The room was filled with sweet tobacco smoke, perfume, and the almost overwhelming aromas of the coming meal. The meal itself was excellent, with stewed meats, spiced and browned, brought to the table still sizzling on their platters. A heady wine, sweetly aromatic, was followed by steamed vegetables and a rice-like grain. Desert consisted of flat confections drizzled with a caramelized sugar syrup. Everyone at the tables sat and focused on the bountiful food at hand. At the conclusion of the meal, the admiral wheeled back from the table.
“Allow me to introduce our guests of honor,” Slane boomed in a voice that echoed off the walls. “Admiral of the navies, Joseph Canner has come up from Fort Wutanna to see us here, and brought with him General Rando.” Polite applause sounded throughout the room as Admiral Canner stood to address everyone there.
“Southern command keeps me pretty busy,” he said. “I don’t have a chance very often to enjoy a trip to your fair city. Today I have a few things to discuss with you, but first it’s my pleasure to point out that we have a few outsiders joining us tonight. Mr. Fink has done us a great service for which I’ll always be grateful,” he was interrupted by a smattering of quiet applause. “And First Lieutenant Lewis from Ascore, who by the way, I think should carry a much higher rank. Lieutenant Lewis helped us win a battle,” more clapping sounded in the room. “Also thanks in no small part to these two, there may be an improvement in relations with the submerged naval people. Later, I will be talking to some of you about my mission. For now, there are lots of people here who don’t get to see each other very often so it is time to socialize. In an hour we’ll get back to business.”
Everyone in the room stood and moved around, greeting each other in a formal manner. Lewis talked to a good many of the officers there. He enjoyed watching Victor, who was getting the opportunity to meet much of his higher command structure. Fink, usually so reserved around important people, was schmoozing like a man on a mission. When the hour was over Victor gathered Lewis and Fink and they left the room.
They spent a few hours strolling around the base, visiting the base stores and talking to sailors. Fink and Victor went into a shop that sold and fixed electronic devices, while Lewis sat on a bench and watched children who played on the playground equipment across the street. An old man leaning on a cane came shuffling down the street to where Lewis sat, when he got to the bench he slowly lowered himself onto it.
“Sorry sir, but I had to sit down,” he said breathlessly, as he worked his left shoulder in a few tight circles.
“Quite all right,” Lewis assured him. “Do you come here to watch the little ones?”
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“You see the girl pushing the swing?” the old man wheezed.
“I do,” Lewis looked at a woman about thirty who was pushing a little boy high in the air.
“That’s my granddaughter,” The man told him. “She watches children for the officers while their too small to go to lessons.”
“What do the children of the enlisted do?” Lewis wanted to know.
“They go to a different place, on the other side of the base,” came the slow reply. “It’s not as clean, but they have more friends.”
“Why do they separate them?” Lewis asked.
“Because at that age they don’t know enough to separate themselves,” the old man turned to regard Lewis with misty blue eyes. “Beggin’ your pardon, sir, but I know you’re not from here and my family lives at the bottom rung of a very tall ladder,” he paused to catch his breath, then he continued. “Our house isn’t very big, but we keep it clean. We have a system here and it works well because everyone knows their place and stays in that place.”
Fink and Victor emerged from the store and when Lewis’ companion saw them he struggled to his feet and greeted Victor. “Good day sir, would you like to sit here?”
Victor glanced at Lewis, who shook his head as he stood up. “At ease, we have things to do,” Victor said firmly. “Enjoy your bench.”
“Thank you very much sir,” the old man said, standing as straight as he could and saluting.
Victor returned his salute and they left the way they had come. Lewis wanted to visit a gunsmith and after asking around they located one. It turned out to be a weapons lab on the army side. Lewis asked Victor if he would be willing to get the repeating rifle and the scope from Lewis’ room. Lewis and Fink went to search for the lab while Victor went back to their suite.
The lab was run by a cavalry captain by the name of Tubbs. They were taken to Captain Tubbs by two guards in heavy mechanized armor, through hallways in what looked like an office complex. Tubbs was an intense man with a shaved head. A short cropped red beard and mustache contrasted with his bright green eyes as he regarded them coolly when the guards brought them in.
“Gentlemen, were you aware that this is a restricted location and most of its functions are classified,” Tubbs asked quietly. “You want to give me a good reason I should not have you clapped in irons and expelled from the island?”
Lewis started to reach into his inside pocket, but stopped when a muzzle pointed at each side of his head. “Call off your goons, Captain, and I’ll show you my paperwork. I did not come here to spy; I was just looking for a gunsmith.”
Tubbs nodded slightly and the weapons lowered a bit. The captain took the papers and looked them over thoroughly. He raised an eyebrow as he handed them back.