ornamental flower show

[middlingalong]

Destang isn't too thrilled with Ivan, but since his lack of thrill takes the form of sending Ivan to a flower show to be out of the commodore's hair rather than, say, confining him to quarters like poor Galeni, Ivan isn't going to rock the boat. He leaves the half-commlink with Galeni in case Miles suddenly has an emergency and goes off as directed to meet the lady he's escorting.

He finds her at the University of London's Horticulture Hall, shepherds her around, makes comments of limited sophistication but genuine enthusiasm regarding the pretty flowers, and excuses himself a couple hours into the affair for a bathroom break.

Comments

[thisvorlunatic]

"He has a winning personality," Miles says dryly. "Thanks, Bel. Let me know if you find anything."

He terminates that call too, then gets dressed and arms himself with such items as he will be allowed to carry past London shuttleport security. Which amounts to a boot knife and a couple of stunners, plus miscellaneous gadgetry with plausible non-criminal applications - scanners and the like. Over a quick breakfast, he orders a personnel shuttle made ready to depart at a moment's notice, then sits and jitters for lack of anything better to do.

A scant few minutes into his helpless stewing, his comconsole chimes again. The comm officer says he has a call coming in through the downside commercial net, from a man who refuses to identify himself but asserts that Miles wants to talk to him.

Shit.

"Trace it, cut a copy to Captain Thorne in Intelligence, and put it through."

"Yes, sir."

The comm officer's face is replaced by Ser Galen's.

"Vorkosigan."

Miles nods cautiously, studying him.

"I will not repeat myself. I don't give a damn if you're recording or tracing. It's irrelevant. You will meet me in exactly seventy minutes, at the Thames Tidal Barrier, halfway between Towers Six and Seven. You will walk out on the seaward side to the lower lookout. Alone. Then we'll talk. If any condition is not met, we will simply not be there when you arrive. And Ivan Vorpatril will die at 0207."

"You are two. I must be two," says Miles, mind racing. Ivan - what the hell's this bastard done with Ivan -

"Your bodyguard? Very well. Two."

The vid blanks before Miles can get another word out. He hisses inarticulately, then calls Bel.

"Did you get all that?"

[whyexit]

"Every ominous word, sir, who's Ivan?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"A very important person. Where'd this originate? Another tubeway?"

[whyexit]

"Yes. I can get a man there in six minutes, but in that time from that tubeway nexus..."

[thisvorlunatic]

"The search radius from hell, I know. You can skip that; we'll play it his way, to a point. I want a patrol in the air over the Tidal Barrier, I want a flight plan filed for my shuttle, I want a Dendarii aircar meeting it on the ground when it arrives, I want the credit chit I asked Lieutenant Bone for, and I want Quinn to meet me at the shuttle with a couple of med scanners. I just have to check one thing before I leave."

He cuts that call and opens the line to Galeni.

"Galeni? Still confined to quarters? I have an urgent question. Where is Ivan?"

[alicornucopia]

"As far as I know he should still be at the flower show."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Check," he says shortly. "Fast."

He carries the comlink with him while he fetches his credit chit from Lieutenant Bone and goes to meet Elli in the shuttle hatch corridor.

[spacetobreathe]

"What's the story?" Elli wants to know.

[thisvorlunatic]

"We have our break. With a side of complications. Galen wants a meeting, and he's taken Cousin Ivan hostage to secure it."

[spacetobreathe]

"Poor Cousin Ivan," murmurs Elli.

"Miles?" says Galeni from the commlink. "The private who drove the car spelled Ivan attending milady for a bathroom break, and when he wasn't back after twenty minutes went looking, and spent half an hour searching the entire mobbed hall before reporting back - how did you know?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"I got a call," says Miles. "Do you recognize whose operational style is at work here?"

[alicornucopia]

"Fuck," snarls Galeni.

[thisvorlunatic]

"My sentiments exactly. Meet me in fifty minutes at the Thames Tidal Barrier, Section Six. Pack a stunner, at minimum, and try not to alert Destang on your way out. We have an appointment with your father and my brother. One last chance to make this right. Not a good chance, just the last one. Are you with me?"

[alicornucopia]

"Yes."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Good. I'll see you there."

He thumbs the comlink off, pockets it, and heads into the shuttle. His jitters are only partly calmed by being on his way to action at last; only on the final approach, as the aircar makes a circling pass over the Thames Tidal Barrier, does he settle down fully at last.

The Barrier looms like a miniature mountain range over the starry expanse of old London below, running off out of sight in either direction, with the black sea lapping calmly at its outward side, decorated with a scant sparkle of nighttime navigation lights. Section Six is a deserted stretch of synthacrete, spiderwebbed with catwalks and access ports in a complex geometric arrangement, containing nothing more exciting than auxiliary pumping stations.

"So what happens at 0207?" wonders Miles as the aircar alights in a nearly empty parking area. "It's such an exact time..."

"High tide, sir," the driver supplies.

"Ah..." He rubs his face. "Highly suggestive. Ivan is likely to be nearby, and likely to be below the high waterline. Chained to a rock like Andromeda, or something equally horrifying... have the air patrol make a pass, check the external side of the barrier."

He glances at his chrono and suppresses some more jittering. Eight minutes left.

[spacetobreathe]

Elli gets out to scan the perimeter.

"There's someone approaching on foot, sir."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Pray it's Galeni," mutters Miles.

It's not Galeni. It's a jogger and his dog, both of whom seem very uneasy about the addition of four uniformed Dendarii into their late-night run. They pass on by.

The next one is Galeni.

"All right, this is where we part ways," says Miles to Elli. "Stay back, stay out of sight, but if you can get a good vantage, do. Let's have a comm check."

He uses his boot knife to carefully disable the transmit-indicator light in his wristcom, then taps the sound pickup a few times and listens to the echo from Elli's wrist. "Good. Got your med scanner? Take a baseline."

[spacetobreathe]

"Recorded and ready for auto-comparison," she says, when she's scanned him.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Good," he says again. "Am I missing anything?"

[spacetobreathe]

"There are, I think, still assassins after you in this uniform; if they cotton to where you're at...?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Call my wife and get her over here to be haut at them."

[spacetobreathe]

"And if somebody who looks and doesn't scan like you comes along?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"Grab him, apply fast-penta, rescue Ivan if at all possible, then - " Miles shrugs unhappily. "Use your judgment."

[spacetobreathe]

"Yes, sir."

Galeni, lacking full context, tilts his head but doesn't comment.

[thisvorlunatic]

And now that Galeni is finally across the parking lot and ready to accompany him, Miles heads off. His chrono says three and a half minutes left. The symbolic barrier of a chain across the catwalk with a 'Closed' sign hanging from it eats a few seconds of that time.

"Any trouble getting out of the embassy?" he asks as they ascend the stairs.