There had been aliens on Venus, and Earth was alive with all the wonder that the idea brought. At first, a lot of people had been worried that there would be riots and panics, but, so far, no one had seen fit to go twentieth over the news.
Something on Rosa chimed. “Time to go,” she said, shutting down her briefcase. She picked up a danish and put it into Vee’s hand. “Eat.”
Vee gnawed the pastry without tasting it while Rosa authorized an account deduction on the table’s screen. As they left, the fishes on the wall called, “Good luck, Vee,” causing the other patrons to whisper and stare.
Vee made a mental note to tell Nikki never to do that again without permission and followed Rosa out the door.
Their appointment was in the J. K. McManus administration complex, which lay deep in the heart of U.N. City. It took Vee and Rosa twenty minutes, four glide-walks, and three ID scans before they reached the central atrium of the gleaming crystal-and-steel administration mall. Philodendrons, morning glories, and passion flowers twined around glass-encased fiber-optic bundles that stretched from floor to ceiling. Diplomats, administrators, lobbyists, and small herds of courier drones flowed in and out of transparent doors. They jammed the elevators and escalators running between the complex’s eight floors. The muted roar of their voices substituted for the rush of wind and waves on the deck.
Vee and Rosa presented themselves to a live human security team and were asked to write down their names and leave a thumbprint on an impression film registry. In return, they were presented with audio badges and directed to Room 3425. The badges would tell them if they took a wrong turn.
Rosa clipped the badge to her briefcase strap and stepped onto the nearest escalator. Vee followed obediently, brushing restlessly at her tunic and smoothing down her veil.
They want me here. They want me here. I’ve done good, solid work and it’s on record. I can do this. They believe I can do this, or they wouldn’t have invited me in.
Room 3425 was a conference room. Rosa presented her badge to the room door, which scanned it, and her, before sliding open. On the other side waited an oval table big enough for a dozen people. An e-window showed a view of a tropical park on the sun-drenched deck with parti-colored parrots preening themselves in lush green trees.
The room had three occupants. Edmund Waicek sat at the conference table looking like he’d just stepped out of the story clip Vee viewed at breakfast. Next to him sat a tiny Asian woman in a pale-gold suit-dress. Her face was heavily lined, and her opaque red veil lay over pure-white hair. Behind them stood a slender, dark man who could have been from any of a hundred cities in the Middle East or North Africa. He wore a loose, white robe and a long orange-and-red-striped vest. A plain black cap covered his neatly trimmed hair. He turned from his contemplation of the parrots as the door opened and gave Vee a look that managed to be both amused and critical.
Mr. Waicek was on his feet and crossing the room toward Vee before Vee had a chance to step over the threshold.
“Dr. Hatch, thank you for coming.” He shook Vee’s hand with a nicely judged amount of firmness. “I’m Edmund Waicek.”
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Waicek,” said Vee, extricating her hand.
“Call me Edmund,” he said, as Vee guessed he would.
“Edmund,” she repeated. “This is Rosa Cristobal.”
“Delighted to meet you, Ms. Cristobal. Allow me to introduce you both to Ms. Yan Su. She is the Venus work group’s resource coordinator.”
“Pleased to meet you both.” Ms. Yan’s voice was light and slightly hesitant, giving the impression that English was not her first language. Underneath that, though, lay a feeling of strength and the awareness of it. “You will forgive me if I ask your field of specialty, Ms. Cristobal. The nature of your relationship with Dr. Hatch is not exactly clear.”
Rosa gave a brief laugh. “No, it is not, even to me, some days. Primarily, I am Dr. Hatch’s manager. I coordinate her projects and her contracts. Demand for her skills is very high, as I’m sure you know, but you would be amazed at the number of people who try to pay less than those skills are worth.”
“And this is Mr. Sadiq Hourani, whose province is security,” interjected Edmund smoothly.
Weird way of putting it. Mr. Hourani gave them a small bow. Vee noticed that his eyebrows were still raised and his expression was still amused.
Rosa laid her briefcase on the conference table and sat next to Ms. Yan. “First of all, let me say that we are extremely excited to be considered for this project.” She jacked her case into the table, which lit up the clear-blue data displays in front of each of the participants.