Deserter

Chapter 13

Kris paused a moment after Klaggath opened the limo door, her eyes resting on the loading dock across the parking lot from the public space elevator terminal. She could make out the names of a half dozen companies on the trucks backed up there. NELLY, YOU HAVE THOSE NAMES IN MEMORY

YES, MA'AM.

''Thank you, Inspector. It's been a long day. I'm ready to call it quits as soon as I get in. Why don't you and your team save yourselves a run up and down the beanstalk?''

''No problem, Your Highness.''

''Then let me call it noblesse oblige and dismiss you to your families.''

The man chuckled. ''You don't want us around, huh?''

Kris swallowed. Am I that transparent? ''I'm glad for all the hard work today, and I expect a lot of hard work in the coming days. Why take more from a limited resource?''

''Then we'll do it your way. I will, however, see you safe to your ferry and have someone waiting topside for you.''

''That should be fine.''

Once the car began its climb, Jack leaned close to Kris. ''What was that all about?''

''Tell me, Jack, you're my Security Agent. What would you do if you heard me planning a crime?''

''I doubt if I'd change what I've always done when you do: try to keep you safe and unconvicted.''

''That's nice of you, but do you think Klaggath would have the same doting attitude?''

''He has my sense of humor. Why not?''

''Then let's just say, I don't choose to include him, okay?''

''Spoilsport. What do you have in mind?''

''Why don't you leave that to me and Nelly.''

''You girls have all the fun,'' Jack said, but he leaned back in his chair and went into his usual practice of looking in 360 directions at once.

YOU HAVE SOMETHING ON YOUR MIND? Nelly put in.

THAT TIARA MOTHER BOUGHT ME; HOW MUCH SMART METAL DO YOU THINK IS IN IT?

FOUR HUNDRED TWELVE GRAMS.

HOW MANY ARMED RECONNAISSANCE BUGS DO YOU THINK YOU COULD MAKE FROM IT?

THAT WOULD DEPEND ON THE CAPABILITIES YOU WANTED IN EACH.

SNAPSHOT VIDEO, FULL SPECTRUM MESSAGE INTERCEPT. AND THE ABILITY TO DEFEND THEMSELVES IF ATTACKED BY ANY OF THE BUGS WE'VE RUN INTO.

INDOORS OR OUTDOORS?

OUTDOOR.

I AM ACCESSING TOMORROW'S FORECAST. WINDS WILL BE FIVE TO TEN METERS PER SECOND. FROM THE WEST. FIGHTING THAT WIND COULD TAKE A LOT OF FUEL. THAT ENLARGES THE BASIC STRUCTURE.

WHAT IF I RELEASED THEM UPWIND AND LET THEM RIDE ACROSS THEIR TARGET?

THAT WOULD CUT DOWN ON THAT REQUIREMENT. LET'S ASSUME I COULD GIVE YOU BETWEEN TWO HUNDRED AND THREE HUNDRED BUGS. WHAT WOULD WE TARGET?

LAY OUT THE MANUFACTURERS' PLANTS FEEDING PRODUCT UP TO THE YARDS. ESPECIALLY THE ONES SENDING THE BIG STUFF.

THEY ARE ALL WITHIN THIRTY KLICKS OF THE ELEVATOR.

''You're mighty quiet,'' Tom said. ''Cat got your tongue?''

''Sometimes, after a long, hard day, a girl just wants a bit of peace and quiet,'' Kris said as Nelly named off a route that would cover all the major targets.

THAT SHOULD DO IT, Kris thought and sighed. Tomorrow looked like another busy day.

Kris had no sooner walked into the suite than Abby took her by storm. The woman was kind enough not to strip Kris of her wet underwear until she was out of public viewing. Not that Kris put up much of a fight as Abby maneuvered her into a warm tub. Settling into the suds with the jets already pulsing water against her, Kris let out a contented sigh. Happily, Abby did not chatter at Kris about the day but quietly bustled about the room, lighting candles and laying out clothes. Aroma therapy, she called it.

Kris enjoyed it. She let the warmth of the water flow into all her cold places, the pulsing jets massage tight muscles. Bad day, nice ending. Hopefully, tomorrow would end as well.

When Nelly announced all strange bugs in the rooms were destroyed or suborned, Kris called for a towel. Dry and wrapped in a fluffy robe, she hunted up Jack. ''Dear, I need a favor.''

He looked up wearily from where he and Tom were trying their skills at chess. ''If I've been promoted to dear, I guess I'm in deep trouble. Okay, honey, what do you want?''

Kris made a face at his familiarity. Honey was Mother and Father's choice word and as empty as the space between them. ''I expect that Klaggath has a woman or two passing as maids on this floor. Could you arrange through one of them for an extra uniform? I need a maid's dress.''

''For what?''

''Invisibility. Either Penny or I are going out tomorrow, and we don't want to be noticed when we do.'' Kris intended to be the one going out, but Jack would be more cooperative if the final decision was delayed a few hours.

Jack stood, going into his ''I know better'' mode, but Tom looked up from the game and got the first word in. ''What do you have on your mind?''

''Information is kind of short around here. Now I know why. Still, we need to know a whole lot more than we do. On the drive home, I passed a few ideas around with Nelly. She thinks she can convert that ridiculous tiara into several hundred microspies. Short-range little buggers, but still very effective. I figure one of us girls should make the rounds tomorrow of a couple of industrial plants. With luck, by this time tomorrow, we'll know a whole lot more about what's going on here.''

''And be subject to a whole lot of indictments for industrial espionage,'' Jack said dryly.

''You have to be caught to be indicted, as my dear Father has said many times.'' Kris smiled as if she'd never had a care.

''This is a bad idea.''

''Jack, that's what you say about all my ideas.''

''No surprise, Kris, they usually are,'' Tommy pointed out.

Kris kept a chair between her and Jack. ''Enough silliness. We need info. You have any better idea, I'm listening.''

Jack studied her with a scowl. ''Problem is, Tom, there's nothing wrong with her logic.'' Now that was a surprise.

''There never is, Jack. It's just that she comes up with the most logical ways to get herself killed and anyone too close.''

Kris swung around the chair and sat. ''We're in a trap. There is no visible way out. We're not going to find a way out by doing nothing. Information is power. Let's get some power.''

''I hate it when you do that,'' Tom said. ''Totally right, but no thought to cost. Jack, you going to get her that uniform?''

''He won't have to,'' Abby called from the bedroom. ''I picked one up yesterday.''

''You care to explain why you just happened to have your fair hands on a bit of stolen property?'' Jack said.

Abby came to the door, brown uniform in hand. ''I'm a working girl, gentlemen. I have a right to a few nights off. If I want to get away without a lot of fuss, it's my own business. I came to an amicable understanding with one of the maids. We working girls understand each other,'' she said with a sniff.

''I don't like this,'' Jack said.

''Call coming in,'' Nelly said.

''On-screen,'' Kris said.

''Is Tommy Lien available at this number?'' a man in medical whites asked.

''Yes,'' Tommy said, jumping to stand in front of the screen.

''A Miss Penelope Pasley asked me to call you. She's fine, but she's kind of beat up and won't be able to make it tomorrow.''

''What do you mean, she's beat up?'' Kris and Tommy demanded.

''We admitted her to Heidelburg Central Hospital a half hour ago with a possible concussion and multiple lacerations and contusions. Possibly assaulted in other ways. The police are taking a deposition. She will need lots of rest.''

''Tell Penny I'll be right there,'' Tommy said.

Kris was already moving. ''Nelly, raise Klaggath. Tell him the day's not over, and he's needed at Central Hospital.''

At first glance it was hard to spot any area of Penny's body not black or blue. Yet the woman's first reaction was to pull the sheet over herself to block her pain from view as Kris led the crew into her hospital room.

''Who did this?'' from Kris was overrun by Tom's dash for the bedside and a shout of ''Holy Mother of God.'' He reached out a consoling hand, then yanked it back, afraid any touch would only add to Penny's pain. She let the sheet fall and rested a bandaged hand in Tom's.

''I guess I ran into a bad crowd,'' Penny said through barely moving lips. A cut above her mouth cracked open and began to bleed. Kris took a cotton ball from the bedside table and dabbed at the blood, anger making her hand tremble.

''Hey, Tommy, don't look so pale. I don't feel nearly as bad as I look,'' sounded good, but the wince as she said it robbed the words of consolation.

''Don't talk, honey,'' Tom whispered. ''You don't have to say a word. We're here for you. You just rest.''

As the Lieutenant followed the JG's orders and relaxed against the pillow, her gown fell open, revealing a bruised and stitched breast. Kris pulled the sheet up to cover Penny and turned to face a tight-lipped Jack just as Klaggath entered.

''Who did this?'' she demanded of the cop.

''We can talk better outside,'' the Inspector said.

Kris and Jack left Tom clinging gently to Penny's hand. The door hadn't closed before Kris demanded, ''Talk to us.''

''She was set upon by five or six assailants less than a block from her apartment and dragged into an alley. There were no witnesses other than Penny. She was found unconscious when a man came out to empty his trash. Based on the time lapse between when we dropped her off and her being discovered, I suspect she was unconscious about an hour.''

''How bad is she?'' Jack asked.

''The concussion is the main worry. Her skull is intact, but we don't know how badly scrambled the brain is. She was beat up over most of her body.''

''What did she tell you about her attackers?'' Jack asked.

''They shouted, ‘Wardie scum' and other epithets. It was an attack on her as a representative of her government.''

''Not as a part of our team?''

''Impossible to tell,'' the cop answered the cop.

''She got too close to a Goddamn Longknife,'' Kris whispered.

''Too early to say,'' the Inspector insisted.

''But a safe bet.'' Kris swallowed a dry snicker. ''Inspector, get her out of here. I want her safe in my suite topside.''

''She is safe here,'' he said with firm professionalism.

''You want to bet me tomorrow something won't come up that puts her outside any protection you can arrange?''

Klaggath worried his lower lip. ''This morning I thought I had you all protected.'' He sighed. ''I'll talk to the Doctor.''

''I'll talk to Penny,'' Kris said. In the room, Tom was carefully stroking Penny's hair. ''Penny, you mind if we check you out of here? I want my team close.''

''If it wouldn't be too much trouble, Your Highness, I'd kind of like to be close to Tom.''

''I think that can be arranged,'' Kris said, giving both her friends the encouraging smile they wanted from her and backing out of their space. She found Klaggath down the hall, arguing with two white-coated women.

''We need to keep her under observation,'' one said.

''She's had a very rough night,'' put in the other.

''That's rather obvious,'' Kris said dryly. ''Klaggath, can you arrange for a full-time nurse?''

''Already have one on call. She'll meet us at the elevator.''

Kris turned on the two docs and put on her best royal smile. ''Lieutenant Pasley wants to check out. We have made arrangements for her care out of the Hilton on High Turantic.''

The older Doctor pursed her lips in indecision. ''She needs full-time care.''

''We will provide it.''

''She's been badly beaten,'' the other pointed out.

''The Navy takes care of its own,'' Kris said flatly.

''Didn't do so good this evening,'' the younger said.

''We won't make that mistake twice,'' Kris said, glancing at Klaggath. The Inspector nodded.

''If she wants out, we can't keep her,'' the older doc finally agreed. ''We'll get her a few days' meds from the pharmacy and some instructions on care. She shows any change in her condition, and you get her to a doc immediately.''

''That we will do,'' Kris agreed.

An hour later, with Penny in a wheelchair and Tom pushing her and reacting to any sudden intake of breath as if it hurt him twice as much, they made their escape. Klaggath had not only the regular detail but uniformed cops as well checking every avenue.

They made it back to the Hilton with only one distraction. Ambassador Middenmite called to decry missing Kris on the presidential yacht that morning and to ask her to make up for all the connections she had missed, hands she'd failed to shake, and pecks on the cheek she'd dodged by showing up at a ball tomorrow. The guy was completely clueless. ''Yes, I'll be there,'' Kris snapped to end the call.

In the suite, the nurse took over caring for Penny, though Abby seemed just as able and better supplied from her trunks than the nurse was from her traveling bag. They settled Penny in Tom's room with him and the nurse doing a full vigil. Tom's eyes never left Penny; she kept a hand on him. And Kris knew she was giving them what they longed for, the closeness that would form a bond with forever written all over it. Looks like another bridesmaid dress in my future. Kris sighed. I should have told Tom. What? That I love him? Do I? Did I? Does it matter now?

Kris slipped away to her bedroom like a good friend and turned out the light. Kris left a wake-up call with Nelly for five a. m., lay on her back, and tried to ignore the day.