Wild Cards [06] Ace in the Hole Read Free Page B

Hartmann is ... evil."
    "Odd word from an old material dialectician like yourself."
    "Nevertheless, it applies."
    Tachyon shook his head, walked into the bedroom, rummaged in a drawer for fresh underwear. He could sense George behind him, a portly irritating presence. "I don't believe you."
    "No, you don't want to believe me. A fundamental difference. How much do you know of Hartmann's early life? His passage through this world has left a trail of mysterious deaths and shattered lives. His high school football coach, his college roommate-"
    "So he's had the misfortune to be on the periphery of violent events. That does not make him an ace. Or would you have him damned by association?"
    "And what of a politician who is kidnapped twice, and escapes both times under mysterious circumstances?"
    "What's so mysterious? In Syria, Kahina turned upon her brother and stabbed him. In the resulting chaos we escaped. In Germany-"
    "I was working with Kahina." "What!"
    "When I first came to America. Gimli too, that poor fool. Now Gimli is dead, and Kahina has vanished, and I fear she too is dead. She came to America to expose Gregg Hartmann."
    "So you say."
    "Tachyon, I don't lie to you."
    "No, you merely tell me only as much as suits you."
    "Gimli suspected, and now he's dead."
    "Oh, so now Gregg is responsible for Typhoid Croyd? Gimli died from that virus, not from Gregg Hartmann."
    "And Kahina?"
    "Show me a body. Show me the proof."
    "What about Germany?"
    "What about it?"
    "One- of the GRU's top operatives was in charge of that operation, and he ran like a raw recruit. He was manipulated, I tell you!"
    "You tell me! You tell me? You tell me nothing! Just slurs and innuendos. Nothing to back up this fantastic allegation."
    "What does it cost you to probe him? Read him and prove me wrong." Tachyon's mouth tightened mulishly.
    "You're afraid. You're afraid that what I'm telling you is true. This is not Takisian honor and reticence. This is cowardice. "
    "There are very few men who would be permitted to say that to me, and live." Tachyon shrugged on his shirt, and resumed in a dry, almost lecturing, tone, "Being an ace you must have considered the political climate. Supposing for the moment that you are correct and Gregg Hartmann is a secret ace so what? There is nothing very suspicious in a man with political aspirations hiding his wild card. This is not France, where it is the height of chic to be an ace. You damn him for keeping a secret that you have kept all your life?"
    "He's a killer, Tachyon, I know it. That's why he is hiding."
    "The hounds are gathering, George. They're snapping at our heels. Soon they will want to taste blood. Gregg Hartmann is our only hope to keep the hate at bay. If we smear Hartmann, we open the way for Barnett and the crazies. You'll be all right. You can hide behind that bland, ordinary face. But what of the others? What of my bastard stepchildren waiting in the park, their deformities obvious for all the world to see? What do I tell them? That the man who has protected and defended them for twenty years is evil and must be destroyed because he might be an ace, and because he kept it secret?"
    Tachyon's eyes widened as he considered a new possibility. "My god, this might be why you were sent here. To bring down the candidate that the Kremlin fears. A Hartmann presidency-"
    "What is this nonsense? Have you taken to reading sensational spy fiction? I fled for my life. Even the Kremlin thinks I'm dead."
    "How can I believe you? Why should I trust you?"
    "Only you can answer those questions. Nothing I say or do will convince you. I'll say only one thing-I would hope that this past year would have at least demonstrated that I am not your enemy."
    Polyakov walked to the door. "That's it?"
    "It seems pointless to continue a circular argument."
    "You waltz in here, and calmly announce that Gregg Hartmann is a killer ace, and then waltz back out again?"
    "I've given you all that I have. Now it's up to you, Dancer."