"Something wrong, Sanjay?" No longer ever completely at ease since his encounter with the lanky tracker, an edgy Taneer tried to scan the crowd without making himself conspicuous.
"No, Mr. Moh… Mr. Buthlahee. Everything is fine. I was not followed on my way here, and I assume the same is true for you." He smiled and nodded reassuringly at Depahli, whose return smile of gratitude was by itself enough to make a man momentarily forget his wife. Removing his communicator from a pocket, he raised it to his mouth.
"Whenever you are ready I will open the necessary connection on my secure line, and you can give the final instructions to the person who has been designated as spokesperson for the purchasing company. I was informed by our mutual contact that this person will be acting as the sole representative for the remainder of the sale."
Taneer nodded, searched the crowd again. He was looking particularly for a tall, lean individual with European as well as Indian features. Though several visiting European families were present, he saw no one resembling the man who had nearly run him to ground. Con tent and happy, enjoying their night at the park, innocent people eddied around the trio.
The plaza they emerged onto was busy, bright, and noisy, crowded with families resting from their exertions. Designed to resemble the courtyard of the ancient palace of Ayodhya, the slightly raised platform was one of several such meeting places within the park complex. Auto mated snack vendors kicked out floating virtuals praising the attractions of their ice cream, samosas, sandesh, rosogulla, the almost impossibly sweet gulab jamun, and other treats. Larger stalls offered every kind of fast food, from vegetarian to hamburgers, shashlik to satay. Open space, and a family crowd that was talkative without being deafening: it was exactly what
Taneer wanted for a setting in which to con duct the forthcoming critical conversation.
Turning a slow circle, he took a last, wary glance around before nodding at his middleman. "Go ahead, Sanjay."
Bringing out his communicator, the shopkeeper entered a number. It connected him with a special autodialer that then made the secondary connection. This ensured that even if the communication was somehow intercepted, it could not be traced back to its point of origin. The Rat had turned him on to it, and Sanjay had found it very useful when dealing with suppliers of inventory of the nontrinket kind.
By mutual agreement, visual as well as audio links were activated. It was conceded that knowing what everyone looked like would be reassuring to all parties concerned. There was a pause, no doubt prompted by security concerns at the other end, and then the communicator's small screen cleared to show the face of a heavyset middle-aged man of European extraction. Innate dignity showed through the effects of his extensive and expensive cosmetic surgery.
"Mr. Ghosh?" The tone was mannered, the English polished, but with a distinctive accent Sanjay could not identify. He did not let it concern him. The man's origins were no more his business than was the identity of the people the respondent represented. Chhote Pandit had vouched for him, and that was all Sanjay needed.
"I am here. What shall I call you, sir?"
The man did not smile. As it developed, he was not to smile throughout the entire course of their conversation. Neither was he con descending or discourteous. Sanjay had dealt with virtuals that were more human.
"Mr. Karlovy will do. As your Mr. Pandit has told you, the members of the consortium I speak for have agreed to your terms. We are ready, indeed anxious, to conclude the transaction."
Responding to a nod from Taneer, Sanjay obediently passed him the communicator. At the sight of the scientist, Mr. Karlovy's expression changed. It was still not quite a smile, but he was clearly pleased.
"Mr. Buthlahee. It is both a great honor and a considerable relief to see that you continue to exist in the flesh, and not as mere rumor. Do you know that you have made yourself, in certain knowledgeable circles, the most wanted man on the planet who has not committed mass murder?"
"It's always nice to be popular," Taneer shot back, unwilling to be flattered. "I'm looking to change that status as soon as possible."
"A yearning in which my group fervently wishes to assist you. How, where, and when might we best expedite our mutual business?"
Though Sanjay did his part by continuing to scan the laid-back crowd while his client chatted on the communicator, he could not keep from eavesdropping. In this he was not ashamed. His future revolved around a successful conclusion to this business as much as did Taneer's.
"Do you know the Parganas District, in the southeastern part of the city, that borders on the Sundarbans?" Taneer was saying into the communicator's pickup.
Mr. Karlovy was noncommittal. "Being only a visitor here myself, I know very little of your gargantuan conurbation. Without wishing to appear rude, there is very little of it that I wish to know. Only where we are to meet. Rest assured I have access to people who know it intimately, and can find their way to any meeting place of your choosing."
"Good." Taneer proceeded to provide the other man with appropriate instructions.
When "Gosaba Inurb" was mentioned, Sanjay's eyes widened. He knew the place, too. Many people who followed the news knew of it. When Taneer became even more specific, Sanjay was hard-pressed to keep his apprehension from showing.
His concerns were confirmed when, after Taneer finished, the man who called himself Mr. Karlovy turned to his left to whisper to someone out of range of his audio pickup. Peeking past the scientist's arm, Sanjay gave the man at the other end of the communication link credit for not losing his composure. At least, not visibly. But it was possible his words, when he spoke again, reflected just the slightest diminishment of self-assurance.
"I am informed that, of all things in this day and age, there is in the area you specify a wild tiger that has come out of the jungle and on two separate occasions has attacked and quite possibly consumed a young child and a grown man."
Taneer clearly relished the effect his directive had produced. So did Depahli, who squeezed his arm while remaining out of range of the communicator's pickup lens. "That's right. A tiger. In this day and age. The Department of Wildlife and Game has assured the populace that it has the situation under control, though the people who are resident in the area remain somewhat skeptical."
"I cannot say that I would blame them," Mr. Karlovy replied feelingly. "Is this your idea of a joke, Mr. Buthlahee? Some form of local humor to which I, as a foreign visitor, am not privy?"
Taneer took pains not to smile. "It's no joke, sir. With the stakes what they are, there can be no joking around. I want a secure place for our meeting. I am sure that you wish nothing less. What more private location at which to consummate our business than the one place in all Sagramanda where at the present time no one except a handful of animal specialists dares to set foot?"
"Perhaps," the European replied, "sound reason underlies their reticence."
"Sir…" Sanjay started to say, trying to draw his client's attention. But Taneer had worked it all out beforehand, and would not be swayed.
"No one will bother us there. No one will interrupt us," the scientist assured his reluctant customer. "This isn't the sixteenth century, Mr.
Karlovy. I've researched a place where we can meet that's just inside the border of the preserve. No one will intrude on us, no one will stumble across our business, and we will be in, out, and done with it all in a few minutes with the aid of cars, not elephants. The odds of us encountering anything more threatening than a deer are quite small. Surely you know how the media seizes on such a story and immediately blows it all out of proportion, sensationalizing and exaggerating every detail?"