Distraction - Bruce Sterling [180]
“It’s just makeup.”
“No it isn’t. Now I know why Donna wanted to stay around here—now I know why Donna said that things were just getting interesting. That woman is a little genius. You can’t claim that’s just skin-deep. That’s a lie, it’s like saying that a vow of chastity and a nun’s veil are just some words and some black cloth. Sure, it’s just a symbol, but it puts you in a whole different moral universe. I’m having a major brain wave here.”
“No, Oscar. I think you’re having some kind of fit.”
“This is going to work. This is huge. We’ve been thinking way too small. We’ve got to break out of the box. We’re going to carry the war right to the enemy. Listen. I need to go to Louisiana.”
“What? Why?”
“We’ll both go there together. We’re great whenever we’re there. Louisiana really works for us. We’ll go on a triumphal tour of the state. We will throw Huey and the Regulators totally on the defensive. We’ll go in a fleet of limos, with maximum media coverage. We’ll hire campaign buses, we’ll do a campaign tour. We’ll get sound trucks and copters. We will saturate the whole state. It’ll be totally romantic. We’ll give scandalous, teasing interviews. You’ll become a sexy science pop star. We’ll do pinups of you, T-shirts, bumper stickers, your own fragrance and lingerie. We’ll build little Collaboratories wherever we go. I’ve got all kinds of astounding plans from Bambakias that we can put to use right away. We’ll lead a people’s march on Baton Rouge. We’ll picket the statehouse. We’ll beard Huey right in his den. We’ll nail him down and erase him.”
“Oscar, you’re having a fit. You’re ranting.”
“I am? Really?”
“We can’t go to Louisiana. It’s too dangerous. We can’t leave the Collaboratory now. We’re having an Emergency here. People are afraid, they’re deserting us every day.”
“Get more people.”
“We can attract all the Moderators we want, but there’s no room for them here.”
“Build extensions onto the lab. Take over the town of Buna.”
“Oscar, you scare me when you’re like this.”
He lowered his voice. “Do I?”
“A little.” Her face was flushed beneath the war paint.
His heart was pounding. He took a few deep breaths. He was past being frantic now. He was leveling out; he was cruising on a higher plane; he was exalted. “Darling, I’m going on a secret mission. I think it may be the crux of all our problems, but I may never come back. This may be the last private moment that we ever have together. I know I’ve upset you. I know I haven’t been everything you expected. I may never see you again, but I’m leaving you with such a full and happy heart. I want to remember you looking like this, always. You are so special and dear to me that I can’t express it. You’re just such a brilliant, radiant creature.”
She put her hand to her forehead. “Oh my God. I just don’t know what to do with myself when you’re like this.… You’re just so persuasive! Oh well, never mind, come on with me, take your clothes off. There’s plenty of room for us up here on the lab table.”
11
After an extensive discussion of their options, Oscar and Captain Scubbly Bee decided to infiltrate Louisiana by covert means and in deep incognito. Kevin, boldly lying, told the local Emergency Committee that he was leaving for a recruitment drive. Oscar himself would not even officially leave Buna. He was replaced by a body double, a Moderator volunteer who was willing to wear Oscar’s clothing, and to spend a great deal of time in a plush hotel room pretending to type on a laptop.
Their conspiracy swiftly assumed its own momentum. To avoid discovery, they decided to airmail themselves into Louisiana in a pair of ultralight aircraft. These silent and stealthy devices were slow, unpredictable, dangerous, painful, and nauseating—basically devoid of creature comforts of any kind. They were, however, more or less undetectable, and immune to roadblocks and shakedowns. Since they were guided by global positioning from Chinese satellites,