Page 25 - Tales the Maggid Never Told Me

The Golem of NASA

Gabe Solomon read the headline and lead paragraph twice
before he could snap the looping input trance it had induced. Then
he was out the door of his apartment, leaving breakfast and sports
pages behind. It was raining lightly, as it had been doing for days in
northern Virginia, but Gabe noticed nothing as he ran to the
Metro station. General Khazak was dead, stricken by cerebral
hemorrhage on a private tennis court in Tel Aviv. No autopsy,
no forensic investigation, no microscopic tissue analysis could
arrive at a different conclusion. But Gabe Solomon suspected
murder; and, if that were the case, then responsibility for the
crime would be his.
On the platform and in the subway train between stops he
paced nervously back and forth, then dashed through the car’s
doors the instant they slid apart at his station. He continued at
breakneck speed up an escalator, through the turnstile, up another
escalator and down two blocks to a nondescript office building. In
the lobby he composed himself; a series of security posts had to be
crossed before he could get to his office. The Agency operated here
as a commercial cable television service, justifying the odd array of
satellite dishes on the roof. The last officer in clerk’s clothing let him
pass unmolested through the metal detector masquerading as modern
sculpture, and he entered the rabbit warren of offices where he
worked. His arrival time was early, and would be noted, but
occasional dedication to one’s assignment was not a cause for
demerit.
He unlocked a door marked ‘G. Solomon, Customer Service’,
casually observing the presence or absence of other laborers in
the vineyards of Uncle Sam. None of the usual kibitzers and
clock-watchers was in sight; the coffee machine at the end of the
corridor was cold and silent. Gabe slipped into his office and closed
the door. As he approached the terminal on his desk, his anxiety rose
again. Oh, my God! he moaned internally; I’ve really done it now!
I’ve got to reprogram this thing fast!

24