Blade of the Lucan: A Memory of Anstractor by Greg Dragon Read Free Book Online Page A

know the terms, but they were the kind that satiated Marika’s lustful desires and curiosity. How many other Phasers could say they shared the supple lips of Marian VCA with the supreme leader? She smiled wickedly at the thought. A good assassin must always have leverage, even on the most trusted of employers.
    When Marian had slipped off towards the Starport earlier that day, Marika had gone back inside the house and collected her clothes. She dressed herself in an all-black 3B suit with a heavy black coat over it. On her face, she wore a mask to hide her distinct features.
    She stood in front of the mirror in their bathroom and thought she looked menacing. It was hard to suppress the smile that crossed her full, dark lips, since she found her outfit to be quite amusing.
    “Oh, this would frighten any little would-be snitch,” she muttered to herself as she turned one way and shifted to stick out her hip. She popped it to the other side, pulling her las-sword free with the same motion. “Yeah, they won’t see you coming, will they, killer?” she whispered and then spun to exit the bathroom and made her way outside.
    She hopped onto one of the hover bikes that was parked near the house, then tested the controls. They were alien to her but not so complicated that she couldn’t figure them out. Touching the comm on her arm, a holographic image of Tyhera hovered in front of her. She used a gloved finger to slide it around, and took note where the city of Veece stood along with the ruins of Cally.
    With a kick of a pedal and a few button presses, the bike lifted her steadily into the air. She sped towards Veece, flying recklessly past tall, branchless trees, which looked like logs planted in the ground. Marika kept an assortment of guns that she favored for killing her marks, but the one she brought for this trip was a rifle. An ugly, black, shiny machine with a barrel so long that it stretched past her shoulders to another three feet above her head.
    If they were to assassinate a galactic despot, she would need to master the hunting grounds. There would be guards, but she would be ready for them if they were in the way. She set the bike down near a humming dome that stood out like a silver pimple in the orange and brown grass that popped up from everywhere.  She dismounted and left the rifle, choosing instead to grab a knife and pistol while sinking low to the ground so that the grass could mask her approach.
    The cloak she wore was cumbersome but warm, and though she wanted to throw it off, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Casan was a warm, desert planet, and her thin skin was not doing well with the winter of Tyhera. She stopped at about twenty yards and dropped, listening to the whistling wind, the caw of strange birds, and the chirping of insects. This was an alien planet and she needed to learn its sounds. She stood there for a long moment with her face near the dirt, muscles taut, and ears listening and adapting.
    When she thought she had the natural sounds memorized enough to track foreign ones, she rose again and approached the dome. It was a resource-gathering mill, and it had an alien insignia that she wasn’t able to read. She knew what it was doing, and she looked around and saw several more like it, pulling up minerals from below. This was the equipment of a crafter, so there would be no need for soldiers trolling the area. She ran back to her bike and resumed her ride through the trees and toward the city.
    Marika reached Veece another hour after leaving the resource farm. It appeared suddenly before her, when she almost rode the bike off the side of a steep hill. The trees had obscured her approach, but with her reflexes she was able to avert disaster and take advantage of the location.
    She pulled out a stand, touched two lights on its side, and rammed it into the ground at the top of the hill. She then attached the rifle, locking in the appropriate holds and then lay on her stomach and placed her