“The doctor said you should rest,” she said, with an impish smile.
“He also said I need a tranquillizer.”
“And a good night’s sleep.”
“Maybe you can help me with that,” he said.
“I’ll do my best.”
He discovered that her name was Tatiana Oparin, that she worked in his personnel department, that she was ambitious, and that she would be delighted to replace the late Victoria Ferrer as his personal aide. He also discovered that the rose around her ankle was not her only tattoo.
Grigor Malenkovich noted, in his silent but keen-eyed way, that Tatiana stayed behind in Humphries’s suite. Good, he thought. She is serving her purpose. While she keeps Humphries occupied I can start the search for Fuchs without his hounding me.
The place to start is the hospital, he told himself. All four of the intruders have been brought there. They are under guard. One of them is undoubtedly Fuchs himself. Or, if not, then he knows where Fuchs is.
He went directly to the hospital, only to be told by Selene’s security officers that all the people taken from the fire scene were under protective custody.
“I want to ask them a few questions,” said Grigor.
The woman in the coral red Selene coveralls smiled patiently at him. “Tomorrow, Mr. Malenkovich. You can be present when we interrogate them.”
Grigor hesitated a moment, then asked, “Why not now? Why wait?”
“The medics say they need a night’s rest. One of them was wounded, you know, and all of them have had a pretty rugged time of it.”
“All the better. Question them while they are tired, worn down.”
The woman smiled again, but it seemed forced. “Tomorrow, Mr. Malenkovich. Once the medics okay it. We’ll talk to them tomorrow.”
Grigor thought it over. No sense getting into a quarrel with Selene security, he decided. Besides, Humphries is busy enjoying a good night’s rest—or something of the kind.
“You can’t take patients out of the hospital without authorization,” said the doctor. He was young, with a boyish thatch of dark brown hair flopping over his forehead. Wanamaker thought he probably made out pretty well with the female hospital staffers.
He kept his thoughts to himself, though, and put on his sternest, darkest scowl.
“This is an Astro Corporation security matter,” he insisted, his voice low but iron-hard.
They were standing at the hospital’s admittance center, little more than a waist-high counter with a computer terminal atop it. The doctor had been summoned by the computer, which normally ran the center without human intervention. Wanamaker had waited until midnight to fetch Fuchs and his people out of the hospital. Minimal staff on duty. He had brought six of the biggest, toughest-looking Astro employees he could find. Two of them actually worked in the security department. The other four consisted of two mechanics, one physical fitness instructor from Astro’s private spa, and a woman cook from the executive dining room.
The doctor looked uncertainly at the identification chip Wanamaker held out rigidly at arm’s length. He had already run it through the admittance center’s computer terminal and it had verified that Jacob Wanamaker was an executive of Astro Corporation’s security department.
“I should call Selene’s security department,” the doctor said.
“Aren’t they guarding the four?” Wanamaker demanded, knowing that they had been called off by one of his own people who had hacked into their computer system.
“Not on this shift,” said the doctor. “They’ll be back in the morning, at oh-eight-hundred.”
“All right then,” Wanamaker said. “I’ll deal with them in the morning. Right now, I’ve been instructed to take the four to Astro headquarters.”
Wanamaker was thinking, If this young pup doesn’t cave in I’ll have to slug him. He didn’t want to do that. He wanted this extraction to be painless.
The young man’s face was too bland to frown effectively, but he screwed up his features and said, “This hospital is run by the governing board of Selene, not Astro or any other corporation.”
Wanamaker nodded knowingly. “Very well. You contact your governing board and get their okay.”
The doctor glanced at the wall clock. “It’s almost one a.m.!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“They’ll all be asleep.”
“Then you’ll have to wake them.” Wanamaker hoped fervently that the kid didn’t think of calling Selene’s security department. That could create a problem. Before the doctor could make up his mind, Wanamaker suggested, “Why don’t you call Douglas Stavenger?”
“Mr. Stavenger?” The doctor’s eyed widened. “He knows about this?”
“And he’s given his approval,” Wanamaker lied.
“Well…”
“Is there any medical reason to keep them hospitalized?” Wanamaker demanded.
The doctor shook his head. “No, they’re supposed to be released in the morning.”
“Very well then. Give me the release forms and I’ll sign them.”
“I don’t know…”
Wanamaker didn’t wait any further. He walked past the puzzled, uncertain young doctor. His six subordinates marched in step behind him, trying to look fierce, as Wanamaker had instructed them to do.
ARMSTRONG SPACEPORT
As the cart trundled to a stop at the end of the tunnel that led back to Selene, Wanamaker noticed that the lower half of Pancho’s right leg was wrapped in a cast. She looked grim, almost angry, as she sat behind the cart’s wheel with her leg sticking out onto the fender.
Fuchs was standing beside Wanamaker, also far from happy. His three aides were already on their way to the little rocket shuttlecraft that would take them up to the vessel waiting in orbit above the Moon’s rugged, airless surface.
“Humphries is alive and well,” said Pancho, without getting down from the electric cart. “No thanks to you, Lars.”
His mouth a downcast slash, Fuchs answered, “Too bad. The world would be better off with him dead.”
“Maybe so, but all you did was kill a dozen or so of his people. Now he’s got a perfectly good excuse to go after your ass, ol’ buddy.”
Fuchs started to reply, thought better of it, and said nothing.
Turning to Wanamaker, Pancho asked, “What’ve you got for him?”
“The only available armed vessel is a new attack ship,
Pancho nodded brusquely. “Okay, Lars. That’s your new ship. Officially, you’ve hijacked it while it was sitting in lunar orbit waiting for a crew to be assigned to it.”
“You’re giving it to me?” Fuchs asked, flabbergasted.
“You’re stealing it. We’ll add it to your long list of crimes.”
His broad, normally downcast face broke into a bitter smile. “Pancho … I… I don’t know what to say.”
She did not smile back at him. “Just get your butt up to the ship and get the hell out of here as fast as you can. Go back to the Belt and hide out with the rock rats. Humphries is going to come after you with everything he’s got.”
Fuchs nodded, understanding. “I’m only sorry that I didn’t kill him. He deserves to die.”
“So do we all, ol’ buddy,” said Pancho. “Now,
Fuchs grasped her hand and, bending slightly, kissed it. Pancho’s face turned red.
