Vienna Station Read Free Page A

fundamental—YES!—fundamental to understanding my music!”
    I stare at him again.
    Mozart slides his chair around until he is sitting very close to me. He says, “One must start from the very bottom to understand my music!” Putting action to words, he grabs a handful of my right buttock. I shoot to my feet, turn and swing for his face. The skirts and underclothes restrict my movement. He’s too fast for me and ducks away.
    I shout, “Don’t touch me!”
    Laughing and slapping his thigh, he stands behind his chair. “So sweet! So plump! So like an A major chord!”
    Everyone in the Sacher Café stares at us. I feel the eyes of countless predators. I seize my outrage and lower my eyes. I speak as softly and deliberately as I’m able, “I should prefer that you not touch me in the future.”
    Mozart purses his lips with pretend surprise. “Really? I should have thought you would not mind my touching you. Besides…”
    I look up.
    Mozart grins, “I have a present for you. I took the liberty of bending station rules. Security considerations forbid employees from bringing data systems onto the station with them. But I thought you’d like to have your bauble with you.” He holds up my amethyst and silver perkey.
    I stare at it as it dangles.
    His grin grows wider. “It goes so well with your dress.”
    I explode despite the ravenous eyes. “You’re the pervert who spied on me at the entrance portal!”
    Mozart simpers, “Oh, that’s too harsh. I observed you and you’re charming…” he jiggles the perkey, “accessory. Nothing more.”
    “Keep it.” I turn away from him. Kelly rises from her chair.
    Mozart’s voice drips with mock concern, “Surely you aren’t going to leave? We’ve not had our pastry!”
    I turn back to him. “I am going to leave. I don’t wish to have anything further to do with you. If you harass me again—I don’t care who you are—I’ll…”
    Mozart shrugs and smiles, “You’ll what?”
    I turn and leave. Kelly, pale and shocked, follows me. The pitiless eyes follow us as we move between the crowded tables. Mozart plays with the perkey, tossing it into the air and from one hand to the other.
    Three people, two men and a woman, sit at one end of a large, lushly furnished room. They rest their elbows on a polished mahogany table and stare intently at computer displays. One man is trim and dressed in subdued clothing. The woman is slight. She is expensively, subtly dressed and appears to be in her early middle years. Something about her posture indicates that she is much, much older, however. The last man is enormously obese. He is dressed in 18th Century fashion. Yards and yards of lavender satin and purple ribbons make him difficult to look at. The trim man leans forward.
    “Well, that could have gone better.”
    The woman smiles sardonically. “Yes, Alex, the nasty little beast performed beyond our expectations.”
    The fat man shakes his head. “Do not underestimate him, Lola. His public persona makes it easy to forget how intelligent he is. That is his intention, I’m sure.”
    Lola snorts, “His vices are sincere. You give him too much credit, Frederic.”
    “Not at all, Lola. I’m sure he has an agenda of his own.”
    “His agenda for today is that girl.”
    Frederick sighs, “You are mistaken. She is a game piece.”
    Alex stretches silently. “Well, she was supposed to be our game piece. I doubt she’ll be disposed to help us after that little drama.”
    Frederic shakes his head. “Don’t be so sure.”
    Lola nods. “We’ll make it worth her while. She doesn’t need to know much, if anything, to help us.”
    Alex looks first at Lola and then at Frederic, “Shall I speak with her after the concert?”
    The others nod their agreement.
    Darkness surrounds me, thick as fur and close. I’m about to play in the biggest concert in the history of the world, but I’m alone.
    Kelly’s whisper wavers down from somewhere above and to my left. “You