orchestra played for him.
Jo murmured drowsily, “Go to sleep.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t think it was loud enough to bother you.”
“Big day tomorrow.”
“I know. My surprise party.”
She bolted up to a sitting position, suddenly wide awake. “Who told you?”
“You did.” He laughed softly. In the shadowy darkness, Jo’s naked body was washed by the pale moonlight, her skin glowing warm. He could not see the expression on her face, so he reached up and pushed back her shining dark hair.
“The household staff has been fussing and making phone calls for a month or more. You cut short your stay in Washington to come home in time for tomorrow. And you just told me tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”
Jo leaned over him. “You’re the only one in this house who knows how to keep a secret.”
“I have no secrets from you, Jo. You know that, don’t you?”
Nodding, she began to tell him of her conversation in the limousine with Hsen and Kruppmann. Stoner listened patiently, quietly until she finished.
“About what I expected,” he said at last. “They’re not interested in the global picture. They only see their own needs.”
“Their own selfish interests.”
“They just don’t understand what’s going on. Maybe they don’t want to understand. They want the power to control events, to keep themselves at the top of the heap. They don’t understand that it’s not a zero-sum game anymore. The world’s economy is completely interlinked; it’s not even just a global economy, not if you consider the Moon and the asteroids and the factories in Earth orbit. If the Third World gets richer, we all get richer. That’s what they don’t see.”
“They’re willing to commit murder,” Jo said.
Stoner gave a bitter little laugh. “If they’re willing to bankroll wars and insurrections, what’s the murder of one man to them?”
“But it’s you they want to kill!”
“They don’t know who I am,” Stoner said, “and it won’t be easy for them to find out. Especially when I have such an excellent Mata Hari in their camp.”
“I can’t protect you forever, Keith. There’s no such thing as absolute security.”
“I’m more concerned about you,” he said. “How serious is their move to take over Vanguard?”
She shrugged her naked shoulders. “I don’t know yet. But they’ll get their guts ripped out if they try to take over my corporation.”
Stoner chuckled in the darkness. “That’s my woman! What’d Business World call you: ‘The tigress of the corporate jungle.’”
She laughed too, but there was anxiety behind it. “Keith, I can handle the corporate battles. And I can balance Baker and his Third World friends against the corporate interests on the IIA. It’s you I’m frightened about.”
“I’ll be all right.”
In the darkness her voice took on a sharper, harder note. “Don’t you understand? Hsen’s out to kill you! I’m going to strike first, before he gets the chance…”
“And be just like him? What good would that do?”
“It’ll keep you alive, Keith!”
He shook his head. “Hsen is not the enemy. He’s just acting out of fear.”
“Dammit, Keith! Sometimes you carry this sainthood crap too far!”
Startled, “Sainthood?”
Jo was immediately sorry. More softly she said, “Okay, so I’m a tigress. I know you’re not a tiger, Keith. Not a street fighter. But you’ve got to protect yourself, got to let me protect you.”
Stoner countered, “Look. Even if you could kill Hsen someone else would take his place. So there’d be another assassin coming after me, with the added excuse of avenging Hsen’s murder.”
Jo said nothing, but he could feel her body tensing, like a true jungle cat just before it springs.
“Deliberately killing a human being is the worst thing you can do, Jo. Not because there’s a rule against it written in some book, but because it always leads to more killing. Because the human race
Jo murmured drowsily, “Go to sleep.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t think it was loud enough to bother you.”
“Big day tomorrow.”
“I know. My surprise party.”
She bolted up to a sitting position, suddenly wide awake. “Who told you?”
“You did.” He laughed softly. In the shadowy darkness, Jo’s naked body was washed by the pale moonlight, her skin glowing warm. He could not see the expression on her face, so he reached up and pushed back her shining dark hair.
“The household staff has been fussing and making phone calls for a month or more. You cut short your stay in Washington to come home in time for tomorrow. And you just told me tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”
Jo leaned over him. “You’re the only one in this house who knows how to keep a secret.”
“I have no secrets from you, Jo. You know that, don’t you?”
Nodding, she began to tell him of her conversation in the limousine with Hsen and Kruppmann. Stoner listened patiently, quietly until she finished.
“About what I expected,” he said at last. “They’re not interested in the global picture. They only see their own needs.”
“Their own selfish interests.”
“They just don’t understand what’s going on. Maybe they don’t want to understand. They want the power to control events, to keep themselves at the top of the heap. They don’t understand that it’s not a zero-sum game anymore. The world’s economy is completely interlinked; it’s not even just a global economy, not if you consider the Moon and the asteroids and the factories in Earth orbit. If the Third World gets richer, we all get richer. That’s what they don’t see.”
“They’re willing to commit murder,” Jo said.
Stoner gave a bitter little laugh. “If they’re willing to bankroll wars and insurrections, what’s the murder of one man to them?”
“But it’s you they want to kill!”
“They don’t know who I am,” Stoner said, “and it won’t be easy for them to find out. Especially when I have such an excellent Mata Hari in their camp.”
“I can’t protect you forever, Keith. There’s no such thing as absolute security.”
“I’m more concerned about you,” he said. “How serious is their move to take over Vanguard?”
She shrugged her naked shoulders. “I don’t know yet. But they’ll get their guts ripped out if they try to take over my corporation.”
Stoner chuckled in the darkness. “That’s my woman! What’d Business World call you: ‘The tigress of the corporate jungle.’”
She laughed too, but there was anxiety behind it. “Keith, I can handle the corporate battles. And I can balance Baker and his Third World friends against the corporate interests on the IIA. It’s you I’m frightened about.”
“I’ll be all right.”
In the darkness her voice took on a sharper, harder note. “Don’t you understand? Hsen’s out to kill you! I’m going to strike first, before he gets the chance…”
“And be just like him? What good would that do?”
“It’ll keep you alive, Keith!”
He shook his head. “Hsen is not the enemy. He’s just acting out of fear.”
“Dammit, Keith! Sometimes you carry this sainthood crap too far!”
Startled, “Sainthood?”
Jo was immediately sorry. More softly she said, “Okay, so I’m a tigress. I know you’re not a tiger, Keith. Not a street fighter. But you’ve got to protect yourself, got to let me protect you.”
Stoner countered, “Look. Even if you could kill Hsen someone else would take his place. So there’d be another assassin coming after me, with the added excuse of avenging Hsen’s murder.”
Jo said nothing, but he could feel her body tensing, like a true jungle cat just before it springs.
“Deliberately killing a human being is the worst thing you can do, Jo. Not because there’s a rule against it written in some book, but because it always leads to more killing. Because the human race
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