Worlds

17. One-sided Conversation

—Hello, no vision.

—Oh, it’s you.

—Two new friends, maybe. Let me call you back later.

—Endit.

(A half-hour later he walks into a bar he knows will be crowded and noisy at this time. He nurses a drink until 2:47. He goes to the public phone and punches the number that is appropriate for that day and hour.)

—Will here.

—We have a probable and a possible. Probable is the poet type I mentioned last time. He’s somewhat conspicuous, but that does have its uses. The other is a woman from New New York—

—New New York, the satellite. She—

—I know. Not to get deeply involved; not to find out too much. Her sympathies might be valuable some day. She seems politically disaffected with her home government and realistic about American politics.

—Yes….

—She’s a student at NYU. American Studies and something else.

—I don’t know. It’s usually a year. That would be enough time for what I have in mind…. Oh, one complication. She’s a friend of the poet’s; I think they’re sleeping together. For the time being, we shouldn’t bring him in any deeper than she goes.

—No, she was brought into the Grapeseed by one of my fourth cadre, second level. A female who lives in the same dormitory.

—No, the poet, well, they met outside. He’s been coming down for a couple of months. It’s—

—I know. But it doesn’t seem suspicious.

—Trust me, I’ll fed them out a little more. The poet seems clean but it’s hard to check up on her.

—Sure.

—If you can do it without any fuss. Her name’s Marianne O’Hara, line name Scanlan. She mentioned living on the, uh, fourth level, which is a voting region…..

—Presumably. But the University records could be forged.

—Can’t see it. If she’s acting she’s too good for them to insert at this level. And why would they do an insert who was an alien and a priori a temporary resident?

—Barely possible. Anything’s possible. If you want, I’ll hold off until you check.

—All right.

—No, we lost one last week. Cab accident, didn’t look suspicious. So now we stand at one seventy-eight, with fifty-four at the expediting level.

—We do indeed. Endit.