June frowned at him in the reflexive way that said there ought to be something wrong with it, but then seemed at a loss to pinpoint what. Her expression changed to one of perplexity. “Why does it always take someone else to point out the obvious?” she asked.
“Because it’s always the last thing you think of,” Kieran replied. “For the same reason that you always find things in the last place you look: Who’s going to carry on looking for something after they’ve found it?” His voice took on a more ominous note. “But there’s another side to it too. What if the wrong people got their hands on something like that? How about that bunch who wiped out the people on the Far Ranger and tried taking over Urbek, for instance? Knight’s Pest Control Inc. might have taken care of them this time, but what if there were dozens of the leaders loose to start up all over again? See my point?”
“You’re thinking that Balmer might have been selling to people like that somewhere?”
“It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”
“Then I’m even more sure that it’s better with things the way they are for a long time yet.” June leaned back along the couch with a faraway look on her face, stretching out a hand automatically as Teddy jumped up, wanting attention. “You know, the only thing I feel bad about is Herbert and Max. They put everything they had into it; worked as hard on their end of the operation as Leo did; compensated him for the risk he was taking. . . . It doesn’t seem right that he and Elaine should fly away to start anew, while they’re left to count the losses. It’s just feels, somehow . . .” She caught the look on Kieran’s face. “What’s so funny? I don’t happen to think they deserved it. They got it right, for heaven’s sake, Kieran! Their project worked! Only now, they’ll probably never even know.”
“Well, there is one more little detail I didn’t want to go into until I was sure the money transfers had gone through,” Kieran said. “A quarter of a billion would be a bit much for Leo to handle. Sums like that do strange things to people, and always to the detriment of their personality. Take Brother Henry, for example . . . Oh, don’t get me wrong. Leo and Elaine will have more than enough to keep the autochef stocked and start up their own operation—and if my instinct is anything to go by, it won’t be long before Leo’s into something far-out again. And naturally the KT retirement fund has benefitted not inconsiderably. . . . But on top of that, some time this afternoon, Herbert and Max should have found a substantial credit paid into Quantonix’s account from an anonymous source that will be impossible to connect with anything that happened yesterday. It should be ample to get them going again. I just hope they pick something a bit less zany, and think it all the way through next time.”
June threw her head back with a laugh of delight, then leaned forward to fling her arms around Kieran. “I should have known! It’s just like those guys you played cards with at the terminal, coming in. You’re just too soft to leave it any other way. Please don’t ever stop being soft.”
“Well, I guess it means I’ll never end up running something like Three Cs,” Kieran commented. “But I think I prefer life better this way, nonetheless.” He eyed June circumspectly. “Would you be interested in a ten-million-a-year Three Cs CEO?”
She shook her head. “Too self-important and serious. It would probably mean hearing about nothing but money all the time. And besides, who’d think up the silly rhymes?”
Kieran leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head. “Fine. I’ve been here five days, and look what you’ve got me into already. So now what are we going to do about this vacation I was supposed to be coming here to have, where absolutely nothing untoward or out of the ordinary was going to happen?”
THE KHAL OF TADZHIKSTAN
1
The residents’ association of the complex of which Park View Apartments were part was considering a proposal for a neighborhood restaurant and bar with dance floor, to be added down by the lake. The dance floor could also be used for classes during the day. Of course there were objectors, who believed that such a construction would be a first step toward destroying the rural atmosphere of the area. A countergroup had formed and was collecting signatures of support.