Authors: Roger MacBride Allen
Final Inquiries
Final Inquiries
Book Jacket
Series:
BSI Starside 3 [1]
Final Inquiries azw
Book Jacket
CONTENTS
THREE THE PLANETS ON THE TABLE
NINE INTERVIEW WITH AN AMBASSADOR
To my sons'
two Grammies--Liz and Scottie--
in recognition of
the very least of their many gifts to me:
giving me the time to get this book done
WELCOME TO CIVILIZATION
Zeeraum reached out casually with her front two manipulators, and picked up one of the little helper Vixa. She cradled it in her left hand and patted it thoughtfully, like a little old lady picking up her toy poodle to pet it. Suddenly she lifted the little helper Vixa up over her heard and dropped it into that gaping, obscene-looking mouth. The sphincter abruptly shut, sealing the creature in.
Jamie could see the skin around the sides of the mouth-chamber bulge out here and there as the helper struggled inside, and he could hear what sounded like a tiny, high-pitched scream that went on and on. Zeeraum scratched herself absently.
It took all of his will to keep from screaming himself. Hannah's hands were bunched up into fists, and her face was an expressionless mask. Only the quiver at her jawline betrayed her emotions.
The muffled screams and the struggles inside Zeeraum's mouth subsided. She made a low burbling noise that might have been a laugh, or a belch, or even a rude comment in her own language. "Welcome," she said. "Welcome to civilization."
ONE
NEED TO KNOW
Agents Jamie Mendez and Hannah Wolfson hurried across the BSI Bullpen toward the Commandant's office--and reached it just in time to see the door slammed shut in their faces.
Special Agent Boris Kosolov looked up from his cubicle just across the aisle from the office and laughed unpleasantly. "It's all backwards and forwards in there."
He watched as Hannah raised her hand to knock on the door. "I wouldn't do that," Kosolov said.
Hannah looked at him and frowned. "Why not, Boris?"
"Not such a good time to be disturb her, I think."
"She just called us on our pocket comms," Jamie said. "Told us to get here on the double."
"Yeah, but that was what, thirty second, forty second, ago?" Kosolov asked. "Something else come up since. More than on the double. On the triple, maybe. Double plus triple." He grinned. "She got a visitor. Is an outsider. They been talking. Friend of yours, I thinking."
For half a heartbeat, Hannah wondered if Kosolov was pulling their legs. He was an odd fish. Supposedly his Russian was as mangled as his English. She gave him a good hard look.
He knows who the visitor is,
she thought.
And knowing scares him, a little. But he also knows there's a pie in the face coming straight at Jamie and me--and he gets to watch.
She was about to say something to him when the door to the Commandant's office swung open, and Kelly stuck her head out into the Bullpen. She spotted Jamie and Hannah in the waiting area, and gestured for them to come in. "Sorry about the hurry-up-and-wait," she said, "but I don't think I've ever had one pop this big or this fast. I'm juggling about three angles to this all at once." She looked at Kosolov and pointed a finger right at his heart. "And
you
didn't see anything."
The two agents followed her into her office as she shut the door behind them. Kelly didn't move to sit behind her own desk or gesture for Hannah and Jamie to sit. There was no one else in the room. "Agent Kosolov said you had a visitor," said Jamie.
"I do," said Kelly. "Two, in fact. They came in the back way, and they're in my inner conference room." She gestured toward a door in the side wall. Kelly used the inner room so rarely that Hannah had forgotten it was even there. "Kosolov only saw one of them," she went on. "Fortunately."
"Who are they?" Jamie asked.
"That's more of a
what
question than a
who
question," Kelly replied. "At least for one of them. But I can't risk keeping them waiting for more than a couple of minutes." She nodded toward the comm panel on her desk. "I've been on the horn with all kinds of brass and UniGov types and diplomatic liaison offices. The short form is that we do whatever our guests ask us to do and give them full, eager, absolute cooperation. I have been specifically instructed to quote, 'relay and emphasize the need for such cooperation to the assigned agents, and further emphasize the utter and grave seriousness of the situation,' unquote. Is that clear?"
"Would this be a bad time for me to use some of that back leave I've been accumulating?" Jamie asked.
"This is no time for jokes, Jamie," Hannah said sharply.
"If he's got any sense, he's not joking," said Kelly, "and I wouldn't mind tagging along with you on that leave. It might be a good time to get out of town. Or even out of the target area."
"Target area?" Hannah echoed.
"If you thought things were tense with the Kendari up to now, get ready to see what
real
tension is. And don't think the Elder Races would interfere if things got out of control. If the human race and the Kendari go to war, even the most sympathetic of them isn't going to wade in and stop us from wiping ourselves out. And a lot of races would be happy to hold our coats--or even egg us on."
"Commander--we just came off an assignment that came very close to blowing up in our faces," said Hannah. "We've barely gotten over that one--and we're both probably still a little twitchier than we should be. Can't you hand this to someone else?"
"I know. You two need to stand down for a while. I wish I
could
hand this off. I can't. You were specifically requested. The brass worked really hard to make sure that I understood I was to comply with that request at all costs. So let's get moving." Kelly made a move to open the inner door, but then stopped herself. "No. Wait a second. I've got a couple of details to cover first."
Kelly pulled out her own pocket comm and spoke into it. "Kosolov. Orders for you." Hannah heard Kosolov's muffled reply through the door and through the comm unit at the same time, though she couldn't make out the words. Kelly preferred yelling through open doorways. She had to be feeling extra security-conscious, and very eager to keep the door shut, if she chose to use a commlink to talk to a man ten feet away.
"Kosolov--don't worry about why," Kelly said into the comm. "Just do the following jobs yourself, personally, and do not delegate or discuss them. Grab Wolfson's and Mendez's Ready-To-Go duffels from their cubicles. Bring them to"--she paused to double-check a note on her desk--"Docking Bay 27. There should be an interorbit jeep-tug docked there by now. Put the duffels on board and leave. But before you do that, contact the quartermaster and have two full field-forensics kits, two field-ops kits, and thirty days of field rations for two delivered to Bay 27 and loaded aboard the jeep-tug."
Kelly thought for a second and looked at the two agents. "What else are you going to need?" she asked as she looked at them, plainly talking to herself. "And have the QM throw in a pair of sleeping bags and ground cushions as well. My authorization, and on the double-plus. That jeep needs to boost ten minutes ago. Confirm via text to my pocket comm when you're done, and have the quartermaster text-confirm to my comm--and only mine--when the items are loaded. And keep this
quiet.
If I hear about it at the water-cooler tomorrow, I'll establish a BSI office on Penitence just so I can assign you to it." Hannah heard Kosolov again on comm and through the door, and Kelly put away the comm unit. "
Now
we have to go in there. I don't dare keep them waiting any longer--or alone with each other, for that matter. Come on."
Hannah and Jamie exchanged looks with each other. Hannah knew Jamie was trying to figure out the same thing she was. What kind of job would require the things on that list--but
not
the things that
weren't
on it? They weren't going to have much of a chance to figure it out. Things were moving too fast.
Kelly slid open the door to her private conference room and stepped through first instead of gesturing them to lead the way. That all by itself signaled a lot to Hannah: It was the action of a commander leading her forces against the opposition rather than that of a host showing deference to her visitors.
Hannah followed her in, with Jamie right behind.
The inner room was small, windowless, and spartan. There was a bland beige carpet on the floor, and four government-issue armchairs that sat, one in each corner, facing the center of the room. There were two doors--the one that led into Kelly's office and one on the opposite wall. Kelly immediately crossed the small room and stood by the closed door, folding her arms in front of her, making no move at all to sit down, making no signal that Hannah or Jamie should do so either. Another clear message: There was no time to get comfortable. They were going to be leaving very soon.
The passage behind that second door allowed visitors to come and go from Kelly's office discreetly, without being paraded through the Bullpen. And these visitors were definitely the sort that needed discreet handling.