The Belt Loop_Book Three_End of an Empire

by Robert B. Jones

  Two minutes later he was at the end of the bar punching the codes for Berger’s secret VOX into a secure comm terminal.

  * * *

  When she didn’t answer his call the first time, Ken Royal thought she might not have been finished with the big secret briefing yet. He piddled around his office for a few minutes and looked at the chronometer. The flashing colon between the hours and minutes seemed to hang there, waiting eons between flashes. Actually the clock was functioning normally; his impatience had made it appear to malfunction. To him, the minutes were like geological epochs, taking millions and millions of years to pass. When he tried her number again a mere 500 seconds had actually elapsed in the real world, the world beyond the universe between his ears. She answered on the second ring.

  “Lieutenant Commander Hansen,” she said, trying out her new rank designation a day early. “That you, Ken?”

  “None other. How did you know it was me?”

  “You’re the only one I gave this number to. Lucky for me it wasn’t the base comm center with some big-brassed admiral on the horn for me, that would have been embarrassing.”

  He chuckled. “Well, I just wanted to let you know we’re all set on this end. The boys will meet me before 1100 hours and we’ll come over on the bus with the first wave. Commander Holt told me he was having over 200 cadets in the audience. He said he wanted every seat with a warm ass in it.”

  “He just wants to show off, I’d bet. From what I’ve been told, these kinds of ceremonies are rare out here in the boonies. Everytime I made rank, I would just recite the oath to somebody’s adjutant, salute, get my gold and about-face to the door. I heard someone say there’s going to be press coverage as well. A real circus.”

  “Just what we need, Max. A little pomp and circumstance to lighten the mood after Canno. I wonder how many requests for retirement were submitted in the last few days.”

  “Probably not too many. Actually, the Navy is full of dedicated people that don’t like to be pushed around. I wouldn’t go too far out on the limb if I suggested that recruitment will spike in the next month or two. Hey, that’s how they got me. I was so gung-ho after the first war that I wanted to join right away. The films of the men and women in uniform, cutting a dignified swath through the colonies, it was just too much to pass up.”

  “A true patriot, you are,” he said with a grin in his voice. “Tell me how this thing is going to work for tomorrow. Did Captain Haad make the arrangements for us?”

  “Yes! We have leave until Sunday night at 2000 hours. I have to be back on Weyring Base a few hours before that, I have to get ready to deploy, and I need a couple of hours to get my junk together.”

  His heart skipped a beat. That meant he would have a couple of days to get to know Lieutenant Commander Maxine Hansen. Harold and his friend Cory could find something to amuse themselves, he was sure. It was shaping up into a grand weekend after all. “That’s great, Max. I know a few places up here we can go to do a little sight-seeing and enjoy some of the local tourist attractions. There are a couple of nice hotels we can get into if I act quickly. What’s your preference, city or rural?”

  She took a minute to consider his question. She hadn’t really thought much about overnight accommodations. That meant she would have to pack a few things for the trip tomorrow. “Oh, I don’t care. Surprise me,” she said fetchingly, with enough implied consent in her voice to make it sound like she wasn’t desperate.

  They chatted for a few more minutes and Ken assured her he would have all the details worked out before the end of the day. He reminded her to bring extra clothes in case the wetting-down ceremonies got out of hand. She thanked him for looking out for Har and promised him a good weekend.

  After breaking the connection Ken Royal sat at his desk and stared at the chronometer again for what seemed like an eternity. Finally he reached behind him and pulled out the Greater Narid Business Directory from his credenza.

  He had rooms to book.

  His only consideration was whether to get two rooms or three.

  * * *

  Lieutenant Rand waved the transcript high over his head and waved it around as he entered Niki Mols’s office. “Got another one, lieutenant. This time they used a secure land line we have been watching for a month or two. No names, clear text,” the excited IS officer said. “Talk of big cash payoffs. . .”

  Mols told him to settle down and let her read the transcript. She scanned the page and curled the document into a tight tube. “Any clue as to where this call terminated?” she asked.

  “Somewhere in the highlands. My guess would be one of the grain farms north of Narid. They didn’t stay connected long enough for us to get an exact location, but the trunk lines led to the highlands.”

  Mols sat back and unfurled the page. So. The Varson spies were still active and well. No doubt, considering the message, a meeting or rendezvous was planned for sometime later that evening. A big transfer of credits was in the offing. With the size of her shop being so small, she had neither the time nor the resources to trace this activity down. “Where was this original call made from, Billy? You get that?”

  Rand looked skyward and smiled. “Ohh, yes. Better than that, I’ve got a team on the way back from the bar in question and they’re bringing me some surveillance video from our observation post across the street. In an hour we’ll be able to see just who frequented that establishment during the time of the call. The ‘watch list’ is starting to pay dividends, lieutenant.”

  Great, she thought. The time was fast approaching when she would make her final push to rid the Colonial Navy of all miscreants and unloyal operatives, sailors that sold their allegiance to the highest bidder. So far, her net had snared almost 100 people, military and civilian, and she had put seventeen local establishments on her list of places to be watched. Her mantra was “Follow The Money” and three of her officers did just that. With the war raging in the space surrounding Bayliss, her private war on the ground continued unabated, never taking a break, round-the-clock action punctuated with moments of discovery such as this. “I want to be notified just as soon as you have your hands on that surveillance footage, is that clear?” she instructed. “Just to be on the safe side, check your feeds from the local banks and credit marketeers. See if you can detect any overtly large credit transfers.”

  “Aye, lieutenant,” Rand said with a mock salute. He turned on his heels and made his way out of her office.

  The IS lieutenant returned to her console and entered the new data.

  Her net was closing and she had a good idea who the big fish was.

  Chapter 27

  As soon as he opened the door she jumped into his outstretched arms. Holli Leaf held him tight and managed to plant a couple of wet kisses on his mouth. After a few minutes of uncharacteristic groping, Uri Haad broke the embrace.

  “Nice to see you, too,” he said. “I wouldn’t have expected such a greeting unless I had come back from the dead.”

  She laughed and reached for him again. “Don’t talk like that, Uri, not now, not after it’s taken me so long to find you.”

  “I take it you have good news about tomorrow?”

  “That obvious, huh?”

  “So what did your boss say? Are we on or not?”

  Holli stepped back and pushed the door closed. When she finished fishing the travel vouchers out of her bag, she waved them in the air. “All set. I get two on camera, one on sound. We’re scheduled to depart by train at nine o’clock in the morning. We’ll be set up and ready to go by the time the festivities start.”

  He smiled one of his rare smiles. “And, afterwards?”

  “We’ll just have to see, now won’t we? I don’t have to be back on the job until Monday morning. I’m going to follow you guys down to one of the local joints for your wetting-down parties. I think that will be a fitting end to my documentary, don’t you? I have a feeling it’ll play big on Elber.”

  “Hero worship, Holli?”

  Sh
e managed a pout. “You know that’s not what it is, my captain,” she said, moving deeper into his quarters. “Or, more properly, I guess I should get used to calling you Admiral Haad.”

  He followed her into the small kitchenette. When she turned to face him he slipped an arm around her waist. “And, maybe, I could get used to calling you Mrs. Haad,” he whispered.

  Holli stiffened in his grasp and glanced up into his steely eyes. Her light-hearted demeanor suddenly turned serious as she said, “Are you joking?”

  He pressed on. “Spend the rest of your life with me, Holli. I know it won’t be much of a life for you, with the war and all, but once the Varson are put back into their hole, I should have a pretty safe job, probably sitting at a desk somewhere in NAVFLT Headquarters going over FITREPS or something. I would love to have you to come home to every night.”

  She pushed back from him and placed one hand on his chest. In her wildest imaginings she had never expected this. The look on his face told her everything she wanted to know. He was serious. This rough and tumble Navy officer was actually proposing! This was something she would have to think about long and hard.

  “Was that a proposal of marriage I just heard, admiral? Did my ears deceive me?”

  He hesitated for a beat or two, the frown of frustration wrinkling the space between his eyebrows. Had he actually said what he just said? “I guess it was. Kinda lame, now that I think about it.”

  “But, we hardly know each other. You have a career you’re dedicated to, I have my work at BayCom, I just don’t see how this is going to work out. You flitting all over the galaxy, people trying to kill you everytime you turn around; the danger that drives you would drive me up the wall.”

  “Only for a few more months. Then I’ll be safe and sound at home every night. I promise.”

  She was silent for a full minute as she studied his face, waiting for him to break ranks and tell her he was only joking with her. But he didn’t. He flipped her around so her back was against the counter and went down on one knee. “Marry me, Holli Leaf. Complete me before I’m too old to appreciate the sunshine you bring into my life.”

  A small tear worked its way down her cheek and she rubbed the top of his head.

  “Yes,” she said. “But, I’ll tell you right now, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. I can be — how can I say it? — a real pest. You’ve only seen the good side of me.”

  He stood and hugged her close. “All the big brass will be up at the War College tomorrow. I’ll have to get permission from Admiral Paine. It’s a formality, but I have to notify him just the same.”

  That damned Navy bullshit, she thought. What if Paine said no? “You guys amaze me,” she said, “brave warriors out on death-defying missions, commanders of men and women in life-and-death situations, yet you have to ask your mommy if you can marry. I see this is going to get off to a great start.”

  “It’s not like that at all, Holli. There are rules in place to protect us from ourselves and to keep us from doing brash things, like getting married, before we ship out. In my case, it won’t be a problem.”

  She walked away from him a few steps and turned. “When are you thinking we should do this? Not tomorrow?”

  “Why not tomorrow? Right after I take my oath.”

  She crossed her arms around her waist. Was he insane? “I just can’t haul off and get married without, well, without letting my family know. I mean, well. . .”

  “Surprise them. Once they get a look at me, they might want to talk you out of it.”

  “Fat chance. My brother Gary wouldn’t care if I brought home a gorilla. Dad stopped caring when I left home at fifteen. Since my mother died, he stopped caring about anything but his own misery.”

  During the many conversatons they had shared on the Corpus Christi over the months of her photography assignment, Holli had told him about the men in her family. Her brother was a construction foreman somewhere near Weyring and her dad was a retired newsman. She had been one of those accidental children born late in her parents’ lives and, for the most part, she’d had to fend for herself while growing up. Her mother passed away when she was in her teens and her father retreated to a bout of depression and alcohol abuse that pretty much removed him from her life.

  “So, I don’t see the problem. Tell them afterwards.”

  She smiled and reached for him. Was this the man she had waited for all her adult life? Was this the face she wanted to see every morning? Her debate with herself lasted only a few more seconds. “I have nothing to wear,” she proclaimed, in one final, feeble attempt to ward off the inevitable.

  He laughed and hugged her close. The fruity fragrance of her golden tresses filled his mind with scenes of wild flowers waving in a warm breeze across a magical meadow. This was the woman for him, this was the person he wanted to share his life, his dreams, his future. “Then we must go shopping before all the base exchanges close,” he offered.

  Holli swatted him on the arm and protested. “Not so fast, admiral. I’m not going to let you off that easily. I know of a trendy shop not more than ten minutes from the main gate. If I’m going to do this crazy thing, I want to at least look good doing it. And,” she added with a wink, “There’s a fine jeweler right across the street.”

  Oh God, he shuddered. He had forgotten all about the ring.

  “Then, let’s go,” he said warmly.

  Holding hands, they headed for the door, and their future.

  Chapter 28

  The trip to the farmhouse was uneventful. Robi Zane was in a rented ground-car and he constantly referred to the little satellite positioning screen in the middle of the dashboard. All Berger would give him was coded coordinates over the phone and he knew even that scant information could doom them all. He kept his attention focused on the GPS map and the rearview mirror. He almost missed the turnoff to the farm.

  Once past the drive to the right, he noticed the longitude numbers going steadily upward and braked hard. A quick shift into reverse took him back down the road a hundred meters and he made the turn. His day had been complicated enough without this last bit of cloak-and-dagger business. After leaving The Nest he had proceeded by hired car to the nearest car rental agency and secured his transportation. Next he’d visited the local branch of his bank and withdrew a large sum of credits. Then on to his quarters for his change of clothes and his overnight gear. All the while he was preparing for the trip, the meeting with Berger and, ultimately, the promotion ceremony, he kept waiting for his door to burst open and a squad of heavily-armed shore patrolmen to rush in. It didn’t happen. In the back of his mind he was beginning to think he was actually going to get away with everything.

  The first shock he received was when he made his way around the house and headed for the barn. A tall, thin man with a familiar face waved at him and motioned for him to put his car inside the building. It was Fraze! Back from the dead! Since his body had never been found everyone in the Admiralty just assumed he was dead or had deserted in the wake of the Berger scandal. Now, here he was, very much alive, and, from all outward appearances, very well to boot. This was going to be an interesting evening, Zane thought. He could hardly wait to hear what Fraze had been doing for the last three or four months.

  Once inside the barn he shut off the engine and went to the rear of the car to retreive his things. Fraze pulled the huge sliding barn door closed and plunged the interior of the structure into a fuzzy gray twilight, the only illumination coming from the lone window on the opposite short wall. “Hey there, Robi, long time, no see,” Fraze said as he approached the car.

  “What are you doing here? I thought you were dead.”

  Fraze coughed out a sinister little laugh. “You wish. Think I would disappear and miss all the fun and excitement? I heard you’re in line for your first star.”

  Zane closed the trunk hard. “Yeah, that is if you and Berger don’t fuck things up for me.”

  Fraze reached out for the small valise near Zanes
’s foot. “No, we’re only here to help. Let me grab that for you.”

  Zane reached down and grabbed his wrist. “Thank you, no. I’ll take that myself. You can grab that garment bag.”

  The older captain looked at the new arrival with understandable dismay. “Okay, you don’t have to get all touchy about it. I was just trying to help.”

  “The kind of help I don’t need. Where’s Berger? In the house?”

  “Yeah, she’s inside with our guest. We have a Varson visitor inside.”

  Captain Zane stopped in his tracks as the second jolt was delivered. “A what?”

  “Come on, let’s get inside. You’ll see,” Fraze said, and brushed by him with the garment bag slung over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  When the two men entered the back door into the kitchen, Coni Berger was standing in the middle of the floor wearing a Navy dress white uniform. The rank insignia was for that of a commander. “Got out one of my old uniforms, and it still fits. What do you think?”

  “I think you have lost your mind,” Zane said as he dropped his bags.

  “It’ll do, Berger,” Fraze said. “You won’t fool anybody for long in that getup, though. Think they’ll just let you sashay up to a flyer and get on board? I’m sure everyone in the Colonial Navy has a picture of your face in a breast pocket or underneath their covers.”

  She was not fazed by their comments. “After I change my hair and do a little bit of creative makeup, those clowns won’t be able to tell who I am,” she said defiantly.