He nodded, shaking her hand just as properly, but letting the contact linger slightly longer than custom. Without taking his eyes from her, he stepped aside to give the ork attendant access to the car. "I'm pleased to meet you, Ms. Uljaken. The trip so far, especially your company's arrangements, has been excellent."

She smiled again and clasped her hands behind her back. "Good. But let's go right in. Mr. Truman and his wife will see you immediately." As the two began walking toward the glass entrance, the car pulled away from the curb in response to the attendant's spoken orders. It would await Kyle in the car pool, ready for him again when he was finished upstairs.

"May I ask a question?" Kyle said casually.

"Of course." The strong breeze ruffled Hanna Uljaken's hair and blew some strands into her face. She brushed them back into place with what looked like a well-practiced gesture.

"Despite certain statements to the contrary," Kyle said, keeping one eye on her and another more cautious one on the building entrance, "there seems to be a decided lack of haste in all this." He paused to study her for a moment. "I was ready to begin from the time I arrived late yesterday afternoon."

Hanna Uljaken held his gaze for a moment. "I'm sure Mr. Truman can brief you on any details that are still unclear." With that she passed through the automatic doors into the main lobby, Kyle only a step behind.

"Welcome to Truman Tower," Uljaken said, pausing to gesture around the opulent lobby. "I'm sure we can arrange a special tour if you'd like." It was a smooth move, one she'd probably performed a thousand times for a thousand different guests, and it set him up perfectly.

Beyond her, the lobby's glass ceiling sloped away from its three-story base to finally peak eleven stories later. Two enormous trees rose on either side, flanking a spacious reflecting pool and fountain. Light, it seemed, sprayed with the water, making a brilliant cascade down the fountain's many tiers. A small flock of birds wheeled above them, darting in and out of the trees. The scene was remarkable, and distracting enough to draw Kyle's attention away from the tall woman at his side. He removed and pocketed his Meteors. The fountain had him wondering if it was magic that created the light. Carefully shifting the focus of his perception from the physical world, Kyle let his senses extend into the astral realm. But what he saw was not quite what he'd expected.

Except for the mundane auras of the two dozen or so people present, the lobby was painfully dull and lifeless. No sign of magic radiated from the fountain, nor was any energy present in the trees. They were lifeless, artificial but stunningly real to the unAwakened eye. In fact, Kyle could see only one source of magic in the whole lobby, and that was the single earring worn by Hanna Uljaken. Shifting again, he let his astral senses slip away and focused on her once more. Nothing in her expression indicated that she'd noticed his astral viewing, but then nothing about her aura or astral appearance suggested to Kyle that the woman was a magician.

"It’s all very impressive," he said, returning her smile. "Perhaps I'll take you up on the tour later."

As they resumed their approach toward the elevators he returned to the subject most on his mind. "The reason I asked you about the lack of haste was so that I wouldn't have to ask Mr. Truman."

“Tm sure Mr. Truman would prefer to speak about that personally," she said as they stepped into a wood and brass-trimmed car guarded by a hard-looking elven woman in a starched Knight Errant uniform. Kyle had learned from his data-gathering that Truman Technologies had recently begun using the security subsidiary of Ares Macrotechnology. The Knight Errant guard was apparently unarmed, but Kyle didn't doubt she had a weapon of some kind within easy reach. And considering her tactical position he also had little doubt that her reflexes, once cybernetically triggered, would be so lightning-fast that a weapon might as well be in her hands. He idly wondered what magical security was present in or around the building, suspecting he'd find out soon enough. As the elevator doors shut noiselessly, Kyle moved to the rear of the car and leaned against the wall. Hanna Uljaken stood about midway in, her body half turned away from him. With a barely perceptible motion the elevator began to rise upward, but Uljaken had neither touched a control panel nor spoken a command before the car began to move. The two of them were either being monitored by building security, or she had some form of cybernetic datalink to the building's systems. Kyle suspected the former, which might also explain why, beyond corporate propriety, she'd evaded his questions.

The ride was fairly long, just shy of two minutes. He knew most megacorp elevators were capable of shuttling employees between floors at much higher rates of speed, but that also meant subjecting them to the effects of acceleration. Which was fine for the wageslaves or during emergencies, but for executives and their guests, any form of discomfort was to be avoided.

Kyle took advantage of the ride to re-open his astral senses for a closer look at Hanna Uljaken. She was silent, apparently content to avoid further questions and simply escort him to her boss while offering him her exquisite profile. He had no problem with that. It would make his astral viewing a lot easier if he didn't have to worry about keeping up a conversation while his attention was elsewhere.

First, he scanned the elevator itself, but saw no source or aura of magic. The car's interior was fairly dark, the only real light coming from the shimmer given by their auras and the faint, diffuse glow from the microscopic life in the air around them. Even that, though, was duller than Kyle would have expected. Truman Technologies, it seemed, had serious air filtration systems. He shrugged mentally. Interesting, but not particularly significant.

Next he focused his attention on her aura, trying to see whether Hanna Uljaken was really a mundane or a magician skillfully masking the telltale evidence usually present in a magically active aura. Hers was erratic, chaotic, exactly as it should be. He watched carefully, studying it for any signs of regularity that would reveal the masking. When none appeared, he turned his attention to the earring.

That item was clearly magical, obviously enchanted. Its aura was solid, with only the barest color hint of cycling energy. The item looked to be of fairly low-power or under only a simple spell, unless it were masked. He probed deeper with his senses, carefully exploring the lattice of magical energies that made up the enchantment. He wasn't likely to learn anything concrete using only his raw senses, but he might get a clue as to the-

She turned slightly, looked at him, and gave him a small, seductive smile as she tilted her head slightly. He felt the involuntary warm tingle again, but he also saw the pattern of energy in the item shift with her gaze. Comprehension dawned and he returned her look with one displaying as much lustful will as he could muster. Considering the effects the item's magic was having on him, he suspected she suddenly felt like a fine head of beef placed before a famished dragon.

Both Uljaken's own aura, and the item's, flickered for different reasons as she again turned away slightly. Kyle grinned. The woman certainly had no need of magic to boost her natural charisma and beauty, but she probably thought it gave her some edge in the fast-track corporate world. The idea made him suddenly think of Beth.

The elevators doors opened, and Kyle followed Hanna Uljaken into a wide, finely carpeted hallway.

"Mr. Truman's apartments are at the end of the hall," she said, her cool smile and composure intact. "Come."

The corridor leading to the pair of carved mahogany doors was lined with paintings of various sizes, hung without apparent regard for period or style. Kyle noticed in passing that all seemed to be originals, or at least original copies. Though some looked familiar, he couldn't place or name any of them.