The Sexual Assistant

Chapter 9

"Tell me about your homeland," asked Jade to Nadheer.

Nadheer relaxed and told stories of growing up, going to school, and eventually becoming a diplomat. Jade asked about his mother and his father. She asked about his three brothers and his sister. The two talked for hours. Jade was waiting for the critical moment.

Nadheer had paid a man at Jade's hotel ten thousand American dollars in exchange for Jade. He had taken her in a shipping trunk to his hotel. There he had her set up in a private room with her own bed. Nadheer spent a lot of time talking to Jade. He also spent at least two hours a day not talking to Jade.

Finally, Nadheer started talking in the direction Jade wanted him to go. "Tell me about how you got to Beruit," asked Nadheer. This was the opening Jade had wanted.

"I was created in the United States," Jade began. "There, I worked as a receptionist at the robot company."

She went on to hint at her role as a sex therapist. She talked about the club in London that employed her to give British diplomats an exciting distraction. Jade was deliberately avoiding any discussion of her sexual activities. However, Nadheer unconsciously realized that his sin-free girlfriend might have a questionable past.

"How did you entertain the British?" he asked.

"They would come by the club and talk to me," she responded. "They seemed amused at my abilities. Sometimes they would make rude suggestions, but I would respond with a rude remark about their manners. The other people would laugh and find this very amusing."

"Did they," Jadheer hesitated as he spoke, "partake of your pleasures."

"Not in London," she answered, leading Nadheer further down the path.

"What about Beruit?" he inquired.

Jade blushed. "I do not like talking about what happened just before you found me."

"Please, Jade, we are friends," said Nadheer. "You can tell me."

Jade looked away and paused. Lowering her voice for the full effect, she said, "There was this man..."

"Yes, yes," encouraged Nadheer.

"He was not polite," Jade started. "He hit me and then took advantage of me."

"Do you know his name?" demanded Nadheer.

"No. The other men just called him 'The River,'" she said meekly, still looking away.

"That bastard!" shouted Nadheer. "I know that man. He is nothing but trouble."

Nadheer then went on to describe his dealings with 'The River.' As he spoke, the audio recorders were rolling. Colonel Buffy was smiling, and Harris was slow-clapping how cleverly Jade had drawn out the information.

"Good programming," complimented Colonel Buffy.

"I didn't program that," responded Harris. "Her synthetic intelligence did it all by itself." Then he smiled as only a proud father could smile.

#

Barnett Lay was holding a telephone receiver to his ear. "Good morning," he said. "My name is Barnett Lay. I want to buy 30 minutes of your time."

The person on the other end of the line asked several questions. Barnett patiently answered each one. Then he outlined his proposition. The other person paused for several seconds. Three minutes later, they had a lunch date for tomorrow. Barnett smiled as he hung up.

"One down," he said to himself. Then he picked up the phone and dialed two numbers in Japan.

#

A week later, in Beruit, one of the intelligence team members leaned closer to his computer and said, "What the hell?"