The reason I’m telling you guys so much about this party isn’t because it was such a gala, fun affair. Bo-ring. It’s because of one particular table of guests. Sitting prominently, right near the long head table, was Max Rose and his crew. I couldn’t believe it. Here was a swanky party put on by the U.S. government and sitting front and center was a known gangster. My guess was he was there because he was the most important guest of the hotel. I guess when you’re the best customer, you get privileges…even if you’re a mobster.
Gunny made sure that Spader and I were assigned to Max Rose’s table. We both hovered around him and his guests, taking care of their every little whim. But what we were really doing was listening to everything being said, hoping to catch some clue as to what LZ-129 was, or what was going to happen on May 6.
“Buck Rogers!” shouted Rose when he saw me. “My favorite spaceman. They got you working as a waiter, too?”
“Yes sir, Mr. Rose,” I said. “Nothing but the best for you.”
He laughed. I think he liked it when somebody was a little bit cocky. Especially if they complimented him. “Keep the wine coming, Buck,” he said. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Yes, sir!” I said. This was good. I planned on being right by his side every chance I got. All the seats were taken by various thugs I had seen coming in and out of the hotel. Unfortunately Ludwig Zell wasn’t one of them. But the chair next to Rose was empty. I hoped that it was reserved for our Nazi friend. I had just popped a bottle of champagne and was pouring it for Rose, when the guest who was assigned to the empty chair finally showed up. It wasn’t Zell.
“Sorry I’m late, Maxie,” came a woman’s voice. “It took me forever to find the perfect gown to wear.”
I looked up and nearly dropped the champagne bottle. It was the movie star-looking woman who caught me in Max Rose’s office.
She looked at me and winked. My heart stopped. I was afraid she’d say something about what had happened in the office. That would be death. My death. She picked up her champagne glass and held it out for me to fill.
“Such a handsome young waiter,” she said. “Have we ever met?”
Was she kidding? Did she remember me or was she just pulling my chain?
“I don’t think so, ma’am,” I lied.
“You must be right,” she said. “I’d never forget a handsome young man like you.” She gave me a small smile and a wink. She knewexactlywho I was. She was just messing with me again. I was starting to sweat, so I got away from there fast. This was going to be an interesting night.
Right after dinner there was a bunch of speeches that all sounded alike. A lot of politicians talked about the important role that women were going to play in the military and the Coast Guard and blah, blah, blah. The final speech was given by Jinx herself. I’m sorry to say, her speech wasn’t so hot either. She did her best to deliver it like she cared, but I could tell she hated every minute of it. After the speeches the band kicked in again for people to dance. That’s when I got my next surprise. The bandleader stepped up to the microphone and announced in a silky smooth voice, “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the microphone our featured vocalist for this evening, the lovely Esther Amaden.”
I looked around to see who the lovely lady was, and who should stand up but Max Rose’s girlfriend! Yeow! No wonder she looked so great. She was a professional singer. She was good, too. Not that I’m a big fan of that music, but she had a great voice and looked terrific under the spotlight. She sang a couple of songs that sounded sorta familiar. The people at the party must have known all of them because they each got big applause when she started to sing.
In all, it was a very elegant evening…and totally frustrating. After a long night the party was about to wind down, and I hadn’t heard a single nugget of useful information from anybody at Rose’s table. As far as our mission was concerned, the night was going to be a total bust.
At least, that’s what I thought. Truth was, things were about to change dramatically.
There were a lot of waiters working the party. I knew all the bellhops, but didn’t know any of the new waiters who’d come on just for the night. There was no reason to. All I was interested in was Max Rose and his table. But as I stood there listening to Esther Amaden sing, I saw something that got me interested in something besides Max Rose real quick.
I was standing near the kitchen door, watching the show. The band was glowing under a warm, blue light. A mirrored ball on the ceiling was spinning and shooting out little white sparkles of light that looked like fireflies. They washed over the band, the dancers, and the tables. Esther looked beautiful in the center of it all in a white spotlight.
I don’t know what made me look away when I did, but it was a good thing. What I saw rocked me into Defcon 10. It was one of the new waiters. I think I noticed him because he was walking slowly, with his back to the wall. If there was one thing the waiters weren’t doing that night, it was walking slowly. It was way too busy for that. But this guy was just sort of creeping along.
He was holding a big serving tray with a silver dome over it. That wouldn’t have been weird…two hours before. But now we were done with the food. What was he doing with a serving tray? To make things even more interesting, he was headed toward the table with Max Rose. I took a few steps to get a better look at him, and when I did, my jaw dropped.
I knew this guy! It was Mr. Nervous, the gangster from the subway!
The music was loud. The party was in full swing. People were dancing like crazy.
Nobody saw this guy stalking closer to Max Rose. A moment later he reached under the dome of the serving tray and pulled out a gun. Winn Farrow’s men may have been laying low for a long time, but tonight they were back in action. Tonight they were going after Max Rose.
And I was the only one who knew it.
(CONTINUED)
FIRST EARTH
The assassin drew closer to Max Rose.
About a million thoughts clicked through my head rapid fire. Max Rose was a criminal, a killer. A guy in that line of work is bound to have something ugly come down on him sooner or later. That was his business. But Rose and his gang were somehow connected to the Nazis. If he died, our only hope of discovering what they were up to, and what Saint Dane was up to, would die along with him. The future of First Earth depended on what Max Rose knew…and that wasmybusiness.
It took me all of two seconds to realize I had to save Max Rose. But how? If I shouted a warning, the nervous gangster would start shooting and that would be the ballgame. No, I had to act.
Spader walked out of the kitchen at that exact moment. I grabbed him and pointed him toward the stalking gangster. “He’s going after Max Rose. We gotta stop him,” I said, trying to sound like I was more in control of my emotions than I really was.
Spader didn’t question me. He didn’t debate or hesitate. As soon as he saw the situation and knew I wanted it stopped, he clicked into “go” mode.
“I’ll take out the wogglie, you go for Rose,” he ordered with total authority. A half second later he was pushing through the crowd, headed after the gangster.
The show was on and I had to move. I started running for Max Rose’s table. The shortest line was straight through the crowded dance floor. I tried to skirt the swinging dancers, but that was impossible and slowing me down. There was no way I’d make it in time by being polite. I figured everybody’s evening was about to be ruined in a few seconds anyway, so why worry? I put my head down and started pumping my legs like a fullback. I blasted through a few unsuspecting bodies, and I’m embarrassed to say that a few of them were ladies. But it didn’t matter. I had to make it into the end zone and I would not be denied.
A few seconds later the final dancer between me and Rose’s table spun out of the way, and I had a clear shot at my target. Max Rose was sitting on the far side of the big, round table, laughing and puffing on a fat cigar. A quick glance to my left showed me that the gangster with the gun was getting closer. Spader was fi
ghting his way through the crowd to get to the guy, but he was going to be too late. The assassin was only a few steps away from his date with Max.
I looked back to Max Rose and saw there was a whole bunch of table and glassware and even a flowered centerpiece between me and him. I had to make a snap decision. My blood was already boiling from my frenzied run across the dance floor, so the choice I made wasn’t a tough one. I kicked it into another gear, ran for the table, and launched myself over the top. It all happened so fast that the goons sitting at the table didn’t have time to react. I slid across the tabletop, pulling the tablecloth and everything else along with me.
Max Rose saw me coming and his eyes grew wide with surprise. The bodyguard sitting next to Rose went for his gun. But he was too late because just as he pulled the gun from under his jacket, Max Rose got slammed with a wave of tableware, flowers, and Bobby Pendragon, Undercover Traveler.
Rose had begun to stand up and that may have saved his life, because he was a little off balance. The force of me hitting him knocked him straight back. If he had been firmly planted in his chair, I probably would have bounced off him and he would have still been a target. But as it was, we both went over and he landed backward on the floor. He let out a huge grunt as I landed right on top of him. I told you, he was a big guy, and I swear I think I bounced off him like I’d hit a trampoline. The only thing missing was the sound of a timpani drum goingboing!
It was at that exact instant that I heard a gunshot. I winced, thinking that the bodyguard had shot at me. But it wasn’t the guard who fired the shot. As we fell, his gun had clattered down on the floor right next to my head. I must have knocked it away from him in my wild slide across the table. I quickly grabbed it. No way I wanted the bodyguard to pick it up and use it on me.
So where did the shot come from? I looked up to see Mr. Nervous Gangster standing near us, pointing his smoking gun. The look of surprise on his face was almost funny. He must have had Max Rose right in his sights, only to have me come flying through to knock his target away. He fired. He missed. Luckily he didn’t hit anybody behind us either.
A second later Spader leaped out of the crowd and knocked the gun out of the assassin’s grip. The guy was in shock. He had been a second away from success, only to have his whole plan explode before his eyes.
“Shoot him!” ordered Rose.
It took me a second to realize who he was talking to. It was me! I was sitting on top of him with the bodyguard’s gun in my hand. Max Rose wanted me to shoot his would-be assassin. I had never even shot a gun before, let alone one that was aimed at somebody.
“Do it, Buck, shoot him!” shouted Rose.
I was stunned and confused. I turned the gun toward the nervous gangster because that’s what I was ordered to do. The guy looked back at me and our eyes locked.
In those eyes I saw something I had never seen before and never wanted to see again. I had his life in my hands. He knew it. It was up to me whether he would live or die. That was a power I didn’t want, under any circumstances. It was a frightening moment. This gangster was my enemy. He tried to kill us down in the subway. Worse, he was one of the assassins who killed Uncle Press. Nobody deserved my revenge more than this guy.
But in spite of all that, there was no way I could take his life. That wasn’t something I had in me.
So I dropped the gun.
Instantly the gangster ran. You would think with so many people standing around, somebody would have stopped him. But all those fancy folks in tuxedos and gowns were in a state of shock. By the time somebody got their head together enough to shout “Stop him!” the gunman had already ducked out of a service door and was gone.
I looked around and saw nothing but stunned faces. The band had stopped playing and people were now slowly circling us to see what had happened. It was eerie. Nobody said a word; they just stared. I realized I was still sitting on Max Rose’s stomach. I looked down to see he was staring up at me with razor-sharp eyes.
“I told you to shoot him,” he said flatly.
I was too stunned to say anything.
“Did you hear me, Buck? I told you to shoot him!”
This was a crucial moment. Not only for my own survival, but for the future of our mission on First Earth. I felt like the whole ballgame was right here, right now. I couldn’t screw it up.
“Yeah, so what?” I said, trying to sound cocky.
It was a bold move. Max Rose stared right into my brain. I didn’t look away. My adrenaline was still spiked way too high to back off now.
“Wasn’t it enough that I saved your skin?” I asked. “I’m not hearing any thank-yous.”
A moment passed. I felt the hot stares of Rose’s bodyguards on me as they waited for Rose to tell them what to do.
After a painfully long few seconds, Max Rose…smiled. “Thank you. Buck,” he said. “Now would you please get off my stomach?”
Things got pretty hectic after that. People were either scared and jumping over each other to get to the elevator, or pressing in on us to see what had happened. The band started playing again. I guess they were trying to calm everybody down. Isn’t that what the band did while the Titanic was sinking? I was getting shoved around by the mass of people. All I wanted to do was get out of there, but it was impossible to move. I thought I was gonna get crushed.
Finally a strong hand grabbed my arm. I looked up to see who it belonged to, and was totally relieved to see Gunny.
“Time to go,” he said calmly. He had my arm in one hand and Spader’s in the other. He quickly pushed the two of us through the crowd and back into the kitchen and away from the hubbub. But we didn’t stop there. He wanted us out of that place as fast as possible, before anybody could talk to us. Again, once the police showed up there would be a lot of questions asked. The less they knew about us, the better, so it was a good thing we got out of there while it was still a madhouse.
A few minutes later, after a quick ride down on the service elevator, we were safely tucked back into our sixth floor suite, as if nothing had happened.
“Don’t come out of here,” ordered Gunny. “And don’t come to work tomorrow. I want things to calm down first.”
“No problem,” I said.
“We hear you, mate,” added Spader.
Then Gunny smiled nervously. “You were right, Pendragon. Wearejust getting started.”
“All in a day’s work, Gunny, my friend,” said Spader with a touch of his usual cockiness.
Gunny then left and we were alone. My heart slowly stopped sprinting. Spader and I looked at each other. Neither of us knew what to say. Finally we both burst out laughing.
“Hobey, Pendragon!” shouted Spader. “That was amazing!”
“You were great!” I shouted. “You didn’t even stop to think before taking off after that guy!”
“Good thing,” Spader said. “I probably would have run the other way if I gave it any thought. That was a natty-do, all right!”
“Yeah, yeah, it was,” I said.
The two of us fell into chairs, feeling proud of ourselves. We sat there for a while, enjoying the moment, enjoying the victory. It wouldn’t last.
Spader took a final deep breath, blew it out and said, “It’s back on, isn’t it?”
I knew exactly what he meant. “Yeah,” I said. “No more basketball.”
As I drifted off to sleep that night, it was with the realization that after weeks of sitting around and spinning our wheels, the curtain was finally about to go up on this show. The scary thing was, we still had no idea what to expect.
I really missed Uncle Press.
The next morning we were woken up by a knock on the door. I figured it was Gunny, but when I looked through the peephole I was surprised to see Dewey.
“I know you’re in there, Pendragon,” he said. “I know everything that happens in this hotel.”
Busted. I had no choice but to open the door. Spader came up from behind me. “What do you want, Dewey?” he asked.
>
“Did you two really think I didn’t know you were living here?” he asked. “How stupid do you think I am?”
Spader and I shared a look. We didn’t want to answer that.
“Look at this,” he said, and handed us a newspaper. The headline blared: near miss at the tower! It was an article about the shooting the previous night. And there was a picture. It was a shot of Max Rose, flat on his back, with me sitting on his stomach. I had no idea somebody had taken that picture. Luckily you couldn’t see my face. As far as this big news story went, Spader and I were mysterious waiters who disappeared right after the shooting, along with the would-be assassin.
“Yeah, that was pretty exciting,” I said. “I wonder who those two hero waiters were?” Dewey gave me a sour look. “That answers my question. You must think I’m an idiot.”
Suddenly the newspaper was grabbed out of my hand.
“Morning boys,” said Jinx Olsen with a smile. “Some party last night!” She then turned to Dewey and touched his cheek. “Thanks, Dewey. You’re a peach.” Dewey turned all sorts of red. Jinx then pushed past us and into the room.
I wasn’t sure of what to do, so I closed the door in Dewey’s face.
“Hey!” he protested. Too late.
Jinx strode into the suite, checking out the place. “Nice digs,” she said. “Must be tough paying for this on a bellboy’s salary.”
Spader said, “Yeah, but there’s two of us.”
“Ahhh!” said Jinx with a knowing smile.”Twobellboy salaries. That must make all the difference.” She was being sarcastic.
“What can we do for you, Miss Olsen?” I asked.
“It’s Jinx,” she said. “Sorry to barge in like this. I just wanted to tell you what a great thing it was you did last night. It was the highlight of my night. No, it was the highlight of my year.”
I wasn’t sure of what to say. Should we admit it was us? She knew me and obviously saw the whole thing. What was the use of lying?
“We’d just as soon you didn’t tell anybody it was us,” I said.
The Never War tpa-3 Page 10
