He Who Dares: Book Two (The Gray Chronicals 2) (62 page)

“That I am, sir.  Most people call me Conner.”

“As you might have heard, those that know me call me Mr. Anderson, those that don’t call me Andy.”

“And which class do I fall into?”  Conner eyed the man, seeing more than the superficial gloss.  This was definitely a case of the iron fist in the velvet glove.

“Don’t let him intimidate you, Conner.  He likes to play mind games.”  Mike chuckled.

“Yes, Mike hasn’t shown me an ounce of respect from the moment he first peed all over my pants when he was in nappies.”

“Nappies?”

“Um, yes, diaper?”

“Oh yes, now I understand.  That bad, huh?”

“Definitely.  Mike is one of the few people who is not awed by my sinister title.”

“In other words, he’s the chief spook.”  Conner looked at the man again.

“Really?”

“Yes,”  he sighed, “and one of my biggest headaches was finding and keeping track of our young friend here.”  That drew another look from Conner.  “I’d like to thank you for looking after him, Conner Blake.”

“Me, look after him.”  He snorted.  “More like the other way round it you ask me.”

“So what bring you to the wilds of the Inland Sea, Andy?”

“Your little surprise package.”

“Thought so, and?”

“The Boss tells me we are going to build them for you and the Royal Navy.  From what I’ve seen of your ship so far, she’s one tough little lady.”

“Why is it that I get the impression that you know more about the capacities of my ship than you should?”  Mike asked, looking at the older man.

“Let just say, that I had a few people keeping an eye on you,”  he paused a moment, “and what you were up to.”

“See what I mean, Conner, Chief spook.”  Conner felt a chill run up his spine.  Avalon agents on Earth were watching them?

“Remember the down and out homeless person you gave the credits to in Devonport?”  It clicked.

“Well, I’ll be damned.  I wondered about that.  I hope you don’t have any leaks in your plumbing, I’d like to keep her capabilities a secret as long as I can.  It might just give us an edge the Sirriens don’t know about.  Need a bit of secrecy there.”

“That’s up to the PM, but you know the rules.”

“You are the ones that set up the ‘no secrets’ clause in the constitution.”  Mike smiled at him.

“I know, I know, don’t rub it in, but in this case I think we can twist the council’s arm a little and get them to agree!”

“And so, you and Gordon will do a little smoke and mirrors on them.”

“That we will.  Not exactly lying, but...”  He let the last part of his statement hang.

“I need to hit the head, sir, be back in a moment.”

“Ask the house where it is, Conner.”

“Will do.”

“Conner, could you do me a favor,” Andrew asked, “I left a package in the back of my vehicle.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Could you bring it on your way back.  It’s one of the things the house bot can’t do.”

“No problem.”  With that, he stood up and strolled up to the house.

“That was a diplomatic way of getting me alone for a few moments.”

“Needed to talk to you privately, Mike, and I wasn’t sure if I could speak of certain subjects in front of your friend.”

“I understand, you could, but now he off it doesn’t matter...”

“I read your report on both your missions, the rescue and the Star base trips, and I must say it makes for good reading.”

“Did you know, and how did you manage to get a look at those reports?”  It made Mike a little uncomfortable knowing those reports were read elsewhere.

As they sat there chatting, several iridescent green lizards scampered across the walls in a game of chase, while another, about twelve inches long from nose to tail leap from the wall onto the table and ran across to run up Mike’s arm.  It perched on his shoulder a moment, looking at him, its long forked tongue flicking out to touch Mike’s neck.  Absently, he reached up to scratch the flat crest, and the lizard moved closer.

“Hello old friend, how are you.”  He asked, turning his head slightly.  In answer, the lizard gave a soft hiss and settled down on his collar.

“I see your old playmate still recognizes you.”  Mike smiled and nodded.

“I get the impression from your after reading that you left out a lot.”

“I few things, but you avoided my question?  How did you manage to get a look at those reports in the first place?”  Mike could have sworn Andy Anderson looked uncomfortable for a moment.

“Um, that’s a state secret.”  He answered lamely.  Mike laughed.

“In a Government that doesn’t have secrets, huh.  What a laugh.”  He didn’t try to hide the cynicism or bitterness.

“I can’t tell you because it might compromise our people on Earth, should you be captured or something.”

“Or something?  Like being put under TD-Penta for one?”

“Mike.”  Now he looked definitely uncomfortable.

“You could have stopped it, you knew, didn’t you?”  It was more a statement than a question.”

“Yes.”

“You knew what I’d been through, and what Terry and his brother did, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”  He looked out of the wall at the boats on the water.  His face blank.

“So?”

“I couldn’t stop it.”

“Why?”

“Because of who you are, that’s why.  Even though you are the grandson of the President, for me to interfere would have destroyed all that we are building here.”

“So I was sacrificed on the altar of the greater good, is that it?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s a crock, and you know it.  No secrets, no favoritism my ass.”  Mike gulped down the last of his beer and slammed the glass down on the table.  Pain flared in the back of his head as he did.  He didn’t try to suppress it or hold it back, he let it come.  “Do you know what it did to me?  Do you know the price I had to pay?”  The pain behind his eye intensified.

“How I have to hold my emotions in check every single time I get into an argument?  Do you?”  He snapped, his face tensing in pain.  “I can’t fight anyone for fear that this pain will turn me into a foaming at the mouth idiot.”

“I know.” 

“Like hell you do.  I’m a Naval Officer in His Majesties Navy, and pretty soon I will have to fight, what then?”

“That was the choice you made, even knowing the consequences.”

“You’ve got that right!”

“And you seem to have found a way the conditioning.”

“Not really, just a few times.”

“Like when you fought Kevin Barker?”

“Figured you know about that as well.”  Mike massaged his temples but it didn’t help.

The Intelligence Chief looked over the wall, his eye fixed on the boats, not daring to look at Mike.  He knew the pain he was in, wishing he could help.  The lizard nestled against Mike’s neck began to change color, hissing and raising and lowering its crest, a sure sign it was unhappy.

“Control is everything Michael, in everything.”

“Control!”  He snapped back, gritting his teeth.  “A man attacks me for no reason without a formal challenge, what was I supposed to do, run?”

“You could have issued a challenge of your own, and called for a Proctor.”

“When did I have time to do that?  He drew his weapon and attacked.”

“Running would have been an option.”

“Not on this damn planet.”

“So you killed him.”

“Only after his brother, my friend struck me from behind...  I didn’t have a choice.”

“Yes, you did.  You are good, very good, but you let your emotion get away with you, as usual.”

“Damn you!”  Pain lanced thought his brain and he saw red flashes around the circumference of his vision.  “Oh God!”  He muttered.  At that moment, the lizard turned and struck, biting him on the ear lobe.  “Shit!”  He yelled, stumbling to his feet.  Instantly Andy Anderson was by his side.

“Easy Mike.  Lay down!”  Mike didn’t have much choice as the poison attacked his system.  Conner came running up just as he slumped to the ground, weapon out and pointing to the Security Chief.

“What the hell did you do to him, you prick!”  He yelled, shoving his weapon into the man’s side.

“Easy, Mr. Blake.”  Andy Anderson slowly stood up, his hands in the air.  Conner looked at his Captain, lying on the ground withering in pain, blood on the side of his neck.  The foot long green lizard now sat on his chest intently looking into Mike’s face, hissing softly.

“Good God!  That frigging lizard bit him!”

“Yes, it did.”

“But those things are supposed to be poisonous!”

“They are, deadly...”

“Get a doctor, NOW!”  Conner shifted his aim, pointing at the lizard.

“No need.  As I was saying, they are deadly poisonous to the wrong people.”

“What?”

“He didn’t poison, Mike, just bite him.”

“And so?”

“Wait, and you will see.”

“Like hell, I’m going to call for a doctor, or get him back to the ship, you slag!”  Andy Anderson sighed, moving carefully back and sat down.

“Look.”  He said, pointing to Mike.  Conner did, seeing Mike start to relax.

“He’ll be fine in a while, Mr. Blake.”

“Says you!”

“Do you know about his, um...  trouble here on Avalon that last time he was here?”

“Trouble?”

“Yes.  He killed two men in a duel.”

“The hell you say, why?”

“Two brothers, they attacked him without prevarication, and without a formal challenge.”

“So?”  Conner flicked his eyes back and forth between Anderson and his Captain, not sure what to do.

“His punishment was a chemically induced pain response to prevent him from ever dueling, or fighting again.”

“Is that what he’s going through now?”

“Yes, to a degree.”  Andy Anderson looked at Mike and sighed.  “At the time, there was nothing I, or his Grandfather, Gordon Tregallion could do about the sentence, as it was justified.”

“Hell of a punishment.”

“It was that or immediate execution, which is what the boy's family demanded.”

“He killed them deliberately, then?”

“Yes and no, and it depends on what you call deliberate.”

“I mean he wanted them dead?”