“Naturally I’m going to take your word for that. How did you get in?”
“My, but we’re irritable. Generally men who find me like this are eager to do anything besides ask questions. First things first. If we’re going to talk, then I will get thirsty. What are you drinking?”
He glanced at his glass. “A nice Jamaican beverage. Half hot and half cold, a little sweet for most people but it suits me.”
She smiled encouragingly. “I’m sure whatever suits you will suit me. I’ll have some of the same.”
He hesitated, then handed her the glass as she sat up. “Be my guest. I’ll dial another.” He returned to the dispenser.
As she watched him she sipped at the heavy glass. Before the liquid hit bottom she started coughing, her face flushed.
“Whoo! You ought to warn a body.”
“Thought I did. It’s a warning and a warming. Consider it a wakeup call. Are all those real?” He indicated the lavishly tattooed terrain.
She looked down at herself, cradling the glass in both hands. “Some people are artists. I choose to be a canvas.”
“All right, canvas.” He gestured toward the front room. “We’ll try one more time. How did you get in?”
“Oh, all right,” she said irritably. “So it was locked, what of it? The assistant manager I discussed the matter with was susceptible to certain kinds of oriental persuasion.”
“I bet. I’ll have to mention it to him. Later.”
“Don’t be hard on the poor sod. You don’t get many treats in a dead-end job like his. My name’s Suhkhet li Trong. Everybody calls me Sooky.”
“Hiya. I’m the Jolly Green Giant.”
She blinked in confusion. “Who?”
“Skip it. A mythical folk hero from a previous century. You already know who I am, or you wouldn’t be here. You don’t strike me as the type who picks rooms at random in hopes of eliciting a favorable response from the inhabitants. So be a nice girl and tell me what you’re up to.”
“So soon? Don’t you want to tell me what you’re up to?”
“Don’t try my patience.”
“How about something else instead?”
He stepped aside, indicated the doorway. “You can talk or you can toddle. I’m still debating whether to turn you over to hotel security, your no doubt glaze-eyed managerial friend notwithstanding. If you’re trying to convince me that it was my fatal charms that drew you irresistibly to my boudoir, you’d better back up and reconsider.”
She rolled over onto her back and put her hands behind her head, her black hair forming a negative sunburst against the bed linen. “You really want to throw me out? Does that model with the eggplant hair really keep you that busy?” She indicated the Minder. “Or is that chrome ball keeping watch over you?”
“She has nothing to do with it. And my Minder just answers questions.” He moved his jacket and laid it over the end table on the far side of the bed. At his direction, the sphere settled down atop the fabric and the repulsion generator sewn inside.
Do I want to throw her out? he mused. Could always throw her out in a little while. It never pays to be hasty. His alarms remained up.
Disappointed, she sat up and sidled backwards until she was resting against the padded headboard. “I’ve heard about you private operatives. All business. All right, we’ll have it your way.” She couldn’t resist another smile. “Though I think you’d like my way better.”
He sat down on the bed, careful to keep some space between them. “You came in here wanting something, and somehow I don’t think it was me. I know a negotiating ploy when I see one. It’s usually not this blatant, or this attractive.”
“Well! Thanks for the crumb, anyway.” She sighed, rested her hands on her knees. “I’ll get right to the point, even though what I wanted to do from the start was get right to the point.
“I have a pretty good idea who you are and what you’re doing here, and I can help you.”
The alarms started to ring, but they were now muted by other concerns. “I wouldn’t be averse to that.”
“You haven’t been very polite.”
Leaning forward, he kissed several drawings. It gave new meaning to the term “art lover.” She relaxed visibly.
“That’s better. Surely it can’t be too painful for you.”
“You’re very beautiful. And very accommodating. Not being a particularly deserving guy, and the season for gift-giving still a number of months in the future, it makes me wonder what you want in return for your ‘help.’ Not just my nominal attentions, surely.”
“You’re a very impressive specimen, Broderick Manz. But no, not just you.” As he backed off, she took another sip of the glass’s dark contents. Her eyes watered.
“I want a first-class ticket offworld to the destination of my choice, a clean passport, a new traveling wardrobe, Braun-Ives professional surveillance and protection until the halfway flip, and one quarter of a million credits, half to be deposited immediately to an account number I will provide when the time comes.”
He couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice. “That’s all?”
“Don’t bargain with me, mister!” she yelled with unexpected violence. “That’s less than one percent of the value of the shipments already jacked.” She regained control of herself, and her voice dropped. “Look at it like that, and I’m practically giving the information away.”
“How about I wrap you up and take you to meet an official friend of mine?”
“You think the police can get me to say more than howdy? Try again, Manz-man.”
“Why not approach Braun-Roche-Keck openly? Their own reward is half again as much as you’re asking for.”
She eyed him pityingly. “That’s a great idea. I could appear on the evening vid accepting the money. Some of my ‘friends’ would find it real entertaining.”
