Ice Cracker II by Lindsay Buroker Page B

centered around the
lake in the winter. The military's ice breaking ship kept the
transportation lanes open for imports and exports, but the fishing
boats and canneries lay dormant.
    "Something important enough to warrant
killing soldiers to avoid discovery," Sicarius replied.
    "Kendorians would kill our soldiers whether
discovery was involved or not. The empire isn't exactly loved by
neighboring nations." She stuck her hands under her armpits. Now
that her body had cooled, she noticed the chill air probing her
sweat-dampened clothing. "Still, most of them don't travel a
thousand miles in the middle of winter for random
soldier-slaying."
    "We should go."
    True. With the bounties on their heads, being
found loitering around murdered soldiers was not a good idea.
    "Agreed." Amaranthe picked up a jog again,
heading for the broad street lining the waterfront. "We'll need to
hurry to have a shot at finding the second Kendorian before he
does... whatever it is he's planning."
    Sicarius matched her pace, but the long look
he slanted her suggested that was not the "go" he had in mind.
    As her mind whirred with possibilities, the
weariness from her run bled away. If the second man could turn
himself invisible, too, he could be anywhere. It would take some
lucky guessing to suss out his destination.
    When they reached the
ice-free channel fronting the merchant and naval docks, she slowed.
Could one of the trade vessels be a target? Most ships sat dark.
The gathering night and the snowfall had sent folks home for the
day. Only one pier was lit up, its great steel steamship sending a
few black wisps from its stacks. The Ice
Cracker II must be heating the boilers in
preparation to leave in the morning. Soldiers paced the dock.
Crewmen strode about the deck, stowing cargo, and—
    Amaranthe halted so abruptly she almost
tripped. "That's it."
    Sicarius turned, watching her face.
    "The ice breaking ship," she explained.
    "You think that's the target?"
    "What else would a Kendorian
be after at this time of year on the waterfront? The snow's already
too high in the passes for the locomotives to plow the rail tracks.
If the shipping lanes freeze over, the capital city goes without
imports for the rest of the winter. Not to mention we'd be unable
to get more troops in if something happened to the city. It'd be
especially bad this year, since the Ice
Cracker I was decommissioned last month.
There aren't any other ships in the Seven Lakes that can break
ice." She hammered a fist into her open palm. "That's it, it has to
be."
    Sicarius pulled her into the shadows of a
dark warehouse. "You have no evidence."
    "No, but I have this lovely hunch, and it'd
be downright uncivil to ignore it."
    "We have no way of knowing
the Kendorian is on board," Sicarius said. "We do know there are a hundred soldiers
and sailors. Maybe more. Men who would be duty-bound to shoot us if
they saw us."
    "I know."
    "Even if the
Kendorian is in
there, he can turn invisible. We can't."
    "I know that, too."
    Two soldiers marched along the street, rifles
balanced on their shoulders. Amaranthe put her hand on Sicarius's
forearm and guided him into an alley.
    "I know this is dangerous," she said,
"probably more dangerous for you than for me—my poster just says
wanted, yours says shoot on sight—but this could be a chance for
both of us."
    For years, he had assassinated politicians,
warrior caste scions, and wealthy entrepreneurs, never for the
money, always for the challenge. While she had won many victories
in her adventures, her greatest might have been in convincing him
the most worthy challenge was in becoming a man the emperor might
one day be proud to know.
    "But," Amaranthe continued, "you're going to
have to be seen doing some empire-saving heroics before the emperor
will consider lifting that mountain-sized bounty on your head."
    "Heroics aren't my specialty," Sicarius
said.
    "No, but I'm partial to them." She squeezed
his arm. "And I know when the current's too strong