RCN 11: Death's Bright Day (eARC)

by David Drake

  “Run them through the Bureau database,” Tovera said. “I don’t recognize them, but I recognize the type.”

  Adele did a separate search, wondering as she did whether she should have integrated the 5th Bureau files into the general database. No, because they include Mistress Sand’s information as well as what Grozhinski provided. I won’t put Cinnabar data on the Residency system because I may die before I can wipe it.

  “The one calling himself Sadler is from Maintenance Section C on Pleasaunce,” Adele said. “I don’t find the one calling himself Scroggs.”

  “They’re killers,” Tovera said. “I was Section C.”

  “Tovera, let’s see if we can get to President Menandros before they do,” Adele said, swinging off the console’s seat and heading for the stairs. Tovera was right behind.

  “Cazelet, alert both ships for lift-off!” Adele called over her shoulder. “All liberty is cancelled!”

  She had no authority to give orders. Fortunately, Daniel cared as little about that in a crisis as Adele herself did.

  At the back of her mind Adele wondered if Menandros’ death would really be such a bad thing for the Tarbell Stars. It would disrupt the government, however, and anyway the Upholders seemed to think that it would be bad for the government. If Adele had had time to consider the effects and side-effects she might come to a different conclusion, but for now she would go with blocking the plans of her enemies.

  Adele got into the passenger compartment because the limousine had only a seat for the driver in front. As she started to swing the door closed, Cazelet called from the doorway, “Adele! On the external security system, they’re heading for the Ministry of War!”

  Daniel is meeting Christopher Robin about…now.

  “To the back entrance!” Adele said as Tovera switched on the motors. The limousine took off the left gatepost as Tovera backed into the street.

  * * *

  The waiting room of the Minister of War was scarcely bigger than Robin’s office. Daniel had passed through it when he left the Minister after their first meeting, but he couldn’t have described it from that experience.

  Thirty-odd straight chairs stood in rows with a center aisle that wasn’t quite straight. Most of the chairs were occupied, but only a few of those waiting to see Robin wore uniforms. Most of the others had the look of salesmen of one sort or another. Wars were always good opportunities to dispose of unwanted merchandise.

  The floor was littered and the walls hadn’t been washed in too long. It wasn’t an impressive sight to someone who had spent long hours in the Navy House waiting room in Xenos.

  Daniel walked up to the front where a middle-aged male clerk sat at a console beside the door to the inner office. A soldier had pulled a chair nearby from the front row. He sat on it, his carbine leaning against the wall.

  “I’m Captain Leary,” Daniel said pleasantly. “The Minister of War requested to see me at four pm today. I seem to be two minutes early.”

  The clerk looked up. “Take a seat,” he said. “I’ll tell you if the Minister wants to see you.”

  Still smiling, Daniel said, “May I ask who Minister Robin is with at present?”

  “He’s busy and that’s all you need to know,” the clerk said. “I told you to take a seat!”

  “So you did,” Daniel agreed. The door didn’t have an external latch, but there was a large button on the right side of the console. Repeated use had worn the button’s cream enamel finish through to the black base.

  Daniel leaned over and pushed the button. The door opened outward.

  “Hey!” said the clerk, loudly enough to alert the dozing guard. Daniel and Hogg sauntered through without anything more serious happening before the door closed behind them.

  “Good afternoon, Minister,” Daniel said as Robin looked up from the flat-screen display facing him at an angle on his desk. “I’m here as you directed.”

  Walters rose from his console, then sat back again. Robin made a sour face, but he gestured and said, “Yes, take a seat, Leary.”

  Walters eyed Hogg doubtfully, probably wondering what Hogg intended to do. Daniel wondered also as he took one of the chairs in front of the large desk, but Hogg remained at the back of the room.

  “I’ve been very pleased with the progress the Nabis Contingent has been making, Minister,” Daniel said, “and I hope you are too.”

  “Yes indeed, Leary,” Robin said. He tapped his display repeatedly with a light pen. “Major Berners gave me a quick account of your recent training mission. It shows real initiative and an ability to work with material which must be well beneath the level you’re accustomed to on Cinnabar.”

  “Actually, sir,” Daniel said, leaning forward slightly, “the Nabies were solid personnel, very solid. All we cadre did was to show them what they were capable of doing. Ah, and working with the officers some to bring ’em up to speed.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t be modest,” Robin said, turning from his display to flash Daniel a bright, false smile. “President Menandros has decided to greatly increase your responsibilities. He’s made you Governor of Nabis, reporting directly to him.”

  Are you out of your bloody mind?

  For a moment Daniel thought the words had come out of his mouth. They hadn’t, but Robin probably read them in his face.

  “Your Excellency…” Daniel said. He closed his eyes for a moment to visualize his next words. Opening them he continued, “Sir, look. My father was the most powerful politician on Cinnabar; he’s still pretty bloody important. My sister Deirdre gives every sign of following him into the Senate, and I’ve never known her to play a game that she didn’t win at.”

  Daniel had straightened when Robin pronounced his exile to a backwater. Now he leaned forward again and said earnestly, “Sir, if I wanted to get into politics, I’d go home and join the family firm! But I didn’t, I wanted to be a naval officer and I’m a bloody good one. Put me in charge of ships. Or better, put me in charge of your navy, and I’ll show you what I can do!”

  “Captain Leary, I’m sure you’re a very important man in Cinnabar space,” Robin said, his voice rising. “But here in the Tarbell Stars, we’re under the rule of President Menandros, and it’s his decision—”

  “President Bloody Nonsense!” Daniel said, rising to his feet. “Look, everybody knows you call the shots. Menandros probably knows if he’s got two brain cells to spare for any serious thinking! That’s fine, but—”

  “That’s enough!” Robin said as he stood. He crossed his arms before him. Walters had gotten up also and was edging closer to Daniel from the side. If he tries to jump me, I’ll break his face.

  Hogg, glimpsed in the polished metal surface of the side of the desk, remained by the door; nothing in the present situation required him to intervene. Though Hogg acted the simple hayseed, he had a very sophisticated grasp of urban society. He wasn’t going to precipitate a brawl which could not have a good result.

  The door from the waiting room opened. The clerk outside was babbling something in a high-pitched voice. Walters turned to the disturbance, and Daniel glanced over his shoulder.

  A heavy-set balding man in a blue servant’s uniform had entered. A tall man and a short one, both in business suits, were behind him.

  “Dumouret, what in bloody hell are you doing here?” Robin shouted.

  “Minister,” Dumouret said, “I’m very sorry to disturb you, but the President—”

  The short civilian shot Hogg in the chest. Hogg flew into the wall behind him, thrown when his legs spasmed.

  The shooter’s tunic pocket was smoldering, ignited by the vaporized aluminum driving band of the slug fired from inside it. The taller civilian was taking a sub-machine gun out of his briefcase.

  Daniel grabbed Dumouret by wrist and thigh. He pitched the butler into the tall man, who in turn bumped the shooter off balance. Walters had frozen for a moment with his mouth open, but now he lunged at the shooter.

  The pistol was now clear of s
hort man’s burning pocket, and he shot Walters twice through the breastbone. He pivoted toward Daniel, who tripped over Dumouret’s flailing legs.

  The shooter sprawled forward though he continued to turn. There was a fleck of blood on his right temple and a long bloody crease at the top of his head where the second pellet had gone a little high.

  The taller man had risen to a kneeling position. At the crackle of Tovera’s sub-machine gun, he collapsed again over his own weapon.

  The door to the rear entrance hit the wall and began to swing closed again behind Adele and her servant. Robin peeked up from behind the desk where he had dropped to shelter.

  The air stank of ozone and feces and fear. Also of blood: Walters lay on his back. He had stopped bleeding, but the tunic of his white uniform was a crimson which would darken as it dried. His eyes were open and his lips drawn back in a grimace of horror.

  Daniel tried to get to his feet, then fell onto all fours and crawled toward where Hogg lay. He felt icy inside. He wondered if he’d been physically injured.

  “Do we need the butler?” Tovera said. Daniel heard all sounds through a thumping that seemed to be synchronized with his heartbeat.

  “Not really,” said Adele, “but he’s no—”

  The burst from Tovera’s little sub-machine gun cut off the next words. It sounded like an electrical fault. Dumouret had been curled in a ball. He twitched, and all his muscles relaxed.

  The man with the pistol had fallen over Hogg’s body. Daniel felt his strength return. He stood up, hauling the dead shooter with him, and hurled him out of the way.

  Hogg’s lips were moving slightly. There were bubbles of spit on them. He wasn’t bleeding, neither from mouth or chest, but something had blasted a hole in the left side of his tunic on a level with his heart.

  Daniel reached into the outer right side-pocket of Hogg’s tunic and brought out the knife that Hogg kept there. He snicked the blade open, then plucked the collar of Hogg’s shirt away from the skin and ripped the garment down to the belt, baring his chest.

  The skin was unbroken but there was a welt the size of Daniel’s spread hand at the point the hole had been blown in the tunic. It was fiery red and already swelling.

  Hogg’s eyes focused on Daniel. “I hope somebody got the bastard who shot me,” he said in a rusty whisper.

  “Is there a Medicomp in this building?” Daniel bellowed into the noise and confusion. Hogg winced with every breath, but he was breathing. “Adele, alert the Sissie! I want a stretcher team here soonest!”

  Leaning close to Hogg again, Daniel said, “Adele handled that problem. I think Tovera took care of his partner, but anyway it’s taken care of.”

  Daniel slit the left side of Hogg’s tunic and drew the pistol from the built-in holster concealed there. The slug had struck the receiver like a sledge hammer, almost severing the barrel from the butt and magazine.

  “The bastard suckered me, played me for a right sap,” Hogg said, tensing against the pain but getting the words out without gasping. “If the Mistress fixed him, he won’t be doing it again, though.”

  He laughed, punctuated by spasms of pain.

  “There’s a Medicomp in the next room to the left,” Adele said, squatting to put her head on a level with Daniel’s.

  “There’s a stretcher there too,” said Robin. “I thought, well, I’d as soon there was a facility close to my office.”

  “I can bloody walk,” Hogg said, but he wasn’t trying to get up.

  “You’ll do what your master bloody says, Hogg!” Daniel said. There might be internal bleeding; there were certainly cracked ribs.

  Daniel straightened. “Let’s get the stretcher,” he said to Minister Robin. “Then you can take the back end while we haul him to the unit.”

  Daniel felt enormous relief as he led Robin through the waiting room, shoving people out of the way when they babbled instead of clearing his path. It felt good to work out some of the adrenaline surging through his system.

  * * *

  For the moment, Adele was alone in the Minister’s office. She sat at Robin’s desk and slipped the pistol back in her pocket; she had laid it on the desk to allow the barrel to cool.

  The carnage was familiar to her by now. The four bodies lay where they had fallen. Well, all but that of the man she had shot: that corpse lay where Daniel had tossed it away from Hogg.

  Daniel and Minister Robin returned; Daniel looked haggard, and the Minister appeared to be in shock. He’d seemed calm enough immediately after the shooting, but perhaps it hadn’t sunk in.

  Adele smiled faintly. She was trembling a little also, but that was a result of hormones rather than anything psychological.

  The only thing unusual about this room full of bodies is that I only killed one of them, Adele thought.

  The door banged shut behind Robin, muting the babble of voices from the outer office. Adele looked up from the display of her data unit; she hadn’t been consciously aware of the sound, but the near-silence got her attention.

  “Who are those soldiers?” Robin asked. He started toward the chair behind his desk, then realized that Adele was already sitting in it.

  “They’re spacers from the Princess Cecile,” Daniel said, “under my bosun and Midshipman Hale. Lieutenant Vesey sent them here when Lady Mundy alerted her.”

  He cleared his throat and added, “Ah—my people didn’t know precisely what was happening. Hale informed me that in their haste they did a certain amount of damage in entering the Ministry.”

  “Knocked down doors?” Robin said, frowning. “That scarcely matters.”

  “I gather it was more a matter of people who wanted discuss matters,” Daniel said. “Hale didn’t believe there were any fatalities,”

  “Fatalities!” Robin said. “Well, I suppose that doesn’t matter either.”

  He looked at the sprawled bodies, then looked toward the back door instead. “What was this? Do you know, Lady Mundy?”

  “Dumouret was a spy for the Upholders,” Adele said. She saw no reason to lie, but neither did she intend to inform the minister of all the background. “They apparently sent assassins to kill you.”

  The actual gunmen were 5th Bureau, but the impetus might well have come from the rebel leadership itself. They were acting as the puppets of Storn’s rival, but they might view themselves as more independent than Adele did.

  “But how did you…” Robin said. “How did you even get in by my private door? This is all—it’s a nightmare, nothing makes sense.”

  Cazelet had unlocked the door by cutting power to it while Adele and Tovera were on the way. The system’s default was to spring open, which was scarcely ideal for security even with a battery backup. Cazelet had shut the backup down also.

  “Captain Leary?” Adele said. “The Nabis Contingent has been called to action stations at my request. Now that the danger appears to be over, would you care to release the personnel to liberty again?”

  “Umm,” Daniel said. “No, not till I see how the recall went. I wouldn’t have done this deliberately, but it’s quite a useful test of the training, don’t you think?”

  “Yes,” said Adele. She continued to scan the updates she was getting from Cazelet and both warships in the Nabis Contingent.

  “Minister,” she resumed, “friends of the Tarbell Stars in Cinnabar sent Captain Leary and his staff to aid the Tarbell government in putting down the rebellion. We’re doing that to the best of our abilities, though the training mission you’ve relegated us to very nearly caused us to miss this assassination attempt. On that subject—”

  Adele considered, then looked up. “Captain Leary, I would appreciate it if you took charge of the situation in the outer office.”

  “Of course, your ladyship,” Daniel said. His expression had just gone guarded. “Ah, your ladyship? Your servant is overseeing the Medicomp, but Hogg isn’t in any danger. Should I direct Tovera to return to you?”

  Adele felt her lips hint at a smile. “That won
’t be necessary, Captain,” she said. “I can handle anything necessary myself.”

  She looked at Robin. She wasn’t sure what expression she was wearing, but it seemed to disconcert the Minister of War. She was aware of the door opening and then closing by the sudden increase and cessation of babble from the outer office.

  Robin said, “What do you want, mistress? That is, Lady Mundy.”

  He was looking down at her because he was standing, but that didn’t increase his confidence. She wondered how much he knew about her. He knew enough to bother him when they were alone together in a room full of dead bodies, apparently.

  “I want to do my job, the job Captain Leary brought us all here to do,” she said. “To defeat the Upholder Rebellion. You’re making that needlessly difficult, because you’re afraid that Captain Leary wants to supplant you.”

  “That’s not true!” Robin said. “I have President Menandros’ full confidence!”

  “Stop yammering,” Adele said. She didn’t raise her voice; if Robin continued to bluster, she supposed she could fire a shot into the ceiling.

  Or I could just shoot him dead.

  The smile that accompanied that thought shocked Robin to silence as effectively as a shot would have done. “Thank you,” Adele said.

  “You’ll note that despite your interference,” Adele continued, “we’ve managed to save your life. We did that because you’re quite skilled. Captain Leary tells me that your idea to convert freighters to missile ships was a very clever use of available resources and might be enough in itself to defeat the rebels under present conditions.”

  Robin seemed to relax slightly.

  “Unfortunately,” Adele continued, “elements of the Alliance bureaucracy are supporting the Upholders. That means the present situation is certain to change for the worse. You personally don’t have the experience and contacts to deal with enemies outside the cluster.”

  “That’s not—” Robin said, then shut up.

  “Captain Leary and his personnel are capable of dealing with your new enemies on their own terms,” Adele said. “If you are unwilling to let Captain Leary do his job, I will have you killed and find someone to replace you. I may have to replace you myself.”