“What?” she said flatly.

“It means your party’s almost over. It costs a fortune to run that giant cucumber-frame, much more than the place is really worth to anybody, and the country is broke. If you’re going to do genetic research nowadays, you can do it very cheaply, in very simple build-ings. In somebody else’s constituency.”

“But there’s the animals,” she said. “The genetic facilities.”

“That’s the truly tragic part. You can’t save an endangered spe-cies by cloning animals. I admit, it’s better than having them com-pletely exterminated and lost forever. But they’re curios now, they walk around looking pretty, they’ve become collector’s items for the ultra-rich. A living species isn’t just the DNA code, it’s the whole spread of genetic variety in a big wild population, plus their learned behaviors, and their prey and their predators, all inside a natural envi-ronment. But there aren’t any natural environments anymore. Because the climate has changed.”

He sat up, the bedsprings crunching loudly. “The climate’s in flux now. You can’t shelter whole envirorunents under airtight domes. Only two kinds of plants really thrive in today’s world: genetically altered crops, and really fast-moving weeds. So our world is all bam-boo and kudzu now, it has nothing to do with the endangered fox-glove lady’s slipper and its precious niche on some forgotten mountain. Politically, we hate admitting this to ourselves, because it means admitting the full extent of our horrible crimes against nature, but that’s ecological reality now. That’s the truth you asked me for. That is reality. Paying tons of money to preserve bits of Humpty Dumpty’s shell is strictly a pious gesture.”

“And that’s what you’re going to tell your Senators.”

“No, no, I never said that.” Oscar sighed. “I just wanted to tell you the truth.”

“What do you want to tell your Senators?”

“What do I want? I want you. I want you to be on my side. I want to reform your situation, and I want you to help me and counsel me.”

“I have my own krewe, thank you.”

“No, you don’t have anything. You have a very expensive facility that is on a short-term loan. And you’re dealing with people in Wash-ington who can misplace an air base and laugh about it. No, when I look at your game from your position, I see that you have two realistic options. Number one, get out now, before the purge. Take another post, academia maybe, even Europe. If you angle it right, you can probably take some of your favorite grad students and bottle-washers with you.”

She scowled. “What’s option number two?”

“Take power. A preemptive strike. Just take the place over, and root out everyone of those crooked sons of bitches. Come clean about everything, get ahead of the curve, and blow the place wide open.” Oscar levered himself up on one elbow. “If you leak it at just the right time, through just the right sources, and in just the right order, with just the right spin, you can get rid of the featherbedders and save most of the people who are doing actual research. That’s a very risky gambit, and it probably won’t succeed, and it will make you stacks of bitter enemies for life. But there is one saving grace there: if you’re turning the place upside down yourself, Congress will be so amazed that they won’t get around to shutting you down. If you get good press, and if they like your style, they might even back you.”

She sank back, crushed, against the pillow. “Look, I just want to work in my lab.”

“That’s not an option.”

“It’s very important work.”

“I know it is, but that’s just not an option.”

“You don’t really believe in anything, do you?”

“Yes I do,” he said passionately. “I believe that smart people working together can make a difference in this world. I know you’re very smart, and if we work together, then maybe I can help you. If you’re not with me, then you’re on your own.”

“I’m not helpless. I have friends and colleagues who trust me.”

“Well, that’s lovely. You can all be helpless together.”

“No, it’s not lovely. Because you’re sleeping with me. And you’re telling me you’re going to destroy everything I work for.”

“Look, it’s the truth! Would it be better if I slept with you and didn’t tell you what was going on? Because the possibility distinctly occurred to me. But I don’t have the heart.”

“You have the wrong person for this. I hate administration. I can’t take power. I’m no good at it.”

“Greta, look at me. I could make you good at it. Don’t you understand that? I run political campaigns, I’m an expert. That’s my job.”

“What a horrible thing to say.”

“We could do it, all right. Especially if you weighed in with us, if you’d let us advise you and help you. My krewe and I, we took an architect who had five percent approval ratings and we made him Senator from Massachusetts. Your sad little fishbowl has never seen people like us.”

“Well…” She sighed. “I’ll have to think about it.”

“Good. You do that. I’ll be gone for a while. Washington, Bos-ton… Give the subject some serious thought.” His stomach rum-bled. “After all that ranting, I’m not a bit sleepy. Are you sleepy?”

“God, no.”

“I’m starving. Let’s go get something to eat. You brought a car, right?”

“It’s a junker car. Internal combustion.”

“It’ll get us into a real town. I’ll take you out tonight. We’ll go out somewhere, we’ll paint the town together.”

“Are you nuts? You can’t do that. Crazy people are trying to kill you.”

He waved a hand. “Oh, who cares? We can’t live that way. What’s the use? Anyway, the risk is minimal here. It would take a major-league intelligence operation to track us down here in this dump. I’m much safer at some random restaurant than I’ll be in Wash-ington or Boston. This is our only night together. Let’s be brave. Let’s find the nerve to be happy.”

They dressed, left the beach house, got into the car. Greta started it with a metal key. The engine growled in ugly piston-popping fashion. Then Greta’s phone rang.

“Don’t answer it,” Oscar said.

She ignored him. “Yes?” She paused, then handed it over. “It’s for you.”

It was Fontenot. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Are you still awake? We’re going out for dinner.”

“Of course I’m awake! I was up as soon as you left the safe house. You can’t leave Holly Beach, Oscar.”

“Look, it’s the middle of the night, nobody knows we’re here, we’re in a rented car with no history, and we’re picking a town at random.”

“You want to eat? We’ll bring you in some food. What if you get pulled over by a parish sheriff? They’ll punch you into the state police net. You think that’ll be a fun experience for a Yankee who’s crossed Green Huey? Think otherwise, pal.”

“Should that happen, I’ll lodge a complaint with the American embassy.”

“Very funny. Stop being stupid, okay? I finessed the Holly Beach thing for you, and that wasn’t easy. If you depart from the itinerary, I can’t be responsible.”

“Keep driving,” Oscar told Greta. “Jules, I appreciate your pro-fessionalism, I really do, but we need to do this, and there’s no time to argue about it.”

“All right,” Fontenot groaned. “Take the highway east and I’ll get back to you.”

Oscar hung up and gave Greta her phone. “Did you ever have a bodyguard?” he said.

She nodded. “Once. After the Nobel announcement. It was me and Danny Yearwood. After the big news broke, Danny started getting all these threats from the animal rights people … Nobody ever threatened me about it, and that was so typical. They just went after Danny. We shared the Nobel, but I was the one doing all the labwork… We had some security during the press coverage, but the stalkers just waited them out. Later they jumped poor Danny out-side his hotel and broke both his arms.”