Tanderon (2 page)
Knowing Ringer, the Station’s computer was already alerted to be on the lookout for me, and a Station’s computer has too many eyes for someone to be able to avoid them completely. If I’d just tried to walk out of my room, even in a nurse’s uniform, I wouldn’t have gotten very far. It would have taken all of three steps beyond the hospital area before alarms went off and Station security men were sent running from their various posts. Security is usually tight with a computer on watch, but having just a little basic information on a subject sometimes gives you what you need to circumvent even the tightest of security systems.
I had a friend whose specialty is computers, and that friend had once told me a bit about how Station computers see. The one point that had stuck in my mind was an odd fact that only a few people know. Ordinary tritium foil tends to disrupt a computer’s vision, and the computer is therefore programmed to ignore the disruption in order to protect the balance of its visuals. And since tritium is used almost exclusively inside things rather than outside, the problem wasn’t one anyone had searched to find a more permanent answer for.
So I’d had no trouble collecting small amounts of tritium foil from sugar packets and the like, and had shredded it up into the smallest size manageable. Now the shredded material was ready to be mixed with my liquid face makeup, which I quickly proceeded to do. I wasn’t sure the dodge would work the way I wanted it to, but there was only one way to find out.
When I was all through applying the mess, the effect was better than I’d thought it would be. The amount of foil was enough to cover most of my face, and mixed in with the makeup it looked as though I had a bad acne condition. Close-up inspection would have shown what the real story was, which meant it was up to me to see that any inspectors stayed at a distance. I packed up the makeup kit and put it away, rinsed the mess off my fingers, then got out the wide headscarf some of the nurses wore. Red hair will attract notice of its own, so I shoved all ends under the scarf for a flat, unkempt look, gave the room one last glance, then got the show on the road.
The area beyond my room was corridor wide, with no more than a cleaning cart with its usual paraphernalia against a wall across the way. There was a nurse’s station to the left, with two nurses standing behind the counter and a third standing in front of it. The three were so deep in whispered conversation, though, that they didn’t notice me as I turned to the right and walked up the corridor. There were five or six rooms to pass before I got to the door that led out of the area, but most of the rooms were empty. Because of all the emptiness and distraction, no one saw me as I strode into the outside corridor that led to the rest of the Station and then turned left.
Orbital stations are all built along the same lines, so knowing the layout of one means knowing them all. The corridor I entered was carpeted in green, rich carpeting but the sort to withstand foot traffic without fraying too quickly. There was usually plenty of foot traffic along that corridor, caused by the fact that it led from the huge docking areas, past the registration alcoves, past the hospital area, to the Station’s eating and amusement areas. A number of people strolled along taking their time, a few others hurried either to or from the docking area, and all in all no more than a glance or two came my way. I moved along with the rest of the walkers, matching their pace, a reserved, almost icy expression on my face as I held myself aloof from all contact and conversation.
The artificial gravity field of a station being what it is, drop chutes are impossible to use. With walking the only alternative to elevators, people used elevators on Stations without any complaints. I pushed the elevator call with impatience, looking up to see what level the car was on, but the action was just part of the role I now played. A young couple stood to the right of the doors, obviously also waiting for the elevator, but just as obviously completely wrapped up in each other.
No one else seemed to be stopping at the elevator, happily making the position a fairly safe one, but I found myself hoping hard that Ringer had gone on to lunch the way he was supposed to. I had some preliminary work to see to before I got down to seriously looking for a way out. Having Ringer show up at the wrong time and place would do more than produce complications.
When the elevator doors opened, three well-dressed people stepped out of it and walked past me toward the dining rooms. I gave the docking area a last, wistful glance before getting into the elevator and pressing Ringer’s room level, but the glance was just wishful thinking. As young as I looked and registered right now, stealing a liner ride would have been just about impossible. Too many questions come at youngsters traveling alone, and there’s no way to bluff your way past a bio-detector. The only direction left open to me was taking care of the preliminaries and then playing it by ear, watching closely to see what developed.
The young couple got into the elevator with me, but they got out on the very next level. I listened to the soft, relaxing – and boring – music for one more level worth, then got out myself and started to check door numbers. The walls on this level were prettily papered, the doors were of a solid blue to match the blue and white walls, and the carpeting was just a little more plush than the corridor carpeting above.
A station’s residential area is always better- furnished than the public areas, but better comes in many grades. Ringer had taken a single room in the medium-priced category, and as I stopped in front of his door I made a mental note of his touching care with departmental funds. Most Special Agents aren’t that careful, so nine years of being out of the thick of things had obviously changed him. The slim and rounded pieces of metal I’d had the foresight to bring with me let me into his room, and I immediately began looking around to see if he’d changed in more important ways.
Ringer’s clothes were all unpacked and put away in drawers and closets, but he hadn’t slipped so far that his credentials were anywhere in easy reach. I took his bag out of the closet and opened it to find nothing, then pressed the sides and top in the correct sequence. The special compartment slid open to show the bulky set of official credentials, letting me nod in satisfaction as I removed it and put the bag back where I’d found it. Ringer hated to carry all those papers in his pockets, so he usually left them where they would be safe but out of the way. I still didn’t know precisely what I’d be doing, but having those credentials out of Ringer’s hands would make everything a good deal easier.
On the way out I relocked Ringer’s door, then called the elevator again. The suite I shared with Val was one level down, better appointed and therefore more expensive.
Val and I had been trying to show a good-sized credit balance when we’d first arrived, and the end of the assignment hadn’t prompted him to move to more modest quarters. Of course, Ringer and the Council had let Val stay just as he was to impress him, but the times he’d visited me in the hospital section hadn’t shown him particularly impressed. He’d taken to chuckling over the trouble I was having with the Council, and seemed to be looking forward to being senior in rank to me once we reached Tanderon, the planet where the agent training facilities were located.
The Council had decided to honor Val with the rank of Agent First Class, so my being made a cadet again would have left him as senior even though he was scheduled for a procedures course at the facilities. Val kept insisting that the Council was punishing me for the scare they’d had over my nearly being killed, but that was ridiculous. That hadn’t been the first time I’d come close to dying, or even the hundredth; I hadn’t been able to have Val cover me during the operation, and if anyone had asked me I might have told them why. But no one had bothered asking, just the way most people didn’t bother, and I’d long since gotten out of the habit of volunteering what most people couldn’t be bothered with listening to.
Walking into my own suite was the riskiest part of the operation, due entirely to the fact that Val’s people had somehow attuned him to me when we were working together in his part of space. If Val were in the suite he’d know immediately that I’d come in, but don’t ask me how. All I knew was that he could somehow sense me a good distance away, and the number of walls between us apparently made little difference.
I eased the suite door closed behind me just in case noise or the lack of it turned out to make a difference, then began to glance around. The sitting room was gold, cream, white, and empty, and after quickly making sure about the empty part I heard the faint sound of the shower going in Val’s bathroom. I’d originally planned to stash Ringer’s papers before going after what I needed from Val’s room, but the opportunity was too good to miss. I strode straight into Val’s room, found his papers on top of a low dresser, took what I needed, then hurried back through the sitting room into my own bedroom.
It took no more than a minute or two to hide my prizes, and then I was able to relax.
I washed the makeup off my face, got rid of the uniform, then put on a shirt and shorts outfit. The shower sound from Val’s bathroom had stopped about halfway through my dressing, but Val hadn’t come bursting into my room with thunder and lightning blazing in his eyes. That meant the next move was mine, so I went back out to the sitting room to see what would develop. I stopped to light a cigarette, then curled up at the end of the white velvet couch.
I hadn’t taken more than two or three very satisfying drags on the cigarette before the door to Val’s bedroom opened, only it wasn’t Val coming through the doorway. A well-stacked blonde appeared instead, her short hair fluffed, her low cut, long-skirted lounging dress crisp and new, her makeup freshly applied. She started to show a slow, sexy grin, but when she caught sight of me the grin turned to a frown and she stopped where she was.
“What do you think you’re doing, waiting in line?” she demanded, annoyance sharp in her tone as her small fists went to her hips. “If so, don’t waste the time. In this suite there’s no one in line but me, and that’s the way I intend to keep it.”
I exhaled the smoke in my lungs while letting my eyes move over her fast enough for her to miss it. So Val was going to be waiting for me when I got out of the hospital, was he? From the appearance of the hippy, busty blonde, it looked like he was well enough equipped to stand a wait of months. I didn’t begrudge him a little entertainment any more than I would have begrudged myself, but the temptation to add my own touch to the situation was more than I could stand.
“What would I be waiting in line for?” I asked, all young and innocent and wholesome. “I just live here. Isn’t Val in?”
“No,” the blonde answered with a different frown, looking me over again with a hand to her hair, suspicion creeping into her eyes. “Val was called away a little while ago… I’ve been coming here regularly for days now. If you live here, why haven’t I seen you before?”
“I’ve been in the hospital,” I told her shyly, having put my cigarette into an ashtray so that I might look down at my hands in discomfort. “I was – badly beaten.” I raised my gaze slightly to see that she was suddenly looking at my bandaged wrists, and when the strained expression I’d been waiting for crossed her face I added hastily,
“But Val had nothing to do with it – honest! He wouldn’t hurt me. He likes having me around.”
The tone of voice I’d used had more wishful thinking in it than conviction, and it wasn’t wasted on the blonde. The odd look on her face grew even more peculiar, but before she could say anything the hall door flew open and I turned to see Val striding in. He paused briefly to stare at me as he ran his hands through his dark black hair, then he began to come toward me again. His black eyes were filled with anger and another emotion I couldn’t quite identify, and he ignored the blonde completely.
“You move too damned fast,” he growled as he came up to the back of the couch.
“I would have been all over this station if I hadn’t known where to find you, and now you can get off that couch and get moving again. If you aren’t back in that hospital area in five minutes flat, I’ll knock your head off!”
I stirred uncomfortably as he stared down at me, recognizing the no-arguments tone of voice he used. I’d had trouble with that tone more than once before, and then I discovered that my reaction wasn’t the only one – or the most major. The blonde we’d both forgotten about gasped when she heard Val’s threat, not realizing how much it would take for anyone to knock my head off. All the woman saw was a grown man threatening a young girl who had already been badly beaten once, and to my surprise and her credit she didn’t hesitate.
Her gasp had brought Val’s attention to her, and he watched her march herself around the couch and over to him. She had a grim, outraged expression on her face, but he didn’t seem to have the slightest idea of what was coming. The girl stopped in front of him, feet planted wide and fists on hips as she stared up into his face. Then she hissed, “You dirty creep! I’m reporting this to the station authorities!” and slapped him so hard she almost took his head off. I flinched a little at the enthusiasm she put into it, then watched as she marched herself out of the suite, slamming the door behind her. Val stood with one hand to his cheek, staring after her, a bewildered look on what I could see of his face.
“What’s wrong with her?” I wondered aloud, more to keep myself from laughing like a maniac than for any real purpose, but it was the wrong thing to say. Val turned slowly back to look at me, and I could see the entire outline of a hand on his cheek.
“You set me up again, didn’t you?” he demanded, the look in his eyes hardening as his anger grew. “What did you say to her?”
“I didn’t say anything,” I answered with a shrug, holding back a grin. Then I leaned both arms and my chin on the back of the couch and added, “If you have peculiar taste in women it isn’t my fault. Aren’t you glad to see me back? You haven’t even said hello.”
The hardness in his gaze increased as he remembered what he’d been about when he first came in, and he moved closer to the couch to lean on it with both hands as he bent down toward me.