Furious

41

Senior Chief Agent in Charge Foile followed the young lieutenant assigned to lead him through the labyrinth of corridors, ladders, and gear that seemed indigenous to a man-of-war. He had been on two before and needed a guide both times. The walk gave him time to consider where he might find his wayward princess. He concluded that the ship’s brig was her most likely abode.

So he was quite surprised when the lieutenant opened a door marked ADMIRAL’S IN PORT CABIN and ushered the agent in. There were four very alert, armed, and battle-dressed Marines guarding the door, so it did leave the agent to wonder just what were the circumstances the princess had landed herself in this time.

A young woman in a baggy and sweat-stained brown uniform stood in the center of the large and well-apportioned room. He recognized her immediately. Clearly exhausted and bedraggled, she was still quite beautiful. The word Agent Chu regularly used came to mind. “Gorgeous.” Her hair looked longer than it was in most of the pictures Chu had shoved under his nose to admire.

Foile stepped forward and gave her a slight bow from the neck. “Lieutenant Commander, Her Royal Highness Kristine Longknife, I presume.”

The young woman offered him her hand. “After tonight, I may be back to just Kris. I’m not even sure the Longknife applies.”

Foile took the hand, considered kissing it, then shook it instead.

“Your father had me chasing after you for the last several days,” he said. “I doubt he’d do that if he planned to disinherit you.”

The woman smiled; it was a lovely little thing. “Don’t be too sure. Water seems to be a lot thicker than blood where my family’s concerned. Now,” she said, offering him an overstuffed chair, “you said you had questions.”

Foile settled into the offered chair; the princess took one across from him. Another man, olive-skinned and alert, and, if the pictures were right, Captain Juan Montoya, the princess’s security chief, stayed on the couch.

“May I first say that you have led me on quite a chase. No matter where I was, you’d just left. Professionally, I must admire you.”

“I had a lot of good help,” the princess said. “Jack here, and Penny. She’s asleep in her new quarters. At least I hope she’s getting some rest.”

“And others?”

“No one helped us,” the princess said, and did not flinch even a little at the lie.

Foile raised an eyebrow. Many a criminal’s facade had crumbled at that raised eyebrow, following a lie with the blurted truth.

The princess folded her hands in her lap and waited patiently for him to go on.

Damn, she’s good, Foile thought, but then, she learned from the best.

“Your father asked me to catch you before you got yourself killed and others with you. I did not catch you, but you seem to have not gotten yourself killed.”

“I’m rather well practiced at that.” She flashed her security chief a smile that clearly gave evidence of what the forensic team had found in the lodge.

Foile found himself wishing them the best of luck where that was concerned.

“There is the matter of why you almost got yourself killed this evening,” Foile said. “I asked your father about that, and he told me to forget it. He strongly hinted I should forget the entire last week.”

“I imagine so. Father does tend to want to forget problems he can’t solve.”

“I’m having a hard time forgetting you risked your life just to talk to your grandfather. And the extent he went to avoid you.”

Now it was the princess’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Sarin gas. That was a bit extreme. Are you sure he gassed the place?”

“I told you what I was told,” Foile admitted. “I did not check out the facts, and you did kind of trash the building in your exit.”

Both the princess and her man laughed heartily at that. “Yes, that exit was spectacular even by my standards. I hope everyone got out of the building. We restored power to the elevators.”

“Yes, I know. From what I heard, the building was empty when you left.”

The princess seemed relieved at that.

Foile saw his opening and took it. “But what was so important that you risked your life to see your grandfather?”

“And why was he so intent on not letting me get a word in edgewise?” the princess said thoughtfully.

“Exactly.”

The princess leaned back in her chair. She glanced at Jack, who raised an eyebrow, then returned her gaze to Foile. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“I pursued you for four days. I forced myself on your father, the Prime Minister, and I came all the way up here and managed to crash your present security. By the way, are you seeking political asylum?”

“I’ve turned myself in. I expect I’ll be facing a Musashi court in a few days, but back to your question. Once again, I must ask you, do you really want to know the answer? If I tell you, you will likely never sleep as soundly as you have.”

Now it was Foile’s turn to sit back in his chair. He’d spent twenty-five years as a good man of the law. He read the cartoon in the daily news and ignored the political topics like a plague. Apparently, this young woman was about to initiate him into the inner secrets of those he served.

He took a deep breath and leaned forward. “Can what you tell me be any worse than what I’m imagining?”

“Very likely,” the man on the couch said. “It’s dangerous to get too close to one of these damn Longknifes.”

“I suspect I have been too close to you Longknifes ever since your father summoned me to his office. Enough beating around this bush. Would you please answer my question?”

The princess gave him a sad smile. “Unfortunately, I am not all that sure what the answer is to your question. I assume you know that I seem to have started a war with some hostile aliens on the other side of the galaxy.”

“It was in the all the news,” Foile said. “My Agent Chu, a fan of yours, made sure I saw the worst of it. Then, suddenly, it wasn’t there anymore.”

“Yes,” the princess said. “There seem to be major differences in high places just how to respond to the hot potato I dropped in their laps. My great-grandfather Ray, King Ray to you, appears to be trying to raise a Navy without raising taxes.”

“How’s that working for him?” Foile asked.

“Not so good. Quite a bit of resistance all around. But it’s his son, my grandfather Al’s reaction, that is causing me trouble.”

“What is his reaction?”

“Nothing, officially, but there’s chatter, not a lot of it, but it seems that Grampa Al wants to take a different tack from his father. Being the hardheaded businessman that he is, it appears he wants to get the aliens talking to him, open trade, whereas the excitable and shoot-’em-up types like Ray and me only get them shooting first and neither asking nor answering questions.”

“What do you think your grandfather Al will try to do?”

“How about sending out a trading fleet loaded with all the goodies that we make?” the princess said.

Foile saw the problem. “And if these bad actors capture the fleet?”

“They get all the computers and navigational material to take them right back to us,” the young man said, getting up from his couch to pace.

“A lot of good people died under my command,” the princess said. “Every ship that was hit dropped its reactor containment and blew themselves to atoms so that the aliens could get no navigational data from them. It looks like Grampa Al will give it to them on a silver platter.”

“This was what you wanted to question him about?”

“Yes.”

“And rather than talk to you, or tell you some lie, he ran away.”

“Yes. Interesting reaction, no?”

“Very interesting,” Foile said. He found he was sitting on the edge of his seat. He forced himself to settle back. Any effort to relax proved a waste.

“You see why I was willing to risk everything to get a few words in.”

“I do, and may I say that I’m glad that I didn’t keep you from getting as far as you got.” Foile allowed himself a chuckle. “I don’t often fail. I’m glad I picked this time to have one of my rare breaches.”

The princess shrugged and flipped a hand at her surroundings. “I did fail. Now all I can hope for is to get my day in court and present my case to the public at large. Clearly, I will not be talking about vague rumors and innuendoes for which I can produce no basis in fact.”

Senior Chief Agent in Charge Foile nodded. “On the other hand, it is frequently my job to produce just the sort of facts you lack.”

“Be careful,” the princess said.

The young man ceased his pacing. “While her grampa Al might not be willing to use violence against Kris here, his subordinates, or their helpers, have been known to get very enthusiastic in their effort to get into his good graces. Remember ‘will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?’ The same could be said of a princess or a cop.”

Foile nodded. “Minor minions are want to go off half-cocked. However, they are often the ones that crack under pressure and give us our first handle on a rope that leads up the chain of evidence.”

Foile paused for a moment, a line of investigation cascading out before his mind’s eye. “I think I know a couple of trees to shake. I think this could be very challenging. Challenging and fun.”

“You have a weird sense of fun, then,” the young man said.

Foile stood. “One word, Princess. If memory serves, Musashi still has capital punishment.”

“Your memory is correct. Nelly advised me of it before we landed on the Mutsu, but thank you for the thought. If I may add, if you insist on taking on this quest for a damsel . . . and all humanity . . . in distress, you might want to talk with my brother Honovi. He’s a member of parliament and not as blind to some things as my father. You might also want to talk to my grampa Trouble.”

“If you mean General Tordon, I talked with him. A most reticent witness.”

“He’ll loosen up when you get to know him. Tell him I sent you and that I dropped the Grampa Al monkey on your back.”

“Thank you, not for the Grampa Al monkey, but for the secret handshake for General Trouble.”

“Just remember,” the princess said. “He’s trouble for everyone, even me. Oh, another thing. I left my luggage in the Downside elevator station. Is there any chance you could send it on to the Mutsu?”

“The police impounded it, but with no case filed, I can likely get it loose.”

“Thank you.”

“There is just one more matter, Princess. One of my agents, Leslie Chu is a great fan of yours. Is there any chance I might have your autograph?”

“Is there any paper here?”

“I can print out one of your pictures,” Nelly said, and the admiral’s desk began spitting out a print. The princess signed it with a flourish, then, with an impish grin added, “Sorry I missed you.”

Foile gave her a bow from the waist as he took his leave. Clearly, this young woman was noble and deserving of his respect. The lieutenant was waiting for him outside the door. As Foile made his way off the ship, he began rearranging his schedule. Like so many of his kind, he had a large bank of unused leave.

I wonder how the boss will react when I ask for a month off?

He also wondered how much help he could get out of Leslie as the price for her princess’s autographed photo.