The Radical Factor (Stone Blade Book 3) Read online

  "Odder and odder," said Kidwell, "I have manifests tracking all the defective photon arrays here. Not just to this planet and not just to this company. They all originated exactly here! There are three warehouses where they transferred, but no record and I mean absolutely squelch as to where they were beforehand!"

  "Wait," said Thompson urgently, "They were League certified from the manufacturer! How did that happen?"

  Kidwell shrugged. "My guess, the certified units were shipped here as something else. Not hard to do if you own the company and the planet."

  "But..."

  "I'm not saying they didn't have help, darling. Fallstar the company does business with every House that ships, into the League or out. How hard would it be to conceal that evidence under a tonne of mundane transactions?"

  "We'll never find that," said Thompson gloomily.

  "Don't need it, luv. That's something the Guild auditors can track. And will, once we tell them what to look for."

  "Polar! What now?"

  "We get this to Micah. And... Other places. I'll message him now; he'll probably want to meet soon."

  They walked as Kidwell blipped Micah her message. He returned it not long after they walked through the doors. He did indeed want to meet but it would be later that evening. Much later, he sent. Outremin received a message from his Laird and he'd not slowed since then.

  "Double-plus cryo," said Thompson, powering up their hover, "It's about time we..."

  Something burst loudly inside the hover. Kidwell smelled a sweet, sour scent just before the world around her faded to blackness.

  ***

  Micah observed the house closely as he drove by. He'd viewed it from several angles with nothing out of the ordinary to show for it. After Kidwell acknowledged his meet point he'd heard nothing from either her or Thompson. That went past unusual and into dire, especially when neither they nor anyone else appeared for the meeting.

  Micah parked the hover, wriggled into a noseeme and crept toward the house. It lay between two others, neither overly large nor small, with nothing whatsoever to indicate that Kidwell and Thompson were inside. Nothing save the locator blip he'd fired earlier.

  The house showed occasional signs of activity. A light came on or went off or a shadow passed beween it and the window. Still, Micah would assume the place full of well-armed hostiles and act accordingly. The back fence had no alarms Micah could detect so he crossed it cautiously. He had a blaster and several varieties of grenade but he'd not use them unless forced. He held his stunner drawn and had a needle pistol within easy reach.

  Micah slunk to the back door. Still nothing but he did detect a trivial alarm. Bypassing it and unlocking the door offered no challenge whatsoever. The doorway opened into a kitchen with one person sitting sleepily at the table. He slept even sounder after Micah stunned him; Micah left him slumped over the table exactly as if he'd fallen asleep there.

  Moving quickly now Micah cleared the rest of the house. He swept the rooms and stunned three more people and still found no sign of electronic security gear. Mentally muttering profanity he re-checked the entire house. Still nothing!

  Micah risked a locator blip. It returned immediately and exactly here!

  Now Micah searched more slowly, investigating every possible nook and cranny. Back in the kitchen he noticed the cryobox firmly sealed to the floor. The thing was not locked, nor was it a cryobox! It opened onto a small, tight stairway leading down.

  Micah took the stairs quickly but quietly. He gave a cursory scan for electronics but speed was his best friend now! At the bottom and around a sharp turn he caught a brief glimpse of four people raising weapons. He fired four times and they all slumped. A heavily-locked door sat in the middle of the opposite wall. A small thermex capsule settled that matter and he kicked the still-hot door off its anchors and into the room.

  Chaos! The six mobile people in the room didn't really have enough room to fight nor did they have the skill for it. Several tried stunners but succeeded only in felling two of their own. Before long Micah had the room to himself, with only a bound Kidwell and Thompson for company.

  "Micah, loverrrr," slurred Kidwell, "Knew you'd be here sooooooon." She smiled sloppily.

  Thompson appeared much more alert but bore several bruises. Micah wasted no time freeing him and Kidwell.

  "I'm sorry, Sergeant Stone. They... They bombed our hover. I didn't get a chance to..."

  "Don't worry, Thompson," said Micah, "You did enough. What did they do to her?"

  "Babbabble. Bull," said Kidwell.

  "They gave her something. I don't know what. Shouldn't we be leaving?"

  "As of right now," said Micah. He carefully examined the people strewn about the room and began collecting items.

  "Those two were the ones doing the talking," said Thompson, pointing to a man and woman, "They seem to have had us under watch for a long time."

  "They were gooooooood, toooo," added Kidwell.

  "Fight it, hon," said Micah, "You know the drill!"

  Kidwell swallowed hard twice, then giggled. Thompson stared at Micah as though he'd been stunned.

  "There are three hovers in the garage here," said Micah, "And mine's not too far away. Help me get these two up there. Vera! Come on, darling. Time to leave."

  "Leeeeeeavingg," she said, "Good. No fun here."

  Virtually certain he was under scrutiny now Micah brought his hover to the house. After some shuffling and muttering, he kept his surroundings deliberately dark, the hover whooshed away.

  Back inside the garage Micah quickly disconnected the locators and other electronic nonessentials from the hovers there. Then he levered the two still-sleeping forms into the trunk of one and motioned Thompson to put Kidwell in the back seat.

  "Give her this," said Micah, handing over a hypo from his kit, "It's a Marine-strength Purgee."

  Not long afterward the garage door opened and the three hovers there whooshed away. Even through the darkness it was easy to see that none were occupied.

  "Where are we going," asked Kidwell, alert and sweating now, "League base?"

  "Nak," said Micah.

  The three of them crouched on the hover's floorboards, well out of sight.

  "The house guards here have one or two sport houses," said Micah, "They keep them under the garble for... activities they don't want known. What happened?"

  Kidwell recounted their story swiftly. Thompson looked nervous at the end but Micah dismissed his concerns out of hand.

  "Everybody gets firsted now and again," said Micah, "Worry about what's next."

  ***

  Three or four men, off-duty guards for House Varl, swore as the strange hover sped into their garage. One of them strode angrily toward Micah when he got out but Micah simply shut the door quickly.

  "Hoy, now," said the guard, "I don't know what you ruddy..."

  "Quiet!" Micah put a command snap into his voice. Then, spotting one of the guards he recognized, "You, there. You know me, yes?"

  "Aye..."

  "Then help me, man!"

  The others, more than irate now, made no move as Micah opened the boot. Two of them stepped back as Micah pulled out the first body.

  "Now listen, cully," started the first speaker.

  "You listen, cully," snapped Micah, "We all know why you keep this house! Now I have need of it and you will help me." When the other man started a bluster Micah continued with exasperation. "These... persons are enemies to the Great House Varl and likely traitors to the crown! I intend to discover the extent of their crimes and see to it that... justice... is visited upon them. You can either help me or join them!"

  The speaker actually paled when Thompson and Kidwell pulled the man's limp form out.

  "Polarize, Guardsman," he said to Micah, "That one... He has the look of nobility about him."

  Micah eyed the body critically then turned back to the speaker.

  "Not to me."

  Several other guards joined the ones in the garage
. One looked angrily at Micah only to be silenced by another. Thompson and Kidwell had the man clear of the boot now and were dragging him toward the door.

  "Spike me, boy, he is noble," said the speaker.

  "Then he should talk easily with the right... persuasion," said Micah, now shouldering the lady's body. None of the others moved to help. "If you're not going to help, then, you might as well leave. We should be done by tomorrow; when you clean the place use something that will degrade blood. And if you don't have the pizzle for questioning, at least make sure we're not disturbed!"

  ***

  Micah sat back and sipped tea, comfortable now in the house's basement. The others, only too eager to help now, gladly furnished the tea and an assortment of nibblers. And an aid kit for Thompson. The two prisoners now lay across a very large and soft bed, fully equipped with straps, shackles, and other apparatus Micah didn't want to contemplate.

  "Sergeant Stone," said Thompson, "you know I have nothing but the greatest respect for you. There are times, though, when you frighten me. I've seen some flaming good bluffs, over cards or otherwise, and something tells me you were serious."

  "As serious as necessary," shrugged Micah, "Can you two handle things from here?"

  "Of course," said Kidwell, "I can manage our allies, and these two... Let's just say I don't like Babble when it's used on me."

  "Polar," said Micah, "I didn't give Sir Beau much of a reason for leaving and I'll need a flaming good one when I get back."

  "Do what you must, darling," winked Kidwell, "We'll have these whistling fish singing soon enough."

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1. Terror Attack!

  Chapter 2. Old Friends and New

  Chapter 3. Aboard the Jenni Silver

  Chapter 4. The Warehouse Temple

  Chapter 5. Khav

  Chapter 6. Hey! We're Not Done!

  Chapter 7. New Traders, Old Wine

  Chapter 8. Work and School

  Chapter 9. Strange Fashions

  Chapter 10. The Candy Trap

  Chapter 11. Trusted Voices

  Chapter 12. A Day for Friendship

  Chapter 13. Counterfeit Wine

  Chapter 14. The Meaning of Spice

  Chapter 15. The Price Paid

  Chapter X: Afterword

  Chapter Y: Preview