The Helavite War (12 page)

Arr obediently gnawed at the veggies.

Tim picked up his cup and stood frowning
into its depths. "Why didn't he just go on to a Refitting Station
instead of stoppin' here?"

"It was on the way to the next job he had
lined up. The Refitting Station was out of the way," Arr said, in
an irritated tone. The problem was to get them out of here, not how
they got here.

"Of all the stupid," Tim muttered under his
breath, as he collapsed back into his chair. "All for a landing
prod. The idiot!"

"What are you talking about?" Arr's voice
rose in angry stress.

"Jake knows he's dead meat in this solar
system, kid." Tim paused and then asked, "Did he ever tell you how
his dad was killed?"

"No!" Arr answered in blunt exasperation. He
wished just once Tim could get from here to there quickly. "What
happened?"

"Well, it's a long story," Tim started.

Arr could see his desire for a swift answer
was not to be.

Tim procured a carrot from Arr's plate and
leaned back in his chair. As he crunched away he told the Harcourt
family saga.

"Jake's dad, Taylor, was my best friend. I
would have been with him when he was killed, maybe even died with
him like Jake almost did, except that I'd gotten laid up on
Alturous III with a pretty good wound of my own from a tangle with
a Slugg Rat. Nasty beasts!

"Taylor had a younger brother, Jake's Uncle
Charlie. The Harcourt's had been mercenaries for generations, but
Charlie was different. He was the black sheep of the family. He
wanted a wife and kids. He wanted to come home every night, put up
his feet and read the newspaper. He wanted to help the kids with
their homework and listen to what the missus had done all day. So
with Taylor's blessing, but not his full understanding, Charlie
went to work in the everyday world." Tim rocked his chair back on
its two hind legs as he warmed to his story.

"Charlie wasn't much older than you at the
time. He hired on as a clerk in the shippin' room of an
import/export business. The company lost shipments on a regular
basis due to high-jackers and poor routing through areas that were
in turmoil due to wars or skirmishes between planets. We
mercenaries knew where all the trouble was. Charlie's connections
with us proved useful. We kept him on the QT. He started routing
the merchandise around the problem areas. He proved himself
invaluable to the company. He got the wagons through. It wasn't
long before the big guys at the top noticed him." Tim finished his
carrot and leaned forward for another.

"Charlie rose rapidly in the company. When
he'd learned all the ropes, he started his own import/export. He
hadn't had time for a family, but he went home to the same place
every night. He put his feet up and read the paper. I guess you
should consider yourself pretty lucky if half your dreams come
true, huh?" He pointed the stub of his rabbit food at Arr for
emphasis.

"Well, Charlie's company was doing real
well. I guess it must have been about fifteen years ago, he hired a
man named Hughes to help with the business. Mostly the bookkeeping
as I understood it. What Charlie didn't see was this Hughes guy was
crooked as a snake. Charlie never was a very good judge of
character. He would have made a lousy mercenary.

"Well anyway, after about a year Charlie
caught Hughes dippin' his hand in the till. He was not only
skimmin' the books, but he had a scam set up with a guy named Bola
Terga. Bola was in the black market. Pretty high up. He'd bring
stolen goods to Hughes. Hughes would sell them through Charlie's
company usually at an inflated rate. Clear profit. The guy was
makin' money hand over fist." Tim leaned forward once more and
prodded a finger at the contents of Arr's plate. Not finding
anything to his liking he crossed his arms over his chest and
rocked his chair leisurely back again.

"Charlie always was too soft. Instead of
havin' the guy arrested or at least cannin' him he told him he'd
give him a chance to pay off the money he'd stolen. He would let
him continue working for him if he'd sever his connections with
this black market dude.

"But I guess Charlie thought better of it
that night when he got home and put his feet up cause he sent a
message to Taylor that he needed to talk to him as soon as possible
about somethin' real important.

"Taylor received Charlie's message one
mornin' and the next afternoon he got the message that Charlie's
warehouse had burned to the ground with Charlie in it."

Tim stood up and went to the refrigeration
unit.

"Got anything in here besides rabbit food?"
He asked, as he rummaged through. "Ah, some of Jake's homemade
stew."

"That stuff's at least a week old." Arr
warned.

"That's okay Jake's stew gets better with
age. I'll just nuke it to kill the bugs." Tim popped it into the
microwave. When it buzzed he grabbed a fork and sat back down at
the table with it.

Arr was dying to hear the rest of the story.
Jake talked about his missions all the time. He often spoke of all
the women he'd met and the places he'd been, but never about
himself or his family. Not that he wouldn't have told Arr if he had
asked, but Arr didn't think he should. Jake never volunteered the
information. He wished Tim would get on with the story. However,
there was no hurrying the big man.

After Tim had consumed half the bowl of stew
Arr could contain himself no longer. "So what happened?"

"Well, Taylor and Jake started to snoop
around as soon as the funeral was over." Tim waved the fork around
with emphasis. "They found a diary Charlie had kept at his place.
Guess all his mercenary genes weren't dead. It was kind of like a
ship's log. The entry on the day before Charlie's death said
'Talked to Hughes about the deficiencies in the books this
p.m.'

"So Taylor and Jake put two and two together
and went to pay a call on Hughes. You see Hughes hadn't left town
even though he had been responsible for Charlie gettin' torched. He
hadn't done the deed himself, not the type. He'd told Bola. Bola
and his men had shut Charlie up for good. Now the plan was that
Hughes would play the loyal employee, buy out the company over a
period of time and continue his business with Bola on a much larger
scale.

"But Taylor and Jake didn't know this goin'
in. They thought the problem ended with Hughes. They went in to try
and scare Hughes. They told him they had found copies of the
doctored books at Charlie's house. They were going to turn them in
to the authorities unless Hughes told them all he knew. What they
didn't know was Hughes was dealing from both sides of the deck.
Hughes acted real scared and ended up trying to cut a deal with the
Harcourt's. He told them all about Bola. He offered him up on a
platter. Hughes was to set up Bola later that week, when he made
his next delivery.

"The guys just weren't thinkin' straight.
They bought the little weasel's line of goods hook, line and
sinker. Jake told me later that he and Taylor wondered about being
double crossed, but decided that Hughes didn't have the guts to do
it."

Tim paused to swig down the last of his
coffee and get another cup.

"This story has more twists than a country
road." Tim eased back down in his chair. "So the next night after
dinner, on the way back to Charlie's, the Harcourt's were ambushed.
Hughes hadn't let his coattail hit him twice before he'd been on
the horn to Bola. Bola brought five thugs. They surprised our boys.
It was real nasty. Bola hadn't wanted to use blasters; thought the
flare would draw attention. So, all his men were carrying knives.
Taylor and Jake were totally unsuspecting. Taylor was dead before
he hit the ground. Jake put up a good fight, but was cut up real
bad. So bad that they thought he was dead too.

"Now here comes the real twist! What Bola
didn't know was that Hughes was out to take over his action as well
as Charlie's. He wanted the whole ball of wax. The five guys with
Bola had been paid off. They turned on Bola and slit his throat
from ear to ear. Then three took off while two stayed behind to
turn in this phony story of being attacked by these 'mercenaries'
out for their pocket change. They said, they tried to fight them
off, but the Harcourt's had killed one of them before they got the
better of the two. When they found out Jake wasn't quite dead, they
concocted the rest about Jake being the one to have killed Bola.
Hughes had to get Jake out of the way. If the authorities would
oblige him all the better.

"When I showed up much later, Jake was still
in the hospital and accused of murder.

"Two weeks later when they went to transfer
him to the prison infirmary I appropriated him." Tim grinned
smugly. "It took him about six months to fully recover. By then
Hughes was long gone. Vanished like smoke in a high wind.

"From the description Hughes gave Taylor and
Jake, Jake said it was Bola who killed his dad. I never have had
much of a stomach for revenge. Jake wasn't even out of his twenty's
yet. I didn't want him to turn into some vigilante killer. So I
advised him to let sleeping dogs lie. There was a whole lot of
space out there. He'd just have to avoid that particular piece of
space. He was young and not fully recovered yet so he agreed."

Tim gave a scornful snort. "All of what I
have been tellin' you happened right here in this solar system.
Jake knew he was still wanted for murder here. He should've stayed
clear. He's gotten too big for his own britches. Thinks he's
invincible. Been listenin' to you blow his horn too much, I think.
When we spring him I'm goin' to give him a good talkin' to." Tim's
acid tone brooked no argument.

*****

Tim figured there were two ways to get Jake
out of jail, the legal and the illegal way. He'd try for the
former, but settle for the latter if need be.

He had pretty well guessed what this was
going to be all about before he arrived. He accomplished some
preliminary work on route. He sent word out that he wanted to talk
to this guy named Hughes. He never sought revenge, but he kept
track of the 'little slime ball' all these years just in case
something like this happened.

Hank, a fellow mercenary, was checking up on
the 'snake' to see if he was still where Tim heard he was last.

The GO wouldn't let Tim see Jake either.
Twenty four hours after Tim arrived the authorities extradited Jake
from Rigil One to Rigil Four for trial. The two cruisers and their
occupants followed establishing orbit around Rigil Four.

Tim was pleased that Jake had trained the
Henu. The kid took orders well. Tim knew if he wasn't so
disciplined he would have gone in before Tim arrived and tried to
break Jake out. Whatever he told the kid to do, he did. Arr was
looking better. He had a couple of good night's sleep and started
eating on a regular basis. So when the word came that Hank located
Hughes Tim left word with the authorities to tell Jake they would
be back. He took Arr to pick up the 'little weasel.'

The last ten years were good to Hughes. The seven
years immediately following Taylor's death and Jake's escape he
moved around and changed his name repeatedly. He had to admit he
was scared of what the mercenaries would do. They were not known
for their forgiving natures. During that five year period if he
found himself alone on a dark street and heard foot falls to his
rear he usually broke out in a cold sweat before he realized that
it was just a show girl or some late night drunk. But when five
years went by and there seemed to be no pursuit, he began to
relax.

He had an opportunity to hire on with a
large company as the manager of the bookkeeping department. With
fake letters of reference and in the name of Gordon Holland, he got
the job. He figured he did enough lying low among a whole pool of
bookkeepers. He was ready to apply his skills again.

It was however, much better than he could
have hoped. The company just lost its president and major
shareholder. The old man died of a heart condition. His interests
passed to his only child, a daughter named Harriet Caruthers.
Harriet was an intelligent, good looking, single woman in her early
forty's. She was also very lonely. She spent her whole life taking
care of her father. When she inherited his fortune she decided to
start taking care of herself.

It was so easy for Hughes/Gordon. He started
by making sure he was always the one to take her the monthly
reports or any other correspondence that needed her attention. Soon
she was asking him to sit in on board meetings. He always agreed
with all the 'brilliant ideas' she presented in these male
dominated meetings. One thing led to another. Pretty soon it was
lunch in the park to discuss her latest ideas before she tried them
on the board. She was so very lonely and Hughes/Gordon could be so
very charming. She fell for him uncontrollably.

Hughes/Gordon's salary kept creeping up to
such a degree that he had no desire to skim from the books for fear
he would spoil a good thing. The 'bennies' that came with dating
the boss were unbelievable. He had company transportation not only
to and from work, but at his disposal twenty four hours a day. He
was given expensive jewelry and fine clothes. Harriet wanted him to
look nice when he acted as her host when she entertained her
friends. He was treated as a pampered pet. He easily relaxed into
his role as kept man.

The years drifted by lazily. He was
comfortable, but not really happy. He couldn't give up anything as
lucrative as this sweet deal, but he did wish Harriet was more his
type. She was so skinny. He liked his women more rounded, well
padded. He had been with Harriet three years when he started to
play around with other women. He still acted the devoted suitor
with Harriet. He was still in hopes that she might marry him and
set him up for life legally, but he just had to find someone more
his type. Someone to drink beer with instead of Muldavian liqueur.
Someone with whom he could be himself. He found that woman in
Suzan. He didn't meet her at one of Harriet's teas or stuffy dinner
parties. He met her at a bar on the way home one night. She was his
idea of a female. She was cushy in just the right places and had a
laugh that tinkled like bells. She never told him to change his tie
because it didn't match his shirt or correct his English, or
correct anything for that matter. They started a relationship on
the side. They celebrated their five years anniversary the night he
found the will.