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what’ll happen when everyone finds out how we played them?”
    “Oh, nothing, probably. They’ll just seal up the backdoor I took advantage of, and reboot their foolish little parliament.”
    “You really think so?”
    “I do. Now, let me get busy. I’ve got to write our platform first”
    FooDog fugued out. Cherry got up, angled an umbrella across the abstracted black man to provide some shade, and then signalled me to step inside the house.
    Out of earshot of our pal, she said, “Russ, why is FooDog going to all this trouble for us?”
    “Well, let’s see. Because we’re buddies, and because he can’t resist monkey-wrenching the system just for kicks. That about covers it.”
    “So you don’t think he’s looking to get something personal out of all this?”
    “No. Well, maybe. FooDog always operates on multiple levels. But so long as he helps us get revenge”
    Cherry’s expression darkened. “That’s another thing I don’t like. All this talk of ‘revenge.’ We shouldn’t be focused on the past, holding a grudge. We came out of this accident okay. I’m healthy again, and the house is fixed. No one was even really to blame. It’s like when those two species of transgenic flies unpredictably mated in the wild, and the new hybrid wiped out California’s wine grapes. Just an act of God….”
    In all the years Cherry and I been together, we had seldom disagreed about anything. But this was one matter I wouldn’t relent on. “No! When I think about how you nearly died – Someone’s got to pay!”
    Shaking her head ruefully, Cherry said, “Okay, I can see it’s a point of honor with you, like if one of the Oyster Pirates ratted out another. I’ll help all I can. If I’m in, I’m in. I just hope we’re not bringing down heavy shit on our heads.”
    The door to the deck slid open, admitting a blast of hot air, and FooDog entered, grinning face glistening with sweat.
    “Okay, nephew and niece, we’re up and running. Even as we speak, thousands and thousands of microvotes are accumulating to the wiki of the Phantom Blots every hour, seemingly from citizens newly entranced by our kickass platform. You should read the plank about turning Moonbase Armstrong into the world’s first offworld hydroponic ganja farm! Anyhow, I figure that over the next forty-eight hours, the Blots will rise steadily through the ranks of the politco-wikis, until our leader is ready to challenge Praed for head jimmywhale.”
    Suddenly I got butterflies in my stomach. “Uh, FooDog, maybe you’d like to be the one to run the UWA...”
    “No way, padre. The Dog’s gotta keep a low profile, remember? The farther away I can get from people, the happier I am. Nope, the honor is all yours.”
    “Okay. Thanks – I guess.”
    FooDog’s calculations were a little off. It only took thirty-six hours before the Phantom Blots knocked the Libertinearians out as most influential politco-wiki, pushing Ivo Praed from his role as “president” of the UWA, and elevating me to that honor.
    Sandybump, a speck of land off the New England coast, was now the White House. (Not the current museum, but last century’s nexus of hyperpower.) I was ruler of the nation – insofar as it consented to be ruled. Cherry was my First Lady. And FooDog was my Cabinet.
    Time to get some satisfaction.
    Wikiwar
    The day after my political ascension, we reconvened the meeting we had conducted at Gerontion, this time at Sandybump. All the same participants were there, with the addition of Cherry.
    (Lots of other important national matters were continually arising to demand my attention, in my new role as head jimmywhale, but I just ignored them, stuffing them in a queue, preferring not to mess with stuff that I, for one, did not understand. This abdication of my duties would surely cause our charade to be exposed soon, but hopefully not before we had accomplished our goals.)
    FooDog and I restated our grievances to the South Americans, but now formulated