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ACROSS TOWN in a small café, three men and two women were enjoying a cup of coffee. The Black Templars had been created back on earth, when the group was organizing to create an illegal colony. The group's original purpose was to keep an eye out for anyone attempting to betray their existence to Earth-Gov's Portal Authority. Now days, although still watching for any attempts to betray the existence of the colony to Earth-Gov, they had widened their scope of activities to include investigating the criminal activities plaguing Barsoom, the most pernicious of which was the Red Conclave. The Templars had only minimal official standing, but they had members everywhere, some active and some not, but their tentacles reached into all kinds of legal and illegal groups.
Andri Gauvreau was in his eighth decade, but his sharp blue eyes still held the intelligence he was famous for. "Simone Gusset was killed last night," he said.
"How did it happen?" Mathieu Heroux asked. Heroux was nearing fifty. Officially he was retired from his job on the actual ruling council.
"Stabbed to death," Joan Merton answered. Joan was a trim sixty and still beautiful, due to her excellent bone structure.
"How much did our agents learn about her activities?" Thomasine Villers asked. Thomasine was in her thirties, with bright blond hair. Her official profession was journalism, but she kept her hand in Templar activities.
"Unfortunately, the police arrested them for her murder," Guillaume Peele said. Unlike Villers, Peele was a famous theater actor and starred in many vids. He shook his handsome head in dismay. "It's going to cause a lot of problems. I received a com message from Garney's wife. Apparently, he told her more about us than he was allowed to. She knows we asked Dreamedia Labs to hire Simone and to keep her on after she tried her little blackmail scheme on the two partners."
"Ouch," Villers said. "What else did she say?"
"She had a lot to say, but the gist of it was either we clear her husband and his partners of this crime, or she will go to the press with the entire story."
Gauvreau shrugged. "Our operative Randal Langeton is back from earth. He is already investigating. I think we can leave the matter in his hands."
"He's good at what he does," Merton admitted. "He managed to not only get the virus preventing Earth-Gov and the Portal Authority from finding our colony inserted into the PA's search program, but he also brought back a program for finding new worlds; I understand it also has the codes for reaching out to the other Outlawed Colonies."
"Yes, and he made a valuable contact. Devon Morton, the man who accompanied him back to Barsoom, is the acknowledged Portal expert for all the colonies," Peele said.
"I don't know," Heroux said. "That Morton might be a troublemaker; he's been here less than a day and already he's fought a duel."
Gauvreau laughed. "My old friend Robierre officiated at that duel. He tells me Morton opted for Bowie knives instead of swords or pistols."
"Most earthers don't have our skill. Did Coudet hurt him?"
"No, apparently it was Coudet who was overmatched; Robierre said Morton could have killed Coudet at any time during the duel. In fact, when he offered Coudet the option of surrender, Morton was in a position to kill him, and apparently he was willing to do so."
"I've heard some nasty rumors about Coudet and his crew," Villers said.
"What kind of rumors?"
"It seems a number of our young ladies have gone missing while attending a party. Afterwards they are brought into the emergency room. Medical staff says they show evidence they've been drugged, and gang raped. According to the police who interviewed them, they were last seen in Coudet's company."
"Perhaps we should look into this more closely," Peele said. "It might tie in with the rumors I've heard about a new drug going around."
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