He shrugged. Only time would tell, and despite all the delays he was suffering it looked as though he would only be a matter of twenty minutes late at the Etchmark Undertower.
And, like it or not, he was going to spend the rest of the time contemplating the mystery of Lenigo’s admisGranted blackmail, eliminating Blackbury, what was left? A wealthy enclave, for sure, which meant a northern one. Chicago? Hell, no. Perhaps one with especially good political nous-
Abruptly he snapped his fingers, looking in dismay at his own obtuseness at the maker’s plaque on the dash of his own skimmer. Detroit, of course! Must be! The only knee enclave with an absolute pistol held to the head of the Federal government, the city nicknamed “Black South Africa” in allusion to their willingness to trade with the enemy as the Afrikaners had been doing for decades, coiners of the slogan “We negrotiate from a position of strength!”
And what could Detroit have used as a lever? Well, the computers would certainly be able to make a guess at that. Momentarily pleased, he bent a smile on the approaching city, and it vanished instantly as he realized the skimmer was being ordered to make yet another diversion, this time for a flight of Federal gunships in a show of strength, firing rockets into the East River where they fountained up columns of steam. And the martial law warning lights were flashing on all the tallest buildings including the stump of the Empire State, which had been shortened by seventeen stories during the insurrection of 1988 but remained a conspicuous land
I hate martial law days, he thought. I really do. It’s worse than living in a hurricane zone.
President Gaylord: Morning, laze an’ gemmun.
Reporters: By God, it is too! Right on the ball so far today, Prexy!
President Gaylord: (chuckles)
Dean of reporters*: First off, Prexy, your comments on the decision to admit Morton Lenigo to this country in view of his known participation in the dynamiting of Cardiff Castle, Wales, the expulsion of the Lord Mayor of Manchester, England, and the knee seizure of the city of Birmingham, England, and additionally in view of the insurrection mounted in New York City overby X Patriots and other extremist groups which have reacted to the decision as a confession of weakness in face of threats from Ghana, Nigeria, and other knee-blank powers.
President Gaylord: Ah-yeah, that one was comped for me, I think. just a second. (Shuffles documents on desk.) Here we are. “The decision to admit Morton Lenigo was taken in full cognizance of the allegations made against him by racialist spokesmen in his home
*Martin Luther Spry, Holobeam-Reuters country of Britain, and in pursuance of the ideals of the Great Society which is designed to maintain a homo-ah-homo-genius?-ah.”
Dean of reporters: “Homogeneous,” maybe, Prexy?
President Gaylord: I guess so. “-balance between the justifiably independence-desirous colored citizens of the planet and their fellows who by accident of circumstances have found themselves in a position of greater good fortune.”
Reporters: (laughter)
Unidentified reporter: Keep pitchin’, darl-that one swerved like a (last word indecipherable, laughter)
Myramay Welborne, Pan-Can: Comments on the all-stations from Capetown recommending that you should nuke out the black enclaves starting with Detroit and shoot Lenigo while he’s off his turf and his bullies can’t come after?
President Gaylord: Well, Myramay! Good to see you back! Did you shed that long wet creep you got married to?
Myramay Welborne: I did not. It was a great honeyand it sort of stretched, that’s all. How about an answer?
President Gaylord: Yeah, I guess I have something here which will fit. Yeah. “It is well-known that the blank extremists of South Africa will stop at nothing to disthe ideals of a multi-racial society. Beyond that I have no comment to make on this disgraceful sugges
Dean of reporters: Wish I could afford comping to your standards, Prexy. That’s (emphasized) eminently usable. So what you doing tonight-?
Phyllis Logan Quality, Ninge: Excuse me, Martin, I have one more-
Dean of reporters: Sorry, thought we’d exhausted that one.
Phyllis Logan Quality: Well, with the overnight death-count at twelve hundred eleven-
Reporters: (laughter)
Phyllis Logan Quality:-and sixteen thousand arrests to be processed things are bad in my district, damn it!