Kris Longknife: Audacious Part 6

Hold it? How did Gramma Ruth get into this soiree?

Kris realized she was not holding up her end of the conversation. "Who gave you an invite?" she asked softly.

Again the old campaigner laughed. "Us college professors have our ways. We may be poor, but we're genteel poverty. Don't think my name was ever mentioned." She glanced around. "Some old fart here is without his wife, I suspect. Ah yes, he's in line to dance with the confetti girl. I'll have to tell his wife. Or not."

Kris figured there was one item she wouldn't mind having the whole universe know. "You know anyplace where a girl can get decent shoes to wear that aren't combat boots?"

The two of them studied Kris's feet.

"In your size, I'd suggest the company that made my old milking shoes, back in the days when I was just a poor farm girl looking for a nice boy to settle down with me on Hurtford."

"Boy did you miss. Gramma, I'm thinking you're not the one I should talk to about finding a man."

"Oh, I'm the one, gal. Boy's are easy to find. Men, now, that's a whole lot harder to do. Hey, you, Marine. Yeah, you, Lieutenant."

Jack turned from where he'd been facing out, giving Kris as much privacy as anyone in a social goldfish bowl could have. "Yes, ma'am."

"When you going to make an honest girl of this woman?"

Kris yelped, but Jack held his ground manfully. "Commander Tordon, there is no way I could make an honest woman of a Longknife. They are born into iniquity and it only gets worse as they pa.s.s the age of reason. a.s.suming they ever do. Sorry, ma'am. I'll take a bullet for her, but there is no way to make her honest."

Which, Kris had to admit, was a very neat sidestep of the question Kris would have loved to have a straight answer to. And a warning of what lay ahead if she ever did figure out a way to pop that question to the main man in her life. Oh, pooh!

The night dragged on in mindless chatter. By the grace of some bored G.o.d, Victoria Peterwald folded her tent and slipped away before the first yawn attacked Kris. So she got home at a decent hour and actually enjoyed a good night's sleep.

Officially, Kris counted that as a good day.

Interlude 1

Grant von Schrader drummed his fingers on the door of his limo. He drummed them while Miss Victoria Smythe-Peterwald posed for one last photo shot...five times.

The young woman was vain. Very vain.

The door finally closed and the driver immediately put the mult.i.ton behemoth in motion. Grant continued drumming his fingers until his personal computer, directly plugged into his brain, announced, THE CAR IS SECURE.

"Remind me again why your father sent you to Eden?" Grant said as softly...and as deceptively as his temper would allow.

"I believe he said something vague, like you are to show me the ropes," the young heiress said, arranging her dress so that it fell tightly across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, allowing nipples to raise their distracting heads.

Grant swore softly to himself and praised the common sense that came with age and lower hormone levels.

"I believe he also mentioned something about helping you develop enough common sense so that you'd survive a bit longer than your brother."

That got a raised eyebrow from the young woman. Was she wondering if Pater had pa.s.sed along coverage of that meeting...or if Dad's security wasn't as tight as he boasted.

But she said nothing...and Grant left her unenlightened.

Grant let his student fully measure that thought through a long pause. "It was foolish to confront the Longknife brat."

"And why should it be?" came back without a second for reflection. "She murdered my brother. I can't let her live. She knows that as well as I do."

Grant sighed...soundlessly. Thirteen generations and the Peterwalds had come to this. He'd met the thirteenth of that name twice and been unimpressed. His sister was not coming across any better. He warily drew in a deep breath and began-again-the education of this gorgeous pig seated beside him.

"Your brother is dead. There is no doubt about that. However, just how he ended up dead is subject to some conjecture. What there is no doubt about is that he crossed swords with Miss Longknife-frequently. A neutral observer might consider that a bad habit you might want to break."

"She killed my brother. She will pay," Victoria hissed.

So much for lesson one. With little expectation of greater success, Grant went on to lesson two. "No more men will be spending an hour alone with you in your bedroom."

"Oh, and Vennie was so pleasant a companion," the young woman said, licking her lips. "I haven't seen him around recently. Where is the boy?"

On a slow starship back to Greenfeld where he would explain himself personally to Henry Smythe-Peterwald, XII. Grant hoped Harry would be very interested in what he did with his daughter for an hour...and why he put at risk a project that had been fifteen years in development. Grant would not want to be in Vitali Gruschka's fashionable shoes for that meeting.

"He has been called to a meeting with your father," was all Grant said.

The young woman smiled as if she knew something Grant did not. Or maybe did not care about a man who'd worked hard and well for Grant for ten years.

"You do not kill a Peterwald and live," was all she said.

"Then kill her someplace else. We have business here on Eden. Profitable business. And I do not care for you washing your dirty linens in my backyard. Your father sent you here to learn about making a profit. You can kill this Longknife troublemaker anywhere else you want. Just not here."

The young woman seemed to mull that over for a while, then smiled. "Yes, Uncle Grant. I most certainly can."

Von Schrader wasn't totally sure what that meant, but he'd done about as much as he could for one evening. He'd learned long ago that Peterwald heads were very dense.

One of the reasons he was here on Eden, about as far as he could comfortably get from Harry.

But if the first package Henry Peterwald dropped on Grant was a pain, the second package was a delight.

Later that evening, when Miss Vicky was hopefully well and solidly put to bed, a door opened in Grant's study that most visitors thought was just his "I-love-me wall," full of pictures of Grant with movers and shakers.

To Grant, it was his target wall.

And an experienced target was the ramrod-straight warrior who came from the secret pa.s.sage that led to the wall.

"Eginhard Petrovich Mller," Grant said, hugging the man. "I thought you'd be dead by now."

"Who in the old team would have believed that Lucky Grant would live to grow a paunch," the younger man said, patting Grant's flat belly.

"When they told me you would be leading the team, I had it run through the decoding gear twice. But no. It was you. And the rest of the team, is it as hard as you?"

"As hard as you taught me to be." Eginhard grinned back.

And yes, Grant's young lieutenant was showing gray around the temples. So the kid had learned wisdom and now led his own company of storm troopers. Of course, Grant told himself, I am no older. He laughed.

"And the company, are they arriving soon?"

"Many of them are already here, sir. Everyone has their own cover. No two alike. If one goes south, we will not weep, but, at least so far, all have reported in. Are the police here on Eden blind?"

"Not blind, just old and comfortable in their ways. The place is a ripe fruit, ready to be plucked."

The team leader clicked his heels at attention and saluted. "We dreamed of plucking fruit in the old days. Now we shall."

12.

Kris actually jumped out of bed when her alarm woke her at Oh Dark Early. Marines were the best of company to keep early in the morning. For her jog, Kris figured she could go light. She just pulled on a spider-silk body stocking, sweatshirt, gym shorts with ceramic slat inserts, and combat boots with similar armor.

Proof against most personal weapons, she slipped her own automatic into the small of her back...and ran into Jack and Penny in the hall.

"Got to stand up to the Marines," Penny said. Her sweatshirt said GO NAVY.

Jack's sweats were still Wardhaven Secret Service, which was to say, blank.

Kris laughed with her friends and strode outside.

And came to a roaring halt.

Captain DeVar stood waiting for her. He saluted as Kris took in what he had arrayed before her. "The Marine Detachment is ready for PT, Your Highness."

"In full battle rattle!" Kris yelped.

That they were. Each Marine stood with his or her M-6 at port arms. Without a full inspection, it was beyond Kris's kin, but it sure looked like each of them were in full-battle gear...with a full-battle load.

"Is all this necessary?" Kris whispered.

"Your Highness, I will not take my Marines in harms way without proper armor and equipment."

Kris waved at her eyebrow and the Marine captain smartly dropped his salute. "Gunny Sergeant, open the detachment," he ordered.

Orders were given and half the Marines smartly took three steps forward, leaving room for Kris and company to slip into the s.p.a.ce between First and Second Platoon.

"Do we have a permit for this much firepower?" Kris asked.

"I fully expect that anyone concerned about that fine point of the law is still sound asleep. Shall we get started, Your Highness, so we can complete our run before that changes?"

Properly chastised, Kris settled in between Jack and Penny.

"Oh, one more thing, Your Highness. Local marksmanship is reported to be pretty bad, so we'd appreciate if you'd wear this." Captain DeVar handed Kris a bright red sweatshirt. On the front a mean-looking bulldog growled SEMPER FI, from behind a golden globe, anchor, and rocket ship.

On the back was a target in circles of Navy blue and gold.

"Thank you so much," Kris said, then pulled the shirt on over her armored one.

"Don't want any Marines ending up as collateral damage," the captain explained with a grin. "If one of my Marines takes a hit, I want it in the front, charging the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."

"Ooo-rah," answered that. Softly, so as not to wake anyone.

"Gunny Sergeant, move the detachment out."

And they headed for the mall. There had been a light rain during the night. The air was cool with the smell of trees and fresh earth. And honest sweat. They had the place to themselves, except for a trash truck carrying off yesterday's refuse. Three miles never went so quickly for Kris.

Though it did leave her a bit breathless. She was spending way too much time being a social target. She'd better start paying attention to that target on her back or someone just might score a bull's-eye.

As they jogged up to the emba.s.sy, a large black sedan pulled to a stop ahead of them. Gunny brought them to a halt as Inspector Johnson got out from the driver's side. No chauffeur today...or maybe just at this hour.

Kris broke ranks to trot up and join the inspector. Jack and Captain DeVar hung back in easy hearing and close support.

"Didn't expect to see you this early," Kris said to break the ice of the hard glare the cop was giving the Marines.

"I got a wake-up call from the Sanitation Division. Someone asking if the mall was being invaded. I suspected I knew where the invasion came from." He opened his arms as if in surprise. "Here I am and here you are. And you and you," he said, nodding toward Jack and the captain.

"May I dismiss the troops, Your Highness?" DeVar asked.

"Please do," the inspector said.

"Kindly do," Kris said, and quickly, quietly, it was so.

Jack and Penny took guard around Kris, checking out the building roofs, streets, and any other potential site where death might reach for her. The Marines in battle dress raced off, but didn't leave her unprotected for long. A minute hadn't gone by before two marines in khaki double-timed from the emba.s.sy. The apparent duty team on sensors were followed only moments later by one Marine hobbling on crutches as quickly as he could, his left foot in a cast, him in a hurriedly donned sweatsuit.

That was when it hit Kris. She'd been adopted into the Marine Corps family. They had made her one of their own. It sent a shiver down her spine. And stiffened it, too. These men and women would lay down their lives for her.

Of course, the unspoken contract flowed both ways. Loyalty went up and down or it didn't go at all. As unlikely as it might seem to some, she now owed her life to them. A stranger to the uniform might not see much prospect for Kris to pay the full price for one of these privates or NCOs.

Kris knew differently. A solemn vow now bound each of them equally.

And that was the only way it could be. One for all. All of them for each other when the mouth of h.e.l.l was yawning and the piper demanded his pay.

Kris found herself standing a little taller, her back a bit more ramrod, as Gunny would expect of her, even as she pa.s.sed the time of day with Inspector Johnson.

If he was aware of the change that came over the woman in front of him, he certainly showed no evidence of it.

"Did you bring over my weapons permit?" had been Kris's first gambit.