“Yeah, I had to get in touch with a contact I made during my days as an operative in order to verify that all of the deaths have really been operatives,” Ashton averred.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Kraus, who was likewise the commandant over the entire Imperial Marine force, the highest-ranking Marine in the Empire, replied in concern. “We definitely need to stop this guy.”
“It’s like trying to apprehend a damn ghost,” Quan complained.
“No shit,” Peterson agreed.
“Well, let’s see what happens next,” Ashton said, pragmatic.
What happened next was a flurry of assassinations. Each night for the next week and a half, at least one Alliance operative died, sometimes two, once three. Suspected operatives began fleeing the planet, sometimes moving to other sectors of the Empire, sometimes headed back to their original star nations – whether they had formally immigrated to Sintar or not.
In short order, there were few suspected Alliance spies anywhere on the continent, let alone in the Imperial City area. And precious few on the planet as a whole.
Then the murders... stopped.
“Still nothing,” Ashton grumbled to Carter in Carter’s office. “And now whoever it is has gone to ground, with really only a handful of the real hard-core intel people left to take on. And we don’t have much more to go on than we did.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Carter said. “I heard back from Marty Kraus; the Marines intelligence group is convinced they are not the source of the leak, but they agree, there’s a leak. Which means it’s someone here on Sintar. And Brian Daggert has gone over his people ninety-eight ways from Sunday, and they’re clean, too.”
“So it’s ICPD or IPD.”
“Right. And Maia is convinced that none of her established people have turned or otherwise gone psychotic – she’s even had shrinks come in and evaluate everybody, including your wife, and they were all pronounced clear and unlikely to do such a thing – and they don’t have any new people on board...”
“Which means we have a leak here, among my people,” Ashton said, voice bitter. “So much for ‘Ashton’s Gang.’”
“Patience. The chess board is still in motion.”
“Huh?”
“There’s stuff going on,” Carter said. “I’m not sure what, but not all of the former Alliance nations are willing to quit. Or know when they ought to, I’m not sure which.”
“Ohhhh blast and damnation.”
That turned out to be a particularly apt phrase, as matters went.
A week later, the combined forces of Annalia, Berinia, and Garland conspired to drop two nukes on the planet Estvia.
A week after that, the Vigilante Patriot had left no Annalian, Berinian, or Garland operatives alive within Imperial City.
And the assassinations stopped once more.
The fact that there was nothing left of the capital cities – or the military centers – of all three polities a week after the last assassination was apparently beside the point.
Déjà Vu All Over Again
Shortly thereafter, and by their leaders’ request, Phalia and The Rim had been absorbed into the Sintaran Empire. The announcement was actually made before the retaliation upon Garland, Annalia, and Berinia, but it took a while to get everything moving. Not long after that, the new ruler of Garland also requested annexation, and it was granted.
Then the Democracy of Planets got involved.
Berinia and Annalia – beloved country of Abelson Niebecker’s youth – were both occupied and absorbed by the DP.
Days later, Cascade, Celestia, Nederling, and Preston requested annexation by the Sintaran Empire.
Then the DP invaded Terre Autre.
And then they overstepped.
“That wasn’t smart,” Cally told Nick, as they watched the news feeds. “For the DP to try to sneak past under our noses and take over star nations on our farside? Without even bothering to check to see if things had changed first?”
“And then to space right into the brand-new Jasmine Sector of Sintar,” Ashton said, trying not to laugh. “Yeah, I agree Cal. It was stupid. And I know it’s not really funny, but I can’t help laughing. Talk about the surprise of your life!”
“Yeah, it was the last surprise of their lives,” Cally said, and that sobered Nick.
“True. It was sadly stupid, wasn’t it?”
“It sure was. But I don’t think it bodes well for the relationship between Sintar and the DP.”
“No, you’re probably right there.”
A little over a month later, Cally was proved right.
“So we’re at war again,” Carter said. “The Democracy of Planets voted for war against Sintar.”
“Given what we’ve seen of Emperor Trajan and his strategies so far, I don’t think that was a smart move,” Ashton said.
“I’m with you on that,” Peabody agreed. “But it may not be fun while it lasts.”
“True words,” Carter agreed. “The DP is a little different than the Alliance. They’re bigger in many respects, with more monies to spend on their tech and war machines. This might not be pretty at all. Meanwhile, I got notice from Brian Daggert that we have a few DP operatives that probably want rounding up.”
“Dammit, I will be so glad when we’re done with war,” Ashton grumbled. “I’m ready to get back to some old-fashioned burglary investigations and shit. Those were downright simple by comparison.”
“Amen,” Carter agreed. “Well, round up the intelligence investigations team, and let’s get the word out.”
That was when the Vigilante Patriot reared his head again. Two DP operatives were found dead in as many days.
Dominick Ashton finally got seriously irritated. He sat down and considered matters.
The Vigilante Patriot has got to be somebody inside the system to know who, what, when, and where, he thought, revisiting the logic to make sure it still held. It’s not anybody in the Imperial Guard; Daggert even had ‘em all sit in the lie detector chair and swear they had no part of it. It’s not
