war here.’
‘A little local difficulty with the European Economic Community, and Australia and Japan. The Soviets came off worst in WW3. A good deal of Russia is still uninhabitable, and the rest is a bunch of outlaw states run by criminals and warlords. But America is in pretty bad shape too. The Europeans and Japanese provided aid, but it came with all kinds of strings, and we arrived in the middle of a resurgence of isolationist politics and some serious sabre-rattling on both sides. The locals were as grateful as hell to get help from fellow Americans, but the Europeans took serious exception, especially when we set up trade barriers and seized their assets in the States. Right now, we’re fighting a nasty little war for control of Texas and the Gulf. Canada’s staying out of it, and so is China - we’re feeding China a little technology in exchange for neutrality - but despite our best diplomatic efforts, the Europeans aren’t backing down. There’s some internal opposition against us, too. Secessionists in the South, Midwest survivalists . . . In short, the usual set of grudges.’ Welch took a sip of whiskey, made a face, and said, ‘I guess I should tell you about rules of procedure. The guy in charge of our side of the investigation, Ralph Kohler, told me to make sure you got anything you want. I assume you have no problem with that. As for the locals, we had to inform Ed Lar, the local FBI officer in charge of the manhunt, that you were being brought in. These days, protocol demands full and frank cooperation with the locals.’
‘He knows I’m the guy Tom Waverly wants to talk to.’
Welch nodded.
‘Does he know that I’m working for the Company?’
‘A lot of things have changed since you quit, but we still maintain cover for all operatives. We told Mr Lar that you’re a forensic psychologist employed by our FBI, and you and Tom have history from working together on serious crimes in the Real. I doubt that Ed Lar believes it for a second, but he can’t question it publicly without causing a diplomatic incident.’
‘We have to pretend to be something we’re not, and the locals have to pretend that they don’t know we’re pretending.’
‘It’s a wicked old world.’
‘Do I need to talk to Ralph Kohler? Or to this local guy, Ed Lar?’
Welch shook his head. ‘Ralph’s an attorney, a political guy. He’s done a lot of good work toward preventing this thing turning into a full-blown diplomatic crisis, but he’d be the first to admit that he doesn’t know anything about pounding the bricks. As for Mr Lar, we promised to keep him informed about the progress of your investigation and share any hot leads.’
‘And has he promised not to interfere?’
‘Not in so many words, but we made it clear that you’re an independent operator, and in any case he’s already badly overstretched by the manhunt. The locals are eager to catch Tom before we do. It’s not just the political fallout because Tom shot the mayor’s nephew; it’s also a matter of pride. They’ve set up running roadblocks, and checkpoints at train and bus stations. They’re making random stops in public places, they’re searching every hotel and rooming house in the area, and empty apartments and business places . . . They’ve even sent squads of Port Authority police to help us check every piece of luggage and freight due to go through the Turing gate.’
‘Even so, Mr Lar knows that Tom wants to talk to me. That makes me a hot lead, and he’d be a fool if he didn’t put a tail on me.’
‘Let’s worry about that when you need to get close to Tom.’
‘I want to work this as I see fit.’
‘Absolutely.’
‘And you’re, what? My partner, my line manager?’
‘My job is to deliver you safe and sound, and see that you get what you need to do the job. Other than that, I’m happy to keep out of your way. I gave up active service a while back.’
‘So did I,’ Stone said.
Welch had booked him into
‘A little local difficulty with the European Economic Community, and Australia and Japan. The Soviets came off worst in WW3. A good deal of Russia is still uninhabitable, and the rest is a bunch of outlaw states run by criminals and warlords. But America is in pretty bad shape too. The Europeans and Japanese provided aid, but it came with all kinds of strings, and we arrived in the middle of a resurgence of isolationist politics and some serious sabre-rattling on both sides. The locals were as grateful as hell to get help from fellow Americans, but the Europeans took serious exception, especially when we set up trade barriers and seized their assets in the States. Right now, we’re fighting a nasty little war for control of Texas and the Gulf. Canada’s staying out of it, and so is China - we’re feeding China a little technology in exchange for neutrality - but despite our best diplomatic efforts, the Europeans aren’t backing down. There’s some internal opposition against us, too. Secessionists in the South, Midwest survivalists . . . In short, the usual set of grudges.’ Welch took a sip of whiskey, made a face, and said, ‘I guess I should tell you about rules of procedure. The guy in charge of our side of the investigation, Ralph Kohler, told me to make sure you got anything you want. I assume you have no problem with that. As for the locals, we had to inform Ed Lar, the local FBI officer in charge of the manhunt, that you were being brought in. These days, protocol demands full and frank cooperation with the locals.’
‘He knows I’m the guy Tom Waverly wants to talk to.’
Welch nodded.
‘Does he know that I’m working for the Company?’
‘A lot of things have changed since you quit, but we still maintain cover for all operatives. We told Mr Lar that you’re a forensic psychologist employed by our FBI, and you and Tom have history from working together on serious crimes in the Real. I doubt that Ed Lar believes it for a second, but he can’t question it publicly without causing a diplomatic incident.’
‘We have to pretend to be something we’re not, and the locals have to pretend that they don’t know we’re pretending.’
‘It’s a wicked old world.’
‘Do I need to talk to Ralph Kohler? Or to this local guy, Ed Lar?’
Welch shook his head. ‘Ralph’s an attorney, a political guy. He’s done a lot of good work toward preventing this thing turning into a full-blown diplomatic crisis, but he’d be the first to admit that he doesn’t know anything about pounding the bricks. As for Mr Lar, we promised to keep him informed about the progress of your investigation and share any hot leads.’
‘And has he promised not to interfere?’
‘Not in so many words, but we made it clear that you’re an independent operator, and in any case he’s already badly overstretched by the manhunt. The locals are eager to catch Tom before we do. It’s not just the political fallout because Tom shot the mayor’s nephew; it’s also a matter of pride. They’ve set up running roadblocks, and checkpoints at train and bus stations. They’re making random stops in public places, they’re searching every hotel and rooming house in the area, and empty apartments and business places . . . They’ve even sent squads of Port Authority police to help us check every piece of luggage and freight due to go through the Turing gate.’
‘Even so, Mr Lar knows that Tom wants to talk to me. That makes me a hot lead, and he’d be a fool if he didn’t put a tail on me.’
‘Let’s worry about that when you need to get close to Tom.’
‘I want to work this as I see fit.’
‘Absolutely.’
‘And you’re, what? My partner, my line manager?’
‘My job is to deliver you safe and sound, and see that you get what you need to do the job. Other than that, I’m happy to keep out of your way. I gave up active service a while back.’
‘So did I,’ Stone said.
Welch had booked him into
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