Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe Part 2

"He entered into combat after the terms had-"

"Shut up, MoabeWhat do you say, Harry?"

"Come on, CaseyI'm hurt!"

"Casey glared at his brother for a moment, then turned his gaze to Hosato"Hayama," he said, "I know you wouldn't want to take advantage of Harry's condition, so what say you switch that sword over to your left handNow!"

Slowly Hosato complied with the order.

"Okay now, Harry?" Casey called.

"OkayCome on, HayamaJust you and me."

Hosato advanced slowly to meet him.

Harry was lyingIt wasn't just the two of themIt was becoming increasingly apparent to Hosato that if he succeeded in killing Harry, one of the other broth- ers would gun him down, rules or no rulesHe had been afraid something like this would happenThat's why he had a small, flat two-shot blaster secreted in his pocketCasey had timed his move well, however, and there was no way to reach the weapon without drawing fire from the other two brothers.

Harry plunged forward againHosato parried and bounded backward, ignoring his chance for a fatal riposte.

"Not so good with your left hand, are you, Hayama?" Harry sneered.

"Get him, Harry!" Tom called from the side.

As a matter of fact, Hosato was almost as good with his left hand as he was with his right, but he didn't dare actTom's shout fixed the third brother's location in his mind, though, and gave him the germ of an idea.

Steeling himself, Hosato darted forward, on the at-tackHarry batted the lunge clumsily aside, but didn't attempt a counterthrust as Hosato slipped past him.

"Pretty fancy, Hayama," he admitted grudgingly.

Hosato mentally heaved a sigh of reliefThe move had been riskyIf Harry had been an experienced fencer, he wouldn't have dared try it for fear of the reflexive counterthrustBut he had gambled, and it workedNow he was in positionHarry advanced again, but this time Hosato gave ground, backpedaling away from his opponent.

"Ready, Moabe?" he called.

"Ready for what?" Tom demanded.

For a reply, Hosato whirled and plunged his epee into Tom's chest.

"Hey!" shouted Casey.

That was all the distraction Moabe neededDrop-ping to the ground and drawing his blaster in one smooth motion, he cut Casey down with one shot.

Harry had dropped his sword and was drawing his own blaster as Casey fell"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" he screamed, leveling the weapon at Moabe's back.

Hosato's shot took him as he squeezed the trigger stud, the two blasts sounding as one.

Silence echoed over the field.

"Moabe?" Hosato called at last.

"He has ceased to function," Suzi informed him.

Hosato hung his head in fatigue and sorrowHe had liked Moabe, however short their acquaintance had been.

Suzi retrieved Harry's sword and floated silently to his sideHosato sighed and began to secure the weap-ons in her storage compartmentHe didn't chide Suzi for not a.s.sisting in the fightHowever human she seemed at times, she was still a robot, and therefore incapable of killing or injuring a human.

"Someone's coming," Suzi announced.

Hosato raised his head and saw a man approaching from the s.p.a.ceportThis man was of a different cut than most, his conservative clothes, like a uniform, identifying him as a corporation manHe gave the strewn bodies no more than a casual glance, striding purposefully toward the survivor.

Hosato studied him with mild curiosity as he ap-proachedHe had been hired as a duelist by corporate men before, but not often.

The man came to a halt at a slight distance"May I ask whom I am addressing?" he inquired.

"I am Hayama," Hosato replied.

A vague ripple of relief crossed the man's face"ExcellentMy name is ReillyI represent the Raven-steel Corporation, and we are interested in retaining your services."

Hosato's eyebrows went up"Am I to understand it would be the corporation and not yourself individually who would be retaining my skills?"

"That's rightWhyIs something wrong?"

"NoI just can't imagine why a corporation would require the services of a duelist."

"We don't." Reilly smiled"You see, we at Ravensteel are aware that despite your obvious abilities, dueling is not your main livelihood, just as Hayama isn't your real nameYour name is Hosato, and you are a freelance spy and saboteur, one of the best, according to our sourcesRavensteel needs a saboteur, and we need one badlyThe fact you can fence is merely frosting on the cake."

"MrMathers?"

The bartender turned at the sound of Hosato's voice"Hayama!" he exclaimed.

"It is settled," Hosato said quietly.

"They accepted my apology?"

"No."

"But you said. Oh."

"Harry Scale will not trouble you againNeither will his two brothers."

Mathers stood regarding Hosato with a new respect.

"I seeWell, I guess you want the rest of your money."

He went to the cash register, and returned with a handful of billsWordlessly he counted them onto the bar counter in front of Hosato.

Hosato picked them up without checking the count and started to stash them in his tunic; then he hesi-tated"Did you know Moabe?" he asked.

"The NegroNo, I didn't know him and didn't want toThe Scales always had a couple darkies hanging around with themNever could warm up to them, my-self."

"I see," said Hosato.

"Hey, nothing personal, you understandYou Ori-entals are all rightYou're quiet and politeBut Ne-groes well.you know how they are."

Mathers smiled and winked knowingly.

Hosato regarded him for a moment, then put away the money and turned to leave.

"HeyNo need to hurry off, HayamaCome on, I'll buy you a drinkI figure I owe you a little bonus." Hosato left without acknowledging Mathers' words.

Reilly was waiting in his hotel room as promised, and answered the door promptly when Hosato knocked.

"Come in, come in," he invited"I hope you don't mind meeting in my room, but I thought it would be best if we weren't seen together in public." "It's quite all right," Hosato a.s.sured him.

"Well, make yourself comfortableCan I get you something to drink?"

"Not just now, thanks."

After the abortive duel, Hosato wanted a drink badly, but thought it unwise to drink if business were to be discussedHe seated himself on the plush sofa and waited while Reilly poured himself a healthy gla.s.s of ScotchHe wished he could have brought Suzi along, but it would have been too hard to explain her presence and might have aroused suspicions as to her true capacities.

"You sure I can't get you anything?" Reilly asked, smilingHe was obviously back in his own element againThe stiffness and formality he had displayed at the dueling ground disappeared now that he was in a hotel room with a drink in his hand.

Hosato had encountered his kind beforeAn aging pretty boy sincere smile and a firm handshake look you right in the eye: the trademark of a cor-porate field manHosato never really felt at ease around themHe preferred the company of the rougher set, who would throw back their heads and laugh or glare with suspicionThe unshakable joviality of the corporation types was a mask that successfully screened their true thoughts and reactions.

"Well, I guess you must have a million questions, MrHosato," Reilly said, pulling up a chair.

"For the moment, just one." Hosato smiled"Who gave you my name?"

"Oh, thatA gentleman called the 'Hungarian' re-ferred us to you."

The HungarianThat gave a certain air of credibil-ity to the contactStill.

"Did he send any messages to me?" Hosato asked.

"As a matter of fact, he didI was going to mention it later, since it didn't seem particularly importantHe said to tell you his dog died."

That was the fail-safeThe Hungarian never owned a dog in his life; in fact, he hated themHowever, it served to confirm that Reilly had indeed been checked and forwarded by the Hungarian.

"Very well, tell me about this job you have for meYou mentioned sabotage?"

"That's right," Reilly confirmed"What do you know about Ravensteel Incand McCrae Enterprises?"

"Not much," Hosato admitted"They're both based on Grunbecker's Planet and they both make robots."

Reilly smiled"MrHosato, you have an unsus-pected talent for understatementStill, that pretty much sums up the situationThe only major amend-ment I would make would be to point out that between the two of them, they produce eighty-five to ninety percent of the robots in use today."

Hosato raised his eyebrows in genuine surpriseHe had no idea those two corporations dominated the in-dustry to that extent.

"Now, then," Reilly continued, "what do you know about the corporations themselves, particularly their interrelation with each other?"

"MrReilly," Hosato smiled to hide his annoyance, "you asked once what I knew about the corpora-tions in question, and I told youNow, why don't you just tell me whatever you feel is important, instead of playing Twenty Questions?" Reilly took the rebuff smoothly"Sorry," he apologized"My basic background is in marketing and sales-you know, 'get the customer in-volved'Guess I've never really gotten over it.

"Well, to keep a long story short, the two corpora-tions hate each other with a pa.s.sionNow, don't mis-take this for an ordinary business rivalryThat's there, too, but it's only part of the storyOriginally they were all one company, IRAM, a partnershipThe two part-ners had a falling-out, and they split the company, forming two separate corporationsThe main drive of each of the two has been to put the other out of busi-nessSo far, though, they're about even."

"What does all this have to do with me?" Hosato asked.

"We at Ravensteel want you to penetrate the Mc-Crae complex and sabotage their works shut 'em downWe're ready to pay ten thousand credits for the attempt, and an additional ten thousand for every month McCrae is inoperative, to a maximum total of a hundred thousand creditsAre you interested?"

Hosato stared thoughtfully at the wall for several minutes before answeringThere was no denying a hundred thousand credits was temptingStill.

"What's the law like?" he asked abruptly.

"The law?"

"The policeWhat kind of opposition would I be up against?"

"No police," Reilly a.s.sured him"Grunbecker's Planet is a corporation worldThere are no inhabit-ants other than corporation employeesEach of the two corporations makes and enforces its own laws."

"All right, then, what is McCrae law like?"

"Tight," Reilly admitted"Tight to the point of be-ing paranoidThey live in constant fear of industrial espionage and are determined nothing is going to get awayHalf the humans in the complex are security guards, and if any of them are indifferent or careless, we haven't been able to catch 'em at it."

Hosato pursed his lips thoughtfully"What's the physical layout?" he asked.

"Well, Grunbecker's Planet itself is pretty desolate mostly sand and rockIf it wasn't for its mineral deposits, it's doubtful it would have been settled at ail."

"Breathable atmosphere?"

Reilly shook his head"NoThe complex is sealed with its own life-support systemsYou'd need a sur-face suit to survive outside the complex."

Hosato nodded absently.

"How about the complex itself?" he asked finally.

"The McCrae complex is a series of surface build-ings interconnected by subterranean tunnels," Reilly recited"The s.p.a.ceport is located on top of the Ad- ministrative Building."

"All of it's above the surface?"

"All except one buildingThe main computer build-ing is subterranean for temperature control and secur-ityThe rest of the complex is abovegroundWe can supply you with detailed maps of the layout if you accept the job."

Hosato considered this for a few more moments.

"Okay, Reilly," he said at last"What's the rest of it?"

"The rest of what?"

Hosato grimaced at him"The rest of the storyThere's got to be moreYou've gone to a lot of trou-ble to find me, and you're offering top dollar for my servicesNothing you've said so far indicates a need for a specialistThere are several hundred people who could do the job for you, and do it cheaper than me- you've probably got a couple in your own corpora-tionNow, a.s.suming Ravensteel isn't in the habit of tossing away money on overqualified personnel, there's something you haven't told me-something that will make me effective where your randomly picked demolition man would failI want to know what that something is before I decide whether to ac-cept or reject your offer."

Reilly took a slow sip of his drink before replying.