by David Weber
She reached out one hand and took Michael’s dark one in her own.
“Michael, I can’t say how glad I am to see you.” Judith was relieved that her voice didn’t quaver. “This must be Todd—excuse me, Lieutenant Liatt. I feel as if I know you from Michael’s correspondence.”
Todd grinned and politely shook the hand she now extended to him. “ ‘Todd’ is fine. Just don’t call me ‘Toad Breath’ as our mutual friend has been known to do.”
Michael turned to indicate the bodyguard, “And this is Lieutenant Vincent Valless.”
Judith did not offer Valless her hand—she still found associating with strange men took a real effort—but she forced herself to give him a warm smile.
“Won’t you all come to my apartment? I have some refreshments.”
Michael looked around. “Where’s Ruth? You wrote that she’s gone from toddling to running. I expected to get tackled.”
“I’m sure we’ll find her,” Judith said, and hoped the words would be prophetic.
* * *
Michael didn’t bother to hide his surprise when Dinah—with no trace of Ruth in sight—greeted them at the door to Judith’s apartment. The older woman’s face was seamed with worry, and Michael sensed some unspoken communication between the two.
Judith drew Michael to one side.
“I need to speak with you,” she said. “Can I do so without him,” she glanced over at Vincent Valless, “listening to every word?”
Michael’s heart skipped a beat. “I’m not sure. If we were at Mount Royal Palace, but this is an unsecured area…”
Judith gave a deep sigh, not of exasperation, but of despair. She glanced at her chronometer.
“We can’t wait. I can’t wait. I’m just going to have to trust… Michael, can you at least ask him and Todd not to interfere?”
“If you’re not planning to overthrow the government,” Michael replied, trying to make his voice light.
To his utter astonishment, Judith’s eyes flooded with tears. He’d been present when she’d been interrogated about the deaths of her parents, about her own capture by the Masadans, about the brutal treatment she had received while in Ephraim Templeton’s custody. She’d never shed a tear. In fact, as far as he could remember, the only time he’d ever seen Judith cry was when she believed Dinah was dying.
Michael didn’t reach to brush away the tear that now trickled down her check, knowing that even now Judith found all but the most impersonal physical contact distasteful, but he moved to shield her from view while she got herself under control.
It didn’t take long. In three deep breaths, the tears had vanished, and Judith, with another glance at her chronometer, turned to face the other three.
Todd and Dinah had been exchanging awkward introductions, pretending they were not aware of the tension between the other two. Vincent Valless was outwardly impassive—a benefit of his extensive training—but Michael had no doubt that the bodyguard was also puzzled by this strange turn of events.
Judith motioned toward the round table that stood to one side of the immaculate, if sparsely furnished, apartment.
“Please, be seated. I did get some refreshments, but while I pull them out, I’m going to start talking. I have a feeling that time may matter.”
Dinah, Todd, and Michael moved to the seats indicated. Valless stood where he could watch both window and door. Judith stepped into the small kitchen, and while she got out a plate of little sandwiches and some sweets, she started talking.
“Ruth has been kidnapped,” she began, then held up one hand to still the gasps of protest. “Yes. I’m certain. I had just come up from asking my downstairs neighbors if they’d seen her, when I was called by the kidnappers.”
Dinah nodded. “Judith is not hysterical. I was here when the com chimed the first time, but didn’t pick up. When Judith returned and took the call, they asked if she was alone.”
“I lied,” Judith said. “I wanted someone else present in case there was any detail I forgot.”
“Odd that they’d trust such a call to a public com,” Michael said, “and asking you if there were witnesses and then trusting you…”
Despair filled Judith’s green eyes. “Actually, I don’t think they really would have minded witnesses. I think they would have preferred them. I think you’ll see why when I tell you what they said.”
She reported the call in clinical detail, but her cheeks blushed dark rose as she stated the conditions for Ruth’s return.
“I’ll do it,” Michael said, instantly.
Two voices overrode his words before he could clarify.
Todd said, his voice alive with horror. “Michael, you can’t!”
And Judith said even more firmly, “I won’t let you.”
Michael stared at her.
“I won’t,” Judith repeated. “I have no idea why they think they can use me to manipulate you, but I’m not going to let someone destroy both a key alliance and your reputation.”
Michael thought. You have no idea, do you? I do. Looking at Todd, he does. Dinah does. I bet even Vincent has a pretty good guess. I guess I’ve been better at hiding my feelings, at least from you, than I thought.
But he didn’t say this. Instead, he said incredulously, “You’re not going to let them hand Ruth over to Ephraim Templeton, are you?”
Judith shook her head, the dark auburn hair cascading around her shoulders in a silken fall.
“I am not. I’m going to find her and I’m going to get her back. Then when I have her back, I’m going to blow them all so high that they’ll never do anything like that again.”
Michael wasn’t in the least surprised, but he doubted that Judith had the skill necessary to find Ruth, and he wasn’t about to let her destroy herself and her child when he could help. He could also tell that arguing further would be a waste of valuable time.
“If you’re going after her, I’m helping.” Michael turned and looked at his bodyguard. “And you’re going to have to trust me, Vincent. There’s a little girl’s life at stake, and from the demands Judith says they’re making, this has ‘political motives’ written all over it. But we don’t know a damned thing—yet—about who these people are. Until we know more about the situation we can’t risk any communication outside of this immediate group.”
“The entire Masadan exile community here may suspect Miss Ruth is missing,” Vincent reminded the prince delicately.
“I know,” Michael said, “but other than Judith and Dinah, no one knows Ruth has been kidnapped.”
“Actually,” Judith said, “Dinah was suspicious before I was. Something she said made me very careful when I went down to check with my neighbors. When they said Ruth wasn’t with them, I said that I guessed that Ruth must have gone across to Dinah’s apartment, and I’d check there. When I came back up here to report to Dinah, that’s when the call came.”
Dinah smiled and pushed herself back from the table. “But I’ll wander downstairs with the excuse that you forgot to get milk for the tea. While I’m there, I’ll mention how excited Ruth was to see her ‘Uncle Michael.’ ”
When Dinah had left, Judith motioned everyone to seats around the round table that dominated one end of the room.
Michael returned his attention to Vincent Valless.
“Vincent, I know your job is to keep me out of physical danger. If I promise to duck if you say duck, retreat if you say retreat, will you work with me on this?”
“If I have your word,” Vincent said. “I would be more comfortable, however, if I could report the changed situation—especially one so charged with political implications—to my superiors.”
“I know,” Michael said. “So would I. There’s just one problem. Until we know who took Ruth, no avenue of communication is safe. For example, while I’m certain Elizabeth isn’t involved—”
“I should hope you would be certain, sir!” Vincent looked shocked at even the implication that the Queen might be so accused.
“Right. But I don’t
know if someone close to her might be involved. Someone might have a tap on Mount Royal communications. Or it might be something simpler, someone near at hand, nearly omnipresent—a servant, say—paid to report if certain matters are discussed or even if I call Elizabeth within the next few hours.”
“I understand,” Vincent admitted. “I don’t like the implications, but I understand.”
“I thought you would,” Michael said. “I wouldn’t need you to be my second skin if people were honest and the world was a safe place. Very well. You have my word that I won’t put myself in physical danger or go against your direct command if you decide I’m in such danger.”
Todd, whose alert silence had reminded Michael that his friend was training in Tactics with every intention of winning a command of his own someday, now spoke directly to Judith. “Count me in. I’ve been security checked this way and that, I’ll bet, since I’ve been Michael’s roommate not once, but twice. You can trust me.”
“I do,” Michael said. “Even without the checks.”
“And I will,” Judith said, “if Michael says so.”
Vincent Valless cleared his throat and said, “I have seen those reports. You are wise where you trust.”
Todd flushed in pleased embarrassment, but Michael had returned his attention to Judith. “Thanks for your patience. I realize you must be aching to get a move on.”
“I would be,” she replied, “except that we don’t have the least idea where to make that move. Running about aimlessly would do neither Ruth nor our cause any good.”
Michael saw Vincent shake his head in admiration for this display of self-control.
You should see her on the bridge of a starship under fire, Michael thought.
Judith, apparently unaware of these reactions, had continued speaking. “Obviously, the place to start is that woman from Human Services who came to talk to me. She gave me a name: Dulcis McKinley.”
“Probably an alias,” Todd said. “Still, it’s something.”
“What did this Dulcis McKinley look like?” Michael asked.
“She was about a handspan taller than I am,” Judith said, gesturing, “and very slim. Fair hair, pale skin, light eyes—blue or gray, I think. She wore her hair short, almost shaved at the back of her neck. In spite of this, there was nothing at all mannish about her appearance. Her lips were full, and I remember admiring her cheekbones. Very high and elegant.”
“Short hair isn’t exactly in fashion right now,” Todd said with the air of one who had been using his leave to make a detailed examination of women who were not Navy personnel. “The one set of professions where short hair remains perennially popular are those where you regularly don a vac suit or related gear. Hair gets in the way.”
Michael nodded, running a hand over his own tightly curled crop. “Okay. So possible space-side service.”
He’d carried in his minicomp, since he’d been planning to show Judith and Ruth pictures of some of the places he’d been since he sent his last letter. Now he pulled it out. “I’m going to check on that name,” he said.
“Is that wise?” Judith asked. “Someone might have set telltales to warn them of just such an inquiry.”
“Actually,” Michael said, “given the situation, it would make less sense if you didn’t make just such a query. Let me use your comp. They may not bother to check registration numbers, but I would…”
The search did not lead them to their target, but it did turn up an interesting bit of trivia. Dulcis McKinley was the name of a secondary character in Hearts Aloft, a romantic comedy that had been popular about fifteen T-years before.
“That’s why the name sounded familiar!” Todd said. “My sister had a crush on the male lead and for weeks she kept downloading the damn thing and watching it on the biggest display we had. I think I knew every line.”
“Not useful now,” Michael said, “but it might turn out to be. Now…”
He turned to Judith. “Why don’t you and Todd see if you can generate a computer reconstruction of Dulcis McKinley?”
“And you?” Todd said.
“First, I’m going to set up some jamming fields so no one can tell what we’re doing here.”
“Won’t someone notice?” Judith said anxiously.
“Not if I’m careful,” Michael said. “The Navy has been training me to be extraordinarily good at getting information out of both people and machines without their being aware of my interest. The same goes for setting up diversions. If someone snoops here, they’ll find about the right level of jamming. Beneath that they’ll get traces of agitated talking, weeping, et cetera.”
“Vincent, I want you to see what you can do about tracking vehicles,” Michael went on, “the woman from Human Services got here somehow, and Ruth didn’t leave here by magic. I know you have access to satellite records of traffic patterns. Can you make an excuse to look at those that surround this area?”
Vincent was looking almost animated. “I can do better than that. I can get records for this entire tower and both of its neighbors. This entire neighborhood is under full-time surveillance.”
Michael cocked an eyebrow, and his bodyguard shook his head. “We didn’t have anything to do with it, Your Highness. I only know because it’s part of my job to check about things like that before I let you go somewhere, but they’re there, all right.”
Dinah was letting herself in as he spoke, a cup of milk in one hand. She shut the door carefully behind her and said, as if answering a question, “That’s right. When we first came here, many of the women were nervous about predatory males. That was foolishness, but we did have some problems with a few curiosity seekers. The cameras were set up then, and they’ve stayed.”
“Inertia,” Michael said, “can be useful.”
Vincent already had his minicomp out. “My request should go through without question. It’s pretty standard to check traffic patterns in an area before and during a sensitive transit situation.”
“Want to see who might have been hanging around for just a bit too long,” Michael said. “Good. Get on it.”
“What are you going to do when you’re done with the jamming field?” Todd asked.
“I’m going to take a look at the chip Judith made,” Michael said. “You recorded it, didn’t you, Judith?”
“I did, but what good will viewing it do?” Judith asked. “I told you, they used some sort of avatar program.”
“I know,” Michael said. “Trust me. I won’t be wasting our time.”
His stomach did a funny flipflop when Judith looked at him, those brown-rimmed green eyes steady. “Never doubt it, Michael. I trust you.”
* * *
Judith jumped when Vincent Valless broke the intense silence that had filled the room as each had turned to their assignment. True, she and Todd Liatt had talked a little as he helped her access and set up the right graphics program, but once that was done, and Judith focused on building up an image of Dulcis McKinley from Human Services, talk had hardly been necessary.
“Sir,” Vincent Valless said, “I have something I think you should inspect without further delay.”
He projected the data from his minicomp so everyone could see. “This is the scene immediately around this tower shortly before Ruth was taken.”
He zoomed in on a landing platform one floor below the Judith’s apartment. “This is the vehicle from Human Services. These…” He showed a line of mismatched air cars, “are all registered to residents of this complex. This one vehicle is the only anomalous one.”
He indicated a neat van bearing the logo of Anywhere Anytime, a well-known delivery company—a type of vehicle so ubiquitous that no one would give it a second glance.
“The A.A. van,” Valless went on, “arrived at approximately the same time as the air car from Human Services. The A.A. man went to a service entry. The woman from H.S. went to the public entry.”
“Surveillance cameras don’t extend beyond the entryways into the building,” Valless co
ntinued, “but those on the exterior captured the following sequence.”
The delivery man had entered the building carrying a bundle, easily recognizable as one of the unassembled shipping boxes A.A. supplied for their customer’s convenience. When he exited just a few minutes later, he was carrying a similar box, but assembled. Judith imagined Ruth tucked inside, body bent in a fetal position. She pressed her fist to her lips to keep from screaming.
The man from A.A. loaded the box into the back of the van, made certain the back was locked, got into the driver’s side, and a moment later, the vehicle pulled away from the building and left the complex.
“Judith,” Michael asked, “is there another entry into this apartment?”
“Only the windows,” she began, but Dinah interrupted.
“There is,” she said. “There’s a conduit from which pipes and other such things can be serviced without the need to cut holes in the walls. Technically, the conduit doesn’t ‘enter’ the apartment as such, but if someone entered the conduit and knew the layout of the building, they could get into any apartment.”
Todd was nodding. “They’d need to remove a couple of wall or ceiling panels, but if they had the right tools, it would be easy. I worked summers for a company that did repairs, and I always felt a bit like a burglar. Of course, entering that way without permission is highly illegal…”
“But so is kidnapping,” Judith said sharply. “Lieutenant Valless, where did that A.A. van go?”
Valless snapped his head in a curt, military nod. “I tracked it, and I believe you’ll find the following sequence quite informative.”
In her impatience, Judith appreciated that Valless had set his record to run slightly faster than real-time, but seeing the van speed away made her heart beat faster, as if Valless was causing Ruth to vanish more quickly.
Valless had highlighted the A.A. van in pale turquoise, so it was quite easy to track. He pulled back the perspective, and directed their attention back to the tower.
“Less than thirty seconds later, the ostensible Human Service’s representative also took her leave.”
This vehicle was highlighted in a bright violet. Although air traffic did not follow roads as such, traffic patterns created the illusion of them in the trackless sky. It became rapidly evident that the two vehicles were following the same route.
