The UnTied Kingdom (36 page)

Charlie cleared her throat, and he shook himself.

‘No,’ he said. ‘They’re most definitely not her friends.’

‘And if Eve makes you happy–’

‘She does, Charlie,’ Harker said quietly, because even if Eve had spent so much time driving him spare, it was true.

‘Well, then,’ Charlie said, and that seemed to be that.

He was still feeling pretty good when an extremely junior Ensign came in and informed Harker that there was a telephone call for him from General Wheeler.

Whereupon reality came crashing down on him, his good mood evaporated and that old sick feeling settled in his stomach again.

‘When Daz got the phone working, she insisted you call the minute you got here,’ Charlie said.

‘Why the hell was Daz working on the phone and not taking care of Eve?’

‘Because there’s a full medical staff here, and she was unconscious most of the time anyway. Sir, go and talk to Wheeler.’

He stood up, shoved his chair out of the way, and scowled at the Ensign. ‘Well, then?’

The telephone was in the Colonel’s office. Harker took a deep breath before picking it up. ‘Sir?’

‘Major Harker. How kind of you to check in.’

Harker nearly checked the receiver for icicles. ‘Sir,’ he said.

‘How long have you been at Hull?’

‘Since last night, sir. It was quite late,’ he added, hoping the Colonel hadn’t already contradicted this.

‘Yes, that doesn’t matter. Harker, we’ve found nothing like you’ve described at the Tower. We need your computer. How soon can you be in London?’

His mind reeled. ‘Uh – well, sir, it’ll probably take us a couple of weeks to travel, plus–’

‘No, that will be far too long. I’m sure Commodore Bletchley can spare a ship to take you at least some of the way.’

‘Yes, sir,’ Harker said gloomily.

She doesn’t trust you to come back by yourself.
Suddenly, Harker realised how blessed he’d been to have Wheeler’s favour all this time.

‘I am informed that your civilian is recovering.’

‘Eve? Yes, she’s–’

‘Fit for travel?’

Harker pounced on this opportunity. ‘No, sir. Not yet. Still needs full medical care here, sir, can’t travel.’

‘Perhaps she could stay there, while you bring the computer down.’

‘Uh,’ Harker searched for a new excuse, ‘well, no, sir, because she’s really the only one who knows how to use it.’

Wheeler made an impatient noise. ‘Major Harker, I do hope you are not procrastinating to delay your own court-martial.’

‘No, sir,’ he said, because he’d been procrastinating to spend more time with Eve.

‘It will take place upon your return to the Tower.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘I shall expect you to telephone me daily with a report on Miss Carpenter’s progress and travel as soon as possible.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Hand me back to Colonel Robinson.’

Harker did so, and was dismissed by the Colonel. Leaving the building, he saw Daz coming out of the hospital and waved him over.

‘Do you think Eve’s fit to travel?’

Daz pulled a face. ‘Travel where?’

‘London.’

‘Nope.’

‘Good. Repeat that answer whenever you’re asked.’

‘Uh, yes, sir. Oh, and sir? Eve left this outside the NAAFI last night.’

It was the crutch she’d been hopping about on. Harker took it, ignoring the twinkle in Daz’s eye.

‘I found her a bed in one of the recovery wards,’ the doctor said, watching him.

‘Did you now? She won’t need it.’

Daz grinned. ‘Right, sir.’

Leaving Daz, Harker picked up some food and fresh clothes for Eve, and found her still curled in his bed, tousled and sleepy.

‘Hi,’ she said, looking so desirable he couldn’t breathe for a moment. She smiled. ‘You did bring me food.’

‘I said I would.’

‘Yes,’ she said happily, as he set down the plate and sat on the edge of the bed, ‘you did.’

Harker kissed her; a wonderful, sweet, soft kiss, and immediately felt better.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Despite the sword of Damocles hanging over his head, Harker remembered those cold, rainy days in Hull as some of the happiest of his life.

With nothing else in particular to do, he spent most of every day with Eve. She tried to teach him to play the guitar, without much success, and the piano, with even less. In return he showed her how to assemble and disassemble a rifle, and how to shoot, an exercise met with total futility by a uselessly right-handed Eve.

He took her to the officer’s mess, where she befriended a young Subaltern who played the piano, and entertained the whole mess with her songs. She was allowed to dine with him, which was just as well as he had to cut up food for her.

He helped her to dress and to bathe, which generally turned into an excuse for something else, and he went with her each time she went back to the hospital, which amused Daz and irritated the other staff. Harker didn’t care. He’d seen the wound on her leg, and the state of her palm, and he wasn’t taking any chances with some junior quack seeing her.

When Daz told Eve he had to debride her palm, her face went white and her other hand reached for Harker’s. He held her as Daz cut away the thick, hard tissue that was beginning to grow back, and even after she’d been given strong medication, she shook and sobbed in Harker’s arms while he devised horrific tortures for the Coalitionists who’d hurt her.

That night, she curled in his arms and told him that she deserved the pain, because she’d grabbed the poker and that was just stupid of her.

‘Why did you grab it?’

‘He was going to smash it into my face. And the end of it was white-hot, way hotter than the bit I touched.’

‘Eve,’ he said, stroking the back of her hand, ‘that wasn’t stupid at all. And we’ll get it fixed. You’re young and healthy, you still have some use of your fingers, and I’ve already told Daz if you don’t get full use back, I’ll demonstrate to him just how painful a hot poker really can be.’

‘You’re evil,’ Eve said, but she smiled as she did.

By day she tinkered with the computer, connecting it to the thing she called the Internet and exclaiming over every little thing.

‘So, you use one of these a lot?’ Harker said, watching her. He had a French dictionary open on his lap and was surreptitiously using it to look up endearments.

‘Used to, at work.’ She tapped a couple of keys. ‘What’s French for Wikipedia?’

Her hair was pinned up, but a few wisps had escaped and caressed the back of her neck. Harker found himself wishing he could do the same, then remembered that he could, because he was allowed to touch her now, anywhere he wanted.

She leaned into him as he stroked the back of her neck. ‘Have you told Wheeler about the computer at the Tower?’

‘Yes. Couldn’t really leave it any longer. But I still don’t see how something this big and fragile could be hiding there. There aren’t many rooms that aren’t in constant use, and she’s searched everywhere else.’

‘Well, maybe it’s a laptop.’

‘A what?’

Eve described to him a smaller computer which could be folded down to the size of a large book.

‘I mean, is there a library at the Tower? It could be disguised in there. Or just shoved under someone’s bed.’

Harker sighed. Searching everyone’s private property was never high on any officer’s list of Fun Things To Do. The men hated it, and it was usually fruitless, anyway.

Someone tapped on the door and Harker said, ‘Yeah?’ without looking up. They were in one of the small rooms near the Colonel’s office that were usually occupied by relatively unimportant officers. One of them stood in the doorway, saluted, and said, ‘Sir, telephone call for you.’

Harker made a face and got to his feet. ‘Wheeler again?’

‘No, sir. Colonel Watling-Coburg.’

Eve looked up, her eyebrows raised.

‘Did she say what she wanted?’ Harker asked.

The junior officer hesitated. ‘Well, sir.’ He glanced at Eve.

‘I can leave the room if you want,’ she said wearily.

‘No, it’s fine,’ Harker said. To the Subaltern he said, ‘You can speak freely in front of her,’ and Eve beamed at him. He smiled back, losing his concentration somewhat.

‘Well, sir, she said it was, er, about your court-martial.’

Eve started to laugh, but when Harker didn’t share the joke her smile drained away.

‘Actually, sir, she said “bloody court-martial”, but–’

‘Yes, all right,’ Harker said, his eyes still on Eve and her expression of confusion. ‘I’ll be right back,’ he told her.

‘Court-martial? But–’

He took her hand. ‘Eve, I’ll explain it to you, but let me go and talk to Saskia first.’

She nodded, still looking uncertain, and he gave her a quick kiss before following the Subaltern out to the Colonel’s office, where the telephone was. ‘Go and find Lieutenant Riggs,’ he said, ‘and tell her I want to speak to the whole squad. Tell ’em to meet in the office where Eve is.’

The Colonel, who apparently was unaware that the woman on the phone was Harker’s ex-wife, stood by expectantly until Harker asked him for some privacy.

Then he picked up the phone. ‘Saskia?’

‘Will, what the hell are you playing at? Wheeler’s got people coming in from all over, leaving their regiments commanded by bloody majors and captains, for heaven’s sake, to try you for disobedience.’

‘Yeah, she said she would.’

‘You know about it?’

‘Of course I know about it. I was there.’

‘Harker, are you taking this seriously?’

He leaned back against the desk, wiping his hand over his face. ‘Yes, I’m taking it seriously,’ he said.

‘She could put you in jail, Will, or take away your commission.’

‘Yeah, I know.’

‘She could put you up in front of a firing squad,’ Saskia said.

‘Yeah.’ Harker stared blindly at the wall, where the abyss was opening up again. ‘She could.’

‘What the hell were you thinking? What did she tell you to do that was so terrible you had to disobey?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘She could have you shot, Will, and it “doesn’t matter”? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not asking you this as Saskia, I’m asking you this as Colonel Watling-Coburg.’

Harker rested his eyes on a crack in the plaster. ‘She told me to leave someone behind.’

‘Who? Charlie? Is she all right?’

‘No. Not Charlie.’ He hesitated. Well, it was going to come out at some point. ‘Eve. Remember? The alien in the river?’

‘You took her with you because she knew something about computers.’

Harker snorted. Yeah, and he’d believed that, too.

‘She was captured,’ he said. ‘She was injured, and they had her, and Wheeler told me to leave her behind because she was probably dead anyway, and she wanted us up here.’

Saskia was silent a moment. ‘And you went after her?’

‘I did.’

‘Did you get her back?’

‘I did.’

‘And … was she …?’

‘She’s okay,’ Harker said. ‘Well, she will be.’

‘Harker,’ Saskia began, then stopped. ‘Look, I’m asking you this now as your wife.’ She hesitated again, and Harker thought,
You’re not my wife, not any more
. ‘Did you go after her because you needed her for the mission, or because you always go after your men, or because …’

‘Because,’ Harker said quietly. He could argue the other reasons in court, but the bottom line was he’d disobeyed a direct order in order to save the woman he loved.

Saskia sighed. ‘Oh, Harker,’ she said. ‘That really was stupid.’

‘Oh, right, so if it’d been you who was captured and tortured and about to die from some septic infection, you’d have preferred it if I just left you there?’

‘No, but this isn’t about me. And besides, I’m your superior officer. She’s a civilian.’

‘I didn’t mean that you were my CO,’ Harker said. ‘I meant that you were my wife.’

Saskia was silent a moment longer. ‘Are you going to marry her?’

Visions of Eve in white danced before his eyes. A whole life with her, the kind he’d never really allowed himself to imagine with Saskia. A life with children, a cottage somewhere, growing old together, spending the next forty or fifty years being challenged and pushed by Eve.

‘Find me a priest who’ll marry a divorced man, Sask, and yes, I will,’ he said. ‘Even if I face a firing squad the next day.’

‘There’s a wedding present.’ She sighed. ‘Well. Look, I’ll talk to Wheeler, and I’ll see what I can do–’

‘Sask, please don’t try and talk her out of the court-martial, it won’t put her in a good mood.’

‘I meant for Eve. As I understand it, she’s still considered a threat, and she’ll be going back to St James’s. I don’t think marrying her would get her out, but it would at least give you visitation rights. Even if you are cashiered.’

Cashiered. Stripped of his rank. And with it the rights and privileges of an officer: his own room to sleep in, coffee when it was available, extra money for cigarettes, now they were so damn expensive.

And a widow’s pension. That was an officer’s right.

‘Look, Sask, Eve’s not well enough to travel yet. She’s still recovering. Too many nights sleeping under canvas while she’s still weak could–’

‘Yes, Will, I know. I’ll tell Wheeler you’re not ready to leave yet.’ She hesitated, then said, ‘You know, you could marry in a civil ceremony. You don’t actually need a priest.’

‘Are you offering your blessing?’

‘I’m offering my help. As your CO and as someone who was once very much in love with you. Don’t screw this up, Will. I may not want to be married to you any more but I don’t want to see you unhappy, either.’

‘Thanks,’ he said, touched.

‘And I really don’t want to be the ex-wife of an officer who faced a firing squad.’

‘Again, thanks,’ he said, less touched.

‘I’ll keep you informed,’ she said, and ended the call.

Harker put the phone down slowly, his eyes still focused on the abyss, forcing it to close.
Plans, Harker, think this through. What do you want?
To be acquitted at the court-martial, to remove the suspicion hanging over Eve and, well, yes, maybe, to marry her.

The court, he felt, would probably be less impressed if he said he went after Eve for personal reasons. But how would it stand with them if he said he was rescuing his fiancée?

Still, probably, not all that well.

But did that even matter to him right now?
Get your head in order, Harker, you can think about Eve later, once you’ve got yourself out of being shot
.

The door opened, and it was Charlie, looking slightly concerned to find him staring at the wall.

‘Sir? I gathered the men.’

Harker nodded distantly. Then he remembered why he’d wanted to get them together in the first place, and made a face.

He found them in the little office where he’d left Eve, who was attempting to mimic some hand exercises Daz was showing her, without much success. Her fingers waggled a little bit, but she couldn’t move much more than the tips.

‘This is so annoying,’ she said.

‘It’s still very early,’ Daz told her. ‘The fact that you can move them at all is very encouraging.’

‘Yeah? Well, I don’t feel very encouraged.’ She looked up at Harker. ‘Well? What did Saskia want? Are you being court-martialled for sleeping with someone else?’

Was she jealous? He suddenly remembered her inexplicable anger the night she’d discovered his ex-wife and CO were the same person, and very nearly smiled.

‘Well,’ he said. He leaned against the door and folded his arms. The squad, not even remotely at attention, looked back at him. ‘I am being court-martialled.’ Tallulah made a sound of dismay, and Harker talked over it. ‘When we get back to London. Wheeler’s bringing in some fairly senior officers for it.’

‘What are the charges?’ Charlie asked, although by her expression she’d already guessed.

‘Disobedience.’

‘Like a dog?’ Eve said. ‘This is ridiculous.’

‘It’s the army,’ Charlie said. ‘Disobeying an order is serious.’

‘What order?’ Eve said, and there was a sticky silence. No one looked at her, or at Harker.

He lit up a cigarette, and eventually said, ‘I was ordered to leave you in Leeds and come straight here.’

‘You – who ordered you? General Wheeler?’ Harker nodded. ‘But … why did she care where I was?’

‘She didn’t. But she cared where I was. It’s not about the specifics of the order, Eve; it’s about me not following it.’

‘But you came here, didn’t you? You got me and came here. Eventually.’

‘Yes, eventually.’

‘So it’s not as if there were dire consequences–’

‘No,’ Harker said, losing his patience a little, ‘it’s not about the consequences, it’s about the fact that I didn’t follow the order. It’s a serious offence, Eve. Men have died for disobeying orders, and this one came directly from the General herself.’