Rama Revealed r-4

by Arthur C. Clarke

Katie picked up her envelope and started to leave. The Oriental policewoman stopped her. “Everything stays here,” she said.

  “But this is a business meeting,” Katie protested. “What I want to discuss with Mr. Nakamura is in this envelope.”

  The two women opened the envelope and took out the papers. They held each individual paper up to the light and then passed them, one at a time, through some kind of screening machine. Finally they replaced the papers in the envelope and the woman named Bangorn motioned for Katie to follow her.

  The final waiting room was another fifteen meters down the hall. Again Katie had to sit and wait. She could feel herself starting to shake. It isn’t going to work, she said to herself. What a fool I am!

  As she sat, Katie began to yearn desperately for some kokomo. She could not recall ever wanting anything so much. Fearful that she was going to start crying, she asked Bangorn if she could go again to the rest room. The policewoman accompanied her. At least Katie was able to wash her face.

  When the two of them returned, Nakamura himself was standing in the waiting room. Katie thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest. Nakamura was wearing a yellow and black kimono covered with bright flowers.

  “Hello, Katie,” he said with a leering smile. “I have not seen you for a long time.”

  “Hello, Toshio-san,” she replied, her voice breaking.

  Katie followed him into his office and sat down, cross-legged, at a low table. Nakamura was opposite her. Bangorn stayed in the room, standing unobtrusively over in a corner. Oh, no, Katie said to herself when the policewoman did not leave. What do I do now?

  “I thought,” Katie said to Nakamura a moment later, trying to sound normal, “that a report on our business was long overdue.” She pulled the papers out of the envelope.

  “Despite the poor economy, we have managed to increase our profits by ten percent. In this summary sheet,” she said, handing a page to Nakamura, “you can see that although the Vegas revenues are down, the local take, where the prices are cheaper, is up substantially. Even in San Miguel—”

  He glanced at the paper quickly and then put it down on the table. “You don’t need to show me any data,” Nakamura. said. “Everyone knows what a superb businesswoman you are.” He reached over to his left and retrieved a large black-lacquer box. “Your performance has been outstanding,” he said. “If times were not so tough, you would definitely merit a large raise. As it is, I would like to offer you this gift as a token of my appreciation.”

  Nakamura pushed the box across the table to Katie.

  “Thank you,” she said, admiring the mountains and snow inlaid on its top. It was indeed beautiful.

  “Open it,” he said, reaching for one of the wrapped candies in the bowl on the table.

  Katie opened the box. It was full of kokomo. A genuine smile of delight crossed her face. “Thank you, Toshio-san,” she said. “You are most generous.”

  “You may sample it,” he said, now grinning. “You won’t insult me.”

  Katie put a small amount of the powder on her tongue. It was top quality. Without hesitation, she pinched a chunk of powder out of the box and held it against her left nostril with her little finger. Closing off the right nostril, Katie inhaled deeply. She took slow, deep breaths while the rush took effect. Then she laughed. “Whewee,” Katie said uninhibitedly. ‘That’s great stuff!”

  “I thought you would like it,” Nakamura said. He idly tossed his candy wrapper in the small wastebasket next to the table. It will be in there somewhere, Katie remembered Franz telling her. In some inconspicuous spot. Look in the wastebaskets. Look behind the curtains.

  The New Eden dictator was smiling at her from across the table. “Was there anything else?” he asked.

  Katie took a deep breath as she smiled. “Only this,” she said. She stretched forward, put her elbows on the table, and kissed him on the lips. She felt the policewoman’s rough hands on her shoulders moments later. ‘That’s a small token of my thanks for the kokomo.”

  She had not misjudged him. The lust in his eyes was unmistakable. Nakamura waved Bangorn away. “You may leave us,” he said to the policewoman as he rose from his sitting position. “Come over here, Katie. Give me a real kiss.”

  Katie checked the small wastebasket as she danced around the table. There was nothing except candy wrappers in it. Of course, she thought. That would be too obvious. Now I must make this good. She teased Nakamura first with one kiss and then with another. Her tongue tickled his lips and tongue. Then she pulled away quickly, still laughing. Nakamura started to follow her.

  “No,” she said, backing up toward the door. “Not yet… we’re just getting started.”

  Nakamura stood still and grinned. “I had forgotten how talented you are,” he said. “Those girls are lucky to have you as a mentor.”

  “It takes an exceptional man to bring out the best in me,” Katie said, locking and bolting the door. Her eyes roamed quickly around the office and landed on another small wastebasket, over in the far corner. That would be the perfect place, she said to herself excitedly.

  “Are you just going to stand there, Toshio,” Katie said now, “or are you going to get me a drink?”

  “Of course,” Nakamura said, moving toward the hand-

  carved liquor cabinet under the solitary window. “Straight whiskey, wasn’t it?”

  “Your memory is phenomenal,” Katie said.

  “I remember you very well,” Nakamura said as he prepared two drinks. “How could I ever forget all those games-especially the princess and the slave, that was my favorite… We had such fun there for a while.”

  Until you insisted on bringing in others. And even more disgusting things, Katie thought. You made it clear that I was not enough by myself. “Boy,” she barked suddenly in an imperious tone, “I am thirsty. Where is my drink?”

  A quick frown crossed Nakamura’s face before he broke into a wide smile. “Yes, Your Highness,” he said, bringing her a drink with his head held low. He bowed. “Is there anything else, Your Highness?” he said obsequiously.

  “Yes,” Katie responded, taking the drink with her left hand and reaching aggressively under Nakamura’s kimono “with her right. She watched him close his eyes. Katie kissed him hard while continuing to arouse him.

  She pulled away abruptly. While he was watching her, Katie slowly took off her yukata. Nakamura advanced. Katie stuck out her arms. “Now, boy,” she ordered, “turn down those lights and lie over there on the mat, on your back, next to the table.”

  Nakamura dutifully complied. Katie walked over to where he was lying. “Now,” she said in a gentler tone, “you do remember what your princess needs, don’t you? Slowly, very slowly, without any hurry.” She reached down and fondled him. “I do believe that Musashi is almost ready.”

  Katie kissed Nakamura, caressing his face and neck with her fingers. “Now close your eyes,” she whispered in his ear, “and count to ten, very slowly.”

  “Ichi, ni, san…” he said breathlessly.

  With astonishing celerity, Katie swept across the room to the other wastebasket. She pushed aside some papers and found the gun.

  “…shi, go, ryoku…”

  Her heart pounding furiously, Katie picked up the gun, tied around, and headed back toward Nakamura.

  “…shichi, hachi, kyu…”

  “This is for what you did to my father,” Katie said, sticking the barrel of the gun against his forehead. She pulled the trigger just as the astonished Nakamura opened his eyes.

  “And this is for what you did to me,” she said, firing three bullets into his genitals in rapid succession.

  The guards broke down the door in seconds. But she was too quick. “And this, Katie Wakefield,” she said in a loud voice, sticking the gun in her mouth, “is for what you did to yourself.”

  Ellie awakened when she heard the keys rustling in the lock on her cell. She rubbed her eyes. “Is that you, Robert?” she asked.

  “Yes, Elli
e,” he said. He came into the cell just as she stood up. Robert put his arms around Ellie and hugged her fiercely. “I’m so glad to see you,” he said. “I came as soon as Herbert told me the guards had abandoned the station.”

  Robert kissed his puzzled wife. “I’m terribly sorry, Ellie,” he said. “I was very, very wrong.”

  It took Ellie a few seconds to gather her bearings. ‘They abandoned the station?” she said. “Why, Robert? What’s going on?”

  “Complete and total chaos,” he said heavily. He looked utterly defeated.

  “What do you mean, Robert?” Ellie said, suddenly afraid. “Nikki’s all right, isn’t she?”

  “She’s fine, Ellie. But people are dying in droves. And we don’t know why. Ed Stafford collapsed an hour ago and was dead before I could even examine him. It’s some kind of monstrous plague.”

  The octospiders, Ellie thought immediately. They have finally fought back. She held her husband against her while he wept. After several seconds he pulled away and spoke. “I’m sorry, Ellie. There has been so much turmoil. Are you all right?” v

  “I’m okay, Robert. No one has questioned or tortured me for several days. But where’s Nikki?”

  “She’s with Brian Walsh at our house. You remember Brian, Patrick’s computer friend? He’s been helping me take care of Nikki since you’ve been gone. Poor guy, he found both his parents dead the day before yesterday when he woke up.”

  Ellie walked out of the police station with Robert. He was talking continuously, rambling from subject to subject, but Ellie was able to comprehend a few things from his almost incoherent chatter. According to Robert, there had been over three hundred unexplained deaths in New Eden in just the last two days. And the end was nowhere in sight. “It’s strange,” he muttered. “Only one child has died. Most of the victims have been old.”

  In front of the Beauvois police station, a desperate woman in her mid-thirties recognized and then grabbed Robert. “You must come with me, Doctor, immediately,” the woman yelled in a shrill voice. “My husband is unconscious. He was sitting there with me eating lunch and he began to complain of a headache. When I came back from the kitchen, he was lying on the floor. I’m afraid he’s dead.”

  “You see,” Robert said, turning to Ellie.

  “Go with her,” Ellie said, “and then to the hospital if you must. I’ll go home and take care of Nikki. We’ll be waiting for you.” She leaned over and kissed him. Ellie started to say something to Robert about the octospiders but decided against it.

  “Mommy, Mommy,” Nikki yelled. She ran down the hall and jumped into Ellie’s arms. “I’ve missed you, Mommy.”

  “And I have missed you, my angel,” Ellie said. “What have you been doing?”

  “I’ve been playing with Brian,” Nikki answered. “He’s a very nice man. He reads to me and teaches me all about numbers.”

  Brian Walsh, who was in his early twenties, came £ around the corner holding a children’s book. “Hello, Mrs. Turner,” he said. “I don’t know if you remember me…”

  “Of course I do, Brian. And I’m just Ellie. I really do want to thank you for helping with Nikki.”

  “I’m glad to do it, Ellie. She’s a great kid. She’s kept my mind off a lot of painful thoughts—”

  “Robert told me about your parents,” Ellie interrupted. “I’m terribly sorry.”

  Brian shook his head. “It was so weird. They were both perfectly fine the night before, when they went to bed.” Tears came into his eyes. “They looked so peaceful…”

  He turned away and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his eyes. “Several of my friends say this plague, or whatever it is, was caused by the octospiders. Do you think that maybe—”

  “Possibly,” Ellie said. “We may have pushed them too far.”

  “Are we all going to die?” Brian asked.

  “I don’t know,” Ellie answered. “I really don’t.”

  They stood in awkward silence for several seconds. “Well, at least your sister got rid of Nakamura,” Brian said suddenly.

  Ellie was certain she had not heard the sentence correctly. “What are you talking about, Brian?” she asked.

  “You didn’t hear about it? Four days ago Katie assassinated Nakamura… and then killed herself.”

  Ellie was stunned. She stared at Brian in utter disbelief. “Daddy told me about Aunt Katie yesterday,” Nikki said to her mother. “He said he wanted to be the one to tell me.”

  Ellie could not say anything. Her head was spinning. She managed to say good-bye to Brian and to thank him again. Then she sat down on the couch. Nikki crawled up beside her mother and put her head on Ellie’s lap. They sat together quietly for a long time.

  “And how has your father been while I’ve been gone?” Ellie finally asked.

  “Mostly fine,” the little girl replied. “Except for the lump.”

  “What lump?” Ellie said.

  “On his shoulder,” Nikki said. “As big as my fist. I saw it there when he was shaving, three days ago. He said it must be a spider bite or something.”

  10

  “Benjy and I are leaving for the hospital,” Nicole announced.

  The others were still finishing their breakfast. “Sit down, Nicole, please,” said Eponine. “At least finish your coffee.”

  “Thanks anyway,” she replied. “But I promised Dr. Blue we would come in early today. There were a lot of casualties in yesterday’s raid.”

  “But you’ve been working very hard, Mother,” Patrick said. “And not sleeping nearly enough.”

  “It helps to stay busy,” Nicole said. “That way I don’t have any time to think.”

  “Let’s go, Mama,” Benjy said, coming into the room and handing Nicole her coat. While he was standing beside his mother, Benjy smiled and waved at the twins, who had been uncharacteristically quiet. Galileo made a bizarre face and both Benjy and Kepler laughed.

  “She hasn’t yet allowed herself to grieve over Katie’s death,” Nai said softly a minute later, as soon as Nicole had left. “That worries me. Sooner or later…”

  “She’s afraid, Nai,” Eponine said. “Maybe of another heart attack. Maybe even for her sanity. Nicole is still in denial.”

  “There you go, Frenchie, with that damn psychology again,” Max said. “Don’t worry about Nicole. She’s stronger than any of us. She’ll weep for Katie when she’s ready.”

  “Mother hasn’t been to the viewing room since her heart attack. When Dr. Blue told her about the assassination and Katie’s suicide, I felt certain Mother would want to see some of the videos… to see Katie one last time… or at least to see how Ellie was doing.”

  “Best goddamn thing your sister ever did, Patrick,” Max commented, “killing that bastard. Whatever else anybody could say about her, she had courage.”

  “Katie had a lot of outstanding qualities,” Patrick said sadly. “She was brilliant, she could be charming… she just had that other side.”

  There was a brief silence around the breakfast table. Eponine was about to say something when there was a glow of light at the front door. “Uh-oh,” she said, standing up. “I’m going to move Marius next door. The raids are starting again.”

  Nai turned to Galileo and Kepler. “Finish up quickly, boys. We’re going back into that special house Uncle Max made for us.”

  Galileo screwed up his face. “Not again,” he complained.

  Nicole and Benjy had barely reached the hospital when the first bombs started falling through the tattered dome. The heavy raids had been occurring daily. More than half of the Emerald City ceiling was now gone. Bombs had fallen on almost every section of the city.

  Dr. Blue greeted them and immediately sent Benjy down to the receiving area. “It’s terrible,” the octospider physician said to Nicole. “Over two hundred dead from yesterday alone.”

  “What is happening in New Eden?” Nicole asked. “I would have thought that by now—”

  “The micro-agents are working somewhat slo
wer than predicted,” Dr. Blue replied. “But they are finally having an impact. The Chief Optimizer says the raids should cease in another day or two, at the most. She and her staff are drawing up plans for the next phase.”

  “Surely the colonists will not continue the war,” Nicole said, forcing herself not to think too much about what was occurring in New Eden, “especially not with Nakamura dead.”

  “We feel we must be prepared for any contingency,” Dr. Blue said. “But I certainly hope you’re right.”

  As they were moving down the corridor together, they were approached by another octospider doctor, the one that Benjy had named Penny because of the round mark, resembling a New Eden coin, just to the right of her slit. Penny described to Dr. Blue the terrible scenes she had witnessed earlier that morning out in the Alternate Domain. Nicole was able to understand most of what Penny said, not only because the octospider repeated herself several times, but also because Penny used very simple sentences in their language of color.

  Penny informed Dr. Blue that medical personnel and supplies were desperately needed immediately to help with the wounded in the Alternate Domain. Dr. Blue tried to explain to Penny that there were not even enough staff members available to handle all the patients in the hospital.

  “I could go with Penny for a few hours this morning,” Nicole suggested, “if that would be any help.”

  Dr. Blue glanced at her human friend. “Are you certain you feel up to it, Nicole?” the octospider asked. “I understand it’s pretty gruesome out there.”

  “I have been getting stronger every day,” Nicole replied. “And I want to be where I’m most needed.”

  Dr. Blue told Penny that Nicole would be able to assist her in the Alternate Domain for a maximum of a tert, as long as Penny accepted the responsibility for escorting Nicole back to the hospital. Penny agreed and thanked Nicole for volunteering to help.

  Soon after they boarded the transport, Penny explained to Nicole what was happening in the Alternate Domain.

  “The wounded are taken to any building that is still undamaged, where they are examined, treated with emergency medicines if necessary, and scheduled for transportation to the hospital. The situation has been getting worse each day. Many of the alternates have already given up hope.”