Deserter (16 page)

“No, Jack, I’m going along with the Ambassador.”

“You’re kidding. You hate that social stuff.”

“I hate social stuff with the usual suspects talking about the same things they’ve talked about since I was born,” Kris cut Jack off. “But how else do I get out and meet people here? How else do I figure out what’s going on? Besides, if everyone knows I hate the social stuff, so does Sandfire. If this is the last thing he’d expect me to do, it’s the first thing I ought to do.”

“And it does have the advantage,” Penny said, “of getting you out among people who are very interested in Wardhaven and what this King thing might mean for them if they vote for the Liberal Party and join United Sentients.”

“Kris, you have another call coming in,” Nelly announced.

Kris stepped away from the table, tightened the robe around her, and stood in front of the living room screen. “Put me on.”

A small portion of the screen changed to show a man in a gray three-piece business suit. He had either grown pudgy in early middle age . . . or was wearing several layers of body armor. His face was thin, relaxed, an open smile . . . that did not reach to his eyes. “Hello, Princess Kristine. I am Calvin Sandfire, the owner of the Top of Turantic. I understand the quarantine has caught you here, and you’re open to an invitation to tonight’s inaugural ball.”

And just how and why do you know that?
Kris wondered but chose to keep things social.
Channel Mother,
Kris ordered herself. “And I am so glad that I can provide you a royal presence for your first ball. Wardhaven and Turantic have so much in common,” she gushed. The flash flood of syrupy verbiage surged back and forth for the required moments. He stayed air head social, not touching again on her stranded status. The only fact exchanged was the starting time for the ball.

“I’ll drop by your suite at the Hilton to fetch you. You will require an escort, won’t you? I understand your visit here was somewhat hastily planned.”

Not nearly as hasty as you wish,
Kris thought, even as she made sure sardonic did not slip into her face camouflage. “I don’t think that will be required. I do believe there are several men at the embassy dueling for the privilege of providing me an arm to lean on.”

That brought a dry chuckle from Sandfire.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Kris said, raising a dramatic hand to her forehead. “Mother would slap me silly if I didn’t have my security detail review the ballroom beforehand.” Mother, of course, would never say such a thing. Kris stole that from a girl in high school devotedly understudying for Mother’s job.

“I don’t see how that could be a problem,” Sandfire said with a slight twitch of his left hand. “I will have the head of Ballroom Security meet with him. Say one this afternoon?”

“Certainly. See you tonight.”

“I would not miss this for the world.” OFF, NELLY.

“That is one lying son of a bitch,” Kris growled as she stomped back to the table.

“See what I was up against?” Tommy said.

“A real pro.” Jack nodded. “You notice how he converted your
security team
into just
‘him’?
”

“Didn’t miss it. Penny, I want you and Jack to be there at one along with as large a detail of those trusted cops as you can shanghai fast. I want to flood that place.”

Penny chuckled. “Clear signal not to underestimate you?”

“Something like that. Also, Penny, could you get a dress uniform for Tom? Tommy, me boy, you are escorting the Princess Royal to the ball tonight.” Kris was all grin.

Tommy wasn’t. “You sure you want me?”

Kris swallowed; she was starting to enjoy this, and once again she’d volunteer Tommy to be right next to the target. “I’m sorry, Tom. I can understand if you don’t want to be closer than fifty klicks to the nearest Longknife.”

“That’s not it.” The usually unsinkable Santa Marian couldn’t raise his eyes from the table. “You were the one who dug me out last night. I owe you. I just thought, after all I said about wanting to be far away from you, that you might want to be far away from me.”

Three steps, and Kris was at Tommy’s chair. Kneeling beside him, she lifted his chin until he was looking her in the eyes. “Tom, I need your help.” She glanced around at the tiny group she’d dragooned into whatever it was she was doing. “You may have noticed, we are a rather eclectic lot. You were a good man at my back when the darts started flying on Olympia. At Paris, you were my one backup when I faced down our Captain and took on a Fast Attack Squadron. I need your help again because, you may have noticed, there are not a lot of people available just now.”

The Lieutenant looked at her for a long second, then took in a deep breath and let out a sigh that would have been the pride of his Irish grandmother. “And what else would I be doing with meself if I wasn’t galloping along right behind you into whatever mess you’re wanting to get into?”

“Thank you,” Kris said, then got to her feet. “What else do we need to figure out?”

“Why would this Mr. Sandfire be inviting you to the ball tonight?” Abby mused.

“I’m a great decoration,” Kris said, fluffing her hair.

“To rub your nose in the trap you’re in,” Jack grumbled.

“To get a better idea of what he’s up against,” Penny said.

“All of the above,” Kris decided. “Let’s see that he gets his money’s worth.

At 12:50, six plainclothesmen, lead by an Inspector Klaggath, presented themselves. Abby ushered them in to stand before Kris while she, in her best noble fashion, thanked them for coming to her aid on such short notice.

“Least we could do, ma’am,” Klaggath said, not buying into the royal fiction. “Seems that a certain kidnapping that we all were assigned to was resolved rather interestingly last night.”

KRIS, I HAVE ISOLATED SEVERAL CARRIER WAVES. IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT ALL THESE MEN ARE COVERED WITH BUGS.

ABOUT WHAT I EXPECTED, NELLY. “I hope no one was hurt,” Kris said, doing her best to feign real concern.

“No one that mattered,” Klaggath assured her. “And we understand the victim was recovered with little harm done. A good end all around.”

“Then I look forward to dancing the night away.”

Her knights errant off on their quest, Kris let Abby pamper her through a bath while the two of them discussed Heidelburg’s prospective social calendar for the next week. Any and all listening bugs heard a lot of social chitchat, but none of them tracked Kris’s thinking as she cycled her thoughts through what she’d gotten herself into, what might come of it, and what she wanted to do to Mr. Sandfire.

Jack and Penny returned, along with a pack of bugs. Abby and Tommy did the debugging. Was it just coincidence they got matched girl-boy, boy-girl, and the exhausting search went over every inch of their bodies? Kris cringed as the jokes, funny on several levels, began to fly, and she only wished she’d gone out so Jack and Tommy could give her as thorough a pat down.

KRIS, THERE IS STILL ONE ACTIVE BUG.

ON JACK OR PENNY?

NEITHER. IT IS A ROVING NANO GUARD.

MOBILE NANO GUARDS! Kris almost said out loud. I THOUGHT ONLY AUNT TRU WAS WORKING ON THOSE.

APPARENTLY NOT. FROM THE BANDWIDTH, IT IS ONLY AUDIO.

CAN YOU KILL IT?

PLEASE GET YOUR BERET FROM LAST NIGHT. I NEED ITS ANTENNA.

Kris started to say something to her maid, thought better of it, and ordered Nelly to open a window on the wall.

ABBY, GET ME LAST NIGHT’S BERET. THERE IS A ROVING NANO GUARD IN THE ROOM, appeared in a small window. Kris waved her maid to it.

With one eye on the screen, Jack began a full briefing. Abby returned, adjusted the beret on Kris, and merged its lead into Nelly’s wire. While Jack continued, leading them through a map of the facilities, the location of all the security sensors, and even the remotely controlled weapons, Kris waited for Nelly to report. Jack finished and glanced around the room, not at his listeners, but at the air above their heads. “That’s what we found, Kris. Things should be fine.”

NELLY, IT WOULD BE NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU.

I THINK I HAVE SEIZED CONTROL OF THE NANO. A MOMENT MORE.

Kris smiled at Jack. “It sounds like you had a very successful afternoon.”

“I’m glad you like that,” Jack said, sounding like a bad actor reading from an even worse script.

“I’ve got it,” Nelly said. “It’s doing what I tell it and sending what I want it to hear.”

“Land it on the table so I can have a look at it,” Jack said, producing all three bug chasers. He waited a moment, activated them . . . and got no response. “Nelly?”

“It is down. Your gear is not rigged for its signal.”

“I’ve got full frequency range.” Jack almost pouted.

“Yes, but this is hopping bands faster than you can follow,” Nelly said. “Trudy designed something like this, so she included programs to look out for it in my last exchange with Sam, but she didn’t expect to see them for at least another six months. I must tell Sam about this as soon as I can get a message out.”

“Sandfire is full of surprises. Nelly, keep some kind of news flowing. I don’t want him to know we’ve turned his rover.”

“He’s listening to a debate about what you will wear.”

“Thank you, Nelly. Draw up a full schematic on this thing for Aunt Tru. Jack, you’re sure I’ll be safe tonight?”

“No, but if Sandfire wanted you dead, you would be already.”

“Thanks for reminding me. Penny, if you don’t mind, I’d like you at my elbow tonight. You want some time to get ready?”

“I also need to scare up a uniform for Tommy, here.”

“Then I guess we all had better be busy.”

9

By nine, Abby had outdone herself. Kris relaxed through sinful pampering and finished in a bright red gown that would have left Mother drooling, and did leave Jack asking where to put the bull’s-eye. Kris made a face. “You’d have to paint it on me.” She was showing more skin than she had since Father caught a picture of her as she bounced around the beach on a hot summer day in bottoms only. Of course, then, she’d only been four.

Kris swished the skirt and discovered she liked the feel of this new self. She still wasn’t sure how Abby had gotten her into a backless, strapless push-up bra, but it seemed to involve glue, and Kris did not look forward to taking it off. The front looped over her neck, spread just enough to cover the essentials, then dropped to her waist. Kris was proud of that narrow asset; it was something she owned all by herself. From there hung several gauzy skirts, ready to go their separate ways as she walked. If Kris moved quickly, bare skin flashed openly. Most of the time, there was at least one thin layer of flaming red between her and the world. The most substantial material in the entire rig was the sash of the Order of the Wounded Lion cutting across from the right breast to the left hip.

The only thing more interesting than seeing how this planet’s fashion police would respond to her dress tomorrow would be to see Sandfire’s face tonight when he saw what she’d earned blowing his last plot out of space.

“And to top it all off,” Abby said, presenting the golden confection of a tiara Mother had bought. Kris frowned at it. Several thin strands circled among a finely beaten wisp of webbing. The patina showed the actual hammer marks . . . or claimed to. Kris’s eyes detected a repetitive pattern; she studied the rear of the crown. Yes, there it was; the tiny data entry port. Not only was the dang thing smart metal, but its maker had been too cheap to use a radio hookup! So much for Mother’s claim it was from Earth’s dark ages, twentieth century or earlier. Abby settled the tiara on her head, then returned once more with an automatic and Nelly.

“And here’s where we put these,” Abby said, settling both weapon and computer into place around Kris’s hips. A thin wire, cosmetically covered, connected Nelly to Kris’s implant.

“If I’d known I was going to be decked out like this regularly, I’d have had a backup jack put in my belly button.”

“Not a good place,” Abby said with a knowing frown. “One of my employers tried that. Too much tummy rumbling. And when a guy danced too close, or got on top, reception went all to hell.”

“One of your former employers,” Kris said.

“I don’t stay around the dumb ones long.”

“So, is my idea of walking right up to Sandfire dumb?”

The maid stopped her fussing about Kris, eyed her a moment, then gave a quick shake of her head. “We won’t know until we’re done. Besides, he pretty much has you where he wants you, and there’s not a lot you can do.” Abby chuckled. “Mr. Sandfire may rue the day he left you with nothing much to do.”

“Empty hands being the devil’s workshop and all that,” Kris agreed. She did not like being in anyone’s trap. Sooner or later, she would get out. Kris took several steps, testing the three-inch heels Abby insisted were perfect for this getup. The many-layered gown shimmered and flashed, and Kris stayed upright.

She paused at the door to her room to take in her friends. Tommy and Penny stood waiting in dress uniforms, his dashing, hers frumpy. Jack looked dapper in formal tails. “Well, crew, let’s see what Turantic nightlife has to offer at the Top.”

“Yeah,” said Tom, offering Kris an arm, “we saw the bottom last night.”

At the door, Kris faced four unsmiling men in white ties, tails, and earplug comm devices, as well as two women in black gowns. “Six,” she said over her shoulder to Jack.

“That’s just a start. I’d have had more if I could.”

Kris swallowed a question about who was paying; that had to be the least of her worries. With a smile and a nod to her new security, Kris crossed the threshold. Down the hall were two more agents. Mr. Klaggath held a spacious and richly apportioned slide car for them. “Everything is cleared,” he told Jack.

“Is all this necessary?” Kris asked, entering the car.

“Princess, you
play
your part. I’ll
do
mine,” Jack said as he took station ahead of her, four or five agents to his right and left. Penny stepped back to stand beside Kris.