Distraction - Bruce Sterling [97]
“He’s ‘in the back of the bus.” ’ Oscar sighed. “That’s what we used to call it, when he pulled that routine on the campaign.”
“In the back of the bus, with Moira.”
“Yeah. Exactly. Moira was very good at getting next to him when his guard was down.”
Greta narrowed her eyes. “You did something awful to Moira, didn’t you?”
“Look, the man is a U.S. Senator. I put him into office, I have to look after his interests. He had an indiscretion during the campaign. So what? Who am I to judge about that?” He paused. “And who are you, for that matter?”
“Well, I came here so that I could judge the Senator,” she said. “I hoped he could really help me. We could have used an honest, decent Senator to back the lab, for once. Obviously, Alcott’s someone who could really understand us. But now he’s been destroyed, because he went head-to-head against Huey—a man who just chews up people like him. Politics always chews up people like him.” Her face grew long and grim. “Look what he’s done with this hopeless old building, look at this beautiful work he’s done. He must be some kind of genius, and now they’ve just crushed him. This really makes me sick at heart. What a loss. He’s lost his mind. It’s a national tragedy.”
“Well, I admit that it’s a setback.”
“No, it’s over. He’s not going to come around just because you force-fed him. Because he is demented. He can’t help you anymore—and that means that you can’t help me. So it’s all over, and it’s time for me to give this thing up.”
“We’re not going to give up.”
“Oscar, let me go back to my lab now. Let me work. It’s the reasonable thing.”
“Sure it is, but I’m not a reasonable person, and these aren’t reasonable times.”
Leon Sosik came into the office. “Bit of a debacle there.” His face was gray.
“Can you believe the audacity of that guy?” Oscar said. “Huey had a French aircraft carrier waiting offshore. The guy’s a traitor! He’s in league with a foreign power!”
Sosik shook his head. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“We can’t acquiesce in a naked power grab like this. We’ve got to nail Huey’s feet to the Senate floor and beat him like a drum.”
Sosik stared at him. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Of course I’m serious! Our man has flushed Huey out of the canebrake, and now he’s revealed his true colors. He’s a clear and present menace to national security. We’ve got to take him out.”
Sosik turned to Greta with courtly concern. “Dr. Penninger, I wonder if you’d allow me to speak to Mr. Valparaiso privately for a moment.”
“Oh, of course.” Greta rose reluctantly, setting down her chopsticks.
“I could get our chef to put together a little takeout box for you,” Sosik said considerately.
“Oh no, I do need to be going.… If you could just get me a cab. There’s a conference in town. I have work to do.”
“I’ll have our chauffeur take you to your meeting, Doctor.”
“That would be perfect. Thank you very much.” She gathered her purse and left.
Oscar watched her reluctantly, then spotted a screen remote and plucked it up. “I wish you hadn’t done that,” he told Sosik. “She has an agenda, you know. We could have gotten to her a little later.”
“They told me you were like this,” Sosik said soberly. “They told me you were exactly like this, and I couldn’t believe it. Would you put down that remote control, please?”
Oscar squeezed his way through a set of feeds. “This is a breaking development, Leon. We’ve got to spin this quick, and nail the guy before he launches his next cover story.”
Sosik gently plucked the remote from Oscar’s hand. He put his hand over Oscar’s shoulder. “Kid,” he said, “let’s go for a walk. Let’s do some serious face-time together.”
“We don’t have a lot of time to kill right now.”
“Kid, I’m the chief of staff. I don’t think I’ll be wasting your time. All right?”
A krewewoman handed them their hats and coats. They took an elevator down to the street.
“Let’s walk toward Somerville,” Sosik said. “The audio