�You never were up here before, were you, Bobby?� Lucas asked as the doors jolted shut once again and they were on their way down. Bobby shook his head. �That�s too bad,� Lucas said. �Understandable, certainly, but kind of a shame Two-a-Day tells me you haven�t been too keen on sitting around Barrytown. That true?�
�Sure is,� Bobby agreed.
�I guess that�s understandable, too. You seem to me to be a young man of some imagination and initiative Would you agree?� Lucas spun the cane�s bright brass head against his pink palm and looked at Bobby steadily.
�I guess so I can�t stand the place. Lately I�ve kind of been noticing how, well, nothing ever happens, you know? I mean, things happen, but it�s always the same stuff, over and fucking over, like it�s all a rerun, every summer like the last one...� His voice trailed off, uncertain what Lucas would think of him.
�Yes,� Lucas said, �I know that feeling. It may be a little more true of Barrytown than of some other places, but you can feel the same thing as easily in New York or Tokyo.�
Can�t be true, Bobby thought, but nodded anyway, Rhea�s warning in the back of his head. Lucas was no more threatening than Beauvoir, but his bulk alone was a caution. And Bobby was working on a new theory of personal deportment; he didn�t quite have the whole thing yet, but part of it involved the idea that people who were genuinely dangerous might not need to exhibit the fact at all, and that the ability to conceal a threat made them even more dangerous. This ran directly opposite to the rule around Big Playground, where kids who had no real clout whatever went to great pains to advertise their chrome-studded rabidity. Which probably did them some good, at least in terms of the local action. But Lucas was very clearly nothing to do with local action.
�I see you doubt it,� Lucas said. �Well, you�ll probably find out soon enough, but not for a while. The way your life�s going now, things should remain new and exciting for quite a while.�
The elevator door shuddered open, and Lucas was moving, shooing Bobby in front of him like a child They stepped out into a tiled foyer that seemed to stretch forever, past kiosks and cloth-draped stalls and people squatting beside blankets with things spread out on them. �But not to linger,� Lucas said, giving Bobby a very gentle shove with one large hand when Bobby paused in front of stacks of jumbled software. �You are on your way to the Sprawl, my man, and you are going in a manner that befits a count.�
�How�s that?�
�In a limo.�
Lucas�s car was an amazing stretch of gold-flecked black bodywork and mirror-finished brass, studded with a collection of baroque gadgets whose purpose Bobby only had time to guess at. One of the things was a dish antenna, he decided, but it looked more like one of those Aztec calendar wheels, and then he was inside, Lucas letting the wide door clunk gently shut behind them. The windows were tinted so dark, it looked like nighttime outside, a bustling nighttime where the Projects� crowds went about their noonday business The interior of the vehicle was a single large compartment padded with bright rugs and pale leather cushions, although there seemed to be no particular place to sit. No steering wheel either, the dash was a padded expanse of leather unbroken by controls of any kind. He looked at Lucas, who was loosening his black tie. �How do you drive it?�
�Sit down somewhere. You drive it like this: Ahmed, get our asses to New York, lower east.�
The car slid smoothly away from the curb as Bobby dropped to his knees on a soft pile of rugs.
�Lunch will be served in thirty minutes, sir, unless you�d care for something sooner,� a voice said. It was soft, melodious, and seemed to come from nowhere in particular.
Lucas laughed. �They really knew how to build �em in Damascus,� he said.
�Where?�
�Damascus,� Lucas said as he unbuttoned his suit coat and settled back into a wedge of pale cushions. �This is a Rolls. Old one. Those Arabs built a good car, while they had the money.�
�Lucas,� Bobby said, his mouth half full of cold fried chicken, �how come it�s taking us an hour and a half to get to New York? We aren�t exactly crawling...�
�Because,� Lucas said, pausing for another sip of cold white wine, �that�s how long it�s taking us. Ahmed has all the factory options, including a first-rate counter-surveillance system. On the road, rolling, Ahmed provides a remarkable degree of privacy, more than I�m ordinarily willing to pay for in New York. Ahmed, you get the feeling anybody�s trying to get to us, listen in or anything?�
�No, sir,� the voice said. �Eight minutes ago our identification panel was infra-scanned by a Tactical helicopter. The helicopter�s number was MH-dash-3-dash-848, piloted by Corporal Roberto -�
�Okay, okay,� Lucas said. �Fine. Never mind You see? Ahmed got more on those Tacs than they got on us.� He wiped his hands on a thick white linen napkin and took a gold toothpick from his jacket pocket.
�Lucas,� Bobby said, while Lucas probed delicately at the gaps between his big square teeth, �what would happen if, say, I asked you to take me to Times Square and let me out?�
�Ah,� Lucas said, lowering the toothpick, �the city�s most resonant acre What�s the matter, Bobby, a drug problem?�
�Well, no, but I was wondering.�
�Wondering what? You want to go to Times Square?�
�No, that was just the first place I thought of. What I mean is, I guess, would you let me go?�
�No,� Lucas said, �not to put too fine a point on it. But you don�t have to think of yourself as a prisoner. More like a guest. A valued guest.�
Bobby smiled wanly. �Oh. Okay. Like what they call protective custody, I guess.�
�Right,� Lucas said, bringing the gold toothpick into play again. �And while we are here, securely screened by the good Ahmed, it�s time we have a talk. Brother Beauvoir has already told you a little about us, I think What do you think, Bobby. about what he�s told you?�
�Well,� Bobby said, �it�s real interesting, but I�m not sure I understand it.�
�What don�t you understand?�
�Well, I don�t know about this voodoo stuff...�
Lucas raised his eyebrows.
�I mean, it�s your business, what you wanna buy, I mean, believe, right? But one minute Beauvoir�s talking biz, street tech, like I never heard before, and the next he�s talking mambos and ghosts and snakes and, and...�
�And what?�
�Horses,� Bobby said, his throat tight.
�Bobby, do you know what a metaphor is?�
�A component? Like a capacitor?�
�No. Never mind metaphor, then. When Beauvoir or I talk to you about the ba and their horses, as we call those few the ba choose to ride, you should pretend that we are talking two languages at once. One of them, you already understand. That�s the language of street tech, as you call it. We may be using different words, but we�re talking tech. Maybe we call something Ougou Feray that you might call an icebreaker, you understand? But at the same time, with the same words, we are talking about other things, and that you don�t understand. You don�t need to.� He put his toothpick away.
Bobby took a deep breath. �Beauvoir said that Jackie�s a horse for a snake, a snake called Danbala. You run that by me in street tech?�
�Certainly. Think of Jackie as a deck, Bobby, a cyberspace deck, a very pretty one with nice ankles.� Lucas grinned and Bobby blushed. �Think of Danbala, who some people call the snake, as a program. Say as an icebreaker. Danbala slots into the Jackie deck, Jackie cuts ice. That�s all.�