Читаем Weapons of choice полностью

Weapons of choice

"The Jap and Anderson? They tell me not. It looks like a pretty vicious murder. There's some, uh, sexual matters associated with it. But more in the line of, you know, rape."

The word hung between them for an eternity. This was going to make things even more difficult.

"Has word gotten around yet?" asked Black.

"There's been no official statement," Spruance said. "Won't be for a while. Officially, they're not even here yet. But I'd say everyone in that task force of theirs will know by the end of the day. And everyone will have an opinion about the likely culprits, too."

"One of ours, you mean."

"It's human nature to blame the other guy," Spruance suggested.

Black forced down a last mouthful of cold, foul-tasting coffee. He wondered whether Julia had heard of the deaths yet. As soon as she did, he guessed that she'd be straining at the leash to get off the ship and do some digging herself.

Spruance obviously found the topic of the murders upsetting and certainly distasteful. He put them aside by pushing himself up out of his squeaky swivel chair and pacing over to the window. Hot sunshine fell on him through the glass. In his white uniform it made him quite uncomfortable to look at.

"So what do you think, Dan?" he asked. "Do you think it's going to work out between us all?"

Black mulled it over.

"They're not like us, sir, but they're okay. I guess they're what we become."

"And you're comfortable with that?" asked Spruance.

"Not entirely. I've learned a lot about them that scares me, frankly. But on the whole, they mean well."

"They killed a lot of our men, Dan."

"They saved a lot, too. And don't forget we killed our fair share of them in return. Far as I can tell, they're not holding that against us."

A look of fleeting irritation passed across the admiral's face. "They wouldn't want to go comparing scars," was all he said in reply.

Neither man said anything for a while. Black was stilling pondering Spruance's question. Like Curtis, he'd been told to stay on the Clinton, to get acquainted with their procedures and technology. Like Curtis, he spent a lot of time reading. He wasn't a great reader and it frustrated him, but the guided tours he'd taken hadn't gone well. His guides assumed a level of knowledge about their ship and its technology that he just didn't possess.

"And this woman you've met?" said Spruance, breaking into his thoughts.

"Julia Duffy."

"She's a reporter, am I correct?"

"For the New York Times. I believe she wants to keep working for them," said Black, who had little doubt she'd get what she wanted.

"I'd like you to spend some more time with her while she's here, Dan. Get her reading on Kolhammer's people. She was writing about them. She must have her own opinions."

"She certainly does," he agreed. "As a matter of fact, she's kind of ticked off at Kolhammer. I think she blames him for bringing her here. I think she'd much rather be home."

"Wouldn't we all. You got on well with her then?"

"I like her, sir. Quite a bit."

Spruance started to say something, then he seemed to think the better of it. "That's good. Spend as much time as you want with her over the next week or so. I'd like to get an independent opinion about what might happen if these characters are forced to stay. They certainly don't seem very hopeful of getting back."

Dan Black shifted uncomfortably on his hard wooden chair. He'd already grown used to the vacu-molded seating on the Clinton. If he understood Spruance right, he was being asked to snoop on a girl he might have some feelings for. It didn't sit well, and he saw no alternative but to say so.

The admiral must have read his expression.

"Oh, I don't want you to betray any confidences, Commander," he said. "Frankly, you're not nearly pretty enough to play Mata Hari. I think we just need to know what sort of people we're dealing with. How they're likely to react to these killings, for instance. If you feel uncomfortable with that, why don't you invite her to dinner with the both of us? You can tell her up front that I want to pick her brain."

Black's mood lightened considerably at that. "She has a friend, another reporter, sir. She's a loudmouth, too. I think we should take both of them along."

Spruance seemed alarmed by the prospect of anything that might look like a double date. "My wife would kill me!" he objected.

"Then we could invite Ensign Curtis along. I think he has eyes for Ms. Natoli."

"Mzz?" said Spruance.

"Oh, believe me, sir," Black sighed. "You're going to hear all about it."