He took notice of Donovan’s attempts to attract his attention.
‘I think I can help you with that,’ Donovan said as he stopped shrinking and enlarging his fetch, the cyberspace equivalent of jumping up and down. ‘Let me explain…’
9
To Each as He is Chosen
The dead Leninists were live in Bydgoszcz, belting out The Money that Love Can’t Buy. Kohn was trying to filter out the band’s smoke-scarred heavy-water sound and listen to the buzz. A lot of talk about the Alliance’s actions and the ANR’s intentions, a lot of politicking going on. After a random walk through it he realized he’d been neglecting Janis for at least two tracks, maybe three smokes…He said as much to the off-duty fighter he was talking to, bought another couple of litres and turned from the bar. He almost collided with a young man who had obviously been leaning forward from the stool he was sitting on, listening to their every word.
Big-boned, sandy-haired, he had the look of a country boy without the rude health: a bit ruddy-faced, a bit flabby. Young, very intense and slightly drunk. He swayed out of Kohn’s way, and looked right back at him, unabashed.
‘Hello,’ he said. ‘I…couldn’t help overhearing.’
‘Yes. And?’
‘You were asking that guy about what the ANR’s up to, yeah?’
‘Uh-huh.’ There didn’t seem to be much point in denying it.
‘I’ve been trying to find out about that myself.’ The man kept his eyes fixed on Moh’s, raised a brim-full glass of whisky to his lips and sipped it. The cool-dude effect was more or less ruined by a startled look as he swallowed. ‘There’s one theory I’ve come across. It involves the Last International, the Watchmaker, the Black Plan and barcodes.’
Kohn heard his own voice as a distant croak.
‘Barcodes?’
‘Barcodes containing the number 666.’ The youth’s face broke into an engaging grin. ‘That’s the only bit that surprises you?’
Kohn had the disconcerting feeling of having lost a move.
‘I think we should talk about this,’ he said. ‘Come and sit down?’
The man followed Kohn to the table, dragging a rucksack. Kohn sat beside Janis and the man sat at right-angles to them. He smiled at Janis, almost as if he recognized her, and said, ‘Hi. My name’s Jordan Brown.’ He stretched out a hand to shake. She introduced herself.
Kohn decided it was time to shift the advantage slightly.
‘Dunno about the lady here,’ he said, ‘but I’m always happy to meet a refugee from BC. Welcome to space.’
‘How do you know where I’m from?’
‘Clothes,’ Kohn sympathized. ‘Accent. Traces of skin conditions.’
Jordan looked indignant for a second, then laughed.
‘Stigmata!’
‘Don’t worry. They’ll wear off. OK, Jordan, you might find it a bit more difficult to figure us out. Janis is a scientist and I work for a protection agency. Some people would call me a communist. Much-abused label, but…’
He waved a hand to take in all the unfortunate associations he might have evoked.
‘Doesn’t bother me,’ Jordan said. ‘I believe in taking people as you find them. I’m an individualist. And a capitalist.’
‘And surprisingly well informed,’ Kohn said. ‘Considering.’ He leaned back. Over to you.
Jordan peered around in a way that triggered Kohn’s memory of how Janis had looked over her shoulder that morning.
‘Uh…is the ANR legal here?’
Kohn smiled. ‘That’s not a simple question but, if having an office block with its name in lights is anything to go by, yes. And we do have free speech, as you may have noticed.’
Jordan sighed, shoulders sagging a little.
‘Stigmata again…’
Kohn nodded. ‘The right of free speech is one thing,’ he said. ‘But the stuff in that glass is the best thing going for helping you exercise it.’
Jordan took a sip of whisky and began to talk.
While Jordan was getting a round in, Janis and Moh conferred frantically.
‘Do you think he’s…on to us?’ Janis whispered.
‘Some kind of agent?’ Kohn shook his head. ‘Anything like that, it’d be someone I know…He’s just sharp. Heard me asking around.’
‘We could get him in on this. You want to keep off the net, and I’m no good on it. He is.’
Kohn gazed at her. ‘That’s an idea.’
They shifted apart as Jordan came back, looking down and moving like someone steering a car with his elbows. He smiled at Janis as he put the drinks down.
‘I’m impressed,’ Kohn said. ‘Really. You’ve sifted an incredible amount of stuff off the net, come up with a big spread of ideas about what’s going on. How did you get that good, back there?’
Jordan scowled at his drink, then looked up. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I was using better kit than I’ve ever had before, and I was doing the same sort of thing as I do at work. Did at work. A feel for how the markets move, like Mrs Lawson told me today.’ He laughed. ‘And a feel for virtual reality from playing Paluxy, I guess.’
‘What’s Paluxy?’ Janis asked.
‘Dinosaur-hunting game. It’s in the only VR arcade Beulah City’s got. Noah’s Park.’
‘I see,’ Kohn said. He glanced sidelong at Janis, who didn’t see, either. ‘You came here looking to put some flesh on what you found. So did we.’ He spoke slowly, trying to get his zooming, looping thoughts into some kind of formation-flying. ‘Or, maybe, we’re the flesh. So now you’ve got a choice. You can go and do whatever it is you really wanted to do in Norlonto that you couldn’t do in BC – read, net-surf, get laid, whatever – and forget about this. Or you can come in on it with us. If that’s what you decide, we’ll tell you all we know.’
Moh leaned closer and spoke quietly, barely moving his lips. He was sure even Janis couldn’t hear him. ‘And if you betray us, I’ll kill you.’
He straightened up and smiled at Jordan as if he’d just given him a hot betting tip, watching the fear and eagerness that seemed, now, so evident on Jordan’s carefully impassive face.
‘OK,’ Jordan said. ‘Let me think, OK? You’re not talking about anything that…would be criminal, here?’
‘Nope,’ Moh said.
Janis shook her head fiercely.
‘You’re not working for the’ – he lowered his voice, his face squirming with distaste – ‘government or the UN or anything like that?’
Moh guffawed, putting an arm around Janis’s shoulders and slapping Jordan on the back.
‘You’re all right,’ he said.
Jordan looked pleased and embarrassed.
‘So what’s this big secret, and what do you want me to do?’
Moh looked around. ‘Surprising as it may seem, this ain’t exactly the time or the place for talking about secrets. As to what we want you to do, basically it’s just what you have been doing. But with a bit more to go on, which is what we can give you. I live near here and you can use our place as a base until you get somewhere for yourself. If that’s what you want.’ He passed Jordan one of his business cards and gave him a quick rundown on the Collective.
‘So what do we tell the comrades?’ Janis asked.
‘As near the truth as possible,’ Kohn said. ‘Jordan’s helping us with research, and building up a database of possible contacts, customers…’
‘OK,’ Jordan said, ‘but why me, and why for you?’
‘Suppose we make it something you’d want to do anyway. I mean, like today you’ve sort of had your wish come true, got booted out of BC with a nice little stash. So…what would you have done, if you hadn’t got any further with your search?’