'Forget it. You're not that good an actor.'
'Look. Chase. For God's sake. We were trying to save as many people as we could, and we needed a cover story. Something that wouldn't cause a worldwide panic.' He stood for a long moment, facing me. He looked hesitant, but I watched him come to a decision. 'Look, I know we could have handled this better. But the honest truth is, when Carpenter came to us with this story, and we checked it out and found it was true, we didn't know what to do.'
'Who's Carpenter?'
'Rasul Carpenter. He's a physicist. Greene figured out what was happening. I assume you know that. She went to him for confirmation. He came to us.' 'You mean you .' 'Yes. Me. Within a day we knew it was true. End of the world. How the hell was I supposed to deal with that? Sure we kept it quiet. And a few of us took advantage of the knowledge. Sell off and get your family out of town. What would you do differently?' 'And you screwed up Vicki's head.'
'We didn't know it would turn out the way it did. The doctors said it was just a matter of her getting past a bad memory.'
'Did they know what the bad memory was?'
'One of them did. No way we could avoid that.'
'So you set things up so you could dispose of your property, and take your family out, while everybody else got left.'
'Chase, it would have been different had there been something we could do. But it's not like that. This thing is still three years away. But we're helpless. You go ahead and tell the media, and all you'll do is create worldwide panic. Salud Afar will become a living hell.' He looked tired. Scared. 'These people still have three years of their lives left. I don't know how much longer we can keep this quiet, but once it gets out, it's over. We'll have taken those years away. And we have nothing to offer in return. No vast fleet to take them somewhere else. No way to hide more than a handful of them.'
'Where's Alex?'
'I've sent an agent to hook him up. But it'll take a while.'
'Where is he?'
'In a place similar to Corvex. The place you managed to escape from. You were very clever about that, by the way.' He paused, expecting a response. When he didn't get one, he continued: 'He's on an island.'
'How long's it going to take you to produce him?'
'An hour or so.'
'I'll wait.'
'Will you cancel the transmission?'
'When I'm able to talk to him. And if I'm satisfied with what I hear.'
'Surely you understand that conditions here will become chaotic if the information gets out.'
'I want Alex back.'
'All right. Stay where you are. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.'
*** He needed about forty minutes. Then he reappeared in the office. 'I believe we have him now.' He bent his head and listened to someone I couldn't see. Nodded. And returned his attention to me. 'Stand by, Chase,' he said. Then Alex was in front of me. He was on a beach, a placid sea at his back. 'Chase.' His eyes widened. 'What's going on?' Technology is what it is. I was looking at a hologram, but I didn't know if it was actually Alex, or something generated by a software system. 'Alex,' I said, 'we visited Atlantis recently.' He saw what was coming. 'Yes. Excellent trip.' 'Who was with us?'
'Selotta and Kassel.'
'What's your favorite joke, Alex?'
'I don't do jokes.'
'Okay,' I said. 'Wexler, are you there?' Wexler reappeared. 'Satisfied?' 'Get him back here.'
'Not yet.'
Alex glanced off to one side. He wasn't alone. Krestoff casually walked up behind him. She was carrying a scrambler. And she allowed me to watch as she reset the weapon. To lethal . Wexler sighed. 'Chase, I don't like having to resort to this. But the stakes are too high, and you're not leaving me any choice.'
A door opened behind me. Bong came into the room. He looked at me with relish. I saw no weapon. He obviously didn't think he'd need one. I suspected he was right.
'Now, let me tell you how you may save Alex's life and your own. I want to know where we can locate the transmission you spoke of. And you will delete it.' He paused to make sure I understood
what would happen if I declined. 'When that is done, you will, I'm sorry to say, have to remain under our jurisdiction for the time being. I'll add that, should a duplicate transmission turn up, some fallback precaution you might have taken, that I'll feel obliged to kill you both.' Bong closed the door, and I was alone with him. Alex looked uncertain. Finally, he shook his head. 'They'll kill us anyhow, Chase. Don't cooperate.' Krestoff must have gotten a signal from Wexler. She raised the weapon and pointed it at the back of Alex's head. 'Forget it,' I said. Wexler studied me for a long moment. 'You're sure?' 'I can offer a compromise.' She did not lower the weapon.
'I'm listening.'
'Release us both. Then I'll rewrite the message. And remove everything from it that points to you. And I'll hold it until tomorrow. That'll give you and your thugs time to get out of town.' Thugs. Krestoff's eyes locked on me. She didn't say anything but I got the message. It was the same as before: I'd like to meet you alone somewhere. Wexler sucked on his lower lip. 'I'm sorry. That's not acceptable.' My heart was pounding so hard I thought it was going to break loose. But I kept my voice calm. 'Then do what you have to.' He nodded. 'All right. If that's your last word.' He gave me a few moments to change my mind. Then he turned to Krestoff. 'Kill him.' 'If you do,' I said, 'you'll get nothing from me. And the media will have the truth about Callistra within the hour. I wonder if the voters will be upset with you?' He raised a palm to stop Krestoff. And stared at me. I smiled at him. I've never in my life done anything harder than getting that smile up and running. 'Pack your bags, Wexler. She pulls that trigger, we're all dead.' Krestoff waited. Alex stood motionless. Bong circled around to get a better angle on me. And Wexler stood in his faraway location and just sucked in air. I picked up a lamp with a weighted base. It wouldn't have been much of a weapon against Bong, but it sent the right signal. Wexler sighed. 'How do I know you'll pull my name out of the story?' 'You'll have to trust me.' Another long pause. Somebody tried to get into the office. Then I heard raised voices in the corridor, and the noise went away. 'Okay.' Bong growled his disappointment. Alex took a deep breath. 'You can use the AI in the office. Please cancel your report.'
'I'll use my own AI. And I'm not canceling anything. I'll move it back. In case you change your mind. How long do you need to bring Alex here?'
'I don't like the arrangement.'
'I really care about that.'
'You said you'd hold off until tomorrow.'
'I'll do that.'
'Give me seventy-two hours.'
