Attack of the Bounty Hunters Ch. 12

[This is not a "sex story". It is a story about a society where people have superfast reflexes... and guns.]

"Are you sure this is a bright idea?" said Croft.

"What do you mean?" said the Silencer.

"I mean here we are, you, me, and Annie, in a lone ground car, approaching Mo Quandry's stronghold on Grafton," said Croft. "Who's to say that a group of his men won't just wipe us out?" He had an image in his mind of the ground car being surrounded by gunmen. The gunmen would open fire, raking the car with blaster fire before even the Silencer could move or react.

The Silencer snorted derisively, and the image in Croft's mind vanished.

"Well?" said Croft.

"You don't understand, Clifford, that's not the way things are done," said Annie. "Fighting other than one-on-one isn't honorable."

"But that's exactly what they did at your ranch," said Croft.

"We were all alone there," said Annie. "Quandry wouldn't do anything like that in public, even in front of his own men."

"I'd just feel more comfortable if we had brought some allies of our own."

"If you're feeling uncomfortable, we can let you off here," said the Silencer.

Croft said nothing.

They approached the sentry gate. The Silencer stopped the ground car and lowered the window, to face a pair of sentries.

One of the sentries looked at the Silencer, recognized him, and then, looking obviously startled, gave a second look to confirm what he thought: this was the Silencer?

"Do... do you have an appointment?" said the sentry.

"I'm here to see Quandry," said the Silencer, his voice low and deadly.

"Ah, uh..."

"I suggest you let me in," said the Silencer.

The sentry looked nervously at the second sentry, who also looked nervous, confused, and dazed, all in the same instant.

"I'm not going to ask again," said the Silencer calmly, making no move towards his weapon.

The sentry, who was standing up with easy access to his blaster, had an advantage over the Silencer. But he didn't feel lucky. "Opening the gate, sir."

The gate opened. The ground car moved forward.

"So far so good," Croft muttered. He eyed the Graftonites in the compound. What was there to prevent a group of them from ganging up and shooting them all dead even before they stepped out of the ground car?

If the Silencer was concerned, he didn't show it. He parked the ground car in front of what looked like a main building. When he got out, another sentry said, "Sir, you can't park there."

The Silencer just looked at the man; recognition dawned on the man's face, and he took a step back.

It was like that with everyone they encountered as they walked into the building. The Silencer stopped twice to ask for directions. Even though he didn't identify himself, answers were quickly forthcoming.

They shortly found themselves in a large office. A Graftonite sat behind the desk.

"Where is he?" the Silencer asked bluntly, not bothering to identify himself or even to explain further who he was referring to.

"I'm in charge," said the man. "He's not here."

"Where is he?" said the Silencer.

The man said nothing.

"I'm not going to ask a third time," said the Silencer. "As I suspect you're not the only person who knows where he is, I consider it fair warning to let you know that I view you as quite expendable."

The Graftonite shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "He'll kill me if I tell."

The Silencer's blaster was out and in his hand and pointed at the man's head. "Even if that's true, you'll live a longer life than the alternative."

The man sweated, staring at the blaster pointed at him. He made no move for his own weapon; he knew who the Silencer was.

"August," he whispered.

"What?" said the Silencer.

"He just left a few hours ago for August," said the Graftonite. "That's all I know!"

"If you're lying, I'll be back for you," said the Silencer coldly.

They went back to their groundcar. Croft expected some kind of ambush before they left the compound. But, much to his surprise, there was none.

"I guess I'll never understand you Graftonites," said Croft.

The Silencer said nothing.

"We should have stayed and sweated out the full truth from him," said Croft. "We don't know what Quandry's plans for August are."

"That doesn't concern me," said the Silencer.

"Why not?" Croft asked.

"I don't need to know what he's doing in order to kill him," said the Silencer coldly. He didn't like all these questions.

"But how will you know where on August to find him? It's a big planet."

"He'll make his presence known," said the Silencer, sounding annoyed. "Now keep quiet."

Annie turned to the backseat and put a finger to her mouth. Croft nodded.

********

Croft angled his starfighter behind the Silencer's as they headed towards August. He saw the tinny holo of the Chief on his miniholodisplay.

"Quandry's coming here?" said the Chief. "Where specifically? What is his plan?"

"I didn't get the full details on that," said Croft.

"What can he possibly accomplish here?" said the Chief. Then a thought struck her. "He can't... no, he can't be planning to invade August, can he?"

"The orbital blockade tracked a group of twenty fighters that slipped out of atmosphere several hours ago," said Croft. "That's not enough for an invasion force, even for Graftonites."

"Still, I'm going to put our ground forces on alert and seal up the airspace above the planet. We'll have the skies filled so tightly with our ships that no one will get through."

"Chief, do you really believe there is any blockade that these people can't get through?" said Croft wearily.

The Chief blinked. "You're quite right, of course, Mr. Croft. Well, we'll just have to do the best we can. Now, you say that your Silencer friend is going to kill Quandry."

"That's the general plan, yes."

"How will that help us? How will that prevent Quandry from being replaced by a deputy who will carry out his policies?"

"Well, it won't," said Croft.

"Then why are you planning to have him killed?"

"I'm not," said Croft. "Perhaps I wasn't clear. This isn't exactly my plan. It's the Silencer's idea."

The Chief looked surprised. "Well, you should dissuade him from it. We can't eliminate Quandry until we have fully thought out the consequences."

"I'm afraid I don't have much influence in this area," said Croft. "The Silencer's pretty upset with Quandry."

"Why?" said the Chief.

"He didn't like the taxes," said Croft bluntly.

The Chief looked confused. She didn't understand that at all.

Croft thought of the bodies of the five dead gunfighters. Then he thought of something Annie had said. And then, at that moment, it came together.

"Chief, I have it," said Croft.

"What?"

"I know how to stop the Graftonites in their tracks. I know how to stop the invasions, and how to make Quandry lose all his support. I also know exactly how to do all of it," said Croft.

"How?"

Croft checked to make sure the channel was scrambled. It was. Still, he didn't want to risk having the transmission intercepted and decoded. "I can't explain right now. But trust me. I think I know how we can discredit this entire invasion movement."

The skies around August were indeed sealed up by the time Quandry's two squadron of fighters reached orbit--there were all varieties of battleships, monitors, cruisers, and fighters crisscrossing the planet, eagerly on the alert for intruders.

Quandry and his men slipped through the blockade effortlessly, just as Croft had predicted. League fighters zoomed down in pursuit, but they arrived too late; Quandry's fighters zoomed over their destination; and when they got there, each Graftonite pilot ejected, sending their fighters crashing harmlessly into the sea off the east coast of August. It was a measure of skill that Quandry's men sent their fighters out of harm's way; for even they appreciated the beauty and majestic construction of Sarney Sarittenden.

The capitol of August. The capitol of the entire League.

Quandry and his men drifted downwards on portable gravitators. In moments they were on the grounds of the capital. In the distance they could hear the first sounds of the pursuing fighters. But they would be too late. Way too late.

********

President Lo Rareen was just sitting down to lunch with some of his cabinet when the door burst open. A palace guard ran in. "Sir, we've got to get you out of here."

The sound of blaster fire could be heard in the distance.

Rareen dropped his electronapkin. "What is it?"

"We're under attack!"

"Here, in the capitol?" said Rareen.

"Yes," said a new voice.

Several men in denim stood at the door. The guard turned, his gun raised-

And was shot. He fell to the ground.

The Graftonite who had shot him stepped forward. "Allow me to introduce myself, Mr. President. My name is Mo Quandry."

********

"I'm picking up some kind of alert," said Croft, adjusting the comm in his fighter.

"Listen to channel 42," came the Silencer's voice.

Croft turned to the channel. A holo of a broadcaster appeared. "-just moments ago Graftonite terrorists stormed the palace itself. Gunfire was heard inside. There is no word on whether League President Rareen is-"

"I told you he would tell us exactly where he is," said the Silencer lazily.

"What can he hope to accomplish by this?" said Croft. "Does he really think he can get the League to surrender by grabbing the President?" It didn't make any sense to him.

"It doesn't matter what he thinks," said the Silencer.

"Why not?"

"Because in two hours he'll be dead," said the Silencer, in a tone that didn't tolerate any argument.

By the time they had landed their fighters at Sarney Sarittenden Spaceport, they heard the rest of it. Mo Quandry was holding the President and several cabinet members hostage. He wanted a ransom of two billion credits. If he didn't get it, the President and the cabinet members would be killed.

"He can't seriously believe the League will pay such a large amount," said Croft.

"It doesn't matter what he believes," said the Silencer.

"Because you're going to kill him, I know," said Croft. "But I am still wondering what he's attempting to do. Does he really expect the League to pay?"

"Of course not," said Annie. "It should be obvious." And it was, to a Graftonite. So she explained it to him. "He plans to execute your President to get your League to take harsher measures against Grafton. That in turn will turn even more of the population against the League. I think perhaps John's Peaceful Debate was not quite the failure that you might've thought it was."

"Oh," said Croft. "But if he kills the President, does he really expect to get out alive?" They were close to the capital now. The area was swarming with troops. It didn't seem to Croft that even Graftonites could escape such a tight net.

"Yes," said Annie simply.

At that moment Croft's comm beeped. It was the Chief.

"Croft, where are you?"

"In a ground car close to Sarney Sarittenden."

"I'm on the way there myself," said the Chief. "The Graftonites have the place sealed off. Does your Silencer think he can get in?"

Croft looked at the Silencer. "I imagine so."

"You must impress on him that the number one priority is to save the President," said the Chief.

"He doesn't impress easily," said Croft.

"This isn't a joke, Mr. Croft," said the Chief. "If you go in there, I am holding you personally responsible for the consequences."

"Chief, I have to go. The Silencer is about to go in, guns blazing, and I have to make sure he doesn't shoot the wrong people," said Croft. He cut the comm even as she started speaking again.

Croft raised his voice. "Did you hear what the Chief said?"

There was no answer from the front seat.

"We want the President alive," Croft said.

There was silence again.

"Well?"

The Silencer eventually responded. "If he doesn't get in front of my target, I won't shoot him."

"Why don't I find that very reassuring?" Croft wondered.

********

"You can't seriously believe that they're going to pay you," said President Rareen.

Quandry turned to Rareen. "You'd better hope that they do."

"What are you really trying to accomplish here?"

Quandry paused for a moment, as if he were considering whether to reveal his plan. On the one hand, it was important to keep it secret; on the other, he never liked passing up an opportunity to show how clever he was.

"All right, I'll tell you," said Quandry. "We're going to kill you."

"What?" said Rareen. "You mean, if they don't pay?"

"Pay, don't pay, whatever," said Quandry. "You've got to die."

Rareen was speechless for a moment. Finally a single word came out of his lips. "Why?"

"I'm having some recruitment problems at home," said Quandry. "I need your military guys to take some action which will help rally support to my cause."

"So you're going to kill me, the President of the great League of Planets, all for some petty political maneuvering?"

"That's about right," said Quandry. "Except I don't consider it so petty. The only reason you're still alive right now is that I may need proof you're still breathing until the deadline passes."

"If you're going to kill me, why didn't you simply do it without a hostage ransom?" said Rareen.

"Don't you know anything about politics?" said Quandry. "I need to look like I was forced into it. What kind of politician are you?" he said, disgustedly.

Rareen started to answer.

"Don't say anything," said Quandry. "You're starting to annoy me."

"Listen, I can help you in other ways," said Rareen. "If your hardliners are pushing you into this-"

Quandry drew his blaster and pointed it at Rareen. "Not. Another. Word."

********

The Silencer got as close as they could get to the palace at Sarney Sarittenden as he could in a ground car, and then they got out and went the rest of the way on foot. Croft's ID got them into the security perimeter but not through it. An army major in charge refused to let them go any further.

"I've already sent a platoon in, and none of them came out," said the Major. "What does one guy think he can do?"

The Silencer just looked at him.

"Let us go in and see, Major," said Croft. He tried to sound persuasive.

The Major looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, but I don't have the authority-"

The Silencer, moving in a blur, took the Major's blaster from its holster and pointed it at him. "We've wasted enough time."

"You--you're one of them!"

"If I were one of them, you'd be dead," said the Silencer. "I suggest you escort us to the perimeter before I decide to switch sides."

The Major, gulping, nodded.

He walked them through to the forward sentries. They all saw the Silencer had a gun on the Major, but he nodded, ordering them to let the Silencer, Annie, and Croft through.

When they had gotten to the forwardmost post, the Silencer handed the Major back his blaster. The Major looked at his weapon as if he were considering turning it on the Silencer.

The Silencer simply looked at him pityingly.

The Major holstered his gun.

"A wise decision." said the Silencer.

"You won't get in," said the Major. "They have marksmen at every entrance."

"He has a point," said the Silencer. He turned to Annie. "I know better than to ask you to stay behind."

He turned to Croft, who he noticed for the first time was carrying a briefcase. "I can't guarantee your safety."

"In these crazy times, who can guarantee anything?" said Croft philosophically.

"You can't do much fighting carrying that."

"I'm not planning to fight," said Croft.

The Silencer said nothing.

They entered Sarney Sarittenden. One way or another, it would end here.

Chapter 12: The Final Battle in Sarney Sarittenden

"I can see you," said the Silencer in an almost playful voice, staring off into the gloomy corridor. Bodies of League marines littered the ground all around them.

There was no response.

"Just because you're peeking out around a corner 100 feet away doesn't mean I can't see you. Or shoot you," said the Silencer calmly. "Come out now or I'll demonstrate it."

Slowly two figures stepped out of the gloom. Both had rifles. They cautiously stepped forward.

"Who's there?" they said gruffly. Their hands tightly gripped their rifles. They were still ready to fight.

The Silencer didn't answer, but stepped forward, followed by Annie and Croft.

The sentries' eyes widened when they saw the Silencer. "Silencer! What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see Quandry," said the Silencer.

"About what?" said one of the sentries.

The Silencer looked around. "This is a mighty expensive looking place he's living in. I'm here to reassess his taxes."

What did that mean? "We can't let you through, Silencer," said the sentry. "Our orders were to let no one through."

"But I'm not no one," said the Silencer ominously.

The sentries didn't respond. They seemed unsure what to do.

That told the Silencer that he needed to push harder. "There are two ways of doing this," said the Silencer. "But either way, I'm going in."

The sentries glanced at each other. Then, they slowly nodded.

"Thank you," said the Silencer coldly.

The Silencer, Annie, and Croft walked by. As they passed Croft looked behind them, to see if the guards would shoot them down from behind. They didn't.

That only confirmed his theory. It was their code of conduct. His plan could work.

"They're probably being held in the central rotunda," said Croft. "Go straight and then right, you can't miss it." He started to turn towards a set of stairs.

"Where are you going?" asked the Silencer.

"You know, that's the first sign of genuine curiosity I've seen from you in some time," said Croft, purposefully being evasive. For once, let the Silencer guess what he was up to.

The Silencer looked at Annie, shrugged, and started forward.

When they reached the entrance to the rotunda they heard someone shout, "Hold it!"

The Silencer stopped.

Four guards stepped out of the entranceway.

"You're not allowed here."

"I'm going in," said the Silencer.

The guards looked at each other, silently conferring. They looked at the Silencer, weighing their options. Finally, they said, "All right. But just you."

The Silencer considered this. Then he slowly nodded.

"No way am I letting you go in there alone!" said Annie.

The Silencer spoke as if he hadn't heard her. "Just be aware, gentlemen, that this is my wife; and if anything happens to her, I'll find you and make you wish for a quick death." He stood face to face with them. "Do we understand each other?"

The guards, some of them trembling, nodded.

The Silencer turned away from them and entered the rotunda.

There was a dozen of Quandry's handpicked men there, standing guard over the prisoners, a very worried looking bunch who were sitting on the floor. One of them was the League President, Lo Rareen.

Croft could see the whole situation very clearly. He had climbed four flights of stairs and was looking at the room through a small window built into the side of the ceiling of the rotunda. None of the Graftonites had noticed him. Croft rapidly opened his briefcase. It contained two devices. He rapidly assembled the smaller one. It was a holorecorder with a boom mike.

The Silencer recognized Mo Quandry. Quandry stepped forward, flanked by two of his men.

"You must be the Silencer," said Quandry. "It's quite an honor to meet you."

"I wish I could say the same," said the Silencer coldly.

Quandry smiled, letting the comment slide. "I'm afraid you've been misled."

"Have I?"

"Yes, you've fallen into bad company," said Quandry. "You're here to save the sheep." His eyes flickered to Rareen, who was trying his best to be invisible.

"I don't care about the sheep," said the Silencer. "I'm here for you."

Quandry said, "So the sheep have hired you to kill me." He raised his voice. "No Graftonite lets a sheep tell him what to do."

"It wasn't a sheep that made me want to kill you," said the Silencer, never taking his eyes off of Quandry. He raised his voice as well. "It was the five men you sent to kill me."

There was a murmur among Quandry's men. They didn't like the sound of that. Was that really true? Had Mo sent five men to kill the Silencer? Even those aligned with Quandry didn't like the thought of it.

"I'm going to offer you one better," said the Silencer. "A fair fight, you against me. I challenge you."

The murmuring grew louder.

"I don't think so," said Quandry. "That doesn't sound very fair to me. I'm a gold medalist, but I'm no Olympics champion many times over."

"Then I suggest you surrender," said the Silencer.

"I don't think so," said Quandry. He snapped his fingers. The two men at his side stepped forward. "Do you recognize these gentlemen?"

The Silencer said nothing.

"Cal Carpan, who took the gold in race shooting in '24," said Quandry. "And Mar Topogican, a quadruple gold medalist in distance and precision shooting."

The Silencer noticed now that all three were wearing zip guns. They wouldn't even have to spend time drawing their weapons, all they would have to do is point their fingers and fire.

Croft recognized the dangerousness of the situation immediately. Back at the ranch, the Silencer had faced down five opponents, but he had had Annie to help him, and none of those had been gold medalists. Now there were three gold medalists facing John. This could be beyond the Silencer's ability to handle.

Croft rapidly assembled the second piece of equipment in his case. In seconds he had assembled a very nasty looking sniper rifle. He held it up and aimed it. At the very least, he could take out one of them.

"So maybe you want to reconsider," said Quandry.

"Maybe you want to reconsider," said the Silencer in a chilly voice. He looked towards Quandry's other men. "Three against one!" he said, raising his voice. He looked at Quandry's other men. "How is that a fair fight? Do any of you have a problem with that?"

Even Quandry's handpicked commando squad looked very uncomfortable. One of them started to speak up.

"Mo-"

Quandry shot him a glare, and the man stopped in midsentence.

"So this is the new Grafton you're building, where three or five against one is considered a fair fight," said the Silencer.

"We do what it takes to win," said Quandry. He suddenly tensed. "Either join us, or leave, or draw your weapon."

The Silencer considered for a moment, as if weighing whether he could take on the three of them. One moment grew into two, and two moments grew into three.

Croft's grip tightened on the sniper rifle. He aimed at one of the gold medalists on the right. He had no way of knowing who the Silencer would aim for first, but he had to try to help. He kept his aim as steady as he could.

The tense silence continued, but as time wore on Quandry grew less tense. He even gradually started to break out into a smile. The Silencer was scared! He was actually scared! When it was obvious that the Silencer was not going to fire, he opened his mouth and started to laugh

"Ah, hahahahaha," he said.

And then, there was an explosion of light.

From the gallery, Croft instinctively pressed the trigger. He only had time for one shot, before everything became quiet again.

They were all standing there. The Silencer, and his three opponents.

Then one of Quandry's gunmen fell to the ground; then another; and then Quandry himself.

Then the Silencer shuddered, clutching his side. He pulled his hand away, and felt blood. He staggered forward, unintentionally dropping his weapon.

The rest of Quandry's men in the room simply watched him.

When the Silencer was face to face with one of them, he spoke slowly. "Get out of here."

The Graftonite turned towards his fellow commandos, nodded, and they left. Croft didn't bother wondering if the Graftonites could slip past security; he was running down to the rotunda.

But by the time he got there, Annie was already there, slapping a bandage against the Silencer's side.

"You fool, I told you not to handle this alone," said Annie.

Croft heard the sound of rushing footsteps, and saw out of the corner of his eye that League soldiers were entering the room. The captive politicians cried out like children who had been separated from their parents.

The Silencer, lying on the ground, said, "I didn't think it would be any problem," he said.

"Three gold medalists?" said Annie.

"Topogican was the only real threat," said the Silencer. "As for Carpan, anyone can win an award in race shooting."

"And Quandry?"

Croft looked over at Quandry, who had was lying on the ground with a big gash in his chest.

"A politician," said the Silencer dismissively. He coughed, and pain wracked his face.

"Lie still," said Annie. "We'll get you to a doctor."

"It's a scratch," said the Silencer contemptuously. "Just a zip gun hit." He turned to Croft. "Thanks for trying to help. But I had everything under control."

"What do you mean, trying to help?"

"Your beam hit Carpan about a half second after mine did," said the Silencer.

Croft stared wordlessly at the Silencer.

"This place must have a security holo, you can check it out," said the Silencer.

"I have something better than a security holo," said Croft.

League President Rareen was on his feet, slowly being escorted from the room. "Wait, wait," he said. He turned to the Silencer, who was still on the floor.

"Thank you, thank you," said President Rareen.

The Silencer looked coldly at President Rareen.

"You saved my life!" said Rareen. "If there's anything I can do-"

"Money would be nice," said the Silencer immediately. "Maybe, forty or fifty million credits."

The President looked speechless. Behind him, the Chief of Staff rolled his eyes.

"I assume your life is worth that much," said the Silencer. "Annie, give him our bank account number."

Annie handed the President a pre-printed card. He numbly took it.

"It was a pleasure saving you, Mr. President," said the Silencer.

The President nodded numbly. And then he was hustled away.

"You think he'll really pay?" said Croft.

"Either that, or one of your agencies will," said the Silencer. "I don't work for free, you know."

"I know," Croft sighed. He stood up, looking at the ornate rotunda around him. So it had all ended here. Quandry was dead.

But his army and movement lived on, at least for the moment.

But little did anyone know that this movement was about to be unraveled. Only Croft knew that the end of Quandry's movement was very near.

********

The holo was broadcast onto Grafton and all the other worlds the Graftonites had taken over. The effects were almost immediate; within a day, many of the Grafton occupiers were flying back to Grafton II. Within two weeks, only a handful remained on the other planets, and, seeing their position was untenable, they also left for home.

"I don't believe it," said Levi Esherkol, reclining in an easy chair. "Seem too easy. Like simply turning a switch on and off."

"That's because you don't understand the Grafton mind," said Croft. He and Levi and a number of others were reclining on the roof of the Column HQ. A number of gamma operatives were running around, shouting, and making odd noises. There was a pleasant breeze as the sun set over August.

"Then maybe you explain," said Levi.

"The Grafton code of honor prized fair fights above all else," said Croft. "Think about it. It was rooted in practicality. With no law to speak of on Grafton, each Graftonite had to survive by his ability with a gun. That equalized things for one on one combat. It deterred senseless attacks, because a Grafton considering attacking another Grafton knew he could get shot in the attempt."

"But think about what would happen if groups of Graftonites banded together and attacked an individual Grafton. Gangs of criminals would terrorize the planet. The Graftonites realized this, and created their code of conduct for a 'fair fight'," said Croft.

"Ah, I see," said Levi. "When Quandry refused to do fair fight-"

"-and the entire Grafton population saw it, his movement was discredited," said Croft. "It also helped that his senior underlings stood by and let it happen; that helped discredit even more of his organization."

"But still, Graftonites in this for money, not honor, and that not really changed."

Croft smiled. "The Graftonites were never really participating in large numbers in the first place. They had to be maneuvered and manipulated by Quandry to start their war of conquest, so it didn't take that much effort to turn them against it. Our Peaceful Debate on Grafton started the ball rolling. Why do you think Quandry was here? He knew he was losing support and had to goad the League into making another attack to shore up his base of support. Since the Graftonites were never really interested in wars of conquest in the first place, it didn't take much to get them out of it."

"But Graftonites like to fight."

"As individuals, yes. But not in groups, not in large armies (aside from small mercenary teams), and not to take over territory. What would Graftonites do with a planet once they took it over? I suspect most of them would have no idea. No, most of them wanted to operate on their own to make a quick credit. That's their nature."

"You were smart to record battle," said Levi.

"Thanks," said Croft. "Of course, I had to do some retouching of the holorecording. The image of my laser bolt, for example, had to be painted out. We didn't want it to look like the Silencer had any help from some outside sheep, did we?"

"With Graftonites out of business, I presume blockade lifted?"

"Yes," said Croft. "For once the Chief persuaded the Chief of Staff to take my advice and leave well enough alone. If we demanded reparations that could just restart the troubles we had."

"And what about Claritan Corporation?"

"What about them?"

"They cooperate with invaders, have many interests on League worlds. How were they punished?"

Croft frowned. "To my knowledge, they haven't been."

"Not punished?"

"Oh, there's an investigation in the legislature; they'll report back in ten years or so, and then maybe Claritan will have to pay a small fine."

"Small fine, for trying to take over League."

"They are quite an important corporation with many interests in League worlds, remember," said Croft. "Disrupting their operations would also disrupt planetary economies."

"And politician bankrolls," said Levi.

"You got it." Croft watched the gamma operatives walking, yelling, and playing around the roof. One of them walked by Croft, and hissed, "Yes, the Croft is very pleased with self, always congratulating, always self-congratulating."

In the background Croft could see the Clapper clap.

Red Sally was at a grill, apparently cooking food from her fingers.

Croft turned to Levi. "What are they all doing here?"

"They don't get out much," said Levi.

"And why are you letting Red cook? Is there something wrong with your grill?" Croft watched flame spout from her fingers, cooking a hamburger. Sally chuckled with delight.

"Nothing wrong with grill," said Levi. "Which remind me, what about Grafton meat recipe you promised?"

"Levi, I, ah,"

"You promised!"

"Levi, I was a bit busy," said Croft. "You know, saving the League from invasion, preventing a presidential assassination, that sort of thing."

"Oh," said Levi, pouting.

Croft reached over into a carrier bag, and took out a datapad. "Here," he said.

Levi's eyes brightened. "Recipes?"

"200 of them from among the best chef databases on Grafton," said Croft.

"You remembered!" said Levi.

"I know how to take care of my own," said Croft.

"So what you do now?" said Levi.

"I'm up for some vacation time," said Croft. "The Silencer and Annie have invited me to stay with them on their ranch while the Silencer recovers. I think I'll take them up on it."

"Silencer not know that you responsible for fake holographic murder scene and reduced bounty jobs, no?"

"No," said Croft. "And I think that bit of information is best kept between us."

"You think it safe to go back to Grafton now?"

"I don't think there will be any trouble," said Croft. "After all, it was a fair fight."

Croft got up and looked at the view of August around him. The buildings glittered in the evening sun. He smiled, and stretched. Who knew what tomorrow would bring?

The End

[There are a total of 10 novels featuring Croft and the Silencer. This was one of them.]