Free Synaptic Manhunt by Mick Farren Page B

looking stupid. He could imagine the Minstrel Boy’s sneers when he found out that Billy had sunk to pimping in Litz. Billy stepped quickly back into the lift before the Minstrel Boy noticed him.
    The Minstrel Boy and Jeb Stuart Ho walked up to the desk. Lame Nancy and the desk clerk both looked at them curiously. The winos went on staring at the Execution Hour.
    The desk clerk put down his comic book as they approached.
    ‘You want some rooms, gentlemen?’
    The Minstrel Boy shook his head.
    ‘Not right now.’
    It was the Minstrel Boy who was doing the talking. It had been his idea to make the Leader Hotel their first stop. They’d left the lizards in the pen at the edge of the nothings, and taken a ground cab into downtown Litz. In the past, the Minstrel Boy had found the Leader an ideal point at which to plug into the city’s wealth of gossip and rumour. The desk clerk scowled at him.
    ‘If you don’t want rooms, what do you want?’
    ‘Some information.’
    ‘We sell room and board, we don’t give out information. If you want information, watch the screen. Only don’t do it here if you ain’t rented no room.’
    The Minstrel Boy smiled.
    ‘Since when did information stop being worth something in Litz?’
    The desk clerk looked sideways at him.
    ‘You willing to pay?’
    The Minstrel Boy nodded. He turned to Jeb Stuart Ho.
    ‘You got your credit card?’
    Ho put his hand under his cloak, and passed a card to the Minstrel Boy. The eyes of both Nancy and the desk clerk fastened on the black-edged brotherhood credit card as he placed it on the desk and grinned.
    ‘Why don’t you take whatever you think ten minutes of your conversation is worth?’
    The desk clerk gingerly picked up the card. He seemed almost nervous of it. Nancy watched intently as he placed it in the transfer unit. He dialled out a modest sum. He looked up at the Minstrel Boy.
    ‘Is that okay?’
    ‘If that’s what you think you’re worth, then sure it’s okay.’
    The desk clerk handed the card back to the Minstrel Boy. He turned it over and then passed it to Jeb Stuart Ho. The desk clerk began to look nervous.
    ‘What do you gentlemen want to know?’
    Jeb Stuart Ho placed the tri-di of A.A. Catto in front of the desk clerk.
    ‘Have you ever seen this woman?’
    The desk clerk shook his head.
    ‘She’s never been in here.’
    The Minstrel Boy looked at him sharply.
    ‘You sure about that?’
    ‘Never forget a face.’
    ‘You ever hear of someone called A.A. Catto?’
    ‘I heard the name.’
    ‘What did you hear about her?’
    ‘I heard people talk about her.’
    ‘What did you hear?’
    ‘Rich little bitch by all accounts. She came into town. Started doing the society circuit. The nightclubs, the best parties. The rumour was that she was kind of wild. Like, you know, vicious. Into pain, other people’s pain. By all accounts she keeps herself looking like a young kid. That’s about all I know.’
    ‘Is she still in town?’
    ‘As far as I know.’
    ‘Do you know where she’s living?’
    ‘I heard she had an apartment at the Orchid House.’
    ‘The Orchid House, where’s that?’
    ‘It’s the big new apartment building. The big triangular one, right in the middle of downtown. You can’t miss it.’
    The Minstrel Boy turned to Jeb Stuart Ho.
    ‘I guess that’s about it. All you have to do is get down there,’
    The desk clerk laughed.
    ‘It ain’t as easy as that.’
    The Minstrel Boy turned back to him.
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘You’ll, never get inside the place. Not unless the lady wants to see you.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘It’s like a goddamn fortress. That’s part of the service. Unless you’ve got a pass from a resident you’ll never get past the security. There’s a whole army of them.’
    The desk clerk looked at him slyly.
    ‘That’s if the lady doesn’t want to see you.’
    The Minstrel Boy grinned.
    ‘The lady hasn’t had a chance to get to know us yet.’
    He thought for a minute.
    ‘Suppose we