An Eighty Percent Solution (CorpGov) (58 page)

“We collectively, as a group, owe you an apology.”

“I should think so,” Tony said mockingly holding his hand over his wounds
and medical incisions
.
Everyone laughed except the normally aloof Christine.

“Not quite, but close,”
Andrea
continued
.
“
I meant that we should have never doubted you
.
The one damning piece of evidence in my eyes,
Nanogate
knowing your name, makes sense, now
.
We won’t doubt you in the future
.
I hope
you’ll
accept our apology and leadership of the team,
what’s
left of it
.”

“I accept
.”
Tony looked over at Sonya and smiled
.

She
smiled back as she closed her eyes
.
Her head
settled
back against the pillow and her chest r
ose
one last time
.
W
hat had been
the
background chirp of
her heart monitor
became a shrill whistle
prompting the
pounding of medical feet.

Adjust Plan for Desired Results

“Sonya left this special message to be viewed by all of us prior to her funeral arrangements,” Augustine said to the assembled throng from the pulpit of the hospital’s church
.
She wasn’t happy with
the
security
arrangements
,
but they were the best that could be arranged on short notice
.
The lights dimmed as the
solido
began.

“Welcome
,
my friends,”
Sonya
said in a cheery voice that didn’t match the crowd
’s mood
.
“I know you
’
re
all
saddened at my passing
,
but let me assure you I went
with my heart cheerful and
knowing the hope I leave behind
.
Carry on the battle
.
Don’t let it end, not for me, but for yourselves.

“If I have any one regret in this entire world,
it’s
that I never produced an heir to pass on my teachings
.
Not enough time
or
temperament to suffer a life partner
.

“I do request that you don’t put my body through the city’s recycling
.
I’d
rather be recycled into pet food
.
Please let me feed my pets rather than the multitude of people
I’ve already given my life to protect
.

“I want to thank all
who
contributed to my wonderful life
!
Without you it wouldn’t have been nearly so great
!
Until we meet in the next world,
f
are
w
ell
.”

Sniffles and outright sobs could be heard from the audience
.
Tony, from his
levitating
medi-bed
,
wiped tears from his eyes
and
nothing could hide
th
at
fact
.
Augustine’s own vision blurred and she blew her nose loudly
.

To Augustine’s amazement, Tony
stood up carefully, with one hand on the wound in his gut
.
She hoped all the
biodegradable staples and quickheal they patched him up with
would hold
.

“Sonya gave me a life when mine ended
,” he said firmly
.
“
She gave me a home when I had none
.
She gave me a family I never knew I was missing
.”
He shrugged off
Tuan as he tried
to
hold him up on one side
.

“Sonya did this for all of us
.
We were strays she brought into her home
,
just like the menagerie of pets she kept, who, by the way, Augustine has agreed to take care of
.”

She nodded to the group
, managing a smile.

“Sonya wished us to carry on our fight
,” Tony went on.
“
I want to know how long
each of
you have been fighting
?
Augustine
?”

“Six years.”

“
Jez
?”

“Three years.”

“
Peter
?”

“Eight years.”

Augustine wondered where Tony was going with this
.
It didn’t take a vernacular semanticist to feel the pitch coming
.

“I
’
ve only been at this a few months
,
and frankly I’m tired of it
already
.
I’ve already lost
six
of my dearest friends and likely will lose even more
.
As your new de
facto leader,
I
don’t want to fight this war any longer
.”

It took several moments for this to sink in
.
Augustine’s
venom at the bare statement burned in her gut
.
The grief turned to rage
.
All she wanted to do
wa
s get her fingernails into his eyes
.
But then she saw the grief
on his face
and she forced down her emotion
.

“No, I don’t mean I would let what we’ve accomplished die
,
”
Tony continued
.
“
I want this as much as any of you
.
I mean I see an opportunity to leave Sonya a successful legacy
.
I see an opportunity to end this
war
by the end of next
month…
in Sonya’s name.
I think all those we have lost will rest easier if we succeed
.”

* * *
 

“Jock
!
Good to see you again,” Tony said affably, though the tone didn’t come through well
as
he had to shout
over music so loud you could almost see the ripples in the air
.

“Mr. Tony
.
I see you got the establishment to let you back into the Rose.”

“Just a little emotional blackmail
.
Then again
,
it might have something to do with the head I left in their office
.
C’mon in
.
I need to talk to you
.”

Jock looked uncertainly at Tony and his two companions
.
Tony saw him hesitate just a moment before swiveling
into the booth next to Christine
and
letting the sound barrier fall back into place
.
He gave
Jackson
’s heavily sweating brow a look
.

“The management already told me to come down and talk to you
,
or
I’d
still be at the door
,
”
Jock said in preamble
.
“I don’t need no trouble, Mr. Tony
.”
Jock tapped his ear
.
“I like you
,
but I do have to look out for number one
.”

Tony laughed
.
“Jock, I’m not stupid
, a
nd
I don’t want to get
my friends
—
you
,
in this case
—
into any trouble
.
I’m certain the
management is listening in on this conversation
—
if they have any brains at all, that is
.
The oversized owner of this establishment was mercenary and slow, but stupid never entered my
mind
.
If nothing else
,
having Carmine’s head
staring at him from his desk would have been enough to make him wary
.”

Jock looked at Christine and Jackson as if to try and verify the gruesome story
.
Jackson
nodded.

“
Look, I need to confirm that you work for Protection, Inc
.
,” Tony asked.

“Yes, sir, I do
.
But I work for them under the table
.
No records
.
Remember
,
I’m…”

“A Nil
.
Y
es, I remember, Jock
.
Hopefully that won’t matter too much longer
.”

Jock tilted his head with questions in his eyes
.

“Can you get me into a meeting with your senior officer?”

“Maybe.”

“Would this help?” Tony said, sliding a
3
centimeter
-
high stack of plastic credit slips across the table
.

“That would do it.”

“I thought it might
.
Also
,
do you know anyone that works for Vape Security?”

“Yes, sir.
”

“
I need to talk to their head officer as well
.
” Tony slid over another stack of bills
.

“I can make those things happen, sir.”

“I
knew
you could,” Tony said sliding over yet a third stack of bills
.
“This is for you.”

“You d
o
n’t have to do that
,
Mr. Tony.”

“Yes I
do
, Jock.
Here are two notes
,
each with the time, date
,
and location
of individual meets
.”
Tony handed over three slips, two stuck together as if to appear as just two passed hands
.

“Thank you, sir
.
I’ll make it happen.”

Tony walked out, Christine and Jackson at his side
.
The moment they reached the outside air,
Jackson
turned with eyebrows raised.
“What was on the third note?”

“What third note?” Tony asked
.

“I was dealing seconds before you were born,”
came the reply
.
“You weren’t bad, but not good enough to make a living at it, though.”

“
OK
, you caught me.”
Tony shrugged.

“Are you going to tell us anything about what
’
s going on
?
The rest of us have been on edge waiting for the last two
weeks while you healed enough to move about
.”

“
OK
, I’ll tell you this
.
The first two were just as described
.
The final card bore only the line, ‘Purchase as many puts on major corporations on
next
Friday as you can.’”

“We move on Friday
?
What’s the target?”

“You will find out
next
Wed
nesday
, just like all the rest
.
I need to talk to the heads of those security firms
,
and one other
, first.”

“If I were childish
,
I’d say that Wednesday is still
ten
days
’
off.”