[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
water sediment, or are well on the way to solving the
problem. Australia's population is burgeoning. It's going to
have to expand its agriculture rapidly over the next ten years
to keep pace. Millions of cubic metres of soil conditioner
will be needed to bring enough hectares under cultivation.
Seawater silt, suitably washed and filtered, is ideal. The
alternative is to ship peat half-way round the world. The
price of good-quality sedge has rocketed.' Well that bit was
true enough.
'Registering a few patents doesn't mean we've solved anything,'
said Christine, watching Honicker carefully. She
glanced quickly at Alec - a warning to keep quiet. Tm sorry.
But we're not interested, Mr Honicker. Triton Exploration is
our life.'
'You would still have management control. In the day-today
running of the company, everything would be much the
same as it is now. In many respects you would have even
more freedom because you would be able to draw on a
research and development budget.'
Christine shook her head regretfully. 'Sorry, Mr Honicker.
Thank you for your interest in Triton. I'm only sorry that we
can't respond with the same interest in your offer.'
T can go to seven,' said Honicker flatly. He made a move
to stand. 'I can always wait in my car while you talk it over.'
Alec signalled to Christine that he wanted to talk. 'All right,
Mr Honicker,' she said. 'Give us ten minutes please.'
As soon as they were alone, Alec felt down the sides of the
chair cushions where Honicker had been sitting. He even
crouched and peered along the underside of the desk and
Page 111
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
checked outside the door. 'Clean,' he announced. 'I watched
him all the time. He didn't plant anything.' He looked questioningly
at Christine who was busy with the Minitel keyboard.
'Shief?'
'I don't think so. Why would that thing send a minion
131
along to offer less than he has?'
'He could be testing us,' said Alec. 'Seeing if we put environmental
or ideological considerations first.'
'Don't we?'
'You always have.'
Christine gave a dismissive gesture as she tapped on the
keyboard. 'That stuff about soil conditioner is crap. I could
smell when he was lying. Which means that someone in
Avanti has leaked information or another organisation has
found something out.'
'Like who?'
She was engrossed in the Minitel keyboard and screen so
Alec had to repeat the question.
'The Australian government,' Christine replied. 'Their
intelligence services are supposed to be the best in the
southern hemisphere.'
'Honicker would make a pretty ineffectual spy,' Alec
observed. 'Do spies stay at the Savoy?'
'He doesn't need to spy,' said Christine. 'He knows more
about us than we do. And you're right - he'd make a lousy
spy. Maybe they do stay at the Savoy, but they don't list
themselves in landline telephone directories.'
'What?'
She turned the screen around so that Alec could see it.
'There's about a couple of hundred Honickers listed in the
whole of Australia, with variations on his spelling,' said
Christine. 'But only one W. Honicker.' She pointed to a
Canberra address. 'A frightful, boring place. The only
reason for living there is if you love order or you're a
government employee. I suspect that with our Mr Honicker,
it's both.' She gave an impish smile and touched out the
number, using the telephone in hands free mode so that they
both heard the giveaway tones over the speaker of a call
being diverted. Then a ringing tone. Only one ring followed
by a man's voice: 'Hallo?'
'Could I speak to Bill Honicker please? That's HO-N-ICK-ER
Page 112
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
initial W.'
H's office, Christine scrawled on a pad.
132
'As you're calling from England,' said the voice resignedly,
'didn't it occur to you to check the time? It's after ten.
Everyone's gone home and I don't know if we have anyone of
that name here.'
'All I want is for you to route this call to Bill Honicker's
Iridium number,' said Christine earnestly. 'It's very urgent
and to do with his mission to London. I don't want you to
give me his number - just route this call through.'
'Hold on please.' The line went quiet.
'You're crazy,' Alec muttered.
'Shh!'
'Hallo?' said the voice.
'Still here,' said Christine pleasantly.
'Your name please, miss.'
'I can't say. Look, this is desperately urgent. If you don't
put me through to Mr Honicker the whole thing could fall
apart.'
'Hold on please.' The line went dead again, this time for
two minutes. The man never came back. Instead they heard
a ringing tone from the speaker at the same time as the faint
trilling from outside of an Iridium Klipfone. Christine gave
a little wriggle of triumph at the success of her ruse in
bouncing a call around the world through several low-orbit
satellites to speak to someone not twenty metres away.
'Hallo, Mr Honicker,' she said sweetly. 'Christine Rose. We've
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]