Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe

Hosato moved sideways until he stood against the wall beside the door into the adjoining room.

“If you’re lying, Gedge, you’ll be the first to go. Now, open the door and call to them.”

Gedge hesitated, then moved to the door and opened it.

“We’ve got a code Delta,” he announced casually.

In a flash Hosato was in the doorway, his blaster leveled at the occupants of the next room.

“Freeze!” he snarled.

The two guards, hands on the butts of their blasters, froze in place. Rick and James were seated on a sofa against the far wall, apparently unharmed. Hosato noted with satisfaction they had failed to relieve James of his dress sword—probably didn’t consider it a serious weapon.

“All right, toss your blasters into the corner,” he instructed the guards. “Easy!”

The guards obeyed with leaden slowness.

“Nice try, Gedge,” Hosato commented to his captive as the blasters thudded into the corner. “I don’t know what a code Delta is, but I had a hunch I wouldn’t like it. Okay, Rick, get their—”

Gedge kicked the door shut on his arm and rushed him.

Fighting the pain of his pinned arm, Hosato hammered at his assailant with the bell guard of his epee. Gedge was inside the length of the sword, negating the use of the point, and he clung to Hosato tenaciously for several precious seconds.

Finally Hosato slammed the heavy pommel against the larger man’s temple, and Gedge sagged, his grip loosening. With a heave Hosato shoved the man off him and wrenched the door open.

In the corner, Rick was wrestling with one of the guards, apparently for possession of one of the blasters. Before Hosato could call out, the mechanic found the proper leverage and jerked his opponent’s head around sharply. There was an audible crack, and the guard went limp.

The other guard was Hosato hesitated as he focused for the first time on the prostrate form on the floor by his feet. There was a pool of blood slowly spreading from the body.

James was standing shakily nearby, his bloody dress sword hanging limply in his hand.

Their eyes met.

“He… he was going to…”

“It’s all right now, James,” Hosato said quietly.

“I… killed him.”

“You sure did, kid,” Rick interrupted. “Saved your hide, too, Hosato. What do we do now?”

Hosato felt a quick surge of anger at Rick’s callousness; then it subsided. Rick was right. This was a time for action.

“Are you all right, James?” he asked brusquely, taking the boy by the shoulder.

The youth blinked vacantly, then nodded his head in stubborn assent.

“Rick, get their blasters.”

Without waiting for the mechanic’s reply, Hosato turned and strode into Gedge’s office once more. The security chief was conscious but out of action. He was hunched over on his hands and knees, holding his head and moaning softly. Hosato ignored him and moved to the desk, arming himself from his own arsenal, which Gedge had so conveniently laid out for him.

As he had noted earlier, his blasters were gone. Well, no matter. They’d gotten new ones from the guards. Throwing spikes in his belt, knife in his boot One by one he secured the deadly tools of his trade at various points on his body. Items such as clothing, he ignored. This was a combat mission.

“I’ve got the blasters, Hosato,” Rick said, joining him. “Now what?”

Hosato gestured at Gedge’s huddled form. “Ask our friend there where they took Sasha.”

Rick frowned. “I don’t think hell tell me.”

“They’ve taken her off to interrogate her,” Hosato informed him. “Thinking about that might help you find the right way to ask him.”

“Right!” Rick said, his face hardening.

Hosato felt a twinge of guilt as he turned his back on the inevitable scene in the corner. He shouldn’t delegate such a task to someone else, but forcing information out of people, especially injured people, had never been his forte. Still, he winced at Gedge’s first gasp of pain.

“Hosato?”

He turned, to find James at his side.

“I had to do it,” the boy mumbled. “He was going to kill you.”

Hosato seized the boy’s shoulders in an iron grip and shook him. “You said you wanted to come with me, James. Remember?”

“Yes, but—”

“Well, this is what I do. I kill people. We may have to kill some more before we get out of here. If we don’t, they’ll kill us. I’m not saying you should like it, but accept it. Accept it now, or when the next time comes, you’ll hesitate and we’ll all be dead.”

The boy’s eyes cleared. “I’ll be all right,” he said levelly.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.” His voice was surer now.

“Good. Then fetch my throwing spike. It’s in the guard’s forehead over there.”

It was a brutal thing to do, and Hosato watched the boy covertly as he went about his assignment. The boy was a bit wooden-limbed, but his hands shoot only slightly as he withdrew the weapon from the corpse’s skull.

“I’ve got your answer, Hosato,” Rick called. “Sasha is in the room directly below us. The stairs are across the hall.”

“Here’s your spike,” James said, passing him the weapon.

Hosato took it absently and tucked it in his belt.

“Shall I kill him?” Rick asked, jerking his head at Gedge.

“No. Hang on to him. He’s our hostage for now.”

“Okay, you’re the boss. Where do we go from here?”

“I go after Sasha,” Hosato corrected. “You try to find if one of these uniforms comes close to fitting you. James,”—. Hosato pressed a blaster into the boy’s hand —“watch the door. If anybody but me or Sasha comes through it, kill 'em. And keep an eye on our friend there.”

Their eyes met; then the boy smiled and nodded.

There was no one in sight as Hosato ghosted across the corridor and down the stairs. Likewise, there was no one in the lower corridor, not even a guard.

His suspicions aroused, he crossed the corridor in one long stride and hurtled himself against the door. It flew open with surprising ease, and he fell headlong into a dark room. As he hit the floor, he realized what a beautiful target he made silhouetted against the open door, and rolled sideways into the shadows.

“Hosato?” came a cautious call.

“Sasha?” he answered.

There was a soft shuffle of movement, and the door closed behind him. A moment later the lights came on, flooding the scene in the room with their harsh brilliance.

“Til say one thing for you, Hosato. You never miss a chance to make a big entrance.”

Sasha was standing there, a blaster gripped loosely in her left hand. Aside from her disheveled appearance, she seemed unharmed.

“Are you all right?” Hosato asked, rolling to his feet.

“Sure,” she replied easily. “Nothing like the smell of truth serum to clear away the cobwebs. Luckily they didn’t seem to think I was dangerous enough, to strap down.” She gestured at the two crumpled and bloody forms on the floor.

Hosato whistled in silent appreciation.

“It looks like they were wrong in the worst way. How did you do it?”

“With my trusty desk lamp,” Sasha replied modestly, pointing at the implement. “You know, they ought to outlaw those things. They’re dangerous.”

“I meant, how did you do it at all?”