2 away from Isabel so that she faced the demure Irena, who sat, listening to the exchanges, her hands on her lap, gently running her fingers over her manicured, polished nails.

"You cannot be so naive,' Salluca was going on, his tone as unpleasant as Isabel's, "as to believe that a modern army and air force could be built solely from the leftovers of the previous regime."

"Oh, you've spent a lot of money," sneered Isabel. "The whole country knows how much you've pampered the Army and why," she added darkly.

There was a long silence while Salluca stared at the › young woman. When he spoke again to Irena, it was in an overly polite, emotionless tone, that ignored the previous exchange of rhetoric entirely. "There is a meeting set tomorrow, Irena, for you to meet the American, Louis Ward, a Special Envoy, sent here by the U. S. Govern- ment." He smiled at her gently, and it occurred to Consuela that the only one being treated as a woman at the meeting was Esteban.

"This will be a different meeting to the others," Salluca went on deferentially, adopting the same speech and manner, a fascinated Consuela noted, to that he'd used to the real Irena. "At the Junta, everyone was preoccupied, of course. And then, we had you swathed in bandages. We could explain each discrepancy. Aguilar knowing Irena well was also a big factor in getting away with the dinner."

not

"So, what's the problem now?" Isabel's query was sharply put. Salluca's sudden glance at her made her retreat hastily to the back of her chair. She shuddered as she saw why Salluca was known as the Eagle.

"Fuentes will have to be two present throughout the days Louis Ward is here. This time, he'll have you under close

scrutiny, Irena." Salluca had turned back to Irena as he spoke. "He did say how different you were, how much the bombing attack had dis- turbed you. I've encouraged

him to think that. But he did ask Juan Augusto if he noticed how much younger you looked, how much weight you'd lost since the bombing, and in the wrong places, according Francisco."

"She fits Irena's dresses now," protested Consuela, while 'Irena' looked away disconcerted by Salluca's continued treatment of 'her' as a woman, when they both knew that 'she' was not.

"I can see that," said the Vice President patiently. "But the resemblance still only holds for a short time to those of us who were closest to Irena. We were lucky in one way that Coronado died so recently." Then he stopped, his eyes contracting thoughtfully as the idea reached all of them that the 'accidental death' of Hector Chuy Coronado, another of Irena's lovers as well as Commander of the Armed For- ces, belonged to a pattern of recent deaths that led up to Irena's assassination. Everyone had been reasonably explained, but here they were, the heirs to a revolution of which the front-rank heroes had been wiped away. With Hector Chuy at her side, Irena had always been assured of the complete loyalty of the Armed Forces.

"Margoles, too, you cannot keep waiting, Irena," Salluca went on as the girl shifted uneasily under his gaze. Despite her tight skirt, she crossed her legs, her lightly colored stock- ings making a gently, feminine noise. "And the Cabinet must meet soon." He frowned at the notes on his desk and sighed deeply. "There is only so much I can do, Irena, on your behalf.”

nodded.

Esteban/Irena "When," he asked huskily, try- ing out the more relaxed tone

-18-

he'd practiced for the past week and more with Consuela, "do I start to meet these people?" Salluca's eyes widened in astonishment as Esteban spoke. "Good Lord!" he exulted.

Consuela laughed openly then. "How was that?" she asked, merriment in her dark- brown eyes at Salluca's shock. "It's not as high pitched as Irena's. But it's just as sexy and he intones in the same way. It's a difference even Fuentes will accept." She looked at Esteban/Irena and winked, not realizing how much her unex- pected use of the masculine pronoun had upset 'her.' 'She' blushed furiously behind 'her' makeup.

When Consuela had used the 'he,' Esteban had felt the constriction of his feminine undergarments very acutely. His bra, and the padding on his chest, felt particularly restric- tive, though not as out of place as his nylon-clad legs. As he glanced at Consuela and Isabel, both in slacks, he realized that he was the only one with makeup and in female dress.

"The Margoles meeting will be at nine," Salluca began to answer Irena's question, admiration for Esteban's de- ception clear in his manner. Esteban/Irena had to look away from those pleasure-filled eyes. Unsteadily, he uncrossed his legs, keeping his legs tight together, as Consuela had in- sisted. She smiled at him, recognizing his attempt at femaleness, and the roots of his hair seemed to catch fire.

"The full Cabinet will meet at ten," added the Vice Presi- dent, consulting his list. "At four, you go out to the Airport to greet Ward and accompany him to the Lorenzo Hotel, where we shall all be staying. He snapped the folder shut. "There will, of course, be the expected dance party at the Lorenzo about eleven. The World Press expects such gestures from our President." He gave a shrug