his gun back into its holster. Jack and Ruby relaxed just a little. When Finlay spoke again, he seemed almost bored. 'That's old history now. No one cares about that anymore. I thought one of my enemies had sent you to find out what I know, and shut me up. I have lots of enemies, you know. From all sides of the political spectrum. You'd be surprised. Even the ungrateful undergrounds disown me these days, though I was once their blue-eyed boy. They pointed me like a gun, and I killed people. Now I can't even get anyone to return my calls anymore. My past… excesses… have made me a liability. An embarrassment. Once my current mission is brought to a close, I am coming back and knocking on their doors, and I won't take no for an answer. And then there will be… a reckoning.'
'And what mission might that be, sir Campbell?' said Jack politely.
'I'm going after Valentine Wolfe. He and I have unfinished business between us.'
'I should think everyone in the Empire has unfinished business with that bastard,' said Ruby. 'Let's talk about Shub.'
'Let's not and say we did.' Finlay scowled intimidatingly at Ruby, and seemed a little taken aback when she just scowled right back at him. 'Oh, well, if it'll get you out of here any quicker… My Family made a deal with the AIs, their advanced tech in return for the alien stardrive. Supposedly it was all a con, with us stringing them out for as much as we could get, before the AIs realized we had no intention of delivering. In reality… I don't know.
'We'll never know now. The deal died when the Wolfes destroyed my Family. Afterward, the Wolfes supposedly renegotiated the deal for themselves. Valentine was in charge. What he got, and what he promised in return, you'll have to ask him. If I don't get to him first.'
'And there's nothing more you can tell us about Shub's links with Humanity?' said Jack. 'Please try to think, sir Campbell. It's important.'
'My father never trusted me with any details. And I never asked. I didn't care about such things then.'
Jack stood up abruptly. 'Excuse me a moment. I've got a message coming in through my implant.'
He moved over to the door so he could subvocalize to his comm unit in relative privacy. Finlay and Ruby studied each other thoughtfully. They recognized the warrior in each other, and the same competitive fire began to burn in each of them. It had been a long time since they felt seriously challenged.
'So,' said Ruby. 'I hear you're a fighter as well as clotheshorse. Any good with a sword?'
'I was taught by the best,' said Finlay. 'Never once lost a fight. And I never needed esper tricks to win my battles.'
Ruby showed her teeth in a mirthless smile. 'Maybe we should try each other out sometime. Just steel on steel.'
'Sounds good to me,' said Finlay. They held each other's gaze, smiling the same death's-head smile. Their hearts speeded up, and their breathing deepened. There was an almost sexual attraction in the air between them. There was a thing they were both born to do, more important to them than life itself, and they could feel it taking over, becoming inevitable. Finlay licked his lips. 'When did you have in mind, bounty hunter?'
'What's wrong with right now?' said Ruby Journey.
'Not a damned thing,' said Finlay Campbell.
In a moment they were both on their feet, facing each other, swords in hand, blood and death in their eyes. But before their blades could even reach out to touch each other. Jack Random was there between them, glaring furiously at them both, and they each stepped back a pace, stayed for a moment by his sheer authority.
'Have you both gone mad? Of course, stupid question. Look, we don't have time for this. Sir Campbell, put away your sword.'
Finlay smiled briefly. 'After her.'
Jack looked at Ruby. 'I can't take my eyes off you for a moment, can I? Put away your sword.'
'Why do I have to go first?' said Ruby.
'Because you undoubtedly started it. And because I'm asking you to. We have to go, right now. We're needed on an urgent mission.'
Ruby sniffed and reluctantly lowered her sword. 'You're no fun anymore, Random.'
Finlay cautiously lowered his sword. He and Ruby exchanged a glance. They both knew the moment for a fight had passed. They both also knew there would be other times. Finlay slipped his sword back into the scabbard hanging from the bed post, and reclined on his bed again, the picture of casual ease. Ruby slammed her sword back into its scabbard and glared at Jack.
'What's all this about a mission? I thought we had a mission running down the Shub connection?'
'This takes precedence. Apparently all hell is breaking out on Loki, and Parliament wants us there yesterday. Shub will have to wait.'
'Isn't it always the way,' said Ruby. 'Start out doing one thing, and the next minute you're being sent somewhere else.'
'Story of my life,' observed Finlay from the bed. 'Let yourselves out. Try not to slam the door behind you.'
Jack had to practically drag Ruby out of the room, but eventually they were gone, shutting the door reasonably quietly behind them, and Finlay was left alone again. He stared up at the ceiling, already forgetting his visitors. Just lately someone had been sending professional assassins after him. He didn't mind particularly. He was glad of the exercise. But none of them had lived long enough to name their employer, or how they knew where to find him. It could have been almost anyone. With all the enemies he'd made, he was lost for choice.
They were one of the reasons he'd decided to leave Golgotha and go after Valentine.
Not because he was worried for his own life, but because there was always the chance the assassins' thwarted employer might try to get at him by attacking those he cared about. Like Evangeline or Julian. And he couldn't risk that. Julian could probably take care of himself, but he couldn't guard Evangeline all the time. If only because she wouldn't let him. Evie was very protective of her privacy. He knew there were things about her, secrets, mysteries, that he didn't know, but he'd never pressed her. Finlay understood about secrets. He had enough of his own.
Evie was away again at the moment. Off doing something for the clone underground that he wasn't cleared to know about. For all their proud talk of equality and fraternity, the underground still didn't really trust anyone who wasn't a clone. Given how busy the underground had been keeping Evangeline, even though the rebellion was officially over, Finlay couldn't help wondering if they were trying to keep him and Evie apart. Because he was only a human. And a damned aristo, at that. Finlay smiled briefly. It was probably even simpler than that. The underground never had approved of him, even when they turned to him for the missions no one else could do. They thought he was crazy. And of course they were quite right. No sane person would have done what they wanted, taken the risks he had, and bathed in blood till it dripped from his soul.
The problem came when the Empire finally fell, and everyone expected him to be sane all of a sudden. He could have told them it didn't work like that. You couldn't go through all the things Finlay had, do what he had done, lose all he had, and still be entirely rational at the end of it. The only things keeping him even borderline sane were his love for Evangeline and his friend Julian Skye. They were his anchors. They kept him… balanced. Without them he had only himself, and he didn't know who that was anymore. He'd been many people in his time. The fop and dandy. The Masked Gladiator. The rebel fighter. The underground's assassin. Evie's love. Now all their voices clamored in his head at once, and he was lost in the bedlam.
He longed for action. For the thrill of the fight. Everything had been so simple then. You knew where you were. No shades of gray. No politics. Nothing to hold him back. Just do or fail. Win or lose. Live or die. And oh, the bloodred rush, the heart hammering in his breast, the joy at being the best there was, and oh, oh, the thrill of it all. The marvelous moment of murder. Nothing quite like it. Like an endlessly satisfying, endlessly addictive drug. Perhaps he had more in common with Valentine Wolfe than he thought.
Finlay scowled and made himself change the subject, turning his thoughts to the day's earlier events. He'd gone to see his extremely estranged wife, Adrienne, and their two children. He still wasn't sure why. Perhaps because they were the only part of his past life that wasn't touched by what he'd become. Finlay closed his eyes and let his mind drift back.
Adrienne opened the door almost before he'd finished knocking, as though she'd been waiting for him to arrive for some time. As it happened, he was exactly on time, but Adrienne never let facts get in the way of a good row. He bowed formally to her, and she sneered back at him. Finlay stepped forward, and Adrienne moved reluctantly back just enough to let him in.
