Bug Park by James P. Hogan

The lobby was abuzz with intense-looking people clutching program books and papers, talking from seats or standing in the spaces between. There were a lot of beards, heavy spectacles, tweedy skirts, and sweaters. Vanessa spent maybe five minutes disposing of the questions. Then, when she was free at last, she made her way over to a table set up with urns and an offering of snacks, put down the things that she was carrying, and fixed herself a hot lemon tea. A young woman announced herself as a reporter from the Tribune and asked if Vanessa would be willing to do an interview for the Science section. At that moment, Vanessa saw the stocky, mustached figure of Phil Garsten standing by the wall, waiting to get her attention. It was Saturday, and he looked casually off-duty in light blue slacks and a tan windbreaker. Vanessa gave the reporter the numbers of the house and her office, and invited her to call sometime next week. Garsten waited until Vanessa was alone, and then ambled over. He helped himself to a cup and held it to one of the urns.

“So, this is life on the wild side, eh?” he drawled while he ran the coffee. “The real Vanessa that we’ve never glimpsed before. What have I been missing? I haven’t seen so much fun since my draft physical.”

“Give me a break, Phil. Having to put up with these dreary people for a whole weekend is bad enough. I don’t need a eulogy on life’s ecstasies from you as well.”

“We all gotta do what we gotta do—for as long as it takes, anyhow. How’d the talk go?”

“Oh, pretty well. Practically a full house.”

“Good. Who was that cute chick?”

“A reporter. She wants to set up an interview. You know, I’ve been doing this for long enough, you’d think I’d have gotten used to it by now, but there’s still that relieved feeling when it’s over. You know—like when you’ve made it to the airport, got your boarding pass, checked your bags, and now you can unwind.”

“Did you get questions?”

“Of course—it’s getting to be a hot subject. And if you came to set your mind at ease, naturally I played the party line.” Vanessa picked up the file containing her notes, indicated the carousel box with her head, and moved away as a chattering group approached the table. Garsten took the box and followed her to an unoccupied lounge chair by a low table. Vanessa slipped the folder under an arm and turned to sit against the back of the chair, regarding him over the rim of her cup. Garsten put down the carousel box. “But I don’t think you’re here to check on that,” Vanessa said. “What is it?”

Garsten looked around and lowered his voice. “I got a call from the Lang woman at home last night.” Vanessa drew a sharp intake of breath. Garsten nodded. “From the way she talked, it sounded like you two have already met.”

Vanessa’s mouth compressed into a tight line. “She was over at the house. One of these meddling bitches who can’t just stick to her job. She has to get involved in everything. I felt trouble in the wind as soon as she walked into the scene. What did she want?”

Garsten folded his arms loosely, his cup resting in a hand. “Sounds like a pretty accurate assessment. She’s checking out the background on the DNC story.” Vanessa nodded. That wasn’t surprising. She would have expected that much. It was Theme Worlds’ lawyer’s job. However, to bring Phil here, there had to be more. He went on, “And she was asking about Jack. She thought I might have a handle on what he knew. She’s got her suspicions about what happened, too. She didn’t press it, but I could tell. And she’ll keep digging. I know her type.”

Vanessa took a long breath and exhaled it into a sigh. She sipped her tea while her eyes took in the floor and shifted agitatedly over the surroundings. “Have you got a cigarette, Phil? . . . No, forget it—they won’t let you, here. It means we don’t have the luxury of as much time as we thought. We’re going to have to move things faster.”

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *