A Day for Damnation

THIRTY-EIGHT

JACK LONDON Square in Oakland was not square.

It might have been square once, but now it was a great sweeping are that encircled a sheltered lagoon. Along the shore, tall trees strung with glittering lights overlooked wide lawns bordered with pink brick paths. Beyond the lawns was a long row of elegant threestory neo-Victorian buildings. There were clusters of tiny shops and open-air restaurants, all bathed in soft gaslight.

I felt as if I'd stepped into another world, an old-fashioned fantasy of another era. It looked like a fairy tale. Everything was too beautiful. There were wide avenues for strolling couples, shaded arcades and even a summery gazebo. The only vehicles were occasional pedicabs. Silvery music-like faint fairy-bells-came drifting across the water.

I was staring at a big bronze plaque set in a concrete marker. It had a huge arrow pointing directly at the ground, and the legend above it said: "YOU ARE THERE!"

Below, in smaller letters, it said, FOR GERTRUDE STEIN.

I guessed I was going to have to have someone explain it to me. I shouldered my rifle and started walking.

The restaurant was at the end of the strand. It was called This Crystal Castle and it was a gaudy pastiche of baroque gables and cupolas, gingerbread ornaments and stained-glass windows. It shimmered in a glow of opal, gold and rose-red light. It looked dike something out of a dream. As I approached, I could hear the gentle sound of a playful string quartet. Mozart? I wasn't sure.

Inside, the lobby was done in shades of emerald and gold. It was deliberately overdone to let you know that it was elegant; but I already knew this place was expensive-it had human waiters. The maitre d' was wearing a green Doorman-of-Oz suit. He asked me to check my rifle, but I glared at him and told him I was on twenty-four-hour duty; he bowed subserviently and got out of my way. Lizard wasn't here yet, so I stepped into the bar. It was interesting the way people reacted to the red beret of the Special Forces.

The bar was subdued and suggestive. The walls were polished oak and purple velvet wallpaper. The chandeliers glowed with the soft golden color of candlelight. The mirrors behind the bar were smoky, so you couldn't see yourself drinking.

While I waited, I studied the cocktail menu. There were drinks here I'd never heard of before. What, for instance, was a Rubber Worm? Or a Leather Helper? Or a Plumber's Revenge?

My phone beeped.

I pulled it off my belt and flipped it open. "McCarthy," I said.

"Jim?" Lizard's voice.

"Hi. Where are you?"

"Stuck in a meeting, thank you." She sounded annoyed. "This is going to be resolved tonight."

"What time will you be out? I'll wait."

"No good. They're sending out for sandwiches. We'll be here for hours. Unfortunately, you've opened a real-you should pardon the expression-can of worms. We're going to have to cancel our date."

I couldn't think of a single polite thing to say. "Jim-? Are you there?"

"Uh-yes. You've just won the undying gratitude of a couple of very large lobsters."

"I'm sorry, Jim, I really am." She didn't sound sorry. "How about tomorrow night?"

"Um-no, that won't work. Listen, let me call you. All right?"

"Yeah. I guess so."

"It's not all right, is it?" she said. "I can hear it in your voice."

So I admitted the truth. "Yeah, I'm disappointed. I was really looking forward to this."

"Jim-I've gotta run now," she said quickly. "I promise you, we'll work it out. I do care." She clicked off.

I stood there marveling at my peculiar mix of feelings. I felt disappointed and wonderful at the same time. I refolded my phone and stuck it on my belt. I replayed her words over and over in my head. "I promise you, we'll work it out," she'd said. "I do care." I could feel good for a long time on those three words.

Except-what was I going to do tonight? Me and my big mouth.

I turned to the bartender and ordered a Green Slime. It was tall. It was green. It was tart. It turned my knees to jelly. I had to sit down. I wondered how many it would take to turn the rest of me into a slimy green puddle. I ordered a second one. While I waited, I looked around the bar.

The Chinese girl had shining eyes.

That's what first attracted my attention-the way she was looking at me. Then I noticed her waist. She was deliciously slender. And her hands-as delicate as orchid blossoms. Then I noticed her eyes again. She looked as if she knew something I didn't.

She floated in my direction. My heart popped and missed a beat. Every male eye in the bar-and several female ones as wellswiveled to follow her. She was wearing a silk dress so red they'd have to retire the color after tonight. Just the way she walked was illegal in thirty-seven states. One fellow leaned out so far he nearly fell off his stool.

She stopped directly in front of me. I wondered which of the gods was smiling on me. "Something I can do for you?" I asked.

Her smile grew sweeter. She wet her lips and said, "I was wondering what caliber your gun was ... ?" She touched the barrel suggestively with one exquisite finger.

My mouth went dry. My throat wouldn't work. My tongue was paralyzed. "Uh," I finally said. "Well-uh, properly speaking, it doesn't have a caliber. It fires eleven-grain needles, four thousand per minute. Its focus isn't as precise as the two eighty-" My mouth kept making words-automatically. I was impaled on her smile. She never took her eyes off me. She was fascinated. "Uh-it tends to shred the target, but that's more effective. Against the worms, I mean."

"You have the greenest eyes," she said.

"I do?" I swallowed.

"Mm hmm." She slid onto the stool next to me. Somebody at the end of the bar moaned. I wondered if I were about to pass out from lack of blood to my brain.

The bartender rolled up to her immediately and beeped. "Your order, ma'am?"

She didn't even glance at the robot. She said, "I'll have a ... Pink Butterfly." She held her eyes on me-I was paralyzed by her spell. I wondered if I was drooling on myself.

The robot returned and put something pink and frosty in front of her.

I didn't know what to do, so I just grinned embarrassedly, and said, "You'll pardon me for saying this, but all of the Chinese girls I've met in the past have been extraordinarily... ah, demure. I mean-not quite so ... uh, forward. Are you sure you're Chinese?"

"Chinese?" She blinked in sweet confusion. She flipped open her purse and looked into her mirror. Her eyes went round. "My God-you're right! I am Chinese!" She closed her purse again. "Wow!" she said wonderingly. "Chinese! Wait'll I tell my mom!"

"Your mom? Right. She doesn't know?"

The girl laughed. "Well, how could she? I mean-I just found out myself "

I stared at her. This was too confusing. I felt as if my reality were starting to shred. I said, "I-uh, don't think that... I know what's really going on here, Ms.... ? I mean, maybe-that is, I was just going-"

"No, wait-" She touched my arm to stop me. "I'm sorry, Jim."

"Huh?" I stopped. I looked at her again. "Do I know you?"

She met my puzzled stare with embarrassing directness. "We've met. "

I studied her face. It was almost a perfect oval. She had high cheekbones and bright almond-shaped eyes. Her mouth was wide, but not too wide. Her hair fell to her shoulders like a wave of sheer black silk. I'd never seen her before. I'd have remembered this face. And yet

I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else going on here. "Who are you?"

She smiled. "If I'm Chinese, I'm supposed to be mysterious. You know, inscrutable. You figure it out." Her smile was impish.

All my alarm bells were ringing now, and I still didn't know why. I said, "What's your name?"

"You can call me Tanjy."

"Tanjy. Is that Chinese?"

"No," she said. "I'm not Chinese."

"You're not? I think you need to look in that mirror again."

"You still haven't figured it out, have you? I'll give you a hint." For just the briefest moment her face went blank, then she was back again. She said, "Do you get it now?"

I pointed at her. "What was that?"

"I was communicating with my terminal."

I frowned. "You're a-?"

"Telepath, yes. Something wrong?"

"Uh, no. You just caught me by surprise-" And then I realized

She said, "You ought to have your face checked. It does the most curious things when you're caught by surprise."

The realization was still sweeping over me. I grabbed her by the shoulders. "You son of a bitch!"

"Hi, Jimbo!" she said broadly.

"I should have known!" My mouth was working like a fish out of water. I managed to make some words with it. "Ted! Tanjy! Theodore Andrew Nathaniel Jackson! You creep!" People were staring at us. I didn't care.

She-he?-grinned at me. "Don't you even kiss an old friend hello?"

"Kiss you? I oughta-" I unclenched my fist. I sputtered helplessly. I didn't know what to say.

"Gee, Jim!" He-she?-twinkled. "You're cute when you're angry!"