The Jennifer Morgue - Charles Stross [104]
★★Nice of them—★★
★★To let us know they’ve got us where they want us? Don’t be silly.★★
★★How’d they catch you?★★ I ask, after an uncomfortable pause.
★★It’s probably the oldest trick in the book.★★ She stops pacing. ★★I was looking for Eileen’s inner circle when I ran into a lure, a daemon disguised as someone I know professionally—a real class act, I could have sworn it was really him. He suckered me into an upstairs meeting room and before I knew what was happening they had me in a summoning lock. Which should be impossible unless they’ve got the original keys the Contracts Department used when they enslaved me, yet they did it. So I guess it’s not impossible after all.★★
I stare at the blank TV set. ★★Not if it was the real thing. His name’s McMurray, isn’t it?★★
I can taste her shock. ★★How the fuck did you know that?★★ she demands.
★★Because he took me for my entire expenses tab at baccarat, ★★ I confess. ★★He’s got a new employer with very deep pockets. Has Billington tried to buy you yet?★★
She starts pacing again. ★★No, and he won’t. Where he comes from there are different rules for people like me. You’re employable. You’re human. I’m ... ★★ I can feel her working her jaws, as if she’s about to spit: ★★Let’s just say, there are minorities it’s still okay to shit on.★★
I wince. ★★He led me to believe that . . . well, if you don’t think he’s going to try to buy you, what’s he got on you? Besides the obvious.★★
She tenses. ★★He’s got you. That’s bad enough, in case you hadn’t figured it out.★★
Whoops. ★★He knows all about your curse.★★ The idea begins to sink in. ★★Tell me about McMurray. You worked with him, right? In exactly what capacity?★★
★★He made me.★★ Her voice is chilly enough to liquefy nitrogen. ★★I’d rather not discuss it.★★
★★Sorry, but it’s relevant. I’m still trying to work out what’s going on. How Billington turned him. I wonder what the key was, if it’s just money, like Billington said, or if there’s something else we can use ... ★★
Ramona snorts. ★★Don’t waste your time. When I get out of here I’m going to kick his ass.★★
I pause. ★★I think you may be wrong about Billington. I think he has every intention of trying to buy you. He’s got your heart’s desire in a box, if you’ll just turn a trick for him.★★
★★You English guys, you’ve got such a way with words! Look, I don’t bribe, okay? It’s not a matter of being too honest, it’s just not possible. Suppose, for the sake of argument, I go down for him and he gives me whatever it is you’re hinting at in return. What happens then? Has that occurred to you? I’d be dead meat, Bob. No way can he let me walk.★★
★★Not so fast. I mean, I think he’s nuts. But I think he believes that if he succeeds there won’t be an ‘after,’ in the conventional sense; he’ll be home clean and dry, immune to any consequences. I put the offer Angleton—my boss—gave me on the table, and Billington just laughed at me! He laughed off about five billion dollars at today’s exchange rate. He’s not in this for the money, he’s in it because he thinks he’s going to come out of it owning the entire planet.★★
She snorts theatrically. ★★How boring, just another billionaire necromancer cruising the Caribbean in his thinly disguised guided missile destroyer, plotting total world domination.★★
I shudder. ★★You think you’re joking? He monologued at me. With PowerPoint.★★
★★He what? And you’re still sane? Obviously I underestimated you.★★
I shake my head. ★★I didn’t have much choice. I figure we’re stuck here for the duration. Or at least until he gets wherever he’s taking us.★★
★★The other ship.★★
★★Yeah, there’s that.★★ I stand up and walk over to the sliding door at the far side of the room. The bathroom beyond it is small but perfectly formed. There’s no porthole, though.
★★If we could figure out a way to spring you, could you do your invisibility thing?★★
The question takes me by surprise. ★★Not sure. Damn it, they took my Treo. That would make it a whole lot easier. Plus, he’s got an occult surveillance service that’s going to