And in the very moment that he decided to confront Richard about it, Trevor realized he couldn’t afford to. If I catch him on this, he’ll know I’m aware that he’s not coming clean with me. So he’ll ’fess up to this—but then play any subsequent cards closer to his chest. If I’m to have any chance of learning the other things he might be trying to pull, then I’ve got to play dumb. But—I’ve got to watch Richard? Him? Of all people?
“Commander?”
“Hmmm?”
“Orders?”
“None right now, Stosh.”
“Yes, sir. And, sir?”
“Yes?”
“Condolences. Your father was an outstanding man. We were on liberty when we heard. We raised our glasses and hoo-yahed him. Three times.”
Trevor kept a lump from rising into his throat. “I’m sure he heard it—and smiled.”
“Yes, sir. I’m off.”
Witkowski sidestepped away, finger-signed to Rulaine that he was ready to swap places. Trevor started back toward Elena, saw that the line had almost exhausted itself: Caine and Opal were next.
But then, four men entered, all wearing ties, two with bold corporate logos. Their leader—a balding, late-middle-aged man whose generous girth was a sad compensation for his meager height, came in with his head forward, scanning aggressively. When he saw Caine, he headed straight for him—the other three in tow.
Trevor looked at Stosh—who, of course, had seen it too—and shook his head slightly. The megacorps wouldn’t try anything here.
Or would they?
Chapter Thirty-Five
ODYSSEUS
Caine felt his palms grow moist as the elderly couple directly in front of him moved forward, hands extended toward the woman that was, he hypothesized, Corcoran’s rather stunning daughter: straight nose, high cheekbones, large eyes, and a strong jawline blended together in a concordance of sure, graceful arcs.
“Admiring the view?”
Caine started at Opal’s voice, heard the playfulness in it—but something else, as well. A hint of worry? Maybe—jealousy? He turned to confer a reassuring smile upon her—and instead found himself face to face with a tall, expressionless man. He was dimly aware that there were three other men, but could not bring himself to look away from the first one, whose features were as strangely nondescript as they were alarmingly symmetrical.
The shortest of the three men looked up. “You’re Riordan, right?”
Still looking at the unblinking eyes of the smooth-faced, almost featureless, security guard, Caine nodded. “That’s me. And I’m guessing that you’re from the megacorporations.”
“Yeah, but let’s be real clear—I’m not from CoDevCo or any of its subsidiaries.” He fixed his eyes upon Caine’s. “I’ve got a few things best said in private.”
“Okay.” Caine took two steps away from Opal, reached the wall: he stopped and looked at the shorter man.
Who shrugged and joined him. “Look, before we start—try not to stare at the guy, will you?”
“Stare? At which guy?”
“Our—security operative. His situation is—well, awkward. For everyone.”
“What awkward situation are you talking about?”
The short man’s eyes opened a little wider. “You don’t know? Really?” He saw the answer in Caine’s face. “He’s a Tube.”
“A what?”
“A Tube.” Seeing that Caine still didn’t understand, he emphasized. “A test Tube. He came to term in vitro.”
Caine felt his mouth drop open. “He’s a clone?”
“Shh. Not so loud. Christ, you want him to hear?”
“But I thought that cloning—”
“Look. You need to get out of your ivory tower a little more often. Yes, ex-vivo cloning of humans is against international accords. But not all places on Earth—or beyond—are under routine governmental supervision. Some aren’t even under national jurisdiction anymore.”
“Which is where you come in?”
“No. That has nothing to do with why I’m here.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I’m here to tell you—first of all—that not all corporations are the same. The admiral—” he nodded at the memorial flame with a deferential lowering of his voice “—he knew that well enough. But after yesterday’s events—well, some us started to worry that maybe you new guys might forget the distinctions.”
You new guys. That was a mix of good and bad. Good in that it suggested that some of Nolan’s old acquaintances were ready to recognize a transfer of power and authority to Downing and—God forbid—himself. Bad in that this emissary had elected to contact Caine, which suggested that his connection with Nolan’s old activities was already presumed.