Prison Planet (THE RIM CONFEDERACY Book 3) (25 page)

That thought as it entered his brain made him suddenly want a Scotch, which he knew would help. He'd have to have a few of those before that confrontation, and he sighed as he stepped over the conduit cables that lay in his way and made his way back to the Marwick.

CHAPTER NINE

Rear Admiral Ethan Higgins was fit to be tied.
Could no one follow standard operating procedures anymore?

"Sir," his aide said, scurrying back into the admiral's office up on Pike Station, "the dang Tillion ship with their leader, the Narrisol, won't take Pad Seventy-three because it's beside the ship from Skogg and they have female crew members ... so they're stuck in the queue, but that's not the big one, Sir.

“The Eran ship is in its down glide, but they have already announced that they will not accept accommodations in the Andros Hilton—because according to them, the size of everything has yet to be modified for their use, Sir. Hotel GM did say that, yes, they have made changes to the whole floor that the Erans have reserved, but that it's on the second floor, not up on the penthouse level. They are unable to modify the lifts that they have—they are of a fixed size, so the Erans would need to use the stairs and that's got them in a tizzy. Sir." He looked down again at the stack of paperwork he carried in one hand and his tablet in the other.

"ShitAss," the admiral said and leaned back in his chair.

He knew that having all the heads of state arrive so damn late would cause some issues, but the Tillions with their misogynistic tendencies meant that all the women on Halberd would be fair targets, as usual, he thought and sighed.

"Call landing pad administration and move them over to the far end of the tarmac, what, Pad Ninety-six, I think, is all alone against the far edge of the pads."

He swept his gaze over his aide and almost smiled.

"Hop to it, Petty Officer," he said and then picked up his PDA and called the Hilton to speak to the general manager.

After learning that the man was busy with trying to quell a small issue in the lobby with the Abstract cotillion that was refusing to check in without all their animals—pets, they called them—he was stuck dealing with hotel staff.

“Then you tell them that I expect the Erans to be accommodated and made happy. Today. And they'll be in your lobby within the hour," he barked out at the poor hotel staff member on the other end of the line, and he stabbed the off button to end his contact.

He rose then and went to look directly out at the curve of the station as it swung across the view-port.

With more than 400 crew and staff on Pike Station, one could literally live their whole lives here,
he thought. We have living quarters, malls, recreational venues, and the best multi-planet cuisine on the RIM, but if there is one thing we do not have, it's a way off ... a way to go home.

He nodded at that thought even though he knew that he could simply book passage on the next RIM Navy ship outbound and he could go anywhere. So, he realized, could anyone here on Halberd except the convicts, of course. Best time to leave would be ... now, he thought and smiled to himself.

But few ever did leave, and he didn't know why that was either. The climate was moderate, and the planet hadn't had any kind of weather problem in recorded history. Jobs were plentiful as the prison system, which was the root reason for them all being here, had been in existence for over 100 years. The economy was always in an upswing, partially because the Andros council was always passing new zoning bylaws to allow expansion outward from the city. Farms were farmed, pods were made, and the power from the volcano went on forever.

He shrugged and noted that the cruiser from Lurdar had just sidled up to the edge of the station. He chuckled as he remembered the Lurdarians hated to land anywhere. They'd take the EL down as they always did. Way out, he saw a lit ship but couldn't tell which world it came from other than it was a destroyer, and he watched as she yawed to port and swung slowly toward the station.

The more the merrier,
he thought and turned toward his petty officer who was hustling back into the office with more papers in his hand—more issues to be handled. He almost grinned and thought,
tomorrow's Anniversary party had better be a good one ...

#

The Provost Guard was almost past his ability to hold it together, and he showed it to everyone who came near him at the supplier access entrance at the west side of the stadium. Coping was a skill that had value in his job, but this was just too much.

"Ma’am, Ma’am, I am sorry but you cannot just show up with thirteen dancers when you have only eight tickets," he said again in an exasperated voice. He held up his hand again, palm toward the woman who was obviously from Bacu. Her dress, hair, and jewelry screamed gypsy. and the girls around her were all giggling and jumping around, which had made it hard for the guard to have counted them.

"We were invited," she yelled at him and thrust a wad of papers at him but he ignored that ploy.

"Eight, Ma’am. When you come back to the line with only eight dancers, you can come in."

He closed his eyes as she screamed at him, but he opened them as her voice slowly diminished as she moved away, still yapping at him.

"Next,” he said and then took a moment to smile as he knew the next group in the access line.

"Countess, how nice to see you again. Your papers, please?" he said and held out his hand to accept the sheaf of invites. Counting them, he noted the farmers in front of him were all coming in—fourteen of them anyways. He checked them off on his tablet and nodded as the Countess and her crew manhandled the dollies piled with cases of fresh fruits and vegetables and even moved the stanchion on one side to let a big dolly sidle by. He nodded and as he turned back to the next entrants, a bunch of buskers, and sighed, he felt a nudge on his left arm.

"Provost, here, Tibah says this is for you," a tall Nerian he'd just let in placed a fresh fancy—part strawberry, part kiwi into his hand, and he smiled back in thanks.

"Okay, buskers … one by one, invites, please?" he said and the first of them, some kind of a juggler, judging by the huge bag of balls and clubs, presented himself at the head of the queue. Better check that bag, he thought and dropped the fancy into his pocket as he reached for the bag. At least behind this lot, he could see some Altos from Randi, who only sang so wouldn't have much to check, but behind them, he could see some of those six-armed unicyclists from Randi, and his smile disappeared. He'd have to check each of those bikes.

As Tibah and her crew moved across the pavement to the tunnel from the back rear of the stadium, the dollies moved easily, but she knew that as soon as they cleared the stands in the west side end zone, the grass would bog them down … and moments later she was proved right.

"Faisal, we're going to have to hand-bomb these all out to our stall, Mari-ah, find out which one is ours, and we'll catch up," she said, grabbed a case of something, and led the way to the roped off Farmers Market with its 100 stalls. It took up the last thirty yards of the field at this end plus the end zone, and while corridors along the sidelines were maintained, the market space was large. It had interior aisles so the Celebration event goers could shop, and there were even a few sit-down patios for patrons to take it easy. The Market would be open all day and close just as the Celebration event speeches started at dusk, but until then the whole stadium was going to be a festival for all to attend, and many of the Andros citizens would do just that.

"Here, Tibah, we're here!" Mari-ah yelled at them, and Tibah was glad to see they were at the farthest stall onto the field side of the Market, yet she groaned when she realized they had more than 100 cases to slug over that far.

"Okay, let’s get set up. We open in less than an hour," she said and kept on walking slowly with that big box still in her arms.

As they continued to set up, around them in the stands, people were arriving and taking seats, but soon they noticed the Farmers Market and worked their way down through the stadium stairs to pop out on the field and see what they could find.

Buskers, of course, were everywhere and took that opportunity to try to cadge the citizens to watch and be in awe and then donate a credit or two. The unicyclists were a hit as they climbed up the stadium stairs then came bouncing down and did whirls and flips as they did.

Singers were there too and the sound of that four-part harmony done by the Altos from Randi was reverberating all around the stadium.

Dancers too were there, and they did a conga line throughout the aisles of the Farmers Market that was a real hit. Tibah felt like joining in but realized she had no time for that. Arranging the fancies took some time, and as soon as they had some of the newest ones up, citizens quickly lined up.

She smiled at Mari-ah and noted that the young woman’s idea about bringing along frozen ices to scoop into some of the fancies was proving out. The queue in front of the ice station at the far eastern side of their stall was the longest she could see.

Throughout the day, Tibah tried to help all of the various spots in their stall where new products were needed by doing the running between the boxes and the counters so her crew could keep their sales going. As if the money mattered, she thought, and then realized if she began to think about the day, and what it would mean to her, she would be lost.

Better to think about Olbia, her home planet, and what today would mean for her family and her planet's citizens.

Today would mean more to Olbians than any day in her past.

She smiled at that.

No matter what it might cost her and her family … and Nusayr too.

#

It was obvious the mayor was nervous. It was up to him to start off the Celebration evening ceremonies, and he was still standing at the back of the stage going over his index cards..

Amateurs
, Tanner thought and then smiled too. He had never had to do this kind of thing, he would admit, standing up in front of thousands and thousands of citizens to welcome them all to the 100th Anniversary Celebrations of No Escapes off Halberd, but then again, he was sure the mayor had never had to fight aliens either. Sounds about right, he thought and maintained his position at the far western edge of the huge stage that sat on the field at one side of the fifty-yard line.

Surrounded by the force field, the stage looked slightly blue in color. Tanner and the XO were the only ones on the actual stage that were handling the security of the heads of state of more than two dozen worlds or realms. His XO was off on the far eastern front corner of the stage, armed with the same Colt that Tanner also wore on his corner, and the rest of the stage was comprised of tiered seated heads of state.

Behind the stage under the empty stands he could see as he turned, he knew the security details and the SWAT teams were being housed and held there in case something happened. That made Tanner smile a bit, and he wondered if they'd be asleep with all the speeches that were yet to come.

He turned back to the main stage to take inventory. After all, he was the officer in charge.

At the back end of the stage, in seated rows, sat the not-so-important folks who had rated a seat but not near the front. Tanner had personally checked each and every one of them, and while he did raise his eyebrows at some of them, they all were vouchsafed by a real live VIP already on the stage. He wondered why the Eran had included someone he had stated was his "vibration master" and what kind of vibrations that meant. He wondered why the Lady had included some kind of a Carnarvon college professor who looked totally out of place. The fact that the XO said the guy was a whiz when it came to Confederacy laws, made him wonder what that had to do with sitting on the stage. Also he noted, there were a couple of EliteGuards, a brace of Ramat bodyguards for the Caliph, and the Chief Provost, who had brought his wife and kids. Why was beyond Tanner, but then that wasn't his job today.

Closest to the slightly raised dais and microphone that would be the center of attention was the Sharia al Dotsa, the Caliph, who as the Vice Chair of the RIM Confederacy Council would be the real Master of Ceremonies this evening. At the moment, the Caliph was focused on his wrist PDA and obviously frustrated at something.

Beside him sat the Duke d'Avigdor, in his best sashed Duke togs, Tanner saw, and he smiled at the Duke whenever they glanced at each other. Beside the Duke was his newest boss, the Lady St. August, who Tanner had to admit looked dashing in her royal magenta outfit with that sash that held some kind of Barony heraldry.

Beside her, as luck would have it, sat the Eran head of state. The Eran head of state was called the Nizami, and he sat carefully on his huge industrial-sized chair, almost totally blocking out the view of the few behind him in the next tier of seating.

That row Tanner had no attention for, but he did glance over at the other side of the stage to note that the mayor’s chair was empty. The admiral looked askance at the Max Island warden and the Farm warden who sat there followed by several more of heads of state or their ambassadors. Finally, he looked at the end of the row where Craig, his XO stood, who gave him a nod as if to say what a way to spend an evening.

On the huge stadium-sized stands in front of him sat almost five thousand citizens, all with their own planet allegiances, and some, of course, wearing shirts and holding up flags of their realms. He could see the twin crowns of the Barony, the Duchy dove, and the Caliphate lion, and more, but he noted there was not a single Navy flag showing, which was normal. Navy is as navy does was true. He had the sudden thought that he'd never have to think RIM Navy again as of tomorrow.

The area behind him, somewhat closer to the other eastern end zone, was the Busker area and the Farmers Market area. The large patio and park areas where citizens could shop and be entertained were also in this area, and at this point was emptying as the citizens were filling in some of the thousands of seats right on the stadium grass in front of the stage. Most were filled, he noted, but then in any group of people, some were always early for things, and as he watched families and folks move to those seats, he realized too that some came late for everything. And above them on the huge digital scoreboard view-screen, the video showed the empty dais and microphone just sitting there, hundreds of feet across.