Catskinner's Book (The Book Of Lost Doors) (26 page)

That shook me. I paused.

Godiva touched my arm. “I think we need to hear this.”

Okay, I was outvoted, two to one. I turned back around. “Fine,” I sat down on the floor, my back against a shelf. “So explain it already.”

Godiva look at me sitting on the floor and sat next to me, her side warm against me. She took my hand. “Where do we go from here?” she asked Agony.

The body held up a hand. The effect was spoiled by the fingers hanging limply. “That is the big question,” Agony said. “You have to understand—”

Godiva cut her off. “What if James had accepted Morgan's offer from the beginning? Would any of this be happening?”

Clearly Agony wasn't used to being interrupted. “Not as such, no. We would be having this conversation eventually, but not under these circumstances.”

“What conversation?” I burst out. Godiva and Agony turned to look at me. I sat up a little straighter, shrugging away from Godiva. As much as I loved snuggling up against her, she was starting to annoy me, too.

“I mean, a conversation—if I understand the concept—is when two or more people exchange information, right?” I continued. “Like, Person A says, don't open that door, and Person B says, why not? and then Person A says, because there's a giant exploding scorpion-bat behind the door that will fuck your shit up, and Person B says, gee, thanks, I won't open the door—that, that would be a conversation!”

“James—” Godiva began. Agony just stared at me.

I kept ranting. “What's been happening to me lately has not been conversations. What's been happening is that people make bizarre enigmatic little comments in my general direction, and weird crap comes out of nowhere and tries to kill me. And then when I say, hey, how come weird crap keeps coming out of nowhere and trying to kill me? everybody tells me I don't understand what's going on. Newsflash, people—DUH!  I know I don't understand what's going on. I was there when the lack of comprehension was happening.”

I took a deep breath. My eyes—damn them—were all blurry again. I blinked a couple of times, felt tears on my cheeks. Godiva put her hand on my arm and I lurched to my feet. Stepped away from her. I didn't want her touch, not right then.

“Okay, I get it—I'm stupid. I have figured that much out. So explain using little words. Start with why Morgan wanted to kill Victor and keep going until you get to why you are using him as Mr. Potato Head for Psychos.”

“James,” Agony began, “It's—”

“So help me,” I shouted her down, “If you say 'it's not that simple' I will . . .  I will . . . I don't know what I'll do, but it'll be bad. And ugly. And there will be lots and lots of blood.”

On the screen Agony opened her mouth. Closed it. Blinked a couple of times. Morgan's body just kind of hung there.

“Okay,” Godiva began. “I'll start—feel free to jump in any time, Red. Morgan killed Victor because Victor wouldn't cut him in for a piece of his action. Victor thought he could get away with being an independent because he figured Catskinner could take out any enforcers that Morgan sent. Am I doing okay so far?”

Agony frowned, but nodded. “Essentially. It's not—it's a little more complex than that.”

I glanced over at Godiva. “And Dr. Klein?”

Godiva shrugged. “She was looking to get out of town and out of the business. Taking Victor out was the price.”  

I nodded. That was basically what Dr. Klein had said.

“Morgan figured the Solomon trick would kill me, right? Or did he just not care?”

I looked at Godiva. Godiva looked at Agony. Agony frowned.

“That is troubling,” Agony said slowly. “I suspect that the orders he gave Dr. Klein were to kill you. Presumably pity stayed her hand.”

“I don't know,” I said. “He didn't seem that surprised to see me. And he had that water thing all ready to go when I didn't take his offer.”

Agony shrugged. “He had a whole stable of bound demiseraphim.”

“Airish beasts. That's what Catskinner called them.”

“Now, when did you kill Morgan? After he sent the minraudim?” Godiva asked.

“Those were the fire centipedes, right?” I asked her.

She nodded, looked back at Agony.

She nodded. “It was clear he was off-track. I ordered him to relinquish control of this nexus, he refused.” A shrug.

“So you cut his head off,” I frowned, “Then who sent the metal man and the strippers?”

“I have no idea,” Agony said simply. “Honestly. William was a freelancer. He recruited Dr. Klein's former staff himself, without telling them who he was working for.” Agony turned to face Godiva, the body lurched sideways a bit. “You know how ambimorphs are about concealing information.”

A bitter chuckle from Godiva. “Yeah. Not exactly masters of deceit.” She sighed. “Where are the girls now, anyway?  Did you kill them, too?”

Agony looked hurt. “Kill them?  Please, why would I waste such a resource? No, they are happy and healthy and working. Mostly here, but I did send some of them to Vegas.” A smile. “That's an offer still open to you, by the way, little darling. I assume that the, uh, physiological effects of the symbiote are the same, even though the psychological shift seems to be less severe than with most of your sisters.”  

“I did a residency in neurology. I suppose that I could visualize what the symbiote was doing in enough detail to influence it to leave my frontal lobes alone.” Godiva stood. She was moving much more comfortably than she had been earlier. “Sometimes I wish I hadn't.”

“The burden of self-awareness,” Agony said ironically.

I thought that over. So Godiva was the same kind of . . . ambimorph that seduced all those people at the bowling alley. It made me wonder what she would have done if I had accepted her offer back at The Land Of Tan.

Best not to think about it. Evidently she was different from the others—smarter. But she had probably been smarter than most people before the symbiote, too. Maybe that's why Dr. Klein left her in the shop.

“Those guys outside the bowling alley?” Godiva continued.

“Those were mine,” Agony continued. “And I am sorry about the incision. It does seem to be healing nicely.”

Godiva ran her hand over her belly and nodded. “Probably not even a scar.” A glance over to me. “They wrapped me first, so I was unconscious when they cut me.”

“Well,” I said. How do you reply to something like that? “I guess that was considerate. The dinosaur and the blob?”  

“They were simply supposed to lead you here. But once you attacked them. . . .” Agony let her voice trail off.

I rubbed my head. “Okay, so now I guess I make a deal with you, or you kill me. Isn't that how things work in your world?”

“James.” Agony's voice was very serious. “Look at me. I promise to you that I will not kill you, nor will I give the order that results in your death. There are those who want you dead, though—you and Catskinner both, and Godiva because she associates with you. I want to help you. I can help you much better if we work together.”

I looked at her, and I looked at what she was using to talk to me. “You know, using the dead body of an ex-employee as a puppet isn't real great for your recruitment.”

Godiva nodded. “He's got a point. I can't help but wonder what promises you made Keith Morgan.”

A toothy grin from Agony. “I never promised I wouldn't have him decapitated.” The grin faded away. “He attacked me. Not directly, and it's possible he didn't understand the implications of his actions, but it was an attack nonetheless. In my position, I have to respond to threats unequivocally.”

“What is your position?” I countered.

Agony frowned at that. Maybe she considered direct questions to be crude, uncivilized. Too bad.

“I consider myself to be a dealer in inequities,” she said at last.

Huh?  

“Is Morgan's job still open?” Godiva asked suddenly. My question had given Agony pause, Godiva's made her stop altogether, staring coldly from the monitor for an uncomfortably long time. Godiva waited.

“What, precisely,” Agony said slowly, “do you think that Morgan's job was?”

Godiva ticked off the points on her fingers. “One. Communication. Relaying information, messages, orders, from one group to another in a form that they can understand and accept. Two. Disinformation. Ensuring that no . . . enhanced individuals come to the attention of the general populace and taking steps to plug any leaks, if and when. Three. Logistics. Managing the flow of outsider-produced goods in and around the area and stockpiling them against shortages. Four. Security. Keeping knowledge of your existence on a strict need-to-know basis.” A flash of a grin. “How am I doing?”

“You have my attention.” Morgan's body folded its hands, sloppily. “Go on, make your pitch.”

I wasn't sure I was comfortable with where this was going. “Wait a second—”

Godiva held up a hand to me for silence. I shut up.

What's going on? I asked inside my head, not really expecting an answer.

perhaps safety.

Godiva was talking, choosing her words with great care.

“The primary risk of operating through an agent is that the agent will attempt to usurp you. In order to do that the agent has to believe two things. First, that she or he doesn't need you. Morgan believed that because the ones he dealt with saw him as the person in charge—they reinforced what he wanted to believe about himself. That's not an issue with me. Look at me. Even with James as my enforcer, no one is going to believe that I'm the one calling the shots. Consequently, I'm not likely to start believing it.”

Agony considered this, nodded.

Godiva continued, “They won't know who is pulling the strings, but they will be sure it's not me. That's safer for me, too—makes me less of a target.”

“And the other thing?” Agony asked.

“The agent has to believe that it's possible to cross you and get away with it.” Godiva looked down at her abdomen significantly, then over at Morgan's body. “That is not a mistake that I will ever make.”

I couldn't keep quiet any longer. “Are you seriously considering working for her?”

Agony answered me. “Yes, she is. And I am seriously considering accepting her for the position.”

“But—” I didn't know where to start.

Godiva took a step towards me and reached out her hand. “James, trust me. We can make this work. You've got the brawn, I've got the brains.”

it is an elegant solution.

I nodded.

“You do realize that there will be challengers? With Morgan gone, there will be those who want his network,” Agony pointed out.

Godiva shrugged. “Let them have it. Better yet, let them fight over it.” She looked around the shop. “Not much here I want. You let Morgan work for you and think he was king of this town. I figure letting someone think he's king of this town who isn't even associated with you is a better cover still.”

Agony smiled. “I like how you think.”

Godiva smiled back. “I want Alice Mason and Cobb Russwin on my team. Would that be a problem?”

Agony shook her head. “Not at all. Subcontract what you like, so long as the work gets done.”

Godiva sat back down, looked up at me. I sat beside her and she took my hand. It felt good.

“Now, let's make a deal.”

the end