And Mei Ling, she loved the tall hickory lean round-eyed naval commander. The fact that he was a half-breed whose mother was from among the down-earthers only meant that he would sire healthy strong children.
She envied Fitz, his adventures on Earth and with the navy, but now was her chance to shine. She was an agent of naval intelligence, and she had been planted deep within Parliament. It was a place of honor in society to be an MP, but from the inside, she saw the rot that the public never saw. The petty games, the constant maneuvering for favor, the backstabbing, the constant suggestions that sexual favors would be rewarded, were about all she could stand.
She would get to the bottom of this. She would bust this whole corrupt stinking mess wide open. She kept the porcelain china doll exterior, but on the inside, a sleeping giant had awakened.
There were mumblings in high places. The Legion had many friends and this whole thing, concerning the assassination and getting rid of the Legion, reeked too much to ignore.
Her friend and compatriot, Mademoiselle Juliette was placed equally well to gage the inner workings of Parliament. Something was wrong, and she knew it.
“Hi Mei Ling, what’s up?” she said as she met Mei Ling at their usual haunt.
Mei Ling smiled. It was always good to see Juliette; her, she could trust. Her man might be dead, but she knew that Juliette would follow the search for the truth to the gates of hell itself.
“The usual I must say.”
“Is that what you ordered me, the usual?” joked Juliette.
“You better believe it.”
“Thanks, after today, I need it.”
“What’s happened this time?” inquired Mei Ling.
“The usual, the old bastard tried to get me on the couch again.”
“Oh, that.”
“Poor bugger, can’t blame him though, have you seen his wife?” said Juliette.
“Can’t say I have, I’m sure she was young and lovely at one time.”
“You are far too generous,” laughed Juliette.
“Now, now we will be old and grey one of these days.”
“If we are still alive; the Reptilian threat is growing worse by the day,” said Juliette, growing suddenly serious.
Chapter 30 - A Clue
“Sir, there is a Mr. Chu here to see you. He doesn’t have an appointment, but he gave me this.” The sailor handed Admiral La Force the Parliamentary Cart Blanche and awaited further orders.
Admiral La Force looked up from his desk. He had been going over some utterly boring budgetary matters. This interruption only added to his annoyance. He looked at the chip as he rolled it between his right forefinger and thumb.
“See him in.”
The clerk did as instructed and in short order, he showed the visitor into the Admiral’s office. La Force resisted the urge to stand to welcome his guest.
“Ah, Admiral La Force, so good of you to see me. I’m truly sorry about the lack of notice and the abrupt nature of my visit.”
Chu approached the desk with long confident steps and offered his hand. Only then, did La Force stand and take the proffered hand.
“Do sit down; may I offer you something,” said La Force.
“No, nothing, thank you. I’m afraid I must get right to the point. I’m here on a matter of extreme personal importance to the Prime Minister.”
“I see.” La Force motioned Mr. Chu to a large overstuffed chair. “You’ve come all the way from the Moon just to see me?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“I’m sure it’s an honor, but what interest would the Prime Minister have in a lowly admiral?”
“You are too modest, Admiral La Force. You have done incredible work here at naval intelligence. You are to be commended.”
La Force’s hackles were up, too much praise from someone he did not know. Their other ploys have not worked; now whoever was behind this was trying something else.
“The Prime Minister has instructed me to inform you of his personal interest in your report concerning the navy’s raid on the Reptilian held world.
So my report didn’t fall into a black hole, but it didn’t go anywhere useful either. That can only mean that they plan to continue on this course of action, and consider me a threat.
“Am I to understand that you are a personal representative of the Prime Minister?” asked La Force. “Is this correct?”
“Yes, very.”
“Then Mr. Chu, how may one serve?” This servile tone grated and burned, but La Force understood the game Chu was playing.
“The Prime Minister has seen your report concerning the attack on the Reptilian held planet, taken from our allies, the Greys. He is most disturbed that the Me 147 assault may not have been completely successful. You know the amount of capital the navy has invested in this attack craft.”
“Yes, yes of course, and a fine piece of equipment it is,” replied La Force. But you freaking moron, it didn’t work!
A naval officer does not get a star by wearing his emotions on his sleeve. La Force had learned to be smooth, cool, and crafty. The only problem was that this person, a personal representative of the Prime Minister himself, was equally smooth and polished. To make matters worse, he probably knew the game La Force was playing, even better than La Force.
“I have been tasked with informing you that the Prime Minister is personally working on this himself. Once we have finished, we will issue our report to Parliament.”
“I see,” said Admiral La Force.
“What you may not see is that there are powerful people in Parliament and the navy who are heavily vested in the Me 147 and who will not be too happy with your findings.”
“Hadn’t thought of that.”
“This way you will be protected from certain powerful senior officers. So just lay low and let the Prime Minister handle it.”
He’s good, thought La Force.
Indeed, the Prime Minister has charged me with heading up the investigation.”
This was a lie, but it insured that Chu had a place in the new order. Vice chairman was no longer enough for him. He had begun to see things that low ranking people usually were not able to see. He was also smart enough to perceive that Schiller would understand this as well. This could be a problem, but a problem for another day.
“Tell me, Admiral, what else do you have from the navy’s investigation concerning our Prime Minister’s assassination on New Earth?”
So, that was it. Now we come to the real reason Schiller dispatched his dog.
“Oh that, I’m afraid I have nothing new to report. After I lost key members of my staff, the ones working on the investigation, I was forced to send forward my last report and close the file. I’m afraid I just don’t have the personnel necessary to continue the investigation.
“Now if the navy could be persuaded to send me some capable officers, I would be glad to continue the work. However, right now with the war going, it is quite impossible.” He leaned toward Chu, “The truth is I need more people just to continue my normal workload. We can’t keep up. I end up doing much of the work myself which should be left to an intelligence analyst.”
“What about the two officers sent you after the Legion was disbanded?”
Disbanded! La Force fought to keep his emotions off his face. So, that is what they are calling it?
“They’re coming along fine. Navy Intel is a new area for them, but their adjustment is coming along fine. I’m sure that before too long they will be very useful analysts.”
“You are utilizing them to the fullest?” inquired Chu.
“Oh yes, of course, of course, but Intel is its own world with its own language and set of rules. I’ve got them fully tasked, even while they are learning to be intelligence analysts.”
Why all this interest in Blackstone and Appleton? Obviously thi
s Chu has taken a good look at my records.
“Good, I’m glad they are coming along. I do not have any particular information, but from what I understand, there are personnel shortages everywhere. I’m afraid you might not see new people in your organization for some time.”
“Then, I’m terribly sorry, but there is no way I can continue that investigation. It is probably just as well; I have mined all the information I could here on New Earth. The direction the investigation leads now is up to someone else.”
La Force sat back and tried to look like the barely competent admiral he knew that many of the ruling elite believed them to be, but Chu was having none of it. He continued to press.
“Am I to understand, Admiral, that you do not believe that Boynton was killed by the Legion?” demanded Chu.
“It would certainly seem so, but that does not answer all the questions. Who and why are still unknowns,” answered La Force.
“Does it really matter? The Legion killed our leader; what did they plan to do to us?”
“Mr. Chu, one individual shot Prime Minister Boynton, not the entire Legion. One traitor out of the entire Legion did it. I just do not know who, how many were involved, or why. Perhaps our screening process was not as good as we thought, and somehow an insane killer managed to slip through the interviews. I just do not know, and to be honest, I don’t have time to worry about it. This is a job for New Scotland Yard, not Navy Intel.”
“Then why did you even begin such an investigation?”
“There was no one else on site to investigate, other than the local police, and they were overwhelmed with their own problems. I acted to get as much information as possible, as quickly as possible, before the trail got cold.”
“And now?” asked Chu.
“And now, with the Legion off planet, there is no trail, is there? Whatever is to be done now, will have to be done by someone else.”
“True, but you exceeded your authority by even starting such an investigation.”
“Perhaps, but no one told me to stop,” answered La Force politely.
“Then why did you stop?”
“I think that has been made abundantly clear. I no longer have the personnel to continue the investigation and the prime suspects, members of the Legion itself, are no longer available to me.”
Chu seemed satisfied. “Tell me, Admiral, where are your raw data, any interviews or any notes, thoughts, or observations you kept, no matter how unimportant they might seem to appear?”
“In my safe of course, on my pad.”
“I would like all of it, just to see if a fresh perspective might glean some more information from it.”
“Very well, I’ll make you a copy.” La Force arose, crossed the room, and began to open the safe.
As he turned around, he was surprised to see Chu standing right behind him. Chu took hold of the pad.
“I don’t want a copy, I want it all, as is.”
La Force did not let go. “There are other things on this pad, important naval intelligence. It would be a violation of regulations to just let it walk out of my office.”
Chu forced a smile. “I must inform you that my Cart Blanche gives me authority to take everything I believe necessary, and your cooperation will figure in my report. It wouldn’t look good when you come up for a second star, if there was a blemish on an otherwise sterling career.”
“I was not aware I was being considered for a second star,” said La Force slyly.
“Oh come now Admiral,” said Chu who released the pad, then turned and walked back to his chair.
Without sitting down, he said, “Admiral, I must tell you how impressed the Prime Minister is with your degree of initiative and creativity. With the right word in the right ear, a second star would be no problem.”
So now they show me the carrot after showing me the stick. “Tell you what, I’ll make you a copy, and you can watch me delete the file yourself.”
“Are there any other copies?” asked Chu.
“Not of everything. The Legion officers may have something, but I have no way of knowing.”
“Any information they have will be of no concern.” Chu produced his com and set it on la Force’s desk. Soon the information was transferred and the file deleted on La Force’s data pad.
“There, Mr. Chu, and I must say that I’m happy to have washed my hands of the whole affair.”
“You are?” asked Chu, surprised.
“Yes, this is clearly the shabbiest thing I’ve ever been involved with. Now with your Cart Blanche, I have no alternative but to place this problem in your capable hands,” answered La Force.
He smiled at Chu. “You have done me a great favor.”
Chu seemed impressed in a phony sly way. La Force took Chu for a good poker player, great face but not completely inscrutable. The man’s eyes gave him away, the way they twinkled.
Then the coup de grâce, “We will see, Mr. Chu, if you have as much pull as you have intimated.”
“What do you mean?”
“The second star you mentioned.”
“Oh yes, that. I will make sure your full cooperation figures highly in my report. Now, I’m afraid I really must be going. Good day, Admiral. I intend to catch tonight’s flight back.”
“Good day Mr. Chu. Have a nice flight.” He showed Chu to the door.
Chu turned and offered his hand. “Nice to meet you, Admiral.”
“The pleasure was all mine Mr. Chu, and please tell Prime Minister Schiller how delighted I am with his election. Just between you and me, I felt he should have been Prime Minister in the first place.”
“I’ll tell him, good day,” he turned and left.
La Force moved to where he could see the car pull away. Using the phone on the front desk, he called the gate.
“This is Admiral La Force.”
“Yes sir, Admiral. What can I do for you?”
“There is a car leaving by the front gate. Call me when it passes. There should be a Mr. Chu with a Parliamentary Cart Blanche riding in the back. I want to know when he leaves.”
“Yes sir, I’ll take care of it.”
* * * *
Chu smiled as his driver headed toward the gate. These military types are so predictable. Mention a promotion and he would have sold me his sister. Now, all the loose ends have been tied up nice and tidy.
A sudden pang went through his mind. What if Schiller wants to make sure no one is left to tell the tale. No, he was too important to Schiller for anything like that, but a slight twinge remained. The question ‘what if’ had been asked in his own mind and it could not be taken back.
Was there some way to protect himself? Don’t be silly; you have nothing to fear.
His car stopped at the gate where his driver showed his ID. Mr. Chu waved his Cart Blanche, and the gate opened as if by magic. He had time for dinner before the flight back. He hated these star jumps, but it was a small price to pay. The car turned out on the road leading to the spaceport.
* * * *
“Sir, there is a call for you,” the sailor manning the desk said.
The Admiral had remained out front. It was too dangerous to take a call in his office. “Yes?”
“Sir, he has left.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes sir, I examined his Cart Blanche myself.”
“Good, thank you.”
“Yes sir.”
La Force hung up and headed back to his office without a further word. Now we will see if there are any more hints about retirement. He had to find Appleton.
* * * *
After taking a circuitous route to where Appleton was ensconced, La Force finally stood in front of his trusted subordinate.
“And that’s about it; here is his likeness,” said La Force holding out his com.
A
ppleton touched his com to the Admiral’s and the picture transferred.
“Now, change into civilian clothes and head out to the spaceport. I want you to make sure he gets on the jump ship. It is important that this man is not running loose on New Earth.”
“Yes sir, I’ll get after it immediately.”
“Good, report to my home after the ship is away. Make sure you are not followed.”
“Yes sir.”
* * * *
La Force had gone home early, only telling his assistant that he wasn’t feeling well. Mrs. La Force had prepared a light snack for the two of them, but then almost had to force him to eat it. After spending the afternoon on his computer, he was beginning to put a picture together concerning the relationship between Chu and Schiller. It seemed so clear now; why had he not seen it before?
There was a knock at the back door. It was Lieutenant Commander Appleton.
“Ah yes, Commander, come in.”
“Thank you, sir.”
La Force led him back to the study and sat down at his desk in front of his computer.
“Please sit, Commander. What do you have?”
“He left on the flight. He had a large dinner and quite a bit of wine. My guess is that he wanted to fall asleep before the jump.”
“Can’t say that I blame him,” said La Force. “I feel a bit better with him off planet.” La Force paused and looked at the ceiling.
“Let me get you a drink.”
“Thank you, sir.”
La Force returned with the bottle and two glasses. After pouring the drinks, he settled himself in a comfortable chair.
“I have been over and over this in my mind all afternoon,” La Force began. Our efforts at solving the murder brought us to the attention of the killers, and now they are trying to make sure there are no loose ends.”
“Who is this Chu fellow?”
“According to what I’ve been able to find this afternoon, he is a midlevel functionary in Schiller’s organization. It’s not exactly clear what he does for Schiller, but now he is in line to become vice chairman of the party.
Hell Fighters From Earth Book 2 Page 27