Dog Soldiers (9 page)

Hicks had discovered that people disliked his looking at them directly and, out of courtesy, he often refrained. He looked into Converse
’
s eyes, engaging the fear he saw there.
“
I didn
’
t know we were that way. I thought you
’
d have something else for me.
”

Converse stared straight back at him.

“
We
’
re that way.
”

Hicks was frowning down at the table.

“
It
’
s bad karma.
”

“
Think of it in terms of money. You take it straight to Marge
’
s in Berkeley. We
’
ll pay you twenty-five hundred bills.
”

“
You and Marge? Who
’
s we?
”

“
That
’
s a story in itself,
”
Converse said.
“
If your stash is as good as you say, it
’
ll be easier than carrying grass.
”

“
It
’
s unmakable. I got a whole aircraft carrier with practically no one on it.
”

“
When do you get to Oakland?
”

“
Seventeen days, if we stop at Subic Bay.
”

“
Then there
’
s no problem. Deliver on the nineteenth. We
’
ll have Marge home all day. If there
’
s a hassle you can
call the theater where she works after nine. It
’
s called the
Odeon
. Third Street in Frisco.
”
The thing is,
”
Hicks said,
“
you
’
re wasting your money. You ought to carry yourself.
”

Converse shook his head wearily.

“
I
’
m on all the shit lists. Mac-V doesn
’
t know whether I
’
m a Viet Cong spy or a poison toad. I wouldn
’
t want to carry a joint through.
”
Hicks smiled and rested his cigar on the
Portable
Nietz
sche
.

“
Tell me about
we
. I
’
ll bet it
’
s just you, you bastard.
”

“
How could it be just me?
”
Converse asked.
“
How?
”

He was about to look over his shoulder again. Hicks re strained him with a hand.

“
I have reason to believe,
”
Converse said,
“
that this operation concerns the CIA.
”

Hicks laughed in his face. Politely, he joined in the laughter.

“
That
’
s folklore,
”
Hicks said.

“
Certain individuals.
”

Hicks tried to stare him down. It was not out of the question.

“
Something else you better know,
”
Converse continued.
“
They know about you. They know you carry. Your name came up right away.
”

“
No,
”
Hicks said, after a moment.
“
You
’
re bullshitting me.
”

“
O.K.,
”
Converse said.
“
They know about you because I told them. In something like this, they have to know.
”

“
Oh, sure,
”
Hicks said.
“
I dig it.
”
He looked out over the darkened bay, gnawing his lip.
“
Something like this they
’
d have to know.
”
He looked back at Converse and found him feeling his forehead.
“
What are you doing to me?
”

“
Look,
”
Converse said quickly,
“
they absolutely will not bother you. You
’
re not supposed to know about them and they will not fuck with you if you deliver. Marge has twenty-five hundred bilk for you. It
’
s as simple as that.
”

Hicks was smiling again.

“
If I deliver, right? But if I don
’
t deliver — if I take you off because I happen to know you
’
re an asshole — then the roof falls in, right? CIA time.
”

“
Exactly,
”
Converse said.

“
If I were you and I wanted to keep a carrier honest, I might make up a bullshit story about the CIA. But I wouldn
’
t try to lay it on a buddy.
”

Converse had begun to appear slightly upset.
“
For God
’
s sake, Ray, what would I be doing in a score like this on my own? Where would I get the money?
”

It occurred to Hicks that there would be absolutely nothing dishonorable in ripping him off. He would have brought it on himself. Perhaps he would think it was piquant.

“
You
’
re terrific,
”
he told Converse.
“
I really can
’
t tell if you
’
re lying or not.
”

“
It doesn
’
t matter whether I
’
m lying or not. That
’
s the beauty of it. As it happens, I
’
m telling the truth.
”

Hicks fidgeted in his chair.

“
It
’
s a stupid expensive way to move weight. If the CIA needs the likes of you and me they
’
re not what they
’
re supposed to be.
”

“
Who is, these days?
”
Converse leaned forward in his chair; he seemed guileless.
“
Look, Ray — it
’
s certain people. Certain greedy people with CIA connections. They stand to make a tremendous profit and they can
’
t use their regular channels. They can afford good security. But they have to know who
’
s carrying for them beforehand.
”

“
Are you supposed to be good security?
”

“
No, no,
”
Converse said.
“
You. You are.
”

Hicks was silent for a while.

“
I think this sucks,
”
he said finally.
“
When I saw you last you were as skittish as a cooze, and now you
’
re an operator from the CIA.
”

“
You wanted to carry weight,
”
Converse said.
“
I got you weight.
”

“
I may just have to tell you no, buddy.
”

Converse was trembling, and Hicks watched him with concern.

“
Then we both go,
”
Converse said sof
tl
y.
“
It
’
s too late for that.
”

Hicks brushed aside the blue haze of his cigar and felt suddenly that he was trying to dispel more than cigar smoke. Converse
’
s fear was almost palpable. Hicks was impressed.

“
You deliver,
”
Converse insisted,
“
and you split. You don
’
t wait for a meet. You just take your money.
”

Hicks waited for him to go on.

“
I
’
m a very timid person. I
’
m cautious. I
’
m a virtual paranoid. I
’
ve been around this place for a while and I know how this shit works. If it weren
’
t a really cool number I wouldn
’
t go near it.
”

“
I didn
’
t know you were such a money freak.
”

Converse shrugged.

“
I suppose it
’
s the way we
’
re brought up.
”

“
I thought you were a moralist. You and your old lady —
I
thought you were world-savers. How about all these teenyboppers OD-ing on the roof? Doesn
’
t that bother you?
”

“
We
’
ve dealt with the moral objections,
”
Converse said.

Hicks slumped down in his chair and leaned his chin on
his fist, watching Converse.

“
Let me tell you something funny,
”
he said.
“
I met Mary
Microgram in Frisco last year.
”

Mary Microgram was a girlfriend of Converse
’
s. They had parted bitterly.

“
You know what she told me? She told me you said I was a psychopath.
”

Converse looked chastened.

“
It must have been some drunken piss-off. I really know better than that.
”

Hicks laughed.

“
You bad-mouth me. You threaten me with the fucking CIA and claim you tu
rned me. Then when you need hon
esty and self-discipline you come to me.
”

“
When I was with Mary,
”
Converse said,
“
I was very fucked up.
”

“
It
’
s outrageous,
”
Hicks said.
“
I was hurt.
”

A burst of automatic-weapons fire sounded from across the bay. Searchlights played on the water, sweeping the line of palms on the far shore. Converse turned wearily in the direction of the noise.

“
Sappers?
”

“
There ain
’
t no sappers,
”
Hicks said.
“
It
’
s all a beautiful hoax.
”

Why not, he thought. There was nothing else going down. He felt the necessity of changing levels, a little adrenalin to clean the blood. It was interesting and kind of scary. Converse and his old lady would be a scene; he had never seen her.

“
I
’
ll carry your scag, John. But you better see I get treated right. Self-defense is an art I cultivate.
”

Converse was smiling.

“
I didn
’
t think there was ever much question about it.
”

“
No,
”
Hicks said.

Converse looked at the briefcase.

“
You have anything you want in that case,
”
Hicks said,
“
take it with you now. Otherwise just leave like it is.
”

“
Just like that?
”

“
Like it is.
”
Converse went downstairs and brought up two cans of beer and two large gin and tonics. When he had taken a sip of the cold drink, he began to tremble again.
“
You
’
re mad,
”
Hicks told him,
“
a great mind — warped — twisted.
”
It was an old movie line they had played with twelve years before in the Marine Corps.