Khronos (Hanover and Singh Book 3) by Chris Paton

skin to blush as vividly as her dress.
    “Lovely day for a cruise, eh?” Blaidd touched two fingers to his forehead.
    “Yes,” the young woman stuttered. “Quite lovely.”
    “Perhaps we’ll be seeing each other later?” Blaidd called out as the women passed him. He flashed a crooked smile as the young woman shivered at the thought. Blaidd descended the stairs, missing every second step, his footfalls echoing around the veneered walls of the staircase.
    The corridor of the upper accommodation deck was blocked by an orderly. Whipping the red sash away from the long-barrelled flintlock, the man gripped the handle. Blaidd held out his hands, palms facing the orderly, as he approached.
    “I don’t recognise you,” the orderly tugged the pistol an inch out of the leather holster.
    “And you don’t want to.” Blaidd closed the distance between them to three feet. He lowered his hands to his sides.
    “Are you from Northfleet?”
    “No,” Blaidd’s damp hair lifted from his forehead as he shook his head. “I am from the west.” He paused. “Wales?”
    “Wales?” the orderly’s brow wrinkled as he relaxed his grip on the pistol handle.
    “Abergavenny, actually. You’ve heard of it, eh?” Blaidd took a step closer.
    “Can’t say that I have.”
    “A pity. Such a nice place. Spread my ma’s ashes on Mynydd Pen-y-fâl , I did. Other folk call it the Sugar Loaf .”
    “The Sugar Loaf ?” The orderly shuffled a step back from Blaidd, stopping as his back bumped against the bulkhead.
    “It’s a mountain,” Blaidd nodded. Flicking his left hand toward the orderly, he grasped the man’s hand gripping the pistol. Blaidd clenched his massive fist around the orderly’s hand. “Of course, there are bigger mountains round and about.” Blaidd smiled as the orderly whimpered. Grabbing the man by the throat with his right hand, he squeezed the orderly’s windpipe. “I don’t much mind how big a mountain is, it’s the air that matters. Fresh it should be. Something you can pull into your lungs.” Blaidd took a deep breath. He cocked his head to one side and stared at the orderly’s red face. Blaidd exhaled. “Wouldn’t you agree? Air should be fresh?” Blaidd let the orderly slide down the bulkhead as the man passed out. Removing the flintlock pistol from the holster, he tucked it into the back of his belt. Blaidd dragged the orderly to a tall equipment locker and stuffed him inside. Breaking the handle off the door, he tossed it into a waste container recessed in the wall and walked along the corridor.
    The thick carpet swallowed Blaidd’s soft tread as he approached cabin number forty-four. Stopping to straighten his leather tunic, Blaidd made a fist and tapped his knuckles on the door. Steam from the bathroom drifted into the corridor as Hannah, her towel knotted beneath her arms, opened the door.
    “Miss von Ense?” Blaidd thrust the toe of his boot between the door and the frame as Hannah opened it. “You remember me, eh?”
    “ Ja , I remember you.” Hannah’s fingers turned white as she gripped the edge of the door, bathwater beading on her flushed skin. “What do you want? Our contract has been fulfilled. You were well paid.”
    “Ah, yes, I was at that. But now,” Blaidd gestured at his foot holding the door open. “I have a new master and a new mission. Perhaps you can let me in and we can discuss it.”
    “Why?” Hannah moved her body and pressed her shoulder against the door.
    “Come now, Miss,” Blaidd glanced up and down the corridor. “These things are best discussed in private.”
    “I am not dressed for private discussions with...”
    “The likes of me? Sure, sure. I understand.” Blaidd leaned closer. “But we have unfinished business, and perhaps,” he flicked his eyes over Hannah’s body, “we can be of service to one another.”
    “Tell me what you want.”
    “All right,” Blaidd straightened. “I want the scientist. Hanover.”
    “Really?” Hannah