Anything Goes, Page 3

  ~2~

  My old friend, Lannister Case, our head of security, meets me at the Citadel's broad anteroom with Karl Adler, the president's chief aide.

  Lannister is a vet from the Antarctic war and still bears the scars and limp from three tours of duty he spent defending the Order's water interests. I much prefer his company to the sketchy German bureaucratic cyborg accompanying him. Doctors augmented so much of Karl's body with cybernetics that he's more machine than human now.

  "I don't care how you do it. It needs to be ready by the end of the week," Karl mutters. He looks through me while engaged in a remote conference, via the secure wireless communications module built into his bio-optics.

  "The prodigal son returns!" Lannister declares, raising his beefy arms in greetings. "You know you had us all in a tizzy. With your tracer deactivated, we didn't know what happened to you."

  "That includes me as well, Lan," I smile. "I just came to, alone in the middle of nowhere."

  "I have to go," Karl finishes in a low voice. "See to it, doctor, or you'll be explaining yourself to the president. End transmission."

  Lannister snorts. "That was uncommonly nice of those New Way scumbags to just drop you off unharmed like that. They're not typically ones for pulling childish pranks."

  "The dead bodies of the four men assigned to your security detail suggest they went out of their way to abduct you," Karl injects. "Any idea why?"

  I shake my head. Lannister's skepticism is more amicable than Karl's.

  The security chief produces a badge from his pocket and hands it to me. "You'll need to wear this to move about the building, at least until we get you chipped again."

  I pin the identity badge to my lapel. "Thanks."

  "Follow me," Lannister says. "You're going to medical. They might have grabbed you to access the state secrets in your cyberbrain. If so, there should be some trace of their intrusion."

  You'd best do something about this, Trace cautions. If they analyze your brain and find me, things will not go well for your family.

  What do you mean?

  Let's just call it a little insurance policy. After we removed your tracker chip, we inserted our own into your body.

  I examine my bandaged arm. Karl and Lannister exchange puzzled glances at my odd behavior.

  Not there. It's in your leg. If anything happens to me, the chip stops broadcasting. If that happens, the person we placed inside your estate will put a bullet in your wife and little girl.

  You son of a...

  "Rob? Is everything all right?" Lannister confirms.

  "Hmm? Yeah. I'm fine. I... I'll be with you shortly, okay? I just want to call Janine first. Let her know that I'm all right."

  "We already apprised your family of your recovery," Karl states.

  "Well, I want them to hear it from me," I retort, unable to prevent my dislike for the officious jerk from spilling through. "They're probably worried sick. It'll just take ten minutes."

  "Ten minutes," Lannister nods. He slips his Wireband off and passes it to me. "Here – you can use mine."

  I search for a quiet place to hide while I consider how to dig myself out of this mess. The nearby men's room is as good a place as any.

  The first thing I do after entering is perform a cursory check for feet under the stalls. I have the room to myself. Just my luck that there isn't a window through which I could escape.

  Going somewhere? Trace inquires.

  I stare at myself in one of the mirrors. My reflection looks feral.

  Of course! I can't stay here. You said it yourself – if they find you, my family's dead.

  I also recall saying something about having to complete a mission, or have you forgotten?

  The desperation I feel bleeds through to my inner voice. What do you want from me? The president's not here. Even if you could get past those two, it's not like you can complete your mission anyway.

  I never said I was here to kill the president, Trace replies. You did.

  I freeze, realizing that he's correct. Trace never specifically told me the identity of his intended target. I just assumed it would be President Travis.

  If it's not the president, then who are you after? I ask.

  You have bigger concerns right now. Specifically, getting out of this medical examination before it's too late.

  And then what? I counter. Assuming you succeed, what's preventing your inside man from killing my family anyway? You said this could be a death sentence for us both. If my heart stops, so does your signal. You want my help getting past Lannister and everyone else in here? I want my family safe.

  You're just going to have to take my word for it.

  Not good enough, I snap. Digital chimes ring under my fingertips as I activate the phone interface on Lannister's Wireband and dial my home number. You're going to get on the phone and ask for your man by name. You're to tell him that there's been a change in plans. You say that I'm cooperating with you, because what other choice do I have. He's to leave my house immediately and not return. My family are not your bargaining chips.

  I'm just supposed to take your word that you'll agree to help me once I do this? Trace snarls. I don't think so. Your family's safety is the only guarantee that I have that you'll cooperate.

  The Wireband buzzes as it places the call.

  You're wrong, I reply. My need to get back to them safely is your guarantee. As long as their lives are threatened, we have no deal.

  "Nason residence," Eliza chirps through the Wireband's speakers.

  I burst into a wide grin at the sound of my eight year-old daughter's voice. "Hi sweetie, it's daddy."

  "Daddy!" Over the flurry of my wife excitedly rushing to the phone, Eliza asks, "When are you coming home?"

  "Soon, I hope. I miss you, sweet pea," I reply, my voice choked. "Can you put mommy on?"

  "Yep! Mommy, it's daddy."

  "Love you!" I call as her voice disappears.

  Very well, chancellor. We'll play it your way, Trace grumbles. But I'm warning you – if you try to screw me over...

  However this turns out, I'm already screwed, aren't I? I bite back. I'll be dead or branded a traitor. Either way, my life is over. As long as my family's safe. That's all that matters.

  "Rob?" I wince at the worry in Janine's voice. "Are you okay? They told me what happened."

  "I'm fine, sweetheart. Don't worry. Everything's fine now. I'm safe back at the Citadel."

  "Oh, thank God," she sighs. "Are you coming home soon?"

  I hesitate. "Not for a while. I love you."

  "I love you too... Are you sure everything's all right?"

  "Everything's f–"

  Trace switches off my body in mid-sentence. The biological machine reboots a split second later, without me at the helm.

  "Honey," he says in my voice. "Would you please put Laurie on the phone?"

  Laurie? I cry. Our housekeeper is a New Way spy?

  Janine calls out to the snake in our midst. The thought of our trusted maid pulling a gun on my family burns me up. Her innocent act upon answering the phone only stokes my fury.

  "Mr. Nason?"

  "Don't say anything. Just listen. We're on the contingency plan. Nason is aware of my presence, but I need you to stand down. Authorization: omega, Charlie, one, five, three. Tell his wife that he asked you to pick up a few things for their romantic evening together, and then leave. Do you understand?"

  "Yes, Mr. Nason. You can count on me."

  "Let Ezekiel know that I'm in the Citadel. The operation is proceeding on schedule. I expect target neutralization soon."

  "I'll take care of it."

  "Stay safe, Clara."

  "Goodbye."

  Trace disconnects the call before relinquishing my body back to me. My shock and anger immediately contorts my features.

  Laurie was with New Way? You had a spy in my household for months and nobody knew?

  Focus, chancellor! I did my part. Your family's safe. Now you put an
end to this medical exam so I can get on with my mission.

  "Sure," I mumble. "Okay. Let me think..."

  I mull the situation over in my head. I need a diversion, I realize. Something important enough to call both men away. An emergency.

  Lannister's Wireband gives me the inspiration I need. I start dialing before I have a chance to second-guess myself.

  "9-1-1 Emergency," the female operator hums.

  "Listen to me carefully," I rasp. "I've planted a bomb in the Citadel's parking structure. It will go off in exactly twenty minutes. This is your only warning."

  "Sir–"

  I hang up quickly. I can't believe that I just did that. Until that moment, my worst crime was a moving violation.

  A bomb, Trace muses.

  "It's all I could think of."

  That should work out quite well, actually. The chaos will make my job easier.

  I frown, feeling even more disgusted with myself. "So glad I could help," I mutter.

  I delete the call history from Lannister's PDA before returning to the hallway. The bathroom door is still closing behind me when the Wireband rings in my hand. I return it with a manufactured smile.

  As Lannister listens to the excited voice on the other end, Karl and I watch his mood darken, his eyes widen, and his prospects of salvaging a quiet day out of his hectic morning, dwindle. My poker face gets a good workout as the seconds tick away.

  "I'll be right up. Sound the evacuation alarm. Have six men teams posted at the doors to direct everyone a safe distance, and get out front to provide the bomb squad with a sitrep. Tell Weathers and Polaski to meet me at the garage. We'll scout the area ahead of time."

  He hangs up, visibly shaken. Noticing our curious faces, he announces, "Someone called in a bomb threat. I need both of you out of here. Now."

  Karl's already heading for the door, activating his internal communications software. "I'll inform the president," he says.

  "Go with him," Lannister orders me.

  "I need to check on my people," I reply. "I have to make sure everyone gets out safely."

  "Robert..."

  "Relax, Lan. I've been through enough close calls for one day. I'll be right behind them."

  With no time to argue the point, he nods a grudging agreement before his sprint to the landing bay. I watch him go as the klaxon of the evacuation alarm resounds throughout the building.

  A glance over my shoulder reveals Karl is already out the door before everyone else. He's probably more concerned about the Order's data than its personnel.

  Nicely done, Trace congratulates me. My face sours in response.

  "What now?" I ask.

  Now it's my turn...