Tides Elba Read Free Page A

what we see.”
    There would be. I did my best to look like a bright child awaiting ineluctable wisdom from an honored elder.
    “I’d tell you you’re full of shit but you don’t need the special memo. You know that taste in your mouth.”
    He was going to come down on me for something?
    “You been putting on a show of being as useless as the rest of these dicks. But when you’re supposedly off whoring or getting fucked up you’re usually really somewhere poking into the local history.”
    “A man needs to have more than one hobby.”
    “It’s not a hobby if you can’t help yourself.”
    “I’m a bad man. I need to understand the past. It illuminates the present.”
    The Captain nodded. He steepled his fingers in front of a square, strong, dimpled chin. “I got some illuminating for you to do.”
    He did know something about what was up.
    “You could maybe fix it so the Company don’t wallow in the usual cesspit.”
    “You sweet-talker.”
    “Shut the fuck up. The Lady wants Tides Elba before she turns into an eastern White Rose. Or maybe she is the Rose. I don’t know. Limper, he wants to go balls to the wall so he can look good to the Lady.
    Hopefully getting us all killed in the process.”
    “You’re losing me, boss.”
    “I doubt it. Remember, the Limper has a special hard-on for you.”
    He did. “All right. And?”
    “Limper thinks smashing things is fun. I don’t want to be remembered for wrecking Aloe on a maybe.”
    “Sir, you need to give me a clue. What do you want me to do? I’m not as smart as you think.”
    “Nor am I.”
    The Captain shambled out from behind his table. He paced. Then, “The Lady thinks Tides Elba was born here, has family here, and visits frequently. She wasn’t born Tides Elba. Her family probably don’t know what she is.”
    Of course this Rebel would not have been born Tides Elba. If the Lady got hold of her true name, Tides
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    Elba would be toast before sunset.
    “You’ve been snooping already. You know where to look. Help us lay hands on her before the Limper can catch us in a cleft stick.”
    “I can dig. But I can tell you now, all I’ll find is holes.”
    “Holes tell a story, too.”
    They do. “Instead of worrying about this woman, how about we come up with a permanent…”
    He made a chopping motion. I needed to shut up. “Look at you. We could put you in charge of the whole eastern campaign, you’re so smart. Go away. Do what you need to do. And stay away from those moronic cards.”
    I thought hard. My conclusion was frightening. There was no place to conspire where the Limper could not eavesdrop if he was so inclined. So I scrounged up an extra deck, more venerable than the one usually in play, and headed for the Dark Horse. Along the way, Hagop fell in beside me. “Is it time?”
    “It’s time. If everybody is there.” Everybody being a select few like Elmo and the wizards.
    “What was the big meeting? We got to move out?”
    “They don’t know what they’re going to do. They just want to be ready to do it.”
    “Same old shit.”
    “Pretty much.”
    The usual suspects were there, out front, on the fringe, waiting instead of playing. Only Silent was missing. I asked Goblin with a glance. He shrugged.
    Several guys started to drift over, thinking an entertaining game might break out. I handed my deck to Corey. “You guys get a game going inside.”
    “Quick on the uptake,” Elmo observed as they cleared off. He scooted sideways so Hagop had room to add a chair. We pretended to play a five-man game.
    I asked, “You all sure you want to be here? We’re going to lay our balls on the table and hope nobody hits them with a hammer.”
    Nobody volunteered to disappear.
    I produced the parchment Hagop had found. Folded, it made a square. Opened, it was a third taller than it was wide. I spread it out. “Pass it around. Don’t act like it’s any big deal.”
    “Go teach granny to suck eggs,” One-Eye grumbled. “I can’t