Shadow Knight's Mate (22 page)

“Mr. Driscoll,” she snapped. “I heard about your recent exploit in France.” She stood up and spread her hands, speaking as much with them as with her voice. “So, you come to my hemisphere and you don't even call a person?”

And she ran over and hugged Jack.

With his arms awkwardly restrained he couldn't hug back, but Jack put his head down against the woman's neck and shoulder and closed his eyes. For a moment the two almost blended together. It was embarrassing to watch, which didn't keep Arden from staring open-mouthed.

The woman stepped back. Jack said, “I didn't have time that trip. I knew I'd be coming back soon. And here I am. Uh, Rachel—”

He turned around to display his restrained arms to her. Rachel frowned as if at a small puzzle.

“Ouch,” she said sympathetically. “They tell me those things really hurt.”

“They tell you correctly.”

“What can we do about this?”

“Are you saying you don't have the key?”

“I don't have the key.”

“Then could you please melt them with your laser vision? And be careful because I'd like to use my hands again some day. Like you do when you talk.”

She gave him a small wicked smile, then walked over to Arden, made a twirling motion with her hand, and Arden turned around. A moment later her handcuffs came off.

“You said you didn't have a key,” Jack said accusingly.

“Sue me,” Rachel said. She held out her hand and said her name to Arden.

“Arden Spindler.”

“Ah. I've heard of you. And how was the Chair when you left her?”

“You can imagine.”

“I can, actually,” Rachel said. The two women continued to look at each other. Rachel was a few years older, Jack's age. Arden was taller and heavier, Rachel a woman compressed to essentials. She looked dangerously thin, and to Arden as if she'd lost weight recently. Rachel reached out and squeezed Arden's arm in a kindly way and their introduction was done.

Rachel returned to Jack. She stood close in front of him, almost nose to nose, since he was a little hunched over, as if the harness kept him from standing upright. After a moment he said, “I didn't call because I knew I wanted to see you face to face.”

All seriousness, Rachel said, “It's that bad?”

“It's that bad.”

Without taking her eyes off Jack, Rachel said, “Ms. Spindler? There is a captain outside named Ari. Tell him, please, that I need the key to this contraption.”

“Yes ma'am.”

Arden slipped out the tent flap. She hadn't asked how she was expected to get the key if Ari didn't want to give it to her, and Rachel hadn't bothered to give further instructions. When she and Jack were alone in the tent, Rachel shook her head. “Jackie, Jackie.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Your girl friend's very pretty. A little young for you, isn't she?”

“She's not my girl friend. Not remotely. I don't trust her an inch.” Then he seemed to hear for the first time something else she'd said. “Rachel? Aren't we young?”

She smiled wistfully. “I think so. We're both shy of thirty. I personally am in great shape. I don't think you've reached your physical peak yet. Thing is, I thought we were grown when we were fifteen, so maybe our perspective's kind of skewed.”

Jack nodded ruefully. Arden returned through the tent flap, looking unruffled and holding up a key ring. Without a word she went behind Jack and used two keys to free him. Arden took the harness, apparently studying it closely while Jack rubbed his wrists.

“How are we going to explain this?” Rachel said. “I don't want to tell my people here that you and I have some past connection.”

“I conned you with some story and then overpowered you,” Jack suggested.

“Be serious.” Rachel paced for a moment. “You two were just lost—”

“Arriving here by jet helicopter? Yeah, we were actually on our way to the honeymoon suite at—”

“Yeah. Well, you could be the—”

“I'm tired of that one. How about if you sent—?”

Rachel shook her head. “I don't need any outside help. I'm kind of—” She shrugged. “—respected here.”

“Yeah. I'm surprised to see you taking such a high profile position, Rache.”

“Couldn't be helped. They needed a security consultant, and I couldn't let it be their second choice. Or third. So I had to step forward. Don't worry, I'll fade into deep background afterwards. This is very temp. The prime minister is concerned about—”

“The peace summit? More than he's usually concerned?”

“Yes.” Jack looked a question and Rachel shrugged again. “He thinks the attacks on America and your president's decision to withdraw and everything else that's happened has been a ruse designed to catch him off guard and lose him an advantage at the summit.” In answer to Jack's
That's ridiculous
expression, she shrugged again. “This is Israel.”

Jack nodded. He started to ask another question, then noticed Arden still standing there. He told her, “Rachel and I went to school together.”

“Really. You two've met before today?”

Arden remained deadpan. Rachel smiled at her. She touched Jack's arm, and her hand lingered there.

“What have you found out?” she asked then, and Jack gave her a rapid briefing. From Arden's perspective he didn't tell her everything, but that may have been because Arden was listening, and it was certainly because Rachel already knew a lot. As the two talked they sort of circled each other, staying close, Rachel's head bent sometimes as if to ease the flow of Jack's words into her ear. They brushed against each other like cats. Arden gradually lost her first impression that they were or had been lovers. They were something to each other, though, something that made her even more envious.

Jack finally said, “I need you to—” and Rachel said, “Already done. It should be three, four days at the most. In case you need to time something.”

“I don't know what. I'm kind of at loose ends after this, Rachel.”

“So you came to me?” She smiled. “Well, let's start with what we know.”

Jack remained silent.

“That's great,” Rachel said. Then more seriously, she said, “We've learned a little more about these planes that attacked your countrymen. Our scientists have been working with yours.” And Rachel had the information. No one asked her how.

“Planes?” Jack said.

Rachel nodded. “There were more than one. That's how they seemed to cover so much ground. More like rockets, really. Very fast but very short range. After they accomplished their purpose they more or less vaporized, which gave the impression of travelling so fast they disappeared.”

Jack nodded. That helped make sense of what had happened.

“But that must have cost billions,” Arden burst out. She'd
been trying to keep quiet, be invisible, but the comment jumped out of her mouth. The other two looked at her and it was clear they'd already understood that. Arden slipped backward, trying to regain her invisible status.

“She's right,” Jack said. “What country would spend that much to have America disengage with the world?”

Rachel shook her head. “Don't you think I've been puzzling over that question? I can't think of any.”

“No private terrorist network has that kind of—”

“Maybe they were stolen,” Arden said. “Maybe a government was working on them—”

“Without our knowing about it? Surely at least one of our people would have been involved.”

“Someone
was developing them, Jack, and we didn't know about it.”

They continued to discuss the problem in low voices, and Arden understood why Jack had come here. It wasn't as if he and Rachel were one mind, but two complementary ones. They came from different angles, had different information, different perspectives. They covered speculative ground in minutes that would have taken either of them days separately. One observation led to another. Arden became lost, especially as they mentioned people and events she didn't know about.

Jack's eyes were open wide and he stood back to back with Rachel, leaning back against each other. The small woman was still talking, and Jack was envisioning what she said. “Jack!” she said suddenly, turning around so fast that Jack almost fell. “I can think of one private organization with that kind of money.”

Jack questioned her silently.

“Us!” Rachel said. Her voice sounded bright, happy with the thrill of solution, then she gasped.

Jack was shaking his head. “No,” he mumbled, not in contradiction but in denial. “Why would we do this? Even the rogue faction I suspect…”

They both stood silent for a few moments. Arden was afraid they'd turn to her next. She practiced innocent expressions. But
after a few seconds Rachel and Jack shook their heads at the same time.

Running down the idea seemed to have refreshed them, though. They looked at each other with glowing eyes. Arden was quite sure they would have kissed at that moment except for two things: her presence and the deferential cough from outside the tent. “Colonel Greene?”

Rachel raised her voice. “I've almost finished interviewing the prisoners, Captain. Thank you for standing by.”

They heard footsteps withdraw. Jack smiled. “‘Colonel'?”

Rachel made a wry face. “I did this little thing last year, you wouldn't have heard about it, and got kind of a battlefield promotion. Besides, out here you have to have rank.”

“What
are
you doing out here, Rache?”

“Training exercises.” She glanced across the room at Arden.

“What?” Jack asked.

Rachel chewed her lip, then said it. “Our Prime Minister isn't entirely paranoid. Something bad's going to happen in Salzburg.”

Jack stared at her. “You have intelligence?”

“No, just a feeling. But my feelings are usually—

“Yes, they are.”

Jack also glanced at Arden. “Is this part of the other?” He might have been asking them both. Arden shrugged.

Rachel lifted her hands in another kind of shrug. “The wrap-up, maybe. It's such an opportunity for some madman. A peace summit is the perfect place to start a war.”

That was more or less the end of the conference. A few minutes later they walked out of the tent. As they did, Rachel said quietly to Jack, “I've just turned you. You're going off to Italy now thinking you're doing one thing for your own organization—”

“But you've actually duped me into doing something for yours,” Jack concluded. “Duh, t'anks, Coach.”

They walked on. The soldiers around the compound tried to appear not to be looking at them, and failed. Arden walked several steps behind, and for once in her life was not the object
of attention. She could see from the expressions on the faces of both men and women that they held Rachel Greene in something more than respect. Arden knew her grandmother had mentioned Rachel when briefing her on Jack. The two of them had been friends at school, had gotten into some kind of trouble that had turned out all right in the end. Granny had been pretty vague about it. Whatever had happened was part of the Real History. It would never appear in any textbook, and might die with living memories.

But just as Jack had needed to come here to talk to Rachel in person, Arden had needed to see them together even to begin to understand their relationship. They gave off ideas like a nuclear reactor shedding neutrons. Arden felt bathed in their inspiration.

They walked out of sight of the camp and Rachel pointed with her shoulder. “Down there's another helicopter waiting for you.”

“You ordered me a helicopter that fast?”

“It's mine, actually.” They smiled at each other.

“Maybe I'll see you in—” Jack began, and Rachel nodded. They were no longer touching. Someone might be watching.

Just before he turned away, Rachel lowered her head. For the first time, she looked very young. Also tired. “Jackie?” Her voice came very low. “Who assigned us to save the world?”

“I think that was in—what?—ninth grade? And I think we aced that assignment.”

Rachel looked up, her eyes alight again. “Mrs. Chavez gave us a B+, I think.”

“She was just trying to keep us humble.”

“Yeah? Did that work?”

They grinned at each other. After another moment Rachel said very earnestly, “Jackie? Be carefree.”

He nodded. Then he turned and jogged. Arden had time for only a hurried goodbye to Rachel, then had to run to keep up with Jack. They came within sight of the helicopter and in another two minutes were in the air. The whole episode on the beach in Israel immediately assumed the quality of a dream. Except that Arden
could see its effect on Jack, in renewed energy and quiet thought. She sat thinking herself, wondering what she had just learned, and how much of it she had to convey to Granny.

Exit Interview: The Real History

Once you'd been accepted into the program at Bruton—

The program for training young Circle members?

Yeah, but you didn't know that at the time. One of the first things that happened is that you went into Mrs. Stein's history course. It was always a small seminar, maybe half a dozen students. You didn't sign up for it, you just found it on your schedule.

Mrs. Stein?

Yeah. Ditsy old lady, rumor was she'd lived through half of American history herself, and she was always mumbling silly asides about the things we studied, like that Betsy Ross not only dipped snuff but had Lesbian tendencies.

For once the interviewer seemed outraged by something Jack had said.
I ought to slap you!

Hey, I didn't say it. Some students reacted exactly the way you just did. Those students kind of got eased aside. They found themselves out of the seminar into a regular history class. And our paths began to diverge from theirs.