Chapter 83 - If…
Medoferro walked back into town with Rav Suvorov and several of the other soldiers around five in the afternoon. It had been a relatively good, though fruitless, afternoon for him as he’d been able to forget about most of his Mullinix duties and concentrate on the search for Ari Coblein.
"Any luck out there?" Simon asked him as he approached, "Any sign of him?"
"A few leads," Medoferro sighed, "Nothing concrete. Figured we’d come in tonight and try again later."
"Nothing doing," Simon told him, "You have been pushing yourself for days. You’re going to take the night off."
"But…" Medoferro said, then trailed off, "Why?"
"For one thing," Suvorov said, taking some of Simon’s thunder, "It will let me reassign the two men I’ve had following you to the search."
"I told you not to bother with that anyway," Medoferro grumbled.
"Insegniferro would have my ass if I didn’t," Suvorov said, "And he outranks you. Sorry."
"There’s also the fact that Toria has set up a pleasant dinner for you and her sister," Simon said, "Miranda is waiting for you to pick her up at her sister’s house."
"A date?" Medo said, "All this going on and you want me to go on a date with her?"
"She’s been looking forward to it," Simon grinned, "And so would you if you had any sense."
"Man," Medo said, "I don’t know. I mean, if Massy goes south…"
"She already knows that much," Simon said, "She’s got a good head on her and knew how close she was. The least you can do is go have a nice dinner with her while she still has her freedom."
"I guess I can’t refuse that," Medo chuckled, "It just doesn’t feel right doing that while Massimaferro is lying in there only half alive."
"He’d kick you in the rear for talking like that," Suvorov reminded him, "Now go get ready and meet her. She’ll be waiting for you soon."
Medoferro nodded and went in to the government house to get dressed. He was determined that he wasn’t going to wear anything official and settled for one of his nicer sets of civilian clothing, which he had packed on a whim for this trip in hopes that he could get a chance to use them.
"Thanks for backing me up," Simon told Suvorov, "Toria went through some effort to get this set up for Miranda."
"I didn’t even have to lie," Suvorov said, "He wanted to help and he was, but I had to put too many people with him. It’s not his fault, but his position. He can’t do the hands on like he’d want to."
"I’ll talk to him about that tomorrow," Simon promised, "I’m betting that Miranda will keep him occupied tonight, at least I’m hoping so."
"He’s right though," Suvorov told him, "If Massimaferro doesn’t make it, she will be chosen. That’s why he’s been out with us, to avoid telling her."
"Maybe this will make that go down easier as well," Simon shrugged, "Let’s just hope it’s much ado about nothing."
"I’m going to go back out with the searchers," Suvorov said as he got his stuff, "I’ve got the town pretty well covered due to Massimaferro’s illness. If you need anything there, talk to Stacy."
"Will do," Simon said, "And Rav?"
"Yeah?" Suvorov asked.
"You are much less of an asshole now that you’re off the sauce," Simon grinned, "Keep it up."
"Right," Suvorov chuckled and walked back out into the field.
Medoferro finally showed up downstairs looking like any other civilian about to go out on a date. It was a mode he really hadn’t seen Medoferro in for quite a while and a change that Simon liked.
"Looking good, my friend," Simon told him, "You’re going to knock her out."
"I don’t know if that’s such a good thing or not," Medoferro sighed, sitting down on a nearby bench, "I don’t know how far I should go with this. It won’t be fair to her, even if we don’t choose her."
"She’s going willingly," Simon said, "Not because of what you are, but because of who you are. Don’t forget, you and she have been making eyes at each other since that first night I dragged you over to talk to her at the pub back in Mullinix Centre."
"Ahhh," Medo smiled, "The good old days. Back when all I had to worry about were things that only might come true."
"She’s still the same person you knew then, Medo," Simon said, "She’s just grown up a bit, much like all of us. Much as you hate to admit it, you’re still the same shy boy that I had to drag over to their table six months ago."
"I knew I chose you for a reason," Medoferro chuckled, "You’re the one person I know that would have the balls to tell me that sort of thing, despite the change in position."
"Someone has to," Simon grinned, "This country would be in a sorry state if we didn’t remind you just how human you really are."
"So where am I supposed to meet her, anyway?" Medoferro asked him, "Since you’re obviously in on Toria’s conspiracy."
"Little restaurant," Simon said, pointing down the hill, "Two doors down from Toria’s place. Supposed to be the best food between Skolnik and Hulkensuxor."
"I don’t even have anything to pay with," Medo grumbled, "I never did figure out if we were supposed to get paid for this."
"That’s been taken care of," Simon chuckled, "And you don’t need to get paid. We handle the money and pay the check for you."
"Right," Medoferro chuckled, "Well, I guess I don’t want to be late. See you later, Simon."
"I’d best not see you before midnight," Simon said seriously, "Toria has made it clear. You two are to go out and enjoy yourselves. She has made it so we can do without either of you for a while. Got it?"
"Yes boss," Medoferro said, "I’ll be a good boy and keep her out late."
"You’d better," Simon said, "Cause you won’t have to worry about Toria if you don’t. I’ll kick your scrawny ass."
Both Simon and Medoferro got a good laugh out of that. Simon patted his friend on the back and sent him down the hill. He watched for a few minutes to make sure that Medo wouldn’t be getting cold feet and then went back into the government house to finish the cleaning he was working on.
The Mullinix Book 1: Ascension Page 87