Phase Shift (39 page)

"No one knows."

"Not in my generation, right? Nor in that of
my children, or my children's children."

"Probably not, no."

"Then why should this bother me? I'll be
long dead and forgotten. But I will have lived large while I was
here."

"I'm not changing my speech. Goren and his
Inner Clerisy are going down." Palmer's words about politics and
the pace of change ring in my head, something about the actions of
a single person winning the war. "If not today, then one day soon,"
I tell him, brazen.

The gun practically glows in his hand.

"If you shoot me, how long do you think
it'll be before you're caught? Minutes? Seconds? Are you really
willing to risk your life to turn a buck?"

"The question is, are you? You may very well
be willing to risk your own life, but what about Paulie? Are you
willing to risk his life, too?

"I've been given this." He holds up a phase
resonance modulator, like the kind I wore in the armband the last
time I went to Gaia. "I won't be arrested. If anything happens, I
can be safe on our sister planet in the blink of an eye. And then
what? Paulie will be injured or dead and you'll be left to pick up
the pieces."

"You son-of-a-bitch. How dare you?"

Schliemann inhales deeply. "I dare because
I'm essentially invincible. Tends to make one feel one has
power."

"Three minutes, Professor McBride," the man
on the microphone says.

"Give him the thumbs up once more,"
Schliemann demands.

I stand and give him the thumbs up. When I
sit back down, it is so I can face Schliemann. I fully intend to
finish our conversation, but he's gone.

I find Palmer backstage. "Josef’s here. He's
got a gun—"

"What? Are you okay?" he asks. He runs his
hands up and down my arms.

I nod. Bastard just waltzes in, threatens
me, threatens Palmer, threatens the world and then waltzes away as
if nothing ever happened. "We should notify security," I tell
him.

They met in a dead-end corridor as far away
from the auditorium as they could be without leaving the building.
The gun was tucked into the back waistband of Josef's pants, as he
had seen it done so many times in the media. It felt heavy and cold
against the small of his back. He prayed his jacket would cover its
bulk.

Loman Praetner was waiting for him when he
arrived in the corridor. Josef's heart beat loudly in his chest and
temples and he found it hard to catch his breath. What he had
done—what he had just done—to hold another human being at gunpoint
like that, was unconscionable, not to mention illegal.

"It is done?" Praetner asked.

"No," Josef practically spat. "Nothing is
done."

"You were supposed to convince her to back
down, to tame her oration."

"I reasoned with her. I tried to frighten
her into submission." He stopped short of admitting he had
unwittingly confessed to her instead. He had gone there to prevent
her from exposing the company but had wound up doing exactly what
he had set out to stop. "Nothing was accomplished."

Praetner was visibly shaken. "This will not
bode well with Goren."

Though he had never met Goren Prefect, he
had heard both Molly and Praetner speak of him. "Tell me about it,"
Josef mumbled.

"Goren delegated the McBride problem to me.
I, in turn, delegated it to you."

There was great wealth to be had in the
discovery of a new world, so long as there was technology to share,
and there was no shame to be had in helping yourself to a piece of
the pie, either. Or so he had tried to tell Paulie's wife. If she
weren't so damn set on saving the planet, she might've figured that
out for herself. "I spoke to her. I asked her to reconsider. She
declined."

"Molly McBride must not be allowed to speak
of Goren or the Gaia Corporation or of any matter pertaining to
Gaia during the course of Symposium."

"I'm sorry," Josef said, but he didn't feel
sorry. He had shown her the gun, had cocked the bloody pistol. And
what he'd said! He'd threatened that poor girl's life! And ol'
Paulie's life as well. He hadn't meant to, he reasoned. He had
nothing against them, other than they were poor, idealistic saps
who actually thought they could do anything about the state of the
world's ecology.

This wasn't him. This wasn't the way his
parents had raised him. He had been sent to the finest schools,
given every opportunity, attended church each and every Sunday
until puberty. His parents had taught him to respect the world and
its citizens, each and every one, no matter the colour of their
skin or social status. Sitting in that auditorium, bullying Molly
like that, went against everything his parents had stood for, had
shat on every hope and dream they'd ever had for him. And just like
that, Josef was struck by a rare attack of conscience. "I'm so
sorry," he said again, directed more to his parents in the heavens
than the stranger standing before him.

"You are sorry?" Praetner said, raising his
hands to his temples. "I am the one who must now break the news to
Goren. If you have pity for anyone, pity me. Do not gorge on it
yourself."

"I charge you to do whatever is necessary to
ensure Molly McBride does not deliver her Symposium oration."

Reyes took a moment to respond. "What do you
mean, 'whatever is necessary'?"

"I have it on good authority the McBride
woman intends to expose our business on Earth at Symposium," Goren
said. "She must be stopped. By whatever means necessary—"

"Barring termination of her life."

"Whatever needs be done, Reyes, must be
done. For the good of the Gaia Corporation. For the good of the
planet—"

"Barring unnecessary and unlawful death," he
repeated. "Goren! Surely you do not condone—"

Goren placed a small, metal box on the edge
of his work table, in front of where Reyes sat.

"What is this?" Reyes asked.

"Open it."

Inside was a silver hypodermic inoculation
device about the thickness of his thumb. Reyes resisted the urge to
cringe. He hated inoculations from the time he was a child, had
nightmares of the tip going in too far and scraping bone. "What is
this?" he asked again.

"An implantation device," Goren said.

"An implantation device? Implantation of
what?"

"Phase correction modulators."

"Phase correction modulators?"

Goren nodded. He grinned as if pleased with
himself.

"So small." Reyes picked up the device and
examined it. "I was unaware such technology existed," he said.

"It does. It has, in point of fact, for many
kalend cycles now.

"Your father was one of the first to receive
such an implant, did you know that? Repeated exposure to
experimental terraforming backwash followed by years in the Phase
Resonance Project caused minor instability in the pitch of his
phase. He commissioned a tinkerer to fashion the very device you
now hold in your hand, based on a plan of his own devise. A wise
man your father was, may he be remembered fondly.

"And so now, I bestow the honour of this
device on you, not as a keepsake of your father's genius, but to
painlessly, and humanely carry out the task as you are
charged."

Reyes turned the device over in his hands as
he pondered Goren's last request. For several kalends now, he'd led
a duplicitous life. On the one hand, he watched over Molly McBride,
emissary through happenstance and Honorary Prefect, mostly from
afar. The times they met were magical, a time to converse with a
sibling from another planet, to learn of a culture so similar, yet
so far removed from his own, the likes of which never occurred in
most people's lifetimes. On the other hand, there was Goren, First
Prefect of Theran Prefecture, self-proclaimed First Prefect of the
mass, if not the world. They had bullied her into setting up their
symposium on Earth. Though Reyes had always told Molly the truth,
he was complicit in the lies Goren told her until he himself had
learned of the truth and then he was angered.

"You ask me to abduct her. Hold her here, on
Gaia, against her will."

Goren nodded, deeply.

"And what of after Earth Symposium? What
happens to me, to us, when she is released? She is not like
Prescott. She has a family. Parents. A husband who holds her
dear."

"You assume she will be released back to the
planet of her origin."

Reyes glared at Goren, disbelieving his
ears.

"The implant must go here," he said,
pointing to a spot on the right side of his neck, midway between
his jaw and the juncture at which his neck met his shoulders,
"either side, so as to compromise the venous material in the neck
upon attempt at removal. This way, the implantation will be
permanent.

"Once she is on Gaia, she will be detained
until Earth Symposium has been completed."

"She will speak once she is released from
detention—"

"Really, boy, you try my patience. If I did
not know better I might begin to question your allegiance."

"But if she speaks?"

"If she speaks and will not listen to reason
once she is released from detention, the matter will be dealt with
then."

"You would terminate her life?"

"Really, Reyes, what is at issue here? We
speak of the life of a single Earther versus the lives of all of
Gaian civilization. Whatever needs be done, must be done, however
distasteful."

Reyes stood abruptly. He tossed the
implantation device at Goren which hit him square in the chest. It
rolled down his torso into his lap where he stayed it with his
hand. Not once did Goren flinch. "I will not be party to
assassination," Reyes said.

"Assassination!" Goren shouted. "I never
said word one about assassination. No, as I recall, Reyes, it was
you who brought about that discussion."

"Only at your suggestion—"

"Yes, of course. But should any of this fall
into the public purview at any time in the future that is what I
shall say."

Reyes shook his head in disbelief. Never had
he ever believed Goren would stoop so low as to blame the
transgressions of the Inner Clerisy Circle (if such an organization
did, indeed exist) on him. "That is dishonest," Reyes sputtered as
he tried to find the right words, "it is...it is...treachery—"

"Maybe so, maybe so," Goren said as he
stood. He placed the implantation device back into its box with
ceremony and then neared Reyes. "Listen, Reyes, Second Prefect of
Theran Prefecture," he placed an arm on his shoulder (Reyes
shrugged to coax the arm free, to no avail), "what is the point of
being Second Prefect if not to rise to the title of First?" Goren
winked at him and smiled in a feeble attempt at ingratiation. "Do
this," he materialized the box, seemingly from nowhere, and pressed
it into Reyes's midsection. His hands came up to support the weight
of it through reflex only. "Do this and I will see to it you will
reap the rewards of First Prefect in a timely manner, refuse, and I
will see you banished. Banished from study, banished from the
Prefecture, and if I can manage it, banished from all of
Selene."

There it was, the lifetimes of all once and
future Reyes Prefects, negated in a single threat by a man with
misbegotten power. Ultimately the decision belonged to this Reyes
Prefect and this Reyes Prefect alone. Stand by Goren, do as he
asked, compromise all that decency holds dear for the betterment of
a small faction of men and hasten Cataclysm, or stand by Molly
McBride and compromise his freedom and the livelihood of his birth
line for the potential betterment of two planets.

He could agree with Goren and take the
device, yet neglect to use it. With her mate's help he might be
able to cloister Molly McBride until the moment of her oration.
Once Goren shifted to Earth, Reyes might shift back to Gaia and
ready Motar's men to intercept Goren in his office once he
returned. But what if the plan failed? What if Reyes returned to
Gaia only to find Motar's men had been detained? Reyes reasoned he
would then also find himself detained, but at least their agenda
would be heard.

But what if Goren's people expected to see
Molly McBride on Gaia? The deception that he had used the
implantation device would be simple enough. He would merely supply
Molly McBride with a separate modulator, which she would use until
Goren was satisfied Reyes had remained loyal. Once Goren had
shifted to Earth, so too would he, with Molly McBride, and once
more, emerge at least semi-victorious.

The matter was settled.

"I have made my decision," Reyes told Goren.
"I will take the device. I will use it to implant Molly McBride and
detain her on Gaia for the duration of Symposium, after which, you
will abdicate your position as First Prefect as per our agreement.
I will assume responsibility for Molly McBride until such point in
time as she is able to return to Earth."

There were three short raps at Goren's
closed chambers door. "Enter," Goren called. Three men wearing ecru
Enforcers' uniforms filled the newly opened doorway.

Reyes's heart brimmed with fear. "I do not
understand, Goren," he said. "What is happening? I agreed to carry
out your task for you. Is this really necessary?"

"You hesitated, Reyes," Goren said, calmly.
"Hesitation is a sign of indecision. I had hoped, as Earth
Symposium drew near, you would begin to see the merit in what my
cohort is trying to achieve." He began to grandstand somewhat at
this point. "And now here we are, mere hours from the event. What I
asked you to do was not simply 'my task', but an act of solidarity.
Had you accepted the device and said, 'Yes, Goren Prefect,' it
would not have come to this."

"Call off the Enforcers, Goren," Reyes said,
trying not to beg. If he could maintain his freedom, be allowed to
travel once more to the sister planet, his plan would work. Molly
McBride would appear detained and Goren and his Inner Clerisy
Circle would be thwarted in the end. "I will detain Molly McBride
for you, I have already said as much."