Alien Manifesto by T.W. Embry Page B

how far the
conssspiracy hasss ssspread and who isss involved. Then after he
hasss been disssgraced we will kill AArat, before he isss
arresssted, widening the ensssuing invessstigation. Of courssse I
will lead the invessstigation along with sssome sssubtle cluesss
and more falssse information. Then we can get back to the
busssinessss of making a profit,” Snarth finished.
    There was only one question on
everyone’s mind and I spoke, putting into words what everyone was
thinking. “How will we kill AArat?” I asked Snarth.
    “ Funny you ssshould be the
one to asssk that my boy,” hissed Snarth with that tentacle waving
I had come to recognize as his sly smile. I had never been asked to
kill someone who was not trying to or plotting to kill me or my
fellow soldiers first. “Now I know what you are thinking, Tom,”
said Snarth, holding up his hands to silence my objections. “He
almossst killed you and killing him will not be easssy. He isss
very well trained in hand to hand combat azsss well azsss a sssmall
armsss expert.”
    “ That assassin mech was
meant for you,” I shot back.
    “ Yesss but it almossst
killed you inssstead, you have the right of vengeance, not I.
Thisss isss not Earth, Human Tom. The right of vengeance isss
upheld on every other civilized planet in the galaxy. It isss
probably the only conssstant law in the galaxy. Humansss are the
only onesss who fancy themssselvesss above vengeance,” said Snarth
trying to soothe my anger at being chosen as the instrument of
AArat’s demise. “Now if I sssent one of the othersss that would be
murder, in the eyesss of the law,” soothed Snarth.
    I clamped my mouth shut to keep my
objections to myself. The entire team was watching, wondering how I
would respond. Snarth was right; AArat had almost killed me. Any
further objections would only make me sound like a primitive making
excuses for being afraid.
    I had killed many men when
I was with the S.E.A.L.s, some from long distance. So why was this
so different? “When and where?” I answered Snarth. I had just taken
the step from soldier for hire to assassin, and it weighed heavy on
my mind. Damn you Snarth for placing me in
this position, I know so little about my new
surroundings . Is
he telling me the truth about the law? I will just have to trust
him. With that realization, I was no
longer just an Earthman but rather a budding citizen of the galaxy.
There would be no going back; I was long past the point of no
return.
    “ Now that we have that
sssettled,” said Snarth, glossing over the incident, “I have
decided that the ssstealth massster will accompany Human Tom and
keep him out of any sssocial trouble and act azsss backup if
needed. In the meantime sSSlice will ssspin hisss web of deceit and
ssspring hisss trap azsss it were,” Snarth hissed.
    “ It will be several days
before we get any results. No more than a week if all goes as
planned,” interrupted SSlice with that musical whisper like voice
of his. “It will take the Galactic security mechs that long to
verify the information I have provided them. I have placed alarm
programs that will be activated once arrest warrants have been
issued. They may try to handle this in house at first but I have
also alerted several reporters in various news organizations. It
won’t stay a secret for long.”
    “ How will we know where
AArat is after the story breaks?” asked the Irishman. “The galaxy
is a big place and it’s easy for someone with his resources and
connections to disappear.”
    “ I have anticipated that,”
said SSlice “AArat is a rodent and they never go anywhere without
their females.”
    “ Won’t he be expecting
whoever is looking for him to be watching his nest?” asked
Rowl.
    “ Yes, yes he will. However,
I happen to know that he has two nests. One is for public
activities and the second is a secret. This nest is the nest he
will take with him wherever he runs to hide. And run he will for
that is the nature of