Honda came along behind, picking up Ashton’s clothes and straightening them. He took one look at his boss and friend, then quietly hung the discarded clothing in the closet so it wouldn’t wrinkle. He turned to the figure in the bed, screwing up his face in thought – Ashton hadn’t even bothered to pull down the covers, and was lying on top of them. Finally Honda went to the other side of the bed, pulled up the edge of the blanket, and simply flipped it over Ashton’s mostly-naked body so he wouldn’t get chilled.
Then he slipped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
Ashton slept essentially all day and all night, only waking long enough to shovel food into his mouth, and that from the trays that Honda brought him in bed. The man was exhausted, and Honda realized it, so he not only made sure that the food Ashton ate was healthy and the meals well-balanced, he checked the bathroom for nutritional supplements and, finding none, placed a delivery order for a stress-formula vitamin-mineral supplement packet with the pharmacy on the ground floor of their high-rise, adding those in a dose cup to Ashton’s meals.
Ashton finally woke late Thursday morning, rising and wandering groggily into the den, where Honda watched the morning news on the video screen.
“There he is,” Honda noted, spotting Ashton standing in his bedroom door. “Feeling any better, pal?”
“A good bit, yeah,” Ashton said, running a hand through his hair. “Not quite awake yet, though.”
“I got a pot of coffee in the kitchen,” Honda said, gesturing at his own mug on the end table, “and your half of a little breakfast casserole thing, warming in the oven. There’s orange juice in the fridge, and fresh fruit on the counter. Help yourself. Or I can come help, if you’re still a little off-kilter.”
“I, um…” Ashton stepped forward, caught his shoulder on the door frame, and staggered.
“Right,” Honda said, standing. “I’ll come help.”
By the time Ashton finished stuffing his face – he found he was intensely hungry – he had finished giving Honda a thorough debrief of what he’d found out in the weeks prior to Honda’s arrival, and Honda, in turn, filled in Ashton on the latest media news items that pertained to their investigation. That gave them both a fuller understanding of what was going on, and they realized that Carter had been correct – the Alliance nations did indeed seem to be trying to work together to form a more widespread intelligence network within the Sintaran Empire.
“Which is not good,” Honda observed.
“No, it isn’t, but we can handle ‘em, I think,” Ashton decided. “And I think you and I have fallen into a really good division of work, here. I find out what’s going on at the consulate, and you keep an eye on the news feeds to see how it fits into the larger picture.”
“I think you’re right,” Honda agreed. “Not to mention making sure the apartment stays secure.”
“All of that,” Ashton averred. “I was, frankly, afraid that the consul was gonna insist on my going home in a taxi this morning – wait. Yesterday morning?”
“Yesterday,” Honda nodded, confirming. “You zonked for pretty much the whole day and night.”
“Oof,” Ashton grunted. “No wonder I feel stiff and groggy.”
“Yup.”
“So like I was saying, I was afraid the consul would send me home in a taxi – which might mean the taxi driver was working for him, and would see where I lived. I mean, that information is on the application form as it is, so it’s in my records at the consulate. But having an address on paper is one thing; knowing exactly where it is, that’s another.”
“Eh. I’m here. I’ll take care of things.”
“And that’s good. I hope you don’t feel like you’re being under-utilized.”
“No; this is a tricky situation. I picked up on that as soon as I found you a couple days ago. Like, when you planted one on me, and even dipped me.” Honda shrugged. “You’re already implanted, and you need me here, and you need me doing exactly what I’m doing. You need me staying out of sight as much as possible, ensuring you stay well and fed, have clean clothes to wear to the consulate, finding the answers you need, find the connections you need to pass on what you’ve found, survey the news to pick out pertinent bits to help fill in the big picture… all of that. That’s not under-utilizing – that’s teamwork. And I’m good with that. I was out front on my last case; this time, I’m in the back, giving support. I get it. Trust me. It’s fine, Nick.”
Ashton settled back in his chair, satisfied.
Later that evening, as the two men watched a video comedy in silence, Honda suddenly sat up with a grunt.
“What’s up, Rick?” Ashton wondered.
“I just had an idea,” Honda replied. “You know I’ve kinda gotten into the whole ‘master of disguise’ thing for undercover work…”
“Yeah. So?”
“You have those little devices you use, the things Daggert gave you. They’re mostly plastic, so they’re hard to detect anyway. What if I did a little work on your jackets and trousers, so you had little bitty secret pockets inside the pockets, and you tuck your gadgets in those before you leave here in the mornings? Then you just drop the storage devices in your pocket, the thing reads ‘em, records ‘em… and nobody the wiser, even if they demand you turn out your pockets…”
“Whoa,” Ashton said, sitting up himself. “You know how to do that?”
“I think I just figured out how, yeah.”
“Let’s do it, then. Forget the movie; I’ve already seen
