An Eighty Percent Solution (CorpGov) (41 page)

In the space of seven deep breaths
,
practiced with a calm meditation of the soul
,
the makeshift scanner dribbled her back out into the light
.
She rolled off the end of the belt to her feet with
the
grace
of one of her cats
.
Tony, carrying
C
in
in his arms
,
provided a new definition of gracelessness as he fell hard onto his backside, his legs flailing in the air
.
Adding insult to injury
,
his head flipped back and banged against the scanner supports
,
drawing a scathing oath in a language Sonya didn’t know but determined by its invective
.
Cin
,
on the other hand
,
landed on all fours on Tony’s stomach as if this happened daily.

Sonya silently offered Tony a hand up
.
As he took it, not without a scowl, Sonya took the opportunity to examine his head
.
Just enough blood leaked from the scalp to eventually create a scab
.
It wound up in the category of painful and annoying
,
but
nothing
more.

She registered the new rich red paint since her last visit
.
It flowed in with the rest of the décor
.
Real crown molding and wainscoting in a style not seen for nearly a century accentuated the dark green velvet and the carved marble columns in the corners
.
Few
countries on
E
arth
or its
colony worlds
could’ve
afforded even two of the six Maxfield Parrish paintings mounted to the wall
.
Yet only the
M
ob’s
reputation
,
and a
few bodyguards
such as Greg and Tuan
,
protected the art
.

Invariably
,
any newcomer found themselves in front of
“
Daybreak
.
”
Sonya,
on the other hand
,
preferred to
immerse herself
in
“
White Birches: Winter
”
at every opportunity
.
Placing Cin on his shoulders,
Tony gawked at each painting in turn
.
Sonya sense
d
that Cin appreciated the works herself
.

“Dian!”
said a lean, red-headed
woman in a long
,
blue velvet dressing gown to Sonya as she came into the room
.
Her long
,
well-
tone
d
legs,
clad in
stockings, garters and blue Pintera pumps, parted the gown and carried her over to Sonya
.
She gave
her
a pair of
French
-
style
air
-
kisses
now regaining popularity with the effete
.
“I see you brought a pair of toys with you
.”
The woman unabashedly examined Tony like a prize cow on the auction block, but with barely a fleck of interest in Cin
.

“
Jamie
.
Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.
”

“Always a pleasure, for the right price, of course
.”

“Naturally
.
Let me introduce Michael Durant, a new but very valuable member of my team
.”

“Nice to meet you, Michael,” Jamie said, offering one of her manicured hands, complete with fingernails that changed
color
to contrast to whatever they lay against
.
Sonya watched Jamie’s hard eyes, completely at odds with her
pin-up
body, as Jamie evaluated
“
Michael’s
”
response
.
He gallantly took her hand in his and bowed deeply over it, but didn’t kiss
it
.

“Oh, I see Dian’s
already
got you under her thumb, and other places
,
”
the woman said with the faintest of smiles.

“No, not exactly, Jamie
.
I’m
just not partial to redheads
.”

Sonya flipped Tony a glitte
ring stare
.
A short silence
filled the room
.

“Touché
.
Well played,
Mich
ae
l
, or whatever your name is
.”

Tony bowed again in acknowledgement
.

“So enough games.
S
hall we sit and have some tea while we talk business?”

“Very well
.”
Jamie
snapped her fingers
,
and a small army of servants brought in an antique
double
-
trestle table carved from a solid piece of granite,
plus
matching chairs
, a
silver tea service
,
and scones
,
perfect for a midmorning snack
.
Just as quickly as the servants
appeared, they disappeared
.
Jamie poured generous servings for each, even a small saucer of milk for Cin.

“Dian, I remember you like yours with just a touch of milk.”

“Yes, Jamie.”

“And you, Michael?”

“I like mine sweet.”

“Let’s say two sugars, then
.
So what brings you here today,” Jamie asked, proffering each their refreshment in turn
.
Tony let Cin down onto the table at her dish
.
Cin sat patiently as Tony pinched a small blueberry scone from the tray
.

Sonya sensed Tony’s decision to remain quiet and be subservient
.
A good choice
,
as he didn’t know why they were here.
“We
’
re after a backdoor into any of these major corps
’
data-nets,” Sonya said, sliding a small scrap of plastic onto the table
.
In one continued movement she
lifted
her cup and took a dainty sip
.

Jamie didn’t even bend over to look at the plastic or what it carried.
“Really
?
Sure you wouldn’t like some SLSA
r
ockets
?
Maybe some
Gunnison
g
auss guns
?
We also just recently got a shipment of Black Marionettes.”

“Sorry, no
.
Information this time, not hardware.”

“What
you’re
asking for
isn’t
trivial
.
I honestly don’t know if we can deliver to any kind of timeline
.”

“What kind of price would be associated with this
?”

“I couldn’t even apply a price to such information,” she said with the civility of a garden party
.
“Probably more than you could afford
.
It would be well into the millions.”

“Please don’t assume our financial status is burdened with the problems of the past
.”

“There were words on the street to that effect
,
but one can’t always believe what one hears.”

“Well
,
you can believe it this time.”

“In that case
,
how about I investigate and provide you with a quote and a timeline?”

“That would be perfectly acceptable
.
This is excellent tea.”

“Darjeeling
.
We have some being grown illegally in
India
and brought over
.
Another cup?”

Cin lifted her face from the bowl and proceeded to clean her face contentedly
.
“No
,
thank you
.
We really must be moving on
.
We have many other stops to make.”

“Yes, we thank you for your hospitality,” Tony offered.

“Well, Michael, if I’m not stepping on Dian’s toes, I’ll offer you even more hospitality,”
Jamie
said
in a voice both
sultry and low
.

Tony shook his head just a fraction
.
“Thank you, no
.
We do really have to be going.”

“A shame
.
But come back any time.”

Fifteen silent minutes later, Tony and Sonya walked side by side, back to the decay that was ground level
.
Both tried to speak simultaneously.

“Why didn’t you take her up on it?”

“Why did we go there?”

They both laughed
.
“You first,” Sonya
insisted.

“Why did we go there
?
We didn’t get anything out of her
.
And if you think
she’s
going to come up with a quote for us,
you’re
crazy
.
There
’
s no way she can get that info for us
.
Despite her serene hostess façade
,
her inability to deliver was written all over her.”

“Of course it was
.
That’s
what I was testing for, actually
.
Normally
,
she just quotes a very high price for something and we politely dicker
.
Even she didn’t think she could get the information
.
And if she can’t, no one can
.
That’s what I needed
.
No backdoors for Augustine.”

“Too bad
.
We could use the direct information.”

“Yes, she’s been asking for years
.
This is the first time we’ve had the resources to even pose the question.
By the way, don’t let her vamp attitude make you think less of her
.
She runs the most pervasive
M
ob family around.”

“She did seem a bit casual.”

“It’s a defense mechanism
.
No one initially gives her the credit for her intelligence and her ruthlessness
.
Be that as it may
,
I had two other reasons for my visit
.
The easiest was to convey that our financial wherewithal has improved
.
That will get us better service and attention in the future.”

“And the other?”

“To introduce you to her, of course.”

Measure Performance
—
Phase
One

Linc and Tony worked side-by-side in what passed for the
m
ilitia’s armory, an abandoned automotive service garage at ground level
.
Linc’s
bald head beaded
with perspiration that also rolled down the side of his face
.
“Hot in here, isn’t it
?
”

“Are you nuts?” Tony asked
.
“It’s November, we had a high of
ten
degrees
today
,
and I’m ready to set fire to this dump just for some heat
.”
Tony watched Linc wipe a thick layer of moisture from
over the top of his head with his forearm before preparing
another explosive charge
.
Linc’s face didn’t have any of its normal healthful vigor
,
but instead wore a mask of white mottled with pink
.
“Maybe you
’
re pushing too hard?”