Hidden Empire - Kevin J. Anderson [40]
He touched his finger to the image of a dark-haired young man. His intelligence was high, his personality was soft and likable, his voice was charismatic—and, Basil hoped, the candidate's character could be made malleable.
"This one has the most potential," he said. "Given his background and social status, he'll never be missed. And most important, he even vaguely resembles King Frederick."
18 RAYMOND AGUERRA
Far from the private meeting chambers in Hansa headquarters, Raymond Aguerra scrounged for dinner in a small apartment on the eighteenth floor of a mass dwelling complex.
Trying to be optimistic, he scratched his dark hair and stared at the supplies in their cupboards and the cold preservation unit. He would have to scrape the bottom of his imagination to make these ingredients resemble a satisfying and nutritious meal for himself and his family.
The counters were cluttered with small boxes, toys, secondhand electronic gadgets, hand-made potholders and keepsake printouts. No amount of care or housekeeping could make the cramped apartment look more organized. Raymond's two youngest brothers, nine-year-old Carlos and six-year-old Michael, chased each other pretending to be monsters, then fell into a laughing heap, wrestling on the kitchen floor.
Raymond playfully nudged them out of the way with his foot. "If you make me spill your food, you'll have to eat it off the floor."
"Might taste better that way." Carlos giggled as he tried to dodge Raymond's swift kick, which landed on the boy's bony rear end.
Their mother, Rita, rested in her chair in the main room, half watching an entertainment program but deriving little enjoyment from it. Years of practice allowed her to ignore the roughhousing. Next to her, ten-year-old Rory complained about being forced to do his homework while his younger brothers were able to play.
Raymond felt guilty about sending the rowdy boys into the other room, where they might bother their mother. Rita Aguerra had already worked a long day and would get up well before dawn to get to her second job. She didn't so much sit in her comfortable chair as collapse into it, sagging within the seat's broad contours. Raymond didn't doubt she would be asleep by the time he finished making dinner, unless she'd drunk too many cups of sour black coffee before returning home.
Over the main door frame hung a crucifix and some old dry palm fronds from the previous year's Palm Sunday. She dutifully attended Mass each week, though occasionally she watched broadcasts of official UnisonChurch services, which seemed bland and passionless to her. The Archfather, with his beard and fancy robes, was supposed to be the impartial spokesman for all faiths, as determined by the united representatives of the world's major beliefs, but to Rita, the old CatholicChurch seemed much more religious.
Whenever he looked at his mother, Raymond's heart ached. Rita Aguerra's long dark hair was now streaked with gray. In her younger days, she had spent hours brushing it, keeping the raven locks shiny, but now she usually just pulled her hair back in a ponytail or twisted it into a bun. She'd been a beauty once—Raymond could still see it in the softening shape of her face—though now she had no time to maintain her looks and no hope of finding renewed romance. Hard work and too many responsibilities had turned her into a stocky, muscular matron.
Rita worked as a clerk for an off-world merchandising organization by day and as a waitress by night. A steady diet of coffee and cigarettes gave her the false energy to get through the day and the jitters that kept her awake during the few hours she should have been able to rest at night.
Every time she came home, though, Rita still managed to engulf each of her four boys in a heavy-armed hug, smothering them with her rose-scented perfume. The strong woman held her family together by the thinnest of threads, and now Raymond was old enough that she could lay some of the burden on his shoulders. He took it from her without complaint.
One night a month earlier,