Gloomy skies darkened the Annan,
Greer, Li, and Romano conference room window that looked onto the sprawl of mansions of Bosque de Jardim. While Greer’s partners seemed oblivious to this—dressed in crisp dark suits that held their own gloom compared to the blond wood—Raul stared at the gray clouds. With his back to the table, Go couldn’t help noticing the wrinkles in the young lawyer’s shirt. His reflected face carried more stubble and had a puffiness about it.
Marsha twisted her chair around, stared at his back for a moment, then turned to Go. “I believe we’re ready to start.”
The other two partners rose and exited the conference room, whisper quiet.
She would be the one to conclude the matter, apparently.
Lightning danced in Go’s heart, and thunder crashed in his head—precursors of the coming storm. Raul had to feel the same way, had to sense the painful connection they shared, even if he wouldn’t budge from the window.
Go bowed his head. “Let’s get it over with, yeah?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard rumors, but our task here is to focus on the facts.”
“It’s a tricky thing.”
“We don’t deal in trickery. We deal in law.”
“Fair enough. Tell me what the law says.”
“I’ve sent you a document regarding the disposition of your contract. If you could open that, please, we’ll begin.”
“How about we do the summary?”
“That would speed things up. The opening paragraphs discuss the status of the RPC trust we managed and the contract we had reached with your team. Following the recent developments, the trust has been dissolved, and all capital liquidated. You can find greater detail on the numbers surrounding the resolution of debts and other outstanding obligations and the payouts to the parties involved.”
The bottom line for that hadn’t been a surprise at all: Go and Jason were looking at no money at all beyond their expenses. Interestingly, Noelle received half of the payout that went to Christopher. It couldn’t be close to what she’d been expecting, but it was money gained without a fight.
Go tapped his earpiece. “You redlined three expense items.”
“They don’t qualify. You should be able to recoup your costs through insurance and perhaps through the Puerta de Oeste constable agency.”
“Yeah, that’ll go over well. How about you bill them and cover the costs?”
“We’re not a lending organization.”
“We saved lives doing what we did. Your clients could’ve died without us intervening.”
“You acted in the manner of an adjunct to law enforcement in this matter, which extended beyond the scope of your contract. Agreeing to compensate you in this regard risks liability this firm isn’t willing to accept.”
“We saved lives.
You understand that, love? Harry Cho was on his way to becoming an AI, yeah? Existential threat? End of story.”
“Threats of that sort fall to law enforcement and the military.”
“Oh—” Go bit back a curse. They were out more than twenty thousand dollars unless he was willing to fight with Donnell and who knew what other organizations to recoup the money.
Marsha tapped the display in front of her. “Of course, we’ll provide the highest-level rating we can for the work you did, despite your failure to deliver the stipulated results.”
“Did you miss that we uncovered a threat no one mentioned as a—”
“And we’ll provide a bonus for performance in line with that—”
Go pushed back from the table. “You can keep your damn bonus, love.”
The older woman nodded, unfazed. “Of course. If you agree to the number in line eighty-eight and the terms covered in the paragraphs above that, your digital ID will conclude this matter and we’ll forward your payment immediately.”
Lightning stitched the heavens, and Raul turned. He sagged into the seat at the head of the table. “It’s misguided to quibble over this contract.”
Marsha’s dark eyes flashed to the head of the table. “I don’t think he’s arguing—”
“It’s misguided for us
to quibble.”
“We’re operating safely within established law.”
“And we have room to maneuver. Go’s right: The expenses around the Pomeroy Building and the starport are something we can absorb.”
She folded her hands in front of her. “It’s irresponsible.”
“The odds of us recovering the money through dispute—”
“Are irrelevant, Raul. This is irresponsible.”
“Money isn’t everything. Maybe just a little bit of decency wouldn’t kill us.”
“I don’t appreciate what you’re implying.”
The young man collapsed a little. “I’ll finish this.”
Marsha stared for a second, then powered down the display and exited. It felt cooler in the room once the door closed behind her.
Raul stared at the ceiling, then his eyes defocused. “I’m sorry about that. It’s easy to lose sight in this business.”
Go returned to his seat. “Thanks.”
“We’ll cover those expenses. The matter of the bonus also allows a level of discretion that Marsha might have been a bit abstruse about. It’s keyed to the rating we give, which I’ll adjust to match your actual performance.”
“I appreciate that, mate.”
“As far as our contract over this killer…”
A request for a document transfer appeared in Go’s earpiece display. He accepted. The document followed the same template as the RPC contract, minus the gigabytes of obscuring and distracting text. The payment was at the high end of the agreement, also with high-end ratings and bonus.
Go swallowed. “You have any questions?”
“About the killer?”
“Javier Guerrera, according to the constables.”
The lawyer winced. “It was easier when he didn’t have a name. You’re sure it was him.”
“No doubt in my mind.”
“And you’re sure he won’t…”
“I didn’t kill him, but he won’t ever harm another person. Ever.”
Raul squinted but didn’t challenge the statement. “It’s not revenge. I struggled with the idea of it. Did I want to kill this man myself? Could I? Would that make me as bad as him? It wouldn’t bring her back.”
“Sometimes, justice looks like revenge, yeah?”
“Does it?”
“What would be the one outcome you’d want in this?”
The lawyer buried his head in his hands. “To have Raisa back.”
“Yeah, mate. We can’t have them back. So the one outcome we want is to keep it so that no one else ever has to suffer this pain again. That’s justice: protecting society from monsters. The difference is that the constables might never have caught him, and the courts might never have put him away. What I’ve done, it’s airtight. The nightmare’s over.”
Raul’s breathing turned jagged for a moment, but he stood and offered a hand.
Go accepted, then embraced the other man. “Like you said, mate, it’s just a little bit of decency in an indecent world.”
The storm held off while Go drove to the hospital where Jason was resting. He had no roommate, and he seemed well enough when Go entered the room, smiling then wincing. Where the rock had cut the genie’s scalp, the skin was slick, but the swelling was mostly gone. He rubbed the spray-on skin. “It’s going to be a little tender up there for a bit.”
“Yeah, but you’re still pretty, mate.” Go pulled a chair over to the bedside and settled there. “You get the transfer?”
Jason’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand the split.”
“Fifty-fifty, mate.”
“That’s half? After taking out expenses?”
“Raul took care of us. Losing his fiancée gave him a different outlook.”
The genie’s lips compressed. “Still, fifty-fifty—”
“You didn’t have to take the risks you did. You earned it.”
“What about Rosario?”
“I’ve covered her costs. She’ll be going back to Earth, to be with Aspen. She would’ve wanted that.”
“Aspen?”
“Her daughter.”
“Rosario had a daughter?”
“Yeah, yeah. She didn’t advertise that much. Aspen’s a special kid. She’ll be getting her mother’s part of the payout.”
“That’s not going to leave you much.”
“Enough to send a little to Mum and to get off this dump.”
“Where? In cargo?”
“That’s all I need. Somewhere out on the frontier, ahead of the people looking for me.”
“With Roddy gone, I think I’ll be moving on, too.”
“Any plans yet?”
“No. Let me get out of the hospital first. Tomorrow.” The genie crossed his fingers. “What about Ash?”
“I found a place that does burials cheap enough. Nothing fancy. I thought he deserved something, and his buddy Berti didn’t step up to claim his body.”
Jason frowned. “Hand me that bag on the bottom shelf of that stand, will you?”
It was a small, well-worn, black leather carry-on that didn’t weigh much at all. When Go handed it across, the other man unzipped it and pulled out a pair of black leather gloves, then passed them to Go.
He tried them on. “Nice fit.”
“They look good on you. Very stylish.”
“Thanks.” Go pulled them off. “I’m not much—”
“If you’re going to commit a crime, you don’t want to leave prints.”
“I don’t commit crimes, mate.”
The genie glanced at the window, where the dark clouds boiled and lightning flashed. “We all do, Go. They’re just little ones. To survive.”
“Yeah. I reckon we do.” Go got up, patted the other man on the shoulder. “Keep your nose clean, yeah?”
Jason grabbed Go’s elbow. “Careful. Don’t do something rash, okay?”
“Now when have I ever been rash?”
A pained smile settled on the genie’s face. “You’ve got to learn one day.”
“Yeah. One day. But not today.”