business for twenty years.”
“Sounds like you want a ransom note.”
He smiled. “Not quite…. Write on a Praktika or Xerox machine; they print with stabilized burners that don’t vary from machine to machine.”
“There’s one in the Drama library.”
“Good. We need seven letters, to senators whose votes are crucial to S2876, a bill having to do with public disclosure of corporate income taxes. There’s a shit-sheet on each senator, with at least one fact that would be embarrassing if it were given to the media.”
“Blackmail?”
“Not if you word the letters correctly. Willing to try?”
Benny shrugged. “Okay.”
“Good. Send me copies at the address on the envelope.
You’ll find the senators’ home addresses inside; it would be well if you mailed from Grand Central or the main P.O.” He turned to me. “Marianne, how’s your statistics?”
“Math is my worst subject.”
“But you can program?”
“Of course. I’m not illiterate.”
“Good. This is a fairly simple job.” He handed me a folder with two sheets of paper in it. “We’re trying to verify consensual links between various supposedly antagonistic Lobbies. We’re fairly sure the links exist, with the result that the same people stay in power no matter which way an election goes. What you’ll be doing is pairing up voting records, trying to find suspicious correlations.”
“Sounds interesting.” It did, as a matter of fact.
“Keep track of the computer charges; I’ll reimburse you in cash. You, too, Benny.”
The meeting lasted another ten minutes, with Damon and Katherine getting new assignments. Benny and I left together; the others were going to follow at staggered intervals. We took the subway.
Benny looked inside the envelope as we swayed cross-town. “I’m Lloyd Carlton,” he said. “Three-fifty Madison Avenue. Good address.”
“What do you think?” I talked just loudly enough for him to hear. There were several others in the car.
“About the organization? I don’t know, not yet. I’d like to know how much they didn’t tell us.”
“You were talking pretty radical in there.”
“Trying to kick something loose.”
“You almost succeeded with Ray, I think. Katherine wasn’t too impressed. ‘Revolution is inevitable,’ eh?”
“Only if they interrupt the World Series.”
21
Behind the scenes
After the others had left, the blind man sat alone, reading. A door opened silently and Will stepped in. “Interesting?”
“Except for the diagrams.”
“Not the book, those two new ones.”
“Ah. Yes, they were interesting. I think we’d better keep a tag on Benny for a while.”
“No problem. How about O’Hara?”
“I’m bothered by her necessary lack of commitment. We’d better keep her well insulated from the expediting level. Benny, too, until she leaves.”
“True. Want to go upstairs?”
He got up. “No harm in being early.”
When the elevator came, Will inserted a key and pushed the button marked “Penthouse.”
“MacGregor thing set up?”
Will nodded. “Tonight, if everything goes smoothly.”
They stepped out into the penthouse suite. There were five people sitting around a long table. Four of them were cleaning weapons. They saluted, right fist striking chest, and the two men returned the salute.
Katherine looked expectantly at Will. He nodded. “Tonight.” She finished assembling the palm-sized oneshot laser, put it in her purse, and left.
Will walked along the wall, running his fingers downthe stocks of the dozens of long guns racked there: lasers as well as gunpowder and CO2 weapons. At the end of the rack, he picked up a practice rifle and aimed it at the man-shaped target across the room. The target had light-sensing devices at head and heart Will squeezed off five shots in rapid succession; a bell rang five times.
James smiled, took a long-barreled sniper’s rifle off the rack, and sat down to disassemble it He was the best marksman in the
“Sounds like you want a ransom note.”
He smiled. “Not quite…. Write on a Praktika or Xerox machine; they print with stabilized burners that don’t vary from machine to machine.”
“There’s one in the Drama library.”
“Good. We need seven letters, to senators whose votes are crucial to S2876, a bill having to do with public disclosure of corporate income taxes. There’s a shit-sheet on each senator, with at least one fact that would be embarrassing if it were given to the media.”
“Blackmail?”
“Not if you word the letters correctly. Willing to try?”
Benny shrugged. “Okay.”
“Good. Send me copies at the address on the envelope.
You’ll find the senators’ home addresses inside; it would be well if you mailed from Grand Central or the main P.O.” He turned to me. “Marianne, how’s your statistics?”
“Math is my worst subject.”
“But you can program?”
“Of course. I’m not illiterate.”
“Good. This is a fairly simple job.” He handed me a folder with two sheets of paper in it. “We’re trying to verify consensual links between various supposedly antagonistic Lobbies. We’re fairly sure the links exist, with the result that the same people stay in power no matter which way an election goes. What you’ll be doing is pairing up voting records, trying to find suspicious correlations.”
“Sounds interesting.” It did, as a matter of fact.
“Keep track of the computer charges; I’ll reimburse you in cash. You, too, Benny.”
The meeting lasted another ten minutes, with Damon and Katherine getting new assignments. Benny and I left together; the others were going to follow at staggered intervals. We took the subway.
Benny looked inside the envelope as we swayed cross-town. “I’m Lloyd Carlton,” he said. “Three-fifty Madison Avenue. Good address.”
“What do you think?” I talked just loudly enough for him to hear. There were several others in the car.
“About the organization? I don’t know, not yet. I’d like to know how much they didn’t tell us.”
“You were talking pretty radical in there.”
“Trying to kick something loose.”
“You almost succeeded with Ray, I think. Katherine wasn’t too impressed. ‘Revolution is inevitable,’ eh?”
“Only if they interrupt the World Series.”
21
Behind the scenes
After the others had left, the blind man sat alone, reading. A door opened silently and Will stepped in. “Interesting?”
“Except for the diagrams.”
“Not the book, those two new ones.”
“Ah. Yes, they were interesting. I think we’d better keep a tag on Benny for a while.”
“No problem. How about O’Hara?”
“I’m bothered by her necessary lack of commitment. We’d better keep her well insulated from the expediting level. Benny, too, until she leaves.”
“True. Want to go upstairs?”
He got up. “No harm in being early.”
When the elevator came, Will inserted a key and pushed the button marked “Penthouse.”
“MacGregor thing set up?”
Will nodded. “Tonight, if everything goes smoothly.”
They stepped out into the penthouse suite. There were five people sitting around a long table. Four of them were cleaning weapons. They saluted, right fist striking chest, and the two men returned the salute.
Katherine looked expectantly at Will. He nodded. “Tonight.” She finished assembling the palm-sized oneshot laser, put it in her purse, and left.
Will walked along the wall, running his fingers downthe stocks of the dozens of long guns racked there: lasers as well as gunpowder and CO2 weapons. At the end of the rack, he picked up a practice rifle and aimed it at the man-shaped target across the room. The target had light-sensing devices at head and heart Will squeezed off five shots in rapid succession; a bell rang five times.
James smiled, took a long-barreled sniper’s rifle off the rack, and sat down to disassemble it He was the best marksman in the
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