Wartorn Obliteration

He almost let out a yelp and jumped to his feet, but restrained himself. Even so, his heart pounded as the shock of the news hit him.

Radstac was standing inside the doorway of the apartment. It was early morning and Aquint's head was doing its usual whirl whenever he was woken up at such an early watch. He ran a hand through his hair. Cat had heard her insistent knocking and had come to shake him out of bed.

Now, he was sitting in the outer room wondering if he had really heard her right. Cat stood off to one side. They had said little to each other since Aquint had handed over that innocent addict for Jesile to behead in the square.

'The Minstrel,' Aquint finally said, his mouth feeling pasty and his eyes smarting. 'He wants to meet you?'

Radstac, having said it once, didn't appear to feel the need to repeat herself. She gazed at him with those colorless eyes.

Aquint shook his head, marveling at the news. He had sent out Radstac and Deo as bogus anti-Felk troubadours, hoping against all reasonable hope that the Broken Circle would be lured by their songs of rebellion. It had been a desperate gamble, frankly, with longer odds than he ever would have considered if this were a game of Dashes.

'Where and when is the rendezvous?' he asked.

Radstac recited it. Aquint glanced at Cat, who nodded. They both knew where this location was, a number of streets west of the city's central marketplace.

Finally, Aquint couldn't contain himself. He stood and let out a hoarse but heartfelt whoop of happiness. The Minstrel! The troublemaker. The bleeder who had forced Aquint to make a sacrifice of that wretched drug addict.

'We've still got several watches before it's scheduled,' Aquint said. He clapped his hands together. Then he said, 'Wait. Why did you wait until now to report to me?'

'Curfew came,' Radstac said.

Aquint waved a hand. 'You're an Internal Security agent. You don't have to worry about any of that. Haven't I made that clear?'

'And if that Broken Circle contact observed us breaking curfew with total impunity?' Radstac asked.

Aquint considered and nodded. It was an excellent point. He asked, 'You're sure this person at the tavern said the Minstrel himself wanted to meet with you?'

Radstac was sure. She managed to convey this without speaking or nodding.

She certainly was a hard thing, Aquint thought. Those facial scars didn't make her any more cuddly. Still, that Deo fellow certainly seemed fond of her...

Aquint frowned. There was no obvious reason why Deo should have accompanied her here this morning. This message she was conveying didn't require the pair of them. Nonetheless, Deo's absence suddenly concerned Aquint.

'Where, may I ask, is Deo this morning?' Aquint asked, knowing by some instinct that he wasn't going to like the answer.

He was right.

Radstac said, just as tonelessly as before, 'Deo has deserted his post. He decided he wants to join the rebels. He left me at that tavern and followed the woman out.'

It was one shock too many this early in the day. Aquint fell back into his seat.

From his twirling thoughts, he grabbed a question. 'Did Deo say anything to you before he went?'

'He asked me if I wanted to join the rebels with him.'

'And you said...?' Aquint prompted.

'I told him he was being an ass. I threatened to snap his arm if he talked anymore foolishness.'

'What did he say?' Aquint asked.

'He didn't,' said Radstac. 'He went scurrying off.'

Silent until now, Cat suddenly asked, 'You didn't follow him?'

Radstac gave him a glance. Then she did something Aquint had never seen her do before. She looked embarrassed. She bit her lower lip and looked at the floor.

'I, uh, didn't,' she hesitated. 'Look, we're more than comrades, Deo and I. I didn't want him to do this stupid thing. But I just couldn't—I mean, what could I do? Arrest him?'

Aquint raised a hand. 'All right, all right. I think I understand.' He put the hand to his forehead. Now he had a renegade agent to worry about. 'Do you think this rendezvous with the Minstrel will still be on?'

Radstac shrugged. 'I don't know. The woman had already left the tavern. Deo may not have caught up to her.'

Aquint drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. 'But let's assume he did. With his new set of loyalties, would he tell her you two were with Internal Security? If he wanted to warn the Minstrel away from the rendezvous today he would have to tell that woman something. Surely he knows we'll set a trap for the Minstrel.' The thought still set Aquint tingling with anticipation.

'I'm sorry,' Radstac said. 'I don't know what he'll do. All this was very surprising to me.'

He looked closer at her. Did she look... sad? That, too, was unprecedented. It certainly confirmed his suspicion that she and Deo were lovers.

Aquint was sorry to have lost one of his agents, especially like this. But if he had to lose one of these two, he was glad he still had Radstac working for him. He was also glad he didn't have to report these details to Abraxis. After all, Abraxis only wanted results.

And Aquint had damned well better start producing results. This was a choice assignment he had here in Callah. He definitely didn't want to find himself stripped of his position and sent back to that warehouse in Sook, or much worse, sent back into the field. Being a foot soldier had not agreed with him.

Also, he had Cat to think of.

Aquint rose to his feet, more deliberately this time.

'Very well,' he said. 'It's just the three of us. I don't want to bring Jesile's troops in on this just yet. We don't know how this is going to play out, but we do have a time and a place for the rendezvous. Radstac, you're going to be there. Understood?'

She understood it.

'Cat and I will be there, too,' he went on, 'but you won't see either of us. We'll observe what happens. Maybe nothing will happen. But it's just possible that the Minstrel will show up. We still have a decent description of him. If he's there today, he's ours.'

* * *

He and Cat made their way to the rendezvous site well ahead of time. The place was an empty lot between two buildings, and it was fairly overgrown with weeds. The street it abutted wasn't a busy one.

Aquint had dressed in grubby clothes, along with a cloak with a hood. He hadn't bothered wearing his arm sling. It was drizzling. With the hood up, his face was hidden. He wanted himself and Cat to appear as nondescript as possible. This was a poorer district of Callah. Cat, too, had worn more ragged attire than usual.

Together they surveyed the scene for the best place to observe the empty lot.

Cat was humming softly to himself. Twice Aquint had caught a glimpse of the boy smiling secretly.

'Why're you so pleased?' Aquint asked.

'Because we might be capturing the Minstrel today,' Cat blinked back innocently at him.

'I'm thinking it might be something else,' Aquint said blandly.

The lad shrugged. 'I guess one of those agents, at least, wasn't so good a pick.'

For a moment, Aquint felt a stab of anger. This was Cat's jealousy over Deo and Radstac again. The boy had never liked those two intruding on his and Aquint's personal association.

Then Aquint reconsidered and let out a soft chuckle. Admitting it when you were wrong wasn't always easy. And anyway, it was good that he and Cat were talking again. 'Fine, lad. Deo turns out to have been a bad choice for an Internal Security agent.'

'Perhaps a very bad choice,' Cat mused aloud.

'Fine. Very bad. Now, stop gloating, and let's find ourselves a vantage point.'