you coming to get it so I can get back to sleep?'
'Could I? If you don't mind terribly, I-' 'I gotta show you something anyway.' What in the world? Was he being set up? Why would she be so willing to have him come and get it? And why did she take it in the first place? To be safe, he jumped back on the computer and fired up the bugging device that would record their conversation in the corridor outside her room. As he backed out of that program he saw the blinking signals for his urgent messages again. Looked like Rayford and Albie had been desperately trying to reach him. He didn't have time to deal with them, but what if they had heard from Annie? He had to peek.
The requests stunned him. He was way late for helping Albie and Rayford in Colorado, but his fingers flew over the keyboard anyway. His head ached, his wound oozed, and he blinked furiously. He entered the numbers to over-ride the Peacekeeping security codes. Under his phony name as a high-level GC unit commander in New Babylon, he assigned Marcus Elbaz to Carpathia Memorial Airstrip in Colorado Springs. He also authorized him to temporarily appropriate a vehicle with which to take custody of an escapee from the Belgium Facility for Female Rehabilitation, currently incarcerated at a bunker on the north end of Pueblo. A few more keystrokes derived the exact coordinates of that facility and the name of the deputy director in charge-Pinkerton Stephens. Fortunately, Stephens was lower ranked than Deputy Commander Elbaz.
David would work on name, rank, and serial number for Rayford later, hoping the two of them could bluff their way past the GC in the meantime. It was 2150, Hannah Palemoon was waiting, and he couldn't be late for the big meeting. Healthy and in shape it would have been a challenge to get to her room, retrieve his phone, and get to Carpathia's office in time, but wounded as he was, he couldn't imagine it.
He could phone Fortunato at the last minute and explain he would be a few minutes late, coming from his hospital bed. But neither did he want to miss any of that meeting. As he locked his door and strode quickly toward the elevator, he wobbled and had to grab the wall. Catch your breath, he told himself. Late is better than not there at all.
'Give me my razor,' Albie said. 'It's going to be hard to pull this off if I'm out of regulation.'
'You'll be on the ground in less than a minute,' Rayford said.
'I have a copilot, do I not?'
Rayford pulled Albie's electric razor from his bag and took over the landing as Albie shaved and tightened his tie. When the tower confirmed the landing, Albie responded, then whipped off the headphones and put on his uniform cap. When they disembarked, Rayford was struck again how the diminutive Middle Easterner seemed taller, more commanding.
'I can point you to the refueling area so you can tank up before takeoff, Commander Elbaz.'
'You can't do it for me while I'm on assignment?'
'Sorry, sir, we're shorthan-'
'I know. Carry on.'
Rayford stayed a step behind Albie as they made their way to the offices, hoping that once David got him enlisted as a GC Peacekeeper, he would give him an even higher rank. How could he supervise a man who outranked him in disguise?
The officer at the desk saluted and said, 'I told my chief you weren't in the computer, so you're on your own for ground transportation. If you'll give me your fueling order number, however, I can clear you for that when-'
'Excuse me?' Albie said.
'You'll have to refuel yourself, because-'
'I know all that. I need a vehicle for an important assignment, and I need it now. You expect me to rent a car?'
'Sir, I'm just telling you what my chief said. I – '
'Get him out here.'
'He's a her, sir.'
'I don't care if he's a gorilla. Get him, or her, out here.'
The airstrip chief appeared before the deskman buzzed her. She saluted but did not smile. 'Judy Hamilton at your service, Commander.'
'Not enough at my service, I'm afraid.'
'I can do only what I can do, sir, but I'm open to suggestions.'
'Do you have a vehicle?'
'None available, sir.'
'I need it for half a day, tops.'
'None, sir.'
'You personally?'
'Me, sir?'
Albie sighed loudly through his nose. 'You understand English, Hamilton? Do-you-personally-have-a- vehicle?',
'I have not been issued GC wheels, sir.'
'I didn't ask you that. How do you get to work?'
'I drive.'
'Then you must have a vehicle.'
'My own, yes, sir.'
'That would be what personal means, Judy. I will be borrowing your personal vehicle this afternoon, and the Global Community will be indebted to you. In fact, we will be indebted at the rate of one Nick per mile.'
She raised a brow. 'The manual says half that, sir.'
'I'm aware of that,' Albie said. 'I'll authorize it due to your cooperation.'
'No demerits for stupidity, sir?'
'Only for insubordination, Hamilton, which is one way I define sarcasm.'
'So you'll pay me a Nick a mile for the use of my car.'
'You catch on quickly.'
'No.'
'No?'
'No, you'll not be using my car.'
'I beg your pardon, Hamilton?'
'I have a meeting in Monument in two hours, and C-25 has been open only a week, and not all lanes. I need to leave now.'
'And you believe your meeting takes precedence over that of a deputy commander?'
'It does today, sir, because of your attitude.'
'You are denying me the use of your car?'
'You catch on quickly.'
Albie squinted at her, reddening. 'You're going on report, Hamilton. You will be disciplined.'
'But surely not this afternoon. And you will be disciplined as well.'
'I?' Albie said.
'How long has it been since the resurrection of the potentate, yet you greeted neither my deskman nor me with the new phrase.'
'I have been busy and up for hours.'
'You don't know that we greet each other with 'He is risen,' to be responded to by 'He is risen indeed'?'
'Of course, but-ma'am, I also need to know the exact location of the facility on the north end of Pueblo where-' 'You don't have full orders, sir?' 'Unfortunately not.'
'Corporal, check the computer again. Let me see what we do have on Deputy Commander Elbaz and whether we can add bluster and bullying to his profile.' 'Hamilton, I-' She silenced him with a hand. 'Hey,' the deskman said, 'this wasn't here before. Straight from the brass in New Babylon. Look.'
Hamilton peered and blanched at the screen. Rayford let out a breath. The woman cleared her throat. 'It appears everything is in order, Commander. I, uh, would like to propose a truce.' 'I'm listening.'
'You're cleared for a vehicle too, and we will find you one, though I will be happy to use the jeep if you still care to use my car.' 'You would let me?'
