For a moment, she thought Davies was having a heart attack.
“Good God, that’s a…a death sentence,” the man sputtered. “You know what it’s like out there.”
“Yes, I do,” Theo replied coldly.
“We’ll fight this,” the lawyer replied. “You can’t force him to do this.”
“You might be surprised,” Klein replied. He gestured to Hopkins. “Get him out of here. We’ll talk details later.”
As Davies and his lawyer departed, Cynda spied three black-suited Guv agents in the hallway. The guys from 1888. She shot one of them a wink, and his mouth twitched up in a grin. They quickly formed a cordon around the prisoner. She could just imagine what the AdminBot would think of that.
The second after the door closed, Cynda shut down the interface and repacked her Gladstone, eager for a shower and a nap. The adrenalin rush was ebbing faster than she’d expected.
“Who Null Mem’d you?” Klein asked.
She shrugged. “Not everything is clear about that.” Because I don’t want it to be.
Klein shot her a dubious look. “What about this Drogo guy in 1888?”
“I’d worry about the others first.”
“Why are you protecting him?” the agent asked.
“Consider it my compensation for this whole fiasco. There are worse monsters to hunt.”
“You’re not going to tell us, are you?” he said.
“Nothing to tell. The bad guys didn’t win this round. That’s all that matters.”
“But what about the next time?” Fletcher asked, meeting her gaze.
Cynda rose, Gladstone in hand. “Then it’ll be another madman’s dance.”
Chapter 27
Saturday night, and the Time Pod was packed. They’d commandeered a table, ordered some beer and pizza. Her former boss seemed to be enjoying himself.
“Far too much,” Mr. Spider observed. “He’s like a kid out on his first date.”
She felt the same.
“Not quite like the Ten Bells,” Theo observed with a grin.
“Nothing is like the Ten Bells.”
“Why haven’t they posted the results yet?” Hopkins complained.
“It takes time,” Ralph replied. “Have another beer.”
Hopkins gave Cynda a look. She nodded. “Okay, it’s on me.”
He tapped in the order on the tabletop and then waited for the waitress. At least the Time Pod still used real people, not ServBots. When she arrived, their waitress was clad like someone from Ancient Rome. Cynda didn’t have the heart to tell the woman the costume wasn’t at all authentic.
It had taken a great deal of time to get Cynda’s run report past the security clearances, including Fletcher’s and Klein’s sign-off. In the end, it included all the juicy bits about her saving Defoe’s life, preventing a repeat of 1666 and bringing a murderer to justice without mentioning the Futures or the shifters. In a nod for his “cooperation” Davies was left out of it, all the blame falling upon a deceased TPB heavy named Copeland. The run report’s glaring holes would give the conspiracy theorists new fodder to chew on.
“This is going to put you on the top,” Ralph said confidently.
Or not. The groupies were fickle. They might think she’d sold out Rover One when she’d sent him home with the bullet wound in his chest. That would banish her from the boards forever.
“I’m still in third place!” Hopkins crowed as the reports began to jigger the rankings. He was going to be a handful tonight.
“I’m in ninth,” Cynda grumbled.
Hopkins smirked. “Life’s a bitch.”
“Go ahead, be smug. Your day is coming, buddy.”
He guffawed. With Copeland dead, Hopkins was euphoric. He still hadn’t learned that the good guys don’t always win.
It took some time for her run report to reach the tables and the Vid-Net.
“How about a kiss for luck?” Theo whispered in her ear before giving it a gentle nibble.
“Sure.” He planted one on her cheek.
She swore he enjoyed being the center of attention. It’d taken some of the patrons awhile to recognize him, but once they did their eyes lit up. She knew vid-messages were bouncing around the city with the latest gossip.
Let them chatter.
Theo blew in her ear. It was so damned erotic and so not TEM, the man who used to calibrate window blinds at twenty-three percent.
“I’m still waiting to hear your answer,” he whispered.
That was the other thing. The proposition he’d popped on her after one particularly tender lovemaking session.
“I’m still thinking.”
“It’s a pretty easy decision.”
For a time she’d thought he was proposing, he’d been that serious. Instead, it was business: he’d decided he wanted her as a partner in TEM Enterprises. A full partner. That felt weird. She’d always been a worker bee, not a queen, and certainly not management.
She was a Rover, first and foremost. It was in her blood.
“I have to be able to travel,” she’d protested.
“It’s not worth the risk,” he’d said as they lay curled around each other, tentatively learning the curves and passion of each other’s bodies. The conversation had ended shortly thereafter when they’d found yet another way to make love.
On the plus side, his proposition would solve her issues with dating higher up the ladder. She and Theo would be equals, at the top of the heap. The flip side was that he didn’t want her to travel. That was a restriction she didn’t think she could tolerate.
Either way, he was going to need an answer soon.
“Here it comes,” Ralph said, keying up the report on the table in front of them.
She watched the wall with a mixture of eagerness and dread. Her name had vanished from ninth place. Was that good? Hopkins shot up to second. He shouted in approval. Third place was someone named Madigan.
“Who’s that?” Ralph asked.
“No idea,” Hopkins replied. “Must be new.”
Then T.E. Morrisey’s name appeared in the lights under First Place.
“Me?” Theo said. “Me?” he repeated, even more incredulously.
“Will you look at that!” Ralph said. “They’ve never had a non-Rover on the board before.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Theo protested.
“Yes, you did,” Ralph shot back. “Cyn’s run report included your work in ’88, disarming the explosives and all that. You’re getting the updraft from it.”
Theo shook his head in amazement.
Cynda’s name was nowhere on the board. She sighed. Still, Theo’s performance in the time stream had been awesome for a rank newbie. He deserved the praise.
She turned to kiss him, whispering, “I’m very proud of you.”
Suddenly, Ralph let out a yell. “All right!!”
“Look,” Theo said, pointing.
First through fifth place hadn’t altered. What had changed was the Emeritus portion of the board. Harter Defoe, Time Rover One, was no longer alone. Next to his name was a new one.
“Jacynda Lassiter,” Ralph proudly read, “Time Rover TWO.” He leapt from the chair, launching a fist into the air. “Yes!”
“Oh my God,” she murmured. That honor would never change, no matter the whims of the groupies or TPB’s rulings.
The bar erupted into frenzy cheers. “Speech!” someone shouted from the back. Suddenly, this didn’t seem like a great idea.
Theo pushed her upward. There were calls for silence, and amazingly it worked.