He chuckled. “Sounds to me like a Fleet Admiral in the making, Max.”
She shook her head. “So, then, you know why I can’t go far. The base would not be safe if I left him to his own devices for more than a couple of hours.”
“Don’t sweat it, pretty lady, I’ll have you back before he can cause too much damage,” Pax said, turning the roadster into one of the private jet revetments on the north side of the base. “The trip down to Matterese will only take about ten minutes.”
Her jaw dropped when he stopped the car twenty meters from a little two-seat flitter with stubby wings.
* * *
The warm midday sun streamed into the comfortable dining room on the first floor of Gena Haslip’s house overlooking the Nova Haven Navy Base and the Nautilus River inlet. Haven Bay was dotted with small boats and fishing trawlers plying the prevailing currents heading south toward Matterese and the big town of Garden City beyond. Just as many pleasure boats, some under canvas sail, powered their way north to the colder climes of Porter Sound and the Baintree Islands. With a short harsh winter coming on, most of the tourists were heading south for a few more weeks of fun in the sun before the solstice. With Elber Prime’s axial tilt and highly elliptical orbit, winter in the northern hemisphere would only last for two months. But the two months were brutal.
Haslip turned from the window and headed for her kitchen. Yesterday had been a blur, a day filled with more drinking and more longing. She shook when she thought of her night with that reporter. Jane something. She really couldn’t remember. But he had stood up to the task at hand and left her completely satisfied. So satisfied that she had tried to augment the pleasurable carnal memories by drinking more bourbon when she’d finally crawled out of bed yesterday afternoon.
Now, she regretted her excesses. Both sexual and spiritual. No, not that spiritual, the spirits associated with the contents of a bottle.
She didn’t want to get too far down on herself, though. The three years on the Christi having to bow down to that insufferable Davi Yorn and his puppet-master captain had almost ruined her appetite for the Colonial Navy. Her career was stalled and no matter how hard she tried she just couldn’t pull the right strings to get it out of the shallow water. She was still young enough, still vibrant and active. Okay, so she had let her weight go for a year or two. Should that even matter? She still knew her job and, in her opinion, she performed it well. Unfortunately, on the Christi the only opinions that seemed to matter were those of Yorn and Haad. Frick and Frack. Then there was that bullshit with that snotty-nosed Lieutenant Hansen, how the brass fell for her every move, her every utterance. Why was that? Because she was smart? Young? Because she read a lot? She certainly wasn’t that good-looking. Or was she?
A hazy thought surfaced from beneath the inky black pool of her alcohol-induced pity party. She remembered that reporter Jane asking her a lot of questions about her crewmates. What had she told him? Why had he been so interested in the captain and the XO? Now that the memories of that night fully bobbed up and bounced on the surface of her somewhat clearer mind, she panicked slightly. What had she told that guy? She remembered talking about the ship, talking down her bosses, making fun of some of her peers. Had that been all? If he was a reporter, how long would it take for him to get all of that stuff into the news stream? Didn’t he say he was a print journalist?
Did her loose lips get her in trouble?
Oh shit. What if he prints that stuff about Captain Haad and attributes it to her?
Gena Haslip stormed out of the kitchen and headed for her bedroom. She had to get herself cleaned up and sober and get down to that tavern and find Mister Al Jane. She had to head him off before he ruined what was left of her career.
* * *
“Are you out of your mind? You know we can’t and shouldn’t be seen together under any circumstances. Inskaap was very clear on that.”
“Quit your whining, Galuud. Let’s get a table in the back and I’ll fill you in on the latest information. Hell, who knows? What I have to tell you will probably get you a promotion or failing that at least another few bags of your favorite dog meal.”
“Listen, Teeluur, I didn’t come all the way down here to be insulted. If you keep on, I’ll kiss your sorry ass goodbye and you can find a way to contact Inskaap on your fucking own. You second- and third-generation operatives make me sick with your imagined sense of self-righteousness.”
Teeluur pushed the man in the back and propelled him further into the gloom of the little eatery in downtown Matterese. “What you fail to recognize, you old mongrel, is that I come to this enterprise from Bale Phatie himself. I am a Captain in his Navy and I report directly to him. You keep thinking that Inskaap is your guardian angel and you’ll be found washing up against those pilings out there with crabs having eaten out your fucking eyeballs.”
Galuud turned and growled slightly and showed his teeth. He was on the verge of making a complete ass of himself and he knew what Teeluur said was correct. Inskaap could not protect him from the Piru Torgud and his army of spies. He quietly sat down and stared out the window. “This had better be worth it, Teeluur,” he whispered as the waitress approached.
Teeluur ordered two “specials” from the chalkboard and sat back. It wasn’t as if he actually planned to eat this human swill. No, he would rake the shitty food around his plate for a few minutes while he disgorged his story to Galuud and then leave the restaurant. If the man wanted to finish his plate for him, that would be his prerogative.
The waitress returned with two glasses of bitter tea and departed again. It was then that Teeluur, disguised as Davi Yorn, started spinning his report about the new ship movements, the promotions, the changes in the Decimation plans into Galuud’s recorder.
His training had prepared him for many things, but his tradecraft was sloppy. He had chosen a seat that had his back to the front door.
He didn’t see Max and Pax come in.
Chapter 18
The crowd in The Haven’s Heaven was thin and evidently not very thirsty. Kari Wint counted her tips and shook her head. It was going to be a long afternoon. The time between lunch and happy hour only produced the most die-hard drinkers in town. Most of the military men wouldn’t start trickling in until after 1600 hours. She had two tables and one guy nursing a warm beer back near the dart boards. She’d be lucky to clear fifty credits for the whole day at this rate.
Kari wiped down a few stations and reloaded some of the condiment trays. Out of the corner of her eye she heard a familiar finger-pop. “Hey, how about you bring me one more before I go, Kari?”
She walked over to Al Jane and picked up his empty glass. The man must have a hollow leg as much booze as he consumes in here, she laughed to herself. But he was a paying customer and on a really slow day like today he was her only salvation.
Before Kari could return with his drink the front door opened and Gena Haslip walked in. She surveyed the room from the little alcove up front and her laser beams settled on Jane’s table near the back. Her steady and determined march to the table could only have been improved by a drum and fife corps. If the temperature in the bar had been five degrees colder steam would have surely shot out of her nostrils.
“There you are, you low-life son-of-a-bitch,” she said as she pulled out a chair next to him. She flipped the chair around on one of its legs and sat down when the back was facing Jane, her legs spread and bouncing up and down with her tension. “I just came from the newspaper, the one you said you ‘reported’ for? They never even heard of you. But they told me I wasn’t the first person to come to their offices looking for you.”
“And a hearty hello to you, too, Gena. You having a bad day? Let me buy you a drink,” Jane said. He was raising his arm to attract Kari with another finger-pop when she reached over and slapped him hard across his face.
He let out a yell and turned on her. “Now, hold on a minute, there, commander. Just who the fuck do you think you are? You can’t just go aro
und assaulting people!”
“Who are you, you miserable piece of shit? Why were you asking me all of those questions about my ship? You writing a book on ship movements out in the Loop?”
She drew back her hand again and Jane pushed back from the table. “Let’s get something straight, you silly cow. I don’t owe you anything. Not even my name. We had a good time. A good fuck. But that’s all it was. Now get your fat ass out of my face before I call the Shore Patrol.”
“Is there a problem over here, Mister Jane?” Kari said as she approached the table with the new drink.
“I don’t know, Kari.” He slowly turned to Haslip and mouthed, “Is there a problem here, Gena?”
“Why don’t you take your narrow ass and fake titties away from the table you bloodsucking bitch.” That’s what Gena Haslip wanted to say to Kari but she didn’t. Hitting Jane probably wasn’t the smartest thing she had ever done either. “No, no, there’s no problem, miss. Just a little misunderstanding. That’s all.”
“Can I get you anything, ma’am?”
Haslip stood violently and kicked over the chair. “No. I was just leaving,” she said. She turned and pointed at Al Jane and said, “You haven’t seen the last of me. Mark my words.”
She marched back to the door and pushed herself out leaving a bewildered Kari Wint in a temporary shaft of dusty sunlight as the door opened and closed.
“Close my tab, Kari, I’ve got to go to work,” Jane said.
He got up and followed Haslip outside before Kari could say anything. He looked like a man on a mission. Once he hit the sidewalk he looked both ways. He saw her about twenty meters to the right heading for the underground parking facility. He ran a few paces and when she disappeared from view he quickened his pace.
Haslip was at the rear fender of her rental ground-car when he caught up with her.
She saw his reflection on one of the rear windows and started to turn.
But it was already too late. He had produced a small knife from his belt and swiftly inserted it in her back. As he reached around and grabbed her face and covered her mouth with his free hand, he stabbed her again. He looked around the parking garage and it was as empty as that miserable little bar had been. Haslip’s struggles were starting to wane so he stabbed her again. And again. Then one more time for good riddance.
He eased her down to the concrete and tried to kick her lifeless body under the car but her ass was too big. He kicked her in the backside one last time and bent and wiped his knife off on the back of her pants. A slow stream of dark blood was forming beneath her and he took one last look at her and walked away.
He had to get into some clean clothes and get Galuud to help him get gone from Elber. Maybe he could go to Canno or Bayliss. Yeah, Bayliss. He hadn’t been there in a while. That was the ticket.
* * *
“You live for the excitement of it all, don’t you, Pax?”
He looked at Hansen and nodded. “Of course I do. What’s the sense of being alive if you can’t experience all that there is to experience?”
They were seated at the front of a small seafood restaurant near the docks outside of Mattarese. The flight down from Nova Haven had been quite a rush for Max. Captain Curton, Pax, had already had his little surprise preflighted and it was ready to go as soon as they strapped in. Pax taxied out to a short runway and after getting the proper clearances from the civil aviation tower he lit the torch and the little flitter was rotating off the tarmac in less than ten seconds. Basically the machine was nothing more than a jet engine with seats and a control stick to manipulate the stubby wings. The noise and rumble of the little craft had prevented them from having any meaningful conversation on the way down to the little airdrome south of the city but they made up for it in the hired car they used to get into the town proper.
It took the ride into Matterese for Max’s adrenal glands to stop pumping and her heart rate to return to normal. Something about skimming along at over 300 kilometers per hour did that to her. Not really afraid of flying, she had been thrilled with the exhilarating joy ride and the bumpy glide down to earth when Pax had cut the engine prior to their landing.
“Do you approach all things that way? The flitter, the race car. Some would say you have a secret death wish, Pax.”
He waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, I know. I’m not really an adrenalin junkie but I do like to go fast and take chances. Believe it or not, it has made me a better officer. I’m pretty hard to turn down, Max.”
Turn down? What the heck was he talking about? “I don’t understand what you mean, Pax.”
“I want you to transfer to the Pearl is what I mean. Come on, let’s face it. The Christi is shot and your captain has to wait around for another ship. You could be back in the hunt on the Pearl with a good solid destroyer beneath your boots and an exciting career ahead of you. I believe in rapid advancement for my officers. Hell, half of the front line officers in the Third are from my tutelage. You could be a lieutenant commander in no time at all.”
Shit. Just another jock with a hook and line. “What makes you think I’m looking for another posting, Pax? I’m willing to stick with Captain Haad and see what happens with the Christi. You know, loyalty should mean something in this life.”
He eased out a little smirk. “Yes it should, and just so you don’t get the wrong reading on me, I’m not asking you to jump ship on a whim. Rumor has it that there’s a big shake-up coming in the Third and I’m going to play a major role in it. I’m not so sure about Uri.”
What a sanctimonious heel. Trying to steal the captain’s crew right out from under him! She’d heard about some of his overbearing shenanigans from some of the others on the Christi but up until just this minute she had thought that to be just idle gossip or ship-to-ship jealousy. What a prick. Now she was not looking forward to the trip back to Nova Haven with this charming back-stabber.
He misinterpreted her silence. “I see you’re at least thinking about it. I’ve got an ‘in’ with Vinny Paine and I can have your orders cut in twelve hours, Max. Just think, a state of the art ship, modern comm facilities, a quick path to senior? What’s there to lose?”
Their food arrived just then. She had ordered a buttered whitefish fillet with garden greens and Pax was appraising his steaming plate of crab legs. The local variety of sea animals were different than the ones she had heard and read about from mother Earth but since she had never sampled that cuisine, she was none the worse off eating the Elber food. She grew up eating this stuff and it was just fine with her.
They exchanged a few snippets of conversation during lunch and each time she tried to steer the conversation away from his braggadocio comments about his accomplishments on the Pearl Harbor he managed to insinuate his values into every sentence.
“I could also arrange to help you with your son, too. Get him into an apprentice program on Elber. Teach him a trade so when he reaches eighteen he can make something of himself.”
Apprentice program? Like what? Truck driving or steam-fitting? That was just about the last straw. She was getting ready to pounce when she heard her VOX go off in her handbag.
She fished it out and looked at the little screen. It was Captain Haad.
“Excuse me, Pax, I have to take this,” she said and stood. He just nodded and continued to wrestle crabmeat out of his pile of food. She looked around the little eatery and retreated to a tiny hallway in the back that led to the restrooms. She activated the VOX and held it up to her ear.
“Lieutenant Hansen, I’m hoping I caught you at a very inopportune moment. You should be just about at the point in your luncheon with Captain Curton where he’s telling you that your career is finished unless you jump ship and sail with him on the Pearl. How am I doing so far?”
She laughed lightly and turned her back on the room. “Right on the money, sir.”
“When he got your number this morning I guessed what it was going to be about. He’s as predictable as he is cocky, lieutenant. Anyway, I just w
anted to tell you to ignore what he tells you about the ship and her crew. I have the same ‘inside information’ that he does and probably the only thing he’s told you the truth about is the shake-up that’s coming at Fleet.” He went on to tell her what was coming down the pipeline for the Christi, Davi Yorn, Milli Gertz, and the rest of his adopted children. He made it perfectly clear that her position with the Third was solid and that his offer to school Harold was also inviolate. He told her to have fun at lunch, try to run up as big a tab as possible and by all means tell that pompous ass that she would “think about it”, thus assuring herself a ride home.
She thanked him for the call and broke the connection. Turning to put her VOX device back into her purse, her gaze settled on the far windows and the beautiful dockside boardwalk beyond. She was just about to step back into the dining room proper when something made her jerk her head back around.
Max retreated back into the shadowy hallway and stared out into the brightness of the restaurant. Her face wrinkled as she watched Davi Yorn get up and stalk away from one of the back tables. Could that be right? Didn’t she remember someone telling her he lived somewhere near Matterese? She was just about to blow it off to one of those incongruent coincidences when she looked at the man left at the table where Yorn was just sitting.
Impossible, she told herself. Max pushed open the door to the ladies’ room and went inside. The place was empty. She turned and cracked the door a fraction of a millimeter, just enough of a gap to see back into the restaurant.
Sure enough, it was the cab driver from two days ago, the careless one that took her and Har to the BOQ from the spaceport. The same man that had been casually enjoying a mid-shift soft drink at the shopping mall yesterday when she and Har had their dinner at the food court.
Now here. With Yorn.
The Belt Loop (Book Two) - Revenge of the Varson Page 11