CHAPTER 13
The Governor and I went into the room he’d taken as his. Closed the door, moved to the far side. He sat in a chair and sighed. “Exciting day.”
“Too true.”
“Exciting days are hard on old men.”
“True enough.”
“Why did you tell them you were dealing with Janz the Butcher?”
“Had to. No one on this planet respects weakness.”
“Yes, I know. I’m the one who taught you that, remember?”
“Yeah. So, what do you recommend?”
He rubbed his head. “You need to go to the ship to place your call. They’ll be monitoring the communications here. And if you don’t make a call, that will be as bad as if you make one that’s traced.”
I sighed. “That means you need to go back to the ship, too. Patching a call through here will mean it’s monitored.”
“True.”
“You up to it?”
“Do I have a choice? I realize we could wait to make the call, but who knows what will happen between now and the time for your arranged meeting.”
“Good point. I’m figuring more people are going to try to force us to do things we don’t actually want to do.”
“Business as usual is always a safe bet, Alexander.”
“Thank you, oh very wise one. Think they’ve put bugs on the ship?”
“I’m sure they’ve tried. You still have the sweepers set up?”
“Never turn them off. Why are you asking me stupid questions?”
“Have to stall a bit before we decide to go talk on the ship.”
“Why so?”
The Governor sighed. “So it’s believable for the others. Randolph seems quite shaken.”
“He never gets involved with the negotiations. For a reason.”
“I suppose it’s wise. His new, ah, lady friend could present some issues, however.”
“Well, if we go to the ship to make the call, chances are good Audrey will know what’s going on. If we stay here, though, then we’re back to everyone monitoring our communications.”
“Ah, what a tangled web we weave.”
I rolled my eyes. “The drama can stop any time.”
“Miss Slinkie seems quite distressed.” The Governor was the only one who called her Miss Slinkie. I always got the impression he got a private kick out of it, but I wasn’t sure why. I figured it was something depraved and chose not to question.
“Yeah, none of us like to hang on Herion. Possibly because some old guy we know has spent a lot of time telling us how scary this place can be when they don’t like someone. And, you know, we’ve been here before.”
“I rather like coming to Herion. You, personally, are so much more pleasant to deal with when you’re forced to behave yourself.”
“You sound like my Great-Aunt Clara. Keep it up and I’ll leave you here.”
The Governor chuckled. “Idle threats scare no one, Alexander.”
“But I enjoy making them. Just like you enjoy calling me anything but the nickname I actually like. Have we stalled long enough? If you’re too tired to go to the ship, just let me know.”
He gave me a dirty look. “I’m old, not dead.”
“You’re still doing a great job of fooling everyone on that.”
The Governor stood up. “Yes, thank you. There are many times I ask myself why, out of all the people in this vast galaxy, I’ve become tied to your particular hip.”
“Mine’s the only hip you can trust.”
“True. And what that says about the two of us I shudder to contemplate.”
“Yeah, yeah, cry me a space trail. Let’s get going.” We went out and got questioning looks from the others. “We talked about it and figure no matter how well we’ve scanned, Herion’s got communications bugged. We’re going to call Janz from the Sixty-Nine.”
“Do you require my assistance, Captain?”
“No, Audrey. As long as the bug sweepers are still active, in place, and finding any and all the bugs the various Herion factions are trying to put onto my ship.”
She nodded. “Yes, Captain. I can and have been monitoring from here. Several different Herion Military have placed bugs, the Business Bureau have placed bugs, and an as yet unknown party tried to place a bomb. However, said party was captured by Herion Military.”
The Governor and I exchanged looks. “Perhaps we need to find another way to make contact,” he said.
“Open to ideas.”
He shrugged. “There’s always the old-fashioned way.”