Dan Abnett - Border Princes

‘Why have you come?’ asked Mr Dine.

‘Necessity,’ said the intruder.

‘There is no necessity.’

‘Your opinion is noted. It does not matter. I have been sent.’

‘By order?’

‘By the highest order.’

Mr Dine paused. ‘When were you inserted?’

‘At nightfall.’

‘Am I to consider myself relieved?’

The intruder shook his head. ‘Supported. Unless you have cause to be relieved. Do you wish to stand down? You have sustained damage.’

Mr Dine looked down at his ribs. The deep wound had become an ugly weal of purple bruising, smeared with black residue. ‘It is healing. I have had worse. You have had worse.’

The intruder nodded.

‘In war, yes. Supported by my kin. Not alone. Not in the prosecution of such a singular duty.’

‘This is my duty still,’ said Mr Dine. ‘It was given to me, the highest honour, and I will discharge it.’

‘That is to be assessed,’ said the intruder. ‘Are you able to invest?’

‘Of course.’

‘Then do so,’ said Mr Lowe.

‘Pause it, I really need to wee.’

‘No, no,’ said James, ‘the next bit is really funny.’

‘That’s the problem,’ said Gwen, getting up off the sofa. ‘I’m laughing so bloody hard, I’m going to wet myself. Pause it.’

James reached for the remote. The image on the TV froze. She put the half-empty bowl of kettle chips on the side and went out.

James sat back, and took a sip of his wine. The warm fuzz of alcohol was taking the throb out of his cheek and shoulder. He wondered if he should have asked Owen if it was all right to drink. He thought there was very little chance of Owen ever saying it wasn’t all right to drink.

‘I can’t believe I’ve never seen this before,’ Gwen called from the loo.

‘I can’t believe you’ve never seen this before either. It’s one of my favourite movies. This, Tootsie, Ferris Bueller and Mad Max II .’

‘ Mad Max ?’ she called.

‘ Mad Max II ,’ he corrected.

‘Was that Beyond Thunderdome ?’

‘It was before Thunderdome . Are you actually sitting on the loo with the door open talking to me?’

‘Sorry.’

James got up and stretched. Outside, youthful voices were singing ebulliently on their way between pubs. It was ten thirty. He went to the window, and pulled back the curtain, peering out. Two boys were racing down the centre of the road, holding traffic cones on their heads like witches’ hats. Five others ran along after them, laughing. He was about to drop the curtain back and turn away when he saw the men. Two men, loitering in the shadows by the phone box. What were they up to?

Just standing. They seemed to be looking up at him, at his flat. Two men standing in the shadows-No, they were shadows. A minicab spurted by, and its headlights washed the roadside. The ‘two men’ turned into the flat, sidelong shadows they were, and then vanished. Once the cab had gone, the men were back, staring up, but now James knew they were just dark shapes created by the hedge and the railings.

He laughed at himself, and turned away.

Gwen came back in and bounced over the sofa back into her seat. ‘Come on,’ she said, patting the seat cushion beside her. ‘This is such a laugh. I can’t believe Sally Field and Glenn Robbins made a film together and I didn’t know about it. When was it made?’

‘1988,’ said James, moving back to join her. ‘Actually, I only went to see it originally because of my enduring love for Glenn Robbins in Eternity Base .’

‘Which one was she in that?’

He looked at her in horror. Her face was straight for a moment.

She burst out laughing. ‘I do know! I’m kidding!’

‘Good. I thought we were about to have our first domestic then.’

‘She was the cyborg, wasn’t she?’

He glared at her and then began to tickle her mercilessly. She squealed and hit him with a cushion.

‘Don’t make me get the first season out and force you to watch it!’

‘Stop it! Stop it! Commander Cully! Commander Helen Cully! Faynights!’

‘What now?’ he stopped with the tickling.

‘Faynights,’ she said, lowering her cushion. She was still smiling, but there was a slightly sad look in her eyes. ‘Doesn’t matter.’

‘You OK?’

‘Yeah. Anything left in that bottle?’

‘Seeing as you insisted on buying a litre of Chardonnay, yes.’

‘Top me up,’ she said, holding out her glass and snuggling against him.

James obliged. She reached for the remote. It had slipped down between the seat cushions.

‘What’s this called again?’ she asked.

‘ Sisters in Law ,’ he said. ‘Because they’re sisters-’

‘-and they’re both lawyers, right, right. Can I wind it back a bit, because I was laughing so much at the thing with the dog, I thought crisps were going to come flying out of my nose.’

‘Give it to me,’ he said, reaching to take the remote.

Both their mobiles rang at once. Hers was on the side, his on the dining table beside his keys. They split off the sofa and reached them simultaneously, glancing at the displays.

‘Jack,’ said Gwen.

James nodded. ‘You take it.’

Gwen put the phone to her ear. ‘Yeah?’

‘Gwen? Is James with you?’

‘Yeah, what’s up?’

‘I wanted to call everyone. No need to come in, but I wanted you to know.’

‘Know what, Jack?’ Gwen asked.

‘My little secret doohickey,’ said Jack. ‘The pattern on it changed about an hour ago. The lights are flashing up a different sequence.’

‘What does that mean?’ Gwen asked.

‘Well, seeing as we have no idea what the original pattern meant, I can safely say I have no clue,’ said Jack. ‘However, it can’t be good. Just a guess, but say a change in Def Con?’

‘You sure you don’t want us to come in?’

‘There’s no point yet. I’ll call you if anything changes.’

He hung up.

Gwen lowered her phone.

‘Fighter Command?’ James asked.

‘No,’ she replied. ‘But the tile thing has started flashing something different. He wanted us to know.’

‘OK,’ James nodded. He dropped back onto the sofa. ‘That thing’s really got him worried, hasn’t it?’

‘Aren’t you worried?’

‘I’m worried Jack is worried. Come on, let’s watch the film. You haven’t seen the witness selection bit yet.’

‘Hang on,’ she replied. She pressed a key to search her phone’s memory, and then pressed redial.

It rang. Rang. Rang.

‘Hello?’

‘Oh, hello. Mr Brady? Mr Brian Brady?’

‘Yes. Who is this?’

‘I’m so sorry to be calling so late,’ said Gwen. ‘My Name is Gwen Cooper, and I’m calling from… from Cardiff CID. Have you got a sec?’

Five minutes later, she came back and rejoined James on the sofa.

‘What was that about?’ he asked.

‘Nothing.’

‘Come on.’

‘I’ve got a lead, haven’t I?’

‘What, like a dog?’

She cuffed him. ‘A proper lead. I’m going out tomorrow. A little jaunt.’

‘Why?’

‘There’s a chance I can help Jack out. Some things I might be able to learn.’

‘You going to tell me what?’

‘No, it’s a secret. I want to impress.’

James nodded.

‘By the way, did you ever… did you ever call Rhys?’

She snuggled up against him. ‘Yup. I’m seeing him Sunday for lunch.’

‘OK. You OK with that?’

She nodded. ‘Play the bloody movie.’

She laughed. They both laughed. They howled.

After the movie was over, with News 24 playing mute on the TV, they began to kiss.