Deserter (38 page)

“Thank you, Your Highness,” he and his agents said, and also like something out of a storybook they bowed to her . . . full bows from the waist.

Several of the security men, all with the blank sleeves of buck private or buck guard or whatever, made to bow until their sergeants growled something that made them look like they’d just gotten their daily requirement of prune juice. Still, the Princess drill was in full effect as Kris turned to Sam.

“We doubt your services will be any less generous to us.”

“No, ma’am, er, Princess, ah, Your Highness. We’ll keep you just as safe as you have been. All of you.” Kris hoped Penny didn’t hurt herself laughing at that. “Thing is, we need you to stay inside. You know. Out of the way.”

“We understand how much that would help you.” Kris smiled regally, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the colonel. “Now, if you do not mind, we must see to our beauty rest.” Kris managed not to gag on her words as she stepped back inside.

Jack closed the door firmly.

“Wasn’t we supposed to be sitting in there?” a voice said.

“Shut up and post your guard or whatever it is you sergeants are supposed to do for your pay,” snapped Sam.

And Kris suppressed the urge to shriek, laugh, giggle, and run around in circles. NELLY, WHAT GOT IN?

LOTS OF STUFF.

BURN THEM. FAST!

Kris slowly paced off the distance to her bedroom, Jack at her side. Around them the air sparkled as nanos popped; some went down trailing tiny wisps of smoke. Jack snapped up two as they fell. Abby, Penny, and Tom stood at their doors, waiting for Nelly to issue the all clear. “Keep us as safe as the last bunch,” Penny grumbled through unmoving lips.

“All clear,” Nelly announced.

“How do we get back our little snoops?” Abby asked.

“Penny, do you have a uniform up here, lady’s stuff?” Kris asked.

“No, I came up with what the hospital put on me. The clothes I was wearing were kind of torn up.”

Kris could believe that. “Would you mind if Tom rummaged around your apartment for some things for you?”

“The place is kind of a mess,” Penny said, eyeing Tom. Kris could imagine how it felt for the man she maybe loved to get his first peek into her life without her having a chance to make things disappear. Kris shrugged mentally; she had no pictures of old boyfriends on her dresser. Penny would just have to handle it.
I will not enjoy this. I am not setting them up.

“I could go,” Abby offered.

“I’d rather you stay here. Those guards will be bored stiff, maybe hungry. Definitely thirsty. About seven I want you to take a load of donuts and coffee out to them.”

“Why?” Jack and Abby asked.

“Because Tom can’t be running down to the planet every shift change at the yard. We need to send new orders to the control nanos to send reports back on our new guards, not Klaggath.”

Jack chuckled. “Use their own guards on them. Not bad.”

“You couldn’t go?” Penny asked, not meeting Tom’s eyes.

“For the moment, I’m coming the Princess, full sails and thunder. Running errands is kind of out of persona for me.”

“You’re right,” Penny agreed. “It’s just a bit early in a relationship for me to be letting a guy rummage around in my panties, even in my panty drawer.”

“I promise not to look at what I pick up. Right eye not seeing what the left hand is doing, you know.” Tom spoke quickly to avoid any appearance of maybe thinking about what Penny had said.
Good man. Why didn’t I do something about him sooner?
Kris sighed to herself.

“Meanwhile, I’ll have to get myself up to Top of Turantic if we expect to rearrange the plumbing.”

“What do you have in mind?” Jack said.

Kris put hands on hips and sighed. “As much as I hate to, I may just have to set up a date with Hank.”

“I don’t like that,” Jack said, almost before Kris finished.

“You have any better idea how I might get past our friendly security guards’ house arrest?”

“Let me think on it.”

“Better, let’s sleep on it. Nelly, give us all wake-up calls at six. That will give Tom enough time to get down the elevator and spread new nanos around the yard station before shift change starts. Abby can do her first Donut Dolly routine.”

“So nice to see you big people concerned about us little folks.” Abby sniffed.

“Kris, I have a problem,” Nelly said almost plaintively.

“What’s up?”

“I used all the smart metal on the last batch of nanos. I miscalculated that I would get back some returning nanos before I needed to make any more.”

“What about the ones you have doing security in here?”

“I am already at the minimum.”

Kris glanced around the room. Once more her team was looking back at her. “We still have that ten kilos of not so smart metal from Grampa Al. Hatch a few nanos off of it. Make them central control stations, messengers, and defense nanos, stuff we’ll need as long as we’re here. That way we can leave them as is.”

“I will do that.”

Kris rubbed at her eyes, suppressing a yawn. “Shall we take another try at getting some sleep?”

In bed, Kris reviewed her situation as she waited for sleep to come. Sandfire had acted fast. Faster than she expected. Then again, she’d been inside his decision cycle most of the past week. She had to expect him to pick up speed. Hell, this entire dustup on the planet, suspending Congress and declaring war by executive fiat had to be a spur-of-the-moment response to what she did yesterday. She forced his hand. With luck, he’d fumble something sooner or later. Preferably sooner.

That was good, politically. Only question was, just where did he want to put his hands, physically, on her? That sent a shiver through Kris. It had to be his women who had beat up Penny. He’d never dare do that to a Princess. Not a Longknife Princess. Then again, Kris had messed up his plans before. And some had included assassination attempts on her. Were the guards here to protect her or let the next assassin through?

Sandfire was moving faster. Kris would just have to pick up her own pace.

20

“It’s six o’clock, Kris.”

Still half asleep, Kris didn’t even roll over. “Don’t bother me for another two hours.” What had she been thinking? She couldn’t call Hank at this ungodly hour.

“Should I let Tom and Abby sleep in also?”

“No, Nelly, they have work. Now leave me alone.” Kris doubted she would be left alone, but she could try. Amazingly, much later the delicious smell of bacon and coffee pulled Kris slowly from her stolen sleep. Rolling over, she found Abby ready to settle a breakfast tray across her. “Breakfast in bed?”

“Why shouldn’t we poor working folks who have been laboring in the fields for hours lavish such things on you lazy members of the leisure class?” the maid said, dropping the tray the last few centimeters onto the bed. Plates rattled, silverware tinkled, coffee sloshed from a delicate china cup into the saucer.

“Gee, where did my mother find a throwback to the class warfare ideologues? Do they still have them on Earth?” Kris said, unrepentant, as she took a bite from a delightfully flaky biscuit, already buttered and lathered in strawberry jam.

“Anywhere the holders of great wealth are slugabeds at nine o’clock there is bound to be unrest in the working class.” Abby bustled about, fluffing Kris’s pillows, then examining her wardrobe before laying out a business suit: red skirt and blazer. “You up to a royal blue blouse or should we settle for a conservative white one, with a monogrammed coronet on it?”

“Whatever makes me a harder target,” Kris mumbled through a mouthful. “Back home, I’m at the
Firebolt
by seven. Out on the Rim, money can’t be lazy either. It works as hard as I do.” Kris glanced around. “Is Nelly having problems controlling a bug infestation?”

“No, silly goose. I’m not putting on a show for public consumption. You pay me for my service, not my thoughts. You send me to dole out milk and cookies to the night watch, and you better believe you’re going to take some lip for it.”

“How are our fearless and watchful defenders?”

“Bored, not very watchful, and I can’t say how fearless they’d be in a shoot-out, but I can’t tell you how happy I am that my delicate skin won’t be targeted if they screw up or run.”

“Thank you.” Kris grinned. “How much armor can I carry without being noticeable?”

“You still planning on doing a plumbing job tonight?”

“Yes.”

“I’d planned to use the boob bombs, but the body stocking squishes you flat and doesn’t take too well to close-ups. How close do you intend to get to this Hank fellow?”

“Dinner, maybe dancing. He shouldn’t get too close.”

“You Rim people are such virgins. Back home my first date and I would have . . . well, never mind.”

“Abby, you are the best stand-up liar I’ve ever met.”

“Who says I’m lying?” Abby sniffed. “You going to take all day? Or maybe you want to call your fellow from bed. Back home, that’s usually an invite to finish the date there.”

“I’m finished,” Kris said. “Let’s do full armor with that suit. We can decide on tonight later.”

Half an hour later, Kris was armored, dressed, and made up enough for Abby to permit her to make a phone call.

“Mr. Smythe-Peterwald is unavailable,” a standard computer voice informed her.

“Please tell him that Princess Kristine Anne Longknife of Wardhaven would like to discuss a date with him.”

“He will be so informed.”

KEEP THAT RETARDED BUCKET OF CIRCUITS ON THE LINE A BIT LONGER, Nelly put in.

“Do you have any idea when he might answer my call? I have such a busy schedule,” Kris lied.

“I am sorry, but I cannot offer any estimate. He is a busy businessman and often must respond to unscheduled priorities.”

Kris hated talking to buffers. She really hated the ones that were following the new tact subroutines; they could waste your time by the yard. “Well, I really would like a call back before noon. If he is really delayed, maybe . . .” Kris rambled on. NELLY, HOW MUCH LONGER?

DONE!

Kris finished with the buffer, hung up, and turned around. “Okay, Nelly girl, what was that all about?”

“That block of wood was programmed to shortstop you. I corrected that minor fault. Now, when Hank next asks for his messages, yours will be at the top of the queue.”

“More evidence Sandfire likes you where he has you?” Jack asked.

“If we needed any. Where’s Tom?”

“He got away at six-fifteen,” Jack said. “The guards were not too enthusiastic about that, but Abby just happened by with the coffee and donuts. What might have taken forever was resolved amazingly fast once the Sergeant commanding had food in his mouth. I’ve also arranged for chairs out there.”

“Chairs!”

“Why not? Those kids will never be very good in a fight. At least this way they won’t be cranky.”

“When’s Tom due back?”

“He’ll stay out as long as he can, maybe until three if he can stretch it. He’s dropping by the embassy to remind whatever officer is in charge of such matters that you and he are here and not intentionally missing ship movement or deserting.”

“Oh Lord, I forgot about that stuff. I am supposed to check in once in a while, aren’t I?”

“I can’t picture the Navy booting you out for this,” Penny said, standing at the door to her room, wearing one of Kris’s nightgowns and robes. On her, they hung long.

“You don’t know General McMorrison. Mac would love an excuse to be rid of me.”

Penny raised her eyebrows, whether at the prospects of a Princess being given the heave-ho, or Kris’s familiarity with the name of the Chief of Staff for all Wardhaven armed forces. Kris didn’t bother to ask. Unless they got out of here, it wouldn’t matter. And unless they figured out a way to blow up a nascent battle fleet, a lot of matters would change drastically.

But for the moment, Kris had absolutely nothing to do. She was, as comfortable as it looked, under house arrest. What she could do was already being done. She went down her list of things that might need doing and came up with a long list of answers that totaled “insufficient information.”

Penny offered to play chess. “But not with Nelly. Just you.” Halfway through the first game, it was clear Penny was far more experienced at this game than Kris ever wanted to be. Penny didn’t mind when Abby took to kibitzing, offering suggestions and pointing out possibilities four and five moves in the future.

Kris minded. Standing, she waved a hand not at all as graciously as she wanted to. “Here, you take over.”

“You’ve already lost the game,” Abby pointed out.

“We can start a new one,” Penny offered.

“You do that,” Kris said, walking, not stomping, but walking gently to the screen. “Where is that call?”

“Earth girls don’t wait to be called back,” Abby pointed out, settling at the table and offering Penny two fists. Penny tapped one, got white, and they turned the board around.

“I thought the idea was for me to play her and help her stay calm,” Penny said as she arranged her board.

“The woman is waiting for the man to call. Trust me,” Abby said dryly. “There is no way to calm her. It’s an X gene thing.”

“I am not waiting for a man to call. I’m waiting for someone to call so I can go plant a bomb upstairs,” Kris snapped.

“Looks like a moonstruck calf to me,” Abby said, making her counter to Penny’s opening move. “What do you think, Jack?”

“Be interesting to see if he calls. I suspect he’s got Kris right where he and Sandfire and his papa want her. Locked up like a bird in a cage. Available to be plucked at their convenience.”

Kris stuck out her tongue, but her heart wasn’t in it. If Hank was his father’s man, Jack was right. “I don’t think Hank’s in on all his father’s schemes,” Kris insisted. “He didn’t know about the problem with the smart-metal boats he gave me.”