Chimes sounded in Thia's head while purple blinked in her periphery. A cog from Dran. At 4:30 in the morning? She winked, answering the cog.

“I’ve got your damned analysis,” he said.

     Even through her grogginess, Thia grinned. “Pay back for my disrespect. All right, Dran. Send it on.”

     Dran made an exaggerated show of tapping his finger on his desk. Thia opened the file and waded as best she could through the technospeak. As far as she could gather, the object induced increased theta waves in the brain, which were “associated with relaxation, meditative states and reduced anxiety. Including (if to be believed,) Extrasensory Perception. The amount of cosmic radiation is not harmful for short (<24 hours) periods of exposure at distances greater than 1 foot.”

     She sighed in relief. If all it did was induce a meditative state, she should be fine. As if on cue, she yawned and noted the time in her periphery. Turned over and went back to sleep.

****

     Thia sat at breakfast at the dining table in her suite, reading the news. Gubernatorial elections for Guangdong were underway, with five candidates running for the office. She noted that two of the candidates were Triad members, and either would most likely win, having greased the palms of the right political figures. Same old politics.

     The time, 9:00 a.m., blinked in her periphery, just as the outer edges of her vision staccatoed orange, signaling an incoming cog. Her avatar answered, an image of herself in a black pant suit sporting a bob and dark shades. Jing’s face appeared in her display, grinning.

“Good morning, my dear.”

“Nice to see you up and about after last night.” She answered seductively, making a growling noise to emphasize the ruse.

     Jing hesitated. “You…remember last night?”

“Of course. You were an animal, demanding more and more. I had to leave, for fear you would break me in two!”

“It’s a bit hazy to me,” he said. “Plus…” But his voice trailed off.

“Well, you did have a lot to drink in celebration of our deal.”

“Yes…I woke up with a hangover, hearing other people’s voices in my head. It was hours before I realized I was hearing their thoughts.”

“Thoughts?” Thia said.

“I know, it sounds impossible, but I know what I’m talking about.”

“How do you know?”

“This morning, when the waiter brought my food, I heard him say, ‘These corrupt Triads should be taken out in the street and shot like dogs.’ I almost pulled out my lason, but no one else seemed alarmed. And I realized the waiter’s lips hadn’t been moving.”

“I see,” Thia said.

     She wondered if she should tell him about her findings. It may gain her points, she thought, but decided against it. If he could read minds, then her undercover status would be in grave jeopardy. She should have just taken the artifact, she thought.

“Can you read my mind?” She thought of red dragons.

     Jing furrowed his brow, seemingly focused on her avatar.

“No. I think it only works in person. Still, this is extraordinary. I’ve decided to run for governor of Guangdong.”

     Thia froze. “What?”

“Yes. If I know what the other candidates are thinking, I can say it first at the debates, and they’ll look like fools.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Of course! How can I lose with such a mighty power?”

“Well,” she said carefully, “I will fully support you as a candidate.”

“Excellent. In fact, that’s something I wanted to talk to you about. I’m afraid our deal is off. I think it would be a bad signal to conduct a drug deal so close to my announcement as candidate. I hope you understand.”

     Thia wanted to reach through the cog and strangle the man. This deal had to go through. Foreign and Homeland Intel were practically foaming at the mouth to follow the money trail. If it didn’t happen, they would blame her, and her hopes of directorship would be deader than a possum on the freeway. She had to convince Jing to take the deal. But how?

“Listen, I’ve had some experience managing political campaigns. How about if I get you started as a candidate while we search for someone with more expertise? I’m sure I can raise at least, oh, $50 million in the first few days. If I do that, then we can finalize our deal and it can be the last deal you make. I have people waiting on their cut, and they won’t be happy if it doesn’t go through.”

     Jing paused to consider the offer for a moment, then nodded.

“I like it. Very well, you have two days to raise the money,” he said. “Cog me when you have it.” He winked out.

“Damn it to hell!”

     Thia picked up her grapefruit and hurled it across the room. It soared past the chintz chairs, over the coffee table, and through the open French doors. A cat screamed in the distance.

     She cogged Dran, who answered voice-only.

“What?” Annoyance laced his tone.

“Dran, I need $50 million.”

“What the hell for?” The annoyance ratcheted up to rage.

“Jing decided to run for governor and wants to keep his hands clean. He cancelled our deal!”

“What the hell makes him think he can run for political office?”

“According to Jing, he can read minds. Which by the way is what the report said the artifact can cause. Looks like it works. In any case, if I raise $50 million for him over the next two days, he’ll honor our deal and we can track the money.”

Dran sat back in his chair. “I’ll give you half. And I want that artifact.”

“Half? Where am I going to get another $25 million?”

“You’re smart. Figure it out. I have to go.”

“But…!”

     He disappeared from her display.

     Thia clenched her fist and smacked the table, clattering the plates and glasses. She was in a bind not of her making, (which she hated) and which justified what she was about to do.

“Oh, what a tangled web,” she grumbled.

     She cogged Wu Ji, her Chinese handler. Thia had been working on the side for him for three years, using her skills as an agent to make extra money for retirement. She didn’t plan to live solely on Medicare and Social Security until she died and the recent stock crash had wiped out gains in her portfolio.

     Wu Ji was eating breakfast when she called, but looked pleased to see her.

“Thia. I heard you were in town. Finally calling to say hello?”

“Not exactly. I need a favor.”

“Oh?” He paused between bites of sticky rice.

“Yeah. I need a job. And I need to be paid $25 million.”

     Wu choked on his rice, coughing and spurting bits of food on the table. Thia waited for him to recover from the shock.

“$25 million. Is that all?” Wu said, sarcasm infusing his words.

“I know. I know. I can be on retainer. Six months. No dirty bombs or atomics, though.”

     Thia knew she was pushing things, but she badly needed Jing’s deal to go through. She tried to view the situation as a test needing to be passed in order to get what she wanted.

“I may have a client. I’ll check with them and get back to you within the hour.”

     He faded out. Thia pushed aside her breakfast dishes and got up from the table to get dressed. She activated the monitoring program for the subdermal device she’d implanted in Jing, and listened as she put on her makeup.

“…What you’re doing. Skimming from my money. Know how I know? I can see it in your mind. I see you collecting from your 49ers, slipping yuan in your pockets when no one’s looking. Oh, it’s not much. No one would notice. But I did.”

“Big Brother, I would never…”

“Don’t lie to me! Tie him up.”

“No, no! I’ll give it all back. I swear!”

“Too late.” The sound of a lason blast came through the connection.

“Clean this up. Bohai, you take his territory. And give me what he stole from me!”

“Yes, Big Brother.”

     There was a lot of skimming going on, Thia thought. If Jing kept the artifact, there’d probably be no one left in the division. Then again, that might not be a bad thing.

     A cog came through. Wu Ji. She switched from the subdermal monitor.

“Tell me something good,” she said.

“Fortune is smiling on you today. Meet me at the garden in one hour.”

     He closed the cog, fully expecting no demurral. With all the irons in her fires, Thia felt busier than a unicyclist in the Tour de France.

**** 

To be concluded....     Go to Part 2    Go to Part 4

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