SOME ARTICLES DID GO INTO ARCHIVES YOU COULD REACH…FOR AN EXTRA SUBSCRIPTION…WHICH OUR EMBASSY HAS. BUT THERE WOULD BE NEW POLICIES ANNOUNCED AND WHEN I WENT LOOKING FOR THE OLD POLICIES, THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE ARCHIVE. I FOUND REFERENCES TO EARLIER SPEECHES IN STORIES, BUT NO SPEECHES OR EVENTS. NO NOTHING. THE DATA STORAGE IS LARGE ENOUGH FOR A WHOLE LOT MORE DATA. AND IT'S THERE. THEY JUST WILL NOT LET ME GET AT IT. KRIS, I DO NOT LIKE TO FAIL ON MATTERS LIKE THIS. Nelly almost spat in Kris's head.
Kris squelched a chuckle that didn't fit into the present bargaining. Nelly did not have a lot of experience with failure. It would be interesting to see how the present state of her computer's upgrade dealt with this. WHAT ABOUT THOSE OTHER NEWS SOURCES? THE ONES LIEUTENANT MARTINEZ AND GRAMMA RUTH MENTIONED.
THE EMBASSY DOES NOT SUBSCRIBE TO THEM, Nelly started. I USED PENNY'S ACCOUNT TO SUBSCRIBE TO BOTH, THEN JACK'S TO SUBSCRIBE TO TWO MORE OF THOSE MENTIONED. THE SUBS WERE NOT CHEAP. I REPAID THEM FROM YOUR ACCOUNT.
THEY REPORTED BOTH EVENTS WE SAW, BUT NOT ALL THAT MUCH. THEY KNEW A BOMB EXPLODED ON THE MALL, BUT NOTHING ABOUT A MOTORCADE. THEY REPORTED SHOTS FIRED IN THE GOVERNMENT DISTRICT, PROBABLY AUTOMATIC WEAPONS. THEY HAD NO BODY COUNT. I WAS TEMPTED TO FILE A REPORT, KRIS. THEY PAY MONEY FOR NEWS.
HAVING ONE REPORTER IN OUR GROUP, NELLY, IS ENOUGH, Kris said. If Nelly took to selling information along with Abby, Kris would have no hope of privacy.
The negotiations were getting close; Kris asked Nelly to keep any more for later. Still, as Kris paid more attention to the table, her mind gnawed at what her computer had learned.
It wasn't much. Just enough to give Kris a strong hunch that something was rotten in Eden. Still, using the old religious story as a hook to hang things on, she had no idea who the snake might be. No idea even where the tree might hang out. She didn't even know who was filling the shoes—or bare feet—of the guy and gal.
Before too long, Kris called a halt for lunch and took her mulling elsewhere.
Maybe Gramma Ruth did know what her orders were. Absent that, Kris knew she could count on the old woman for some fun talk…and maybe a few more pieces to add to the puzzle laid out on Eden for Kris. Maybe.
14
Kris did not find a limo waiting to take her to lunch. Instead, three black, hulking, all-terrain city vehicles were parked under the portico of the embassy. Jack joined her, in dress khaki and blues, and flipped a coin.
''Heads,'' he said. ''You ride in the middle one.''
''And if it had been tails?''
''I'd have flipped it again to see if you rode in the lead or trailing rig,'' Jack said, opening the door for her. Penny was already in the far seat, next to the window.
It looked like Jack intended to take the other window seat, leaving her no place but the center one. ''You sure I need all this protection?''
''Don't know, Your Highness. But I'm sure that when we get in trouble again, neither one of us will figure you have enough.''
Kris sat where Jack pointed. In front were three Marines, all in dress khaki and blues. ''How big is my detail?''
''Fifteen, plus us,'' Penny said. ''There also will be an escort from Eden, but they intend to stay back.''
''Out of the line of fire,'' Kris muttered, maybe a split second behind Jack.
''I've got sniper teams in both of the other rigs. They'll go high if things get mortal. Oh, and two women to escort you to the head. Want anything else?''
''Yes, a weapons permit to make this all legal.''
''Wish in one hand, spit in the other,'' Penny said with a quirk of a smile, ''and see which one you get the most out of.''
''Your grandmother?'' Kris asked.
''No, one of Tommy's,'' Penny said with hardly a flinch.
The convoy was only a few minutes away from the campus when Nelly said, ''Kris, I have a call from Great-grandmother Ruth.''
''Put her on.''
''Kris, I got out of class a bit late, could you pick me up at the back of the Faculty Center?''
''I'd be glad to, Gramma. Where do you want us?''
A map appeared in the air in front of Kris, a green blip on it. A moment later it was repeated on the heads-up display in front of the driver.
''I got it, Your Highness. We'll have to drive around the campus, but no problem.''
''We'll see you there,'' Kris said.
And the green blip was suddenly no longer on the map.
''She throttled her squawker!'' Nelly said as she pulled the map from the air in front of Kris. ''Civilians aren't supposed to be able to do that,'' she sniffed.
''Possibly, Commander Tordon has kept her reserve commission on the books,'' Jack said. ''But living close to Longknifes, I suspect she's just paid for more security than the average head-in-the-sand civilian feels a need for. And has her head on straight enough to use it whenever she gets too close to a Longknife. Might explain why she's still got that head.''
Kris found nothing to argue with.
The rigs zigged and zagged around a campus that looked very familiar to Kris. In the center of things were a few brick buildings, maybe one or two with pretentious stone pillars. The next layer out showed a more prosperous planet as granite and stone replaced brick in someone's idea of a neoclassical style. But the population kept growing and money started getting short. The outer layers of classrooms and labs were shoehorned into big, blocky buildings rising not so high that they required more expensive construction materials, nor so low that they took up too much land that was getting expensive. The history of education was writ the same on hundreds of planets.
If Kris smiled at the sameness of the buildings, she almost laughed at the students, products of some cookie-cutter mold kept handy on every planet. The rigs' advance slowed, surrounded by a mob of hungry college students who, though afoot, showed no fear of cars and a near proprietary attitude toward the streets.
''For God's sake, don't hit one,'' Kris said after a close near encounter with a jaywalking pair of redheads.
''I'm doing my best,'' Kris's driver said, tapping the brake as two coeds ducked between her and the lead car.
It was a good thing they were going slow, because they found Gramma Ruth waving at them a full two blocks early.
Jack said a bad word, usually reserved for only the worst of situations. Only this time, it oozed admiration. ''She is one smart cookie.''
Jack opened the door and pulled down a jump seat for himself. Ruth settled in next to Kris. Jack called over his shoulder, ''Take the next right and get us out of this mob.''
''They don't have the common sense God promised a gnat,'' Ruth said. ''I know. I love them and I'm proud of the ones that actually do learn. But even the ones that can learn smarts may have no concept of what they should do for personal safety.
''The peace has been wonderful, but I can't help but wonder if it's been too long,'' Gramma added, putting on her safety belt.
''Now that we're headed away from the campus,'' Kris asked, ''where do we eat?''
''Oh, I know just the place. It's about six blocks down the way, then four to the right.'' Ruth held up her wrist and squirted something to the driver's computer.
''Got it,'' she immediately said.
''Do we have reservations?'' Jack asked.
''That's what I like about this place. They serve the best Greek food in light-years, and never require a reservation. Oh, and they have separate rooms for those willing to pay extra. You'll like it,'' she said, giving Jack a wide, knowing grin.
''Kris, I'm starting to think at least some of your relatives can acquire common sense. If they live long enough,'' Jack said.
''Ah, but remember, I married into this mess. I'm a farmer's daughter,'' Gramma Ruth said, patting down her gray hairs. ''I learned common sense at my mother's knee and my father's worried brow. You spend a few years wondering when it's going to rain and if you'll be able to pay the mortgage on the place, and you'll know what matters and what doesn't.''