“OK,” Bruce said. “Well let’s get going then. We’ve just enough time to have a quick wash and whatnot, and possibly a quick beer if we’re lucky.”
It was a twenty-minute drive in the shuttle to the Sam Boyd Stadium where the tournament was being held, and Bruce made sure the complimentary drinks in the goody bag they had been given were not wasted on the way – and he made inroads into Leaf’s bag as well so hers didn’t go to waste either.
By the time they made it to the ground Bruce already felt half-pissed in an enjoyable and exuberant way. He was looking forward to catching up with the boys from home when he could find them – which it turned out was not difficult – and he soon found himself surrounded by a boisterous group most of whom had been at his wedding reception a few days earlier.
He got a few quizzical looks as he and Leaf sat down, as it was a bit early in his relationship for him to be seen round and about with a new woman on his arm.
“Sue has a headache,” Bruce explained, “and Leaf wanted to watch the games.” Actually, unless the MPU had engineered Leaf to accompany him, he was not sure why she had wanted to come along. Maybe she was an extra security precaution provided for by the MPU. Bruce was a bit unsure how he should take that, being looked after by a girl, even if she was built like an Amazon; it was a bit of a comedown in some ways.
Leaf can provide security for you if required. She has considerable capability in this area.
However, Bruce quickly forgot about everything as soon as someone pressed another beer into his hand, and he put Sue, Leaf, asteroids, the MPU and the various machinations of the American Military Industrial complex aside for a blissful few hours.
A few hours later, a more-or-less sober Bruce found himself squashed in the back of a minivan with a bunch of his loud-singing, drunken neighbours. Well, you could hardly call it singing, and he stopped to wonder what the immigrant Indian driver made of the passengers belting out tried-and-true Kiwi drinking songs and anthems, accompanied by a slightly out-of-tune guitar.
Bruce had no clear recollection of how he had got into the van at the end of the day’s play. In fact, he did not really have a good grip on what had happened during the intervening hours between his first beer at the stadium and finding himself in the van at the end of the day’s play. It was all a bit of a blur really as the beer had kept flowing. And not only did they have a designated sober minder, Bruce recognised one of his neighbours in the front passenger seat, reassuring the driver, as the latest rendition got a bit raucous, they were not going to break anything and would clean up his van if anybody was sick. He was also a designated forager who kept everyone supplied with beer and munchies. This meant Bruce had not left his seat during the games except to take a leak and have the odd cigarette. He looked around for Leaf and found he was jammed hard up against her in the seat.
The boys were giggling and carrying on like a bunch of drunken teenagers. It would all have seemed pretty hilarious if Bruce had been drunk as well. But he suddenly wasn’t anywhere near as drunk as he thought he was. The MPU must be in the process of sobering him up very quickly, even though he seemed to recall having a fair few beers during the afternoon and early evening.
I let you have a bit of fun but you have to keep your wits about you. There are several teams of agents shadowing you. One team seems to be operating quite separately to our friend Wisneski. They appear to be communicating in a different language to your own.
“Nothing like being popular,” Bruce muttered as the person beside him whacked him on the back and asked him why he was not singing.
“Come on, Bruce, don’t be a piker,” someone said as he was handed another beer, which he accepted gratefully because he was thirsty.
By the way, Sue has been meeting with Wisneski and Shelly Shaw and is still offering them unconditional and complete access to the ship and Skid.
“So why are they chasing me around, instead of taking Sue up on her offer?”
Because she is busy telling them she has you firmly under control, and I suspect because you have proven access to the ship, whereas she doesn’t.
“Bloody hell! What kind of people are they? Surely someone amongst them must have some common sense? And how can she think she can offer access to a whole planet? Anybody would think she was back in the eighteen hundreds claiming new lands for the crown.” Bruce paused for a moment. “Actually, it’s a bloody outrage!”
I suspect from what little I know about your geopolitics these people are used to getting their way and being able to brush aside any opposition to get it.
Bruce considered the statement for a moment. “That’s exactly what I think. So what do you suggest I do then?”
Just keep a look out for yourself. If Leaf and Myfair are close by, they should be able to deal with anything the security forces can throw at you until I can intervene directly.
Then the conversation was interrupted by one of the other passengers. “Hey, Bruce, we’re going to carry on down the road for a beer in some dive Mike found last night; wanna tag along?”
Bruce looked up and saw they were in front of the hotel and Leaf was climbing out of the minivan, waiting for him to follow her.
“Nah,” Bruce shook his head. “I’m knackered, and I need to check on the missus and see how she is.”
“You big wuss.”
“Sorry, mate, you know how it is. If I don’t check in there’ll be hell to pay. You know how it is,” he repeated with a pained expression that got a good laugh from everyone.
“Pretty clear who’s going to be wearing the pants in your house, Bruce!” someone piped up, which got a bigger laugh.
“Good on you, Bruce. Only married a few days and she’s already got you trained. The next thing you know you’ll be drinking lattes as well,” some other wag said, joining in on the good-natured ribbing. However, after that nobody pressed him to carry on.
“Thanks, guys,” Bruce said as he got out of the van and followed Leaf into the hotel.
He slapped his pockets and found what he was looking for just where they should be. It wouldn’t be the first time he had lost his smokes, mobile, car keys and his room card while he’d been out on the turps.
When they got to the room Bruce must have been a bit tiddly still, though, or more likely suddenly horny; for some reason he decided giving Sue a less than platonic kiss might be a good idea.
“Get away from me!” she exclaimed, pushing him away. “You stink of beer and cigarettes. Actually you just stink, full stop. What on earth have you been up to?” she asked suspiciously.
Bruce was a little taken aback. He was behaving in a way that must have been familiar to her. It was not the first time during their relationship that Sue had seen him with one or two more beers on board than was good for him. It seemed to him, in his admittedly slightly befuddled state, Sue had just decided to take exception to what was relatively normal behaviour for him – or maybe just him– at the same time.
“I’m not drunk, if that’s what you mean.”
“You drink more than is good for you!”
Bruce didn’t have an immediate response for this accusation – he suspected at times in his life the point Sue was making had an element of truth to it. However, he responded with a retort of his own. “What of it? You knew what I was like before you married me.” That’ll shut her up, he thought.
Which it did, in a manner of speaking. The sullen, silent, angry atmosphere Bruce had expected from the outset of the trip now descended upon them like a blanket.
“Fuck it, me and my big mouth,” Bruce muttered to himself. But he was not too concerned. Their relationship was all over bar the shouting, and if he was lucky maybe she would just bugger off and leave him alone.
But no, he was not going to be that lucky. After taking the hint he showered and afterwards found Leaf and Sue chatting happily away in front of the television. With a surly grunt he announced he was going to bed and left them to it.
He was still wide awake when Sue fi
nally came in. They lay stiffly beside each other for what seemed like hours – not speaking, and certainly not touching – Bruce hardly daring to breathe before he finally drifted off to sleep.
He felt no better the next morning. Somehow Sue had turned the tables on him and made him feel shitty and on the losing side of a battle that had not even really begun yet. He thanked his lucky stars he was able to spend most of the day watching the rugby. But the fun had gone out of the trip; Sue’s attitude the previous night had virtually killed it for him.
He did not stop to think how his own attitude was at least partially responsible for the current state of affairs and had probably put the kibosh on any chance of enjoyment Sue might get out of the trip. While Bruce was pretty quick to put all the blame on Sue and her self-centred behaviour for the breakdown of their relationship, the contradiction of him failing to have any empathy for her side of the story was lost on him.
Nevertheless, next morning he and Leaf left for the stadium as quickly as decently possible after a very strained breakfast that seemed to discomfort even the normally inscrutable Leaf.
During the day he had a few beers, but a combination of a lack of real interest in drinking and the MPU managing the alcohol levels in his bloodstream meant he was poor company for those around him. He couldn’t help that either as he noticed the sideways, knowing looks directed his way. He could just imagine what the guys were saying. Fuck! And he had to live amongst these people, perhaps for the rest of his life, and his new marriage was falling apart around them in a spectacular and very public fashion. How bloody embarrassing was that!
Snap out of it! the MPU demanded. And stop feeling sorry for yourself. What’s got into you?
“You’re right. Just so you know, we have a tendency towards melancholy on my father’s side of the family. It’s quite common historically for some of us to linger on the negative side of things.”
I don’t understand you offworlders. You’ve only just finished deciding Sue is not a suitable partner for you – and anyway she is in the process of betraying you. And you feel guilty or sorry about that? Besides, do you really care what these people think? They’ll find out the truth one day. In the meantime, relax and enjoy yourself.
Which was a sentiment Bruce agreed with, to relax and enjoy himself, but which was a state much more difficult to achieve.
The final match of the tournament came and went. As the ref blew the final whistle Bruce should have been elated as the All Blacks had won the final game and the tournament handsomely. But the game had failed to capture his imagination – he had actually missed a lot of it as he had been out on the smoking deck and got the start time confused and missed most of the first half.
This time he found himself standing outside the stadium alone with Leaf as the crowd dispersed and he had said his goodbyes to the other guys, who sensing his mood had decided to push off back to the hotel with the excuse they were going to hit a few bars on the way and Bruce would want to get back to his new wife. It was not quite truth, of course, and they knew it, but all of them were a little drunk and nobody would give second thought to Bruce’s moody behaviour after a few more beers. Then they would all laugh about when they met up back home.
Bruce’s mood did not improve one iota as he tried to work out which bus to take to get back to the hotel or on the trip back when he did find the right one and saw how long the journey would take.
He gave up and asked the MPU where the nearest surveillance vehicle keeping an eye on him was and stalked up to it and demanded a ride back to the hotel. He did not stop to ask the MPU which team the people inside were on. Luckily they responded to him with reassuringly American accents.
Sixteen
Bruce’s mood had failed to improve by the next morning when they finally hit the road for the trip back to Portland where they would pick up little Bruce and then get on their way home to New Zealand where he and Sue had initially planned to settle.
Bruce had given little thought as to how he was going to break the news to Sue their relationship was now over. His half-formulated plan had consisted of taking her home, meaning back to the farm, which was in a pretty isolated area. Once she was there and realised just how far they were from relative civilisation he suspected she would stamp her foot a couple of times like a petulant child then demand they leave immediately. He would refuse, of course; end of story. Well that was the plan anyway, such as it was. He was not actually looking forward to the hard, emotionally draining conversation he knew it would be.
That was the easy way out. Even in the unhappy state he was in, Bruce knew his idea was pretty stupid and it was unfair to Sue to even consider treating her in this way. So he started to think about how he should break the news to her before they both started the trip back home; it was the decent thing to do.
Sue didn’t help herself by choosing that moment to annoy the fuck out of Bruce for no good reason.
She was one of those women who seemed to take an age to get ready to do anything, or make any decision. Sometimes simply ordering a breakfast at a café was a trial for Bruce. When she said she was ready to go, she really meant ‘I am almost ready to go but there are a couple of things I need to do first, so you will have to wait for me’. The whole process could take from several minutes to half an hour for her to finish what she was doing – to suddenly decide she needed to put some makeup on or make an urgent call. All the time remaining oblivious to the fact this behaviour frustrated the shit out of Bruce, especially at times like this exact moment when he had carried all the bags downstairs, paid the bill and was waiting out in the car holding a parking spot the concierge was trying to fill with a new guest.
Now he stopped to think about it, Bruce wondered how he had ever tolerated this in the past. It was not that he didn’t know she was a ditherer, but it seemed like a more calculated performance now. Maybe he should have stamped hard and not tolerated it in the past, or made more of a scene, or better still, behaved like an adult and pointed out in a respectful manner ‘If you aren’t really ready, please don’t say you are just because that’s what you think I want to hear’.
Or maybe Sue was making an effort to be difficult – her way of showing him she believed there had been a subtle shift regarding the balance of power in the relationship and she had the big boys on her side. Bruce would just have to toe the line and behave from now on if he knew what was good for him.
Well, she was in for a wee surprise if that’s what she thought! Bruce laughed to himself as he and Leaf waited impatiently in the car park for Sue to make her grand entrance. When she finally deigned to show her face, she approached the car, glancing over her shoulder from time to time clearly looking for someone, or reassuring herself someone was there watching her, or watching over her. She must have found what she was looking for as she eventually got in the car. It was a dead giveaway of sorts.
“Are they planning something on the way back?” Bruce asked the MPU.
Possibly, the MPU responded. There has been a lot of passing of notes and discussions in places I can’t access, it added.
The MPU had sold itself to Bruce as an all seeing, all-knowing creature, but this comment failed to inspire him with much confidence.
But I wouldn’t be too concerned; it is in nobody’s best interests for any harm to come to you at the moment.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Bruce asked sarcastically. A comment which of course was an emotion that went straight over the MPU’s ‘head’.
The first duty of the day had been to have breakfast with a couple of the boys and their wives who had wisely been shopping while their husbands were watching the rugby. The wives had suggested a quick catch-up at the wedding to give Sue an opportunity to meet some of the local women to help her settle in when they were all back home.
However, Sue was both aloof and rude, and it got to the point Bruce was thoroughly embarrassed by her behaviour and cut the breakfast as short as possible without causing too much offence, to
the relief of all concerned.
The breakfast disaster had done nothing to still the beating drums, that Bruce Harwood had picked himself out a right cow, or further rumours he had already hooked up with a new woman. Within moments of Bruce, Sue and Leaf piling into the car and pulling out of the café car park, anyone with a social media account back home was aware all was not as it should be in the new Harwood household. The only person who had not found this information on his timeline by the end of the day was Bruce himself, because he had yet to indulge in any form of social media activity.
The MPU also informed him, as they pulled onto the road, they were being followed. Wisneski is in the first vehicle, and then a few cars back another team is on your tail.
It was like a scene out of a corny spoof of a 1960s spy movie. He had a tail, and his tail had a tail. Wisneski was probably aware the MPU had them under some form of surveillance but he seemed blissfully oblivious of the other team following him down the highway.
Sue watched Bruce and took note of the mischievous, bloody-minded expression spreading over his face each time he looked her way. She had seen that look before, more than once, and it signalled trouble of some sort. But at least he was sober for the moment. Well, she assumed he was –it was only 9.30 am and even he drew the line at drinking that early in the day despite being on holiday.
“Don’t do anything silly,” Sue pleaded nervously.
“I’m not sure what you mean by that. What do you mean? What do you think I’m going to do?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No I don’t. Maybe you’d better tell me what you mean,” Bruce replied, starting to enjoy watching Sue squirm uncomfortably beside him.
“You can’t fight these people; they always get their way.”
“And what do they want?”
“Oh, don’t be silly, Bruce. You know very well what they want. They’ve seen what the space patrol ship is capable of – some of them have been aboard and had a sniff of technology the Skidians have. They also know there’s an almost empty planet out there full of advanced technology that we can currently only dream of, ready for the taking if they can get there.”
The Lifeboat Page 17
