April 6: And What Goes Around (21 page)

"I doubt
somebody made an apocalyptic plague that will decimate the world population if
their target was people with Life Extension Therapy," Gunny predicted.

"Perhaps,"
Bob agreed, "but the motivation for it may have a religious impetus. When
that is the case the usual cost – benefit analysis may not look rational to us
without the same beliefs."

"Yeah, I hear
you. But the same applies to politics and a lot of other group beliefs. I've
had flu a couple times. It's nasty but I'll take my chances. Why don't you
issue us a testing unit. Even if it is a new variety it should have some of the
same basic proteins to register. And some antiviral meds to administer if we do
catch it," Gunny requested.

"Alright.
I'll talk to Dr. Lee and arrange that. I believe he can have a test unit that
plugs in a phone waiting for you when you get down there. I don't know what antivirals
he has here or wants to do. I imagine that's one of the things he's looking to
buy," Bob said.

Gunny nodded. That
made sense. "OK, assuming we can agree on fees, I'd like to have Christian
Mackay with me. He's mature and we get along. He's not a fellow to get physical
quickly if he doesn't have to. But if he does he knows what he's doing."

"That's fine.
You can have him join us or set a new time to meet if you want, so he can be in
on the negotiation for terms and fees," Bob offered.

"I'm sure
he'll want the job, but I'll send him over early tomorrow and he can talk with
you for both of us," Gunny decided. "I've seen Mac' handle the
business side of a job before and he's much better at it than me."

"OK, we're done then. I'll be waiting for him to call me," Bob
offered his hand and Gunny shook it.

* * *

Former President
of the USNA and her new husband Ben Patsitsas were having dinner at The Quiet
Retreat – the other nightclub on Home, which had room for dancing. It ran to
quieter classic music as entertainment as the name suggested and the occasional
comedian.

"I swear I've
met that couple sitting right by the dance floor," Wiggen informed her
husband. "The woman in the blue dress with the silk scarf and real jewelry."

"You stood in
so many receiving lines I'd expect you know half of Europe," Ben told her.

"Why do you
say Europe?" Martha asked. "I didn't say
where
I met
them."

"Well, I
can't speak to the lady's dress," Ben said, "but the man just shouts
European. His suit is cut that way. No American is going to have that much cuff
showing, and the jacket collar is wrong. For that matter the
shirt
collar says European too. The tie sort of leans that way and the shoes are
French or I'm blind."

"You didn't
come up with that instantly. You were checking them out too," Wiggen
surmised.

Ben nodded.
"Ever since they sat down.  I'd love a suit like that, but being a simple
B list author I'll have to admire it from afar."

"You're just avoiding
saying anything about the woman that might make me jealous," Wiggen
accused him. "And you are damn well an award winning A list author and you
know it."

"You are
kind, but you're only as well regarded as your last book, Ben said. "I'm
one stinker away from obscurity if I don't keep pumping them out."

Martha wouldn't be
deflected. "Which avoids discussing the woman again."

"
She's
spectacular, so there, go ahead and be jealous, but what I know about women's
fashion can be summed up on the back of a business card. Is the dress French
like her companion's shoes?" Ben asked.

"No, it's
Italian, but that doesn't mean she is too. It just means she has lots of money... 
and good taste too," Martha added begrudgingly. "The scarf is French...
the shoes may be Spanish actually."

"You can
really tell the jewelry is real from this far away?" her mate asked.

"It's either
real or duplicates of the real stuff sitting at home in a safe. You
don't
get style like that at the Ten Dollar Discount Den," Martha assured Ben.

"The name
will probably come to you about three days from now," Ben decided.

The music started
up again and the couple in question got up to dance. He pulled her chair back
and offered his hand. Wiggen clamped on Ben's arm with a grip that surprised
him. He looked over and she was staring at the couple now blending into the
other dancers with big eyes.

"Or it may
come to you sooner," Ben guessed again.

"The way he
moved. But it can't be them. Maybe his son, taking a quiet vacation far away
from the paparazzi and their social circle. They're too young," Wiggen
objected.

"Life
Extension Therapy Dear. It does that you know," Ben reminded her.

"Ha! The
Church would bring back the Inquisition just for them if they dared,"
Wiggen predicted.

"Only if they
catch them dear, only if they catch them." Ben said sweetly.

Wiggen got the
oddest look. "What are you thinking sweetie? The strain is visible,"
Ben joked.

She gave him a little
play hit on the elbow, but leaned closer to whisper.

"They may be
like me. I mean, I had to run for my life, but now that I'm up here they are
sending me the full Presidential pension. I was flabbergasted at first when the
accounting office called and asked where to deposit it, but then I figured out
it was smart of them to make me comfortable – as long as I stayed
far
away.

"If I'd been flat
broke and struggling to live I might have reason to plot a return and make
trouble for them. It's a pretty cheap form of insurance really. And nothing
crooked or something anybody could make a stink about. If anybody brings it up
it just makes them look magnanimous.
I'm
certainly not going to make a
fuss about it."

"That would
make a lot more sense to me if you said plainly who you think they are,"
Ben said.

"Oh! They may
be the King and Queen of Spain," Wiggen told him. "Newly rejuvenated.
Which would horrify the Earthies, especially the religious."

"So, you
think they might be pensioned off quietly if they'll just go far, far away and
not make a fuss for anybody back in Spain?" Ben asked.

"Well, they
don't have any bodyguards, and this is not a cheap place to spend an evening.
If you'd kindly take me for a spin on the dance floor I can casually say hello
as we pass their table and see if they will acknowledge me," Martha
requested.

"I suspect
this was all just an elaborate plot to get me to dance. You are a devious
woman."

"You'll never know if you don't take me out on the floor, will
you?"

* * *

"I see now
why you had Mackay negotiate your contract," Robert Lewis said.

"He has much
better business skills than I do," Gunny admitted.

"He's way too
persuasive," Bob grumbled. "The sort of guy you think you just traded
shoes with and then you notice you don't have socks. I may still regret it, but
I let him talk me into letting you guys have a chunk of cash to trade with on
Tonga. He insisted that when things get crazy and normal business breaks down
you can do cash deals. But that assuming thirty days net as usual when things
are in chaos will make suppliers laugh in your face."

"You really
don't have to worry that he's going to disappear with your money," Gunny
was quick to tell him. "The man is if anything
too
straight of an
arrow. He's a refugee from ISSII because he wouldn't allow Homeland Security to
take shortcuts with
their own
procedures. And the idea somebody might
rob him of it... If anybody tries I only hope I can get it on video."

"You know you
can't carry guns on Tonga?" Robert asked.

"I know, but
you haven't seen Mackay collect a debt off a Chicago Mafioso, or a stupid
fellow try to pull a gun on Chen over it. The man doesn't need a gun to be
dangerous," Gunny said.

"And I hope
to never be there to see anything like that. That's why
you
guys are
going and I'm staying here where I can quietly administer things," Robert
Lewis said. "Rough trouble and adventure are not my thing,"

"That's fine," Gunny agreed. "We're happy for the work."
Privately he was amused. April had shown him the recording off her suit camera
from when their war with Earth was starting. Her dad had been alone at home
when a North American agent had blown his front door off with explosives and
gone in to assassinate him. April's suit video of the firefight in the dark apartment,
with her dad strobe lighting the scene in freeze frames with an old .45 belching
flame, was like something out of an old horror movie. April had rushed home to
rescue him, but he hadn't needed much rescuing. He could claim to be a mild
mannered administrator if he insisted being modest, but Gunny was certain he never
wanted to get in a gun fight with the man in the dark.

* * *

"Are you
going to be home for a bit? I have something to show you," Jeff said.

April looked at
the corner of her screen. It was 2312 Jeff rarely called so late. "Sure
come on over. Do you think this will take awhile? I'll put a pot of coffee
on."

"No, it's not
going to turn into an all-nighter," Jeff promised. "Something milder
perhaps? Would you have any hot chocolate? It sounds good tonight."

"Sure, I have
the powder and I have a liter of half and half that makes it really rich. I'll
start it now because it's best to heat it slowly," April said.

"I'll be
there in only fifteen minutes or a little more," Jeff said. "I'm just
leaving the north hub."

The half and half
was in the cupboard. A sterile pack that didn't need refrigerating. She had two
six packs of them with seven year expiration dates. The things she had ordered
to use up her North American dollars were starting to arrive already.

It was hard to
make herself pay for express delivery. Her mother had always taught her to plan
ahead and use standby whenever she could. But Jeff counseled that later delivery
might never happen if she did that now. Her cupboard was packed with things she
knew would get used eventually and she had three huge bags of green coffee
beans on the deck over in the low overhead by the windows. Along with a couple
cases of sani-wipes and premium protein bars. The good sort that hikers like to
carry.

The chocolate mix
was Macedonian, dark and not sickeningly sweet, although it took a little more
stirring to get it to dissolve than the super sweet stuff. What could Jeff have
to show her? Perhaps he was just looking for company and was shy to say it? But
she dismissed that thought pretty quickly. Jeff was too direct to do that.
Especially with her. But she had seen him getting more subtle with others when
he made business presentations. He'd been blunt to the point of offending
people not so long ago.

By the time the
chocolate was starting to steam a little the door chime sounded. April
considered again that she could set the door to Jeff's hand to let himself in.
She wasn't sure why she hesitated. Gunny certainly wouldn't care and it wasn't
like she was seeing anyone else. But then he'd never
asked
to have the
door set for him either. She had access to his office, but that wasn't the
same, even though he had been staying there some nights while the Paddingtons
used his residential cubic. The office wasn't
comfortable
, and they'd
never used it for anything but business."

"House,
unlock entry door," April told the house computer. She really needed to
put a camera in the corridor. Someday it might not be Jeff and she'd get a big
surprise.

It was perfect
timing. The hot chocolate was just starting to froth on the edge. April poured
it in two big insulated mugs and went to meet him before Jeff could come to the
kitchen. He was stopped staring at the big drawing like he always did but left
it and joined her on the sofa when she sat their mugs on the low table.

"I got the
prototypes you wanted and was too excited to wait to show you."  He held
out a hand with three coins. They instantly made April think of the casino
chips she'd seen on New Las Vegas. The first was a gold full Solar coin. She
hadn't known he was going to change that. It still had the traditional design
that they'd made when they were in Earth orbit. But now it was enclosed in a
clear coating just slightly bigger than the coin. The arch of the Earth had a
hole in the metal, heavily chamfered, with a tiny black speck floating in the
opening.

April took it and
held it close. You could just make out the speck was a tiny cube, less than a
millimeter on a side. When she flipped it over the circle of engraving
proclaiming it was One Solar from The System Trade Bank and the assay numbers
was the same as the old coins, but the through hole was inside those on a
formerly blank area.

"You know, since
you issued Solar coins people have taken to calling it The Solar Bank. Maybe
you should change the name to what people want to use," April suggested.

"It would be
difficult with the Earthie governments. They'd want all sorts of documents that
don't exist and wonder why we don't do it like them. It was hard enough to set
up once. It would take my time when I have other things to do too. Let them
call it what they want as long as the legal documents have the right name on
them," Jeff said.

April didn't
argue. "Are you still going to make the uncoated full Solars?"

 "As long as people want
them. Especially the platinum ones. It will take a long time to wear the die
out so it is no new expense. Here, let my send the app to your phone to verify
these." Jeff punched a few keys and pointed it at her phone pad when
offered. "The stylized sun, ☼
,
is the app. I'm hoping that
catches on as the symbol for a Solar. I wanted the Zia symbol like New Mexico
uses but there isn't any way to print it easily. I started yesterday using it as
a symbol for Solars in documents that use numbers."