Jeffrey Siger - Assassins of Athens

'Better turn around and head the other way. You have an appointment in-' she paused, Andreas assumed to look at her watch, 'ten minutes at the Tholos.'

'At the what? And why did you schedule an appointment without clearing it with me?' His voice was sharper than he intended.

She didn't seem bothered. 'I didn't schedule it for you. The prime minister's office did. Tholos is a virtual reality theater inside a big dome, looks like a planetarium. The show starts with the burning of Athens by the Persians and focuses on life in the Agora during Athens' classical period. Makes you feel like you're living back in the fifth century BC. It's on Pireos Street.'

'What the fuck's going on — sorry, Maggie, I didn't mean that for you.'

She laughed. 'Don't worry. I was wondering the same thing.'

'Can't seem to get out of that neighborhood.' Andreas gestured for Kouros to turn the car around and head in the opposite direction.

'No, Chief, it's in the Tavros section, on the other side of town from Omonia, at 254 Pireos.'

'Who am I meeting?'

'That superbitch from the prime minister's office wouldn't tell me, just said to tell you to "be there," but if I had to guess, I think I know who it is.'

He'd learned to trust her instincts. 'So, tell me already.'

'Marios Tzoli.'

'Shit.'

'Thought you'd like that. He called me twice, insisting he must speak to you-'

'Personally called?'

'Yes, and I told him I couldn't reach you. Then I got a call from the office of the minister of public order telling me you must call Marios immediately. I told them the same thing, I couldn't reach you.'

That minister was his boss. 'Let me guess. Then came the call from the prime minister?'

'Five minutes later.'

'Boy, he really must be owed some favors.'

'Shall I tell you some of them?' said Maggie giggling.

'Not on the telephone, my love.' Andreas smiled.

'Let me know what happens.'

'Will do. And Maggie, have a blue-and-white meet me at that dome-thing. I have fingerprints I want the lab to run STAT.' He hung up. 'Yianni, who do you think actually runs my office?'

'I'd need permission from Maggie to answer that.'

Andreas smiled again, and shook his head. 'Well, what do you think has Greece's number-one scandal-chasing TV personality all hot and bothered?'

Kouros' look turned serious. 'You don't think he somehow found out about, uh-'

'Last night?' Andreas shook his head no. 'Don't think so. Only if it were a set-up from the start would he be so pumped up so quickly. Besides, as important as I seem to you,' he smacked Kouros' shoulder, 'I'm not close to the sort of person his viewers are interested in watching screw up their lives. Certainly not enough to get this kind of personal attention from the Man himself.'

'So, what do you think it is?'

Andreas shrugged. 'Whatever it is, he's sure anxious to tell us. Maybe it has to do with where he's picked to meet?'

'Yeah, it seems a bit dramatic, even for him.'

'I think when referring to Marios he prefers that you spell "him" with a capital H.'

Kouros grinned. 'Oh, yes, I forgot he's one of our modern gods.'

'All-knowing, all-powerful, gazing down upon us mere mortals from Mount TV, deciding who shall live, who shall die, and what bullshit gets the best ratings.'

'Wonder who he's after?'

'Well, if it isn't us, let's not give him a reason to change his mind, like by keeping him waiting. Step on it, we're already late.'

They parked where parking was 'strictly forbidden.' Cops always ignored those signs; it made them feel more like civilian Greek drivers in need of a parking space. Though in a hurry, they had to wait for the uniform cop to pick up Demosthenes' fingerprints. They stood by the curb and stared at three connected structures identified by a sign atop the middle one: HELLENIC COSMOS.

The futuristic Tholos, or dome in English, stood to the left and was by far the most dramatic architectural element of the 23,000-square-foot complex. It was a virtual-world sphere, created by civic-minded Athenians in the midst an old neighborhood of gas stations and commercial spaces badly in need of aesthetic attention. Here visitors experienced life amidst the commercial, political, cultural, and religious center of ancient Athens — the Agora — while sitting in a 130-seat theater 'losing all sense of time and space.' At least that's what a sign by the entrance read.

Andreas pointed to the sign as they passed it. 'Let's hope that happened to Marios.' They were twenty minutes late for what he expected to be a pissy, prima donna performance by the self-styled 'Voice of Greece.'

They entered through the front door closest to the theater. He said to meet him there. They didn't have to look for him. He was standing on the other side of the door looking at his watch. Short silver hair, bright blue eyes, a slim five-foot-six-inch frame, and an age falling somewhere between Greece's past and present generation of leaders, Marios seemed tense. Andreas took that to mean he was about to unload on them for keeping him waiting.

'Chief Kaldis?' It was the voice millions knew. 'I could tell it was you from where you parked.' It sounded like sarcasm, but might be a joke.

Andreas treated it as humor. 'You mean I don't look like my photograph?' Andreas smiled and extended his hand.

Marios did not smile but did shake hands. 'Yes, your minister was kind enough to fax me a photograph of you.'

And probably a copy of his official personnel file. This guy had access to practically everyone and everything he wanted. 'Sir, this is officer Kouros.'

They shook hands.

'I would have preferred meeting elsewhere,' he waved his hands, 'somewhere less public but… well… you'll see.' Marios pointed to a broad steel and glass staircase leading to a mezzanine lined with floor-to-ceiling windows. 'Let's go up there.'

The actual steps, thirty-five of them plus a landing halfway, seemed the only wood in the place. No question that steel, glass, and light were the principal design elements here and presented a decidedly modern contrast to what Andreas expected. Then again, Andreas didn't know what to expect.

Marios held Andreas' arm as they walked. He gestured toward Kouros with his head. 'What I have to say is very private and off the record.'

'Officer Kouros and I work together. If it's something involving police work he will know anyway.' He looked Marios straight in the eyes. 'If it involves something else, I'm not the person to talk to at the ministry.' If this was about making Andreas one of Marios' 'unofficial official' sources, they may as well have it out right now. It was guys like this who did in his father.

Marios stared back. 'I heard you're a hard-ass.' He let out a breath. 'Okay, have it your way, but if word about what I'm about to tell you gets out, there will be hell to pay for all of us.'

This guy sure knew how to sell. He's about to pump me for information and makes it sound like it's the other way around. 'I understand, sir, there will be no problem.'

Marios nodded. 'Fine, just so you know it.' He made no effort to make Andreas feel comfortable in 'his' presence, such as by saying, 'just call me Marios.'

At the mezzanine they turned left and entered a dark room lined with television monitors along the tops of the left and right walls. Marios said this was where visitors were told what was about to happen inside the dome.

'When do we learn?' asked Andreas.

'Soon.' Again, no smile. Marios led them inside the sphere.

Eight semicircular rows of airplane-style seats descended to the base of the sphere. The screen rose up from the floor in front of the bottom row and seemed to envelope everything but the seats themselves. Marios pointed to two seats, dead center, in the next-to-top row. Each seat arm contained controls allowing the audience to vote during the course of the video on the direction the presentation should take. A bit of democracy in action in the telling of the tale of its birthplace. But the three of them had the theater to themselves and there was no doubt in Andreas' mind that this would be all Marios' show.