The Simulacra

Back to Oak Farm Conapts, Nicole said to herself. Where you belong.

A uniformed White House page approached her chair.

‘Mrs Thibodeaux,' the page whispered. ‘Assistant State Secretary Garth McRae is now waiting in the Easter Lily Alcove for you. He says you're expecting him.'

‘Oh yes,' Nicole said. ‘Thank you. Give him some coffee or a drink and tell him I'll be in shortly.'

The page departed.

‘Janet,' Nicole said, ‘I want you to play back that tape you made of your phone conversation with Kongrosian. I want to see for myself just how sick he is; with hypochondriacs you can never be certain.'

‘You understand there's no vid portion,' Janet said. ‘Kongrosian had a towel -- ‘

‘Yes, I realize that.' Nicole felt irritable. ‘But I know him well enough to tell by his voice alone. He gets that reticent, introverted quality when he's genuinely in distress. If he's just feeling sorry for himself he becomes garrulous.' She stood up, and at once the guests stood, too, here and there in their places throughout the Camellia Room. There were not many of them tonight; the hour was late, almost midnight, and the current programme of artistic talent was slender.

This was distinctly not one of the better evenings.

‘I'll tell you what,' Janet Raimer said archily. ‘If I can't do better than this, than the Moonrakers -- ‘ She gestured at the folk singers, who now were glumly packing up their instruments. ‘I'll arrange a programme entirely of the best of Ted Nitz' commercials.' She smiled, showing her stainless steel teeth. Nicole winced. Janet, sometimes, was just too much the witty professional woman. Just too amusing and poised, and wholly identified with this powerful office; Janet could be sure of herself any time and this bothered Nicole. There was no way to get at Janet Raimer.

No wonder every aspect of life had become for Janet a kind of game.

On the raised dais, a new group had replaced the defunct folk singers. Nicole examined her programme. This was the Las Vegas Modern String Quartet; they would in a moment, be playing a Haydn work, despite their august title. Maybe I'll go see Garth now, Nicole decided. Haydn seemed to her, with all the problems she had to cope with, a bit too nice. A bit too ornamental, not substantial enough.

When we get Goering here, she thought, we can bring in a brass band, street style, to play Bavarian military marches. I must remember to tell Janet that, she told herself. Or we could have some Wagner. Didn't the Nazis dote on Wagner? Yes, she was sure of that. She had been studying history books about the period of the Third Reich; Dr Goebbels, in his diaries, had mentioned the reverence felt by high Nazi officials at a performance of The Ring.

Or perhaps it was Meistersinger.

We could have the brass band play arrangements of themes from Parsifal, she decided with a secret spasm of amusement. In march tempo, of course. A sort of proctological version, just right for the Ubermenschen of the Third Reich.

Within twenty-four hours the von Lessinger technicians would have the conduits to 1944 completed. It was weird but perhaps by tomorrow at this time Herma

‘I have an appointment,' she said to Janet. ‘Excuse me,' she rose, left the Camellia Room; two NP men fell in behind her as she made her way down the corridor to the Easter Lily Alcove where Garth McRae waited.

In the alcove Garth sat with another man whom she recognized -- by his uniform -- as a top official of the higher police. She did not know him. Evidently he had arrived with Garth; the two of them were consulting in low tones, unaware of her arrival.

‘Have you informed Karp und Sohnen?' she asked Garth.

At once both men were on their feet, respectful and attentive. ‘Oh yes, Mrs Thibodeaux,' Garth answered. ‘At least,' he added quickly, ‘I informed Anton Karp that the Rudi Kalbfleisch simulacrum is going to be discontinued soon. I -- haven't informed them that the next simulacrum will be obtained through other cha

‘Why not?' Nicole asked.

Glancing at his companion, Garth said, ‘Mrs Thibodeaux, this man is Wilder Pembroke, new Commissioner of the NP. He's warned me that Karp und Sohnen have held a closed, secret meeting of their top executive perso

Nicole said to the police official, ‘What will Karp do?'

‘The Werke will make public the fact that the der Altes are constructs, that the last living der Alte held office fifty years ago.' Pembroke cleared his throat noisily: he appeared singularly ill at ease. ‘This is a clear violation of basic law, of course. Such knowledge constitutes a state secret and ca

‘And yet they'd go ahead,' Nicole said, and thought to herself, So we're correct; the Karp people are already too strong. Already possess far too much autonomy. And they won't abandon this without a fight.'

‘Individuals high in cartel circles are peculiarly stiffnecked,' Pembroke said. ‘The last of the true Prussians, perhaps. The Attorney General has asked that you contact him before going ahead in this matter; he will be glad to outline the direction of the state's litigation against the Werke, and he's anxious to discuss several sensitive aspects with you. By and large, however, the Attorney General is prepared to move in at any time. As soon as he receives notification. However -- ‘ Pembroke glanced at her sideways.

‘I wonder. It's the summation of all data reaching me that the cartel system as a whole is simply too enormous, too sturdily constructed and interlocked, to be brought down. That, instead of direct action against it, some sort of quid pro quo should be brought about. Such appears to me to be much more desirable. And feasible.'

Nicole said, ‘But that's up to me.'

Both Garth McRae and Pembroke nodded in unison.

‘I will discuss this with Maxwell Jamison,' she said finally.

‘Max will have a relatively clear idea as to how this information about the der Alte will be received by the Bes, by the uniformed public. I have no idea how they would react. Would they riot? Would they find it amusing? Personally I find it amusing. I'm sure it would appear that way to me if I were, say, a rather minor employee of some cartel or government agency. Do you agree?'

Neither man smiled; both remained tense and sombre.

‘In my opinion, if I may say so,' Pembroke said, ‘release of this information will topple the entire structure of our society.'

‘But it is amusing,' Nicole persisted. ‘Isn't it? Rudi is a dummy, an ersatz creation of the cartel system, and yet he's the highest elected official in the USEA. These people voted for him and for the der Alte before him and so on back for fifty years -- I'm sorry, but it has to be fu