Brother Termite by Patricia Anthony

Author:Patricia Anthony
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 0-15-114422-2
Publisher: Harcourt Brace
Published: 1992-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

20

As Kennedy answered questions, Womack turned and quickly left the East Room, Reen at his heels.

“How could you do this to me?” Reen cried.

On the steps Womack paused, his hand on the banister. “Everything’s coming to a head, termite. There’s blood on the floor in the basement. Watch your back.”

Womack continued his climb. Reen followed. “You tell me to watch my back and then you nominate Kennedy as your vice president? You know when he was president I had him killed. How could you do this?”

“No time, termite. No time.” Womack topped the stairs and scurried for his suite.

Pewter light from the high windows flooded the huge room, On the desk a McDonald’s Happy Meal sat half eaten.

“You know I’m in danger,” Reen protested as he watched Womack rummage through the dry bar’s cabinet. “I was kidnapped yesterday. Don’t you even care? A bomb went off at Dulles right where I was supposed to be. The commuter ship was sabotaged. You were the one who told me to fire Krupner. I cannot help but wonder what the Germans would have told me had they lived. I have been called to appear before a Senate subcommittee. The subpoena is lying in a blackberry bush somewhere in Virginia, and you appoint Kennedy!”

Womack turned, a pistol in his hand. Reen staggered backward. His hip collided with the open door.

Womack’s preoccupied eyes swept past him as though Reen were too insignificant to register. Turning to the mantel, he set the pistol on it. “Forget about the subpoena. I signed the tariff bill. They’re not after you now. Besides, the Senate’s not the problem. Something big is going on. I always tried to do the right thing. Well… nearly always. Do you think history will realize that?”

Although the President seemed to have forgotten about its existence, Reen stared at the pistol. “What are you doing with a gun?”

“Oh, God! I know too much, Termite!” Womack cried. His skin was taut over the bones of his cheeks. His eyes were so wide, Reen could see the halo of white around the irises. “All I wanted was gossip. You know how I love gossip. Now they’re all after me. They know I have proof. So I had to choose a vice president, you see? There’s danger ahead: bogs and quicksand and knee-deep shit. I mean, there comes a time when you have to put politics away and think about duty and morality and all that crap, you know? Jesus. I took an oath, didn’t I? Nobody has the political skills to take my place but Kennedy.” He cocked his head and said wistfully, “I always pictured myself as being a little like Kennedy, you know.”

Reen approached Womack, holding wary hands up. “Sit down, Jeff. Let me call a doctor. Getting upset this way…”

Head still cocked, Womack asked, “Tell me, termite. All in all, don’t you think I was a little like Kennedy?”

“I hated Kennedy,” Reen moaned. “You know that. I can’t believe you’d betray me like this.” Tali.

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