[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
file:///G|/eMule/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20Long%20View%....%20M%20-%20Lon
g%20View%2003%20-%20Zelde%20M'Tana%20v1.0.txt without the blue-and-red plastic
mask-which now, she saw, swung at the woman's belt-she knew it.
Turk, stopping, spoke first. "Policebitch!"
Before Zelde could answer, tugging.at Turk's arm to get her moving again, Lera
Tzane said, "Of course there'll be Committee Police here. I'm surprised we
haven't seen any
112
before, here in town." Then: "Come on, Turk. Do you \iwant\i to look
suspicious?"
Page 70
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Kestler nodded and began walking. Rooster winked, and muttered encouragement.
Nudging Zelde with her elbow, Tzane laughed; after a moment Zelde understood,
and laughed also.
\iA mistake, maybe.\i Because now the Policebitch-and that was the only way
Zelde could think of her-
turned to look at them, and stopped.
They kept walking. Zelde mentioned how the light shone off the windows of a
pink stone building;
Lera gestured toward a flagpole in the vacant square across the road. Rooster
laughed.
As they came closer, Zelde saw the .woman better. Tall-a strong-looking person
with a dark, lean face under close-cut black hair. Indian, maybe? American
Indian, she meant. Not smiling or scowling, just giving them an intent look.
And standing in the middle of the path-so that when they reached her, the only
natural thing to do was stop.
"You're off the ship?" The quiet voice gave away nothing.
Lera Tzane was senior; she answered. "The \iGreat Khan.\i Yes."
"And you have your papers, of course."
Quickly, Tzane produced hers, and gave her name and rank. Gesturing toward the
others, "They're with me." And before the woman could ask, gave their names
and ranks. Yes, that was right, Zelde thought-to UET, it's who's in charge
that matters. Nobody else counts.
Looking at Lera Tzane's ID, the Policewoman nodded. "Promoted on this trip,
right? How did that happen? I see this is only your third time out."
Tzane gave a quick summary of her space career. Best part, thought Zelde, was
that except for blaming
Second Officer Terihew's death on a drive room accident, it was nearly all
true. \iGood thing it's not me, having to do this spiel!\i
Tzane got her papers back. "All in order, Second Officer. One thing, though-do
you go in for this sort of outing much? Officers and ratings together, I
mean-socializing."
Lera made a tiny shrug. "Off-duty rules have eased quite a lot, even at
Headquarters-Newhausen Port-
on Earth.
\r 113
\rCaptain Parnell didn't like it at first, but then he found it didn't affect
shipside discipline. And here-with our one lone ship groundside and only a few
on leave at once-he decided that segregated liberty tours weren't practical.
Too lonesome, with no other spacers around."
The Policebitch actually laughed! "'All right. Have yourselves a good evening,
and stay out of trouble."
"Of course-and thank you." As they walked away, Zelde felt relief. For one of
the Committee Police their own damned selves, the woman hadn't been half bad!
As if reading her thoughts, Lera Tzane said, "They're not all ogres."
One side of Rooster's face twitched. "No. It's just that you shouldn't
forget-any time they want to, they
\ican\i be."
Here was the widest part of town; the cross-streets were longer, and the group
strolled along one.
Away from the main road, the orderly row of buildings gave way at street's end
to a hodgepodge
file:///G|/eMule/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L...0Long%20View%2003%20-%20Ze
lde%20M'Tana%20v1.0.txt (68 of 196)15-7-2004 1:30:15
file:///G|/eMule/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20Long%20View%....%20M%20-%20Lon
g%20View%2003%20-%20Zelde%20M'Tana%20v1.0.txt gathering-close-packed, here,
with narrow alleyways running in no regular patterns.
The sky had darkened. Lera Tzane looked at her chrono; Zelde squinted at her
own. trying to apply ship's time to the Terranovan day. "We'd better start
Page 71
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
back," Tzane said. "There are a few things I need to do aboard ship, before I
go on watch." So they went back to the main road and walked toward the
groundcar. As they reached it, two more cars-neither filled-came down the road
and passed them.
Several of the riders waved and shouted greetings.
"That was Dopples." said Zelde, "driving the first car. Anybody recognize more
of them?"
Rooster nodded. ''Harger drove the other one. The ones with him are his First,
Juvier, and a Chief rating in Drive."
"In for their own spree," said Turk. She sighed. "Fact is, I think I'll stay a
while longer, myself. May have spotted a possible contact; like to have a shot
at following it up."
"I'll stay with you." said Zelde. "All right, Lera?"
Tzane nodded. "Surely. There's no need for you to go back, just because 1 do.
You can get rides with the others."
Zelde chuckled. "Or walk it, if we had to." She put a hand to her belt. "Yeah,
my handlight's here."
Rooster shook his head. "Not me. Hard day on watch, I had. Harger found what
was wrong with the adjustments on the Nielson cube. Little dent in a waveguide
elbow-
114
probably what knocked the old one out of balance. Anyway, we had to take loose
half the fixtures to get it out- and then put 'em all back." He shrugged. "But
at least now it's fixed. Anyway-you two go raise all the hell you want, but
I'm going back to the ship."
He and Turk kissed, and he got into the car with Lera. Turk and Zelde waved
after them as the woman drove away. Then they turned and walked downslope.
Turk said, "Zelde? Remember what I said before, about this contacting thing
being all mine?"
Zelde nodded. "Sure. Why?"
"Because with just the two of us, it's even more important. You mustn't
\inotice\i where I'm looking, or who at, or what little moves I might make, or
they might. Because if you notice, somebody else may spot you doing it. The
\iwrong\i somebody else."
It took Zelde a minute to figure how this had to work; then she grinned. "I
think I got it. It's not I don't
\iknow\i you, woman; it's just, I don't pay you much heed."
Turk squeezed Zelde's arm. "That's close. Closer is, you don't heed anything
that might strike you as unusual, if you did." Another squeeze. "Try not to
forget that. Zelde."
She nodded; fair enough. Now she thought about it, this wasn't much different
from one time, early days with Hon-cho's Kids, he'd had her sit decoy. It had
worked, too.
And anything she'd done before, Zelde figured, she could do again.
They found the two cars parked in front of a bar; the place looked a little
better than Barse's. Turk nodded toward it. "Want to go in, say hello?"
Zelde was thinking about it when someone hailed them. "Hey, Zelde-Turk! Come
on in." Carlo
Mauragin, holding a glass of jash, stood at the door.
Zelde shrugged. "Might as well, Turk." They joined him, and all three went
inside. Carlo got a load on fast, Zelde thought; he drained his glass and put
an arm around each woman. Heading for a table toward the rear, he called,
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]