Stackpole, Michael A - Dark Conspiracy 03 (9 page)
Read Stackpole, Michael A - Dark Conspiracy 03 Online
Authors: Evil Triumphant
A B B YY.c
Sin lau
ghed deep in his throat. "It's not that bad." He tossed me the blue binder he had brought in w
ith
him.
Stamped in gold foil on the front of the blue leather cover 1 saw the Build-more logo and the ti
tle
"Andean Computer Center: A Proposal." Opening the binder, I saw a great deal of information about Build-more and pictures of past projects. The computer-generated sketches in the back looked
professionally prepared, and the cost quote came over a million dolmarks under what I knew we had
budgeted for our forward base.
Sin watched me expectantly. "The Andes site was the project we floated past Case when I made the pitch to them. Obviously, my father has moles there that feed on the specs and bids for prospective projects."
"It appears your father wants our business." Sin nodded. "He does indeed. The blue leather binders only go out to impress important clients. Of course, it's not like he needs the work. He's got some hush-hush
project going on in Nevada, and that's sucking up most of his crews. Chances are, if we went with his bid, he'd subcontract it out to others, then make a profit based on the kickbacks he got from the subcontractors and suppliers he used."
"Your father knows how to make money."
"Yeah, give him a penny and Lincoln will be cleanshaven when my father spends it." Sin shrugged. "I think you can just ignore the offer, of course, since we never invited them in on the bidding. He wants
this job because he wants to control me through you and because he wants to be connected into the
Japanese market more fully."
"You're right, 1
could
ignore it." I got up and walked around to the chair behind my desk. 1 hit a button on the desktop, and the unmistakable sound of a phone dialtone filled the room. A keypad came up on the
computer screen, and 1 tapped out the number on the first page of the proposal. The connection came
through quickly and an alert voice answered, "Build-more, Mr. MacNeal's office."
"Please inform Mr. MacNeal that Michael Loring is calling for him."
"Yes, sir."
Muzak came out through the phone's speakers, and it proved sufficiently annoying to make Nero Loring
look up. He and Sin shared a puzzled glance, then both of them looked at me when the music died and the
phone clicked.
"Darius MacNeal here. Did you like our proposal, Michael?"
1 nodded unconsciously. "1 am quite impressed. By the way, I have you on the speaker. My uncle Nero
Loring is here, as is your son, Sinclair."
"Hello, Nero. Enjoying your retirement, 1 hope?"
"Fun and games, Darius, fun and games."
Sin took notice of his exclusion from greetings, and I would have relayed his response, but explaining
certain hand signals over the phone ruins their silent eloquence. I managed to keep from laughing at his
antics and flipped open the proposal Darius had sent over. "Darius, the proposal you provided comes in at
A B B YY.c
a price
that would save me over a million dolmarks."
"I know." I heard a hearty chuckle from the other end of the line. "When do we start?"
The confidence in his voice made me smile more broadly. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about.
You see, I'm refusing your offer."
"What? You can't."
"Oh, 1 can and, in fact, I am. You have in your employ a group of sociopathic white supremists who
killed the wife of a friend of mine, wounded him and have all but incited race warfare down in Eclipse.
You have also been a colossal bother to Sinclair, and he, too, is a friend. Moreover, you're a dictatorial asshole with delusions of adequacy." I snapped the proposal shut. "Frankly, sir, 1 wouldn't let you build me a sand castle out of warm spit and used cat litter even if you offered to pay for the construction."
"You have no idea to whom you are speaking, Loring!" Darius MacNeal shrieked through the phone. "I am not a man to be trifled..."
1 hit the phone icon and the dial tone filled the room before I shut off the speaker. "You can't please everyone all the time, can you?"
Sin and Nero laughed aloud, and I joined them. Sin shook his head. "I imagine my father's blood pressure is somewhat higher than the DOW index right now. He'll like the hang-up the least." Standing, he moved over to where he could look at the Build-More corporate citadel to the north and west. "I'd bet we'll see a chair heading out through his window in about four seconds."
I shrugged and stood. "I'll have to listen to it on the news, I'm afraid. I have that radio show shortly. How many positions will we have to offer?"
Sin concentrated, then nodded. "Three hundred, give or take. We'll hire based on experience and their ability to see things in proto-dimensions."
"Three centuries it is." I gave both men a confident smile. "You've got things under control, and I thank you. Who knows, we might actually be able to succeed after all."
Despite the calendar indicating the summer giving way to autumn, the blast-furnace of Phoenix still raged on. Despite that, 1 wore a light jacket over a dress shirt, tie and a casual pair of slacks. Because I was going to be on the radio, I felt no need to dress up fully, but I still wanted to project an image of corporate respectability. The shirt, tie and dark pants did that, while the wind-breaker made me a bit more casual
and made spotting my Kevlar vest a tad more difficult.
The radio station, KTAR, sat at 3rd Avenue and Osbom. The station occupied the upper floor of the four-
story building, which put it on the level with the upper roadway that ran beneath the Frozen Shade.
Because it was located just beyond the western edge of City Center, the fastest way to get to it was to
take the maglev in from the Lorica tower, head across the center and walk the half-mile to the station on the upper roadway.
I met Natch at one of the western exits from City Center. She normally dressed to hide her femininity,
which was not a bad thing given the generally lawless nature of Eclipse. That meant she wore oversized
A B B YY.c
clothi
ng that looked older, including a black leather jacket she appeared to live in no matter how h
ot the
world be
low Frozen Shade got.
The Match 1 met at City Center had changed her
wardrobe rather radically. She wore a light blue suede skirt and matching jacket over a white silk blouse.
The western-cut jacket included fringe on the arms and across the back. She wore some leather boots that
matched her skirt's color and rose above the mid-calf hemline. The boots had inch-thick heels, but
avoided the styling that would have designated them cowboy boots.
She had also made herself over. Her hair had been gathered back into a pony-tail and secured with a light blue bow. Delicately applied cosmetics sharpened some of her features and made her look even more
exotic than usual. She wore a small squash-blossom necklace and a pair of star-shaped turquoise earrings
that had diamond-chips imbedded at each of the star's five points.
She blushed at my silent nod of appreciation. "I've never been on radio before. I...."
I held up a hand to stop her. "You look fantastic. It may only be radio, but it'll come across, I'm sure."
Match smiled timidly. "Rajani picked out the clothes. Jytte did the make-up and stuff." She glanced down for a second. "Even Bat liked it."
"Of course. He's no fool." I held the exterior door open for her. "We better get going or we'll be late."
"Right."
Natch preceded me out into Eclipse. Walking along on the up-street, we got a good look at the city below
us. Lit largely by neon and the old-bone light of weak headlights, Eclipse looked unreal. We could see
people wandering around and even hear gunfire in the distance, but pace of life looked torpid. The
aimlessness of the people and the dull randomness of sounds made Eclipse lifeless and artificial.
I saw Natch shift her shoulders and read a mixture of
disgust and fear leap off her like an electric arc. "What is it, Natch?"
She shrugged and refused to look at me. "I've always hated the people who I saw up here. I always
thought they looked down on us Eclipsers because they were just stuck-up no-brains. But from up here..."
I nodded. "It's true, from up here Eclipse is not a nice place. Down there it's even worse, but from here there is enough detachment that you can really feel the impact. What is important for you to remember is
that we're working against the forces that keep people down there."
Her blue eyes bright in the half-light, Natch glanced over at me. "Think that will make a difference, Caine-man? Even dressed like this, I was on my way to being hassled before the guards let me into City
Center. 1 showed them the Lorica ID you got for me and suddenly it was 'Ms. Farrell this and Ms. Farrell
that.' The corps have the power and they aren't giving it up easy."
"Just remember, Natch, information is power. We know the forces that prop things up." I smiled. "We
A B B YY.c
eliminate tho
se forces, and we can make changes. Three months ago, Fiddleback controlled Lorica.
Not
so, now.
Change won't be easy, but it will be possible."
Our conversation died as we came to the KTAR building. Darkened, bulletproof glass doors barred us
from entry. I hit the button beside the speaker built into the wall and, as per the instructions on the panel, held it down until someone answered it. While waiting, 1 noticed off to the left and above the door a
surveillance camera.
"Yes?" asked an androgynous voice.
"Michael Loring and Natasha Farrell for the 7 o'clock show with Charles Goyette."
"I'll buzz you into the lobby."
A buzzer sounded, and hatch pulled the door open. We entered and saw one security guard in a glassed-in
booth. Two others armed with shotguns flanked a metal detector. We both walked through it without
triggering the device and entered a lobby in which every single person I saw had a pistol strapped to their hip or in a shoulder holster. They all appeared quite at ease with the weapons, and the station had a wall full of plaques boasting about how KTAR's staff regularly won the local media marksmanship contests.
Beside it, a display case showed some trophies, and behind the largest of the shooting cups I saw a dusty, gold-plated microphone on a stand denoting an excellence in broadcasting award.
Natch and 1 exchanged glances, and she seemed amused by the discomfort I was feeling. Seldom since
finding myself in Phoenix had 1 been without a gun of some sort on my person. Being in a situation
where I was unarmed while all others arourtd me were wearing guns openly did not make me feel at ease.