Stories of the Confederated Star Systems (23 page)

Silver walked through the port slowly, admiring the old artwork that had once decorated the walls of the passageways. It was shabby and faded, but there was enough left to show what it had once been like.

Ports like this one were ubiquitous throughout the Confederacy. Too old for the new ships, but too valuable to scrap, they handled a large portion of any planet's extra-system commerce. Especially the commerce between lonely spacers and those who gave them comfort for a price.

Silver found a likely looking bar and went in. It was drab, dark, and smelled of things best left uninvestigated. Just like home. He took a seat at the bar and got the bartender's attention. "Mulligan's Revenge," he said and put his chip in the slot. "Ten credits," the man said, and Silver pushed the buttons. A large glass of dark amber liquid rose in front of him and he took it quickly. A long sip later he set it down. "Ah, it's been too long."

"That long in space?" a female voice asked, and he turned to find a woman on the seat next to him.

"Yes," he replied. "Can I buy you…?" he motioned toward the bar, but the woman chuckled.

"I'm not for sale, but the rent's reasonable." She smiled what might once have been a winning smile, but that was years ago. "Let's find someplace more private."

"Can I see your slip?" Silver asked, and she pulled a standard health certificate out of her cleavage. He saw the date-stamp was only three days old and nodded.

The woman led him out of the bar and spin-ward around the station, then into an elevator. "I have a cubby on the 'E' ring," she said, snuggling close to Silver and using her hands to get him excited.

The bell for the 'E' ring rang and Silver looked toward the doors. When they opened the first thing he saw was a CSS-SN Admiral's uniform. Then he saw the admiral's face. "Ann?" he asked.

The admiral looked at him and blanched. She whispered, "Sterling?" then her eyes rolled back.

Silver lunged forward to catch her as the bar girl screamed. Two CSS Marines who were behind the admiral saw a stranger lunge at her as she fell back and immediately reacted. Trained reflexes drove iron hard fists down onto Silver's head.

Unconsciousness was the immediate result. The admiral hit the deck hard and was also rendered unconscious.

* * *

Silver came to his senses slowly, knowing something bad had happened again, but unable to remember what. Then the man in the chair beside his bed spoke. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, do, or otherwise communicate can and will be used against you at your trial. You have the right to an advocate during questioning. Why did you attack Admiral Stevenson?"

"I didn't attack Ann. Did you say Stevenson?"

"Admiral Annette Stevenson, as if you didn't know. You attacked her as soon as the elevator doors opened."

Silver shook his head. "I didn't attack her. She was about to faint, and I was trying to catch her."

"That's not what the Marines who brought you in said," the man snapped and Silver looked closely at his face.

"You always were an ass, Hartley," he moaned as he sat up.

"You will address me as Captain Hartley."

"You're an ass, Kennet Hartley. A pretentious, pompous, self-centered, self-righteous ass." Silver sat up and rubbed his sore head. "Damn Marines."

"You may find that your attitude is insupportable in your present circumstances. You are charged with attacking Admiral Stevenson. Your actions were recorded and will be displayed at your trial. Now I ask you again: Why did you attack Admiral Stevenson?"

"That will be all, Captain. I'm quite all right," a woman's voice said and Captain Hartley snapped to his feet.

"Admiral, you shouldn't be up! This man's assault was…"

"…Not an assault at all, Ken. I simply fainted when I saw him."

The captain looked at the admiral and shook his head. "But Ma'am, the Marines said…"

"The Marines were mistaken. It was just a shock to see my dead ex-husband-"

"Ex-husband? But I thought--Sterling?" he asked, finally looking closely at the man sitting on the bed.

"Yeah, Ken, it's me."

"But you're--"

"Long story, Ken."

"Release him at once," the admiral commanded, and two Navy Masters-At-Arms moved forward to obey her order. "Come with me, Sterling. You have some explaining to do."

Silver ran his tongue around the inside of his teeth and said, "Yes, Ma'am," as he followed her out of the brig. The admiral was silent as she led him down corridors that were far too ship-shape to be on NHSP-1. He didn't need to ask where he was. The layout of a CSS-SN Carrier was all too familiar to him. A Marine saw them coming and opened the door she was guarding, before stepping aside. When they had passed she shut the door and returned to attention.

Admiral Stevenson turned and looked at Silver, then slapped his face as hard as she could. She shouted, "I cried for three days when they said you were dead, you
bastard!"
Tears welled in her eyes as she stepped back with both fists clenched at her sides. "You didn't change your beneficiary! They tracked me down. They chased me to Columbia, to the Army-Navy game! They told me that you'd been killed in an airfoil accident and that I was still your beneficiary! I had to sign for the million credits because you left no other heirs and now your credit chip was keyed to me and I was told that I owed some scumbag named Pahna Mah two million credits and--" She broke down then and walked into his open arms.

Silver held his ex-wife as she cried, caressing her back and making soothing noises.
Wow she’s really upset. I should have sent her a message.
She finally calmed down and he eased his hold on her. "Ann, it was all a lie. Pahna Mah is a cheat and a liar. I beat his crooked games on the Flaming 'O', so he beat me and made me disappear. I was sold into servitude on a small freighter instead of killed, and he took my chip to get his money back. I guess the Bank of New Switzerland wouldn't break the encoding for him."

"Sterling, why didn't you…"

"Because I'm dead, Ann. They cultured enough DNA to satisfy an inquest and proved I died. You know how hard it would be to prove that they were crooks and it was all their doing. I'd probably be charged with fraud for faking my own death. At the very least they would accuse me of being a clone or a construct. I have no desire to suffer through the tests that they would do to prove it. I have a new, sort-of legal identity now. Sterling Albert Stevenson died on Hobson's, and Silver Llewellyn Garand was born."

Ann looked into his eyes for a moment. "You could have sent me a message. I guess that explains a few things, like how your credit chip ended up with thirty million credits on it. So, what am I supposed to do with you now?" she asked as she stepped away from him.

"I'm the navigator on a good little ship. Really little." He grinned and chuckled. "The captain put up a thousand credits to keep me alive, and I'm inclined to stay with her and her crew for a while."

"What about Pahna Mah and his bill? I can't just ignore it."

Silver smiled and Annette stepped back a little. It was a truly evil smile. "Do you know where that geek Lohseph Carinvanter is?"

"You mean my Chief of Intelligence?" she asked with a hint of a smile.

Silver chuckled. "Go see Pahna Mah, but take Lo with you. If I could beat the cheat, Lo should have no trouble at all. With that proof you should be able to put him out of business."

"And what about you?" she asked, caressing his reddened cheek softly.

"I'll ride this out wherever it takes me. Tell your mother I said hello when you see her. Unless you already told her I was dead. Then it might be just a little weird."

"I'll take her with me to the Flaming 'O' and let her gamble a little. With Lo at her side. Once she breaks the bank, I'll expose the crooked games. And
Willy
will be in close orbit in case they decide to try anything."

Silver stepped forward and hugged her tightly. "I've missed you, Ann. And I'm sorry I made you cry, but since Mom died I really don't have any other heirs. I should be getting back to my ship before my new captain decides I deserted--or got shanghaied again."

"What about your chip?"

"Keep it. Or give it away. It's keyed to you now, so it's yours to do with as you please." He grinned. "Let your mom use it when she goes gambling. If Pahna Mah sees that much money he'll come begging her to play his games."

She chuckled and nodded, then led him back through her ship. If anyone thought it was odd that the straight-laced, hard-as-nails Admiral Stevenson was walking through the corridors of her flagship cuddling under the arm of a strange man, none of them had the guts to say so. Not to her face at least.

Admiral Stevenson accompanied Silver back to NHSP-1 aboard her launch, but left him at the airlock. "I have to go to Hobson's Planet to pay back Pahna Mah. Stay out of trouble for a while, and stay alive. I don't want to cry over you again."

"Goodbye, Ann. I'll watch for you at our ports. Maybe we can have dinner sometime."

Silver watched as the hatch closed and the launch boosted away from the port, then turned and started finding his way back to the
Jolly Jane
. Captain Denise met him as soon as he reported aboard.

"I was informed that you had been arrested for assaulting a Navy admiral and were being held without bond. How the hell did you get released?" she demanded.

"It was all a misunderstanding, Captain. Just a misunderstanding." He collapsed at his station and called up an external view of the area. There, shrunken by the distance, was the CSS
William the Conqueror
, CVH-672, surrounded by her consorts. Even as they watched, she got underway, boosting hard away from New Hispaniola with her supporting units chasing her tail.

Silver chuckled. "It looks like Ann is in a hurry to go see someone about an unpaid debt. I don't think he's going to like the payment."

"Who?" Captain Denise asked.

"Rear Admiral Annette Fairmont Stevenson. My ex-wife," he replied, then stood and looked around. "Whose turn is it to cook? I'm hungry."