An hour later, the BID SUSPENDED sign was still up and brokers were getting increasingly p.i.s.sed off. John was restless: he was here to make sure the buyout went smoothly, and it had come to a grinding halt. This was not looking like a good career move.

"What's taking them so long?" the Pepsi kid said. "Don't their computers have backups?"

John spotted the Sh.e.l.l Liaison in conversation with a floor trader. "Let's find out." He stood behind the man until he turned. "Are we doing business here or what?"

The Sh.e.l.l Liaison whispered, "The entire Sh.e.l.l net has been toasted. They don't think they can bring it back up today."

"Son of a b.i.t.c.h!" the Pepsi kid said. "What happened down there?"

"An armed group entered the Sh.e.l.l building and disabled our I.T."

"T.A. attacked us?"

"Those f.u.c.kers!" the kid said.

"We don't know for sure it's Team Advantage. There's no way we can identify particular"

"Of course it's them," John said. "It's ExxonMobil, it's T.A. What's our counteraction?"

The Sh.e.l.l Liaison rubbed his forehead. "We need to prepare an announcement for the floor...we'll extend the bid until tomorrow, maybe the day after"

"No," John said. "Your compet.i.tor just invaded your building. What's our counteraction?"

"There's nothing we can do."

"Bulls.h.i.t." Some people couldn't salvage anything from a defeat, John thought. Well, he wasn't one of them. He was prepared to seize opportunities. "How many men do we have here?"

"Whoa, whoa," the Liaison said. "n.o.body's going to"

"I'm with John," the kid said. "Let's kick some a.s.s!"

"We'll refer the incident to the Government, and they will"

"The Government Government? The enemy kicks you in the b.a.l.l.s and you want to fill out a complaint form? You think the Government's even on our side?"

"T.A. are dissing us," the Pepsi kid said. "Listen to John-boy."

"But what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to take these NRA guys and go tell ExxonMobil they made a mistake."

"Let me talk to the Sh.e.l.l CEO first. JustJohn, wait!"

"Too late," John said.

"You," he said. "I need your men to come with me for a counteroffensive against ExxonMobil."

The NRA soldier looked him up and down. According to his lapel, he was a Lieutenant, but John didn't know how high that was. "And who are you?"

He flashed his ID. "Nike Liaison."

"Sir, I have no authority to initiate offensives. My orders are to hold this position."

"Do you have orders to protect the safety of Liaisons?"

"Yes."

"Then you better follow me," John said, "because I'm about to go shoot some people." He didn't wait to see if he was being obeyed. The Pepsi kid was at his side, like a puppy. "Give me your keys."

"What?"

"Your keys," John said. "I'm driving."

The kid was right: the Barchetta was an animal. They blew through downtown London while the kid scrambled for his seat belt and shouted, "Ohhhhh f.u.c.k!" when they got too close to other cars.

"Are they following?"

The kid craned his neck. "There's an NRA truck about three blocks back! But you're losing them!"

The lights ahead turned red, and John gunned the engine. It was a typical narrow London street, just a single lane of cars in each direction, so he jumped the curb, sc.r.a.ped between a pylon and a storefront, and bounced back onto the road. The street ahead was clear. He put his foot down.

"John! This car has no clearance! You can't drive on the sidewalk, man!"

"How much further?"

The kid had gotten directions from his cellphone; it was an AT&T service. "Right there! Eight-ninety-nine!"

He saw the logo. It was a tall, cream-color building with a lobby encased in plate gla.s.s. That suited John nicely.

"NRA still with us?"

"They're pretty far back, man. Better wait or they'll miss us."

"They won't miss us. Hang on."

"Oh, no, no"

John dropped the handbrake long enough to spin the car ninety degrees, then nudged the accelerator. The Ferrari leapt towards the ExxonMobil entrance.

"Ahhhhhh!" the kid yelled.

The car hit the curb and bounced, so they were slightly airborne when they plowed into the plate gla.s.s. The kid was right again: they had no clearance at all. He caught a glimpse of people running and diving, then they hit something large and unmovable and he was drowning in an airbag.

He couldn't see, but he got a hand onto the kid's chest and found his gun. He unlatched the door and tumbled out.

"Are you all right?" a woman said. "Mister?"

"I'm fine," John said, and pointed the gun at her. She screamed. It echoed in the lobby. "Where are the top executives in this building? Which floor?"

He heard the pa.s.senger door open and the kid get out, coughing.

"The thirty-eighth, they're all on the thirty-eighth!"

"Thank you." He walked to the elevators. The kid trailed him silently. John had finally found a way to shut him up. He pushed for an elevator and waited.

The Ferrari was embedded in a huge reception desk, so far in it was hard to tell where one stopped and the other one began. John wondered if anyone had been sitting there.

NRA soldiers entered the lobby, picking their way through the gla.s.s. John spotted the Lieutenant he'd spoken to earlier. "Hey!" he called. "Security cameras!"

"What?"

"Go find where they operate the security cameras. I don't want to leave evidence."

"Yes, sir!" the Lieutenant said. He was giving John some respect now, all right. The elevator arrived and John entered it. As they rose toward floor thirty-eight, the car tinkled Muzak at them.

The kid held out for another few seconds. "You just a.s.sumed a.s.sumed there was a pa.s.senger-side airbag." there was a pa.s.senger-side airbag."

"Too much planning gets in the way of execution," John said.

"It could have been my my execution." execution."

"You're fine."

"And you took my gun." you took my gun."

"You said you'd loan it to me."

"Yeah, well," the kid muttered.

John said, "You know what makes a successful executive?"

"Dude, I am am a successful executive." a successful executive."

"Decisiveness," he said. The doors slid open. A man in a briefcase was standing there; he raised his eyebrows. John pointed the gun at the man's leg and squeezed the trigger. It was louder than he'd expected.

"Holy s.h.i.t s.h.i.t!" the kid said.

"Also implementation skills," John said, and left the elevator.

The board room was directly ahead, guarded by a single P.A. at a desk. She rose as John and the Pepsi kid approached. "What was that? Was that a shot?"

John pointed the gun at her. "Sit down."

She sat. The Pepsi kid took the initiative and pushed open the board room doors. Inside, amongst muted lighting and tasteful paintings, were five men and a girl. They were in such enormous, bloated chairs that it was like they were waiting for John to plug them.

"All right," he said. "Who's the big cheese here?"

Silence.

"Speak up!" the kid shouted.

"Okay," John said, and c.o.c.ked his gun at the girl. She screamed and crammed her fist into her mouth. There was something familiar about her, something that tugged at his memory. "Do I know you?"

"No! No."

He thought she was probably lying, but didn't have time to pursue it. "Who's the CEO?"

"I am," a man said. "I'm Nathaniel ExxonMobil. Let's talk about compensation."

"I thought you might be in town, Mr. CEO. I had a feeling."

"Why don't you let these people go? You and I, we'll discuss it like businessmen."

"Here's a question for you," John said. "Did you or did you not commission an a.s.sault on the computer network of Sh.e.l.l, a US Alliance company?"

Nathaniel's eyes didn't waver. "Yes."

John shot him. The force rolled Nathaniel and his executive chair back two feet, like a display. The girl started crying.

"Okay," John said. "Now you f.u.c.kers will cease hostile action toward US Alliance. You will acknowledge that your company and your Team Advantage has no ability and no right to compete with us. This is the new economy, and in it you can't hope to f.u.c.k with us and get away with it. Do you s.h.i.theads understand that?"

One of the men closed his eyes and began mouthing a prayer. John almost clocked him just for that.

"Good," he said. The Pepsi kid held the door open for him.

46 Resumption

Jennifer slipped out of Buy's bed at five, trying to sneak out. When she came out of the bathroom, his eyes were peeking over a pillow, reflecting the light.

"Jennifer?"

"Hey." She sat on the bed. "I gotta go."