Rich Man's War (4 page)

Her current approach had gotten her this far. Yeoh could probably get further on simple passive research. Still, her ploy on this last operat
ion had borne some fruit. She’d put good people in the field and trusted in their abilities, and they had delivered. Her mind began considering other personnel who might be good to put into play. It wasn’t long before she decided which ship she would send, based largely on its captain. Concerns about her staff also came to mind.

Stepping out of the elevator
, Yeoh walked into the upper lobby overlooking the grand entrance to Ascension Hall. Below, tourists filed past the original oversized paper copies of Archangel’s colonial charters. Two marines in full dress regalia stood guard beside them.

The sight triggered an idle thought. She walked to
a navy crewman posted at the top of the stairs, also in dress uniform. His posture stiffened just a bit and he saluted sharply for the head of Archangel’s military. “Crewman Jones,” she said, reading his nametag as she returned his salute, “I’m looking for another member of the honor guard. Do you have today’s duty roster on your holocom?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. Technically, he did not break the stance of attention—he looked straight ahead, remained stiff and didn’t turn his chin, but something in his expression lightened as if to affect a grin. “But I imagine I can tell you where to find who you’re looking for off the top of my head.”

* * *

Nothing surprised him more than the frequency of one question: “Hey, would you mind if I took a picture with you?”

He’d gotten it from celebrities, ambassadors, wealthy political donors to the president and politicians in offices high and low. Six months ago, the most sought-after personalized souvenir of any visit to Ascension Hall was a picture of oneself standing alongside the president. While everyone still wanted that picture, they now also wanted their picture taken with Tanner Malone.

His fifteen minutes of fame seemed mostly over. He didn’t hear his name on the news anymore, nor were there requests for interviews. Talk of film adaptations of his experiences died off. He’d expected to fade back into obscurity. Yet there was still this.

At times, he was flattered, even excited. At other times, less so. He didn’t agree with the politics or practices of everyone who came through the palace doors. Yet as a member of the honor guard, he had a responsibility to be respectful, politically neutral—politically mute, to be more accurate—and exceedingly, unfailingly polite.

As such, he didn’t feel he had much of an option to decline.

Tanner answered the request before him as he always did: he smiled, stepped around from the desk to stand with the petitioner and said, “My only condition is that I get a copy, sir.” He shook the man’s extended hand. Tanner wore his dress uniform, with medals and badges and well-polished sidearm just as regulation required for duty at Ascension Hall. The man who stood beside him with a well-practiced smile and perfectly groomed goatee wore a business suit that cost at least three months of Tanner’s base salary.

“I’m Jonathan Hartmann,” said the gentleman, “though I guess you might’ve already heard that,” he added,
gesturing toward the civilian receptionist.

“Yes, sir,
” Tanner replied with a friendly nod. “Briarwood Capital is the largest independent investment firm in the system.”

Hartmann seemed gratified by that. “It’s always nice to be recognized, isn’t it?”

Tanner kept his mouth shut. He made a habit of looking up every individual scheduled on the guest book upon arriving at his post. People who entered Ascension Hall through this checkpoint tended not to be ordinary, anonymous citizens. They also enjoyed being recognized.

The man’s aide pulled her holocom from its earring mount, activated it and took a few steps around the pair to get a solid frontal-arc image. Few people went for the full three-sixty recording. Soon, Tanner instructed his wrist-mounted holocom to receive a tap-transfer and touched it against her slick, state-of-the-art device.

“That’s a nice piece,” Tanner said idly as the holocoms executed the file transfer.

“
Thanks,” she smiled at him, and then tilted her head curiously. “Hey, you’re wearing an earring. I thought servicemen weren’t allowed to wear those?”

“Old naval tradition, ma’am,” Tanner explained. He hadn’t meant to draw any attention to the humble gold bead in his left earlobe. “Sailors who survived a wrecked or sunken ship were entitled to wear one.” He gave a little wink
. “I’m pretty sure it’s more myth than tradition, but if it lets me get away with pushing the uniform boundaries, I’ll take it.”

“I had a couple of friends on the
Pride of Polaris
,” said Hartmann, his glowing and genetically perfect smile still on display. “I heard the whole story from their perspective, so I’ve wanted to shake your hand ever since.”

“Thank you, sir,” Tanner replied. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Mr. Hartmann,” spoke up one of the civilian staffers, “I’ll show you in. Right this way.”

Tanner
walked back around the desk. Predictably, with Hartmann out of earshot, the needling from the woman who ran the reception desk began. “Sooner or later, one of these people will just come straight out and ask if they can adopt you.”

“They’re not that interested in me, Beth
.”

“Oh, please. ‘
Oooh, you’re Tanner Malone! Can I have your picture? Will you sign my briefcase? Are you doing anything later?’” she mimicked.

Tanner rolled his eyes. “I have never once been asked out while on duty—“

“That you actually noticed,” Beth smirked, “but you are a little dense.”

“—and who actually uses briefcases anymore?”

“I’ve seen a few. Besides, it’s either that or sign a napkin. Or someone’s breast, but you’d probably get in trouble for doing that here.” She paused. “You’ve never been asked out while on the job? Some people might presume you and Andrea Bennet are still seeing each other, but it’s not like that ever stopped anyone in this town.”

He bit down on his first response. Beth was just teasing him, and he knew it. He also knew
her last comment was a marginally subtle probe. He didn’t feel like opening that line of discussion. “They’re not actually interested in me. They just want the picture.”

“You don’t think people want their picture next to you because they’re interested in you?”

“I think they want the picture so they can show it off to create a certain impression.” Tanner jerked his thumb in the direction Hartmann had taken. “It lets big, important people like him show that he associates with ordinary, everyday people like me.”

Beth frowned at him. “You aren’t ordinary people, Tanner.”

“Yes, I am. There are hours and hours of media stories to tell you so.”

“You don’t think that proves my point?”

“I think it proves that not everyone understands the concept of irony,” he quipped.

Rather than let him get away with that by laughing, Beth smacked him on the shoulder. Tanner accepted it without complaint. “Still. That’s a pretty cynical view
of things, isn’t it?”

“How long have you worked in
Ascension Hall?” Tanner asked. “You haven’t gotten cynical yet?”

“Oh, I’m plenty cynical,” she shrugged, “but you’ve only been here a few months. I figured it’d take at least a year or two for a kid like you to get that way.” Beth looked at him thoughtfully. “You’ve never been asked out?”

“Not the way you’re suggesting, no. Have I been asked out? Sure. Have women dropped hints? Sure. But nobody just walks up to me while I’m here in my shiny dress uniform and—“

Tanner always kept his eyes on the hallways.
His job mostly involved simple crowd control, courtesy greetings and a certain amount of pageantry. Dress uniforms were part of the spectacle of the palace. But neither he nor his sidearm were purely for show; he was also a part of the building’s security force, and as such he kept his eyes and ears open at all times.

H
e saw the admiral coming well before she was within conversational range, but popped to attention the instant she appeared. Unperturbed, Beth merely turned her eyes back to her computer displays.

“Crewman Malone,” said Admiral Yeoh, “how are you?”

“Fine, ma’am. Thank you for asking, ma’am.”

The corners of Yeoh’s mouth cracked in just the slightest show of amusement. “I wondered if you might join me for some
coffee.”

“Yes, ma’am. Soon as I can get relief here, ma’am.” He wasn’t due to have a break for another hour, but this was Admiral Yeoh. Every officer in the guard would tell him that his break would happen whenever the admiral damn well pleased.

“Excellent. I’ll see you in the south dining room.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

With that, Admiral Yeoh turned and headed back down the hall. Tanner relaxed his posture. He glanced at Beth and then grimaced at her amused expression. “Don’t,” he warned in vain.

“Don’t what? I was just gonna say she’s still rather pretty, especially given her age. You like that, don’t you, Tanner? Pretty, powerful and much, much older than you?”

Tanner let out a loud, grumbling sigh. He tapped his holocom to call his watch commander.

Beth didn’t bother to restrain her
teasing. “So, I want to know: is it the feeling of conquest that draws you to women like that? Or are you only interested in women who can conquer you?”

“That’s exactly it,
” Tanner replied. “That’s why I have erotic dreams every night about Gunnery Sergeant Janeka from basic training.”

“Wait, you have dreams about
what
?” asked the voice of the watch commander on his holocom.

* * *

“So, what are your thoughts on choosing a rating?” Yeoh’s eyes stayed on him as she sipped her cup of coffee. A handful of the other tables also hosted people in dress uniform—all of them officers, except Tanner—but by a wide majority, occupants of the south wing dining room wore civilian business wear.

“I’m sorry, ma’am?” Tanner had yet to touch the drink on the table in front of him. He sat up straight with his hands on his lap.

“Tanner, it’s one thing to observe military etiquette, but you don’t have to call me ma’am with every sentence,” she smiled. “This isn’t the first time we’ve met. Or even the third. Relax.”

His lips tensed for a second as he processed his reactions, but he nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” he exhaled, and then grinned a bit at himself. “
Meeting with you still isn’t something I would expect to happen on a random Tuesday.”

“No, but you interact with plenty of other VIPs and dignitaries here on a daily basis. You are not so tongue-tied with them. I’ve seen you be perfectly friendly and laugh
in such company. Some people come to that sort of grace naturally. Others have to learn it. I think you’re more of the latter, but you’re quick. I only adapted gradually as I climbed through the ranks. What’s your secret?”

“I’ve learned not to put people up on pedestals.”

Yeoh gave the slightest of nods. “Andrea?” She waited for an answer, but heard none and couldn’t blame him. “This is the point at which a lowly crewman can tell the head of the military that something is none of her damn business, Tanner. But I suspect you don’t have many people you feel comfortable talking to about it. For what it’s worth, I’m not judging.”

“Yeah, that’d make you about the only person in this town. Ma’am,” he added gratefully.

“Politics makes for a rough game. Andrea is very good at it, but even she takes hits. You might consider that she thought you’re worth taking a few.”

“It’s not just about politics,” Tanner replied, shaking his head. “At least, not that kind. I appreciate your offer, but I’m not sure this is a good time and place to get into it. But thank you.”

“Then back to my question: you must have given thought to choosing a rating. You’re twenty-two months in. By now you could be in a rating school… but you aren’t.”

“I wanted to do a tour here at
Ascension Hall, ma’am.”

“And after what you went through and what you accomplished, you had your choice of billets,” Yeoh nodded. “You could have named your duty station. You chose to stay here and open doors for people coming to meet the president.”

“People work pretty hard to get this post, ma’am,” Tanner pointed out.

“Most of them aren’t trying to hide in plain sight,” she countered gently.

Tanner blinked. The heavy, unsettling sensation he’d felt in his stomach from the moment Admiral Yeoh asked if he wanted to grab a coffee break with her intensified. “Ma’am?”

“I don’t actually know what ratings might appeal to you, but if I made some educated guesses, they would all require a full year of time in
a starship billet. You have nine months.” She paused, watching his reactions. “That sort of detail wouldn’t slip by you. At first, I thought you requested this duty to be close to Andrea. But after I gave it some serious thought—the kind of thought you would give it—I believe you knew the odds of that relationship going the distance. From the start, I’d imagine. And yet you still requested duty with the capital honor guard.