Part 6 (1/2)

f. was on the upswing of a busy day when he arrived. I top of the usual s.h.i.+ft changeover, extra staff were on to a.s.sist with a few extra projects currently under 1. . ore% One of them was Blindeye; another was the of General Stedman and his entourage, scheduled s) two days time. Roadblocks and security sweeps had (t be organised. Mayor's House was already under to prevent the importation of a.s.sa.s.sins and -deadly weapons. Roads entered by the ground-level foyer and was brought to a halt by a pair of heavily-armed at.', They checked his hand-print in a portable woosyiA. and waved him on, satisfied that he really was Senior Officer Phil Roads and not the Mole.

Security was tight, but that pleased him. The fourth floor was a maze of part.i.tions over which rose the combined chatter of fifty busy people. Roads negotiated his way to Barney's cubicle, nodding at faces he knew along the way. As much as he valued privacy, he enjoyed the communal environment of the fourth floor. It was vital and vigorously social. The lonely solitude of the higher levels was, by comparison, sterile.

He stuck his head into Barney's works.p.a.ce, and immediately pulled it back out.

She was deep in conver- sation with an attractive brunette from four desks down.He ”knocked” for attention and waited until she called him in. ”Oh, hi.”

Barney waved at a chair. ”Sh.e.l.ley and I were just discussing the new arrival.”

Sh.e.l.ley looked embarra.s.sed. ”Have you met him yet, Officer Roads)” ”No. Is he as cute as I'm told?” ”He's -” Sh.e.l.ley rolled her eyes ”- simply fabulous, in a weird kind of way.” ”Weird how?” ”Well, he looks normal enough - better than normal - but his accent, and some of the things he says . . . ”I get the idea.” Roads smiled rea.s.suringly.

Barney tried to hide a grin. ”Sh.e.l.l, do you know where he is right now?”

The brunette looked forlorn. ”Last time I saw him, Angela Fabian was making him a coffee.” ”Could you tell him that Phil is here?” ”With pleasure.” The brunette left the cubicle and hurried off through the maze. Roads raised an eyebrow, but did not comment. ”He's been asking for you,” said Barney. ”He wants to go over a few things before Chappel takes him away.,@ ”Fair enough.”

Roads shook his head. ”Should I feel honoured?” ”If you like. He's really turned this place on its head, let me tell you.” .1 can imagine. He's the first official Outsider in more than forty years.” ”That he's here at all isn't public knowledge, yet. But you know exactly what I meant.” ”All too well, I'm afraid.”

Sh.e.l.ley returned with a sandy-haired young man firmly in tow. He looked freshly-tanned and superbly AP I somew here in his late twenties or early thirties .s, a firm, athletic build. His uniform, a standard khaki, was little different from those Roads was to. O'Dell smiled cheerfully and with no small I , of bemus.e.m.e.nt upon entering the cubicle, as i overwhelmed by the hospitality he was being iTOXV41.

Roads, studying him, grudgingly admitted that he , was handsome, from his close-cropped hair down o the tips of his polished boots. His uniform on closer I - i(sis was of a better cut and made of finer fabric ims anything Kennedy had seen for years. The only law to his perfection lay in his left hand: the last two !4;4t., were missing.

And he looked so young ... ”Officer Roads,” Sh.e.l.ley was breathless, ”this is Captain O'Dell.”

The young man stepped forward and held out his ol- hand. Roads stood and shook it, aware that he was being studied in return. O'Dell's grip was strong, his smile wide and sincere. An irresistible warmth radiated from the RUSAMC captain, and even Roads felt himself respond. ”It's a great pleasure, Phil.”

O'Dell's accent was a broad mutation of the old mid-west, altered by time. ”I can call you that, can't I?” ”Why not? Martin, wasn't it?” ”That's right.” He turned back to Sh.e.l.ley. ”Thanks, um, Sh.e.l.ley. I think I can manage from here.”

The brunette's reluctance was obvious, but she left. Barney gestured that they should sit, and O'Dell settled back with obvious relief, ”Coffee?”

O'Dell nodded. ”Thanks, uh ... I'm sorry, but what was your name again?””Call me Barney. Everyone does.” ”Why?” The RUSAMC captain's curiosity was both frank and disarming. ”My mother died giving birth to me,” Barney replied with equal honesty. ”Dad always said I looked like her, and I never fancied the name I was given. The idea that taking her surname would somehow bring me closer to her made sense when I was five. By the time I changed my mind, it'd stuck.” ”Her name was Barney, too?” ”No. Barnace. Helen Barnace. I didn't even get it right.” Barney smiled, then politely closed the subject. ”What about you, Phil? Coffee?”

Roads noted that she had appropriated a brewing machine from one of the upper floors. Nothing but the best for their visitor, in a city where even instant coffee was a luxury. ”Love one.”

She poured three cups. O'Dell asked for two sugars and a generous portion of milk. Maybe that explained it, Roads thought to himself; it was possible to tell a lot by the way someone took their coffee. Roads himself preferred black and raw, as did Barney. ”I understand you've been sent to help us,” he said, keen to get the real conversation under way.

O'Dell gestured dismissively. ”As an observer only, and with access to the total datapool of the Reunited Is Military Corps. I don't want to disrupt your usual procedures. ”

Roads indicated the door of the cubicle. ”Judging by the impression you've already made, I'd say that's going to be unavoidable.”

O'Dell's grin became wry. At least he wasn't naive. ”My wife would kill me, if she knew. She didn't want me to leave Philadelphia in the first place. Our boy just LULIlVd three, you see, and ... Well, let's just say that I'm en to get this over with as soon as possible - without eading on too many toes along the way. I hope you on't mind.”

Roads stared at O'Dell for a moment - thinking, a ther? - then was amazed to hear himself say that he idn't mind at all, that another viewpoint could only be elpful. Barney covered her amus.e.m.e.nt with a cough.

The three of them cl.u.s.tered around the computer erminal and examined the history of the Mole in between questions about the RUSA. O'Dell had read ,summarised reports of the Mole's activities and had seen ,,the identikit pictures of his face, but neither Barney nor 'Roads had had much access to information about the Reunited States. As recently as six weeks ago, no-one in Kennedy had even suspected its existence.

”We've been growing for about fifty years,” O'Dell explained. ”Slowly at first, but building up momentum. At this point, we cover most of the old north-west States, some of what used to be Ontario, and the east coast as far as South Carolina. An appreciable percentage of the old United States, all told, and growing all the time. The General hopes to have the west coast Rea.s.similated as well by 2100.”

Roads nodded. One thing he had heard was General Stedman's desire to fast-track the reunification of the old US. ”Do you think this is possible?

There's only four years to go.” ”If anyone can do it, he can,” O'Dell responded. ”He's a very powerful man, and the most intelligent I've ever met.

I don't think it's cynical or disloyal to say that he's deliberately appealing to all the right emotions. By reinforcing the old state lines, for instance, he's tapped into a very strong pool of tradition. In most of the small communities we come across, the leaders still remember the horrors of the War and the old ways that led to it -but the ordinary people, the children, people like me who weren't born until recently, we've only heard stories about the way it used to be. We don't feel the horror; we mourn for what was lost. The old United States is almost a legend now, and the chance to rebuild it, to become part of that legend, is very strong.”

The echo of his own argument with DeKurzak made Roads wince. ”But you're a military culture, right? The army runs everything, or so I've heard. Don't people feel threatened by that?” ”Some.” O'Dell shrugged. ”But we aren't aggressive by nature, unless we're attacked. The Military Corps offers a wide variety of community services apart from defence, including education, internal peace-keeping, community maintenance and so on. It was army discipline that founded the Philadelphia Accord in the first place, and helped it survive the Dissolution. Now the Corps is the glue that keeps the States together.” ”Or a tide of mola.s.ses rolling across the continent,” said Barney, ”drowning everything in its path.” ”If only it were that easy. We could just lean back and enjoy the ride.” O'Dell returned her smile easily. ”But there are troublemakers everywhere we go. Like this Mole you've got. Any guesses what he's after?” ”Very little,” Roads said, uncomfortably aware that in making that admission he was exposing his own inability to solve the case.

O'Dell listened patiently as Roads outlined the break-ins, declining to comment at all - let alone judge - until they had brought him completely up to date. ”A month ago,” Roads said, ”when we first realised that the crimes were a series, not just isolated incidents, we began looking for motives. Since some of the stolen information was extremely sensitive, extortion immediately sprang to mind. But we've never once had a and for money, or anything at all. Sabotage was t on our list, possibly connected with the antissimilationist movement. But again we've had no ats, no warnings, and nothing has gone wrong to ggest that the stolen data has been used this way.” ”How about suspects?” O'Dell asked. 'Apart from me, you mean?” Roads shook his head.

e have no evidence pointing to anyone: no DNA, no res, no fingerprints, no descriptions, no hearsay.” ”Nothing circ.u.mstantial?”

”Not a sc.r.a.p,” Barney said, ”apart from the fact that Mole must have a large amount of technical knowow in order to get away with what he does. Every theft ccurs in a different place and at a different time. There's o pattern that might give us some idea of the thief's bits. There's no pattern to the differences, either - such as thefts taking place at later times the further they are Irom a central location, which might be where the Mole ,ives or works.” She glanced briefly at Roads, then back @.to O'Dell. ”We've tried every permutation of the stats, and come up with absolutely nothing.”

aThe Mole is almost too clever, isn't he?” the captain mused. ”I mean, not only does he have an uncanny ability to evade detection andpenetrate defended datapools, but he's done his best to s.h.i.+ft suspicion away from him to a prominent member of the local security force.

It's ingenious, don't you think? Using something as simple as a rubber mask, I suppose, to confuse the enemy.”

Roads remembered the video footage Morrow had given him. ”It's not a mask.”

”No? You think he really does look like you?”

Roads shook his head. He had considered this, briefly, but dismissed the possibility as too remote. ”I had plastic surgery in mind.””Seems a bit extreme.” ”It depends how serious he is.” ”I guess.” O'Dell looked uncomfortable. ”I'm sorry. The thought of cosmetic alteration disturbs me. I had no idea the practice still existed in Kennedy.” '41t doesn't,”

Barney was quick to rea.s.sure him. ”Unnecessary biomodification has been illegal for as long as I can remember. That includes plastic surgery.” ”Good.”

O'Dell took a sip of his coffee and Roads was reminded of the captain's injury. In a perverse way, he seemed to wear the deformity like a badge of honour.

O'Dell, noting Roads' glance, put the cup down and flexed his crippled hand.

”The States have outlawed all forms of biomodification,” he said. ”To become superhuman is to lose one's humanity, and to be truly human is to suffer the imperfections of the form with dignity. I'm glad to see that the Mayoralty of Kennedy agrees with us, at least on this.”

Barney nodded. ”We had trouble with berserkers, too. One killed seventy-five people when I was a teenager. They had to destroy an entire block just to bring it down.” ”I was a child when the last fell, but I've heard the stories.” O'Dell's right hand caressed the stumps of his missing fingers. If he noted the sadness in Barney's eyes, he didn't comment on it. ”I'd rather be crippled than allow the possibility of similar atrocities to occur in the future.” He smiled self-deprecatingly. ”Not that I'm handicapped by this, of course. I hardly notice it, most of the time.”

Roads could contain his curiosity no longer. ”How did it happen, if you don't mind me asking?” ”Nothing particularly dramatic. My brother slipped chopping wood when I was twelve.” O'Dell put the InA pd into a pocket and glanced at the watch on his er wrist. ”I have an appointment in a couple of utes that'll last until later this afternoon. Perhaps we Id meet afterward to discuss Operation Blindeye.” ”Of course,” said Roads, noting that O'Dell's watch as solar powered. On impulse, he added: ”If I'm not re or in my office, I'll be down at the target range. u can join me there, if you like.” O'Dell nodded with a glint in his eye; he knew a iendly challenge when he heard one. ”Four o'clock, y ”Done.” The RUSAMC captain stood. ”Thanks for the coffee, arney. ”Pleasure.”

As he left the cubicle, the usual hu bbub of the communal office ebbed for a split-second, then resumed louder than before. Roads shook his head in amus.e.m.e.nt. ”So.” Barney leaned against the desk and folded her arms. ”What do you think?” ”He'll be fine. A little young, but okay, I think. He's obviously been around, and that will help.”

The intercom on Barney's desk buzzed.'It was Michael, Chappel's secretary, looking for Roads, with a call from David Goss at Kennedy City University waiting to be put through. ”No rest for the wicked,” Barney whispered from out of the camera's field of view. ”In this town?” Roads edged toward the exit.

”Not b.l.o.o.d.y likely.” ”Before you go, Phil.” She stood. ”Am I invited to the old hand versus new blood showdown this afternoon)”

411f you like, but only you. I don't think he'd appreciate a crowd.”She nodded. ”Yeah, and the Phil Roads fanclub would look pretty thin if he did, wouldn't it?” ”Sadly so.” He tipped her a quick salute and made a dash for his office.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

-30 P.M.

ur o'clock came swiftly. While Chappel babysat Kurzak elsewhere, Roads took charge of organising ,indeye. He didn't mind the extra work, but it meant at he had little time to follow up his vague thoughts of previous night. Likewise, his promise to catch up ith Roger Wiggs went forgotten until after twelve, by hich time the homicide officer had finally gone off duty. At half-past three, he checked out of his office and ok the lift down to the bas.e.m.e.nt. There he dismantled ,,11is pistol and cleaned it thoroughly. When he had r:finished, he signed for a box of plastic bullets and went to the range.