The Caryatids - Bruce Sterling [125]
He pulled up his snarl-maned, yellow-fanged mare—it appeared he had never ridden a horse in his life, for he drove the beast like a car—and he half tumbled out of his saddle. His cheeks were windburned. He was short of breath.
“Are you Biserka?” he said.
He spoke English, which did not surprise her. “No,” she said.
“You sure do look like Biserka. I had to make sure. To meet you here, that’s kind of uncanny. You are Sonja, though. You’re Sonja Mihajlovic.”
“Yes.”
“What is that strange gown you’re wearing? You’ve got, like, a white tablecloth with all kinds of yin-yangs and rosary beads.”
Sonja stared at him silently. This man was certainly Dispensation. He had to be. No one else would behave like this.
“You look great in that getup, don’t get me wrong,” the cowboy said hastily, “that look is really you! I am Lionel Montalban. John Montgomery Montalban—you know him, I’m sure—he’s my brother. You and me, we’re family.”
“John Montalban is here? Where is John?”
“John’s in a camp with some of the locals. John sent me here to fetch you. I’m glad I was able to find you. You’re all right?”
“If airplanes don’t shoot at me, yes, I am all right.”
Lionel Montalban nodded over his shoulder at his riding companion, who sat on his pony like a furred centaur. “The airplanes come from his people. So no, they won’t be shooting you. Not when you are with us. Why are you on foot, Sonja? Where is George’s robot?”
So: George had told John Montalban about the robot. Of course George would do that. George adored John Montalban. George was the man’s factotum. His fixer. His butler. His slave.
Lionel was busy apologizing to her. “We lost track of your robot’s position when those solar flares hit. That solar noise was sudden. Really sudden. And bad. Did you see the sun rise this morning? I saw it!” Lionel yawned. “There were visible sun spots on the sun’s surface. I could see those spots with my naked eyes.”
“Lionel Montalban,” she said.
“Yes, what?”
“What are you doing here, Lionel Montalban?”
Lionel looked surprised. “You mean, what am I doing here, officially? Oh. Officially, I’m on an ‘Asian wilderness vacation.’ I’m giving up my ‘juvenile delinquent drug habits.’ I’m in rehab. My brother’s gonna clean me all out in the fresh air with some bracing backwoods hikes.”
Lionel turned on the charm: he grinned and winked. “What are you doing here, ‘officially’? May I ask you that?”
Sonja said nothing.
“Never mind, Sonja! Whatever it is, it’s okay by me! After that solar eruption—snarled communications all over the planet!—why sweat the small stuff? After a catastrophe like this one, nobody’s gonna remember what I did, back in Los Angeles. Some riots, some burned-out neighborhoods, no problem! It’s all part of the legend of Hollywood.”
Lionel waved his arms gleefully, which spooked his horse. The beast jerked the reins and almost knocked Lionel from his feet.
Lionel recovered his booted footing with a gymnast’s half skip. “You don’t care about some derelict neighborhoods burned down in Los Angeles, do you? You don’t care one bit, right? See, I’m almost home free!”
“What is John’s assignment here?”
“Oh, this is John’s usual work. We are shutting down an out-of-control tech operation. John never took me along for his work before, but, well, I learn fast.” Lionel smiled. “Because I have to learn fast! Brilliancy, speed, lightness, and glory!”
It was a sinister business that the Acquis and Dispensation used the same slogan. Why had no one condemned them for that?
“Let me quickly brief you about my friend here,” said Lionel. “The rider in the hairy wolf mask. He calls himself ‘Vice Premier Li Rongji.’ He is very serious about his name and his official Chinese title. He’s a fanatic. So please don’t tease him.”
“Li Rongji was a great Chinese statesman.”
“This man is the great Chinese statesman Li Rongji. He’s a clone of a powerful Chinese official from twenty years ago. He’s a clone, like you are. That’s what John has discovered here. We found out that the Chinese state backed up its entire human regime. It cloned thirty-five key