumbersome with just the back and chest armor alone, and decided to just try the boots out. Chiana had to stuff several pair of rolled up socks into the footwear before they would come close to fitting her smaller feet. She hadn't realized just how heavy the shin and foot armor was either until she attempted walking in the Enforcer footwear.
And no matter how hard she tried; she couldn't master the technique of walking silently in them.
To her hypersensitive ears, her footsteps sounded like bars of steel stock tumbling down a stairwell.
The memory of those early days brought a larger smile to her dark lips. It was little things such as this... and the fact that Berret was obviously perplexed by Grayza's failure to believe what he told her about the Scarrans that gave Chiana the optimism that her friend wasn't as soulless as she had believed him to be for awhile. If she could bring these moments out of him, if he could feel these things, no matter how small, there had to be hope for him some how.
Berret's next comment made her forget where her thoughts were going.
"There is one other aspect that neither the Scarran Imperium nor Peacekeeper Command has taken into consideration with pending war," he said darkly.
"What's that?" Chiana asked interested, but with a sudden sinking feeling.
"That a third fraction is working covertly to undermine peaceful negotiations from both sides"
"You mean... someone's kinkoid enough to actually be working to start a huge war in the territories?" the Nebari girl exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes"
Chiana narrowed her eyes in near disbelief. "But who would be frelling crazy enough to want a all-out war between the Territories two biggest super powers? My people want control of everyone in the Territories but they'd use more devious means like the Contagion rather than start a war that would kill most everybody they wanted to rule... including themselves. The Hynerian Empire is in chaos and couldn't even think of starting something like that and survive it. Who does that leave"
Berret looked at her levelly, waiting for the answer to dawn.
The Nebari tilted her head in sudden understanding.
"No!" she said, and a cold fist gripped her heart. "The Black Syndicate! But you practically claim that they are working along side the Imperium to betray the Peacekeepers in the negotiations"
"I have no proof, but I do not doubt that the Syndicate is working with the Imperium to trick the Peacekeepers. I also have no doubt that the Syndicate will ultimately betray the Imperium at some point as well"
"Why?" Chiana asked. "What makes you think something like that"
Berret looked slightly away from her, as if he were in someway to blame for what the Syndicate was up to.
"A war between the Scarran Imperium and the Peacekeepers will eventually drag all the other lesser powers into it whither they wanted to fight or not," the Shrike explained. "The Luxans, Sheyangs, the Hynerian Empire, and even Nebari Prime will have no choice but to chose a side and join in, and be destroyed in the end. Leaving the Syndicate when all is done... in control of everything."
"Is that frelling possible?" Chiana asked with wide eyes.
"It is more than possible," the Shrike replied with eyes hardening. "I have been thinking about events in the last few solar days, and about some of the assignments I was ordered to perform while an Enforcer under Syndicate control, along with what few other facts I can remember. I also asked Pilot to search Moya's data banks for other relevant information on historical events inside the Territories. I have since come to believe that the High Syndicate Houses have been planning and slowly working toward such a occurrence for the last twenty cycles... if not longer."
Chiana gave herself a few microts to digest the thought and then swallowed hard.
"If you're right about this... we have to tell somebody!" she exclaimed.
"Who?" Berret simply asked in return.
The gray girl shook her head. "I don't know," she finally replied. "D'argo... Rygel... somebody, anybody... the Peacekeepers if we have to"
"And who would believe us? We are outlaws," the Shrike supplied. "And your friends are almost as powerless to do anything as we are"
Chiana began to move with the sharp motions of Nebari agitation. "We just can't stand by and let it all turn to dren," she said. "There has to be something, or we're all gonna die! You, me... Moya, John and Aeryn... Aeryn's baby. You know these people, you were part of the Syndicate... surely you must know something we can do to stop them"
Berret shifted his weight slightly as if uncertain about something he was thinking about revealing to her. Chiana tilted her head at him, making it clear she was willing to listen to what he had to say, no matter what it was.
"There is one option I have been considering of late," he finally said.
"What"
The tall Shrike squared his shoulders, and gazed at her with near emotionless eyes.
"I must return to Arckatius's Syndicate House... and eradicate him, just as I had planned before I found you"
The gray girl forcefully shook her head. "No! No frelling way!" she replied sternly while reaching out to grab his arm through his cloak. Surprisingly she located the limb on the first try and hung onto it with a grip born of near desperation. "That's nothing new and it's just an excuse for you to get your revenge against that scaly bastard. Its suicide! And I'm not going to let you do it. Find another way, get another idea"
"Yes, I want revenge. I crave it in ways you cannot begin to understand," Berret replied. He took a half step toward her. She had to tip her head up to keep eye contact with him, and he gazed down into her eyes through the wild bangs of her snow-white hair. To an onlooker, it had to appear that the tall assassin was using his presence to intimidate the young girl, but the Nebari knew that was not the case. To that same onlooker, she knew that she gave off the air of indomitable will. Berret would not harm her no matter how unstable he became at times, anymore than she would willingly allow Berret to go off and be harmed. It was just the core nature of things between them.
"Yes, I do understand," Chiana countered in a whisper. "I want revenge for what happen to me after I left Moya. I want to make them pay for what they did to me in that jail. This time... nobody came to save me, and I live with that every frelling day of my life since then. I want them dead so bad I dream of it most nights" she hissed, letting him see the pain in her eyes. Just as suddenly they soften as she reached out with both arms to grasp his armored hands in hers. "But its not worth dying for," she continued. "Its not worth letting it eat away at my soul until there's nothing left. I go on, every day, looking forward, trying to put it all behind me now. It's not simple, but it gets a little easier each day." Her hands traveled upward along his arms as she spoke until they settled around his neck, once there she pulled his head down until their foreheads touched in a half-hug. She had always found comfort when Zhaan had embraced in that way; she was hoping she could convey the same sense of security to Berret. "Let it go, Retty," she begged quietly, "You're free now. Live your life the best you can... here with us"
Berret closed his eyes for a moment as he awkwardly held her in turn. Aware that it wasn't truly the intimate connection with Chiana he had hope for at the beginning of his quest, he still allowed himself the brief moment to imagine this is how it might have been if events had unfolded differently.
Before he could become too wrap up in the illusion of what might have been, he reluctantly straightened a few microts later and broke the embrace. He took a symbolic step back and the unemotional mask once more slid across his features.
Chiana sighed and groaned in defeat; intuitively knowing she hadn't convinced him to see things her way.
"It is no longer that uncomplicated as simple retribution," Berret told her quietly. "It has become a far larger matter than just my vengeance for my enslavement. I have come to realize that over the last several solar days"
"I don't see how that is," she said to him. "The Black Syndicate is too large for one man, even a Shrike assassin, to take on all by himself. Think about what you're saying, Berret. Even if you get Arckatius and live through it, you can't possibly get them all. The next one will kill you, or the one after that. If you kill one or two leaders, eventually the others will all band together and come for you. It's hopeless! You can't win"
"You're thinking on too large a scale," Berret responded. "I do not have to win... I only have to kill Arckatius. And it has to be soon"
Chiana shook her head. "I still don't understand. How is killing one Scarran crime-lord going to stop their plan for total war? One Scarran out of what? Hundreds? Why would that stop any of the others"
"What you don't understand is the Syndicate's structure," he explained. "It is not the fact that Arckatius is one of hundreds of Syndicate heads... it's the Syndicate House that he is the master of"
"And what has that to do with anything"
Berret actually looked like he was weary for just a few microts to Chiana, as if all his thoughts were weighing heavily on him and he had almost reached the end of his extraordinary endurance.
"Arckatius's House is a High Syndicate House, one of only twelve such. Lower and Minor Houses all report or tribute to one of the Twelve. The head of each High House holds a place on a Commission that rules the organization, divides territories and profits, and dispenses whatever punishment is need to underlings that go astray of the Commission's policy. The lesser Houses each pay tribute to one of the Twelve, or in some case all of them
"If one of the twelve leaders were to die or be killed suddenly, the Syndicate House would be in chaos as members struggle for control. In turn the Commission's hold on the Lower and Minor Houses would be deficient at best with the void of power in certain territories. In total disarray if one or more House leaders - High, Lower, or Minor - decided to take the opportunity to seize control of the left open regions and profits, in the process filling the position left by the fallen High House for themselves."
Chiana expressive eyes grew round as she began to process what her friend was telling her.
"They'd tear themselves apart in a power struggle to grab up turf and money," she said. "They'd be too busy fighting among themselves to go ahead with their plan to take over by war"
The Shrike nodded. "That is what I think will happen"
"But you're not exactly sure," she asked.
"No," he had to admit.
The girl ran a forefinger over her chin several times in thought.
"This political dren give me a headache," she finally commented. "I think to be on the safe side, we should run this pass Frog-face and see what he thinks. He's the one with the devious little politician mind. If anyone can see all the sides to this, its Rygel"
Berret's lips twisted into a grimace. "I do not see why we need to bother with the Hynerian judgment. As I said, Arckatius has to die soon if we are to stop them. The longer we delay, the closer they are to achieving their goal"
Chiana turned to look at him straight on. "No... we take this to Rygel and let him chew it over"
"Even if we did, it changes nothing. I still have to go and find a way to get within striking reach of Arckatius before too long. Finding my way clear to him will take time and planning"
"Why does it have to be Arckatius?" Chiana asked. "Why not one of the other Twelve"
"Because I have no knowledge of the other eleven or their Houses. It has to be Arckatius. I have the best chance of getting to him"
"That's awful convenient for you and your revenge," she bit back.
"Matters are what they are," the ex-Enforcer replied. "Debating the facts will not change anything and only waste time."
It was Chiana's turn to frown. "Damn, I don't like the way this is going one frelling bit"
"I did not create the situation," Berret said tonelessly as he turned to continue the walk back to the hidden Transport Pod.
"I wasn't blaming you," Chiana tossed in as she hurried to keep pace with the tall Shrike. "It use to be, we just ran around hiding from everybody with a gun, and once in awhile stealing something... and I liked it that way. Now it seems every time I wake up this last cycle, we're saving the Territories. I hate this dren, it's not a smart way to live to a ripe old age"
"Perhaps its not some's fate to die of old age," the assassin muttered.
"Well... if you gotta go out... go out with a big bang, I always say," the Nebari girl said jokingly.
"You are not going with me," Berret replied dryly.
Chiana narrowed her dark eyes and gazed up at her friend, trying to determine if he were joining in with her half-hearted attempt to lighten the mood or if he had missed the effort at banter. The look on Berret's face made her decide that it was neither and that the Shrike was being his usual obstinate self.
"We haven't decided you're going yet either," she countered, showing she could be just as stubborn.
"That decision is not yours to approve," Berret said with a hint of annoyance. "It is mine and mine alone to make. I do not need permission from any of you"
"Be reasonable..." she began.
"There is no reasonable!" Berret cut her off. "There is just what is... and what has too be. I have done all you asked of me. I can no longer help you restore your friends; you have all you need to pursue that end. Its time... I must go and do what I need to do"
"To die? Out there, alone?" she asked, knowing she had all but lost with trying to talk sense into her friend.
"That does not matter," the ex-Enforcer responded.
"It does matter, Berret," Chiana countered. "There's no need for you to go off and do this. No one's asking you to play hero!"
Surprisingly, Berret came to a standstill and issued a short bark of a laugh. Chiana blinked, stunned by the strange outburst.
"Hero?" Berret queried with an odd trace of that unhinged tone creeping into his voice. "You think by doing this, I want to be a hero"
Chiana crossed her arms defensively. "Isn't that part of the reason you're doing this? To get revenge and be the big hero"
The full laughter that came from Berret then held no humor at all, in fact the near madness in it sent a shudder up and down the Nebari's flexible spine. Chiana could think of nothing to say, so she waited to see what he would do next.
"Hero," Berret repeated, the twisted smile that suddenly formed on his face Chiana thought was better fit for someone who was truly kinkoid in the worse way. For the first time she began to feel afraid of the Shrike. The grin slipped away a microt later as if it had never been there, but the new edge of madness never left his eyes. "Don't you see yet?" he asked, still not quite in a normal tone for him. "That's why I have to go. Hero's care, they care about all matter of pathetic and useless things. Care about righting wrongs, care about preventing war. I don't care about preventing war... I don't care about wrongs"
The maniac grin returned with double the intensity as he stepped closer to her. Chiana's blood ran cold and she found she was frozen to that very spot. Berret brought his gaze down level with hers as he leaned over, his eyes glinted silver then with the cast of a predator toying with its prey. He bent forward closer and his voice turned to a bare cold whisper.
"I just... want... to... kill something"
The assassin's smile turned into something else that left Chiana feeling sick to her stomach. The reaction seemed to please him in some way and the Shrike chuckled maliciously to himself as he abruptly turned from her and continued on his way alone. As soon as she was away from him, Chiana felt herself shiver involuntarily again.
She watched after him, knowing that somewhere in the conversation something dark and malevolent had slipped in... almost as if an impious ghoul had taken her friend over and she hadn't been talking to her Berret anymore.