by Terry Mixon
“I think my father paid somebody to tweak my software to figure out these kinds of interpersonal entanglements and conflicts more effectively. It’s kind of spooky, really.”
Andrea finished the last of her cheeseburgers and fries and polished off the pudding she’d picked for dessert. It wasn’t as much as she needed, but it was as much as she was going to get.
They only had a limited time to eat, and people weren’t allowed to go back for seconds. That was probably going to prove challenging in a few more days because they’d be piling her up with gear and she was burning calories like they were going out of style. She’d have to have a talk with them before too long about increasing her caloric ration.
Almost as if she’d been reading her mind, Drill Instructor Gomez appeared at Andrea’s elbow. “On your feet, Tolliver. It’s time for you to make another pass through the chow line. Doc says you need more calories than everybody else, since we’re stacking you up with weights.
“We wouldn’t want you to fall out just because we’re working you a little harder. I want to see you sweat all the way through this because of hard work, not starvation.”
That last was said with a little bit of a smirk and more than a hint of a glare. Drill Instructor Gomez didn’t like her. Not one bit.
Well, there wasn’t a whole lot that Andrea could do about that. She’d just have to manage. At least she wouldn’t have to do it on an empty stomach.
15
Fei wasn’t able to meet with Major Martelle until early that afternoon, as he was off inspecting a platoon in the field. She was sitting in his outer office when he got back, though.
He strode in dressed in field gear, gestured for her to follow him into his office, and closed the door behind them.
“I always enjoy inspecting the recruits,” he said as he started divesting himself of the gear, putting it neatly on a side table. “Though I will admit that going on a field march isn’t my idea of a good time. What about you, Lieutenant? What do you think about marching?”
She shrugged from where she stood in front of his desk. “As a noncommissioned officer, that wasn’t exactly something that I could avoid. When it came time to march, I just wanted to get to where we were going in the best condition we could, as quickly as we could.”
He sat behind his desk and raised an eyebrow at her. “Pragmatic. I like that. What’s going on that has you haunting my office?”
“I’ve gotten word of potential trouble. I’m not exactly sure what can be done about it, but you need to know what’s happening.”
Martelle frowned, leaned forward to put his elbows on the desk, and steepled his fingers. “That doesn’t sound promising. Tell me.”
Fei did, leaving nothing out.
Martelle sat unmoving at his desk as he considered her for a few seconds, then he grunted and leaned back in his seat. “I suppose this kind of interference was only to be expected. Sadly, there’s not much we can do without more information. This woman has only been on the planet for a day, and if she came alone, she’s going to have to drum up people to assist her.
“Those people are going to need to contact other people that have connections to this base and then try to find people willing to work with them to sabotage Recruit Tolliver. All of that will take time.
“Believe it or not, this is actually a point in our favor. They don’t know that we know they’re coming, and that will give us an opportunity to catch the infiltration.”
“And how do we go about doing that, Major?”
“Start with the drill instructors. You’re going to have to brief them about the threat so that they can be on the lookout for strangers and for odd behavior by their comrades.
“I really hate starting a witch hunt, but the most likely place to find someone that can sabotage Tolliver’s efforts is with the drill instructors. That’s going to be bad for morale because nobody likes being considered a potential traitor.
“Sadly, you can bet that one of them will be approached. If the person making the pitch is skilled enough, and if they offer enough compensation, one of the instructors might be tempted, particularly if they already have some kind of grudge against Tolliver because of her origin or nature.”
Fei fought the urge to rub her face. “I’m sure that’s all true, sir, but how does that help us? We’re highlighting the weaknesses, but I don’t see any way to reinforce them.”
He grinned at her. “You appeal to the drill instructors as marines, and you make sure that they understand that there’ll be a reward if they resist temptation.
“The person that approaches them is going to want to prevent them from reporting the contact, even if they decline the offer. They’re going to offer them a great deal of money to listen to their offer and then keep quiet about it. That gives the enemy leverage over them later, too, so it’s a worthwhile investment.
“You should tell them that they can keep that money, so long as they inform us of what’s going on. We can then use them to lure their contact into a place where we can capture them. If the enemy is wily enough, that’s not going to be easy, but it’s not going to be impossible either.
“I suggest that you speak with Senior Sergeant Page and let him deal with the other noncommissioned officers. He’s got a long working relationship with each of them, and he knows them far better than you do.
“If he can get them to buy into the plan, then they’ll be on the lookout and can play this in a way that benefits them financially and won’t embarrass the Corps. They’re marines, so I choose to believe that they’ll do the right thing, particularly if they know that we’re watching.”
Fei snorted a little. “That’s a bit cynical, sir. I like it. What do we do if they’re approached and don’t come to us with this information? Or what do we do if we find out one of the drill instructors is secretly working with someone on the outside and their drive to stop Andrea is stronger than their loyalty to the Corps?
“I don’t want to overreact to the situation, but I’m afraid that my toolbox is a little short on strategic tools. My training is as a combat noncommissioned officer. If someone is a threat, I’m inclined to deal with them directly. That’s probably not the most prudent response to something covert like this.”
Martelle chuckled. “It’s really going to depend on what they try and who they try it with. Until we start seeing the shape of what they’re doing, we won’t know how to react.
“It’s an almost certainty that their initial actions won’t involve trying to harm Tolliver. Their goal is to make her fail. That doesn’t require anything convoluted if they could get someone on the inside to stack the deck against her.
“For that plan, one of the drill instructors would be perfect. They would be in a position to make her success far more problematic. If you weren’t the one in command of the platoon, you’d be an excellent target to turn as well. Honestly, you might still be approached if they don’t know that Lieutenant Evans was replaced.
“If that happens, rather than putting someone in the hospital, it might better suit your goals to at least listen to their sales pitch. See what kind of information you can pull out of them. Unless Countess Dayton is aware of your presence here, she’s not going to be able to warn them to be on the lookout for you. That’s a potential ace up our sleeves, but it’s one with an expiration date.
“Since you’ve met the woman, it won’t take her very long to realize that they’ve made a tactical error in approaching you if that’s what they choose to do. It’s always possible that they’ll discover that Lieutenant Evans isn’t here before they make an attempt, but if they’re expecting him and find you, that will make them start asking questions. You’re going to have to make some decisions when that happens.”
She thought about that for a few seconds and then nodded. “While it might make things somewhat easier if we had one of them in custody, we can’t count on being that lucky. The best we can probably hope for is to catch them when they attempt to make their intrusion. I’ll talk to Senior S
ergeant Page and make him aware of the possibility. Then I’ll let him brief the other drill instructors.”
Martelle nodded. “If you learn anything, inform me at once. I’ll talk to a few of my specialists and make certain that our data net is as secure as possible. If someone tries to penetrate it, I’ll want to know. If I find anything out, I’ll let you know immediately and expect you to do the same.”
“Yes, sir.”
She double-checked where Andrea was and then headed back toward the barracks. Her girl was eating lunch, and so it was safe.
The situation had become far more complicated than she’d hoped, and the potential for things to go wrong was growing with every passing minute. She needed to talk to Page as soon as possible and let him know what was going on.
Somehow, they were going to have to get in front of this thing. They needed to figure out the enemy’s plan of attack and slap them down hard.
She smiled coldly. This might be more entertaining than she’d anticipated.
Peter Bryant arrived at the meeting place early. It disturbed him that anyone had known how to contact him without going through his usual cutouts. Not only didn’t he know who the potential client was, he didn’t even know what they wanted to hire him for.
If, of course, this wasn’t just some kind of trap.
He’d considered refusing to meet at all, but that entailed a danger of a different kind. Someone that knew his identity and how to get to him was a threat, and he needed to know who they were.
Since they knew his identity, they could’ve already tried to kill him if that had been their goal. If that was accurate, this first meeting should be relatively safe because they had something that they wanted from him.
That left him the challenge of finding an acceptable meeting place. The would-be client had wanted privacy, but each of the locations that they’d suggested could’ve easily been a trap. He’d rejected them immediately and sought a neutral location. That was a daunting task, since he knew absolutely nothing about the person or persons on the other side.
In the end, they’d been able to settle on a location that provided a high degree of privacy yet still allowed him to feel secure. The location was a trade-off for the potential client, but this meeting wouldn’t have taken place if they hadn’t agreed.
Big Tony’s was a relatively plain-sounding name for an Italian restaurant, but in this case, the name was misleading. Big Tony’s was a high-class establishment that catered to both the city’s elite and those discerning members of the underworld who needed to meet with them without anyone being the wiser.
Tony Giovanni was also a close friend. They’d grown up together, and the two had long ago worked out the boundaries through which they could be both friends and colleagues in the shadowy world that lurked just beneath the surface of everyday civilization.
The big man wouldn’t allow anything untoward to happen. Not only would that be bad for his friend, but it would also reflect poorly on him as the host of this meeting, so he wouldn’t tolerate it.
When Peter walked through the door, Tony was already waiting and gestured for him to step into one of the side rooms. He nodded to his bodyguards and joined his friend.
“She’s already here,” the big man said without waiting for him to speak. “I’ve got her set up in one of the private rooms with full com shielding. She came alone.”
“Are you sure? Some of the other patrons might be hers.”
Tony shook his head. “I know everybody that’s in the building right now, one way or another. I don’t believe any of them are working for her. She’s not anybody I know either. Based on how she carries herself, she’s used to giving orders. Be careful.”
The mystery was getting even deeper. How could someone brand-new to the area know who he was yet still be cocky enough to walk into Big Tony’s like they owned the place?
Well, he supposed there was only one way to find out.
“I guess I’d better go see her. Could you get me a coffee? I could use one of your specials right about now.”
His friend smiled. “I’ll see you two settled, and then I’ll get you both coffees.”
Peter settled his guards close by, but he’d go into the meeting alone. He was armed and could defend himself against a single opponent unless she was far more skilled than he expected.
When Tony escorted him into one of the small dining rooms at the restaurant’s rear, Peter found himself looking at a thin, hawk-faced woman. As his friend had said, her expression was more than a bit superior.
Peter had nothing to base his feeling on, but he didn’t believe that she was part of the criminal underworld. If anything, she was either a politician or a noble. He’d rather deal with straightforward criminals than either of those kinds of people.
The woman rose slowly to her feet, looking as if she didn’t want to give him the basic courtesy. Definitely a noble.
“So how are we supposed to do this?” she asked. “I confess that I’m not that well-read on the intricacies of negotiation with organized crime lords.”
He gave her a small smile and an even smaller bow. “I’m not so organized as all that. Why don’t we just have a seat and talk about how you found me. In fact, it might be a good thing to start with who you are.”
She laughed. The sound contained no amusement, only disdain. “I’m not going to give you my name. What I will do is give you a hefty retainer for the mission that I want you to carry out for me.”
“I don’t do business with people that I don’t know,” he said with a shake of the head. “I also don’t do business with people that don’t come through my regular conduits. You’ve already got two strikes against you, madam. Unless you want me to walk out right now, I think you’d best meet me partway.”
She considered him briefly and then shook her head. “No. I represent a group of Imperial nobles, and I’ll pay extra because of the unusual method we’re doing business, but don’t think that means you have the option of declining.”
He felt the hair on the back of his neck start to rise along with his temper. “An outright threat is strike three. It might be inconvenient for me to kill an Imperial noble—which I have no doubt you are—but it wouldn’t be the first time. You need to consider your next words very carefully, or this meeting is over, and so are you.”
For the first time, she smiled in a way that looked perfectly natural. “Now that’s more like what I’d imagined dealing with a criminal mastermind would be like. See? Perhaps we should agree that there’s no need for threats from either of us.
“Considering the amount of money that I’m willing to pay upfront for your consideration in this matter, don’t you think you’d prefer to know what we’re talking about before you threaten to kill me?”
Before he could answer, the door behind him opened, and Tony brought in a coffee service on a small cart. It was very old-fashioned, but his brew had a reputation that wasn’t to be ignored.
The big man set the service up on the table, poured them each a cup, and then stepped out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.
Certain that he was probably making a mistake, Peter finally took a seat and gestured for the woman to do the same. “For the amount of trouble that you’re already causing me, you’d best make this worth my time.”
She smiled like a shark and mentioned a number that was significantly higher than he’d been ready to hold out for. “And that’s just the retainer. Once we’ve discussed the mission that I want you to carry out for me, then we can negotiate the actual fee for services.”
Well, it looked like this negotiation was going to be significantly more interesting than he’d counted on. He wondered exactly who she wanted dead because that kind of money meant there’d be one or more bodies for him to dispose of in the very near future.
16
Page received notice that the lieutenant wanted to meet with him while the recruits were having dinner. He’d just woken up from a quick nap.
He sto
pped by his office and grabbed a ration bar and a bottle of water. He probably wasn’t going to get a real dinner today, so he might as well prepare for that.
Being the smart man he was, he made a note to replenish his stock. This training cycle would probably be rougher than most, and it always paid to be prepared.
He grimaced as he finished the bar and threw the wrapper away. Why couldn’t they make survival rations that tasted halfway decent? Maybe it was to keep hungry marines from eating everything in sight.
Actually, that kind of made sense.
Once he’d finished, he went to the lieutenant’s office door and knocked. She called for him to enter a moment later, and he did.
Lieutenant Evans’s belongings had been removed, but it didn’t look as if Lieutenant Na had replaced them. The walls and shelves were bare. Since she was only going to be here for twelve weeks, he suspected she probably wouldn’t do any decorating.
That had to be kind of strange for her. He made another mental note to contact supply and verify that all the necessary basic items for a functioning office would be delivered tomorrow. He needed his officer operating at peak efficiency even when her attention was focused elsewhere.
He came to attention in front of the desk. “You asked to see me, Lieutenant?”
She nodded and gestured toward one of the chairs. “I’ve got some bad news, and then I got some worse news.”
Great. He took a seat and listened as she filled him in on the information she’d gotten from Imperial Intelligence. He felt his stomach sink at the news because he immediately knew what the worst part was.
The noble that had come chasing Tolliver was going to try to find someone on his staff that they could turn for money. That meant that he’d have to be on the lookout for a friend sticking a knife in his back.
Sadly, he could already feel his mind turning toward the most likely candidate: Gomez. Her dislike of Tolliver made her a juicy target for someone like the noble and her henchmen, whoever they ended up being.