“Put down your weapon,” the enemy commander said to Devv.
Devv hesitated, glanced at his father, who nodded. The younger Jeeling then turned the gun around and offered it to the officer, handle-first.
Before the officer could take it, Billy grabbed the weapon and fired a barrage of rounds, dropping the startled officer to the deck, and then shooting other guardsmen. He put his maglev chair into motion, whirling it around and firing with great accuracy, in multiple directions. Devv had another gun out and was firing, too. It was one of the defensive maneuvers the two of them had practiced, for contingencies such as this. Now Billy was gambling that his attackers wanted to take him alive, and he had a special way of protecting his son....
~~~
A loud roar filled Billy’s ears, and a sharp pain stabbed his right shoulder. His chair tumbled over and he fell out, bumping against Devv and then falling beside him. Red all around. The unwelcome uniforms of his enemies, and he saw blood flowing from Devv’s forehead. His lifeless eyes were staring into infinity. Devv appeared to be dead, but Billy knew otherwise.
Billy felt strong hands lifting him off the deck, people who were ignoring his injury, touching his shoulder where it hurt terribly, carrying him toward the ship. Two large men in uniforms.
Paulo and Stuart were somewhere nearby. He couldn’t see them, but heard them on the dock behind him, protesting that they had nothing to do with this and demanding that Billy be released. Paulo called it an outrage, and a betrayal. Billy agreed, wondered if his old friend and Stuart had been used as pawns.
The guardsmen had Billy on the ramp now, carrying him up it, with the maglev chair being brought behind them. Billy saw the large round hatch of the passenger ship just ahead as they hurried him toward it. But more of his own police security robots appeared suddenly, and fired precision shots that dropped the guardsmen, causing them to lose their grip on Billy. He tumbled over, fell a couple of meters off the ramp and onto the deck, landing hard. Fortunately he fell leg stumps first, and they were already useless. On the deck near his overturned chair, in some pain and unable to walk, he watched as his security force swarmed the guardsmen and shot them down. He saw Paul Paulo fall with them, shot in the chest and bleeding. Stuart ran to him, cradled his head on her lap.
“He’s dead!” she wailed. “We were tricked! We had nothing to do with this!”
Medics ran onto the dock, in pale blue outfits. Dr. Rachel Ginsberg was in their midst, and she hurried to Billy, where she tended to his shoulder injury, applying medication and a healing pad. She told him to move what he could, then said after he did so, “You don’t seem to have broken anything.”
“My shoulder hurts like hell.” As he said this, he felt the pain begin to diminish, and the wounded area felt refreshingly cool, from medications in the healing pad.
One of the medics checked Devv, then looked up and said to Ginsberg, “He’s gone.”
“Rush him to my office,” she commanded. “I’m going to perform an autopsy.” She met Billy’s gaze, said to him, “You’re going to be fine.”
“Your office?” The medic seemed surprised. “Not the hospital, or the morgue?”
“My office. I’ll be right behind you.”
She leaned close to Billy, so no one else could hear, and whispered, “Something tells me your son is going to have a miraculous recovery.”
While the medics were taking care of transporting Devv away, robots righted Billy’s chair and helped him back into it. The chair appeared to be undamaged. One of robots reported that they had taken more than fifty people into custody from the diplomatic vessel, and were awaiting Billy’s instructions.
“Keep the live prisoners here, but load the guardsmen’s bodies onto the ship, and Paulo’s too,” Billy said. “Then cut the ship loose and fire on it. I want it blasted out of the sky.”
“But it’s an important vessel, sir. The Prime Minister will not be happy to hear that it’s been—”
“You’re a robot. Don’t forget that. Now do as I say, and put the whole event on video-cam, for transmission to AmEarth. I want them to know I mean business. They have violated my privacy in the worst way, tried to kidnap me, and might have murdered me, if we hadn’t fought back. They are acting immorally, are in gross breach of contract. Now it’s cost them lives, and a classic ship, too.”
The robot flashed a green acknowledgement light on its torso, then turned and did as it was told.
The diplomatic vessel was released into the thin atmosphere, and began to drop toward AmEarth. Billy knew it would be destroyed when it hit the ground anyway, but he wanted to make an even more emphatic statement.
Kinetic cannons discharged from Skyship, slamming hot balls of fiery energy into the famed, tumbling vessel, blowing it to pieces.
CHAPTER 20
The human body is extremely fragile, and subject to constant attacks from the inside, and the outside.
—Branson Tobek, early writings
This morning Lainey was scheduled to visit Billy in the hospital, but she had almost an hour to burn before they would allow her in. She could walk the short distance in a few minutes.
Until then, she stood in the terminal lobby beside Sonya Orr, watching through the window as a passenger shuttle floated in toward the dock. The arriving craft had a pair of clamps extended like the claws of a carrion bird, and they engaged with the wide magnetic bar of the dock, neatly securing the ship into position beside other vessels. The shuttle jostled a little before coming to rest, and Lainey felt a slight vibration in the floor beneath her feet.
Moments later, teams of public-relations operatives streamed through the clearplaz tunnel into the terminal. The JeeJees were just returning, having worked all over AmEarth, spreading the good word about Billy, telling heroic anecdotes about his life, to counter the campaign of lies that was being orchestrated against him. Lainey had been receiving regular reports since they’d been on assignment, and most of the teams had performed exceptionally well. She noticed a few of her favorites in the group as they took positions in front of her, to hear what she had to say... Hanni Vinson, Yürgen Zayeddi, Wesley Yota, and others.
Lainey raised the palms of her hands to quiet the assemblage, then said, “Yesterday there was an outrageous, cowardly attempt to kidnap our beloved Master of Skyship. He was injured in the attempt, and is in the hospital. The perpetrators were Imperial Guardsmen, hiding behind a fake diplomatic mission.”
The fervent supporters of Billy Jeeling cried out in shock and rage, but quieted down when Lainey told them his injuries were not severe, and he was already recovering.
“We took a leading member of their ‘peace delegation’ prisoner—an attorney named Maureen Stuart—along with a number of guardsmen, and learned from an officer that General Moore intended to capture Billy and execute him following a sham trial. His son Devv was injured much more severely than Billy—at first everyone thought it was fatal, but miraculously Dr. Ginsberg was able to revive him. He’s in a special intensive care unit now, and is said to be improving.”
Most of the team members were visibly angry. In the front of the group, Yürgen Zayeddi looked particularly upset.
“I’m heading for the hospital now,” Lainey said, “but I wanted to greet you first and give you the news. It’s not great news, but could have been much worse. You’ve all done a fine job and I’m very pleased; I’ve seen the reports, and you are to be congratulated. As soon as Billy is feeling up to it, I’m sure he will want to thank you personally.”
~~~
When Lainey arrived at the hospital, she was surprised to see Billy sitting on his custom chair in the lobby, heading for the main exit door. “I’m checking out of this place right now,” he said to her, stopping his chair. “I have too much work to do. Can’t stay on my back in that room, or my work will pile up.”
“Are you sure you’re feeling up to this?” She noticed that his shirt had been cut open at the right shoulder so that medical wraps could be put in pla
ce on his wounded skin.
“Work is therapeutic for me. I’ll rot away if I remain in this palace of pain.” He put his chair in motion toward the main entrance, and she followed.
On the sidewalk outside, he said, “I didn’t know you were coming, but as long as you’re here, you might as well come with me. I’m going to visit Devv.”
“He’s all right?”
“Improving. I’m getting good reports.”
Billy flipped down the sidecar of the maglev chair and motioned for her to get in. She barely got into the seat, and before she could put her safety restraint in place, he took off down the middle of a sidewalk, going fast, and causing people to scurry out of the way. He smiled and waved to them. The unusual chair rounded a corner, and came to a stop at an emergency entrance at the rear of the hospital.
“You’ll have to go on foot from here,” he said. Billy motioned for her to climb out, which she did.
The sidecar snapped shut, making the chair narrow enough to go through the entrance into this wing of the hospital. She almost had to run to keep up. He entered a highlift, and she joined him, just before the doors slammed shut. The car sped upward, toward the ICU tower.
Billy said, “Dr. Ginsberg has been working on Devv, says he’s making good progress.”
“I heard that his injuries are severe. I didn’t see him after he was hit; he was whisked away from the scene of the attack too quickly. How long will he be incapacitated?”
Billy laughed. “Incapacitated? I’ll have you know, the leaf doesn’t fall far from the tree when it comes to my son. He’s as anxious to get back to work as I am.”
“Will he have any permanent injuries?”
“Not a one. He’ll be as perfect as the day he was born.” Billy grinned. “Maybe even better.”
As they stepped out of the lift and Lainey followed Billy down the corridor, she had a nice view of the interior of Skyship City, with its gleaming office buildings and elevated walkways. Little humbaby aircraft flitted through the interior sky with their top rotors spinning; some landed on building roofs and on the tops of elevated walkways, and took off from them. Far below, she saw the large central park of the airborne metropolis, an expanse of broad, leafy trees and green grazzeen. It was crowded with people, tiny specs from this elevation.
Billy’s chair sped ahead, causing doctors and nurses to step hurriedly out of the way. Lainey was breathing hard when she followed him into a room, passing a sign on the door that said no medical personnel except Dr. Ginsberg were allowed to enter. The door opened and shut automatically, so that it was closed when they were barely inside. The sign seemed odd to Lainey. Was she acting as both doctor and nurse? Why wasn’t she getting any help?
Lainey saw the doctor leaning over Devv, who was sitting up on the bed, with his back supported by pillows. Devv was wide awake, had a stack of reports and other documents on his lap. The doctor was checking something on his chest. Lainey couldn’t quite tell what, before Ginsberg stopped whatever she was doing, and turned to face Billy. “I am pleased to say that your son is much better. He’s already back to work, using this hospital room as his office.”
There were no wires or machines hooked to him, and none in the room. He appeared to be fully alert, and she didn’t see any visible injuries, not even to his head where he had reportedly sustained a grievous injury, causing him to bleed profusely. Reportedly, he had looked dead, very dead.
How could this possibly be? Lainey was too stunned to even frame a question, or make an observation. She’d heard it was a miracle that he was even alive at all, and now she was seeing it first-hand. He was like the legendary Phoenix, reborn from its own ashes.
Devv grinned. When Ginsberg pulled away from him, he picked up a bound report, and said, “My robots performed lie detection tests on all of the captive guardsmen, and on that attorney with them, Maureen Stuart. Apparently she’s some sort of a contracts expert, and among her other duties she was advising Jonathan Racker, Paul Paulo, and General Moore on the legalities of Billy’s contract with the AmEarth government. This peace delegation was her idea, and she meant to carry it out in good faith.”
“So what the hell happened?” Billy asked.
“General Rivington Moore happened, that’s what. He used the delegation as a stalking horse, concealing a commando squad of guardsmen with a mission to get you—alive if possible, but dead was an option.”
“She didn’t know anything about it?”
“Not according to four truthbots who interrogated her from every angle. All of the guardsmen knew about the mission, though.”
“And Paul Paulo?”
“She thinks he was a pawn of General Moore, too—and died because of it. She’s very angry at the General—honest anger. Says she’ll find a way to do something about him if she’s allowed to return to AmEarth.”
“All right,” Billy said. “Send her back on a shuttle. Maybe she can make General Moore look like a fool, and get him to lose power.”
Devv nodded. “And the commandos?”
“Send them back, too. Even though they knew about Moore’s plan, they were pawns, too, just following orders. Let them get the word out about our compassion, and our determination to resist any trick they try to throw our way.”
Devv Jeeling smiled to his father, and to Lainey. “I’m feeling much better!” he exclaimed. He swung his legs out of bed, stepped onto the floor in his hospital smock. “In fact, I think I’m going to go home right now. This hospital food is really lousy, you know, and it’s hard to get a decent night’s sleep with all the lights and activity.”
Lainey knew her own jaw was visibly open. Devv set the documents on a rolling table, slipped into an adjacent bathroom to get dressed.
“He’s ready to be discharged,” Dr. Ginsberg confirmed. “I’ve been working on him all night to get him ready.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Lainey said.
“Rachel is an excellent doctor,” Billy said. “The best I’ve ever seen.”
“Can’t argue with that after seeing this,” Lainey said.
Devv was out of the bathroom quickly, wearing what looked like a new Security Commander uniform, blue with white trim. He gathered a handful of belongings and stuffed them into his pockets, then packed papers into a black briefcase. Finally, he put on his cap and adjusted it in front of the mirror. “I’m as good as new,” he announced. “Okay, let’s get out of here. How about lunch? I have a ferocious hunger!”
Just then, a matronly nurse walked by and told Devv that Sonya Orr had called to ask how he was doing.
“Good enough to chase her around Skyship!” Devv exclaimed. “Call her and warn her!”
The nurse laughed, and continued on down the corridor.
As Lainey left with the two men and walked behind them in the corridor, she had the most peculiar sensation. Ahead of her, a father and son were chatting casually, as if nothing had just happened to either of them. But Lainey had an odd feeling, especially about Devv. Something was not right with him. She’d experienced this before in his presence, and had always tried to dismiss the feeling. After all, the truthbots had checked Devv carefully, just as they had vetted everyone on Skyship, and there were periodic, unannounced re-checks, even for Billy Jeeling—to prevent anyone from creating a look-alike and taking his identity.
She didn’t think the problem with Devv had anything to do with a trust issue, or with any danger to Billy, herself, or Skyship. No, this was something else.
Like an itch that she could not quite reach, it continued to bother her.
CHAPTER 21
The human mind can imagine anything, for good or evil. What do you suppose Billy Jeeling is thinking about now? You can be certain it is not good.
—From “Jeeling: the Awakening,” one of General Moore’s propaganda articles
Yürgen Zayeddi had imagined this might happen if he were ever alone with this spectacularly-beautiful woman, but it had been more erotic fantasy than anything els
e—a flight of the imagination to make his blood flow, but not to take seriously. Besides, there were the obvious dangers involved, preventing him from living out his fantasy. Yet, it had become a reality anyway.
He lay in bed watching Sonya dress, slipping her underclothes over the pleasing curves of her figure. They were in her studio apartment, which was not large, but was more comfortable than his humble room. As a proctor, she didn’t have to suffer the inconvenience of a roommate. After a few drinks, the two of them had sneaked in during the darkness of enhanced night on the great vessel, giggling like teenagers eluding their parents.
The moment they entered her apartment and closed the door, they were at each other in a frenzy of passion, throwing off clothes and making love—first on the carpet and then on the bed, and then again on the bed.
It was an hour before dawn now, when Skyship’s internal systems would increase the illumination across the airborne city in a realistic-appearing way, running parallel with the coming of day outside. There were not enough windows on the great ship to do this naturally, but the effect inside was so close to perfect that Yürgen sometimes forgot where he was.
She looked at him, smiled gently. Her blue eyes sparkled. “You’d better get dressed yourself, and be on your way. Don’t forget, I live here, not you!”
He grinned, swung out of bed and looked for his clothing, which was strewn across the floor, from the front door to the bedroom. “That was really something,” he said. “You’re really something. I could hardly keep up with you.”
Her gaze narrowed. “I’ll have you know, I am not a nymphomaniac.”
“I never said you were. Of course, you’re not. It’s just that—”
“I’ve never been this way with anyone else,” she said. “I knew the moment I saw you that we had something between us, a strong magnetism, a chemistry. Oh, I’m not saying I’m a virgin or anything crazy like that. But, well, you know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”
The Assassination of Billy Jeeling Page 15