Lucretia said, “We will make inquiries. Anyone who has had a fever will be quarantined.”
Mina said, “The woman he met in Louisville. He says he’s in love with her.”
“Did he describe her?” I asked.
“Augmented. Meter and a half tall. Moves fast. Pretty.” Mina placed a Morphon on the table and touched it open. It displayed a series of photos. “Is this the woman who poisoned my brother?”
“Yes,” Jagger said.
“You can cure my son?” Lucretia asked me.
“I can try. It might kill him.” I looked at Cupcake. “She made it sound easy. It wasn’t. She nearly died.”
“True,” Cupcake said with a saucy grin.
“Warhammer has some of our people,” Jagger said. He put down his glass and leaned forward, elbows on the table. It was earnest body language, saying he was showing all his cards. “She’s entrenched, well-funded, and she’s made contact with and likely converted a group of military and Gov. employees at the state and national level. She’s making an army with that chemical. We’re going after her before she takes over completely. We’re getting our people back and taking out Warhammer and all her slaves.”
“Except for my son. You want something from us,” Daniel said, sipping his whiskey, holding the glass one-handed near his chin and breathing in the fumes. “What?”
Jagger looked at me. “Tell ’em.”
Because Jagger knew I was here for something, but I hadn’t told him what.Right.“We’re here to get a weapon, currently buried in the ground. A wartime weapon. We need to get it without the Law or the Gov., who might be in Warhammer’s pockets, learning about it. We need a distraction. A big one. And we need an earthmover, front-end loader-dozer combo if possible. Or a backhoe, any heavy-duty excavation equipment you might have access to, and a large-capacity pump in case we hit water.”
“My people can provide this. But we want the weapon.”
Jagger grinned and sat back, taking his glass with him. He sipped his whiskey, considering the older couple. “Once we’re finished taking down Warhammer, you can try to take it away from us. But then Heather won’t try to cure your kid.”
Old Marconi pursed his lips as if thinking, but his black eyes were shining with something I understood completely. It was the expression some people wore when bargaining. I saw it a lot at the scrapyard. “I could take the woman,” he said, looking at me. “Force her to give us her med-bay and save my son. Take the weapon. Leave you with no help.”
“I didn’t bring it with me,” I said, letting only a hint of scoffing into my tone. I didn’t need to tick him off. Yet. And maybe not at all. “Why would I? I didn’t know about your son or how he betrayed his family.”
Marconi’s eyes narrowed, as if insulted. I just grinned. I’d played this game for years, and Old Marconi’s lips pursed as if he recognized that. He also seemed to know I had more cards against my chest than it first appeared, thatIwas more than I appeared. He said slowly, “I will provide this distraction. I will arrange to have earthmovers available, free of charge, a sign of good will. I will leave the weapon to you, and will not go to war with you,ifmy son survives. Assuming you win this weapon and the war against this Warhammer, and again assuming my son survives, what do I get in return?”
“Assumptions don’t work,” I said. “Here’s the facts. You’ll never see Warhammer’s chemical delivered. You’ll just see your children and your chapter get sick, and some of your people will die as the chemical takes over. The ones who survive will change overnight, like Enrico did. Your life as you know it will end, and you’ll never see it coming.”
I set my stein down and leaned in. “That said, you work with us, and in return for your help we’llfight your war for you. We will remove a dire threat to your chapter and your family. You don’t have to send your children to fight an enemy they will never see coming. Also, I’llattemptto save your son and any of your people affected.Attempt. Nothing guaranteed. That’s it. Take it or leave it.”
“This woman speaks for you?” Marconi asked Jagger, his tone insulting.
“We take it,” Lucretia said to him.
Marconi shrugged with his whole body and face. “The mother of my children has spoken. In matters of family she is fully in charge.”
“Oh,” I said. “One more thing. There’s a cost to the cure. I’ll need specific Berger plug-ins, and since they go into your son’s brain, you’ll want to provide them. That way there aren’t any trust issues.”
“You are young to have such medical training,” Marconi said. Unsaid was,and negotiating skill.
I met Old Man Marconi’s black eyes and said flatly, “Battlefield training.”
He nodded at what that meant and who I might be. Not a nobody. He raised his voice. “Do I smell coffee from Bolivia? Not that cheap swill we serve the patrons?”
“Yes, Papa,” one of the boys who had been listening said. The boy raced to the kitchen and returned with a tray, set with a white cloth, a thermal coffee server, and five tiny cups. “Espresso,” the boy said, reverently. I hadn’t had espresso in … since before the war. The boy placed a delicate sugar and creamer set on the table, with five small white napkins and five sterling spoons. Into the five tiny white cups he poured black espresso, the coffee steam aromatic enough to make me want to weep for the lost past.
I accepted the small cup. It would keep me up all night. I didn’t care. I took mine black. Breathed in the steam. Sipped. Raised my eyes to Jagger and gave a faint nod.
“I’m in agreement in principle,” Jagger said, taking the tiniest sip.
“I too have one more thing,” Daniel said, sounding almost lazy. “You will take one of my sons and train him for a period of one year. Then you will return him in good health and alive.”
