Amerika Read Online Free PDF

the right way to start the day,” he said with all the confidence of one much more experienced than she. “Gets the juices flowing.”
    “I’m late for school. Gotta go. I love you.”
    “What about tonight? The Cavern?”
    “My father won’t let me go all the way to Omaha.”
    “Don’t ask your father. Just go.”
    “Let me think. Come by after school. After tryouts.
    Okay?”
    “I might,” Justin said, and pulled his goggles down.
    Jackie stomped down hard on the pedals and raced, late now, to the safety of school. She heard the roar of Justin’s bike as he sped off in the opposite direction.
    Kimberly sleepily watched Andrei come out of the bathroom, dressed in slacks and a sport coat; he was one of the most powerful men in the New America, yet he looked less like a politician than like a cross between a successful executive and a professor. He walked to the bed, unaware that Kimberly was awake. He bent down to her and kissed her, surprised to find her arms tightly around his neck, pulling him down onto the bed.
    “Get back in here.” She smiled lazily, her morning breath milky and warm.
    “No time now, but come along. We could make love in the ckr.”
    “Pervert.”
    “There are many women who would love such an
    offer.”
    “Maybe you can find one on the way to the office.”
    He kissed her. Her brown eyes clouded over. He watched her in fascination. This was not an act; frequently she experienced these sudden, agonizing swings of emotion.
    “Are you all right? You seemed very sad this morning.”
    She nodded, as though dismissing it. “I’m fine.”
    Andrei knew that was not true, but he had learned from public life that it was much easier to let it pass. He went to the closet, picked up an overnight bag, and came back to the bed.
    “I need you today,” she said.
    “You have your play to rehearse. You’ll probably not even notice I’m gone.”
    He kissed her again and she responded slightly. “Remember about tonight,” he said.
    “Do we have to go? I mean—to Omaha?”
    “Yes we do, my dear. The nomination of a governor-general is an epoch-making moment in the political life of your country—of our country. Besides, you’ll get to perform.” He got up and walked to the door, opening it.
    “Andrei—”
    “Yes?” He turned back to face Kimberly again.
    “I love you.”
    Andrei nodded. “Be ready at six.”
    Mikel was waiting when Andrei reached his big, bright comer office high above Lake Michigan. The room was furnished with white rugs and sofas, abstract paintings that had been officially labeled decadent, and sleek silver stereo and video equipment. Atop a large, neat desk stood a framed photograph of Kimberly alongside a small statue of an American Indian. It amused Andrei to surround him self with bits of Americana.
    But Mikel was not amused. He was efficient, humorless, and ambitious—the sort of man, Andrei knew, that one must use wisely and watch carefully. Andrei thought it possible that Mikel spied on him for his enemies in the KGB. The possibility neither surprised nor offended him. It was part of the challenge of staying in the game.
    “Good morning, Colonel.” Mikel rose swiftly from the conference table, his close-cropped hair precisely parted and flawlessly slicked down.
    “Good morning, Mike!, You are aware of my trip to Washington?”
    “Yes. Your plane is waiting.”
    “You canceled my day’s appointments?”
    “Yes. With one difficulty. Magistrate Marion Andrews considers her business urgent. I told her you would see her this evening, upon your return from Washington.”
    “She is an important woman, Mike!. Invite her to fly with me to Omaha tonight. Did she explain the nature of her business?”
    Mike! cleared his throat and grimaced slightly, as if he found the whole business thoroughly distasteful. “It is slightly awkward, Colonel, relating as it does to a time when her political views were less enlightened than they have since become.” He paused