The Black Guard: Book II: Evolution (Black Guard Series 2) by C. R. Daems Page A

puts the spotlight on you to solve
the problem and that wasn't what I had intended. Oh, I wanted your advice and
help but not to pass the problem on to you and the Black Guard." He looked
pale and the bags under his eyes said he hadn't slept much in the past day or
two.
    "Sir, we can't change people's perceptions, so let us
focus on the problem. If you will bring me up to date on the situation, I'll
give you my opinion and offer what help I can."
    He nodded and spoke as I followed him at a walk.
    "Thank you, Sapir. The raiders have about thirty
hostages according to the HTL representative. That is the approximate number of
employees normally at work during the time the raiders stormed the facility. There
were also eight security men on duty at the time. Initial information indicates
they were killed when the raiders forced their way into the building. So there
may be more or less. On the one hand, the problem from the HTL's perspective is
that the deaths of those employees could put the company out of business for
years. That's equally true if their proprietary equipment is destroyed. In
addition, they don't want the raiders to leave with the current inventory of
crystals that is estimated to be worth close to ten billion credits, nor with the
equipment—since that would again put them out of business. The Heibei
government, on the other hand, would let them leave if they didn't hurt any of
the hostages. And the raiders don't want to leave empty handed and know the
hostages and equipment give them leverage. The Heibei government and the HTL
representative want a contract with the Jax to eject the raiders, but we can't
agree on terms. They want the hostages unharmed, and that seems impossible as
the raiders are threatening to kill them if we attempt any action against the
facility. The result is a stalemate."
    "Can you show me what the facilities look like and
where you think the raiders are currently positioned?" I needed more
information than I had, as well as time to think.
    Issak led me back inside the tent and pointed to each
man present in turn.
    "Captain Sapir, Colonel Lothar is the commander of
the Jax army unit, Colonel Kaur the commander of the Heibei army unit, Mister
Nguyen is the governor of the province, and Mister Singh represents the HTL.
Gentlemen, this is Captain Sapir of the Black Guard. The Captain needs a
briefing on the facilities and your latest intelligence."
    "You only have eleven troopers with you—"
Singh began.
    I raised a finger to my lips. "Colonel Lothar,
Colonel Kaur, if you please."
    I knew it would be both frustrating and a waste of time
trying to explain to civilians who wanted a magical solution that force wasn't
going to work, so I resorted to the Black Guard's—or maybe rather Captain
Sapir's heartless reputation—to
silence them.
    I thought I saw a brief smile touch Lothar's lips before
he spoke.
    "We think the raiders number around forty to
forty-five. They landed close to sixty, but Colonel Kaur's timely response
caught them by surprise, and they suffered significant losses," Lothar
said.
    "We had to back off then," Kaur glanced toward
Singh and Nguyen, "because of the consequences of storming the building."
He shrugged in resignation. He had obviously been ordered to stop his attack. "There
are two two-story buildings. In building one is the main lobby. On the first
floor are the sales and marketing offices, and on the second, software and
hardware design offices as well as the safe where we store the finished
product. In the middle of the second floor, there is a walkway that connects to
the second building, which contains proprietary equipment for processing the
minerals on the ground floor and a finishing line on the second. Based on some
early communications with the people inside and what we can see through the
windows where lights are working, we think they split their forces: one half to
watch the hostages and raid the second floor safe in building one, and one half
to pack