"Neela," he answered with an appreciative wink, "if I were to say what I'd like to say, the man currently attached to your hip would probably wallop me."

By Neela's satisfied look, Omad knew he'd said it all.

Justin interjected, "So, was I right?"

"About what?" asked Omad.

"About you being a tax man."

"Oh, yeah," Omad replied, getting back on track, "you got it on the first try, but I was hoping you'd be more frightened."

"OK, Omad," Justin replied, taking the bait, "why did you think that getup would scare me?"

Omad answered with the earnestness of the devout: "For us it's just stories, but you were actually ..." He struggled to get the next word out as a look of disgust filled his face, "taxed." Omad saw that Justin still wasn't getting it. "Tax men actually came after you."

"It really wasn't as bad as all that."

"You mean to tell me," challenged Omad, "that faceless, nameless government types were not always after you, trying to take away your own hard-earned money and property-while threatening you with prison if you didn't cough up enough credits?"

"It was 'dollars,' " corrected Justin, "and they did." He thought about it briefly. "You know, Omad, it really was was like that." Now it was his turn to grimace. "Good costume." like that." Now it was his turn to grimace. "Good costume."

He remembered his first audit. He'd been raked across the coals by some low-level bureaucrat trying to curry favor with a superior.

"In fact," added Justin, recalling the torturous months of work the little prick's stunt had cost, "it's a damned good costume."

Omad beamed. "By the way, I brought that little thing you asked for." He began to open his IRS bag.

"What thing?" asked Neela.

Justin stopped Omad by gingerly putting his hand on the briefcase. "Why don't you give it to me upstairs?"

The ride up the ancient lift was filled with an uncomfortable silence. When they finally got to the suite, Neela was dying with impatience.

"So, what is it?"

"Neela," answered Justin, "it's really no big deal. You're making mountains out of nano."

Omad made himself busy checking the place out, moving from room to room as if he were a secret agent checking for surreptitious devices. He went onto the balcony and returned a moment later.

"Omad," said Justin, "thanks for being so cool with me and Neela and all. I was expecting horror and culture police."

"Oh, don't get me wrong," he answered, looking for all the world like an angry parent. "I think you two are nuts. And if it wasn't Mardi Gras you couldn't get away with it. Still, fuck it. You two are perfect for each other. I don't think it will end well, but enjoy it while you can.

"Oh, by the way," he continued, "did you know that there's a huge crowd gathering outside your window?"

Justin's face lit up. "Oh, yeah. It must be time."

"For what?" asked Neela, starting to feel a bit apprehensive as she, too, noticed the swelling crowd beneath their balcony.

Justin smiled mischievously. "I arranged a little press conference." Before Neela could say another word he looked over at Omad. "You got it?"

"Yeah," Omad groused, still staring out the window, "I got it." He walked from the balcony entrance back to the edge of the bed where he'd put his briefcase, gently snapped open the clasps, and removed a pair of large silver shackles.

"I hope they're to your liking," he said, holding up the manacles, one cuff in each hand.

The cuffs had three very large links with one letter, viewable from multiple angles, etched onto each one. The letters were G, C, and I. As Omad held them up, Justin walked over to where he was standing and put his hands through the wide holes of the metallic bracelets. He felt their weight and texture; even rattled them a bit.

"They'll do what they're supposed to do?" he asked.

Omad nodded. "Tested the prototype myself. Worked like a charm."

Justin shook the links one more time for good measure. "Then they're perfect," he said, smiling brightly.

"Uh, Justin," asked Neela, "what do you think you're doing?"

He gazed at her with a fiery determination.

"Declaring independence." And with that he went to the French doors leading to the wraparound balcony and stepped outside.

Neela could hear the crowd's roar as her new lover walked onto the balcony. A sense of foreboding welled up inside her, but it was too late to stop the course of events.

_______.

Sean Doogle waited patiently below Justin Cord's balcony. He was joined there by a few thousand revelers, a horde of mediabots, and a cavalcade of reporters. Unlike everyone else in the crowd, Sean sensed that history was about to be made, and in the deepest recesses of his being that he was destined to play a part. The "one free man," as he now referred to Justin almost exclusively, had called an impromptu press conference. Something must be up. The lucky men, Sean had decided, got caught up in history in the making; the great men exploited that history to achieve their ends. There was no question in Sean's mind what type of man he was. And so he waited.

Justin approached the edge of the balcony, arms lowered to shield from view his new wrist accessory. The mediabots, like the crowd, were kept a safe distance away by the hotel's well-enforced protection fields. But New Orleans was a small, tightly packed town made doubly so by the current holiday; Canal Street was a broad boulevard and the distance that would normally be accorded a hotel of the Rex's stature was cut to a third.

The crowd quieted to a murmur. No small feat, considering the amount of drugs and alcohol coursing through the veins of many in attendance.

When Justin felt he had the maximum amount of attention he could hope for, he raised, in one quick motion, his shackled wrists high above his head. By the time he'd completed the move the entire plaza had come to a standstill and was now filled with a deathly silence. As he held his hands up, he made sure to move his body in a 180-degree arc. He was only going to do this once, so he wanted to be sure that all could see the letters carved into each of the shackle's links.

From the moment Justin raised his hands, baring for all the "GCI" shackles, a flood of self-adulation swept over Sean Doogle-he'd guessed correctly. The coconspirators he'd planted strategically in the crowd looked to him now, waiting intently for his signal. But Sean, aware that history was recording this moment, knew the timing would have to be perfect. Not yet ... not yet Not yet ... not yet, he kept repeating. Sean pointedly refused to look into his beseechers' eyes. They'd just have to wait. They'd get his signal when he was ready to give it.

Now, Justin said to himself. The links, which lay flaccid, forming a U shape above his head, were now pulled tight, forming a straight line from end to end. Justin strained his expression. He pulled again, but harder. Each time he'd let the links go flaccid, and then attack, pulling at them even harder-at least in appearance-with each tug. Finally, he gave a muscle-rippling convulsion as the links, and along with them the G, the C, and the I, shattered above his head, raining into the crowd as metal shards, thus becoming the ultimate throws in the history of Mardi Gras.

Sean Doogle was enraptured. All of his rage and anger was transformed instantly into a kind of peace. He knew what he had to do. That it would involve risk and pain and death-to others, and possibly to him-meant nothing at all. His path was clear. He had never been so happy in his life, nor felt so dangerous. He gave the signal his cohorts had so desperately been waiting for. As one they began to shout, "One free man! One free man! One free man!"

Like a brush fire purposely set on a hot, windy day, the drunken, boisterous crowd was soon caught up in shouting the mantra of the planted inciters. And, much to Sean's pleasure and well-laid plans, that mantra was now being recorded and transmitted systemwide. His vision of Justin as the poster boy of his revolution had come to fruition. The "one free man!" mantra was now a cancerous seed planted amid the billions of "lost" souls watching from their holodisplays and DijAssists. And in doing so, they were fulfilling its planters' expressed desire-to kill its plodding and tyrannical host, the incorporation movement.

Hektor turned off the holodisplay and methodically stubbed out his cigar, watching as the last wisps of smoke made their slow and steady ascent into oblivion. A slow, simmering torrent of anger pushed its way through every capillary of his body, until at last the rage consumed him. If Cord wanted to break the chains of the system that had rescued him (and all humanity, for that matter!), then so be it. If it was shattered chains he wanted, it was shattered chains he'd get. And society, so enamored of Justin's vision of the past, needed a visceral example of what that past was really like. They would have to be reminded of the terrorism, anarchy, and fear that had once been a daily part of Justin's world.

In the dark, quiet office that had become his home away from home and with the dull and constant sound of human traffic surrounding him, Hektor Sambianco pulled his DijAssist from his pocket and twirled it casually in his hand. Someone had to die. And, Hektor knew, it would be that one death that would unleash a madman capable of reminding the present world just how dangerous the past had once been.

"Iago."

"Yes, Hektor?"

"Prepare an untraceable interplanetary transmission for the head of security-Neptune GCI."

"Recording," answered iago.

"There will be an 'accident,' " said Hektor, without a trace of emotion.

"Name?"

"Elizabeth Reynolds."

This was it. Neela was finally getting her Moon vacation. Only instead of having it foisted on her for the price of silence, as had been Hektor Sambianco's wont, she was now heading up the silver highway of her own accord-with her own money. That she was doing it in secret with her lover made the trip even more exquisite.

In the beginning years of Justin's cryonic entombment the Moon had decreased in stature. The world was too busy imploding to look much beyond its own atmosphere. Plus, space exploration was a government-controlled monopoly run by soon-to-be bankrupt governments. So the Moon remained a floating rock, not much different from the one Neil Armstrong first set foot upon years ago. As humans went about rising from the rubble of the Grand Collapse the Moon remained virtually ignored, continuing its lonely elliptical vigil of its troubled blue cousin. With the eventual rise of the incorporation movement and a major influx of cash and entrepreneurship, a fledgling orbital industry emerged. The Moon became a way station for scientists and industrialists, eventually succumbing to a huge land grab once the space-based industries took off. The ice and mineral compounds found in the Moon's recesses proved a fertile ground for the fledgling nanotechnology sector and its hordes of micro-sized assemblers and replicators. In no time at all great corridors spanning thousands of miles were dug deep into the orbiting boulder's thick underbelly. "Inner" cities emerged to house the families of those who chose to make the Moon their home. On the surface large buildings massed in craters and were covered over by thin yet powerful protective membranes.

But it was only when the asteroid belt became economically viable-some one hundred years after the Grand Collapse-that the Moon finally took off. It went from being a sometime destination to an oft-used port. In fact, it was the preferred port of call for the growing population of the asteroid belt that over the course of those hundred years had weaned itself almost entirely from the Earth's gravitational pull. The Moon's th-gravity environment was a far better "neutral" ground to meet on for those wishing to do business with their Terran cousins. In the span of a decade, conference centers, luxury hotels, restaurants, and entertainment complexes devoured the space once occupied by the industrial giants. For the industrialists it was a win-win situation. They sold at a profit and moved out into deeper space, taking over the moons of the Earth's sister planets. th-gravity environment was a far better "neutral" ground to meet on for those wishing to do business with their Terran cousins. In the span of a decade, conference centers, luxury hotels, restaurants, and entertainment complexes devoured the space once occupied by the industrial giants. For the industrialists it was a win-win situation. They sold at a profit and moved out into deeper space, taking over the moons of the Earth's sister planets.

By the time Justin was taking his first "second" breaths, the Moon had been transformed into a veritable floating Las Vegas, happily swallowing the percentages of all those who'd ever dreamed of taking a vacation in orbit. If Mardi Gras started in New Orleans, it ended, for those who could afford it, in the Moon's luxurious environs. And it was into this mecca of debauchery and merchandising that the winged Neela and her famous lover made their separate ways.

At a considerable sum Justin rented a private crater away from prying eyes and under an assumed name. Neela arrived surreptitiously a few hours later. What then followed was a blessed week of cavorting, eating like royalty, relishing each other's company, and making love any chance they could get. And while their separate worlds seemed to finally be coming together, the one they'd only recently left behind was now almost imperceptibly beginning to come apart.

Sean Doogle had spent the week sitting joyfully in front of his holodisplay re-watching his famous evening's events. He couldn't get enough of it. During the days he'd begrudgingly spent time fulfilling his requisite duties: coordinating future rallies, signing documents-autographs, even! And, of course, receiving overdue accolades. But each and every night he'd sneak back into his hotel room and watch a vidacord of the rally-over and over again. The slow and steady buildup, the tension as Justin Cord faced the crowd, the moment of climax as Cord snapped his chains and rained the metallic shards down on the assembled masses, and then ... then, the magic moment. When he, Sean Doogle, began his chant. How the crowd had joined in, swayed back and forth even. It was mesmerizing. Sean had pretty much wallpapered his entire small hotel room with hard-copy versions of narticles from that night's event-his event. Sean's "one free man" message had gotten out to billions. Billions! It was one of the few times in his life when he felt that he was truly worthy of what he'd accomplished. event. Sean's "one free man" message had gotten out to billions. Billions! It was one of the few times in his life when he felt that he was truly worthy of what he'd accomplished.

His self-approbation was momentarily interrupted by a call from his avatar. It almost never called him, which gave him a start, because it had been programmed to alert him if it heard any news about Elizabeth. He'd always held out hope that one of those alerts would be news of his beloved's return. In a way, it was.

It had been a freak accident, the Neptune News Neptune News had reported, concerning the connecting of a GCI power supply to an atmospheric converter on one of Saturn's outer moons. Somehow the fully charged storage gel released its energy all at once. GCI's spokesperson spoke of Elizabeth's death as not only permanent but also a tragic had reported, concerning the connecting of a GCI power supply to an atmospheric converter on one of Saturn's outer moons. Somehow the fully charged storage gel released its energy all at once. GCI's spokesperson spoke of Elizabeth's death as not only permanent but also a tragic economic economic loss. loss.

Sean's world crashed. He couldn't remember anything. It was as if his whole psyche shattered and only little bits and pieces of who he used to be returned to the surface. He sat staring blankly at the holodisplay for hours, refusing to answer the door, refusing any and all attempts by his unruly followers to contact him. Finally, in the slow and particular manner of a parasitoid wasp emerging from the destroyed innards of its insect host, Sean slipped away from his shell. He stood up and stared blankly out the window-resolved.

They had destroyed his world-now he'd destroy theirs.

It was instinct that saved Justin's life on the second assassination attempt. He and Neela had decided beforehand to take separate flights out of the Moon to avoid any unnecessary publicity. For those who asked, Neela was on the Moon under the pretext of needing to be near her patient during his first-ever Mardi Gras. An arranged "professional" consultation meeting at the orport allowed them to say their good-byes. Then, in the th gravity of their surroundings, they gently floated off to their respective docking ports. Neela watched for a moment as Justin descended to his private t.o.p. just a few platforms below hers, and then she made her way to her gate. Justin, upon landing at his platform, was funneled down a long open-air walkway to his private t.o.p.'s departure gate. He noticed that his terminal had a permiawall in front of it adorned with a velvet rope and an impenetrable door motif. There was also a human uniformed member of hotel security whose sole job was to make sure only the proper people were let into the first-class waiting chamber. The guard saw Justin, pushed a button on her pad, and waved him toward the permiawall. Justin, who still hadn't gotten used to walking into walls, held out his arm from force of habit-a sort of testing of the waters. He half expected to have his arm come crashing back, but it never did. Still, it was that little habit that ended up saving his life. The moment he put his hand through the permiawall his arm dissolved, sending hot jets of pain instantly through his entire body and bubbles of warm red liquid in all shapes and sizes floating off into the thin air. Instinctively, Justin leaped away from the permiawall, screaming in agony. th gravity of their surroundings, they gently floated off to their respective docking ports. Neela watched for a moment as Justin descended to his private t.o.p. just a few platforms below hers, and then she made her way to her gate. Justin, upon landing at his platform, was funneled down a long open-air walkway to his private t.o.p.'s departure gate. He noticed that his terminal had a permiawall in front of it adorned with a velvet rope and an impenetrable door motif. There was also a human uniformed member of hotel security whose sole job was to make sure only the proper people were let into the first-class waiting chamber. The guard saw Justin, pushed a button on her pad, and waved him toward the permiawall. Justin, who still hadn't gotten used to walking into walls, held out his arm from force of habit-a sort of testing of the waters. He half expected to have his arm come crashing back, but it never did. Still, it was that little habit that ended up saving his life. The moment he put his hand through the permiawall his arm dissolved, sending hot jets of pain instantly through his entire body and bubbles of warm red liquid in all shapes and sizes floating off into the thin air. Instinctively, Justin leaped away from the permiawall, screaming in agony.

Were it not for the security monitors, the exact sequence of events would have been harder to figure out. The guard had immediately pulled a small and very standard hand weapon from her jacket and had pointed it at Justin. She didn't have a chance to fire because of the attack from above by an enraged, winged demoness. Neela, hearing the commotion and fearing the worst, dove from her platform and, using her wings and weight, had turned what would have been a leisurely descent into the shrieking plunge of a falcon snaring a hare on the run. With one hand she ripped at the shocked assassin's throat and with the other clawed at her eyes. Somehow the killer managed to shove Neela with enough force to send her flying in the direction of Justin, who was now lying on the floor in agony between the two of them. Only Neela's expert use of her wings as a brake saved her from falling off the platform. The assassin got to one wobbly knee and aimed her weapon. Justin, seeing her momentarily distracted, managed to kick her sharply on the shin. It was enough to throw the killer off and send her shot wide. The effort to regain her balance was all the time Neela needed to launch herself at the assassin, who was flung backward into the rigged permiawall. The scream that echoed through the spaceport was cut off by the evisceration of the assassin's vocal cords along with the rest of her body.

When he recovered later, Justin remembered none of this, having lost far too much blood to stay conscious. The last image on the playback would be forever seared in his mind-Neela cradling him in her arms and wings like a tableau from some level of hell-strangely tender to look at, but terrifying as well.

Sean Doogle has disappeared. His last confirmed location was in New Orleans for the Mardi Gras celebration. Though he owns a substantial majority of himself, his parents, as the largest minority shareholders, asked for an asset location search in the hopes of finding their son. So far the effort has proved fruitless amid speculation Mr. Doogle may have removed his locator chip.-INTERSYSTEMNEWS BROADCAST BROADCAST Rumor has it that Justin Cord has been the target of another assassination attempt. Given Mardi Gras celebrations, hard news is hard to come by, but Justin was apparently rushed to the medical facilities on the Moon. We will keep you informed as we are informed. Remember, don't drink and fly manually, you owe it to yourself and your shareholders.-INTERSYSTEMNEWS BROADCAST BROADCAST

Justin was recuperating quite well after the horrific events of the past few days, and had even had his arm regrown at almost the same time Neela was having her costume degrown. Perhaps the greatest effect of the assassination attempt had been on Neela and Justin's fledgling relationship. Neela had only meant to sleep with Justin during Mardi Gras. She'd rationalized that it would actually make perfect sense to scratch that itch for the both of them, and then be done with the urge once and for all. And when everyone found out, at least the haze of Mardi Gras might soften the blow for the both of them-even more so when people realized it had only been a onetime Mardi Gras fling. That is, until the moment she almost lost him. The thought of his not being present in her world, of his not being with her at all times, was more frightening than anything she'd ever experienced in her short life.

Nothing mattered now but him. She was with Justin, and they both knew that they'd continue to see each other long after the week of Mardi Gras had ended. They discussed it in detail, and agreed to be discreet, but also both agreed that at some point the system would have to accept Justin and Neela as a couple.

Justin found himself sitting in the kitchen of the McKenzies, reading his morning paper when the now very much human Neela entered wearing only a bathrobe and a smile. He'd forgotten how energizing smiles could be until he started seeing them on Neela. It wasn't so much that hers was better or worse than anyone else's. And like his first wife once had, Neela was smiling because because of him, and that made all the difference in the worlds. The walls he'd so carefully built were finally coming down, and that, too, he'd decided, was good. of him, and that made all the difference in the worlds. The walls he'd so carefully built were finally coming down, and that, too, he'd decided, was good.

The tender moment was broken when Omad and an unfamiliar woman entered and sat down. Neela, who was still leaning against the kitchen door frame, gave Omad an exasperated yet forgiving look. Omad, she realized, would forever be Omad. She took her place near but not next to Justin at the large kitchen table after pouring herself a cup of coffee. Mosh came in next with Eleanor. From the happy yet exhausted look on their faces one would have been hard-pressed to believe the still frisky couple had been married for nearly four decades. They were followed soon after by Dr. Gillette sans his enormous phallus, at least if the bathrobe was any indication. Thaddeus had spent all of Mardi Gras at an orgy, and only in the great festival's waning hours had he been made aware of what had happened to his most famous client. A few days in the hospital was enough for the doctor to realize what had transpired between his protege and patient. He was smart enough to realize that if he tried to change their minds he'd probably be looking for a new job. His only hope now was to ameliorate what he thought of as "the damage" by working at it from the inside.

Omad chose that moment to introduce his date. "Hey, everyone this is ... er ..." He looked toward the woman who he'd just spent the night with for help.

"Agnes," she answered. She had, noticed Justin, the all too familiar look of a groupie too shy to say a word yet clearly awed by the celebrity. "I mean," she managed to stutter, "when I met Omad I had no idea he was that that Omad. ... I mean, he told me that he was, but you know how many Omads there are out there during Mardi Gras?" Omad. ... I mean, he told me that he was, but you know how many Omads there are out there during Mardi Gras?"

"Indeed," answered Mosh. "I still can't believe he licensed his face."

Neela snickered. "I can."

"Hey," Omad answered, "it was only for a week, and a guy's gotta make a living."

Justin turned toward Agnes. "Please ... continue."

Agnes shrugged. "Still, he seemed like a nice guy, and it was was the last night of Mardi Gras, so I figured, why not? And now, Damsah's ghost, you're all here. It's like in one of those super vids off the Neuro. I mean, I'm only a penny and live in a dump, but you," she said, looking directly at Mosh and Eleanor, "you actually live in a single room." She proceeded to take in the surroundings again as if still not believing her good fortune. the last night of Mardi Gras, so I figured, why not? And now, Damsah's ghost, you're all here. It's like in one of those super vids off the Neuro. I mean, I'm only a penny and live in a dump, but you," she said, looking directly at Mosh and Eleanor, "you actually live in a single room." She proceeded to take in the surroundings again as if still not believing her good fortune.