it out slowly. 'It's all right, Mistique, you can let me go now. I'm all right.'
She let him go, and stood back. Hawk moved over to Morgan's body and knelt down
beside it, wincing as pain shot through him. He'd managed to take some of
Morgan's kneeing on his thigh, but the pain was still bad enough to make him
move like an old man. He tried for a pulse, but couldn't find one. He searched
the body slowly and methodically, but didn't come up with anything useful, apart
from a small bunch of keys. He got to his feet again, with a little help from
Mistique.
'At least we've got the drugs back,' he said brusquely. 'And this time I'll make
sure they don't go missing, even if I have to feed every damn package to the
incinerator myself.'
'We ought to search the place before we go,' said Burns. 'There's always the
chance he kept records of who was working for him, and who he was paying off.'
Hawk nodded curtly. 'He probably had more sense than to leave something like
that just lying about, but it's worth a look. Don't move anything, though. We'll
leave the real search to the experts. Place is probably rigged with booby
traps.' A sudden thought struck him and he looked quickly at Mistique. 'Or is
this place going to collapse around our ears like the other one?'
The sorceress shook her head. 'Solid as rock. Whoever set up this place knew
what he was doing.'
They headed for the far door, Mistique staying close by Hawk in case he needed
to lean on her again. Burns kept a tactful distance. The sorceress cleared her
throat uncertainly.
'Hawk… would you really have used your axe on Morgan?'
He smiled slightly. 'I was bluffing. Mostly. I'm not really as bad as my
reputation makes out.'
'You convinced me,' said Mistique. 'I've never seen anyone look so mad.'
'I wanted the name.'
'Hawk,' said Mistique gently. 'We already know the name.'
'So, did you find anything?' asked Commander Glen, leaning forward over his desk
and staring intently at Hawk and Burns.
Hawk shook his head. 'Nothing useful. And Morgan didn't strike me as dumb enough
to commit anything incriminating to paper anyway.'
Glen sniffed, and leaned back in his chair. 'You're probably right. At least you
had enough restraint not to wreck the place, for a change—even if you didn't
leave anyone alive to answer questions.'
'What about the man-at-arms Mistique put to sleep?' said Burns. 'And the woman
Hawk knocked out?'
'Hired muscle,' said Glen dismissively. 'They weren't far enough in to know
anything useful. And speaking of Mistique, where is she? I want to hear her
report, too.'
Hawk and Burns stared over Glen's head at the wall behind him. 'She said she'd
look in later,' said Hawk. 'She's… rather busy at the moment.' He lowered his
gaze abruptly, and fixed Glen with his single, cold eye.
'Commander, there's something I need to discuss with you.'
'Yes,' said Glen. 'We have to talk about Captain Fisher. I've been hearing
stories about her for some time now. As long as they were just stories I could
afford to ignore them. You and Fisher were a good team; you got results. But I
can't ignore this, Hawk. She's betrayed the security of the Peace Talks, and
gone on the run. We have no idea where she is, or what she might be planning.
And now there's mounting evidence that she's been working for Morgan all along.'
'I don't believe that,' said Hawk. 'I don't believe any of it.'
Glen looked at him steadily. 'She's gone rogue. Hawk. I have issued a warrant
for her arrest. There's a reward of five thousand ducats for anyone who brings
her in, dead or alive.'
For a moment Hawk just looked back at him, his scarred face cold and impassive,
saying nothing. 'I'll find her,' he said finally. 'I'll find her, and bring her
in. Call off your dogs, Commander.'
'I can't do that, Hawk. It's out of my hands now. And I can't let you go,
either. You did a good job in recovering the super-chacal, but you upset a great
many prominent people in the process. If you'd brought Morgan in alive, no one
would have said anything, but as it is…'
'That was my fault, Commander,' said Burns, but Hawk and Glen didn't even look
at him.
'Now that Fisher's gone rogue,' said Glen, 'you've become suspect too, Hawk,
through your relationship with her. Too many things have gone wrong around you
just lately. No one trusts you anymore. I have a warrant for your arrest too,
Hawk. I'm sorry.'
'You've got to let me find Fisher,' said Hawk. 'Please. Let me bring her in, and
we'll prove our innocence.'
'I'm sorry,' said Glen. 'I have my orders. Give me your axe, please.'
Hawk drew his axe, and the room suddenly became very tense. He hefted the weapon
in his hand a moment, and then put it down on Glen's desk. The Commander relaxed
a little, and Hawk hit him with a vicious left uppercut. Glen flew backwards out
of his chair, slammed into the wall behind his desk, and slid unconscious to the
floor. Burns opened his mouth to yell something, his hand already reaching for
his sword. Hawk spun round, grabbed up his axe, and hit Bums across the head
with the flat of the blade while Burns was still drawing his sword. He fell to
the floor and lay there motionless, groaning quietly.
Hawk would have liked to tie them both up, but a quick glance around showed him
nothing he could use as a rope, and he didn't have the time, anyway. He hauled
them both into Glen's private washroom, and locked the door on them. He took a
last quick look round, and then left Glen's office and made his way casually
through Headquarters to the main entrance. He smiled and nodded to people he
passed, and they smiled and muttered automatically in return. Hawk kept his face
calm, but his thoughts were in a turmoil. He had to find Isobel before anyone
else did. He couldn't trust anyone else with the job.
Isobel… I'm coming for you.
Chapter Nine
Under The Masks
Fisher moved quietly through the back streets, trudging doggedly through the
snow and slush, with her head bowed. The tattered grey cloak didn't do much to
keep out the cold, but with the hood pulled well forward there was no way anyone
was going to recognize her. After all, who would expect the bold and dashing
Captain Fisher to be skulking through the worst part of town in rags she
wouldn't normally have used to polish her boots? She seethed inwardly at the
indignity, but kept her outer demeanor carefully calm and unobtrusive. Her
disguise would only hold up as long as no one challenged it, and there were a
hell of a lot of people who'd be only too happy to turn her in for whatever
