Phase Shift (35 page)

"Do you really think this is wise?" he asks.
"I mean, bothering the man at his place of residence? Maybe we
should wait until tomorrow and see him at his office."

"You're the one who said he wouldn't see us
without an appointment, and that he was unlikely to grant us one
anytime soon."

"Yes, well, I've had some time to think
since then and—"

I press a button disconnecting the call and
get out of my car. Who cares if Schliemann’s had a change of heart
on the drive over? I had time to think while I was driving, too.
The bottom line is no one told me Gaia had a permanent base of
operations here on Earth, not Trozai, not Samkin, not Reyes, and
certainly not Goren. The drive helped to clear my head, and the
more I think about it, the more I'm sure: I'm being played for a
fool. If Loman Praetner truly is working for the Gaians, then he
would have his own contacts. He or someone from his company could
have easily executed the Earth symposium. Why did they need me?

Josef Schliemann or no Josef Schliemann, I
have to get to the bottom of this.

Schliemann catches up to me on the sidewalk.
He grabs my elbow and forces me to stop. "Think about what you're
going to do, Molly. We'd be trespassing. He could call the cops. Do
you really want to get into it with the police after what happened
the other night?"

I shake my arm free from his grasp. "I have
questions I need answered, Josef. If you don't understand that, if
you can't understand that, then wait for me here."

I begin the long walk toward Praetner's
house alone, but Schliemann joins me mid-way. "What if this guy's
not from Gaia? He'll think you certifiable."

"Have you ever done an Internet search on
yourself, Josef?"

"Of course I—"

"And how many hits did it turn up?"

"I don't really remember how many—"

"Don't you think it odd the only links for
Loman Praetner are on the GaiaCorp web site? It's like he doesn't
exist outside the company."

"There could be a lot of reasons why—"

"You don't get to be the head of a company
like GaiaCorp without an education, without proving yourself first.
You'd think he'd be documented somewhere. Anywhere."

Schliemann takes a beat before responding.
"I just think that if you wait until tomorrow, when you've thought
about this a bit and had some time to formulate a plan, you might
get further with Praetner."

"I've had a chance to think, Josef." And I
have, really, I have, and what I've decided is that I have to get
to the bottom of this. Now. It's perhaps my greatest character
flaw. When I need something taken care of, something important, I
need to do it right away, otherwise it eats away at my psyche,
picking at me until I do.

At last we stand on the darkened doorstep.
Surprisingly, it is Schliemann who rings the doorbell.

The lights come on. A diminutive red-head
cowers beneath the door chain, between the door and the jamb.
"Yes?" she says with great effort.

"We'd like to speak with Loman Praetner,
ma'am," Schliemann says. "Is he at home?"

She nods quickly and closes the door. Heavy
footsteps precede a man who opens the door wide a few moments
later. He is tall, broad and muscular. His jaw is square. He wears
a smoking jacket, which he ties tightly around his torso,
protecting him against the bite of the air.

"Are you Loman Praetner?" I ask before he
has a chance to speak.

He nods. "Who are you?"

"My name is Molly McBride, Mr. Praetner.
Does that name sound familiar?"

"Should it?" he asks. The silk sash on his
jacket unties and his jacket falls open. He shivers and pulls it
close to his body once more. In the mere seconds it takes for the
jacket to open and for Praetner to re-tie it, I'm given a flash of
his body, of the pale skin made to look even paler against the
white of his undershirt, of the coarse, dark hair on his chest, and
of the small, crescent-shaped scar on his neck, bright and gleaming
against the pink of his skin.

"Nice scar," I tell him.

His hand moves to his throat. He rubs the
scar with his fingers. "Hockey accident. Took a puck to the throat
when I was a kid."

Liar!
my brain screams. He has to
know about the scar and what lies beneath, of this I'm sure. At
least, I'm pretty sure. I suppose it's possible that, not unlike
those with implants on Gaia, he may have no idea of the
significance of the scar. What if he's just as big a dupe in Goren
Prefect's scheme as am I?

Then again, how could he not know? I told
Schliemann it was like Praetner didn’t exist outside of GaiaCorp.
If he came to Earth as an adult, he'd have to know about the
implant. I also said someone like Praetner didn't get to be the CEO
of a company like GaiaCorp without first proving himself. What if
he earned his stripes, not on Earth, but on Gaia? Of course
Praetner knew. Being CEO of the company, he'd have to have contact
with someone on Gaia who also knew of the endeavour. According to
Reyes, only those in the Inner Clerisy Circle were privy to that
information. And Goren was the apparent leader of the Inner Clerisy
Circle.

"Tell Goren I demand immediate audience with
him," I say, and then my back is to them—to Praetner and
Schliemann—and I'm on my way back to my car.

"What is going on here?" Praetner demands of
Schliemann.

"Tell Goren he's been summoned," I call. As
I do, I hear Schliemann’s nervous footsteps hasten on the walk
behind me.

"What was that all about?" Schliemann asks
once he's caught up to me.

Struggling to keep my wits about me, I say,
"Praetner was born on Gaia, Josef. He has an implant."

Schliemann looks stunned, like he hasn't a
clue about a thing I've said. "The scar. It's because he has an
implant. Take it out and poof! he disappears back to Gaia."

"You're sure of this? You're sure Praetner's
from Gaia?"

"Yeah, Josef," I say, rather calmly, "I'm
sure."

"Fascinating!" he says to himself.

I bid him goodnight and continue the long
walk to the street.

Back in my car, I grasp hard at the wheel,
breathing deeply until I see Schliemann’s tail-lights disappear
around a corner in the distance. When I'm sure he's gone, and
Praetner's not coming out to find me, the tears begin to fall.

Slowly, with my forehead resting on the
steering wheel, I begin to sober. With any luck, Praetner will give
Goren the message and Goren will honour my request. Time to go home
and decide exactly what I need to say to him.

Josef Schliemann circled around the block a
few times to put distance between himself and Molly. The first time
he circled round the Praetner residence, her car was still parked
by the curb and he slowed his approach. For a horrifying moment,
the car looked empty and he was sure she had gone back in to taunt
the man some more. But then she moved and he realized she had been
in the driver's seat all along, leaning forward against the
steering wheel. When he passed, she sat up and started the car, and
he was sure he was found out. She followed him to the corner. He
turned right and she followed. His heart raced as he approached the
next juncture in the road, certain she knew it was him and that she
would shadow his route until he returned to the hotel. Rather, he
went right and she continued straight ahead. Josef breathed a heavy
sigh and continued forward to the Praetner home. He drove past and
around the corner two more times until he was certain she had gone
and would not return before he stopped his car, got out, and
retraced his steps to the front door.

Outside of his visit with Molly, Josef had
never before been to Praetner's home. Outside of their one meeting
at the coffee shop in Buffalo and again with Molly earlier in the
evening, he had never seen Praetner before in his life. Of course,
he was sure he would see him again, sometime in the future. He had
a verbal contract with the man and Josef was a man of his word. At
some point in the foreseeable future, the men would have to meet to
discuss the scope of his contract and firm up the finer points of
Josef's remuneration. Who knows? Perhaps tonight would be the
night.

Surprised at how much his hand shook in
anticipation of another meeting with the man, Josef rang the
doorbell. This time, Praetner answered, tentatively peeking at him
through a crack in the door and over the door chain, much as his
wife had earlier in the evening. When he'd identified Josef, he
released the chain and let him in.

"Loman?" the mousey Mrs. Praetner asked in a
child-like voice. She sat on the spiral stairway holding her knees,
playing with a lock of near copper-coloured hair.

"Don't wait up," Praetner told her. He led
Josef to his study, a large room with dark oak paneling and
jewel-toned accents.

"You brought her straight to me," Praetner
accused once he had closed and barred the door.

"Molly found you out on her own, her and
that husband of hers." The reference to Paulie Richardson left a
bad taste in Josef''s mouth. Paulie
expected
Josef to betray
him, to take advantage of his good nature, as Josef knew he had so
many times in the past. And while he hadn't set out to betray the
man and his wife, Josef supposed that on some level, the fact he
was standing in Praetner's office meant he already had.

"Still, you allowed her—"

"You don't know very much about the female
persuasion, do you? Not that you would learn anything from that
mouse of a woman of yours—"

Praetner advanced on Josef as he spoke: "You
will speak of my mate with respect."

Josef continued as if the man hadn't spoken.
"You never told me you were from another planet," he accused.

"Would you have agreed to our contract had
you known?"

"Is she also—"

"My mate was born on Earth."

"Does she know?"

"What my mate knows or does not know is none
of your concern." Praetner walked to his desk and opened a small,
wooden humidor. From it, he withdrew two fat cigars and held one in
Josef's direction. Josef shook his head and Praetner returned the
cigar to the box. Next, he walked to a bar set up in a wall recess,
poured a scotch and offered the glass to Josef who held a hand up
to indicate he wasn't interested. Praetner’s gestures were cliché,
as though he learned of how to strike clandestine deals through
watching black and white gangster films. Even though he craved the
nicotine and could probably use a good buzz from a few shots of
good booze, Josef felt it better not to dine or drink with the
devil when making deals with him.

It hadn't felt like that, not at first,
making a deal with Loman Praetner. The agreement had been simple.
In exchange, Josef would earn coveted stocks in GaiaCorp, enough to
make him a wealthy man should he decide to cash said stocks in,
sometime in the near future. As well, Josef was guaranteed the
position of Praetner’s personal scribe, a position which had little
value initially, but now? To be the official scribe of all things
Gaian, in the event of a successful Symposium, could prove very
lucrative indeed, if Praetner could be trusted. He had lied to him,
after all, at their first encounter in the coffee shop in Buffalo,
the morning after his first meeting with Molly and Paulie, even if
it was by omission. Then, he had introduced himself as a Canadian
businessman, one whose company produced "green" products.

It never occurred to Josef to ask why
Praetner was so interested in Molly McBride or how he had learned
of Gaia in the first place.

"As you wish," Praetner said in response to
Josef's refusal of his goodwill. He made himself comfortable in the
large, padded chair behind his desk and lit the cigar. "Now then,"
he put his feet up on the desk, "it is imperative no one be aware
of our plan for Symposium. It should go without saying my place of
origin should remain secretive as well. Symposium will take place
with the McBride woman as co-ordinator. It will take place with or
without your continued participation."

"Why is Molly so important? Why her?"

"Are you slighted you were not the chosen
one?" Praetner chided.

Josef did not answer. Perhaps, at times, the
thought had crossed his mind, especially during the times when she
was obstinate or moody. Of all the people who could be chosen to
head Symposium, why Paulie's wife?

Having made the assumption Josef was not
about to respond to his question, Praetner continued. "She is The
Emissary, the one who bridged the gap. It is only natural she be
included in the necessary protocol."

"If you've got Molly, why do you need
me?"

"My sources tell me the McBride woman has an
agenda of her own for Symposium. It is of the utmost importance the
Gaian imperative be heard at this Symposium. You must keep the
McBride woman on track, make sure she does not de-rail Symposium to
her own benefit."

"You want me to spy on her? That's it?"

"Not spy, no. To use the word 'spy' might
taint our objective. I merely ask that you watch and listen and
keep me informed."

"You want me to spy on her."

Praetner nodded, then took a sip of his
scotch. "Remember: wealth and fame greater than you have ever known
if you do as I ask. If you refuse, or you are ineffective, there
will be no reward. You must do all in your power to persuade the
McBride woman to leave us, leave The Gaian Corporation and by
default Goren, out of it. Barring that, you must use any means to
stop her."

Josef felt sure Praetner was a master at
hyperbole. While he wasn't adverse to increasing the number on his
bank account, nor would he ever shy away from publicity, the more
he spoke with Praetner, the more Josef was sure he was hiding
something. No matter if or what Praetner was hiding, he was a much
stronger ally than Paulie and his wife. What could they offer him
past the spotlight of keynote speaker on Symposium day for nothing
more than a paltry honourarium? The more he thought about it, the
more he realized he had the best of both worlds. He was privy to
information from both sides. It was at his sole discretion how much
he divulged to either Loman Praetner or Molly McBride.