Eros at Zenith: Book 2 of Tales of the Velvet Comet Read online

  “She'll have enough brains to keep quiet—and as for him, why should he even know Bello is aboard the Comet?”

  “He's not stupid,” said Crane. “He was there with me when I gave Morales the niathol. He saw him send the message.”

  “So that's how you did it. Why wasn't I told?”

  “Because it happened less than a day ago, and we've been keeping a round-the-clock watch on the airlock.”

  “So he fooled you by entering the service deck as a cargo mover, walked down to this end of the ship, and climbed up a service stairwell,” she said mockingly. “Some detective!”

  “Well, the plan did have a built-in handicap,” admitted Crane. “None of us knew what Bello would look like.”

  “You mean you simply invited a mass murderer up to the Comet and hoped everything would work out all right?” she demanded.

  “We had an opportunity to draw him out of hiding.

  We might never have had another.”

  “You deliberately endangered everyone on the Comet!”

  “Nonsense. He's a fugitive. All he wants to do is get away.”

  “And you think fugitives don't kill when they feel they're endangered?”

  'Everyone has the capacity to kill, just as they have the capacity to screw. You make your living from the one, I make mine from the other.”

  “You may be intelligent, and you may be as good at your job as you claim to be, Mr. Crane,” she said angrily, “but you're a pretty poor excuse for a human being! You gambled my patrons’ lives to advance your career, just as you're now gambling my ship and Bello's future.”

  “Whereas you are perfectly willing to let a mass murderer go free rather than risk some financial loss,” he replied sardonically.

  The Black Pearl got to her feet.

  “I think it's time for you to leave, Mr. Crane,” she announced. “I have nothing further to say to you.”

  He stood up and turned to the computer.

  “Cupid?”

  YES.

  “Wait three minutes and then close the Priority File. Then instruct the Dragon Lady to access it on my authority.”

  UNDERSTOOD.

  He turned back to the Black Pearl.

  “This isn't over yet, you know,” he said.

  “I know.”

  “I can't let Bello walk away from here.”

  “Certainly you can—although my previous offer has been withdrawn,” she added, staring at him distastefully.

  “Sooner or later you're going to have to turn him over to me,” said Crane.

  “You're welcome to think so, Mr. Crane.”

  “You could make it easier on everyone if you'd do it now and get it over with.”

  "Everyone?" she repeated sarcastically. “Since when did you start caring about anyone except yourself ?”

  He stared at her, then walked to the door, which slid back into the wall.

  “I'll be back,” he promised.

  “I'll be waiting,” she replied in level tones.

  Chapter 12

  Crane retrieved his weapon, returned to his suite, and immediately activated the computer.

  “Open the Priority File.”

  DONE.

  “Is Bello still in the Black Pearl's apartment?”

  YES.

  “I'm ordering you to inform me the instant he tries to leave, either alone or in the Black Pearl's company.”

  UNDERSTOOD.

  Crane lowered his head in thought for a moment, then looked up at the screen.

  “If he tried to make it to the tramway right now, could I stop him?”

  ALLOWING FOR NORMAL TRAFFIC PATTERNS, HE WOULD ARRIVE THERE ALMOST TWO MINUTES AHEAD OF YOU.

  “Then I can't stay here any longer. Is there a vacant store within 200 feet of the airlock?”

  ALL OF THE STORES ARE RENTED.

  Crane frowned. “All right,” he said. “The first thing we'd better do is shut down the tramway. Then I'll move over to the Home, which is a lot closer to the airlock than the Resort is.”

  I CANNOT DEACTIVATE THE TRAMWAY SYSTEM EXCEPT ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE DRAGON LADY, PAXTON OGLEVIE, OR THE HEAD OF THE MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT.

  “Do you mean to say I can't close it down, even with my security clearance?”

  THAT IS CORRECT.

  “Okay. Connect me to the Dragon Lady.”

  SHE HAS ORDERED ME NOT TO INTERRUPT HER UNTIL SHE FINISHES VIEWING THE LATEST ADDITION TO YOUR PRIORITY FILE, WHICH YOU INSTRUCTED ME TO SHOW HER.

  “Then get me Oglevie.”

  The screen went blank, to be replaced by Oglevie's image a moment later.

  “Mr. Crane, sir,” he said with a smile. “I haven't seen you for a couple of days. How are you, sir?”

  “Just fine,” said Crane. “I want you to do me a favor.”

  “If it's within my power.”

  “Shut down the tramway.”

  “For how long, sir?” asked Oglevie.

  “Until I say otherwise.”

  “I'm not sure I can do that, sir,” he said, obviously disturbed.

  “The computer says you can.”

  “But the Black Pearl contacted me not two minutes ago and told me that you might make such a request, and that I should ignore it.”

  “It's not a request,” said Crane. “It's an order.”

  Oglevie shifted uncomfortably. “Well, theoretically the Black Pearl is the ultimate authority on the Velvet Comet. I don't think it would look very good on my record if I dismissed her order out of hand.”

  “I'm in charge of this investigation!” snapped Crane. “In case it's slipped your mind, you're working directly for me.”

  “But you've already arrested Esteban Morales for the murder of Edward Infante,” said Oglevie. “Whatever is happening now, a case could be made that you are exceeding your authority.” He paused. “Of course, if you could tell me what's happening, then maybe I —”

  “I don't have to tell you a goddamned thing! Now, are you going to obey my orders or not?”

  “I truly don't see how I can, sir.”

  “Well, if protecting your ass means that much to you, you do what you think is best,” said Crane with a shrug.

  “Thank you, sir,” said Oglevie, looking much relieved.

  “But let me tell you something,” continued Crane.

  “Sir?”

  “You've just put your money on the wrong team. Twenty minutes from now the Dragon Lady is going to close down the tramway, and when I've finished what I've got to do up here, I'm going to see to it that you never work for Vainmill again.”

  He broke the connection, and wasn't surprised when Oglevie initiated contact with him again a minute later.

  “Yeah?” he snapped. “What now?”

  “Upon careful reflection, I have decided to deactivate the tramway,” replied Oglevie.

  Crane allowed himself the luxury of a small smile.

  “Good. I'm glad someone around here is showing a little sense.”

  “However, I have appended to the record that I am doing so under protest, and only because my understanding of the current situation is that I am still under your direct command.”

  “Have you shut it down yet?” asked Crane.

  “I'm just about to.”

  “Then do it.”

  Crane broke the connection.

  “Cupid?”

  YES.

  “Is there any way to get in or out of the Black Pearl's apartment except by going through her office?”

  NO.

  “Is there a stairwell in that section of the Comet?”

  YES.

  “Can you lock the door to it on my authority?”

  YES.

  “If you do, can the Black Pearl order you to open it?”

  YES.

  “Is there any way I can override her order?”

  NO.

  Crane frowned and fell silent for a moment. “All right,” he said at last. “If you lock it, is there some way I can damage the l
ock so that it won't open?”

  THAT INFORMATION IS CLASSIFIED.

  “Thanks,” he said. “That's all I needed to know.

  Let me see a floorplan of the area around the Black Pearl's office.”

  The diagram appeared.

  “Highlight the stairwell,” ordered Crane. He studied the drawing. “Got it. All right—is Bello still in the apartment?”

  YES.

  “I'm going over there now. It should take me about five minutes. I want you to sound an alarm siren throughout the Resort if he leaves the apartment.”

  UNDERSTOOD.

  “Then, as soon as the Dragon Lady is through going over the Priority File, tell her to meet me in that bar you have to pass on the way to the Black Pearl's office.”

  YOU PASS FOUR OF THEM.

  “The one that's out in the open, without any walls.”

  THE XANADU.

  “Right. That's the one.”

  Crane walked to his closet, waited until the door dilated, withdrew a suitcase, and pulled out a laser weapon. Then, tucking it into a shoulder holster, he donned a roomy tunic that didn't show the bulge and walked out the door.

  He checked with the computer when he reached the reception foyer, determined that Bello hadn't tried to leave, and within another three minutes he had reached the stairwell. He tested the door, ascertained that Cupid had indeed locked it, withdrew the laser weapon, and trained it on the tiny computer that controlled the lock. He kept it on until the metal around the computer started melting, then holstered it and commanded the door to open.

  It didn't budge.

  Then he walked to the Xanadu, sat down at a small table in a corner, ordered a glass of fruit juice, and waited. The Dragon Lady appeared some thirty minutes later.

  “I'd have been here sooner,” she said, seating herself opposite him, “but the tramway isn't working.” She paused. “I gather from Paxton that you're responsible for that.”

  “Pull your chair around,” said Crane. “You're blocking the view.”

  She stood up, placed her chair next to his, and sat down again.

  “Did you finish viewing the file?” he asked her.

  She nodded. “Yes, I did.”

  “We've got him,” said Crane. “Now it's just a matter of waiting him out or going in after him.” He turned to her. “I just made sure that he can't get into the stairwell. If he tries to get out, he's got to walk right past us.”

  “Then why stop the tramway?”

  “I did it initially to make sure he didn't use it before I got here from my suite. But now I think we'd better leave the power off; after all, we can't stay here forever. Sooner or later circumstances are going to be such that he's closer to the tram entrance than we are. At least this way he'll have to be in plain sight for more than a mile in the Mall.”

  “I see.” She stared into Crane's eyes. “Then you definitely want him?”

  “Of course I do. Don't you?”

  She shook her head. “No,” she said seriously. “No, I don't.”

  “Look—word is going to get out that he was here no matter how we try to hush it up. I gave you credit for being a little smarter than the Black Pearl.”

  “I know that.”

  “Then what's your problem?”

  “Has it occurred to you that Bello might have been telling the truth?”

  “Not really.”

  “I had the computer try to check his story out,” said the Dragon Lady. “Most of it is classified, but there are just enough tidbits of information laying around to convince me that he ordered the air strike for the reason he gave.”

  “So what?” said Crane. “That doesn't change anything.”

  “I think it does,” she said adamantly. “You know what they'll do to him if we turn him in.”

  “That's not our concern. Our job is to apprehend him.”

  “Our job is to apprehend the murderer of Edward Infante.”

  “Our job is to provide for the security of the Velvet Comet,” replied Crane. “That security is in danger as long as an escaped mass murderer is aboard.”

  “You don't believe that for a minute,” said the Dragon Lady.

  “What the hell do you think we should do?” demanded Crane. “Let him stay?”

  “Let him walk.”

  “The biggest fish in the Republic just grabbed our bait, and you want to turn him loose?” he said unbelievingly.

  “That's right.

  “You're crazy!”

  “Perhaps. But that's what I think we should do.”

  “And what about Pagliacci? You think he won't blow the whistle?”

  “He doesn't even know Bello has arrived. Arrest Pagliacci now and he'll never know.”

  Crane stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head. “I can't do it. I've waited too long for a break like this.”

  “Even if he's innocent?”

  “Innocent of what? He killed 11,000 people.”

  “Based on inaccurate information.”

  “Do you know that for a fact?” demanded Crane.

  “No,” admitted the Dragon Lady.

  “Do you know for a fact that he ordered the air strike?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then the only thing you know is that he's responsible for 11,000 deaths. You're only guessing about why he did it.”

  “I can make a couple of other guesses, too, if you're willing to listen to them,” she said.

  “Go ahead.”

  “My first guess is that the government is going to be very unhappy with you if you arrest him.”

  “Why?”

  “Because this is Deluros, not some little backwater colony world like New Sumatra. They'll never be able to keep the trial secret once the press learns he's been captured, and if he's telling the truth he can cause the government considerable embarrassment.”

  Crane shook his head. “The people he served have been out of office for nine years.”

  “What he served was the continuing government of the Republic, and once the facts come out the government will be liable for 11,000 punitive damage suits if he's found innocent—and since no administration is going to pay that much money for another administration's error, they'll find some way to discredit what he says and come in with a guilty verdict. It'll just be another kangaroo court.”

  He stared at her in silence for a moment.

  “And your second guess?”

  “That the military will like it even less than the government. They're either going to have to admit that they raised a genocidal maniac to a position of authority, or they're going to have to argue that under certain circumstances 11,000 innocent civilian deaths is an acceptable solution to a problem.”

  “Very good points,” he said. “Now let me pose a single question: What do you think will happen to you and me when word gets out that we let him get away without lifting a finger to stop him?”

  “I don't know.”

  “Well, I do,” said Crane. “If we're lucky enough not to get blown away by some misguided patriot, I think it's not unreasonable to say that we'll never work again, and that we'll be viewed as outcasts and traitors everywhere we go.”

  “We could give our reasons,” said the Dragon Lady.

  “I agree—but if we're going to embarrass the government and the military anyway, why not arrest the son of a bitch and get ourselves off the hook?”

  “Then the only alternative, as I see it, is to make sure that no one ever knows he was here.”

  He shook his head. “You can't prevent it. Pagliacci will know as soon as his people contact him—and you can't hold him incommunicado forever. The Black Pearl knows, and there's always a chance she'll let it slip. You and I know. Bello knows—and what's to keep him quiet once he's safe again? Anyone with my security clearance can order Cupid to open the Priority File—and once I'm off the ship, anyone with your clearance can do the same. And that's just the people who are on the Comet right now. Somebody brought him up here; somebody's got t
o take him away. There are too damned many people involved in this.”

  “I disagree,” said the Dragon Lady. “The only people involved are you, me, the Black Pearl, and Pagliacci. If anyone spotted him on the way up, word would be out by now; and we can see to it that no one spots him on the way out. As for the computer, no one will want to access that file unless you give them a reason to—and if you don't tell anyone he was here, they won't have a reason.”

  “Is that everything you have to say on the subject, or have you got something else?” asked Crane.

  “No, I believe that covers it.”

  “All right,” he said decisively. “I've listened to your arguments, and I've concluded that they don't justify letting Quintus Bello leave the ship free as a bird. The man's a convicted killer, an escaped convict, and a hell of a trophy. The only question remaining is whether we lay siege to him or try to roust him out.”

  “No, Mr. Crane,” said the Dragon Lady. “There's another question to be answered as well.”

  “What?”

  “How long can you stay on watch before you fall asleep?” she asked. “Because I won't be a party to this.”

  “I'm ordering you to.”

  “My primary duty is to secure the safety of the ship and its patrons,” she replied. “In my professional opinion, the only threat to that safety is Pagliacci. He has already murdered one of our patrons, and I don't think he'd hesitate to kill again if he thought it might lead to Bello's apprehension. As for Bello, I don't believe that he represents a threat of any sort whatsoever.” She paused. “I don't think obeying your order is in the best interest of the Comet.”

  “So you're on her side,” he said coldly.

  “I suppose I am,” said the Dragon Lady. “I think my reasons are more valid than hers, but when all is said and done, both of us are pledged to protect the Velvet Comet.”

  “He's going to be taken with you or without you,” said Crane. “You've just made a very poor career decision.”

  “I can live with it.”

  “Do you plan to sit on the sidelines, or are you thinking of actively helping Bello escape?”

  “I haven't decided yet.”

  “Then I suggest you consider your next step very carefully,” said Crane. “I can be a formidable enemy.”

  “I don't doubt it,” said the Dragon Lady. She paused. “I have the utmost admiration for you, Mr. Crane. You came up here and in something less than three days you solved a murder and lured Quintus Bello out of hiding. That takes an inordinate amount of talent. But now you're letting your ambition get in the way of your common sense, and if I have to choose between you and the Comet, I'll take the Comet every time.”