who has not only already proven his trustworthiness, but who is intimately familiar with this entire business.' Step ping back, she turned and gestured.
'What…?' It took a moment for the import of her words to coalesce in the scientist's mystified mind.
Seeing them both looking in his direction, Sanjay suddenly wished himself anywhere but there, on that warm, humid night in the Rama-park plaza by the left bank of the Hooghly.
'Not to be in any way insulting, but-are you both crazy?' He spread his hands out in front of him. 'Look at me. I am a shopkeeper, not a strongman. Before that, I was a farmer. I can handle a computer, and box access, and a hoe and a shovel. I have a gun in my shop, yes, but I have never had to use it, and if Krishna wills it, I never will.' His gaze flicked back and forth between the perceptibly calculating Taneer and his delectable but evidently crazy consort. 'You cannot possibly consider asking me to do this!'
'Three percent.' While mild as ever, Taneer's tone was implacable. 'Three percent of a sum you could never have imagined accruing to you, Sanjay Ghosh.'
'Three percent of all the jewels in Rajasthan mean nothing to a dead man,' the shopkeeper reasonably pointed out.
Suddenly, fingers were running along his right arm, dancing up his shoulder, lightly stroking his cheek. He wanted to pull away, knew he should pull away, but could not. He might only be a shopkeeper and an ex-farmer, but he was human.
'Dear Sanjay. Sweet, perceptive, clever Sanjay,' Depahli cooed into his ear. 'We have no time. No time to haggle, no time to go shopping for some great dim-witted hulk who might double-cross us in the end no matter how much care we take in our hiring. We need someone
Legs trembling slightly, and not entirely from fear, he heard a voice that must have been his saying, 'All right, okay, very well. I will do it. At least, I will try to do it. But not for you, Mr. Taneer, sir.' He finally managed to pull away from her. 'And not for you, Ms. Depahli. I will do it for my family.'
She smiled at him as she stepped back. 'She may be poor, Sanjay, but your wife is a fortunate woman. And if all goes as it should, she will soon no longer be poor. I know you can do this.'
He forced himself to still the shaking that threatened to overcome him. 'Then you know more than I do, Depahli memsahib.'
Nodding at them both, Taneer unblocked the communicator. On the small screen, the European was visibly concerned. He relaxed when Taneer's visage appeared once more at his end of the link.
'Ah, Mr. Buthlahee. For a moment there I was fearful that my small request might have caused you to act precipitously.'
Taneer recovered quickly. 'On the contrary, Mr. Karlovy, upon reflection, not only do I not see a problem with your request, and understand the reasoning behind it, but I find it of sufficient merit to warrant imitation.' He summoned up as ferocious a grin as he could manage. 'In addition to a lady friend, who will be unarmed, I'll be bringing along a bodyguard of my own.'
Rather than unsettling the European, the older man reacted as if Taneer's announcement was nothing less than what he expected. 'Of course you will. That is only natural. I personally will be glad of the additional security.' He raised a hand. 'Until tomorrow, then, at the agreed-upon place and time.'
'Tomorrow,' Taneer concurred.
The communicator went dark and silent as the link was mutually cut. Children dashed past the trio while fretful parents warned them not to run lest they trip and ruin their clothing. Autovendors continued to hawk foods whose primary ingredient was cane sugar, fructose, and assorted other artificial sweeteners. Music filled the air. The fireworks and laser show that featured three-dimensional virtuals enacting the climactic battle in the sky between Rama and Varan was about to begin.
Events had been set in motion that could not be stopped.
Of the three, Sanjay was breathing the hardest while showing the least enthusiasm. When Depahli moved to reassure him, he almost jumped back from her. 'Please do not come any closer, Ms. Depahli! Out of my shop I have sold narcotics from Afghanistan and Nepal and Tibet that have less effect on men than you do.'
She smiled amiably. 'What a flattering thing to say, Mr. Ghosh. I would blush, if I remembered how.'
'This cannot work,' he muttered tersely. 'How can this possibly work? I am no mercenary, no gunman.' He looked back at them imploringly. 'What do you expect me to do?'
'Fake it,' Depahli told him bluntly. Even Taneer looked at her doubtfully. Seeing both their uncertainty, she elaborated. 'Sanjay, are you a fan of the cinema?'
He was taken aback. 'Every Indian is a fan of the cinema. It is in our blood, I believe.'
'Good. Think back to some of your favorite films. Which ones had the worst villains? The most vile, wicked bad guys? Bandits and robbers, murderers and revolutionaries? Every child plays at such things. When they grow up, those who are good at it become actors. We are all of us who go to the cinema actors, in our heads if not in our lives.'
'I see what you are proposing,' he replied thoughtfully, 'but if I go through with this I will not be acting in my head. What of this businessman's bodyguard? He will be a professional. He will see through this puppet-play in an instant.'
She laughed lightly. 'Don't be so certain, Sanjay. And don't be in such a rush to sell yourself short. Every good shopkeeper knows how to act: poor, desperate, overworked, in desperate need of just one sale to keep food on the table and creditors from his door. I'm sure you do it every day, with your customers. Remember: we will be in a strange, dark place that will be unfamiliar to both these persons. In such circumstances everyone will be a little nervous, a little on edge. And both sides will be in a hurry to complete the business. If all goes as planned, the exchange will be over and done with before anyone has time to ponder individual suspicions about anyone else.'
Encouraged, Taneer stepped forward. 'Depahli's right, Sanjay. You only have to be convincing for a couple of minutes. I bet you can do that.'
'A couple of minutes.' Sanjay considered. Years ago, he and Chakra had splurged, had taken what few spare rupees they had man aged to accumulate and gone into the nearest sizable town to have dinner out and to see a film. Its title-he didn't remember the title. But the villain of the piece, a serpentine monster with a vast mustache and glittering eyes, had lied and cheated and slaughtered women and children with scene-chewing relish. He would never forget that face, that devil's expression, those unblinking eyes.
He could do nothing about the mustache, but standing there, he widened his own much smaller one deliberately, flared his nostrils, swelled his chest, brought his arms slightly forward at the shoulders, and glared at each of his business partners in turn. Depahli almost broke out laughing, but fortunately managed to restrain herself.
'That's very good, Sanjay. Very good! But remember that you are not on screen or in a vit, and that your audience will be both smaller and nearer. Don't breathe so hard-you're pretending to be a body guard, not a dragon.'
'You might consider keeping one hand close to your heart, as if it's ready to slide at any moment into your vest toward the gun you have holstered there,' Taneer suggested thoughtfully, studying his new escort.
Sanjay slumped slightly. 'But I do not have a gun holstered there. Oh,' he added quickly, a smile of understanding spreading across his face. 'I understand. They will not know that.' He frowned. 'But I do
not have a vest, either. At least, not one that would be suitable for such a deception.'
'Get one,' Depahli suggested. 'Black. With shirt, pants, and shoes to match-not sandals. You don't have time to train for the part, but you can at least look it.'
Around them, the shouts and yells of bouncing, delighted children and smiling adults convinced their money had been well spent turned their heads and craned their necks as noble Rama's chariot soared through lights and explosions to confront the evil Ravan's monstrous sky-carriage. Among those watching the display were two men and one woman who could only hope that their own looming, critical confrontation proceeded with considerably less in the way of actual fireworks.
*14*
