“Is there some deal pending that you oppose him on?”
“Everyone winds up opposing and supporting him on many issues. He has fingers in everything.”
“That’s hardly what I’d call liberal.”
“Of course not. He wants what’s best for him. You don’t get to that position by caring about anyone except yourself. It’s a constant struggle for me-where’s the line between protecting myself so I can do the right thing, and being a petty elitist?”
Horace twitched his eyebrows slightly, but she didn’t see it.
CHAPTER 21
Alex woke as Elke returned, carrying a canvas bag. He’d had twenty minutes of nap. It would have to do. It was probably a good thing. His spine didn’t like cots. He rolled off gingerly and stood.
She said, “I have a basic, reliable Road Cruiser.”
“Not bad. How did you get that?”
“I found an ad for a widow needing to sell property for living expenses. I was able to play the pity card and didn’t haggle over price, and also bought two pairs of work boots and some shirts. They may be a bit large for the ladies, but should make it easier to travel.” She tumbled them out of the bag. The boots were spattered with paint and grease, well broken in and wearing cracks. The shirts were sweat-stained and distressed.
Highland wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Those cannot be sanitary,” she said.
“We have disinfectant spray.”
JessieM slipped her shoes off, waited for Shaman to spray a pair, and slipped them on. Her expression was a neutral mask. She didn’t like this, but wasn’t going to complain. She pulled a khaki shirt over her blouse and became much less noticeable, even here.
Highland wasn’t disposed to argue. She shook her head and shrugged, and followed suit.
“What’s that?” Aramis asked, and pointed. It was a small wooden carving of a penguin.
“She graciously included that as a gift for my son.”
“Son?”
“She assumed I had offspring and I saw no point in correcting her, for either time constraints or camouflage.”
“Very good. It’s a cute figure.”
“He’s our mascot for now. The Evil Penguin.”
Shaman said, “Jessie, carry the penguin.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
What was that about?
Alex asked, “Does anyone have a reason to remain here?”
There were negatives all around.
“Then let’s take the valuables and the gear and vacate. Jason, Aramis, what do we have?”
Aramis said, “We have a choice of nice hotel, flophouse, apartment or rental. There’s a poor working neighborhood I’ve identified where no one will question us. We can pretend to be three married couples and three singles, though Bart’s size is a bit distinctive. Local garb will help.”
“Demographic?”
“Primitive Christian. Hats, scarves, coats. Women don’t normally wear pants, but jobs can require it.”
Highland said, “Agent Sykora refuses to wear a scarf.”
“I will not wear one for political purposes. I have no objection to wearing camouflage.”
Highland’s jaw clenched. Alex figured Elke was really enjoying herself, now that she had explosive, someone to taunt, and the rule book sailing through the air.
He said, “That sounds like our neighborhood. Do we have a reservation?”
“No. We’ll need to sneak, peek and drop.”
“Is anyone good with the appropriate scripture for this subculture?”
“I am,” Shaman said, “though I may stand out. The African emigres were few.”
Elke said, “I can do it. My family was nominally Lutheran. I’ll just stick to basic references and invoke Christ.”
“Are you okay with that?”
“I feel no animosity to their faith. What some of the more insane have chosen to do with it is a separate issue.”
“True. The majority of them are still nice people. The whackos just make up for it in volume and violence.”
“I will go ahead, and take Aramis with me. We can pass as a couple.”
“They’ll probably expect me to talk,” he said.
“Yes, and you can be gruff, I’ll be pleasant.”
“We need to record that. No one will believe it.”
Elke said, “We must hope they do.”
They slipped out.
Quiet could be aggravating. No one was shooting at them, there were no rioters, things were quite calm. That left all kinds of time to fret over being found, or Elke and Aramis being traced, a sudden missile, anything.
Alex needed to discuss issues with Highland, but he wanted to wait until he had the whole team regrouped and they were ready to roll. In the meantime…
“Bart, keep an eye out to the east. Jason, you have south.” He kept his voice soft. Highland was actually dozing. Not only did that make her easier to deal with, she did need rest, and her health was their concern.
Eventually his phone beeped. It showed as Elke, and he opened voice.
“Coming in,” she said, and was gone. He pointed at the door while pulling capacitor and circuit again. They would need more backups for future use.
Aramis and Elke arrived moments later. Jason glanced down the hall, Bart closed the door behind them.
“We have space,” Aramis said. “A small strip condo.”
Alex asked, “How long do we plan to do this? We’re just relocating as we go.” At one level it made sense, at another, they’d be spinning wheels, wasting assets and risk being seen.
Aramis said, “Long enough for the news to settle down and see how it’s spun. Whoever gets blamed will indicate potential sources.”
Bart said, “We’ll get blamed.”
Alex grinned. “Of course, but on whose behalf?”
“Good point.”
“So let’s share coordinates, address, the works.” He docked his phone to Aramis’s and snagged the data.
After sharing the info around, Alex turned to Highland to try again.
“Ma’am, I… we need to discuss the threat status and be sure we’re in agreement on the best course of action. We are temporarily, and I stress temporarily, safe here, but we are at risk if we are identified, and need to work around that.”
“I actually get a choice?” she asked. “I rather thought I was a prisoner of my own security.”
“It was necessary to vacate the area fast against potential threats. If you so order, we will go where you wish, but it will be recorded and noted so as to cover us. It’s one of the ironies of this business that we’ll catch bullets for you, but we will not enable you to get shot yourself.”
“Very well. What leads you to believe there’s an immediate threat?”
“Other than a grenade and someone trying to crush you under an armored vehicle?” he asked. He didn’t think she was that clueless, but she might be that convinced of her own credibility.
“Look, the SecGen has been so completely clueless even his own party, your party, doesn’t want him. How often do they allow a caucus before a sitting SecGen steps down? But, if he can orchestrate your death, he’ll eliminate the main contender in his own party, and play the other four for sympathy. He only needs a plurality to pull a runoff and eliminate the Randites. They’re certainly not going to vote for the Neo-Stalinists in the next round. The Neo-Stalinists are not going to vote Islamic Conservative. They’re not going to vote Liberal-Labour. The tertiary parties don’t count at all. That means the Equality Party wins, meaning him.”
Jason stepped in to help.
“If she runs, what happens?”
He looked back at her as he said, “Polls are split on you winning, bad for him, or you losing to Liberal-Labour, worse for him. Also worse for the party as a whole. They could play this the other way, too, and have him iced. Except that he’s much harder to hit with the Special Service around him, and that would look suspicious. You being here lets them blame some faction or other, like Celadon only moreso, then come in and stomp as they wish. They then have territory they can parcel out to supporters as concessions.”