In Enemy Territory - Shannon West Page 0,29
it hit his bare ass. He was very aware of his ass hanging out, in fact, and knew that Bonnett’s gaze was on it. For some reason, it made him a little uneasy, so he did what he always did when he was feeling uncertain. He made things worse by putting an extra little twist in his walk. If Bonnett wanted to watch his ass, Rasc decided, he might as well give him a good show.
He was still shocked, however, when they turned a corner to head toward the prison doors and the colonel suddenly shoved him sideways into a dark alley.
He whirled around, ready to fight if he had to, but Bonnett was simply standing there looking at him.
“What are you doing?”
“I have something to tell you, and I don’t want to be overheard. Some bad things have just happened that you need to be aware of. The Tygerian ambassador on Gatifrey has just left for home. His mate and his five-year-old child have been murdered by the assassin group.”
“What? They’re murdering children now?”
He nodded grimly.
“But don’t we need a Tygerian ambassador there on Gatifrey to help us if we run into problems?”
“Yes, of course. Larz is working on a suitable replacement. He’ll get one in place as soon as he can. Don’t worry.”
“Easy for you to say,” Rasc muttered, not entirely under his breath.
“I said he’s working on it. And that’s not all. They were killed after Prince Mikos’s consort and his son offered the ambassador’s mate a ride in Ryan’s private hovercraft. Ryan and Mikol were supposed to be on board, but he got a call about an errand he had to run, and he let them go on ahead. The craft was hijacked and taken out of Tygerian airspace where it blew up in mid-air.”
“Shit. Does that mean Ryan and his child were the intended targets?”
“We don’t know. Possibly both mates and their children.”
“Mikos must be beside himself.”
“Indeed. I talked to him for over an hour trying to calm him down after it was all over.”
“You talked to Mikos? The Bloody Prince?”
“We’re good friends, yes. Do you have a problem with Mikos?”
He shrugged. “He was my enemy for a long time, and probably killed my half-brothers, and a lot of my friends. Or his unit did anyway. Neither of my brothers would have pissed on me if I’d been on fire, though, so I guess it wasn’t exactly a heartfelt loss to me. Mikos seems like an asshole, but whatever.”
“He’s not an asshole,” Bonnett said, but without any heat. “He’s one of my best friends. But I guess I can see how an Alliance marine might think so. Especially considering how badly he—how do you humans say it—'whipped the Alliance’s ass?’”
Rasc laughed. “Hard to argue with the truth, I guess, and he did beat us, that’s for sure. No denying that. Seems pretty cowardly, though, for anybody to go after his mate and child. No one should have a quarrel with them. Especially considering Ryan once was an Alliance officer. Or maybe that’s why they went after him.”
“Maybe. But it’s been a long time since they married. Surely people aren’t still upset.”
“Oh yes, they are. A lot of people still wish Ryan Donnelly had refused to marry the prince, and we could have kept on fighting. I knew we were beaten though. It was only a matter of time, and not long either before it was over one way or the other. A lot more people would have died if Donnelly hadn’t married the prince.”
“Exactly. But some organizations like ARes and now this Assassins’ Order apparently didn’t see it that way. I think they’re trying to restart a war. And killing Prince Mikos’s mate and child would certainly do it. That’s why I wanted to tell you about all this, since you’ll be going to Gatifrey soon. And if I know Mikos, he’s making plans to travel there now.”
“On his way? To do what?”
“To find the assassins. There was already a plan in place to go to Gatifrey and investigate. This incident just accelerated all that. The killers definitely have his attention now. I don’t think he’ll rest until he cleans out the entire rats’ nest of them. I don’t like the idea of you getting caught up in it. So if he does show up on the planet—and I’m not sure if he will—but if he does, get in touch with us immediately, and I’ll get you and Setin taken out.”
“Why would you do that