MANHATTAN

DECEMBER 1

Patrick stood at his hotel window and gazed down at the top of Madison Square Garden and the giant Christmas snowman atop its entrance. The unrisen sun was just beginning to lighten the low clouds lidding the city. In a few hours the streets below would be packed with the weekly Saturday horde of Christmas shoppers.

Patrick had been awake for hours. This had become a pattern every night since the poisoning of the sims. Fall asleep easily - with the help of a couple of stiff Scotches - and then find himself wide awake at 3:00A .M. or so with his mind sifting through the litterbox his life had become.

All because of an argument in a country club men's room. What if he hadn't chosen that moment to go to the bathroom? What if he'd waited until after that second drink? Holmes Carter would have been long gone, and without Carter's bad attitude, Patrick would have laughed off Tome's request to unionize the club sims. If he'd done that, where would he be now?

For one thing, he'd still have a law practice; he missed Maggie, even missed some of his clients. He'd also have a house instead of a fire-blackened foundation. And he might still have Pamela, although he wondered if that would be such a good thing. From his present perspective he could see that their relationship had been one more of mutual convenience than rooted in any deep regard.

He probably wouldn't have spent Thanksgiving alone, either. Ever since his folks retired to South Carolina, they'd always called and insisted he come down for Thanksgiving. Not this year. That was Dad's doing, Patrick was sure.

He'd known Dad had been upset with the whole idea of a sim union - he'd made that perfectly clear over the phone on more than one occasion - but Patrick hadn't realized just how much until Thanksgiving came and went without an invitation.

That had hurt. Even now, more than a week later, the wound still ached.

So here he was: jobless, homeless, alone, and functionally orphaned. And aligned with a masked mystery man who'd invited him to join a nameless fifth column movement to bring down one of the world's most powerful multinational corporations.

"And I said yes," he whispered, still not believing it.

This is not me, he kept telling himself. This is somebody else. All I wanted out of life was stability and a good living. That was why I went into law. I am not a risk taker. I am not an adrenaline junkie. How did I come to this? And how do I get out of it?

Easy. Just say no. Pack up and walk away.

And do what? Labor relations? After what he'd been through, could he go back to sitting at a table and listening to union and management argue over the length of coffee breaks or who qualified for daycare? Not likely.

And then there was Romy. Walking away from Zero meant walking away from her.

So for the foreseeable future he'd stick this out and see where it took him.

Hopefully it would soon take him out of this hotel. Zero had suggested he relocate himself and his practice to Manhattan. Romy had laughed off Patrick's suggestion that he move in with her while he hunted for an office and an apartment. So for the time being, home was a room in the Hotel Pennsylvania. Finding space - whether living or office - wasn't easy. The new boom had sent prices in Manhattan up to where the new space station was nearing completion.

The jangle of the phone startled him. He stepped through the dark room to the night table, found the phone, and fumbled the receiver to his ear.

Romy's voice: "Am I interrupting something?"

"Only my daily predawn reverie."

She gave him an address. "If you haven't anything better to do, meet me there ASAP. I'll wait for you."

Patrick sensed strain in her voice, but before he could ask for any details she hung up.

Dutifully he pulled on yesterday's clothes, grabbed a large container of coffee on his way through the lobby, and ventured into the early morning chill of Seventh Avenue in search of a taxi.

The driver shot him a look when he read off the address. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure," Patrick told him after double-checking.

The driver shrugged - reluctantly, Patrick thought - and gunned the cab into the traffic.

Patrick considered that look and thought, Romy, Romy, what are you getting me into now?