The Iron Admiral: Deception Read online

  Pyndrees nodded and complied. Luckily, the nearest pub was only a few blocks away. Sean pointed at the ramp to the underground carpark but Pyndrees had already worked that one out. The two men said nothing until they were out of their vehicle.

  Sean put a finger to his lips, pulled what appeared to be a normal pen out of his pocket, then pressed the end. It lit up, pulsing at Pyndrees. He brought the device closer, homing in on the signal coming from the man’s left breast.

  Grinning, Pyndrees handed his ID card over, then watched as Sean located the micro-dot, removed it and slipped it onto the skimmer beside them. That had been a bit obvious. Sean flicked the pen again.

  This time the micro-dot was on Pyndrees’s sleeve. He eased the tracker off, holding it on the end of the pen.

  Pyndrees raised a hand and mouthed ‘wait’. He fetched a probe from his gear, telescoped it under the vehicle beside them with the micro-dot attached and stuck the device under the chassis.

  That would keep them guessing for a while. ‘Let’s go’, Sean mouthed.

  Pyndrees raised his eyebrows and pointed a finger at Sean’s head. ‘Your chip.’

  Sean shook his head, jerked a thumb at the exit and pointed at another skimmer parked in a bay nearby.

  Stealing the machine was child’s play to a man like Pyndrees. He disarmed the activators, took them out, replaced them with a set of his own and started the engine. He took a moment to retrieve the recordings taken of the latest journey from his own skimmer before sliding into the driver’s seat of the stolen machine. Sean jumped in beside him.

  “Are you sure they can’t track you via the chip? How does that work?” Pyndrees asked as they drove up the ramp.

  You think I’d tell you?“Just a little something that disrupts the signal. It only works for me.”

  The man shot him an admiring glance. “Nice. I like that sensor you used to find the trackers, too.

  Where’d you get them?”

  Allysha had designed them both, of course. He had asked her for the sensor that found trackers, just as he had asked her for a personal shield. She built the locator years ago, to help a ptorix family find a missing relative. Sean saw the value of the device immediately and built one of his own in secret. It had proved useful more than once and now the tracker was set to react to Allysha’s chip. The disrupter was his own design, built to prevent anybody from tracking him via a satellite. He might not be as good as Allysha, but he was still pretty damned good.

  Pyndrees sent the skimmer into the joining lane for the expressway back to the city.

  “What are you doing?” Sean said. “You can pick up the Lysanda they’re in from the satellite, can’t you?”

  “Yes, but I don’t like the risk. As soon as we get anywhere near that Lysanda they’ll recognize us. Better think again.”

  ****

  The market proved to be a vast building on the edge of the manufacturing district. Saahren and Allysha left the skimmer at the automatic parking station and joined the bustle in a hall crowded with shoppers, some carrying bags, some using personal trolleys to carve a path for themselves through busy aisles that receded into the distance.

  Allysha stared around like a child in a sweet shop taking in the noise and color. Stall-holders spruiked their wares, shouting above the drone of voices. She heard snippets of conversation. ‘No, Con. You’ve just had breakfast.’ ‘… can’t believe how expensive beets are.’ ‘… cheap shoes…’ She caught the fragrance of flowers here, perfume there, the unmistakable smell of leather goods. People jostled as they pushed past her.

  “This is amazing. There’s stuff here from everywhere.”

  “That’s right. But don’t get too involved. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”

  Saahren guided her through the throng out toward a food court. She extricated herself from his grip to find an unoccupied table while he bought the food. He came back with a loaded tray of steaming kaff and

  cylindrical rolls. They certainly smelled nice. Her mouth watered.

  Saahren picked up a roll and crunched, hand cupped under his mouth to catch crumbs. Allysha bit into a delicious, creamy, spicy mixture of meat and vegetables in a crisp coating. She hadn’t realized she was so

  hungry. She finished two, licking her lips while Saahren finished a fourth.

  He drained his kaff, wiped his mouth and pushed back his chair. “Come on. Let’s find the vegetables.”

  They strolled together down the aisles between stalls and shops. Allysha lingered often, fascinated by some obscure item of clothing or jewelry. If she had to be here, might as well enjoy herself. With a bit of luck, he’d be annoyed. But Saahren indulged her when she tarried, a slight smile on his face. A bolt of green material attracted her attention. It was exquisite, woven in an intricate, flowing design the ptorix might have used, the details picked out in gold thread. She felt the texture with her fingers, soft but strong.

  It would drape beautifully.

  “You buy, beautiful lady? Will go with your beautiful eyes.” The woman named a price.

  The material wasn’t cheap but Allysha could certainly afford to pay. Easily. But what was the point?

  She’d have to have a dress made to wear… where?

  “Do you want it?” Saahren stood watching her, his head a little to one side, a smile lurking around his lips.

  “If I want it, I’ll buy it.” She certainly didn’t want him buying more expensive gifts for her. She remembered the necklace with a pang. The altari stones had glowed with their own inner light, enhanced by the soft gold of the setting. But she couldn’t keep it. Accepting a gift like that would have given him quite the wrong impression.

  She smiled at the proprietor, shook her head and moved on, past cooking utensils and boots and shoes, musical instruments, and strange medical remedies using odd ingredients that had probably been part of some animal.

  She drank it all in, a kaleidoscope of smells, sounds, colors, textures; some familiar, some exotic.

  Sometimes she wondered about particular items. Saahren could usually answer her questions. If he couldn’t, he asked the proprietor. He seemed to be so comfortable, fitting easily into such an apparently alien space, so different from the military. Once or twice people stared at him, or a couple of people shared a whispered conversation. Allysha imagined the discussion.Is that Grand Admiral Saahren? It sure

  looks like him. No, that’s silly. He wouldn’t be wandering around the Cusang market with some girl.

  They went about their business, almost disappointed.

  The markets reminded her so much of Shernish, with its color, noise, smells. “I suppose, living in a high class tower apartment, it’s easy to forget that there’s ordinary people on this world, too, doing ordinary jobs.”

  He shook his head. “These are the people I work for. I protect their right to live their lives without threat. I never forget they’re here.”

  Allysha looked up at him. She hadn’t realized she’d spoken aloud until he’d replied. He was deadly serious.

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Mamangs?”

  “I suppose. If we must.” Allysha followed in his wake as he weaved his way through the shoppers. The fruit and vegetable department was as crowded and colorful as the rest of the market. Allysha trailed along in wide-eyed wonder until Saahren stopped at one stall. He picked through the pile of mamangs and gave the four he selected to the stall holder. He didn’t haggle, just paid the shopkeeper what he asked.

  Allysha noticed the slight frown as the man looked at his customer. He suddenly grinned. “You know, you look an awful lot like Grand Admiral Saahren.”

  Saahren grinned in his turn. “If I had a penny for every time I’ve been told that, I’d be a rich man.” He took the bag of fruit from the vendor and turned back to Allysha. “Come on, we’re off to the foothills.”

  ChapterThree

  The stolen skimmer followed the flow of the traffic, not too fast, not too slow. Pyndrees, relaxed in the driver’s seat, sc
ratched his lip. “I wonder if the protection was for her or for him.”

  “For him? What for?” Sean said.

  “Very senior officials—ministers, mayors, that sort of thing—sometimes have secret service escorts.”

  Frowning, Pyndrees reached over and scanned back through the images of the Lysanda, retrieved from his vehicle. “There. These are pretty clear.” He pulled out his comlink and fed in the data stream. The process took a few seconds. He pursed his lips, eyebrows arched. “Well, well.”

  “What?” Sean said.

  “The system’s ninety-eight percent sure that the man in the skimmer is Grand Admiral Saahren himself.”

  He chuckled. “Word was he can’t get it up.”

  Sean snorted. “I couldn’t care less.” He wasn’t jealous; he’d long since realized he had no right to be.

  He wondered how she’d met him. Then again, she worked for the Star Fleet; the grand admiral could probably have his pick of the women there. He certainly would have, in a position like that. “Seems a bit odd, though. That’s a crappy Lysanda. If it was Saahren wouldn’t he be driving around in an escorted limo?”

  Pyndrees pursed his lips. “Point. Maybe this guy’s Saahren’s body double.”

  “I’m not interested in him. I just want her.” Sean wished it didn’t have to be this way. He didn’t want her hurt—but then, he didn’t want to die.

  “Hmm. But Saahren’s off-duty body double wouldn’t have an escort. Might make things a little more difficult if it is Saahren.” Pyndrees paused for a moment, considering. “Or a bit more interesting. I might mention it to Tepich.”

  Tepich. Sean almost shivered at the man’s name. No jolly fat man, Anton Tepich. He’d made the situation very clear; deliver Allysha, or forfeit your own life. Sean wished he knew what they wanted her for. Obviously some information system thing. He consoled himself with the thought that at least they wouldn’t harm her.

  ****

  Allysha enjoyed every bit of the day, even when she tried hard not to. Saahren took her into the foothills and showed her waterfalls. That was predictable, really, reviving memories of times shared. They weren’t

  as impressive as the one that roared down the rocks on Tisyphor, though. Besides, on Tisyphor she had believed he was an ex-sergeant. She didn’t yet know he was lying to her.

  From the hills they went down to the coast for lunch. She enjoyed sitting at a café on a jetty, watching the sea birds soar on the air currents while waves rolled in to shore.

  Evening was approaching when he landed the skimmer outside a small, unremarkable restaurant in a poor part of town. A torn awning swayed in a gentle breeze but delectable, exotic smells wafted toward her.

  He smiled at her raised eyebrows. “It might not look like much, but the food is wonderful.”

  The proprietor, an older man, greeted Saahren with a huge smile. “Good to see you again; very good.”

  He flicked a glance at Allysha. “Especially with such a lovely lady.”

  “Yes. A very special lady. Somewhere private, Ayub?”

  “Of course.”

  “He knows you?” Allysha squashed down the little worm of jealousy as they trailed in Ayub’s wake along a corridor. Had he brought other girls here? What if he had? She couldn’t possibly ask him.

  “We go back to my days as a cadet at the Fleet Academy. His father ran the place then.”

  Ayub bowed them into a small room where they could eat away from the public eye and took the order himself, discussing the menu with Saahren to come up with a selection of dishes. Saahren handed the restaurateur the bag of mamangs and a bottle of wine which he’d stashed in a cooler bag in the Lysanda.

  “Santorini white sydal,” Ayub said, examining the label. “Excellent choice. I’ll open it for you.”

  He bustled out, returning soon with the bottle and two glasses.

  “Smell it first,” Saahren said, lifting the half-full glass to his nose.

  “Mm. Citrusy? And sort of grassy.” She sipped. “Oh, yum. And just a few little bubbles to tickle your tongue.”

  His eyes twinkled. “Very good. You’ll find it will complement the food.”

  So it did. Ayub brought in a tray of morsels on small plates and followed a little later with more dishes, all spicy, some hot to the palate, all delicious.

  They finished the meal with the mamangs, expertly cut from the flesh and presented with an iced sorbet to freshen the palate.

  Saahren paid Ayub and left a generous tip. “We’ll call again.”

  Oh we will, will we?He was so sure of himself. And she was so not sure.

  They crossed the deserted road to the skimmer, parked under a street light. He opened the door for her, then went around the vehicle to the driver’s side. “And for a final treat, I’m going to show you Melchior’s

  moons from Lake Sylmander.”

  “Why is that a treat?”

  “The moons are rarely all visible at the same time. Lake Sylmander is a magical spot at night.”

  “Oh.” She knew about places like that. She’d been to a few, in her teens, parking under the stars on a warm summer night. Was that what he’d done, all those years ago?

  Its canopy raised, the skimmer lifted above the rooftops and arced to the right, away from the city.

  Overhead two moons sailed through a cloudless sky. The third moon couldn’t have risen yet.

  She glanced at him. He’d been so nice, so attentive and thoughtful. And so knowledgeable about so many things. Today had really been the first time she’d ever talked to him about anything but his work, and hers. Maybe she’d made a mistake about him, judged him unfairly? But then again, Jarrad Korns, the

  biologist she’d met on Tisyphor, had been nice and attentive, too. She’d trusted him, given him the musical instrument she’d found in the mine manager’s old quarters. It held sufficient saliva for him to resurrect the deadly virus that killed all the ptorix on Tisyphor and then the nice people from the GPR

  schemed to release the disease in her home town of Shernish. She and Saahren had only just stopped them. That sort of thing made a girl a bit more cautious.

  “When are you going back toArcturus ?” she asked.

  “Early tomorrow.”

  Good. He’d leave and she could forget him. “Did you come back just to see me?”

  “No. I return fairly regularly for meetings of the High Command and briefings with President McKinley or the defense minister.” He grinned. “But I did stay an extra night just to see you. McKinley asked after you,” he added. “Wanted to know if my beautiful ptorix adviser with those wonderful eyes was fully recovered.”

  Heat rose in her face. She gazed at the scenery, trying to ignore his smile. Wow. He rubbed shoulders routinely with presidents and ministers and admirals but he was still on good terms with an ordinary guy in

  a family restaurant in a run-down suburb. You peeled off one layer of the man and there was another.

  The skimmer zoomed across the last of the suburbs and over forest, dark and featureless. Soon, it descended into a vehicle park.

  Saahren turned off the engine and jerked his head at a softly lit path that disappeared under the trees.

  “Lake Sylmander is just down there.”

  Two moons hung in the sky against a backdrop of stars. She glanced around, wondering where the third might be. She’d find out soon enough, she guessed. Saahren alighted, waiting for her. This could probably be a romantic interlude, if she let it happen. But she wouldn’t. She needed to go home, go back to Shernish and sort herself out. She slid out of the vehicle.

  They followed the path under the canopy to emerge at the lake’s edge where large, old trees hung their branches out over the water. A gauzy veil of mist drifted above the water’s surface glinting with silver light which could only come from the moons. From the lake’s shore all three were visible, two of them high in the sky, the third just rising above the trees.

  “The largest one is Melkor,” Saahren said,
pointing. “It’s full tonight. Illassar is gibbous and over there is Hegnis, just rising and quarter full.”

  The reflected glow from the three different light sources made weird patterns on the water. Shadows overlapped, three different images with different intensity, like ghosts of each other. Allysha found it strange and eerie, yet peaceful. Carnessa had three moons, too, but they were in the same orbit and equidistant from each other.

  She gazed around her, entranced. “I never imagined there were places like this so near Malmos.”

  “You haven’t looked. Every world has its beauties. Sometimes you have to take the time to find them.”

  She acknowledged the subtle criticism with a nod. He was right, of course. So far, she spent most of her free time feeling sorry for herself and wishing she was somewhere else.

  They ambled along the path that led beside the lake, sometimes under the arching branches of the trees, sometimes across a clear space. Occasionally a rustle betrayed some animal, startled by their presence, as it scurried into the undergrowth. Hard to believe such a peaceful, tranquil place could exist so close to the center of the Confederacy.

  Saahren took her arm briefly to lead her to a bench. For a moment she wondered what else he might try but he kept a distance between them. She recognized a pang of disappointment. He pointed out how the light changed as Hegnis, the smallest, fastest moving moon, caught up on its older sisters. He told the story of the three sisters who were banished to the sky as punishment for refusing to marry the husbands their father, a great conjuror, had selected for them.

  “How do you know all these things?”

  “I lived on Malmos for most of my teens, so I knew about this place and the moons. Apart from that, there’s often plenty of time to read in space. It’s useful to know where people come from. You’d be surprised at what you can find out about people and their societies from myths and legends.” He stood.

  “Ah, well, I’d best get you home.”

  They walked back up the path together in companionable silence. The Lysanda stood alone, in the open space beyond the trees.