Libor: Katana Krieger #2

by Bill Robinson

  Miley nods.

  "Can we speak to them, can we understand their language?"

  "No. But they do have a sign language which some humans have learned, and which I understand a little." I resist teaching them how to say knife.

  The commentator interrupts.

  "Can we beat them?"

  I look him eyes to eyes.

  "Yes, but it wouldn't be easy."

  That statement restarts the fight between the congressman and the commentator over the best course of action. This time, they fight until we really do run out of time. Miley cuts them both off.

  "This is Miley Langston for UnionOne Earth Report. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you again tomorrow."

  The congressman is gone almost before the producer lets us know we've gone to commercial. DeLong comes by briefly just to introduce himself, then he's out the door as well.

  Miley floats over once they're out of sight.

  "Katana, thank you for coming by. I'm going to ask the Navy to bring you back for another show, by yourself, and take us through all the photos and other materials on the Congressional server."

  "Miley, you always make it painless. If the Navy approves, I'll be back."

  "I've never been afraid in my life, but this whole thing scares me to death. Who can we trust? How do we know what to do?"

  "I've been asking myself the same questions, and I don't have any answers for you, other than I hope they build those new cruisers at record speed."

  She looks at me, I think at a loss for words. Her producer drags her away before she finds any, and I float out of the studio. Nothing important to do, there's a small garden in the high gee area, I head down there and find a nice bench near a couple rose bushes and one of those small wooden bridges over a river made of rock.

  An idea pops into my head, and I grab my pad. I call up the military transport schedules and find what I'm looking for, hit the buttons and somewhat optimistically reserve two spots.

  I have two messages when I go to my home screen, one from Petty Officer Simon telling me what a great job I did, and the other from Shelby suggesting dinner at the Indian place at 1800. She included Carl in the message, who has already agreed. I join in with a yes of my own.

  Then I use my pad to find out where his office is, and head off in that direction. Carl's office is tiny, barely room for a cheap metal stand up desk with two cheap attachment points, but I'm assuming he's not in it that often. I get lucky this afternoon, even luckier because Ramos is hooked in the second point when I arrive. (To keep you from floating and twisting while you work in zero gee, there's a post attached to the floor which hooks to hooks on your uniform, kind of like a couch without the couch. Also kind of like a hitching post in the old west for a horse.)

  He snaps to attention when he sees me.

  "Really, Lieutenant, you felt the need to move that fast?"

  "Sorry, sir, instinct."

  I laugh.

  "Your instincts kept me alive, I'm grateful."

  "I am too, sir. Remember, if you ever want to recognize your true calling and join the Marines, I'll always have a spot for you on my team."

  "Thank you, Alejandro, though I am extremely happy in my current assignment." I pause for second. "Have you been re-assigned?"

  "Yes, sir. I'm leaving in two days for Kennedy's flight trial, she's finally ready to go. We'll be permanently assigned to her once she's recommissioned to active duty."

  "Admiral Lee couldn't have chosen better. Though service on a ship with 300 crew is never as exciting as being in the frigate fleet."

  "I agree, sir, I agree."

  He looks at Carl, makes a pretense of checking his watch.

  "If you'll excuse me, sir, I need to run." He unhooks himself from the post.

  "Good to see you, Lieutenant, be safe."

  "Yes, sir."

  He's gone, I float in and hook myself up. Carl's clearly thinking about kissing me, clearly doesn't want to do it in front of his staff, clearly doesn't want me to think he doesn't want to kiss me, clearly is as confused as ever. The last thing I'd want to do is embarrass him in front of his subordinates.

  "I understand your predicament, you don't have to actually touch someone to kiss them."

  "When did they start that?"

  "It's the thought that counts. You get to make up for it later."

  He laughs. I continue.

  "Do you have any leave coming?"

  "I haven't taken any leave in almost two years, I've got a pile stored up."

  "What a surprise. Would you like to meet my mother?"

  I probably should have phrased that differently, he looks petrified.

  "I booked a flight home, why don't you come with me? We could relax, hike, swim, and yes, you'd get to meet my family. I haven't been home in a while, and if I don't go now, it may be a long time before I get the chance again."

  "When?"

  "0930 tomorrow. Mackenzie is making a delivery, we can hitch a ride."

  "Give me a second."

  He pushes the comm button on his collar, asks to speak to General Ismail. He gets through two enlisted fairly quickly.

  "Yes, Major?"

  "Sir, I would like to request two weeks leave beginning tomorrow morning."

  There's a chuckle at the other end of the speaker.

  "Request denied. Carl, I just got a request from the Chief of Naval Operations for an operative to secretly provide protection for Katana Krieger on a flight to Colorado, followed by an extended stay in Boulder. Do you know anyone who would like to volunteer?"

  Now there's a chuckle on my side. I mentally give Everingham the Libor sign for knife.

  "I would be happy to volunteer, sir."

  "I thought you might. Travel orders on your pad within the hour. Make sure to take your weapon and radio, remain armed at all times. Don't tell Krieger you're on duty. Ismail out."

  I'm about to say something not nice when my pad beeps. I read the message, and have to go.

  "Carl, they want me back up at Public Affairs. I'll meet you at 1800 for Indian."

  "Copy that."

  I hustle upstairs, onto the same set I left not that long ago. Miley's waiting for me.

  "We heard you were leaving, we'd like to tape a show for broadcast in a couple days. There are a ton of photos, really fascinating photos, and having you take our viewers through them might just get me an Emmy. At minimum, the show will get picked up in every system across the network."

  I laugh. "Happy to help."

  We sit back in the chairs we used earlier, and yes, it's still a zero gee area, but the seats have straps to make it look like there's gravity. We spend an hour looking at photos of Libor, various planetary sites, 48-eyed wolves, half rat/half rabbit things that Miley refuses to believe are tasty when cooked, and a few animals from the zoo that I can't identify. I teach her, on camera, to say yes, no, and I'm hungry in Libor sign.

  She's the happiest reporter in the universe when we're done, I float off to Samosa Factory, plenty of time to spare.

  Dinner's great, and it turns out that Shelby and I think alike. She and Tony are going to Florida 1 to meet her family. I laugh, tell Tony that her entire family, mom, dad, two sisters, are all at least four inches taller than he is. Never felt so short as the week I spent at the Perez house.

  We say our goodbyes, it'll be two weeks before we're together again, then Carl and I head upstairs. We pack separately, then I help him repack his stuff to get it right, Colorado is not exactly tropical. We have to hope they don't make us go through a security checkpoint in the morning, between us we have our two regulation nine millimeters, four extra clips of ammo, two k-bars, and four other assorted knives. We also have two radios and an unopened box of probably illegal Libor seeds.

  A good night's sleep later, no one bothers us as we board Mackenzie, the officer of the deck warned we were coming and to leave us alone.

  We get strapped in when the ship's captain appears.

  "Captain Krieger,
I am Lt. Commander Bercich, skipper of Mackenzie."

  He gives me a quick salute, then turns to Carl.

  "Major Page, good to meet you as well."

  A handshake this time, the two of them are equal ranks.

  "We're going at maximum gee to the sun, that's three for us. I'm not supposed to tell you that the Chief of Naval Operations personally ordered a minimum time course for you. It's not often we get to do this, I appreciate it."

  "I'll have to thank him indirectly, thanks for letting me know."

  "We're under 28 hours from jumping, and we've been cleared to jump into orbit directly, you'll be on the ground in less than 29. Oh, and there's no one on board except me and my crew of six."

  "Thank you, Mr. Bercich."

  He salutes and takes off for his bridge. We go through the horns and recorded voices, and we're pushed into our couches, gently by my accounting, rolling for the sun.

  It's the most uneventful trip ever, Carl's not used to the acceleration any more, so he naps a lot, I read, play a couple video games, watch myself on the UnionOne feed. Miley got my show on locally last night in prime time, preempting a repeat in the 10 pm slot.

  The jump is likewise uneventful, we dock at the orbital transfer station precisely on schedule, a Navy shuttle waiting for us. I'm not sure what to make of all the special treatment, normally we'd have spent three days in transit to the sun, and taken the regular twice a day shuttle down to the planet. I'm not complaining really, it's an extra five days at home.

  There's even a jeep waiting for us with a disgruntled looking Marine sergeant behind the wheel. He perks up when he meets Carl, apparently my man is better known in Marine circles than I realize. He tells him he'll come back at a moment's notice if we want to go anywhere, just call. We tell him we will. We won't.

  One of the cool things about Boulder is that the local clock is only an hour later than standard time, so it's noon when we come purring up my long dirt driveway in the ratty old jeep, just in time for lunch. Dad and Kent are walking in from the barn, they see us and jog over to be there when we pull to a stop.

  I don't wait for the jeep to come to a halt, I'm out and in a three-way bear hug while the wheels are still spinning. Carl thanks the sergeant, and waits for him to move off before taking the three steps to join us across where the jeep had been.

  "Dad, Kent, this is Major Carl Page."

  My dad reaches his hand out first.

  "Klaus. Nice to meet you. Carl. K or C?"

  "Nice to meet you, sir."

  "C daddy, get over it."

  Kent shakes second, goes through the same routine, without the spelling test. They both are way too obviously checking him out. We walk up the wooden stairs onto our big wooden porch, open the screen door and walk into the house. It's two stories, big spaces downstairs, eight bedrooms upstairs.

  Dad leads us around the corner to the kitchen.

  "Honey, kids, look at what I found."

  There's an explosion of high pitched screams, my baby sisters nearly knock me off my feet. Our dog, a now ancient black lab named Oscar, turns my face into an ice cream cone. I introduce Carl to my mom, I think she's impressed.

  I spend the afternoon with my mom and sisters, catching up and cooking. Carl does the manly thing and offers to help the boys with their chores. Good bonding exercise. My sisters are on summer vacation, both starting at the University of Colorado in the fall, pre-med. My baby brothers are away at summer camp at the Academy, both of them suddenly interested in a Naval career. My other four siblings all have jobs, three with the Colorado Wildlife Service, and the last with Imperial Mining, off planet.

  Kent's wife, Julia, is over at Kiana's farm (her husband Rob probably thinks it's his farm), helping out since she's eight months gone and she took Konrad and Kirsten, my nephew and niece, with her. Mom calls over to invite them all to dinner.

  Carl seems to fit right in, Kelly and Kaelyn surrounding him during dinner and gushing over him all night. Dad and Kent glad for the help he provided. I remind them all we're here on vacation and he and I are going to spend time exploring.

  Dad turns on the TV after dinner, mom looking disgruntled, but not objecting, he just wants to check the ball scores. But there I am. We sit back and watch me go through the photos together, Kirsten sitting in my lap, then I spend another hour answering questions.

  We turn in early, Carl making fun of just about everything in my room. I threaten to make him sleep alone with my stuffed animals.

  Chapter 42

  Neither of us is capable of sleeping in, we're up and downstairs by 0700, help mom cook breakfast for everyone. Carl, it turns out, is way better in the kitchen than I am. When he points that out, I remind him what I am capable of with a frying pan.

  We both spend some time helping dad and Kent, then go over to see Rob and Kiana, and end up helping them lift and tote as well. We do the big family dinner again, after which I remember that I am stupid.

  "Wait here."

  Everybody looks at me like I'm stupid, none of them had been planning on going anywhere. Confirms my suspicion that my mind is gone.

  I run upstairs and then back down, the box from the Libor in my hands. I stop in the kitchen to grab my mom's scissors, then settle in on the floor in front of the couch next to Carl.

  Now everybody's looking at me, even him.

  "I brought this box back with me, it's a present from Alexander."

  Kaelyn is staring at me. "The King of the Libor gave you a present and you haven't opened it?"

  Carl laughs at her. "You don't know your sister that well. It's seeds. If it were a knife, she'd have opened it long ago."

  Now dad and Kent are interested, they move over to the floor next to us, pushing the coffee table across the room.

  As carefully as I can, I cut the wrapping paper off and give it to mom. She's going to have a good time the next time her bridge club meets. "Look what my daughter brought me, girls, all the way from outer space."

  The box underneath is solid wood, rather obviously a kind not found on this or any other human planet. The grain is a spiral, possibly from the giant trees we used as cover on Libor Prime, all swirly and wound together from smaller pieces.

  It's a foot long, six inches wide, and four inches high. There's a metal clasp, brass probably, with a funky lock that takes me a while to figure out. Dad, of course, tries to get me to give it to him, certain that he can get it open instantly. I resist the urge. Finally, I determine that you have to push down while turning, and it opens.

  I lift the lid, and Kaelyn, on the couch but on her knees looking over my shoulder, lets out a "wow." There's a large folded piece of paper, and underneath it a dagger. Ten inches long, deadly looking, the hilt carved from a solid piece of finely polished and darkly stained wood, and inlaid with two large red gem stones on one side. The inch wide blade and extended quillon are polished metal, looks like steel, though not Valyrian, with a milled fuller in the center. I can tell it's razor sharp without touching it.

  Carl has the paper, gently unfolds it and reads it to himself while I examine the knife.

  "Major, now would not be the time to keep secrets." I use my irritated voice.

  "By order of Alexander the 92nd, chief of the Seven Guardians who lead the Most Favored Children of the Eternal Giver of Life in All Its Wisdom and Grace Forever, Captain Katana Krieger is granted by her skill at arms the title...." Carl stops, looks at me. "There's a snowflake drawn on the paper, no translation." I nod, he continues. "And has earned through honorable trial by combat the right to carry the dagger of...." He stops again. "Another snowflake." I nod again, he continues again. "No lands are granted to her,..."

  "Seriously?"

  "nor ships,..."

  "Really?"

  "nor gold, nor silver...."

  "Darn."

  "She and her child and its children through time eternal shall be members of the..." He stops. "Another snowflake." I nod, he continues. "Clan."

  Frak me, I'm D
eath clan. I think that, don't say it. Don't need a whooping from my mom.

  "Sealed by my blood, this day." He pauses. "Then there's three more snowflakes." He pauses again. "Page 2."

  "There's a second page?"

  "Shut up and let him finish."

  "Yes, dad."