Operation Chaos and Operation Luna by Poul Anderson

Author:Poul Anderson [Anderson, Poul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504053693
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2018-09-18T16:50:49+00:00

11

THOUGH THE NEXT DAY WAS A SATURDAY, GINNY AND I both went to work. Rather, she let her clients know she was again available and received a couple of them, while I flitted to Cardinal Point.

The place looked and felt forsaken. It had bustled the week around, but now little went on other than housekeeping and bookkeeping. Most staff were on leave, which they feared might turn into layoff. It certainly would if Project Selene didn’t get an appropriation to pay for a second try. Congress was in adjournment, its members presumably back home taking the pulses of their constituents. They’d reconvene in September to take the purses. What news and commentary I’d followed thus far made it seem unlikely that much largesse would flow our way.

Even so, security was as tight as Torquemada. Four armed guards stood under improvised sunshelters around the three-quarters-empty parking lot. Maybe it was only a late arrival breaking their boredom that caused their gazes to stalk me, but I didn’t appreciate being an instant suspect. At the gatehouse, where I’d hitherto simply picked up my badge, the man said, “I’m sorry, but we’ve got a new procedure. Please come in for identification.”

“What?” I replied. “You know me, Gitling.”

“Sure I do, Mr. Matuchek. But it’s the rules. We, uh, have to make sure no Seeming or, uh, anything gets by.”

“Good Lord, somebody disguised? Whatever for?”

“Sorry, sir. No exceptions. Orders from Washington, they tell me.”

An offside room had been rigged as an inquisitory. A witch ran a dowser over me while chanting a disspell, took my thumbprint and did the same for it, had me sign my secret name and waved a doppel of it above till the paper flapped in response. (Not my real secret name, of course; the one given me when I came to work here.) “How much blood do you need?” I snorted.

“None, sir, seeing you passed the prelims.”

She was young and cute, which took the edge off my annoyance, and sounded very tired, which roused my sympathy. “Rough job, huh?” I asked.

“Not too bad anymore. But when the order first went into effect—employees, consultants, investigators, press, politicians—especially the press and the politicians.”

“Yeah. Those’d scream to high heaven. At least they don’t agree on which class of ’em owns the universe. But I suppose by now this bottleneck has reduced the flood a lot.”

She nodded. “Essential people mainly, I guess.”

“And I guess it hasn’t helped the project’s popularity one bit. Of all the officious official idiocies—What the devil is left to sabotage? I’d like to know what al-Bunni had to say about it.”

Her lips twitched. “I heard tell of, er, ‘grandfather of a thousand mangy camels.’”

“Which must have been in English. I understand Arabic gets more eloquent. Well, cheerio, sort of.” I took my badge from her and left. She’d told me getting out was still uncomplicated.

The weather had mildened. Clouds moved stately over a sky from which spilled light that was merely radiant. A hedge of southernwood gave off a pungent scent as I brushed against it, like a friendly, hopeful message.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.