Residential guards assigned to the heirarch’s apartments flowed into the chamber as the three rappelled down, battering through doors to get at the invaders. Jared, Sagan and Pauling unclipped and dropped heavily into the debris pile below them, hastened by Enesha’s heavier gravity. Jared could feel the debris attempting to impale him as he struck it; his unitard stiffened to avoid that. The three swept the room visually and with infrared to locate the guards, and sent the information upward. A few seconds later there were several sharp cracks from the roof. The residential guards dropped.
::You’re clear,:: said Alex Roentgen. ::The wing is sealed off and we’re not seeing any more guards. More of us are coming down.:: As he said this Julie Einstein and two other members of the 2nd began their descent on the lines.
The nursery adjoined the heirarch’s private chamber, and for security purposes the rooms were a single sealable unit, impenetrable to most violent attempts at entry (save massively powerful particle beams shot down from space). Because the two rooms were assumed to be externally secure, the internal security between the rooms was light. A gorgeously carved but single-bolted door was the nursery’s only security from the heirarch’s chamber. Jared shot the lock and entered the room as Pauling and Sagan covered him.
Something hurtled toward Jared as he checked his corners; he ducked and rolled, and looked up to find an Eneshan attempting to bring an improvised club crashing down on his head. Jared blocked the hit with his arm and kicked upward, connecting with the Eneshan between its forward lower limbs. The Eneshan roared as the kick cracked its carapace. In his peripheral vision Jared registered a second Eneshan in the room, huddled in the corner and holding something that was screaming.
The first Eneshan lunged again, bellowing, and then stopped bellowing but kept lunging, collapsing in a pile on top of Jared. After the Eneshan lay on top of him Jared realized that somewhere in there he’d heard a burst of gunfire. He looked around the body of the Eneshan and saw Sarah Pauling behind it, reaching over to grab the Eneshan’s mantle, to pull the corpse off Jared.
::You could have tried killing it when it wasn’t moving toward me,:: Jared said.
::Complain again and I’ll leave you underneath the damn thing,:: Pauling said. ::Also, if you wouldn’t mind pushing, we’ll get it off you quicker.:: Pauling pulled and Jared pushed, and the Eneshan rolled to the side. Jared crawled out and got a good look at his attacker.
::Is it him?:: Pauling asked.
::I can’t tell,:: Jared said. ::They kind of all look alike.::
::Move,:: Pauling said, and came in close to get a look at the Eneshan. She accessed her mission briefing. ::It’s him,:: she said. ::It’s the father. It’s the heirarch’s consort.::
Jared nodded. Jahn Hio, the heirarch’s consort, chosen for political reasons to sire the heir. The matriarchal traditions of the Eneshan royalty dictated that the father of the heir was directly responsible for the heir’s pre-metamorphic care. Tradition also dictated the father would stay awake at the side of the heir after her consecration ceremony for three Eneshan days, to symbolize the acceptance of his paternal duties. This—among other reasons related to the consecration ceremony—was why the kidnapping was planned when it was. Jahn Hio’s assassination was a secondary but critical part of the mission.
::He died for protecting his child,:: Jared said.
::It’s how he died,:: Pauling said. ::It’s not why he died.::
::I don’t think the distinction matters much to him,:: Jared said.
::This mission stinks,:: Pauling agreed.
A burp of gunfire erupted from the corner of the room. The screaming that had been constant in the room since their entrance stopped briefly and then started up again even more urgently. Sagan came out of the corner, Empee in one hand, a wriggling white mass secured in the other against the crook of her arm. The second Eneshan slumped where Sagan shot it.
::The nanny,:: Sagan said. ::She wouldn’t give me the heir.::
::You asked?:: Pauling said.
::I did,:: Sagan said, pointing to the small translation speaker she had clipped on to her belt. It would have use later in the mission. ::I tried, anyway.::
::Our killing the consort probably didn’t help,:: Jared said.
The screaming thing in Sagan’s arm twisted mightily and nearly got out of her grip. Sagan dropped her Empee to get a better grip on it. It screamed ever louder as she squeezed it securely between her arm and body. Jared peered intently to look at it.
::So that’s the heir,:: Jared said.
::This is it,:: Sagan said. ::She, actually. Pre-metamorphic Eneshan. Like a big, screaming maggot.::
::Can we sedate her?:: Pauling asked. ::She’s pretty loud.::
::No,:: Sagan said. ::We need the heirarch to see that she’s still alive.:: The heir wriggled again; Sagan began to stroke it with her free hand in an attempt to soothe it. ::Get my Empee for me, Dirac,:: she said. Jared bent down to retrieve the rifle.
The lights went on.
::Oh, shit,:: Sagan said. ::Power’s back.::
::I thought we blasted the backup generator,:: Jared said.
::We did,:: Sagan said. ::Looks like there was more than one. Time to go.:: The three backed out of the nursery, Sagan with the heir, Jared with his Empee and Sagan’s up and ready.