Dark Arrow Ch. 08

She was the only female hunter that she knew of, but it was not unheard of to have one or other of the hunters take along a younger family member to run items like skins and meat back to town and pick up more ammo. She chuckled as she thought about how much ammo most of the hunters wasted trying to bring down a deer.

Scaling the wall was a simple matter after all these years of practice. She slipped swiftly into the houses and lost herself among the people filtering into the streets. Ren's list had been relatively specific on what was needed, and he'd been well informed on who had it.

Glancing at her com tablet she quickly went store to store. It only took her an hour to acquire the items since she had arrived early before the rush of people coming in after dropping children off for mandatory school or on their morning break.

After it was all purchased she started to head out of town when she paused at the sound of the alert tone pinging from every com tablet around. People glanced at each other in confusion before glancing down and retrieving their coms from wherever they had stored them.

Erillia felt a shiver run up her spine.

A city wide broadcast only happened when there was a natural disaster or some other event of such magnitude that the message needed to be delivered without fail. Widespread broadcast to any available coms device was discouraged because there was always the chance of pirates passing through picking up important information that could be used to plan raids and smuggling operations.

With a sense of dread, she pulled her own tablet out and brought up the new broadcast. She fought to stay calm and not react when she read the first line of the broadcast.

"Advocacy agents arrived last night to participate in the ongoing investigation into the brutal contract murder of Nathan Bicormish. We are grateful to the advocacy for responding to our requests for aid and trust that with top level agents on the ground we will soon be able to announce the capture and subsequent execution of those responsible for this heinous act."

She swallowed hard and forced herself to change direction. She'd been heading towards the wall, but if she suddenly climbed over the wall after this message it was likely to draw attention. Instead she changed direction towards the better districts of town. Ren had been right.

The jig was up and the advocacy was coming. Fortunately, they hadn't gotten much of a start yet so there was still a little time. She'd have to hope that maybe Ren could change the plans for his run and get her onboard too.

One thing was for sure though she was going to need cash.

The bank she used utilized underground networks and their records wouldn't reflect she had an account at first glance. She had no doubt that the advocacy would sniff out her accounts eventually though and if there was one thing sure now it was that they were going to need cash. Swiftly she located the shop she was looking for and purchased two blank credit chits. Quickly plugging one into her com device she loaded up the banks interface and quickly scanned her balances.

All told she'd had nearly five million credits at the start of the day. The items Ren had said they needed hadn't been cheap but she still had just over four and a half million total. With a frown she started the transfer. Two million to each chit. Leaving the half a million behind irked her but if she drained all the accounts it would flag quicker.

She'd been so close after that job to making the seven million needed for a slot on a colony mission. One more hit would have done it, but no, or course not, it couldn't be that easy.

Of course she mused if it had been that easy she never would have met Ren. Neither option was good, though one did seem likely to end in a painful death while the other had a small chance of survival. It was too late to replay what if's though. On the one hand had she not met Ren it was possible that the advocacy wouldn't have been after her but something about the way she and Ren had been set up to oppose each other made her doubt that.

The more she thought about it the more it seemed like they had been pitted against each other for the purpose of eliminating one of them. They probably counted on Ren's sense of honor to prevent him from killing her leaving her unaware that the advocacy was as corrupt and dangerous as they were and thus unprepared when their agents came to take her out.

Moreover, they likely figured their agents were more than a match for her, and thinking about how Ren had worked her over at first she had to grudgingly admit that was a fair assessment.

With cash in hand she stopped and thought for a moment. If she tried to scale the wall now it would be a disaster. She was sure they'd be ready for her to try that and be watching the walls. For a moment she panicked thinking she was stuck in town and Ren would be able to skip off without her. Finally, she shook off the clutching dread that was trying to suck her down.

She sighed and settled down to work the problem through. It was the roar of a hover car passing overhead that actually gave her the solution. Hurrying to another portion of the outskirts she purchased some camera equipment and then hustled to the transportation hub. Luckily her face hadn't been posted so an exact description of her hadn't been produced following the hit on Bicormish.

Hover cars were the realms of the rich, though cheap transport on scheduled routes did exist for transport between cities. However, with what she had in her account she could easily afford to rent a transport for a couple days. Given that the advocacy was here now it was only a matter of time before they found the cabin anyway.

It would take them almost longer to realize she was the person who rented the car that it would to find the cabin. For just under a hundred thousand credits she rented a fast flying model for a week to take out for nature photography.

She hoped that the extra time it was rented would keep anyone from asking questions too quickly. As she loaded the equipment she'd purchased into the car the man from the rental shop gave her a quick mandatory run down of the manual controls before showing her how to program flight paths and other functions into the system and strongly encouraging her not to attempt manual flight.

She held her breath as she punched in coordinates for Tertiary the third landing site and town established on Terra. Secunda to the east being the second and focused on trade and Terra IV to the west, also known as "drip", that focused on medical care. Had her father stabilized she would have had him transferred to "the pole" which was the premier health center on terra. Its spire could be seen for mile as you approached Terra IV.

Terra Tertiary, or simply Tertiary, was the art and high roller capital of Terra. This was where the celebrities moved when they had the funds. It had little to no poor district and policed those who lived there.

It also happened to take a path that was almost directly over the cabin. A sudden stop for a photo op wouldn't raise suspicions if anyone was tracking her craft and she could get Ren and they could get the hell off this rock.

If they were lucky they could be on board a ship and out of system before anyone realized what was going on with the hoover car and by the time they connected the dots they could jump again.

If they hopscotched around the colonies for a while they should build up enough distance that maybe, just maybe they could settle down and live a life together. She crossed her fingers and uttered a silent prayer as the car took off on its plotted course.

About a half mile out from the cabin she spotted a small clump of deer. Ordering the car to stop she accessed the computer and requested a scan for heat signatures. Smiling as the on board computer returned the data that there were five signatures consistent with wildlife in the area. It couldn't have worked out better.

If anyone queried the car, it would have the record of those heat readings and since she had charted the car to do some wildlife photography, it would be assumed she'd stopped the car and landed for the purpose of getting a few shots. As soon as the car touched down, she was out of the pilot's seat and opening the side door.

As she ran towards the cabin she cast off the deer hide she'd wrapped her quiver in and assembled her bow on the move, pausing only to string it after she'd locked the arms into place. Sprinting up to the cabin she could see no movement, but still she slowed to a walk and approached cautiously. As she entered her hair stood on end.

Ren was gone, and the place had been made up. The bed was neat and tidy but several of her little touches had been removed. Personal items of hers that had been stashed here or there were no longer there. Rushing into the kitchen she saw all the items she'd kept there had been removed. The place smelled faintly of an industrial cleaner.

The door to her father's room stood open and she cried out in anger as she saw the room had been rearranged. The comforter that her dad had kept there was gone. She staggered back into the main room with her mind reeling from the changes to the place and trying to understand the implications of it all.

The only thing left that gave any indication anyone had been here was Ren's go bag sat carefully against the wall near the door. It was positioned in such a way that it would be possible for someone to open the door, lean in and grab the bag and leave without ever so much as stepping foot inside. Her heart stuttered in her chest. This was beyond running away from her and whatever they had going.

This spoke of a man that either wanted to erase all trace of himself from her life, or was plotting to murder her and planning to cover his tracks. No matter how strange this all was though she couldn't believe Ren was actually planning to murder her.

So the question was then why was he trying so hard to remove all evidence that they had been together? More importantly why had he gone to such lengths to make it look like the cabin wasn't hers? It only got more confusing when she glanced at Ren's bag and found many of the personal items he'd removed stored carefully inside.

"What the hell Ren?" She breathed out as she stood gazing around the main room.

"Voice print recognized. Authorized user detected. Please confirm identity with retinal scan." Erillia almost jumped out of her skin at the soft mechanical voice. For a moment she froze, then looked wildly around the room.

"Please confirm identity with retinal scan." The mechanical voice came again. Her eyes flew to the bag Ren had sat next to the door. She carefully approached the bag and unzipped the top gingerly. There on top of the pile of items he'd left in the bag was the same com tablet she'd found this morning. With shaking hands, she picked up the tablet.

*Confirm identity* flashed in green pixels across the screen. As she stared at the screen a flash blinded her for a second.

"Identity confirmed ownership transfer complete. Beginning automated playback." She shook her head to clear her vision. When she could see again a holo projection of Ren stood before her. She frowned as she looked at the figure, sure that something was off. It took her a second to realize what was different.

Ren was dressed in full battle fatigues with the laser rifle he'd not used since they made their escape slung across his chest. For a moment she was convinced he'd boarded the PMC ship already and was leaving early, but then she looked at his eyes. The sorrow she saw there convinced her something was wrong.

"Erillia," Ren's recorded voice came softly from the speakers. "I'm so sorry for what I'm about to ask you to do. I'm so very sorry little one for the pain I'm about to inflict on you, but I don't have a choice. There is a lot you need to know and precious little time for me to explain. I want so very badly to be there with you. To continue what we started but I have to do what's best both as your instructor and your Dom."

Her breath caught in her throat as she watched the anger, pain, frustration and dispare flick across Ren's face as he spoke. She had a sinking sensation in her chest as she watched the recording.

"I can't do that anymore. By the time you watch this I will have set in motion a chain of events that will result in the entirety of your story being known across the empire. Before that happens though you need to know the story yourself. I told you your father was a marine, but that isn't the full story. In truth your father was one of the first advocacy agents when they were building their strike team. Why and how he was convinced to work with them I never knew, but I know he did, and that they are the reason he's dead."

She sucked in a breath and stared in shock as Ren relayed the story. Sinking to the floor and dropping the tablet softly to the floor. The holo flickered for a moment but then stabilized as Ren continued.

"He worked for them for over a decade until one assignment drove him out much like me. His assignment was a hit on a high ranking officer's daughter. That daughter was the woman who would become your mother."

Tears sprang to her eyes as she listened to Ren. She shook her head wanting this to all be a joke, but she knew it wasn't. Worse yet she could almost guess now why Ren had left this behind.

"Damn you Ren," she whispered softly.

"To understand this you need to understand the history of the Emperor," the recording continued. "During the early part of his reign Emperor Vastesian was for all intents and purposes a war lord. He conquered opposition and unified the empire into an entity stronger than we'd ever had before. His unification led to more colonization and safer travel and lives for colonists. This led to easing of overcrowding and chances for those who were poor to make a fresh start."

Erillia nodded her head having learned most of this during the short time she'd been able to attend the mandatory schooling. What exactly it meant to the current situation though was still beyond her. Drying her tears, she focused back on the hologram.

"After the empire was pacified his policies made him very popular, but there was signs of rot setting in. Vastesian was a great leader, when he had an enemy. Without outside pressure he fell prey to debauchery and lust. At first it was manageable but soon after his son came of age and began to help with the running of the empire he gave himself over completely to pleasure seeking."

"His foremost general took exception with his actions," Ren scoffed, "though one can hardly be surprised given the way the man was dragging down the empire after only just stabilizing it. General DeGraw took his complaints to the Emperor who didn't take kindly to the rebuke from his general." Ren cleared his throat and shook his head.

"In retaliation the Emperor sent the General off to the far corners of the empire on a fleet cruise to ensure the boarders were secured and the populace happy or at least at peace." Erillia shook her head dreading what she feared was coming.

"During his absence Vastesian raped Irenna DeGraw, the general's daughter, repeatedly over the course of nearly five months. He abused her so badly she ended up in the hospital fighting for her life. When news reached the general, he and the leaders of many of his best strike teams boarded one of the fastest ships in the fleet and discharged command to the remaining officers. Taking command of the ship they came back to earth on a suicide mission."

Fighting back a sob she saw the fire in Ren's eyes and the respect in his tone when he spoke of those men. Her eyes clouded over for a moment as she remembered when she'd asked her mother about what had happened to General DeGraw who figured so prominently in the rise of the empire but then suddenly vanished. Her mother had turned pale and told her not to concern herself with things that had no impact on her life.

At the time she'd attributed it to her mother's incessant desire to have her climb the social ladder, but looking back things didn't always fit. She had a sinking feeling in her chest as Ren's hologram shook his head and chuckled quietly.

"Ten men and women combat landed on the palace grounds. They were battle hardened, out for blood, and they were some of the best marines this empire has ever seen before they rose to command. They lay waste to the palace, killing most of the guards and charging into palace itself. Eristian, Vastesian's son, eager for glory in battle, met them head on with what was left of the imperial guard. It was a slaughter and the heir to the throne died at DeGraw's hands."

Erillia swallowed the lump in her throat as she waited, knowing the end to the story had to be tragic, but unable to tear herself away.

"They rushed the royal chambers. The Emperor fled trying to escape through the secret tunnels he'd had built. DeGraw was close behind though and followed him like a blood hound. Finally, the army arrived to sweep the Emperor away. Infuriated DeGraw rushed the unit extracting the Emperor, telling his fellow commanders to run while he dealt with the Emperor."

Tears poured down her cheeks as Erillia stood to her feet, coming eye level with Ren's hologram. She shook her head. This couldn't be. She took a ragged breath and dashed the tears from her eyes. She knew what had to come next, and now she thought she knew where Ren was going with this. It made sense in a way but she just couldn't believe where she felt this story was going.

"DeGraw pulled a grenade and despite being mortally wounded by the soldiers defending the Emperor he leaped into the group as they were loading him into the transport and triggered the grenade. The explosion burned the Emperor badly, scorched his lungs, and resulted in the amputation of his leg. At the end of the day the Emperor was left with in critical condition, DeGraw was dead, and those who had assisted him fled to the stars."

Erillia nodded. It made sense, and yet it didn't. How on earth could all of this been swept under the rug. Then again, her father had been a decorated and well known combat marine and he had been swept under the rug as well. Still she would have thought an assault on the palace would have been remembered. Then she gasped as it clicked into place. The bombing of the palace by the pirates.

"The Emperor needed an enemy," Ren said softly. "So he ordered the soldiers to sweep the palace, and then he ordered the planetary defense forces to hit the palace with an orbital bombardment. Everyone but he and his wife died. He claimed a force of pirates had made a suicide attack on the palace in the hopes of killing him and his wife. Knowing that the rebels that managed to flee would have no choice but to turn to piracy, Vastesian created a reason to go after pirates to a harsher and broader degree than ever before."

"It was shortly after this that your father's story joins this one," Ren said after a moment's pause. "He was ordered to take out Irenna Degraw after the Emperor recovered from his wounds. His faith in the empire and the leadership of the Advocacy shaken your father refused to do the mission without a full explanation."

"The Advocacy," Ren chuckled, "in one of their few careless moments trusted your father enough to reveal that Irenna was a target because she'd been raped. With the Emperor in critical condition, and having been careless in his handling of Irenna, it was possible he would not live to father another heir but Irenna could already be pregnant, and could convincingly and truthfully claim it was Vastesian's."

"Your father was smarter than I was," Ren said ruefully, "he took the mission. When he went to perform the hit he demanded an untraceable personal transport so he could get into Irenna's room via her window, take her out, and leave via the window leaving no trace. The request was granted. Your father however had made other plans with one of the commanders who had fought with DeGraw. Instead of killing Irenna, he rescued her."