The Assassin
Earth - The Republic of Ireland - 2002
The Cast
The Assassin
Now was perfect.
The security shield had been in place for about two weeks. Nothing could penetrate it, not a missile, not a search drone, not even somebody carrying a toy gun. The artificial intelligence controlling the shield watched anything and everyone. But it was partially down for thirty minutes. Helen was carrying out a minor calibration adjustment to the optical tracking system that they all had implanted to monitor each other’s whereabouts—final tweaking. He would have time. He, like everyone else, knew the location of the Princess before the partial shutdown. Helen had activated the perimeter dome and told the children to stay near the hall. They were by the house and vulnerable and, more importantly, Krankel wasn’t with them. He would never get close enough with the dog around.
A perfect opportunity.
He slipped out of a side exit and ran into the woods. The vantage point he was heading for was excellent, with plenty of cover and damp moss underfoot. He wouldn’t be seen or heard. In his pocket, he carried an AM Hover Dart, which contained a minuscule particle of grey matter in suspension. This weapon was a particularly efficient killing device. He had gone to great lengths on Verceti and here on Earth to conceal it. The DNA of its target was programmed in. The hover function allowed a mid-air setting, about chest height facing in the general direction of its target, where it would hang for a pre-set period. It would then accelerate to three hundred and fifty miles per hour and seek its target. When it got within one metre of the source of the DNA, it would explode—a small but deadly implosion consuming all living matter within a five-metre radius.
He could see the children now, about a hundred metres away, and set the hover function to forty-five seconds. More than enough time for him to get back to the place he was expected to be. He enabled the tracking system and touched the arming button. He paused for the briefest moment to confirm activation and hover stability, then turned and set off as quickly and as quietly as he could.