“We want to get moving on this quickly,” Canay said. “Great publicity potential. Of course, I’ll need staff support.”
“I’m sure you’ll get it,” she said icily, then turned away from him. “Stephen, I want to talk to you.”
“Can it wait until this afternoon? I wanted to go over some things with Ben.”
“The sooner we get to it, the better.”
“How’s one o’clock?”
“All right.”
“Nice to meet you, Andie.”
“Ditto.” She flashed a furious look at Jeffers, grabbed her notescreen, and strode out of the room.
Fuming, she checked her agenda. Damn! She was already late for the Roosevelt Group meeting.
“Aten, I’ll be out until one,” she said and hurried downstairs.
The Roosevelt Group, comprising representatives from every senatorial staff in Congress, met on the first Tuesday of every month. Part support group, part gossip session, it kept Andie plugged in to the network of political aides that snaked through the halls of power. In her opinion, more policy-making and favor-trading went on here than took place on the floor of the Senate.
Karim was sitting across the room. He winked at her as she walked in.
“Did you hear he’s dating one of Coleman’s aides?” Letty Martin whispered.
Andie frowned. “No. Which one?”
“The blonde.”
She wondered briefly if she’d let a good man get away, but shook off the thought. Karim had been a passing interest. She’d never felt the passion for him that burned in her for Jeffers. But she did miss bouncing ideas off Karim. And she could use his input now.
She plugged her laptop into the jack on the table and tapped in his code. The answer came back quickly.
what’s up?
trouble. talk?
when?
after meeting.
okay.
An hour later, when all the in-jokes and gossip had been swapped, Karim was waiting by the elevator, a quizzical expression on his face.
“So?”
“Let’s take a walk.”
“Are you ’waved? It’s cold outside!”
“Not in the mall.”
“All right.”
The Capitol Mall bubble was a welcome shield from late-
November winds. Busy street traffic and bare lawns and trees awaiting the first snowfall flickered through transparent segments in the blue wall. Andie gazed at them, unseeing, as she walked beside Karim.
“What’s the problem?” he asked.
“I think I was just demoted.”
“What?”
“Jeffers brought in some guy from one of his companies to work with him on special projects.”
“So where’s the demotion?”
“He introduced me to him as his press secretary.”
“Oh.” Karim looked thoughtful. “But I thought you were already his PS.”
“Just as part of my other duties.”
“So you think this new guy is a replacement?”
“Yeah.”
He shrugged. “That’ll teach you to get involved with the boss.”
“Look, Karim, I didn’t ask your opinion to receive a cheap shot.” Andie turned and started to walk away.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He grabbed her arm. “Wait. Is this new guy mutant?”
“No.” Andie said. “Why do you ask?”
“Scuttlebutt has it that Jeffers is loading his staff with mutants.”
Andie stared out at the trees.
“It’s true,” she said grimly. “Three this month. Five last month. You know Caryl quit. She couldn’t take it.”
Karim nodded. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”
“Jacobsen never did this.”
“Well, she had a different approach.”
“What else does scuttlebutt say?” Andie asked.
“Most of the legislation Jeffers has sponsored has been pro-
mutant,” Karim said. “But I think that’s to be expected. Especially after Jacobsen’s assassination.”
“Jacobsen had a less myopic approach.”
“Well, I think Jacobsen was less influenced by special interest groups, especially the one to which she belonged.”
Andie stopped walking. “Are you saying that Stephen is a pawn of the mutants?”
“No. I don’t think so. He might be. But maybe he’s just much more upfront about mutant rights and interests. Why shouldn’t he want mutants on his staff? Who else has ’em in Congress?”
“Davis.”
“That’s one.”
Karim watched her expectantly.
She bit her lip. “That’s it.”
“Look, Andie, I think you’re making too much out of this. If I were a mutant, alone in Congress, I’d probably want some of my fellows working for me. Are you really worried about your job?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t like what I heard this morning.”
“Then ask for clarification. But I don’t have to tell you that. Are you having trouble working with these new staffers?”
“Not yet.”
“Then I think you’re inventing problems where none exist.”
Karim looked at his watch.
“Listen, I’ve got a lunch date.…”
“Thanks, Karim.”
He touched her cheek. “Anytime.”
Andie watched him hurry off. She walked back to the Capitol alone.
A message from Jeffers was waiting for her on her deskscreen: can’t make one p.m. meeting.
Probably at lunch with Canay, she thought. Damn. Andie dialed up the faxletter for December. Might as well get started on it early.
An hour later, Jeffers breezed through the door.
“Andie! Sorry about the delay. Ready for me?”
“That’s an understatement.” She followed him into his office with her notescreen, closing the door behind her.
“Can Ben sit in on this?”
“I think not.”
Jeffers made a mock frown at her. “Sounds serious.”
She rounded on him. “Stephen, what did you mean about my being your press secretary?”
“That’s what you do.”
“It’s an element of my job,” she said sharply. “In addition to research, administration and accounting.”
Jeffers waved his hand dismissively. “Perhaps it was. But you needn’t worry about spread sheets and file keeping. Ben will be handling that.”
“What?”
“Andie, your people skills are far too valuable to waste on paper shuffling and number crunching. I need you in a more people-oriented position.” He leaned forward. “I want you to be full-time media liaison.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.” Andie sat down with a thump. “I’m a lawyer, not a public relations flack.”
“Your legal background makes you even better suited for this role.”
“Stephen, I didn’t come to Washington so I could make chit-chat with video jocks.”
“I know that,” he said sharply. “But what you’re doing is acting as my representative. I can’t think of anything more important than that.”
“I can.”
Jeffers frowned. “Frankly, I’m surprised. I thought you’d want a more visible role.”
“You know I’m more interested in the legislative process than media presentation,” she said.
“Well, there’ll be plenty of opportunity for involvement there as well.”
“When I’m finished talking to ‘Washington Today’ and ‘Goodnight, Japan’?” Andie folded her arms. “Next, I suppose you’ll want me to head up a show on Mutant News and Views.”
“It’s not a bad idea.”
“Stephen.” She paused, exasperated. “I’m joking.”
“Look, Andie. I’ve made up my mind. I want you as media liaison. Are you with me?” His tone was sharp.
She stared at him. Unbidden, a memory from their last time in bed together flas
hed through her mind and, annoyed as she was with him, she felt a prickle of desire. Did she want to quit? Could she leave him? No and no.
“I’m in.”
“Good.” He smiled. “You’ll enjoy it. You’ll see. I’ve left a list of reporters on your screen. Let’s try to get some extra coverage of the debate on the Fairness Doctrine repeal.”
“Fine.” She rose to leave.
Jeffers put his hand on her shoulder. Her heart began to pound as he pulled her back gently against him.
“See you tonight?” he whispered.
She nodded. “Of course.”
He slipped his hands under her jacket, cupping her breasts.
“Let’s go away somewhere, just the two of us,” he said. “I know a lovely hotel on Santorini. We could take a nice, long weekend there around Christmas.”
Andie leaned back against him, her resistance ebbing.
“That sounds nice,” she said.
“Good.”
Jeffers kissed her on the back of the neck and released her. “I’ll have Aten make the arrangements.”
Andie nodded.
Bemused, she walked out the door as Ben Canay breezed past her. He gave her a crooked grin, walked into Jeffers’s office, and closed the door behind him.
19
“SO MELANIE IS alive and hiding somewhere near Washington?” Kelly asked. She snuggled closer to Michael on the green sofa in the McLeod living room.
“So far as I know.”
“Why doesn’t she come home?”
“Either she doesn’t want to or she’s afraid to. Maybe both.” Michael selected an apple from the glass bowl on the black rubber table.
“Will you discuss it at the next Mutant Council meeting?”
“I don’t think so.” He bit into the ripe fruit, then offered it to Kelly. “It’ll just upset my parents.”
“When is the meeting?”
“December fifteenth.”
“That’s early. Only two and a half weeks from now.”
“And I’m backed up with work until then.” he said. “Overtime every night. If I see another schematic on solar-cell factories, I might just develop mental flares myself. This solar reflector job is taking more time than we expected.”
“Isn’t that the deal my dad negotiated?”
“Yeah. Don’t tell him,” Michael said. “I think we’ll still get it finished in time.”
“Okay.” Kelly fidgeted, not meeting his gaze.
“Something wrong?”
She shook her head in a quick, nervous motion. Then she looked up at him hesitantly.
“I told you about the academy,” she said. “What do you think?”
“Do you want to do it?”
She sighed. “I want to do something.”
“Is that a good reason to become a pilot?”
“Mike, I don’t want to be a housewife. Or just another computer operator. At least this gives me options.”
He traced her jawline lightly with the tip of his finger. “I don’t like it that you’ll be so far away,” he told her.
“Denver is a fifteen-minute shuttle ride. I can see you whenever I get leave. And the way you’ve been working these days, you won’t miss me during the week anyway. Besides, I won’t be leaving until June.” Her voice had a pleading tone that made Michael uncomfortable.
“Can you get into the accelerated program?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Why?”
“I just think you ought to consider it. That’ll give us more options.”
She smiled uncertainly.
“All right. I like it when you talk about ‘us.’”
“Me too.” He hugged her gently. “I’ll try to see you before I have to leave for the council meeting.”
“Are you going to discuss Jacobsen’s death again?”
“Probably.”
Kelly squeezed his hand. “It seems so far away now.”
“Not to me. Or to the other mutants. But at least now we have Jeffers.”
“Yeah, I saw a video of him. Cute.” She giggled.
“You just have a weakness for mutant men.” He kissed her gently and felt her heart beating against him. Deftly, he unsealed her tunic and ran a friendly hand over her breasts. Kelly sighed happily. Michael nuzzled her neck, then moved lower, covering each taut nipple with his mouth. When Kelly’s moans began to fill the room, he paused.
“What time did you say your folks will be back?”
“Not for two more hours.” Her eyes were luminous.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
They made love eagerly, teasing and laughing. Kelly reached a gasping climax, thrashing beneath him. Michael closed his eyes, feeling the burning approach of his own orgasm. Suddenly, the image of Jena, naked and provocative, flashed in his mind. He repressed it savagely.
This is my life now, he thought. This. I want this.
His climax, when it came, was a weak one, remote, unfulfilling. But Kelly didn’t seem to notice his momentary hesitation. She curled happily against him and he held her, spoon fashion, for a long time, until her even breathing convinced him she was asleep. Slipping out of bed, Michael dressed quietly and left her to her dreams.
He drove home slowly. The unexpected mental intrusion into his lovemaking troubled him. Had Jena planted a trigger image to plague him? Or did he just miss her?
He stopped in the kitchen and dialed up a Red Jack from the bar inventory. The lid popped with a hiss and he drank the tangy brew in quick, grateful gulps. Once the Mutant Council meeting was over, he could get on with his life. The thought cheered him and he hoisted the silver can in a toast: “To Kelly and me. And the future.”
He finished the can and levitated it into the disposal unit.
On his way upstairs, Michael passed his father’s study. Blue light seeped out into the darkened hallway through a crack between door and frame. He peered in. James Ryton was talking with someone on his deskscreen: Andrea Greenberg. Michael looked at his watch. It was late. Why was she calling at this hour? And why was she talking to his father?
James Ryton made an inaudible comment, Andie nodded, and the screen went dark. Michael knocked gently at the door. His father turned to face him.
“Come in. Just getting home?”
Michael nodded.
“It’s late,” Ryton said. “Don’t put in too much overtime, son. Bad for the brain.” He rubbed his chin. “I’ve just had a most peculiar conversation with Andrea Greenberg.”
“I don’t want to intrude.”
“She wouldn’t mind. I think she might have wanted to talk to you anyway. But she got me instead.”
“What did she want?”
“It’s damned peculiar. She wanted some advice about mutant-nonmutant marriage.”
“Why from you?”
“I suppose she thought there was no one else to go to.” He shook his head. “She thinks she’s in love. With one of us.”
“Really? Who is it?”
“Jeffers.”
“What?” Michael stared at him, nonplussed.
“I was as shocked as you.”
Michael sat down on the plush beige chair by the door.
“Maybe it would be a good thing.”
“For whom?” His father demanded. “I’d expect you to say that, given your romantic inclinations. Frankly, I think it would be disastrous. For him and her. And I tried to discourage her.”
“Why? Intermarriage can work,” Michael said.
His father sighed. “I know you think so. But I’ve never seen a really successful match between mutant and non. There’s always trouble. Besides, Jeffers hasn’t asked her.”
“Now I’m really confused.”
“Well, you’re not alone. I hope that girl isn’t setting herself up for heartbreak.”
“I thought you didn’t like normals.”
“Mostly, I don’t. But she’s a decent sort. I’d regret it if she got hurt. And Jeffers can’t possibly risk alienating his mutant constituency by marrying outside the clan.”
“Maybe it would be a good thing,” Michael said stubbornly. “It could bring everybody closer together. That’s what I think we need to do.”
His father smiled sadly. “The young should always be optimistic,” he said. His voice was gentle. “Of course it could be a fine thing, if it worked the right way. But it won’t.”
Sue Li appeared, yawning, and leaned against the doorway, red kimono wrapped around her. “James, who were you talking to?” she asked.
“Andie Greenberg.”
Michael watched his mother’s eyes narrow in suspicion.
“That woman who works for Senator Jeffers? Why is she calling you again? And so late?”
“She wanted some advice.”
“About legislative matters? Why consult you?”
“It was a personal matter,” Ryton said. “Regarding a mutant.”
“Personal?” Sue Li lingered over the word.
“She’s in love with a mutant,” Michael said.
His mother’s eyebrows arched in surprise.
“Is it Skerry?” she asked.
“No,” Ryton replied. “That’s what I suspected. In a way, that would have made sense, But it’s not Skerry. It’s Jeffers.”
“Jeffers?” Sue Li closed her eyes. “Poor girl.”
Faintly, Michael could hear her telepathic chant for composure.
Sue Li blinked rapidly, then gave Michael a mournful look.
“I wish we were ready for intermarriage,” she said sadly. “Perhaps someday we will be. Come to bed, James.”
She turned and was gone.
“Good night, son.”
Michael’s father patted him on the shoulder and followed his wife down the hall. Michael thought again of Andie and Senator Jeffers. Strange match. But perhaps no stranger than his own. The more mixed couples, the better. He palmed off the light switch and walked in the darkness to his room.
Side by side, the blond woman and red-haired man stared intently at one another, nodding occasionally. Clad in matching brown suits, they swayed gently in their seats, shoulders touching. When they stood up to exit the tube, Andie saw without surprise that their eyes were golden. Just two mutant telepaths communing in public, she thought, and followed them out onto the station platform.