Alik shrugged, unruffled by the reaction. “Think of Rayner and Javid-Lee as contaminants that needed venting. It’s an appropriate analogy for those sons of bitches. Ain’t no need to thank me, I’m just a public servant doing my job.”
“You executed them. No! It was murder; simple as that.”
“What was I supposed to do?”
“Rendition,” Callum said hotly.
“Oh, yeah,” Yuri called out with vicious glee. “
Callum glowered at him.
“Strange as it may seem, I don’t have the authority to order a rendition directly,” Alik explained. “I would have had to go through the National Security procedure, and we’d have needed three tame judges to sign off on it. Sure, I’d probably have got it for Rayner and Javid-Lee, but that would have involved a whole bunch of other people. The whole problem was a clusterfuck Washington wanted to disappear fast. We got the media to write it off as gang warfare. And the two asshole families involved got to keep their frightened mouths shut for life. Actually, it was the best solution. Go me.”
“Bloody hell!” Callum dropped his head into his hands.
There was a long silence in the lounge as everyone tried to come to terms with what we’d just been told. I found it interesting to see how being judged riled Alik. He really was that arrogant. A lot of senior government officials come to have the attitude that nothing they do should ever be questioned or challenged. But it did explain a lot. He hadn’t turned up on this case for any other reason than he’d been told to. It was politics, pure and simple. He was a Washington creature, receiving orders and reporting back to the executive and the dark globalPACs. What he reported no doubt contributed to policy, but he wasn’t a policy maker. He wasn’t the one I was looking for, but I would be very interested in talking to this Tansan character at some time in the near future.
“What about the New York shield?” Jessika asked. “Have there been more attempts to bust the files since Cancer tried?”
“Beyond my pay grade, my friend,” Alik said, splaying his hands wide.
Like any of us believed that.
“But I did hear the whole national shield project had some pretty sharp security upgrades after that night,” he conceded.
“Civic shields were taken back under military jurisdiction twenty-two years ago,” Loi said. “In America, at least. So someone must have taken the attempt seriously.”
“Over half of Earth’s nations have placed their urban shields under military control in the last fifteen years,” Kandara said. “Those that still have a military.”
“Why did Cancer want the shield files?” Jessika asked.
“We don’t know.”
“Wrong question,” Callum said. “What did Cancer’s employers want with the files?”
“When I find out who they are, I’ll be sure and let you know,” Alik said.
“It’ll be money,” Eldlund said in a knowing tone. “It always is with Universal types.”
I thought Callum looked irked with his assistant for the jibe, but my impression of Eldlund was of a devout Utopial—more so than most omnia who never left the comfort of the Delta Pavonis system. Sie simply couldn’t resist the opportunity to establish cultural superiority. I’d guess that was why immigration to Akitha had leveled out in recent years. There’s an old saying in the Sol system: Utopial culture would be a great place to live in, but the problem is that it’s full of Utopials. And Eldlund was a perfect example of that unconscious patronizing privilege they all possessed.
“How can it be for money?” Yuri asked.
“Shields have protected cities from severe weather for decades,” Eldlund said in a tone that told us sie clearly felt sie was explaining the utterly obvious. “People are complacent; they take that protection for granted. So if a shield fails during a storm, there’ll be plenty of damage. That will have a big effect on spending patterns and insurance payments. If you knew in advance that was going to happen, you could make a killing in the markets.”
“Wow,” Loi said. “I hope you never become a criminal mastermind. You’d be terrifying.”
Eldlund gave him a knowing grin. “If whoever wanted the files could afford Cancer, you know it has to be a big deal, right? That’s got to be a Wall Street playa.”
Yuri pursed his lips as if in approval. “Good point.”
You had to be as familiar as I was with my boss to see just how much he was humoring the poor jerk. I’d seen those tactics played in a dozen meetings. It nearly always ended with someone getting fired, or worse.
“So what happened to Colleana’s brat?” Kandara asked. “You?” Her index finger lined up on Eldlund.
“No!”
Loi laughed out loud; everyone else was grinning.
“Who gives a crap what happened to the kid?” Alik grumbled.
“You haven’t been checking back on Colleana after you were so noble with her insurance?” Yuri joined in, parodying disappointment. “Shame on you.”
“Do I look like a fucking fairy godmother?”
“Stranger things,” Callum proclaimed.
“Fuck you all!”
“What about Cancer?” Loi asked. “Are you still looking for her?”