Up Against It - M. J. Locke [51]
“They are tolerated,” Chikuma said, “and as political refugees from the Downside Gene Purges, they have certain rights and protections. But most Phocaeans find the Viridians repugnant, and avoid them. They are isolated. They have their own little enclave, but are unable to wield much influence in Phocaean culture or government at large.”
“But I’ve always gotten the sense that they prefer it that way,” Jane said. “They don’t seem interested in anything beyond their gene tampering and their biodigital art projects.”
“Perhaps,” Chikuma replied. “Or perhaps they resent their isolation. Ogilvie & Sons may be offering them the opportunity to play a larger role in Solar politics. We’ve been having Mr. Glease watched. Look.”
Chikuma linked their wavefaces and showed Jane a time-stamped image of an Upside-Down shuttle crawling across 25 Phocaea’s barren landscape to dock with one of the city-to-surface lifts. The date was a week ago. Jane cocked an eyebrow.
“Are you hacking ‘Stroiders’ now, Sensei?”
“Don’t I wish! But we do have access to nearly all the local surveillance systems. And they have come in handy. This shot is from one of your surface warehouses. This next, we switch to the lift that shuttle just docked with. See that woman there?” she said, pointing. The view clearly was from a camera mounted in the upper corner of a lift. The woman was tall and thin and wore standard Phocaean garb. Strands of Viridian double-helix lights twined around her shoulder wrap. “We reviewed Nathan Glease’s contacts from when he first arrived here, and did some cross matching. We looked for connections—meetings or calls that occurred within a short time of his contacting different groups. This one stood out.
“She is Vivian Waĩthĩra Wa Macharia na Briggs. Originally from Earth, Federal Africa, although her family moved to an Earth orbital when she was a teen. She is registered as a technology consultant. Upside-Down hired her only days after Mr. Glease had contact with Mr. Sinton, local head of Upside-Down.”
Jane studied the figure. “That sounds like an African name, but she looks Caucasian. What do we know about her?”
Chikuma lifted a hand in a shrug. “Very little. She has been around for a few months. She has duel citizenship, Lunarian and Kenyan.” Jane looked again. “You believe she is spying on Upside-Down for the mob?”
Chikuma replied, “Spying on Upside-Down for the Viridians more likely, or on the mob itself, while doing—or at least pretending to do—what Nathan Glease asks.” She gestured at the Viridian’s image with polished nails, and sat back cupping her tea. “I have no hard proof, but my instincts tell me that Glease may have struck a deal of some sort with the Viridians. But the Ogilvies certainly see the Viridians merely as useful perversions. They fail to understand their deeper motives. Of all of the aspects of the Ogilvies’ plan, that may be their weakest point.”
“What do you mean, Sensei?”
Chikuma stared into her teacup. She shook her head and again the jewels in her hair danced. “I cannot be sure. All I am certain of is that the Ogilvies do not understand the Viridians.” She sipped tea, and Jane waited for her to continue. Chikuma finally set down her cup, and arranged her kimono with a deft tuck under her ankles.
“To the outsider,” she said, “the Viridians seem deceptive. Manipulative. They wrap themselves in illusion. They skirt the edges of the law. At first glance, they are a natural ally to mobsters who wish to disrupt the existing order. But the Viridians respond to a deeper call. Their beliefs have led them to change themselves into something we do not fully understand. Those changes, that commitment, that vision—however repugnant we may find it—binds them to each other more deeply even than the family and business ties that bind the Ogilvies. Their way of being is not simply about their own status. There is more to them than that. Much more.” After another pause she said, “They will be a force to be reckoned with.”
Jane finished her tea. “I will bear