The Spare Man, page 24
Bob stepped to the side of the door and pushed it the rest of the way open. Stuffing himself back into the beige chair, he picked up his handheld again. “Keep the door open.”
“Sure. Sure.” Shal’s curls fell across his forehead as he beckoned to Tesla and went through the open door.
She followed Shal into the tiny room, where Haldan lay propped in the hospital bed. He was pale and gray under the harsh lights and struggled to sit up as they came in.
Haldan grabbed the remote and powered the back of his bed higher for support. “Thank you for coming.” Waving at his handheld, which lay on the bed, he grimaced. “Sorry I was … forceful earlier.”
As much as she wanted to agree with him, she was talking to a man who had been stabbed and nearly died. If anyone on the ship had the right to be “forceful,” it was him. Tesla laid her hand on the rail of his bed. “You sound better.”
He winced and rested a hand on the bandage peeking out from beneath his hospital gown. The other arm was swathed in nanogen tape and lay across his lap. “I am making a note not to make calls while coming out of anesthesia.”
“From experience, I can confirm that it’s best avoided. Don’t buy or sell anything this week, either, FYI.” She hesitated, not wanting to ask him to exert himself at all, but … Gimlet. And he had asked them to come here. “Did you … did you want to tell us what you saw when you were attacked?”
“I already told Wisor everything I could, which wasn’t a lot. At least they’re finally taking me seriously.” Haldan thumped his head back against the pillow and glared at the ceiling. “No one laughed this time.”
Shal nodded. “Good. I’m glad. The trouble is that they won’t share information with us. I hate to ask you to repeat yourself, but…”
“It was dark. There wasn’t a lot to see.” He sighed, grimacing. “The lights went out as the door opened, so all I really saw was a hand, moving. They were wearing a blue glove, so I don’t even have skin tone for you.”
Tesla drummed her fingers on the bed rail. “There’s … there’s a technique I use sometimes to focus. Five things I see, four things I hear, three things I touch, two things I smell, one thing I taste.”
Teal hair limp across his forehead, Haldan turned to her, frowning. “I … I see. So, you’re thinking if I focus on the glove, is that right? Like a—a hypnosis regression thing?”
Waggling her hand, Tesla shrugged. “If it helps to think of it that way. Like, the hand was attached to something. It was moving in a direction. It was holding the scissors in a grip.”
“Got it.” He swallowed and closed his eyes, brows coming together in concentration. Wetting his lips, he swallowed again. “Blue nitrile glove. Black cuff? Coming straight at me—no, up a little. They. They were shorter than I am. Sounds … dog barks.”
Tesla’s heart clenched. Gimlet.
With his eyes still closed, Haldan cocked his head to the side as if he were listening. “A grunt or pant kind of a mmph.” He raised the pitch of his voice when he made the sound as if he were remembering an alto or soprano. “Metal clicking, like a door latch? Or maybe an instrument case? Footsteps running to … to my right.”
Toward the service door. Or to the service cart that had been parked partway down the hall. Tesla glanced at Shal, who listened, balanced forward over his toes.
“Touch.” His face twisted, grimacing as if he were remembering being stabbed, and his hand grazed the bandage on his arm. “I tried to block. Oh. Oh, they had a solid bosom. When I put my hand up to block, their chest didn’t give much. And … ropes? Fringe? I’m not sure.”
Shal’s head came up, head cocking to the side as he watched Haldan. Tesla tried to figure out what had caught her spouse’s attention by imagining the scene based on what Haldan was saying. The assailant trying to stab him but Haldan blocking. Then stabbing again. Why the rope though? Were they going to tie him up? Or was it fringe from … from a costume or clothing?
“Smell. Dog and…” His eyes pinched more tightly closed. “Bourbon? I—I didn’t taste anything.”
“Unless you were licking the walls, I would have been surprised if there had been anything with the last.”
Haldan’s eyes opened with something like triumph in them. “That was more than I thought I remembered. Thank you.”
“Hey! Trauma therapy can have unexpected side benefits.” Tesla looked at Shal before Haldan could ask her any questions about the specifics of the trauma. “How about you? Do you have any questions?”
“If he has the energy, yeah.” Shal had settled into himself, watching Haldan with an easy calm. “I want to know about ‘Remember the Main.’”
The triumph wiped away and Haldan’s face went dead. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Shal shrugged and took a step back from the bed. “All right. I’m sure the ship security will keep you safe for the rest of the cruise.”
“Wait—” He reached for them, stopping with a hiss. “Wait. Bob?”
The wall of Bob filled the door. “Yeah?”
“Close the door and give me some private time with these two.”
The wall shrugged. “Okay.”
He shut the door and Shal whistled. “How’d you get him trained so quickly?”
“Technically, I own the ship and he’s been very cooperative since I pointed that out.”
“I imagine he has.” Shal raised his right eyebrow and was dangerously handsome as he leaned against the wall, facing Haldan. Crossing his arms over his chest, he nodded to the man in the hospital bed. “‘Remember the Main.’”
Haldan grimaced and wiped his hands down his face, then stayed for a moment with his face covered and tension in his shoulders. “I don’t want to talk about it, but I will.” Swallowing, he sighed and lowered his hands. “With you. Not with Wisor. He’s an idiot.”
Tesla would not argue with him there. Shal nodded slowly and waited.
After a moment, staring across the small room, Haldan said, “Please remember that college kids are stupid. I would not do any of these things now but … but I did. The misspelling was intentional … The ‘main’ refers to a power main.”
Tesla had a sudden chilling sensation that she knew where this story was going. She had tapped into more than one main in her life and had yet to screw it up, because she was slow and careful. If you screwed up, your best-case scenario was getting blown across the room.
“Speaking in hypotheticals … if a group of college kids were running an experiment using university equipment and kept blowing the fuse in the lab, they might decide to tap into the main.” He swallowed and looked down, face grayer than it had been. “That might go … badly.”
“How badly might that go? Hypothetically?”
“A fire.”
In the silence, Tesla flicked open her HUD and did a fast search on fires at Haldan’s alma mater focused on the years he was attending. There were multiple fires, because college kids will college, but no mention of Haldan, Ruth, Leo, or George. Kuznetsova was from an extremely wealthy family. Property damage would have just been paid for. He would have gotten a slap on the wrist.
She looked at Haldan. “Who died?”
Haldan flinched. “I didn’t— Why do you think someone died?”
“Because when I was in college, Daddy would have paid off property damage.” She narrowed the search again, looking for deaths. “Willem Munroe? Freshman?”
He froze and she could see panic beating at his temples. Haldan closed his eyes, pressing a hand over his mouth as if he were about to vomit. Lifting his hand to cover his eyes, Haldan cleared his throat. “Where—where did you get that name?”
“A search on your alma mater and fires, looking for ones on campus with a fatality.” She softened her voice. “Who was he?”
He was silent long enough that she thought he might not answer. Shal shifted his weight by the door, eyes darting across the man as if he were measuring his reaction. When Haldan lowered his hand, his eyes were red and damp with brimming tears.
He looked at Tesla. “You know what this is like. I was going to step into a decision-making role at massive corporation and people were already trying to impress me. I was too stupid to tell him no. And he died.”
Shal pursed his lips. “Who knew you were there?”
“I didn’t think anyone did.” Haldan picked at the bandage on his shoulder. “It was me, Ruth, George, and Leo. And Willem.”
“Okay.” Shal tapped a finger against his arm, then nodded and pushed away from the wall. “I’ll recommend that they keep you here with a guard for safety.”
“Where—aren’t you going to stay here?” Haldan sat up, wincing as the movement pulled at the bandage on his shoulder.
“Bob’ll take care of you. Just tell him not to let anyone in.” Shal pulled the door open. “Bob! Sweetheart! Don’t let anyone in to talk to Haldan, okay?”
Tesla paused before leaving Haldan’s bed. She couldn’t tell him that everything would be okay, because that was obviously not the case. “We’ll be in touch.”
He nodded, sinking back into the pillows. She had a moment of thinking that she should leave Gimlet with him before the memory that her dog was missing stabbed her sideways through the gut. Steadying herself with her cane, Tesla followed Shal out of the hospital room.
He looked back at her and smiled fondly, reaching for her hand. ::You are brilliant. I’m keeping the five senses trick. ::
::I thought you were retired:: She leaned in to kiss the dimple that appeared when he laughed. Running her thumb down the side of his hand, she asked,::I saw you perk up during the Touch memories but didn’t know why. ::
::Rope or fringe. :: Shal made a gesture toward his shoulders. ::Like maybe an officer’s epaulets. ::
The weight of two memories bore down on Tesla and stopped her in the hall. Her grip on Shal’s hand half turned him toward her. “The captain doesn’t have epaulets.” No one on the bridge crew did. In low gravity, fringe didn’t make sense. “It’s not rope or fringe. It’s hair. Locs. Immanuel Rudawski, the waiter who was in the karaoke lounge, has long blue locs.”
She could see Shal turning through his own memories. He slowly nodded and pulled her forward. Wrapping an arm around her back, Shal pressed in for a deep, long, extremely detailed kiss. ::I love your brain so very, very much. ::
She ran her tongue across his lips and twined her fingers in his hair. ::So what’s our next move?::
::Honestly, I was just kissing you. ::
Laughing, she broke apart from him to look at his face, black eye and all. “I love you so much.”
He grinned, going completely goofy around the edges. “I love you too.”
“But seriously.” She raised her courtesy mask. “Do we call Piper?”
“But seriously … I’m not sure.” He took her hand and bent his head in thought as they walked through the corridors leading out of sick bay.
She let him think, steering them as his sleuthing face sharpened while he worked through scenarios. The ship got progressively more polished until they were back on the main promenade. They walked past one of the potted ficus trees, and Tesla’s heart wrenched a little, remembering how much Gimlet loved sniffing them.
She stopped. Shal went a step past her and turned. “Something?”
The tree was in a white clapboard box that was broader at the top than the base, with a lip around the top that kept it from being pushed all the way up against the wall. “Could Gimlet fit behind there?”
“Maybe?” He tilted his head. “You’re thinking about the way she hides under things when she’s scared?”
Tesla nodded and walked over to the planter. Grabbing the edge of it, she started to lower herself to her knees so she could look behind it. Shal caught her arm. “Hey—let me do that.”
“Getting off the floor isn’t any easier for you right now.”
He opened his mouth and then grimaced. “No. But—”
“But it won’t add to my damage and it might yours.” She tightened her grip and sank to the ground. “Besides, I have the DBPS. And practice.”
He grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“I didn’t hear that.” Tesla put one hand on the wall and carefully braced herself to look behind the planter.
“I said that I love you very much.”
“Uh-huh.” Gimlet could fit back there, but a discarded piece of cookie made it clear she hadn’t been here. Tesla squinted down the hall, trying to look under others, but the curve of the floor got in the way.
Getting back to her feet, even with the DBPS, was not fast. Shal’s hands were visibly clenched into fists, but he waited while she steadied herself with the planter and her cane. He sighed. “Do you know how hard it is to not help?”
“I’m very proud of you.”
“Are you going to check all of the planters?”
“Not all…” She took his arm, walking with him into the transit corridor. Gimlet would be fine. They would find her.
“Can I borrow your handheld?” Shal stepped nimbly onto the moving sidewalk.
“Calling your BFF?” She followed a step behind, leaning against the handrail.
“Yep.”
Tesla pulled the handheld out of her pocket and waggled it at him. “You don’t think she’s been lying to us?”
“Oh, sure. That’s my default assumption for everyone.” Shrugging, he took the handheld and didn’t bother to unroll it to place the call. “But she’s very clear about where the boundaries are, which makes her lies more reliable than other people’s.”
“And yet you—”
“Mariiiiiiia … Tell me how much you love me—no, wait. You’ll need to revise your opinion upward in a moment. We have new information about Immanuel Rudawski.” Leaning next to Tesla, he put his arm around her and winked. “Talked to Haldan— What? No, I’m not questioning your witness, he asked us to come. Ask Bob, he’ll back me up.”
Whatever she said made Shal tilt his head back and laugh, then hiss, and pinch his eyes shut. Tesla put her hand on his arm.
::I’m fine:: “No, no. I’m fine.” But his voice was a little strained. “Anyway, Haldan mentioned that when he was attacked he felt two things about his attacker. A solid chest and locs. Who does that make you think of?”
Grinning, he turned and planted a kiss on Tesla’s cheek.
“Us too! Uh-uh. What? What’s that? You’re breaking up. Listen I can’t hear you so we’ll just meet you at the kitchen.” Shal hung up and turned the handheld off.
Tesla raised her eyebrows. “Speaking of everyone lies…”
“Immanuel is still on room-service duty. He’s moving about the ship but will have to return to the Terran-level main kitchen.” His grin broadened. “It’s really too bad that I couldn’t hear Maria clearly. She said, ‘Something-something go there.’”
ORBITAL DECAY
1 oz Laphroaig
1 oz red vermouth
1 oz Aperol
Orange peel
Stir ingredients over ice for 40 seconds. Strain into coupe. Garnish with flamed orange peel.
The door to the kitchen area was closed and they didn’t have an access badge to get through it. While Shal peered through the round window in the door, looking for Piper, Tesla turned to scan the hall for a service drone. They’d passed a handful on the way here, along with live servers hurrying under the weight of trays.
She pulled off her courtesy mask. “Let me know when you see a drone coming this way.”
“Um…” He glanced back at her, brows together with curiosity. “Yes. I mean, one is coming now, but the doors are only going to open wide enough for it.”
“True, but…” She stood to the side of the hall with the cane in one hand, mask dangling from the end like a flag. “There’s a trick.”
When the doors slid apart to let the drone out, Tesla lowered her cane in front of one of its forward sensors so the courtesy mask blinded it. The drone turned to avoid the apparent obstacle.
And like magic, the doors opened wider to accommodate the angle of the machine. She slid the improvised blocker to the other eye and the drone turned the other direction, making a gap between itself and one door. Shal slipped through and she was right on his heels into a steaming bath of sound and heat. The sliding door clipped her elbow as she released the service drone, but it wasn’t a hard hit. Probably.
She checked the settings on her DBPS and decided that they were fine. For now.
Shal had stepped to the side of the door, pressing against the wall of the large service area, trying to stay out of the way of drones and live servers. They moved with hurried efficiency, plating food and carrying it away. Two other doors led out to different corridors, and on the wall directly opposite them a large window opened onto the kitchen proper. Blazing lights lit a large room full of stainless steel, induction stoves, and chefs in white hats.
A mélange of aromas melded everything from the spiced cuisines of New Jamaica Station to briny Lunar aquaculture with stops on Friggjarhöfn for rye and caraway and Estación de Ganimedes for heat from Mexicanx residents. She sidestepped to avoid a server with a tray who was heading to the door on her left. The server did a double take but didn’t stop moving.
Shal grinned at her and back at the door they’d come through. “Pretty slick.”
She shook her head. “It’s pretty kludgy, but it worked to get me out of boarding school, so I’m happy it’s still a useful exploit.”
“Is that a known thing? I’ve been thinking we were looking for a service person, because—” He stopped, still looking at the door. “Hang on. Why could I get through the service door from the hall? It just opened the first time. When we went with Auberi, they had to use their fob to open it.”
“A timed relocking? Disabled? Maybe—”
A tray clattered to the ground, plates shattering in a cacophony that silenced the rest of the room. To their right, Immanuel stood, eyes wide and staring at Shal. He backed two steps away from them, shaking his head, then turned and bolted down the hall.
Shal pushed away from the wall, springing after him before Tesla could move. The courtesy mask ear straps tangled around her foot as she tried to follow and she had to pause to rip it free from her cane. Around her, service people, all wearing blue trousers, were staring down the hall or at the food that was scattered across the floor.
