Moore shrugged. At the moment, it was too minor a matter to even show up on his radar.

Nonetheless, when HQ issued a news release detailing the nanite breakout and their subsequent sterilization of the area, at least he wouldn’t have to worry about a shitstorm of trouble from Jennings’s lawyers. The ICDC was now more of a potential threat, and the Little Rock angle wouldn’t mean anything to them. They would ask hard questions, and would recognize bull. Any explanation had to be believable.

Moore had made some calls to old friends, hoping to get a muzzle on the ICDC, but his contacts really weren’t in the direct chain of command required to be effective. They might be able to slow things down though.

At least without the Astra sitting here, they wouldn’t be able to play the “holding assets hostage” card. Moore smiled. Jennings may have made a small tactical error there. Or maybe he was just being petulant.

No matter. One less thing to worry about. With a grunt of disdain, Admiral Moore pulled the next item from his in-basket. Bureaucracy. Turned out there was a hell, and it was behind a desk.

62.An Unexpected Call

62.An Unexpected Call

“Hi, Doc.”

Kemp staggered and had to sit down before he could respond. He held the phone in front of him and stared at it for a moment before putting it back to his ear. “Ivan? Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

“Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated, as it turns out.”

Kemp wiped his forehead with one hand. “Dr. Narang at the ICDC is pushing for a governmental inquiry. Should I assume that the Navy actually does think you’re dead?”

“That’s right. I got out of the module before they blew it up. Hitched a ride back to the base with them, as a matter of fact.”

Kemp chuckled. “So what’s your plan?”

“Well, Captain Jennings has instructed the Navy to release his ship, and he will have it flown to a public docking facility.”

“That’s a surprise. I talk to the captain almost every day, and he didn’t mention it.”

“Well, he doesn’t know about it.” Ivan was silent for a moment, then Captain Jennings’s voice came over the phone. “And the captain has a memorable voice.”

Kemp sat silently, his mouth opening and closing. Finally, he found his voice. “Wow. That was pretty convincing.”

“And the captain has a personal phone line on the Astra which is tied to his home account. So the caller ID would be correct, as well. I suspect that Admiral Moore was happy to be rid of the headache.”

“So, Ivan, how did you get off the module and into the ferry without being seen?”

“Honestly, Doc, the less you know about that, the better. I’m still having trouble with it, myself.”

“You didn’t kill anyone, did you?”

“Oh, hell, no. Nothing like that.”