An Eighty Percent Solution (CorpGov) (18 page)

The average Metro response time fell into the dismal category of days, but she had to assume
they’d
set a trap
this one time
and somehow knew exactly when she wou
ld transmit
.
With her survival
—
and that of the
whole
organization
—
at stake
,
Sonya played to win.

She took the easy way to get away quickly from the platform
—
she jumped
.
Her stomach once again reminded her that this wasn’t her favorite
of tricks
.
The nause
a
never quite elicited regurgitation
, but it always came close
.
Her mind silently counted to n
ine full seconds before
her fingers wove a pattern in the air.

As she landed, at almost ninety
meters per second, her body lit up like a miniature sun
.
The brightness receded rapidly, though she still glowed as she walked away
.
Waves of heat distortion also wreathed her as the
kinetic impact
energy flowed away
.
The few people at ground level who observed the flash or her
new thermal aura
chose wisely to mind their own business
.
People with that kind of power at their disposal didn’t make good victim
s
.

* * *
 

The opulence of this meeting room matched, if not exceeded
,
the previous
.
Despite
imports from Mars costing nearly ten thousand credits per kilogram in shipping alone, a Martian lacquered-sandstone table, weighing close to a metric ton, dominated a room of orange, rust and umber
.
The ten matching hand-carved chairs sat arranged for the powerful individuals
in attendance
.
Vivaldi played in the background as they entered to take their seats.

“I want to thank you all for the change in venue,” said one
.
“I hope you will be comfortable here
.
If
there’s
anything my staff can provide, you have but to ask
.”
If sacrificing a live virgin
would’ve
been the whim of even one member
,
the staff
would merely
have
asked what sex and hair color, and the blood would be spilled before the request
went
cold on the guest’s lips.

“Thank you
.
The first order of business is the GAM Initiative
,” announced Nanogate as they all took their seats.
“Phase
two
has moved quite according to plan
,
with another
unexpected
bonus
.
The girlfriend not only was bought to stay out of the way but to actively participate in our plan
.
This reduces operational security risks considerably
.
The motivation was first order greed
.
”

“Ha
ve
there been any contraindications?”

“Only one
.
A single employee of the
subject
’
s normal
bar told him that he believes
it’s
a corporate plot
.
As this is intrinsically obvious, it doesn’t warrant further action.”

“And that employee?”

“Nothing
.
We don’t want to alarm the subject
—he’s already
skittish enough
.
The employee, a bar tough, is a Nil, so I propose no action against him
.

“I call for a vote
.
Opposed
?”
Silence was his answer
.
“Then there is nothing further to report
.
Oh, one minor item to note
.
Once the subject has contacted the GAM
,
we’ll
almost certainly be unable to mon
itor his actions as we are now.”

“Then how are we going to be able to gauge his effectiveness to plan?”

“Only by observing the results
.
Clearly this falls into the ‘results oriented management’ category defined in the late twentieth century
.
It’s
not nearly as effective as
our current
invasive management
techniques
,
but
it’s
the only course open to us with this scheme.”

“Agreed
.
I suggest we move on to the next topic.”

“I’d like to bring to your attention New Zealand’s proposed execution of one of
Taste Dynamics
’s midlevel managers
for the industrial accident of May third
.
It’s
a message of sorts that I suggest we respond to vigorously
…
”

* * *
 

Her breath
wheezed as her chest went up and down steadily in deep sleep
.
A tribute to his fast thinking, Tony thought.
His visit held no rationale
, not even the
m
erest whisper of a
reason
.
It
took
quite a good deal of time and effort to find her, not to mention the three-hundred credit bribe to have a nurse let him in.

No different than any other hospital room for the last three centuries,
the
stuffy room
smell
ed
of alcohol and bleach
.
The cramped space
held
only
a
single
horribly uncomfortable bed
and
two equally uncomfortable straight back chairs in sickly green
.
Odd instruments clung to the off-white walls like lichen adorning an undersea rock
.
Her
standard hospital issue blue
gown
could’ve
been on any patient
all the way back to
antiquity
.
It split down the back and barely covered the hip nearest him
.
A small plastic tube from the wall dumped oxygen right into her nostrils
.

She held all the changes of his life together like a keystone
.
Save a life
,
lose your own
.
Some dark
,
twisted force seemed to have
manipulated
that equity around to apply to his life
.
While
probability
played a cruel role, he felt more at work than mere fate.

H
e sat quietly
, barely moving
.
His own breathing matched in rhythm to that of the old woman in the bed
.
A nurse came in to take blood pressure and temperature readings as if
she
didn’t trust their remote monitors
.
Tony slipped the nurse another hundred for good measure
.
A dull ache behind his eyes pulled at his thoughts
,
but none coalesced
.

Some time later, before the sun lightened the sky enough to call it morning, the patient’s eyes flickered open
.
Groggily
,
the woman looked over at Tony
as
the sleep fled from her eyes
.
“Do I know you
?”
Even as she said it, her expression started in realization
.
The volume of her voice matched
the early morning
hour
.
“You
’
re from the bus
!
They said you saved my life.”

“I just did what my grandfather taught me.”

“I could sue you for malpractice, you know. I’ve had five lawyers a day in here trying to get me to do just that
.”

Tony sat silent
ly
.
He had nothing to offer
.

Her eyes softened
.
“I have absolutely no intention of doing so
.
I just want to know why you risked yourself
.
No one else would have.”

“Maybe that’s why
.
There are too many ‘no ones’ in this world and not enough
‘some ones
.
’
I wanted to make mine count.”

“You are a very odd man.”

“I
’
ve never considered myself all that odd.”

“Well, perhaps unusual would be a better descriptive
.”

Tony looked into her wizened face
.
It held only
honesty
.
Wrinkles and
age
-
spotted hands
showed
her veins beneath the thinned skin
.
He realized he’d never really seen an old person
.
Oh, they were around, but he’d never really looked
.
They just blended into the background.

“I guess
you could call me
unusual
,” he admitted. “
Is this bad?”

“No, not at all
.
The world needs
unusual people
.
” She sighed for a moment before continuing. “
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but did you know
I’m
going to die anyway?”

Tony instantly saw the futility of his sacrifice in a blinding flash
.

“
Of course
you didn’t know
.
How could you?
I have a rare disease in my liver and I
’ll
be dead within the week
.
I can feel it pulling at me now
,
deep inside
.”

This interview
had
played itself o
ut in
Tony’s
head much differently
on his way here
.
He must regain control
.
He needed to look into her eyes as he asked his question
.
Tony felt that
he’d
know if she were telling the truth
.
On this one thing he must be positive.

“Do you know why
they’re
doing this to me
?”

“Doing what
?”
Nothing but surprise
wrinkled her face
.
“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t know
.
It
’s
all coincidence
.”
Tony’s shoulders slumped and he turned away.

“I don’t understand
.”

Tony decided to spare the woman the grief he held like a poison within him
.
“
It’s
nothing,” he said, turning back with a smile on his face
.
They sat quietly looking at one another for a few moments.

“I am happy to have met you, sir
.
It is rare to find someone so…sure of himself
.”

“I’m not all that sure.”

“You are
.
You just don’t see it from the outside
.
You see only your own insecurities, your own problems, your own ‘if onlys
.
’
The face you project to the world is much stronger.”

“I wish I could see that sometimes.”

“You will in time
.
Take it from someone
who’s
been there and back
.”
The woman could see the doubt on his face
.
“Trust
.
I see the world
hasn’t yet
beaten it from you
.
I will trust you so that you can trust me.
Did you pick up my parcel
?”