The Silent War

HUMPHRIES MANSION

“He got away again?” Humphries squawked.

Standing before his desk, Victoria Ferrer nodded glumly. She wore a plain business suit of dove gray: knee-length skirt and collarless jacket, cut low, with no blouse under it. Humphries glowered at her. “And Harbin missed Pancho, too?”

“I’m afraid so,” Ferrer admitted. “I’ve had our top military advisor analyze the engagement. Apparently Fuchs has disguised his ship to look like an asteroid—superficially, at least.”

“And that psychopath Harbin fell for it.”

“As far as the reports show, yes, that’s apparently what happened. He damaged Mathilda II but not badly enough. The vessel limped back to Ceres. Pancho Lane was not injured.”

“And Fuchs got away again,” Humphries muttered darkly.

Ferrer said nothing.

“Fire that lunatic Harbin,” he snapped. “I don’t want him on my payroll for another microsecond.”

“But—”

“Fire him!” Humphries shouted. “Get rid of him! Kill him if you have to, just get him out of my way!”

Ferrer sighed patiently. “If you insist.”

Noting the way her cleavage moved, Humphries allowed a small grin to creep across his face. “I insist.”

“Very well.” But instead of turning to leave his office, she remained standing in front of his desk.

“What else?” Humphries asked warily. He knew from long experience that when he had to ask an aide what was on her mind, it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“About your son…”

“Alex?”

“No. The baby. Van.”

“The runt.” “He’s your son, Mr. Humphries, and he needs medical attention.”

“See to it, then.”

“Don’t you want to know—”

“The less I hear about that runt the better I like it. Don’t bother me about him. Just do what needs to be done.”

She sighed again. This time with disappointment, Humphries could clearly see. “Yes, sir,” she said.

Humphries pushed himself up from his desk chair and crooked a finger at her. “Come with me, Victoria. Business hours are finished for this afternoon. Time for fun.”

She gave him a look somewhere between surprised and reluctant. “But there’s still—”

Coming around the desk, he held out his hand to her. “Vickie, if you wear such enticing clothes you can’t blame me for reacting.”

She shrugged, which made her even more enticing to him.

Pancho was still steaming by the time she got back to her home in Selene. That’s twice the bastard’s tried to kill me, she said to herself as she paced through the suite’s front corridor to her bedroom. I can’t let him have a third shot at me.

She tossed her travel bag onto the bed and told the phone to get her chief of security. Abruptly she canceled the call.

“Find Nobuhiko Yamagata,” Pancho said. Silently, she added, Time to fight fire with fire.

It took several minutes for Pancho’s computerized communications system to work its way through the Yamagata Corporation’s computerized communications system, but at last the wall of Pancho’s bedroom seemed to dissolve and she was looking at a three-dimensional image of Nobuhiko. He was on his feet, in a quilted winter parka, its hood pulled down off his head. Pancho could see snow-covered mountains and a crisp blue sky in the background.

“Jeeps,” she said, “I hope I haven’t busted into your vacation.”

Nobuhiko smiled and shook his head. “Only a weekend getaway, Ms. Lane. Your call sounded important.”

“It’s important to me,” Pancho said. “Martin Humphries has tried to murder me again.”

“Again?” Nobu’s brows rose.

As he listened to Pancho’s story, Nobuhiko was thinking that his father’s strategy was working perfectly. She believes Humphries has tried to kill her twice. The first time was our doing, of course. But Humphries is playing his role, too, just as Father predicted.

“… so I was thinking that a strategic alliance between our two corporations would make a lot of sense. Together, we could outmaneuver Humphries, and outmuscle him if we have to.”

Nobu pretended to be impressed. “The problem is,” he said slowly, “that Yamagata Corporation has confined its activities to Earth ever since the greenhouse cliff devastated Japan and so many other nations.”

“I know,” Pancho said, after the nearly three-second lag that bedeviled communications between the Earth and Moon. “But if our two companies work together, Yamagata can get back into space industries as Astro’s partner.”

Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Nobu replied, “That is something worth considering, naturally. I will take it up with my board of directors. I’ll call a special meeting, as early as I can.”

Almost three seconds later Pancho nodded. “Okay. I appreciate that. In the meantime, though, I need some advice. Military advice. Can you recommend someone to me?”

Ahh, thought Nobuhiko, now we come to the real reason for her call. She is going to war with Humphries and she needs a military force.

“There are several organizations of mercenaries that might be of service to you.”

“I want the best,” Pancho said.

“I will send you complete dossiers on the best three organizations,” Nobu said, while thinking, Father will be very impressed. His plan is moving well. Let Astro and Humphries destroy each other. Yamagata Corporation will even help them to do so.

“Terminated?” Harbin stared at Grigor’s message on his screen. “Just like that, they kick me out?”

He was in his quarters in Vesta while the damaged Samarkand was undergoing repairs. Leeza Chaptal was in bed with him when Grigor’s stinging message came through. Simply one line: Your services for Humphries Space Systems are hereby terminated. Period.

Harbin knew it would take at least half an hour for him to get a message back to Grigor. But what could he say? Ask why he’d been cut loose? That was obvious. He’d failed to get Fuchs, and failed to carry out his assignment about Pancho Lane. They were finished with him.

How many have I killed for them? Harbin asked himself. For more than eight years I’ve done their bidding, and now they kick me out. Terminated. Like some bug they squash under their boots.

Leeza saw the frozen expression on his face, realized that Harbin was raging beneath his mask of icy indifference.

“It’s all right,” she said, sliding her arms around his neck. “Yamagata will hire you.”

“How can you be sure?” he muttered.

“They’ve wanted to hire you for months. Now there’s nothing to prevent you from accepting their offer.”

“But if I’m no longer with HSS, why would they hire me? They only wanted me to spy on Humphries for them.”

“They’ll hire you,” she repeated. “I know they will.”

“Why?”

Leeza smiled at him. “Because there’s going to be a war here in the Belt, and you are a warrior.”