Звезда Пандоры

“Mellanie, darling, I don’t do that anymore. I don’t need to, I have you to do it for me; you and fifty others.”

“Fine, call one of them.”

“We’ve had this discussion before. It’s starting to get boring.”

“I don’t care about the navy budget. It’s hardly going to be a secret, they’ll tell us as soon as it goes to the Senate.”

“God help us! Darling, it’s not that we will know, it’s when we know. I’m the best because I can break news first.”

“But what about my story?” Mellanie almost shouted. “That’s the only one that counts. For God’s sake, we’ve just been invaded, and we can track down the cause. There is nothing bigger than that. I came here to find out who my research team is, when we can start, not to suck some asswiper’s dick for you.”

Alessandra frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“The Starflyer!” Mellanie hissed. “I’m going to track it down.”

“Oh, that nonsense.” Alessandra put her hand on her brow theatrically. “You’re wrong. I had it checked out for you. Cox Educational is completely legit, and still going strong. I think Bunny actually talked to one of the trustees, Ms. Daltra. She assured us their funding is all aboveboard, the accounts are filed with the charity commissioners every eighteen months, as required. Take a look at them if you want.”

“What!” Mellanie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“You were wrong, darling. No big deal. We all make mistakes on the way up. If you want my advice, you should stop screwing Dudley Bose, he’s got a lot of psychological problems. Re-lifers generally do. They get over them eventually.”

“No.” Mellanie shook her head. “No, that’s wrong. Dudley only…”

She trailed off as the real shock hit her, strong enough to raise the goosebumps all along her arms. She gave Alessandra an incredulous stare. It was all she could do not to back away from the woman. “I don’t understand.”

“You made a mistake,” Alessandra told her. Her smile became humorless. “Another one. And I’m not really into this ‘three strikes and you’re out’ crap that the judiciary practices. Frankly, the show’s only keeping you on now because of your report from Randtown. That showed promise. But face facts, darling, you’re not an investigator. God, you’re too dumb even to get to college; everybody goes to college and gets a degree these days. So let’s focus on what you are good at, shaking that shapely little ass of yours at the men I tell you to. Clear?”

Mellanie bowed her head, and even managed a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob. “Yes.”

“Good girl.” Alessandra put her hands on either side of Mellanie’s head, and kissed her crown, as if performing a blessing. “Now why don’t you go and put something nice on for Robin. You know, he asked for you specially. I think he was impressed by Randtown as well. You’re a celebrity now, darling.”

“All right.” Mellanie left the living room, careful to close the door behind her as she went out into the penthouse’s main hallway. “Are their any special safeguards on the front door?” she asked the SI.

“Just the standard security systems and alarms.”

“Great.” She almost bolted to the tall double doors. They opened for her, and she looked wildly around the marbled vestibule outside. There were only three other doors to the remaining penthouses, two lifts, and the stairwell. Her e-butler interfaced with the skyscraper’s management array, and told her the lifts were on their way up. She was too worried that Alessandra would follow her out to wait for them, so she went straight to the stairwell and ran downward. “Get a lift to stop for me on the sixty-second floor,” she told the SI.

It was waiting for her when she burst out of the stairwell. She hopped in, and the doors closed. “Lobby,” she told the SI. “There will be people there, I should be safe.”

“What is the problem, Mellanie?”

She pressed her head against the cool metal walls of the lift, waiting for her racing heart to slow. “I never told Alessandra the name of the charity.”

“It would not be hard for her to discover it.”

“Run a check on it for me again, please.”

“The public records have been amended since last week.”

“Goddamn!” She glanced up, as if expecting Alessandra to be ripping her way through the top of the lift like some psycho in a bad TSIdrama.

“They now show the Cox Educational has been in continual operation since its formation, and is still making donations to various science departments,” the SI said.

“But that’s all forgeries, you know that.”

“We do, but the official records are complete.”

“How did they do that?”

“It is not impossible to subvert public records, especially in the finance sector. Although the effort involved is considerable.”

“She tipped them off,” Mellanie said out loud. “Alessandra told them I was on to them. Onto it, the Starflyer. It had to be her. There’s no one else. It’s her. Oh, God.” Her legs were trembling the way they had when she was facing the soldier motiles in Randtown.

“That is a strong accusation,” the SI said.