His Majesty's Starship by Ben Jeapes Read Free Book Online

advice, sir. You’re my line officer, even if we’re off duty, and they want an answer soon, and-”
    “Wait, wait.” Samad held up his hands. “Start at the beginning. Who are they? Loan sharks? Ex-wives? Missionaries?”
    Kirton didn’t seem to appreciate the humour and Samad remembered he hailed from Mars, where jokes about missionaries – or ex-wives, or probably loan sharks, or just about anything – just weren’t funny. Oops. “I’ve been offered a job,” Kirton said.
    “Small world,” Samad said.
    Kirton’s eyes widened. “You too, sir?”
    “
Ark Royal
?” said Samad.
    “Sir?”
    They looked at each other with the blankness that comes from a complete lack of communication. Samad broke the silence. “Tell me about this job, Lieutenant.”
    “I’m not sure if I should take it, sir. I wondered if you’d heard of it? It’s in ‘N’ wheel and the codename is Woodcut.”
    “Oh.” ‘N’ wheel – that was where the power systems were. Samad hadn’t heard of any new projects to do with the power systems, either officially or through the grapevine. “No, never heard of it. Why did you apply for it in the first place?”
    “I didn’t, sir. They contacted me.”
    “They contacted you? My advice is take it! It sounds like you’ve been headhunted and that’s a compliment.”
    “Sir, can I show you something?” Kirton handed Samad his aide. “This is the waiver they want me to sign.”
    Samad’s eyes scanned over the text and grew rounder. “Wow! No talking about it, no writing home, no mentioning of it to partners or diaries or goldfish or ... oh, look, you can dream about it. That’s okay, then.” He looked up hopefully: no, that joke hadn’t worked either. “Seriously, you shouldn’t be talking about this to anyone-” Abruptly he handed the aide back to Kirton. “-including me.”
    “I know, sir. but ...”
    “Does all the secrecy bother you?”
    “I’m ... I’m just not sure what my rights are in this situation, sir.”
    “Nuts to rights,” Samad said. “No one ever got anywhere by standing on their rights.” He smiled: Senior Officer’s Reassuring Smile No. 3. “I doubt there’s anything dodgy in this, so go for it.”
    Kirton actually smiled. “Thank you, sir. Thank you.”
    He hurried off: Samad turned in his own direction. On a whim he took out his aide and ran a query on Woodcut: nothing. He shrugged, put it back at his belt and set off home.
    “Good day, dear? Yes, thanks, nice day, lovely.” Samad had come up to the door to the apartment where he and Hannah lived, and he tapped in the access code. “Oh, and did I mention I helped a young lieutenant work out all his problems ...” The door slid open and he went in. “... and learnt all about the mysterious Woodcut.”
    “So I heard,” said a man’s voice by his ear. Samad yelped. The newcomer was leaning against the wall next to the door, arms folded and a look of cold amusement on his face. He had dark shaggy hair and pronounced five o’clock shadow: quite reasonable, Samad thought, it being five o’clock. “I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about it, Mr Loonat.”
    “You’re not my wife,” Samad said, recovering.
    “No, I’m not the good commander. I’m just Mr Leroux, I’m Head of the Security Division-” Leroux straightened up. “-and I want to know why, 20 minutes ago, you made an enquiry about Woodcut through your aide.”
    Oops, Samad thought again. “Then it’s your lucky day,” he said.
    “You’re going to tell me?”
    “No. Everyone needs to learn at some point that they can’t always get what they want, and today is your turn. Do you have a warrant for being here, Mr Leroux?”
    “Let’s forget about warrants, shall we?”
    “No, let’s not.” Samad held up his aide. “Record all, transmit copy to Hannah. Mr Leroux, I want a warrant or I want you out.”
    Leroux shrugged. “Then let’s do it the hard way. I don’t need a warrant to arrest you on matters