April (11 page)

Her brother saddened her because people were starting to catch on to him. One suggested he might require a signed contract before going on a date - if he ever did anything for fun. Another simply said - "Have
your
lawyer prepare the contract."  Not one accused him of cheating them, but there was obvious bitterness, even when the worst they could do was refer to him as, The Mushroom King, over an unfortunate venture.

April snatched her scanner off the coax and clipped it on her belt before heading out the door. The cafeteria she was headed for was a lot different than the one nearer her home, which most permanent residents and business people used. It was up station near the North hub and in spin, so it had fairly low gravity, about seventy percent of standard. It was situated a lot closer to the short term housing for the construction workers. It was commonly called the Animal House and catered to their needs first.

The workers who rotated in and out of M3, were usually young single men and women and stayed for 6 months at a time. Some kept coming back. Others would do one tour and never be seen again. The everyday food there was geared to appetizers and finger-food, more than traditional sit down meals.

The place was also a recreation spot, for things you couldn't do in a barracks. There was an area with a wall screen for video, with couches and better chairs around a few tables where they could play cards. There was pointedly no security camera there to allow a little license for private videos, or a little friendly wagering. The food was served buffet style and there was a small grill like the other cafeteria, but at this one it was self serve. You could make an omelet, or fry a burger to suit yourself. Currently they were cycling through Vietnamese, Jamaican, Tex-Mex, Soul and Thai, for the ethnic buffets. There were always a few blander Canadian-American dishes.

April could hear the place quite a distance down the corridor. As loud as it was she was happy to see the crowd had thinned out and it only looked about a quarter full. Her people were in plain sight near the buffet, sitting across from each other, so she headed for them. The place had the sharp tang in the air of beer and a few strong spicy odors she couldn't catalog.

She was going to sit on the close end, but that would leave her facing the two construction workers at the next table over. The one was boring holes through her with his eyes already. She didn't appreciate where his eyes were going and it was obvious he was making a show of doing it, to bother her.

They looked vaguely Middle Eastern, but had on company jump suits. The rude one had an odd little beard, too short to be a goatee. She moved around the table, which predictably made him feel like they won some petty contest. He mocked her with laughter, a little louder than natural so she wouldn't miss the point.

"I'm sorry," Jeff said softly, letting the noise cover his words, "the one sub-human there has already made a couple crude remarks about Heather and I saw how he was acting with you. No offense April, but you have hardly any figure yet and he is checking you out like a bloody pervert. Do you want to leave?"

"Maybe we'll have to," April agreed. "I may not look very mature, but I'm not stupid. I understand exactly how the creep is acting, but I'm not sure I want to walk out into the corridor now and maybe have him and his buddy follow us. Why don't we at least get some appetizers and perhaps they'll finish up and leave. If Heather and I go to the restroom together, will you be OK alone?"

Jeff got a funny grin. "We have to get to know each other better. If those two bother me I'll just go in the kitchen. The cook knows me and will chase them off. I'm really not in any danger from them, but they're probably too stupid to know it."

She did noticed Jeff had filled out a little in the shoulders from the last time she had seen him. He still was basically slender, but less boyish and had the beautiful coppery skin some East Indians have. She still didn't want to see him, or even all three of them get physical with the creeps.

"Come on Heather. Time for a trip to the ladies room." They actually had separate rooms here, instead of a unisex. It had to serve enough people for the size of the cafeteria that there was no space to be saved in making it one facility.

As soon as they were inside April checked the stalls and one was occupied. Whatever she had to face would be easier on an empty bladder, so she ducked into a stall herself. When she came out the other woman's back was disappearing out the door.

April spoke up, looking toward the ceiling and said, "Security? - dope - murder - help!! If you are running key words those should get your attention. This is April Lewis, my local net code is AL04, please call me right now."

Heather was looking at her like she had totally lost her mind, but she was already pulling her pad out, confident of getting a call. It beeped before she could even open it.

The screen was blank, with just the words M3 - SECURITY instead of the caller. She was sure the other person would be using her cam though.

"Thanks, this is April Lewis. I'm at the worker's cafeteria near the hub. I don't know what your official name for it is, but the one used by all the construction workers. I'm with my friend Heather," she turned the pad briefly so the camera would show her and she saw some reaction on Heather's face to the address on the screen.

"We're having dinner with a young man named Jeff Singh. The problem is there are two construction workers near us and one is being really crude and trying to provoke the fellow we are with. We would very much appreciate it if you make sure the security cameras watching the dining area are covering us. We're hesitant to leave right now, because they may just follow and take trouble out in the corridor, which could be even worse for us. If you're not too busy to actually keep an eye on us, it would really be appreciated. Please don't bother Jon Davis with it. I've been bothering him much too frequently lately."

"We're on it," Security said. It was a young woman's voice, but she never shared an image. "We try to keep your location watched. April is a trigger word in the system, posted  since last night. We will watch if things go to the bad," she promised. "Since the barracks are called the Animal House, we've always called that cafeteria The Trough," she added, before she disconnected.

"Ready to eat?" Heather just blinked a helmet-talk yes, like the workers used in a p-suit, too stunned to respond verbally, but followed quickly enough when April went out the door.

April was really happy to see the cook, standing talking to Jeff at their table. He introduced her as Mrs. Jiang. The cook nodded an acknowledgment, but continued her conversation with Jeff. She was the roundest person April had ever seen, very short and large around the middle, with a chef's double buttoned white jacket down to exactly her equator and black trousers covering the Southern Hemisphere. Even her head and face were round, like a moon associated with the globe of her body. She was describing some of the things she was making tonight with Jeff.

"I'm just going to start a tray of Pla Jien. Why don't you kids get some fried tofu and spring rolls and I'll have a new tray on the buffet in a few minutes." She disappeared into the kitchen, happy, with a purposeful stride.

Jeff led them to the buffet and they all got fried tofu. Heather showed her how to sprinkle crushed peanut and sweet red sauce on it. They also got some deep fried pastries, with a skin so thin you could see the vegetable stuffing through it. While they started, Jeff  got a large bowl of rice and a carafe of hot tea for all of them.

It was all very good so far and she started to think she had been silly to call security about the creep. He wasn't bad enough to actually come over to bother them.

When they had cleaned up the appetizers Mrs. Jiang came out with a stainless tray in both mitted hands and put it in the steam table. As soon as she turned away their neighbors jumped up and hurried to the buffet with long steps, looking at them with mocking smirks. They both heaped up Pla Jien high on bare plates, until the sauce was running off the edge of their plates. They retreated, giggling, to their table.

Looking dismayed, Jeff went up alone and they could see him scrapping what was left into a corner to try to get a spoonful. When he got back to the table he sat it in front of April. "We've both had this before," he said. "You go ahead and try it and we'll get something else off the table."

"Thanks Jeff. That's real sweet of you. It's enough to taste what it's like. But I don't think these two are going to let up and leave, as long as we're here. Maybe we should go after we have a plate, before they do something worse," she changed her mind.

"OK," said Jeff, "sounds good to me." It was after all, what he had suggested at first, but he was too nice to add 'I told you so'.

Mrs. Jiang came out of the kitchen with another pan and put it in the steam table, then walked over to them, wiping her hands on a towel.

"How do you like it?" she asked cheerfully. Then looking at the meager spoonful in front of April, her expression was quizzical.

"Uh, sorry Mrs. Jiang, I took too long to get up there and it was mostly gone. It's so good, I should have known better and moved quickly," Jeff said, trying hard to put the best face on things he could.

Mrs. Jiang looked over at the two ironworkers, with heaped plates and they made the mistake of staring back boldly, unrepentant. She ripped off a stream of shrill Chinese as she stomped over to their table, with pointed finger accusing and fortunately for them not a real weapon. April did not know the language, but she was pretty sure it was just as well. Their faces said the two men understood very well.

"You get out of here now," she said, switching to English and pointed out the door. "You stuff your pig faces enough already, I'm not cooking anymore for you tonight. You think it's funny to be rude," she accused. "Your mother didn't love you enough to teach you manners."

April had to admire the shameful cut of her invective, without using swear words.

The bearded one had his nerve and got to his feet, looming over Mrs. Jiang, with his face as red as hers.

"You don't tell me to get out!" he shouted leaning over in her face. "You forget you're just the damn help here woman!" jabbing a finger at her for emphasis. Mrs. Jiang didn't seem intimidated at all and didn't back up when he leaned right in her face.

Jeff immediately jumped up, trying to get between them to protect his friend.

If the bearded one was still hesitated to lay hands on the cook, he had no fear to take Jeff's approach as a challenge and was happy to go beyond words with him. He lunged to meet Jeff with his hand a claw to grab hold of his shirt front. April did not understand exactly what happened, but Jeff stepped back and sideways, smooth as a dance step so the man would pass rather than collide.

He reached to meet the man's grabbing hand, which was on the other side of Jeff now, hidden from April's view, but the crack of breaking bone was audible even over the music. The 'O' which formed above the funny little beard and his pop-eyed look, left no doubt to who the broken part belonged.

Jeff took two more quick steps back, still leading him away from Mrs. Jiang, but the fellow was too enraged to quit now, even though he had to be hurting. He pivoted to follow and with dread April saw Jeff shift his balance, done retreating, calmly measuring the distance. But before the man could take a step, his head was englobed in a crackling blue corona. His limbs jerked unnaturally wide and his back arched in a spasm that threw him face down on the empty table between them. His limbs continued making little random twitches and the back of his ample hair was smoldering with a horrible smell. His legs were still off the edge, so they dragged him back and he slide off the table on to the floor.

His companion still seated, was very, very still, looking down at the laser aiming dot scintillating on his chest.

Jon Davis was standing in the doorway. Filling it might be more accurate, as he came close to having to turn sideways, to fit through the merely normal size opening. The Taser in his hand was not the old wired sort, but projected two ionized paths through the air itself. The charge which looped through the beams could be set large enough to kill, or wreck machinery, so the weapon was deadly solid black, instead of carrying the usual yellow strips marking most Tasers as non-lethal.

April noticed the noise level in the room had dropped off abruptly.

Jon seemed to decide the seated companion was no threat and dismissed him totally from his attention, dropping the muzzle pointed at the deck. He walked to them unhurried and inspected Jeff. Jeff completely surprised April by bowing stiffly from the waist to Jon and holding the uncomfortable pose eyes down for a long time.

Jon returned his bow with a short bob of his head, which defined their relationship without a word. Jeff was obviously very subordinate to Jon. April hadn't even  known they knew each other. "Was this necessary Jeff?" Jon asked with a wave of his hand at the prone figure, which encompassed Jeff's total involvement.

"Perhaps not Teacher" Jeff replied, looking at Jon's feet. "Yet perhaps it was not enough, as it did not stop him. I may have been over zealous, out of concern for my friend."

Jon snorted in amusement. "You mean you wanted to make sure Mrs. Jiang did not carry the blood guilt on her conscience, seeking to protect you?

"No Sir," he said, daring to look up since Jon was amused. "I am sure Mrs. Jiang is much more disciplined than I am," he admitted.

"We'll discuss this another time," Jon decided. "We all may learn something from it with a little thought."

Jon looked around at April. "Thank you for asking my dispatcher to not disturb me, but that is contrary to my orders concerning your family. I'm glad I hurried here. It's my job to deal with scum like this, not your friends. This one," he said, indicating the now still form on the floor, "will go to the infirmary and directly on the next shuttle for dirt."

As if on cue, the medical cart with amber lights flashing came to a halt outside in the corridor and two white jacketed EMS workers trotted in with kits. The lead technician looked a question at Jon, when he kneeled beside the obvious casualty.