The Iron Admiral: Deception

by Greta van Der Rol

  She took in the dark-colored suit, polished shoes, recently trimmed hair. He looked like a prosperous businessman, but her self-defense lessons with Chief Werensa had taught her to look more carefully. He would have been furious with her for not checking properly when she came home. She’d better check now.

  “What do you want?” She noticed the bulge in Sean’s pocket. Whatever he had there, she didn’t expect it would be good for her.

  “Oh, just a chat.” He gazed down at his now empty glass. “You’re looking good.”

  Deliberately keeping her expression neutral she held out her hand. “Give me your glass. I’ll top it up and join you.” She took the glass from him, poured another measure behind the bar and handed it back to him over the counter.

  “I think I’ll have a glass of wine.” She opened another cupboard for a wine glass, and then the fridge to find a bottle of white. As she moved around, she slipped her mind into the IS. Sean had overridden the IS’s circuits, set Albert to standby. She reactivated the system. Call Saahren, but make the connection send only. Maybe he was still awake.

  Sean glanced around. “Nice place you’ve got here.”

  “Yes.” She unscrewed the cap and half-filled a glass. “If I’d been expecting my ex-husband to come calling, I would have made sure you had something to see. Very good disguise, by the way; red hair, green eyes.” She spoke a little louder than necessary and made sure Albert was recording.

  Glass in hand, she went to stand next to him at the window and pressed a button to open the shutters.

  “Pretty good view, isn’t it?”

  If he was awake, Saahren could be here in minutes. The eighty-seventh floor, just over there.

  “Mm, nice. And I’m not yourex -husband.” He raised his glass and clinked it against hers. “Cheers.”

  She let the pause drag out and sipped her wine. “So why are you here?”

  “You’re my wife. I’ve missed you. Surely we can try again?”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “Do tell.”

  “We always made a good team. Can’t imagine you’d be happy working for the Star Fleet.” He said the words lightly, gazing out into the darkness. In the distance the Parliamentary complex blazed with light, the precinct surrounded with vehicles and movement.

  “Uh-huh.” She swirled the wine in the long-stemmed glass. It sparkled, catching the lights in its golden depths. “Is this about Tepich?”

  He covered magnificently but she knew him too well. “No. Of course not. That’s in the past. No. We’ll move on, find something fun to do.”

  Sure; fun. Not so long ago she might have believed him. “You sold my house out from under me.”

  He squirmed. “It was just temporary. I needed the money. I would have paid it back. Come with me.

  We’ll make a fortune—”

  “I’m making quite enough here, thanks. The Confederacy pays me good money. It puts me up in a nice apartment; I get to work in a nice office with nice people. It’s all above-board, nobody chases me with weapons. Get yourself out of whatever slimy hole you’ve dug.”

  He laughed, a nervous giggle. “Ah, you don’t mean that, Ally.” He reached out a hand to her.

  She put her glass down on the low table and dodged away from him. What had she ever seen in the useless prat? Why had she put up with him for so long? “Damn right I do. I want nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with you apart from your id on a divorce.”

  “Come on, please,” he pleaded. “Just one more job.” He raised a finger. “Just one more. If you don’t, they’ll—” The sound of his comlink interrupted him and he glanced down. “Fuck.” He pulled the handgun

  from his pocket and pointed it at her. “I was hoping I wouldn’t need to do this.” He stepped toward her, weapon poised. “Come on, you’re coming with me.”

  Use his own weight and momentum, Allysha. Don’t force it; just become the fulcrum of his motion.

  Erascu’s words echoed in her ears. She stepped aside, twisted the pistol out of his hand and shoved him backwards. He tripped over the table and sprawled on the floor, groaning, while she flicked on the weapon’s power. He hadn’t even managed to get that right. “Get up.”

  He staggered to his feet, fumbling for the back of a chair for support. Oh, buckrats. What would Saahren do if he caught Sean here? He’d said more than once he wanted a word with Sean. Unbidden, the battered face of the kid at Lake Sylmander rose in her mind’s eye. No. Sean was a fool but he didn’t deserve Saahren’s fury. And she didn’t want the consequences on her conscience. She should never have called Saahren, should have dealt with Sean herself.

  “Get out. Now.”

  Sean’s glance flicked between her eyes and the weapon she held steadily in her hand and moistened his lips.

  “I never wanted to hurt you, Ally.” He whirled, bolted for the door; it snicked closed behind him.

  With a trembling hand she put the gun on the table. Never wanted to hurt her? That was true enough—physically, at least. She didn’t hate him, wasn’t afraid of him. Truth be told, she felt sorry for him.

  “Did you intercept the message he received, Albert?”

  “Yes, Allysha.”

  The IS played the message for her, a voice she didn’t recognize, sayingcompany—quick . That must have been Saahren on his way and indeed, just at that moment the door slid open and two armed security guards leapt inside, weapons sweeping around the room.

  “He’s gone.” They ran past her, into the kitchen and bedroom. She’d barely had time to suck in a deep breath when Albert said, “Grand Admiral Saahren is here.”

  He strode toward her, his face a mixture of anger and concern. “Are you all right?” He gripped her upper arms gently and looked down at her.

  She nodded. “I’m okay, he’s gone.”

  As she stepped away from him she noticed her glass lying on the floor in a pool of wine, swept off the table in the short struggle. The stem had broken off but remarkably, the bowl remained undamaged. She reached out a hand but Saahren stopped her before she could touch it.

  “Don’t touch anything. They’ll want to carry out a full analysis.”

  Yes, of course.

  He stood next to her, his expression unreadable. “Well? What happened?”

  She ran a hand through her hair. She shouldn’t have called him; she should have handled it herself. Why couldn’t she just trust her own judgment?

  “He was waiting for me when I got home. Inside. He put the IS on standby. I played along with him so I could call you.” He’d probably misunderstood. “Sorry if you were disappointed.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t impressed at hearing you talking to another man.”

  There it was again. As far as he was concerned, she was property.

  Saahren gestured to a chair. “Sit down. The investigating officer will want to know what happened. You can tell me at the same time.”

  The investigating officer, a precise and efficient commander, stepped forward. She hadn’t even seen him come in. Allysha answered his questions, providing as much detail as she could while Saahren listened impassively.

  “That’s all for now, Sir,” he said to Saahren. “Do we need to find the lady alternative accommodation?”

  “I’ll deal with that. I’ll want a full report in the morning.”

  The officer nodded and joined the fellow in the white coat collecting samples.

  “I’ll be okay here,” Allysha said. “He won’t be back.”

  Saahren shook his head. “You can’t stay here. The forensic team will have to look at everything.

  “You’re coming with me.” He stood.

  She frowned up at him. Stay at his apartment? No way.

  “Now.” He forestalled her before she could utter a word. She obeyed the command, rising to stand, before her brain registered. His tone was that of the grand admiral, unaccustomed to any sort of dissent, ever, and not about to accept any now. “And no, you do not have time to change, and no, you cannot pac
k anything.”

  He waited until she’d put her shoes back on and took her arm.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, limping a little. Her feet hurt.

  “My apartment.” He stopped and looked down at her. “Would you like me to carry you?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. You’d better have a spare room.”

  He smiled. “I have. Unfortunately.”

  “If you didn’t have a spare room, you’d be sleeping on the couch.”

  ChapterEleven

  Saahren drove the official skimmer himself. He landed in the building’s normal hangar bay but he used a concealed transit to reach his apartment. He led Allysha along a passage way and into a well-appointed bedroom with a view that seemed to cover the whole city.

  “Is this the spare room?” Allysha said, gazing around. She could have hosted a party in here. Most of her own apartment would have fitted within its walls.

  “Yes,” he said from the door. “Would you like a glass of wine?”

  “Yes, please.” Allysha dropped her shoes and padded across thick carpet to the window. She didn’t recall having seen windows up here from outside. These must be projections, made to look like windows. She admired the bright city lights for a moment before she traced Saahren to the massive living room, which also featured panoramic views. He removed the top from a bottle of wine with a practiced hand and poured into two beautiful, stemmed glasses.

  “To you, my love.” He raised his glass to her and took an appreciative mouthful. “Two year old Penellis.

  You can smell melon and there’s a hint of citrus in the aftertaste.”

  My love. Whether she liked it or not. She sipped the wine, rolling it around her mouth before she swallowed. “It’s lovely.” She sat in one of the cream leather chairs and looked around. “And so is this apartment.”

  He shrugged. “I’m not here much.”

  “Yes, I can see that. Not much of you here. Except for a wine store. Are we still having this meeting tomorrow… today?”

  “Good point. I’ll ask Leonov to come here.” He sat down opposite her and crossed one leg over the other. “But first I want you to tell me why you let him escape.”

  The mask had slid down, his eyes cold and hard. A tingle of nerves skittered in her stomach. “What makes you think I let him escape?”

  “Because I heard what you said to him.”

  Of course. She’d forgotten about the open comm. channel. Stupid. She stared into her wine. “Yes, I let him escape.”

  He let out a hiss of breath, his fingers twitching on the armrest. “He could have answered many questions—about Tisyphor, about his companions, about where he was going to take you. That was madness.”

  “I didn’t think.” She pushed her fingers hard against her forehead. She could hardly tell him she was afraid that he, Saahren, would hurt Sean.

  “What did you think about? Have you forgotten this man nearly had you killed? That he used you? That he intended to kidnap you?”

  “Look, he isn’t trying to hurt me. He’s never hurt me. I know him. He’s an idiot playing with the wrong people. Sure, he took me to Tisyphor but that was just to do a job.” It was true. Sean himself had never hurt her; not physically. But it wasn’t all. One look at Saahren was enough for her to know he wasn’t convinced. “Besides, I was worried about what you might do.”

  Saahren regarded her steadily for a long moment. “What do you think I would have done to him?”

  Lake Sylmander rose in her mind, moonlight reflecting from a battered face. “I could quite believe you’d kill him.”

  He sighed, a deep sigh from the heart, and sat back in the chair, arms on the rests. “Why?”

  “Why? Because he’s in your way. Because then I’ll be single again.”

  “I see. So if I kill him, you’ll feel obliged to marry me, is that what you’re saying?”

  “No. Of course not.”

  “In fact, quite the reverse, I imagine,” he said, almost to himself. “So what you’re really saying is that you think I’m stupid enough to think you’d marry me if I kill him. Is that right?” His voice was soft but his eyes were hard as ever.

  Yes, that was what she’d thought, without really thinking the matter through. What an idiot.

  He folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. “You’re a very intelligent lady, Allysha my dear, but sometimes you can be unutterably stupid.”

  “I don’t want to be the cause of his death. They have divorce to end marriages. And they have courts of law to convict petty criminals. That’s all he is. A crook and a swindler who’s got himself in too deep with

  the wrong people.”

  He picked up his glass and twirled it in his hand. “Do you still have any feelings for him?”

  “No.” She’d asked herself that question many times. Whatever she’d felt for Sean O’Reilly was a thing of the past. “If anything I pity him. I just want the man out of my life. I never want to see him again. But I don’t want to feel responsible for his death.”

  She gazed out of the window at the city lights twinkling across the metropolis, a pattern of bright and dark.

  “You’re too compassionate, Allysha,” he said eventually. “But maybe that’s one of your endearing qualities. You have my promise that I won’t personally kill him or have him killed—but he’d better sign the divorce document when the time comes.”

  “That isn’t going to matter.” She stifled a yawn. “I won’t be marrying you anyway.” She suddenly felt exhausted.

  His expression softened and he smiled. “Ah, yes. I keep forgetting you don’t like me. It’s late. Go to bed. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

  “I haven’t brought any pajamas or a toothbrush or anything.”

  He left the room for a moment. “One of my tee shirts,” he said, handing the garment to her. “You’ll find toiletries you need in the washroom off your bedroom.”

  She went through the motions of undressing and washing like an automaton. Saahren’s white tee shirt hung half way down her thighs, shapeless and inelegant and carrying a slight scent of him. She climbed between crisp sheets, her thoughts in a turmoil.

  Sean must still be associated with van Tongeren and those other fellows from the Galactic People’s Republic. What did they want her for? It had to be the same thing she was going to be taken to do from Tisyphor, whatever that was. How had Sean reached her? How had he managed to get into the compound? And what now? If they couldn’t keep her safe here in the Fleet compound…

  The thought slipped away.

  ****

  Saahren called Leonov. The older man appeared as a visual, seated in a shabby armchair in his own apartment, grey-faced and unhappy. “Is she all right?”

  “Yes. No thanks to your security people. She’s gone to bed. In my guest room. How did this happen?”

  Saahren didn’t try to disguise the anger in his voice.

  Leonov’s mouth lifted in acknowledgement of the rebuke. “It was very well planned and executed; a thoroughly professional job. They knew exactly what they were doing. O’Reilly and his friend had fake ID’s to get them into the Fleet compound. Then they waited for the two people scheduled to take over the surveillance duty in Allysha’s apartment block, killed them and took their IDs. They calmly walked in and took over at the usual time. And O’Reilly seems to have had the skill to override the IS and set it to standby. We’re lucky she had the presence of mind to manage to call you.”

  Presence of mind. Yes and a data port to connect to. It seemed O’Reilly really didn’t know about her rather unique talent. And if she hadn’t had that unique talent? She’d be gone, who knows where.

  “Well, it’s gone on long enough, Vlad. That’s it, finished. You’ll have to find O’Reilly on your own. I’m taking her out of here.”

  “Calm down, Chaka. Take her where?”

  “I’m bringing her ontoArcturus .” He’d cast around for an excuse; any excuse. At least this was a good one. “She can do some
on the job training. We’ll get the officers she’s training on the flagship and she can do some real, hands-on instruction on a real ship.” And she’d be safe, where he could keep his own eyes on her.

  “She’s not going to like it.”

  “I don’t give a damn if she likes it or not,” Saahren snapped. “She’ll do as she’s told.”

  “We can move some of our staff into her apartment with her.” Leonov’s voice rose on the last word, almost a question.

  “She’s coming onArcturus .”

  Leonov hesitated, measuring his words. “Aren’t you letting your private feelings intrude into your job?”

  Saahren stared at his friend. “If Allysha was an ugly old man, would I be reacting like this? I wouldn’t be tormented by erotic dreams but I would still be anxious to prevent someone with the ability to stop one of

  my ships from falling into the hands of my enemies. And the notion of ‘on the job’ training is a good one.”

  “Fair enough, I’ll agree about on the job training. But she’ll misconstrue. Another ship?”

  Saahren’s fingers clenched on his own arm. Leonov was right. She would misconstrue. The words rang in his mind. Over-protective, telling her what to do, running her life for her. But another ship?

  “No. If I put her on another ship, I’ll spend all my time wondering what’s happening to her.”

  The older man shrugged. “If you insist, then come up with a better reason. What was the meeting supposed to be about this morning anyway?”

  “There wasn’t a meeting. It was the best I could come up with just then as an excuse to talk to her.”

  Dancing with Lieutenant Bristol. His blood fizzed again. All that nonsense about a fiancée. Anyone could see the young idiot was head-over-heels smitten with her. And onArcturus , he could keep an eye on that, too.

  “Why don’t you see if she can help us with the trail of stolen weapons? You’ve always said you suspected it was internal,” Leonov said. “She can give us a different slant on things.”

  “Good idea. Very good idea.”

  Leonov’s people had checked it all but Allysha’s mind set was different. And good as Leonov’s people might be, they couldn’t match her. Besides, if she didn’t find anything it didn’t really matter.