Accord of Mars (Accord Series Book 2) (7 page)

A
cres and Bolton
both tried to talk me out of the meeting. They were convinced it was a trap. And I didn’t doubt they were correct. The whole thing smelled. But at the same time, this was a chance to beard the lion in his den. I might never get another shot at meeting Choi face to face. The idea had enormous appeal to me, and Choi probably had a good enough psych profile done of me to know that.

The invitation was simply written. There was a banquet planned for the United Nations building in New York this evening. Choi would be in attendance. It seemed he’d heard about my ‘difficulties’ earlier today, and wanted to tender his personal apology to me.

And if I believed that, he probably had swampland someplace he wanted to sell me, too.

The thing is, he didn’t need me for anything crucial. Yes, I could be captured and used as a potential threat against my father. But it seemed unlikely that he would snatch me up at such a public venue, not after personally inviting me. No, this was something else. What, I wasn’t quite sure. I intended to find out.

I went prepared for trouble. I couldn’t bring any weapons in with me. The building had scanners that would pick up just about anything I could haul along. But I grabbed a few toys to stick in my pocket in case of problems. Things that wouldn’t trip the scanners.

“Have the ship ready to go at a moment’s notice,” I said to Acres before I took off.

“I will. You ping me, we’ll be there,” he said.

“I do this, then we go home,” I said.

“Better believe it. The sooner the better,” Acres replied. “This stinks, Thomas. Be careful.”

I shrugged. What else could I say to him? I looked over at Bolton. “You’ve done good work here,” I said. “You’re welcome to come along with us.”

He shook his head. “I have family here. Have to stay. But I’ll help Acres get the ship ready.”

And then I was off in the company air car again, jetting back toward New York for the second time today. This time, I was dressed much more formally. It was a black tie deal. I had no idea where Bolton had come up with the outfit I was wearing. I fingered the gold braid on my shoulder. He’d had a dress uniform made - officer dress for the Mars Space Service. It was a blood red top, with black slacks that had a blood stripe running down the leg.

Dad had the thing designed back on Mars. He borrowed heavily from the US Marine dress uniform, and switched the colors. As far as I knew, he’d only had a few sets made, and all of them were back on Mars. Most of the people on Earth had never even seen the uniform I was wearing.

I was going to make one hell of an entrance. Which suited me just fine.

The car landed out in front of the building. I exited onto a red carpet, surrounded by flashes from media cameras. This party was a pretty big deal. The attendees were ambassadors, politicians, a few heads of business. And the UN president, of course. And then there was me.

I stood nervously in the cameras for a few moments, tugging the bottom hem of my tunic to straighten it. I wasn’t used to this level of attention. For a moment, I had the impulse to jump back into the car and skip the party. The hell with meeting Choi. But before I could act on the idea the car was jetting away, and another was cruising in to drop off the next guest.

No help for it now. I had to move forward. My first step was slow, but I gained confidence as I went. It was no time to be timid. Now was the moment to be bold.

I was scanned as I went into the building. First a body scan, and then a security guard went over my body with a hand scanner. The device bleeped a little when it passed over my smartwatch, and again over my pocket.

“Please empty your pockets, sir,” the guard said. I wondered briefly if he was one of the men who’d accosted me on the roof earlier, but he didn’t look familiar. I did as he asked, laying out a small tablet and a pen onto the counter. He examined each for a few moments, ran another device over them, and then nodded.

“There go you, sir,” he said. He handed the devices back to me. “Sorry about the inconvenience.”

“No trouble,” I replied.

I reached the entrance to the main hall and stopped in my tracks. I’d seen things like this before - in movie sets. The room was huge, decked out in soft lighting and full of tables. There was a small stage and podium up front. Presumably someone would be speaking later on, but I’d been too worried to check the event schedule to see. About fifty people were already inside. Some were milling about chatting, and about half had found seats already.

The room was awash with black tuxedos and white gowns. My red tunic stood out in the crowd like a laser beam. As thrilled as I’d been to have the uniform on, I wasn’t sure if the added visibility made me happy or not. Part of me was enjoying the free publicity I was giving my father’s Navy. Part of me wanted to go find a corner to hide in. This was his scene, not mine. I didn’t know how I was ever going to become comfortable in places like this. I just didn’t know how he managed it.

Across the room was a little collection of dark blue uniforms - four officers in the dress uniform of the US Navy. I spotted Admiral Perrault among them, and his eyes met mine. I tilted my head to him with a small nod. He gave a slow shake of his head in return. He looked sad. What was he really up to?

I made my way over to his group. He broke away before I got there, excusing himself to meet me halfway.

“Admiral. Good to see you again,” I said.

“Nice uniform,” he replied. “Your father’s design?”

“Yes.”

“He always did have a good eye for such things. You should have taken my advice, Thomas.”

“To run for home? But I’ve been learning so many interesting things since I arrived here,” I said. I kept my tone cool, pitched just loud enough so that he could hear. I doubted anyone else would be able to pick up what I was saying over the general buzz of conversation in the room. “Like the fact that the Navy is loaning personnel to the UN for their space program.”

“Thomas, I…”

“And loaning officers, too,” I said, cutting him off. “Tell me, are you in bed with them? Are you going to help them attack us?”

“The entire program is classified, Thomas. I couldn’t discuss it with you even if I was involved.”

I looked him in the eye. He looked away first.

“Admiral, you gave me some good advice earlier. As a friend of my father’s, I’m going to return the favor,” I said.

He looked back at me, his face crinkled with worry. And shame?

“Sit this one out, Admiral.”

“I have my orders,” he replied. It was as close to an admission I was going to get. My worst fears were true. They were going to have Perrault in their fleet command. Maybe leading their fleet. It made sense. He was the only person on Earth who might match my father when it came to experience in space combat. What leverage did Choi have on the man, to make him turn like that? Or was it just pride talking? This might be the only way Perrault could ever command in space again. I knew how much I missed being in command of a fighting ship. How much worse had it been for Perrault, who’d been flying a desk for years? With the US effectively barred from putting a Navy in space he might never able to go out there again without joining the UN.

“Betting against my father and I is a bad move,” I said softly. “Choi hasn’t learned that lesson yet, but if he comes at us it’ll be driven home.”

“You can’t win, Thomas,” he replied, his voice bleak. “I’m very good at my job. Your father is…better. I would never come at him unless I was certain the forces were so mismatched that he had no chance of beating me.”

Perrault’s words were chilling. He and Dad knew each other from way back. Was it possible that he was right? If he had a good estimate of Dad’s abilities and resources, could he just stack up so much against us that no matter what we did, we’d lose?

A
man wearing
a white tuxedo came up and touched my elbow. One of the serving staff working the banquet.

“Sir?” he said. “Your presence is requested.”

He gestured off to the corner to my left, where a table was set on a raised pedestal. I hadn’t seen it when I walked in. Setting it off to the side was brilliant. Someone sitting there could observe the entire room, and see every person as they entered without being noticed first.

There was only one person seated there. It was Choi.

“It looks like you’ll have to excuse me,” I said to Perrault. “I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.”

“Say hello to your father for me when you see him,” Perrault said. He gave me a wry grin. “You’re so much like him.”

“If you say so,” I replied.

I allowed the servant to lead me over to my enemy. My other enemy, I supposed. It was going to be hard to think about Perrault that way. The man had been to my sixth birthday party. He and Dad were friends from way back. I could rationalize his decisions however I wanted, but it still felt like a betrayal. It hurt.

Choi stood as I approached. He gave the smallest of bows to me, his eyes never leaving mine. “Mr. Stein. Thank you for accepting my invitation.”

“You are a man of great importance, Mr. Choi,” I replied carefully. “How could I refuse?”

“How indeed?” he said. He waved his hand at the only other chair at his table. “Please, be seated.”

I sat, and the white-clad man left us. Choi settled himself back into his own chair and slipped a small device that was now becoming incredibly familiar to me from his pocket. He placed it on the table and pressed a button on the device.

I chuckled. “Does everyone except me have one of those?”

Choi gave me a thin smile. “They are useful, when having conversations you do not wish others to overhear. You may have this one when we are done, if you wish. I have others.”

“No, thank you,” I replied. The last thing I wanted was to carry around any bit of tech Choi handed to me. If the thing could block bugs, who knew what else it might be able to do? I picked the pen out of my pocket and twirled it around my fingers. Having something in my hands kept me from wanting to use them to throttle the man sitting across from me.

“As you wish,” he said. He glanced out at the room and seemed lost in thought for several long moments. Maybe he was hoping I would break the silence first. I decided to wait him out, instead. Long moments passed before he spoke again.

“You are not like your father,” Choi said.

“Admiral Perrault disagrees,” I replied. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. On the one hand, I knew he meant it as a compliment. On the other, I wanted to be seen as my own man, not a copy of someone else.

“The admiral is incorrect,” Choi said. “You are rash. Your father would never have risked coming here to see me.”

“Am I in danger here?” I asked. We both knew I was, but I wanted to hear him say it.

He smiled like a snake. “Of course not.”

“But then, he is back on Mars,” he went on. “And you are here.”

“I do tend to leap in where angels fear to tread,” I admitted.

“Which makes you dangerous,” Choi replied. His face was like a mask. I had a very hard time reading the emotions behind his words. “Your father, I can predict. His taking of the Mars presidency, for example? Classic. He is the cream that will always float to the top. Rise to whatever challenge. You, however?”

He drummed his fingers on the table. “You are more of an enigma to me. You are no one. But you thwarted two ships full of pirates, and then retook a space station with a stolen vessel. Capturing multiple ships, you went on to foil the attack on Earth.”

“Without your actions, your father would have failed. What he did was predictable. You are less the cream and more the annoying clot of curd that shows up unexpectedly,” he said.

“Thank you,” I said. I grinned at him. I couldn’t help it. “That’s the most backwards compliment anyone has ever paid me.”

“Have you considered that fighting alongside your father might not be in your best future interest?” Choi asked.

“Not really, no,” I said. “The other options haven’t been appealing.”

“No? Perhaps no one has made you the right offer.”

And there it was. Choi wanted me to switch sides. He’d gained the loyalty, or at least the obedience, of men like Perrault. And now he was after me. And what a coup that would be for him. I was the son of the President of Mars. I was the other hero who’d come swooping in to save the planet. With me at his side, Choi could use me to smash my father’s reputation on Earth completely. If I stood against Dad, would anyone still think he was a hero?

I laughed. Because it was an empty offer. Loyalty to my home, to Kel, and to my Dad aside… If I turned on my father, how would Choi ever really trust me? He’d use me while I was helpful to him, and then cast me away when I wasn’t. This was a man who would do anything to gain power.

He wanted to see if I was like him.

“Not in this lifetime,” I said.

He nodded sharply. Then he glanced down at his smartwatch and tapped the screen before looking back at me. “I thought as much. But it was worth the time to ask, before I destroyed you. You might have been useful.”

“That sounded like a threat,” I said.

“Yes,” he said. “It was. Did you discover what this party was in celebration of?”

“No,” I shook my head.

He nodded, unsurprised. “It was a secret. But I will tell you. We were to announce the successful test of the new fusion reactor tonight. Earth will once again be self reliant for its power.”

Which also meant Earth would be free to move against Mars. Was effectively already free to do so. If they didn’t need the uranium anymore, the last impediment to invasion was off the table.

“Sadly, that announcement will have to wait now,” Choi said.

He rose from his seat. I moved to stand as well, but he waved me down. “No, stay. I have other matters to attend to. And in about two minutes, a bomb will go off in this room.”

“What?” I stood so quickly I knocked over the chair behind me.

“Shhh,” he hushed. “You’ll disturb the guests. The bomb will be blamed on terrorists from Mars, of course. And the UN will be forced to retaliate.”

“Damn you,” I said. I spared a glance out over the room. There were close to a hundred guests there now. I noticed that Perrault’s little contingent of officers were nowhere to be seen. Choi would kill all these people to start his war. But I had the feeling he wouldn’t blow the bomb if he were still in the room. I grabbed his wrist.

“What makes you think you’re going anywhere?” I said.

With a quick motion he made a small circle with his arm, breaking free from my hold. His other hand shot out toward my throat. His fingertips stabbed into the hollow of my neck. The blow was so quick that it had been hard to see him move at all, but it hurt like hell. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even breathe.

He eased me back into his chair. I clutched at his arm, but I didn’t have any strength left. He shrugged me off. I choked, trying vainly to draw in even a little air.

“Fool boy. The spasm will pass,” he said. He glanced at his watch. “You have about a minute left. Enjoy the party.”

Then he swiftly left the table. Several security guards joined him at the door, and he was gone.