No, he would die like a man. If anyone were going to take his life from him, it would be he and he alone. Richard picked up the pistol and loaded it with exactly one cartridge. He steadied it against his chin and pulled the trigger…

Is anything wrong? Are you unhappy sweetheart?

he asked, concerned.

she explained.

Trish elaborated.

he tried to console her.

he probed.

Trish disclosed.

Greg found himself at a loss.

she insisted.

Greg attempted to console her.

Trish sighed deeply.

Greg responded slowly. Trish sighed again,

They got dressed and left for what was supposed to be the busiest day of the conference. It proved to be an anti-climax after the events of two days ago, but Greg tried his hardest to make the attendees understand the importance of abandoning the older destructive ways in favour of the Earth-friendly technologies that he had worked so hard on.

“…remember, we may not all be superheroes, but we can all be heroes for the planet. Thank you,” he concluded.

The people started to leave the room and Greg sighed as he saw the empty water bottles filling up the trashcan. He would have thought that a symposium on the environment would at least have placed recycling bins in the hall and he shook his head sadly. He tidied up his notes, and packed them in his briefcase. Though there were still 2 days left at the symposium, he decided that since there was nothing urgent waiting for him at home, he’d spend one more night in Bonn, then fly to Biel and work with Betina on getting the AERIE up and running… well, at least started.

Greg opened the door to his hotel room and was surprised to see a figure in his hotel room. Especially one who had a gun trained on him.

Greg wondered.

Trish noted.

“Doctor Howard? Please come in and shut the door,” the woman gestured casually with the firearm.

“Great… someone else who knows me but is a complete stranger to me…” he muttered. He closed the door and stood waiting.

“My name is not important as I was never here. My employer wishes you removed and I have that honour. Now, if you will just follow instructions, I will make this as painless as possible,” she smiled humourlessly. “Please don’t get any amusing ideas... I am a master shot.”

“I really don’t have time for this. Please inform Mister Ravensclaw to do his own dirty work or simply to leave me alone,” he snarled.

“It’s not that simple. As you see, I am a professional as are you. I take a certain pride in my work and I will not abandon a contract on the target’s say so,” Paulina explained, never taking her eyes off Greg.

he instructed.

In a mere second, he was right in front of the intruder who reflexively fired her weapon. The silenced shot ricocheted off Greg’s forehead and embedded itself in the wall. The look in the assassins eyes went from confidence to confusion as Greg twisted the pistol from her hand. He held the gun up in front of the blonde woman’s face and casually bent the barrel in half.

“Here’s your toy back,” Greg nonchalantly tossed the weapon to the woman. “Now, you’re going to sit there and tell me what I want to know… or I can start breaking you… bit by tiny bit,” he threatened.

“That bastard… he never said you were one of… them…” she was shocked and dismayed at this unexpected turn of events.

“That’s because he didn’t know… and I’m not one of them… I’m one of me! Now, start talking lady,” he took an intimidating step closer. The blonde woman glared at him then mysteriously slumped over in her chair. There was the scent of bitter almonds in the air.

Trish was horrified.

Greg said in dismay.

Thinking quickly, they used nanomechs to disassemble the gun and slug and seal the hole in the wall. The corpse was dumped in the nearest body of water, to be found in the morning by a very confused police force. ‘One of Europe’s most wanted, found dead in Germany by her own hand’, the headlines were sure to scream. Trish was thoughtful as they flew back to their suite.

asked Trish.

They checked out of the Domicil the next morning at 10:00am and caught the 11:00 train to Bern. Betina was waiting at the station with a rental car and she drove them to their new offices in Biel. She’d been very busy and it showed. The former hotel suite was now a mixed-use office space complete with one bedroom left intact and a small kitchenette. That reminded them that they hadn’t really eaten yet and after the tour of the new facilities, Greg took Betina to lunch at the hotel restaurant.

“So everything has gone smoothly Betina?” Greg inquired politely.

“Oh yes Doc. The railway has delivered your containers to the switching yard and they will be routed to Nice tomorrow. I have placed for bid, the demolition contract of the old mill building and the auction will take place in 2 days,” she beamed.

“Tell me something Betina, do you ever relax?” Greg smiled. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all your hard work, but I don’t want you to burn yourself out… you do have the job, you know, there’s no need to try and prove yourself,” he told her. Betina smiled at Greg and he noticed for the first time that she had dimples.

“I know Doc… but I just want this project to work… more than anything else I’ve ever done in my life. I’m really quite excited about it.”

“Good girl, but I’m relying on you to be able to make decisions for me when I’m not here and you can’t do that from a sick bed,” he gently chided her. They went back to the office and Greg gave her a list of names and contact information to enter into the database and then went back out to the mill to meet with a demolition contractor Betina had arranged for. He arrived early to explore the old mill building. Most of the heavy equipment had been removed when the mill had been closed but there were tantalizing bits and pieces lying around. Leaning up against a wall was a saw blade as big in diameter as he was in height. He heard a noise outside and went to the door. Something whizzed by his ear and impacted the building with a solid thump.

'What the hell!?!" he blurted as he ducked back inside.

Trish stated the obvious.

As he backed into the building, the ACM flowed up over his head and hands to become the full battlesuit. Out in the tree line, Kychiri cursed silently. He rarely missed and now his target was alerted. He couldn’t see Howard in the shadows so he crept out of his shielded spot and silently drew his katana. Their assailant was across the compound faster than most could follow, but they tracked the dark shrouded figure to just inside the doorway. Greg was furious… Two attacks in as many days? Christ that Ravensclaw was annoying.

he bitched.

inserted Trish.

Greg picked up a bolt the size of his fist and hurled it just to the right of his attacker. It went through the wall leaving a hole the size of a watermelon. A shape detached from the shadows and Greg caught a glimpse of a long length of steel. Ninjas?! They were sending Ninjas?! This was turning into a bad comedy!

Trish reported.

Greg responded.

she announced triumphantly.

Greg let out a cry and fell to the ground with a moan. He retracted the hood and gloves and recreated his clothing with a bloodstain on the shoulder. He lay there surreptitiously watching the stealthy approach of the intruder.

Kychiri watched his prey from a distance of 10 metres as he lay on the floor. He was hit, that much was obvious, but the defence put up by this academic put Kychiri on the alert. Something was askew and he didn’t plan to become a victim. The news that the woman had been discovered dead had come as quite a shock to him and he had moved furtively to track this Doctor Howard. He approached slowly, noting the figure and the bloodstain on his jacket. Kychiri readied his katana for the killing blow…

Trish noted the tension in the attacker’s sword arm and launched them before Greg even had a chance to react. She had the sword wrested from Kychiri’s hand in a flash and battled him to the ground. She clubbed him with the pommel of the sword and knocked him out cold. Quickly she had him stripped naked and searched him for hidden poisons and weapons before finally securing the assassin with a large plate of steel on his chest.

said Greg.

She smiled. There was a moan from the vicinity of their feet.

she asked.

Kychiri came to and found himself pinned to the ground. He couldn’t move his arms or legs but he could turn his head. He saw a pile of his weapons and clothing and looked up into the eyes of the man who had defeated him. A tear involuntarily rolled down his cheek.

“私は何へのこんにちは、あなたの訪問の名誉を負うか。(Good afternoon, to what do I owe the honour of your visit?)” Greg addressed the trapped assassin in his own language.

“I speak English honoured one,” the small man replied.

“Excellent, then we can start with your name and why you’re attempting to kill me,” Greg smiled brightly.

“My name is Hidako Kychiri, Howard-san. I was hired to remove you from the path of your enemy,” he replied with some small amount of difficulty.

“Nathanial Ravensclaw?” Greg inquired.

“Hai! He also sent one before me who died,” Kychiri responded.

“The blonde woman? I’d figured he was behind that. The question is, now what do I do with you?” Greg spoke mostly to himself.

“Kill me… or allow me an honourable death Howard-san, for I have failed and do not wish Ravensclaw’s dogs to hunt me down,” he almost pleaded.

“You are an honourable foe Kychiri-san. You may die by your own hand. I will keep your katana to honour you,” Greg said and bowed at the waist.

“Arrigato Howard-san, I hope we will meet again on the wheel of life.” Greg wrestled the plate off Kychiri, pretending more effort than it actually took. The assassin took a small knife and drove it into his own brain. He died instantly. Greg carefully redressed the small man and replaced his weapons. Sheathing the katana, he had the bugs attach it to the back of the battlesuit. He cradled the small man gently in his arms, carried him outside, and shot off into the sky, heading for Japan.

To Be Continued