Wild Cards V by George R. R. Martin

mental note to be more careful. But it was so hard to balance everything, so much more difficult than she had ever imagined.
    â€œThere’s someone here to see you, Ms. Muldoon.” Donnis’s quiet voice broke into her thoughts so abruptly that she jumped.
    â€œWho is it, Donnis? I’ve got a desk full of cases.”
    â€œWell, Ms. Muldoon, she says her name is Jane Dow.”
    The name was familiar although Rosemary failed to place it for a moment. Then she had it: Water Lily. What did the girl want?
    â€œI’ll see her.”
    Entering, the auburn-haired girl, no, young woman, Rosemary corrected herself, carefully closed the door after herself. “Thank you for seeing me, Ms. Muldoon.”
    â€œPlease have a seat, Ms. Dow. What can I do for you?”
    Water Lily looked down at her twisting hands, and Rosemary saw droplets of liquid forming on her forehead. Rosemary wondered if sweating was the extent of her “ace” power. Just what she needed.
    â€œWell, I thought maybe I could do something for you. I heard that you were looking for aces and—I know I’m not much of one, but I thought I could work for you. Help out.” For the first time Water Lily met Rosemary’s eyes and shrugged. “If you have anything that I could do.”
    â€œPossibly.” Rosemary sighed. She couldn’t imagine what, but she was not about to turn down any help at this point. “Tell me what, precisely, is the extent of your power?”
    â€œWell, I control water. I’m really good at floods.” Water Lily turned pink and the water on her face shone. She seemed very young. Rosemary heard dripping but chose to ignore it.
    â€œAll water, everywhere? I mean, do you have a range? Do you generate it, or can you use the water around you?” Rosemary stopped and smiled apologetically. “Sorry about the third degree. I’m just trying to see where you’ll fit in.”
    â€œIt has to be fairly close, but I can use any water in my vicinity and control the force of its flow. And I can change the electrolyte balance in someone and knock them out.” Water Lily was looking fractionally less embarrassed now that she was being taken seriously. Rosemary no longer heard the dripping. “I was thinking that I would be good with crowd control, sweeping people off their feet without really hurting them with a small flood, or causing distractions if you needed it.”
    â€œWhat about other forms of water, high-pressure steam, for example?”
    â€œI don’t know. I’ve never tried it.” Water Lily appeared to be interested in the idea.
    â€œOkay, that sounds as if it could be quite helpful. Welcome aboard, Water Lily. Or do you prefer Jane?” Rosemary thought about the raids she was trying to organize on some of the Shadow Fist drug operations. A few burst pipes could do an amazing amount of damage. She smiled broadly at the younger woman without seeing her.
    â€œJane, please. You can reach me at Aces High. I brought a card. Just let me know what I can do.” Jane looked pleased by her acceptance.
    Rosemary stole half an hour to familiarize herself with the cases stacked in front of her before she called in Paul Goldberg. His experience had made him an obvious choice to be her immediate aide, and Rosemary had taken advantage of it.
    Paul came in and sat down uninvited. He held a fat sheaf of reports that he dropped on her desk with a thud.
    â€œThe latest info on our caseload. We won the case against Malerucci.” Rosemary glanced up from the paperwork at the mention of the name. “I know you didn’t think much of the case we had, but I decided to go ahead with it. It worked out. Maybe you’re not aware of this, but we’ve been taking some heat about the number of Mafia cases we’re prosecuting, or rather not prosecuting. The cops have come to me several times complaining about doing all the work and getting no