The headquarters of Nalosh Guaranty Trust--the third largest bank on Suivi Point, and working hard at making second--lay in the Suivi financial district, hard by Money-Printer's Square. Grevvit Mancinom occupied an office suite there, with real fish in the real water tanks in the outer waiting room signifying his ability to maintain useless and decorative objects in his working space. Mancinom was in the business of making decisions on his employers' behalf, and his decisions had, over time, proved lucky. At the moment, however, he was doing nothing more strenuous than half-dreaming at his desk, sipping at his midmorning cup of cha'a and contemplating the early financial reports. The bing of an incoming message brought him to full alertness.
He pushed the button for SPEAK. A synthesized voice said: "Operations calling. High-value package located. Decision tree open. Input required."
Mancinom set aside both the cha'a and the financials. Time to do the work he was paid for. "Decision tree. Parameters?"
"Four options." The voice this time was human; whoever was holding down the desk in Operations would have seen the message get picked up and come online to respond. "Just came up on the tree; Operations Raging Manhood, Clever Endorsement, Roly-Poly, and Dead Blonde."
"How do the deniability indices look?" Mancinom asked.
"Deniability's within normal limits for all four."
"What about cost/benefit?"
"Dead Blonde and Raging Manhood come up at the top of the tree for that one."
"Failure mode?"
"Glad you asked that," Operations said. "Failure mode in Raging Manhood has Ahlquist Dahl getting an extra fiver uptick in popularity. Failure mode in Dead Blonde gives us a shooting war between Dahl&Dahl and Suivi Marcantile--bombs in safe-deposit boxes and tellers found in back alleys."
"I'm starting to like Dead Blonde," Mancinom said. Dahl&Dahl and Suivi Mercantile were the first and second largest banks on Suivi Point, respectively. Trouble between them, while unsettling to domestic tranquility in general, could never be entirely bad for their next-closest competitor. "What's the package?"
"Scans from the portside strip report a Level One Registered Incognito passing through the outer blast doors. No further info as yet."
"Right," said Mancinom. Level One Registered Incognitos didn't pass through the scanners every day, even in a cosmopolitan place like Suivi Point. He found it hard to imagine what the holder of one might be doing at the Point's commercial spacedocks. "Well, get further, and meanwhile, patch me through to the executive council. I'm going to need votes."
...
The executive council of Nalosh Guaranty Trust was in special session via conference flatvid, each member chiming in from his or her own office in response to Mancinom's request for priority authorization.
"What's the consensus?" asked Sahe, the elegant member from Suivi's Tarn Gate district. "Ops likes this one a lot, and I have to say it has its attractions."
Council member Orfan Roos said, "We've been spending a lot of money--"
"Not all that much, actually," Mancinom said. "Less than what gets spent every month on exotic plants and original artwork for the main lobby."
"That's public outreach and support for the arts," Sahe retorted. "Our image--"
"A lot of money," Roos said firmly, "that needs to be justified by a return, maintaining an address with a years-long paper trail leading back to Ahlquist Dahl at Dahl&Dahl. If we don't use it for something--"
"But is this the best possible something?" inquired yet a third council member. "If it doesn't work, then we've knocked a fraction off our profits for nothing."
"It is necessary to speculate in order to accumulate," Sahe replied. Her image in the members' flatscreens made a shake-and-release gesture with one hand. "Sooner or later one has to throw the dice. I say today."
One by one, the other members nodded in response. "Well, then," said Roos. "Mancinom--how late in the actions can we change from Dead Blonde to Raging Manhood and still be credible?"
"At the point violence becomes necessary," Mancinom said.
"Keep both options open, then, as long as possible. We'll take either course. Now--what's our package?"
"As it happens," Mancinom said, "the package is in fact female, and is in fact blonde. I think our luck is in." The members' flatscreens switched to showing a grainy image of a young woman in a spacer's coverall. A time-tick in the corner showed that the picture had come from that morning's security cameras at the portside locks.
"You're the best one to judge," Roos admitted. "What more can you tell me?"
"That the clock's running. Ship's patches on the suit she's wearing tell me that she'll be away again in less than thirty-four hours."
"Who's that walking beside her?" Sahe asked. "With the moustache."
"Same ship designation," Mancinom said. "An expendable. If we go with Dead Blonde, he's history. If we go with Raging Manhood, he's the outrage that'll fuel the assassination of Ahlquist Dahl."
"Poor Ahlquist. Either way, he's not going to have a happy day."
Roos snorted. "'Poor Ahlquist' my ass. He was the node point of a three percent decline in our fortunes over the last two quarters. Mancinom, you've got project lead--do we go for Raging Manhood or Dead Blonde?"
"Dead Blonde's on top by five points," Mancinom said.
"Dead Blonde it is then. Brief us again in thirty-four hours."