The grin faded slightly. “No, I’m afraid not. We really don’t expect to hear from them for another week or so. But I need to talk to you about last evening. It may be related.”
Cale’s frown faded to puzzlement. “Related? Related to what?”
Archuk shrugged. “Related to your pirate troubles. The two you captured last night have been identified. They’re both wanted for piracy. They both know they’ll be going to the headsman, so they’re not talking. Yet. If I had to guess, I’d say you upset the captain of that pirate ship, and he gave a couple of his crew a bonus to eliminate you. But a thousand crowns is a big bonus for a couple of street killings. Any idea what makes you worth it?”
A stab of fear ran through Cale. “Not a clue,” he said, forcing a casual tone. “Maybe he wanted Cheetah and thinks he could buy her if I was out of the way.”
Archuk looked unconvinced. “Perhaps. Or maybe he’s just the vengeful sort. At any rate, you are obviously in danger, and it would be embarrassing if you were murdered while technically in our custody. Are either of you trained to use hand weapons?”
Both Cale and Dee nodded. “It may be possible,” Archuk continued, “to arrange the necessary permits to allow you to go armed on Angeles.” He toyed with a scriber on his desk. “Such permits are not common on Angeles. His Majesty’s government feels that weapons should be kept under the control of the government. However, I feel certain the current situation constitutes sufficient justification.” He smiled slightly at Cale’s poorly suppressed grimace. “You disagree?”
Cale shrugged, mentally berating himself for letting his feelings show. “I disagree with His Majesty’s government. I feel that an unarmed people are at the mercy of those that are armed, be they criminals, police inspectors, or governments. I do not disagree that His Majesty’s government has both the right and the power to enforce its opinion, however. I would appreciate such a permit, if it can be arranged.”
Archuk rolled his eyes in feigned disgust, his smile taking any sting from the act. He groaned. “Oh, no, not another one of those ‘a blaster for every 12-year-old’ types!”
Cale smiled. “Not exactly. And I do not wish to appear ungrateful. I know that yours was a very generous offer, and I would gratefully accept. Even more so if I could be allowed to retrieve my own concealment rig from my ship. The slight difference between having my own rig and a strange one could save our lives.”
This time Archuk’s smile and nod were genuine and understanding. “I understand. I think we can arrange that, if you are willing to have your weapon catalogued in our database.” He stood and grinned. “I’m afraid no uncatalogued weapons can be admitted to Angeles.”
“Except in the hands of criminals,” Cale murmured. A smile took the sting from his words. If Archuk heard, he made no reply.
Whatever its weapon-control stance, the government of Angeles was nothing if not efficient. Since he was technically in custody, within minutes Cale was being escorted to Cheetah by two police officers. They knew there was no way Cheetah could launch in less than fifteen standard minutes, so the officers were casual and friendly. They insisted on boarding Cheetah, but as Cale hoped, they simply sat in the lounge and waited for him. They didn’t try to follow him into his stateroom, nor did they insist he keep the door open.
He quickly briefed Tess on the previous evening’s events while retrieving his concealment weapons rig with its plain, black 2mm ladies’ model needler.
“Tess,” he said softly, “Do you have some inconspicuous way we could stay in touch? I’d like your help, but I need communications.” Cale asked.
“In the small drawer beneath your secure comp there are several small transceivers,” came Tess’s equally quiet reply. “They are flesh-colored disks about 2 millimeters in diameter. One side is adhesive. Simply stick the disk to the mastoid bone of your skull. We can speak using bone conduction, and you usually will not need to actually speak aloud, but can simply speak in that manner humans call ‘under your breath’. President Cord found them quite useful.”
Cale grinned. “I’ll bet he did. What I would like you to do is keep track of ship arrivals and departures. I’m mostly interested in unscheduled arrivals, especially tramps. Sheol, you know what I’m looking for, and know better than I do how to spot it. But if there are more killers coming, I’d like to know as soon as possible.”
“I understand, Captain, and I think I know what to look for. But surely the Angeles authorities will be watching as well.” Her voice had a puzzled tone.
“I hope they will be,” Cale replied, “But I don’t trust them to let me know if they see something. With the police mentality, they’re just as likely to follow them until they do something overt — ‘Something overt’ like taking more shots at us!”
“Understood, sir. I will be on guard. Good luck.”
Cale nodded. “Thanks. Now I’d better get back before those cops get curious.” He rolled up his sleeve, attached the needler rig to his right forearm, and lowered the sleeve over it. Now, a mere tensing of his arm muscles in the pattern required to receive the needler would trigger release of the needler into his waiting hand in less than a tenth of a second
He reached into the drawer and removed one of the tiny transceivers. A touch with a stylus activated the adhesive, and he attached it to his head behind his left ear. A quick look in the mirror revealed that the paper-thin, flesh-colored disk was virtually invisible to the casual glance. “Testing, one, two,” he whispered while trying to keep from moving his lips.
“Receiving you loud and clear, Captain,” Tess’s voice sounded slightly muffled in his left ear. “The transceivers have a range of two kilometers, or just over one and one-half miles,” Tess continued.
Cale jerked a nod at his reflection in the mirror, and strode back to greet his escort in the lounge. One of the cops raised a hand. “Sorry, Captain, but I’ll need to keep your weapon until it is properly catalogued.”
Cale raised his right sleeve, removed the needler from the rig, and surrendered it with a forced smile. “Of course, Officer.” He carefully failed to mention the two flash grenades the rig also contained, or the two extra magazines of ammunition. Why complicate things?
Cale and his escort returned to Archuk’s office, where Dee was being fitted out with a small needler similar to his own. Hers would be in a small inside-the-waistband, cross-draw holster; neither as fast nor as concealable as Cale’s, but Dee considered it impressive. The cop handed Cale’s needler to Archuk, who handed it to the tech who had provided Dee’s weapon. The man nodded and left without a word.
Archuk again favored Cale with his broad smile. “It won’t be long, Captain, I promise. Mistress Raum’s weapon is, of course, already catalogued.” Cale was noticing how the Angeles police always referred to weapons as ‘catalogued’, never ‘registered’. He was willing to bet that personal weapons control was a hot subject on Angeles.
His weapon was returned within a few minutes. As he clipped it into place on the arm rig, Cale breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time since landing on Angeles, he felt secure, if not relaxed.
The needler was not Cale’s first choice of close-combat weapon, but blasters just weren’t concealable, and hand lasers were only good for one or two shots. Using a combination of compressed gas and a small linear accelerator, the needler spit out a stream of 2mm steel needles. The needles had little mass, and therefore little penetration, but the stream of projectiles at high velocity could chew a massive wound in soft tissue in seconds. Cale’s ladies’ model held only 750 needles, but Cale was practiced in zeroing in on the soft tissue of the neck and belly. In his hands, it was nearly as deadly as a blaster.
“Are you certain you cannot think of any reason for the pirates to put a price on your heads?” Archuk asked.
Cale shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he replied, “But I’m not even from this sector. Aside from Cheetah, I have no other assets anyone would care about. And I can’t imagine a pirate starting a vendetta over a 400-year-old courier ship!”
Archuk frowned. “Nor can I. That’s what bothers me. All right, the S amp;R ship should be back within a week or so. In the meantime, try not to get yourselves killed.” He waved an obvious dismissal.
The wait went on. Meanwhile, Cale and Dee were growing closer. Cale was enjoying every minute with Dee, so much so that on several occasions he almost forgot his nightly check-in with Tess. For her part, Dee knew it would be very easy for her to fall in love with Cale but she was haunted by the fact that she knew so little about this man except that he was hiding something. What could it be?
Finally, Cale received the call from Archuk. The S amp;R ship had returned, and he asked them to come to his office.
