The Margrave of Montora (The Chronicles of Montora Book 2)

by Ward Wagher

  Eyes wide, the shuttle service attendant, a small black-haired oriental girl who appeared to be about fifteen years old, picked up her handset. It had a hush mic, so they could not hear what she was saying. However, she was clearly asking for directions on what to do about the Diplomatic Person who showed up at her gate.

  She hung up the handset and spoke to Franklin. "If you would step in here, please, Sir. Someone will be right with you." She led them to a small office.

  Franklin murmured a thank you as they stepped in.

  "Oh, it's no problem at all, sir. We try our best to help with our travelers’ needs. Would you like to sit down? Could I get you a beverage? Coffee? Tea?" The girl wrung her hands as she spoke.

  “We’re just fine,” Franklin said. “We appreciate your courtesy.”

  “If you need anything at all, just let me know.”

  “Your supervisor is coming?”

  “Ah… yes, Sir.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be able to take care of things, right?”

  “Oh, yes, Sir,” the girl said. “She will be here just anytime.”

  “Relax,” Franklin smiled. “I’m not that important.”

  “Sir, your assistant held a gun on Inspector Standish. Then he just walked away. You must be important.”

  The door opened and a middle aged woman walked in. The gray-shot blonde hair framed a pleasant, weathered face. “Okay, Amy. I’m here now.” She turned to Franklin. “You would be the Margrave?”

  “Yes. Franklin Nyman.” He held out a hand and she shook it.

  “Alice Becker. This is Amy’s first week.”

  Hopper gazed at Amy.

  Franklin chuckled. “Quite alright. Amy did fine. She was most helpful.”

  “It probably didn’t help to have her see Standish leave with his tail between his legs.”

  "Inspector Standish allowed himself to be embarrassed. I suspect it will not go well with whoever slipped him some bad information."

  "No matter," Becker said. "Now, what can we do for you today, Margrave?"

  "I thought perhaps it would reduce the tension in the lounge a bit if my assistant and I could go ahead and board the shuttle. Or, barring that, a more private place to wait."

  "I understand. Amy, where are we at on the boarding?"

  "The crew told me about ten minutes ma'am."

  Becker picked up the handset on the desk in the small office. She punched one button and listened. "Who's this?"

  She listened again, then replied. "This is Alice Becker. I have a couple of VIPs I need to get aboard. Are you ready?"

  She listened briefly, then put the handset down. Looking at Franklin she said, "Okay, if you'll follow me please, Sir. They're ready for you on the shuttle."

  They followed Becker out of the office and down a walkway to the boarding tube. Hopper looked over his shoulder at Amy as they left the office. "If you will step through there, the crew will be pleased to seat you, Sir."

  Franklin shook her hand again. "Thank you for going to so much trouble. I appreciate it."

  She smiled. "It was worth seeing Standish make a fool of himself. Sometimes he is such a nuisance."

  Franklin raised an eyebrow. "I got the impression he is an honest cop."

  "Oh, he is probably the most honest policeman on the force. His problem is that he thinks very highly of himself."

  "Speaking from personal experience, that can be dangerous."

  Becker had a pleasant laugh." I suspect you have no more foibles than the rest of us. Have a good trip, Sir."

  Franklin looked back at Hopper as they walked through the boarding tube. "I got the impression you wanted to say something at the end there, Hopper."

  "I was tempted to say Amen, Sir, but I was able to overcome the temptation."

  "Very wise, Hopper. Let me remind you we are again going to be going up where there is not much oxygen on the other side of the bulkhead."

  "I take your point, Sir."

  "See that you do."

  “Besides, I think I'm in love again.”

  “The little oriental girl? Hopper, I thought you were in love with our tour guide.”

  “That was yesterday. This is now.”

  The cabin steward placed them in the front seats of the shuttle. He offered them champagne, which Franklin took. Hopper asked for a soft drink.

  Hopper stretched out his legs into the open space in front of them. "This is nice, Sir. We need to travel like this more often."

  "Don't get used to it. I despise having people fawning over me."

  He looked over at Hopper when the steward delivered their drinks. "No booze, Hopper?"

  Hopper looked seriously at Franklin. "As long as there is a risk I may have to pull out my piece again, I'm not touching a drop."

  "While I am at it," Franklin said, "let me commend you on the good work back there, Hopper."

  "Thank you, Sir, but that's what I'm here for. That could have been a very bad situation."

  "I try not to worry about things that don't happen. However, I can see how you might want to adjust your training for situations like that."

  Hopper toyed with the frosted cola glass on the tray. "Margrave, just to be perfectly serious: if we get into a situation like that again, and I yell for you to get down; please do not stop to debate, or countermand, because bullets will be flying and it's my job to keep you out of their path."

  Franklin stared at Hopper for a few moments. "I'll take that under advisement."

  "No, Sir. Regardless of who wants to debate it, you are a head of state. I have a duty to protect you, and when it all falls apart, I will absolutely be in charge, and you will do what I say. That's the way it has to be, Sir, and there is no room for negotiation."

  Franklin continued to stare at Hopper, and chewed on his lower lip. "Do I detect the voice of Major Boodles there?"

  "Sir, the regimental security detail trained me in VIP security. They take it seriously. I didn't realize it until Sergeant Smith explained some things to me."

  "Okay, I surrender. I'll do what you tell me, and then we can argue about it afterwards."

  "Thank you, Sir." Hopper leaned back in his seat and took a deep drink of his cola. His eyes continually moved back and forth watching the crew and the interior, as well as glancing out the windows.

  He's definitely wired for protection right now, Franklin thought, as he sipped his champagne, and I think I'm glad.

  The passengers begin coming aboard the shuttle. Hopper sat up again and carefully scanned each as they walked by. The steward walked by helping the passengers to get settled in and Hopper held up a finger to get his attention.

  “Yes, Sir?"

  "I need to sit in the jump seat," he said pointing to the seat folded against the bulkhead in front of him.

  The steward, having been appraised of his passengers, immediately agreed. "Not a problem, Sir. I would ask you to wait until the last passenger has boarded as the jump seat blocks the aisle."

  Hopper nodded, and took another drink of the cola.

  He looks like a coiled spring, Franklin thought. I guess it took that encounter with the inspector to awaken him to his job. Based upon our experiences, during this trip, I probably need to keep him on the payroll. Plus he's kind of likable in an odd sort of way.

  chapter forty-two

  “Welcome aboard, Margrave. I’m Alexander Smirnoff, the Captain.”

  Franklin shook hands with the Captain of the Aerean Venture. “Nice of you to meet the passengers, Sir. Don’t see that very often.”

  Smirnoff blushed slightly. “Well, our agent at the Gustav Starport gave me a call and said you were coming aboard. I wanted to meet you.”

  “I’m honored, but don’t understand the reason for it.”

  “You’re the most powerful man on Hepplewhite. Plus, I understand you run the system Navy out there.”

  “I actually am in liege to the Duke of Hepplewhite. But I do run the system Navy. An honor to meet you, Captain.”

  �
��An absentee Duke,” Smirnoff said. “You’re the most powerful individual in residence.”

  “Possibly, but I try not to throw my weight around.”

  “Let’s step out of the way, Margrave, so the rest of the passengers can board.”

  “Of course, Sir.”

  “I'm mainly interested, Margrave, in getting a sense of the conditions around Hepplewhite.”

  “You mean in terms of whether any pirates are around?”

  “Exactly. Perhaps you would care to join me for dinner? I'd prefer to discuss this privately.”

  “Of course, Sir. I understand and would be delighted.”

  “Very well, then, 6PM ship’s time.” With a nod the captain stepped away and walked from the embarkation room.

  “Your reputation precedes you,” Hopper said.

  “Don’t start, Murray.”

  “Aye, aye, Flipper.”

  “Oh, Good Heavens!”

  Hopper trotted over to the officer with the passenger manifest. “Can you tell me the suite for the Margrave Montora?”

  The officer tapped a few buttons on his tablet, then looked up. "You are on the C level, Suite 7. Will you need help finding it, sir?"

  "I've studied the ship's layout. I think we will be fine."

  He walked back over to Franklin. "If you will follow me, sir, I’ll make sure that you don't get lost finding your cabin."

  “Aren’t you supposed to be seeing about my baggage, or something?”

  "All taken care of, Sir. If we get started now, we can beat the crush of passengers."

  Franklin rolled his eyes. "All right, Hopper. Let's go. With any luck, maybe you will be crushed in a bulkhead door, when it closes."

  Hopper pretended not to hear, and simply marched from the room as though he expected Franklin to follow.

  I wish I had bothered to study the ship’s layout, he thought. I feel like a fool following the little squirrel around.

  # # #

  Rather than sitting at the Captain's table in the passenger dining room, Franklin dined with the Captain in his private dining room. The food was very good, and Franklin wondered if it was the same as that being fed to the passengers. Captain Smirnov apparently anticipated the question.

  "The owners insist upon a five-star chef aboard each liner," he said. "I think you'll have little to complain about where the fare is concerned."

  "No complaints at all, Sir," Franklin said. "This is excellent. I may have to see if I can extort his recipe for Beef Wellington from him."

  The Captain laughed. "Many have tried, Margrave. Few have succeeded."

  "If the manager of my hotel at Montora village got a taste of this, you would probably have a kidnapping on your hands. I mean, I thought the chef back home was pretty good, but this transcends that."

  "I will consider myself warned, but we have good security on these ships."

  "That should ease the fears of my… Assistant."

  "Does he have something to fear?" The captain asked quickly.

  "I don't think so. The people I visited in New Stockholm had developed some enemies, and we had a bit of unpleasantness at the starport. But, no, I really don't expect any problems aboard ship. I'm not very well known, I'm not very wealthy, and I keep a low profile."

  "My real concern is whether there is anything I need to beware of in the Panoz system."

  "I guess you heard about the pirate raid we had there last year," Franklin said. "We now have a real, live destroyer in the Hepplewhite Space Navy, and it is fully armed. There are not too many bad guys who will want to tangle with that."

  "That is reassuring. Aerean Venture is a nice, fat target. We get very concerned when we hear reports of pirate activity. Do you expect any more activity?” the Captain asked.

  “We pulled his tail pretty hard out at Victor when we rescued the hostages, but I think we would have seen him by now if he was coming back after us.”

  “You think?”

  Franklin chuckled mirthlessly. “I hope. I'm betting the presence of the destroyer will deter anybody from getting frisky. But to be honest, we were messing around with Manfred Higginbotham, and yon Manfred rides around in a cruiser named Santa's Workshop. Have you heard of him?”

  “Oh yes. I make it my business to be aware of the players out there.”

  “Then you know that if he comes back, we'd have a tough time with him.”

  “What kind of shape is your destroyer in?” the Smirnoff asked.

  “Actually it had a refit a couple years ago and is current with anything the League Navy is running. But Manfred is a tough customer.”

  “But you don't think he'll be back.”

  Franklin held up his hands. “Captain Smirnoff, right now you know as much as I. If Manfred rolls into the Panoz system, I think Canopus can keep him occupied long enough for you to haul gravs. That's probably the best assurance I can give you right now.”

  “I will take whatever I can get,” Smirnoff said. “This starship is pretty fast, but somebody gets the drop on us, we would be in trouble.”

  Franklin leaned back and picked up his cup to sip from it. "This has to be just about the best coffee I've ever had as well. But, in answer to your question, I don't believe we will have any problem in the Panoz system.”

  "That is good to hear. We like these smooth, boring trips. The coffee comes from Earth. There are not many places, particularly out here in the periphery, where it grows well."

  The steward carried in a tray with dessert. He set a small plate with a piece of carrot cake in front of each of two men. The Captain leaned back to speak to the steward, and his increasing girth was clearly visible.

  "I swear you are trying to kill me, Chief. You know how I love this stuff."

  "The chef heard you had a guest, and pulled out all the stops, Skipper," the steward said.

  "No complaints from me," Franklin said. "This dinner was very, very good."

  "I'll relay what you said to the chef, Sir," the steward said. "We have to stroke his vanity from time to time. This will help."

  "The things we go through to keep people happy," Smirnoff said.

  "Indeed," Franklin said.

  "So tell me," the captain said, "are you also the skipper of the destroyer?"

  "Technically yes. We try to keep a skeleton crew aboard at all times, so I switch out with the Exec and the Tactical Officer. If we have a bad guy drop out of FTL into the system, I would hope to have enough time to get up to the ship. But, if not, either of my two officers could fight her if necessary."

  "How is your level of training?"

  "Not bad. We use the sims a lot for training, but we also had a live fire exercise with those pirates a while back."

  "What was the score against Manfred?"

  "Inconclusive. As I mentioned, we went in to rescue a couple of hostages on Victor. We got a couple of people killed, and took some damage. But, we got away with it."

  Smirnoff whistled. "Talk about baiting the dragon in his lair."

  "I don't know. We had the advantage of immediate surprise. Plus, I don't think they were expecting us. Things did get a little exciting while we were trying to recover our shuttle."

  "I have a few simulations I use for crew training," Smirnoff said. "Mostly they are escape and evade. They are not very good."

  Franklin bit his lower lip as he thought. "I have some simulations on chip with me. I was going to show them to my dad and get his input. Perhaps I could share a few of them with you."

  "Oh, could you? I'm not sure the crew would appreciate it, but I certainly would."

  "I will have my steward deliver a chip to you this evening. We certainly would not want the crew to get sloppy, would we?"

  Smirnoff grinned evilly. "Oh, I think we can discourage that."

  # # #

  It turned into a relaxing voyage for Franklin. The small suite contained a living room and two bedrooms. Franklin spent most of his time catching up on reading, and just simply thinking. With the ship cruising in FTL
drive between the stars, there was no excitement, and there was no pressing business for the margrave.

  With Franklin absorbed in his reading, the steward came and went about his business with Franklin often not noticing. Franklin would often forget to take a meal, and Hopper would slip out to the galley to bring a tray back. The chef had apparently been encouraged by Franklin's compliments, so the meals brought in by the steward were as good if not better than what the passengers received in the dining room.

  One evening Hopper quietly slipped a mug of coffee on the end table next to Franklin, and then simply stood there waiting. After a few minutes Franklin finally noticed his presence and looked up.

  "Yes Hopper?"

  "Sorry to bother you, Sir, but I had a question."

  "Sit down, Hopper," Franklin said. "I believe I have been mostly ignoring you on this trip."

  "That's all right, sir. I think my job, or rather part of my job, is to attract as little notice from you as possible."

  "You're getting very good at it. But, you had a question?"

  Hopper sat down on the edge of a wingback chair across from the sofa where Franklin was stretched out. He licked his lips.

  "Come on, Hopper," Franklin said. "I'm not going to bite your head off."

  "Sorry, sir. I just didn't quite know how to ask this. You see, sir, I keep hearing people talk about God, and about the Bible. Well, sir, I started reading the Bible."

  Franklin canted his head to one side and nodded. "As you know, Hopper, I personally don't take the Bible too seriously in terms of religious thought. However, I think it's a very good idea to be familiar with it. For a lot of reasons, it is probably the most important book in human history; certainly the most influential."

  "That's just it, sir. I've been paging through at random, and it's not quite what I expected."

  Franklin smiled. "It's always a good thing when you can dilute your ignorance."

  Hopper was still looking uncomfortable. "You know, sir, I have a terrible lip on me. It got me into lots of trouble when I was young."

  "It still gets you into a lot of trouble, and you're not old yet."

  “I try not to be that way and I thought maybe the Bible would tell me how to be good.”

  “Sounds reasonable to me.”