Infomocracy (The Centenal Cycle) by Malka Older

Author:Malka Older [Older, Malka]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780765385147
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2016-06-07T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Ken’s speedboat, a colorfully striped fifteen-foot sloop with large high-efficiency engines hanging off the back, is less than an hour out of Chennai when he gets a call from Xavier.

“Hey, I wanted to thank you for all your help,” Xavier says. His face looks slightly different over the feed, and Ken realizes it’s because the man has actually relaxed. His jaw has loosened enough to allow a breath or two between sentences, and the earpiece is gone. His default expression is a hazy smile. The Preelection Day campaign ban is a wonderful institution. “We appreciate you coming out. It was good to have fresh eyes, and I know you put a lot of effort in when you must have been exhausted.”

“No problem,” Ken says. How nice of this guy to call. He guesses, though, that relaxed though he may be, Xavier’s probably still too amped up to sleep. “It was my pleasure, really. You did a great job.”

Xavier laughs shyly at the praise. “Well, let’s wait for the results. Oh, and by the way, congratulations.” Ken perks up. “I hear Suzuki’s going to make you his personal assistant in the new government.”

Ken can’t speak for a moment, and Xavier, sensing a faux pas, coughs. “Well, that may have been only a rumor … Anyway, I’ll be sure to tell him how impressed I was with your work here.”

Ken mutters his thanks and clicks off while still parsing his reaction. Yes, he’s disappointed. What did he expect, exactly? A real job, he tells himself, disgusted. Something official, in the government. Obviously not a ministry, obviously not a centenal governorship; he’s far too junior for that. He thought he’d be sent to some remote centenal for one of those jobs that seems boring, but you know that later you’re going to see how much you learned from it, ground-up stuff. It would be rough for a couple of years, but he would know that Suzuki was investing in him. If he had been given his choice, he would have picked something at the government level that would keep him bouncing around like he’s doing now. Well, as Suzuki’s personal assistant, he’ll be bouncing around all right. But before, when he was nominally a driver, wasn’t he doing everything a personal assistant would? This is a promotion in name only.

If he takes it.

But what else can he do? This is the problem with not having a real job; when you want to look for another one, nobody knows what you’ve done. His only currency is in the people who interacted with him directly.

Maybe he can ask for a centenal-level job with Xavier or Natalia.

Maybe Mishima can help.

If nothing else, it makes him feel justified in blowing off Preelection Day. And not letting Suzuki tell him whom he can and can’t see.

The boat speeds out of the Palk Strait, the lights of Colombo gleaming and then fading off to the left. In the open sea, the swells climb higher, and the prow slams down on them, sending spray up into Ken’s face, slapping him out of his thoughts.

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