Valentine opened the guidebook. The map of Mount Omega was a combination of a cross section of the decks of a ship and a subway chart. He tried to find their location on Grand Central.
Sagamoto pulled it out of his hands, snapped the rubber band back on, and shoved it in Valentine's pocket. "That thing's useless. The map makes a lot of sense once you already pretty much know your way around. As for all the rules... just be polite and wait your turn in line,
and if the police tell you to do something, do it. Just a second, I'm going to use one of the phones and get in touch with the senator's office.
"As a visitor, you really just need to know about the Mall, the Hill, the Point, and the George. The Mall's just below Grand Central - there are a couple of escalators just ahead there. The Hill's at the end of the Mall - it's an old indoor arena the reps and senators use for Congress. Point is above us - it's pure military. The George is where guests stay - it's also off Grand Central here. Of course there are archives and sewage treatments and waste and workshops and everything we need to keep going, plus the housing levels. The vice president and Speaker and chief justice all get windows and patios. The rest of us make do with twenty minutes in the UV rooms every day". An elevator opened and a small throng emerged. "And I think this is your aide".
A woman with wide eyes and tired hair, but almost glamorous thanks to her choice of scarf and gloves and satchel, broke away from the group leaving the elevator. She had an ID printed on a half-Capitol-dome, half-eagle-wing design, her picture and a thumbprint superimposed.
"Hello, Captain", the aide said. "Good to see you again. Is this our contact?"
Valentine extended a hand: "David Valentine. Southern Command, and lately Pacific Command".
She shook it: "Daphne Trott-Diefenbach, Senator Bey's chief military aide. I bet you're hungry".
More than half the people walking the wide corridor of Grand Central looked hungry to Valentine. "I'm all right".
"Well, I could use a bite. Captain, join us?"
Sagamoto took a step back. "No. I've got to log paperwork on the fresh face here".
"Thank you, Captain", Valentine said.
"Just doing my bit. Ma'am", Sagamoto said, turning.
"Then it's us. I'll take you down to the Mall... it's worth seeing", she said. "Can I call you David, or do you do Dave?"
"Most people just use Val", Valentine said.
"I'm Ducks, then".
"Ducks?"
She jerked her head down the tunnel, and they headed farther in, Valentine unconsciously falling into step. "They used to call me Daffy in school. Daffy Duck sometimes. I liked the Duck bit".
She took him down a worn old escalator. The new tunnel was even higher and wider than Grand Central. It was arched at the top, like a cathedral, and twin banks of lights shone down on small trees and grass running the length of the Mall. Valentine heard a fountain roaring somewhere. Bars, eateries, shops, movie booths, even a massive gallery piled with used books, lined the Mall. Valentine heard a pounding and hard breathing, looked up, and saw a walkway running above at treetop level, its railing thick with plant boxes. Joggers were running up there.
"I use the pool, myself. Warm as a summer lake, not that I've had a chance to swim in one. Let's break in John Bull's".
Valentine guessed it was an English-style pub, as there was a picture of Winston Churchill he recognized on the wall, and some black-and-whites of Congress being addressed. Behind the bar in a place of honor was a high blue helmet that reminded Valentine of an oversized egg.
"Two fry-ups and two shakes, Walther", she told the barkeep. She led Valentine to a back booth. His strange clothing was drawing stares from the Omegans in their scrublike paper clothing.
"Beer, Ducks?"
"No".
A server wiped their already-clean table and they sat.
"I'm just so eager for news of Outside. Tell me anything and everything", Ducks said.
"Ummm... where should I start?"
"How about Operation Archangel?" she asked.
Valentine took strange comfort in the fact that she'd heard of it. "I didn't see much of it".
"We had... I can't remember exactly how many, but several all-night sessions.