by Gini Koch
“Then that works out for everyone, doesn’t it?”
“Let’s escort the governor and his retinue back and ensure their gate is calibrated correctly,” Gonzalez said.
An airman ran up to us. “Sir, the President just called and asked that we fly the governor and congressman back to Washington.”
Cleary chuckled. “Fine. The delay will be helpful. It’ll give us time to get press assembled.”
“Ah, as to that, sir,” the airman said, “I believe you’re flying to Andrews. And will be in an immediate closed doors meeting. Just the two of you, sir. The young lady and any others are not to be on the aircraft or in the meeting. This is a presidential order, Governor, not really a request.”
Cleary seemed nonplussed for a moment. Then he recovered. “As the President requests.” He patted Stephanie’s hand. “I assume you’ll actually ensure the young lady is sent safely to our campaign headquarters?”
“We’ll ensure she goes wherever she wants, within reason,” Gonzalez replied.
“I’d like to walk the governor to his flight,” Stephanie said haughtily.
Cleary nodded. “Most appreciated. I’ll advise you when we’re done with the President. But contact me immediately if they don’t send you where you want to go.” He smirked at me. “Round one to you, Ambassador.”
“Really? You think this is round one? Dude, you’ve joined a game in progress.”
Cleary laughed. “Think of it how you like.” Then he turned to follow the airman who’d come with the news of their meeting, Stephanie trotting along with him like an eager puppy. The really pretty kind, like an Afghan hound. But still, a puppy who had no idea her new master was a bad person, and probably wouldn’t care as long as the master was good to her.
Put my hand onto Maurer’s arm as he started to follow them. He turned, but didn’t attack. “What?”
“Seriously, think about this event. Think about it like Cameron Maurer, not like whatever they’ve turned you into. Your running mate used you like a trained animal. Since when are you an attack dog?”
“I . . . you were dangerous.” He sounded unsure.
“I was standing there. He told you to get me, and you ran after me, with serious intent to harm. Why? I don’t believe you’d have done that before they turned you into what you are now. I just want you to think, about this, about all the things that are wrong. And if you want help, you know where we are.”
He blinked slowly. “Is my mother safe?”
“Yes. She’d like her son back. Her real son.”
Maurer twitched. “I . . . don’t know what you’re talking . . . about.”
“You do. Cameron Maurer knows. If you’re strong enough, you can fight it. It would be good—for you, for your mother, for your children, and for your country—if you fight it. If you can become Cameron Maurer again, not Gideon Cleary’s trained and very well-controlled attack dog.”
Maurer stared at me. Then he turned and followed Cleary and Stephanie.
“Good try,” Reader said quietly. “But I don’t know if he can fight it. He’s a newer model, you know.”
“Yeah. But a girl can dream, right?”
“Yeah.” Reader put his arm around my shoulders and hugged me. “You’ve done all you can, and more than you should have here. Go comfort your husband and cousin. They’re trying to hide it, but I’m sure they’re not handling it well.”
Leaned my head against his shoulder, but not for long. We weren’t in a place where this was a good idea. “I will. Lieutenant Colonel, I just want to thank you for your timely arrival.”
Gonzalez grinned. “I was at Luke when a truck filled with missiles showed up, followed by a missile launcher. Considering who was in the truck and launcher, I didn’t question that there was a problem here. Commander Reader called for a floater gate and he and Commander Crawford returned with me to help me get my base under control.” He winked at Reader and Tim. “Oh, and please call me Sergio, Ambassador.”
“And I’m Kitty.”
“I’ve heard you were informal. It’s a nice trait in any politician.”
“I want a full rundown on why you weren’t advised about anything that went on here today,” Reader said, Commander Voice on Full.
“Assume this base is severely compromised,” Chuckie said. “Nothing that’s happened here the last couple of days has been following any form of proper military protocol.”
“True enough,” Gonzalez said. “No one advised me of anything. I’d have been at Luke all day if you hadn’t had your men bring in such a big surprise, Ambassador.”
“I love it when a plan comes together.”
CHAPTER 78
READER AND TIM headed with Gonzalez to his office. Chuckie and I joined Jeff and Christopher. “You guys okay?”
“Yeah.” Jeff sighed. “I want so much to believe that she’s trying to save the day and is actually acting as a double agent.”
“But she isn’t,” Christopher said sadly. “You can see it in her eyes.”
Chuckie shook his head. “I should have put more stringent bugs on her.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Jeff said quietly. “But . . . I think you need to investigate the rest of my family. Just in case any of them have been turned, too.”
“I will. And . . . I’m sorry.”
Jeff shook his head. “Not your fault, Chuck. It has to be done, and I accept that. Now.”
We needed to get out of here, before everyone was completely depressed. “Let’s go home. We have a frightened reporter and the top computer hacker in the world to chat with.”
“Where did Buchanan and Siler go?” Christopher asked as we headed for the internal gates.
“You know, I have no idea.” Had no idea where the Dingo and Surly Vic had gone, either. Hoped Buchanan was okay—three assassins to one Buchanan could mean bad things.
Thought about it. The Dingo and Surly Vic could have stolen a vehicle and escaped. Same with Siler and Buchanan. But Siler was following Stephanie, I had to figure, meaning they were probably still here.
My “uncles” were likely willing to wait for me to get what I wanted from Chernobog and then either kill her or let me negotiate a mutually beneficial deal. White or Serene might know where they were, but it was going to be hard to ask them where someone else wasn’t going to see the answer in some way.
Siler and Buchanan could get home because Siler could calibrate a gate. For all I knew, Buchanan could, too. But the Dingo and Surly Vic couldn’t. And I didn’t want to strand them here if I could help it.
“You know, before we go, let me make a call.” All three men gave me suspicious looks, but no one argued. Stepped away and pulled out the burner phone. Dialed the last number that had called me. It rang but no one picked up. Tried the other number. Same thing. So much for that idea.
Didn’t want to send Buchanan a text in case he was in a situation where that would blow his cover. While I was contemplating my lack of options, the cosmos did me a solid and my phone played “Secret Agent Holiday” by Alien Fashion Show, which was my ringtone for Buchanan.
“Malcolm, where are you?”
“With some good friends of yours. They assume you’re dithering around at Home Base because you’re worried about how they’re going to get back to D.C. Figured they were right and that I should let you know that we’d all appreciate it if you’d all get back to the Embassy.”
“Wow. They’re good. And so are you. Are you okay? I mean really okay, not being held against your will by the top three assassins in the world?”
“Yes, I’m fine. As I mention frequently and you and the others like to ignore, I have a lot more in common with them than you realize.”
“No, actually, I realize it a lot. I just happen to appreciate the similarities. And the differences. Cameron Maurer is definitely an android. Gideon Cleary is an oily, evil man. Stephanie’s fully on the Dark Side and I think will very shortly be sleeping with Cleary. There’s a slim chance Maurer can overcome t
he android within and come to us for help.”
“There’s an even bigger chance that he’ll pretend to and self-destruct inside the Embassy when you’re all there.”
“No argument. Just wanted to catch you up on the excitement that is our lives. I’m sure your new friends caught you up on the happenings with Chernobog and Colonel Butler.”
“Yes.”
“Good. Chernobog’s in the Embassy now. Tell them she will make it worth all our whiles or I will bring her to the roof. They’ll know what that means.”
“Missus Chief, I know what that means, too, you know.”
“Good! Um, somewhere in all of this, I was warned by someone—and I swear to you that I can’t even remember who now—that the National Convention was going to be giving the term ‘chaotic goat rodeo’ a new meaning. Oh! And Colonel Hamlin is alive and well and requesting that we not try to protect him since we did such a bang-up job letting you get attacked and almost killed.”
Buchanan chuckled. “Good to know. And, we’ll be prepared for the convention, at least as much as we can be.”
“They’re after Jeff, much more than me.”
“Maybe so. But if they hurt you, they hurt him. Don’t forget that.”
“I won’t.”
“You could have fooled me with that distraction technique you used just now.”
“We thought we’d spotted you and Siler! So, um, why didn’t you do anything?”
“We were prepared to blow every single person around you, other than Reynolds, away. Fortunately, we didn’t have to assassinate the opposition candidates. That’s not really good for your husband’s campaign, by the way. Public opinion tends to flow toward the party whose nominated candidates are killed by agents working for the opposition.”
“Good point.”
“So glad you think so. Go home. Get what you can out of Chernobog. We have some things to clean up here, and then we’ll be back with you.”
“Did you find the cell that Stephanie was a part of?”
He was quiet for a few seconds. “Do you really want to know?”
Considered why he was asking. Considered what Siler and, more significantly, Buchanan were likely to do to a group of people they knew were actively out to get me and mine. Considered if I could sleep with the confirmation of what I suspected the answer would be. “No.”
“I knew you were smart.”
We hung up and I rejoined Jeff and the others. “They’re fine. Let’s go home.”
“Do we want to know?” Jeff asked.
“I guarantee we don’t,” Chuckie replied.
“What Chuckie said.”
Jeff calibrated a gate. “I know, I know,” he said to Christopher and Chuckie. “Don’t dawdle.”
“Hey, dawdling worked out this time,” I pointed out.
Christopher shook his head. “You two have been dawdling at the gate since the first day Kitty was with us. So don’t dawdle too long.” He stepped through.
Chuckie looked around. “I see nothing else untoward. I promise I’m not going to kill myself. And yes, I’ll talk to Richard when we have some breathing space. Oh, and humor us all and don’t take too long, in case something else bad wants to happen.” He stepped through.
“So, are we dawdling?” I asked as Jeff recalibrated.
“Nope.” He swung me up into his arms. “I want to get home where it’s a different brand of chaos. But it’s the brand I prefer.”
I’d have chimed in, but Jeff kissed me, and I focused on that instead of my witty reply, the gate transfer, or anything else. Like Buchanan said, I was smart.
CHAPTER 79
AFTER ONE OF THE BETTER gate transfers of my life, we joined the meeting, and luncheon, in progress in the main Embassy dining room.
Most of the Embassy staff were here, though we were pointedly missing Serene, Gower, Abigail, Amy, Doreen, Irving, White, and Hacker International. Jennifer and Adriana were in here, as was Vance, though, so I figured those not here were assisting White in calming down the KGB War over at the Zoo. But also figured I should verify.
“Pierre, is everyone who isn’t here helping Richard?”
“Or doing their jobs, such as running or assisting with daycare and being adorable little ones, yes.” Took this to mean Dad and Lucinda were helping Denise with the kids, or as I was sure they thought of it, having a wonderful time. This meant the Embassy pets were with them as per Jamie’s daily demands.
Jenkins looked relieved to see us. “Thank you for believing me, Ambassador.”
“Not sure what you think I believe, because right now what I believe is that I’ll have a double helping of everything on the table.”
“I’ll get that for you, Kitty, darling,” Pierre said as he helped me to a seat next to Jenkins. “You and Jeff just get things handled.”
“Okay. So, Bruce, what’s got you so spooked?”
“Cameron Maurer. He’s not . . . normal anymore.”
“Ah, as to that . . .” Looked at Mrs. Maurer, who was on Jenkins’ other side, with Raj next to her. Raj patted her hand.
“It won’t . . . affect me,” she said. “I mean, I’ve already rum the gamut of emotions in this past day, and I’ve heard what Bruce had to say. What’s one more horrible thing?”
“Then, I can say without a doubt that your son is an android now. Has Jenkins here said anything different?” Probably asked that a little more snidely than I’d intended, but I was really focused on getting the food Pierre had placed in front of me into my mouth.
“No. Look, Ambassador, I know I came off badly before—”
“You came off as being in the employ of our enemies. We have a lot of enemies, so it was hard to accurately guess which set had hired you. But hired reputation hit man was definitely how you came across. It’s what, as far as I’m concerned, you probably still are. The timing of your call to me was incredibly suspect, and for all we know, you’re here to perpetrate some evil and are just a really good actor.”
“Ambassador, I can see why you’d think that. Though I believe I’ve given your staff plenty of proof of my intentions.”
“Which are?”
“I need protection and want to help you. And I want the Armstrong-Martini ticket to win.”
Stopped with a bite halfway into my mouth. “Seriously? That’s a hell of a party switch in the course of an hour or so.”
“Well, discovering that the vice presidential candidate you’re trying to support is actually some evil robot being controlled by the presidential candidate is more than unsettling. And I got a look at the bomb debrief information—you were telling the truth. And I was at the political protest yesterday, meaning I’d have been killed by the ricin gas, too. With friends like these, who needs enemies?”
“Who are your former friends, Bruce? We’d love some names.”
“Harvey Gutermuth is one.”
“Oh, the head of Club Fifty-One. Great company. Who are the others? Names, Bruce, I want names.”
“Well, what Harvey says, Farley Pecker supports. They’re the ones responsible for the ricin bombs. Club Fifty-One has the largest worldwide reach of all those who oppose the A-Cs being on Earth, and Pecker’s people make enthusiastic guerillas.”
“Church of Hate and Intolerance covered, check.”
“You’re certain Club Fifty-One set all the bombs?” Chuckie asked.
“Yes, but I’m sure they took direction from someone. Harvey likes to act like he’s in charge, and he does run the Club itself, but it’s clear that he has someone who tells him what to do and when.”
“Not a surprise.” It was certainly how Club 51 had worked in the past, so why change a successful setup? “However, I find it almost impossible to believe you’re taking all your cues from these combined groups of total wackos, Bruce.”
“Sorry, I thought it was obvious. The Cleary-Maurer campaign asked me to support their efforts. For my support, I got unlimited access to their campaign, exclusive interviews with the candidates, hot
tips, and so forth. And the support of Gutermuth and Pecker, which isn’t an insubstantial thing, given their numbers.”
“Political insider trading. I can see why it was appealing. So, what changed you from the Side of the Sith to Return to the Jedi?”
“I was early to join the campaign on a tour of Area Fifty-One. It was supposed to be my first time using your gate technology, so I was rather excited. No one was in campaign headquarters, which was odd. I’m an investigative reporter, I investigated.” He looked chagrined. “Honestly, I was thinking that perhaps your people had done something to Gideon or . . . Cameron or one of their people.” He swallowed and looked ill.
“Go on,” Jeff said gently. He leaned next to me. “He’s telling the truth, so you may want to lighten up on him,” he whispered in my ear.
“Mmmm-hmmm.” Whenever Jeff did this, all I actually wanted to do was rub up against him. Controlled the impulse, though it took great effort. Score one for my massively impressive diplomatic skills.
“The door to a back room was slightly ajar. I heard voices, and my reporting instincts kicked in. So I snuck over and remained outside the room, but was in a position where I could see in. And . . . I saw Gideon and several women, one of whom was very young and also quite beautiful.”
“Stephanie,” Jeff said.
“I didn’t catch her name, any of their names. They were . . . working on Cameron. They had the back of his head opened like small double doors, his shirt was off and his chest was opened the same way. There were no organs I could see, just machinery. They were talking about calibrating his programming, saying that the doctor hadn’t done it quite right. Someone else joined them, a man, but I didn’t see him. However, whoever he was, Gideon and the women instantly acted like he was in charge.”
“Could have been the Mastermind,” Christopher said. “Would you recognize his voice?”
Jenkins shook his head. “It was too muffled. I could tell it was a man, and that’s all. If I’d been able to stay longer, I might have. I certainly wanted to see who this was. But someone else came in through the front door, and I realized I was going to be discovered. I had to pretend I was looking for everyone, so I called out. Gideon came to greet me, shutting the door behind him. I don’t know if I looked guilty, but I told him I’d just started to feel ill and feared food poisoning, and asked if I could beg off this visit.”