Robert Charrette - Arthur 03 - A Knight Among Knaves (32 page)

Everything he knew about Martinez suggested that she would be working against magic, but here she was consorting with a mage. Did she know the nature of the man with whom she shared her table? A fine irony if she did not. But she could be very aware of what the man was, and her presence here might not be coincidence. Could she have learned of Van Dieman's activities? Was she out to destroy him as she had Quetzal? Was the mage accompanying her a recruit in a strategy of fighting fire with fire? If so, she was making a mistake. Her companion's aura was weak, weaker than Van Dieman's had been even before he had the augmenting strength of the harbinger. If she intended to put her man against him, she would lose..

He decided to finish his meal, and to observe them as he did. He noted what seemed to be a celebratory air. An affair was the obvious conclusion, but with a mage? Martinez was known for the force of her convictions, one of which was the distrust of all things magical. Could she put that aside to consort with a mage? It seemed unlikely, unless she had deeper reasons. But the longer he watched the more he became convinced that there was nothing more than a business relationship between the two. Whatever the case, something had gone well for them.

If Martinez and a mage were celebrating, there must be something of interest in the cause. What might it be? He could set the usual assets in motion to search out the reason, or he could attempt to scry it out himself, but neither approach would give him a quick answer. He was here and they were here. He would try the simple, direct approach. If that failed to yield significant results, any data he gained would provide a springboard for one of the alternative methods,

The mage noticed Van Dieman as he crossed the room. He could see it in the way that the man stiffened in his seat. Martinez noticed her companion's reaction and looked up just as he arrived.

Good evening, Ms. Martinez. No, no, don't get up. I have
only
a moment. I was on my way out when I saw you, and I thought I would stop and assure myself that there were no hard feelings over the last Defense appropriation?"

"Senator Hidoshi still seems to prefer pork over practicality" she said, indicating that there were indeed hard feelings, which didn't surprise him. In fact it pleased him, because it meant they'd hurt Mitsutomo.

Yes, well, a man in Hidoshi's position does have to consider his constituency. Perhaps Mitsutomo will have better
luck
next time." Time to include the mage. "I don't believe
that
I know your new associate, Ms. Martinez?"

"Abraham Gower." The man's eyes flashed at Martinez as d she had betrayed him. She ignored his reaction. "Abraham, tins is Anton Van Dieman, president of Network Securities Corporation. Congratulations on your promotion, by the
way."
He brushed aside her complimentary remark, knowing it for mere formality, as she added, "Too bad about Slaton."

"Yes, quite unfortunate." For Slaton.

"Heart problem, I heard."

frightened to death, actually, courtesy of the harbinger.

He did not take sufficient care of his body. Not uncommon am
ong
higher-level executives. But you and I know better,

don't we?"

"Are you implying something, Mr. Van Dieman?"

"Nothing more than the obvious. Slaton was a sluggish old man. His fate shouldn't surprise anyone. The old must make
way
for the new. It is the order of things. Don't you agree, Mr. Gower?"

(iower paled under Van Dieman's attention and had trouble finding words. This Gower was not a follower, Van Die-man would have known the name. Gower had learned whatever magic he knew from a different tradition, though the tiny pentacle he wore as a tie tack hinted that it was a related one. The man's sensitivity was sufficient for him to know Van Dieman for a mage, and to judge by his nervousness, he recognized Van Dieman as his superior in the Great Art. Van Dieman enjoyed the man's discomfort. Martinez stepped in.

"Most things happen in their proper time, but certain things seem to happen at, shall we say,
convenient
times."

He smiled at the spite in her tone. "Convenient is an interesting word. In some ways, I would think that Slaton's death came at no more convenient a time than the demise of
Kansayaku
Nakaguchi."

Gower looked nervously at Martinez, but she kept an admirable stone face. Still, his hint that she had done for Nakaguchi as he had done for Slaton had quieted her. Was she vulnerable on that front? Van Dieman knew that she had nothing to do with Nakaguchi's death—Quetzal had handled that—but Martinez had covered it up and taken advantage of it. Would she have acted if Quetzal had not gotten him first? Her eyes said she was capable. At the very least, she was guilty by desire.

"But enough of that," he said. "Good fortune, however come by, is a matter for celebration, is it not? If I may be so bold, what brings you and Mr. Gower out on the town?"

"Mr. Gower is part of a new venture," she replied guardedly.

"A new venture? Always cause to celebrate. I, too, am opening new avenues."

"Shall we trade secrets, then?"

"I don't think my associates would care for that."

She had expected no less. "Nor would mine."

There was nothing more to be gained with this ploy. What did her petty secrets matter? If Gower was the best she could muster, she and her associates were no threat. Her insolent obstruction of his whims was an annoyance of the sort he still had to endure in order to maintain appearances. "Things will be different when I return."

"Oh? You're taking a trip?" she asked with false innocence and real interest.

To the cold mountains in the heart of ice,
the harbinger saidsleepily in Van Dieman's mind. The longing and desire churning through its dreams excited him. For the moment, he needed to hide that excitement.

Yes," was all the answer he gave Martinez. He made his good-byes politely. Martinez returned them just as politely, just as full of empty cordiality. He left them. They were the past, dreaming of the future—a future that they, in their ignorance of the Glittering Path, could not know as a false dream. The coils of the harbinger caressed him. Anton Van Dieman was not ignorant of the order of things to come. He was no false dreamer. He had the will and the way—and the futlure was going to be his!

Pamela liked to think that she had a grasp on the future and the path she needed to get there. She didn't like it when rivals intruded upon her unexpectedly and threatened that future. Van Dieman's recent succession to power within rival Metadynamics meant a shift in the balance of commercial power. She was still assessing the ramifications of that change and adjusting her assessment of what it meant to her company and her plans. She knew too little about Van Die-man and
his
plans, having paid insufficient attention to normal business matters, while being bound up in launching Thaumatechnics. Had her inattention cost the Keiretsu? < (early the man had plans and had meant to disturb her by hinting at them. Unfortunately, he had succeeded.
Things will be different when I return.
What did that mean?

Gower had another question.

"Who was that?"

"I told you," she said, annoyed. "Anton Van Dieman."

He was still staring at the door through which Van Dieman had departed. "I know you told me his name, but do you know what he is?"

She had told him
that
too. If he kept up this idiot act, she would reconsider his appointment as president of Thauma-technics. "What are you talking about?"

"He has darkness coiled around him."

"Abraham," she said, exasperated. "I would appreciate your speaking plainly. I am in no mood for mystic mumbling."

Gower seemed to come to himself. "I'm sorry, Ms. Martinez. I, uh, I was taken somewhat off guard by Mm. He has a very strong aura, the strongest I've seen since—"

"Since what? Don't stop there."

"Since Quetzal."

Now it was Pamela's turn to be caught off guard. "Are you saying that he's a sleeper?"

"I hadn't considered that." He thought about it for a while. She let him; his unique perspective was one of the things that made him valuable. Finally, he said. "No, I don't think that he is a sleeper. He is a mage, though, that much is clear. One of significant power. Yet there is something else about him, a strangeness that I haven't seen before, something dark and nasty."

"Hagen says that there are more than one kind of sleeper."

"I considered that. Yet the sleepers are human, are they not?"

Who the hell knew? Too many things mixed up in the chaos were
not
human. "Hagen hasn't said otherwise."

"Exactly. How much do you know about Mr. Van Die-man?"

"He's the new head of Network Securities, largest and most powerful of the Metadynamics corporate family— which makes him a most powerful man indeed, considering that MetaD is one of the Keiretsu's greatest rivals. He's been a fast riser; he only recently became a significant player. He's reportedly ruthless to opponents and openhanded to supporters. An ambitious fellow, by all accounts." She thought about what she was saying. A rival's evaluation report on
her
would describe her in much the same terms. She knew few details concerning Van Dieman, and the real story would lie in the details. Until now she'd had only peripheral dealings with Van Dieman, and she hadn't needed to know details. But there would be many details in the Mitsutomo databank, and what was in that bank was hers. She
would
know more by tomorrow.

"Nothing unusual in the psych evaluations?" Gower asked.

" That's a strange question."

"I have no doubt that he is a dangerous man. Your remarks about the convenience of Mr. Slaton's death stirred something in him."

"Are you suggesting that he actually
had
something to do with the man's death?" For all her ambition, she had never killed to open a job slot. If Van Dieman had, he might have provided a lever with which to remove him from the playing field, mage or not. "You say my remarks stirred him? Was he feeling guilt? Satisfaction, maybe?"

Gower looked uncomfortable. "I wouldn't dare to be so precise. I know that your comments touched him. Warmed him, I am sorry to say. Beyond that I can't be sure. There was so much that was strange about his aura."

"Abnormalities?"

Gower became suddenly reluctant to talk. She had to prod him.

"1 cannot give you clinical certainty," he said at last.

"Tell me what you
think.
You wouldn't be where you are if 1 didn't value your opinion, Abraham."

"When you asked him about his trip, there was—I don't know how to explain this—another voice, that was not a voice, his but not his. It was very disturbing."

"Another voice?" Lunatics heard voices, and sometimes those voices told them to kill. "Is he insane?"

Gower gave a nervous laugh, fiddled with his tie tack. "I am afraid that the Art and its manifestations have not been refined even as precisely as psychology. The data necessary for a mage to turn out an evaluation report full of probabilities are still being gathered. We work in a young field. Consider how long it took psychology to emerge from personal opinion."

She didn't need a psych eval to know that he was avoiding something unpleasant. "And what is your personal opinion of Mr. Anton Van Dieman?"

"Insanity is built on disharmony," he said. "That man has conflict within him, but there is a fundamental harmonic that I don't think would be there if he were insane. To be honest, Ms. Martinez, I am afraid that he is
not
insane."

There was another explanation for voices in a person's head, an older explanation. She hated thinking that it might be a real explanation, but so much that she had once thought unreal had become commonplace. "You are not suggesting demonic possession?"

"I don't think I've ever met a demon." Gower's eyes strayed to the door. His fingers caressed the amulet on his tie.

"Abraham, look at me. Would you know one if you saw one?"

"I would hope so, Ms. Martinez." His eyes were bleak, frightened. "By God, I would hope so."

She wouldn't let his fear infect her. There had to be a better explanation than demons. A more reasonable one. Didn't there? Demons were just things made up to frighten children and unrepentant sinners. There weren't any
real
demons. Were there? Hagen would know. And if he didn't, there were answers elsewhere. She would find them. She would.

"I think there's more research to be done," she said, and signaled the waiter to bring the check. She drank down the last of her espresso. She'd call from the car to have more ready when they reached the office. She was not going to be sleeping much tonight.

Holger heard voices, but they weren't the voices he'd grown accustomed to. These were deep, gravelly voices. they were discussing him, conjecturing on his condition, considering abstruse technical details that somehow applied to him. These voices weren't telling him what he believed in, or suggesting courses of action, or even just babbling at the edge of coherency. The voices that had done those things were quiet, as quiet as they had been in the car and in Bear's office. They were gone.