When Fighting Monsters, page 4
part #5 of The Maauro Chronicles Series
“Wouldn’t want to stop one of those,” I said.
“No indeed,” he replied. “Shasti, as you probably know, was the ultimate expression of the Genetic Engineer’s art. Pound for pound, she is strongest person ever created; I just outweigh her. By a little too much these days,” he chuckled, patting his mid-section.
False modesty, I thought, by a consummate politician. There was no softness in Vaughn’s middle, the hand had smacked into thick muscle. But I nodded.
We walked down into a part of the building devoid of paintings, statuary and gifts of state. The offices to each side had a more utilitarian look.
“Our history,” Vaughn continued, “is of course, not always a pleasant subject.”
“You were raised in the Guild of Assassins,” I said.
“Just so,” he agreed. “As Shasti herself was before she escaped.”
“It’s interesting,” I said. “I don’t think many would have imagined that the leader of the Old Guard would end up married to the woman who destroyed the Old Guard.”
“Even more than you may think, given that my initial assignment was to kill her, which she of course perfectly frustrated.” He snorted a laugh. “Perfectly frustrated actually describes the first couple years of our courtship. I ended up pursuing her half way across the galaxy before my interest was reciprocated.
“Ah, here we are,” he continued, gesturing at a huge door. Well, all doors were huge here. This one was marked, ‘weapons range.’ Inside, sat two men in dark uniforms with red trim. Both stood to attention, but Vaughn waved it away. “At ease. Do me a favor, Bob, get out a few of those old cartridge weapons, as well as my favorites.”
“Yes, sir,” said the elder of the pair. The younger man followed him out.
“So, Wrik, if I may call you that?”
“Yes, sir, of course.”
“You may call me Mikhail, when it is just the two of us. I see no need to stand on ceremony.”
“Mr. President, I haven’t even managed to call Captain Rainhell by her first name either. It seems….disrespectful.”
Vaughn smiled. “I can see why she likes you. I guess it is nice to have such admirers. The offer stands.”
“Thank you.
“However, I have a few impertinent questions to ask you before our armorer’s return.”
“If among those questions is, why we are here, then I can’t help you. I really haven’t a clue. After I went to Retief, Maauro joined me there and she was involved suppressing a revolution. Then, all of a sudden, she wanted to see Shasti again.”
“Interesting, I have a feeling that your Maauro resembles my Shasti in more than just coloration. Both of them keep secrets from us when they believe it is necessary to do so.”
I nodded. “She does. I wish she didn’t feel the need, but I have to admit that sometimes she’s had reason. I might even have pressed the issue except…well, when I left for Retief…for personal reasons…I didn’t tell her I was going.”
“Ah,” he said, wagging his finger. “Your position was not strong. I agree, now is not the time to press. Politics is not that different from relationships. It’s interesting to see that your relationship with the young lady… well, she is fifty thousand years old… but she certainly seems like a young lady...”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I think Maauro has made a study of classic femininity, when she isn’t battling giant mecha, or dodging missiles. You, at least, are a match for your wife—”
“Not sure about that,” he said, scratching his head
“With me, sometimes I feel like I’m the comic relief,” I said.
“From what I read, it was you that figured out how to stop the mecha that imprisoned my grandson and was crushing Maauro underfoot.”
I nodded with a thrill of pride. “Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
“We feel the same about our marriage.”
I sighed. “It’s complicated sometimes.”
“I had wondered,” he said. “She is a fantastic simulation of a beautiful young girl, big-eyed to be sure, but we have such mutations in the Confederacy, especially on Gloaming, the world she originally used as a cover. Yet, her body is made of fantastic alloys and ceramics? How does that work for the pair of you?”
I felt a strange desire to confide in Vaughn as he looked at me, somber and thoughtful. He’d lived a long time, seen much, and he had Shasti.
“I do not mean to pry,” he added. “But like everyone else in on the secret, which I can only wonder how long will remain secret, I’m fascinated by her.”
“There’s a lot we are working out…as man and woman. Hell, for all we know this is the first time this has ever occurred.” I felt a frustration for not having a vocabulary for what we were living through. In a way, Delt was too close to talk to as he traveled with us. Vaughn, I could leave behind.
“Well, I understand about complicated,” he said, an ironic expression on his big features. “At least your love life is largely private. My wife ended up pregnant by a man who wanted to kill me, not long after our own affair started.”
I looked at him. “I knew she’d had a child with… ”
“Robert Fenaday,” he grimaced at saying the name. “The tale isn’t well known. One of Shasti’s differences is that her body could delay bringing a fertilized egg to term. Not that she even knew it. She’d been pregnant in that sense for years by him. Her body, because of the various dangers, didn’t allow it to proceed.
“It didn’t become noticeable until she visited the Fenadays, while Lisa Fenaday was pregnant. She’d never spent time around another pregnant female, and her body decided it must be safe to bring on the pregnancy.”
“That must have been awkward.”
Vaughn laughed. “Oh, I would have paid serious money for a video of when the doctor told Shasti and the Fenadays that he was the father.” His face showed serious relish at the thought.
“And that child?” I asked.
“Stellan was raised by the Fenadays. Shasti was still voyaging in the Sidhe then and we were not yet a couple. Fenaday and I have never been friends, but Stellan is Shasti’s child and he treated him like his own. To my surprise, so did Lisa Fenaday, as did his half-sister, Daire. Once, some boys were annoying his “big” sister. Stellan, being engineered, was large and powerful for his age. He threw their bikes into the Shannon River. There was quite a fuss over it.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, the other boys were still on them at the time.” He chuckled.
“In any event,” Vaughn continued. “Shasti and Lisa became quite close. She still visits them occasionally. I’ve only gone the once.
“Some years later, we passed through our own rather stormy courtship and we had a daughter of our own, Melisande. A beautiful girl, though she inherited much of her mother’s willfulness. So I know about complications.”
The armorers returned with a selection of weapons. I could clearly tell which ones were for me, as Vaughn’s hands would be too large for them. There were revolvers of an ancient pattern.
“Single-action slug-throwers,” Vaughn said, “not unlike our modern ones. They used a wider slug than we do because the propellants were not as good and they used metal cases. Just pull the hammer back for each shot and pull the trigger. Here’s how you eject the cartridge. Don’t touch it afterward as the cartridges are hot enough to burn.”
After a few more minutes instruction, we stood in the booths and began firing at various holo-targets that moved and changed appearance. It took me a few shots to get comfortable with the wicked kick of the weapons. The ones Vaughn fired blew back my hair and made me grateful for the sound deadening system. We spent a pleasant two hours, shooting, changing weapons. There wasn’t much conversation, but neither of us felt the lack.
Afterward, we returned the weapons. Vaughn had outshot me of course. He’d been a master assassin, and I suspected that even now he had better than human sight.
“It was a pleasure, young man,” Vaughn said after we returned the weapons to the armorers. “I don’t often have the excuse to practice. Now, if you will excuse me, I must return to those duties that you gave me a chance to escape for a while. Unfortunately, affairs of state take precedence over my social schedule.”
“I enjoyed it,” I said.
“There is a shower in the back,” Vaughn said, “along with a refresher for your clothes. You might make use of it. The ladies will probably not appreciate the smell of gunpowder. Your girl can shut off her sense of smell I imagine. Mine cannot.”
“Sounds like a good idea, Mr. President.” We shook hands again.
“An aide will be outside the door to return you to my wife. Good bye.”
“Good bye, I hope we will meet again before we voyage out.”
Vaughn nodded and left the room.
Feeling that the suggestion I shower was more than a casual one, I did and took my time. When I came out, the same aide who’d brought us in from the flitter was waiting. She nodded pleasantly and led the way back. I was glad she didn’t disturb me with idle chatter. I was thinking of what Vaughn had said and why I had felt like discussing the matter with the older man.
I found Shasti and Maauro chatting on the couch with a bottle of wine open between them. Both seemed pleased to see me, but I could not help but notice a conspiratorial air between them.
“Would you care to see the gardens?” Shasti asked. Maauro nodded with enthusiasm, she liked flowers second only to the night stars. I didn’t care one way or the other, but I sensed that Shasti didn’t want the visit to end. So we ended up wandering through roses and other vegetation I could not identify. I had to admit the gardens were attractive. There was a public section, which had a variety of miniature trains and Mag-Lev’s running through tiny villages and cities, that I enjoyed the more.
Eventually, and long after the sun had set on this summer day, we found ourselves back at the main entrance to Shasti’s building, saying our good nights.
“Will you come to our ship tomorrow?” Maauro asked. “It may be foolish, but you have served us a meal in your home, I would like to do so in mine.
“Yes, of course,” Shasti said.
To my surprise, a devilish smile spread across Maauro’s face. “Oh, but it must be a secret, there is a certain practical joker aboard my ship that I want to steal a march on.”
Uh-oh, I thought.
“Ah,” Shasti said. “Well, it has been a while since I was an operative. I shall have to hope my old skills have not deserted me.”
“And you,” Maauro said, placing a finger against my chest, “are now sworn to secrecy.”
“Never heard a thing,” I said.
CHAPTER FOUR
Wrik finds reasons to absent himself from the ship the next day, on the pretext of dealing with ship paperwork and taxes. Meanwhile, I prepare for a very informal dinner-of-state. Dusko remains off the ship, but Delt, having not yet found feminine company to keep him away, evidently feels he is on vacation. Slovenliness is beginning to expand exponentially.
Wrik returns at the appointed time and toward evening, an unmarked flitter lands next to the ship. I really need not have sworn her secrecy. Shasti’s movements are always secret. I note that she is alone, save for her security detail. I assume the President is again busy. Wrik and I go to greet her.
I am again hugged and Wrik respectfully shakes hands with her, though he does seem more at ease in her company.
We walk into the Stardust and I savor my coming moment at Delt’s expense. As we round the spiral stairwell to the level with the galley, I see Delt, sprawled across the most comfortable chair, a reader in one hand, a beer and a sandwich in front of him. His shirt is untucked as usual, and his hair looks like small animals have battled in it.
I step up first, holding Wrik’s hand. I give it a little squeeze, and he looks at me and rolls his eyes, but cannot contain a grin.
“Ah,” Delt says, “the lovebirds return.” At that point he spots Shasti’s silver and black hair as she steps up to tower over both of us.
I give our unrepentant shipboard slob an evil grin.
He has one frozen moment looking at Shasti, who has a slightly bemused expression, then Delt flings himself into the air in a fashion I would have thought impossible, lands on his feet at attention and snaps a letter perfect salute. “Captain Rainhell, welcome aboard CSS Stardust.”
Shasti gives me a reproving look, but cannot hold it and laughs softly. She returns Delt’s salute. “At ease, Spacer.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Delt says, assuming parade rest.
Again the soft chuckle. “Really, at ease, Mr. Teljard. Though if you wish to be useful, you can bring out a few more of those beers you have there.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Delt says, furiously snapping in and tucking his shirt, and grabbing an errant sock to place in his pocket. He runs behind the galley island to the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, we seat ourselves at the table. In seconds, Delt returns with three bottles of the finest Retiefan brew and a plate of cookies.
“The cookies are a nice touch,” I say sweetly, “doubtless it will reduce the flogging for laxness on duty.”
“Now, Maauro,” Shasti says, “you cannot be quite so severe with your crew. They are, after all, only human.”
“Well,” I reply, “it’s really Wrik’s crew anyway. He’s master.”
“You let the two of them play with starships unsupervised?” she returns in mock horror.
It is too much, and everyone bursts out laughing.
“You got me good, Maauro,” Delt says. “From now on, it’s all shipshape. I swear it.”
I wag my bottle at him. “I will hold you to it. I am not your oh, so-forgiving childhood pal.”
“Ah,” Shasti says, “for such uncomplicated days. Despite all you may have heard about desperate doings aboard the Sidhe, there were times like this too, at least among us in the command crew. It was a larger ship and company.”
Wrik properly introduces Delt, whose easy smile and charm are on full display, as usual, when any female was around. Stories are swapped and a second round of beers brought out before Shasti’s mood turns serious.
“There is another reason why I accepted your invitation to come aboard and see the ship.”
“I thought there might be,” Wrik says, settling back and watching her with a carefully neutral expression.
“The times are troubled, more so than many people realize. Much is kept under wraps and must stay that way, lest certain disclosures bring about the disaster that we are trying to hold off.
“I was most grateful to Candace Deveraux when she reached out to me during my search for Maximillian and revealed you to me, Maauro. I knew that such help always comes with a price tag, but for what was done for me, I am more than willing to meet what I owe the Confederacy.”
“Candace calls for aid?” I asked.
Shasti nodded. “Much of it has already been supplied. But she knows you are here and has sent someone to meet you. That person will arrive in the morning.”
Wrik looked at me. While he had been about his mission of reconciling with his family and former squadron, I had a mission too. Mischance had landed Lilith, a psychotic computer hacker, and a sextet of Humanform Combat Robots on Retief at the same time. It had been the most difficult balancing act of my existence to keep secret and separate, that deadly mission from the flowering of our love on his homeworld. I knew if he became involved, it might be impossible to protect him. I also knew that once he learned of the danger Lilith posed, there would be no way to keep him out of it.
“Tomorrow’s problems can wait for then,” I say. “As for now, the table is set for four. Time to enjoy ourselves.” I pat Delt on the shoulder and the four of us adjourn to the room I have set aside and prepared for the evening.
CHAPTER FIVE
As promised by Shasti, with the sun came a white airvan with reflective windows. There was no way to see who was within until the doors opened. I drew a surprised breath at the sight of the long, blond hair and lithe body of Olivia Croyzer, as she slid out of the backseat. She wore a sharp business suit that accentuated her athletic body and the ubiquitous sunglasses everyone wore on Olympia. The thick, yellow hair fell over one eye that I knew was artificial and saw in other spectra.
“Well, well,” Maauro said dryly, “one of your exes is coming.”
Delt’s eyebrows shot up and he grinned. I merely gulped.
“Exes,” he said, “another drop dead gorgeous female? When the hell did you find time to fly? I am through feeling sorry for you, buddy.”
Before my relationship with Maauro had evolved to being sexual, I’d had a brief affair with Olivia toward the end of the mission to find Maximillian. It was probably not a good idea to remind Maauro that some of that had been at her urging, given that she had not yet conceived of the role of lover for herself. Olivia had left it at light and fun. She’d wanted to go places and do things that did not necessarily involve me.
I found Maauro’s small hand in mine and wrapped mine around it. I stole a glance at Delt. He’d picked up Maauro’s signal and his face was now empty of expression. We waited, side-by-side, as Olivia took the smaller elevator to our level on the gantry. She walked over slowly and I could sense that she was looking at our conjoined hands. She stopped a pace away.
“Hello Wrik, hello Maauro.”
“It’s good to see you, Olivia,” I replied.
Her lips quirked slightly at that.
“This is a surprise,” Maauro added, “but a pleasant one.”
As we were now in the shade of the ship’s hull, Olivia took off her sunglasses and slipped them into her pocket. “I’m glad it’s a pleasant one. I’ll tell you what’s not a surprise.” She gestured at our hands. “That mean what I think it does?”
