April 2: Down to Earth

by Mackey Chandler

  "Is it bad over at Hickman too?" Gunny wondered.

  "Nope – one scratched radar and no casualties. Rather restrained really, but don't quote me. We're on approach for Honolulu. I'd feel better if you'd strap in Chief." he requested.

  They taxied down to the business aviation end of the field on landing. The engines were running burning fuel, instead of shutting them down and using the electric drive in the landing gear. That indicated they intended to take right back off. When gunny went down the stairs, the view off the rear of the plane was a shimmer of heat distortion from the idling engines. The Honda engines were remarkably quiet at idle though.

  There was a full size Audi sedan waiting for him. He was glad they did not make a spectacle with a limo. The steward was already helping the driver of the car stow Gunny's gear in the trunk. He resisted the urge to make sure they were treating his stuff right. He opened his own door since the fellow was occupied and was greeted by Carol Jordan from the State Department. She offered her hand quickly and if there was any resentment at his being involved he couldn't detect it. He took her card.

  "Ms Jordan, I saw you on the video of Miss Lewis entering. Thank you for meeting me."

  "Yes, I've seen those vids too. It didn't go very well. I'm afraid I misjudged and took the wrong tone with Miss Lewis and once I made a miss-step with her she was put off by me and I never recovered. I put myself in her position at that age and thought she would be uncomfortable and perhaps even a bit afraid in a strange place far from home. She turned out to be a completely different person than I was at that age."

  "I certainly wouldn't second guess you, when I wasn't there," Gunny allowed. "If it could have gone better, it certainly could have gone worse. At least Honolulu is still here," he pointed out. "Harrison seemed to put her off more than you ever did. Tell me. Did you get any sense that she was looking for trouble? Did she have a chip on her shoulder?"

  "No, but she has no patience for bureaucracy I can tell you. What did Harrison do to her anyway? Everyone I've asked has declined to fill me in."

  "You haven't seen the video of what went down in the studio?" he asked surprised.

  "Only up until there was a bang and the lights went out."

  Gunny pulled the disk out of his papers and played in for her on her own laptop.

  "Jeez, she took out all of them and survived. I wondered if she was bluffing, when she got in our face in the airport…" She left unsaid she had no such thoughts now. "Where did you get this recording? I mean not you, but what was the original source? The viewpoint…" she started to say and then decided not to.

  "Miss Lewis gave a copy to President Wiggen when they had occasion to chat. It's a copy off a public eye she was wearing. I don't see any need to play that interview for you, but she made no effort to hide this, no apology at all, just an attitude of "Threaten me and my people and you die sucker." It's a really interesting diplomatic stance for your department to deal with, so they certainly should have shown it to you. Save the file you just made running it." He suggested, taking back the disk.

  "Won't you get in trouble for sharing?" Carol wondered.

  "The President gave me Carte Blanc to protect Miss Lewis. If anybody asks, I'll inform them giving you this information served that purpose. I didn't ask for this job and I could be retired right now if I wanted. If they can convince Wiggen to fire me, some other poor slob in the protective services can have the joy of guarding her."

  "You are protecting her?" Carol asked. "If anybody starts shooting at her, I suggest you make like a rug and stay the hell out of her line of fire. I'm no expert but that video looked like they didn't stand a chance."

  "She's fast and she doesn't shoot too badly, but did you see on the video she took a round in the side? She should never have allowed that. I have to have a fatherly little talk with her about risk taking, if I'm going to be responsible for her safety."

  Carol shut up, afraid she would say something stupid. She couldn't see how anybody could critique what she had seen, but she wanted to stay on good terms with this man.

  "Oh and I want to give this to you, so I don't have to lug it around," he pulled out the security folder with the stripped edging.

  "Crap - one of those. Do you affirm under penalty of law, you have not copied or altered any of this document?"

  "Sure Carol. We were sort of short on copiers in the biz jet and I didn't doodle in the margins or anything." He said, amused.

  "Then I relieve you of it and will write you a receipt." She said, totally unamused and formal.

  "Where are we headed anyway?" Gunny asked.

  "I assumed you'd want transport to the Satos home, where April is in residence. I was told her host specifically welcomed your presence."

  "Indeed I do, but were you just going to drop me off? I'm used to having my own transport. I certainly don't want to be in the position of asking my host for a ride."

  "If you give the Department a call, we'll send a car and driver anytime you wish."

  "Carol, if I'm on a leash, it is President Wiggen's leash. Nobody else is going to manage me like that. I'll buy my own transport, before I sit around twiddling my thumbs every time I want a car, waiting for you to get fresh bugs installed, so you can snoop on me."

  "I can order you given a clean vehicle," Carol assured him.

  "You could, but see? You didn't say you would. Sorry, but you just automatically go for the weasel word. I have no inclination to struggle playing word games with lawyers, when I have a serious assignment that requires my concentration."

  "Very well, I'm under orders to supply anything you need. Tell me what you require."

  "Does this vehicle have any ballistic protection?"

  "Moderately. It can stop small arms and it protects against small explosives underneath."

  "Call for another vehicle to meet us somewhere. You and your driver transfer and I'll keep this vehicle. If it is bugged, tell me how many and where, or take them with you."

  "Very well," She called her office and arranged a rendezvous. They drove in unfriendly silence to the edge of a parking lot, belonging to very nice restaurant. A large dark green SUV was waiting and the transfer was made quickly with little conversation."

  "There is a bug in the dome light, but it will be remotely deactivated," Carol said.

  Gunny noticed she didn't say when it would be deactivated.

  Once the State Department vehicle left, Gunny pulled his phone and dialed a number. He put an ear bud in and studied the map in the dash.

  "He's a very difficult fellow," Carol's voice said in his ear. Gunny activated one of the two bugs he's left clipped to her skirt, to drop off and seek a crack or corner to conceal itself. "The man has dangerous delusions of independence."

  "How far back should I tail him?" her driver asked.

  "We know where he is going. Just hang back well out of sight and we will only catch up if he gets in trouble and we have to save his bacon."

  Gunny got his flush cutters and snipped off the stubby little antenna by the rear window, that was both satellite and cellular connection. Most of the satellites were destroyed a year ago and few replaced, so the cellular link was likely the only active one. As he expected, the State Department driver announced he lost his tracking, almost the instant he felt the wires sever.

  He got back in the car, eased over the curb and ran down a small tree and a couple bushes, but made it across the landscaping into the parking lot behind the restaurant, with only a few minor scrapes of the undercarriage. He was in the rear of some sort of medical building and pulled around it into the next street. He drove the direction away from the Satos' home. When he saw a large condominium development, he pulled in to park out of sight and consult the map on his phone.

  "Do you want to call in help and search for him?" Carol's driver asked.

  "No, he made his petty point. He can play at independence until he needs something. I'll know anything he buys with the credit card and if anyone asks what he is doing, w
e can honestly say he cut us loose and doesn't want his elbow jiggled. Less risk for us really. Take me back to the office, John."

  "Yes Ma'am."

  Gunny posted in the Honolulu Daily Trader and Free Board: Need ride, aprox. 27 miles to suburbs from PalmAire Condos. $500 offered. Luggage and one male. Solo drivers able to show current license only. Within the next hour pays bonus cash. Prepared to be generous, for prompt and discrete service. Reply to this address to lock/schedule job.

  The first message offered a ride, but indicated the man had a couple cousins who needed to come along. He just replied: "NO." After a few more minutes a message arrived. "Licensed driver with pickup truck. You must share ID before ride. Half cash up front. Can arrive ten to twelve minutes," he replied: "Acceptable. Will be in second lot on left from south entry. Waiting in a full size white Audi. Will load own luggage."

  The pickup was old and boxy, but he noted the tires were good and it ran smoothly when it stopped. He went to the driver's window and offered his driver's license for ID.

  "You have any objection if I tell my sister your name and address?" she asked, cell phone in hand.

  "Not at all. You can tell her you are delivering me to this address if you wish too." He showed her the Satos address and a map on his phone and she repeated it to her sister. She showed him a local license, the first name Dolores and the last name an unpronounceable Hawaiian name, but held her finger over the address. He didn't mind. The photo matched and a girl has to be careful.

  He offered her two-hundred and fifty in cash and she tucked it in her jeans. When he opened the trunk and transferred his bags, he wondered if she'd drive off and keep the half fee for no work, but she didn't. He tucked his bags in the corner behind the passenger seat and pulled a cargo net over them.

  "You left your keys hanging in the trunk," she warned him.

  "Yes, I did that on purpose. I'd advise you not to take advantage of it. It's a State Department vehicle and even in this nice of a neighborhood I imagine it will be stolen quickly. It will be a big hassle for the people that loaned it to me and an even bigger one for whomever boosts it," he said smiling.

  She just laughed, shaking her head. "I like a man with a sense of humor," she told him as she drove away.

  A few miles away he was out of range of his bugs. He wondered briefly if he should have set a relay, but then they would be found pretty soon by her staff anyway. They weren't very sophisticated bugs.

  * * *

  You can get to that address from the west side and it would be closer you know," she said after awhile, looking at the route he had highlighted on his phone.

  "Thank you, but there may be people watching for me to approach from the west and I'd rather they didn't see me arrive. I'd appreciate it if you'd leave the long way around too.

  "Is this turning into a risk for me?" she asked, frowning.

  "No, because you have my name and address. You are welcome to verify you dropped my off if anyone asks. I'd just rather they didn't get opportunity to ask. If they have no idea how I got to the place, I'd be amused and happy."

  "Military, aren't you?" she said squinting.

  "Navy, Master Sergeant," he supplied.

  "Hmmm, you're a long way from Maryland," she observed.

  He didn't say anything. It was true.

  * * *

  When they drove up the Satos' driveway and parked, Dolores just gave a long whistle of appreciation. It was a pretty nice place just about anywhere. In Hawaii it was palatial.

  Chapter 40

  "Your man is here," Adzusa called from the doorway. "Want to come out and meet him?

  "Not in my pool clothing," April objected. The household swam naked, but April didn't feel comfortable lounging around like that. She'd have felt even stronger about that, if she knew they wore suits before her visit. She had on a short silk robe.

  "They just started up the drive. Run and throw on a t-shirt and shorts and he'll still be unloading and greeting people."

  By the time she got down to the driveway, Gunny had four large bags on the pavement and was handing money to the driver, at the window of a really old piston engine pickup. Li was waiting patiently for him to get through.

  "I am Li, a manager of the household," he introduced himself. "We have you in the room across the hall from Miss Lewis, We will put your bags in your room, if you'd like to join the family at the pool and get acquainted. The Santos will be coming down for dinner soon."

  "I'll show him the way Li, thank you," Adzusa told him.

  "I'd rather unpack my own things if you don't mind," Gunny said worried.

  "As you wish," Li agreed tilting his head. "We expected you to have weapons. You will find there is an open gun safe in your room and you may set the combination as it pleases you."

  "Oh, OK, thanks," Gunny said with a big grin. "All the comforts of home. Miss Santos, Miss Lewis, I'm happy to meet you finally."

  "You know us by sight," Adzusa said waving him to follow her and started for the house. "How deeply were you briefed?"

  "I've read intelligence analysis folders for everyone here. That gives me a collection of bare facts, tempered by the collection methodology and tainted by the politics of the intelligence organization. I plan on giving a great deal of weight to my personal observations. Feel free to offer any information that helps my primary goal of Keeping-Miss-Lewis-Alive."

  "Just April, please."

  "And how do you wish to be addressed? Adzusa quickly inquired.

  "Master Sergeant Tindal will do fine," he assured her.

  "In your dreams," Adzusa told him.

  "Most of my friends call me Gunny," he said. Ignoring the aside.

  They sat around a pebbled glass table and Adzusa invited him to pick a chair with a casual wave of the hand. Informality was fine with him.

  Gunny looked April over, giving her a closer examination than was possible walking along. He didn't try to pretend he wasn't scrutinizing her and her first reaction was discomfort. She thought immediately of the creepy beam dogs, who had leered at her in the cafeteria at home. But Gunny was serious, not leering and his eyes went everywhere like the vacuum rats but he wasn't checking her out as they say, he was looking at her like Jon had looked over Neil McAlpine when they had met back home. Like two big dogs deciding which was Alpha.

  That was how he was gauging her now, she realized, for her potential, wondering how capable she was. It was creepy in a new, different way. He wasn't checking her out, he was sizing her up. How hard would he be to take? Pretty formidable she realized. Surely harder than the guys on New Las Vegas had been. She broke eye contact, embarrassed she had fallen into staring back him, in the same coldly analytical mode.

  Gunny for his part, could tell she walked different, taking smaller steps on her injured side and holding her arm protectively over her injured ribs. He wondered what she was taking for the pain? Would it slow her down?

  "If you want to know more about me and what is going on, ask your people to give you a comprehensive folder on Jon Davis, Jan Hagen, Bob Lewis, Steve Lewis, Ajay Singh, Jeff Singh, Heather Anderson and Don Adams. Those are all people off Earth, so I'm sure they were considered too unimportant to include in any briefing. Oh and Preston Harrison. He's dead, but if not him, anything about the Patriot Party. If I find any of them, they'll be dead rather quickly too," she vowed.

  "It's pretty hard to guard somebody who is determined to go into harm's way," Gunny pointed out. "The Naval officers who were protecting Harrison found themselves in conflict and picked badly. When he acted to arrest you aiding him do so was outside their mandate of protecting him. Be aware I won't draw a weapon to aid you, if you attack someone not an immediate threat. Even if they are an avowed enemy. That isn't my job."

  "Oh, I'm not going to go hunting them. But if a bunch of them would foolishly congregate, I wouldn't hesitate to call down fire on them."

  "Ah good. I was afraid you had some crazy honor thing, about exposing yourself to fire like you did
with Harrison and got shot in the ribs for it. If you'd caught that one in the head we wouldn't be having this conversation."

  "And my friend Easy is going to jump all over me about that," April admitted. "He already chewed me out about my tactics on New Las Vegas, when we rescued Don Adams."

  "When you jumped on the guys back like a frigging pony? Damn right," Gunny agreed.

  "What should I have done? I want to hear your version before I tell you his."

  Two to one? With one guy already waving his gun around and threatening your friend? Shoot 'em dead where they stood without apology. Then put a couple just-to-make-sure rounds in them before leaving cover to go to your friend. I'm assuming you had no close backup and Adams wasn't armed?"

  "No, my backup was all the way back on my ship and I hadn't seen Don Adams in a year. I had no idea what level of help he might be." April grimaced. "Jon and Jan are probably going to chew me out too, next time I see them."

  "Well it sounds like you are surrounded by good advice, if you'd care to start listening."

  April laughed out loud. "My friends will all like you just fine," she predicted." Easy said I should have just reached and squeezed the trigger, when that idiot pointed the grips at me."

  That got a startled look and grin from Gunny.

  Li came in and sat off to the side, just nodding politely at them. Two of the young women came in and served pitchers of fruit punch and some finger food. Bacon wrapped shrimp and little skewers with chicken and pineapple. They took a glass and plate over to Li. April poured for Adzusa and Gunny after they withdrew. Gunny, done with her, was twisting all around frankly appraising the place. For security or for wealth, April wasn't sure.

  April stopped and thought about Gunny arriving. She got a puzzled frown. "I'm surprised you had to hire a ride. I'd have thought you'd have a government car of some sort."

  "Ah, well, Ms. Jordan from State met me and was giving me a ride out here, but she wasn't inclined to offer me a vehicle. She felt I should call and wait for a car and driver whenever I had need."