by John Bowers
“Nick Russo. Should I know you?”
“No, sir. Probably not.”
“You are from Federation?”
“That’s right.”
“How do I know that?”
“Excuse me?”
“You have starpass?”
“Yes, sir.” Nick pulled it out of a pocket and handed it to him; after a moment’s study, he handed it back. Nick put it back into his pocket.
“Why you come here?”
Nick took a deep breath and prepared to tell his story once again. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to repeat it too many more times.
Diana intercepted the question.
“Nick is a fugitive from the Federation,” she said.
The boss threw her a withering gaze. “I do not ask you. I ask him.”
She lowered her chin and fell silent. The boss looked at him again.
“Well?”
“I’m running from a Federation warrant,” Nick said. “I need a place to hide out, and I need work.”
“And you think I have work?”
“I hope so.”
“You are not police?”
“No, sir.”
“You are not MGB?”
“MG what?”
“Ministérstvo gosudárstvennoj bezopásnosti. MGB.”
“No, sir. I don’t even know what that is.”
The boss sucked his cigar again, turned his attention to the other man in the chair, and they chatted for a couple of minutes in Rukranian. Nick didn’t understand a word.
The boss turned to him again.
“What kind of name is Russo? Italian?”
“No, sir. Rooshun.”
“What?”
“Rooshun.”
“Rooshun?”
“Yes, sir.”
“There is no Rooshun. You try to be funny?”
“No, sir! All I know is my grandmother told me my name was Rooshun. Maybe she didn’t say it right. Maybe she meant Russian.”
“Russo is not Russian. Russo is Italian. You speak Italian?”
“No, sir. I only speak English.”
He sucked the cigar again, then rolled the tip in a glass dish to remove the excess ash.
“Why should I believe you?”
“Well…I guess there’s no reason you should, except that I’m telling you the truth. I’m a desperate man, sir. I’m on the run with nowhere else to go. If I can’t find a home here, then I’m finished.”
“Finish?”
“Yes, sir. The Federation is after me. If I have to leave this planet, they’ll get me. I’ll spend the rest of my life in a cage.”
Another silence hung over the room. Nick waited, his heart fluttering. To his left and slightly behind him, Boris shifted his feet, and for one awful moment Nick wondered if he was about to get a bullet in the head.
The boss crossed his legs and laid the cigar in the dish.
“So. You make problems go away. Is that right?”
Nick blinked. The man must have been monitoring the downstairs conversation on one of his holo-screens.
“Yes, sir.”
“How many men you kill?”
“I…never counted them, sir. I don’t notch my guns.”
“Give me estimate.”
“Maybe…two hundred.”
“For Fitz-Kennedy?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Fitz-Kennedy is no longer crime family.”
“Oh yes, sir, they are. People think they went legit a long time ago, but it was all for show. They bought all the government officials they need to maintain the illusion, but behind the scenes it’s business as usual.”
“And you were hit man for them? Assassin?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What happen? Why you running now?”
Nick closed his eyes and expelled his breath as if accessing a painful memory. He rubbed a hand over his face.
“This one operation went bad. I was sent to take out a judge, but…I still don’t know exactly what happened, but it was a setup. The judge wasn’t there, but the cops were. I got into a shootout and barely got away.”
“You killed cops?”
“Yes, sir. Six of them. And they got me, too.” He fingered the bullet scar on his left cheek.
“When this happen?”
“About six months ago. I had to lie low for a long time. I barely got off the planet.”
“And you come here.”
“Yes, sir. No Federation planet was safe.”
The boss stared at him for a long moment, then shifted his attention to Boris.
“Vy ubedites’ v ego rasskaze?”
“Net, sèr, eŝe net.”
“Èto sdelat’.”
“Da, sèr.”
The boss leaned forward over his desk and clasped his hands, as if about to make an offer.
“I cannot use assassin now, but maybe I have other work.”
Nick let relief show on his face.
“Yes, sir. Anything you want.”
“Maybe I need assassin later.”
“Sure. Whatever you need.”
“You have place for tonight?”
“No, sir. I just got in today.”
“Okay. You find place tonight, come back tomorrow. We talk more then.”
“Do you have any suggestions?”
“What suggestion?”
“A place to stay. I don’t have a lot of cash, and I don’t want the police to spot me.”
The boss peered at him a moment, then turned his gaze on Diana. She nodded.
“I will help,” she said.
Nick glanced at her. “Thank you.” He turned back to the boss.
“I am Orel Petreykin.” He nodded to the other man in the chair. “This my cousin, Lebed. You have met Diana.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You come back tomorrow, nine in morning.” He turned to Diana. “Tell Sasha let him in.”
Diana smiled. “Da.”
And that was it. Diana led him out of the office and back to the AG lift. Boris remained behind.
“Congratulations, Nick Russo,” the sexy gangster said. “You have passed the first test.”
“First test? There will be more?”
“Da. Boris will check your story. If true, you will meet my uncle, who must approve before you are hired. After that, you are home free.”
They reached the lift and Nick smiled at her.
“That’s great. Thanks.”
But he felt a sudden hole in his stomach. If they were going to check his cover story, he could only pray that Valentin had done his job back on Terra. A single error in that respect and the mission would be finished in a heartbeat.
And so would he.
Chapter 10
As the anti-grav lift started down, Diana spoke something into her wristwatch that Nick couldn’t understand. When the lift opened on the mezzanine, Nicola stood there waiting for them. Diana gave her strict orders.
“You find Nick Russo a room for tonight. Make sure he comes back in the morning at nine.”
“Da.” Nicola nodded in deference, then looked at Nick with anticipation. Before she could speak, Diana cut in.
“Okay, Nick Russo. I see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
She nodded and walked away, leaving him with Nicola. Nick turned to the girl with a sigh.
“So far, so good, huh?”
She smiled and slipped her arm around his.
“You want to dance some more?”
“No. I’m really tired. It’s been a long day.”
“You don’t have a room?”
“No.” The last thing he wanted was for Bratva to find the apartment Polina had rented for him.
“Good. I will take you to my place.” She led him toward the stairs.
“Your place?” He frowned. “I’m not in the mood for any hanky-panky, if that’s what you have in mind.”
“Hanky-panky?” She laughed. “Okay, Nick, whatever you say. And you don�
�t need to worry, I live alone.”
“How far is it?”
“Maybe half a mile. We can walk it in a few minutes.”
“What about the cops? I’ve come too far to get picked up now.”
“Don’t worry.” She squeezed his arm. “You met Boris, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And he knows you are coming back tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you’re good.”
“What do you mean?”
“Boris is MGB. As long as he is protecting you, nothing to worry about.”
“What the hell is MGB?”
“Ministérstvo gosudárstvennoj bezopásnosti. State Security Police. They are the most powerful law enforcement agency on the planet. Boris is the top man.”
“Jesus Christ!” Nick ran a hand over his face. “All this time he was right in front of me. I had no idea!”
She laughed again.
“Not to worry. Come on, I get you home.”
Nicola stopped at an employee break room to pick up her belongings, including her purse and a fur-lined jacket to cover her bare shoulders. When they hit the street Nick wished he had one too, as the wind from the harbor had intensified and the temperature had dropped a good ten degrees. He pulled his knit cap tighter over his bare scalp and puffed his cheeks. Nicola pulled his arm a little closer and leaned against him, as if to partially shield him against the wind.
“You didn’t bring a jacket?” she asked.
“No. I thought this was a resort city.”
She laughed gaily, as if enjoying a new boyfriend.
“It is, but ‘resort’ doesn’t always mean ‘warm’. It can get damn cold here at night.”
“No shit.”
“You want to borrow my jacket? We can share it.”
“I don’t see how we’re going to share it. It’s barely big enough for you.”
“We can stretch it around both of us, at least part of the way.”
“Hey, I’m a tough guy, okay? I can take a little wind.”
She tilted her head against his shoulder, and for just a moment he felt uncomfortable—Suzanne used to do the same thing.
“How far to your apartment?”
“All the way to the harbor.”
“The harbor! What, do you live on a boat?”
“Yes, I do. Do you like boats?”
“Sure, if the water isn’t too choppy. But isn’t it cold on a night like this?”
“I have a very good heating system.”
Nick tried not to shiver but wasn’t entirely successful. He gazed up at the towers lining the street, most of them blazing with light, and marveled at the pure energy that emanated from the city. It was getting late, but hover and surface cars clogged the streets. Pedestrians dotted the sidewalks.
“Does this place ever sleep?”
“Not really. It’s the nerve center of Beta Centauri. If anything ever happened to it, I think the entire planet would dry up.”
Once again Nick remembered the President’s fear of a future war, in which Beta Centauri might become a battlefield. If it did, surely Periscope Harbor would become the primary objective. And once again he pitied any future Star Marine who might have to fight here.
They made it two blocks in the face of the gusting wind. As they passed a parked hovercar on the street, Nick saw the flare of a cigarette lighter inside. In the flash he caught a snapshot of the pilot’s features, and recognized her at once. Polina’s eyes gleamed briefly in the flare, then faded back into darkness. She was looking straight at him.
He felt Nicola’s grip tighten on his arm.
“Speaking of cops, steer clear of that bitch!”
“Which bitch?”
“The one in that car there. She looks like an ordinary citizen, no uniform, but she’s MGB.”
“Really?”
“Yes, and she’s a maverick. Boris can’t control her.”
“So what would happen if she arrested me? Could Boris get me cut loose?”
“Yes, but that wouldn’t stop her. She’s relentless.”
“Why doesn’t Boris fire her?”
“She’s too good at her job. Most of the people she arrests get convicted, which makes her popular with the public. If he fired her, it would cause a scandal.”
“I’ll keep away from her. Thanks for the warning.”
They walked past the car and continued on down the street.
“The good news is, she probably doesn’t know who you are, and by the time she finds out, it will be too late.”
Nick wrapped an arm around Nicola and squeezed her against him.
“Maybe I’d better hang onto you for a while. I think you’re good for my future.”
Nicola laughed again.
“I was hoping you might say that.”
*
As soon as Diana had departed with Nick Russo, Orel Petreykin puffed his cigar to get the glow going again. He let smoke dribble through his nose as he spoke to Boris Nikolaev in Rukranian.
“Do you trust him?”
Boris looked surprised. “Do you?”
“You know me, Boris. I never trust anybody. But sometimes I am wrong, and that’s why I need your insight.”
Boris glanced at the door where Nick had departed, and shrugged.
“It is hard to be certain. He has the look and the attitude, and he looks like he can handle himself. But that bullet scar on his cheek looks older than six months…and I find it a little hard to believe that Fitz-Kennedy is still involved in illegal operations.”
“Not that hard.” Orel smiled. “Look at us. We also have legitimate concerns, yet we still operate much as we always have.”
“Yes, but…the Federation is much more unforgiving than our own government.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I am undecided. I can tell you more after I check his story.”
“How long will that take?”
“A day or two. I have no way to access the Federation database to get the level of detail that I need, but I have contacts on Terra who can do the job. It won’t take long.”
“Good.” Orel turned to his cousin Lebed, who hadn’t said a word. “What is your impression?”
Lebed stirred as if from a long sleep.
“I find the timing curious.”
“How do you mean?”
“He shows up from the Federation barely a week after their ambassador was killed. Quite a coincidence, I think.”
“Hm. Good point.”
Boris frowned.
“Do you think the Federation sent him? Perhaps to infiltrate us?”
“It isn’t beyond possibility.”
“Agreed, but why would the Federation do that? The crash was ruled an accident. And why would they suspect us?”
“Maybe they don’t. It was just an observation. I could be wrong.”
Orel Petreykin frowned and studied the glow on his cigar.
“I think we need to proceed carefully. If he is who he claims to be, we can certainly use him—assuming he is good at what he does. If he isn’t, we need to deal with him. Swiftly.” He coughed and cleared his throat. “When he comes back tomorrow, I will assign him to Aleksandr for a few days. Let him get his feet wet, see how far he is willing to go. That should keep him busy until you finish your background check.”
Boris nodded agreement.
“I have another idea,” Lebed said from his chair beside the desk. “Why don’t we speed things up a little.”
“How?”
“I can send a couple of men to intercept him on the street. If he is any good, he will be able to defend himself. If not, then even if he is telling the truth, we don’t need him anyway.”
Orel raised his eyebrows and looked at Boris, who nodded with an expression that suggested he should have thought of the same thing. He turned to Lebed again.
“That is a good idea. Shake him up a little, but don’t kill him…and no permanent injuries.”
*
It was a large marina, with several hundred boats of various sizes. Nicola led Nick to the slip where her boat was moored and stepped onto the deck. Nick was no expert on watercraft, but was impressed—the vessel was a forty-foot cabin cruiser with what looked like twin power plants and could probably sleep six.
The boat rocked at its mooring as wind whistled around the sharp edges of the wheelhouse. Nicola unlocked the outer hatch and led him down inside.
The interior was chilly, but at least they were out of the wind, which was a major improvement. She quickly turned on an electric heater, then pulled a blanket out of a closet and tossed it to him.
“Wrap this around you. It will keep you warm until the heater has time to knock down the chill. You want something to drink?”
“No, thanks.” Nick settled onto a narrow couch, grateful to get off his feet. He really was tired, more from stress than anything else, and the boat’s mild rocking was hypnotic. “Is this your boat?”
She laughed. “Not yet. It belonged to Egor, one of the senior brothers, but his health is failing and he can’t use it anymore. When I came here, I had no place to stay—and I didn’t really want to live too close to the family—so they told me I could live here if I would take care of the boat. After a few months, they offered me the option to buy it over time.”
“Not a bad deal. Are the payments reasonable?”
“Sure. They deduct the payments from my salary so I don’t even miss them.”
“You live here alone?”
“Mm-hm.”
“Is that safe?”
She pulled a soft drink out of her nitro-cooler and took a seat facing him.
“Sure. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Oh, I don’t know. A single girl living alone on a boat on a crime-ridden planet…what was I thinking?”
She laughed.
“Nick, you are so funny! But you don’t need to worry. Everyone around here knows who I work for.”
“And that keeps you safe?”
“Extremely. If anyone tried to hurt me, they would be dead before the sun came up again.”
He nodded wryly. “I see your point. What about people who aren’t from around here? Maybe they don’t know who you work for.”
“I have a gun. Are you sure I can’t get you something?”
He relented. “You have any cold water?”
“Da. Hang on a second.”
She opened the nitro-cooler again and handed him a frosty bottle of clear water. Nick took a long drink and sighed.
