"I bet he doesn't actually know a single person on Home, but has loads of opinions about all of us. Like we are all the same. And he refuses to believe what the government says about the damage they received fighting us. Since the government won't release casualty lists I can understand where he is coming from on that. They hid much of the physical damage behind national security also. But what about the public damage we did to bridges and monuments? Does he think that is somehow faked? I'll offer to show him our video logs off our ships. They at least show the scale of damage inflicted."
"You can try, but don't be surprised if he is very unresponsive. And be cautious. He's a current official with Homeland Security and he hates you and everyone else connected with Home. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to goad you into threatening him personally, to give him an excuse to try to harm you. And he is a declared candidate for the Presidency, so he has a Navel protection detail, as well as his own Homeland Security guards. Given his position, I'm sure he knows how exactly how much damage was inflicted. He is deeply dishonest to serve his political position."
When the time for the interview came April insisted on going alone. Adzusa in particular was insistent on accompanying her, throwing out a bunch of arguments.
"You aren't legal to drive alone!" She reminded April in desperation. That gave April more pause than all the other arguments. She was pretty solid about following rules if they were sensible, not just bureaucratic.
"What is the penalty for driving unsupervised?" she asked.
"It's a moving violation. Two points on your record and probably five hundred dollars."
"I'll risk it," she said amused.
"Do you remember how scared you were in the airport?" April reminded her. "I have a bad feeling about this man. I don't want you or anybody I care about with me, because I'd be more worried about you and getting you out safe than myself. I just want to be alone so all I have to worry about is myself. I can think of all kinds of mind games this creep might try. If you are along he might try to arrest you and cart you off from under my nose, to get at me."
"Here, I want to loan you something." April took her in her room and showed her the light suit of Lunar chameleon armor and the fold up carbine. "If I stir up something that comes back on you guys here, protect your family, OK?"
"I don't think you know my Dad yet, if you think I'm going to protect him, but yeah, I will do anything I can. Thank you, April."
"Good, I'll worry less."
Chapter 34
When she drove down to the studio in mid-morning, her driving was much improved from the first time. She went straight to the studio and then spiraled out from the building until she found a lot two blocks away, with a few empty spots. When she pulled in the attendant came up to her window from a little lot shack.
"I'm sorry this is monthly parking only." he said, pointing to a sign declaring that.
"How much for a month then?" she said thinking that would be a form of camouflage.
"It's six-twenty a month for outside-mix in, twelve hour max, or eight-fifty a month for an always open private slot, but we don't have any openings right now. It's been running about a three month wait to get in."
"I'd like on the list, but I need a space today. I'll give you a thousand cash right now just for today, but I need it parked right now and I need it open to leave when I come back, not stuck in the back somewhere." She was holding a single bill out the window folded in her hand, with just the corner showing."
He looked at it hungrily and his eyes tracked around like he wanted to look over his shoulder.
"They got me on surveillance cameras working here," he explained. "I got a guy I know is out of town who won't use his space, but I have to have you hand me a spare business card. We give the renters some cards that are a pass for friends or family to use his space. You show me a card like I'm checking it out for the camera and I'll shake hands with you. Then you can put it in 3-H and you have to have it out by the morning when the boss comes around."
"That's no problem," April assured him. "I'll be out in a couple hours." She fished a CNN card for Kyrah out of her com case and handed it to him. He went through the motions of reading it and handing it back, then pointed which way to turn and how to get to the space. She leaned out a little and offered her hand. He gave it an exaggerated pump and palmed the bill as slick as could be. She called Adzusa and let her know where the truck was, just in case she had any problems. She was that nervous.
The walk to the studio was uneventful. Nobody took any special note of her on the street. She stopped at the front door and took a GPS reading off her spex and saved it before she went in. The guard at the front desk looked over her shoulder when she walked up, like he was wondering where the car was that dropped her off. But she was on the list and was given an ID badge and was escorted in promptly. She thought there might be a problem with her weapons, but the guard didn't bat an eye.
They went down a long hall that reminded April of the corridors at home. Part way they passed a door flanked by two beefy security types, who gave them a fish eyed stare. That's probably my fellow guest in there, she thought. She felt weird enough about them she fired up her rear looking cameras on her spex and looked at the guards as she went on down the hall. She decided to leave the cameras on.
"I see you didn't wear any makeup," the young woman escorting her gushed. "I'm Lois, one of Kyrah's helpers. We have just a minimal makeup for the cameras we'd like to put on if that's OK. It isn't as important as it used to be years ago, but it still helps. If you just have to go with a mix on the video editor you can look strange, too pale or too flushed. Is that OK? Do you have any allergies we should be aware of?"
"To the makeup?" April asked. "Not that I'm aware of but I just don't know. I never use it. I don't have any other unusual chemical sensitivities, so we should be OK."
"You are young enough to get away with that," she said smiling. "I need a little help," she said like it was a confidence. She only looked to be in her mid twenties. April thought about Sylvia and her mom. Neither of them wore any cosmetics and nobody thought it odd. And perfume on a space habitat was generally considered an invasion of other's space. In closed quarters and with recirculated air it could be very unwelcome. They got to another door simply marked with a number plaque beside it on the wall and Lois went in holding the door for her.
"We have about a half hour. There is a private restroom through the door there," she said nodding. "I'm supposed to get anything you need and answer any question I can and just generally make you comfortable." She did seem to have the skill of making someone feel important. She gave her guest undivided attention.
April made herself at home. There was a large firm sofa where she could see the door, but was behind it when it opened.
"If you have coffee I'd appreciate some, just black. I'm very safety conscious. So can you tell me where we'll be going to meet Kyrah and where there is a fire exit, if we should ever need to leave the building?"
"The studios are just a bit further down the hall. There's four of them and we're in number three. There's a hallway that goes around each studio from this hall and it has an exit light over the door and at the far end there's an exit into the hall from the back corner of the studio and a stairwell that comes down there from above. It's just a normal big office building. Nothing very special and pretty safe. I don't think we've ever had a fire, or anything happen that people had to leave. They always tell you in the news, that you should look and see where the fire exits are in a hotel when you get a room, but honestly when I drag in late at night and am whipped and ready to drop in bed, it's the furthest thing from my mind."
"What's on the far side of the studios?" April wondered.
"There's more rooms like this but instead of equipment and dressing rooms, they are offices for producers and technicians. Then above in the next floor there are viewing, rooms looking out on the stages and mixer and techie rooms," she volunteered. "The cooperate offices start above t
hat and it all goes up until you have the executives and some private penthouses on the eighth floor. They look out on the two private parking courtyards. That's what the fire doors open on, not out on the public street."
"They have private entries there off the lot and an elevator up from the back of the studios and a private viewing room off the second floor looking out on the studios, to watch the action. Of course people like me have to park off site and walk in. But the big wheels pull inside the gates and they bring celebrities and entertainers in that way to keep things private. Somebody should have told you could have your driver drop you off there, instead of out front. I was surprised when they called me to the front entry."
The door opened and a cart was pushed in with coffee. Lois had not spoken to anyone to get it, unless it was coming anyway, so April suddenly realized there must be others, perhaps Kyrah too, listening to their conversation. Besides making her comfortable Lois might also want to draw her out and help prep the producer to her mood. Maybe even ask some leading questions before they started.
April realized she could just as easily prep Kyrah by what she said if she was listening. Behind the cart and waiter, was a woman in a maroon smock, who wheeled another cart over that was sitting in the corner of the room. She introduced herself as the makeup technician and got a damp astringent wipe with which to gently wipe April's face. After wiping from hairline down to a cloth she tucked in April's collar she got out a instrument of some sort and took a reading on her skin. Then she choose a plastic case from a number of them and dabbed powder on with a large round brush that was incredibly soft.
"There now you won't have any shiny spots under the lights. Do you want anything more on your lips or eyebrows, or do you usually go au natural?"
"What they see is what they get," April told her. She started packing her tools back up without any argument. The coffee was pretty good.
Lois took a cup too but April noticed she didn't seem to really drink it, after taking a single sip. She was a master at making you feel comfortable.
"You seem pretty relaxed," she allowed. "You've been interviewed before, right?"
"Kyrah interviewed me at lunch one day, at the Beach View Breakfast Club. And I just bought a vacation home and Adzusa Satos interviewed me there quite recently. I like a scheduled interview better than having someone mob me at the airport gate, or like happened yesterday, a car paced me along the beach when I was running and took video. But I understand. I've sold video myself. About a year ago I had my brother sell some video to the BBC, for myself and my ship mates."
"Is your brother a media person then?" Lois asked.
"He was something of an entrepreneur, trying all sorts of different businesses," April said. "But he got involved in something just a few days ago and we'll probably never know exactly what happened, but we believe he died in Lunar orbit, with the destruction of the ship Home Boy ."
"I'm sorry I didn't know," Lois said. They sat in silence for a moment.
"I saw that footage you are talking about of you running on the beach. The fellow that was running with you seemed strained to keep up. Is he a boy friend, or just an acquaintance?"
"He's a nice fellow, but he's actually just security on loan. A bodyguard my host here sent with me, to go along on a shopping trip. The stop to run after lunch was spur of the moment."
"Your host not only has staff, but enough he can loan them out? Sounds like an impressive household."
"They are nice. And down to Earth even if they do seem well to do," April smiled at the irony of that expression she had picked up. It was not an idiom she heard used on Home and wouldn't have a favorable connotation, if it was used there she was sure.
"So you aren't moving to Hawaii? You just got a vacation home to visit occasionally?"
"Yes. I'm going to the mainland and possibly Europe this trip, but I like it here. I've been here before, when down to visit my grandparents in Australia and knew I liked it. I suppose I'll loan it to friends who want to come down also."
"So you didn't get a time share? You have full ownership?"
"I'm not even familiar with how time shares work, though I've heard of them. I got a little place on the windward side up on a ridge. It has a nice view, although I have to redo a great deal for security.
Lois, who was thinking in terms of high rise beach condos and efficiency apartments, suddenly realized she was in a different league here. She shared a seventy square meter efficiency with another young woman and her roomie worked two jobs to make ends meet. She wanted to draw April out, because Kyrah was listening and this sounded interesting. "So you're not down by the beach, like most people want to be. Tell me what your place is like."
"It's on the lee slope. It's pretty steep so it's terraced. There's a garage just below the ridge road and a sort of artists workshop below that and then the main house. The House has one really big room. The Realtor called it a great room, which makes sense. The other rooms aren't that big supposedly, but they seem enormous to a satellite dweller and the house kind of hangs over the pool. There are trees and a few palms each side of the pool and bunches of bushes and flowers. I'm trying to decide if I should turn the artist's workshop into a caretaker's place, or make a separate entry for him at the rear of the house. I'd like an landing pad somewhere for an aircar too. Here, let me show you a couple pics of it off my pad," she pulled a couple views up she had taken last time she was there and shared them.
"That's a big lot for Hawaii," Lois informed her.
"Really? It's only a couple hundred meters deep," April pointed out. "I'm getting a lot on Luna soon, near the equator and it will be fifty kilometers on a side. Of course it won't have anything on it. I'll have to build whatever goes on it eventually, from scratch."
"Fifty kilometers on a side? That's like the size of Maui. The whole thing," Lois exaggerated. "Well, almost."
"Yes but it's a lot less interesting. It is just rock and regolith and lots of sunshine. No water, no air, but you will have a spectacular view when you have Earthrise."
"Now was a good time to buy," Lois said, fishing a little. "They keep saying in the local paper, that prices of properties are down."
"Probably. This one was offered before, for about three and a half more than what I got it for," she admitted.
"Three and a half?"
"Yeah. Dollars not Euros. I keep my accounts in Euros mostly and it's a pain to convert them to buy something."
Lois was pretty sure she meant millions. What else could it be? Three and a half what? But she was determined not to ask right out. Looking at the pics, she had no idea what a house like that went for now. She'd leave that to Kyrah.
"Let me duck in and use the restroom before we have to go in," she requested. When she got in there she pulled up a satellite schedule and made satellite reservations to keep a view of her area and this specific building loading to her spex. She plugged in the GPS reading at the entry and got a current feed, of overlaid infrared and visible and laid a ten meter grid over it from her reference point.
This guy Harrison was sort of scary she had to admit and his guards didn't make her any more comfortable at all. She decided to keep an open screen of the building view and the rear view cameras on her spex and she went ahead and entered her militia ID and password and demanded control of the approaching sats until she logged off. That would save time if she needed it later.
All the other active users would see that activation, so she posted a notice on the board that she was alone and meeting a member of Homeland Security on his home ground and felt very vulnerable and afraid, so she wanted some back up. She didn't want interrupted to chat with anyone about it, so she offered and left her spex open to anyone that wanted to follow. The central real view, the rear view, the aerial view and the weapons menu all at once, was as much as her brain could handle for sure, without friends jabbering in her ear. She set a single hot key to take them all down and back up on demand, to clear her peripheral vision if she needed to. She went
out and Lois was looking a little concerned over the delay. She felt calmer and more confident with all those resources primed, if a worst case scenario came up.
"Did you get a few last minute jitters?" she asked April gently.
"A few," she admitted. "But I'm good to go." April assured her. She stood to lead April back out in the hall to the studio. If I designed this place, April thought, I'd have the dressing room open right on the studio. She looked in her menu and saw there were fourteen militia members logged on watching thru her spex. Their unseen support helped buoy her.
The area they had set off for them in the studio was tucked in a back corner. It had a sort of false wall behind a grouping of furniture. Kyrah sat in a low backed upholstered chair in the middle, instead of to one side. It swiveled so she could actually turn to either guest. April and Preston Harrison each had a love seat in a V with Kyrah's chair at the point, with a small table separating each from Kyrah's chair. Harrison was seated already at Kyrah's right hand and had a glass of water on his table that appeared untouched. He sat very straight on the little sofa. Not turned at all towards Kyrah, with knees and feet together, in a dark conservative suit that shouted middle class and brown oxfords. It was business wear and he had no stylish touches, no jewelry, not even a pocket hanky. Just a de-rigor flag pin on his lapel and a small gold plus sign.
Kyrah had a cup of coffee and another cup was waiting for April on the table, beside the empty love seat. April was trying to figure out if Kyrah using the same table as she did, subtly associated her with April. She tried to remember if Kyrah was right or left handed and couldn't. She irritated with herself for being so unobservant. The love seat left the guest rather exposed to the camera, if you sat on the side closest to the Hostess. You could turn sideways or slouch.
April 2: Down to Earth Page 28
