Part 14 (1/2)
”Oh, stuff it!” Amadi was growing impatienta”also exceedingly nervous. He kept glancing at the door. ”The Hung leaders have heirs, people all set to step in and take over. They're like a d.a.m.n troll in my grandkid's vid game. Cut off the head, the body still keeps going, and eventually it even grows a new head! We have to kill the entire body. And the way to do that is to shut off the blood supply to the brain.
”You help them escape, Xris. They lead me to the money. I arrest them.”
”You? You're going to be there?”
”I'll be on the same s.p.a.ceplane with you. And them.”
So that's the plan, Xris said to himself in satisfaction. The money. Nice to know I haven't lost my touch.
”And you put them right back in their cushy cells.”
Amadi smiled, but the eyes were shadowed. ”Not necessarily. I don't think they'll let themselves be taken alive.”
Gee, I was right on both counts! I'm a f.u.c.king genius. Xris had to restrain himself from laughing in Amadi's face.
”So that's why you didn't pick up Rowan,” Xris said, pretending to have just figured this out. ”She's of no use to you now. You don't need her anymore.”
Amadi shrugged, noncommittal. ”I have a date for the breakout arranged. Nineteen days s.p.a.ce-time from today. Can you be ready by then?”
Nineteen days. Xris did some calculations. ”Kirkov's birthday, huh?”
”Who?” Amadi appeared puzzled.
”Come on, boss. Listen to your surveillance tapes again. You know d.a.m.n good and well the team's got a job to do anda”surprise, surprisea”they go into action on that day.
What a coincidence. Are you afraid my friends will interfere?”
Amadi didn't reply.
”Oh, I trust you're keeping what you overheard confidential. You don't want to p.i.s.s off the Lord of the Admiralty.”
”Dixter and I have spoken,” Amadi said. And that was all he said. Obviously whatever lie he'd told Dixter, the Lord of the Admiralty had believed, otherwise a troop of Marines would have arrived to haul Xris's a.s.s out of jail.
”I'll give you a minute to think it over.” Amadi stood up, walked to the opposite end of the room, and stared at a fly crawling up the wall.
So Dixter's written me off, too. I can see the headlines now, Xris thought. CYBORG'S HEAD BLOWN OFF HELPING CONS ESCAPE. You can't think I'm that stupid, Amadi. But maybe you think I'm that greedy....
Amadi turned back to face him. ”Did you say something?”
”Yeah. I'll take the job.”
”Good! Glad to hear it.” Amadi was pleased.
”On my conditions.”
Amadi wasn't so pleased. ”I'm paying you six million in gold alreadya””
”This has nothing to do with money. Condition one: Move me from that death trap of a cellblock. I'm in with two other guysa”one who's made a crossbow out of bed springs. He's a psychopath who happens to have a grudge against cops. He was real interested to hear that I'd been one.”
”A crossbow.” Amadi shook his head. Pulling out his electronic pad, he entered a notation. ”Just think what these people could do if they would only put their energy into honest pursuits.”
”Be grateful, Amadi. He'd probably have your job.”
Amadi glanced up, startled.
Xris grinned, then went back to business. ”I want my own cell, nice and private, maximum security, until the transport to Jango arrives. Condition two: I want to be rea.s.sembled. Leg, arm, hand, hearing, eye, full power.”
”You can't have your own cybernetic limbs,” Amadi stated. ”Even I couldn't get you inside Jango with that armaments warehouse you call a leg. The guards will turn you inside out when you arrive, looking for weapons. And if you get past them, you go through a body scanner every tune you leave or enter your cell.”
”I thought this was a luxury joint, filled with refined gentlemanly types. I thought we attended literature courses in the morning and made pottery in the afternoon. Jeez, Amadi.” Xris was aggrieved. ”I was counting on getting my high school diploma!”
Amadi was not amused. ”Jango may not be the ice mines, but it's still a prison.”
”All right. Furnish me with a leg off the rack, but I want my own personal physician to fit it. I need a proper fit,” Xris explained. ”Otherwise it rubs. You wouldn't want me to chafe, would you?”
Amadi noteda”with a fine show of serious attentivenessa”the name and the intergalactic vid number of one William Quong, M.D., a show Xris watched with cynical amus.e.m.e.nt. Amadi knew Quong as well as or better than Xris by now. FISA probably had an agent tailing the Doc this very moment. Xris could have made a smart remark, but he owed Amadi, who was handing out presents like it was Xris's birthday. The least Xris could do was to play the party games.
”Anything else you want?” Amadi didn't bother to hide the sarcasm.
”That's all for the moment. If I think of anything, how can I contact you?”
”I'll contact you.” Amadi rose to his feet. ”I'm glad we could work together on this case again, Xris.”
He held out his hand.
Xris hesitated; the Hung's money wasn't the only thing that had blood on it.
Forgive me, Ito, Xris said silently. I have to play along. But soon, buddy. Soon....
He tried to reach out, but the restrainer wouldn't permit it. Amadi clasped Xris's limp hand, shook it solemnly.
”I'll send in the guard,” Amadi offered.
”By the way, what's my story? What have you told the guards about me?”
Amadi's smile broadened. ”That you're a cop. Take care of yourself, Xris. Oh, by the way.” He half turned, glanced at Xris over his shoulder. ”You or the members of your team might get a visit from someone in Internal Affairs.”
”Oh, yeah?” Xris was careful not to appear too interested. ”Who's head of that now?”
”Robison. Andrew Robison. You remember him?”
”Our boss. Former boss. Used to head up our division.”
”That's him. He's been promoted. He's now head of Internal Affairs, and between you and me, he's become one h.e.l.l of a nuisance. Just now, he's sticking his nose into this matter of the Hung. Pa.s.s the word for your friends to be careful what they talk about, Xris. People do slip in their bathtubs every day, and as you said yourself, we don't need Dalin Rowan anymore.”
He switched off the scrambler, thrust it into a pocket, and knocked twice on the door.