“You’re seen as a victim of the administration, with them as its contract muscle.”
“Close enough to the truth. You say it’s reading well?”
“Quite. Even the Neo-Stalinists are sympathetic. They’re talking it against Cruk.”
“Interesting. Then we need to keep playing that. There are just so many issues here. Showing position over him is as important as the opposition proper.”
“Yes. They’re all opposition.”
“Exactly. I can have no friends.”
“You do have me, ma’am.”
“Of course. You’re trusted and paid, and so is Erickson.”
If Elke recalled correctly, Erickson was her campaign manager on Earth. She had quite a small personal staff, considering all things.
Jessie sounded timid when she said, “What about paying Ripple Creek a bonus?”
“What?”
A bit more firmly, she said, “You could offer a bonus for their support so far. That might swing them more your way, and amenable to promotion.”
“No. They’d let it leak eventually, and then I’d be the one contracting mercenaries. That has to be played right, too.”
“I understand. It was a thought.”
“Not a bad one, but not right for this circumstance. But I’ll call Mogreb.”
Elke perked up at that. Mogreb… oh… kurva drat.
Mogreb was a Serbian thug disguised as a lawyer, who’d been Highland’s employer before she went into politics. Interestingly, it seemed she’d taught him more than she’d learned from him.
Still, he was an ugly man. Intimidation and coercion were typical of him, though never proven in court. He’d been on her payroll early on, handling interventions for constituents in her district. If she took an interest in a case, Mogreb showed up to “express concern.” Most of the time, the problem then resolved amicably.
Certainly it saved court costs. It was also certainly unfair.
So he was either still on payroll, or was a consultant. So why call him? And where was he?
“Zoltan, hello again.”
He was on planet, then, if she spoke to him directly.
“Did you see the broadcast? Yes, Ms. Landinger’s comments were rather unkind.”
They spoke for several minutes, but Elke gained all she needed from that opening. Highland wasn’t happy with the press, and was arranging for muscles to mix it up. That was useful to know, and the team would need to be prepared for that if she ever went nasty. More than she already was.
When she briefed Alex and rolled the file for him, he nodded.
“For two reasons we can’t get involved. First, it’s none of our business what she does to others, except as it affects potential threats. Also, we can’t let her know we have that feed.”
“She also might escalate against us,” Elke added.
“Yes. Still, I’d like to find a way to dissuade her.”
“Without mentioning it?”
“It was an encrypted signal, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Can someone ‘discover’ the signal and report it to us as a security issue? Meaning to Cady’s people?”
“Everyone knows she has secure and personal communication.”
“Yes, but can we pretend we didn’t know? Then hint contents to encourage her to shut up?”
She flared her eyes slightly. “Probably not. I’ll think on it.”
Highland had what she needed. Keeping it discreet across light years had taken money, patience, effort, and a good rapport with people who could read between the lines.
Huble was good at that. It had cost money, though. The question was if the payoff would be worth it.
The newsload should be coming through this system any time now. There was the lightspeed delay from Earth, the wait for a ship to carry the signal through, for it to clear UN BuSec at this end, which should be a formality but could take time. More lightspeed delay. It should be now, dammit.
She sighed and poured a champagne and vodka cooler. It would happen.
There.
Oh, that was brilliantly done, she thought, feeling a rush that was almost naughty. It was even more spiteful than she’d hoped for. She brought the volume up so as to catch all the details.
— essman Hunter’s wife. According to the release, she caught him in an ‘inappropriate embrace’ with a junior staffer. She reiterates her belief in his campaign, and vows to stand by him despite this personal trouble.”
The payoff would come shortly, because Amelia Hunter had made no such statement. They’d be days sorting it out, and Highland would have time to regain points.
But it got better. So much better.
“The staffer was not identified, but came forward as Angela Soruto. Ms. Soruto asked for Whistleblower protection, and CNNBC News is discussing the release of further details from her.”
Had he really been nailing the little whore? Or was she an opportunistic bitch making up stories to cash in?
Either way, that was a one-two punch to the guts of that condescending cunt Amelia. This, right after Huble’s operatives had promised she’d ride out the trouble. She was a spoiled, frigid, diamond-digging cunt, and this should wreck her to more sleeping pills and sedatives. In two weeks, they could claim that was an ongoing problem, and that should be the end of that campaign.
It was back down to her and Cruk.
Damon Huble appreciated Highland’s employ. She paid promptly from her not insubstantial personal accounts, her campaign funds from her legion of jabbering idiots, and occasionally, from money shifted from her position accounts. She always repaid that promptly, which would help in any kind of political dispute, but he had warned her once that it was illegal to pierce that veil, regardless of repayment. Official funds were official. He’d warned her. Once. Highland didn’t like being told things she didn’t want to hear, regardless of legality, but for several reasons he needed to cover his own ass. No campaign or administration lasted forever, and any number of suits and charges were possible. Any smart staffer covered all angles.
Really, it was a delight to perform these tasks for her. They were a challenge, a puzzle, and their resolution always satisfying. They were more satisfying the more artistic the result. He was especially proud of this one.
She’d covered all costs from a discreet, completely legal account filled with donations from her special fans. He’d kept it thirty percent under his original estimate to her, fifteen percent under his own private estimate. The payments were all tagged for perfectly legal processes and promotions to three companies neither of them owned. They had total deniability of any impropriety.
In addition, he’d been able to tell another client that he’d accomplished their task at the same time, and pocketed only a consultancy fee, no operations costs. Completely legal, and they were more than happy to make that payment by anonymous transfer through Sealand, Ceres and Breakout Station Bank in the Grainnean system into his anonymous account groundside.
Politics was the one game where every player wanted to leverage every other player. And if he could use the funds of an inevitable loser-Highland-to support the campaign of a certain winner-Cruk, the Secretary General, then so much the better for all involved. Except for Highland, of course, once the campaign folded. Or if not, once the legal charges started.
But he had warned her. Once.
Hepgard would be very happy. No doubt the bonus he was paying would also be reflected in Hepgard’s own account. There was plenty to go around. On Earth, he was sure the SecGen benefited, but wasn’t going to ask. The end result was to soften up Highland so he could get that position. It would probably be a decade, but he’d get the appointment. And if she did win, she might appoint him anyway, with plenty of dirt to use on her in return. Thuggery on Mtali, dishonesty with government money in her campaign. A good start, but it would take more.
Franklin Lezt sat in another hotel, awaiting Hepgard for followup. He’d had two stiff grape vodkas already. He really wasn’t sure if the man got it.
He watched the scrolling news feed. It was almost at that critical point, and that meant playing the
