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do
you think you were doing?," the representation of Al’s face shouted at
him.
    Logan suppressed
the urge to shrug or smile and failed abysmally. “Well, shagging his wife
actually."
    “Does that strike
you as the sort of professional behavior that a client would expect from an
Investigative agent hired from my agency?” Logan got the impression that Big Al
was a bit miffed.
    “I guess not. No,"
he replied.
    “Yeah, well. Lucky
for you, security has reported that he didn’t have a license for that big ass
plasma cannon so he’s not going to press charges. No wonder you got kicked out
of Military Intelligence. I hired you because, apart from that one little incident,
you were regarded as a top Intelligence operative.”
    “Flattery will get
you everywhere."
     “Whatever. I want
you to take a holiday. As of now. And don’t come back until you’ve got your
head sorted out."
    “Paid?”
    “What?”
    “Do I get paid
while I’m on this little holiday?”
    “Don’t press your
fucking luck. You’re lucky I don’t fire your arse." With that, Big Al cut
the connection, leaving Logan with his all but empty glass of whiskey.
    “Bollocks."
    12.30pm. Logan
decided it wasn’t that much fun drinking by himself. Contemplating and then
discarding the idea to go sit with the brunette, Logan decided that it was much
more entertaining to try and corrupt one of his friends. He placed a call to
Felix. Instead of his friend’s icon appearing, a large blue C representing
Coleridge’s central AI materialized.
    “I’m sorry,"
it said, “the person you are trying to reach is no longer registered with me.
Please check your eddress and try again.”
    Odd. Logan queried
his AI. He had got the eddress correct. Felix and Logan had been friends since
school and had gone through University together. In all that time, Logan
couldn’t remember receiving that message before. Coleridge’s AI was capable of
tracking down any of its citizens and locating them providing you could access
the correct codes. With his years spent in Intelligence, Logan still possessed
most of the programs and tracking hardware that were required.
    Firing the code to
Coleridge, he waited for a few seconds while his clearance was approved and
then made his request.
    “Location of Felix
Teppitt."
    “That person is no
longer resident on this Asteroid."
    Most odd.  Felix’s
apartment wasn’t too far from Churchill plaza. Logan decided it might be
prudent to go and have a look around. Using his AI to shunt over the credits to
the bar for his drinks and with a final grin at the brunette who was looking
decidedly lonely, walked out of the Listing Ship and hailed a cart.
    Driving up to
Felix’s apartment, Logan passed three men heading in the other direction. Sensing
trouble his body immediately tensed up. Wearing the sword insignia of the
Knights Templar on their sleeves, the trio spared Logan a quick look and then
continued past. Curiouser and curiouser. The Knights Templar were the file and
rank of the Areopagites. A fairly rare sight in the Camus system. 
    Getting out of the
cart and walking up to the apartment door, Logan used his personal entrance
code that Felix had provided. It was declined. He ordered his AI to bring his
Burglar program on line. Highly illegal or highly essential – depending on what
side of the law you were on – the Burglar program was capable of getting past
most low level security guardians. The door silently slid open.
    About to step
inside, Logan felt a tap on his shoulder. Whirling, his little finger extended,
Logan found himself facing the three Templars. Normally his AI would announce
proximity long before anyone could get close but Templars were renowned for
possessing advanced electronic countermeasures.
    The three men,
similar in appearance to be brothers, were all blond, good-looking and six foot
tall. All three were dressed in blue uniforms and carried sword and plasma
guns. Templars were the Areopagite’s enforcers