Tenacious

43

“Well, Jack, it’s now official. I have been invited to the General Session of the Associated Peoples annual session. Apparently, it’s being held three months early just for little old me.”

Kris tried to keep a happy grin on her face. Unfortunately for the debutante in her past, she was none too sure she meant a word she said.

“Where is this shooting gallery going to be held?” Jack asked before Amanda, Penny, or their tagalongs could say a word.

“One of the largest cities on the planet. It’s located in the zone with the highest tech. The one that first contacted us.”

“And then proceeded to keep the bad news to itself,” Jacques pointed out.

“Has anything been heard from the people you lased from orbit?” Masao asked.

“Not so much as a peep,” Kris said. “And when we cross their territory, we are not even tracked by radar.”

“Total shutdown,” Penny said. “But I notice we’re still on alert.”

“It only takes a few seconds to turn a radar on, track us, and launch,” Jack pointed out.

“So, are you going down?” Amanda asked.

“The invitations from both of the major zones say their leaders will be there personally and wish ‘to speak to me eye to eye.’ That phrase may not mean what it says.”

“Or it can mean exactly what it says,” Jacques put in.

“Yes.”

“So what do we do?” Penny asked.

“We do what we always do,” Jack growled. “We keep her safe despite herself. Penny, you are the admiral’s coordinator with the local police. So get on the horn and talk to the local police. Coordinate. Me, I’m the chief of her security. I will be talking to the chief of the security details of these other two top cats and seeing what they’re doing to keep their primaries safe.”

General Montoya paused for a breath. “We are going down to talk with civilized people with the usual problems of organized civility. Honey,” Jack said, turning to Kris, “don’t wait up for me tonight. I may be dirtside for a day or two.”

“You’re not mad at me, are you, Jack?”

“No, love. You do what you do, and I do what I do. We knew it would be like this when we decided to share as much of our lives as we could.”

Kris blew him a kiss, but he and Penny were already having their computers hook them into what passed for a communications net dirtside.

In seconds, both were talking to someone. Minutes later, they were headed dirtside on the same longboat with a detachment of Marines.

Jack was not in her bed that night, nor the next one. That day, the aliens finally showed up, clearly swinging around the sun and still in their long line ahead.

And that was the day Kris was formally invited to address the Associated Peoples the next day . . . with Jack’s approval.

She arose early the next day, pulled on her spider silks and donned her vice admiral’s dress uniform. At the last minute, she slipped on an armored wig as well.

What had Jack called it, the shooting gallery? Certainly, there was no one down there that had a beef with one of those damn Longknifes. However, she had flattened someone’s mountain.

Fearless Leader had not been heard from since the mountain got slagged, and the squadron continued to zip above that zone with not even a hint of radar ranging. Still, Kris chose to take no chance.

It proved to be a wise choice.