Excerpt

ASSASSIN

CHAPTER ONE

Alex was excited to be on Vilas Lok, not because it was the Pleasure Planet, but because it was where Eva had moved to after marrying Keve. As soon as her job was done, she could spend some quality time with her beloved sister.

Alex dropped her duffel bag in the spartan room of the cheap hotel close to the main spaceport and went out again. As she strolled though the busy streets around the spaceport, she called her sister, inhaling the cool evening air. Colorful lights from clubs and bars played on her body.

Eva's face filled her phone's screen. They had the same long brown hair and hazel eyes, and almost looked like twins, except Eva was twenty-seven and Alex twenty-five. Being Sylvanians, born of sperm created from their mother's bone marrow, they were almost clones of Oralia who was still on Sylvania, enjoying her retirement from the Queen's service.

"Alex, where are you?" Eva asked, obviously noticing the neon lights around her. "That doesn't look or sound like Friport!"

"And it's not," she replied with a big grin. "It's Vilas Lok. When can I come over?"

Eva squealed. "Keve, Alex is on the planet!" she shouted off to the side. Alex heard Keve's voice grumbling something. "He's happy you're here and come when you want," Eva said quickly with a shrug. "Are you here for a job?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Alex stopped in a park and sat on a bench, watching people go by while she continued her call. "An anonymous media agent needs a crew to infiltrate a pop idol's stage crew and sabotage their next performance. Further, their work will be recorded via drone for a new holovid series."

Eva gasped and stared at her wide-eyed. "Let me guess... the pop idol is the artist formerly known as Zaphadin?"

"Exactly!" Alex chuckled. "Well, not just him, also the new sensation that is the Blues Twins..."

Eva sighed. "You're so lucky... if you ever actually get near him, ask him for his autograph, please!"

"Of course." Alex smiled. She knew how much Eva had loved Zaphadin, the King of Music. She might have been only seven when Zaphadin retired, but when he came back under his real name, Eva was still there, swooning for him.

An obsession that lasted to this day and that drove Keve mad with jealousy. Hence he'd never take his wife to a Zafar Nagarkar show. Alex hoped to do it, though. If indeed she managed to infiltrate the stage crew, she might find a way to take Eva too.

"Evangeline!" Keve's voice thundered in the background. He must have heard the dreaded name coming from his wife's mouth. "Don't you dare go to one of his live shows with your sister, you hear me?"

"Of course, dear." Eva paled, and looked back at Alex. "So, let me know when you can come over. I hope your job won't keep you too busy."

"I hope to be done quickly, he's not doing that many shows anymore," Alex replied.

She saw Eva quickly looking away. "He's gone," she whispered. "Please, keep me updated on anything Zaphadin!"

"Eva, don't you think he's too jealous and controlling?" Alex asked, serious now. She was starting to worry for her sister's well-being.

"Yes, he threatens to kill me if I leave him, but I don't take him seriously because I love him," Eva said.

Alex sighed. "As you wish. Will keep you posted. What are you doing tonight?"

Eva brightened again. "We're watching a holovid and chilling. Will you go clubbing?"

"Not sure yet." Alex smiled. "Possibly just grab some food and crash into bed. You know how I hate long distance flights and Friport is currently on the other side of the galaxy!"

Eva chuckled. "Good night, then, Alex." She blew her a kiss and signed off.

Alex sighed and went back to the sidewalk, looking around at the signs of restaurants and clubs. But she was indeed tired and hadn't slept properly in almost twenty-eight hours. She decided to go back to the hotel, have whatever they could provide to eat and go straight to bed.

***

Alex dreamed of Nise, her Friport mentor who had taken her on as apprentice as soon as she had set foot on the Wandering Planet of rogues and adventurers. Freshly out of the Sylvanian Academy, Alex had decided to become an assassin and had found a second mother in the woman, who has braided silver hair and bright hazel eyes.

In the dream, Nise wore her usual nanomesh body armor and carried a laser rifle, instructing her on how to properly deal with the problem at hand. Alex awoke in the dead of the night, uneasy. It wasn't her first job without her mentor, why the dream-flashback?

In the past three years she had become fairly autonomous and usually worked alone, like most assassins did. Probably the fact that the media agent had requested a team had reminded her of her first year with Nise.

She had joined a mixed group of mercenaries and didn't feel completely at ease with them. Maybe she should skip this job. Sighing in the darkness, she tried to get back to sleep. She noticed that her phone pulsed with the light of a message.

Since sleep seemed to elude her, she switched on the bed-table lamp and picked up her phone. A message from Keve? Weird.

Alexandra, I killed her. I loved her too much. I set up the biometric sensors to let you in.

Alex stared at her screen, incredulous. He what? The text was ten minutes old, so possibly its ping had awakened her from the dream with Nise. She had heard a message sound, now that she thought about it.

She tried to call him, but he didn't answer. She tried to call Eva, but her sister didn't answer either.

Panicking, she jumped out of bed and quickly dressed. Eva and Keve lived two hours away from the capital. She rushed downstairs, ordering a rental car on the go, so she'd find it outside of the hotel, waiting for her.

The street was still lit with its colorful neon lights, but as soon as she was out of the main avenue, Alex switched off the AI drive and accelerated through the empty country road. She didn't care if the police followed her, she actually needed them to be with her when she entered Eva's house.

The Reedams were both technicians who slept in a satellite town of small houses with big yards that was used mostly as a dormitory. There were a couple of public buildings and a mall, but mostly it was just residences.

The Reedams had a tiny, quirky house in good condition. The interior was done in pastel colors and it was perfect for a young couple. Also, it was once featured in a television special showcasing unusual homes.

Alex parked in front of it and rushed to the door. Almost immediately she heard a siren and saw a police car stop behind her rented car.

She put her hand on the biometric panel and the door swished open as two local policemen rushed forward.

"Ma'am, wait!" the elder said. "We need to go in first to inform his wife!"

She scowled at them. "He killed her," she said. "Where is he?"

"We found him in the public park, he hung himself," the younger cop said, puzzled.

"He texted me that he'd killed her," she snapped. "She's my sister."

And she stepped inside the tiny house, switching on the light. Eva lay in a pool of blood in the middle of the living room. Keve had stabbed her to death.

Alex clenched her teeth. "Did you say the coward killed himself?"

"Yes, ma'am. If you could show us his message to you..."

She did. "Lucky bastard. He knew I'd come for him," she muttered, staring at her sister's pale face. She gently closed the unseeing hazel eyes. How could she tell her mother that Eva had been killed by her jealous husband?