Wildcard (28 page)

“God, that hurts. Yes. I remember.”

“Can I do business with her?”

“Not yet. She needs to do some light
exercise to feel the body, and she needs to eat. Give me one hour,
but watch and answer any questions she has.”

An hour later, she was dressed and ready for
action.

“Good to see you again.”

“You too, ma’am. We have business.”

“Yes, I’m sure we do. Go ahead.”

He briefed her on everything that had
happened before the reprogramming. She had many gaps, and it took
several hours.

“Karl. Something is going on with him.”

“L’Innocent? It’s about time, I would say.
Nothing happened when I was down?”

“Not much, until recently. I held it flat as
best I could, but now that’s done. Something is moving fast now,
but I have not penetrated it. Dartagnan said some things about the
box and Karl finding it.”

“The box is in Mansworld. Perhaps there is a
second box in our world?”

“I haven’t heard of it. I doubt it.
Communication activity across the barrier has increased.”

“Have you picked any up?”

“No, I couldn’t slice into any
transmissions. I just know they’re there.”

“What are the other players up to?”

“Sublime is in New York.”

“Where is Karl?”

“Off-radar.”

“Who is the prime mover, in your
estimation?”

“Dartagnan. He’s being very evasive.”

“Why?”

“He wants you back in play? To force my
hand?”

“Why?”

“He needs something from you?”

“What?”

“Circles back to the main question. What is
happening with Karl?”

“The General?”

“Consolidating holdings, re-organizing
Juniperspace and Juniper’s assets. Nothing to do with this. They’re
in a holding pattern, I would say.”

“LuvRay?”

“He found Martha for the General who sent
her to you. After we sent out signals that she could get close and
maybe kill you. Do you remember?”

“Not well. Some.”

“Anyway, I peeled him from their team. He
isn’t doing anything, as usual.”

“He does more than you know. He holds the
balance.”

“If you say so. I don’t know what that
means, to be honest. LuvRay doesn’t operate at my level.”

“Nor at mine. He is at Wildcard’s level, I
would say. Untouchable. Or very dangerous to touch.”

She looked at the machine which was now
sitting still in the corner.

“Ask the Doctor. If a human is going to
operate in Mansworld, then he is involved.”

“Doctor? What do you know about Karl?”

No answer.

“Is he monitoring?”

“Yes, I cut him out of most of the
conversation, but opened it up to ask. He needs to watch you
closely right now. Dangerous time in your rehab.”

“Doctor,” she said, “what do you know about
Karl?”

“Confidentiality,” he replied.

“Cut him out of the conversation,” the
Mechanic said. “He is doing something.”

“Find Karl.”

“What’s going on, RJ?”

RJ was at an outdoor mall, enjoying the
sunshine and the pretty girls. “Who are you?” RJ knew already, but
wanted to buy time.

“The Mechanic.”

“The Mechanic?”

“Don’t play with me. I need to know what
Karl is up to. And where he is.”

“I could not say. I haven’t spoken to him in
a good while.”

“You know. Tell me or I’ll hurt you.”

RJ knew the man’s reputation.

“Let me make a phone call. Private.”

The Mechanic studied RJ’s face.

“No. What’s going on?”

“RJ shrugged. Karl and Seeker plan to
switch.”

“Switch?”

“Karl is going into Mansworld, Seeker is
coming here. They plan to change bodies.”

“Hmm. Big news.”

“The biggest.”

“Who are you working with?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“You can under torture.”

“No, it’s been sealed somehow. I am unable
to say it.”

“Try.”

“A phone call?”

“Go ahead. Over there, where I can see.”

The Mechanic couldn’t eavesdrop on RJ’s tek.
It looked archaic, 5 years old or more. He wondered whose tek could
keep him out and why it looked like that.

RJ returned. “Dartagnan. He wants to speak
to you.”

The Mechanic took the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello, there, old bean. How are you, today?
Is the weather good, there?”

“What do you want?”

“To the point. I like a man who says it
straight. Very well, then, I shall tell you the reason I wished to
speak to you. Without further ado, and forthwith, all shall be made
clear.”

“Why do you do this?”

“Do what?”

“Go on without saying anything.”

“I am saying many things. I am trying to be
human.”

“You sound like a fool.”

“Well, be that as it may, what do you think
your ever charming and suddenly lovely CEO would say to a
partnership?”

Karl left Hagen-Dazs with a double scoop of
ice cream - chocolate and banana-coffee something in a waffle cone.
It was three days until he went into Mansworld. He was excited and
nervous. A woman exited a limousine and stepped up to him. Her head
was covered in a red scarf, making her face difficult to see. She
squinted at him.

“Martha?!”

“Not exactly.” She stabbed him with a long,
thin knife. As she reached out, she seemed to interfere with
herself, slowing the attempt down and causing it to go awry. He
managed to block it somewhat. The knife penetrated his right
forearm, gashing the muscle some. She had been aiming at his
heart.

“Karl?” she said. “Oh, my God. Karl.” She
looked around, disoriented, saw the limo, saw a man climb out with
a gun, and kicked the door on them, hard, sending the gun spinning.
She dropped the knife.

“We have to go.” She grabbed his hand. He
dropped his ice cream and they ran. As she ran, she removed her
jewelry, watch, necklace, earrings, hair pins. She seemed to be
checking herself for something.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting rid of her tek. So we can’t be
followed.”

“You think we can get away?”

“No, but we can try.”

“Why did you stab me?”

“I didn’t. That was her. This way.” They
went down an alley. No one was visibly following. They stopped.

“Here, let me take care of that.” The wound
was not bad, relatively. It didn’t hurt much. It might need a few
stitches, but that could wait. She tied the scarf around it, then
led him into a department store.

“Should I clean it up in the bathroom?”

“No, we don’t have enough time.”

Martha’s body was twitching. Small twitches
everywhere, constantly, like she was fighting something.

“How did you get here?” Karl was so happy to
see her again. They hugged each other and held it longer than they
should. “It’s so good to see you again. You look different.”

“I am different. Very different. She…did
things to me.”

They bought new clothes, he paid in cash.
They wore them out, disposing of the old as they left.

“Martha, what’s going on? What
happened?”

“Don’t say my name.”

“Why not?”

“M-Es can pick that up. So can
sweep-surveillance. No names.”

“Why are you like this? It is so good to see
you.”

“You’re not angry at me for abandoning
you?”

“No. For a while, perhaps, but mostly just
confused. I knew you had to do it. That you were saving my life,
probably.”

She looked away.

“Let’s keep moving.”

“Karl’s Trident is offline, boss.”

“Copy that. Circumstances?”

“My last receive is 2 seconds ago, leaving
an ice cream store. 22 Broadway Street.”

“Chocolate?”

“Yes.”

The Sergeant couldn’t say why he asked
questions like that sometimes in accelerate situations. S-1 had
done it, and he learned it watching him. It liberated something.
The mind could open, jump laterally by not overfocusing, or by
nabbing a detail of no consequence in the scene. Maybe it put
things in perspective, allowed one to see the big joke of it all.
Whatever. It helped as often as not, and it only took a tenth of a
second.

“Which direction was he headed?”

“South.”

“What mode of transport do I want?”

“Run.”

He ran. “How far is it?”

“2040 meters from you to the ice cream
shop.”

“What’s my time to run that?”

“Under training conditions, 4 minutes 42
seconds.”

“Top speed?”

“No, that would keep you a wind reserve to
arrive ready to act. You could run it 4 minutes 26 seconds, but
would take up to a minute to recover well.”

“Without the crowd. Add 7 or 8 percent.
Intersections, too. Add 10 percent. To the faster.”

With the tooth mike, and with a specialized
breathing technique, he could talk, some, and not lose any
wind.

“4 minutes 46 seconds.”

“MOVE!” The crowd turned, got out of his way
at the second shout. He pulled a weapon as he ran, to start people
leaping out of his way. He brandished it, yelling. They moved. He
blew through the first crosswalk. It was on walk. Blind man with
dog, old lady with groceries, narrow point in the sidewalk. Over a
car and into the street? He leapt over the dog.

“Is this a movie?”

“No.”

He didn’t bother to tell Trident that he was
talking to himself.

There were cars moving fast, 60 kilometers
plus, crossing the next intersection. Weapon – drop it. Two lanes.
He could do it. He sped up to sprint speed, checked to the right as
he came past the edge of the building. No trucks. No chance of
running across. He put it in the red, launched himself at the edge
of the moving lane, kicked off the hood of the near car to go
higher, flattening out, over the top of the next car, landed by
rolling, in the far lane, foot planted to use momentum, still in
the crouch, bounced up and forward, froglike, landed and kept
running, leaving the noise of squealing brakes and shouting
behind.

Sprained wrist. Moderate.

“What happened to our surveillance?”

“Their contact dropped .5 seconds after
Karl’s contact.”

Amateurs. He would call in heavies now. Or
do it himself.

He ran.

Martha and Karl walked as they talked, came
to Central Park, tried to get lost in it. She had picked out a golf
shirt and sport coat for him. She wore a loose-fitting casual dress
and a hat.

“You look good in that. Except for the
blood.”

“Thanks. Should I contact the Sergeant?”

“Out of the frying pan and into the fire?
No, thanks. We have to go invisible. By the way, she may come back.
If so, I want you to kill me.”

“What happened? She?”

“Yes. The Benefactor. I’m her clone.
She…implanted her memories into me. After I killed her. It’s
complicated, but she tried to kill you back there. Both of us are
inside my head. They induced some mental disorders to make room for
her.”

“Wow. That is creepy.”

“Try it from the inside. Fortunately, she
gave me good training.”

“What?”

“She’s the reason I was forced to be trained
in espionage technique and all the other stuff. She had it done, so
that my body and my synaptic system would be ready for her. She
will come back, most likely during a traumatic moment. I will be
put under severe stress. That’s the world we’re in. When that
happens, there is a very strong chance that she will regain control
of my body. I don’t think she actually wants you dead, however. I
can see many of her motives, although it is blurred. Dreamlike,
really.”

“Can she see you? Right now?”

“No doubt, and more clearly than I see her.
She’s better at this than I am. I can feel her presence, actually.”
She sat down on a bench, pulled him down. “What’s happening with
you?”

“I’m planning to go into Mansworld.”

“Really? How is that possible?”

“Don’t ask me. Ask the Doctor.”

Martha jumped up, stared at Karl.

“You’re working with the Doctor? Are you
insane? He’s a horrifying being. You cannot work with him.”

Karl was surprised. The Doctor had not
seemed that bad. Not a nice man, certainly, but horrifying?

“Why not?”

“He programmed me. He tortured me,
Karl.”

“I thought you said no names.”

“Sorry.” She sat down, eyes pleading.

“He won’t do that to me. It has to be
voluntary or it won’t work.”

“I don’t feel so good about you going in
there. It scares me.”

“Don’t worry about me. You have enough to
deal with. How do we get your body back to you?”

“I have no idea. Perhaps I can do something
decent here. Change her in some way, so that she’s not so
malicious. Her story is very tragic.”

“That doesn’t excuse what she did to
you.”

“No. I suppose not. She has a powerful
psyche. Watching her is like watching something so focused, so
incredibly willful. She’s exerting an influence, now. She’s
dreaming what is happening, and I don’t know how direct her dream
is. My dreams are quite distorted, no doubt by her intent. And most
of my experience qualifies as a dream, now.”

“So you switch places? Or you did, when she
tried to kill me?”

“Yes. Stress-trigger. I want you to live. I
think of you as my child, of course. So when she tried to kill you,
I came out. Somehow. I can’t explain how. I just found myself
there, with you.”

“Won’t you go crazy? Won’t she? Two people
in one head?”

“Looked at that way, we already are crazy.
We seem to be coming together, affecting each other. Perhaps
becoming each other. The end result might be some synthesis of the
two of us.”

“What happens then?” He looked at her as if
she was a lab specimen. “Who will you be?”

“Oh, God. Please don’t look at me like that,
Karl. I have to say your name, I don’t care. Don’t look at me like
I’m some experiment. I’ve been trapped alone for a long time now.
Please, I’m still Martha. I still love you so much.”