The Keith Laumer MEGAPACK®

by Keith Laumer

  The door at the top was an austere slab of bleached teak. I tried the polished brass lever; the door swung open silently, and I stepped across the threshold and was looking across a plain of honey-colored down at a man sitting relaxed in a soft chair of pale leather.

  He waved a hand cheerfully. “Come on in,” he said.

  IV

  Max Arena was a broad-shouldered six-footer, with clean-shaven blue jaws, coarse gray-flecked black hair brushed back from a high forehead, a deeper tan than was natural for the city in November, and very white teeth. He was showing them now in a smile. He waved a hand toward a chair, not even glancing at the gun in my hand. I admired the twinkle of light on the polished barrel of a Norge stunner at his elbow and decided to ignore it too.

  “I been following your progress with considerable interest,” Arena said genially. “The boys had orders not to shoot. I guess Luvitch sort of lost his head.”

  “It’s nothing,” I said, “that a little skin graft won’t clear up in a year or so.”

  “Don’t feel bad. You’re the first guy ever made it in here under his own steam without an invitation.”

  “And with a gun in his hand,” I said.

  “We won’t need guns,” he said. “Not right away.”

  I went over to one of the big soft chairs and sat down, put the gun in my lap.

  “Why didn’t you shoot as I came in?”

  Arena jiggled his foot. “I like your style,” he said. “You handled Heavy real good. He’s supposed to be my toughest boy.”

  “What about the combat car? More friends of yours?”

  “Nah,” he said, chuckling easily. “Some Jersey boys heard I had a caller. They figured to knock him off on general principles. A nifty.” He stopped laughing. “The Gyrob was mine; a remoted job. Nice piece of equipment. You cost me real dough tonight.”

  “Gee,” I said. “That’s tough.”

  “And besides,” he said, “I know who you are.”

  I waited. He leaned over and picked something off the table. It was my wallet.

  “I used to be in the Navy myself. Academy man, believe it or not. Almost, anyway. Kicked out three weeks before graduation. A frame. Well, practically a frame; there was plenty of guys doing what I was doing.”

  “That where you learned to talk like a hood?”

  For a second Arena almost didn’t smile.

  “I am perfectly capable of expressing myself like a little gentleman, when I feel so inclined,” he said, “but I say to hell with it.”

  “You must have been before my time,” I said.

  “A year or two. And I was using a different name then. But that wasn’t my only hitch with the Service. When the Trouble started, I enlisted. I wanted some action. When the Navy found out they had a qualified Power Section man on their hands, I went up fast. Within fourteen months I was a J. G. How about that?”

  “Very commendable.”

  “So that’s how I knew about the trick I. D. under the emulsion on the snapshot. You should have ditched it, Maclamore. Or should I say Captain Maclamore?”

  * * * *

  My mouth opened, but I couldn’t think of a snappy answer to that one. I was in trouble. I had meant to play it by ear once I reached Arena to get the information I needed. That was out now. He knew me. He had topped my aces before I played them.

  Suddenly Arena was serious. “You came to the right man, Maclamore. You heard I had one of your buddies here, right? I let the word leak; I thought it might bring more of you in. I was lucky to get Admiral Hayle’s deputy.”

  “What do you want with me?”

  Arena leaned forward. “There were eight of you. Hayle and his aide, Wolfgang, were shot when they wouldn’t spill to the Provisional Government—or whatever that mob calls itself. Margan got himself killed in some kind of tangle near Denver. The other four boys pulled a fast one and ducked out with the scout you guys came back in. They were riding dry tanks—the scout had maybe thirty ton/hours fuel aboard—so they haven’t left the planet. That leaves you stranded. With six sets of Federal law looking for you. Right?”

  “I can’t argue with what’s in the newspapers,” I said.

  “Well, I don’t know. I got a couple newspapers. But here’s where I smell a deal, Maclamore. You want to know where that scout boat is. Played right, you figure you got a good chance of a raid on an arsenal or a power plant to pick up a few slugs of the heavy stuff; then you high-tail out, join up with the rest of the squadron and, with the ordnance you pack, you can sit off and dictate the next move.” Arena leaned back and took a deep breath. His eyes didn’t leave me.

  “Okay. I got one of you here. I found out something from him. He gave me enough I know you boys got something up your sleeve. But he don’t have the whole picture. I need more info. You can give it to me. If I like what I hear, I’m in a position to help—like, for example, with the fuel problem. And you cut me in for half. Fair enough?”

  “Who is it you’ve got?”

  He shook his head. “Uh-uh.”

  “What did he tell you?”

  “Not enough. What was Hayle holding out? You birds found something out there. What was it?”

  “We found a few artifacts on Mars,” I said. “Not Martian in origin; visitors. We surveyed—”

  “Don’t string me, Maclamore. I’m willing to give you a fair deal, but if you make it tough for me—”

  “How do you know I haven’t got a detonator buried under my left ear,” I said. “You can’t pry information out of me, Arena.”

  “I think you want to live, Maclamore. I think you got something you want to live for. I want a piece of it.”

  “I can make a deal with you, Arena,” I said. “Return me and my shipmate to our scout boat. Fuel us up. You might throw in two qualified men to help handle the ship—minus their black-jacks, preferably—then clear out. We’ll handle the rest. And I’ll remember, with gratitude.”

  Arena was silent for a long moment.

  * * * *

  “Yeah, I could do that, Maclamore,” he said finally. “But I won’t. Max Arena is not a guy to pick up the crumbs—or wait around for handouts. I want in. All the way in.”

  “This time you’ll have to settle for what you can get, Arena.” I put the gun away and stood up.

  I had a feeling I would have to put it over now or not at all.

  “The rest of the squadron is still out there. If we don’t show, they’ll carry on alone. They’re supplied for a century’s operation. They don’t need us.”

  That was true up to a point. The squadron had everything—except fuel.

  “You figure you got it made if you can get your hands on that scout-boat,” Arena said. “You figure to pick up fuel pretty easy by knocking off say the Lackawanna Pile.”

  “It shouldn’t be too tough; a fleet boat of the Navy packs a wallop.”

  Arena tapped his teeth with a slim paper-cutter.

  “You’re worried your outfit will wind up Max Arena’s private Navy, right? I’ll tell you something. You think I’m sitting on top of the world, huh? I own this town, and everybody in it. All the luxury and fancy dinners and women I can use. And you know what? I’m bored.”

  “And you think running the Navy might be diverting?”

  “Call it whatever you want to. There’s something big going on out there, and I don’t plan to be left out.”

  “Arena, when I clear atmosphere, we’ll talk. Take it or leave it.”

  The smile was gone now. Arena looked at me, rubbing a finger along his blue cheek.

  “Suppose I was to tell you I know where your other three boys are, Maclamore?”

  “Do you?” I said.

  “And the boat,” Arena said. “The works.”

  “If you’ve got them here, I want to see them, Arena. If not, don’t waste my time.”

  “I haven’t exactly got ’em here, Maclamore. But I know a guy that knows where they are.”

  “Yeah.” I said.

  Arena lo
oked mad. “Okay, I’ll give it to you, Maclamore. I got a partner in this deal. Between us we got plenty. But we need what you got, too.”

  “I’ve made my offer, Arena. It stands.”

  “Have I got your word on that, Maclamore?” He stood up and came over to stand before me. “The old Academy word. You wouldn’t break that, would you Maclamore?”

  “I’ll do what I said.”

  Arena walked to his desk, a massive boulder of Jadeite, cleaved and polished to a mirror surface. He thumbed a key.

  “Send him in here,” he said.

  I waited. Arena sat down and looked across at me.

  Thirty seconds passed and then the door opened and Stenn walked in.

  Stenn glanced at me. “Well,” he said. “Mr. Smith.”

  “The Smith routine is just a gag,” Arena said. “His name is—Maclamore.”

  For an instant, I thought I saw a flash of expression on Stenn’s face. He crossed the room and sat down.

  “Well,” he said. “A very rational move, your coming here. I trust you struck a profitable bargain?” He looked hard at me, and this time there was expression. Hate, I would call it, offhand.

  “Not much of a deal at that, Stenn,” Arena said. “The captain is a tough nut to crack. He wants my help with no strings attached. I think I’m going to buy it.”

  “How much information has he given you?”

  Arena laughed. “Nothing,” he said. “Max Arena going for a deal like that. Funny, huh? But that’s the way the fall-out fogs ’em.”

  “And what have you arranged?”

  “I turn him loose, him and Williams. I figure you’ll go along, Stenn, and let him have the three guys you got. Williams will tell him where the Scout boat is, so there’s no percentage in your holding out.”

  “What else?”

  “What else is there?” Arena spread his hands. “They pick up the boat, fuel up—someplace—and they’re off. And the captain here gives me the old Academy word he cuts me in, once he’s clear.”

  There was a long silence. Arena smiled comfortably; Stenn sat calmly, looking at each of us in turn. I crossed my fingers and tried to look bored.

  “Very well,” Stenn said. “I seem to be presented with a fait accompli….”

  I let a long breath out. I was going to make it….

  “…But I would suggest that before committing yourself, you take the precaution of searching Mr. Maclamore’s person. One never knows.”

  I could feel the look on my face. So could Arena.

  “So,” he said. “Another nifty.” He didn’t seem to move, but the stunner was in his hand. He wasn’t smiling now, and the stunner caught me easily.

  V

  The lights came on, and I blinked, looking around the room.

  My mementos didn’t look like much, resting in the center of Arena’s polished half-acre of desk top. The information was stored in the five tiny rods, less than an inch long, and the projector was a flat polyhedron the size of a pill-box. But the information they contained was worth more than all the treasure sunk in all the seas.

  “This is merely a small sample,” Stenn said. “The star surveys are said to be unbelievably complete. They represent a mapping task which would require a thousand years.”

  “The angles,” Arena said. “Just figuring the angles will take plenty time.”

  “And this is what you almost let him walk out with,” Stenn said.

  Arena gave me a slashing look.

  “Don’t let your indignation run away with you, Arena,” Stenn said. “I don’t think you remembered to mention the fuel situation to Mr. Maclamore, did you?”

  Arena turned to Stenn, looming over the smaller man. “Maybe you better button your lip,” he said quietly. “I don’t like the way you use it.”

  “Afraid I’ll lower you in the gentleman’s esteem?” Stenn said. He looked Arena in the eye.

  “Nuts to the gentleman’s esteem,” Arena said.

  “You thought you’d squeeze me out, Arena,” Stenn said. “You didn’t need me any more. You intended to let Maclamore and Williams go and have them followed. There was no danger of an escape, since you knew they’d find no fuel.”

  He turned to me. “During your years in space, Mr. Maclamore, technology moved on. And politics as well. Power fuels could be used to construct bombs. Ergo, all stations were converted for short half-life secondaries, and the primary materials stored at Fort Knox. You would have found yourself fuelless and therefore helpless. Mr. Arena would have arrived soon thereafter to seize the scout-boat.”

  “What would he want with the boat without fuel?” I asked.

  “Mr. Arena was foresighted enough to stock up some years ago,” Stenn said. “I understand he has enough metal hoarded to power your entire squadron for an indefinite time.”

  “Why tell this guy that?” Arena asked. “Kick him to hell out of here and let’s get busy. You gab too much.”

  “I see that I’m tacitly reinstated as a partner,” Stenn said. “Most gratifying.”

  “Max Arena is no welcher,” Arena said. “You tipped me to the tapes, so you’re in.”

  “Besides which you perhaps sense that I have other valuable contributions to make.”

  “I figure you to pull your weight.”

  “What are your plans for Mr. Maclamore?”

  “I told you. Kick him out. He’ll never wise up and cooperate with us.”

  “First, you’d better ask him a few more questions.”

  “Why? So he’ll blow his head off and mess up my rug, like….” Arena stopped. “You won’t get anything out of him.”

  “A man of his type has a strong aversion to suicide. He won’t die to protect trivial information. And if he does—we’ll know there’s something important being held out.”

  “I don’t like messy stuff,” Arena said.

  “I’ll be most careful,” Stenn said. “Get me some men in here to secure him to a chair, and we’ll have a nice long chat with him.”

  “No messy stuff,” Arena repeated. He crossed to his desk, thumbed a lever and spoke to someone outside.

  Stenn was standing in front of me.

  “Let him think he’s pumping you,” he hissed.

  “Find out where his fuel is stored. I’m on your side.” Then Arena was coming back, and Stenn was looking at me indifferently.

  * * * *

  Arena had overcome his aversion to messy stuff sufficiently to hit me in the mouth now and then during the past few hours. It made talking painful, but I kept at it.

  “How do I know you have Williams?” I said.

  Arena crossed to his desk, took out a defaced snapshot.

  “Here’s his I.D.,” he said. “Take a look.” He tossed it over. Stenn held it up.

  “Let me talk to him.”

  “For what?”

  “See how he feels about it,” I mumbled. I was having trouble staying awake. I hadn’t seen a bed for three days. It was hard to remember what information I was supposed to get from Arena.

  “He’ll join in if you do,” Arena said. “Give up. Don’t fight. Let it happen.”

  “You say you’ve got fuel. You’re a liar. You’ve got no fuel.”

  “I got plenty fuel, wise guy,” Arena yelled. He was tired too.

  “Lousy crook,” I said. “Can’t even cheat a little without getting caught at it.”

  “Who’s caught now, swabbie?” Arena was getting mad. That suited me.

  “You’re a lousy liar, Arena. You can’t hide hot metal. Even Stenn ought to know that.”

  “What else was in the cache, Maclamore?” Stenn asked—for the hundredth time. He slapped me—also for the hundredth time. It jarred me and stung. It was the last straw. If Stenn was acting, I’d help him along. I lunged against the wires, swung a foot and caught him under the ribs. He oofed and fell off his chair.

  “Don’t push me any farther, you small-time chiselers,” I yelled. “You’ve got nothing but a cast brass gall to offer. There�
�s no hole deep enough to hide out power metal, even if a dumb slob like you thought of it.”

  “Dumb slob?” Arena barked. “You think a dumb slob could have built the organization I did, put this town in his hip pocket? I started stock-piling metal five years ago—a year before the ban. No hole deep enough, huh? It don’t need to be so deep when it’s got two feet of lead shielding over it.”

  “So you smuggled a few tons of lead into the Public Library and filed it under Little Bo Peep.”

  “The two feet was there ahead of me, wisenheimer. Remember the Polaris sub that used to be drydocked at Norfolk for the tourists to rubberneck?”

  “Decommissioned and sold for scrap,” I said. “Years ago.”

  “But not scrapped. Rusted in a scrapyard for five years. Then I bought her—beefed up her shielding—loaded her and sank her in ten fathoms of water in Cartwright Bay.”

  “That,” Stenn said, “is the information we need.”

  Arena whirled. Stenn was still sitting on the floor. He had a palm gun in his hand, and it was pointed at the monogram on Arena’s silk shirt.

  “A cross,” Arena said. “A lousy cross….”

  * * * *

  “Move back, Arena.” Stenn got to his feet, eyes on Arena.

  “Where’d you have the stinger stashed?”

  “In my hand. Stop there.”

  Stenn moved over to me. Eyes on Arena, he reached for the twisted ends of wire, started loosening them.

  “I don’t want to be nosey,” I said. “But just where the hell do you fit into this, Stenn?”

  “Naval Intelligence,” Stenn said.

  Arena cursed. “I knew that name should have rung a bell. Vice Admiral Stenn. The papers said you got yours when the Navy was purged.”

  “A few of us eluded the net.”

  Arena heaved a sigh.

  “Well, fellows,” he said—and jumped.

  Stenn’s shot went wild, and Arena left-hooked him down behind the chair. As he followed, Stenn came up fast, landed a hard left, followed up, drove Arena back. I yanked at my wires. Almost—

  Then Arena, a foot taller, hammered a brutal left-right, and Stenn sagged. Carefully Arena aimed a right cross to the jaw. Stenn dropped.

  Arena wiped an arm across his face.