Memoria (18 page)

The question was pretty rhetoric
al
. Fran
k didn't know what to say to i
t.
Barney
stared
out of the window
and moved his lips doing his own calculations.

The coach removed his glasses and once again rubbed his tired eyes.

"So Frank, your idea is interesting.
It could be a powerful move.
Unfortunately, it's also pretty pointless. They just won't have the time."

"But what if Kathleen came up with a new technol
ogy? What if now it takes much l
ess time?" Frank didn't want to give up. "Therefore the name, Vaccination."

"Why not,"
Barney
pulled the knife out of the cutting board and stabbed the air.
"They pump them
full
with chemicals, and-"

The coach shook his head.

"No way. They could, in theory. But
injecting them all at once...
I
mag
ine tha
t,
Barney
: a hundred thousand as
ses and a hundred thousand
needles. You don't seem to understand. According to Frank's idea, you need to convince thousands of people to act simultaneously
. They have to obey. And that's impossible. In theory, yes. But
i
n practice
...
such rioting would be
curbed before it even started
.
The police will shoot the instigators and isolate the rest. Plus they'll accuse Memoria of
conspiracy against the authorities
.
"
He shook his head. "There's something else here. But what? Memoria must have a reason to open all those new branches. They were preparing for the Vaccination all right. But we don't yet know what it's all about."
The coach took the rifle, loaded the magazine and
put a round up the spout.

Frank looked at
Barney
.
He hadn't
expected his support. Before, it looked as if all
Barney
could do was growl and
find fault
with him. Maggie definitely had something to do with it. Admittedly, Frank had come to like
her. She was different. Not the same kind of different as Kathleen had been, but still.
He felt at ease around her. Both girls seemed to have the same effect on him. Maggie didn't look a bit like Kathleen, but the two seemed to share the same character traits.
Maggie, too,
was decisive and fearless. She had hurried to help him before she knew enough to make a weighed decision.

"Right,"
Barney
scratched his elbow. "
Max
, what if you move to my room
for a bit?
That's the best place to handle firearms. Hurry up before some Peeping Tom
with a telescope catches you
out through the window
with that rifle.
"

The coach
lowered his laptop onto the window sill and jumped off. He scooped up the weapons and left the kitchen.

"He's done us,
man.
"
The cutting board in hand,
Barney
rose from the table. He
threw the chopped vegetables onto the heated skillet and looked into the pan.
An appetizing smell of cooking floated in the kitchen. Frank swallowed.
He reached for the notes and stacked them up neatly on the window sill.

"I have t
o admit I like this scenario," b
ehind Frank's back,
Barney
was stirring
the sizz
ling carrots and onions. "To smoke
the President and
raze New York to the ground, then blame the migrants! Sick motherfuckers they are, really.
Claney
will kill two birds with one stone
: h
e'll get rid of the camp and three hundred thousand pains in the
ass
with
it,
and he'll be in the White House before his people finish the migrant cleansing."

He stepped to
ward
Frank. "But that doesn't mean,"
Frank felt droplets of the man's spit on his face, "that you can ogle Maggie once she's back. She's not your girlfriend! Understood?"

Frank
just blinked, cornered between the table and the window. He had his work cut out for him, staying on friendly terms with Maggie's father.
He'd ask Maggie a few inconspicuous questions about his past. There had to be a clue to his
being so protective of her.

A
fter lunch, Frank and
Max
went to
Barney
's room for a nap. They
a
woke to his shouting and cursing at someone. When,
still
half-asleep,
the two
made it back into the kitchen,
they found
Barney
in front of the TV screen. He was shaking with rage.

Frank
recognized
the
gray-headed
man
on the screen.
He'd popped into the interrogation room at the police station to speak to
Inspector
Freeman
. The
running
caption
showed his name
and job title
:
Captain Bud Jessup, the head of
N
ew
Y
ork
police department.
His face gloomy, Jessup was finishing an official
announcement
.

"The entire police force will ensure peace and security
as the city prepares for the P
residential visit. Stay assured we won't let you down."

"What's all this swearing about?"
Max
yawned and stretched. "Did he say something about Frank?
"

"He did,"
Barney
put the
sound
down. "The
Fed
s have tak
e
n over Shelby's case."

""So what's there to go mad about?"

"Can't you see?
Some shitbags start a carnage, they kill their own cops, and they have to surrender the case!
"
Barney
choked with fury. "If I were
...
if I
...
why have none of the vict
ims spoken out
?"

"Normal.
Eyewitnesses have
had
their memories erased. Memoria cleans up after itself
-
"

The lock on
the
front door clicked. They turned around. Maggie stood in the hallway.
Max
finished the sentence,

"They let us know who we're up against."

"You're okay, t
eddy?" red-faced,
Barney
hurried
to meet her.

"I'm fine," the girl
offered her chee
k
to
kiss.
Barney
helped her out of her coat.
"Uncle
Max
, I've found out everything you asked me to. And then some! I'm sure you won't be cross with me, will you? I've skipped lunch working on it
...
"

Maggie walked into the kitchen straightening her perfectly straight business suit.

"I've got some
stew
on the go
,"
Barney
hurried to add behind her back. His glare pinned Frank and
Max
to the ground: food first, business next.

"Sit down and eat,"
Max
pulled up a chair for her and pressed her shoulders down with his hands. "We could use some
chow
, too."

"We could indeed," said
Barney
. "Then we'll talk."

After they'd eaten, she told them e
verything that had happened in M
emoria that day. The HQ were preparing for the President's visit.
The security had additional
personnel
posted at
all
the
entrances
, equip
p
ed with
screening machines for all
the
visitors
, including
reporters
and their cameras
. Basically, they were to search for concealed explosives and firearms. Most Memoria workers got a day off
, except for the secretarial and leg
al departments, and mnemotech
teams.

"You'd like to gain access to the building tomorrow,
would
n't you?" she asked
Max
.

"If I possibly could," he answered. "Preferably,
bef
ore the press conference starts
."

"I think I can arrange it. But I can only take one person," Maggie looked at Frank.

"Him? Why on earth-"
Barney
switched his gaze between his daughter and Frank.

"There's a guy at our legal department who looks
a bit
like him. He's on
sick leave.
So I had a copy of his
pass card
made by one of our secretaries."

"
Max
,"
Barney
turned to the coach. "Say something. No,
don't
. Maggie isn't going
there tomorrow. Not with him,
anyway. Forget it. If anyone has to go, it's me and nobody else."

He fell silent at
Max
's glare.
Silence hung in the kitchen. The sounds of
footsteps
and voices on the street filled the air
t
hrough the half-opened window.

"Oh, well," the coach smiled. "Now that's a thought."

"You can't be serious!" Maggie
shook her head.

"Absolutely."

"But," she looked first at him, then at her father.

"You'll go there
,
all three of you,"
Max
said.

Now it was their turn to
stare at him in surp
r
ise
.
Barney
's face clouded like
a Manhattan
sky before a storm.

"And how do you suggest we do it?"

Max
took the
laptop from the window sill, did a quick search
for
a file
and turned the screen to
ward
them.

"You think
there's a likeness there
?" he smiled to
Barney
. "I think
there is
."

"Don't even think
!
I
-
"
Barney
's finger very nearly poked a hole in the screen. "
We
have nothing in common!.. Just look
—
Maggie, and you, man, you tell him!
"

"With a bit of makeup, provided you shave your mustache off
...
" the coach said.

Barney
froze, open-mouthed.

"He's the
sp
it
ting
image of Binelli,
eh
?" the coach winked to Maggie.

She cocked her head to one side, studying the screen.

"You know what, Uncle
Max
? I think you're right."

"Sure," Frank added.

"Never!"
Barney
jumped off his stool. "Never, ever, not in a million years!"

"Sit down!"
Max
shut the laptop close.

Maggie moved closer to Frank, away from the
two men who were now yelling at each other.
Barney
wheezed, his reddened eyes glaring down at the coach.
H
is lips and mustache moved as he swore under his breath.

"Sit down,"
Max
repeated
. When
Barney
lowered his
bul
k
onto the stool, the coach went on, "Their manager is the same height and body type as you are.
We can use this fact to our advantage. And please, don't let me raise my voice at you when your daughter's around."