| |
There was no telling what to expect when I traveled to Washington at Zin Zin’s request. I arrived at No. 1 Observatory Place, the Vice President’s official residence, just before lunch.
An eager assistant took me to my leader. She was about to announce my presence, but I pressed a finger to my smile, and she left me to watch him. The Vice President was strumming madly on a banjo in a white rocking chair. This new view of Zinder was so amusing, the passionate yodel in his voice, the teenage-like anxiety in his hunched shoulders.
The long wraparound porch where he was practicing had such august white pillars. Emma, his wife, was adjusting the vase of pert zinnias on a cozy table.
And as Zinder’s music paused for a moment, I could hear the splash, splash of their son Lionel crawl-stroking in the giant pool a short distance away.
The whole scene was kind of homey in a monumental Mt. Rushmore sort of way. Imagine that could get addictive after a while.
Emma spotted me and crossed the space, dapples of sun accenting her long, elegant frame and red-helmet haircut. She gave me greeting with an off-handed charm, but underneath there was a chill that always led me to suspect that she could cut off a friendship in two seconds flat if something hit her the wrong way.
“There she is!” Zinder called. “Apologies for making you come all the way down here.”
“Not a bother at all. Great to get away for a few hours,” I said. The team back at Nuhope was frantic, trying to control all the public chatter about the Theseus hack and the boycott message. It was a relief to be out of it.
“I delayed my Dove Brown show appearance a day so I could get this strumming down. Want everybody to see another side of me—fix a few demo problems.”
“Bluegrass peeps don’t love you?”
“Yeah. And country-western lovers, 25 to 54 wives that don’t drink or smoke and got no kids. All Middles and Elites. Probably hate their mothers-in-law too, but the data skipped that part.”
“Seems like kind of a small demo, given the non-drinking thing.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“What’s their problem with you?”
“Oh, they got their minds all twisted up. Even though the sperm bank crises ended, they put the blame for it on the government, which means me. Damned Koreans.”
I checked myself from getting into another clash about whether Korea was to blame. “A white cowboy hat might make you look better.”
Zinder wagged a finger at me. “See why I like her so much, Em?”
“Of course you do,” Emma said.
The Second Lady shooed away the waiter and did the serving herself, an unexpected personal touch. We dug into a cold seafood mélange on a bed of tender lettuce that the house chef had prepared exquisitely. They couldn’t stop talking about their son. Lionel was a contender for the Olympic team.
“People think he’s trying to live up to Ralph’s over-achieving standards. But he’s just trying to live down his birthday,” Emma said.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Born on the day that President Luftman was shot," she said, referring to the first President of the U.A. He was inaugurated shortly after the consolidation of countries that formed the vast nation. Luftman was killed by anti-union terrorists from Venezuela about 18 years ago.
“Heavens. You were giving birth when that was going on?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not all,” Ralph said. “Lionel was also born on the 30th anniversary of Hurricane Phoebe.” That was the storm that nearly washed New Orleans into the Gulf. Over 300,000 people had fled or been killed.
The splashing seemed to get louder as I ventured a “What rotten luck.”
“He had so many learning disabilities when he was younger, and Ralph was his personal tutor. For years.” Emma reached for her husband’s hand, and their eyes locked in adoration.
"I'm a teacher at heart when all is said and done," Zinder said.
Could have fooled me. By the time the coffee was served, Ralph was regaling us with memories of Sosha's parties. There had been poker games when he fleeced me of every spare Americo; whiskey-shot dares when I bested him. I had to admire Ariel, Zinder's chief of staff, for giving him an in-depth memory assist—at least that's what I assumed had happened.
But why these touching recollections now? I waited dutifully for Emma to float away with the emptied dishes of sorbet. Zinder looked like he was girding himself.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m not all that delicate.”
He gave me a wishful glance. “Well, here goes it: I’ve pretty much decided to make Dove my running mate. Assuming I win the primary.”
“Yes, I thought that might happen.”
“You did?”
“Well, he is so popular.” And has so many political guests on his show these days. Kind of a broad hint that something like this was going on. “I’m sure he’d fix that female demo problem.”
“Exactly. Plus, if and when I win, I’ll make Rico my chief of staff.”
My gut seized up. “Of course, you’ll win. What an amazing opportunity for the two of them. Vice President and Chief of Staff! I’m—so pleased.”
On a scale of A to F, I gave myself a B- for sounding gracious. How clever of Rico. I'd been there for such a short time, and he'd already activated an exit strategy.
“Oh, come on, Pet. I know you can’t stand Rico, and Dove isn’t exactly your favorite person.”
A gentle, respectful pause was in order. I didn’t like lying, but since it seemed necessary, it better be good. “There were some ancient rivalries with Rico back at Victory Star. But as far as corporate feuds go, it was pretty garden variety.” Zinder gave me a dubious look. “Now Ralph, I mean it. I have been trying for a fresh start with him at Nuhope.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes. Really, the biggest surprise for me is that you brought me all the way down here to tell me this.”
“You’re a big deal to me. I didn’t want you to be upset when you found out.”
“That’s lovely of you. But really, I don’t want either of those positions, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Which was true. But the idea of having Dove for a boss twisted me up inside. I just kept talking: "Dove's show is a cash cow, from an advertising point of view. But I'm sure we can deal with the cancelation when he moves on to bigger things."
“Maybe we’ll keep it. Who says a Veep can’t have his own talkshow?” Zinder eyed me carefully. “But please. Tell me why you don’t like Rico and Dove?”
“You’ve already made up your mind about them. Why bother asking me?”
“Nothing’s final. There have just been some conversations. Tell me what I should know.”
What? Confess my humiliating history with the two of them? Or reveal how I knew Zinder was attracted to Dove? I mean, for God's sake! Why appoint a Veep you wanted to bed down? Emma wouldn't put up with that without a war if he ever made a move on Dove. It could go public so easily. Mentioning any of that would only backfire on me.
The Vice President was so earnest and nakedly intense. “These appointments will impact the future of our great nation. I need you to be frank, Pet.”
Oh, balls. Here I went: “I don’t trust them as far as I can heave them.”
“Okay.” He waited for more.
"Sure, Dove is extraordinarily magnetic, and he can be schooled in how to behave—whatever knowledge he needs become a credible Vice President. But he's not the brightest star in the firmament when it comes to strategic intelligence. Honestly, sometimes I think all he's really interested in is shagging girls." I emphasized the word "girls" just a hair.
"There is that." Something flickered on Zinder's face like he just might know something I wasn't aware of.
I kept going: “And as for Rico—you have a chief of staff already who’s talented. Most politicians I know would give their eyeteeth for someone as resourceful and loyal as Ariel. Why pass over her?”
“Oh, I’ll find a new job for her, one ambassadorship or another. But Rico—well, he’s really something.”
Something from a deep, dark lagoon. I held my tongue. Zinder asked me a few more prying questions, but he didn't get much out of me. I bid him a warm good-bye and managed to get the hell out of there. I hadn't changed his mind, for sure.
My fear and rage were too extreme. I kept telling myself to calm down during the trip back to New York. This news was hardly surprising; the more it sunk in. Rico was always strategizing with the Veep, making himself indispensable. It was so easy to imagine him planting the career moves in Zin Zin's head.
Now Rico and Dove would leapfrog above my power level. There would be no way for me to carefully monitor whatever they were up to when they ascended to their loftier positions and were primarily based in Washington. All this seemed inevitable. Zinder would win. Dove's immense popularity would make up for the Veep's waning appeal, and then some.
What would Rico arrange for me through little whispered suggestions in Zinder’s ear? “Fire the bitch.” That was the first one that came to mind. Or maybe he’d suggest a governmental posting in an inconsequential backwater. It was unnerving. I wouldn’t trust Rico to put a lump of sugar in my tea. And now this?
Oh, shut up, I told myself. You chose this den of thieves. Toughen up.
# # #
THERE WAS A FEELING of waiting in the air of someone holding their breath when I got back to my office. Jarat Ellington was there. I would have bet a year's salary on that. The sensation of his presence had been around a few times since that terrible party. But this time—this time, my nerves were shot to hell. Round little bots whisked out of the closet and swept the room for intruders. But they didn't find anything.
I yanked an infrared detector from my desk. Now that the security team knew infrared could find Ellington, upper-level execs kept sensors on hand. The search didn’t turn up anything. But I knew he was there in some nook and cranny, somewhere.
“Why the hell don’t you show your face? Coward!” I said.
God, that sounded awful. I collapsed into my desk chair, biting back sobs. As hard as he made things for Nuhope, I couldn’t hate him. I just couldn’t. “Sorry. Shouldn’t have said that. Feeling a little sorry for myself, which of course is rather ridiculous. I have so much, so much to be thankful for.” I rubbed the scar where the Luceel chip had been extricated. It still itched whenever I was upset. “I’m just so bloody tired.”
Cradling my head between my folded arms on the desk, I tried to compose myself. Relax a little, trust a little. If only I could do that again. Not 10 minutes went by when the warm, wafting smell of jasmine surrounded me. I looked up and shrieked as a cup of tea emerged on the desk. Fucking hell.
I grabbed the detector and swept the space before me. A full-size, brilliant red man emerged. He was a mere three feet away, completely immobile and silent. It was stunning. The spy was deliberately allowing the infrared to identify him, trusting me not to sound any alarms. That was my best guess.
Blast me if this didn't seem like an opportunity. Could Ellington actually turn into an ally or even a frenemy? An olive branch was in order, scraggily though it might be.
“I’d ask how you know my favorite tea, but I guess you’ve figured out a lot by now. Thank you. And thank you for showing yourself.”
No response. What was he thinking? "I don't know what you've seen me do or say," I went on. "Of course, I have inklings, but—well, here's the thing: crazy as it might seem, I honestly think that what I do here at Nuhope can change things. Oh, I admit that I'm not an idealist. I'm a businessperson, and my motives are not entirely pure. But the more I get to know what Nuhope's been doing, the more I believe that we can be profitable and straighten out how people see the world. I want to help them understand what's really happening, not what some politicians want them to believe."
Again, he said nothing. What the hell was I doing, talking to an enemy of Nuhope that way?
A quavering sob thickened in my throat. "You may not think so, but there is heart in this company," I said. "There are good people here—not everyone, but enough. And I think there's heart in what you're doing, what Theseus is doing. I do see that."
That wasn’t enough. He needed something more if I was going to get him on my side. “We have needs, both of us, to get things on the right course. And I know it’s not the same course. I do want this company to succeed, as a better place than it is. And maybe you want to destroy it, but there might be a better way to get what you’re ultimately after by working with me.”
Still nothing from him. The crimson silhouette didn’t move.
"Oh, what the hell am I doing? You're probably laughing. We can never be on the same side." I raised my cup to him. "But, thanks for this."
I put down the detector, left the room, and got into a long conversation with my first assistant, Meekoo, about a long trip to the Asian Commonwealth scheduled for the following week. When I got back to my office, the spy was gone. The detector couldn't find him, and I didn't feel his presence.
The little monologue I’d thrown at him was ridiculous, in retrospect. How could I try and befriend someone who repeatedly sabotaged my company? The whole thing was unnerving.
When I got to my apartment that evening, I tried to ease my anxiety with some meditation. I conjured up the feeling of Temecula, the scents of rosemary and lavender on a lazy spring day with my father at my side.
What a waste of time.
My mind was furry with fatigue and despair when I got to the office the next morning. But then Ginseng showed up at my door. “This place scrubbed?” she asked, with a look of electricity.
“Yes.” For what it might be worth.
“Something got dropped into my mobile,” she said. “I didn’t want to send it through the Net.”
“What kind of something?”
“Let me show you.”
I took out the little emerald stud in my ear as Ginseng took out hers, and we touched them together for a manual data exchange, the old-fashioned way. The news executive watched my face as I put the stud back in and watched the incoming holo recording with my air screen in private mode.
“My God,” I said. “How did you get this?”
“It just appeared.” We exchanged a look. Ellington. It had to be him.
# # #
MY OFFICE MONITOR PICKED up Rico, Dove, and the girl as they entered my reception area on the following morning. They looked so chummy, like a squad of detective heroes on some Nuhope show.
“Are we in a hurricane sitch?” Dove asked my second assistant, Nakitani.
"Deadly sunshine," she responded, tattooed lips turned up like a luxurious cat and blushing at Dove's attention.
"Heh! Gotta write a song about that. Wazzup with her?"
She shrugged. “Dunno.”
“Let’s go find out,” Rico said.
"Wait. Dove and Luscious, I need you to do something," Nakitani said, just as I'd instructed. "There are these documents she needs you to sign."
Dove rolled his eyes. “Documents?”
“Rules and regulations for on-air talent.”
“And I got to sign it? Jeez Louise,” Dove said. “Am I gonna need my lawyer for this?”
Rico grunted. “Look it over. It’s probably no big deal. See you on the inside.”
I waved away the monitor screen as the door to my inner sanctum dematerialized into an array of sparkles. Rico sauntered in and took an air chair in front of my desk.
“Thanks for joining me on such short notice,” I said.
“I live to serve your pleasure.” He couldn’t quite hide the condescension behind his smile.
“I hear you’re in line to become Zinder’s chief of staff. Congrats.”
"Thanks." Rico picked up an apple from an oblong copper bowl on my desk, snapping off a bite. "I'm glad he let you know."
“Yes, he asked for my opinion about you.”
“And you replied ...?”
"Fine idea! Absolutely smashing." I sighed with nostalgia. "Isn't it amazing how far we've come from the days when you and I worked all night together at Victory. I had your back; you had mine. I never had so much fun as I did then, working with you."
A shadow crossed Rico’s face, of guilt, and maybe an inkling that I’d rehearsed that last bit. “Those were the days.”
“I’ve always wondered what it was, what I managed to do or say that turned you so against me.”
He let out a short laugh. “No, you never would get that.”
“So why don’t you tell me.”
“Let’s just let sleeping dogs lie.”
“This one hasn’t slept for years and years. And I doubt he’ll conk out anytime soon.”
“Forget it.”
I gave him my best performance of bitter jealousy. “Wassa matter? Afraid I might bite, Mr. Fucking Chief of Staff?”
His venom spilled over the edge. “You should never have been my boss. What the hell was Whit Whitman thinking, to put me under your thumb? You were in charge of talent. You didn’t know jack shit about what I was doing! But he could never see that; he could never see how I should have been in charge.”
“I gave you free rein.”
“Free rein to listen to all your bitching and moaning about how you couldn’t stand your doctor. I had to be the one to help get you pregnant.”
“But you offered.”
“Because of your incessant hints!”
“What?”
“A leading scientist reduced to finding sperm for some ridiculous –”
“Hey there!” Dove waltzed in with the girl two steps behind.
I was on fire with Rico’s last word. I wanted to shoot back, “Ridiculous? Ridiculous what? Woman? I’ll give you ridiculous! Ridiculous pain.” My time for that was coming. In the meantime, I’d gotten what I wanted. His resentments were out in the open, like oozing puss. That’s why he used me for that Luceel experiment.
Dove looked me over. "Hot damn, you look terrific!"
“Really, Dove.”
"C'mon. It ain't ass-kissing if it's true. What'd we miss?"
“Rico was just sharing some of his views.”
“About what?”
Luscious flicked Dove a look of caution. She was obviously reading the room better than he was. The ingénue was wearing chiffon grey trousers and a matching silk blouse. Her cheeks were pink, china smooth, tapering to gold. I realized that I must look so stiff in my high-necked black dress, even though it hugged my every curve.
I ignored Dove’s question and added a layer of warmth to my voice. “Welcome, Luscious. It’s nice to see you again.”
"Thank you for inviting me." The girl looked curious, not skittish as most young things would get if called into an impromptu meeting with the CEO.
“Excuse me for a moment.” I turned away and texted Rico’s top lieutenant in creative sciences, Jameson Erlik. “How are you doing?”
“Beautifully. Mission complete,” he texted back.
“Thank you.”
I waved my mobile in a way that would allow someone else to listen to our meeting incognito.
Rico looked at me suspiciously. He didn’t know what I’d just done, but he didn’t like it. “This certainly has no precedent: a high-level meeting with a tumbler trainee in attendance,” he said.
“Oh, Luscious is far more than that.” I directed a look at Dove. “As are you.”
“Exactly what are you getting at?” Rico asked.
“Well, for starters, Rico, you’re fired,” I said.
Everyone was stunned. Rico and Dove traded a look and started laughing. “Aren’t you something,” Rico said. “Well, that’s okay. Because as you know, I’ve already got a gig waiting.”
Zinder blazed to life in hologram form beside me, glowering at Rico. “Not with me, you don’t.”
Rico went beyond the color white. More like Arctic blue.
And now for the kill. “I can imagine why you haven’t told me about the chemical enhancements that Dove and Luscious have been injecting,” I said. “But how could you keep this from the Vice President?”
“Bit of a gaff,” Zinder said.
Rico exploded. "Before you drop me into a vat of boiling pig shit, would you mind sharing exactly what you think you know?”
I waved a hand over my mobile's invisible controls. A large air screen sprang up before us. It showed a recording that took place just after the anniversary party—the one Ginseng had given me. Rico was talking with Dove in his office.
“She’s far more powerful than you,” Rico said.
Dove laughed. "Oh, come on. Luscious? She's still in training. How could she –"
“Take a look at this.” Rico pulled up an image on his air screen. It showed an aerial view of the atrium filled with glittering guests—the night of the anniversary celebration.
“Jesus. Do we have to relive that fiasco?” Dove asked.
“Watch.”
Among the elegant partygoers, Dove and Luscious could be seen with their separate clusters of admirers. A shimmery, glowing cloud appeared around each of them.
“By layering on certain filters, I’ve been able to monitor the strength of your charismatic aura and how it changes,” Rico said.
The image zoomed in on one of Nuhope’s clients, the rotund Timoté Sutz, navigating through the crowd toward Luscious. As he handed her a flute of champagne, she touched his fingers. Her glow heightened into a dazzling state. Tim ported into euphoria, made visible with a red-orange halo of light.
Rico put his recording on pause and split the screen so that the images of Dove and Luscious could be viewed simultaneously. On the right side, Dove and I were speaking just after he entered the party. A red aura appeared around me, not as strong as the one around Timoté, but it was so clear that no matter how hard I’d tried to mask it, I was electrified when he kissed my hand.
Rico waved the image to a stop so that the clouds were easy to compare.
“When the two of you touch someone of the opposite sexual orientation, it’s as if the place on the body where you make contact suddenly has heightened nerve endings,” Rico explained, “like a vagina or the head of a –”
“You think I don’t get that?” Dove said.
“I’m sure you do. But I don’t think you get this.” Rico pointed to the glow of light around Luscious, which was much more intense than Dove’s. “She’s twice as strong as you are now.”
“Then give me more!”
“Perhaps I will. But you’re plenty strong. There’s no need for jealousy.”
I waved the recording to stop. The room was thick with silent shock. Luscious was watching Rico closely, clearly unsettled. The scientist was a study in dumbfounded rage as he turned to me. “Where did you get that?”
“It fell in my lap,” I said. “And there’s no way it was doctored. I’ve checked it out.”
There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Rico had felt Jarat's invisible presence as well. He undoubtedly was concluding—as I had—that the only person who could have recorded the conversation was the invisible spy. As other parts of the recording made clear, Rico's conversation with Dove occurred just before he learned about Ellington's ability to become invisible. So at the time, he had no idea a spy might be in the room.
Zinder boomed at Rico, “Were you even going to tell me about this little enterprise of yours?”
Sweat glistened on Rico’s forehead. “I wanted to wait until my findings were absolutely solid.”
“Funny. It looks solid as steel,” I said.
Rico turned pleading eyes on Zinder. "Everything I've done was for Nuhope's sake and your sake. Don't you see? Think about that Riggles gum commercial with Luscious. Billions of dollars of new income have flowed into the coffers of our client because of that, and Nuhope has made a fortune off the audience results."
Zinder’s eyes gleamed dangerously as he looked at Dove. “You’ve been using chemicals to bend my mind.”
“We have been completely loyal to you!” Rico said. “Why do you think I urged you to appear on Dove’s show as often as possible? The numbers for last night’s show when you did that song were through the roof!”
“I’m really not as dull-witted as you assume!” Zinder exploded. “You kept this from me! I could have been using it.”
Dove and Rico exchanged a look.
“You’re too old to use the chems,” Luscious said. Everyone looked at her in surprise. The girl had guts. “The fact is, it only works on young people with a certain amount of charm. That’s why I’m stronger than Dove, ’cause I’m younger. That’s why Rico never used the chems on himself.”
“How do you know that?” Rico looked at Dove accusingly.
“So what if he told me,” Luscious said.
“Yeah, so what.” The scientist rose to his feet. “So what if I’m fired? There’s a ton of other companies that will welcome my experiments with open arms.”
“But you have nothing to give,” I said. “Your offices are in lock-down, as are all the chemicals.” It had been fairly easy to enlist the help of his No. 2, Jameson Erlik, and the security head Alfonce Santiago.
I'd ordered Jameson to infiltrate his boss's database and collect every last piece of intelligence as soon as Rico and Luscious left to attend this meeting. Alfonce had helped Jameson decipher some of the encrypted files. They were going to receive very fat Americo deposits in their financial accounts. That would help them resist Rico if he tried to shift their loyalty.
A shrill beep sounded on Rico’s mobile. “That would be your apartment’s security system,” I said. “Homeland is confiscating what you have there.” Alfonce had helped with that as well.
Rico went nuclear. “This is an invasion of private property! You can’t do that!”
“Oh, can’t we?” Zinder roared. “You conniving shit-heel. I’ll put your head on a stake if I want to.”
The scientist looked so pitiful. Dove and Luscious were stunned into silence, undoubtedly wondering what was in store for them.
“We will make sure you never work for another company,” I said softly to Rico. “You should put that possibility out of your mind. But there’s another option we’d like to share with you.”
“And what would that be?” Rico asked.
"Your experiments do have value, the ones that don't backfire." I stared at him meaningfully. "So, we're willing to offer you a fresh start here at Nuhope since Zinder's chief of staff position is off the table, as I understand it."
“Gone forever,” Zinder confirmed.
"You will need to sign a new contract. All your experiments must be completely transparent to Ralph and me. We need to know about everything—no matter if you conduct your projects on your own time, or in the office. There will be no time lag. We will be informed immediately about every project in the works. And all of it will become the sole property of Nuhope."
I pulled up a document on my air screen and sent it to Rico’s. “You have an hour to consult with your attorney and get this agreement back to me. Either sign it or get out.”
He was utterly humiliated. His gaze slipped to Dove and Luscious. "Do you know that these two will die if you don't give them access to the chemicals?"
“I figured that part out, yes.” There were enough vials of the chems to take the two of them through several weeks. After that, all bets were off about how any of this would develop. I hadn’t figured that out, but Jameson would help.
It was breathtaking to see his hatred for me out in the open. He strode out of the room. A hush fell over the rest of us.
Zinder cleared his throat. “Think you can take it from here?” he asked me.
“You bet.”
“Thanks.”
Zinder popped out of view. Dove's eyes brimmed with boundless remorse, transforming from green to blue. I'd seen that change in him so many times and always thought his eyes were reacting to the lighting. I’d been so under his spell. Once I would have swooned with desire and become furious because I couldn't control myself. Now I still felt his tremendous pull, but knowing what he was doing helped me handle it.
“I’ve asked Jameson to give each of you four vials. That will take you through the next two days.”
“And after that?” Dove asked.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to see what happens."
Luscious and Dove would have looked like trapped rats if they weren’t so powerfully magnetic. Dove left the room, but Luscious paused at the door.
"I'm sorry. I know that just sounds like ..." She struggled for the right words.
“Insincere groveling?”
“Yeah. Exactly. But if you’d like me to tell you anything more about all this, I’m totally willing.”
“Thank you. Not now. But sometime, yes.”
Luscious floated out of the room. I’d researched her enough to know she couldn’t be blamed. A little Chav girl sucked into the lifestyle of the Elites the way that she’d been? Who wouldn’t? Not that I trusted her entirely.
Exhaustion settled in. It wasn’t easy, making other people’s lives hell, even when they deserved it. I wouldn’t swear to it, but Jarat Ellington’s invisible presence seemed to be over by the windows. No need to turn the infrared on him.
“I owe you,” I said, drawing near. “‘Thank you’ doesn’t begin to cover it.” With some luck, he wouldn’t pull out that IOU one day and ask me to do something I’d regret.