8

So she stood by and watched him walk into the study. I suppose he rifled the desk for the bank book, but it was not long before he was at the nutritank. I sensed it when he turned off the tank, and signaled to Susan again. With the tank off, the respirator wouldn't function and soon my "Primary" would be breathing its own stale air and begin to suffocate. I had to stay out of it, to give Linkowski a chance to get away thinking things were going according to plan, but Susan's "maid" would be there to keep things from going too far.

Susan intercepted Linkowski again on his way out. He was carrying Gregory's briefcase.

"Sir, are you going to wear that body to the party?" she asked.

"Yes. An item of business has come up and I must get these papers down there," he said.

"I can run those down for you sir. No need for you to take the extra body."

He kept his cool, and continued to run his bluff. "Thank you for your concern, my dear," he said, "But I prefer this garb for doing business. I assure you the body I wore to the party earlier is secure and will not present a problem. I may return to it later."

With that Susan let him go, and as soon as he was out she went to attend to the poor clone that was suffocating in the nutritank. Linkowski was committed now; we were sure he would make his appearance at the bank even though he might be aware that the clone he thought was Gregory's Primary had been rescued.

Haggerty was waiting for him at the bank, posing again as the manager who had handled Gregory's earlier transactions. Here again I learned later what had transpired.

"Ah, Mr. Gregory," Haggerty greeted him effusively when he walked in, "How may we help you today?"

"I need a rather large sum in cash. I hope you will have it on hand."

"I am certain we can meet your needs, sir. Please come with me, and tell me what you want."

As we had planned, Haggerty gave him what he asked for, which was two and a half million dollars in very large bills. One of Haggerty's agents in the casino gave me a high sign when Linkowski had left the bank. He must have felt he was home free by then, because I hadn't made any attempt to interfere with his use of the clone he had taken over. But I was holding onto my meta-perception of that particular bubble of awareness.

Then abruptly the body was no longer "possessed". I eased open my perception of it, and found myself sitting in a recliner in a small room. The eyes were open but undirected, as often occurs with an inactive body. Being careful not to change their direction or move the body, I brought the eyes into focus. I was looking at the briefcase full of money, lying open on a table. Standing at the table turning the money over in his hands was a middle-aged man in an expensive leisure suit. It was not Alex Linkowski, but it was someone I recognized immediately.

Back in the hotel I turned to Susan. "I know this guy!" I said. "Talk about playboys; he makes our Clifford Gregory look like a piker! He's always into one big gambling escapade or another. The name is DiSenzo, Mark DiSenzo."

"Mark DiSenzo," she said, "The guy you've been playing with? You're sure it's him? Why would he be pulling a stunt like this. If anyone's got a bottomless well of funds it must be him."

"Looks like the well's run dry," I said. "And it can't be the real DiSenzo. I know he's a Minor. He couldn't possibly have done this body-borrowing stunt."

"Could it be that Alex Linkowski has been using one of DiSenzo's bodies? Has DiSenzo reported losing a clone somewhere? And if he's already got one of DiSenzo's bodies, why did he have to go after all those others? It doesn't add up."

"There's one way to find out," I said. "I'll ask him."

So I did. I sat up in the recliner he had dropped me in. He turned his head to me with a startled expression, and I said, "Hello, Mark."

He pasted a smile on his face, and replied, "Ah, Clifford. Did your maid turn your respirator back on? I feared she might. So you decided to pay me a visit. How nice. You've been so generous to me, though, it's a pity I can't accommodate you better."

"I'm afraid you've presumed rather heavily on my hospitality, Mark," I said. "But if you'll just replace the money in that briefcase and let me walk out of here with it, I may be inclined to go easy on you. Especially if you can teach me your trick of body-swapping."

"I'm sorry, my friend, but that won't be possible. It's a shame, really, that you couldn't leave well enough alone when you recovered from my aborted attempt to disembody you altogether, and write this one body off with the rest of your losses. I could have accepted that. But your coming here has upped the ante. You've recognized me, and as your offer implied you appear to hold the upper hand. You leave me no recourse. The stakes are clear, it's your life or mine."

"You're implying that you hold a trump hand, or an ace up your sleeve, DiSenzo. I know you; you are a Minor Talent just as I am. You may kill this body, and run off with the cash, but I will simply return to the hotel and name you as the culprit. How can you stop me? If I believed your threat, I'd abandon this body now and call the police. You can't expect me to believe you can prevent that!"

"You've read the hand well, Gregory, but not well enough. You're out of your class in this game. You asked for a lesson. I won't give you that, but I'm bound to give you a demonstration."