Sins of the Assassin

Chapter 9

“Are you listening?” said Sarah. “This is important.”

Rakkim played with Michael, holding an index finger in front of the wobbling toddler, pulling it back as the boy grabbed for it. Michael, one of the four archangels, captain of the heavenly host, the angel most beloved of Allah, but this Michael was a chubby infant, not quite two, with his mother’s eyes, dark and bright, his gaze steady. He almost fell over, then one hand darted out and pinched Rakkim’s finger. Michael squeezed, delighted, and Rakkim kissed his shaggy curls. Michael might have his mother’s eyes but he had his father’s quick reflexes. Maybe even his guile. Rakkim still wasn’t sure if the boy had really almost lost his balance or was just distracting him. It worked, whatever the cause. Michael clapped his hands, wanting to play again.

“Rakkim?”

“The Colonel has become more aggressive in the last two or three years,” repeated Rakkim, watching Michael as the boy watched them, head cocked. “He’s expanding his territory, buying weapons, consolidating his support.” He lightly tapped Michael’s nose, retreated. Michael giggled. “Tactically brilliant, generous and popular with the locals, threatening to attack the republic…” Another tap on Michael’s nose. The boy swatted at Rakkim’s hand, missed. “…although the anti-Muslim invective may be just a recruiting slogan.” He looked at Sarah. “I read the data file General Kidd gave me.”

Michael lunged at him, flopped in Rakkim’s lap. Rakkim lifted him up, tossed him into the air. Caught him. Michael laughed.

“There’s currently a power vacuum in the Belt, one that the Colonel could easily exploit-was that in the file?” said Sarah, as Rakkim continued to throw Michael higher and higher. “Their new president was elected with a minority of votes. He’s a smart politician, very likeable, but weak and indecisive. There’s been talk that his party received massive financial support from the Nigerian Confederation, but no proof. The rumor may have been spread by the Colonel’s men for all we know, but…” She glared as Rakkim caught Michael by one ankle, the two of them flopping back onto the bed, Rakkim covering his eyes, pretending to cower as Michael launched an attack. “Do you mind?”

“What are you so mad about?” said Rakkim.

“I want you to be prepared.”

“I am prepared.” Rakkim carefully set Michael down on the floor, reached for her. “As prepared as I can be. Sarah…all the reports and rumors and projections aren’t going to help. They’re after-the-fact assessments, outdated five minutes later or dependent on the skill of whoever gathered the information. The only way I can find out what it’s really like in the Belt is to go there and sit around talking with strangers, making conversation, listening to what they argue about, what they laugh at. You want me to have a plan in place, some guidebook…that’s not going to happen.”

“You need a plan or-”

“The other shadow warriors sent in, they had a plan, and it got them killed.” Rakkim took her hands, pressed them against his heart as tears gathered in her eyes. “I’m going to slip into the Belt, Sarah. I’m going to make my way to where the Colonel is digging up the mountain and I’m going to stop him. Whatever it takes, I’m going to stop him. Then I’m going to come home.”

Sarah put on a brave front, but one eye overflowed.

“I know what I’m doing.”

She let it lay, watching Michael as he walked hesitantly around the room. “Is General Kidd offering transport?”

“I don’t want his help. There may be a mole in the Fedayeen high command.”

She stared at him and he could see the effort it took her to stay calm. “I see.”

He shrugged. “I also think it was a mistake sending the shadow warrior teams in from the north and the west.”

“It’s the shortest route,” said Sarah. “The most direct and we were in a hurry. We’re still in a hurry.”

“People in a hurry get noticed.”

Sarah started to speak. Stopped. Keyed the remote on her earlobe. “Spider’s here.”

Rakkim didn’t ask why. He’d find out soon enough.

The main wallscreen crackled. A car pulled into the armored garage, waited until the blast door closed. Infrared screens showed the outside streets buckled down for the night. No movement. No extraneous electronic activity. Safe. Spider got out of the car, waved to the camera. Someone got out of the passenger side. Big guy…no, it was a kid, a soft, doughy teenager wearing khaki trousers that nipped at his ankles and a baggy brown sweater. He didn’t wave. Just stood there with a sullen expression while pulling at the seat of his pants.

“Who’s Humpty-Dumpty?”

“His name is Leo.” Sarah unlocked the door to the house. “He’s one of Spider’s sons.”

“Are they here to brief me too?” He saw her glance away. “What is it?”

“I…I wanted to tell you before they showed up,” said Sarah. “I’m sorry.” Onscreen, Spider and Leo stood in the elevator as it rose rapidly toward the living level. Leo looked like he was going to throw up. “Leo…Leo’s going with you to the Belt.”

Rakkim laughed. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Direct order from the president.”

“When?” said Rakkim. “When did the president issue the order?”

Sarah straightened. “Earlier today. Just…just a few hours ago.”

“Just a few hours?” he said. “Why not just a few minutes?”

Michael started crying, looking from one of them to the other.

Sarah hurried over to the baby, picked him up. “There had been some talk earlier, but Spider…he wasn’t sure about sending the boy into the Belt.”

“This sudden change of plans sounds like something Redbeard would have pulled,” said Rakkim. “Measuring out the mission in teaspoons, not giving me a chance to reject it outright until I’m in too deep.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you.”

He saw the hurt in her eyes, but he didn’t back off.

She rocked Michael in her arms, quieting him. “I wouldn’t, Rikki.”

“Anything else you haven’t told me? Any other last-minute additions to the mission? Should I pick up a case of Moon Pies and a carton of Marlboros while I’m there? How about a few souvenirs from Graceland? Maybe one of those pillows that sings ‘Love Me Tender’ when you lay your head down?”

Sarah’s eyes flashed. “That won’t be necessary.”

“You sure? Long as I’m lugging around a civilian, I might as well make myself useful.”

“Leo’s not just a civilian,” said Sarah. “He’s smart-”

“All Spider’s kids are smart.”

“Not like Leo. He’s a genius, a true Brainiac. Spider says he’s smarter than any of them…except for the seven-year-old, Amanda, but she’s-”

“Amanda is not smarter than-” Leo stood in the doorway to the bedroom, suddenly aware of the blade of Rakkim’s knife a millimeter from his jugular. He blinked, a tall, pale, soft-bodied youth with a large head and wispy, dirty-blond hair plastered across his skull.

“Rakkim?” said Spider, hovering nearby. “I…I thought we were expected. Please?”

Leo licked his fleshy lips. “My father grossly overrates the intellectual capacity of my baby sister,” he said idly, a single drop of blood running down the blade of the knife. He ignored it. “Amanda came up with a more elegant solution than I did for the Riemann hypothesis and he acts as if she’s Stephen Hawking. She merely tweaked the zeta function, which I would have done eventually-”

Rakkim pushed him aside. Looked at Spider. “You want to get him killed? Because that’s what sending him to the Belt is going to do.”

“Rikki, if there was any other option, I’d keep him here,” said Spider, “but the truth of the matter is, you need each other.”

Rakkim laughed. “What do I need him for?”

“To tell you what’s buried in the mountain,” said Sarah. “To tell you if it’s a decoy, or a failed experiment, or if it’s dangerous and needs to be destroyed.”

“What are you trying to convince him for?” Leo sniffed, wiped his nose. “I’m the key man here. He’s just the…the travel agent.” He sniffed again. “You need to adjust the humidity in here. I’ve got allergies.”

“Leo,” soothed Spider, “please, shut up.”

“He’s got allergies, but no training,” said Rakkim. “He’s got a face that begs to be slapped, but no useful skills. No survival instincts. First time he opens his mouth in the Belt or doesn’t hold his utensils right, we’re going to draw attention. Then what? How am I supposed to explain him?”

“You’ll think of something,” said Sarah, rocking Michael in her arms. “You always do.”

“Leo’s physical attributes may not be impressive, but he stood up well during the hard times when the Black Robes searched for us,” said Spider. “He saved the family more than once. He complains, but he doesn’t break. And Rikki”-his voice softened-“he really is very smart.”

“Look, Mr. Fedayeen, traipsing around Holy Joe-ville wasn’t my idea,” said Leo. “Personally, I’d rather be studying plasma physics and let you idiots fight each other until there’s nobody left.” He blew his nose, shoved his handkerchief into his back pocket.

Rakkim turned to Sarah. “You’re right. I have thought of a way to keep Humpty-Dumpty from taking a great fall.” He smiled at Leo. “This is going to be fun.”