“Those were our orders. Even if I knew why, I wouldn’t tell you,” she said.
“I suspected as much. Well then, shall we go?”
“You act like you expect to get away with this.”
Colt smiled. “It was worth a try.”
She looked at him for a moment. “I like your sense of humor, but you present a problem.” She turned to the tall man, “Tie him up. I’m going to have to contact my commander to see what to do about him.” She headed back up the stairs.
The tall man pushed Colt into a wooden chair. Another man tossed him a roll of industrial tape, and he quickly taped Colt to the chair, securing his legs to the chair legs. For good measure he put a piece of tape over Colt’s mouth. “That should hold you.” He beckoned to the rest and led them upstairs.
As Colt’s ears became accustomed to the quiet, he began catching snatches of the conversations upstairs.
“ … get all the weapons into carrying cases …”
“ … make sure we haven’t left anything the Guard can trace to us …”
Then he heard Hess say something that chilled him, “I don’t like this either but my orders are to torch the house with Commander Colt in it. Get everybody out of here. I’ll set the fires.”
Colt struggled against the tape, but it held firm. He could barely move. He looked around for something sharp. There was nothing in sight. He rocked the chair back and forth and noticed it wasn’t as solid as he originally thought. Pushing back as hard as he could he managed to tilt the chair over, banging his head against the concrete floor.
After his head stopped swimming, he smelled the first traces of smoke and frantically began flexing the chair. Adrenalin gave him the extra strength he needed to wiggle the joints of the chair loose. The seat broke away from the back first. Then the front legs came loose, allowing him to roll over, but with his arms securely taped to the chair arms he couldn’t push himself upright.
He paused for a second to catch his breath. Then he backed over his knees to get his weight far enough back so the rear chair legs would touch the floor. Before he could get his feet under him, a pair of hands caught his shoulders. He froze.
“Here let me help,” Hess said as she helped him to his feet. “I don’t kill people unnecessarily, orders or no. And this would be just plain cruel. Let’s get you out of here.” She urged him up the back stairs. “I’m going to leave your arms taped up so you don’t try anything heroic.”
Outside, she said, “Stay down and head toward the back of the lot. Some of the rebels I’m working with are trigger happy. I’d hate to have wasted my effort.” She turned and raced around the house, dodging flames as one of the windows exploded outward.
###
As soon as he was clear of the fire, Colt stopped and watched as the interior of the house was engulfed in flames. The fire department arrived on the scene almost immediately and had the fire under control before the surrounding trees were more than scorched. One of the firemen saw Colt standing behind the house and approached him. “Here let me get that tape off you.” As he worked, he asked, “Did you see what happened?”
“Yeah. I was inside. It was a rebel safe house. They burned it to get rid of the evidence.”
The fireman signaled a policeman over. “This man says he was inside when the fire started. He says it was set by the rebels.”
The policeman looked suspiciously at Colt. “What were you doing inside?”
“I was being held prisoner.”
“Uh-huh. Could I see some identification?”
Colt frowned. “Okay, this is going the wrong way. I’m Commander William Colt of the HMS Invincible. Could you call Captain Savakis of the Home Guard and tell him where I am? He should be nearby looking for me.”
The policeman looked skeptical but pulled out his communicator. A few minutes later Savakis and his squad landed nearby.
Savakis walked up. “Commander Colt, I’m glad to see you’re all right.” He produced Colt’s communicator and wallet. “When we found these, we were afraid something drastic had happened to you.”
Colt accepted them with thanks. “It appears I got a little closer to the rebels than I intended.”
Chapter 9
After debriefing with Savakis and with Captain Wessler, Colt cleaned up and headed back downtown. Early that evening he found himself in front of Mama Louisa’s café. It advertised genuine northern Italian cuisine. After looking the café over Colt decided it offered the privacy Fitzhugh would need for them to meet. Human staff rather than an AI ran the café. A waiter showed him to a booth in the back. As he read the menu, his communicator buzzed.
“Gus, the situation down there seems quiet for now, so I’m letting some of the crew have time off,” Wessler said. “They’ll be coming down in two of the C-7s in about a half hour.”
“Anything I need to do?”
“No, I just wanted to keep you apprised. How are things going?”
“We’re in place. The Home Guard is watching the Clermont, and I gave the crew the evening off rather than having them twiddle their thumbs in the barracks. We’ll start our first run at zero four hundred local tomorrow.”
“Any sign of Fitzhugh?”
“Not yet. He has a penchant for surprise. I don’t expect to see him until he slides into the seat across from me.”
“Commander, mind if I join you?” The voice came from behind him. He almost dropped the communicator as he jerked around. Harry Chapman stood there, looking somewhat bemused. “Did I interrupt something?”
“Have a seat, Harry. I was just talking to the captain. Excuse me for just a moment.” He spoke into the communicator. “Anything else, Captain?”
“That’s it for now, Gus. Keep me informed if anything happens.”
“Will do. Out”
“You expecting trouble, Commander?” Chapman asked.
“No. But a couple of shuttles are coming down from the ship for shore leave. Wouldn’t want something nasty happening.”
“I’m not sure shore leave is such a good idea. My contacts tell me that there are rebels on every street corner. Something serious is going down.”
“Nothing specific, I suppose?”
“Sorry, Commander, that’s all they could tell me.”
“Well, the conference is supposed to start tomorrow. They may be assembling in case it doesn’t go their way. I suppose I should notify Wallace.”
“Don’t bother. I talked to some of his people. They know as much as I do.”
“That’s interesting. I wonder why he didn’t brief us.”
“Well, he did say to be alert.”
At that moment a man looking suspiciously like Fitzhugh stepped in the front door, looked briefly past Colt, and walked back outside. Colt saw him but couldn’t do anything about it with Chapman there. And he knew it was useless to go outside after him. “Damn,” Colt said under his breath.
“Something wrong, Commander?”
“Oh, I had just hoped for once things would go smoothly.” He grinned. “Did any of your contacts have anything useful to say about this café? I was about to order, and I haven’t found anything on the menu I recognize. Where’s good old pizza when you need it?”
###
Chapman stuck around until after the meal, listening to Colt’s story of his encounter with Sergeant Hess and offering observations on the local situation. He even identified some of the rebels in the café. If Colt hadn’t been so preoccupied with making contact with Fitzhugh, some of what he heard would have made him more than a little uncomfortable. He managed to show a polite interest, but it wasn’t until later that Chapman’s words soaked in.
As they got up to leave, Chapman said, “Well, Commander, it was a pleasure getting to know you. I’m going to head on back to the barracks.”
“It was good talking to you, Harry. See you in the morning.”
###
Chapman was flagging down a cab when Colt started down the street looking for a suitable bar. He immed
iately found McGinty’s on the next corner. He swallowed a Buzz-Off tablet and pushed his way through the heavy wooden door.
McGinty’s, as the name implied, turned out to be modeled after an old Irish pub. Dark stained wooden booths lined one wall, most of them full. The bar occupied nearly all of the other side. At the back hung a dartboard where several patrons played. The current champion appeared to be a young woman. As Colt walked in she was accepting money from a man who looked as if he was having a hard time being a good loser. Colt took a seat near the end of the bar so he could watch the action.
“What’ll it be, sailor?” The publican had a strong Irish accent. Colt couldn’t tell whether it was genuine or affected. The man leaned on his hands on the edge of the bar, looking Colt in the eye.
“I’ll have a pint,” Colt replied. “How’d you know I’m in the navy?”
“There’ve been a bunch of you in here this evening. You seemed to fit the mold. A pint of McGinty’s comin’ up.” He walked to the pump and deftly filled the glass from the spout.
As the publican set the glass down, Colt pulled out his wallet, “What do I owe you?”
“Three quid.”
Colt gave him a five credit note. “Keep the rest,” he said. “Have you seen a lot of strangers in here?”
“Yeah, this is a great tourist spot. Of course, since the separatists started causing trouble, the number of tourists has really been down. You sailors are the biggest crowd of visitors we’ve had in months.”
“Well, I’m glad we can help the local economy. My name’s Gus Colt.”
“Pleased to meet you, Gus Colt. I’m Seamus McGinty.” He reached across the bar and accepted Colt’s hand. “The navy comin’ to town in force?”
“I’m afraid not. We’re rotating some of the crew through on shore leave, but the Invincible will stay in orbit.” As Colt spoke, a man slid onto the stool next to him.
“Seamus,” the man said.
McGinty acknowledged the new arrival with a smile. “Dennis. The usual?”
“Aye.”
McGinty looked at Colt. “Gus, this is Dennis O’Toole. Dennis, this is Gus Colt. I’ll be back in a nod.”
Colt turned to face the burly redhead and accepted his extended hand. Fitzhugh!
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, admiral,” Fitzhugh said.
“The pleasure is mine,” Colt managed to respond. “You know, your name is familiar. I think Jana Stewart mentioned you as some of the local color.”
“She would.” Fitzhugh looked briefly annoyed. “How is Jana? I haven’t seen her in ages.”
“To be honest I don’t know. I haven’t seen her except on the news since I left Bremerhaven.”
Seamus returned with another glass of McGinty’s. “Your regular,” he announced. “You two look like old friends.”
“Common friend as it turns out,” Colt said. “Unfortunately, neither of us has seen her recently.”
Seamus eyed Fitzhugh suspiciously. “Another young beauty, I’d bet. Dennis, how do you do it?”
Fitzhugh took a swallow of his ale. “Pheromones,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
McGinty laughed and walked away.
Colt turned to Fitzhugh. “You know, the last time I talked to Jana she said she was leaving something for me in her hotel safe. Trouble is I don’t have time to check on it for now. It sounded urgent, but it’ll have to wait until I get through with this chauffer duty.”
“Chauffer?”
“Yeah, I’m riding shotgun on a mission to shuttle delegates to the peace conference,” Colt responded.
“That sounds like a cushy job. Of course, cushy jobs can’t be taken for granted, can they?”
“Well, there are the usual safety concerns, but we have great maintenance and a well-qualified crew.”
Fitzhugh nodded. “I’m sure, but I was thinking in terms of the local opposition. There are rumors that they don’t want a peace conference.”
“I’m not surprised.” Colt sipped his ale.
When Fitzhugh had finished his drink, he put the glass on the counter, and stood up. “Well, admiral, nice meeting you. Maybe you can give me a call sometime.” He handed Colt a business card and waved to McGinty. “Seamus, I’ve got to run. See you next time.” He shook Colt’s hand and headed for the door.
Colt took another swallow of his ale, glanced at the card and put it in his pocket. Looking surprised by the time on his watch, he hurriedly got up. He gave McGinty a mock salute and headed for the door.
It had started to rain. Big drops spattered in the dust on the sidewalk, leaving splash rings. Colt flicked on his repeller field as the rain turned to a downpour. He stepped outside to flag a cab.
Two men came staggering down the sidewalk, singing drunkenly. The hairs on the back of Colt’s neck stood on end. Without making it obvious, he changed to a fighting stance. The repeller field wasn’t designed to keep out slow moving objects, and one of the men staggered into him. “‘Scuse me,” the man slurred.
Colt felt an arm tighten around his waist and immediately sprang away. Turning to face both men, he shifted into a crouch. A stainless steel blade glittered in one of the attacker’s hands. The other attacker drew a blaster but held his fire. It was useless against Colt’s repeller field. The knife was another matter.
The first attacker charged. Colt managed to parry the knife arm. The blow knocked the knife flying. With his outstretched left leg he tripped the man, sending him sprawling on his face in the street. Colt then turned back to focus on the attacker with the blaster. The man backed away as Colt approached when a sudden blow across his back sent Colt stumbling forward. He could see the muzzle of the blaster come up and penetrate the repeller, and he threw himself to the side just as the blaster went off. Heat from the bolt stung his cheek, and he heard the other attacker scream.
Colt swung his foot in an arc that connected with the shooter’s stomach. The man doubled over. The blaster flew from his hand. He fell backward against the door to the pub and lay still on the sidewalk.
Colt turned to the other man. He was lying on the sidewalk clutching his arm. As Colt picked up the knife and blaster, McGinty stuck his head out of the pub.
“What the Bloody Hell?”
“Sorry for the disturbance, Seamus. Would you mind calling the constabulary?”
“I’ll get right on it.”
Colt propped both men against the side of the building. He checked the one man’s wound noting that the blaster had grazed his arm, leaving a nasty burn, but had not done serious harm. Colt stood back and guarded the two until the police arrived. Several of McGinty’s patrons stepped out of the pub to see what the disturbance was about, but they stayed clear of Colt.
He kept looking over his shoulder to make sure no one else was sneaking up on him.
Chapter 10
“Interesting fracas last night, skipper,” Harry Chapman commented as he stood with Colt watching the crew inspect the Clermont.
“Which one?” Colt asked.
“There was more than one? I was talking about the group who tried to storm the base’s main gate. What was the other one?”
“Oh, a couple of locals objected to me being on their streets. The constabulary said they were known muggers who had managed to escape prosecution up until now.”
“I gather they got the worst of it.”
“Yeah.”
Harry took out the toothpick he had been chewing on and looked at the frayed end for a second. “I was thinking about that attack on the gate because it wasn’t very effective — other than it drew the guards away from the Clermont.”
Colt nodded. “That’s why Orsini has the crew giving her an extra going over, even though the sensors don’t show that anybody was able to get aboard.”
At that moment the crewman who had been examining the keel called out, “Got something!”
The something turned out to be a stick-on limpet mine painted to match the Clermont’s hea
t shield. Orsini called the bomb squad in to remove it. The amount of explosive in the mine turned out to be small. It probably would have penetrated the hull, but it was unlikely to disable the shuttle. Colt felt there was something wrong with that, but the remainder of the inspection turned up nothing else.
Orsini came up. “I don’t know, Gus. The inspection is complete, but I have to admit I’m not happy. I get the feeling we’re supposed to think that the explosive was that easy to find because the intruders were in a hurry. It would certainly look that way, but I’m wondering if it was a red herring.”
Colt nodded. “You think there’s another explosive on the Clermont? But the sniffers didn’t find anything else, and the rest of the hull was clean.”
“Yeah. I guess I’m just being paranoid.”
“No, I get the same feeling. If we could sit here on the ground another day, I wouldn’t mind field stripping this thing to be sure, but we don’t have enough indicators that there might be another bomb. I think you’ve made a reasonable inspection, and we need to get going. We can’t cancel this mission on intuition.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Orsini sighed. He turned back toward the Clermont. “Chief Juneuil, let’s saddle up,” he shouted.
Colt followed the last crewmember aboard and closed the hatch before going forward to the cockpit. He slid into the right seat, attached his harness, grabbed his headset, and began prepping for takeoff. Pulling the checklist binder out of the pouch under the seat, he started reading it to Orsini. They quickly made the rounds of the small cockpit, checking switches, circuit breakers, controls, and displays. When they had finished, Colt keyed the intercom, “Cockpit check complete. Engineering?”
“Engineering, complete.”
“Cabin?”
“Cabin, complete.”
Looking at Orsini, Colt said, “Secure for lift off.”
Colt switched to the ground control radio. “First Landing Ground Control, this is Diplomat Zero One for departure clearance.”
“Roger, Zero One. Your flight plan is approved as filed. You are cleared to take off from your present position. Contact departure control on two five three point five.”
Peacemaker: The Corona Rebellion 2564 AD Page 6