Coming Home

Thirty-four

“Chase,” said Jacob. “You have a call from Mr. Conner.”

I didn’t know anyone by that name, which in our business happens all the time. “Okay,” I said. “Put him on.”

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was shocked when vid star Zachary Conner blinked on. He looked exactly as he had playing opposite Roma Carnova in Downtown. “Hello, Chase,” he said in that familiar deep baritone.

“Okay,” I said. “Who are you really?” Then I realized. “Khaled.”

Conner vanished, and my sailor buddy appeared. “Hi, Beautiful. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, thanks. You know, you don’t look as much like him as I thought.”

“No, no. Too late to walk it back.”

“Where are you?”

“Skydeck. I got your message, so I thought I better come right away.”

Several hours later, when the shuttle arrived at the terminal, I was waiting. It was nice to see someone smiling again. We fell into each other’s arms. “I know you were a bit reluctant about this, Chase,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, no. I’m glad to see you.”

“If you’re upset or anything like that, just tell me, and I’ll go away. But I hope you won’t.”

“Khaled, you should have let me know. This is crazy.”

“I know.” Suddenly he looked scared. “I can get out of your way if that’s really what you want me to do.”

“That’s not the problem. The Capella’s close. I’m going to be leaving in a couple of days.”

“Oh, God. I knew about that, but I didn’t expect you’d be going out again. I should have realized. Chase Kolpath to the rescue. How could I—?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.” He stood there looking helplessly around the terminal as if he might find a solution in one of the service shops. “Dumb. Don’t know how I could have been so dumb.”

“It’s okay, Khaled.”

I led him to the skimmer. He threw a suitcase in back, and we took our seats. “Actually,” I said, “when I left Earth, I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

“I know. And to be honest, I debated whether I should come. After I got your messages, I really thought about backing off, but I just didn’t want to let you walk away. And I couldn’t think of any subtle way to do this.”

“I’m sorry this has been so difficult, Khaled.”

He flashed that smile again. “Someone like you, Chase, I knew right away it wouldn’t be easy.” He buckled himself in. “I’m sorry you had to go through that experience with the Grainger. It must have been terrible.”

“It was,” I said.

“I had no idea you were doing this kind of dangerous stuff.”

“You must have gotten a clue after that lunatic sank your boat.”

“Yeah. I don’t know what that was about. I thought that was aimed at you and Alex. Have you figured out yet why anybody might be trying to do that?”

“No,” I said. “Maybe it was just a nitwit out for a good time.” I lifted us out of the parking lot. “Where are you headed, Khaled?”

He raised both hands. “Can you recommend a hotel for me? Something not too expensive.”

That, of course, was an invitation for me to take him in. But I wasn’t prepared to commit to that. “Sure,” I said. “I think you’d like the Cosmo. It’s a nice place, and the prices are decent.”

If he was disappointed, he managed not to show it. “Sounds good.”

He checked into the hotel, which was located in South Tasker, an Andiquar suburb. “The ride to the theaters and the historic sites is a bit longer than from some of the tourist hotels,” I explained, “but it would cost a small fortune to stay downtown.”

“No, this is good. Can we do dinner?”

“Sure,” I said. “You want to eat here? At the hotel?”

“Yes, if you don’t mind. I’ve had enough running around for one day.”

We were shown to our table by a bot, who produced two glasses of water. “Andiquar’s a beautiful city,” he said.

“Is this the first time you’ve been on Rimway?”

“Yeah. In fact, it’s the first time I’ve been off the ground at all. I’m surprised.”

“About what?”

“Well, they say that a lot of people get sick on the star flights.”

“That’s probably an exaggeration. Some people do, but not many.”

“Well, anyhow, I was glad to come through it without a problem.” He rotated his shoulders. “The gravity’s a little higher here, isn’t it? I’d expected to feel heavier, but I don’t really notice anything.”

“It’s only a couple of pounds,” I said.

The callbox asked if we were ready to order. We looked at each other, and I went with spaghetti and meatballs. “Sounds good,” said Khaled. “I’ll have the same.” We added some wine. Then he sat back and looked seriously into my eyes. “Chase, this trip is obviously not going to go exactly as I’d hoped. But that’s okay. Even if I only get this hour or so with you, it will have been worth it.”

“Khaled, that’s sweet.”

If he really was tired of traveling, he showed no sign of it through the balance of the evening. After we finished eating, we went dancing. I took him to the Moonlight Ballroom, then to the Golden Rose, and to Whitfield Park. Eventually, we stopped in at a small club off Lavender Row, where we finished the evening drinking cocktails beneath the stars. “I don’t suppose,” he said, “I could persuade you to run off with me to the Caribbean?” He smiled, to let me know he was kidding, but not really.

“Where’s the Caribbean?” I asked.

“It’s a group of islands in the Atlantic. Close to Aquatica. They’re really nice. You’d like the music. Moonlit beaches. You’d love Jamaica.”

That constituted the wildest moment of the entire evening because I found myself almost considering it. “Is this what you always do?” I asked. “Gallop into a town and sweep some unsuspecting young woman off her feet?”

He leaned forward and pressed my arm. “Can I read that as a yes?”

“Khaled, what would I do at Eisa Friendly Charters?”

Another grin. “You’d be the best-looking sailor on the East Coast.”

“Oh, yes. Sailors mostly swab decks, don’t they?”

“Seriously, that would be an easy issue to manage.” His tone had changed. His eyes were still locked on mine. “Chase, I know this is all very sudden. And I don’t expect you to answer now. But what I’m asking is that you think about it. Give me a chance. I love being with you.”

“This is only the second time we’ve been out together, Khaled. We’re practically strangers.”

“You don’t believe that any more than I do. And anyhow, it’s the third time.”

“Not by my count.”

“We were on the Patriot together.” He laughed. “That’s always been my experience with beautiful women. They tend to forget me.”

“Well, I guess we could count the boat ride as a time out together. Since you saved my life.”

“Oh, Chase,” he said. “You were never really in danger.”

“I see. So what you’re saying is that the nutcase who attacked us was really a plant, so you could make an impression?” I expected a laugh.

“Of course not,” he said. “You think I’d let somebody sink one of our boats to—?” He shook it off. “No, what I meant was that I was there, and there was no way I was going to let anything happen to you.”

I’d informed Alex that Khaled was in town, and he was wearing that occasionally smug smile when I showed up at the country house next morning. “Well,” he said, “how’d it go?”

“It was fun. I have to admit, he is a pleasure to be around. And I needed an evening like that.”

“Where is he now? Do you know?”

“He was talking about going down to tour the Hall of the People.”

“Well, things are pretty slow here. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? Go over there and join him?”

“Thanks, Alex. But I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”

“Oh.” He shrugged. “Well, whatever you want. Just let me know if you leave, okay?”