The Raft (14 page)

“Yes, it's him.”

“Then, ask and ye shell receive, my love:
he's sitting in a holding cell as we speak.”

“Thank you, Peter,” Rachael said
truthfully.

“So, when can Maggie come sort this guy out?
The sooner he tells us why he broke into Senator Hadian's house
with an automatic, the sooner we can charge him with attempted
murder.”

“Well...” Rachael looked over her shoulder
towards the companionway. “Well, she can't.”

“Huh?” Peter grunted over the phone.

“She's a Rafter, Peter.”

“I thought you were trying to get her
off
, before the Raft exploded? Well, this is a perfect
opportunity.”

“I know, but she won't come ashore. She won't
give up her exempt status simply because you caught Horus.”

“But isn't that all just bullshit?”

“Yes, but not to Maggie – not to all these
Rafters. They really think they're exempt from the law. As I said,
they're crazy. You should have seen them a few hours ago, they
caught sight of an IRS Agent... they're not scared of the FBI, men
with rifles, but the IRS...”

“Well, she'll have to make an exception. If
she's this guy's lawyer...”

“You'll need to work out some sort of
amnesty. Like diplomatic immunity.”

Peter laughed. “You're kidding, right?”

“No, seriously. Talk to that FBI guy,
Galahad. Who just came out here with all the warrants. You know who
he is?”

“Kid Galahad? Sure.”

“Well, he and Maggie struck up some sort of
rapport. Get him to set up a twenty-four hour amnesty.”

“Why would he do that?”

“'Cause twenty minutes alone with Maggie and
this guy will confess to shooting Lincoln. And Maggie's no lawyer,
there's no client privilege. You can record the whole
interview.”

Peter was silent. Thinking. “You're sure
she'll get a confession out of this Horus character?”

“I guarantee it,” Rachael answered with a
peculiar sort of pride.

“She's that much of a badass?” Peter
chuckled.

“Oh, yeah,” Rachael laughed.

“Stop, I'm getting jealous.”

“Peter... it's not like that.”

“No, no, I know,” Peter backpedaled. “Okay if
I give the FBI your number?”

“Sure.”

“Okay. Love you.”

“I love you, too,” Rachael said, and the line
went silent.

#

“He's asking to speak to me?” Maggie said,
sitting up off the salon bench and turning off the TV.

“That's what Peter says, and the police are
treating the request as if you were his lawyer.”

“Well, good for them.”

“So, we've got one hell of an opportunity
here.” Rachael sat down at the galley table across from Maggie.

“We certainly do...” Maggie stroked her
chin.

“I told Peter to contact Kid Galahad. Work
out some sort of pass,”

“Kid Galahad?” Maggie chuckled.

“Yeah – to let you go ashore for a few hours
to deal with Horus.”

“He'd never agree to that.”

“He might. I told Peter that you'd get a
confession out of Horus. One they could use.”

“Yes, I would.”

“I don't know if it will hold water later,
but you've already set the precedent that you're a foreign
national. Maybe that dodge will work again?”

“Perhaps.” Maggie was visibly concentrating.
“God bless the great nation of Liberia.”

“And once onshore -” Rachael's phone in her
pocket rang. She jumped, dug it out and answered it. “Hello? Yes.
Yes, Special Agent Galahad.” Rachael winked at Maggie. “Yes, she's
right here.” Rachael held out the phone.

Maggie took it and held it to her ear.
“Special Agent.”

“Ms. Straight. It's good to speak to you
again,” Galahad began. “I believe you're aware that your fellow
Rafter, Eugine Meyer, has been arrested by the Seattle Police.”

“Horus?” Maggie prodded. She couldn't
resist.

“Yes, aka Horus the... Brontosaurus...”
Galahad almost choked. “The charges against him are very serious.
He was found in possession of a stolen weapon, and in the abode of
a prominent official.”

“Ah,” Maggie feigned ignorance. “This is why
you left the deck of the
Kalakala
in such a rush? I thought
we were just about to discover some common ground.”

“Yes,” Galahad said flatly. “Anyway, it
appears that Mr. Meyer has designated you as his legal
counsel.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, and pursuant to his sixth amendment
rights -”

“Special Agent, are you asking for my help?”
Maggie interrupted.

“Yes, Ms. Straight. The case against Mr.
Meyer is airtight, but as you may know, here in the United States
we have something called the Rule of Law.”

Maggie could almost hear the agent smiling on
the other end of the phone.

“Well, Special Agent, as you may also be
aware, there a certain tax implications if anyone, such as myself,
should set foot on US soil...”

“We are all aware of your interpretation of
the US Tax Code. But, should your credentials as a peace officer
for the sovereign state of Liberia prove to be genuine, we believe
it will be possible to extend to you a visitor's visa for a maximum
period of twenty-four hours.”

Maggie didn't answer.

“Ms. Straight? Are you still there?” she
forced Galahad to ask.

“Thank you,” Maggie finally replied. “And I
hope that I will be able to help you out in whatever capacity I
can. But there is something I will need in exchange, Special Agent,
for my assistance in dealing with Mr. Brontosaurus.”

“What?” Rachael asked. She was only hearing
half of the conversation, but it was the interesting half.

“What?” Galahad parroted.

“I'll need five minutes with the good
Senator,” Maggie said coolly.

“What?” Rachael almost fell off the galley
bench.

“WHAT?” Galahad exploded at the other end of
the line.

Maggie hung up and handed the phone back to
Rachael.

“Are you
insane
?” Rachael asked,
slack-jawed, taking the phone automatically.

“It doesn't add up, Rachael,” Maggie
said.

“What doesn't?”

“Horus.”

“He tried to kill the Senator!” Rachael said,
pulling at her hair.

“Exactly.” Maggie climbed to her feet and
stretched. Standing, her head almost reached the ceiling of the
Soft Cell's
cabin. “If Horus killed Meerkat, which would
have made perfect sense, and fled to the dryland. Why show up on
Senator Hadian's doorstep with a gun?”

“'Cause he's an idiot?” Rachael
volunteered.

“Well, of course, but an idiot showing every
symptom of someone looking for revenge. If Meerkat was having an
affair with the Senator, at least if Horus believed that Meerkat
was having an affair with the Senator, then his actions make
perfect sense. Horus jumped to the same conclusion you and I both
jumped to. Pregnant Meerkat, high-profile, conservative US Senator,
equals murder.”

“Then...” Rachael leaned back. “Then Horus
didn't kill Meerkat?”

“If he did, then why try kill Hadian?”

“Oh my God.” It hit Rachael: half of
everything she thought she knew, she didn't.

“And if Horus didn't kill Meerkat, who did?”
Maggie asked, dropping back down onto the salon bench. And as if on
cue, Rachael's phone rang again.

“Hello?” Rachael asked quickly. She held it
out for Maggie. It was Kid Galahad again.

“Special Agent?” Maggie said into the
phone.

“An interview with the Senator is out of the
question,” Galahad said flatly.

“Nevertheless.” Maggie left it at that.

“But I can give you five minutes with his
aide.”

“I'm going to hang up on you again, Special
Agent,” Maggie warned.

“Ms. Straight,” Galahad shot rapidly. “Ms.
Straight. There's no way in hell -”

“Let me ask you the question that you asked
me a few hours ago: aren't we all here to investigate a
murder?”

“The Senator has nothing -”

“The Senator is currently my number one
suspect in the death of Joanna Church, Special Agent. How can you
honestly expect me
not
to interview him? You're a law
enforcement officer, would
you
give a suspect a pass in an
investigation of his nature simply because of his position?”

“No, but -”

“But nothing. Five minutes, Special Agent,
that's all I ask. And we can put an end to all of this speculation.
Need I remind you that I'm sitting here aboard ship, across from a
breathtaking member of the news media. Who, if I found myself with
no other outlet for my musing, I might confide to my
speculations...”

“Ms. Straight...”

“Call me when you have the interview set up,”
Maggie said and hung up the phone. She handed it back to Rachael
with a grin.

“That was evil,” Rachael teased.

“Perhaps, but it's the best chance we have to
save the Raft.”

“By attacking Senator Hadian?”

“A good offense is the best defense, they
say.” Maggie leaned back on her bench and picked up the TV
remote.

“They also say look before you leap,” Rachael
countered. Maggie switched on the television.

Chapter 14

The phone sat silently on the galley table
for two hours.

Perhaps it was a waiting game, Rachael
thought, with Maggie and Galahad testing each other to see who
needed the other more. Maggie, for her part, didn't flinch. When
the news broadcasts covering Meerkat's death were over, she simply
switched off the television and stretched out on the salon
bench.

There was probably something more critical
they could have been doing, but nothing sprang suddenly into
Rachael's head. Their next play was to interview Horus, that was
clear, and Maggie was determined to hold the dryfoots hostage to
wrangle an interview with the Senator.

Senator Hadian, Rachael smiled inwardly, what
a scoop. If there was a more despicable public figure in politics,
Rachael was unaware of him. Senator Hadian, author of the proposed
28
^th
Amendment to the Constitution: a Federal ban on gay
marriage. There was nothing Rachael would relish more than the idea
of catching the Senator in the throngs of a sex scandal. The
goddamned son of a bitch.

Rachael was salivating at the prospect,
despite her professional ethics. She had to keep herself in check,
restrain from starting a preemptive smear campaign before
uncovering any real proof. All it would take is one call to the
right reporter at the right supermarket tabloid and the floodgates
would be open. There was every possibility that such a leak would
never be traced back to Rachael, she just had to drop the pebble
into the water, and the sharks would begin to circle...

Ah! She was mixing her metaphors, that was
what sitting on such a time bomb like Senator Hadian and Meerkat
was doing to her. But Rachael could resist, force down the urge to
let the whole situation explode in the fat son of a bitch's face.
It'd serve him right, he'd always been amongst the most outspoken
opponents of the Raft. Shelter for cheats, felons, and perverts
he'd called it on the floor of the Senate.

And however accurate that statement might be,
it still got under Rachael's skin. Oh, to catch that self-righteous
prick with his hand in the cookie jar...

Alright, Rachael knew she was biased. Perhaps
it was Senator Hadian's success that offended her more than
anything else. The truth was that there was a very real chance that
his amendment might be ratified. And that possibility scared the
life out of Rachael.

No, after more consideration, it was the
Senator himself that offended Rachael. He was a slimy character,
plain and simple.

When it had become obvious that there'd be no
shoving his amendment through both the House and Senate with
two-thirds majorities, he'd turned to a little known provision of
the Constitution to pass amendments: the Constitutional
Convention.

Normally, amendments to the Constitution
began in the House or Senate, where two-thirds of each must vote
for the amendment to pass. The amendment is then sent on to the
states, where three-quarters of the state legislators must ratify
the amendment.

But Article V of the Constitution contains
another process by which an amendment to the Constitution might be
ratified. It empowers the states to call for a Constitutional
Convention. If two-thirds of the state legislatures agree, they may
essentially do an end run around a do-nothing Congress. And with
his amendment floundering at the Federal level, Senator Hadian had
taken this populist cause.

It took some work, but as momentum built, he
was able to convince thirty-five of the fifty-two state
legislatures to call for a Constitutional Convention. Such a thing
hadn't occurred since 1787 for the ratification of the Constitution
itself. Political scholars were of differing opinions of exactly
how a Convention of Amendment would operate – exactly how delegates
would be seated – but Senator Hadian let none of the details dampen
his enthusiasm. He called his Constitutional Convention, held
conveniently in Wyoming, the only State at that time to
successfully prosecute a gay couple for violating the state's
same-sex marriage ban, and he proposed his amendment.

It was little more than a formality, really.
The Senator had padded the delegate list with a small army of his
political supporters. In fact, the actual convention was political
theater at its best, Rachael had to admit. They televised the whole
show. Speech after speech, it ran for a whole weekend. More than
anything, the Constitutional Convention served as a political rally
for the far right. After many years spent in a minority position in
government, at both the Federal level and in state levels, the
Constitutional Convention served as a much-needed shot in the arm
to America's Conservative Movement.