“This is…um…I feel strange,” muttered Hector.
“You’re supposed to,” said Setzen, his single good eye glistening.
“No…I’ve had the fish before…this…ah….”
“Hector’s right,” said Ida, shaking her head. “What’s going on? You said that was just tarragon. Have you…?”
“It is tarragon, Ida. Just ordinary tarragon.”
“But then why…?”
“It reacts with the toxin in the fish. Changes it juuust a tiny bit,” said Setzen, grinning.
“Wh…Am…am I going to die?” The voice was still a steely rasp, but there was fear there too.
“Oh, heavens, no! How could you think such a thing? You’re my guest. It would be frightfully bad manners to invite you to dinner and then poison you.”
“Plus, if the Commander was going to kill you, she’d just do it. No messing about. No long speeches.”
“Why, thank you, Setzen.”
“I’m going home,” announced Hector, pushing himself away from the table. He tried to stand up, but seemed suddenly unable to control his legs.
“Please don’t, Hector. Pull your chair up to the table.”
Hector looked at her and opened his mouth as if to protest, then suddenly seemed confused and closed it again.
“I said, pull your chair up to the table.”
Hector did as he was told without hesitation, his face now blank. Sam looked at Ida. She, too, was just sitting, devoid of expression or emotion. For a moment it felt as if time had stopped, then a muffled giggle broke the silence.
“They look so funny,” said Phyllida. “Like dolls. Don’t they look like dolls, Setzen?”
“Just like.”
“Now, Ida,” said Carolyn, ignoring everyone else and speaking as if it were a perfectly normal conversation. “I have to say I was surprised when you accepted my invitation. You must have suspected that something was going on. So why did you come?”
“Couldn’t pass up a chance of seeing inside this place. Talking to you and the banker. Thought Hector was in on it too, but he ain’t.” Her voice sounded the same, but slightly flat, as if she was really tired.
“Did you think I didn’t know that you had been poking your nose in my business?”
“Yes. I was careful.”
“Not careful enough,” muttered Setzen, smirking.
Phyllida had finished her fish and was now running her fingers through the remains of the sauce and licking it off. She stopped at the sound of Setzen’s voice, slid off her chair and climbed onto his lap.
Sam glanced at Carolyn Bast, but she shook her head.
“I see what you’re thinking,” she said. “But sometimes chemical persuasion isn’t necessary. Most times, actually.”
“So she keeps you up to speed on the Mayor’s plans?”
“Such as they are.” Carolyn smiled slightly. “Still, it’s best to have eyes and ears wherever I can, and Setzen enjoys it. Some women really go for the biomechanics.”
She turned back to Ida, who was still sitting bolt upright, her left eyelid twitching slightly.
“Ida?”
“Yes.”
“You will stop all investigation into me, DETH, Inc, Dustin Farmer, Tiffany Farmer, Hector Stone and all financial and energy companies. If anyone suggests that you investigate, you will decline. You already looked into it and there is no story there. Do you understand?”
“Yes. There’s no story there. It’s a waste of time.”
“You may go to sleep now. When you wake up you will only recall a long and dull dinner. Now sleep.”
Ida’s eyes closed and she slowly slid beneath the table.
“Hobbs! Get her out of here. Have someone take her home. Make sure no one sees.”
The eminently useful Hobbs snapped his fingers and two of the waiters hauled Ida out from beneath the table and carried her away.
“You are going to have to eat the fish, Sam,” said Carolyn, smiling. “It doesn’t taste anywhere near as nice once it’s gone cold.”
Sam stared at her. Knowing that the tarragon turned the fish toxin into some kind of mind control agent made it worse, somehow. It was like stealing souls.
“Hector?”
“Yes.”
“I’m terribly sorry about this. I was really hoping that you would be more of a businessman, but I suspect you would have gone home and told Bakersfield all about our plans for expansion. Is that right?”
“Yes. You want to start a war. I have to tell them. I have to tell everyone.”
“No, you have forgotten all about it. How was your meal?”
“Fantastic.”
“But the company was dull.”
“The meal was great but the other guests were boring.”
“You left early because you had a great idea. You’re going to solve all Century City’s energy problems by expanding your area of operation. You’re going to drill the Bakersfield deposits.”
“I’m going to drill Bakersfield.”
“You’re really excited about it.”
“It’s a great idea. I don’t understand why no one else has thought of it. That Bast woman thinks she’s so clever. I’ll show her.”
“Yes, don’t get carried away, Hector. If anything goes wrong, you will call me.”
“You promised to help.”
“Just so.”
“Hey, why don’t we get him to move all his accounts to my bank?” said Dustin, his eyes sparkling and his lips unpleasantly damp.
“Hector, where do you bank?”
“Hedges and Harmon. Father and grandfather before me.”
“But they are too old fashioned. You need a new bank. You need to live for the future not in the past. You’ve heard great things about Van Nuys Financial.”
“I have. Great things. I’m moving everything over.”
“Very good. You seem tired now.”
“I am. I’m very tired.”
“You can sleep now, but you’ll remember this voice. This voice is you. You always do what your inner voice says.”
“I do. But I’m very tired now.”
“Go to sleep.”
Hector slumped forward, breaking his plate as his head hit the table.
“Well, that’s annoying,” sighed Carolyn. “He’s spoiled the set.”
“I’ll buy you a new one,” said Dustin, smiling.
“Thank you, that’s very—Setzen, if you’re going to do that, I’d really prefer it if you took her to your room.”
Setzen chuckled and started to stand up, but Phyllida squeaked a protest and whispered in his ear.
“She wants to see the kid eat the fish.”
Sam glared at her.
“Well, you can tell her that I’m not going to eat it.”
“Oh?” Carolyn Bast seemed amused.
“Look, it’s a great party trick and all, but if you want to know stuff just ask me.”
“And you’ll tell the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Do you always tell the truth?”
“No.”
“I see. And what if I want you to do something for me?”
“Maybe I’ll do it.”
“Maybe?”
“Well, I don’t know what it is yet, do I? But I’m guessing the alternative is being killed, so I’m prepared to be reasonable.”
“I’m pleased to hear it.”
Sam smiled. It was his best smile. The one he saved for really dire situations (and really good ones, though there hadn’t been as many of those). It was the smile he’d used on the farmer’s wife when he’d been cornered in the henhouse with a full box of eggs in that settlement in Montana. He’d been twelve then, and they both knew he was going to sell the eggs in the next town. She should’ve called the local law, but one look at the smile and she gave him the eggs and a hot dinner to see him on his way. He’d used it when he’d won the car and the old coyote who owned it was sure he’d cheated. He probably never stopped believing the
kid had cheated, but the smile must have reminded him of himself when he was young, so he’d honored the bet and given him the keys. And he’d used it when he’d inadvertently crossed Ma Perry, who everyone had warned him about, telling him that she owned everything in the small town that was her personal fiefdom, which should have been enough to get him moving on, but wasn’t, because he hadn’t realized that when they said she owned everything in town, they literally meant everything. She had killed people for a lot less and was undoubtedly the scariest woman he’d ever met up till now, but the smile had worked its magic and he’d managed to get out alive.
It didn’t work this time, though. Carolyn Bast seemed vaguely amused but not in the least moved.
“Eat the fish.”
“Look—”
“Now.”
Sam stared at the plate. It was beautiful to look at and would undoubtedly taste fantastic, but he felt as though he was being asked to eat a bowl of live spiders. He didn’t want to give up control of his mind, even for an instant, and particularly not to her.
“You can eat it yourself or Hobbs can force it down your gullet. I know which I’d prefer.”
She glanced at Hobbs, who beamed with pleasure at what was, apparently, a compliment.
“How much do I have to eat?”
“All of it.”
Tiffany squeezed his hand under the table again.
“It’s okay,” she said. “It tastes nice, and you won’t remember the other part.”
Sam sighed. No choice. He picked up his fork and began to eat.
It was as delicious as any of the other courses, but it might as well have been chalk for all the pleasure it gave him. He ate it quickly, then sat back and waited.
“A bit more wine for my guests, Hobbs,” said Carolyn.
“You’re sure this is going to work?” asked Dustin.
“This? Oh, you mean Hector! Yes, it’ll work. He’ll give the order for the drilling tomorrow morning. I imagine they’ll arrest the first crew. The second…”
Sam didn’t hear what would happen to the second crew. He felt something warm spreading through his body, sort of starting in his chest, then out to every muscle, relaxing each in turn. Then came the euphoria, a wonderful sense of well-being and happiness. No wonder Tiffany liked the fish so much. The warmth and euphoria were pleasant and mild, and he’d still been able to hear the conversation and understand it, but now something else was happening. Something that didn’t feel good at all—like something was crawling on his skin, into his body and writhing it’s way toward his head. He closed his eyes and grabbed Tiffany’s hand.
And then he saw it.
He opened his eyes again, then gasped and closed them. He could see the toxin, just like he saw the inner workings of Carolyn’s safe.
“He looks like he’s in pain,” Tiffany’s voice sounded very far away. “It isn’t supposed to do that, is it?”
A distant murmur was all he heard of Carolyn’s reply. Now he was inside it, he could see the details of its structure, see the changes wrought by the tarragon catalyst…and he knew he could destroy it. He took a deep breath, concentrated, and blew it apart.
And then there was nothing—no warmth, no euphoria, just the room and the voices of those around him. He kept his eyes shut while he considered what to do. The best option was to pretend that it had worked. He dropped Tiffany’s hand and let his arm fall limp at his side, then opened his eyes and adopted the blank expression he’d seen on Ida and Hector.
“There now,” cooed Carolyn. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“No.”
Setzen pushed Phyllida off his lap and strode down the table to Sam.
“That didn’t sound right,” he said, peering into Sam’s face. “Are you sure he’s under?”
“Of course he’s under. It works on everyone.”
“Ask him about the plex again.”
“Sam, can you hear the plex?”
Sam hesitated. He could say no, but she already knew that was a lie. Yet every experience in his life up to this point told him that letting her know the truth would be a mistake.
“See? I’m telling you he’s not—”
“Sam, can you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Can you hear the plex?”
“Not now.”
“Did you hear it when you were on the balcony.”
“Yes.”
“Where were you born?”
“San Francisco.”
“I knew it!” she leaned back and sipped at her wine. “He’s a locule.”
That word again. Drake had used it. Carolyn leaned forward and examined his face.
“Well, well, well. Amazing. And he seems perfectly fine.”
“Unless the fish toxin has some side effects. Remember what happened to Riley,” growled Setzen.
“That was different. He was already sliding, but this one…this one is perfectly sane. Fascinating. Of course, it means I won’t be able to kill him when he gets back.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t think our client would appreciate it,” she said, her voice dripping with contempt. “Do you?”
Setzen grunted and went back to his seat. Phillida crawled into his lap again.
“Sam, would you like to do something for me?”
“I would like that.”
“Do you know where Mayor Longford keeps the Paradigm Device?”
“Yes, it’s in his office.”
“Tomorrow morning, you will go to City Hall, get the Paradigm Device and bring it back to me.”
“Yes I will.”
“Phyllida, keys!”
Phyllida rolled her eyes, extracted herself from Setzen and rooted around in her bag, eventually pulling out an elegant silver key chain which she took to Carolyn, who slipped the keys into Sam’s pocket.
“Sam, the keys to City Hall are in your pocket. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“I have some people inside who will help you if you get in trouble. What are you going to do?”
“Tomorrow I’m going to City Hall. I’ll use the keys to get inside, then I’ll go to the mayor’s office, get the Paradigm Device and bring it back to you.”
“Very good. You can sleep now, but you’ll remember this voice. This voice is you. You always do what your inner voice says.”
“Always.”
“Go to sleep.”
Sam closed his eyes and collapsed sideways onto Tiffany’s lap. She squeaked in surprise, then gently stroked his head.
“Such a shame,” she said.
“Hobbs, take him to his cell. Let him out at first light.”
Sam heard the snap of Hobbs’ fingers, before he was unceremoniously hauled from Tiffany’s comfortable lap and dragged out of the dining room and into the elevator. It took a surprising amount of concentration to stay limp all the way back to his cell and he was relieved when they finally dumped him on the bed, tossed his coat over him and slammed the door.
He lay in the dark, not daring to move. There was almost certainly a camera in the cell and he didn’t want to risk anyone realizing that the toxin hadn’t worked. After about an hour he heard the cell door open again, then close softly. Someone walked across the room, drew back the coat and pulled on his shoulder, rolling him onto his back.
“You idiot,” muttered a familiar voice. “I told you not to eat the fish.”
Chapter 13
SAM WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING. To wink or whisper, or just squeeze her hand, but he knew that even the smallest acknowledgement of her presence would be picked up by the cameras or microphones or whatever other surveillance devices Bast had installed.
So he just lay there, listening to her breathing and waiting.
After what was probably only minutes, but felt like hours, she sighed, turned and left. The door clicked softly behind her and Sam was alone again.
He rolled over and spent the rest of the night trying in vain to get some sleep. By five o’clock he g
ave up. Dawn would be breaking soon and they’d be expecting him to be awake. He had no way of knowing what people who were being controlled by the fish toxin looked like the morning after, but he guessed they’d seem normal except for a compulsion to do whatever they’d been told.
He stood up, put his coat on and stood in front of the door, waiting. At about six o’clock he heard the locks disengage. It was Levitt and Cranby again.
“I have to go,” he said, hoping he’d made his voice urgent enough without being too over-the-top.
“Yeah, yeah, come on.”
He stepped out of the cell and looked around, as if he were anxious.
“You don’t understand. I have to go. I have a job.”
“Right. Man, I hate them when they’re like this.” Cranby steered him along the corridors and toward the door he’d first entered.
Setzen was waiting. Sam’s heart sank.
“Hold it.”
“You have to open the door,” said Sam.
“Yeah?” Setzen peered into his eyes. “Why’s that?”
“I have to go. I have a job.”
“What is your job?”
“I have to go to City Hall and get the Paradigm Device. Then I have to bring it back here.”
“Uh huh. Is that something you want to do?”
“No,” Sam adopted a slightly confused expression. “But I have to go.”
Setzen stared at him. Sam stared back. Setzen shook his head.
“Ok,” he said. “If he’s faking he’s doing a really good job. Let him out.”
Setzen moved aside and Levitt hit the door controls. Sam waited until the door was fully open, then stepped out into the grey dawn and walked away without hesitation. He heard the door slide shut but didn’t look back. He was free.
Against all the odds, he was free.
He breathed the cold air deep into his lungs as he walked through the early morning stillness. The buildings in the financial district gazed down on empty streets and even the huge central plaza was deserted, except for a couple of street sweepers clearing up the detritus of the day before, the bristles of their brooms creating an echoing beat as the city slowly awoke.
Sam didn’t stop or slow down. He was sure that DETH, Inc. had tapped into the ubiquitous security cameras and that some poor slob had been given the job of watching his every move. He wound his way through the warren of streets and alleys and eventually found himself in a narrow passage that didn’t have any cameras.
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