"Until your death, confirmed via gene typing and dental records, in 2052." A thick eyebrow quirked. "Interesting, Mr. Montgomery; I've never chatted with a dead man before."
I shrugged… and tried not to show how chilled I was by the ease with which he'd dug up background information on me. Date and place of birth, family details, employment history… all of which should have dropped out of public ken when I tubed my SIN number after my break with Lone Star. I'd always thought "zeroed" meant just that-you don't exist anymore, no connection between who you are and who you were, and no easy way of tracking down that drek after the fact. Live and learn, I suppose.
The Ali'i leaned forward. "So tell me, Mr. Montgomery, what is a dead man doing in Hawai'i?"
I hesitated. Frag it, I realized Barnard hadn't briefed me enough. Yes, I was supposed to deliver a specific message to King Kam, but what else should I or shouldn't I tell him? 'Trying to do something about that graveyard pallor," I temporized, giving myself time to think.
He chuckled softly at that. "Well, perhaps we'll come back to that later." He paused, then his voice changed-time for biz. "You implied you had a message for me. From whom, Mr. Montgomery?"
"Jacques Barnard," I told him. "Senior veep or something at Yamatetsu."
"I know Jacques Barnard," he acknowledged, "a fine gentleman. I assume you've spoken to him recently. Is he enjoying Chiba?"
"Kyoto," I corrected.
"Of course, Kyoto. I wonder… did you ever have the chance to see his estate in Beaux Arts?"
"I did see his exercise room… but it was in Madison Park."
"Quite. And how's his lovely wife-Marie, isn't that it?"
I sighed. "Never met his wife, don't know her name," I told him wearily. 'Two questions out of three right. Does that mean I don't win the grand prize?"
The Ali'i paused again, and his gaze seemed to pin me to the chair. "Do you always joke so much, Mr. Montgomery?" he asked quietly.
I blinked, and-to my surprise-I told him the truth. "Only when I'm drek-scared."
He smiled at that. "I think I understand." Another pause.
"All right, Mr. Montgomery, I think I can accept your bona fides."
Considerate of you, slot, is what I didn 't say. I just nodded.
"So what was Jacques's message?"
I couldn't think of a graceful way of dancing around the issue, so I just said it flat. "He wants me to reassure you that he wasn't behind the assassination of Ekei Tokudaiji."
Gordon Ho's eyebrows shot up at that. "Indeed?"
"Honto," I confirmed. "Indeed."
Then who was behind it, does Mr. Barnard think?"
"ALOHA," I stated. "Who else?"
The Ali'i smiled again. "Quite a number of people, I'd think. Tokudaiji-san was an oyabun of the yakuza, after all. But I rather think you're right about ALOHA." His hard gaze softened. "Thank you, Mr. Montgomery," he said. "You may consider your message delivered. I didn't really think that Yamatetsu was behind the matter, but it's good to receive one more reassurance.
"I'd be very interested in hearing any insight Jacques has on developments," he went on, more conversationally. "Some of my sources are already starting to report increasing popular support for ALOHA on the streets. And in the legislature the opposition party is starting to apply pressure. I'd like to be able to speak with Jacques personally, but…" He shrugged. Then his smile changed, and his gaze drilled into me again. "Perhaps you can help me with this, Mr. Montgomery," he said deceptively lightly.
Oh frag, not again…
My thoughts must have shown in my face, because Gordon Ho chuckled. "You look as though it's continuing to be one of those days."
"One of those lifetimes," I corrected.
"Not your first choice on how to spend your stay in the islands, running messages back and forth, is it?" He hesitated, and real curiosity showed in his eyes. "Just how did you get involved in this, Mr. Montgomery?"
"Just lucky, I guess." I sighed. What the frag, if anything about my involvement was a secret, it wasn't my secret, and I figured I didn't owe Barnard anything further.
So I told him the story-the short version, the one starting in Cheyenne, not the complete saga including how I'd fallen in with Barnard in the first place. Probably I shouldn't be doing this, I thought while babbling, but frag, there are times when you've just got to talk to someone. I couldn't see what practical harm it would do. King Kam had my life in his hands anyway, and I couldn't think of any ways-well, not many ways, at least-that he could glitch things up for me worse than they already were. Besides, now that he wasn't wearing his feathered drek, Gordon Ho didn't seem that much different from me, and I felt myself drawn to like him.
(Which, truth to tell, scared the drek out of me. I'd been drawn to like Barnard, too, hadn't I? And look where that had gotten me…)
When I was finished, the young Ali'i nodded slowly. 'The direct involvement of Ryumyo is somewhat disturbing," he said slowly. (Somewhat disturbing? Understatement of the century, e ku'u lani…) "If that was Ryumyo you spoke with, of course."
"One dragon kind of looks like another," I acquiesced dryly.
"Quite." Ho paused. "But it might not have been a dragon at all. Oh, I know it certainly looked like one, but many kahunas and hermetic mages could produce an illusion that only another magic-wielder could penetrate."
I blinked at that one. That line of thought hadn't even occurred to me.
"Whether or not Ryumyo is personally involved, however, I think the ALOHA connection is fairly certain," the Ali'i concluded. He studied me speculatively for a few moments. Then he opened one of the desk drawers, extracted a small item and extended it to me. "Take this, Mr. Montgomery."
I reached out for the object and studied it in my palm. It was a lapel pin or badge-almost a brooch, judging by its size. Intricately worked into the likeness of the crest I'd seen behind the Ali'i's throne, it massed heavy in my hand. "Gold?"
Ho's dark eyes twinkled. "Electroplated. Sorry." He indicated the badge. "This identifies you as officially under the protection of the Ali'i, Mr. Montgomery. As far as members of the government service are concerned, it marks you as carrying my authority-some of it, at least."
I snorted. "You mean I've been deputized?"
"You might think of it that way," the Ali'i confirmed with a smile. "When you display the badge, you can expect at least some degree of cooperation from servants of the Crown-government agencies, even Na Maka'i, the police. Not the military, however." He shrugged. "You might even find that Tokudaiji-san's security personnel will think twice before gunning you down if they see that," he added thoughtfully. "After all, Tokudaiji-san was a servant of the Crown, in his own way, and his help did not go unreciprocated."
I looked skeptically down at the badge in my hand. Maybe the Ali'i was right, maybe Tokudaiji's samurai would feel some kind of… I don't know, patriotic loyalty to the Crown or some drek… and decide not to pulp me if they saw this. Maybe not. I certainly wasn't going to depend on it I'd made the mistake of thinking a badge could protect me during an earlier phase of my career, and it hadn't taken me long to realize how fragging wrong I was. Still, it couldn't hurt. I nodded thanks to the Ali'i and pinned it onto the collar of my shirt.
Ho's eyes never left my face. "I wouldn't force you into a situation that you find uncomfortable…"
I finished the thought for him "… But you do want me to get word to Barnard that you're trolling for ideas." I sighed again. "Yeah, okay, I'll see what I can do… If it doesn't mean too much exposure." Frag, intermediary again. Why oh why don't people ever learn that killing the messenger just isn't a good idea?