«I need to speak to a representative of the Kingdom's External Security Agency,» Eason said. «And please, I don't want the bullshit stalling routine.»
«Sounds reasonable,» Vaughan Tenvis said with a dry smile. «If you're quite sure you want that much honesty. Suppose you tell me why I should allow a known terrorist organization's quartermaster to walk out of here alive?»
«Because I don't want to be the quartermaster any more. And I've done you a favour.»
«Ah. And there I was thinking you were going to threaten me with whatever it is you have in your case. Our sensors couldn't quite get through the magnetic covering.»
«No threats. I just want to do a deal.»
«Go on.»
«The Kulu Corporation is one of the major investors in the Quissico Development Company, that makes it a target for my Party. I came to you because the ESA is more than capable of neutering the Party if it has sufficient reason.»
«Very flattering. But contrary to rumour, we don't go around terminating everyone who has a quarrel with the Kingdom. Bluntly, you're too small and petty to warrant any effort. We monitor you, that's all.»
«Not very well. Our Party acquired some antimatter. The Kulu Corporation's administrative centre on StAlbans is the first intended target.»
«Antimatter . . .» Vaughan Tenvis stared in shock at the case resting on Eason's lap, his hands gripping the side of his chair. «Holy shit!»
The risk of coming to the embassy was worth it, just to see the horror cracking the suave agent's face.
«As I said, I've done you a favour.» Eason put the case on Vaughan Tenvis's desk. «That's all of it. I'm sure the Kingdom has the appropriate facilities to dispose of it.»
«Holy shit.»
«I would appreciate two things in return.»
«Holy shit.»
«One, your agency's gratitude.»
Vaughan Tenvis let out a long breath, and swallowed hard. «Gratitude?»
«I expect to be left alone by you in future, Mr Tenvis.»
«Sure. OK, I can swing that.»
«I'd also like a reward. That antimatter cost the Party eight million fuseodollars. I'll settle for one million. You can pay me in Kulu pounds if you like; and I'll throw in the codes for the confinement systems. I'd hate you to have any accidents with them now we're friends.»
Tenvis paid him in Kulu pounds. With the current conversion rate, he wound up with eight hundred thousand in his bank disk. Not bad for forty minutes' work. Forty minutes to erase his life.
Eason was back on board the Orphée an hour later, after a shopping expedition through the fancy shops of Kariwak's main boulevard. He picked Althaea up, and spun her around, kissing her exuberantly. Tiarella gave him a sour glance as she cast off. He even smiled at her.
The department store's big carrier bag was slapped down on the roof of the cabin with considerable panache. «I bought some essentials,» he said as they were passing the ancient landing craft in the middle of the harbour. Althaea gasped in delight as he pulled out a couple of bottles of champagne, and three crystal glasses. Packs of honey-roast ham followed, then steaks, imported cheeses, exotic chocolates, ice-cream cartons cloaked in frost.
«You'll be sick if you eat all that lot,» Tiarella grunted.
He pulled a face at Althaea, who bit back on her giggles.
«I got something for you, too,» he said. «Actually, for us.» He held out the flat red leather jewellery case.
Althaea opened it cautiously. There were two platinum lockets resting on the black velvet inside.
«It's for hair,» he told her. «You snip off a few strands of your hair for mine, and I do the same for you. If you want.»
She nodded eagerly. «I do.»
«Good.» Finally, he produced a square box, and gave Tiarella a pointedly dubious look before he eased the lid off a fraction to show Althaea what was inside. Her eyes flashed as she saw the tiny white-silk negligée. She hugged him tightly, and licked his ear mischievously. Closer than she had been for a week.
They sat together on the cabin roof, back to back, sipping champagne as Orphée cut through the water. He could feel the tension slipping away as the mainland fell behind.
It wouldn't be long, a month at most, before there was nothing left of the hardliners of the Quissico Independence Party. Vaughan Tenvis was right to say the ESA's main activity was collecting information; but if it ever found a threat to the Kingdom it acted with terrifying efficiency to eliminate it. Nobody would come for him now.
The just cause would go on, of course, led by whoever survived. Moderates and compromisers, those who lacked fire. And in another thirty-five years Quissico would be an independent state, just as the founding charter promised.
One chapter of his life had closed irrevocably. He was free to embrace the new. Tiarella was now nothing more than an annoying irrelevance, one he could ignore with impunity. She was deranged, reading portents in the sky. Althaea belonged to him, and through her Charmaine. Fait accompli . If Tiarella continued to object . . . well, there had already been one boating accident in the family.
It was for the best. He could do wonders with Charmaine; a smart tough new master with plenty of money to invest was exactly what it needed. In a few years the old place would be up and jumping.
«More champagne?» Althaea asked.
He grinned and kissed her. «I think so.»
Tiarella sat behind the desk in her study, dealing from her pack of tarot cards. She was aligning them in the shape of a cross, each one pushed down firmly on the dark wooden surface with a distinct snick.
«I'm going to live here permanently,» Eason told her.
Another card was dealt. «You wouldn't enjoy it, not full-time. Oh, granted you're riding a crest with all these improvements you're making right now. It's all new and thrilling for you. But forty years of hard labour. I don't think you're quite cut out for that, now are you?»
«I wasn't proposing to do it all myself. I'm offering to buy in. I've cashed in my starship ticket, and liquidated some other investments. There's enough money.»
«A dowry. How quaint.» The arms of the cross were laid down methodically, five cards on each side. «The man Althaea chooses won't have to buy his way in. I'll greet him with open arms. He will have Charmaine because she has Charmaine. It's that simple, Eason. Have you asked her if she wants to share it with you?»
«We're virtually engaged. She's mine, and you know it.»
«Quite the opposite. She is not yours. She never will be. Her destiny is with another.»
The sly attitude of superiority infuriated him. He leant over the desk and caught her wrist as the last card was slapped down.
Tiarella didn't flinch at the pressure he exerted.
«Maybe you're jealous,» he said harshly.