Lieutenant (An Ell Donsaii story #3) (2 page)

Amazed to be teaching physical skills to an Olympic caliber gymnast like Ell Donsaii, Steve spent a half hour going over a variety of strikes and break-holds in slow motion. She replicated each at near full speed and precisely pulled every strike so that it didn’t actually touch.

Steve cocked his head, “I should also advise you on how to avoid being a target. I notice that your AI headband is wirelessly communicating with your belt pack. You need to be aware that wireless headbands like that constantly emit radio signals in order to carry the video from the headband’s cameras and the audio from your headband’s microphones. Kidnappers can use those signals to track you if you escape a situation, so I would suggest you use a wired headband,” Steve lifted the wire that went from his headband to his own AI belt pack, “even if they are kind of a pain.”

Ell gave him a lopsided little grin as if she were in on some kind of joke that he didn’t understand. “OK, I think I’d like to hire you to lead a security detail for me. Let me tell you what I want and you can think about whether you can provide it?” So they sat on the mat and spoke quietly about how he might provide protection. She didn’t want visible bodyguards, on the assumption that she could protect herself from “head on” attacks. She wanted him to hire a team that would have members constantly nearby to rescue her if she
were
to be successfully captured. The team would take turns training with her, teaching her what each of them knew about self defense. She said, “I’m in the Air Force and I expect to be assigned somewhere very soon. It could be anywhere in the world. I think I’d be pretty safe while on a military base but would want your team standing by, just off base and following me any time that I left base.”

Steve cocked his head at her, “Are you sure you understand how expensive this will be? You’re talking salaries for 5-10 expensive people, plus travel and accommodation expenses. I’m sure you have some endorsement money from winning the Olympics, but we’re talking around 1-2 million dollars a year if I hire really good people.”

Ell gazed coolly at him a moment, “Hire really good people. My life is very important to me.”

Steve thought he remembered seeing a news story about Ell Donsaii’s poor childhood on the news feeds. Much as he respected her and as much as he’d like to work for her he couldn’t afford to end up holding an empty bag financially. “I’d... need some assurances on the financial aspects...”

“Sure, my AI’s just sent you a contract my lawyer drew up for me, or you can use one of your own, similar in substance. As you’ll see it’s backed with an escrow account holding a million dollars that you can spend from if you agree to the job.”

Steve’s eyes widened at the casual way she could drop that kind of money into escrow, “Um, do you mind if I ask where the money came from? Stories about you from the Olympics implied you came from a modest background and I haven’t actually seen an advertisement capitalizing on your gymnastic fame.”

She laughed, “Less than modest background, I think. More like, ‘on the edge of poverty.’ But sure, here, look at my back,” she said lifting the back of her sweatshirt up, “no AI beltpack.”

She looked at him with a question in her eyes.

Steve raised his eyebrows, “I don’t understand, going without an AI is crazy. The first thing that I or the police would want to do if kidnappers did take you, is to download the audio, video and GPS record that your AI had stored on the net right before your capture. That way we could find out exactly where you’d been, who you’d been with and what had been happening right before you were taken. You really should stay connected to the net through an AI at all times.”

“Yes, well that’s where the money came from. I invented a communications device a few months ago. My headband is connected to an AI with one of my new communication devices but since the communication device works great even over large distances I’m actually running my AI on a supercomputer back home in North Carolina instead of on a small belt pack CPU like everyone else.”

“But that’s just as big a problem. If that’s the case, your headband is punching out a radio signal to reach the net for transmission to the Carolinas and the constant signal that it’s using to transmit audio and video to the net is even more powerful and easier to track than one that just ‘sends’ to your beltpack CPU for compression and intermittent transmission to the net.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t explain that very well. The communication device I invented doesn’t depend on radio. Please trust me when I say that I am emitting no radio signals whatsoever. Well perhaps a little leakage from the electronics of the video cameras on my headband.”

Steve looked at her dubiously, “OK, if you say so.”

Ell could tell from his tone that he didn’t believe it at all. “Well, you’ll have an opportunity to check it out for yourself if you hire on. I’ll be wanting to fit you with PGR communications too.”

“PGR?”

“Photon-gluon resonance. It’s the basis of the communication device... Instead of radio.”

“Okaaay,” Steve said, wondering to himself if she might be delusional. But if she had enough money to put a million in escrow, did it matter?

Chapter One

The knob jiggled and the door began to open. Janey immediately began to yell, “MOM! Mikey won’t let me use the big screen for my homework!”

Mikey leapt up from the couch and, pointing back at his little sister said, “She hasn’t...” His voice stumbled to a stop when he saw his mother’s tear streaked face. “What’s the matter?” he said in a small voice. His mother had been upset a lot the past few weeks but he hadn’t seen her crying before.

Amy put down her purse and walked across the room to her children. “I... I’m so sorry kids.” Their faces blurred behind her tears. “We’re in trouble. Pretty bad trouble.”

Mikey put his arms around her, “Mom?” he asked anxiously, “what happened?”

Amy had her right arm around Mikey and Janey crept under her left, “Your dad hasn’t been able to make his child support payments for you guys for a long time now. And when Janey was sick, it cost so much money and I missed so much work we really got behind on our bills.”

Mikey swallowed, not quite sure what the talk about money meant but sure that it must mean something bad from the trembling in his mother’s voice. “You can have
my
money Mom.”

Amy sobbed and sank to the couch, pulling her children to her. “Thank you honey, but we need a lot more money than you have. I really do appreciate your offer though.”

Janey said, “I’m sorry I got sick... Do we have to move in with a relative?” Janey had a classmate who had moved in with her grandmother when her mother got sick and so that possibility was one she could comprehend.

“Oh, Janey. Being sick wasn’t your fault, don’t blame yourself. I wish we
could
move in with a relative. But with Gramma and Grampa passed on, and me an only child, we don’t really have a relative that would take us in.” Amy did have a cousin on her mother’s side but she was pretty sure he was a drug dealer. She would rather live on the street than move her children in with him.

“What are we going to have to do?” Mikey asked.

“I’m not sure yet honey, but we’re going to have to move and we might have to live in our car for a little while. Wherever we go we’ll have to get rid of a lot of stuff. We can sell some of it, like the big screen you guys were fighting about. Selling it will give us some money. We won’t have anyplace to keep those things anyway.”

Ice poured into Mikey’s veins. There was a rumor that one of the kids in his class was “homeless.” The other kids whispered and pointed and sometimes laughed. That kid had been popular the year before, but now he hardly ever said anything.

“In our car?” Janey whispered, trying to imagine it.

***

Steve looked at Jamieson with some concern. The rest of the team had been filled out with six guys that Steve already knew. He’d hired two women, like Ms. Donsaii had requested and even they’d been women Steve had already known and respected. Ms. Donsaii wanted to have ten total on the team with three members of the team dressed for action and immediately ready, though it was ok to be napping. Three more were to be nearby but available on call at all times. The idea was to have three members immediately ready to come to her aid and three more available with thirty minutes. The other four could be completely off duty or on vacation. She seemed confident that she would only be subject to kidnapping, not to assassination so didn’t want anyone actually bodyguarding her, only available for rescue.

So far Ms. Donsaii had met each of the members as Steve brought them in and she’d approved all of them. But they needed a tenth member and Steve had run out of people he knew well. Jamieson had also been a Navy Seal and had been recommended to Steve by another ex military friend. However, Jamieson seemed awfully cocky and… abrasive.

Maybe that would be OK if it meant the team would have another highly capable member?

The entire team had gathered in a back room at Steve’s gym and had been doing some hand to hand combat exercises while Donsaii interviewed Jamieson. She’d been talking to him a lot longer than she did when she’d interviewed other team members.

Jamieson knew his looks melted most women. Dirty blond hair, handsome face, long ropy muscles, six foot one. His looks in combination with his Seal credentials meant that he’d expected the interview to be a mere formality. Instead this child of a client had been busting his chops for thirty minutes now. Asking questions about how he’d handle various situations, then asking him to come up with less violent responses than he’d initially proposed. She had a pretty face though he liked his women with more meat on their bones. He sighed, “Ma’am, you obviously don’t know much about security teams. It isn’t all sweetness and light. Sometimes you’ve got to break a few eggs.”

She stood, “OK, well, thank you for coming in Mr. Jamieson. We’ll just have to keep looking.” She turned and walked out to the rest of her team.

“What! You’re turning me down?” he followed her out onto the mat and sneered around at her existing team. “I could take any three of these ‘so called’ security people you’ve hired so far without breaking a sweat.”

She turned back to look at him, a bemused expression on her face, “Nonetheless, I prefer the team I have. I don’t want someone with a ‘cowboy’ attitude.”

Jamieson leaned into her personal space, “That’s so much bullshit! You’re just a spoiled little rich kid who doesn’t know what’s good for her!”

Steve stepped over and reached tentatively out, a little concerned because Jamieson was younger than he and more recently in the service, taking him could be difficult. However, eyes flashing, Ms. Donsaii put out a hand to wave him back. She said, “Spoiled huh? You’re wanting to demonstrate your astonishing fighting skills?”

“Sure!”

“Pugil sticks?”

“No problem.”

A stack of pugil sticks with 2” diameter shafts stood in the corner. They were 50 inches long with heavily padded ends. Ell had trained on them briefly when she’d been at the Air Force Academy so she was familiar with their use. She went over, picked up a pair of them and threw one to Jamieson.

He said, “OK, who am I taking on?”

“Me.”

“What!? I could break you in half with one of these!”

She smiled grimly, “I don’t break all that easy.” She said giving hers a little twirl. The ring on the mat is our boundary, three solid strikes or push me out of the ring three times and you’re the winner.” She waved the rest of her team off the mat.

Steve stepped closer to Ell and in a low voice said, “Ms. Donsaii? I don’t think this is a good idea. Jamieson may not pull punches like he should.”

She looked at him a moment, then said, “You may be right, but probably not for the reasons you think. However, I think the team needs to be aware of my particular skills–that knowledge may be important someday. She seemed to relax, “On the other hand demonstrating them on Jamieson here is probably dumb.” She tossed the stick to Mary and turned to Jamieson, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have let you irritate me.”

Jamieson muttered, but loud enough for everyone to hear, “Yeah, sure. I’d back off too, if I were you.”

Ell’s eyes flashed, “Mary? Toss me that stick back.” She held out her hand.

Mary looked at Steve, her eyes questioning. He shrugged, “She’s the boss.”

Ell said, “Steve, get us some headgear and gloves also, please?”

In a few minutes Ell was back in the ring with Jamieson. “You understand the rules? They aren’t standard military. Push me out of the ring three times or three solid strikes, OK?”

Jamieson rolled his eyes, “No problem.”

Ell took a deep breath and let herself slip slightly into the zone. “Steve? One 2-minute bout. Blow the whistle?”

With a shrug Steve blew the whistle. Jamieson immediately charged Ell, stick held low and horizontal, obviously intending to just shove her quickly out of the ring. Moving so fast the group hardly understood what had happened, Ell dropped under the right end of Jamieson’s pugil stick, shoving her stick between his feet to trip him, then bouncing up behind him and delivering a firm strike to his butt that sent him the rest of the way down onto his face and helped him slide on out of the ring.

Steve blinked as he blew the whistle again, “One out, one strike,” he looked at his stopwatch, “eight seconds off the clock.” The new members of Ell’s team looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Even Steve, who’d had personal experience with Ell’s quickness felt surprised all over again.

Jamieson leapt back to his feet, face red and looking like he wanted to kill someone.

Steve stepped over next to Ell, “Are you sure you want to continue? He’s ready to rip your head off.”

She nodded, her eyes fixed on her opponent, “You OK Jamieson?”

“Of course! I just tripped.”

Ell realized that she might be too far into the zone if she’d moved so fast that Jamieson didn’t even realize that she’d purposefully tripped him. She took a deep breath and turned to Steve. “Whistle please.”