Paula left two days later. She refused my offer to transport her to Cornwell by lander, insisting that she would rather take the supply airship. No replacement was scheduled.
That left me with six "assistants", five of whom I was reasonably certain I could trust. After our trip to Tarrant, Becky had surrendered her blaster without complaint, though I assumed that detailed photographs had been sent to East Brent, or perhaps direct to Duke Richard at Firstlanding. I had to keep reminding myself of Becky's divided loyalties, but still, I could be confident that she wished me no ill. It was worrisome to wonder how she would react if or when she received action orders from Duke Richard, though.
Andrea Parelli was the lone New Home agent, and she was better at it than I originally assumed. She had rapidly become 'kid sister' to all the others, who I suspect lowered their guard a bit with her. It was, I admitted, an effective technique. She was the only one who seemed to regret Paula's departure. My only regret, of course, was that I hadn't had her recalled months ago.
"I hope you got rid of her in time," That was Cara Tenner, the college girl from Refuge. The two Refugers and the two Westins had managed to meet with me privately, to review our situation and decide how to deal with my security aboard Adventurer.
Perhaps in reaction to all the negative media coverage I was receiving almost world-wide, the Refugers seemed to have rallied around me. Terry Havens, the other Refuge "assistant" said that it was because it was such a perfect "underdog story"; lone man besieged and attacked by big bad government and media. At any rate, I didn't worry that Cara and Terry would receive orders to kill me.
Ellie Fergson shook her head. "We didn't. She’s had months to poke around and photograph anything of interest to Duke Richard. I'm not a big fan of assassination as a policy, but I'm almost sorry the Captain didn't have Heidi take her out."
My temper flared. "Heidi is a bodyguard and assistant, not an assassin. I hope she never has to kill again." Heidi, sitting silently in the corner, outside the group, merely listened impassively, that beautiful face turned to stone.
Terry jumped in. "We couldn't afford to kill anyone. Besides, we didn't and she's gone now. We have to focus on the present situation. We also have to assume," she continued, "that Duke Richard has detailed plans of the entire compound and the locations of its defenses. When he attacks, if he does, it will be much more effectively than Cellia's attack."
"Yeah," Jess put in. "He's been working the political side until now, trying to pressure the Captain to train shuttle pilots. Much as I wish he would, and much as I'd like to become one of them, it's obvious the Captain is not going to change his mind. That means Duke Richard has to find another way to get armed forces aboard Adventurer." She glared at me.
"Yeah," Ellie added, "and despite his best efforts, he knows that Westin and Cellia are going to block any attempts he makes to ram something through the Planetary Council."
The four agreed to put their nations on alert for takeover attempts by New Home, but we had no time for further discussion. Meetings like that one had to be short and rare.
But Ollie, Heidi, and now all four of my trustworthy "assistants" had agreed that there was a real, and possibly urgent, threat from New Home. King David and Duke Richard would find a way to get armed men into space; and when they did, I would be on my own. It would take months for the furor to work itself out; Duke Richard would have plenty of time to break me.
As I said, that's when I really began to become paranoid. The threat against me was genuine, and so far, the only reasonably secure place I had on Haven was the International Zone. Our "safe houses" near each capitol were a start. But the landers were far too public when they descended, or even when they traveled, unless it was dark. Even then, dozens or hundreds of amateur and professional telescopes were scanning the skies and observing all my descents.
So, I began having the landers come down over the oceans, and over the horizons of the nearest nation's telescopes. When asked, I explained that it was a safety measure; but now I could come down as vertically as possible over the ocean at night, drop to a few hundred meters, and fly a few hundred kilometers to the coastline silently, and hopefully unobserved. Arrived at my destination, I would drop silently to the ground on gravs, taxiing into the barn or shed that would conceal the lander from airship and even orbiting observation.
I also had another objective. I'd been alarmed by everyone's insistence that Duke Richard would eventually gain control of at least one lander, so I decided I needed a real hideout, not just an isolated farm. I might have to hide out for months or years, and, well, I wasn't willing to do without electricity or hot showers, and cutting firewood was not my idea of a quiet afternoon at home.
I'd had Lisa run a high-resolution survey of all the uninhabited areas of Haven. On one of the large, uninhabited islands in the southern hemisphere, far from either of the main continents, her deep-penetrating radar had discovered a large cavern, apparently a 'lava pipe' of a dead volcano. I scouted it, and decided it would make an ideal "hideout", a place of refuge in case I had to flee pursuers.
I "stole" an entire medium-sized plascrete emergency shelter system from Adventurer's stores, vowing to return the system and pay for the materials when this was over, if I survived.
The emergency shelter system was designed to provide emergency housing in case the ship became uninhabitable for some reason. It consisted of several inflatable forms, prefabricated plumbing and wiring sets, and a portable plascrete system. In use, one laid out and leveled the proper sized circle, installed the prefabricated wiring and plumbing sets and lay a plascrete floor over them, then inflated the dome-shaped form over it, and sprayed it with releaser followed by a thick coating of plascrete. Once the plascrete set, one deflated the form, and installed the prefitted doors and windows. Add a small fusactor for power, and a waste processor for sewage, and you have a cozy insulated shelter. Ugly, but cozy.
The cavern was perfect. After evicting all the creepy-crawlies that had previously inhabited the place, the robots leveled the floor of the cavern, and installed two of the shelter domes; one for a residence, and one for storage and services. They erected a force field generator to keep the former occupants from reoccupying the place in my absence, and laid concealed pipe to divert a nearby spring into the cave. The cavern was large; despite the domes, there was plenty of room to park even the largest of the workboats out of sight of airships, stolen landers, or even orbiting starships. I also disabled the deep-penetrating radar on both ships. If necessary, I could live here for years, sneaking into the northern hemisphere for needed supplies or even companionship, or just people. Yes, I could have stored a sex 'bot there, but I still wasn't quite that desperate, yet.
I also worked with Lisa to modify a large lander into a deep-space ship, capable of staying in space for at least a month. This wasn't easy, and even the largest workboat would end up crowded for one person, and cramped for two. But it would be capable of lifting from Haven and boosting to the asteroid belt, and that was all I needed.
Another of Heidi's purchases through one of Res Vont's shell companies had been a small, well-used oceangoing freighter, the "Wanderer III". She had been quietly refitted at Refuge's only shipyard, and Heidi had offered a bonus large enough to gain the sworn silence of all the shipyard workers privy to classified information, as well as all the blueprints and other records.
That "classified information" did not extend only to her ownership. A large part of the costs involved had been covered by Refuge Chemical in exchange for a years' head start with the secret of producing helium, the lightest non-flammable gas.
Her largest hold held only Haven's total supply of the gas in a large high-pressure tank, and a small secure storage compartment with a deck hatch just large enough for the gig. Her forward hold was filled by the deflated bulk of a style of non-rigid airship called, for no apparent reason, a 'blimp'. While smaller and slightly less common than the rigid variety, Blimps were rising in popularity due to lo
w purchase and maintenance costs. In fact, privately-owned blimps were a growing segment of the airship market.
In addition to coal for her boilers, Wanderer III also carried tonnes of heavy stones, to help her ride low in the water and appear laden. Lisa assured me that robots could be trained to operate the vessel, especially since her refit had included a number of improvements in propulsion, navigation, and communications. Heidi and Ellie were doubtful the robots could handle her in a storm though, and frankly, I shared their concern.
Still, Wanderer III gave me a means of getting around besides the conspicuous landers. If I had to hide out for months or years, Wanderer and her blimp were perfect for my purposes, giving me inconspicuous access to any of Haven's seaports and/or airship ports on both continents
Working at night, a robot work crew had erected a small dock and dome-shaped 'emergency' shelter from Startrader's supplies on the swampy coast nearest the International Zone. A roof large enough to conceal dome, dock and ship was erected over the dock and carefully camouflaged. Another such camouflaged dock and dome was set up in a protected cove on the coast a few kilometers from my cavern "hideout". I had verified that both were invisible to airships or aircraft overhead, and even to orbital observation. Well, at least in normal resolution.
Heidi had still other ideas, but I put a stop to her urge for expansion. I now had safe houses in each of the nations' capitals, as well as my "hideout". And of course, Wanderer III gave me access to seaports worldwide. I was as secure as I could be. Enough paranoia — back to business!
I didn't know how much time I had before Duke Richard found a way to reach the ships, but I planned to do whatever I could to stimulate development on my new home planet before King David became King of Haven and began dictating who he would permit to learn what.
So, with a deep sigh, I boarded the gig and headed for Cellia. With my new policy of descending over oceans, the trip to Cellia was much longer than before; but I decided the increased security was worth it. I actually descended south of Cornwell and followed the central mountain range whenever possible. I finally reached the farm, confident that my night approach on silent gravs had been all but invisible. I'd arrived after the largest moon had set to find Heidi waiting. She assured me that she didn't see or hear me until I was less than twenty meters up, and the gig's bulk blocked out the stars.
We covered the gig, and locked the barn door before going into the kitchen for a cup of caf. Well, caf for me; choc for Heidi. We discussed the upcoming deals, and Heidi showed me the books she'd had printed. They were beautifully done, with handsome bindings.
"I'm sorry for not being able to get a better price on them," she began. "I hadn't realized they would use such high-quality covers and bindings."
I waved a dismissal. "I've been doing some studying. In business, it seems, image is everything. If we give our customers the impression that they're dealing with a high-quality organization, they'll take us much more seriously than they would if we showed them something with cheap paper covers and bindings designed to fall apart. You've done extremely well, and I'm looking forward to seeing the other safe houses." I paused. "I don't suppose any of them have hot and cold running water?"
She shook her head, smiling. "Sorry. But all of them come fully equipped with a handy-dandy pump in the kitchen, guaranteed to give your right arm a workout. Also included is a double-bitted axe for your workout pleasure. For this morning, you'll have noticed that the stove has already been stoked, and breakfast will be forthcoming." She paused. "I'm glad you got here when you did; if you'd been an hour later, people would have been up, and their days begun. On Haven people, especially farm people, claim that they work from "can see to can't see"; and there's a lot of truth in that."
I thought about that. It was over an hour until dawn. "Do people really work even before dawn?"
She nodded. "Some do. Especially farmers. By the time it's light enough to see, they want to be in the fields, or at least on their way to them. That means breakfast in the dark, which means stoking the fire and heating the stove to make that breakfast. Of course, that's not true in the cities. Even there, though, the work day is twelve hours long, so you still have to get an early start."
I shook my head. "It sounds like a hard life."
The smile was still there. "It can be. But it can also be a beautiful life; peaceful and rewarding." she shook her head again. "But it's not your life, or even one you could tolerate."
Suddenly she stood, and walked around the table to me. For a long moment, she merely stood, looking down at me. Then, just as suddenly, she bent and kissed me on the lips. "Thank you," she murmured. As my mouth dropped open in astonishment, she calmly returned to her seat.
I struggled to regain the power of speech. "Uh, for what?" I finally managed to ask. That radiant smile spread and widened. "Thank you for saying that you hoped I'd never have to kill again; and more importantly, for meaning it."
I started to scramble to my feet, but she shook her head slightly, and I dropped back. "Jerd, you're a remarkable man," she began. "But you're not very experienced with women, are you?"
I felt my face grow warm. "Heidi, I'm a slum rat. Decent women on Trask don't even see us. So, no. I'm not very experienced with women. I had more sex in the two years I was a cargo monkey than in all my years before that. Of course, that was with port whores. So, to answer your question, I have very little experience with real women."
She nodded, and the smile was still there. "I thought not. Jerd, you were correct; all of us were ordered to sleep with you if we thought it might mean getting closer to your 'secrets'. But I don't think that anyone except Giselle or me took that order seriously. There are few real 'espionage' agents on Haven, and very few female ones. The women you were sent were mostly recruited from among the secretarial and typing pools, and rushed through a quick combat and espionage course. In this job, clerical skills were going to be much more essential than spy skills. Several of them were frightened to death that you might want sex with them.
"Jess, for instance, is not a spy, or any kind of agent. She's just what she appears: a tomboy with a flying obsession. And I guarantee that she would never have offered herself to you for sex." she shrugged. "Giselle and I belong to a very small minority on Haven; women willing to take the risk of engaging in casual sex when necessary.
"And the risks are very high. Are you familiar with the term 'venereal disease', Jerd?" At the shake of my head, she nodded. "I thought not. It means a whole family of very unpleasant diseases that can be spread by sexual contact. Some of them are just disgusting, some are very painful, and some can cause insanity and even death.
"And then, of course, there is the risk of pregnancy. Being an unwed mother is scandalous on Haven. Very few men care to 'raise someone else's bastard'; all an unmarried mother has to look forward to are years of drudgery, struggling to raise a child and provide for it alone."
I frowned. "Really? Birth control is simple and cheap on most planets. Of course, there are some that refuse to permit it, but it's almost universal in man-settled space."
Her eyes widened a bit, and I thought she was going to ask for details. But she waved dismissively.
"Where I'm going with this is to tell you that Jess is sincere. She is deeply attracted to you. If I believed in love, I'd say she's in love with you, and devoted to your welfare. If madam President ever asked her to do something against your interests, I suspect Jess would resign rather than obey. And you're obviously just as attracted to her. You're a good man, Jerd, and you need a good woman." she sighed.
"You've been using me as an assistant because you thought I was the only one you could really trust. Well, I'm telling you that you can really trust Jess. And Ellie, for that matter. I'm resigning as your assistant. You came here tonight alone, because your bodyguard was sitting on her hands waiting for you. No more. I'll be your bodyguard; it's a job I like and am suited for. I understand Jess' clerical skills are only average; but that can be fixed.
What you can't buy is loyalty and affection like hers."
I frowned. I'd rather thought we were becoming attracted to each other; that we might have a future. "What about you, Heidi? You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, you're intelligent, and have already saved my life. What about you?"
Her smile faded, and a sad, wistful look washed over it. She shook her head.
"I'm damaged goods, Jerd. I've seen too much, done too much to be able to ever again become a 'respectable' woman." She shrugged. "Oh, you can have me if you want me, Jerd. and it won't be because it's my job, or because I'm grateful for the chance you gave me.
"No, you can have me because in my own, twisted way I love you, too. You have rescued me from a life of death. You have given me a chance to change what I once was, and to begin to become what I want to be. So you can take me, Jerd, right now or any other time, and I swear that Jess will never hear of it. But you need a woman like Jess or Ellie. Ellie tries to hide it, for Jess' sake, I think, but I'm certain she's attracted to you, too."
I shook my head. "How come I can't see all these women that are madly in love with me? I haven't made love to a woman in months. Now, suddenly, I have three to choose from!"
Her grin surfaced. "Nope. Sorry. You have zero chances of bedding Ellie or Jess. They are both proud, respectable women. All I said was you could, and perhaps should pursue them. But don't be surprised if the price of bedding either of them is a wedding ring!"
Chapter 11
Heidi had given me a lot to think about, but her timing was horrible. It was all I could do to restrain myself from diving across the table and attacking her right there on the kitchen floor.
But we had an appointment. It had been very difficult for Heidi to arrange an appointment with the President of Cellia Metals, and we couldn't afford to be late. So, despite my excited state, the cold early morning twilight found me headed for the shed to light off the steam carriage. Heidi chuckled at my obvious excitement, but merely patted my shoulder. "Later, Jerd. Later."
Stranded on Haven Page 22
