He called Nike's Melbourne office and reached John's personal a.s.sistant. She sounded fl.u.s.tered and upset: she told him she'd only started the job yesterday. Buy suspected his message was one of a great many she had taken. He said, "Tell him it's from the guy who sent you a bunch of flowers."

"Pardon me?"

"You sound like you're up to your neck in it," Buy said, "so I'm sending you a big bunch of flowers. I hope you don't mind."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"That's...Buy Mitsui? I'll make sure he gets your message."

"Thank you," he said, and hung up, pleased. He didn't have anything to do until John called back, so he decided to go pick out the flowers himself. He grabbed his jacket and caught the elevator down.

In the lobby, he b.u.mped into Cameron. Cameron looked tired and stressed, and Buy wondered if something had happened. Or maybe everyone in brokerage looked like this, but he hadn't noticed before. "Hi, Cameron."

"Buy? Where are you going?"

"To get some flowers."

"Flowers? What do you need flowers for?"

"To send to a secretary."

"You listen to me," Cameron said. "I didn't twist arms to get you this a.s.sistant Liaison job so you could hide out on the eighth floor. I've given you as much support as I can. It's time for you to find some G.o.dd.a.m.n motivation."

"Cameron, wait," Buy said. "I'm"

"Everyone else is breaking their backs for this company, Buy. Maybe you don't care about that. But we won't carry you forever. Unless you start producing, we will replace you. So if you need something to care about, care about that."

"I have something to care about," Buy said. "Really." He glanced at his watch. Kate was out of school in a couple of hours. He had promised to pick her up.

60 Jennifer

First they told her to board the Government jet with Billy NRA and accompany the President back to Washington, D.C. When she questioned the wisdom of putting Billy on the same aircraft as the man he was trying to kill, they told her to stay in London and wait for a later plane. Then two-thirds of the Government's upper echelon nosedived into the Atlantic, and everything turned to s.h.i.t.

Her transport got postponed, or canceled: n.o.body told her which. There were agents twenty deep for the phones, and after standing in line for two hours, she got five minutes to talk to Kate before a departmental officer commandeered the line. Then she walked back to her secured barracks to discover a bunch of Government agents from j.a.pan were moving in. "You're meant to be gone," they said.

"But my transport isn't here yet."

"Not my problem, sunshine," the j.a.panese agent said, and Jennifer went looking for someone who could sort this out.

"Some j.a.panese guys are trying to take over my barracks," she told the Staff Chief.

"Aren't you meant to be in Washington?"

"Yes. I don't have a transport."

"Well, those barracks are meant to be free."

"But they're not."

"Look," he said. "Jennifer? Let me be clear. I don't know who my boss is anymore. I have a campus filled with agents who don't know what they should be doing. I have bigger problems than sorting out your accommodation."

"Then am I authorized to use my initiative to find a solution?"

"What a terrific idea," the Staff Chief said.

"Thank you, sir!" Jennifer said. She walked out quickly. That was just fine.

"I'm sorry," the US Alliance man said. "John isn't here anymore. Most top management flew back to L.A. yesterday. Which newspaper did you say you were from?"

"To L.A.? You're sure?"

"I'm positive. I can try to arrange a phone interview, if you like."

"That's okay," Jennifer said. "I'll set something up myself."

"Wake up," she said, flicking on the light. "We're leaving."

Billy NRA raised his head from the bunk, dazed. "Leaving? Where?"

"We have a plane to catch."

"You can't take me outside! The NRA will kill me!"

"Don't worry. I'm very good at this."

They met Calvin at the airport. He'd been sent to a different Government campus, and he turned up twenty minutes late. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The roads curve. curve. They go in circles. I nearly ended back where I started." They go in circles. I nearly ended back where I started."

"Can we go inside, please?" Billy said. "I really think we should go in."

"What's with him?"

"He thinks US Alliance is going to try to kill him."

"Are they?"

"I guess," she said.

At the counter, the American Airways clerk said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, you can't board this flight. As of noon today, we're not permitted to offer flights to the Government."

"Excuse me?"

"Our nights are for US Alliance cardholders only."

"I have a US Alliance card," Calvin said, feeling his pockets.

"What's your name, sir?"

"Calvin...McDonald's."

"Can I see some ID, please?"

"Uh," Calvin said. "No."

"I'm sorry, sir. I can't book Government."

They walked away from the counter. Billy said, "What's going on?"

"Billy, get three tickets, will you?" Jennifer said.

"By myself myself?"

"I presume you have a US Alliance card," she said. "You probably get a.s.sa.s.sin stars."

"Man, the NRA is going to pop me. You call this an escort?"

"I'm sure they won't pop you," Jennifer said. "Go, go."

Billy threw her a look of betrayal and walked up to the counter. For a moment she thought he was going to approach the same ticket girl. Then he veered off. She watched the people around him, looking for a head coming up, for hands reaching into pockets.

"We can't even catch a flight, now," Calvin said. "What's going on?"

"I don't know."

"And how come the Government wants us in L.A.? I thought we were going to Washington."

"They told me to use my initiative."

Calvin looked at her. "What?"

"John's gone to L.A."

"Jen," he said. "We're meant to go to Washington."

"Yes, yes," Jennifer said. "After."

"So one jet goes down," she said, tucking the pillow behind her back, "and the Government is paralyzed. How did we get that centralized? We're not meant to be about individuals. We're meant to be for the ma.s.ses."

"They used to fly the top people in different planes," Calvin said.

"Well, why did that stop?"

"Budget, I suppose."

"You know, this all started when they got rid of tax. That's when everyone started buying out of society. When we had tax, we had a community community."

"Dudes," Billy said. "Do you have to yak? I'm really tired."

"Shut up," she said.

"At least sit next to each other. Come on, I'm getting this in stereo."

"Shh," Calvin said. "What, you want to reintroduce tax? How do you do that?"

"I don't know," she muttered. "But somewhere along the line, this freedom stuff got way out of control."

"You'll feel better once we arrest John Nike," Calvin said.

"Yeah," she said. "You're right about that." She closed her eyes.

61 Hack

McDonald's had taken a long time to get a foothold in the Melbourne Central mall. Until then, the only place to get grease-burgers was at a little shop named Aussie Burgers, which, Hack had read somewhere, fought hard to keep the Golden Arches out. But then one day he stopped by and Aussie Burgers was gone. Facing its empty sh.e.l.l was the biggest McDonald's Hack had ever seen, spanning three levels and four shop frontages. It was packed with customers.

Hack had never eaten at Aussie Burgers, but now that it was gone he wished he had. He was glad to be making it up to them now. He tightened his grip on his duffel bag and walked into McDonald's.

It was crammed with suits, mothers with toddlers, and truant school students. Hack scanned the crowd for Claire, and found her on the other side of the store, leaning against the counter. She met his eyes and smiled. Hack smiled back.

"Hack! Hey!"