We unloaded his suitcases and I carried the carry-on, Stater the large luggage on its wheels. We went to the staircase, lifted the cases, and descended to the basement.
As we approached the ops center, I said, “At the front end of the basement are the storage rooms for the tenants in this building and the maintenance room for electricity and water. On the left over there is the operations center. Two doors lead into it and both have the same security. On the right is the shooting range.”
I pointed to the area above the keypad. “There’s a hidden camera. One of many on this floor.”
I allowed Stater to see me pressing the keypad so he could remember the sequence. Then I pressed my right palm to the upper right of it on a so-called blank part of the wall. But behind it was a scanner that recognized my palm print. The entire wall of the basement was painted in splotches of yellow with black cloud-like smudges, so it could hide hand prints.
“Ruta,” I turned to Stater, “is the name I gave to the AI of our center.”
I returned to face the scanner. “Ruta, I want to add Stater Gong to the roster of those allowed in the operations center.”
After turning to him, I said, “Press your palm where I did. It will scan and remember you.”
After he did, the speaker said, “Please enter the password on the keypad.”
He smiled and pressed the same sequence I had shown him.
The door clicked and stood ajar. I opened it and entered with Stater behind me.
“The first room is the dorm with six bunk beds. We take the first one available.”
I walked through the dorm.
“The middle room is divided into space for a jail on your right as well as the dining room, a storage room on the left, and ahead is the kitchen.”
As we entered the kitchen, I said, “The dining room is on the right. You may notice a panel on the wall to its right. That is a peek-a-boo panel with a one-way mirror into the jail. The hood over it is to prevent lights from the dining room becoming visible.”
Stater nodded as he looked at the panel.
I walked into the planning room.
“On your left you’ll see an evidence oven and a lathe. We use the lathe to grind out the barrels of our weapons and to file off serial numbers.”
He nodded as he stepped into the planning room.
“On the three walls,” I said as I pointed, “we sometimes display information about the lead suspects of a case and the layout of any place we’ll hit on an op.”
“Why the large space?” he asked.
“In case we need to put a hospital bed here.”
“Where are the members of your team?” he asked.
“Not here. Each has a cover job and is probably there now. I don’t have one so I’m staying in the ops center.”
“Will I be staying here?” Stater asked.
I nodded.
“We’ll get to know each other.”
I walked through the planning room, the kitchen, and the dorm, to the door to the basement hallway.
“Shall we go to the shooting range?”
He followed as I went to the secure door to the range.
I pointed to the keypad.
“You do the honors.”
Stater stepped in front of me and pressed the keypad. Next he placed his right palm to the right of the keypad but the door wouldn’t open.
“Oh,” he said as he positioned his palm to the space above and to the right of the keypad. The wall was painted in the same yellow and black as the entrance to the dorm.
Now the door clicked ajar.
I entered first and turned on the lights to show two partitioned sections with shelves in front of each. I pointed to the case on the right with several handguns and rifles.
“No exercise room?” Stater asked.
I raised my chin. “Hmm. I see what you mean. We could switch to a virtual shooting range. That would leave room for more equipment.”
I turned to Stater. “Maybe you can help me set up an exercise room here. There’s not enough space on the other side.”
Chapter 37
Gancha woke to the sounds of a vacuum cleaner running downstairs. Her roommate was in class, so who could it be? Then she realized it was Tuesday. Her housekeeper Josey had told her Tuesday and Thursday were cleaning days. Yesterday, Josey had wiped down the three bathrooms and cleaned the kitchen. So today must be “vacuum the carpets” day.
Gancha glanced at the clock by her bedside.
Nine o’clock. Time to get up.
She put on a bathrobe and slippers over her naked body. On inspiration, she walked out and peered into the spare room and imagined it filled with stuff for a newborn.
Now why would I think that?
She had had her tubes tied while back in Chicago. As a precaution, her gynecologist recommended she have the remainder of her eggs frozen. She could always change her mind later and have a child from them. Modern medicine routinely achieved what used to be called miracles.
But the more she thought about the whole thing, the more she didn’t like it. She couldn’t go on special ops while pregnant.
She took a shower and examined her lower abdomen.
A baby would appear right about here. But a baby would mean no ops for a year. Damn.
Then she thought of her options. They were larger now she had tons of money. Which meant she could hire a surrogate mother. She shook her head.
Don’t go there!
With that, she went back into her bedroom and put her underwear and an orange pantsuit on before walking downstairs to her office. She had to consider the ramifications of buying out a competitor for one of her businesses.
While there, Josey, her housekeeper knocked on the door.
“Care for some coffee?” asked Josey.
Gancha looked at her. Josey had a niece in her early twenties. The good part was the niece was young, married, and like most people her age, hungry for money.
“Josey, come in and sit down. I’d like to talk with you for a minute.”
#
I looked up as Stater Gong walked into the planning room.
He said as he leaned on the back of a chair, “I’ve been meaning to talk with you.”
“What about?” I replied.
“I’d like some time off. To go look for an apartment.”
“You thinking about making Zor your billet?”
“Something like that, yeah.”
“Fine with me. As long as you’re available on short notice.”
After Stater left, the place seemed hollow.
I had to admit, Stater Gong was a good addition to my team. I hope I could make that permanent but that was up to Acorn.
When Stater returned, we went out together to buy new exercise equipment. We used the BIS van and had to remove some of the backup supplies, like First Aid stuff, guns, and ammo. At one point, I rented a Haul-It truck for the big stuff. I gave Vincent’s address as my residence, per our arrangement. There was no way I was going to give the location of our operations center to an outside firm to bring it here.
And we spent several hours at the shooting range. You can get to know a man if you spend a lot of time together.
Over dinner one evening, I asked Stater, “What about you? How did you come to work for BIS?”
Stater took a deep breath.
“My father, Tony, was a BIS agent. He was a distant cousin of your uncle Berry and, as we all know, Berry recruits heavily from within the entire Binger family. My dad got killed on a mission in Egypt because his gun jammed. When I found out I was adopted by Asian parents, I badgered Berry to tell me all he knew about my genetic father.”
Stater paused and looked down at his hands in his lap.
I raised one finger. “You don’t have the slanted eyes or facial features of someone born in Asia.”
“Yeah, I know. That made it hard for me in school. When Berry told me the details of my father’s death, I vowed to never let that happen to me. So I beca
me an expert in weapons. Not just guns, but knives, swords, and hand to hand combat as well.”
“May I suggest it would be easier on you if you called him by the code name, Acorn?”
He nodded. “Got it.”
“Siblings?” I asked.
“I have a brother. Lives in La Seille. He’s a half-brother from my father’s first wife. They got a divorce after she met a new man.”
“Children?”
Stater shook his head. “I tried marriage though. It lasted only two years. She turned lesbian and we got a divorce.”
“Lot of that goin’ around.”
“I went on to college at Cambridge. Then I saw a poster for the American Rangers and that was it. I joined up in a week.”
“What was your major at college?” I asked.
“Poly sci.”
“How long were you in the Rangers?”
“About a year,” replied Stater. “Then I had a talk with Berry…er, Acorn.”
I smiled at his struggle with names.
Wonder what he called the man back on Earth?
“The rest was history. I’ve been with BIS for about three years now.”
“Can I ask you how old you are?”
“I’m thirty-nine now. Born in 2068,” replied Stater.
He took a deep breath and let it out.
“Do you mind if I ask you something?”
“No,” I replied. “Go ahead.”
He blew his breath out between pursed lips. “Can I stay on Rossa?”
That would mean becoming a permanent part of my team.
“Do you mind teaching Weapons?”
“Nope. As long as I get to go on many ops. I’d prefer to stay here. Back on Earth, I was stuck behind a desk much of the time. Too much if you ask me.”
We sat like that, neither saying a word, for almost two minutes. He broke that silence too.
“You need someone to do all the little things you don’t want to do. That’s me.”
So he had been listening to my monologues about Ron.
I said, “It’s really up to Acorn.”
He looked in my eyes. “You’ve decided, then?”
I nodded and looked up. “Love to have you, actually.”
He bowed his head and smiled.
“You need to ask our boss.”
“That’s next.”
A big smile broke out on his face as he backed away from the table.
“I gotta send a message to Acorn,” he said. “I’ll need him to ship my personal stuff from my apartment on Earth. The only thing I really want is a dresser my dad made for me. He was good with his hands. Made it out of teak wood. Light in both color and weight. That’s the only thing I have from him.”
We installed the last of the exercise equipment, each in pairs so exercisers could have a buddy to work out with. We also made a virtual reality “dash” room where exercisers could test their new muscles on starts and sudden stops, twists, and firing.
Then we adjourned to take showers and eat lunch. Today’s meal consisted of rotisserie chicken, asparagus, and crackers. I did the cooking this time. Well, at least for the hot food. He set the table.
It was time to work on this damned problem of a coup.
One thing was sure. Ben Nguyen was the key to what was going on.
“Stater,” I said as I looked across the table at him.
“You can call me Stat.”
I had to admit it sure beat calling him by his full name of Stater. But before I got far on that, I got a tag from the love of my life.
“Hey, big man, whatcha doin’ for dinner?” asked Gancha. “Care to eat at my place? Alena and I have something to discuss with you.”
Oh dear.
I had learned that whenever those two put their heads together, it spelled trouble for me. But I had a soft spot for her. And another for my daughter.
“Well, give me a time and I can try to make it.”
“How about six?” she asked. “And don’t try. Be here.”
“Hey, who’s the boss here?”
“Sorry, didn’t mean it the way it sounded. You’re the boss for BIS. But in our personal relationship, we’re equals.”
“I’ll accept that. I’ll try to be at your place by six. Can’t promise it though.”
“Okay,” she added. “But it will be worth your while, I can promise you that.”
We disconnected.
I really didn’t have anything cooking but I was not about to admit that to her.
Stat sat across from me eating his lunch.
“So, you’re going to her house this evening?”
“Looks that way.”
Chapter 38
An hour before I was to go to Gancha’s house, I changed into my best blue suit. I also put on my two Snaps. Would feel naked without them, even if I was only going to Gancha’s. Ya never know what might happen. If some son of a bitch broke into her place, I wanted to be ready.
Of course, she’d have a gun nearby no matter what room we were in. She was like that.
But as the lone male, I’d naturally feel I had to protect my women.
After I instructed my car to go to her place, I sat back and thought.
What could she have in mind?
I pulled into her driveway and went to the side door.
There she was, in a red full-skirted dress, no less. Her black hair hung in waves. Just the way I liked it.
We shared a quick kiss and she led me into her kitchen and then the dining room, where Alena sat. My daughter stood and I saw she wore a tight orange and white dress. Her reddish-brown hair hung straight.
Every time I looked at her, I thought of her mother, Leanna, even though Lee wore her brown hair short, in a page-boy style. Alena’s facial features did the trick for me.
The table was set formal and right away I noticed the tall skinny candles.
What the hell was up?
Gancha pointed to the chair on the end and I sat.
All in all, it felt homey.
Alena spoke first.
“It’s nice to see you, Dad.”
That felt good but I knew she was still adjusting.
“It’s nice to see you, too.”
“I’m glad you’re still alive.”
That brought a smile to my face.
Gancha brought the pot over and served from it into the large bowls at our place settings. Dinner consisted of a beef stew with lots of potatoes and carrots. She placed the pot on a wooden board and sat in the chair on my left. Alena was on my right.
“What’s the big surprise?” I asked.
“Let’s eat first,” Gancha replied.
After we had made a big dent in the stew and lay back with full bellies, I spoke first.
“What the occasion?”
“Have you thought about the long term?” asked Gancha.
“Meaning what?”
“Like a year from now,” Gancha replied.
Was that what this dinner was all about?
Didn’t seem enough to me.
“Dunno. I find it better to take one day at a time.”
“Dad,” started Alena as she looked at Gancha.
But Gancha shook her head. “Not now,” she added.
Alena looked down at her plate.
“Will someone tell me what’s up?” I asked.
Alena looked at Gancha. Apparently my lover was going to do the talking.
But Gancha stared at her plate.
“This is more difficult than I thought it would be,” she said.
“Why don’t you just spit it out?” I asked. “That’s often the easiest way.”
“Okay,” she said. “How’d you like to become a father again?”
“What?”
“You heard me. I want to have a child by you.”
I sat stunned with my eyes opened wide.
A baby?
“That’s not possible,” I said. “I thought you had your tubes tied.”
“I froze some of my
eggs before I left Earth.”
“How do you plan to get them here?
She shook her head and sighed. “Don’t know. One problem at a time. Maybe you can help with that.”
#
Back at the ops center the next day, I viewed a map of my domain of Rossa and thought of moving to Telmot. Maybe I’d be safer there. But being station chief of Rossa and living this far away from most Bingers was not a good idea. However, most decisions that affected Bingers were made here in Zor.
Well, that might change as more Bingers moved to Telmot City.
I watched the telly when I saw nine guys from Campbell had taken over the central Hall of Justice in Telmot City. Not a coup, more like a protest. There were only four images of hostages, out of more than eleven taken.
Oh oh, Beach Omar’s territory.
As far as I knew, Beach Omar was the only BIS agent living on Braco.
I sent a message to Acorn advising him of the developments. In that message, I asked for any contacts he had in Telmot.
So I tagged Beach directly.
“Hello, who is this?” said a deep voice. A man’s voice.
“Can I speak to Beach?”
“She’s not here. Can I take a message?”
I disconnected immediately.
So Beach was in trouble.
My first impulse was to go there myself. But Gancha’s advice popped into my head. It was time to delegate.
I did a little work on my computer and called out.
“Stat, are you here?”
He stuck his head through the door in the planning room.
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Wanna go on an op?”
He grinned. “You know that.”
“Better pack some bags. You’re going to Braco. And alone this time.”
I added, “Oh, by the way, the last leg of your flight looks like a puddle jumper. Props no less.”
“Have you assigned a seat in front of the wings?”
“Oh yeah,” I replied as I handed him four envelopes with cash.
“You may need these.”
I also handed him a flash drive.
“And this. More details you may need.
“Don’t know more than you do, except Beach was planning an op. She was going to city hall.”
So maybe that’s why she didn’t respond.
Maybe the younger Beach had failed to plan ahead and take backup. To the best of my knowledge, she was alone in Telmot. Maybe she died on the op, or was captured.
Rebuilt: A Jake Dani/Mike Shapeck Novel (Jake Dani / Mike Shapeck) Page 14
