Goldengirl

Serafin walked him slowly into the open area away from the buildings. Purple mountain peaks surfaced above the tall fence to their right. Dryden stopped and stared about him.

‘Is something wrong?’ Serafin asked.

‘In a way, yes. The wood fencing over there. I’m positive I saw it in your film yesterday. The shots of Goldengirl running.’

‘So you did.’

Dryden laughed uncertainly. ‘Well, what have you done with the running track?’

‘I see,’ said Serafin, with a rare smile. ‘We rolled it up, like a carpet. It’s an all-weather strip, made to Tartan’s specifications. They supply them to schools and colleges that use the same ground for a number of different sports. It’s at the end, there.’ He pointed to a cylindrical object the size of a large roll of newsprint. It was mounted on a winch at one end of the enclosure. ‘We roll it up when it isn’t in use, in case of aerial surveillance. But it’s a genuine all-weather surface, I assure you. If that’s all that puzzled you—’

‘There is something else,’ said Dryden. ‘I don’t see any gate in the fence. How do you’ — he flapped his hand — ‘come and er...?’

‘As you did, Mr. Dryden. By helicopter. Does it make you feel immured? We are all in the same situation up here. You see, there isn’t a road within six miles, so we have no use for a gate. If somebody should pass by, the absence of a formal entrance discourages them from calling. We can let a ladder down if anyone from here develops an urge to go mountaineering, but I haven’t included anything like that in this weekend’s itinerary.’

‘I didn’t pack my climbing boots,’ said Dryden with a deadpan expression.

‘That’s all right, then. Tell me, how did the press-conference simulation strike you?’ Serafin had come to the point at the first opportunity. He was almost childishly eager to learn how his party tricks had been received.

‘Ingenious,’ answered Dryden. ‘Top marks to the effects department. That’s a clever young man you’ve hired, that Mr.—’

Serafin brushed that aside. ‘What did you think of Goldengirl?’

‘She’s a most attractive—’ Dryden began.

‘Her handling of the questions,’ Serafin insisted. ‘Were you satisfied with the way she dealt with them?’

Dryden opened his hands in a gesture that conveyed nothing. His experience as a negotiator told him he had the edge on Serafin at this moment. Handled properly, the situation might yield something of interest.

‘I have to give you credit,’ Serafin went on without waiting for a response. ‘You caught her off balance with one of your questions, and I believe it wasn’t pure chance. It was perspicacious on your part to notice how she has been taught to respond. That was quite evident from the way you rephrased your second question.’ He waited, his eyes boring into Dryden’s, seeking confirmation before committing himself further.

It was necessary to give a little. ‘I thought it was possible she was producing her best responses when certain trigger words came up. The way she reacted to being called the greatest woman athlete: a predictable question, but the answer was smooth, really smooth. On “sacrifices” she was ready with her remark about things you can do after dark, and when Russia was mentioned, out she came with her three Russian words. I ask a question on altitude and she earns a laugh with her six foot two. I think, Let’s try her with a trigger word she’s already had, so I come in with “commerce,” which has already produced a slick remark about the Wall Street Journal. She sidesteps me the first time, but I come again and...’ He shrugged.

‘You had the undoubted advantage of knowing it was a simulation exercise,’ Serafin reflected aloud. ‘If you had been in Moscow in the actual situation of an Olympic press conference, you would almost certainly not have detected the method. However, it’s obviously something Lee must put right. I’m glad it came up.’

‘I wouldn’t have guessed she had her answers ready from the way she put them over,’ Dryden said to soften the blow. ‘If she doesn’t get her gold medals, you could always nominate her for an Oscar.’

Serafin’s expression froze. ‘If that is intended as a joke, it doesn’t amuse me. You must understand that we think in positive terms here, Mr. Dryden. We should achieve nothing if we did not. The very fact that we hold a session like that is proof of our confidence. Believe me, we should not have gone to the trouble and risk of bringing you into our confidence if we were not counting on success. You are privileged this weekend to see the last coat of polish applied to an artifact master craftsmen have taken years to shape. Years. Your function — if you have one in regard to Goldengirl — will simply be to market her. I do not expect you to comprehend the work we have put into this, but I would have thought you might have sufficient respect to refrain from cheap humor of that sort.’