by Ben Bova
TWENTY-EIGHT
POPS TUCKER JOINED them at the cable-car terminal on their way back to the Yamagata Hotel. None of the three men who had accosted Tamara had security identification on them. The crowd at the bar threatened to put them into one of the catapult cargo containers if they ever showed their faces at the Hundred Gees again. “Rough bunch,” muttered Dan. “They had a hopper waiting for them. They’re on their way to the city,” Tucker said. “Maybe they’ll be waiting for us.” Dan shook his head. “No, they’ll slink off to their boss, whoever it is, with their tails between their legs. They don’t know we’re staying at the hotel.” “How can you be at the hotel?” Tamara wondered. “Your photograph, your retinal prints—Kate has spread them all over Alphonsus and the other settlements, as well. How can you ride in this car without the security department recognizing you on the monitor cameras?” They were alone in the cable car. This late at night, hardly anyone traveled between the Nubium facilities and the city. “Two safeguards,” Dan said, grinning tightly. “One: my wrinkled old friend here has hacked into the security files and transferred the photograph and prints of a long-dead mining engineer for my own. So the dumb computer is looking for a dead man, not for me.” “But there are still people who might recognize you.” “That’s where bribery comes in. Like the room clerk at the hotel when we checked in a couple nights ago. He knew something was slightly askew, but I tipped him enough to make him happy about it. Money talks, kid. It talks loudly. But when you want it to, it can whisper.” Despite his avowed confidence, Dan was edgy and hyper-alert when the cable car reached its terminal in the city. Hardly anyone in the underground corridors at this time of night. They took a powered walkway to the hotel and went immediately down to Dan’s suite. The sitting room was huge, ornately decorated with Oriental carpets flown in from Earth and furniture made on the Moon to resemble classic styles. One entire broad wall was a video window. Jabbing a finger toward a closed door, Dan said to Tamara, “You can have the master bedroom. Pops and George are sharing the other bedroom. I’ll sleep out here tonight.” Half an hour later Dan and Tamara were sitting on the couch that would convert into his bed. Tucker and George had retired to their own room. A pair of brandy snifters stood on the coffee table before the couch. The room lights were turned down almost all the way. The picture wall was showing a video scene of a crescent Earth glowing blue and white in the infinite black sky above Mare Nubium. “...so that’s how Kate caught you, I’m sure,” Tamara was saying. “She was tracking the logistics program, looking for where the steady leaks are.” “While I was getting people to smuggle propellant for the hopper I snagged,” Dan muttered. “I should’ve known better. Never leave a straight trail behind you.” “It was while Kate was searching the logistics files that I began to see how somebody was bleeding away five to ten percent of the company’s assets. That’s when I began to suspect that there were criminals burrowing into Astro’s business.” “And you told Kate about it?” Dan asked. She nodded solemnly. “That’s when she transferred me out of her office, to the mass-driver complex.” “So she’s in on it.” “She must be.” “And she wasn’t satisfied just exiling you to the mass driver. Those goons were sent to shut you up permanently.” Tamara shuddered. “Damn!” He smacked a fist into his open palm, making Tamara jump. “I thought it was Malik and his double-damned GEC bureaucracy. But it’s an international syndicate of criminals that we re up against. Both of them.” “The crooks see the GEC’s greenhouse project as an opportunity to steal on a global scale.” Dan shook his head. “It’s more than that, kid. They’ve always been around, nibbling at the edges. Like a pack of rats, hiding in the dark, biting off what they can when you’re not looking. We’ve had problems like that at Astro since I first got into business.” Tamara smiled at him. “For a while there you were one of the crooks.” “Yeah, I guess I was.” He got up from the couch and began pacing the big, plush room. “But now they’re organizing on a global scale. They’re not after just money anymore. They wouldn’t have to organize globally for that. They could just continue operating the way they always have.” Tamara watched him striding, thinking out loud. “No, they’re after power now,” said Dan. “This greenhouse project is giving them the opportunity to focus all their efforts. They want to take over the GEC. That’s what they’re after.” His eyes ablaze, Dan came back to the couch and sat beside Tamara once again. “That’s what it’s all about! They’re letting Malik and the others on the Council turn the GEC into an effective worldwide dictatorship. Then they take over the GEC! They’ll be running the whole double-damned world!” “Do you really think so?” “Hell yes! What do they care if half the world sinks beneath the waves? They’ll control everything that’s left.” “That’s ... frightening.” “There’s plenty to be frightened of. Anybody who gets in their way is liable to be killed.” “Like me,” she said, her voice small, hollow. Dan nodded. “I’m scared, Dan. They want to kill me.” Tamara pressed close to him, close enough for Dan to smell the scent in her hair, to see into the depths of her jet black eyes. She was trembling. So was he. She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him. Dan held her tightly, his mind spinning. His body reacted. Lifting her up in his arms he walked across the big shadowy silent room, the glow of the distant Earth throwing highlights on her ebony hair, the classic curve of her high cheekbones, the sensuousness of her half-opened lips. Dan carried her into the bedroom and forgot about the world and all its cares. In the morning he felt almost embarrassed. You took advantage of a scared kid, he accused his mirror image as he brushed his teeth. You saved her from a scary situation and then you carried her off to your bed like Gonzo the Caveman. Back to your old tricks. But, hell, it had been a long time. And she was just as happy about it as I was. Tamara was sitting demurely in the bed, sheet pulled to her chin, when he came out of the bathroom. Feeling unaccustomedly flustered, Dan padded to the closet where his two newly purchased suits were hanging in the otherwise empty expanse. “You talk in your sleep, do you know that?” Tamara called to him while he hastily dressed. “Not me. And I don’t snore, either.” “You didn’t snore. But you talked. Quite a lot.” Pulling on his slacks, Dan asked, “Anything intelligible?’ “Mostly mumbles,” she said. “Only one name came through clearly enough to understand.” “One name!” “Jane.” Dan felt the breath sink out of him. “That would be Jane Scanwell, wouldn’t it?” He remembered the dream. It was about Jane, all right: angry with him and loving him all at the same time. A real jumble. “Wouldn’t it?” Tamara insisted. He stepped out of the closet fully clothed in a sandy brown lightweight suit that he had bought at the hotel’s men’s shop for an outrageous price. “Yeah,” he admitted. “Jane Scanwell.” Tamara smiled at him. “I think you should marry the woman. You definitely are in love with her.” He made a sour face. “Thanks for the advice.” Tamara laughed and got out of bed, heading for the bathroom. Dan stood watching her lithe naked body until she shut the door. He shook his head. Women. How can a woman spend the night making love to you, parade herself naked in front of your feasting eyes, and at the same time tell you that you’re in love with somebody else and you should marry her? The trouble was, Dan knew, that she was entirely right. Jane realized she was taking a chance. She had no certain way of knowing where Malik’s loyalties stood. She wanted to believe that Vasily was exactly what he appeared to be: a hardworking member of the Council, a dedicated representative of the vast Russian Federation , a man intent on orchestrating this enormous global effort to save the world from the greenhouse cliff. But he could be secretly working for Rare. Or perhaps working with him, rather than for him. If that’s the case, Jane knew, if he’s on their side, then I’m stepping into a minefield. Their meeting had to be away from the GEC offices. Jane knew that Malik’s relationship with his wife was strained, at best. She hardly ever saw the two of them together, even at social functions. So she felt almost no qualms when she asked him to have dinner with her, alone. And she was not surprised when he swiftly agreed. Now they sat at a t
able by the big picture window of Les Trois Anges, looking out over the Seine as evening spread its soft purple shadows over Paris . Smiling over his aperitif at her, Malik said, “This is a very romantic restaurant, isn’t it?” Jane did not return his smile. “I picked it because it’s away from the office. We’re not likely to be disturbed here. Or overheard.” He cocked his head slightly. “Then this is strictly a business meeting?” “Of course. What did you expect?” “Nothing. Only business, naturally. Still ...” “Strictly business, Vasily.” “Of course.” Jane sipped at her drink while Malik looked out at the people sauntering along the street, couples sitting on benches along the river. It would be pleasant to walk with Lucita along the Seine , he thought. Or to sit on one of those benches and watch the Moon come up over Paris ’ rooftops. But Lucita’s heart still belongs to Dan Randolph. Malik knew that, and it fueled his hatred for her—and him. “Vasily,” Jane said, pulling his attention back to her, “I think the Council is being undermined by organized crime.” His smile turned sardonic. “Not that again.” “Again?” “Just because Gaetano’s an Italian, half the Council thinks he’s connected with the Mafia.” “He is,” Jane said firmly. “He had a friend of mine murdered.” Sighing, “Yes, Rate told me he thought you blame him for Robertson’s death. He was eighty-some years old, wasn’t he? A heart attack is not uncommon-” was starting to investigate how organized crime is infiltrating our greenhouse project. They killed him.” “I’m sorry, Jane. I can’t believe that. Not without some hard evidence.” She studied his face, trying to determine if he was being honest with her or covering up his own connection with Gaetano. I bring you hard evidence,” Jane asked, “what will you do?” Malik’s eyes flared. “I will do whatever needs to be done to wipe out the criminals. Our program to avert the greenhouse cliff is too important to allow a pack of hoodlums to get in our way.” He seemed honest enough about that, Jane thought. Now comes the hard part. “Vasily—has it occurred to you that Gaetano and his kind want our project to succeed? That they want the GEC to take control of the global economy, because it will be easier for them that way!” “I don’t understand how-” Jane hunched closer to him, leaning across the little table, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Once the GEC is effectively running the entire world’s economy, if the criminals have successfully infiltrated the Council, then they will be masters of the world.” She saw a flash of understanding cross his face. Then it hardened into an immobile mask. “So you think that I am merely a pawn for Gaetano to push about as he chooses?” “I think that we are all running the danger of packaging the world with a big ribbon and handing it over to the international crime syndicate.” Malik was obviously angry, and obviously trying to control the rage he felt. “Very well,” he said through gritted teeth. “I will keep a careful watch on Gaetano. If you have this hard evidence you mentioned a moment ago, I would like to see it.” Jane nodded slowly. “I’ll get it for you.” “Rest assured that I have no intention of allowing criminals to take over the Council. I have decided to run for the chairmanship when Sibuti’s term is over.” “But it’s Europe ’s turn next.” “Do you want Gaetano in the chairman’s seat?” “No.” “Then we must break with tradition and force a vote, a true vote. Will you support me?” “One hundred percent,” said Jane. “Good,” Malik replied. “Now let’s order something to eat.” To himself he added, And once chairman I will see to it that I remain in the post for the duration of this emergency. No one else has the guts to deal with this greenhouse problem, not even this former President of the United States .