A voice came out of the darkness. “Gentlemen, please come in and sit down. I’ll be right with you.”
Two chairs and a dusty table sat under a single lamp hanging from the ceiling. A small bag, bottle and two glasses sat on the table.
“Please help yourself to a drink, gentlemen. I’ll be right with you as soon as I finish this call.”
The two men moved to the table, examined the bottle, nodded in approval of the brand, poured each a drink, and sat down to wait.
“The bag contains your payment. Please feel free to count it to make sure it’s all there.”
One of the men opened the bag, briefly surveyed its contents, and said, “That’s all right, we’ll trust you that it's all here.”
Two large men in trench coats and hats moved just into the light of the hanging lamp between the men and the door. The two men finished their drinks and looked suspiciously at these two new men.
“Relax, gentlemen. My associates are here only in case the local authorities show an interest in our transaction.”
A third man in a long gray coat and hat entered the circle of light. “Gentlemen, I know I told you to make Mr. Delphant’s passing look like an accident, but did you have to burn the entire complex down?”
“How were we to know there were liter cans of flammable paint stacked in a storage closet next to where we set the firebomb? If not for that, only his office would have been torched.”
“How regrettable. Did you manage to retrieve the device I sent you for?”
“Yes, we did.”
The speaker reached in his pocket and pulled out a small data transfer device.”
“Place it on the table, take your payment, and leave, gentlemen. Our transaction is concluded. It's been a pleasure dealing with you. If we need you again, we know how to get in touch with you. Men, escort our guests to the door.”
The two local men exchanged nervous glances, picked up the small bag, and walked out the door. The two large men showed them out, but did nothing to hamper their exit.
The third man moved to the open door and watched them leave. He pulled a small device out of his pocket and pushed a button.
The two shabbily dressed men were elated. They had just earned a small fortune for arranging the unfortunate passing of Charles Delphant. They couldn’t believe their luck. Almost simultaneously, the two men felt a stabbing pain in their stomachs. Millions of microbe-sized incendiary devices, ingested along with the alcohol, erupted into flame. The two men dropped to the ground, writhing in pain. There was a bright flash and the two men disappeared into twin piles of white ashes scattered on the ground. A gust of wind lifted the ashes and they were borne away.
“Hmmh, it appears as if our associates can’t hold their liquor.”
He closed the door and turned back to the other two men. As he removed his hat he exposed a feline face.
“Shadow Warriors, our mission here is completed. Let us return to the home world. We have one more data installment to retrieve.”
“As you command, Shadow Leader M’Trang.”
An hour later a small insect flying around the single hanging lamp in the warehouse broke away from the light and flew up to a break in an upper clerestory window. It passed through the break and settled on the roof of the warehouse. It stood on its forelegs, the wings transformed into an antenna, and it oriented skyward. In seconds an orbiting ship received the video and audio of the night’s activities. The pilot petted his cat and waited for the data transmission to end. Moments later that ship was in FTL on its way to Fleet Intel for analysis of the data.
Chapter Eight
Kelly was back on board the Vigilant by 1400. He put his new clothing purchases away and found room to store his new duffle. He would have his new clothes laundered once they lifted ship again. As with the galley, the laundry on board worked only off-planet. There was the base laundry, but Kelly didn’t trust them with natural fabrics. He tended to buy the best he could afford and took care of them. The wools, cottons, and silks would last a long time if properly cared for.
He checked messages on his terminal. There was a message from Candy, saying that she had a wonderful time and hoped they could do it again some time. She also let him know he had forgotten his tie. She would get it back to him next time she saw him.
Another message was from LT Bell, inviting Kelly to the Vehement’s relaunching ceremony on Friday. He checked his calendar, saw he had nothing else scheduled, and touched the accept button.
The next message was from Tammy. She was enthused about the S-660. It was an exoatmospheric shuttle, as opposed to the current atmospheric S-500s the flight detachment flew. She was having a blast flying the sub-orbital flight path in transition school. She was finally back in space, even if only for a brief time. Of course, the S-660’s boost phase was enough to get into orbit, so they would be making runs to the space dock as well as the shuttle flights to the south. She was really looking forward to that. The last part of her message was a request for Kelly to pin on one of her LTJG rank insignia at her promotion ceremony when she got back. Kelly replied that he would be honored to be a part of her ceremony.
Kelly called up the ship’s log to see what had happened while he was gone. Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, that he could tell. He noted Petty Officer Stinson’s name on a lot of the watch log entries. Kelly guessed that multiple watches while the crew had time off was Chief Watson’s way of reminding Stinson to listen to Corpsman Kumar’s advice on what places to stay away from in the south.
Kelly changed into his coveralls, attached his communicator to his belt, and made a tour of the ship. Very few of the crew were on board. Those few were engaged in games, studying for proficiency exams, or just lazing about. Chief Blankenship manned the quarterdeck watch. When he approached she was bent over the watch desk, probably reattaching a terminal cable. Chief B had a nice behind. Kelly scuffed his shoes to let her know he was coming and she straightened up and came to attention.
“At ease, Chief. How are things going?”
“Not bad, sir, it’s been real quiet. Twenty crew are off the ship. Eleven are on leave. Three are hitting the entertainment center on base. The rest are at chow. Captain took off for a couple of days in the south. You are in command. Chief Watson got pulled by Scout Force HQ to sit on a promotion board. He should be back in about three hours.”
“Great, keep up the good work. Would you like me to bring you some coffee from the galley on my way back through?”
Thank you, sir, but I drink tea. If you could bring back a pot of Lapsang Souchong, I’d appreciate it.”
“Lapsang it is. I’ll be right back with it.”
Kelly walked on to the rear of the ship. He stopped off in the galley to start a pot of water to boil. He continued astern, checked crew quarters, sensors, and engineering. When he made it back to the galley, the water was boiling. He poured it into a mid-sized pot, dropped in two tea bags, grabbed a cup and saucer and headed back to the Quarterdeck.
“Here you go, Chief. Enjoy!”
“Thank you, sir. This much should last me until Chief P relieves me for dinner.”
Kelly returned to his quarters. Conditions on board had the lazy feel of a ship in port. Kelly knew this would revert instantly to crisp efficiency upon receipt of a patrol order. He thought about that for a bit. What would he do if he got an immediate sortie order? He checked the roster to see who was present for duty. When he ran the roster he saw that even though less than half the crew were on board, those on board were sufficient to lift ship and conduct a patrol. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to.
Kelly went back to his quarters and checked the news on his terminal. He did a quick search for reports on the Indigo fire. He found several reports and read them in turn. He saw where they had positively identified the body of Charles Delphant. Cause of death was identified as smoke inhalation. There was intense speculation in the press on what Delphant was doing there so early. He had never been known for coming in early, habitually arriving around 0830.