anywhere else, several gangsters (all at least five times as powerful as Theo had been), more millionaires than I’d seen in my previous six months in the city.
When the receptionist handed me my pass card, a bemused Capac Raimi gazed up at me, his name, prints and room number lying neatly down the left.
“This is your credit bar,” she told me, tapping a thin metallic line. “Present this at any of the leisure facilities and you’ll be taken care of.”
“How much credit do I have?” I asked.
“Unlimited,” she replied.
“Can I afford this?” I asked Tasso.
“The Cardinal’s picking up the tab.”
“Are all his subjects treated this well?”
“Just his pets. Come on. I’ve a bed to get back to.”
The elevator was ordinary compared with the one in Party Central. Large, modern, clean, but unattended and without dramatic operational procedures.
We got out on the eighth floor. It was a short walk to my room. I ran the card through the scanner at the side. There was a sharp buzz, the door slid open and we entered. It was small, nothing special, a letdown after the glamour of the lobby. A few prints, ordinary carpets, plastic flowers in a vase.
“What do you think?” Ford asked, dimming the lights.
“It’ll do,” I said, trying not to sound disappointed.
“You can order up stuff if you want,” he said. “More pictures. Statues. A four-poster bed. You can even change the carpets. They’ve got a catalogue of extras—you’ll find it in one of the drawers—designed to please.”
That sounded more like it! “At any rate, it’s better than Uncle Theo’s new resting place,” I joked.
“You don’t seem too upset by his death,” Tasso remarked.
I shrugged. “I’d only known him a few months. We were in a dirty business, we knew the risks. It’s the way things go.”
Ford nodded. “You’ve got the right attitude.”
“The Cardinal certainly thinks so,” I said smugly, “and he’s never wrong.”
“No,” Ford contradicted me, “he’s often wrong. But who’s gonna tell him?”
“What do you think he’s got in mind for me?” I asked.
“I don’t know, kid. The Cardinal doesn’t confide in anyone. You learn to live with that and take no offense, or you get out quick. Speaking of which…”
He left and I was alone for the first time that long and unbelievable night.
I moved about the room in a daze, replaying my conversations with Ford Tasso and The Cardinal. At times I was sure I’d dreamed it all, that I’d died by the docks and this was my final dream. I’d wake up any minute and…
I realized I hadn’t been to the toilet in almost—I checked my watch—nine hours! I rectified that, then washed my hands, brushed my teeth and prepared for bed. I was about to climb under the covers when it struck me that, in all my months in the city, I’d yet to watch a sunrise. I dragged a chair over to the window, pulled back the curtains and sat down for nature’s finest show. My head was still spinning and my fingers were shaking from delayed shock. I let my head loll back a moment to relieve the tension in my neck and before I could stop myself I was asleep and the sun was left to rise without an audience.
airiway
A maid woke me at seven to say Sonja Arne was expecting me for breakfast at Shankar’s in forty-five minutes. If I was late, I’d have to go hungry until lunch.
I splashed water over my face, scraped the crust from my eyes, brushed back my hair, didn’t shave—I’d call it designer stubble—sprayed under my armpits, slipped into my gear from the night before and was set to go.
The concierge spotted me in the lobby—I don’t know how she knew me, since she hadn’t been on duty when I arrived—and asked if I required a limo. I said I’d take a cab instead—they were more my style—and one of the bellboys hailed one for me. As I relaxed and stared off into space, I thought I recognized the back of the driver’s head. He looked like the guy
When the receptionist handed me my pass card, a bemused Capac Raimi gazed up at me, his name, prints and room number lying neatly down the left.
“This is your credit bar,” she told me, tapping a thin metallic line. “Present this at any of the leisure facilities and you’ll be taken care of.”
“How much credit do I have?” I asked.
“Unlimited,” she replied.
“Can I afford this?” I asked Tasso.
“The Cardinal’s picking up the tab.”
“Are all his subjects treated this well?”
“Just his pets. Come on. I’ve a bed to get back to.”
The elevator was ordinary compared with the one in Party Central. Large, modern, clean, but unattended and without dramatic operational procedures.
We got out on the eighth floor. It was a short walk to my room. I ran the card through the scanner at the side. There was a sharp buzz, the door slid open and we entered. It was small, nothing special, a letdown after the glamour of the lobby. A few prints, ordinary carpets, plastic flowers in a vase.
“What do you think?” Ford asked, dimming the lights.
“It’ll do,” I said, trying not to sound disappointed.
“You can order up stuff if you want,” he said. “More pictures. Statues. A four-poster bed. You can even change the carpets. They’ve got a catalogue of extras—you’ll find it in one of the drawers—designed to please.”
That sounded more like it! “At any rate, it’s better than Uncle Theo’s new resting place,” I joked.
“You don’t seem too upset by his death,” Tasso remarked.
I shrugged. “I’d only known him a few months. We were in a dirty business, we knew the risks. It’s the way things go.”
Ford nodded. “You’ve got the right attitude.”
“The Cardinal certainly thinks so,” I said smugly, “and he’s never wrong.”
“No,” Ford contradicted me, “he’s often wrong. But who’s gonna tell him?”
“What do you think he’s got in mind for me?” I asked.
“I don’t know, kid. The Cardinal doesn’t confide in anyone. You learn to live with that and take no offense, or you get out quick. Speaking of which…”
He left and I was alone for the first time that long and unbelievable night.
I moved about the room in a daze, replaying my conversations with Ford Tasso and The Cardinal. At times I was sure I’d dreamed it all, that I’d died by the docks and this was my final dream. I’d wake up any minute and…
I realized I hadn’t been to the toilet in almost—I checked my watch—nine hours! I rectified that, then washed my hands, brushed my teeth and prepared for bed. I was about to climb under the covers when it struck me that, in all my months in the city, I’d yet to watch a sunrise. I dragged a chair over to the window, pulled back the curtains and sat down for nature’s finest show. My head was still spinning and my fingers were shaking from delayed shock. I let my head loll back a moment to relieve the tension in my neck and before I could stop myself I was asleep and the sun was left to rise without an audience.
airiway
A maid woke me at seven to say Sonja Arne was expecting me for breakfast at Shankar’s in forty-five minutes. If I was late, I’d have to go hungry until lunch.
I splashed water over my face, scraped the crust from my eyes, brushed back my hair, didn’t shave—I’d call it designer stubble—sprayed under my armpits, slipped into my gear from the night before and was set to go.
The concierge spotted me in the lobby—I don’t know how she knew me, since she hadn’t been on duty when I arrived—and asked if I required a limo. I said I’d take a cab instead—they were more my style—and one of the bellboys hailed one for me. As I relaxed and stared off into space, I thought I recognized the back of the driver’s head. He looked like the guy
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