“Which is one thing,” Jeff reminds her.
“Okay whatever. We want justice-revenge.”
“Jusvenge,” Mutt tries. “Rejustenge. It doesn’t seem to combine.”
“Let’s leave it at justice,” Charlotte suggests. “We all want justice.”
“We demand justice,” Jeff says. “We don’t have it, the world is a mess because of assholes who think they can steal everything and get away with it. So we have to overwhelm them and get back to justice.”
“And conditions are ripe, is that what you’re saying?”
“Very ripe. People are pissed off. They’re scared for their kids. That’s the moment things can tip. If it works like Chenoweth’s law says it does, then you only need about fifteen percent of a population to engage in civil disobedience, and the rest see it and support it, and the oligarchy falls. You get a new legal regime. It doesn’t have to get all bloody and lead to a thugocracy of violent revolutionaries. It can work. And conditions are ripe.”
“So how does a thing like that start?” Charlotte wonders.
“Any kind of thing. Some kind of disaster, big or small.”
“Okay, good. I always like rooting for disaster to strike.”
“Everybody does!”
Jeff cackles along with Charlotte. She refills their cups. Mutt feels a smile stretching his face in an almost forgotten way. He clicks ceramic cups with Jeff. “It’s good to see you happy again, my friend.”
“I’m not happy. I’m furious. I’m fucking furious.”
“Exactly.”
In a storm the Flatiron appeared to be moving toward me like the bow of a monster ocean steamer—a picture of new America still in the making.
d) Vlade
Vlade’s wristpad beeped and said, “So how’s it going with our gold?”
“Hi Idelba. Well, they’re figuring it out.”
“What do you mean?”
“We talked to Charlotte about it, and she convinced us to ask Inspector Gen what we should do.”
“You asked a policeman?”
“A policewoman. Yes.”
Long pause over the radio phone. Vlade waited her out. That always worked with Idelba; he had about fifty times more patience than she did.
“And what did she say?”
“She said melt it down and sell the gold and put it in the bank, and don’t tell anyone where we got it.”
“Well good for her! I was worried you would turn it over. I’ve dealt with salvage before, and it never goes well. So how long is that going to take? When do Thabo and I get our cut?”
“I’m not sure.” Vlade took a deep breath, then gave it a try: “Why don’t you come on over and we’ll talk about it with the gang here.”
“Like when?”
“Let me check on that. And listen, when you come, can you bring that vacuum you drug up the gold with? I want it to see if I can apply it to a problem I’m having with the building here.”
He explained his plan.
“I guess so,” she said.
“Thanks Idelba. I’ll get back to you on when the group can meet.”
Gathering the treasure consortium was hard, mainly because Charlotte was part of it now, in an advisory role, and she was mostly away, and busy even when she was home. But she carved out an hour at the end of one of her long days, and Idelba agreed to come in her tug and anchor between the tower and the North building.
Vlade was still finding leaks appearing below the low tide mark on the building, small but worrisome. Actually infuriating. Of course one could play drone versus drone, and he did that, but it wasn’t working. It seemed possible that going old school with Idelba might accomplish what he wanted. And it gave him an excuse to see her again.
So Idelba showed up in her tug, which was of a size that allowed it to just fit through most of the canals of lower Manhattan. Nervously Vlade welcomed her to the Met and showed her around. It was the first time she had visited, so he gave her the grand tour, starting below the waterline, including the rooms that had been broached. Boathouse, dining hall and commons, some representative apartments occupied by people he knew well, everything from the solo closets to the big group places, occupying half a floor and accommodating a hundred people dorm-style; then up to the farm, then above that to the cupola and the blimp mast. Then back down to the animal floor, pigs chickens goats, very smelly, and right under that the farm again, to get the views of the city through the loggia’s open arches.
Idelba seemed impressed, which pleased Vlade. Their history stood between them like a third person, but he still had his feelings; that would never change. What it was like for her, he had no idea. There was so much they had never talked about. Just the thought of trying to scared him.
“It’s a beauty,” she said. “I always like seeing it from the rivers. It stands out quite a bit, considering there are so many taller buildings.”
“It’s true. It’s in a bit of a gap. And the gold top marks it.”
“So what’s with these leaks you’re finding?”
“I think someone’s trying to scare us. That’s why I’m hoping to suck up some evidence.”
“Worth a try.”
“Thanks for helping.”
“Just another service from your new partner.”
“What do you mean?” Vlade was startled by this word.
“I mean let’s go talk to your chairperson.”
Vlade gave Charlotte a call, and as it turned out she was still in the building. After a while she joined them.
“This is Idelba,” Vlade said to Charlotte. “She and her crew helped us recover that gold from the Hussar.”
“We were married too,” Idelba said, not knowing that Vlade had told Charlotte about it. “Just to help you understand why I would help such a creature as Vlade.”
“Funny,” Charlotte said, “I was just talking to my ex the other day.”
“The city is like that.”
Charlotte nodded. “So what’s up?”
“I want to know what’s happening with the gold, when I’ll get my share.”
Charlotte said, “We’re still trying to figure out how best to maximize its value. That isn’t real obvious.”
“I can imagine, but I want in on that too. Without me and Thabo, no gold for you, and we were promised fifteen percent of the take, and it’s been two months. And in the winter we can’t work as much, so we’re not getting paid as much. Times are tight.”
“I thought you were on a city contract.”
“No, it’s just the association over there. We get paid or given goods by people there, but sometimes we’re just taking lemmas or IOUs.”
“I understand. It’s like that here too. I just thought it was a city project.”
“A city project, in the wet zone?”
“True. Anyway, we’re talking to people to figure out what to do about the gold.”
Idelba wasn’t happy at this. “Maybe you could start payments on what you owe me.”
“We don’t have that kind of money available. What about some kind of goods exchange? Goods or services?”
“Like how I’m helping Vlade work on your place’s security?”
Charlotte frowned. “Yeah, only flip it.”
Idelba shrugged. “I don’t know if you have anything I need.”
“Possibly we could put you up here over the winter. You see those hotellos across the farm, we could put up a couple more, right, Vlade?”
Vlade tried to imagine what it would be like living near Idelba again, failed, but managed to say “Sure” without much delay. Just enough for Idelba to give him the stink eye.