“Skerry, stop brooding about it. Jeffers might not be so bad. And we need somebody in that Senate seat.”
“I suppose. Better him than Zenora.”
“What is it between you two, anyway?” Michael reached for the pitcher.
“Three years ago, she made a pass at me after the big meeting.”
“Zenora?!”
Skerry nodded. “Too much to drink or something. Maybe she and Halden were having problems. Who knows? At first, I tried to ignore her. But she was pretty persistent. Finally I took her up on it. Hey, don’t look at me that way, kid. It happens. And it was pretty good between us, too. But I ended it, eventually. I knew it meant trouble. Tried to let her down easy, but she wasn’t happy about it. Still isn’t. It’s one of the reasons I stay away. Scorn a mutant at your own risk, I guess. Don’t tell Halden, okay?”
“Sure.” Privately, Michael thought the image of his tall, dignified aunt coming on to a younger man, especially Skerry, was hilarious. And painful. He also suspected that Halden knew all about it. There were few secrets in the clan.
“Well, what’s your plan now?”
“Canada.” Skerry put down his empty glass with a bang. “I’m heading up north in a couple of days. Wanted to know if you were interested. Could use your talent. You know that job at your old man’s firm bores the piss out of you.”
Michael nodded ruefully. “Isn’t that the truth.”
“So come along.”
Michael paused, glass raised halfway to his mouth. What temptation, he thought. Leave home and clan behind for good. Stop worrying about government contracts and mutant traditions.
Skerry leaned toward him. “There’s a group of us who stay in touch about mutant business. A nice underground network. But with Jeffers in Washington and the Mutant Union flexing its muscles again, we’ll be burrowing even deeper. He’ll have to be watched. And there’s still this supermutant threat.”
“It sounds interesting,” Michael said. He put down his glass. Why not? he thought. Why not leave? Work with Skerry. Live outside the narrow confines of the mutant world. He was almost going to say yes when he thought of Kelly. He remembered the satin feel of her skin. Her eyes twinkling as she smiled. The way her laughter warmed him, inside out. Leave her? He couldn’t do it.
Skerry frowned, his mouth twisting to one side. “Don’t bother to tell me. I know, you’re worried about that little normal you’re glowing for. Dammit, Mike, stop thinking with your hormones!”
“I’d miss her,” Michael said, cheeks reddening.
“You’ll forget her in six months,” Skerry said. “And you’ll meet real women. Exotic, exciting, and experienced.…”
“Forget it, Skerry. It’s not for me. At least, not now.”
A number flashed in Michael’s head, green numerals winking against his eyelids.
“If you change your mind, you can leave a message for me here. Think about it, Cuz. Adios.”
The air around the table wavered. Michael blinked. He was alone in the booth. He sighed, finished his kimmer and paid the mech at the register.
A blue, snub-nosed skimmer was sitting in the driveway when he got home and the front door to the house was unlocked. Feeling uneasy, he entered the house carefully.
The speakers in the living room gave out an unfamiliar, pulsing chant, almost inaudible. Michael frowned. He could smell the acrid scent of joystick. The lights were so dim that he could barely make out the figure of a woman sitting on the couch.
“Mel?”
A silvery giggle was his only reply.
“Kelly?”
“No, silly, it’s me, Jena.” She stood up and walked toward him. She wore a tight blue plaskin jumpsuit, which showed off her long legs and slim figure. Her blond hair hung loose to her shoulders. Her golden eyes glittered like coins.
“Have a joystick,” she said.
“How did you get in here?”
“Your parents called and gave me the door combination. Said I should look in and see how you were.” She sat down again, crossing her legs. She was wearing black, high-heeled boots. The air was thick with joysmoke, making him dizzy.
Slowly, Michael sank down onto the couch, confused. The kimmers he’d had with Skerry were buzzing through his head. The chant had a hypnotic, compelling quality. He noticed that Jena’s jumpsuit shaded from opaque to translucent just above her nipples. A small voice in his head wondered what it would be like to lick his way beneath that jumpsuit, trailing along all that tawny skin.…
“When will your folks be back?”
“Tuesday.”
Uncrossing her legs, Jena slid closer to him on the couch, handing him a joystick. He bit down on the end and felt the familiar joyrush sweep him up. After a moment, he leaned back against the cushions, vision blurred. Jena moved even closer, pressing against him.
“So how are you?” she asked. Her voice was husky.
For a moment, Michael hesitated, thinking of Kelly. Then the rhythmic pulse of the chants absorbed him. What the hell, he thought. Kelly was miles away. Jena was next to him, willing and most likely ready. Kelly would never have to find out, he thought, as he put his arm around Jena.
Soft. Gods, she was soft. That jumpsuit felt like silk. Like skin. He ran his hand down her arm, to her waist, then back up, fingers reaching toward even more yielding softness. He pulled at the neckline of her jumpsuit, felt it open, ran an exploratory finger beneath it. Her nipples were hard. Jena sighed and pressed against his hand.
Michael kissed her, feeling her lips part, tongue darting toward his. The kiss seemed to go on forever, the chant throbbing, Jena moving rhythmically against him. Awareness, like ripples on a pond, flowed outward, swirling in a circle of sensation and the beating of his blood. When he opened his eyes, he was lying on top of Jena on the couch. Their clothes were heaped on the floor.
The insistent lapping of invisible tongues ran along his skin, seeking out each secret place, each sensitive nerve ending, making him moan with pleasure. Jena was leaning back on her elbow, watching him lazily from half-closed eyes.
“Do you like that?” she whispered, smiling a cat’s smile.
A thousand erotic images danced in his head, a sensual mandala encircling him in flame. He dug his hands into the cushions, heart beginning to pound.
“Jena…my God…”
“Actually, your parents didn’t call me,” she said gleefully. “I called them at Halden’s and told them I was concerned that you were alone.”
“”You did?”
“Sure. Besides, I knew Kelly was out of town.”
“You knew?” Michael tried to concentrate on what she was saying. But it was difficult.
She chuckled. “Of course. I thought you might be lonely.” She put her hand between his legs, lazily stroking. He arched up to meet each caress.
“I can see I was right.” When she withdrew it, the stroking continued. Michael wanted to tell her she wasn’t the one for whom he longed. And he bit his lip to keep himself from telling her not to stop.
“Can your normal girlfriend do this? Can she reach inside and find what you like best, and how, and when, then do it to you, intensified a thousand times, without even touching you?”
Michael began to sweat beneath her invisible witch touches. He became white hot, molten.
“I didn’t know you were a double…” he gasped.
The cat smile deepened. “Yes. Telepathic and telekinetic. Your parents were right. We’d make a good pair. Good genetic material.” She giggled as she said it. “Maybe we’d even produce that supermutant they’re all so hot for.”
“But to reach inside is forbidden.…”
“Only if they find out…and are you going to tell them at the next meeting about how I reached into your mind and gave you more pleasure than you’ve ever had before?” Jena almost purred. Invisible hands were busy between his legs, teasing, maddening, working him slowly into a frenzy.
The mandala began to rotate, to writhe as multiple coruscating images of Michae
l and Jena engaged in gasping acts of passion, a living frieze from an Indian temple made of light. Now he was above her, now behind. Here she knelt before him, there she entwined him like a snake.
“I know you’re not interested in me. Not now,” Jena said softly. She slid down between his legs and slowly began to lick him. Michael hissed with pleasure and closed his eyes. “But you’ll remember this. Each time you’re with her, you’ll know what it can be like with me. And you’ll want me, too. You’ll see.”
Michael pulled Jena up, covered her mouth with his own to stop her from talking. She opened her legs and with a thrust he was inside her, moving, hearing a roar building in his head as he sped toward his climax. He told himself she was wrong. After this night, he would never think of her again. He tried to keep Kelly’s image in his mind, but she was blurring, fading, and when he came, crying out, one of a dozen Michaels in an enchanted witch tapestry, gasping, spasming, he didn’t know which girl’s name he called.
The screen buzzed. Andie ignored it. She wanted to finish her notes for Stephen on mutagen research in Brazil for the subcommittee report.
The buzz repeated.
“Caryl?”
No response. Probably on a break.
Andie swore and punched what she thought was the autoresponse key, but missed and hit the answer key instead. The screen lit up to show Karim staring at her.
“Andie?”
“Oh, hi, Karim. I’m really busy right now.…”
“I’m sure you are. But this is important.”
Andie sighed, trying not to sound as exasperated as she felt. The last thing she was in the mood for was a conversation with Karim. “Okay, what’s up?”
“What do you mean?”
Karim frowned. “Look, I’d rather discuss this privately, but ever since your new boss arrived, that has been not only difficult, but nearly impossible. Can we have lunch? A drink? Meet in the corridor for five minutes?”
“Karim, I’ve got to get these notes finished.”
“Please, Andie.” He looked so vulnerable, she didn’t have the heart to brush him off. She checked her schedule. She could meet him while Stephen went over her notes.
“How about in forty-five minutes?”
“Fine. At Henry’s?”
“See you there.”
An hour later, Andie hurried into the café. Those notes had taken longer than she’d expected. The main room was half filled despite the fact that it was long past lunchtime. Andie felt sweaty and uncomfortable as she settled into her seat. Karim nodded coolly.
“Thought you’d never get here.”
“Sorry I’m late.”
He handed her a menu. “Have something to eat?”
“Thanks, I had a sandwich at my desk.”
“A drink?”
“Just coffee,” she said, dialing the order into the compubar.
Karim looked at her for a moment. As the silence stretched, she began to feel uncomfortable. “Do I have soya in my teeth?”
“No, I’m just wondering what’s going on.”
“What do you mean?”
Karim leaned forward, eyes hard. “Andie, I haven’t seen you in three weeks. I’ve scarcely talked to you. Don’t you think that’s strange?”
She started to twist her hair around her finger nervously. “Well, I’ve been busy—”
“Bullshit. You were never so busy you didn’t have time for me when Jacobsen was around. But bring in some handsome mutant and suddenly I’m a stranger.”
Andie smiled nervously. “Karim, I think you’re jealous.”
“Perhaps. But I thought we had something going that was pretty nice. After Rio, I thought—”
“C’mon, Karim. That was just Rio. The stars, the music—it makes you a little crazy. We had some fun. It was very nice. But now we’re back in Washington.”
“I don’t see it that way.”
Andie groped for words. “Um, Karim, you know we can’t afford to take this kind of thing seriously. We’re both much too busy.”
He frowned. “I thought we both agreed on the dangers of taking our jobs too seriously. Especially after Jacobsen’s death.”
“Well, I’ve found that work helps the healing process. And my boss keeps me busy.”
“Yes, I’m sure he does.”
Andie’s cheeks reddened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Karim looked disgusted. “I’m not naive, Andie. Anybody can see you’ve got a thing for your boss. And we know how hard infatuated staffers work.” He paused, took a sip of Campari. “Yes, Jeffers is certainly busy. I read about his Mutant Union bill in the Congressional Record. He’s not wasting any time, is he? Building support for repeal of the Fairness Doctrine. Angling for an appointment to the Appropriations Subcommittee. He’s been courting Senator Sulzberger, the majority leader, and even the VP.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing, especially if you’re a shark interested in diverting funds to special interests.”
“Mutant rights.”
Andie felt sweaty again. “I resent that. It sounds like antimutant bigotry. Stephen’s not a shark. He’s just more capable. More committed. He works so hard because he cares so much.”
Karim whistled. “You’re beginning to sound like your own press releases.”
“Don’t be such a cynic, Karim.”
“Especially about Stephen, right?” Karim’s voice was cold with anger. “You really have changed, Andie. I thought you had more perspective. Sorry I’ve taken up your valuable time.” He stood up.
“Karim. Wait.” Andie bit her lip as she watched him walk away. She told herself Karim was just being childish, making more out of a summertime fling than had really existed. She ignored the insistent voice that told her she missed him already. Besides, Jeffers was going to address the Senate about the Jacobsen murder investigation in half an hour. She didn’t have time to deal with Karim’s pout.
Andie hurried back through the late September sunshine and got to her seat in the chamber with a couple of minutes to spare. Senator Sulzberger was wrapping up what must have been a lengthy filibuster against Bill 173, the bill intended to protect Marsbase against commercial exploitation. His mission accomplished, Sulzberger sat down.
Eagerly, Andie watched as Jeffers, clad in a hand-tailored gray suit, strode to the podium. He put down his notes, and looked around the room.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, I think you’ll agree with me that this investigation has gone on too long,” Jeffers said. “I demand that we find some answers to the murder of my predecessor. To allow this case to linger shows a shocking lack of diligence. Is this the message we want to send forth? That a member of this august body can be killed with impunity?”
He stalked the floor of the Senate like a jungle cat, Andie thought. Visions of campaign slogans waltzed before her. Stephen was good, very good. Election would be a cinch next year. And, eventually, maybe even higher office. If only Jacobsen had possessed his charisma. Instead of death threats, Andie was counting the fan mail. Even the nonmutants loved him. The scholarship fund hadn’t hurt him, nor had his establishment of the Co-op Foundation. There was already talk of summer games displaying mutant talents.
“Mediagenic,” Karim had said with a certain smirk after he met Jeffers. Well, that was undeniable. And what was wrong with being charismatic? It just made Stephen more effective at his job. And he was very good at his job. He’d pounded three bills through having to do with mutant business, and was already being courted by other senators for support.
Applause shook her out of her reverie. She wasn’t surprised that Jeffers’s colleagues were applauding him. He flashed a grin, made a self-deprecating remark, and hustled back toward his seat, winking at her.
Next on the agenda was the subcommittee report on the Brazil trip. Craddick presented their findings with some additional comments by Jeffers. Horner was abs
ent, which apparently caused little discomfort among his colleagues. Andie had been over the material so many times she couldn’t help tuning out most of Craddick’s statements. She came awake, however, when she heard Jeffers’s voice.
“I concur with the findings of the subcommittee. Because there is a lack of substantive evidence, I cannot recommend further investigation at this time.”
Huh? Andie rubbed her eyes. She’d expected Jeffers to issue a ringing call for immediate action. She’d shown him all of her notes. Even the memorypak. How could he just sit there nodding, saying there was no evidence to support additional investigation? She’d expected Craddick and Horner to remove any potentially inflammatory material from the report. But Jeffers? Fuming, Andie went back to the office to await her boss.
“That went well.” He grinned. “Better than I’d hoped.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Andie retorted. “Your comments on the subcommittee’s report were certainly a surprise to me.”
Jeffers looked at her uncertainly. “You sound upset.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“I thought you were going to demand further investigation of the genetic experiments in Brazil.”
“How could I? The hysteria surrounding Jacobsen’s assassination still hasn’t died down. To confirm that in fact there may be more mutants, supermutants even, coming soon, would just fan the flames. Even I can’t risk doing that, Andie.”
“So instead you sweep this under the Senate rug.”
“I’m not entirely convinced there’s as much there to investigate as you think there is.”
Andie was about to say that other mutants felt differently. But a small voice in her head told her to avoid it. This was mutant business, and she was an outsider.
“Well, I wish you’d pursued it a bit more vociferously.”
Jeffers reached down, took her face in his hands.
“Andie, I’m sorry. I disappointed you. And this really meant a lot to you, didn’t it? Listen, how about if we have a drink at seven, then talk it over at dinner?”
Andie’s heart pounded. All right.”
Three hours later, they were sitting in the plush, dimly lit dining room of a two-star French restaurant on Avenue M.