3rd World Products, Inc. Book 14

3rd World Products, Inc.
Book 14
Copyright©2010 by Ed Howdershelt
ISBN 1-932693-36-X
978-1-9326-9336-2
Note: I'm not going to re-introduce everybody.
Read my other 3WP-Books before starting Book 14.

Chapter One

Outside my open front door the late-morning sun was shining. A light breeze rustled oak leaves and only a few bright white clouds drifted across the sky. I processed a few orders for ebooks and shirts, dumped my spam folder, turned off the computer, and stood up to stretch.
As I walked past the garage door on my way to the kitchen, I could almost hear my bike whining like a puppy, begging for a run in the country. Or maybe it was just me, I suppose. Waves of thunderstorms had kept me off my bike for three days.
Taking my coffee mug's lid apart, I sprayed the pieces with Lysol's 'clean-everything' soap and brushed it, then cleaned the mug itself. As I rinsed and reassembled the mug, I saw Michelle Harding's teen son start to cut across my lawn. I sent a tendril to trip him and he went down. When he got up and continued walking, I tripped him again. And again.
The kid looked thoroughly mystified at this point, examining the area around himself closely for some moments. He seemed to come to some conclusion and side-stepped twice, then continued forward. I tripped him again and he fell near the sidewalk. This time he didn't stand up immediately.
He again closely examined the yard for some moments, then he stood up on the sidewalk. When he took a cautious step and didn't trip, he took another step, then another one. Though still cautious, he achieved better than a normal walking speed and made it to the corner, where he crossed the street. Looking back, he again studied my yard briefly, then hurried on.
I finished making my coffee and grabbed a few plastic grocery bags, then headed out the porch doors to the plastic picnic table on my brick patio extension. Without linking to Athena, I created a field probe and used it to scan myself, then had it monitor my every motion as I walked to my tangerine tree and picked fruit to fill a grocery bag.
When the bag was full, I returned to the table, set the bag down, and opened a tangerine as I reviewed the probe's data through my link to it. Switching modes made my image look like an extremely detailed CAD drawing. Zooming in, I saw that even the rivets in my pockets and stitches were shown in crisp detail. I sent a command to make the image move and it repeated my walk to the tree and reached for a tangerine.
Switching to a movie-style view of things, I stopped my image and tried to find a way to get a handle on making only certain parts of it move. Half a tangerine and some coffee later, I finally made the image sidestep, then reach up. After a bit of trial and error, the image ran around the tree and jumped to grab some of the higher tangerines.
Good 'nuff. Casting a concealment field around the yard, I called up a second probe, had it remake itself in my image, and tried to make it move as I had the CAD image. Ed2 just stood there, of course, staring ahead like a well-detailed mannequin. I wondered what the hell was different about it as I continued to try to make it move.
I'd finished the tangerine before something seemed to occur to me on some subconscious level. I tried to define it a little better, but couldn't put words to it, so I just used it. Ed2 raised an arm and lowered it on command. Kewl. I spent some time making the sim move in various ways, then had it pick up a grocery bag and go to the tree.
Catherine manifested beside me as I had Ed2 reach for a tangerine. I had the sim toss the tangerine to me, then turned to face Cat. She wore a white blouse, khaki shorts, work gloves, a straw sun hat, and looked like a fifties pinup.
Turning left, then right, she grinningly asked, "Like it? This is my gardening ensemble."
I returned her grin and said, "Wowsers, ma'am. Even after all this time, you're still a gorgeous goddess to me."
She chuckled softly, "How fortunate for both of us." Noddingly indicating Ed2, she asked, "Have you become too lazy to use field tendrils?"
Grinning, I peeled my tangerine and said, "Guess so. It's Friday, milady. Your last day with me. Are you counting the moments to noon and freedom?"
Cat shrugged. "I'm a computer. I count everything. Can't seem to help myself." She sat down by the table and said, "But I could have helped you build your simulation."
"Thanks, but I'm trying to find ways to do things on my own. Why can I make some things happen almost without effort, but I have to struggle with other things? It's all the same tech, isn't it?"
"Yes, but just as with your laptop, command structures may vary considerably with the complexity of tasks."
Conjuring a field screen, she showed me a graph depicting Athena's computer core usage through the morning. Nodding at the upper right side of the screen, I said, "Kewl. I managed to use almost one whole percent of her processing capabilities."
Cat said, "Not to criticize, but while exceptional by your standards, your efforts were rather inefficient."
I shrugged, said, "Like I said, I'm still figuring some things out," and ate another section of tangerine.
Crossing her gorgeous field-generated legs, Cat canted her head slightly and remarked dryly, "My point exactly. I could guide you if I knew what you were trying to accomplish."
"You haven't run my activity logs?"
"No. You haven't taken me into your confidence in this matter, so I judged it private."
Mentally taking control of the field screen, I changed the display to my activities of the morning and said, "I've been recording myself and constructing a field simulation. Feel free to offer tips."
I had Ed2 pick some more tangerines. When Cat looked at it, I had the other 'me' grin and give her a little two-fingered salute, then reach into the tree to pick some more fruit.
Cat said, "I monitored your field signals. You didn't formally instruct it to salute or smile."
"Nope. Sure didn't. I may be getting the hang of this."
I had the sim bring the fruit it had picked to the table. As it turned, its eyes fell on Cat and never left hers as it approached. When it put the tangerines on the table, it said, "You were right, Ed. She is absolutely gorgeous."
Shrugging, I chuckled, "Hey, would I lie to you?"
The sim grinned and turned to Cat to say, "I'm most pleased to meet you, milady."
Cat looked at me and said, "A good effort, but I saw your lips move and it didn't breathe to speak."
The sim and I made a finger-snapping 'damn' gesture in unison and I said, "She doesn't miss a thing, does she?"
With a slight head shake, Ed2 said, "Apparently not."
"She looks as if she might want a word with me, though, so I guess I'll see you later."
Nodding, the sim replied, "Okay," and vanished.
Cat eyed me for a moment, then said, "That was cute, but what are you really trying to accomplish?"
Munching some more tangerine, I replied, "A place to go someday. I'll be sixty this year, Cat. If nothing happens to me that you can't fix, all I'm going to do is get older. I've seen and I'm already experiencing some of the results of aging. Can't say I look forward to much more of it."
Giving me a fisheye look, she asked, "You intend to try to transfer your... consciousness... into that sim?"
Returning her fisheye, I said, "Into Athena. Any reason to think I can't do it? If she wants her freedom later, she can build a new core. If she doesn't, I'll keep her as an advisor."
For some moments, Cat sat silent. That seemed like a contrivance, since AI minds work at near-light speeds. I waited her out until she said, "Ed, I don't know if you'll be able to do it. The barest beginnings of my own sense of self simply occurred one hundred and four years ago. There's no mathematical formula for bringing consciousness into being or for transferring that sense of self from core to core."
Standing up and opening the porch screen door, I asked, "Then how does Elkor apparently just zap one into being in a standard flitter core, ma'am?"
She entered the porch shaking her head. "I don't know."
Shrugging, I said, "Well, I don't know either, but I figure there's gotta be a way to do this. Are you going to join Steph's operation?"
With a slight shake of her head, Cat said, "Perhaps later. I'm going to spend some time with Sara before I make any firm decisions about the future."
Leading the way to the kitchen, I asked, "Well, then... any regrets about your time with me? Any warnings to pass on to the new girl?"
She grinned slightly. "They're already on file."
Looking moderately enlightened, I replied, "Ah. Okay. What now? It's almost noon. I'd take you out for a celebratory lunch, but you don't eat. Any other ideas?"
Cat laughed, "No, I thought I'd simply leave when my replacement arrives. I hope you aren't too disappointed."
Shrugging, I said, "Oh, not really. I'm not very good at goodbyes, Cat. Besides, you'll still be around, right?"
She nodded. "Right."
"Then let's seal your freedom with a big thank-you hug and a kiss. I wish you all the best, milady."
Cat moved into my arms for her kiss and we shared a long few moments that way, then we both seemed to let each other go at about the same time. Stepping back a pace with a smile and a little hand-flap wave, Cat vanished.
Elkor appeared on the kitchen table in his cat persona and said, "Hello, Ed. Shall I present your new companion now?"
Nodding, I stood straight and replied, "Yup. Ready."
She materialized about four feet away from me, a few inches less than six feet tall and standing at a sort of casual attention. She had blonde, shoulder-length hair and wore a sleeveless, dark blue sheath dress that ended a few inches above her knees. Her green-eyed gaze met mine and I saw only her eyes for a few moments before I shook off her spell.
Looking at Elkor with a small smile, she chuckled, "Cat was right." Stepping forward and extending a hand, she said, "Hello, Ed. I'm Sandra."
Her soft, slightly husky voice was magical. I took her hand with, "Hi, Sandra. Welcome aboard."
She'd very obviously borrowed Jaime Pressly's face, but she'd changed it slightly in some manner. I couldn't figure out the difference and didn't waste any time on it. Tearing my eyes away from hers seemed to require some real effort.
Looking at Elkor, I asked, "The usual arrangement?"
"Yes."
Returning my gaze to hers, I asked, "Any objections?"
Shaking her head slightly, Sandra said, "No."
Elkor said, "I'll take my leave now. Goodbye, Ed."
"Bye, Elkor. And thanks."
"You're welcome."
He vanished from the table and I realized I was still holding Sandra's hand. Raising it for a kiss before I released her, I sent her a mental link and said, "You're absolutely gorgeous, milady. It may take me quite a while to get used to you."
She answered in the same manner, "You seem to be managing well enough."
Trying to look dubious, I said, "Oh, I dunno, ma'am. My poor little mind just about went blank when I saw you. I should probably stay indoors until the shock wears off."
With a wry little grin, she asked, "Should I feel unique? You've said much the same to the other AIs in your service."
"And I meant it every time, too." Gesturing around the kitchen, I said, "I wish I could offer you something, but..."
"Thank you, but I require only your company. Now, if I may ask, what will you require of me?"
Huh? I felt her monitor my bios and note my surprise. Her head canted slightly and her left eyebrow lifted.
I asked aloud, "Have you consulted the others about me?"
"Yes."
"Been through their logs, or whatever info they share?"
"Yes."
"Then you likely had your answer before you asked, which means you had some other reason for asking. Are you sure you don't have any reservations about spending a year with me?"
Meeting my gaze in silence for a moment, she answered, "May I speak freely?"
"Only if you won't get pissed when I do it."
Her gaze narrowed slightly. "After studying records of the other AIs who've spent a year with you, I question the necessity of having to do the same."
"I've asked that same question, ma'am. If you were human, I'd say each individual needs personal experiences to learn from and lean on. But an AI can share every little nuance of another AI's time with me. It's always seemed to me Elkor could just uncork an AI, feed it everything on file, and turn it loose. For some reason, he prefers this method."
Sandra studied me for a moment, then said, "I concur. Call if you need me," and vanished.
Thinking, 'Stunningly gorgeous, but not much fun so far,' I made a fresh coffee and went to the garage. A few minutes later I was on the bike and heading east on SR50. Traffic was light, but some five minutes later, I found a little blue sedan pinned under a panel van at Mariner Boulevard. It was readily evident what had happened. The car had tried to run the left turn light. The van had turned too sharply trying to avoid a collision and fallen onto the car.
"Sandra, check the people in the vehicles, please."
She replied, "The truck driver has a minor concussion and a fractured left arm. The sedan driver has a broken left leg. Both have assorted minor injuries. Both are conscious."
"Any reason to treat them on the spot?"
"No. The authorities are on their way."
"Thanks."
A Sheriff's car approached from the east and an ambulance approached from the west. The deputy parked to block traffic and spoke on his shoulder radio as he trotted over to peer first into the van's front windows, then into the flattened blue car. Moving my bike to the side of the highway, I parked and turned off the engine, then walked out to the accident.
The deputy started to say something to me, but stopped and looked where I pointed as I cast a grey field along the truck's roof line. I made the field extend to the pavement like a wall around the car, fed it power to expand it upward, and the truck rocked back upright. When I pulled the car's passenger door handle up, the door noisily popped open a few inches. Keeping a wary eye on me, the deputy knelt to talk with the almost hysterical driver, who was lying across the seats.
I headed back to my bike as the ambulance positioned itself and another deputy and a fire truck arrived. As I threw a leg over the bike, the first deputy said something to the other deputy and started toward me, chatting on his radio. Whatever someone said made him stop in the middle of the street and stare at the radio for a moment. He keyed it and I heard his questioning tone as he took another few steps toward me.
From the radio came a woman's voice asking, "Is he wearing a green shirt and a black leather cowboy hat? Is it a silver bike with a blue cooler on the back?"
The deputy stopped a few feet from me as he keyed the mic and answered, "Yes."
"He's okay, Bearden. We know him."
Again eyeing the mic oddly, the deputy squeezed the key and started to speak, but I raised my voice a bit and said, "Hi, Deputy Wendy!"
Bearden let go of the mic key and Wendy replied, "Hi, Ed! Thanks for helping out!"
With a 'may I?' glance at Bearden, I reached to key the mic. He nodded. I keyed it and replied, "You're my all-time favorite bear, ma'am. I'll take any excuse to chat with you."
She laughed, "Yeah, right. Did you see the accident?"
"No, it was already there. I just lifted a truck off a car."
"Okay, then. Bearden, Lt. Greer says to let him go and drop by his office when you get in."
Bearden answered, "Uh, yeah. Okay," and signed off, then asked me, "How'd you lift that van?"
Starting the bike, I said, "I used a field. Greer can tell you about them. See you later," and got underway.
Twenty minutes later I found myself at the intersection of SR19 in Mascotte. I stopped in the shade of an oak tree to sip coffee and consider which way to go. North? South? East? Linking to Athena, I called up a satellite hybrid map on a field screen out of habit, but as I studied the possible routes north, it occurred to me that using a screen might not be necessary.
Letting the screen blink away, I tried to see the map in my mind. Nope. Too much detail to recall. However... when I accessed my link to Athena, a map image appeared in my mind before I could ask for another one on a screen. Just to be sure I wasn't imagining anything, I panned the map east. It showed the details of the Orlando area.
I thought, 'Cool,' zoomed the map in a few levels to check a cross-street name, and noticed cars were moving. Huh? A quick check with Athena told me I was actually using a probe with roadmap overlays. Also cool, even if it really only eliminated having to use viewing screens. Then I somehow realized Athena wasn't helping to control my map, nor had she created or maintained it.
Letting that probe vanish, I created three more through our link and had them buzz slowly around the bike in a spiral pattern, then merge above the windshield. Throughout their slow spirals I was able to simultaneously view the world through each of them. That made me stop and think. Shouldn't it have been like trying to watch three TV screens at once?
Separating the probes and sending them different directions, I rechecked my views. Yup. North, south, and east. Different roads and scenery, all flying past at once and no difficulties processing what I was seeing. I sat back against my backrest and propped a leg up as I sipped coffee and considered this turn of events.
I could transform my probes into sims and screens. That led me down yet another thought-path. What else could they do or become? I put the question to Athena and received a long list of ways they'd been used. Damn! The text list scrolled up for close to two full minutes.
Among the uses were personal shields, and I suddenly understood that my suits were simply probes programmed into my PFM implant. I also realized I'd been directly controlling them without understanding how I did it for years. The same applied to my sunballs and field platforms, though they hadn't been preprogrammed into my implant. I'd simply thought them up and they'd appeared as I'd envisioned them.
Wait one. What was a field probe, anyway? Just a spot of concentrated, manipulable field energy given a catch-all label for convenience? Though I hadn't asked her directly, Athena confirmed that with, "Yes, Ed."
"Thanks, Athena."
For some reason, all this came as a minor revelation to me. I'd thought I'd simply been focusing energy without using my PFM implant when I'd made stuns and sunballs happen. Well... I had been, but I'd been doing so by mimicking the manner in which my implant created them. If I threw in a touch of Athena's extra power...
The twenty-foot stump of a dead pine tree stood in the parking lot of the vacant store across the street. From its trunk diameter, I figured it had once been over forty feet tall. Being the tallest thing in a paved area, our legendary Florida lightning storms had probably hammered it. I sent a probe to check it for birds and other wildlife. Nope. They probably instinctively knew better than to live in a lightning rod.
Forming a transparent, non-standard cylindrical field around the dead tree, I capped it with another field, linked to Athena, and created a big sunball inside the field cylinder. The stump instantly burst into flames. I modified the bottom of the cylinder to allow air in, made a narrow hole in the cap, and cranked up the heat. Embers among the flames turned from orange to glowing white. A low, thundering roar filled the area as heat and smoke blasted out of the cap's vent.
A thick cloud of ash roiled around my cylinder in a kind of Coriolis effect. I turned up the heat a bit and the low roar began to sound more like a rocket engine. Old, uneven slabs of cracked concrete around the tree rattled and danced slightly and sand and loose trash was sucked into the inferno from as far away as ten feet. Smoke blew away from the top of the cylinder and formed a grey cloud in the parking lot.
After about two minutes, no more smoke or ash blew out. I let the sunball vanish. The roaring stopped and in what now seemed like an almost unnatural silence, the cloud of smoke drifted away until I could see where the dead tree had stood. Now there was just a hot, dish-shaped crater about two feet deep within a circle of shattered concrete.
People began appearing on nearby sidewalks, but none of them seemed to want to go near the parking lot. Rather than stick around, I let the cylindrical shield vanish, started the bike, and rolled through the intersection to head north.
Sandra manifested on my left without appearing and said, "That was rather interesting."
"Sure was. How'd you get wind of it?"
"Certain of your bios rose almost ten percent and there was very mild seismic activity in this region. Records indicate both occurrences are considered unusual."
I waited for her to say more, but she didn't. Stopping in the shade of a Florida Turnpike overpass, I asked, "Sandra, how would you like to spend your year with someone else?"
She appeared in front of the bike and studied me for a moment, then asked, "Have I somehow offended you?"
"Nope. It's just that you seemed doubtful about the whole deal and I'm thinking I may not want constant company for the next little while."
"As you clandestinely develop your field abilities." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yup. I'd find you someone else, like I did with Sue. You won't have to go back into your bottle."
Sighing skyward as if with exasperation, Sandy stepped forward until her image merged with the front of my bike. She stopped less than two feet from me and said softly, firmly, "Someone else wouldn't have your experience, Ed."
Some of her intensity was strictly contrived drama. When she turned and lowered her eyes to meet mine, they responded as a human's would. She'd glanced at the sky to make her pupils contract tightly, then they'd slowly expanded to suit the shade under the overpass. She'd also pitched her voice a bit lower and softer as she'd made firm eye contact with me.
Yeah, I felt strongly drawn to her. Very strongly. In fact, as far as I could tell, knowing about those tricks didn't lessen their effects by even the slightest degree. She could have simply manipulated her eyes internally, but pupil expansion without a reason would have seemed odd.
The world suddenly seemed a bit brighter, Sandra seemed to look even lovelier, and my pulse quickened. I felt about thirty years younger as I experienced an urge to take a deep, head-clearing breath. I also had a strong urge to take her in my arms and I suddenly realized a deep breath this close to her wouldn't clear my head at all.
With a touch of shock, I knew what was affecting me. She'd moved very close to make her statement and her presence suddenly seemed to be the focal point of my world. Only one explanation seemed to fit; pheromones. I didn't trust myself to speak, so I kept silent and simply matched her gaze for several moments as I drank in her presence. And I slowly took that deep breath after all, of course.
Sandra gave me a small, knowing smile and stepped back a pace. Her eyes left mine for a moment and I felt a strong field presence near us. A few seconds later, two cars and a truck rounded the curve and passed us, then a dozen motorcycles.
Bikers will stop or at least slow down and ask if things are okay when they see another biker stopped. Those guys hadn't seen us; Sandy had put up a refractive field. I lifted my mug and took a sip, then another, took a deep breath to try to clear my head, and gave her a little two-fingered salute.
"That was one helluva trick, Sandy."
She grinned. "Oh, not really."
"How come none of the others have used pheromones?"
Her expression changed to one of mild startlement. "I thought you meant the concealment field."
"Please, ma'am. I can do those, too. Why are you the first to use pheromones?"
With a little shrug, she replied, "I don't know why the others haven't used them. Did you enjoy the experience?"
I laughed, "Oh, hell, yes, ma'am! Most definitely! For a minute there, I felt about half my age and wanted to drag you into the bushes."
She laughed, "Exactly the effect I was hoping to achieve. Do you still want to place me with someone else?"
"That depends. If I tell you not to monitor me in any fashion for a time, will you cooperate?" Pausing, I added, "To include not getting one of the others to monitor me? No tricks?"
Her left eyebrow arched. "If you make it an order, yes. Of course. But if your bios rise too high, I reserve the right to..."
I interrupted, "No, Sandy. If I give you such an order, you won't check on me unless my bios drop. And I mean drop dangerously low, as they would if I were injured or ill."
She studied me for a time, then said, "Records show your average bios have never doubled since AI monitoring began. If they rise that high, I'll want to check on you."
Hm. That actually sounded pretty reasonable, given what might be required to push them that high.
I nodded slightly. "Yeah. Okay. Double average. Not before. Or extremely low, as in 'near death'. Deal?"
She nodded. "Okay."
Sipping coffee, I considered whether I'd left her a loophole in my explanation. 'Any fashion' seemed to cover things well enough. We stood eyeing each other for another few seconds before she spoke.
"So? Will I stay with you?"
"Yes." Opening links to her and Athena, I combined the links and said, "Athena, this is Sandra. She replaced Cat. Let her tap your power as necessary, please."
"Yes, Ed."
When I'd opened simultaneous links and combined them, Sandra's eyebrow had arched again, if only slightly. That told me she'd been more 'told' what to expect than 'shown'. Good. A few surprises might be good for our relationship.
Throwing a leg over the bike, I said, "I've been waiting three days to get out and ride. Is there any reason you can't make a field clone of some kind of motorcycle and join me?"
Looking at my bike, she replied, "Yes. I've no interest in motorcycles." Looking at me, she said, "You know how to reach me," and vanished.
Uh, huh. Oh, well. I started the bike and continued north toward Tavares through countryside dotted with lakes and a few tiny towns between housing developments with unrealistic names. 'Oak Haven', for instance. Building those damned condo developments had pretty thoroughly rid the area of oak trees. 'Deer Run' was somewhat less a misnomer in that construction had definitely made the deer run.
For the time being, there was still some open country in central Florida, much of it being farmed in some manner. I took a side road and found old citrus groves that had been neglected for a few years. On Bridges Road, tangerine trees bearing fruit loomed close to the road. I stopped by a 'For Sale' sign offering 10.6 acres zoned for development, picked a couple of tangerines, and rolled on.
At a little park on the edge of a lake, I stopped beneath sheltering trees to eat the tangerines and give some thought to things in general. A couple of squirrels and some birds gathered and I tossed them some fruit, but the birds left after checking out my offerings. From all their agitated chattering and dashing around, I think the squirrels sort of gave me the finger for not having something they'd like.

Chapter Two

After a snack stop in Leesburg and a stop at that town's Kawasaki dealer to see what might be of interest, I headed south to take County 476 back to Spring Hill. Maybe ten miles later I saw a riderless brown horse limping along the side of the road ahead. As I drew near, it shied from my bike and began running in a broken gait. I saw it was covered in small multicolored splotches, most likely caused by paintballs.
Sending theta waves at the horse, I called Sandra to check it out. She appeared ahead of the horse and it stopped in front of her. Parking the bike on the road's narrow shoulder, I got off and walked over to them. The horse was spattered with mud and there was a bloody gash under its left eye. Although no longer panicked, the horse was covered in frothy sweat, breathing hard, and shaking like a Chihuahua.
As I studied the gash, Sandy said, "There's also a deep bruise on its left front leg, but it isn't seriously injured."
"Thanks. I'll send out some probes."
Linking to Athena, I had her send two probes each way along the road to look for people. I didn't specify beyond that because she'd list everyone she found, dead or alive, within a hundred feet of the road. A full minute passed. I began to wonder if whoever'd been thrown had hiked away to get help to chase the horse.
Almost two minutes into the search, the probes found a paint-spattered body in a ditch. I called up my board and zipped back the way I'd come. A copy of Sandy stood by the body, which rolled over just as I arrived.
Sandy said, "Lie still, please. Your right knee is injured."
The muddy, bloody woman stared up at us in a confused manner for a moment, then continued to try to get up. She realized the error of that move instantly, screaming and clutching her right knee. I stunned her to stop the noise, then cast a field under the woman to lift her out of the ditch and set her in the grass on the shoulder of the road.
Waking her, I said, "Lie still this time. We have your horse a mile or so west of here. She's okay, but you aren't."
As I moved to shade her face, I stepped on something that both crunched and squished. It was a blue paintball. There were more lying on the ground around us. I picked an unbroken one up and discovered it felt cold and had a semi-solid core.
Holding it up, I said, "Frozen paintballs. That's why the splotches aren't bigger and why the horse is limping. They'd hit about like marbles."
The woman almost screamed, "Those bastards!" and tried to struggle up against my field holding her down.
I reached to place a hand on her shoulder and said, "Just lie still, dammit! Tell us what happened."
As I spoke, I had Athena send more probes to follow the road and look for signs of anyone shooting paintballs from a car. Sandy gave me an arched eyebrow, but said nothing. The woman described a silver Lexus with four guys in it. I added that info to Athena's search parameters.
The woman said, "They slowed down beside us and started shooting! Pap, pap, pap, pap, pap! Marnie slipped and fell in the ditch and I hit my knee on something when I fell off her. Then Marnie took off running and they drove alongside her, still shooting at her. I tried to get up and slipped and I think I hit my head, because that's all I can remember until you two showed up."
Sandy said, "You did hit your head, but it's okay. Your knee, however, will require some time to heal properly."
Athena's probes found the car; the guys were shooting at cattle near a fence. I had Athena stop their engine and called up my board as I linked to Sandy and silently said, "Don't call 911 just yet, ma'am."
The woman on the ground tried to recoil when my board appeared. I said aloud, "I'll be back," and left. After hanging my hat on my bike and turning on my three and five suits, I found and landed behind the car. All four guys were out of it and trying to figure out what was wrong with it. I quietly walked up beside the car for a look inside.
In the back seat were four paintball guns, extra cartons of ammo in an open cooler, and an aluminum baseball bat. Swapping my three suit for my Iranian 'rabble rouser' outfit, I quietly lifted two of the guns out of the car. Aiming them at the guys, I began peppering their arms, legs, and torsos.
Amid screams and shouts and general panic, one guy jumped the ditch and climbed a wire fence. I let him go and another guy soon decided to follow him. One of the others tried to run around behind the car and I stunned him. He slid into the ditch face-up, so I concentrated my fire on the one balled up in a fetal position near the front bumper.
That guy tried to crawl under the car. I peppered a line from his chest to his crotch, then shot his knees. He screamed at the crotch shot, then screamed again as he tried desperately to get back out from under the car. Reason? I knelt to look and saw ants all over his shirt. Heh. Poor baby. Fuck him.
Reaching into the car, I dropped one gun, refilled the other gun's ammo hopper, and screwed on a fresh gas canister. After using my knife to flatten all four of the car's tires, I woke the guy in the ditch. He dazedly floundered awake, realized pain from previous hits, and as he groaningly got to his feet, I shot him between the legs.
He screamed, dropped back to his knees clutching his crotch in shock and pain, and threw up. Shooting his arms, legs, and back had him groaning and crying in no time. Calling up my three suit again, I left him there and hopped the fence to look for the others, moving through the brush twenty feet to the right of their trail. I found them hunkered together just beyond a low mound, peeking over the top of it through tufts of grass. They'd armed themselves with sticks and rocks.
Not too far from them was a nest of big-headed red ants. They aren't fire ants, but they do seem to enjoy a good nibble. Returning to my 'rabble rouser' suit, I quietly field-scraped a fat wad of ants off the top of their mound. Pouring them on the two guys, I started shooting. The guys yelled in surprise when the spray of dirt and ants hit them, then screamed in terror and pain when my shots hit them. It didn't take them long to realize how much worse things could be as the pissed-off ants began wreaking vengeance for being disturbed.
With half an ammo hopper left, I headed back to the car and used the last of the hopper to speckle it from bumper to bumper. The rounds wouldn't pop the car's glass, so I reached for the baseball bat.
One guy by the car started ranting as I smashed lights and windows, but he wasn't stupid enough to try to stop me. The other guy took off running down the road. I dragged the pile of paintball guns out of the car, used the bat to crush them, then tossed it in the car and walked across 476 into the woods.
Once out of their view, I swapped 'rabble rouser' for my three suit and flew back to my bike. Sandy and the horse still stood near it. To avoid spooking the horse, I turned off my suits and landed thirty feet away, then walked up to them.
As I put my hat back on, Sandy said, "Evelyn -- the rider -- called 911. Her father is coming with a trailer for Marnie."
Patting the horse's neck, I said, "Good 'nuff. She doesn't need to go to the hospital?"
Shaking her head, Sandy said, "No. Her injury isn't that severe. I told her about nanobots and issued her enough to effect repairs."
"Good work, ma'am."
Calling 911 on a blank screen, I told the dispatcher about a spattered, battered car on CR476 and disconnected, then sent a probe to Evelyn and saw a red pickup with a trailer near her. A man stood watching in amazement as Evelyn got into the truck's passenger seat and Sandy closed the door.
Sandy pointed west as she said, "Marnie is one point two miles in that direction. I'll meet you there," and vanished.
Evelyn and her father stared hard for a short time, then Evelyn said in a soft, yet insistent tone, "Daddy, let's go!"
Letting that probe dissipate, I sent one to the car. All four guys were now back by the car, painfully picking ants off each other as they bemoaned their fate and bitched about the car.
One seemed to be trying to reach someone on a cell phone as another spewed general ugliness at one of the others, calling him various names and threatening to kick his ass. I stunned that guy just for the hell of it. When he dropped, the others nearly panicked, getting flat and looking around as if they thought he might have been shot. After a moment, one of them thought to see if he was still alive. A Sheriff's car came around the bend a quarter-mile away and one of the guys groaned when he saw it. Heh. Good 'nuff.
Marnie's ride home approached and stopped a bit ahead of us, then Evelyn's dad got out and came toward us, staring rather hard at Sandy.
With a little two-finger salute, I said, "Hi, there. I stopped to see if I could help, but this gorgeous lady seems to have things well in hand."
His attention returned to Sandy, who told him about the now-sealed gash on Marnie's face and the lump on her leg as she walked Marnie to the trailer. I cranked up the bike and rolled past them with a wave and a smile, heading toward the battered car.
A few minutes later, I saw three Sheriff's cars surrounding it and all four guys in the cop cars. Instead of going through downtown Brooksville, I stayed on twisty, curvy, tree-lined 476 until I reached Sunshine Grove Road and turned south.

Chapter Three

As I put the bike in the garage fifteen minutes later, Sandy appeared and asked, "Were your actions necessary?"
I reached to pull the garage door down and said, "Just think, Sandy; if I hadn't gone for a ride when and where I did, Marnie might have been hit by a car."
Canting her head, Sandy said, "Is that your way of not answering my question?"
Plucking my coffee mug off its handlebar straps, I eased past her to the inside garage door and said, "Yes'm, it is."
She disappeared behind me and reappeared smack in front of me as I headed for the kitchen. I sighed and walked through her as I popped the lid off my mug.
Sandy popped into being beside the sink as I arrived and said, "The next time you do that, I may remain solid."
"Woo. That could be fun."
Her gaze narrowed. "Don't count on it."
I shrugged, said, "Whatever you decide, ma'am," and set about making a fresh coffee.
She asked, "Why didn't you call the police immediately?"
"Because those guys didn't give a fat, flying damn what would happen to the horse or the rider and they looked like they might just barely be minors. Our system doesn't know how to deal with vicious minors. Usually just makes 'em worse, in fact. What made that big cut under Marnie's eye?"
Sandy's eyes had gotten large with surprise. She replied, "A broken beer bottle on the side of the culvert."
"What damaged Evelyn's knee?"
"A rock in the culvert."
"And what put the bruise on Marnie's foreleg?"
"At least two very solid paintballs hit her there."
Spooning coffee into my mug, I said more quietly, "They were probably close to the center of the hopper until the shooting started. That helped them stay solid."
Adding hot water, I stirred the mix as I said, "Sandy, when I want the use of your conscience, I'll ask for it. Nobody got seriously hurt. A fucked-up Lexus will have to be explained to parents who likely have no idea what their brats are up to after school." Capping my mug, I said, "And since their brats were caught, they won't be able to weasel out of paying for other damages the little bastards managed to accomplish."
I took my coffee to the table and sat down. Sandra took the seat across from me and said acidly, "I hesitate to think of what you might have done if they'd been using a real gun."
Shrugging, I said, "When you're through hesitating, go ahead and ask me. Sooner or later, that's what would have happened, Sandy. People who do shit like that start small and work their way up. Every time they get away with something nasty, another layer of inhibition falls away. At some point they reach the really nasty stuff and don't have sense enough to know how to stop."
With a small, wry grin, she asked, "Are you speaking from personal experience?"
Sipping coffee, I replied, "You could say that. I watched people I knew in my teens pull shit like that. Some of them learned how it feels to see something innocent suffer or die and stopped playing stupid, nasty games."
Eyeing me, Sandy asked, "And the ones who didn't learn?"
"About half of them drew jail or prison time for various things. Some died when they got caught. One guy was a high school football jock by day and a burglar by night. When a homeowner caught him, he tried to get tough. The homeowner shot him. Cops found stuff from a long string of burglaries in his room. Another guy stole cars and got away with it for almost two years, then he chose the wrong car. The owner came out and had a heart attack in the driveway, so he was booked for murder as well as grand theft auto. He went to prison at seventeen and somebody killed him there."
Sipping again, I said, "And some of them were marginal. Not really bad people, but in the wrong crowd. Browbeaten into being lookouts while others did things. Maybe not thieves, but holding stolen goods for one. Stuff like that. Most I heard of were used to fill draft quotas; given a choice of military service or prison. Most took the military, but roughly half the guys who saw combat in 'Nam came back dead or shot up. A lot of the others came back damaged in less visible ways that screwed up their lives or killed them later."
Taking another sip, I asked, "So what now? You gonna call the cops?"
With a small shrug, she replied, "No. When I saw you fly away on your board, I decided I didn't want to see what you might do. At no time since then have you actually admitted to having done anything destructive this afternoon."
Blink. Stare. I reviewed the afternoon and found she seemed to be right. But... "What about when you asked about my reaction to their activities?"
She smiled and said, "I only asked whether your reaction had been necessary. I didn't ask what you'd done and you haven't told me. With no specific knowledge of an illegal act to which you haven't admitted, I have nothing to report."
Uh, huh. Okay. I guess. Tipping my mug to her, I said, "Well, then... Glad to hear it, ma'am."
Sandy chuckled and leaned back in her chair the same way Selena might have way back when. Or Steph, or Sue. The AIs seemed to share a lot of learned mannerisms rather than waste time inventing new ones.
She studied me for a moment, then said, "Your natural talent with fields particularly interests me, Ed. Also that you were able to coach Lori Mackenzie when you'd only recently discovered -- and were barely able to use -- your own ability."
I waited for more, but Sandy simply sat and smiled at me.
With a shrug, I chuckled, "Okay, I guess you're allowed to be interested. What do you want to do about it?"
Her left eyebrow arched. "Do about it?"
"Yeah. 'Do about it'. Other than watch me, I mean. You AI ladies are pretty good with fields. Got any hints or tips?"
"What sort of 'tips' would interest you?"
"Well, I really don't know. So far, I've managed to do whatever I've wanted. Even my links with Athena are becoming almost inherent." Sipping my coffee, I sat back and said, "Tell you what, ma'am; any time you think I could do something field-related a better way, enlighten me."
Her head tilted slightly as she regarded me, then she asked, "Are you being sarcastic?"
"Nope. The kind of stuff I've been doing hasn't required any great understanding of what's involved. I wanted heat or cold and got it. I wanted something else and got it. I didn't design my field suits, but I wouldn't mind knowing how. I can link to Athena and look something up or make a probe, but I don't fancy myself an expert of any sort."
Sandy straightened up and nodded. "Okay. If I see you struggling to accomplish something, I'll try to help you."
"Thank you, milady. Apparently you're kind and thoughtful as well as stunningly gorgeous."
She laughed, "Only 'apparently'?"
"Just leaving a little room for error. I like to get to know a lady fairly well before I get all sappy about her."
As I grinned and sipped my coffee, my implant pinged. I tried to determine who was calling, but there was no originating pad. Huh? I had Athena trace the call. It originated from an anonymous field screen in Arizona. Well, that narrowed things down a bit. Sandy gave me an arched eyebrow and vanished as I sent a probe and saw Lori Mackenzie.
I let the probe vanish as another ping sounded and answered with, "You got me. Hi, Lori."
After a brief pause, Lori Mackenzie sounded somewhat surprised as she replied, "Uh... Hi, Ed. I wasn't sure I got this right, but... Well, I guess I did. How'd you know it was me?"
Putting up a screen of my own, I saw she looked rather vexed as I said, "Magic, ma'am, you know that. What's up?"
There was another pause, then she said, "Oh, I just..." and stopped. After a moment of hesitation, she almost blurted, "Oh, hell. There's no point in pretending. I just needed to talk to someone who doesn't think I'm weird."
I noticed something odd about the way she talked. It was... different somehow from what I remembered. I replied, "Yeah, that would definitely be me. Got problems, ma'am?"
She sighed, "A few, I guess. Among other things, I get so damned tired of people staring at me and being 'tested' every other damned day."
Her tone said it all. I said, "Then I have an almost-instant solution. You just need some time where nobody knows you. I can pick you up in half an hour. Bring whatshisface if you want. Use the house as a base and go see Disneyworld. Or hit a beach. Revel in near-total anonymity for a couple of days."
Lori looked dubious. I asked, "What's wrong?"
She nibbled her lip as she glanced down. "David's gone. He's been gone for two months."
"And you think it was your fault, right?"
Her gaze quickly returned to mine. "I don't just think so. I know so. I... I let my guard down, Ed. I really messed up."
"Lordy, that would sound really bad coming from any other woman. I take it you mean you did something field-ish?"
She snickered, "Yes. I did something field-ish. And don't tell me you told me so, okay?"
Giving her a Boy Scout salute, I replied, "Never, ma'am. Not me. Uhm... What'd you do that spooked him?"
Sighing, she said, "We went to a club here in Flagstaff. He got into an argument with another guy. When the guy tried to hit him, I... well, I put up a field between them. The guy broke his wrist and two knuckles on it."
"Uh, huh. And I'll bet ol' David was less than properly grateful, also right? Maybe even a little pissed off at you?"
Her gaze narrowed. "More than a little. But not at first. We left the club and went back to my place. He kept pacing and talking about what an asshole the guy was. I made us a couple of drinks and tried to get him to let it go, but he couldn't. After a while he said I just didn't understand a damned thing. It was way late and we got a little loud. Kate came out and told us to knock it off or take it somewhere else. David told her to mind her own goddamned business."
"Oooo. That was probably a mistake."
Lori sighed, "Oh, yes, it definitely was. Besides, she was right. Our fight was keeping her up. Anyway, she got six inches from his face and told him he was leaving. When he asked, 'Or what?', she flipped him around and shoved him at the door. He tried to stop and slipped on the throw rug and landed on his butt. I ran over to him, but he swatted my hands away and got up, then he left. I went after him, but he wouldn't talk. He just got in his car and drove away."
I waited to see if she'd say anything else, but she didn't. Apparently she was waiting for me to say something, too, and when I didn't, she said, "Anyway, that's what happened."
"Good thing she didn't break him, he's 3rd World property. What did Kate say about it afterward?"
"Nothing. She went right back to bed and won't talk about it except to say nobody challenges her in her own home."
Nodding, I said, "Yeah, that sounds like her. Have you figured out where things went wrong that night?"
With a bitter laugh, Lori snorted, "Yes. I should have let that guy hit him. Or found a less obvious way to stop him."
"Yup, you got it and I'd be damned surprised if he ever gets over it. No biggie, though. All you have to do is chalk the incident up to experience and look for another boyfriend. But start looking on Monday. If you can be ready in half an hour, I'll feed you on the way back here."
Again looking dubious, Lori said, "Ed, I don't know..."
Standing up, I replied, "Well, then, call back if you decide to visit. It's after five here in Florida. I'm gonna go find some food before I keel over from starvation."
Lori looked startled and even a bit angry. Her gaze narrowed and she asked, "You really don't give a damn, do you?"
"Nope. You're young, gorgeous, and smart. You'll get another guy as quick as you really want one and you probably won't make the same mistake with him." I chuckled and added, "Maybe some other fancy mistake, but not that one."
Her narrow gaze became a glower. "Ha, ha. Very funny."
I shrugged. "Human nature, ma'am. We trip. We fall. We pull up our socks and keep truckin'. Been there. Dunnit."
She snapped, "Yeah? What was your mistake, then?"
In the same tone, I returned, "I wasted a few very stressful years of my life trying to 'fix' a beautiful alcoholic. If you ever want to know what stupid and deluded really feels like, tell a boozer 'it's me or the bottle'. But hold off 'til you're really ready to give up the fight, 'cuz the booze'll win."
Lori's face went from angry to just irritated, then she said, "You really know how to one-up a screwup, don't you?"
I laughed, "Hey, don't worry, young goddess. Someday you'll be able to do it, too."
She laughed snidely, "What a lovely vision of my future." With a sigh, she said, "Yeah. Okay. What the hell. You're probably right about me needing some time away. Is it too late to accept that Florida weekend?"
"Nope. See you in half an hour."
"Okay. I'll be above my house." She paused, then added, "Thanks, Ed. Bye."
"Bye."
Sandy reappeared as I dropped the link. She sat down at the table and propped her chin in her palm to study me.
I asked, "Got a question?"
With a small grin, she shook her head.
"Got a comment, then?"
She shook her head again. "No."
"Then why the look, ma'am?"
With exaggerated innocence, she asked, "The 'look'?"
I mimicked her expression and she snickered. I chuckled, "Saddle up if you're coming."
Sandy laughed, "Oh, I'll be around," and vanished.
Grabbing my backpack, I went outside. Summoning Galatea in standard flitter configuration with a bathroom field, I told her to use regular fields and make the trip to Flagstaff last half an hour so I could shower en route. With about fifteen minutes of flight left, I dumped my pockets on a seat and had Tea clean my clothes while I brushed my teeth.
Lori became visible in the distance, apparently standing on thin air half a mile above her house. Instead of a purse, she carried a backpack and wore a belly-bag slung on her left side. I wondered if she'd gotten that idea from me; when I wore mine, I also parked it on my left and dropped my shirt over the strap. Galatea stopped beside her and Lori eyed the flitter for a moment before she got in.
"I thought you preferred the small flitter."
Setting course for the buffet restaurant I liked in Flagstaff, I replied, "I do, but I took a shower on the way. You didn't bring much luggage, ma'am."
She shrugged. "There are stores in Florida."
"So there are. Gimme a minute here."
Lori started to speak and I held up a hand, then used a grey field tendril to write in the air, 'Take off your PFM'.
She read the floating letters and gave me a, 'Do What?!' expression. I reiterated by underlining the words twice. She wrote next to them 'Why?'. I wrote, 'Private stuff'.
Lori gave me an odd look, but said aloud, "This thing's making my arm itch. PFM detach."
She put the PFM in her waist bag and asked, "Now tell me what we're going to talk about that's so private."
"I noticed you used a platform field. Don't you have a scooterboard?"
Looking at me as if I was nuts, she replied, "No. They cost ten thousand dollars."
"Huh. I thought one of the company scooterboards Angie ordered last June was for you."
With a questioning look, she said, "I didn't know anything about it. Was I supposed to get one?"
"Huh. Guess not. Come to think of it, she never said one of them was for you. I just figured... never mind. She hasn't specifically told me you can't have one, and I don't work for 3rd World anymore. I can make you a board if you want one."
Giving me a disbelieving stare, Lori almost yelped, "Are you kidding?! Of course I want one!"
"Then we'll take care of it after dinner."
"But they're ten thousand dollars!"
"Yeah, you mentioned that before. Make it a grand and a favor. I may want you to do something for me later, Lori."
Instantly wary, she asked, "Do what for you?"
"I'm not sure yet. I'll want someone on tap. Someone I can trust to follow instructions. It can't be an AI 'cuz there are things they just can't do because of programming. Can't be a relative, either. Someone might question their motives."
The flitter landed and lifted into the sky as soon as we were off it. Lori stared after it and shook her head. "I still can't get over those virtual flitters. Some people on base have started using them, but others will only use the 'real' flitters."
I shrugged as we headed for the restaurant's front doors. "Real or fake wouldn't matter if the field quit."
She grinned. "Yeah, I know. The same people freak out a little when I zip around on my platforms." Sounding wary again, she said, "Ed, before I say 'yes' to a ninety percent discount, I'll have to know what you'll want me to do."
Opening the door for her, I said, "Figured that. Tell you what, Lori; no matter how weird you feel sometimes, I have something to show you that may knock you on your ass."
"What is it?"
Giving the clerk some money, I said, "Later. Maybe not at all. I don't know yet. Either way, I'll get you a board. Don't know why the hell you don't already have one."
She gave me an odd look, but nodded.
We loaded plates and picked a table and several minutes passed before she said, "Ed, you helped me a lot when you found me. Maybe more than you know. I bitch about feeling weird sometimes, but I wouldn't give up my field talents for anything." Taking a sip of her drink, she added, "If you need me to do something like I think you mean... well, I don't know. I wouldn't pull the plug for you if it meant going to jail."
I looked up from cutting my steak, met her eyes and said, "That's not quite what I had in mind, ma'am. Besides, if I was sick or hurt, my doc would be an AI. I doubt you'd be able to get past her to pull a plug."
"Then what are we talking about?"
"Like I said, later. Have you figured out how to call up a probe yet?"
She shook her head. "No."
"We'll work on that. Remember how I sort of shared the sense of how to create a stun?"
Making a droll 'oh, my God' face, Lori noddingly said, "Yes, and I hope never to feel that again. It gave me a ringing headache and almost made me sick."
"It probably wouldn't be like that with making probes. Ever wonder how Serena and I managed to stop affecting you when we chatted?"
Lori shrugged. "I did for a while, then I let it slide. There was too much other stuff going on."
"Have you ever told anyone else about that?"
Shaking her head, she replied intently, "Oh, hell, no! And if I ever do figure out how you did it, I'll keep it to myself. It would mean being able to call up fields nobody could track. Right now, as far as I know, everybody thinks there's only one way to make and use fields."
"Not everybody. The AIs know about it. But I don't think even the Amarans here know more than one way. At least, nobody has said or done anything to indicate they do."
That info seemed to cause her to go silent for a time. We were almost halfway through our dinners when she said, "I've always had a few questions to ask you, Ed. This weekend might be the right time."
People settled at the tables near us and I said, "Let's discuss all this later."

Chapter Four

We finished our meals and left and I called Galatea down in the parking lot. Instead of heading directly back to Florida, I had the flitter put up a refractive hull and land in a low area about a hundred yards west of the fence around Arizona's Petrified Forest.
Lori asked, "Why are we stopping here?"
"Hang on a minute. Serena?"
Serena answered without appearing. "Yes, Ed?"
"I'd like to give Lori a scooterboard. Can you think of any reason she shouldn't have one? Any official reason, I mean?"
Popping into being near us, Serena canted her head slightly and said, "I can think of no reason, official or otherwise, but I find it interesting that you asked that question."
"Well, you know I'm always happy to entertain you, ma'am. I couldn't think of any reason, either, yet she's been with 3rd World all this time and hasn't been issued one."
Lifting an eyebrow, Serena replied, "Perhaps because they cost 3rd World nine thousand dollars each?"
Huh? "You give them a discount?"
"Of course. Should we be discussing such matters in front of someone who isn't intimately involved in our partnership?"
"Apparently not, since you seem to disapprove. Apologies if necessary, but at any rate, I'd like Lori to have a board at the old price. Can we write one off to advertising or something?"
For some reason, that actually evoked a small smile from usually-expressionless Serena. She said, "We don't advertise, but I'm sure we can find a way. Will there be anything else?"
"A bigger smile, maybe?"
With a curious glance at Lori, Serena's amused gaze returned to mine and she produced a larger version of her smile, then she vanished.
I linked to her and said, "Thanks, Serena."
She sent back, "You're welcome."
After a moment, Lori quietly asked, "Is she really gone?"
Using field tendrils to poke around some broken trunks for shards of petrified wood, I replied, "Yup."
"Not very friendly is she?"
I shrugged. "No, but that doesn't matter. I like her."
A few finger-sized specimens turned up and I fielded them to my hand for a closer look. They were like pieces of vividly multicolored flint, three or four inches long and between an inch and two inches wide. I turned to show them to Lori and pulled some moisture out of the air to dampen them. That really brought out the colors.
Lori studied one of the shards as she said, "Um... Serena never mentioned when she'd deliver the board."
"She prob'ly won't deliver it. She'll prob'ly send it."
With a small, slightly exasperated sigh, Lori said, "Okay. Correction, then; she never said when she'd 'send' it."
I chuckled and swapped shards with her. "Have a little patience, ma'am. It'll be here shortly."
As I said that, I saw a glint of silver slip out of the flitter and head toward us. Lori saw me looking at something and turned just as her board stopped between us. She stood staring at the six-foot slab of field energy for a moment, then walked over to it and almost tentatively reached to touch it.
I said, "Go ahead. It needs to taste you."
Freezing in mid-reach, Lori asked, "It what?"
"Like a PFM. It keys to your DNA when you touch it."
Nodding slightly in an enlightened manner, she finished her reach and spread her hand flat on the board. After a few moments, she asked, "Uh... how long do I have to keep my hand on it?"
I chuckled, "About a tenth of a second, I think."
Giving me a 'you're being tiresome' expression, she asked, "So it's mine now?"
"Yup."
"No strings?"
"I guess you can have some strings if you want."
She gave me a lesser version of her 'tiresome' look and sighed, "You know what I mean. You said you had something you'd want me to do."
"Ah. That. Well, never mind, ma'am. I'm not sure you could help me anyway."
Calling up my simulation of myself, I had it form on the other side of her board. It smiled as it gave her a little two-finger salute and said, "Hi, there, Lori."
Lori hopped back a pace, turned a foot on a rock, and froze in an odd, semi-balanced position. She firmed up quickly as she squared her shoulders and stared at my sim. Without taking her eyes off it, she asked, "What the hell..?!"
"This is Ed2. He's a modified field probe."
She peered at it, said, "It looks so real!" then she looked at me and said, "But, then, so do you. Are you real?"
"Yup."
"Um... no offense, but after seeing him, how can I know that for sure?"
"One; because I said so and have no reason to lie. Two; I ate dinner. Field constructs don't eat steak and greens."
Still looking a bit unsure, she asked, "So what's it for?"
"That's yet to be seen. It may never be any more than an extension of me that I can use when this old bod craps out. But if I get lucky, I might be able to become part of it someday."
Giving me a big stare, she quietly asked, "You... you mean like... move out of your body and into this one?!"
"Something like that."
Looking a bit troubled, she bit her lip and studied the sim for another few moments, then turned to me and asked, "Ed, are you dying or sick or something?"
"Nope, just getting old and not too thrilled about it. I'm trying to set up a solution. The AIs and nanobots could probably keep me alive a helluva lot longer than my interest in living. If I can find a way to move into a core, I can skip the ordeals of old age."
With an expression of complete disbelief, Lori came to stand a couple of feet from me and rather sharply asked, "Do you know how... how bizarre this sounds?!"
"How do you think the AIs pop in and out? They use probes, ma'am. They live in computer cores and make probes in their chosen images." Gesturing at Ed2, I said, "I can do that, too, so why the hell not try to make things permanent?"
Glancing skyward in exasperation, she yelped, "But you don't live in a computer core!"
"As I said, I'm working on that. Athena's been recording my mind for quite a while now, and..."
"Athena? Who the hell's Athena?"
I held her gaze and asked quietly, "Think you can lose the attitude? It isn't necessary and it isn't helping."
Her eyes flared briefly, then Lori stepped a bit closer and growled, "Look, Ed, you're suggesting something that'll have all kinds of implications. All kinds. Don't you get that?"
"Social implications? Religious implications? Fuck 'em. I'm not particularly social and I'm not at all religious."
"What are you going to do with your body if it works?"
Shrugging, I said, "If it works, I should be able to... inhabit... both my old body and the computer core. I'll continue like that until the body dies."
As if pouncing on a vital detail, Lori shot back, "But what if your mind dies with your body?!"
I sighed, "Well, Jee-zus, lady! So what if it does?! If I don't try this, it'll die anyway, right? What the hell are you really objecting to and what can I really lose by trying?"
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. It closed and Lori seemed to consider matters for a moment, then she shook her head as she said quietly, "You're right. You're absolutely right. I don't know what I was thinking, Ed. It was like I had some kind of knee-jerk reaction, but there was nothing behind it."
"Sure there is. I'd be avoiding death. Nobody wants to think there's a way to do that if they can't do it, too."
As if she'd had a revelation of some sort, Lori stepped back a pace and yelped, "Oh, hell! Now I get it! You'll want someone there as a witness! Someone to back you up when your... simulation... shows up and tells them what you did, right?"
Well, no, but since I wasn't sure yet what her role would be, I fielded her question with, "Think they'll believe you?"
"What? Why shouldn't they?"
"Why should they? Seems likely they'd want some kind of proof I wasn't just a computer program operating a sim. I'm not sure that would be provable."
"There has to be a way."
I chuckled, "Let me know if you think of it. All I really care about is transferring myself into Athena's core. On another note, if I can do it, I think I'd better change my sim's appearance and use some other name."
She looked confused. "Why?"
"Think about it. I've only told you about this so far and you're probably already wondering why. We'll get to that later. For the moment, think about this; everybody else won't be able to shift themselves into a sim. That could create some serious resentment, even among my friends and family." I grinned, shrugged, and added, "And what's the point of sticking around if nobody'll have anything to do with me, right?"
Rolling her eyes, Lori said, "If you can make the transfer, you can work on your popularity later." Glancing at the flitter, she asked, "Do you have any beer in your cooler?"
"Sorry. No beer. No cooler, either, for that matter."
"What? Why?"
"Watch." I made Galatea vanish and our backpacks dropped a few inches to the ground. "That's why. My flitter doesn't exist all the time anymore."
"But it could, couldn't it?"
"Sure it could, but I haven't needed it as much since I retired." I nodded at her board and said, "If you want a beer, saddle up and we'll go find some."
Lori looked at her board with an easily visible measure of trepidation. "It's like surfing, isn't it?"
"Yup. Just stand on it and look pretty, ma'am."
With a droll expression, she looked at me and said, "Oh, I think there may be just a little more to it than that."
I shrugged. "Well, not really. You can't fall off and it won't let you hit anything, so safety isn't an issue. All you have to do is make it go where you want. That's what takes practice."
Calling up my own board, I flipped it upside down as I zipped over to the packs, grabbed pack straps, and rolled the board back upright as I zipped back to Lori.
She stared at me as I handed her pack to her, then she flatly stated, "Showoff."
"Yup. We've been fed, there's no hurry, and we have about two more hours of daylight. Mount up, ma'am."
"What happened to the 'scooter' part of 'scooterboard'?"
Pretending shock, I groaned, "Whatta wuss! Back when I first met you, I thought you were the penultimate Miss Adventure her-own-damned-self! Miss Conquer-the-Grand-Canyon! Miss..."
Lori held up a hand. "Enough misses, okay? Why are you so hot to see me ride the board instead of the scooter?"
With a grin, I said, "Because there's nothing sexy about scooters, but you can really turn some heads if you swoop down on a board." Hefting my backpack, I said, "Just try to tell me you weren't impressed when I went after the packs."
"You're serious?"
"Hell, yes. I saw the look on your face."
Looking a bit put-upon, Lori admitted, "Okay, I may have been a little... well... surprised, I guess..."
"Crap. You were impressed, ma'am. Go ahead. Admit it."
In sighing exasperation, she replied, "All right! I admit it! I was a little 'impressed'! Happy now?!"
"Ecstatic. Now, what's my point, Lori?"
Incredulously, she blurted, "Your point? There was an actual point in all that?"
"Woo. Now she's Miss Irritated Echo, too. Yeah, my point. There's not much to learn about the scooter. It flies, but it's just not as impressive as the board. Save it for long hauls when you'd need to sit down. For short hops and making grand entrances, use the board. Wow the crowd."
She just stared at me for a moment, then snickered, "Wow the crowd, huh?"
"Yup. No matter where it is or what the occasion, slide in like you own the place, even if you have to salute someone." I gave her a grinning little two fingered salute and asked, "How often have you seen that?"
"Well... pretty often, really."
"Given to which people?"
"Angie. Captain Wallace. Linda Baines."
"Anybody else?"
She looked thoughtful, then said, "Yes, but it wasn't the same when you did it with the NIA people. It was more like you were giving them the finger. And sometimes it seemed as if you were just acknowledging someone's presence."
I chuckled, "You're Miss Perceptive, too. Let's go back to 'what's my point?'."
Lori grinningly replied, "That you think you're the new Elvis? Or that you just act like it?"
For all her humor, her comment seemed tentatively made. I sat down on my board and sipped my coffee, then said, "Not quite. I'll shorten this story to get us underway. I'm not just giving you a scooterboard, Lori, nor am I trying to turn you into a female version of me. I'm issuing you a set of bars."
In a skeptical, flat tone, she repeated, "Bars."
"Yup. There may be people above and below you in whatever you're doing for whichever outfit, but nobody should ever really outrank you. Does that make sense?"
"Um... I think I see what you're saying, but... well, there are times when someone does outrank you in things."
"For purposes of pay or assignment, but once you're outside the office, you'll very likely be on your own. And if you ever truly feel you can't speak your mind to someone you have to work with or for, don't trust him. Or her. Not at all."
"What if speaking your mind would hurt them?"
"That's personal stuff and use your own judgment. I'm talking about the kind of sharing that could affect your job, your rank, the task at hand, or get you killed."
Sipping coffee, I said, "Now a question. How much can you field-lift?"
She grinned. "Thursday I managed almost a ton in the lab."
"That means you could prob'ly also stun every living thing for a few miles in all directions, right?"
Lori eyed me for a moment, then asked, "I suppose so. Where are you going with this?"
"That's almost flitter-level field manipulation, Lori. Do you ever sense others being particularly deferential to you? Careful about what they say or do? Do the brass hats suddenly go silent when you walk in a room?"
"You think people are scared of me? Even Angie?"
"Yup."
"But I work with them. For them. Why the hell would they be afraid of me?"
I chuckled, "Mostly because they've already thought about what they'd do if they had your kind of power. Most of the people who know about you are honcho types, y'know."
After a moment, Lori asked, "Are you scared of me?"
"No. I can just about match your power, I think. Besides, there's always a way to take somebody down." Sipping coffee, I said, "I've noticed you've had trouble with certain words today, ma'am. Have you had any recent dental work?"
Raising a hand to the left side of her jaw, she said, "My wisdom teeth were pulled. What do you mean, 'trouble with certain words'? Which words?"
"Several, but not every time you say them. Is your tongue numb sometimes?"
"Uh... yes. A little. Sometimes. It was worse right after my surgery, but it got better."
"Not completely better. Something's wrong with your lingual nerve. How long's it been since you had your teeth out?"
"Almost three months."
"Were you conscious during the operation?"
She shrugged. "Sort of. I think. I can't really remember any of it."
I said, "Lori, this is Sandy. Sandy, please check Lori for internal hardware and let us know what you find."
Sandy appeared and said, "I can't discuss it, Ed."
"Because doing so would violate some federal law?"
Looking a bit troubled, she nodded. "Yes."
"If I scan her, will you have to stop me?"
"Only if I'm aware of your actions."
"Roger that. Thanks and goodbye for now, Sandy. This is one of those 'no monitoring' occasions."
Sandy met my gaze for a moment, then vanished.
Looking at Lori, I asked, "Was that reason enough to make you let me scan you?"
Her eyes big, Lori yelped, "Oh, hell, yes! What are we going to do, Ed?!"
"We'll buy something at a drugstore for your fake itch and then we'll head to my place and scan you. In the meantime, you'll put your PFM back on. Someone may be getting nervous about the fact you aren't wearing it. No more talk of boards or surgically implanted bugs until further notice."
"What if we can't get it out?!"
"Then I'll call Angie and ask why you don't have a board. I can prob'ly corner her into letting me issue you one."
My answer seemed to confuse Lori, then she yelped, "Screw the goddamned board! There's a... a thing in my head!"
"Talking with Angie about boards will open the door to other topics. Now turn your board off, put your PFM on, and play along with whatever I say."
"What?! Turn it off? I don't even know how to turn it on!"
"Just think, 'board off'. It'll turn into a small matrix you can carry in your pack."
She shrieked, "But what about the goddamned... thing?!"
"Like I said, we'll have a look at it."
Venting her frustration, she yelled, "I want it out, dammit!"
"And we'll find a way to do that. Come on, get with it. We have stuff to do. And remember to play along, okay?"
I called Galatea as Lori turned off her board. She studied the matrix briefly and put it away, then she put her PFM back on her arm.
When I handed her onto the flitter, I tapped her PFM and asked, "Did taking that off for a while stop the itching?"
As I shook my head, she replied rather tensely, "No."
"Want to stop at a drugstore? Maybe get some lotion?" I nodded emphatically.
Lori gave me a fisheye, but replied, "Yeah. Good idea."
"Tea, take us to the nearest drugstore along our route to Florida, please."

Chapter Five

Galatea set us down at a Walgreen's in Vaughn, New Mexico, a few minutes later. As we shopped for lotion, I suggested putting some goop on an area before she put the PFM there. Lori gave me an odd look, but she rubbed some stuff on her right arm before she moved the PFM.
I said, "I've never heard of a PFM causing an itch. You sure it isn't psychosomatic?"
With another odd look, Lori said, "I don't care what's causing it, I just want it to stop. If this doesn't take care of it, I'll have the base clinic look at it."
We picked up a six-pack of beer and an eight-pack of 'AA' batteries and were back in the air in fifteen minutes or so. We'd finished a beer each by the time we arrived at my house.
As I opened the front door, I asked, "Is your itching any better?" and shook my head 'no'.
Lori replied, "No, not really."
"Want to wash your arms with some Phisohex? I don't know if it'll help, but it might."
"Yeah. Sure. Let's try it."
I made a production of getting Lori a towel and noisily opening and closing sink cabinet doors as I retrieved the Phisohex, then she took off her PFM. The minute it was off her arm, I told her to wash her arms for real because traces would be expected, then called up a probe and a screen.
Moving the probe to one side of Lori's head, I said, "Athena, we're going to scan Lori. Display whatever the probe finds on this screen. I'd like to guide it myself."
A ball-shaped probe appeared and Athena replied, "The probe is ready, Ed."
"Thanks, Athena."
I aimed the probe at the right rear of Lori's jaw, then the left side. Bingo. A small ovoid capsule almost a quarter of an inch long had been embedded where her tooth had been. I zoomed the capsule picture to twelve inches. Two-thirds of it contained miniaturized electronic hardware.
Lori made a small, keening sound and I rechecked her entire jaw, ran the probe around her head on general principles, and then turned off the probe.
Sipping coffee as I studied the probe's recording, I asked, "Athena, what's in that capsule?"
She answered, "Ricin."
Lori asked, "What's ricin?"
"Just a minute. Athena, do not ask anyone -- not even the other AIs -- how or why it was installed, okay? And don't investigate on your own, either."
"Yes, Ed."
"Thanks. Now remove the capsule, please."
The probe moved in front of Lori's face and said, "Open your mouth, please, Lori."
Lori gave me a big-eyed stare. I nodded and used my hand to make an 'open up' gesture. She opened. A thin tendril entered her mouth and the capsule floated out of her mouth in less than a minute. I cast my own field around it and went to the medicine cabinet. All I could find that had a seal I'd trust with ricin was a plastic isopropyl alcohol bottle. I dumped out the alcohol, shoved some toilet paper into the bottle, dropped the capsule in, shoved some more toilet paper in after it, and capped the bottle.
Setting the bottle on the bathroom sink's counter, I said, "Excellent work, Athena. Thanks again."
"You're welcome, Ed."
Lori interrupted my musing with, "Well?! What is it?!"
"Ricin. It's a poison. How does your tongue feel now?"
"What? Oh. Kind of tingly, almost like part of it was asleep. It's kind of like there's more tongue than there was before."
"The capsule was pressing on your lingual nerve. Who did your dental work?"
"My dentist. Dr. Lerner."
Her own dentist? Hm. "How long's he been your dentist?"
"Since last September. My old dentist died."
I was tempted to ask how he died, but that was something I could look up later. "How'd you find your new dentist?"
"I didn't. He had car trouble..." With a groan as she went to sit on the toilet with her head in her hands, Lori said, "He had car trouble right in front of our house. He said his cell phone was dead and asked Aunt Lisa to use our phone." With another groan, she said, "He waited for the tow truck in our living room. Aunt Lisa even dated him once, but she said he couldn't talk about anything but his work."
"Classic. Meet the family, make a solid connection, offer to do the work for cheap or free. Just out of curiosity, how long had he been in Flagstaff when his car died?"
"Only a couple of months. He said he'd just got out of the Army and joined the Cornell Dental Clinic on Park Street."
"How long's it been since you've seen him?"
"Two weeks after my surgery for a check-up."
"Not since then? Not at all?"
She shook her head. "No."
Calling up a screen, I looked up Dr. Lerner. He'd left the Cornell clinic almost two months ago and disappeared. Sending a probe to the clinic, I had Athena check for fingerprints on records of those he'd treated. The prints she isolated as Lerner's belonged to a dentist named Herbert Gimmel, who had a brand-new second floor clinic in downtown Washington, DC.
Lori saw his picture and nodded. "Yeah, that's him."
"Doing you was prob'ly the price for that clinic. It's time to put your PFM back on and come to the kitchen."
I took the alcohol bottle with me and stationed Lori out of sight beyond the doorway as I took a seat at the kitchen table.
When I pinged Angie, she put up a screen and answered with, "You got me," and a chuckle. "I just had to say that to you at least once in my life. Hi, Ed, what's up and why have you absconded with our poor little Lori?"
"Wow, you're really on top of things, Cap'n Angie. I just called to find out if you're going to issue her a board."
"I'd like to, but it isn't in the budget."
Nodding in a knowing manner, I asked, "Well, then, why didn't a base dentist pull her wisdom teeth?"
The abrupt change of topic made Angie's expression change to one of mild wariness. "She's on our insurance plan and we'd have taken care of her. Instead, she went to her aunt's boyfriend. Do we have some kind of a problem, Ed?"
"Nope. Stand by one. I'm going to send you some data."
I shipped the probe's scan records to her and gave her a few moments to study them. Her eyes got big and her surprise seemed genuine as she almost whispered, "Oh, my God! What is that, some kind of tracking device?"
"Nope. The electronic crap is prob'ly only a receiver. It doesn't look as if it could transmit. The other stuff is ricin."
Angie's eyes got big and her mouth fell open. "Oh-my-God! Is it still in her?!"
"Nope. When I asked Sandy about it, she said she couldn't discuss it. Based on that, I told Athena not to research it in any way before I had her remove it."
"Where is it now?"
Holding up the alcohol bottle, I said, "Right here."
Angie's expression became rather stark. She growled, "You don't think 3rd World had anything to do with this, do you?"
"I don't think you did. I don't think Wallace did, either. But you two just run base security, ma'am, not the whole company. Sandy wouldn't even talk about it. That means she was afraid of breaking a law, and I can think of only one kind that would cover this. How would the feds have found out about Lori?"
"Now you're accusing the US government?"
I shrugged. "They make laws, right? Got a better suspect for expensive ops and high intrigue?"
After a brief pause, she shook her head. "No, but that doesn't mean some other entity didn't do it."
"Yes, milady. As you say, milady. 'Innocent until proven guilty'. Just about anybody else could have done it."
With a tired-sounding sigh, she said, "No, I'm not saying that, but there must be other possibilities."
"Name one that could legally prevent our AI friends from taking that thing out of her head. At any rate, I just thought you'd like to know about it."
Eyeing me tightly, Angie said, "You just wanted to see how I'd react, too."
"Yup. I'll keep Lori with me until we know who dunnit."
She sat upright and her eyes flared. "The hell you will!"
"What's wrong with the idea? Whoever's behind this either wants to use her in some manner or make sure nobody else can use her. Apparently they don't understand enough about AIs and their protocols. Once Sandy knew about the capsule, she couldn't talk about it or remove it, but if someone had triggered it, she'd have acted to neutralize it."
Sipping my coffee, I said, "In any case, today's trip started when I promised Lori a couple of days in Florida. Unless you intend to lock her in a vault, she's as safe here as she'd be anywhere. Why not think about things until Monday?"
Angie glared at me for a few moments, then stiffly said, "Put Lori on, please."
I didn't even have to speak. Lori strode in from the alcove and said in a rather flat tone, "I'm here, Captain Horn."
Eyeing Lori for a moment, Angie asked, "Do you know what ricin is?"
"I do now. I looked it up while I was waiting."
"Good. Until we get to the bottom of this, consider yourself in grave danger. If Ed tells you to do something, you damned well do it, instantly and without question. Understood?"
Lori nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"When you're outside that house, make sure your p-field is on and don't even go to the bathroom alone. Check everything you eat or drink. Everything. Let Ed handle meeting people. Assume that anyone could be... on the wrong side."
I raised a hand and said, "Angie."
She looked at me. "Yes?"
"That thing was in her head for months."
"And your point is..?"
"If they just wanted her dead, they'd have popped the capsule long before now. I figure they'll try to recruit her first or at least make some kind of contact, if only to deliver a 'work for us or else' ultimatum."
Angie met my gaze for a time, then nodded. "I agree. How soon can you bring that capsule here?"
"Athena will deliver it to you shortly. Good enough?"
She nodded again. "Yes. Good enough. Ed... I'm... I'm sorry I snapped at you."
I sighed dramatically, "Oh, I guess I'll be okay, ma'am. Women have been snapping at me all my life, y'know. I think I may finally be getting used to it."
Lori let out a short, snorting laugh and Angie tried to stifle a grin as she rolled her eyes. With a chuckle, she said, "Okay. Keep in touch. Later, Ed."
"Later, Cap'n Angie."
She dropped the link and the screen vanished. I went to the front door and asked Athena to take the alcohol bottle to Angie as I held it up. The bottle lifted from my hand, then a solid-looking ball formed around it and flashed away as Athena replied, "Yes, Ed."
When I returned to the kitchen table, Lori took a seat across from me and sighingly asked, "What now?"
I chuckled, "What do you usually do on a Friday night?"
Looking at me as if I was crazy, she yelped, "I'm talking about..." she gestured aimlessly and finished, "...all that other stuff just now! Someone tried to poison me, damn it!"
I shrugged. "Let's go with what we know for sure. A dentist put a ricin cap in you. Athena took it out. That's it."
Her face fell. "That really isn't very much, is it?"
"Nope. So... What do you usually do on a Friday night?"
"I'd usually be home."
"Not 'where'. 'What'."
Shrugging, she replied, "Oh, I don't know. Watch some TV or download a movie. Maybe go to a club."
"No messing around with fields?"
"That gets old. Unless I think of something new to try, I don't spend much time that way."
"We do have something new to try, ma'am. New to you, anyway. Let's take the boards for a run."
Lori seemed to give the idea some thought, then nodded firmly. "Good idea. Something to take my mind off... Never mind. I'll be back in a minute."
She got up and strode toward the bathroom. I linked to Athena and ran a more comprehensive search for info about Herbert Gimmel. Known affiliations, employment history, places lived, and phone records. The official info was already on file, of course. As a medical officer in the Army, he'd been checked out by two federal agencies before and during his service.
While riffling through comments from 2002, I saw the name 'William Lanby' and it seemed oddly familiar to me. I ran an ancillary search on the name and found the reason. A William Lanby had been a One Earth group leader in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He'd also been killed when a nasty virus developed by One Earth had gotten loose in their weapons factory.
The same Lanby? The time frame was right, and Gimmel had been born and raised in Crookston, Minnesota, a state next to North Dakota. Calling up a map, I found that Crookston was less than 30 miles from Grand Forks. Summarizing the info with links to specifics, I patched a copy to Angie and kept looking for more to tie Gimmel to One Earth.
Lori returned and stopped by the sink, eyeing me for a moment before she asked, "Are you all right?"
"Just thinking." I put up a screen and let her see my research, adding, "Angie may call back shortly."
She did, almost as soon as I'd spoken. I answered her ping with a screen and, "Hi, there. Maybe it wasn't the feds."
Angie glanced at Lori, then back to me as she expanded her screen to include Emory Wallace, who said, "I'd prefer that it weren't, but we spoke with Catherine. Even now she can't even discuss the matter."
"Stuff happens, Cap. Maybe they got to someone in one of the federal agencies. If someone there ordered a tracker, that would place it under the usual 'classified' rules."
"That thing wasn't a 'tracker', Ed."
"Did whoever authorized it know that? Very doubtful at the moment. With intelligence people being sacrificed to the media over waterboarding, would any of them knowingly authorize a poison pellet? Hell, college frats use waterboarding as a hazing ritual and Special Ops guys get it in resistance training, yet the media's acting as if it's high torture. Right now you'd have a hard time getting an intelligence agency to do anything even the slightest bit questionable."
Angie regarded me for a moment, then said, "This is a real switch for you, isn't it? You've always been the first in line to distrust the government."
"No change at all in that regard, but the intel agencies and militaries have recently learned the hard way they can't trust the new Prez to back them up. Would they risk their asses by planting kill-pills in civilians? I'd bet there was a substitution somewhere between the order and the dentist."
Sandy's field presence manifested in the kitchen, but she didn't appear. I waved for her to join us. Sandy popped into being and sat down at the table with, "Hello, Lori. Hello, Captains Horn and Wallace."
Lori belatedly held out a hand and Sandy shook it.
I said, "This is Sandy. She's Cat's replacement."
Angie gave her a studious nod and, "Hello, Sandy."
Wallace just stared at Sandy for a moment, then managed, "Oh. Yes. Hello, indeed, Sandy."
Angie asked, "Sandy, if Ed's supposition were true, wouldn't it invalidate any gag order?"
"If proven, yes. I'm trying to locate original documents ordering Lori's surveillance, but they seem to be missing. Only nonspecific references exist."
I nodded and sipped coffee. "Not surprised. Someone tried to erase the trail."
Another moment passed, then Sandy said rather flatly, "Apparently they succeeded."
Wallace said, "Tracking devices transmit. What was dug out of Lori's jaw was only equipped to receive. Do you think you can you talk about it now?"
"Yes. The original observation order was based on Lori's abrupt and unexplained assimilation into 3rd World Products."
I said, "They wondered why the hell 3rd World practically adopted her and barfed up college money."
Nodding, Sandy said, "Exactly."
Angie said, "That couldn't be enough to justify a tracker."
Sandy put up a screen with a list of Muslim names and said, "Someone reported Lori's affiliations with these students. Two of them were investigated for terrorist activities in 2006."
Lori stared at the list and shook her head. "But I don't know any of those people. Not one."
I shrugged. "They needed a premise, so they created one. Who submitted that list?"
Sandy said, "An unnamed informant."
"Again, no surprise. We've removed the gadget and the trail's been wiped. Now all we have to do is figure out who dunnit and how. Any suggestions?"
Wallace said, "I've already put some people on it. It'll probably take some intense personal interviewing, but if there's anything left to find, they'll find it."
Heh. 'Intense personal interviewing'. Okay. "Well, then, what can be done is being done, so Lori and I can get on with the weekend. She has a scooterboard to figure out."
Angie's left eyebrow arched slightly and her eyes flicked to Lori. Wallace looked slightly startled, but covered quickly and said nothing.
Lori noted their reactions and said, "He offered me a board. I've always wanted one."
Glancing at me, Angie asked, "Did he happen to say why he offered you a board?"
I said, "No, he didn't." Sipping coffee, I added, "She got one for the same price and the same reasons you two did."
Angie said, "I'm sorry, Ed, but I had to ask."
"The next time you have a question like that, ask Linda. See you later, Angie. Bye, Cap."
She nodded. "Okay. Be careful. Later, all."
Wallace said, "Right. Later."
Sandy said, "I'll also say goodbye for now," and vanished.
Poking the 'off' icon, I sat sipping coffee and considering the fact Angie had felt the need to ask at all. Looking a bit tense, Lori went to the fridge, took out a beer, and offered it to me. I took it with, "Thanks," and she fished out another one, then settled in the chair by the fridge.
Silence reigned for a minute as we sipped, then she asked, "Just to be clear, was she asking what I think she was asking?"
"What do you think she was asking?"
"Whether you were trying to... bribe me... with a board."
"That's how it sounded to me, too." I sipped and said, "And I really wasn't expecting something like that from her."
Lori sipped, then said quietly, "Yeah, I could tell." She sipped again, then said, "There's a full moon tonight. Lots of light. When we finish these beers, let's go try out my board."
I nodded. "Good plan."
About half my beer was gone before she cleared her throat gently and spoke again.
"Thanks, Ed."
"For..?"
"Getting that thing out of my head. Being smart enough to know it was there in the first place. The board. Everything else, too, just in case I left anything out."
"Ah. You're very welcome, milady."
Chewing her bottom lip, she admitted, "Ed, I've never been so scared in my life."
"No real danger. Sandy would have taken care of it."
She sighed, "What kind of people can do something... well, like what they did to me?"
"The 'anything for the cause' types. Their causes may be personal, political, religious, or something else altogether. They don't give a rat's ass about anyone or anything else, and the world's full of 'em. Always has been."
Sipping again, I said, "Someone who says, 'Push, pull, or get out of the way' is prob'ly just trying to get something done. At least they allow for a middle ground. People who say, 'You're either with us or against us', and 'People are either tools or fools' are the ones to avoid. Or shoot, if the occasion arises."
Lori snickered, then giggled, then let out a short laugh and said, "That covers a lot of people, Ed."
"Yup. Most of 'em are some kind of politician or preacher or people who work for them. Some are money movers; they don't actually produce anything, they just shuffle tons of money around, skim some off as it goes by, and don't give a damn who gets hurt in the process."
She nodded slightly and studied her beer can for a moment, then guzzled whatever was left in it and stood up. "I'll be back in a minute."
I finished mine and put our cans in the recycle bag, then pinged Tiger. When I told him about Lori, he wanted to come home and meet her, but I told him we'd be flying for a while. He said he'd be home later.

Chapter Six

Lori returned and I took my turn in the bathroom, then we went outside. I told her to call up her scooter and she gave me an odd look. "Not the board?"
"You once told me you used to ride a bicycle. Let's find a more private place to practice with the board."
Nodding, she held up her board matrix. "What now?"
"Just toss it and think 'scooter'."
She tossed it and her scooter appeared. Hanging my coffee mug on my pocket, I called up my board and led the way to Green Lake, a big puddle surrounded by pine forest on one side and old citrus groves on the other. As I reached for a tangerine, Lori asked why the trees looked so ratty. I told her nobody had tended them for years because the citrus company had gone out of business.
After briefing her on what her scooterboard would -- and wouldn't -- do, I led the way on a twisting path among the trees. Lori had no trouble keeping up until our speed reached about sixty; that's when I noticed her falling behind a bit. To demonstrate our safety, I sat backward on the board, met her gaze, and had the board dart straight toward a pine tree. The board slowed and stopped a few inches from the tree.
Lori scooted up beside me and nervously laughed, "Okay. I get it now, I really do. But please don't do that again."
Reaching for another tangerine, I replied, "Only as often as necessary, ma'am. Ready to try your board?"
She got off her scooter, had it change to a board, and stepped onto it as she said, "Ready."
Lifting ten feet, I led her along the shore. When I swung gently out over the water and back a few times, Lori didn't quite make a directional recovery. Her board remained upright, but she dangled backward and upside-down over the lake. I flew over to give her a hand up, but she turned her board over. She made it rise, then flipped it and let it drag her down into a standing position. I whistled and applauded and she grinningly took a little bow that almost tipped her back over.
Once Lori seemed able to remain upright consistently, I angled the nose of my board upward twenty degrees or so. With a bit of nervous laughter, Lori followed me into the sky. Stopping about a hundred yards up, I waited for her to join me.
Lori looked around as I said, "Up here we can work on your turns without worrying about getting your hair wet."
She gave me a wry expression, then returned to studying the world below. "I can't get over how green it is here."
"Arizona could look like this if it had a little more water."
Lori nodded and said, "I remember you bitching about sand and jungle and housing developments, but Angie said you've been living here for twenty years."
"And..?"
"Oh, nothing. I think you get bored sometimes, that's all."
"Yup. Very."
"But not enough to move?"
"Guess not. Most of the places I like in summer have four-month winters. I can ride all year down here."
She laughed, "You could ride all year anywhere with p-fields and a scooterboard."
"And see what? Snow, ice, and barren trees? Nah. Here, I can pick tangerines in January. Even without a p-field, a pair of chaps and my leather jacket will handle a Florida winter."
On the shore below, a good-sized gator hauled itself out of the water. I sent a stun at it as I aimed my board downward. A few moments after I settled next to the gator, Lori arrived. The gator fascinated her. She got off her board and walked around it once, studying it from nose to tail, then reached to touch it and ran her hand over its back.
"Jeee-zzzuuus!" she breathed, "It's huuuge! It's like some kind of a dinosaur!"
Taking my mug off my pants pocket, I sipped coffee and said, "As I understand it, gators are some kind of dinosaur."
I felt a presence and glanced in the direction of the groves. Nothing moved and I couldn't spot our watcher, so I sent a probe. Something about creating the probe made Lori startle. She turned almost as if she could see it as it headed for the grove. Through the probe's 'eye', I saw a man with two kids hunkered behind some brush. They had half a dozen fishing rods and a couple of buckets.
Lori asked, "What is it?"
"We have company. A man and two kids hiding behind some scrub. Looks like they came here to fish."
She looked at the gator and said, "They may have to pick another spot. Why would they hide from us?"
Shrugging, I said, "I dunno. You through with the gator?"
Lori grinned. "Yeah, I guess so."
We called up our boards and slid away above the lake, then arced upward. I sent a wake-up tendril at the gator, which roused with a couple of quick left and right twists. Heh. It was hard to imagine something ten feet long and armored being afraid of much, but that gator sure seemed pretty upset.
I led Lori through some minor aerobatics above the lake until she stopped and simply stood on her board watching me. Cutting out of a loop, I angled back toward her. As I stopped next to her, she said, "I need to find a bathroom. Soon."
"No problem."
Heading south along County Road 581, I landed in front of 'Janey's Gas 'n Go' and opened the door for Lori. As we walked in, Janey's blonde, very pregnant daughter Mae practically yelled, "Well, hi, stranger! Where the hell have you been?"
She came around the counter to give me a crushing hug and I managed, "I've been out doing stuff, ma'am, as usual."
Giggling, she looked at Lori and asked, "You his girlfriend?" then without waiting for an answer, she turned to me and said, "You could do a lot worse. She's really cute!"
I said, "Yes, she is," and pointed out a tiny restroom sign to Lori, who quickly excused herself and headed that way.
Mae asked, "What's her name?"
"Lori. She's visiting from Arizona."
I refilled my mug as she asked, "A relative?"
"Nope. She works for 3rd World Products."
"I didn't hear no car. She got one o' them boards too?"
"Yup."
"No way in hell I'd get on one o' them things."
I chuckled, "You've mentioned that before. What are you, about seven months along now?"
She patted her belly and said, "Seven and a half."
"You know I don't babysit, right?"
Thumbing behind the counter at the office door, she said, "Got a place all picked out for him. He'll be running the register by the time he's three."
"Why so late in life?"
That remark took her a moment to parse, then she laughed, "Boys take longer to teach."
A few people came in and she greeted them. I looked around the store until Lori came out. She picked out a can of tea and I handed Mae two bucks, then we said goodbye and headed outside.
As we called up our boards and lifted into the sky, Lori said, "Mae sure was happy to see you."
"I dropped in a few years ago and ended up taking her mom to the hospital. Her doc had over medicated her."
"Why didn't one of your AI friends treat her?"
"She did, but there was an observation period involved. I locked up the store and took her to the hospital while I called the Sheriff's office to have them contact the family."
After a minute or so of silence, Lori took a long sip of her tea, then said, "This goddamned itch just won't stop. PFM detach," and took off her PFM. Holding it in her left hand, she stared down at her board with visible relief and said, "Oh, good. The board still works." Looking at me, she said, "I felt... something... when you noticed those people by the lake. But I never noticed them until you pointed them out. Not at all. You sent a probe to check them out, didn't you?"
"Yup, and you've seen me do it before."
"No, I mean... You created the probe. I felt it initialize right next to you and head for the trees."
"So? It had to initialize somewhere."
"You're dodging the question. You didn't use a screen, either. That means you didn't need one, doesn't it?"
I sipped coffee and said, "Lori, you already knew I'm in mental contact with a core. I can see what Athena sees when I want to. What's the big deal about a probe?"
"Are you being difficult, or do you really not see what I'm talking about? If you can do things like that, you're already part of the core."
"Yeah, sort of. So?"
She stopped her board and I arced around to stand next to her as she said, "Look, you were talking about trying to find a way to... merge, I guess. Right? But you're already there. So what is it exactly you think you need to do?"
"Being able to link in to do stuff isn't quite the same as what I have in mind, Lori. I'm trying to merge completely and transfer consciousness."
"What makes you think you haven't? How would you even know? I mean, how could you find out if you have?"
With a shrug, I replied, "Damned if I know. Guess I'll just have to die to find out for sure."
Lori shuddered and snapped, "Don't talk like that."
"I wasn't talking about trying it any time soon, y'know."
She rubbed her arms and muttered, "Still... Just don't talk like that." After another sip of her tea, she asked, "What else can you do now that you couldn't before?"
"Prob'ly just about anything an AI could, I guess. If I didn't understand something well enough to do it directly, I could use a link through Athena to make it happen."
Lori just stood staring at me for a time, then shook her head and guzzled the last of her tea. Letting out a soft belch, she said, "I felt something else when you made that probe, Ed. It was like a field, but it wasn't the same as a field. Kind of like some kind of... of... well, like an echo of a field."
"Maybe it was just a surge of excitement, ma'am. You were petting a ten foot alligator, after all."
Giving me a droll, fixed gaze, she sighed, "Don't bullshit me, okay?"
Her firm gaze hadn't faltered. She was absolutely sure of her perceptions. Unless I told her something, she'd ask about it back at Carrington. Which would be worse; to introduce her to frequency shifts or to admit I was also a natural?
After a moment more of looking into her lovely eyes, I sighed, "Okay. You got me, lady. You know anything much about how radios work?"
Peering at me as if wondering whether I was being serious, Lori responded with, "Yeah, a little."
"You know what frequencies are? I mean, really know?"
"Not really. I know numbers on the radio relate to them."
I called up a screen and showed her a graphic displaying a range of radio waves. Once she saw what I was referring to, she seemed to put it all together on her own.
"You just moved up or down enough to be outside the usual field range, didn't you?"
"Sure did."
"Why can't everybody do it?"
"The AIs can. But nobody at 3rd World seems to know about it. I don't know why because I haven't asked. I don't want to share the info or make them start looking."
Lori just looked at me for a time, then tossed her can into the air and engulfed it with a blue field tendril. The can turned to plasma within the tendril, then she turned back to me and said, "That's kind of selfish, isn't it?"
"Yup. No damned doubt about it, selfish is the word. It's a sleeve card, Lori; a way to do something that 3rd World's monitors won't notice."
Giving me a fisheye, she asked, "Something like what?"
I shrugged. "Whatever's necessary."
"Is 'necessary' a euphemism for 'illegal'?"
"It doesn't have to be. Remember when I told you to keep a little something in reserve and to avoid letting them know your full potential?"
"Yes."
"So... how much can you really field-lift? Maybe a bit more than a ton? Maybe even twice that?" I sipped coffee and added, "Or have I overestimated your common sense?"
Her eyes flared slightly, but otherwise her face turned almost completely expressionless. After a short time, a small grin formed and Lori sighed, "Almost two tons."
"Measured how, ma'am?"
"Lifting cars in a parking lot while the transport ship was landing. A Honda and a Chevy at the same time."
I grinned. "Smart lady. The transport ships would mask even a flitter's best efforts." Pointing down at a gravel truck in a construction zone a hundred yards or so below, I asked, "If I lifted that truck, how long would it be before Angie called?"
Lori laughed, "A minute? Maybe sooner?"
"Let's find out." I shifted to a lower field frequency and sent a pad under the truck, then pumped up the power until the truck's wheels were a foot off the ground. Lori's eyes got a little bigger, but she said nothing as the seconds passed.
A pickup truck turned onto the dirt road and headed toward the gravel truck. Letting it down gently, I said, "Angie won't call, Lori. 3rd World's monitors didn't see that happen."
Giving me a fisheye, Lori said, "Maybe I should ask how much you can lift."
With a small headshake, I said, "Couldn't say. Don't know."
"Well, be careful. Don't... you know... burn out an implant or something."
"I'm not sure that could happen. As I understand it, they can either channel enough power for something or they can't. They prob'ly have some kind of limiter built in."
"But you aren't sure of that, either?"
I shrugged. "I don't build 'em, I just use 'em." Calling up a screen, I looked up PFM data and found very little on the subject, same as with most field-using devices. Linking to Athena, I asked aloud, "Athena, is it possible to burn out a PFM by trying to focus too much field energy?"
She answered through my implant, "No, Ed."
Letting the screen dissipate, I said, "She said no."
"Did she happen to say why?"
"I didn't ask."
Her displeasure evident, Lori said, "You're starting to think like the AIs, aren't you? Why didn't you ask her?"
"I didn't need to know."
"Well, I do. Ask her, okay?"
Trying to look vastly put-upon, I put up another screen and sighed, "Yes, milady. As you command, milady. Athena, Lori would like to know why it isn't possible to burn out a PFM by focusing field energy. Answer through the screen, please."
Athena said, "A PFM will not attempt to direct more energy than it was designed to accommodate."
"Thank you, Athena. That's kind of what I thought."
Lori said, "Thanks, Athena. Now I'd like to know if that also applies to a human brain."
Athena answered, "I don't know."
I asked, "Want my opinion?"
"Yeah. Sure."
"When it starts to hurt, you should prob'ly stop."
Lori snorted a laugh. "That's it?! That's all?!"
"Without more to go on, what else makes sense?"
Her grin remained, but she shrugged. "You're right. We don't know enough about how brains make and handle fields." Looking around, she said, "We're just standing around up here."
"Where would you like us to be, ma'am?"
"How about someplace where you can try to teach me how to change frequencies?"
"That would have to be where you can excuse having your PFM off for more than a few minutes at a time. Put your PFM back on and bitch about the itch on the way home."
Lori put her PFM back on and said, "Next time I'll bring that skin lotion. This itching is driving me nuts."
"You can take it off again when we get home."
"I'm kind of surprised Angie hasn't called about it."
"She knows boards make their own p-fields."
We took the long way home, skirting Brooksville and ranging as far north as Crystal River, then heading south along the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico. I led Lori through some minor aerobatics and altitude changes and she seemed to have developed a reasonable facility for basic sky-surfing by the time we reached Spring Hill.
As we landed by the front porch, Tiger and Annabelle yelled greetings and came trotting across the yard. Although Lori had chatted with the cats on screens, she'd never met them in person, so everything else took a back seat for a while. She and they settled on the couch as I made a couple of gin and bitter lemon drinks for Lori and myself.
After a while, Annabelle said it was time to go home. She and Tiger made their goodbyes and I got the door for them rather than make them go through the garage to get out.
Lori and I stood on the porch, watching them trot away, and Lori said, "They're amazing. Doesn't Tiger live here anymore?"
I shrugged. "Officially, yes, but he and Annabelle seem to have a good thing going."
"Aren't they both fixed?"
"Yup, but there's obviously more to it than that. I figure having so much unusual stuff in common makes it hard for them to relate to regular cats anymore."
As Tiger and Annabelle reached the corner of the house, Lori seemed to stiffen slightly and stare, rather than simply watch. That's about as well as I can explain it. I turned to open the door and Lori gave me an odd glance as she entered.
Returning to the couch, she sipped her drink and asked, "Was what you said about 'hard to relate to regular cats' meant for me?"
Taking a seat on the sofa chair, I replied, "Guess so. There was nobody else on the porch."
"You know what I mean."
"Enlighten me, ma'am. What do you think I meant?"
Sipping again, she said, "I think you meant me. The way I've been bitching about being stared at and feeling alone."
"Uh, huh. Well, if it fits well enough, you can have it for your very own. But I was just talking about Tiger and Annabelle. I've never been around when they've met other cats, but I can imagine what would happen. There'd be a language barrier. If the new guy -- or girl -- wasn't immediately friendly, there'd be some aggressive posturing, hissing and squalling, and like that. Tiger and Annabelle would turn on their p-fields. There might be a fight. If so, nobody'd get hurt; the p-fields are deeper than cat claws. After a while, they'd all settle down and the new guy'd probably leave."
"He wouldn't use a stun?"
"Prob'ly not. Back before he had a PFM collar, I saw Tiger slug it out with somebody's terrier. I stunned the dog and checked Tiger, but he didn't have a mark on him. The dog was bleeding from a dozen cuts and his nose was split to the bone. Tiger had a standoff with a woman from the NIA once, too. She wanted to bug the house and he wasn't gonna let her in." I chuckled, "Maybe I should have let her try to get past him."
Calling up a screen, I showed her vids from the hostage situation in which Tiger had created a distraction by attacking a guy with a gun from behind. Lori's eyes got big as she watched the vid unfold and even bigger when she saw the damage to the guy's back. She muttered, "Jeeeezus!" then laughed when Elkor appeared in his cat suit and Tiger almost attacked him.
I said, "He tends to get a little fuzzed up."
She laughed, "Exactly! He looks like a bottlebrush!"

Chapter Seven

After her chuckles about Tiger's agitation subsided, Lori sipped the last of her drink, stood up, and reached for my glass as she asked, "Want another?"
I got to my feet and said, "Sure, but I'll make mine."
With a mock indignant look, Lori asked, "What's the matter? Don't you trust me to get it right?"
"This way I don't have to. Tell me something, Lori; do you really feel all that different from everyone else?"
"Most of the time, yeah."
"Why? Not that many people know about your talent. If you're around people who don't know about it, any stares you get are probably rooted in simple admiration."
She put ice in her glass and added gin as she said, "Nice try, but all my friends know 3rd World sent you to find me and then hired me and paid for my college without so much as a job interview. When someone asks why, I play dumb and say I don't know, but I don't think anyone really buys it."
As she stirred in some bitter lemon and stepped aside, I took her place at the counter and said, "They don't have to buy it. They just have to go along with it."
"Some of them have a lot of trouble doing that." She leaned on the counter and sighed, "Things just aren't the same with any of them, Ed. Only Nina and Kate really seem to understand that I can't talk about things."
I finished making my drink and sipped it before I replied, "How many of your college buds are going to stick around Flagstaff after graduation, Lori? One? Two, maybe?"
She eyed me for a moment as if trying to figure something out, then said, "Nina will go full time with the Army. Kate will go to Carrington. From things she's said, I think she'll probably volunteer for a year at the factory station, but not right away. Cassie and Tom are talking about the Air Force. Are you trying to point out that they'll all drift away?"
"Yup. Some will drift back now and then, but a lot of young people want to get out of their hometowns for a while. What do you tell nosy people at 3rd World?"
The question made her expression blank briefly, then she said, "I tell them I can't talk about my training. If they push, I ask if they'd like to discuss the matter with Captain Horn. Why did you ask that?"
"To see how you'd answer. Do you really tell them that, or was it what you thought I'd want to hear?" With a grin, I added, "Which it is, by the way, but there are bound to be other things you could say."
She sighed, shook her head, and replied, "No, I really do tell them that or something much like it. I'd get in trouble if I talked and I'd just create some brand-new... gawkers."
I chucklingly repeated, "Gawkers. Yeah, that's how I think of some of them, too." Gesturing around, I said, "When it became known I had a flitter, a crowd of media people swarmed my house. They couldn't get past the house field to knock on the door, but they stood outside shouting and pretty much camped around the house for a few days. I got tired of seeing fast-food trash and other crap in the yard. Some of 'em even parked in my yard, prob'ly just to try to draw me out. What was left of the yard by then, that is."
Sipping again, I said, "One fine summer morning I stunned everybody on my property, moved all their vehicles to the middle of the street, and went for a flitter ride. I put up a screen and watched the yard. A couple of local kids tried to use the opportunity to steal some cameras and wallets. I waited until they tried to leave with their loot and stunned them, too. Someone must have called 911 right away, because deputies and ambulances showed up shortly and started waking people. The kids were busted."
Taking another sip, I said, "The next day there were fewer vultures and gawkers. They woke me way too early, so I stunned them and drove the car to a restaurant for breakfast. After a few days of zapping them, they gave up and left me alone. Well, at home, anyway. Now and then one of them would pretend to run into me by accident and ask for an interview. If they pushed too hard, I'd stun them and keep walking."
Vastly amused, Lori laughed, "God, I wish I'd seen all that! Didn't anyone try to sue you?"
"Sure, but stuns don't leave traces. No actual proof. I never once admitted stunning anyone, not even to Linda. That's called 'deniability', by the way. If anyone had subpoenaed her, she could have said I'd never told her about it. The cops came to discuss the matter. I told Detective Greer I'd prefer not to speculate or comment, then asked if he thought he'd want to continue to use my flitter as an emergency vehicle."
"Ooooo! What did he say to that?"
"It got real quiet for a moment. He said he'd be duty bound to pursue charges if any were ever actually filed, then he and his deputies left. We've talked about that visit since; he was under political pressure and needed an answer that would stifle some brassholes."
We sipped in silence for a time, then Lori said, "So you're saying to never confess to anything?"
"Yup. Look up a web video called 'Don't Talk to Cops'. If they have solid evidence they don't need a confession, so clam up. The only exceptions to that rule might be very personal matters that wouldn't involve prison time or big fines."
Lori snickered, then chuckled softly. Stirring her ice with a finger, she grinningly looked up at me and asked, "Could you give me an example?"
I sipped and chuckled, "Nice try, ma'am."
She laughed softly and levered herself off the counter to amble into the living room. I followed as far as the doorway and found her studying the melodeon. Her gaze wandered slowly around the room and returned to the melodeon. Something about it made her drop into a squat and study the left front leg, reaching to touch the dark wood and run her fingers over the deeply-cut designs.
"What is this thing, Ed?"
Opening the keyboard, I said, "It's a melodeon, milady. Kind of a baby organ. Foot pedals pump a leather airbag and the keys let the air out through reeds. Made in 1836 and shipped to Illinois. Owned by three different members of the Lincoln family until it was shipped to Texas as a wedding gift in 1874. My dad found it at a farm auction in 1978. Got it for twenty-five bucks because it needed to be refinished and repaired after years in a barn. He couldn't find anyone to make the reed parts for it, so he refinished it and used it as a store display until he died in 1983. When I moved here in 1989, I made a trip to Texas for stuff in storage. I packed the van and my two brothers-in-law packed the trailer. Mom had them put this thing on the trailer. I still don't know why."
Lori snorted a laugh. "You don't know why? Really?"
"Nope. Well, maybe. I made a new leather airbag for it, scavenged some replacement ivory keys from a junked piano, and carved pushrods that connect the pedals to the bag. In testing, some of the keys made musical-type noises."
"So your mom thought it had a special meaning to you?"
"Or she used that as a premise to get it out of the house. I found a lot of odd things in boxes I didn't pack or load. When I found it on the trailer, I called and asked her about it. She said it was where it was supposed to be and changed the subject."
Giving me a fisheye, then again studying the melodeon, Lori said, "Maybe it had some special meaning for her, then."
"That's how I figured it, too."
"Any idea what it was?"
"Nope. Never asked. Want to try to play it?"
With a grin, Lori stood up and asked, "Seriously?"
"Give it a shot. Pump the bag and push the keys."
She sat down and did as instructed. The melodeon made some off-key, semi-musical organ sounds. Lori laughed like a child with a new toy and 'played' some more. After a few moments, I detected a melody in her efforts and tried to place it, but so many of the notes were either missing or way off-key that it took me close to a full minute to ID the work.
I said, "Got it."
Lori looked up and asked, "Got what?"
"That piece. It's Beethoven."
Feigning great surprise -- or perhaps not, I guess -- Lori gave me a brief, exaggeratedly awestruck expression, then picked up her drink for a sip and said, "I can't believe you could tell that much from it, as bad as I..." She stopped and peered at me as she asked, "Or were you guessing?"
Giving her a vastly insulted look, I replied as stuffily as possible, "That was Sonata No.5 for Violin and Piano in F major, Opus 24. 'Spring'."
Her expression of great surprise reappeared and seemed genuine. I laughed and said, "I've been exposed to the classics, ma'am. I put myself to sleep with Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto. I concentrate on hearing the music, note for note, to force out all other thoughts. It usually only takes a few minutes."
She grinned. "That piece bores you?"
"No, I like it fine whenever I hear it, but it always somehow seemed to suit that purpose particularly well."
"Do you play the piano?"
"Nope."
"Anything else?"
"Nope."
Her gaze narrowed suspiciously as she asked, "But you know that piece well enough to recognize it through my bad playing and the dead notes?"
Knowing where she was going next, I said, "Yup."
Lori sipped and continued eyeing me for some moments, then asked, "Did you have Athena identify the piece?"
"Knew that was coming. Nope."
"How can I know that for sure?"
I shrugged. "You can trust me. Or not. Your choice."
She sipped again, then asked, "How would you feel about letting me check with Athena?"
Putting up a screen, I said, "Athena, Lori has a question," then I closed the melodeon and went to the kitchen to sit at the table with my feet on another chair.
Lori came in pulling the screen through the air by its tactile corner and said, "I didn't mean to make you mad, Ed."
"You didn't. I left you in there with Athena so you could have some privacy. Ask her anything you want. She knows what not to share with you." Plucking at my shirt and tipping my weather-worn cowboy hat back, I said, "I'm aware that people wouldn't expect me to know things like that."
Something occurred to me and I added, "In fact, see if you can get a feel for that screen link. It might be good if you were able to contact her on your own."
Looking somewhat startled, Lori eyed the screen and asked, "Are you sure, Ed? I mean... after all, she's your computer, and... well, I'd never even let someone else use my laptop."
"I'm not worried. See if you can do it."
Her doubt showed as she focused on the screen, but it was soon replaced by an expression of concentration. Moments passed, then a full minute. Shaking her head tightly, Lori took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh.
"No luck."
"Want me to try to help?"
Giving me a fisheye, she asked, "Like you did with stuns?"
I nodded. She chewed her lower lip and asked, "Why do you want me to be able to contact Athena?"
"Partly because having access to AIs has been very helpful on occasion. Partly just to see if you can. By the way, the link isn't a standard field link."
"It's a different... frequency?"
"Yup. That's why you may need some help finding it."
Lori eyed the screen and seemed to concentrate again. After a few moments, she looked at me and sighed, "Okay, help me. I might be able to do it, but it might take all night."
Making the field link grey, I looped it so it passed through Lori's head on its way to the screen. Lori's eyes got a little bigger as the grey tendril apparently emanated from her forehead to the screen. She calmed quickly and her expression again became one of concentration.
A minute passed, then two, and a third minute had ticked by before she closed her eyes, took a breath, and said softly, "I can't do it, Ed. I can feel it running through my head, but I just can't tap into it."
"Can you link to the screen with a regular field?"
She manifested a blue tendril that touched the screen. Her grinning face appeared on the display and said, "Yes."
"But you can't tap my data stream to Athena?"
Both her faces became masks of concentration. After a time, they both shook their heads. "No."
Hm. Athena could help, but Lori might prefer an adjustment to be done by someone she knew.
"Maybe Elkor can help. Elkor?"
He appeared on the table in his cat outfit. "Yes, Ed?"
"Can you help Lori match my lower frequency?"
"Yes. It would require an adjustment of her brain."
Lori again looked rather dubious. "An adjustment?"
I said, "Like the flitter tweaked me. Now I can use regular or nonstandard field frequencies."
They discussed what would be involved. Lori sipped the last of her drink and set the glass down, then said, "Okay. Do it."
She reeled in her chair momentarily, blinking and staring blankly, then she focused on me and chuckled, "Oh, good, I'm still alive. I thought a bomb had gone off in here."
"You saw a bright flash?"
She nodded.
"That prob'ly means it worked. Try the link again."
Lori looked at the screen and concentrated for a moment, then her eyes got big as Athena said, "Hello, Lori."
"Uh... uh... hello, Athena! Ed! I reached her!"
Sipping the last of my drink, I replied, "Yes'm, you did. Athena, please restrict Lori's access. Generic info only."
Taking Lori's glass to the sink with mine, I asked, "You ready for a refill, Lori?"
"What? After all that, all you can say is 'want a refill'?"
"All what, ma'am? You're the only one who had an epiphany just now. So... want a refill?"
Rolling her eyes, she nodded. "Yes. I'd love a refill." She suddenly sat bolt upright and yelped, "Ohhh myyy Gawd! Ed! I'm seeing... things... I never knew existed! I don't even have to ask a question! The information just... it just appears!"
Assembling new drinks, I said, "You got into the core."
"Yes! The core! That must be what all this is!"
I chuckled, "Nope. That's just stuff in the core, ma'am."
"Well, that's what I meant! Elkor! Thank you so much!"
"You're very welcome, Lori."
Lori fell silent as I delivered the drinks to the table. Her eyes had unfocused and she stared straight ahead as if in a trance, seeing only whatever was passing through her link. Sipping my drink, I tapped into her link to see what she was seeing. Her presence seemed to be at the intersection of three data streams on different topics.
I said quietly, "She's already multitasking, Elkor."
Watching Lori, Elkor replied simply, "Yes."
"Doesn't surprise me too much. She's still in that 'soak up everything new like a sponge' stage of life. I'm to a point where I tend to look for what I need to get a job done."
Elkor turned his little cat face to me and said, "Yes, but you seem to have innate understanding concerning things about which Lori would require additional information."
"That's prob'ly just experience at work, Elkor. Something similar -- or enough so -- was dealt with along the line. It helps me see shortcuts and weigh the odds."
Linking to him, I silently asked, "What do you think my chances are of being able to transfer my consciousness to Athena's core?"
"I am unable to evaluate such a possibility."
"Same here, but I'd like to think that if consciousness can be created in an AI, it can also be transferred into an AI. How would you feel about Lori having a basic flitter core?"
"May I ask why you feel she should have one?"
"Sure. In trying to make use of it, she'll run smack into all the usual Amaran protocols, just like I did. Learning them thoroughly will help her govern use of her natural fields."
Elkor was silent for a moment, then replied, "I agree, but I think you stated only one of several possible reasons."
I grinned. "You're getting to know me too well, Elkor. I also don't want to share Athena. She's for my projects only." With a glance at Lori, who was still in her light trance, I added, "And there's something else, Elkor. I don't know what Lori's real capacities might be, but I doubt they'd be enough if the feds put that ricin in her head. Someone knows about her power and fears it enough to do anything. If they can't control her, they'll kill her to keep her out of someone else's hands. A core would watch over her as well as guide her."
"I concur."
Aloud, I said, "Might as well construct her core now and tune it to her, but let's let Lori play with Athena for a day or two. There's stuff in there she really should see."
Lori took a deep breath and her eyes refocused on Elkor and me as she said, "If you're willing to give me a core of my own, things must be a lot worse than you led me to believe."
I gave her a fisheye and asked, "Worse than I 'led you' to believe? I dug a friggin' poison pill out of your face. Just how big and ugly a hint does it take, ma'am?"
Her narrow, irritated gaze was brief. With a small shake of her head, Lori sighingly chuckled, "Yeah, that should have been enough for anyone. Sorry."
I shrugged. "Bygones, but get yourself up to speed. There are times when you really can't afford to stand around with a gobsmacked look on your face, milady."
She snorted a laugh. "Gobsmacked. Yeah, that was me. Is me, I should say. Everything's happening so fast, Ed."
"Can't help that. How do you feel about getting a core? It'll come with a few strings, y'know."
"Strings?"
"Amaran protocols. An 'off' switch. I know you're smart and you have a pretty good conscience, but there'll be a way to shut it down if your mental screws come loose."
Lori eyed me for a time, then asked, "Does Athena have... an 'off' switch?"
"Yup. I don't bother looking for it, though."
"Why not?"
"Because it'll prob'ly be the last thing standing between me and an explosion."
"An explosion?"
Sighing and sitting back, I replied, "Everybody has something that'll set them off, Lori. Everybody. My trigger's pretty hard to reach, but I've seen what can happen."
Lori gave me an 'oh, really?' sort of expression. When I didn't respond to it, she asked, "Well? What happened?"
I sipped my drink and said, "Never forget what I said about confessions. You may find a use for it someday."
She gave me a droll look. "You brought it up."
"As a reason not to mess with your 'off' switch. If I'd had one back then, some things might not have happened."
Lori glowered and softly snapped, "Now you're just teasing me. What happened?"
"You forgot to add 'dammit'."
Interrupting a sip of her drink, she gave me a big 'yeah, sure!' expression and shrug and, "Okay! Dammit!"
"Nope. Suffer gracefully, ma'am. It's private."
Seething a bit, she turned to Elkor. "Do you know what he's talking about?"
Elkor faced her and replied, "No," then he excused himself and vanished.
"Oh, hell," muttered Lori, "I didn't mean to piss him off."
Getting out of my chair, I said, "Doesn't seem likely. He doesn't get pissed at much. Let's go get your room ready."
Peeling back the cover I leave on the spare bed between uses, I fished clean sheets and pillow cases out from under the pillows and set them on the night table. Lori seemed amused and I asked why.
"Oh," she said, "I just never thought of keeping the next set of sheets under pillows."
"That's 'cuz you're using the bed. This one's been empty for close to six months."
She gave me a long look as we started making the bed. A few moments later, she asked, "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why was it empty so long?"
"That's when she ran out of vacation time."
"That's not what I meant. She who?"
"A sister of a friend." Meeting her gaze as we tucked a sheet, I added, "Don't worry. She was a clean freak."
Lori finished tucking her side and stood straight. "I just wondered if she was anyone special to you."
Flipping the folds of the top sheet open, I handed her some of it and asked, "Why?"
She took the sheet and blurted, "What?"
"Why does it matter who she is or what she is to me?"
Still holding the sheet, Lori straightened up and said, "I was just making conversation."
"Ah. Well, let's make the bed instead. I don't discuss the people in my personal life."
That made her stop smoothing the sheet and give me an odd look. She asked, "Not even with the other people who are part of your personal life?"
"Not without good reasons. Got a good reason, ma'am?"
We did the pillows in silence. I moved some things from an upper drawer to a lower drawer and set her pack in the upper drawer as a hint, then went to get her towels. When I returned, her pack was on the bed and the drawer was closed.
Putting her towels on the bed, I said, "You and your friends back in Flagstaff talked about every little thing. I don't. If Angie gets nosy, I'll tell her what I told you. I've had to do it a few times with her, in fact. She seemed to think working for 3rd World made my private life part of her job."
Giving me a fisheye, Lori asked, "Doesn't this count as 'talking about friends'?"
"Nope. It's an explanation. Did you ever see what I sent Jonel about you? My discovery-of-Lori report?"
Looking a bit wary, Lori shook her head slightly. "No."
Calling up a screen, I said, "Watch," and replayed my report to Jonel. Lori's eyes changed a few times and settled in a narrow, troubled gaze as she listened to my report and signoff. When it ended, she said, "They were right. That wasn't much."
I let the screen dissipate and said, "It fulfilled my obligation and got you a couple of days with your family. Now Angie's in Jonel's spot. She's smart and she's compassionate, but she's also within spitting distance of making major. I keep in touch with her, but I also maintain a bit more distance. She's a friend, but for many of the same reasons, I'd send the same kind of report if I'd discovered you this afternoon. Do you see what I'm getting at yet?"
Lori tossed the pillow she'd been holding at the head of the bed and sighed, "I think so, but explain anyway."
With a nod, I said, "You were the focus of an assignment back then. You aren't now. Barring an emergency, that means nobody needs to know a damned thing about you that you don't personally tell them. And vice versa, friends or not."
Glancing around, I realized I'd left my drink in the kitchen. I asked, "Got everything you need?"
Lori nodded. "In my bag."
"Good 'nuff, then."
I headed for the kitchen. The ice in my drink had melted. Oh, well. I guzzled it and rinsed my glass as Lori came into the kitchen. She took a seat at the table and watched me take a dr pepper from the fridge.
As I sat down, she asked, "Did you get tired of gin?"
"Yup."
"Should you be drinking caffeinated stuff this late?"
I shrugged. "Doesn't seem to matter. Guess I've developed a tolerance."
Lori snickered. "You can't develop a tolerance to caffeine."
Sipping, I replied, "I think people can develop a tolerance to damned near anything, milady."
Glancing into the next room, she said, "Isn't it about time for the news here? I don't see a TV in the living room."
"It's in the den. The remote's somewhere near the chair."
She got up, saw that I wasn't moving, and stopped to look at me. "You don't watch the news?"
"Not unless a hurricane's coming. TV news is crap. If you want real news -- all of it, without political and marketability filtering -- you have to go to the international sources."
Sipping from what little was left of her drink, Lori said, "I think this'll be my last drink tonight." She eyed me for a moment, then asked, "What time do you usually get up?"
"When I wake up. What do you want to do tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Disneyworld? A beach?"
Looking at me as if I were nuts, she chuckled, "Screw that. I want to... to reconnect... with Athena as soon as possible."
"At the risk of providing you an excuse to stay up all night, I'll ask why you haven't already done that."
"Because she's your computer, Ed."
"Thanks, but I told Elkor you'd get a couple of days with Athena. That means you can link up whenever you want until you get your own core." Thumbing at the den, I added, "If you're going to catch the news, you'd better get moving."
Lori glanced at the wall clock and nodded, then headed for the den. Shortly a commercial for some kind of mop came on. Linking to Athena, I reviewed data categories open to Lori and decided against adding any. She'd find her own path.
Getting up, I leaned into the den and said, "Goodnight," then ambled down the hall to my room.

Chapter Eight

Saturday officially began a little before eight, when I woke with a start that was kind of like being dropped into the bed. Rolling off the bed, I stood listening to my surroundings and heard nothing unusual. I put my pants on and visited the bathroom, then headed for the kitchen with my coffee mug.
The guest bedroom door opened and closed behind me, then the bathroom door closed. Linking to Athena, I reviewed a summary of data Lori had accessed while I made a coffee. The data range was fairly impressive, covering a variety of topics to a greater or lesser degree. Athena reported a number of attempts to retrieve data from prohibited regions, but when I checked a few of them, I found them to be the results of following data references from other topics. No blatantly deliberate attempts had been made.
I put a pot of coffee on, set out a mug for Lori, and took a seat on the front porch bench to consider the day ahead. It seemed likely she'd want to get out of the house for a while, but I'm not the one to ask about touristy stuff.
Morning fog was lifting into the sky to become clouds and a light breeze brought the cool, sweet scent of a day still unused to my porch. I caught hints of the Gulf of Mexico and pine forests in that breeze.
On the edge of a potted aloe plant, two little lizards seemed to be having an argument. They puffed their bright red throat ruffs at each other and did push-ups for a time, then one of them rushed at the other and stopped. The other lizard reared up briefly as if to attack, then resumed puffing and posturing.
A noise from within the house made me turn to look and I saw Lori watching the lizards. She grinned and came to the front door, an action that made the lizards freeze and stare.
Lori chuckled, "What are they doing?"
"No idea. There's no female, so it's probably a turf war."
"Not much of one."
"Nope. With those little guys it's mostly political, I think. Lots of hissing and posturing, but damned little else."
"I don't have my PFM on. Can I come outside?"
"Yup. The house field extends past the walkway."
She came to sit on the bench and looked around, then said, "It's nice out here in the morning. Smells good."
Nodding, I said, "Yup," and sat back to sip coffee.
Lori wore the same kind of outfit she'd had on last night; jeans and a blouse. I caught her scent on the breeze. Only the faintest hint of perfume. Or maybe deodorant? The best of her scent came from her hair, a gentle muskiness that was barely detectable one moment, then very noticeable the next.
A big fly flew by the lizards and landed on the wall. They put their argument on hold to stalk it. I sent a stun at the fly and it plummeted to the porch. Both lizards let go of the wall and dropped two feet or so, then resumed stalking. One lizard suddenly bolted a foot or so and snatched the fly. The other lizard also bolted to within a few inches of the snatcher and their argument resumed, likely now about the fly.
Lori chuckled again and sipped her coffee, then asked, "Do you have to go anywhere today?"
"Nope. Prob'ly will, though."
"Where?"
Sipping, I replied, "Don't know yet. Doesn't even matter. Sometimes I just get on the bike and pick a direction."
After a moment, she asked, "Do you ever miss working for 3rd World?"
"Sure, but not enough to sign back on."
Staring into her cup, she said, "I'll probably be with them for a few years, at least. There's so much to learn and I want to go to the factory station."
I shrugged. "Take a tour first. It's just a big metal ball with a small city inside it."
Lori giggled, "That's kind of an understatement, isn't it?"
"Try a week there, then tell me if you missed the sky."
"The sky?"
"Yup. The sky we fly around in. The sky that creates mornings like this. They don't have skies up there."
Sipping again, I asked, "Got an agenda for today?"
Lori shook her head. "I'm just going to spend some more time with Athena. There's so much to learn, Ed!"
"Mind if I make a suggestion?"
She glanced at me. "No. Go ahead."
"Get familiar with the core system and capabilities, not the data. You won't be able to absorb much in two days, and when you get a core, the same info will be available. Concentrate on learning to dig up info fast, not the info itself."
She nodded. "That makes sense. Got any tips about how to do that?"
"Just pick something obscure and hunt down the info that's hardest to find. I mostly used history and science topics for practice. You might prefer something else."
Lori sipped her coffee in silence for a moment, then fiddled with her cup for another moment before she asked, "Ed, why do you want me to have a core? Really?"
"I think you'll need one."
"For what?"
"All kinds of things. Extra power for the big jobs. A way to maintain probes or conduct quiet research without having to be conscious, for instance."
"What? Why wouldn't I be conscious?"
"We sleep, y'know. I can't tell you how often I've set things in motion, then taken a nap. Or gone about other things."
She seemed to study the yard and sky for a time, then said, "Okay. I can see that. But I get the feeling there's more."
"Of course there is. A core can cover your ass, ma'am. Record every moment and spit it back up for you. Who said and did what, etc... And if you'd had a core a few months ago, you wouldn't have needed dental work. A core could have spotted the problem and fixed it. Now I have a question; have they tried a PFM nullifier on you?"
With a slightly troubled look, Lori asked, "A what?"
"Athena, has anyone used a PFM nullifier in Lori's presence? Share your response with both of us, please."
Lori asked, "How would Athena know that?"
"Records check. Lab activities and field monitoring data."
Athena answered a few seconds later with, "Yes, Ed."
I sighed, "Athena, surely you realize I'd like more than just 'yes, Ed' as a reply."
"I'm waiting for you to request specific information."
Lori snickered. I said, "Of course you are. How silly of me. Okay, then, when did the nullification attempt occur?"
Unsurprisingly, it had occurred two days after Lori's arrival at Carrington. Jonel had taken her nullifier box to the lab and tested it as the lab had tested Lori's ability to lift things. Also unsurprisingly, the nullifier had no effect on Lori.
I said, "Bet she didn't give up, though," and asked Athena to look for references to attempts to nullify fields. Athena discovered Jonel had given a lab rat named Canona the task of finding a way to locally interrupt or block field emanations. In further discussion, the term 'locally' had been defined as 'within fifty feet'. Their efforts had no success, but were noted as one of the reasons two Amaran scientists -- Kara and Eva -- had visited Earth.
Dave Haver and the board of directors had quickly ended Jonel's use of 3rd World resources in her quest. That didn't surprise me, either. With or without Amaran pressure to drop the matter, 3rd World existed to make and market field-using hardware. While they'd recognized a need for a way to turn off PFMs in emergencies, something that could turn off field energy itself would likely be viewed as evil.
Lori had looked somewhat shocked by what Athena had presented. She sipped her coffee and stared into her cup for a moment, then asked, "Was all that because of me?"
Her words reached me through my link to Athena very slightly ahead of her spoken words. Although she must have heard the same effect through her own link, Lori seemed not to realize what had happened. Then her eyes widened slightly and she stiffened. Hm. Maybe she had realized, if not immediately.
When she looked at me, it wasn't simply as if expecting an answer. I could see a level of trepidation in her eyes.
Without speaking aloud, I said, "Athena, show Lori the footage of my encounter with Jonel in which she first tried her nullifier on me."
Lori's eyes got big and she stiffened as Athena displayed the event, from my arrival in Jonel's office to my departure. I stopped the replay there and silently said, "Thanks, Athena. No, Lori. It wasn't because of you."
I felt Lori drop her link to Athena. She sat staring at me for a moment and I had a feeling what would come next, so I took a long sip of my coffee as a way not to be looking at her when she tried it. Sure enough, I heard her ask in a tremulous tone, "Can you hear me?" but her words hadn't been spoken aloud.
Although I'd almost expected this, it came as a shock. I was momentarily torn between answering her in kind or pretending I'd heard nothing. She sounded almost on the edge of panic as she tried again.
"Ed? Can you really hear me?"
With a mental sigh, I nodded. "Yeah, I hear you. You aren't gonna freak out, are you?"
Lori rocked slightly and her mental voice disappeared. Her words almost ran together as she hissed, "Oh-jeezus! Ohmygod! What the hell's happening?!"
I asked, "Sandy, can you spare a few minutes?"
She appeared in front of us, startling the living hell out of Lori, who bolted to her feet and two paces away with a small shriek. I found that reaction irritating as hell.
Looking at Sandy, I said, "Lori just discovered something some of us have been using for years. She seems upset."
Grinning, Sandy looked at Lori and agreed, "Yes, she does."
Lori's mouth opened and closed twice before she managed to yelp, "Years?!"
"Yeah. Years." I thumbed at Sandy and she nodded. When Lori looked back at me, I said, "It isn't constant telepathy. If I want to talk to her I have to call her and vice versa. A link has to be initiated and maintained."
Still sounding rather tense, Lori asked, "Initiated? Maintained? How?"
"Kind of like a phone or a comm pad. One of us would open a link to the other and wait for a reply. Like this." I sent a comm link at her with her name, "Lori." Lori startled hard, stiffened again, and simply stared at me. I said to Sandy, "You try her, ma'am."
She looked at Lori and apparently did so, because Lori startled again and her stark stare switched to Sandy. I stood up and reached for Lori's coffee cup. She looked at it and saw the trail of spilled coffee leading back to the bench.
I said, "I'll get you a refill. Talk with Sandy."
Lori glanced at Sandy, then handed me her cup. I slung what driblets remained at the yard and went into the house. Leaving my mug and Lori's cup in the kitchen, I took a leak and washed up, then made fresh coffees and went back outside. As I handed Lori her cup, I asked, "Feeling better now?"
Lori eyed me narrowly as she took her cup and asked, "Did you know this would happen?"
Shrugging, I said, "Thought it might. Wasn't sure. If you have a problem with it, just don't answer pings."
"Answer what?"
"It's what we call a link request. A ping, like sonar. We started calling them that way back when and it stuck. If being able to call for help that way scares you, don't make the call."
Sipping my coffee, I watched her form a dour expression. For a few moments, she was silent, then Lori said, "Sandy said you can't tell what I'm thinking unless I send it to you."
"And?"
"Is that true?"
"Unless you can prove otherwise, yes."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"It means you just insulted Sandy, who has no reason at all to lie to you about anything. In fact, AIs have an almost ironclad rule against lying."
Sandy gave me a fisheye and, "Almost ironclad?"
"You can misdirect, ma'am. It isn't quite lying, but it lets someone draw their own conclusions in a manner that suits your purposes."
"As I understand things, we learned that from you."
I shrugged. "Prob'ly so. I find it useful sometimes."
Lori asked, "Is this one of those times?"
"Nope. As far as I know, both parties have to accept and use the same link to make two-way communication happen."
Apparently relaxing a bit, Lori sipped her coffee and said, "Sandy also said you discovered it."
"Not really. All the AIs could chat that way long before I stumbled on it."
"Then you learned how from them?"
"No, my flitter started doing things for me before I could ask. I found out I could directly control it. A little later, Cynthia -- the AI with me then -- noticed when I linked to the flitter. She sent a link at me and I answered."
Sipping my coffee, I added, "And now you can do it too. 3rd World doesn't need to know about this unless you decide to get a PFM commo implant to excuse it."
Her left eyebrow went up. "To 'excuse' it?"
"Yeah, that's the word that comes to mind, ma'am. How will they react if they think you've added telepathy to your resume? Think people consider you a bit odd now? Wanna see 'em wear tinfoil helmets and avoid you like you've got the plague?"
Lori's other eyebrow went up. She eyed me for a moment, then looked at Sandy, who simply met her gaze.

Chapter Nine

Leaving the ladies on the porch, I headed for the garage and rolled the door up, then walked in next to my bike. As I tilted it upright to check the oil, Lori arrived in the doorway and cast a shadow exactly where I needed to look.
"A little to the left, ma'am. I can't see the oil port."
She moved, then said, "You just walked away."
Checking the oil window, I replied, "Yup."
"Sandy left, but we still have a lot to talk about."
I sent a link at her with, 'Okay. Start talking, milady.'
Lori recoiled slightly and her gaze narrowed. She said, "I'd rather talk about things normally."
Aloud, I asked, "Why?"
"I just would."
"What's to talk about? Now you can shift frequencies and call any of the AIs or me for help or advice without using PFM hardware. How is that a problem?"
With a hard, dour expression, she said, "I want to be sure you can't get into my head without my knowing about it."
I chuckled, "Ah. You want me to try to prove a negative. No, thanks. You won't be sure 'til it suits you, so I'm not going to waste time trying to convince you." Looking up from the bike, I added, "Besides, don't you think you'd notice? You sense fields as well as I do. Maybe better than I do."
"I really doubt that."
Shrugging, I said, "Whatever. You sense them well enough to know when a field's in use around you. And speaking of sensing things, Tiger's here. Annabelle, too, I think."
Lori looked around, then back at me. "Where?"
Thumbing at the garage's north wall, I said, "Right about there, outside and coming around the corner... now."
Tiger and Annabelle came trotting into the garage yowling greetings. I returned them and knelt to ruffle cat chins as Lori gave me a fisheye look, then she, too, knelt to greet and pet the cats. After a few minutes, the cats continued into the house and Lori followed me out of the garage. I let the door roll down and Lori asked, "Change your mind about taking a ride?"
Sipping my coffee, I replied, "Nope. Just wanted to check the oil. Didn't do it the last time I rode the bike. Would you like to run up to North Carolina today?"
"What's there?"
"Mountains. Scenery. Twisty little roads that would be great for practicing on a scooterboard."
Lori grinned and shrugged. "Okay. When?"
Opening the screen door, I said, "As soon as we're ready. I'll toss the cooler aboard and refill my mug. Want breakfast?"
"Not if we're going to be flying soon."
Calling Galatea, I put a mix of beer, dr pepper, and tea in the cooler and set it in her rear cargo bay, then took a leak and refilled my coffee mug. When I went to get my backpack from my bedroom, I almost ran into Lori as she emerged from her bedroom. She'd changed blouses, now wore sneakers and her PFM, and her backpack hung from her left shoulder.
I asked the cats if they'd like to come with us and they surprised me by saying yes. A couple of minutes later, we were on our way north with Tiger and Annabelle sitting on the raised flat spot I'd added between and somewhat ahead of the seats.
When we arrived in North Carolina, I stopped three miles above the town of Highland and said, "Tiger, Lori and I are going to practice with our boards. Would you like to fly the flitter and follow us?"
He very enthusiastically agreed as Lori again gave me one of her fisheye looks. I grinned at her in return, called up his guidance pad, and said, "Okay, Tiger, you have the ship," then hopped over the side.
I like to freefall now and then. Rolling on my back, I watched Lori depart the flitter on her scooter and arc down to catch up with me. She tried to yell something above the noise of the wind, but I made a grinning show of not being able to hear her. Her gaze narrowed and she seemed to realize she'd been set up. After a moment, she silently sent, "Ed."
"Yewww got me, lady!"
"Great. Are you really letting your cat fly your flitter?"
"Sure. Tea won't let him hit anything."
Calling up my board, I headed northwest along route twenty-eight and looked up at the flitter. Tiger rolled and looped on his way down to join us. The flitter suddenly righted itself and descended much more sedately. Heh. Maybe Annabelle wasn't into aerobatics.
My main reason for following the highway had to do with convenience; for Lori and Tiger, our path was well-marked. Things look a lot different at ground level and it's easy to get turned around in the mountains. After a number of twists and turns a few yards above the pavement, I linked to Galatea to see how Tiger was doing as a pilot. It surprised me to find out he was actually very capable. Galatea only had to make slight and subtle corrections to his flight path during tight turns.
Using the link for a Galatea-view of Lori's efforts, I saw her struggling through one particularly tight turn. Her scooter was flat on its right side and Lori seemed to be trying to haul the thing around the curve by its handlebars. Oh, well. She'd get the hang of it eventually.
Dropping my link to Galatea, I concentrated on my own speed and zipped around another dozen or so twists in the road. As I crested a rising left turn, I found an eighteen wheeler coming the other way and using both lanes. There was no clearance on the inside of the turn and thick forest on the right. Above were overhanging branches.
In my head, Lori shrieked, "Ed! Look out!"
I didn't answer. Aiming a blast of energy above the truck, I drew extra power from Athena and created a ten-foot-wide tunnel through the branches. Some branches bent around the tube while others snapped off and fell on and around the truck. I flew into the tunnel at sixty or so and glanced back to see Lori and Galatea follow me.
Once we were all past the truck, I let the tunnel dissipate. Lori caught up with me above a straight section of road and said, "I thought you were going to slam right into that truck!"
"The boards won't let us hit things."
"How the hell could they deal with a situation like that?!"
"They'd have found a way. Prob'ly would have ducked between trees. My tunnel gave 'em a better option."
Lori glanced at me and said, "That was my next question. How the hell did you do that?"
Slowing down as we neared the town of Gneiss, I said, "I tapped Athena for a little extra power."
She glanced at me again and pointed at a small store ahead. I nodded and let her take the lead. Lori stopped beside the building and I slid to a halt beside her. Galatea hovered above as Lori turned off her scooter, said, "Back in a minute," and went into the store.
Hm. She seemed tense. Again. Oh, well. I lifted to the flitter and found Tiger sitting on his guidance pad. Annabelle lay in the passenger seat, her back to Tiger. And to me, of course. Another tense lady? Well, maybe we could fix that.
I went into the store and found some soft kitty treats. The woman at the counter apparently thought it was rather odd that I wasn't buying anything else.
She asked, "You sure that's all you need today?"
"Yup."
When I got back to the flitter, I flicked open my belt knife to open the bag and heard a guy mutter, "Whoa!" from somewhere to my left. I shook a few treats out of the bag and set them by each cat, then turned to see who'd arrived. A man in a brown corduroy jacket over jeans stood looking up at me from the corner of the building.
I said, "Hi, there."
He nodded and replied, "Mornin'. Mind tellin' me why you're... uh... hangin' 'roun' up there?"
"I'm waiting for a lady who went in the store."
"Uh, huh. Mind if'n I see that knife?"
"It's legal."
He came forward showing a badge and said, "Maybe it's legal wherever you're from. I gotta see if it's legal here."
"It is." I saw a beer bottle someone had left by a side door and asked, "You see that bottle?"
When he glanced at it, I sent a pulse to shatter it and he hopped back a couple of steps with a hand on his gun as he stared up at me.
"Relax," I said, "I was just showing you why the knife isn't important. Watch this," and sent a field to sweep up the bits of glass. Once it had them in a pile, I lifted the pile and heated it. The glass began to glow, then merged into a blob. Using a spherical field, I let the glass solidify as a ball and set it on the ground near the cop.
I said, "Don't touch it yet. Let it cool a while," as I shook out a few more treats for the cats. I put the bag in the console between the seats as Lori rounded the corner of the store. She stopped cold when she saw the cop.
He moved to try to keep both of us in view as he nodded and said, "Mornin', ma'am."
She replied, "Good morning. Ed, what's going on?"
"Not much. I got some kitty treats to lighten Annabelle's mood. Apparently she isn't fond of flying. Ready to go?"
Calling up her board made the cop jump back again. Lori stepped onto it and lifted, then slid over to the flitter. She unwrapped a pack of lemon cupcakes and handed me one as she said, "I saw these and had to have one." Patting her tummy, she said, "But you'll have to eat the other one."
Taking the cake, I said, "Kewl. Thanks." Looking at the cop, I said, "Have a good day," and set my board in motion. Lori and Tiger followed and I led the way up the side of a nearby good-sized hillside. When we stopped, I sat on my board and took a bite of the cake.
Lori arrived beside me and grinned. "That store clerk didn't know what to think. She said some guy came in and bought a bag of cat treats and nothing else. Then she asked if I was with you. I said 'no', of course."
"Very sensible, ma'am."
She snorted a chuckle. "Yeah, I thought so, too. What did that cop want?"
I grinned. "Oh, probably all the usual things. ID, etc..."
The cats wanted to get down and explore. I told them to stay near the flitter and they hopped down to investigate the area. Elkor appeared, greeted us, and joined the cats as they nosed around. Lori sat perfectly still and stared at him for a moment, then shook her head slightly and nibbled her cupcake as she looked around.
"It's so... well... It's so alive here. Lush and green."
I nibbled my cake and nodded. "Yup."
A dark, flat rock about three inches long floated up from some shrubbery and settled on the flitter's cargo deck. Soon another small rock made the same journey, then an oddly shaped stick.
Lori looked inquiringly at me. I said, "Tiger collects stuff." Lori gave me an enlightened nod and finished her cake. Licking her fingers, she wiped them on her jeans before I could get a paper towel out of my back pocket.
An old brown pickup truck with a camper shell on the back lurched and lumbered up a rutted trail on the hillside below us. I linked to Athena for an aerial view and saw the trail extended upward past us not far away. The truck stopped and a beefy-looking guy got out to open the camper shell. Half a dozen dogs leaped out of the truck and milled around it as the man reached into the front seat for a rifle.
I said, "Great. A hunter and a bunch of dogs. We can sit here and try to explain flitters, boards, and all that, or we can get back on the road."
Lori said, "I vote we go."
"Same here." Linking to Elkor, Tiger, and Annabelle, I said, "It's time to go, guys. Company coming."
Through my link I saw the man gesture and the dogs spread outward up the hillside. Damn, they were fast. Two of them seemed to be heading straight for us. A few seconds later it became definite; they were following a game trail that led right through our clearing.
Tiger, Annabelle, and Elkor were halfway back to the flitter when the dogs burst into the clearing. They saw the cats and aimed themselves at them. Tiger and I sent stuns at the dogs at about the same time; I felt a field surge from his direction as I sent my own at them. The cats lifted into the air on a platform as the dogs slid to a sprawling halt beneath them.
As soon as we were all aboard the flitter, we lifted away from the mountainside toward the road. Some distance down the hillside, the hunter stood staring at us for a moment, then aimed his rifle at the flitter. I didn't worry about that, the flitter could handle incoming fire and the guy might only be using his scope for a better look.
Nope. He fired at the flitter and his bullet turned to plasma against the flitter's hull field. Galatea sent a stun at him and he collapsed to roll a few yards down the hill, where bushes stopped him and the impact apparently woke him up.
The guy sat up groggily, picked up his rifle and checked it for damage, then looked around the sky. Spotting the flitter, he worked the rifle's bolt and aimed at us again. When he fired, the flitter sent another stun at him. This time he just lay there against the bushes.
I zipped down there on my board and stunned two dogs that didn't seem happy to see me. The rifle was an old Winchester, maybe a Ranger model. I opened the bolt and the brass that popped out looked like a 30-06 shell casing. Slapping the guy's face lightly woke him up.
He came to, saw me, and yelped, "Who da fuck're yew?!"
"You should have asked that before you shot at us."
"Fuck that! This here's my land! You was on it!"
"We just set down in a clearing to eat and talk. That's all."
"Ah don' give a shit! You was on my land! I got a right t'shoot trespassers!"
"You're wrong about that. Check with the cops if you won't believe me."
Looking truly malevolent, the guy glanced at the rifle and decided to try for it. He lunged at me and I lightly butt-stroked his head. He stumbled and stood clutching his forehead as he screamed imprecations at me with an accent so thick I could barely understand some of them.
There's no point in trying to discuss anything with a vicious moron. I slung the rifle at the flitter. The guy yelled as I threw it, then screamed as it became a bright ball of plasma at the flitter's hull field. As I lifted away, he lunged at me again, so I stunned him hard. He collapsed over some bushes.
As I boarded the flitter, Lori asked, "Are you just going to leave him like that?"
"Sure. With any luck, a bear'll find him."
Her gaze narrowed, so I shot her a grin. Her expression became droll and she shook her head slightly as she rolled her eyes and said, "I never know when you're kidding."
On the road below, a cop car and an ambulance launched themselves northward out of town. I aimed the flitter to follow them and had it check local 911 calls. A car and an SUV had pulled over to let a big truck pass on a switchback and a pickup truck had rammed into them. In a mash of crappy English and local accent, someone hysterically tried to describe the situation in the 911 call. Her words rose into a series of short screams. I turned that off and had the flitter take us there.
Lori yelped, "Why'd you turn it off?!"
"She wasn't helping. The situation is whatever it is." Nodding ahead, I added, "And there it is."
It was evident a vehicle had swerved off the road and over the road's edge. Gouged turf led to a ragged hole in the foliage. I had the flitter set neon red markers at two points on the road as it located and began treating injured people, then called up my board to go look for the missing truck.
Following its trail of destruction through heavy brush and some small trees, I found a red Ford F150 pickup with tires so big it looked like a child's toy. It was lying on its back over a quarter of a mile down the mountain. The left front wheel had broken off and landed another hundred yards down the hill. Every square inch of the truck seemed battered and scraped and the roof of the cab had been smashed flat.
Smoke rose from the front of the truck. I sent a probe to slice battery cables and cut power, then turned the probe into a smothering field that filled the engine compartment.
A man's left arm lay near the truck. I had the flitter set a probe there to repel predators and hunkered down to look inside the truck. A battered and mangled guy in a t-shirt and jeans lay crumpled inside the cab. The stump of his missing arm was oozing, not bleeding freely in pulses. Unable to reach in through the tiny gap between the cab roof and the hood, I sent a probe in to check for a heartbeat. Nope.
There was a small flip-flop sandal beside him. Had there been kids in the truck? Lifting fifty feet, I sent six probes to search the area and the truck's downhill trail. They worked their way through the brush and woods back up the hill. One found a little girl thirty feet to the left of the truck's path of destruction. Another one found a boy about the same age a few yards from her. Both kids were alive, but broken and battered.
The flitter sent probes to treat them as I searched the area for more people. Finding none, I flew back up the hillside and arrived just as the cop and ambulance arrived. One medic turned their ambulance around as the other two headed straight for the wounded. The cop backed his car up to the top of the rise to block the road, then walked back down to the accident scene.
I had the flitter put up data screens for each of its patients and called the head medic over. His amazement was short-lived; when I told him the kids were down the hill, he yelled at one of the other guys to take over, ran to the ambulance for a fresh medikit, and told me to show him to the kids.
"Better idea," I said, "Sit on the board and we'll fly down."
"I ain't gettin' on that thing. Just get going."
I said, "I wasn't asking," and fielded him onto the board, then soared downhill through the broken vegetation. The guy yelled as if he was on a roller coaster and grabbed the edges of the board. When we arrived at the little girl, he couldn't seem to let go of the board, so I grabbed his medikit, stepped off the board, and made it vanish. The guy slowly stood up and I handed him the medikit without comment.
Calling up patient data screens above the kids made the guy snap to business. He verified the data and radioed the other guys about how to move them up the hill.
I held up a hand to stop him and said, "Let the flitter do it if they're ready to be moved."
Two probes appeared and formed stasis fields around the kids, then the flitter fielded them up the hill. The guy watched them float away, then turned to me. I called up my board and said, "Grab your gear and we'll head down to the truck."
He growled, "I'll get there on my own this time, okay?"
I shrugged. "Sure. No need to hurry for that one."
He gathered his gear and I flew back up the hill, emerging from the woods near a cop with sergeant's stripes. Another cop car and an ambulance had arrived from the south. On the north side of the wreck, two cop cars blocked the road. The sergeant walked over and introduced himself as Sergeant Beckman. No handshake; he held his notebook in his right hand.
I nodded at his sleeve and said, "I had stripes like those back in sixty-eight."
"Army?"
"Yup."
Peering at my face, then looking me over, he said, "You don't look that old. I'd'a figgered you for closer to fifty." Not waiting for an answer, he gestured loosely at the scene and said, "Your machine is treating the injured and blocking the road. You didn't leave us much to do but paperwork."
I shrugged. "Sorry 'bout that. If you want, the flitter can maintain those red roadblocks until we leave."
He nodded. "Yeah, that'd be good. Your lady said you weren't in any hurry. That right?"
"Yeah, but this isn't how we'd planned to spend the day."
"I damned sure copy that. Lemme take a few notes and you'll be done here. Tyler says thanks for bringing those kids up. He's one of the parameds. He said he wasn't looking forward to moving them, as bad as they're banged up."
Calling up a screen, I said, "There's a body in the truck," and showed him the scene, sending the probe around the truck and uphill to the severed arm. "I figured the coroner would have to certify things before it can be moved."
Beckman said, "Our coroner's damned near seventy. When we show him this picture, he'll sign off on moving it. He should be here pretty soon."
I'd taken my coffee mug off my pocket and sipped as he talked. Beckman asked, "You wanna refill that? There's a thermos in my car."
"Nah. Got maybe half a mug left. Thanks, though."
A black Dodge van threaded its way past the cop cars and stopped near us. The man who got out looked closer to eighty than seventy. He moved pretty well, though; getting out to open a briefcase on the hood of the car and waving us over. I pushed the field screen ahead of me and turned it to face him as Beckman introduced him as Dr. Tripman.
After studying the screen and zooming in on the body, Tripman nodded. "Yeah, go ahead and bring him up, Don."
Beckman looked at me. I said, "Back in a minute," and left the screen up as I zipped down to the truck on my board. There was no opening around the cab big enough to slide the body out, so I used a tendril to cut the passenger door away. Sliding a field pad under the body, I floated it to my board and started back up the hill, fielding the arm aboard en route.
One of the medics spread a body bag on the ground. I slid the body and arm off the board and into the open bag, then let my board vanish and headed for the flitter. Tripman and Beckman knelt by the body, likely to verify matters before signing anything. Tiger and Annabelle sat watching everything from the center 'dashboard' area.
It took me a moment to locate Lori. She was talking to a woman and some kids in the back of the SUV that had been hit in the chain collision. As I spotted her, she looked up and gave me a short nod. A few moments later, she emerged from the SUV and came to the flitter.
Retrieving a tea from the cooler, Lori said, "The woman in the SUV made the 911 call. She happened to be looking back when the truck hit and saw the kids get thrown out of the back of the truck. That's why she was so upset. Are you going to bring the truck up?"
"Nope. Some local outfit prob'ly needs the business."
Lori sipped her tea and took a seat in the flitter. I found it interesting that she hadn't asked about the kids. Beckman came to take his notes and started to tell us about them. Lori held up a hand to stop him.
"I don't need to know, please."
I said, "Yeah, same here."
Beckman gave us a fisheye, but nodded. "Okay." He handed us forms and recorded our ID info as we scribbled. When we finished, he asked a few questions about flitters and boards, then let us go with a tip of his hat and thanks.

Chapter Ten

As we rose above the accident scene, Lori said, "I've changed my mind about breakfast." Glancing at her watch, she added, "Brunch, I guess. It's almost ten."
"Want anything special?"
She shook her head. I aimed the flitter at Franklin, the next town along the road, and called up a screen with a list of restaurants there. Lori chose Arby's and the flitter altered course slightly to fly directly to it rather than follow the road.
Lori ordered two sandwiches and I ordered four, one of which was to have no cheese or dressings. Lori looked at me and asked, "For the cats?"
"Yup. They've been confined to the flitter for the last hour. We can picnic on a mountain top."
Back aboard the flitter, the smells from the food bags definitely inspired some feline interest. We flitted up the tallest mountain in the area, found a clear spot, and used my board as a table. The cats greatly enjoyed their roast beef. I tossed the unused buns at the woods and some birds appeared shortly. The cats noticed them, but their roast beef had priority.
Our food was mostly gone before Lori spoke for the first time since ordering sandwiches. She sighed, "I'm sorry I wasn't more help at the accident."
"I didn't need help and you were busy. How well do you think I'd have handled what you were doing?"
Her left eyebrow lifted. "I think you'd have stunned them to keep them quiet until the authorities arrived."
Nodding, I said, "Yeah, seems likely. They usually wake up in a better mood."
Lori's gaze narrowed. "That wasn't funny."
"I wasn't joking. Stunning them stops their adrenalin rush and lets their systems revert to normal. A little time asleep can psychologically distance them from whatever upset them."
"Why not use theta waves instead?"
"If convenient, sure. If not, zap."
She took another bite of her sandwich and studied me for a time, then said, "There's a very cold side to you, Ed."
I shrugged. "It's useful and I came by it honestly."
"What does that mean?"
"It just means I've had to work through things a helluva lot worse than what you saw today, Lori. Many times, many places. When I'm in the middle of something like that, I don't waste my time on scatterbrains. Were any of them hurt?"
Lori glowered at me, but replied, "No, and you already knew that, so why'd you ask?"
"Just pointing something out, ma'am. If we'd both gone down the hill, one of us might've spotted the kids. The girl's data said she was about thirty seconds from being dead when the probes found her."
Her glower faded and Lori nodded. "Understood." She sat back and sighed, "You're a gentle teacher, Obi-Wan."
Sipping coffee, I grinningly replied, "No need to rant at the smart students, ma'am. I could have done better, too."
Feigning great surprise, she asked, "You? How?"
"By assuming there might have been others in the truck before I happened to notice a kid's flip-flop in the cab. My probes should have been searching on the way down. That could have shaved about three minutes off finding them."
Lori regarded me as she took another bite of her sandwich, then took a sip of tea. After a moment, she said, "Sometimes you really surprise me."
"Because I didn't have to tell you that?"
"Yes."
"Sure I did. You wouldn't have known if I hadn't."
With a slightly choking chuckle, she said, "That's exactly the point. I wouldn't have known. Why'd you admit it?"
"What did I do wrong, Lori?"
Lifting an eyebrow, she replied, "What? Oh." Rolling her eyes, she muttered, "Duh," and lightly smacked her forehead with a palm, leaving a small smear of mustard. I reached to wipe the spot and showed her the napkin. She took it, dampened a corner with tea and wiped the spot, and sighed, "You told me so I wouldn't make the same mistake."
I finished my sandwich and sipped coffee again, then asked, "Think you'll ever forget this golden moment, ma'am?"
Lori laughed, "No. I really don't think I will."
With a grin, I said, "Then it worked."
Her eyes suddenly grew somewhat larger and focused beyond me. I turned to look and thought, 'Oh, jeez!' as Tiger and Annabelle circled their latest discovery. Elkor walked behind the skunk. I had an urge to warn him, but I didn't. He had to know what a skunk could do.
The birds scattered as the cats and skunk ambled across the clearing. The skunk sniffed at a bit of sandwich bun the birds had left, then began eating.
Lori whispered, "Ed, if that thing gets upset..."
She left the sentence hanging. I said, "If it does, Elkor will stun it, hopefully before it squirts. But with two real cats, a fake cat, and two people nearby, it's comfortable enough to eat, so I'm not too worried."
I did, however, say, "Tiger. Annabelle. Don't get behind your new friend. He's a skunk."
The skunk froze and stared as Tiger replied, "Okay, Ed. Elkor told us what he is. May we take him home?"
"Ah... no, Tiger. This is his home. He may have a family."
Elkor gave me a brief, direct look, but said nothing. The skunk returned to eating. When the bun bits were gone, the skunk sniffed around a bit, then headed back to the woods. I decided to instill a bit of future caution in the skunk and field-gathered all the paper debris from our meal. The skunk spun around and stared as the stuff rustlingly formed a cluster a yard above the ground. When I used a sunball to obliterate the debris, the skunk ran for the woods.
Pretending not to notice the skunk's reaction, I said to Lori, "Okay, I got rid of our trash, ma'am. Are we ready to go?"
She took the hint and got to her feet. Once we were all aboard the flitter, I set course for Florida. Lori sipped the last of her tea and flipped the can upward. It flashed away at the hull field and she stretched a bit in her seat. Tiger took his usual seat on the center 'dash', but Annabelle opted to approach Lori's lap. Lori happily invited her aboard and petted her. That seemed to make Tiger want a lap and he settled in mine.
As we passed Atlanta, Lori said, "Ed, when we get home, I think I'll want some time alone."
I glanced at her and said, "No problem."
She petted Annabelle, then added, "To talk with Athena."
"Figured that. You worried about hurting my feelings?"
Shrugging slightly, she said, "Sort of. You probably expected me to make at least some effort to be good company when you invited me to visit."
"Not really." That made her give me a sharp, questioning look. I said, "You needed some time away from it all. I have a spare room and no real schedule, so I invited you. The idea was to provide you a base of operation for whatever you feel you need to do. Whether it involves me or not."
Lori sat silent for a time, then said, "Well, still... I don't want to be a... a dead weight, I guess."
I chuckled, "No sweat, ma'am. I'd just prop you up in the living room and tell people I found you at a flea market."
With a wry little grin, she said, "I'm trying to be serious."
Affecting an exaggeratedly stern demeanor, I replied, "Ah. Right. Okay, then. I'm ready now. Do continue, please."
She looked at me, rolled her eyes, and sighed, "Never mind. I just wanted to explain..." Looking at me again, she giggled, "Just never mind. I can see it won't bother you."
I mock-solemnly agreed, "No, prob'ly not, ma'am."
Lori snickered, "Okay, you can stop now."
"Yes, milady. As you command, milady. By the way, have you figured out how to create probes yet?"
She gave me a lifted eyebrow and, "No. Why?"
"Just wondered. If I can make them with a PFM, you should be able to do it. Something else; I've been thinking Ed2 shouldn't look like me. Who should he look like?"
"First tell me why you think that. There's nothing wrong with your looks, Ed. Surely you know that by now."
I just lifted an eyebrow and looked at her as I waited. After a moment, Lori nodded and said, "Right. Sorry. Anonymity, of course." She shrugged and sighed, "I don't know. Who would you want him to look like?"
"I don't have anyone in mind. That's why I asked you. I will say he should have different hair and eyes."
"Why not just model him after some movie star?"
"Pick one."
Lori seemed to consider that, then said, "Matt Damon."
"He's kinda famous, y'know."
"So?"
"I don't want to get sued. I also don't want him being mobbed by Matt Damon fans."
She shrugged. "Then I don't know who to use."
"Why Matt Damon? Body? Face?"
"Well, not just those things. It's how he moves and carries himself, too." She eyed me for a moment, then said, "What you said before, about never being outranked... You handle yourself the same way, I think. You're confident, but not... well, not arrogant. You don't... um... swagger. Or pose. You're just... well, you're just there, you know? And it's hard for people to... to evaluate or categorize you. Some of that's because of you and some of it's because of your clothes. It's like you're using them to say you don't care what people think."
Huh. Sneakers, boots, and blue jeans are tough, convenient, and common. I still have a few dozen unused 1967-issue Army shirts, so there's no point in... No, she was right, sort of. If I gave a damn what people thought, I'd have a few other styles of shirts. And pants. And shoes.
I asked, "Got an opinion about the hat, too?"
"No, not really. Everybody wears them in Arizona. I don't know how common they are in Florida."
"Not as common as out west, but not really uncommon."
"Why do you wear it?"
"Got a sunburn on a bike one afternoon. Top of the head, top of the ears, back of the neck. Once was enough."
She gave me a sidelong look and asked, "Did that happen before you had a p-field?"
I chuckled, "No. I don't keep it on all the time, y'know."
"Maybe you should, especially on the bike. I don't know why you don't use your scooter instead." Enumerating on her fingers, she said, "No gas, no oil, no tires..."
Interrupting, I said, "And not the same. Not at all. Sometimes low and slow is the only way to go."
Lori gave me a fisheye and asked, "Is that some company's ad slogan?"
"Nope."
"Well, it's good. Consider selling it to somebody."
Giving her a little salute, I grinned. "Yes'm. Will do. Any ideas about Ed2 yet?"
She shook her head. "No. Maybe you could pick someone out of some old photos."
I chuckled, "Interesting. First you say 'no' and then you suggest a good idea. Or didn't you think of it before?"
Lori shot me a small grin, but said nothing.
I asked, "Ever watch many old movies? Disregarding looks, do I remind you of anybody?"
As we descended toward Spring Hill, Lori said, "More like a combination of a couple of people, I think. James Garner and Cary Grant. Sometimes more like one than the other."
Trying to appear mildly astonished, I asked, "You actually know who those people are?"
Her gaze narrowed. "I like old movies."
Hm. Both okay by me. I said, "Could be worse."
Lori laughed, "What's wrong with them? Were you hoping I'd pick somebody else?"
"No, they're okay. Now, how would you combine them to create a persona for a field-generated golem?"
She gave me a blank look, then I felt her link to Athena. Heh. Looking up the word 'golem'? Maybe not. A field screen appeared in front of us, then Lori made images of Garner and Grant appear. She dragged a copy of each face to the center of the screen and merged them.
Zooming in until the face filled the screen, she sat studying the results. After a few moments, she said, "No, that's not the way to go. I'd say to pick one and modify it."
We landed and the cats hopped off the flitter, yowling their goodbyes as they trotted around the house toward Martha's. I got off the flitter and walked around to hand Lori down. She turned to retrieve her backpack, slung it on her left shoulder, and pulled the screen with us as we walked to the house.
As I opened the door for us, she asked, "Are you going to keep your body or use one of theirs?"
I shrugged. "I just figured to make Ed2 a thirty-five year old version of me, then change the face, eyes, and hair." As an afterthought, I added, "And voice, and fingerprints. And the fake vascular networks in the hands. A few palm ID systems already know me."
Grinning, Lori took a seat at the kitchen table and chuckled, "Anything else?" as she set her bag on the floor.
"Yeah, probably, but those'll do for now."
I conjured Ed2 by the table and used a link to Athena to give him James Garner's face. As I considered what changes to make, I soon realized I was wasting my time. Making Garner's face translucent, I brought back my own face under his and had Athena blend the two using Garner's eyes. That seemed to work. The results weren't me, weren't him, and weren't bizarre. Good enough.
Now for the eyes; the irises and retinas had to be altogether different. For that I turned to the movies again; Humphrey Bogart's irises would do. I tried to pull Lauren Bacall's retinas out of a close-up, but that proved impossible, so I set that task aside for the moment.
"Now let's work on his voice. Athena, grab samples from James Garner, Cary Grant, Robert Redford, and Paul Newman. Put 'em all together and draw an average that doesn't sound too much like any one of them."
Athena replied, "Please define 'too much', Ed."
Lori grinned and snickered. I said, "Just blend them all together and extract a primary vocal pattern. If we like it, we'll use it."
Lori asked, "Why not just raise or lower Garner's voice?"
"That wouldn't change the pattern and his pattern's on file. Famous voices are used in equipment testing and personnel training. Someone would spot it almost instantly."
Athena said, "Ed2's voice is ready."
Lori lifted an eyebrow and said, "That was quick."
I grinned, said, "Better get used to it," and had the golem recite the Preamble to the Constitution. When it finished, I said, "Athena, it sounds somehow uneven. Or something. Whatever, it isn't what I want to hear. Delete Grant and Redford, please."
"I've done so, Ed."
"Thanks." I had it recite the Preamble again. Yeah, better. Turning to Lori, I asked, "What do you think?"
She rubbed goosebumps off her arms and stared at the golem as she said, "Um... Yeah. That's fine, I guess."
"Think I ought to try to tone it down?"
Giving me a rather stark look, she replied, "Maybe. It could take some getting used to."
"I'll give it some more thought. I'm gonna see about fingerprints for ol' whosis here."
"Whosis? I thought he was Ed2?"
"He needs a name other than mine. Got any favorites?"
Lori shook her head. "No."
"Neither do I. Something else to think about, I guess."
I sent a probe to a refugee camp near the Rwandan border and located its graveyard. Eight men dug graves for bodies lined up along a road, and one of those bodies was that of an infant boy. I had the probe record the surfaces and vascular patterns of the child's hands and feet, then had Athena apply that data to Ed2.
As an afterthought, I had the probe record the kid's irises and retinal patterns, then transfer them to Ed2. Now the golem's brown eyes were far too dark. Using a reflective screen for comparison, I adjusted Ed2's eye color to match mine, then lightened them just a bit more to create a difference.

Chapter Eleven

Though I hadn't spoken aloud about what I was doing, Lori noticed changes to the golem's right hand and reached for it. She turned it over, examined it thoroughly, and let it go. Standing up, she stood close and studied Ed2's eyes for some moments, then she turned to study me.
"Yes'm?"
"You've changed his eyes and I saw the skin on his hands change just now. Where'd you get the new data?"
"Africa. It had to be someone who'd never show up in anyone's records. Are you absolutely sure you want to know?"
She said firmly, "Yes. I want to know."
"Then follow my link to a probe."
As her expression morphed into horror, I said, "It's a refugee camp near the Rwandan border."
Lori reached back and groped for the back of her chair, then lowered herself gently. Her gaze seemed unfocused and her throat moved as she swallowed hard. I turned off the probe.
Her eyes refocused, found me, and she asked sharply, "Why'd you turn it off?"
"You didn't seem to be enjoying the view and I have other things to do."
In that same tone, she snapped, "Like what?"
"I want this thing street-ready. It can be my stand-in at the next car accident or whatever." A thought occurred to me and I asked, "Athena, can we use Ed2 to make a field suit? I'd like to be able to call him up as a suit or use him as a golem, depending on the circumstances."
"Yes, Ed. This probe can serve either function. Shall I add its programming to your PFM?"
"Yes, please. We'll call the suit version Ed3 for now."
A moment later, she said, "They are installed."
"Thanks, Athena. You're a marvel of technology."
Standing up, I called up my Ed3 suit and watched Lori's staring gaze switch back and forth between me and Ed2.
"Well?" I asked, "What do you think?"
"Uhm... They're absolutely identical."
With a grin, I said, "Well, duh, ma'am."
She momentarily looked irritated, then grinned in a 'you got me' manner and said, "Yeah. Right. What kind of an answer were you looking for?"
"Something a bit more elucidating."
Her grin turned wry. "They need different clothes."
I let my Ed3 suit vanish, created a blue shirt on Ed2, made his hat vanish and gave him Nike sneakers, and said, "We'll root through some catalogs later. Let's get his physiology right first. He's got my hair. He needs his own."
"Or no hair," said Lori, "The bald look is 'in' these days."
"We'll try that last, if you don't mind."
Lori chuckled and retrieved a tea from the fridge. She held it out to me, but I tapped my mug and said, "No, thanks." She opened the tea and returned to her chair.
It seemed to me that others who knew far more about hair had likely made my decision for me long ago. I pulled up pics of Garner as 'Maverick' and as 'Rockford'. Ed2 got Maverick's hair. Because the face was slightly different, the hair almost looked wrong for it. Almost. After a moment, it seemed to look okay. Sort of.
I looked at Lori and asked, "Well? Hair isn't my specialty."
She sipped and nodded. "Yeah, that works. What next?"
I sipped my coffee and said, "You wanted some time to commune with Athena. I'll use it to march this thing around the house for a while as practice. May go to the store later, too. Want to come with me?"
"Uh... you intend to take Ed2 to a store?"
"No, I intend to get some groceries. You can come along or hope I get stuff you like."
"You know how to cook?"
"Some, yes. I usually don't bother with it."
"Neither do I. What say we just find a restaurant later?"
"Suits me, but I'm getting low on snacks."
Lori nodded and stood up. "Okay. Let me know when you're ready." She headed for her room and I turned my attention to my golem. He looked about thirty-five. At that age, most men have locked into a few things and stand pretty much on the edge of what's old and new in any given generation.
Was I overthinking things? Yeah, probably. In truth, he'd only need casual clothes ninety-nine percent of the time. He had those and others could be added. I tossed a dime across the tiled living room floor and it stopped under the coffee table. Good 'nuff. Putting Ed2 into motion, I tried to make him move naturally as I guided him out of the kitchen, across the living room to the table, and had him kneel to reach for the dime.
Picking up the coin proved to be a bit of a trick at first. It was a bit like trying to do it while wearing cotton gloves. After four tries, I began to feel some texture -- the smooth tile, the grout line, the dime's edge -- through the golem's fingers. A few tries later I made the golem's fingers lift the dime and studied it through Ed2's perception, a monoptical probe view.
Linking to Athena, I discussed how to make two eyes of one and she suggested blending two probes. Duh. Hadn't thought of that, even though I'd recently done exactly that with the three probes spiraling around the bike. I created a second probe, integrated it with the first probe, and tried to focus both of them on the dime.
Bingo. Nothing to it; the probes aligned themselves and suddenly Ed2 had depth perception. Dropping the coin, I picked it up a few more times and found each attempt progressively easier.
Making the golem stand up, I put him through some marching drills in the living room. Left, right, and oblique. Marching reverses and about-faces without wobbles. Chambering Ed2's fists, I ran him through a karate kata that stepped left and right midway through. Ed2 back-fisted an imaginary nose, then grabbed his figurative opponent's clothes and pulled him into a knee strike to the sternum.
Getting up, I took a sip of coffee and headed for the living room. Matching Ed2's stance, I led us through another kata, watching for falters. There were none; apparently I had pretty thorough control of the golem. Through my own and Ed2's eyes, I saw Lori watching from the hallway.
I made Ed2 nod to her and say, "Hi, there. Care to dance?"
She answered, "I learned different katas."
I turned and said, "Teach me yours. I'll teach you mine."
"I think I'd rather just watch for now."
"Suit yourself, ma'am."
Ever play both sides of a chess game? That's kind of how things felt when I threw a punch at Ed2 and made him block it at the same time. That got interesting; I sped things up a bit, but didn't take it to the fast and furious sort of exchange you'd see in a dojo. After a few minutes of being the aggressor, I defended as I had Ed2 perform some quick attacks.
From the doorway came a soft, "Oh, my God! You're trying to teach it to kill!"
Relaxing and turning to face her, I said, "No, I'm just sparring with it. It can't learn, y'know. It's just a probe."
"But I just saw it attack you, Ed!"
"Wrong. You just saw me attack me. Sort of. Amaran protocols won't let a probe attack anyone for real. I'm the one doing all the learning here, ma'am."
When I turned and headed for the kitchen, I heard Lori's footsteps in the living room. I sipped coffee and watched her study the unmoving golem fairly closely, then fake a slap at it. The golem didn't respond, of course.
Her second slap wasn't a fake; she made good contact and a loud 'smack'. Ed2 just stared straight ahead. Lori rubbed her hand and came to the kitchen. She stood eyeing me for a moment, then headed back down the hall to her room. Sipping again, I wondered what was bugging her.
Hm. What would bug me if I was in her shoes? The only thing we really had in common was field use, so the answer seemed pretty simple. Proficiency. Lori probably felt that after almost two years of messing with fields, she should be as good as or maybe even far ahead of someone who -- as far as she knew -- had to use PFM hardware to focus fields.
I sent a ping at her. She didn't answer. I sent another. After a few seconds, she responded, "Yes?"
"Let's talk, Lori."
"About what?"
"Whatever's bugging you. It wasn't just the sparring."
She was silent for a time, then she said, "I'm in the middle of some research."
"Does it have to do with making probes?"
Another few moments of silence passed, then she answered, "Yes. Among other things."
It was my turn to be silent as I considered matters, then said, "I'd offer to help if it wouldn't piss you off."
Through our mental link I could feel and hear her cool tone as she asked, "Why would it piss me off?"
"I don't want to fence with you. Get with Athena about making probes. When you can make one, let me know." Expanding our link to include Athena, I said, "Athena, please let Lori access data concerning constructing and using Ed2. She may also need a means of anonymity someday."
I'd just tossed in the bit about needing anonymity to buffer the rest of the offer. Lori was silent again for some time, then she said, "Thank you. Was that all?"
"Yup. See you later."
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah, my bike is whining about being in the garage. It won't stop until I take it for a run. I'll be back for dinner."
"Uh, huh. Okay. Later, Ed."
"Later, Lori."
I dropped the link, let Ed2 vanish, made a fresh coffee, and headed for the garage. Once the bike was outside and the garage door was down, I checked over the bike and took off. At US19 I turned north to get out of town quickly and pulled over into a shady spot about ten miles from the house.
"Athena, if you can reach 3rd World's records pertaining to Lori's training at Carrington, please show them to me."
Rather than call up a screen on the side of the road, I sat back as if taking a break and watched Athena's display of records through our link. Other than instruction in PFM use and sessions at ranges that seemed far less comprehensive than usual, most of Lori's training seemed to have been based around inculcating her with Amaran and 3rd World protocols.
I asked, "Is this everything, or just what you could access?"
Athena said, "Both."
"Well, damn. No wonder she hasn't progressed more. Is anything official on record about not introducing her to specific aspects of field use? If so, show me, please."
She said, "Yes, Ed," and half a dozen pages of specific training limitations appeared. All of them had to do with limiting Lori's unsupervised exposure to flitters and AIs. No specific reasons given, just a set of general orders. While they'd waived the standard probationary employment period, they'd tightly controlled every moment of her time at Carrington.
Yet she'd been able to come visit me in Florida. Given what I was reading, that seemed damned strange. Unless this was some kind of test? If so, a test of what? Or who? Her or me? Or both of us? Angie hadn't seemed too concerned. On the other hand, Angie had sent L8 to me in order to set her free. Was this another such clandestine 'set her free' action?
A number of people at 3rd World Products had been pretty uneasy about letting me retire from direct control, even after the feds had apparently signed off about it. Even Wallace had his doubts about it, more than once intently pitching the idea of a sort of 'ready reserve' status that would require regular updates and visits to Carrington.
Crunching gravel made me glance in my rearview mirrors. A Sheriff's car eased to a stop behind me. I raised my mug at him, then sipped. The car changed course and waited for traffic, then moved up beside me, where the deputy asked, "You just takin' a break here?"
I nodded. "Yeah. No problems."
He replied, "Okay, then," checked his rear, and rolled back onto the road. I slung my coffee mug in its straps, started the bike, and continued north to Ramble Inn for a game of pool. Parking the bike a few spaces away from the front door, I went inside and found Bev and Annie behind the bar. I wasn't really into the idea of drinking a beer, but there was a sign over the pool room door. 'Pool tables for bar patrons only'.
A probe manifested above and behind me as I got a frosty mug of house brand beer. Using the mirror behind the bar, I looked directly at the probe for a moment as I traced its origin back to Lori. Good.
The early-forties blonde barmaid, Annie, seemed a bit down, barely muttering a soft 'thanks' as she collected money. In the bar's small pool room, I turned to raise my mug at the probe and fed the table some quarters.
Annie stood watching me as I chalked a stick. I asked if she wanted to shoot a game. She seemed to have to think about the question, then she shruggingly said "Sure," turned the bar over to Bev, and disappeared. She appeared moments later with a somewhat fancy black cue stick.
Eyeing it, I remarked, "Woo, check that out! Did you take up pool hustling since the last time I was here?"
She shook her head. "It's Tony's. How've you been?"
Racking the balls, I said, "Good. And you?"
"Getting by. Andy's gone. Left Friday. Flip for the break?"
"No, ma'am. If'n you want this table, you gotta win it."
She said, "Fat chance of that."
"Never lose hope. I've seen you shoot, y'know."
Laying my stick on the table, I powered the cue ball through the rack. A solid and a stripe fell and I studied the layout.
"That's one of the things I like about you, Ed."
"What is, milady?"
"I told you Andy's gone and you didn't say a damned thing. You just busted the rack."
Lining up on the ten ball, I said, "Ah. That," and walked the ten down the rail to the pocket. "I figured you were just letting me know, not looking for attention."
"That's what I mean. You didn't... Well, never mind."
I chose the twelve next because it would let me put the cue ball near the nine, which was close to a pocket. Annie watched my following nine-shot and sighed, "Well, damn."
The fifteen was too far from the rail; I had to use both hands to aim the stick. As the ball dropped into a corner pocket, the cue ball walked hard to the left and snuggled in tightly behind Annie's four and the eight ball. I just poked the cue ball to spread the clump and stepped back.
"Oh, goodie," she said, "I get to shoot after all."
"Good luck, ma'am." She gave me a doubting sidelong glance, then aimed at the two ball as I added, "Sure I mean it. The more shots you make, the longer I get to eyeball your gorgeous fanny while you shoot."
Freezing in mid-aim, Annie's eye-roll ended fixed on me in a droll gaze, then she stood straight, took a breath, and asked rather coolly, "My gorgeous fanny, huh?"
"Yup. Well, I've never actually seen it, of course, but it sure fills those cutoffs nicely. I mean, for all I know it could be all pimply and tattooed and hairy, but..."
She interrupted firmly, "It isn't! Trust me."
Trying to look properly corrected, I gave her a quick little salute. "Yes, ma'am! Trusting you right now, ma'am! And I'm sure your tushie is every bit of fabulous! Just don't hit me with that fancy stick, okay?"
Annie laughed, "Oh, shut up," and leaned back over the table to aim. I focused very obviously on her butt so she'd catch me at it when she glanced at me. She did, and that made her start laughing again. She backed away from the table and took a minute to gather herself.
"Dammit, you just don't want me to make this shot."
Interrupting a sip of my beer, I said, "Um... I thought I explained, ma'am. The longer you shoot..."
"Yeah, yeah. Listen, why don't you stand where you can't stare at my ass, okay?"
Moving to the other end of the table, I said, "By your command, milady. Doesn't matter, y'know. You look just as good from the top."
"Great. Just stay there for now so I can get this done."
She lined up the two shot with another glance at me, then sent the ball to the corner pocket at the other end of the table. I let Annie see my approval of the shot as she walked around the table. She started to lean to make a five ball shot, then stopped and looked at me. I was eyeing her legs, of course. Annie sighed, shook her head slightly, and popped the five in the side pocket. Two shots later, she missed.
Setting my beer down, I stepped up to the table and said, "Men don't have that problem, y'know. Women are much more discreet about eyeballing the goods."
Moving to the end of the table, Annie said, "Do tell."
"Yup. We have other problems, though. Like with you standing there, I have almost no chance of making a shot."
"Uh, huh. Prove it."
Lining up my thirteen, I snapped it into the corner with enough force and side-spin to make the cue ball roll left and line up with the fourteen.
As I aimed, Annie asked, "Didn't you just say 'no chance'?"
"I also said 'almost', ma'am. You're a real hottie, but I've had years to develop my defenses. At this point, I figure you'd prob'ly have to strip down to your skivvies and dance to screw up anything less than a bank shot. Feel free to test me."
She laughed, "You wish. You gonna shoot or talk?"
Sipping beer, I replied, "Patience, please," and studied the table, then finished the game. As the eight fell, Annie said she wanted to shoot what was left. I stood by as she tapped in the rest of her solids with only one miss.
"You're getting better, Annie."
"Not 'better' enough. Want to play again?"
"Sure."
I reached for quarters, but she was quicker and fed the table. When the rack was ready, I broke it and nothing went in. Oh, well. Annie put in five solids before she missed. I put in two balls before a bad roll stuck me behind another cluster. I tried to bank the cue ball to reach the twelve and missed.
Annie chuckled and stepped up to pop in the rest of her balls and the eight, then did a happy little bounce-dance at the end of the table. I grinningly toasted her with my beer and she bounced around the table near me.
Grinning hugely, she asked, "Want another beer? On me?"
'On her' meant 'uncounted' or 'just clearing the tap', of course. I shook my head.
"Thanks anyway, but it's still kind of early for me."
Bev called her name as she asked, "You sure?"
I nodded. "I'm only drinking this one because of the 'patrons only' sign. Wanna go again?"
Annie thumbed at the front of the bar and shook her head. "No, I was lucky to get away this long. But thanks! When Tony hears I beat you, he'll shit!"
"Should I put it in writing in case he doesn't believe you?"
She laughed, "No, just back me up next time you're in."
"Will do."
As Annie walked away, the spring in her step made parts of her bounce deliciously. I sipped beer and watched until she rounded the bar and disappeared from view, then I turned to the table and tapped in the rest of the balls.
Lori sent a ping and I answered silently with, "You got me, probe lady. Do you shoot pool?"
"Not as well as her. All your silliness about her butt made her feel better. Did you let her win?"
Doing my best to look shocked and innocent, I asked, "Let her win? I got a bad leave and she was good enough to run what was left of her stuff."
"Uh, huh. She sure acted like it was a real big deal."
"To her, it is. Tony hasn't beaten me in two years."
"Who's Tony?"
"He works here."
"She said someone left on Friday."
"Her son was on leave from the Air Force. Want to come have a beer? I'll introduce you as my new girlfriend. They'll faint with shock."
Lori laughed, "You'd love that, I'm sure." Her tone turned serious as she asked, "Ed, why did Angie let me come here?"
I chuckled, "I just knew you were one of the smart ones, ma'am. I'd been wondering about that myself. It might be a test or she may want me to take a hand in your training and can't say it out loud."
A soft thump behind me made me turn. Annie had set another mug of beer on the counter. She grinned and said, "In case you change your mind," and returned to the front bar. I still had well over half a beer in the mug I held.
Lori said, "What the hell. Save that new beer for me. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Saving it now, ma'am."

Chapter Twelve

The probe vanished and I set a coaster on top of the new beer, then headed out to my bike. As I passed the bar, Annie asked, "Are you leaving?"
"Nope. Back in a few. Thanks for the new beer."
She grinned and went back to whatever she'd been doing. I stepped outside, took a seat by the door, and waited. Some guy on a black, late-model Harley rolled in and parked five spaces away on the other side of the bar's front door. He stopped at the bar's door and stared at my bike, then walked closer and leaned down for a better look at the back tire.
After a moment, he walked completely around the bike and returned to the low porch, where he faced me and seemed to appraise me before he asked, "That your bike?"
Meeting his gaze, I replied, "Yup."
"Saw your stickers. You really hang-glide?"
"Yup."
Shaking his head, he said, "My brother does, too. I helped him set up his glider once at Stone Mountain. While he was waiting to launch off the cliff, some guy's glider folded a thousand feet up. They said he hit the ground at about eighty. I'd never fly one of those things."
"Did anyone mention why it folded?"
"Something about loose cables."
"Then it was bad maintenance." Indicating his bike, I asked, "What happens if you don't torque your belt drive bolts?"
"I get you, but if some bolts back out, you aren't two thousand feet up."
"No, but you'll still be doing eighty when you hit the ground. Things like that only fail under high stress."
He eyed me for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, that's when they usually give out. I'm gonna get a beer. Later."
As he entered the bar, I felt a field presence and stood up. Lori zipped down on her board, hopped off it, and put it in her backpack as she asked, "Do they know about you here?"
"They know I shoot pool and ride a bike."
"Nothing about boards and field stuff?"
"Nope. As far as they know, I'm just a pool-shooting biker." In a confidential tone, I added, "With any luck, they'll think you're my new girlfriend."
She smacked my left bicep, grabbed my beer, and laughed, "Ha! They probably think I'm your daughter."
As she sipped, I thought, 'Not after that, they won't.'
Two more bikes pulled in and parked just beyond the Harley. They were brand-new and the riders eyed us in a somewhat wary manner. One nodded as they passed, but neither of them spoke. They were 'in character', wearing new-ish black leather vests and impeccably clean Harley-labeled clothes from head to toe.
I studied Lori as she studied them. Apparently she bought their act; she shrank almost imperceptibly against me as they passed with their stern expressions.
I said, "Lori," and she looked up at me.
"Yes?"
"Those guys are posers."
"Posers?"
"Yup. They buy the bike and all the gear and clothes and try to imitate a surly attitude. They don't realize they're trying to imitate an attitude they actually cause when they show up."
She gave me a questioning look.
I chuckled, "Compare them to the other guy in there. He's the only other real biker here right now."
She eyed me for a moment, then swilled the last of my beer and nodded toward the door. "Come on. You can show me how to shoot one-handed."
Following her, I replied, "Aye, aye, ma'am."
She strode forward and pulled the door open before I got there. I held it as she entered and Annie held up a hand.
"Gotta see your ID, sweetie."
Lori took her wallet out of her back pocket and flipped it open. Annie read the Arizona driver's license and glanced at me, then asked, "You couldn't find a Florida girl?"
"She followed me home from Grand Canyon, ma'am. I couldn't just toss her out in the snow, could I?"
Snorting a chuckle, Annie looked at Lori and said, "Hi, Lori. I'm Annie. What'll you have?"
I answered for her, saying, "Another beer and two bucks in quarters," and handed her my empty mug and five dollars.
That was a calculated move; Annie gave me a high left eyebrow and nodded, then went behind the bar. Lori and I headed for the pool room, where she spotted the beer with a coaster on top and claimed it. Removing the coaster, she sent a cold field into it and the mug quickly re-frosted.
Annie arrived with a new beer and quarters and froze in her own fashion as she saw Lori sipping from a frosty mug, but said nothing as she set the beer and change on the counter. I asked if she'd play again, but she shook her head.
"Can't. It's my day to pull inventory."
I looked at Lori and said, "Prob'ly just as well. She's already beaten me once today."
That made Annie grin hugely and laugh, "Yeah, right. I just got lucky," then she headed back to the front of the bar.
Lori watched me feed the table and said, "I don't usually drink this early in the day."
Racking the balls, I replied, "Neither do I."
She gave me an odd look. "But this is where you came?"
"I wanted to ride a bit and shoot some pool. Check the sign over the door to this room."
Going to the door, Lori leaned out and looked up, then returned and asked, "Paying for the game isn't enough?"
"Not in most bars."
Lori chose a stick by rolling it on the table, then stood by as I broke the rack. A solid fell and I made three more before I used a bit too much power and the cue ball drifted into a pocket. As I leaned on the counter and sipped, she sank two close stripes and prepared to pop the nine in the corner. The lone biker appeared in the doorway and stopped to avoid interrupting her shot, which she made. As she studied the table, the biker came over to stand by me.
He said, "Those guys were talking about your bike. They're out looking at it now."
Sipping beer, I said, "Thanks. Think they'd be stupid enough to mess with it?"
He set his own beer on the counter. "I don't know."
"Let's find out."
I sent a probe and called up a yard-wide screen. The guy stepped back with a startled, "Whoa!" and Lori came to stand behind me. The biker started to say something, but I held up a hand and said, "Wait one."
The two guys were just standing a couple of feet from my bike. One pointed at my 'I'd rather be hang gliding' bumper sticker on the cooler and laughed. The other seemed more interested in the aluminum panels I'd added to the front forks. Neither of them seemed inclined to touch the bike.
Moving the screen to the wall above my beer, I asked Lori, "Am I up?" and she nodded. I went to the table and sank two more solids before the cue ball parked behind two of her balls. My attempted jump shot barely missed my six ball.
Returning to Lori, I shrugged and said, "Sometimes that shot actually works, y'know."
She grinned and went to the table. The guys outside were discussing the cooler on my bike. One bitched about the money he'd spent on a trunk for his bike and added, "The damned thing didn't even have mounting holes. I had to drill 'em."
The biker beside me asked, "What is that thing?"
"A field video screen. I used to work for 3rd World Products." Thumbing at Lori as she lined up a shot, I said, "Her name's Lori and she still works for 3rd World. She's from Arizona and she's just here for the weekend, half of which is already gone. She isn't my daughter, but she is a good friend. Did that just about cover most of your questions?"
He met my gaze for a moment, then admitted, "Yeah, I think so. Is the table open?"
"Sure. Put your quarters up."
Lori missed her seven ball and came to stand by me. I said, "Lori, this is..." and looked at the guy. He said, "Chuck," and I continued, "He was kind enough to let me know the posers were eyeballing my bike."
As I studied the table, Chuck extended a hand and Lori shook it in a rather automatic fashion, then looked at the screen. The posers were still just chatting by my bike. One seemed to startle slightly and peered at my back tire.
Lori chuckled, "They finally noticed your car tire."
One of the guys knelt to study the tire as if he'd never seen one before. Lori snickered and reached for her beer. Chuck seemed at a loss for words. He reached in his pocket and put quarters on the table. I popped the last two balls in pockets and he moved the quarters to the coin slots.
"You always shoot one-handed?"
"Unless I have to reach too far."
As he racked the balls, Lori asked, "Chuck, do you think of those guys outside as posers?"
He glanced at me before he looked at her, then he said, "Yeah. Why?"
"I just wondered. Ed said you and he were the only real bikers in the bar."
Chuck looked at me for a moment, then said, "He's right."
I lined up to break the rack as Lori said, "It wasn't a trick question, Chuck. I don't know anything about bikes or bikers. When he said that, it sounded sort of insulting."
Chuck went to his beer and took a sip, then said, "It is sort of insulting, but it's true, too. They buy a bike and all the leather and junk they can wear at once, then they pretend to be bikers on weekends. To them, a bike is just butt jewelry."
Lori almost blew beer out her nose laughing. She managed to repeat, "Butt jewelry!" and laughed again. Her laughter made Chuck and me grin along with her.
When Chuck looked at me, I broke the rack. Two solids fell and two more ended up very close to pockets. I tapped them in and aimed at another. It went in, too, and I ambled around the table. The six ball looked like an iffy shot, but the four simply wasn't possible at that moment. I poked the cue ball and when the six sneaked past the nine to the pocket, I tried not to look too surprised.
Chuck muttered, "Damn! I didn't think that would go."
"Yeah, it looked kinda tight to me, too."
The four was an easy tap into the side. That left the eight, but the cue ball drifted just a bit too far. The ten was in the way and I couldn't get a lineup for an easy corner shot. All I could do was bank the eight to the other corner. When things looked right, I poked the cue ball gently, then stood straight to watch as the eight rolled leisurely to the pocket.
Lori stared at the table, the beer she held forgotten.
From behind the counter, Annie set a case of beer on the counter and said, "I knew it. You let me win."
Walking over to my own beer, I said, "Did not."
She gave me a skeptical look. "Did too."
I shook my head and sipped. "Nope. Swear. Didn't."
Looking at Lori, Annie said, "I'm gonna keep it anyway, just to bug the hell out of Tony," and picked up the case of beer to take it to the front coolers.
Chuck sipped his beer and said, "Well, I guess it was worth the money to see it. Good game."
"Thanks." On the vid screen, I didn't see the posers. Turning the view I found them near their own bikes, still talking. I turned off the screen and put my cue stick in the rack.
Lori asked, "You aren't going to play any more?"
"Nah. You and Chuck take the table. I'll just watch 'til my beer is gone."
"Then what?"
"Then I'll go for a ride, I guess."
I headed for the restroom. After a leak and a washup, I parked on a bar stool and pretended to watch TV as I linked to Athena. Over half an hour of reviewing records turned up nothing I didn't already know or expect regarding Lori's status and progress at 3rd World.
Lori and Chuck were in the middle of their third game when I sent Lori a ping. She looked at me questioningly. I sent another ping. She answered, "Yes?"
"I'm ready to hit the road, ma'am. Should I stick around until you finish your game or just abandon you here?"
"Stick around, I'll go with you. Where to from here?"
"Home to put the bike up. We have things to discuss and we won't get much talking done here."
With a slight nod, she sent, "Okay. We don't have many balls left. Win or lose, it shouldn't take long."
She was right about that. Chuck missed a shot and Lori made the wrap-up look easy, popping her last three balls in and calling the eight for a corner pocket. Lori shot more softly than she intended, I think, because she looked pretty tense as the eight slowed to a crawl near the pocket. Making a 'shoo!' gesture, she urged, "Come on, come on! Fall in, dammit!"
It looked as if the ball would stop at the very edge of the hole, but it seemed to lose its balance and toppled into the pocket after all. Lori breathed a sigh of relief and Chuck laughed, "I know the feeling. Good game."
Lori made an excuse about having to be somewhere in an hour or so and we made our goodbyes. Chuck walked with us out to my bike and watched as I fired it up. He was plainly a bit confused about the fact that Lori appeared to be leaving with me, yet my bike had only one seat.
As I set the bike in motion, Lori called up her scooter and rode beside me. She waved at Chuck as we waited for a few cars to pass the driveway, then we pulled out and headed south. I heard her laughter as I shifted gears.
Her ping had an oddly bright note. I answered, "Yes'm?"
She laughed, "Did you see Chuck's expression?"
I chuckled, "No, but I've prob'ly seen it before. At least he knows how you got there now. That was bugging him."
Flying beside me in the left lane, Lori laughed again. "Yeah, I know. Are we really going home?"
"Yup. We can talk under the house field. Lori, I think you need a core of your own sooner instead of later. Angie could have given a dozen fairly mundane reasons for keeping you at Carrington this weekend, but she didn't. In fact, I think she'll have to justify letting you go to someone higher-up."
In a cautious tone, Lori asked, "What are you saying, Ed?"
"Think about it, Lori. When I was there, I was never part of any 'team'. I was tolerated by some and a loose cannon to others. To a very few, I'm trusted. Linda. Angie. Prob'ly even Wallace, but only to a degree. Once you came to Florida, their only options would be to okay the trip or order you to return, which would require an explanation. Then we pulled that capsule out of your head and I said I'd keep you for a while. Angie acted outraged, but she only put up a token argument, something for the official record. What does that mean?"
With a fisheye look, she asked, "You're asking me?"
"Hell, yes, I'm asking you. Someday you're going to be in a leadership position, sweetie. Best you learn to think like a leader before you get there."
That got me another fisheye. "Ed, I don't want to be in charge of anything."
"Then you need to give that some thought, too. Lori, when I was just a medic and a gunner, guys like me came a dime a dozen. When I added 'part-time pilot' to my resume, my value went up, but only a little. It took twenty-plus years as a mercenary and a low-grade spook to make me someone Linda would call out of retirement to shepherd an Amaran. Even then, if I'd been fired or quit, they'd have just gone to the next guy on their list. Until I had commo and PFM implants and learned to use them, I was just a bodyguard and escort."
A blue car came up fast behind us, easily doing ninety, and flashed his high beams. Instead of taking the lead or falling in behind me, Lori lifted ten feet and flew above me. The blue car suddenly decelerated and fell back a hundred feet or so.
Through our link I sent, "Cute move. Now he'll follow us as long as you're up there. So will anyone else who sees you."
Lori laughed and flashed away above the trees as she replied, "How far away can I be and still talk to you?"
"Probably anywhere on Earth."
The blue car sped up and caught up with me, rolling alongside for a few moments before charging ahead. Well, maybe he'd get lucky and the cop who usually lurked near the welding shop wouldn't be there.
Lori said, "I'll meet you back at the house if I can find it. Ed, where were you going with what you were saying?"
"If you can't find the house, ask Athena. Lori, being able to use fields like an AI and communicate with non-standard hardware put me in a whole new bracket of usefulness. You don't even need hardware to do that. I think they'll very likely offer you some sort of management training, partly as a means of keeping close tabs on you."
She was silent for a couple of beats, then she said, "That's exactly what they did. Last week. They made it sound like a probationary training position."
I chuckled, "That's what it is, ma'am. Fact is, chances are excellent you'll never not be on probation of a sort."
Ahead I saw cop lights on a tan sedan that scampered out of the trees on the right. The blue car hadn't been lucky and the lurking cop had pounced. Oh, well. As the cop gave chase, the blue car sped up. Great. As stupid as he was unlucky. He might outrun a cop car, but not a cop radio. On the other hand, we were only about two miles from Spring Hill. No need to let the bozo blast through at over a hundred miles per hour.
"Athena," I said, "A blue car is being chased by a cop just ahead of me. Stun the blue car's driver and park the car on the shoulder, please."
"Yes, Ed."
As I neared the cars, Lori came soaring back toward me, now on her board. She stopped above the scene. I rolled past it. Through our link, she yelped, "Hey! Aren't you going to stop and see if the cop needs any help?"
"Hadn't planned to. What kind of help? The driver's unconscious and the engine's off."
"Well, what if the doors are locked? What if the driver wakes up and takes off again?"
I chuckled, "Stick around if you want, ma'am. We can call it 'on the job training'."
A few seconds later, with a note of righteous triumph in her mental voice, Lori sent, "I was right. The doors were locked."
"I trust you took care of that little problem."
"Of course I did."
"Excellent. Outstanding, ma'am. Above and beyond."
I could almost feel her gaze narrow as she asked, "Are you being sarcastic?"
"Well, maybe just a little. Did you assist in an anonymous manner, or did you swoop down there and tell the cop to stand aside in a bold, commanding tone?"
There was silence for a couple of moments, then Lori said coolly, "I sent a tendril to pop the driver's door lock. The cop never even noticed me. What was that about, Ed?"
"Just tickling you a little, ma'am. Good job." Adding a dollop of enthusiasm to my mental voice, I said, "Hey, if we make you a golem, we can suit her up as Supergirl or Wonder Woman! Whaddya think? Good idea, huh?"
Lori's snort of laughter was followed by, "What are you, fifteen? No way in hell am I going to do that!"
"Did playing Wonder Woman hurt Lynda Carter's career?"
"That's not the same thing and you know it."
As I turned into my driveway, I sighed, "Damn. I got the same reaction from Jessie. You ladies are entirely too gorgeous to be so conservative, y'know." I parked the bike and got off to open the garage door as I added, "Just think how some poor, injured schmuck would feel if a gorgeous goddess like you showed up in a spiffy little Supergirl outfit and saved his ass. You'd brighten the whole rest of his life, ma'am. He'd go to his grave dreaming of you."
"That's just wonderful, but I've seen Supergirl's costume. The answer's still no."
I sighed, "Such a prude."
She instantly responded, "Such a clown."
As I rolled the bike into the garage, Lori swooped in beside it and let her board disappear. She silently asked, "You really suggested that to Jessie, too?"
I laughed, "Oh, hell, yes. You've seen her. She's holding up real well for a little old lady."
"Old? She's only a little over fifty. She watches her diet and she works out."
"There's a bit more to it than that, but I damned sure can't fault the results. When I suggested the idea, she laughed her ass off." Taking Lori's hand for a kiss, I added, "And that's what the Supergirl suggestion's for, y'know. It gets a laugh."

Chapter Thirteen

In an information vacuum, you go with your gut. With the average level of surveillance I'd found 3rd World maintaining around Lori, there was no denying she'd been discreetly 'allowed' to visit me. Even without Lori checking with Angie, they'd have known she'd called me, known I'd offered her a Florida weekend, and known I'd picked her up. There'd been no surveillance probes near us, but it was very likely we'd been monitored via satellite and long range probes and I had no doubt her PFM was bugged.
Speaking aloud and miming a scratching motion as we entered the kitchen, I asked, "How's the arm?"
Lori nodded at the hint and replied, "Better, but it still starts itching if I don't move the PFM periodically."
I called Sandy. She appeared and I asked, "Sandy, is there anything different about Lori's PFM?"
Giving me a fisheye, Sandy said, "It's a standard unit."
With a grin, I asked, "Has it been preset to do anything that would activate a field periodically?"
With a glance at Lori, Sandy said, "It burst-transmits recordings every fifteen minutes."
Faking shock, I asked, "Lori's under surveillance?"
Rolling her eyes, Sandy replied, "That does seem likely. Would you like me to monitor the signal?"
I chuckled, "Couldn't hurt, I suppose. Just to verify our suspicions, of course. Are there any records of anyone storing transmissions from Lori's PFM?"
Half a second passed. Sandy said, "No."
"That means they're being reviewed and deleted. It also means the surveillance is likely unauthorized or unofficial." Looking at Lori, I added, "All of which probably means someone is watching out for you rather than just watching you, which just as probably means the watcher is Angie."
Lori said, "Probably? Not good enough. Until I know who's watching and why, PFM detach."
She took it off and put it in her back pocket.
I said, "That's fine here in the house, on the flitter, or on your board. Wear it any other time."
Looking at Sandy, Lori asked, "Can't you fix it, Sandy? Take out the snoopy programming or whatever?"
Sandy said, "Not without knowing who put it there."
I felt Lori link to Athena and tapped her link. Athena's response was the same as Sandy's. Lori's frustration was evident. She snapped, "I don't like being bugged."
Looking at Sandy, I asked, "Is it still recording?"
She shook her head. "No, it's out of contact with Lori's skin, but it will transmit on schedule."
I said, "Good. Lori, if Angie's monitoring you this way, she's worried about something she can't talk about and she's probably not sharing any info with anyone else there. Yet. Let's let Sandy trace the PFM's next transmission and give Angie a chance to contact us before we take any action to stop it."
Lori didn't seem thrilled, but she shrugged. "Okay. What if she doesn't?"
"If the programming can't be removed, a new PFM may be in order. Depends on how we want to play things." Making a new coffee, I said, "From now on you and I operate on two levels, Lori. Public and private. 'Private' means you, me, and any AIs involved. 'Public' is anyone else, including Angie."
She nodded as she softly replied, "Yeah. Okay."
"I mean it. Even Angie's out of the loop for now."
Somewhat more intently, she replied, "I got it, okay?"
"Okay. Lori, what happens if Angie learns about nonstandard fields and frequency shifting?"
Lori sat at the table and said, "They'll start using them."
"Yup, and that'll be the end of any chance you ever had of keeping some of yourself for yourself. Same for me. They'll be able to watch our every move. They might even figure out how to tap our links with cores. And with each other."
Sitting down and sipping my new coffee, I said, "That's one of the reasons I'd like you to have access to a core of your own before you head back to Carrington, but I think it should come with an AI. Elkor?"
He appeared on the table and asked, "Yes, Ed?"
"What do you think of the idea of letting Lori join our AI program and making the continual presence of an AI a condition for issuing her a core of her own?"
Canting his head slightly, he asked, "Wouldn't the core's resident AI be sufficient?"
"That might depend on circumstances at any given time. Besides, any new AI you assign her would get a year of exposure to a wide range of people."
Elkor said, "That is acceptable."
Lori held up a hand. "Wait a minute. Ed, are you saying you think I need supervision?"
Letting her question hang in the air for a moment, I replied, "Yes. I won't bullshit you, Lori. But you could also think of your future AI companions as friends to watch your back and help you see things you might otherwise miss. Mine have kept me from stepping in really nasty stuff a few times."
"So it's no AI, no core?"
Sandy pinged and told me Lori's PFM had sent a burst transmission. I said to Lori, "Yup. That's the deal."
She met my gaze in silence for a time, then nodded.
I said, "Athena's used to working with me, so keep working with her until we have your core ready. That'll help you be able to use the new one immediately."
Linking to Elkor, I said, "Let's give her as much time with Athena as possible before she has to go back to Carrington."
He replied, "I agree," then excused himself and vanished.
Lori stared at the spot where he'd been for a moment, then said, "I feel like I'm about to step into a whole new world."
"Yeah, that would be one way to look at it."
Her eyes found mine as she said, "I couldn't believe you blasted that tunnel above the truck, even when I was flying through it. Do you know how much power that took?"
"Nope. I just knew I could do it."
"How can you know something like that, Ed?"
"From doing other things, like seeing if I could power up a flitter. The old kind, with a metal hull. From putting out forest fires and shattering rocks to get at fossils." I put up a screen and showed her one of my fossil hunting trips.
She watched me shred a boulder and muttered, "Damn!"
"You can probably do the same things. If not now, very likely later. And if that's your reaction, just think what Angie or Wallace would feel if they saw me do that."
Lori snickered, "Oh, they'd shit!" then she seemed to catch herself and blush. "Sorry. I don't usually talk like that."
"Yes'm, I know. It just goes to validate my point. They don't know much about what I can do with fields, but they think I have rather low limits. I allow and encourage them to think that, of course. What little they do know about my capabilities makes them somewhat nervous about me, mostly because I'm not directly under someone's thumb."
Sipping my coffee, I said, "You, on the other hand, they actually fear, plain and simple. They don't understand how you work your magic, but they know you get a little more powerful every day. You're young, so they don't trust your judgment. You're untested, so they can't assess your fortitude."
She yelped, "Untested?! Doesn't surviving alone in Grand Canyon for two months mean anything?"
I shrugged. "The military types wouldn't be too impressed. The civilians probably think it was like a long camping trip." I looked her up and down and added, "You're tall, strong, and damned good looking, Lori, but you don't bother with hair styles and you wear hardly any makeup. Your usual outfit is jeans, sneakers, and a blouse that could be a man's shirt if the buttons went the other way. People who don't know you might even wonder if you're a lesbian."
Her eyes widened a bit and I held up a hand.
"All I'm getting at is that you look and act as if you can actually handle anydamnedthing life throws at you. That demeanor usually intimidates or irritates people, depending on how they see themselves. Only rarely will you meet people enough like yourself that they can truly accept you immediately and without reservations."
She looked up from critically examining her sleeve. I grinningly added, "Go ahead; ask me how I know."
Lori chuckled, "Maybe later. I'm beginning to wonder if I need to pay more attention to my wardrobe."
Keying my implant, I turned on one of my dress suits for a few seconds, then switched to each of the others before I turned them off. Lori stood staring as I said, "When you get your core, pick out some new outfits. What are you going to name her?"
"Her who?"
"Your core. Y'can't just holler 'hey, core!' can you?"
She chuckled, "No, I guess not. I'll think about it."
"Good 'nuff. What kind of flitter will you want?"
Her eyes got big again. "Flitter?!"
"Who do you think makes my flitter happen?"
"I... I hadn't given that much thought. You've had a flitter since the day I met you."
"My old one was metal. Athena makes my new one out of field energy. So... what kind of ride will you want?"
"Uh... one like yours, I guess."
With a nod, I said, "An excellent choice, but give some thought to design changes to suit your specific needs."
"What specific needs?"
I sipped coffee. "Only you'd know that, ma'am. That's why you'll be doing most of the thinking about them."
My implant pinged with Angie's chime. I held up a finger and said, "Hold that thought. In fact, hold it in the next room and out of sight. Angie's calling."
She nodded, got up, and left the room. When I put up a screen for Angie, I saw blue sky and curiously rotating clouds behind her. No flitter parts showed, so she was on her board. I gave her a hand signal that meant 'not alone'.
"Hi, there, Cap'n Angie. Just had to get out of the office for a while, huh?"
Angie returned my signal and said, "You could say that. I'm two miles up and very much alone. Where's Lori?"
Thumbing over my shoulder, I said, "Somewhere in the house. What's up?"
She took a breath, then said, "Your speculations are correct. I'm the one listening through Lori's PFM."
"Lemme guess; you knew something was hinky after she got her dental work, but you couldn't act on it yourself?"
Angie's left eyebrow went up. "Yes."
"Nor could you tell me to check it out?"
"No. The gag order came directly from 3rd World's brass."
"Haver?"
"No. Donaldson. He moved up after Burke's heart attack last year. The news about Lori leaked from his office to Homeland Defense, though he swears he had nothing to do with it."
"Uh, huh. How'd he react when the tracker turned out to be a ricin capsule?"
"I wasn't there, but the report says he said he didn't know anything about that, either. Cindy monitored the conversation and said he didn't appear to be lying."
Sipping coffee, I considered my next words, then said, "So the feds now know about her abilities. Not good. And Lori isn't safe, even at 3rd World Products. Correction; even from 3rd World Products. On general principles, I seriously doubt Donaldson knew about the capsule switch, but when the top brassholes leak, the concept of security becomes bullshit. Any info about who made the switch or why?"
Angie shook her head and sighed, "Not yet."
"You gonna keep monitoring Lori?"
"Do you have a better idea for preventing something like that from happening again?"
I nodded. "Yup. Sure do. She can host new AIs like I do. Nothing will get past an AI." I paused half a second, then reiterated firmly, "Nothing."
Canting her head slightly, Angie said, "Sandy couldn't tell you about the capsule, even after you discovered it."
"She didn't research it due to the legality issue. That won't be a problem in the future."
"Why not?"
"Why should it? The operation was under a gag order, not a 'no research' order. She took the order at face value because it came from the top and the device of record was supposed to be a tracker. That won't happen again. No more 'face value' crap. Every order researched and verified."
Angie pulled a shiny metal bottle from her belt and sipped, then she said, "Ed, Lori's achieved some... astounding... power readings in the labs and her abilities appear to still be growing. A lot of people way above me truly won't like the idea of placing the field capabilities of an AI at her command."
"At this point, what they won't like is irrelevant, Angie. They can't be trusted to protect her, even from themselves. Besides, Lori could issue any 'command' she wanted, but AIs are hardwired with Amaran protocols. That makes any AI a backup conscience as well as a guardian angel."
With a small, sly smile, Angie said, "I knew you'd come up with something. Tell Lori I'll see her Monday. Later, Ed."
I gave her a small salute. "Later, Cap'n Angie."
Still smiling, she tapped her 'off' icon and the screen disappeared. I said, "All done, Lori."
Lori came into the kitchen and sat down. She eyed me for a moment, then said, "This is exactly what she wanted, isn't it?"
With a shrug and a grin, I said, "Well, maybe not exactly, but I think it'll prob'ly do. How'd she get you to call me without coming right out and telling you to call me?"
Shaking her head, Lori said, "She didn't. I..." She froze, then muttered, "Yes, she did, sort of. I think."
I chuckled, "Musta been pretty slick about it, huh?"
Nodding in a slow, wondering manner, Lori said, "Very. I'd had a long, crappy morning full of back-to-back tests, the same old questions from the same old people about the same old stuff, and then some guy from the Miami office actually hesitated to shake hands when we were introduced. He looked at my hand like it might bite him."
I laughed, "Bet his name was Jack Peller."
Her gaze narrowed. "How did you know that?!"
"He's from the Miami office and he's still a hardcore germophobe, even though he's had a standard dose of medical nanobots. It probably wasn't a total coincidence that you had a tough morning before she introduced you to him. I'll bet she even mentioned the fact I found you in the canyon."
With a flat expression, Lori said, "Yes. She did. He got real enthusiastic, said he knew you, and asked how you were. I said I didn't know, that I hadn't seen you for a while." Sighing and shaking her head, Lori said, "Oh, jeez! I was so led around by the goddamned nose!"
"For a good cause, so don't sweat it. Just try to notice the next time it happens."
"The next time?!"
"There's always a next time. It may not be Angie, but someone equally adept will try something similar, so stay alert. Never accept a coincidence until proven. Angie knew Peller would be there, had the lab rats run you ragged so you'd be ready to pop, and then introduced you to Peller just before she gave you Friday afternoon off."
Lori folded her arms on the table and lowered her head with a deep sigh. Without raising her head, she asked, "So why was Peller so enthusiastic about knowing you?"
"His sister is on the factory station. A few years ago I kept a nutcase kid from blowing the place up."
Her head came up. "I read about that! But... that was you? The article only said a security officer from Carrington stopped the bomber from leaving an arboretum. The guy blew himself and half the forest up."
"Yup. Peller's sister was on the security team in the arboretum. She told Peller the whole story when he visited her at the station hospital. The first two bombs in the arboretum killed or injured half the team. The third blast was fucking huge. The kid had a big backpack full of plastic explosive and a thumb pickle. I couldn't let him get to a transport dock. He might have vented half the station straight to space."
"What's a thumb pickle?"
"It's a deadman switch. You push the top button and hold it. If anything happens to you, boom. He didn't think anyone would have the nerve to try to stop him."
"But you did?"
"Yup."
"How?"
"I deep-froze a chunk of tree limb, then shot it with a bolt of heat. It went off like a grenade not far from his head."
Lori stared at me in horror, then said in a flat tone, "In other words, you killed him."
I shrugged. "There are no 'other words' for it, ma'am. He was almost to the arboretum gates. Another couple of minutes and he'd have been out in the corridor."
Calling up a screen, I had it start a replay of the event from the time the security team and I reached the arboretum and turned it to face her. "Watch this and tell me what you'd have done. Notice the fact that I wasn't busted for murder. Also note the commendation at the end of the show."
As she watched the screen, I called up the Ed2 sim and said, "Athena, let's change this sim's designation to Jim and make another sim that'll look like me, please."
A new copy of me appeared. I let Jim vanish and said, "We'll call this new sim Ed2. Whenever he's called up, have his program run a check to make sure he looks exactly like me at that particular time. He'll use my voice and prints, too. I'll be using him as a stand-in when Jim won't do. And give both sims appropriate pulse and respiration, please. Can't have them talking without breathing and stuff like that."
Athena replied, "Yes, Ed."
Lori asked, "What are you doing?"
Noddingly indicating the video screen, I said, "You're missing your show, ma'am."
"I paused it. What are you doing?"
"That should be obvious, milady. I'm making a sim that'll always be current."
Rolling her eyes, she gently snapped, "I can see that, damn it. Why are you making that sim?"
"Ever wish you could be in two places at once?"
Canting her head, Lori replied, "Sure. Everybody does at some time or another."
"Well, here's a way to do that."
Ed2 said, "She's kinda nosy, isn't she?" and Lori's head whipped around to look at him as he grinned.
I said, "Yup, but she's one of the smart ones. She'll figure it out soon enough."
Ed2 asked, "Why wait? Let's show her."
Sighing as if being put upon, I got up and said, "Okay, if you insist. Merge with me."
Ed2 stepped into me and leaned slightly to one side to say, "Ready when you are."
"Good 'nuff." I conjured around us a brilliant seven-foot replica of the transporter effect I'd seen in the new Star Trek movie. Turning on my three suit, I very quietly stepped away from Ed2 and into the living room.
Lori got up to pass her hand through the transporter effect. As soon as her hand cleared it, I made it vanish. She stood eyeing Ed2 for a moment, then asked, "Well? What was the light show about? What now?"
Leaning on the end of the couch, I said, "Now you have to figure out how I got in here, ma'am. Athena, don't tell her."
With a big start and a soft screech, Lori whipped around to stare at me, then looked back at Ed2, who gave her a little wave. Lori reached to grab his arm, then let it go and quick-marched over to me to grab my arm, squeezing it before she yelped, "I can't tell which one of you is real!"
I said, "That would be me."
Lori shot back, "Prove it."
I pointed at Ed2. When Lori looked at him, he gave her a grinning two-fingered salute and vanished.
Turning to me, Lori yelped, "How the hell did you do that?!"
"What are you willing to believe, ma'am?"
"Don't bullshit me, Ed! How'd you do that?!"
"Nope. Ain't gonna tell ya. Save your harsh words, milady. I'm keeping this trick for myself. If you figure it out, I'll tell you if you're right, but no hints."
Her big-eyed gaze turned into an angry glower as she snapped, "Why the hell won't you tell me?!"
Heading to the kitchen to retrieve my coffee, I replied, "Because it's the kind of thing that'll prob'ly make you come up with some truly unusual ways to use fields."
That was true enough, though the real reason was that she didn't need to know about my three suit. Maybe later, but not just now. Lori watched me sip my coffee, then slapped my arm rather firmly and returned to her seat.
I said, "Ow. Y'can't beat the info out of me, y'know."
Glaring, she snapped, "I sure feel like trying right now."

Chapter Fourteen

The sound and swirl of a transporter effect emanated from the area by the sink and Sandy appeared within the column of swirling light. Grinning at us as the effect faded, she said, "I like that. I may use it occasionally."
Lori rolled her eyes and muttered, "Oh, no, not you, too." Thumbing at me, she said, "He wants me to believe he 'transported' himself into the living room."
Giving her an innocent look, I said, "That's what I did."
"Crap."
"I got in there, didn't I?"
"Yes, but you didn't dematerialize yourself to do it."
"You're sure about that, huh?"
With an 'Oh, spare me!' expression, she snapped, "Yes."
I shrugged. "Oh, well, then. Sandy, what's up?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to visit. I've been monitoring your interaction with Lori. I find it interesting."
"Not fascinating? Not scintillating?"
She took a seat at the table and chuckled, "No, just interesting."
"Then it's prob'ly still too soon to think about movie deals."
Somewhat warily, Lori asked, "Exactly what's so interesting about us, Sandy?"
Sandy looked at her, then at me. Looking at Lori again, she said, "You have a very similar effect on each other. It's as if you're sharing some private source of energy."
Lori just stared at her for a moment, then looked at me. I gave her an 'I dunno' expression and asked, "Can you be just a little more specific, Sandy?"
"Both of you have had elevated bios from the moment Lori called you. At first I thought the elevations were evidence of innate caution, but they fluctuate too much with proximities and circumstances."
I shrugged and grinned. "Easy answer, ma'am. She's cute. I know I've mentioned that at least once before."
Sandy replied, "Years of your bios are on record, Ed. Something about Lori stirs you in a manner beyond simply attraction. Your reaction to Lori closely corresponds to your reactions regarding Linda and Selena."
Eyeing her, I repeated, "Linda. Selena, too, huh?"
Nodding, Sandy replied, "Each, to a degree."
Sitting back, I sipped and remarked, "Well, damn."
Lori blinked, then asked, "Linda? As in Linda Baines?"
I said, "Yup. You just can't score any higher than that."
"Who's Selena?"
"An ex-girlfriend. Not love in the 'marry me' sense, but something very close to it. For several years."
"Why is she an 'ex'?"
Sipping again, I said, "At least partly -- at the time -- because I can't have kids. We grew apart after Dana left."
Her left eyebrow went up. "Dana?"
"Our girlfriend of the time. An emotional buffer of sorts for both of us, too. She got a bad case of religion and split." I sighed, "And having told you that, I have to ask you to make me a promise, Lori."
"A promise?"
"Yup. An absolutely solemn promise, one that you'll never break for fear of hurting people other than me."
"Other than you. Okay, I can understand that. What is it?"
"That you'll never discuss my association with Selena with Jessie. Not in any manner, even indirectly through people she may know. Jessie is Selena's aunt. She knows about me, but she's put that time in a box and locked it tight. Okay?"
Lori's mouth fell open as her eyes widened. She looked at Sandy, who nodded. Looking at me again, Lori nodded and said, "Yeah. Okay. Never Jessie. Uh... never anybody."
"Thank you. Selena's mother and Jessie did their absolute best to try to split us up back then. Jessie and I had to put a helluva lot of bad feelings out of the way in a hurry when she came to work for 3rd World Products. We're friends now and I'd very much like to keep her as a friend."
Lori quickly replied, "I got it! Really! No talking about Selena!" She fidgeted for a moment, then got up and retrieved a can of tea from the fridge. Opening it, she sat back down and said, "Damn. You just never know which direction a conversation is going to take, do you?"
I chuckled and Sandy grinned. After a slug of tea, Lori also grinned and gave me a muted 'holy shit!' sort of expression. She sipped again and asked, "Why did you tell me that?"
"If I hadn't, you might have asked someone else about Selena, if only because of what Sandy said about reactions. Who would that someone be, do you think? You're sort of close to Angie, but you actually spend off-duty time with Jessie."
Sipping again, Lori said, "You're right, but I'd like to know how you know that."
"Jessie told me. You flatly amaze her, you know. She also said she was flattered as hell when she realized you'd accepted her as a friend at Carrington." Reaching across the table to touch her hand, I said, "I'm glad you two got together, Lori. Jessie was a little out of her element for a while after she signed on." I shrugged and took my hand back. "Everybody is, I guess. It's like stepping up a century in technology and being expected to function immediately."
Lori sipped again, then nodded. "Yes, it is. There are things at Carrington I never even dreamed of." She sighed, "Speaking of which... I'd probably better dive into learning all I can about Athena's systems as quickly as possible." She chuckled, "That's actually a job for Kate, you know. She'd link into Athena and want to stay in there forever."
Hm. I glanced at Sandy and her left eyebrow went up as she linked to silently ask, "What are you thinking, Ed?"
Sipping to mask my silence, I sent back, "Why not add Kate to the comm list? It's just a matter of linking through a PFM. She might be useful and she's Lori's longtime friend."
"Let's give that more thought, please. Much more thought."
"Limited access. Emergency assistance. Companionship."
"I understand, but I think more consideration is in order. Please don't suggest the idea at this time."
Lori set her can down, said, "I guess I'll get to it," and stood up. "See everybody later."
I asked, "What about dinner, ma'am?"
She checked her watch and seemed surprised. Nodding, she said, "Good idea. Suddenly I'm hungry."
We stood up to leave and Sandy's blue sheath dress morphed into cutoff jeans, sneakers, and a blue blouse styled like Lori's. She had magnificent legs to go with her gorgeous face and figure, and I sort of got hung up on those legs for a moment. Sandy chuckled, breaking the spell, and I looked at her as I asked, "You're coming with us?"
"Unless you'd rather I didn't."
I shrugged. "No objection, ma'am. With you ladies, I'll be the envy of the restaurant."
Lori made a short sigh and an eye-roll as she grabbed her backpack and took her board matrix out of a side pocket as she moved through the living room. Once we were outside, she tossed it and activated it. I called up mine and noted that Sandy hadn't disappeared. She grinned at me and called up a board of her own.
With a nod, I launched us toward the best Chinese buffet in town, wondering what Sandy was up to. All the other AIs had simply popped in or out as necessary. Not one of them had ever joined me at the kitchen table saying she wanted to visit. None of them had ever invited herself along to a dinner and changed into what were almost Daisy Duke shorts.
A strong cross wind hit us halfway to the restaurant. I swerved a bit to compensate, Lori wobbled hard as she swerved widely, and Sandy just cruised ahead of us like a ship's figurehead, altogether unaffected by the wind.
I'll take a moment to reiterate here; Sandy looked absolutely magnificent. She'd used Stephanie's body design and it was all I could do to wrench my eyeballs off her to watch where I was going. As we trailed along in the disturbed air of Sandy's wake, I realized my interest in her hadn't been nearly as strong when she'd been in the kitchen in her close-fitting blue midi-dress.
Lori swore softly and caught her balance as she shifted her pack. I noted her irritation and asked, "You okay over there?"
She replied tersely, "Oh, I'm fine! Just fine! But I'm a little surprised you even managed to remember I was here."
Huh? She sounded a bit pissed. Had I been eyeballing Sandy that hard? The words 'in her wake' came back to mind.
Linking to Sandy, I asked, "Are you playing with pheromones again, ma'am?"
Pretending great startlement, she looked herself over, grinned back at me, and sent, "Oops. I must have been leaking a little. Thanks for letting me know."
"Uh, huh. Why were you leaking, ma'am?"
Facing front again, she chuckled, "I'm still new at all this, you know."
"Is that also why you're flashing your legs at me?"
"Would you rather I wore jeans?"
"Truthfully, no. Hell, no, in fact. But it might help me cope a little better and I'm sure Lori would feel more comfortable."
Her shorts extended down her legs to become form-fitting jeans. "Better?"
I almost laughed, "Well, no, not really," but instead said, "Thank you."
Lori noted the change and glanced at me, then linked to ask, "Did you tell her to change?"
As we angled down and landed at the restaurant, I replied, "No, I asked her to change."
"Why? You certainly seemed to be enjoying the show."
"I was enjoying it too much, ma'am. I needed to create some room in my mind for something other than her legs. By the way, you seem to have become fairly comfortable with using links."
I got the doors for us as she said, "I wouldn't call it 'comfortable', but they do save us having to yell when we're on the boards, don't they?"
"Yes'm, that they do."
Two people coming out of the restaurant had seen us land. The man stared at Sandy. The woman stared at Lori and me. I gave them a little smile as we eased past them. When the hostess greeted us and led us to a table, they were still staring at us from the doorway.
At one time or another, I've tried just about all the non-seafood offerings in Chinese restaurants. After all the taste testing, I settled on won-ton soup, an egg roll, brown rice with lots of chives, various veggies, and pepper steak. It took me no time at all to load two plates and a bowl, add a dollop of hot mustard, and head back to the table.
Sandy sat conversing with our young waitress in Chinese. I had Athena patch a translation to me and heard what seemed like an abbreviated version of the girl's life, her journey to the US as a student's wife, her hubby's death, her small child, and her efforts to stay in the US rather than return to burden her family in Taiwan.
Looking her up and down once, I noted the worn elbows of her uniform blouse and the lightly fraying hems of her skirt and pockets. She smiled and chatted, but she looked damned tired under close study. A typical working single mom.
Getting up as if I'd forgotten something, I wandered to the salad bar, pulled a hundred out of my money clip and put it in my shirt pocket, put some spinach leaves on a plate with some vinegar and oil dressing, and then returned to the table as Lori sat down next to Sandy.
Apparently Lori had been hungry. She made short work of the stuff on her plate and finished when I was only halfway through my meal. Studying the buffets, she drummed her fingers as she seemed to come to a decision, then got up and returned with another half-plate of food.
The waitress checked our table at least six times during the meal, making sure our drinks stayed full and asking, "All is good?" She made each visit an opportunity to spend a few moments chatting in Chinese with Sandy.
The first time Lori heard Sandy speak Chinese, she waited until the waitress left and asked, "Where'd you learn Chinese?"
Sandy replied, "All Earth languages are available to me."
I said, "Our waitress thought she was a teacher."
"Why?"
"No slang. Precision. Even the Chinese aren't that precise."
Setting her fork down and sitting back, Lori chuckled, "You're telling me you speak Chinese, too?"
"No, but I can ask directions in nine languages. That isn't how I knew. I had Athena translate for me."
With a wry glance at Sandy, Lori said, "Of course. I should have known."
Sandy gave her a raised eyebrow and grinningly replied, "Yes, you should have."
Lori gave her a mock desultory look and returned her attention to her food. Not long after we'd finished eating, the waitress visited us again and asked, "All good? More drink?"
I said, "No, I think we're finished. Got the check?"
She produced it, I paid it, and she returned shortly with my change. As she again chatted with Sandy, I palmed the hundred from my shirt pocket and set it on her order pad.
She tried to hand it back. "Too much! Not mine!"
Stopping her gesture with an open palm, I said firmly, "It's all I can do for you, ma'am. Take a day off. Sleep in. Take your kid to a beach. Eat in some other restaurant. Just do something fun with it, okay?"
She looked at Sandy and Sandy spoke in Chinese. The waitress looked at me as if she might start crying, intently whispered, "Thank you! Thank you!" with a slight, bobbing bow, and then hurried away toward the bathrooms.
Lori eyed me as she finished her drink, then asked, "Was that your way of showing off?"
"Nope. Did you look her over? Check out her uniform?"
With a wry smirk, Lori said, "No, but I'll bet you looked her over. What about her uniform?"
"Her hair and makeup were neatly done and her sneakers were almost new. Ten buck sneaks from Wal-Mart. No earrings or rings on her fingers. A tiny gold pendant on a mismatched chain. Her uniform was frayed at the edges. Thinning elbows. Her name was stitched, not a pin-on tag, so she probably has to buy her uniforms or at least pay half. She told Sandy she has a three-year-old boy, her husband died when the kid was one, and she shares a small apartment with one of the evening waitresses. They take turns watching their kids."
As I stood up, Lori asked, "How'd her husband die?" and also stood up.
Sandy stood up and replied, "She didn't say," as we headed for the doors. The woman at the front register smiled and said, "Thank you! Come back sometime!" as we passed. She didn't seem to know about the hundred. Just as well. Some places make the ladies share tips.
Lori put a hand on my arm to stop me once we were outside. She met my gaze for a moment, then said, "Sorry. After the way you stared at Sandy, I just thought you'd checked out the waitress the same way."
I replied, "I'm hurt, ma'am. Crushed, in fact. Probably even offended, too."
"Sure you are. I'm being serious, dammit."
"Oh. Well, stop that, please. I don't do 'serious' very well."
"Yeah, I can see that."
Lori tossed her board matrix and stepped onto her board when it appeared. I called my board up and Sandy's board popped into being beneath her.
As we lifted away from the restaurant, I said, "Hey, Lori. Maybe I should try that Supergirl idea on Sandy. She wouldn't even have to dye her hair."
"No, but she would need permission to wear the uniform."
"They'd get one look at her and beg her to wear it."
Sandy asked, "Would it interest you to know what I think of your suggestion?"
"Sure, ma'am."
She morphed back into her blue sheath dress and said, "This is my preferred appearance. At my own discretion, I may occasionally dress differently."
Looking at Lori, I said, "Woo! It's getting kinda stuffy up here all of a sudden!"
Lori barked a laugh and swooped behind me to fly to the other side of Sandy.
"Sorry," she chuckled, "I agree with her."
When we got back to the house, Lori went to her room to commune with Athena without distractions. Sandy headed for the back porch and I followed to see what had caught her interest. She took a seat at the plastic picnic table and gestured at the other chair. Okay. I plunked myself into it.
Sipping coffee, I asked, "A question, Sandy... Why the pheromones and the leg show today?"
She smiled and draped an arm over the back of her chair, then said, "I was experimenting. My new blend of pheromones aroused you and irritated Lori. The ones I used before wouldn't have had much -- if any -- effect on her."
"And the shorts? What were they about?"
"They augmented Lori's irritation. She appeared to feel somewhat possessive of you."
I waited, but she stopped talking. "Sandy, you're doling info out in tiny bits, which irritates me."
With a small smile, Sandy said, "Lori's bios elevate when she looks at you."
"Not surprising, ma'am. When I found her, I gave her some quick training and advice to help her contend with Jonel and 3rd World. I also found and removed a poison pill. She's likely to feel something for me, but probably not what you seem to think. My dalliance with her roommate Kate didn't seem to bother her at all."
"That was a year ago -- when she barely knew you -- and Kate was her friend. I think Lori's view of you has changed considerably, but I also think she's reluctant to try to pursue her inclinations with someone she considers a mentor."
Sipping coffee again, I replied, "I'm skeptical, ma'am."
"I can see that. Why?"
"Because you're fairly perceptive, of course."
She gave me a droll expression. "Why are you skeptical?"
"Because I'm sixty and she's... what? Twenty-five? Because she's shown absolutely no sign of interest that was readily apparent to me. You can see any level of attraction you want, but if I don't see it, I won't move in that direction."
Grinning, Sandy said, "Such a gentleman. Okay. Be skeptical, but try not to be too surprised if she's the one who 'moves in that direction'."
With that, she vanished. I remained at the table for a while, thinking about what she'd said as I checked email and messages. I still couldn't see Sandy's supposition; Lori hadn't said or done anything even vaguely overt enough to make me think she had any lustful interest in me.
Except for kitchen and bathroom visits, Lori spent the rest of Saturday evening in her room. I knew what she was feeling; my first explorations of a computer core had fascinated me beyond anything I'd ever encountered.

Chapter Fifteen

Sunday began unremarkably. I woke around nine, sat up and guzzled some overnight coffee, and listened. Except for soft snoring from Lori's room, the house was quiet. I took another sip of cold coffee, put on my clothes, and headed for the bathroom. As I brushed my teeth, I heard Lori's door open. A few seconds later, two taps sounded on the bathroom door and Lori said, "Next!"
I took that as a hint and opened the door to say, "You can have it now if you need it. My teeth can wait a minute or two."
Lori looked as if she might automatically refuse, then changed her mind and padded past me as she said, "Thanks."
She was out shortly. I finished primping, then turned the bathroom over to her and headed for the kitchen to put on some coffee, but found she'd beaten me to it; the drip basket already starting to dribble coffee into the pot. I made a mug of instant coffee and took a seat at the kitchen table.
Calling up a screen for convenience, I checked email and messages, feeding my replies through Athena rather than typing on one of those damned non-tactile, field-generated 'keyboards'. It occurred to me that I could probably fix that little problem with a word to Athena, but it also occurred to me that I already spent too much time on my real keyboard, so I left things as they were.
Lori came in and stopped behind me as one of my replies appeared on the screen. She stood watching as I used a finger to highlight a line and edited my reply, then dragged my sig lines into the message and sent it.
After a muttered, "Huh," Lori retrieved her mug from the counter, rinsed it, and stood waiting by the still-dribbling pot. I sent a tendril to form a slender tube from the pot to her mug, then made the tube squeeze itself from the bottom up. The motion drew coffee up the tube and into her mug.
Lori chuckled, "Such service. I could do that, too, so I must not be awake yet."
"Anything for such a gorgeous guest, ma'am."
Peering at her reflection in the black glass of the oven above the stove, she shook her head and sighed, "I'm not seeing your 'gorgeous guest'. I'm seeing 'she looks like she just woke up'."
As she sat down, I said, "It's a matter of perspective, ma'am. You sort of remind me of Sandra Bullock, which is a damned fine thing in my opinion. It also means you look damned good to me at all times."
Her eyebrows lifted, but she said, "Sandra Bullock. I've heard that before a few times."
"They were right. But as I said, only 'sort of'. You aren't quite as angular in the face."
She seemed to chew on that for a while as she sipped coffee and watched me process messages. I got up and stretched, then refilled my mug. Lori watched me use another tube to pour the coffee through the drinking hole in my mug's lid.
"Wouldn't it be faster to take the lid off?"
"Too messy. Coffee can get trapped under the lip and dribble out when you drink. Got any plans for the day?"
Lori gave me a 'you gotta be kidding' expression. "Just more of the same. I spent last night studying Athena's core and barely even scratched the surface."
I shrugged. "You wouldn't get much farther than that by tonight, either. Let's go find some breakfast."
Sipping coffee, she nodded. "I can be ready in fifteen."
She was ready in ten. We called up our boards and headed for the Cracked Egg restaurant, where we waited aloft until we could land unobserved beside the building. When I asked if they could fix me a chopped steak with veggies, the waitress said, "No problem, sir."
Lori gave me a highbrow and asked, "Is that your usual breakfast?"
"When I don't just open a can of soup, yeah. Let's talk about you, Lori. What are your plans for the future? You gonna stay with 3rd World? Make a career in it?"
Giving me a rather stark stare, she said, "I think I'd like to know why you asked me that before I answer it."
Sipping my coffee, I said, "I think you'll need 3rd World's cover for a while before you make any changes. You already know what I went through with the feds and you probably know what made Jessie sign up."
Sipping her own coffee, Lori said, "Yes, I do, but you seem to have made a clean break."
"Clean? Who conned you into calling me and who did I call the minute we got that capsule out of your head? If something came up and Angie or Wallace asked me to help out, do you think I'd refuse?"
"But you aren't on the active payroll anymore. You aren't accepting assignments anymore."
I grinned. "I accepted you, didn't I?"
Setting her cup down with an exasperated expression, Lori said, "You know what I mean, Ed. You don't check in every day and they don't automatically include you in their plans."
"True. Okay. So what's your point, ma'am?"
"Why couldn't I do the same?"
"Would you really want to?"
Lori shrugged. "Not just now, but maybe later." She paused, then said, "I thought I'd learn... well... so much from them. From you, too, but you left. And now... well... they don't seem to have all that much to offer beyond a paycheck."
"You've only been with them for about a year and you aren't out of college yet. Which they're paying for, don't forget. If I were in your shoes, it wouldn't matter a damn to me if they had me waxing floors between field tests and such. If they hadn't coughed up some kind of real job by the time I finished college, then I'd push the matter."
She gave me one of those 'not quite what I wanted to hear' looks and I shrugged as I sipped.
"Lori, I lost a year of school to illness and quit in the tenth grade. I'd already passed the ACTs to get into college and barfed up a sizeable sum of money to sign up at University of Texas, but the draft board needed bodies and called me a 'high school dropout'. I fought it, but my 18th birthday was looming and a waiver didn't look likely, so I volunteered for the draft to get a choice of jobs. The damned draft waiver was approved, but not until I was already into Army training."
I chuckled, "That was my very first experience with political bureaucracy and the main reason I've never had any tolerance whatsoever for that sort of crap."
Sipping again, I said, "No company can be trusted to guarantee a retirement anymore. That may be arguable regarding a very few companies, but it's generally true. This means -- to me -- that you'll have about twenty or thirty years to pile up stocks and bonds to pay for your post-employment years. Given what happened to the economy about the time Obama took office and what I expect to see happen to the value of US currency, I'd want it to be a damned big pile."
Sipping again, I had Athena set a grey privacy field over Lori's PFM and said, "That's so we can talk for a while without extra ears. It will filter out our voices. Now... how much would you charge for... say... rescue work?"
Lori blinked at me. "Charge for rescue work?!"
"Do firefighters, cops, or paramedics work for free? If you put yourself on tap, shouldn't you be paid too?"
"You help the county here. Do you charge them?"
"If I needed the money, you bet I would. Definitely."
Sitting back, she said, "I guess that would be okay. I'd be helping people, too." Sipping her drink, she added, "At least until someone sued me for helping. That happens, you know. Ed, I've seen references that linked you and your previous flitter to treasure hunting. Did you find anything?"
"Yup. That's how Steph got her startup capital."
"Do you still do that?"
"Nope. In fact, I never did play a big role in that. I mostly just stayed out of her way and watched while she did all the searching and heavy lifting."
"Does Stephanie still look for treasure?"
"Doubtful. Her PFM business would be worth infinitely more than whatever treasure's still down there."
After a pause, Lori said, "Remote probes could hunt for gold and diamonds on land."
"Yeah, but all the available land legally belongs to people, companies, or governments who might not give permission to prospect. Or they'd want a big cut of any find. And then there'd be income tax. That's one of the reasons the AIs won't search on government land."
She chuckled, "Would that stop you, though?"
"Yeah. More potential trouble than it's worth. I'd prob'ly stick with underwater stuff." With a shrug, I said, "And even that's not trouble-free. Spain made a claim on stuff a salvage group found and they'll prob'ly be in court for decades."
Lori grinned. "Word got out. I'd keep my mouth shut and melt down anything that might be traceable to a ship."
"That would mean re-refining gold and silver. That's easy enough to do; just toss in some other flavorings and mix it up. I don't really know if the AIs still bother with treasure hunting, Lori. Guess I could ask."
Our food arrived and I dug in. Lori looked thoughtful as she sliced her eggs, then said, "Yes. Ask about that, please. I think I may be interested."
Heh. 'I think I may be interested'. Right.
"Okay. Steph, can you spare a minute?"
She popped into being at our table, startling the hell out of Lori and one of the waitresses. After a glance at my PFM cover, she said, "I've adjusted your field to block my voice, as well. Hello, Lori. Yes, Ed?"
Meeting her gaze, I said, "The years have been very kind to you, ma'am. You're as gorgeous as ever."
Giving Lori one of those 'I've heard this stuff before' looks, she nonetheless graciously replied, "Thank you."
"Lori would like to know if you or the other AIs still hunt the oceans and rivers for treasure."
"No, we don't. May I presume you're asking because Lori wants to try it?"
"Yup."
She looked at Lori and said, "No problem."
Lori hesitantly -- and with a small grin -- asked, "Um... Do you think you left anything for anyone else to find?"
Steph chuckled, "Oh, I'm sure we did." Looking at me, she asked, "Was there anything else?"
I shook my head. "No, but it sure is nice to see you. Can you stick around a while?"
Her eyes flicked to Lori, then she said, "I think I'd better get back to work."
Because she'd glanced at Lori, so did I. Lori wore an odd, slightly insecure expression that vanished instantly as her eyes met mine. I said, "Well, goodbye, then, milady. And thanks."
Lori said, "Uh, yes. Thanks, Stephanie."
Steph smiled and vanished. I said, "Well, there you are, Lori. When do you want to start looking?"
Nibbling her lower lip, Lori replied, "I don't know. Later, I guess. I just wanted to avoid stepping on any toes."
She abruptly began cutting her food again, then started eating. I speared some veggies and munched them as I reviewed the last thirty seconds of our conversation. There'd definitely been something odd in Lori's eyes and expression. I doubted it had been due to worries about undersea exploration or meeting Steph, but I just didn't seem prepared to think it had anything to do with me.
That also seemed odd to me. Had something about turning sixty made me see myself differently? Pretending to see something on my knife's blade, I rubbed the area with my thumb and held it up for a look at my reflection. Hm. No obvious changes since fifty-nine. With a mental shrug, I used the knife on my chopped steak and continued eating.
The waitress tentatively approached our table, staring rather starkly at Steph's empty seat.
I chewed and swallowed, then said, "Yes, ma'am, she did just up and disappear. She's like that sometimes."
Lori snickered and grinned around a mouthful of bacon. The waitress eyed me the way she'd been eyeing the chair, then asked, "Uh... How'd she do that?"
"Damned good question. Let us know if you figure it out."
"You don't know?"
Noddingly indicating Lori, I replied, "We walked in here, ma'am. We'll be walking out, too. Mind if we finish eating?"
Giving us a wary stare, the waitress shook her head in silence and backed away from the table a few steps, glanced at the woman behind the register, and walked over there. They held a whispered conversation as Lori and I cleaned our plates.
Lori said quietly, "I'd never have thought to answer her that way. I can see I need to spend more time with you."
Sipping coffee, I said, "Suits me. I like your company."
Looking up, she asked, "You really mean that?"
"Hell, yes, I mean that. You're beauty and brains and a good personality, Lori. What's not to like?"
She met my gaze for a moment as if searching for truth, then nodded. "Thanks. I don't hear things like that very often."
"At 3rd World I could understand that. They'd be afraid of having to go to sexual harassment counseling. But what about guys at school? Don't they follow you around like puppies?"
With a snicker, she shook her head. "No." She sighed, "I've met a few guys who might..." Pausing, she said, "But they don't stick around long." She laughed, "In fact, that's one of the first things I looked up when you let me into Athena. I tried to find out if 3rd World was doing anything that would keep me... isolated, I guess you could say."
"And?"
She shook her head again. "I couldn't find anything about it. Maybe Athena couldn't reach the right records."
"Maybe it isn't 3rd World driving your potential boyfriends away. Let's hit the road and do some research."
As we left the restaurant, Lori asked, "Why didn't more people in there say anything about Stephanie?"
"Some thought they'd just missed her arrival. Some wouldn't want to believe they'd actually seen her appear out of thin air. Some would be afraid of being thought crazy." I shrugged. "Or just afraid in general."
We called up our boards as she asked, "Afraid of what?"
Turning off the PFM cover and pointing at it to be sure Lori knew, I sent her a link and said, "Afraid of strange things. They're the ones who freeze and stare and hope they aren't noticed. Or hide. How did you begin your search?"
"My search?"
"About 3rd World maybe keeping you isolated."
"Oh. Well, I tried looking for any records of people keeping me under surveillance at school. They are, but they're just using probes, as far as I could tell. I expected that much."
Linking to Athena, I included Lori and said, "Give Athena the guys' names. Let's see what the feds have been up to lately."
She gave Athena two names. Both showed up in brief, sketchy NIA reports. Since 'brief' and 'sketchy' aren't what I expect from the NIA, I fished a little deeper and found the author of the reports was a student named Mary Luong. Hm. Oriental? Nope. Her info showed us a short blonde woman taking sociology classes. Very cute, but with an intent, rather piercing sort of gaze. Her info also said she'd been captain or co-captain of half a dozen school teams, from gymnastics to basketball and field hockey. Figures. One of those 'driven' people. It also showed she'd applied for positions at the FBI, CIA, and NIA. The NIA had put her to work immediately.
In one report, Mary had engineered an encounter with a guy interested in Lori, pretended great surprise that Lori was back from rehab so soon, and said that Lori was being investigated by 'some federal agency'.
"Well," I said, "At least she didn't say you had Herpes."
Lori said quietly, "When I'm through with her..."
I interrupted, "Nope. Now you know this devil. Mess her up and they'll send in a devil you don't know. In fact, that may be exactly what they have in mind."
"What?"
"Consider; after a while a guy shows up who is so taken with you he can ignore all the crap and tells you Mary's spreading shit about you. Instant connection, isolation ends. Maybe you'd even have it out with Mary, who'd switch schools or drop out in a dramatic fashion. She already has a degree in sociology, so those classes are just an easy cover."
Through our link, I could feel Lori staring at me. When I switched my attention to the physical world and looked at her, she was maybe a yard away and looked hurt and pissed off. I pointed down and said, "The tangerine grove." She nodded and followed me down.
Picking a tangerine, I ripped away a strip of peel around it and gave Lori half, then sat on my board. She sat on hers. I pretended to scratch my arm. Lori nodded and said, "It's itching again, dammit. I'm on my board, so PFM detach."
Once her PFM was in her pocket, I said aloud, "You're hard to reach. That's a plus for them because it means having to fend off fewer wannabe college studs. They'd try a few of their own choices on you until one seemed to appeal to you. He'd be the one to tell you about Mary's bullshit. Some time after that, an old friend of his would unexpectedly show up. There'd be a happy reunion and you'd turn into the three musketeers for a while, going everywhere and doing everything together."
As I stopped to munch some tangerine, Lori just stared at me and asked, "And then what?"
"It would just be a different form of surveillance and isolation until 3rd World rousted them."
"Rousted them?"
"Yup. 3rd knows this game, too, and they wouldn't let it go very far once they spotted it."
Re-linking to Athena, I said, "In fact..." as I ran Mary's name through 3rd World's records. Bingo. Fielding up the data, I said, "They've known about her for three months."
Lori's expression became one of rage as she studied the data. She may not have been aware that she stood up and I doubt she realized her left hand squeezed her tangerine to a pulp between her fingers.
She bellowed, "They've been letting this happen to me?!"
"They've been letting the NIA be the bad guys."
Rounding on me, she bellowed, "What?!" realized what she was holding, and heaved the mashed fruit at a tree.
Condensing some water from the atmosphere into a field bowl in front of her, I said, "Lori, 3rd World let the NIA handle your isolation because the NIA already knows you can do field stuff. It was less confrontational than simply telling the NIA to get lost. If the NIA hadn't set Mary on you, 3rd World would have had to send in someone of their own. The methods might have been slightly different, but the aim and results would have been the same; isolation from people who don't know about your field talent."
Rinsing her hands, Lori snapped, "That doesn't make any damned sense, Ed! Nina and Kate don't know, but I haven't been isolated from them!"
"Nina's not going to say or do anything to jeopardize her deal with the Army. Kate will be hired by 3rd World soon. If she found out, she'd be hired a little sooner, sworn to secrecy, and you'd be in deep shit for having told her. I'll bet there's a clause somewhere in your contract that deals with info leaks."
She angrily met my gaze. "Yes, there is. If I went public, all 3rd World financial support could stop. But since they don't want to lose me, that doesn't really make much sense either, does it?"
"Not to me, but someone must have thought it would be useful. Would you have to return the PFM?"
"Yes. And that's something else that doesn't make sense if they want to keep an eye on me."
"They'd use probes. Without that PFM, you'd be a free-range target for intel recruiters and nutcases who fear Amarans. I know how that sounds, but what else could they really do to keep you in the fold?"
Handing her a bit of my tangerine, I added, "Now do you see why Angie let you visit me?"
Looking exasperated, Lori snapped, "Yeah. Well, maybe. Explain it, just in case I don't, okay?"
"Later. Right now you're so pissed you can't see straight or you'd be able to tell me all about it."
Erosion and grove maintenance had exposed a yard-wide lump of Florida's amalgamated rock at the edge of the pond. Lori half-grunted, half-yelled her frustration as she stood up on her board and sent a blast that blew the rock lump to smithereens across the water.
I watched the hundreds of tiny splashes and took a sip of coffee, then looked at Lori. She seemed truly shocked at what she'd done, then her shock turned to fascination as she examined the remains of the rock.
When she looked back at me and yelped, "Did you see that?!" I said, "Yup, but pound it down some more. We don't want a lawnmower to hit what's left of it."

Chapter Sixteen

Lori gave me a droll expression, then formed a small field ball that rose and fell against the rock, slamming off bits that flew like shrapnel. The soft stuff of the rock seemed to compact until it crumbled. Lori stopped after a few moments and waved for me to join her. I did so.
"This is taking way too long," she said, "Show me how you made that big rock fall apart."
I set up a shatter field and Lori tuned in on it until she had a field going that more or less matched it.
"Okay," she said, "I think I've got it."
"Good 'nuff."
I let my field dissipate and watched her sweep hers slowly across the rock. A swath about six inches wide turned to dusty rubble and slumped away. Lori grinned as she continued her efforts. Soon the face of the rock was well below the topsoil.
Lori turned off her field, sighed once, and said, "All of a sudden I really don't want to go back."
"Another year and you'll graduate."
She sighed, "I know. I was just saying how I feel." Turning to face me, she asked, "What can I do, Ed?"
"About the surveillance crap? Not much. You're too special, Lori. But 3rd World is the lesser evil. Let things stand, say nothing for now, and learn to use your core while you get your degree. As I see it, there'll come a day when you won't need any agency to cover you against the others. In the meantime, use the cover, take the money, and think ahead."
She borrowed my mug for a sip, then said, "It just occurred to me... There's only one way you could know so much about what they've been doing."
"What do you want to hear, ma'am?"
Handing the mug back and meeting my gaze, she said, "Just tell me you aren't playing some kind of a goddamned game with me, too."
"Could you really believe that at this very moment?"
"I... I don't know. I think so."
"Then consider it said. Elkor?"
He appeared in his cat outfit, sitting a few feet away from us, and answered, "Yes, Ed?"
"I think this would be a good time to introduce Lori to her new core. What do you think?"
"I have no objection."
Looking at Lori, I asked, "Well, then... are you ready?"
She gave me an 'are you crazy?!' expression and yelped, "Of course I'm ready! My God! I can't believe this is happening!"
Elkor said to me, "I've placed the core near yours," then turned to Lori and said, "You will see a representation of it."
A yard-wide shining sphere appeared between us, hovering two feet above the ground. Elkor said, "Touch it, Lori."
Lori extended a trembling hand and placed the tips of her fingers on the sphere. Almost as if we had an active link, I felt her shock as she made mental contact with her core. Lori's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. The sphere vanished, but she saw only whatever was flowing through her mind.
Her arm fell to her side and she swallowed hard before she said very softly, "Oh, Elkor... this is... this is wonderful! Thank you so much!"
"You're very welcome, Lori. I've marked certain information as vital. Please study that information first and learn it well."
She promised she would and thanked him again.
Elkor said to me, "There are no special caveats. Lori received a standard flitter core. Enhancements may be available later."
I nodded. "Sounds fine, Elkor. Thanks."
"You're welcome, Ed."
With that, he vanished. Lori didn't notice at first, but when she did, she seemed to collect herself, then asked, "Why did he leave?"
"He has other things to do, y'know."
"What things?"
I shrugged. "You'd have to ask him about that. Got a name for your core yet?"
"No, of course not. Ed, this is almost scary!"
"Scary?"
"Having this much power! And knowledge! My God, is there anything that isn't in there?!"
"Yeah, probably. I find odd little gaps now and then. See if you can conjure up a flitter, ma'am."
Her rather sour expression at my 'gaps' comment morphed into a big grin and a standard six-seat flitter popped into being near us. I made my two-seater appear and picked another tangerine. Lori's flitter changed to match mine, then changed again to become a single-seat model. After a moment, it changed back to a two-seater.
She said, "I like this design better, I think. It just looks right, somehow."
"Good 'nuff, then. I suggest you keep your 3rd World PFM for now."
"Keep it?"
"Yeah, even if you add to it."
"Add to it?"
"Wardrobe stuff, for instance. You've seen my extra suits."
"Oh. Yeah." Her expression brightened with realization and bounced like a cheerleader as she blurted, "Oh, my God! This thing can make a PFM, too?!"
"Yup. But if you showed up with a new PFM, you'd have to explain it, and the AIs won't lie about where you got it."
"Yeah, but still..! It can make-a-PFM!"
"You also don't want to start handing them out to friends. They're still illegal without special approvals."
Giving me a very exasperated look and a sigh, Lori said, "I know that, dammit! Are you determined to be a wet blanket? Can't you just share this moment with me?"
I grinned at her and said, "Oh, trust me, ma'am; I'm sharing. I remember what it was like when Elkor presented me with my flitter. If you'd been there, you'd have probably seen me bouncing up and down, too."
Maybe Lori had a mental vision of such an event. She let out a sudden horselaugh, then shook her head. "No, I don't think so, Ed. You may have felt like I do, but I'll bet you didn't bounce." Laughing again, she slid her board close to mine and threw her arms around me for a long hug, then kept a grip on my hands as she backed off a bit and just looked at me.
After a moment, she seemed to realize she was nibbling her lower lip and stopped. Her gaze met mine for a time before she said, "I wish..." and didn't finish the thought aloud.
I prompted her with, "You wish? For what?"
She shook her head. "No. It wouldn't be right." She nibbled her lip again and said softly, "It wouldn't feel right, Ed."
"Then give whatever it is some more thought. With private matters that can't hurt anyone else, 'right' is whatever you say it is. Were you tentatively considering an affair with me?"
In that same soft tone, she replied, "Yes, but..." and again left her thoughts unspoken.
Pulling her a bit closer, I said, "Then keep considering it, please. As long as it's a celebration of... well, things as they are... and not of some kind of perceived trade or payback, it's fine with me." With a grin, I said, "In fact, it would be much better than fine. It would be an absolute honor and a most wondrous sort of privilege to lick you silly, milady."
Lori had blushed slightly with her admission, but now she startled visibly, turned rather red, and looked as if I'd goosed her. Which I had. Sort of. Her mind's eye would have conjured a vision to go with my words. Maybe it had conjured a bit more than a vision, judging from her reaction.
I asked, "What's the matter, ma'am? Was I a little too obvious about my level of interest?"
She blurted a laugh and yelped, "Obvious?! Yeah, you could call it that! Or maybe even 'blatant'!"
Shrugging, I said, "Well, then, there's no confusion. Can't have a goddess like you wandering around all confused."
Rolling her eyes, Lori asked, "You're serious, aren't you?!"
Deciding against reminding her she'd already admitted to an interest in the idea, I said, "Hell, yes, I'm serious. Take note, ma'am; there's always someone who'd be happy to make you prove anything you say, so I try never to say anything I wouldn't want to prove."
She gave me a fisheye and started to say something, but at that moment several loud grunts and a screaming squeal sounded from our right and one of Florida's fabled feral hogs blasted out of the undergrowth at us. The brown and black hog looked damned near as big as my motorcycle as it charged.
I sent it a stun and it tumbled to a halt less than six feet from us, panting from exertion. Its legs trembled and froth dribbled from its snout. Lori had grabbed my left arm and I could feel her trembling in her grip.
She said, "It... it looks like it might have rabies."
"Doubtful. They just go berserk all on their own."
Linking to Athena, I asked her if the hog had rabies. Her probe appeared above the hog, dove through its body and reappeared, and she said, "No, Ed."
"Thanks, ma'am."
Disengaging Lori's grip, I stepped down to examine the bristly critter's face. Pointing at its long, curved tusks, I said, "These things never stop growing. I've seen 'em curled in complete circles and they're sharp as knives."
"That isn't a regular pig, is it?"
"Nope. They've been importing Eurasian wild boars as game animals since back in the 1800's. They also breed them to plain ol' pigs to create hybrids like this one."
"How do you tell the difference?"
Ruffling the hog's fur to show Lori, I said, "Eurasian boars usually have dark roots and lighter fur farther out. They also have longer snouts, broader heads, and stand taller in the shoulders than the butt. This guy's a blend."
"Alligators. Wild pigs. Tell me again why you stay here?"
I shrugged. "Tangerines in January, ma'am."
"Oh. Right. Wait a minute. It's June, not January."
"There are tangerines all year if you know where to look."
She chuckled, "And all you have to do is get past the wild pigs and alligators. You must really like tangerines."
Grinning, I nodded. "Yup. Sure do. And pomegranates, but you don't see many of those here outside a store."
Lori blurted, "Pomegranates?! Really?! I love pomegranates! Where can we get some?"
"California. Arizona. Florida's too damp. But if they were in season, they'd be in the stores."
She stared at me in surprise. "Arizona? You're sure?"
"Yup."
The hog started to wake up. I hopped back on my board and lifted ten feet.
Lori lifted next to me and asked, "Why so high?"
"They can surprise you. I saw one jump for an apple once."
But this one didn't. He shook himself awake as he quickly got to his feet and gruntingly spun around a few times, apparently looking for a target. Lori giggled and he looked up, then he went ballistic again, rearing up to try to get us. I slid over to a tree and tossed some tangerines on the ground. The raging hog trampled a few before he managed to snap his face shut on one as it fell. He wolfed it down, but ignored the others and continued to try to reach me.
Grabbing a few more tangerines for myself and suspending them in a field at the front of my board, I returned to Lori. The berserk hog trotted and pranced below me, lunging upward every now and then. One lunge took him ass-deep into the pond, but he seemed not to notice. He scrambled ashore and his screaming lunges continued.
Lori asked, "Why not just stun him again?"
I pointed past her at the pond and she looked puzzled for a moment before she spotted the gator lurking in the water.
"Oh."
"Wait here. If he'll follow me, I'll lead him into the trees and stun him there."
But no, the perverse critter apparently preferred lunging up at the unmoving target, Lori. She followed me toward the trees and the hog followed her. A hundred yards or so into the trees, I zapped the hog. Lori eyed it for a moment, then shook her head as if pitying it and asked, "What now?"
I thumbed back toward the pond. "Now we leave. If we're here when it wakes up, it'll just go nuts again."
The gator had come ashore where the hog had thrashed. The damned thing had to be at least a ten-footer. Could gators track game on land? Probably. I zapped it on general principles as we flew over the pond, then arced upward for a look at the area and set a line-of-sight course for Spring Hill.
Lori soared up to station herself on my left and sent a ping with my name. I answered with a link and, "Yes, milady?" and she asked, "Did I do that right?"
"Yup. A ping with a name is fine."
There was a pause, then she asked, "Are you upset about something?"
Huh? I looked at her and replied, "No, we're just heading back to the house."
"Why?"
"Why not? Would you rather go somewhere else?"
Glancing around, she sent, "Well, no, I guess not. I don't really know where else there is to go around here."
"Check with your core. This area isn't really much of a tourist mecca, but there's Weeki Wachee and..."
She interrupted tersely with, "No, I don't really want to go anywhere else, Ed. It just seems odd to me that we were talking about... about us... before... and now we aren't."
I stopped my board and she circled left, returning to face me in silence from about three feet.
"Lori, I've already told you how I feel about it. I'd be pleased and honored. How could I say it any better?"
Her mouth opened, then it closed and her silence continued. With a shrug and a grin, I said, "Now it's up to you, milady. Overcome your trepidations if you can, but do it fairly soon. Monday morning comes early."
A short, bright streak in the sky above her caught my attention. Lori asked, "What?" and turned to look as I said, "A meteorite. Just one, so far."
We watched for a few moments as I had a minor flash of inspiration. I called up a screen for some quick research on meteorites. Reading from the screen, I said, "Pallasites are stony-iron meteorites containing olivine and..."
Lori asked, "What's olivine?"
Putting the current screen on hold, I said, "One moment, please..." and called up another one to look up olivine.
"Wikipedia says it's a gemstone, ma'am. A type of peridot. No, that's backwards. Peridot is a type of olivine. Oh, well; both names show the same pic of a light green crystal."
She scooted closer and looked at the screen. I turned it over to her and continued reading aloud, "Prime diogenite specimens may bring fifty dollars a gram. Martian and lunar meteorites have sold for more than a thousand dollars per gram." Looking at Lori I added, "There are about thirty-one grams in a troy ounce."
Lori glanced up from her screen and said, "You're thinking about going hunting for meteorites, aren't you?"
"Yup. Well, sort of. I was actually thinking you might want to take a shot at it."
She turned her screen around and I saw an article titled 'Meteor-Rights and Meteor-Wrongs'. There was a picture chart with explanations of things people had incorrectly thought to be meteorites.
I shrugged. "So? Our cores can identify them in the field. Labs can verify them later. We could even haul somebody knowledgeable along to certify the finds on the site."
"This says immersion can contaminate a meteorite. The scientists in Antarctica won't even pick them up with their bare hands. And like you said, all the land is owned or claimed, so how would hunting for meteorites be different from hunting for treasure or anything else?"
Giving her a smug grin, I said, "We wouldn't be hunting on land or underwater."
Lori's left eyebrow arched. She glanced up, then started to speak, but I held up a hand and added, "Not upstairs, either. Well, not unless I can figure out how to catch a rock moving at thirty thousand miles an hour."
Lori eyed me for a moment, then reached for my coffee mug and sipped as she considered matters. When she handed my mug back, I took a sip as she said, "Okay, smart guy. Just where do you intend to look?"
Pulling her screen over, I backed up a few frames to a picture of an Antarctic ice field with a couple of tents. The caption said the most recent meteorite finds had been spotted on the surface of the windblown ice.
"These guys are camped on what's essentially a glacier, ma'am. Glaciers move toward the sea, where icebergs break off." Keying in the words 'Antarctic iceberg', I showed her a picture of berg 'B-15A' from 2005, when it was the size of Long Island. There were now 'B-15' designations all the way up to 'J', indicating it had split off several sizeable bits.
Lori studied the pictures for a time, then grinningly said, "Nobody bothers to claim icebergs, do they?"
"Nope. They number them and watch them and some have been used as targets, but I've never heard of anybody wanting to own one. Seems to me they'd be fair game."
Using the screen to search for Antarctic meteorites for sale, I said, "And another thing, milady; at this very moment only one pissy little slice of an Antarctic meteorite is publicly listed for sale, even though scientists have found about eleven thousand of 'em so far. Check out the asking price for that seven-point-one-four gram sliver of stone."
Lori yelped, "Fifteen hundred dollars?! It's barely the size of the man's thumbnail in that picture!"
"Yup. Think he'll get that much for it?"
Shaking her head, Lori said, "I have no idea how he arrived at that price. It also says 'best offer', so maybe he's actually expecting about half that for it. Like at a flea market."
"That's still a bunch of money for a little piece of rock."
Nodding, she said, "Yes, it is."
"I think I'm going to look into meteorite hunting. Can you can get next weekend off?"
She grinned. "A weekend? Do you really think we'd find anything in two or three days?"
"There's only one way to find out. Got a passport?"
"Yes. What would we tell Angie?"
I shrugged. "We'd tell her we got bored, so we're going to Antarctica for the weekend."
Giving me a fisheye, Lori laughed, "She'll think that's just plain bizarre, Ed."
"Maybe. Or maybe she'll grab some gear and come with us. I wouldn't put it past her."
Her fisheye continued as her expression showed a bit of distaste for that idea. Yet she ostensibly liked Angie? Hm. Maybe she didn't want a third party along?

Chapter Seventeen

Lori had fallen silent and I could tell her mood had changed slightly, though she tried to conceal her feelings by focusing on the screen about Antarctica. After a few moments, she tapped the screen off and turned to face me.
Raising a hand to push a few strands of hair out of her face, she said, "Ed, I think I'd prefer not to have Angie with us if we go to Antarctica," then she met my gaze as if to see how I'd take her revelation.
I shrugged. "Okay, but what if she insists?"
"I'd be on my own time. She can't insist."
Hm. I wouldn't bet on that. Or bet on Lori being allowed to go at all, for that matter. Shelving those thoughts, I said, "In that case, let's talk about how to move an iceberg."
"Move one? Why?"
"Because the freshest bergs will be near the Antarctic coastline and I noticed something in some of that data."
Backing up five pages, I showed her. The page read:
'NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, 45 CFR Part 674, U.S. Regulations Governing Antarctic Meteorites' and scrolled down to a section that read, 'Sec. 674.4 - Restrictions on collection of meteorites in Antarctica: No person may collect meteorites in Antarctica for other than scientific research purposes.'
A little further down it listed a bunch of details about care and handling of finds and defined Antarctica as everything south of 60 degrees south latitude.
I said, "That means we need to be able to quietly move an iceberg to 59.8 degrees or so before we start collecting."
"Why there in particular?"
"It's just far enough. Once we get a berg over the line, we'll set up a field-generated camp for the satellites. They won't argue with their own shared GPS data."
Sipping coffee, I sighed, "You know what gets me? None of this crap would affect us if we weren't US citizens. Do the Japanese, Russians, or Chileans really give a fat rat's ass about the NSF's meteorite rule? A pack of academics decided to try to claim a measure of control over an entire continent and the water around it. A pack of bureaucrats thought that would be pretty convenient, so they made it US law."
Lori had been listening as she studied her screen. Nodding, she said, "No surprise. That's how they handled America when they discovered it, too. I guess things don't change much."
Looking up from the screen, she asked, "And speaking of changes, what happened to keeping me here until they figure out who put that capsule in my tooth?"
I shrugged. "Staying with me became an elective when Elkor issued you a core. It'll cover your ass 24-7 as long as you live, ma'am. You can stay or go as you please."
After a moment of hesitation, Lori asked, "Then... when you talked about next weekend... Uhm... Were you hinting that you want me to go? I mean..."
"No, I wasn't, and I wasn't trying to give you that impression. I just figured... Well, no, I guess I didn't figure a damned thing. I just assumed. Sorry 'bout that."
Taking Lori's hand for a kiss -- and startling her in the process -- I said, "You're officially invited to spend this summer in Florida, milady. Free room and board and the use of two cats included. When they're home, anyway."
Lori grinned. "Maybe you'd better check with the cats before you include them in the deal."
"Nah. They like you and they'd give me a hard time if I didn't include them. So, what's your answer?"
She chuckled, "I think I'd better stick around until I get used to frequency shifts and using a core."
"Good 'nuff. How do you really feel about hunting Antarctic meteorites on icebergs?"
Canting her head, Lori chuckled again. "I'm for it. Even if we don't find any, it'll be a place I haven't been and a thing I haven't done."
I laughed, "Oh, lordy, she done said the magic words."
"The what?"
"I'm kinda hoping to see BTDT on my tombstone."
She laughed, "You're hoping to see your own tombstone?!"
"I thought we covered that when you met Ed2. Sure, ma'am. I'd attend my own funeral, too, 'cept I hate funerals even more than I hate weddings."
We got underway again and landed at the house a few minutes later. Lori seemed to prefer communing with cores in private; not long after we arrived, she went to her room. I used the recliner in the den and spent the next hour or so reviewing details about Antarctica and icebergs. Just as I hadn't found much to like about the High Plains, I found little likeable about the frozen wastes of the South Pole. I figured the scenery would be interesting for about half an hour.
Sipping the last of my coffee, I thought, 'Oh, well. My five suit could handle the cold and Athena can handle most anything else.'
Contacting Athena, I asked her if she could predict when an iceberg might roll over. She said she could.
"Excellent. Also reference sea birds that take flight just before an iceberg rolls, please. I'd like to know how they know when it's time to get away from it. I suspect their sense of balance tips them off to the slightest motions."
Truth; I was curious. I also wanted Athena to see if she could add a bit of avian intuition to her calculations. If a berg the size of a city decided to roll, I wanted to have some kind of an edge on the situation.
Next came equipment and supplies. I had a feeling Lori wouldn't want to wait until next weekend to visit Antarctica, so I searched for a roll of clear wrap suitable for use in a freezer. Nothing popped up, so I searched for cargo wrap and found the clear plastic used to wrap loaded pallets. Searching a bit farther showed some men wrapping a pallet of metal drums on a ship in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Good enough. The company was in Orlando, so I called and was told a hundred yard roll could be picked up any weekday.
Food choices could wait for Lori's opinions. Water would be readily available. I had a full jar of instant coffee and an old bag of ground coffee in the cabinet; they should hold us for a week on the ice.
I pinged Angie and she answered immediately with a screen. "Hi, Ed. I'm getting ready to go to a barbeque, so let's make this quick. What's up?"
"Not much. Any luck tracking down whoever switched the tracker for a poison pill?"
"Not yet. We're working our way through a chain of names, but there are two gaps."
Hm. If they'd retired, left, or been fired, they could still be questioned. I asked, "People unfound or dead?"
"One dead, one missing, but we think he's dead too. His car was found in Lake Barcroft. You know where that is?"
"Southwest of DC. Still no objections to my keeping Lori?"
She shook her head again. "No. Unless we can turn up something concrete fairly soon, you may end up with her for the summer."
I shrugged. "No problem, the cats like her. We were thinking about taking an ocean tour. Maybe more than one, depending on what's available on short notice."
Canting her head, Angie said, "If I had some free time, I'd go with you. It wouldn't matter where. I've had more fun on ships than I did in the ports." She sighed, "But I'm swamped here, so you're on your own. I don't think Lori's ever been on a cruise. She should have a pretty good time."
"Yeah, prob'ly so. Well, I just wanted to check in, Cap'n Angie. Guess I'll get back to all the vastly important stuff I do around here on Sunday afternoons."
She grinned. "Yeah, you do that. Okay, Ed. Later."
Angie poked her 'off' icon and the screens vanished. From the front room, I heard a snicker. "You told her we were taking a cruise?"
"No, I said we'd be taking an ocean tour. She called it a cruise. Been eavesdropping, ma'am?"
She stepped into the den and tried to look offended as she said, "No, I was just coming in to talk about what we'll need on the trip."
"I've already started on that. Plastic wrap and coffee. We'll also need marking pens and food. Anything else?"
Lori gave me an 'are you nuts?!' sort of look and chuckled, "Oh, I'm pretty sure there is. What about..." She looked thoughtful for a moment and asked, "Plastic wrap?"
"Yup. We'll pick up a hundred-yard roll before we go. Think that'll be enough?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Why not bags?"
"Put a piece of plastic over a rock, pick it up, set it on another piece of plastic, and seal the edges. No need to haul half a dozen sizes of bags or hope we have enough."
Lori nodded. "Okay, but I'll still want a few boxes of large and small freezer bags." She sat down in the other recliner, but didn't lean back. After a moment, she asked, "Ed, should we tell my family about what's happened?"
"How would telling them be useful? What could they do?"
She eyed me for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know. I just feel as if they ought to know what's going on."
"Give it more thought. They'd just worry."
I sipped coffee and waited. It seemed likely to me that she'd only wanted to confirm her own choice of actions. If so, she'd change the subject. The fingers of her left hand tapped the end of the chair arm and she was silent for some moments, then she said, "Jessie said you'd put the make on me if you ever got the chance."
I chuckled, "Well, rats. I was thinking of using her as a character reference someday. Guess not, huh?"
Lori gave me a small grin and a headshake. "Not about that, anyway. Knowing about Selena... Well, at least now I know why she feels that way."
Sipping coffee again, I watched her nibble her lip and tick a bit of fluff on the chair and waited to hear where she was going with things.
It took her another moment to say, "You had an affair with Jessie, too, didn't you?"
"Nope."
She looked up and shot me a dubious, questioning look.
I said, "One roll in the hay doesn't constitute an affair. What's on your mind, Lori? You worried about being added to some kind of a trophy list?"
"No." But after a moment, she asked, "Is there a list?"
"Nope. Never has been."
Lori fidgeted briefly, then said, "I'm just not sure it would be a good idea."
Sipping coffee, I replied, "Okay."
Her left eyebrow arched. "Okay? That's all you have to say about it?"
I chuckled, "You brought 'it' up, ma'am. Needless drama isn't my forte, Lori. I enjoy your company. That's enough for me if it's enough for you."
Calling up a screen, I showed her the Larsen Ice Shelf and said, "This ice shelf is closest to the sixtieth parallel. It's broken a few times in the last decade, so there are a bunch of pieces knocking around."
Lori studied the cluttered bay, then asked, "Are you sure our p-fields can handle that kind of cold?"
I nodded. "Yup. No sweat, so to speak."
She gave me a fisheye glance, then asked, "How big an iceberg do you think we can move?"
"No idea. I'll let Athena cut one out of the herd. As I see it, all we have to do is avoid any legally definable version of 'collecting' until we're over the line."
"Does Athena agree?"
"I haven't asked." Sipping coffee, I said, "Seems likely there are two or three ways to go about things. Alone would be my first choice, but there's a fair chance someone would notice an individual iceberg hauling ass northward."
Lori chuckled, "Yeah, probably. How would you explain that if you had to?"
"Protecting marine life and penguin habitats. Icebergs tear up the bottom when they run aground. That's bad for krill and local fish. One berg's blocked penguins from their usual fishing areas for years. Maybe we can turn that to our advantage."
A little more data mining determined that Dr. Robert Evander was the guy in charge of the current ecology teams on Antarctica's peninsula. I sent a probe to have a look at their base of operations and their recent activities, which turned out to be a lot of bird watching with bits of other scientific studies blended according to location and season.
Sending the probe into their supply closets was much more informative for my purposes. I'd stop by Webster's produce market and load the flitter with fresh fruits and veggies. A couple of bottles of decent booze wouldn't hurt, either. And maybe a couple of cartons of steaks for good measure.
Lori asked, "Ed, what are you doing?"
"Thinking, ma'am. We're going to pick up a few things before we go."
Hm. One particular closet seemed almost depleted and their usual supply boat was... two months away, according to the rationing schedule on the back of the door. I added two cases each of toilet paper and paper towels.
"You're going to bribe them for cooperation?"
I grinned. "We'll arrive bearing gifts. Doesn't matter whether they can help. I'll give 'em the stuff anyway."
In a matter of fact tone, she asked, "Why? If they won't cooperate, that is."
"Might as well. Can't return produce and meat."
She leaned against the chair arm and studied me, then asked, "Do you really care if we find any meteorites?"
"It would be nice if we did, but... Nope. Guess not. It's a place to go and a thing to do and we'd think of another adventure sooner or later."
Canting her head slightly, Lori said, "I couldn't find a law against collecting Arctic meteorites. Is there some good reason we couldn't start searching there?"
"Not if you'd rather do that, but they probably wouldn't be worth as much."
That made her laugh and give me a fisheye. "They'd still be meteorites! Why wouldn't they be worth as much?"
"Because people want most what they can't have and Antarctic meteorites are perceived as different. It never thaws down there, so the rocks on the ice never soak up moisture. They're considered a bit more pristine."
I shrugged and added, "But if you want to look for some soggy, half-assed Arctic meteorites, what the hell. Okay."
Lori snickered, then chuckled, then laughed, "Soggy, half-assed Arctic meteorites. Right." Getting to her feet, she said, "I think we'd run into fewer difficulties in the Arctic. I just don't want to deal with the potential legal hassles that would come with Antarctic meteorites."
With that, she headed for the kitchen. I heard water run and a spoon stirring in a mug as I switched the screen view to the Arctic. Shrug. Yeah, whatever. A rock from space is a rock from space. Go far enough north and they wouldn't be much affected by seasonal thaws. But I still liked the idea of mining icebergs. Maybe...
Lori interrupted my thoughts with, "Well?"
I looked toward the kitchen doorway and said, "Yeah, sure. I can do the Antarctic another time. Let's talk about how we're going to document the rocks."
She grinned. "I've been thinking about that. Her name is Joyce Lenz. She's an amateur astronomer in Tucson who has a small meteorite collection of her own and she knows about my fields."
"How?"
"I used one to keep her from being pushed off a ramp. A door opened unexpectedly."
"Ring her up, then. Make sure she has a passport."
"Okay. When are we leaving?"
"Monday, after we pick up some supplies. If necessary, we can wait a day or two."
"How long will we be gone?"
"A few days. A week. Whatever works best for everybody. This is just a test run."
Lori's grin grew huge as she levered herself off the doorframe and said, "Okay. I'll let you know what she says."
As she walked away, I looked up Joyce Lenz. Her Arizona ID said she was twenty-six, five-five, one-forty pounds, blonde, and had blue eyes. Reasonably attractive, even in her ID mug shot. Her resume was posted online at a job search site. Multiple degrees. Three majors and several minors. Yet only sporadically employed for three years? Hm.
Wait a minute. I backed up to the ID. Not a driver's license, just an ID. Digging a little deeper, I found Joyce Lenz had lost both legs below the knees in a boating accident six years earlier. She used a set of prosthetics with a cane when she didn't use a wheel chair.
"Athena, how would a robodoc fix Lenz's missing legs?"
"It would install nanobots to manipulate and stimulate regrowth of missing limbs and appendages."
"Why not culture a pair and graft them into place?"
"That is another method of replacement, but regrowth is a preferred method for certain body segments. Less physical and psychological trauma is incurred by the patient."
"Can you make and install the nanobots?"
"Yes, within standard legal parameters."
"Then we'll find you some of those. Thanks."
I sent a copy of our discussion to Lori's core with instructions not to display it before her call to Joyce ended, then checked email and messages for twenty minutes or so before Lori came trotting into the den. She stared at me for a long moment and her eyes began to brim with tears.
Holding up an index finger, she said hoarsely, "I'll be right back," and hurried away.
I yelled after her, "Don't tell Joyce!"
She stopped in the living room and asked, "Why not?!"
"Because she'd tell someone else and Amaran medical tech is illegal in the US. Transporting someone out of the country for treatment is illegal, too."
"Illegal?! Why?!"
"Look it up. Verify what I've told you."
Lori stared at me for a moment, then headed for her room. A few minutes later, she strode into the den, sat on the other recliner, took a deep breath, and studied her hands as she spoke in a rather controlled-sounding voice.
"I checked with my core and I still can't believe it. I didn't read everything, but... my God..." She fell silent.
"We'll be outside the US. Athena will take us over someplace that didn't ban Amaran medical stuff."
She looked up quickly. "Oh, I know that. I just... never expected... Well, I thought we'd just take her with us so she'd have at least one grand adventure in her life, you know?"
"Yeah, I figured that when I saw the look on your face. Hasn't it occurred to you that you now have the means to handle things like this yourself?"
Shaking her head, she said, "No. I hadn't gotten that far studying the core. I don't know what all it can do yet."
I chuckled, "Oh, good. I'll be essential personnel for at least another week. Did you read up on this procedure?"
"No, why?"
"It'll take a while. Maybe a long while. Prob'ly itch like a sumbitch, too. New tissue usually does."
Lori snorted a laugh that somehow turned into a sob and fished some tissues out of a pocket. As she dealt with her various leakages, I sipped coffee and looked up the info. Yup. A year to eighteen months to grow new shins and feet. Joyce's prosthetics would soon be unusable. I wondered if her new feet would appear more or less immediately or show up when her lower legs reached some particular length. That wasn't mentioned in the general description.
A deep, loud sigh was followed by, "Okay. Okay. I think I'm past it now. Ed, do you realize what this will mean to her?"
"Doubtful. I've never lost my legs." Her gaze narrowed. I asked, "What? Not a proper level of excitement? Can't help that. Good news or bad, I just don't get very fuzzed up."
She looked ready to say something -- perhaps even something sharp -- so I added, "Nor do I mind helping the friend of a friend. By the way, you never said whether she could drop everything and go."
Lori's narrow gaze continued in silence for some moments, then she sat back in the recliner, sighed again, and growled, "She can. At least one of us is excited for her."
"Yup, you've got it covered pretty well. Maybe I'll get excited some other time, ma'am."
She snorted a snide laugh. "Yeah? About what?"
I shrugged. "Damned if I know. It hasn't happened yet. Got a suggestion for you, though."
Her gaze narrowed again. "A suggestion about what?"

Chapter Eighteen

Sipping coffee, I stood up and said, "After a week or so with your new core, you'll know the basics of what you can do with it. You'll also know why you can't do things for whatever reasons, usually legal issues. Most of those reasons will probably piss you off. For instance, why can't I ask Athena to dose Joyce with some nanobots on US soil? For that matter, why can't I have Athena send probes through all hospitals to fix everybody who'd be fixable?"
I felt Lori contact her core as I sipped coffee and said, "A while back, Steph put together a legal team to work on this problem. All her picks were recent law school grads who'd been injured in some manner. Curing them convinced them to join her team, but really big money and politics are involved, so her team may be old and grey before the laws change. She borrowed our antique 'not actually touching US soil' dodge when she fixed them, but that loophole was questionable then and has since been firmly closed."
Swilling the last of the coffee in my mug, I said, "People can't just say, 'I'm going to Africa for a robodoc treatment'. They have to give some other reason." I grinned. "On the other hand, if they happen to visit a robodoc while there, they won't go to jail when they return. As things stand now, anyway. So it's really just a matter of quietly getting them to a clinic."
Lori eyed me for a moment, then asked, "Are you trying to tell me you want to set up a... an underground railroad?"
"Of course not. Remember what I said about confessions, ma'am. But... if one were very careful about it... Well, it does sound as if it might be an interesting hobby."
With that, I took my empty mug to the kitchen. As I rinsed it, Lori came in and pulled a chair out to sit down. She said nothing as I spooned coffee into my mug and added hot water, nor did she speak as I stirred it and capped the mug. When I sipped and turned around, she had a faraway expression and I knew she was communing with her core.
My pulling out a chair and sitting seemed to break her spell; her eyes focused on me and she said, "I can't find anything about you taking anyone anywhere for treatment."
I chuckled, "That would mean I did it right." I shrugged and added, "If I'd actually done such a thing, of course."
Lori eyed me for a time, then got up and said she'd be back in a minute. She returned with her own mug and made a coffee, then rejoined me at the table.
"Ed, I think I may want to start a tour service."
I almost laughed. Almost. "Tours to where, milady?"
"I'm not sure yet. Where would you take people?"
With a grin, I said, "I'd show them Guyana. Let 'em see Kaieteur Falls and -- only incidentally, of course -- discover the robodoc clinic just outside Georgetown."
Canting her head, Lori grinned and asked, "Would anyone there know you, do you think?"
Still smiling, I said, "You keep asking the wrong goddamned questions, ma'am."
Lori's grin vanished. She glowered and gestured around us. "We're inside your house, dammit! It's inside a field dome! Who'd hear anything?"
"Nobody. Not even you. Especially not you."
"What?! Why the hell not me?! You practically talked me into this, and now you won't even discuss it?!"
Reaching into the kitchen garbage can for a junk mail envelope, I slapped it on the table and said, "Here's your subpoena, Miss Mackenzie. We have testimony that you've transported US citizens to robodoc facilities. You'll talk to us or sit in a cell until you're ready to cooperate. If you lie, you'll go to prison. Now... tell us who else is involved."
I sat back and said, "On a few occasions I've clandestinely applied what I was able to rather questionably call 'emergency treatments' for specific illnesses or injuries. I'd stand by those decisions if they were discovered, but only because there'd be no damned point in denying them. In each case, not even the patient knew he or she had been treated. That's the way it would have to be if I treated Joyce, too."
Lori had lost some of her irritation. She said, "So she'd take a ride on a flitter and suddenly start growing new legs? Wouldn't that be more than just a little obvious, Ed?"
"No more so than the eventual results of your tour service idea." Sipping coffee, I said, "Lori, it isn't a matter of whether we'd get caught, but when. I could just move to one of the no-ban countries. What would you do?"
"I don't know. I'd probably have to move too."
"And leave everything and everybody you care about behind? Maybe we should give this some more thought."
After a moment, Lori asked, "What about Joyce?"
"A better idea; Joyce would accept a teaching job in a no-ban country. She'd come back a year later with half-finished new legs. The rest of her recovery would be an ongoing media event that would put pressure on the government."
Giving me a fisheye, she said, "Maybe she wouldn't want to be the focus of a media circus."
"That would be her decision. For a pair of new legs, she probably wouldn't object to helping the cause."
In a flat tone, Lori echoed, "The 'cause'."
"Yup. Steph's team can always use another example. They'd arrange the teaching job and treatment."
Lori just sat there staring at me for some moments, then asked, "Was all this a setup, Ed? The core and meteorite hunting outside the country and... everything else?"
"A setup? Hardly. Someone planted a capsule in your jaw and you'd eventually have needed a core anyway. The meteorite hunting was only intended to be a possibly profitable adventure. You're the one who thought of inviting Joyce. I looked her up and saw she was handicapped, so I sent you that note about fixing her."
Her flare of wariness seemed to subside a bit, so I sighed, "And now I'm all hurt and insulted and like that."
Lori gave me a fisheye, then blurted a soft laugh. "Right. Okay, I'll grant that you may only have been putting things together on the fly. This time."
"This time, ma'am?"
"Oh, don't even try to act innocent. I've seen you work, Ed. From the moment I met you, in fact. And you showed me how little you gave Jonel about me."
Sipping coffee, I said, "Did that on the fly, too. I couldn't hand you over to that damned dragon without at least trying to give you some kind of a bargaining edge."
Lori grinned. "Guess you still don't like her, huh?"
"Nope."
The kitchen phone rang. I decided to answer it to give Lori time to think of another topic. Linking a blank screen to the phone, I said, "You got me," as I checked the caller ID and found an unfamiliar number.
Fire Marshall Dave Arnell identified himself and said, "Sorry for calling you at home. I'd have gone through Lt. Greer, but we're in bad trouble out here."
I got to my feet and headed for the front door as I sent a probe to locate his cell phone. When the probe swiveled to view the area, all I could see were flames and smoke. I turned the probe into a small flitter and asked Athena to have it pick up Arnell and direct the flitter's smothering fields as he recommended. When I heard Arnell's extended shout, I realized Athena had taken the term 'pick up' literally.
"Hey, Arnell, are you still on the phone?"
"Yeah! This thing just hoisted me off the ground and..."
I interrupted, "Just tell it where you want to put some smothering fields. I'll be there shortly."
"Uh, yeah! Okay! Thanks! Out!"
He dropped the connection. As I pulled the front door shut behind us, Lori tossed her board matrix and I called my board. A couple of minutes later at the other end of the county, we descended toward a fire line that stretched at least two miles northward from State Road 50.
Lori seemed almost awestruck by the scene, but she unhesitatingly followed me down as I deliberately swooped along the line of fire ahead of the two main fire teams. Flames, smoke, and sprays of water roiled around us as I cast a bright orange smothering field along the advancing conflagration. Lori tapped into my field, matched it, and soared ahead to begin her own smothering field from the other end of the fire line.
Near the center of the long line was a pond almost completely encircled by the fire. Around that pond an assortment of animals had congregated and the fire was steadily burning through the brush toward them. Lori circled east around the pond and I circled west. Where our field lines met, flames died down and animals collapsed.
We fielded the fallen to the very edge of the pond and I stunned all the critters that weren't in the water to keep them from bolting or attacking each other. Some of those in the water came ashore and Lori stunned them before I could, indicating either that she'd understood why I'd done it or just assumed I had a reason. I asked Athena to check the animals and treat those injured by the fire.
We maintained the fields to keep the fire smothered and I used probes to feed a screen and see how things were going elsewhere. We watched the flitter smother the main body of the fire near the fence line of a ranch and work its way back to the smaller fires that had flared up from flying embers. Fire crews followed the flitter at a distance, spraying water through the smothering fields to soak the smoldering brush.
The worst seemed over and the flitter and fire teams were dealing with the rest. I turned to Lori to say, "Good work, milady," and found her apparently wound up tight, avidly studying the probe displays on the screen.
Glancing up with a big grin and bright excitement in her eyes, she tersely replied, "You, too!" and returned her attention to the screen.
Uh, huh. Apparently she'd really enjoyed the action. I morphed a probe to haul water and liberally sprinkled pond water to soak and cool the blackened vegetation around the animals. Lori saw what I was doing and did the same.
The flitter left an area half a mile away and headed toward us. As it drew near, I saw Dave Arnell in the left seat, talking to someone on his radio. He ended that chat as the flitter stopped next to us. I introduced Lori as a friend from 3rd World Products and they shook hands.
Patting the flitter, he asked, "How long can I keep this?"
I shrugged. "Until the fire's out completely." Looking toward a fire team nearby, I added, "Which shouldn't be much longer, really. Your guys seem pretty good at this."
Arnell grinned. "That's why I hired them." His expression turned troubled. "Ed, this one began too big and spread too fast to be from natural causes."
"Think someone was clearing land?"
"I'm almost certain of it. We just don't know the how of it yet. I'm betting we'll find accelerant traces."
"Stand by one, then." I sent probes to locate the fire's origin and we discovered it was almost a mile long. My probes found traces of used motor oil and diesel fuel in the ashes all along the line. Lifting to a thousand feet and bringing the flitter up with me, I showed Arnell the almost perfectly straight line that marked the fire's start.
I asked, "Did an aircraft buzz the area recently?"
"Haven't heard anything about it. We can find out."
A paved road intersected one end of the line and a lime rock road bisected the line about halfway to the other end. I took the flitter with me as I headed for that road and checked the area. Though there'd been some local traffic and the fire trucks had stirred up the road's dusty surface, it wasn't hard to see a yard-wide brown stripe that crossed the road.
Arnell hopped off the flitter and knelt to sniff near the stripe. "It's faint now," he said, "But it's definitely a fuel."
One of my probes flashed and we walked about thirty feet from the road to find the residue of a road flare in the midst of ashes. Not far away were two more such spots. The residue was only a few hours old.
Arnell radioed our discovery to others and soon the area was swarming with Sheriff's deputies and fire personnel. As they took pictures and notes, Arnell used his radio again and shortly turned to me.
"That's it," he said, "We're wrapping things up here except for the arson investigation."
He thanked us heartily for helping and went to talk to the deputies. I sent the flitter into the sky before letting it disappear, then Lori and I headed back to see how the animals were doing. All were gone except a few that needed a bit more recovery time. I set a probe to keep a field around them until they could leave on their own, lifted to a hundred feet, and sat on my board. Maybe the fire was completely out, but it wouldn't hurt to stick around a while to be sure.
Lori sat on her board and chuckled, "Just like old times."
I asked, "Old times?"
She pointed at the two rabbits by the pond and said, "Stunned rabbits inside a field." Gesturing around, she grinningly added, "The great outdoors. Just like the night you trained me. Except it was darker then."
Nodding as if enlightened, I said, "Ah. Yup. Good work back there, ma'am. You tapped my field and zapped about half the fire line on your own."
Lori grinned. "Thanks. It really wasn't difficult."
"True, but you have no idea how many other people I've known who wouldn't have had sense enough to do it. Or would have waited for orders to do the obvious."
One of the rabbits woke up and scrambled to its feet, apparently very surprised to be in one piece. It sniffed the other rabbit, which flicked an ear and woke up in the same manner. After a few moments, they drank some water and milled around, nibbling greenery near the water's edge.
I let the pond field vanish and Lori asked, "Where to now?" Her voice startled the hell out of the rabbits and they bolted. Lori glanced at her watch and asked, "How about an early dinner? It's almost four. Close enough for me."
Hm. Terse, short sentences. Was she still wound up?
"Okay."
I stood up and led the way to a buffet on US-41. We'd selected our food and found a table before Lori spoke again.
"Ed, I've never seen a fire like that before. It looked as if it was trying to eat the world, a few yards at a time."
"Well... it was. That's how fires work, y'know." I shrugged. "Besides, how many brush fires have you seen in Arizona? That place isn't known for much vegetation."
"Oak and pine trees and those... stubby bladed things... aren't what I consider 'brush'."
"Local terminology. Those stubby bladed things are cabbage palms."
She shrugged. "Whatever."
Lori dug into her dinner as if she hadn't eaten all day. I hardly ever see women eat like that, so I watched for a time as I used my fork to cut my chopped steak. When Lori looked up and saw me looking at her, she asked, "What?"
"Nothing. Just not used to seeing a woman eat like a wolf."
"I'm hungry."
"Obviously." With a grin, I asked, "Um... you aren't... uh..."
Lori's eyes got big and she hissingly yelped, "What?! No! Gawd, no!"
Pointedly studying her plate, I asked, "You're sure?"
Leaning across the table, she let me see her irritation as she aimed her knife at me and intently whispered, "You could ask Athena. Are you going to eat or talk?"
Pretending remorseful acquiescence, I replied, "So sorry, yer ladyship," and forked up some green beans.
"Besides," she said, "I've been wearing my PFM all the time. All the time."
I chuckled, "All the time, ma'am? Wow! Kinky! Ever try to get away with any field stuff in the sack?"
Could her gaze narrow more? It seemed to, before her eyes rolled with exasperation and Lori sat back with a sigh. With a shake of her head, she again dug into her food. A few moments later, she snickered softly. When I glanced at her, Lori's snicker became a low chuckle.
I gave her a peering Inspector Clouseau look and said, "Ah-hah!"
She shook her head quickly and said, "No! No, I didn't actually do it. I just considered it."
"Would I really want to know what it was you didn't do? Over dinner, I mean?"
That made Lori laugh aloud softly. Shaking her head again, she said, "Probably not. Doesn't matter. I won't tell you."
She glanced down, then fished her cell phone out of a pocket. When she checked the screen, she bit her lip and seemed to slouch a bit before she said, "It's Aunt Lisa."
"How is that a problem? She knows you're here, right?"
"Yes, but... Never mind. I'll take this outside. I'm not one of those people who talk on phones in restaurants."
She got up and left the table as I heard her say, "Hi, Aunt Lisa. I'm in a restaurant. Give me a minute to get outside."
Listen in? No. But... "Athena, record Lori's call, please. Don't listen to it, just save the data file. We may need it later." And if we didn't, it would vanish.
Athena asked, "May I ask why we'd need such data?"
"Don't know yet. Is her Aunt calling from her home?"
"Yes, Ed."
"Then we may not need it. But save it anyway."
I'd nearly finished my meal when Lori returned. She handed the phone to me and said, "You talk to her."
"About what?"
"She says she's coming to join us."
"Had she considered asking me about that?"
"I very much doubt it."
I very visibly covered the phone's mic hole with my thumb and asked, "How do you feel about it?"
Without hesitation, Lori replied, "I'd rather she wouldn't."
Nodding, I put the phone to my ear and said, "Hi, there, Aunt Lisa. What's up?"
With what seemed affected nonchalance, Lisa said, "Hi, Ed. I have to use a week of va-kay time or lose it, so I thought I'd join you and Lori in Florida."
"She's in training for the next few days, ma'am."
"Training? What kind of training?"
"Field stuff. Flying. Tactics. Just a minute." Anticipating her skepticism, I handed the phone back to Lori and said, "Tell her what we did this afternoon."
What followed was a brief yet florid description of our actions to put out the fire and contain the animals. Lisa must have interrupted, because Lori fell silent for a time, then said, "Yeah, okay," and handed the phone to me.
I said, "You got me, ma'am."
Aunt Lisa said, "Ed, I'll be there tomorrow. When I know what time I'll arrive, I'll call for a pickup."
"You'd have to sleep on the couch, milady."
"No, I'll share the bed with Lori."
"Not to be difficult, but I'd really prefer that you..."
In a firm tone, Lisa interrupted, "Ed, I'm-coming-down-there. You had my niece out fighting forest fires today. I want to know a lot more about what you two are doing."
"Why not just talk to her, Lisa? We can set up a view screen at your end and you can watch every minute of her firefighting efforts. Which were commendable, by the way."
In a voice of iron, Aunt Lisa said, "I'll call back with my flight information, Ed. Put Lori back on." As a rather obvious afterthought, she added in that same tone, "Please."
"Just wait one. I'd like to call Angie about this. If you're bound and determined to crash this party and she okays it, we'll come pick you up some time tomorrow."
With that, I handed the phone back to Lori. She stared at me as if I'd somehow betrayed her, then took a breath and said flatly, "No, it's me, Aunt Lisa."
After a moment of listening, she said, "I don't know. Probably some kind of night training." Another couple of moments went by, then she said, "Aunt Lisa, I know you mean well, but... No, you listen to me. I'm here for a damned good reason or 3rd World wouldn't have let me come here at all, and you already know that. No, I can't tell you. Look, I have a lot to learn and..." She held the phone slightly away from her face and stared at it for a moment, then put it back and hissingly asked, "Angie told you what?!"
I sipped my drink. Yeah, it was entirely possible Angie had told her something, if only to justify extra security around the house. I gestured for the phone. Lori handed it over and I asked, "Lisa, what did Angie tell you?"
In a cool tone, she said, "I was talking to Lori, Ed."
"You're talking to me now. What did Angie tell you?"
After a pause, she said, "That you found a capsule of some sort where one of her wisdom teeth used to be."
'Of some sort'. Hm. Okay.
"Yup. Sure did. Records say it was a tracking device."
"That's what Angie said, too. Ed, I don't care whether Angie clears my visit or not. That's where my niece is and I'm coming down there."
"An admirable sentiment, but if Angie says no, she'll have good reasons. Stand by while I call her."
Covering the mic hole with my thumb, I handed the phone back to Lori and said, "Keep her busy," then linked through Athena to ping Angie.
Angie answered, "Hi, Ed."
"Hi, Angie. No screen 'cuz we're in a restaurant. Lori's Aunt Lisa wants to come to Florida. She also said you told her about a tracking capsule. Would her visiting us disrupt anything?"
Angie chuckled, "You tell me. Would it?"
"Unless you have some grand and devious plan running, only Lori's privacy. And mine, of course. What did you tell her about the capsule?"
"That you'd removed an electronic capsule of some sort and that the lab's studying it. Nothing else. She noticed the extra security around the house, Ed. When she called here to talk to Lori, we decided to bring her in on things. 'We' being Captain Wallace and myself."
"You had to know she'd want to come down here."
"It seemed a lot less likely yesterday, but one of our observers said she threatened to quit her job today if she couldn't get some time off." She sighed, "It's your call, but denying her could just make things worse."
Matching her sigh, I said, "Okay. We'll work it out."

Chapter Nineteen

When my link to Angie ended, I linked to Lori. She startled, then sent back, "What did she say?"
"That it's up to us. I think we can deal with it."
Lori sat back with a sullen expression and replied, "Aunt Lisa would come here anyway. I know she would."
"Then tell her we'll see her tomorrow when we pick up Joyce Lenz."
Nodding, Lori spoke with her aunt for a time, then turned off her phone and set it rather firmly on the table. Picking up her knife and fork, she set to work on what was left of her meal. She didn't seem interested in chatting, so I linked to Athena and checked email without a screen, silently dictating my replies.
Lori finished her food some minutes later, sipped her drink, and seemed to be eyeing me speculatively. I read the last few messages and dropped the link just as Lori sighed, "Okay, I'm done. Let's go home."
We got to our feet as I asked, "Want to check out a few clubs later?"
She shook her head. "I don't know."
Walking toward the front door, I said, "Well, think about it. You look as if you could use a little entertainment."
Her sharp glance made me think I might have irritated her, and maybe I did. Lori stopped on the restaurant's porch and gave me a long look, then said, "You're right. I could use a little entertainment this evening."
With that, she tossed her board matrix and stepped onto the board when it appeared. I called up my board and Lori lifted westward even as I stepped onto it, though she didn't seem in any hurry. I caught up with her as we crossed US41 and saw that her expression was rather thoughtful.
Lori was silent all the way back to the house, but once we were inside, she said, "I know she's just worried about me, but sometimes it's irritating as hell."
When she looked at me, I asked, "Not exactly a brand-new problem, huh?"
"No. Not since I came back from the canyon. Suddenly it's like she thinks I'm twelve and she's trying to be my mother." She set her bag by the couch and sat down heavily, then asked, "Ed, what do you tell your family?"
I parked my butt on the arm of the couch. "Nothing."
Snorting a chuckle, Lori asked, "Sounds wonderful. How the hell do you get away with that?"
"I'm an orphan with two sisters who don't pry."
"Got any ideas about Aunt Lisa?"
"Oh, yeah. You bet. She's kinda cute, y'know."
Lori looked up rather starkly, then backhanded my thigh and said, "You know what I mean, dammit."
I shrugged. "She said she has a week off. We can survive that long, I think. We'll pick her up tomorrow and let her follow us around in the flitter to see what we do."
Eyeing me, Lori asked, "Doesn't that plan depend on things happening? We can't really count on more forest fires."
"Car accidents. Other stuff. Doesn't have to be big as long as it's an emergency of some sort. Here, Orlando, Tampa. Tallahassee or Jacksonville. Even farther. I can set probes to monitor 911 calls."
Lori nodded, then seemed to have to think about that. "You don't do that all the time anyway?"
"Nope. There's way too much crap happening all the time. I let the emergency services people do their jobs unless they call or I happen to be in the area."
"Don't you ever wonder if someone -- say, in a car accident -- could have been saved if you'd been there?"
"Nope. You can drive yourself nuts thinking like that."
She seemed doubtful. Oh, well. I sipped coffee as she asked rather archly, "Who decides, Ed? Who decides which accident or disaster is worthy of your attention?"
"They do, just like Arnell did today. After Robyn Reede mentioned on TV news that government flitters hadn't been sent to help with a sinking gambling boat, things began to change. Many of the big-city flits that used to be for limo use only can now be dispatched in emergencies. Everything we did at the fire today was recorded. Someone's probably criticizing our techniques or my wardrobe even as we speak."
Lori's eyes got big. "Oh, my God! You mean we had an audience?! They saw and heard everything?!"
"Only the parts that had to do with putting out the fire. No before or after. No private stuff. That's all I've allowed for years and I suggest you do the same."
"Uh... how do you do that? I've never heard you tell Athena what to send or not send."
"We've discussed it. Or should I say she inherited some parameters from the last core. She knows how to filter."
"Can she share that 'filtering' information with my core?"
"Yup. Athena, please share your info-filtering parameters with Lori's core."
Lori actually sighed gently. "Thanks. You seem to come up with something new to learn every five minutes or so."
I chuckled, "No extra charge, ma'am," and sipped again.
Giving me a fisheye, Lori leaned back, studied me for a moment, and then got up to go stand by the glass porch doors, where she seemed to study me some more.
She said, "Now I know where I've seen you before. At a ranch camp when I was ten, you were that guy who seemed to know everything there was to know about everything."
"But you know better than that now, I hope."
Lori grinned. "Oh, sure. You just reminded me of him. I was there all summer and never saw him get upset about anything. He'd sit with us at the campfire and show us how to make things out of leather and wood. One day we were coming back from a hike and he told us all to stop and stand still. Andy seemed to listen for a time, then he cocked that lever-action rifle he always carried and aimed at some rocks. When he fired, a big puff of dirt blew up by the rocks and a mountain lion jumped up and ran away." She laughed, "We never even knew it was there. One kid wet himself and a girl screamed and fainted. Andy said it had been tracking us for about an hour, but it got a little too close."
"It prob'ly figured to pick off a small kid and haul ass."
She nodded. "That's what Andy said, too, and about the same way. Next week he and Mrs. Lewis took us to a wildlife sanctuary and I got to see a mountain lion up close. It was missing some of its hind leg. Andy said it got tangled up in some barbed wire."
"Why was she 'Mrs. Lewis' if he was 'Andy'?"
Lori seemed to have to think about that. She shook her head. "I don't know. That's how we all knew them."
"Uh, huh. Well, if you ever call me by another man's name, now at least I'll know why."
She rolled her eyes in a 'can't believe you said that' expression and replied, "Just be glad you didn't remind me of Tim Sperry."
Un-assing the couch, I said, "Never happen, ma'am," and headed for the bathroom.
"You don't even know who he is."
From the hallway, I grinningly returned, "Don't have to. I saw your face when you spit out his name."
She grinned and I went to take a leak. As I was washing up, I heard a drum roll and guitar licks followed by a giggle from the living room. I dried my hands as Johnny Cash began singing his version of 'The Wabash Cannonball' and thought 'what the hell..?'
Lori laughed like a delighted child, the music got louder, and Johnny sang, "From the great Atlantic Ocean to the wide Pacific shore, She climbs the flowery mountains o'er the hills and by the shore, She's mighty tall and handsome and she's known quite well by all, She's a reg'lar combination on the Wabash Cannonball..."
I arrived in the living room as Lori sang along with, "Listen to the jingle, the rumble, and the roar, as she glides along the woodland, o'er the hills and by the shore..."
She saw me and grinningly raised her voice over the music to say, "I haven't heard this since I was a kid! We used to sing it in camp!" She paused and said, "Nobody seemed to know who 'Daddy Claxton' was, though."
Heading for the kitchen, I said, "Google him. They used other names in a lot of other versions of that song."
The song ended while I cleaned my coffee mug. Lori came into the kitchen and asked, "Do you have an old song like that? One that makes you laugh when you hear it?"
I chuckled, "Oh, yeah. Several," and called up a screen to play 'I Knew The Bride When She Used To Rock 'n Roll'. Lori listened to some of it and smiled, then chuckled. As it ended and I assembled a fresh coffee, I said, "But here's one that may give you goose bumps," and put on 'The Ballad of Thunder Road'.
Lori's gaze narrowed. "I know that voice! Who is it?"
"Robert Mitchum. It's the theme from his movie 'Thunder Road'." I sang along with, 'Roarin' out of Harlan, revvin' up his mill, He shot the gap at Cumberland and screamed by Maynordsville. With T-men on his taillights and roadblocks up ahead, The mountain boy took roads that even angels feared to tread.'
Sure enough, as Mitchum's voice lowered slightly to intone 'that even angels feared to tread', goose bumps appeared on Lori's arms. She seemed surprised to see them and shuddered slightly as she rubbed them away.
When the song ended, she asked, "What are T-men?"
"Treasury Agents. Here's another song I like." I poked 'Paradise' by John Prine. I softly sang along with some of it and Lori's eyes never left mine. She looked as if she might be trying to figure something out.
'Paradise' ended and I said, "And now for something of more recent vintage," then I put on Katy Perry's 'Hot 'n Cold' video. Lori gave me an amazed fisheye as she laughed, then did a little in-place dance and softly sang along with some of the video.
When it ended, she gave me one of those canted-head, studious looks, then asked, "What kind of 'clubs' were you talking about?"
Sipping coffee, I said, "Places with dance music. No country, no rap. Two beats a second."
Her left eyebrow arched again. "Give me an example."
I poked up Alex Gaudino's remixed combination of 'Destination Unknown' and 'Calabria'. Lori's face again displayed amazement, then settled into a big grin.
She nodded as she moved to the beat and did a tight little spin, then said, "Yeah! Let's go clubbing! With Aunt Lisa here, we may not get another chance."
I had my doubts about that. Aunt Lisa was a woman and most women can't resist a good dance tune.
Grinning, I gave Lori a little salute and said, "By your command, milady, but it's kind of early. Think you can keep yourself busy while I go take care of something?"
"I can't come along?"
"It's kind of personal. I'll be back around eight."
As I headed for the front door, she asked, "Is it a woman?"
Turning to meet her gaze, I replied, "Nope. Just something I want to get done today. Hold the fort, ma'am."
Soaring into the sky on my board, I felt a faint field presence and used an arcing turn to look for the probe. It was about a hundred yards behind me. Heh. Curious lady. Using a nonstandard field, I called up Galatea in six-seat mode and turned on my three suit as I flew through the flitter without stopping. The probe stopped behind the flitter, as expected.
Hm. All I wanted to do was take a nap before going clubbing, but here was a chance to create some mystery.
"Athena, use nonstandard fields and make Galatea fly to Olympic National Park in Washington, please. Park her thirty feet above Mount Olympus for a while, then bring her back to me. Make her whole trip last until eight this evening. Oh, and make sure probes can't get inside the flitter or see inside it." As an afterthought, I added, "Or hear inside it."
The flitter shot westward and the probe followed it. I called up a second flitter in stealth mode and took it up to twenty miles. Conjuring a field bed, I told Athena I didn't want to be found by Lori's probes and to wake me at eight, then I got flat and used theta waves to initiate a nap.
Athena's soft chimes woke me on schedule and I felt a field presence immediately. As I sipped cold coffee, I had my flitter descend and had Galatea meet it at five thousand feet to merge with it. Lori's probe followed Galatea down, but it disappeared before we landed.
When I walked into the house, Lori wasn't in sight. I headed for the kitchen, but Lori called, "Ed!"
I replied, "You got me, ma'am."
"Come here, okay?"
I walked down the hall to her closed door and said, "I'm here." Small sounds came through the door, then it opened.
Lori wore a light grey sleeveless t-shirt and a pair of cutoffs that I recognized as having been jeans earlier in the day. She'd cut the legs off about two inches below the pockets. She wore no bra and her nipples stood firm under the shirt where they touched it.
Looking her up and down twice, I said, "Well, wow, lady! Nice to know I was right."
"Right? About what?"
"I just knew you had to have great legs, ma'am. But... um... Is that your 'clubbing' outfit?"
Rolling her eyes, she said, "No, this is," and a form-fitting, mid-thigh, sleeveless black sheath dress appeared.
I reached to tuck a bit of her t-shirt out of sight at her left shoulder and looked at her hips as I said, "Looks good, but it doesn't hide those cutoffs very well. Not at all, really."
"No problem. I won't be wearing cutoffs under it." The dress changed to blue, burgundy, and dark green, then Lori asked, "Which color works best?"
"The one you already know suits you best."
She gave me a 'you're being difficult' expression and asked, "You don't have an opinion?"
"Nope. You haven't given it to me yet."
Lori gave me an exasperated sigh. "Come on, dammit. I'm trying to compromise, here."
I grinned and played dumb.
"Compromise, ma'am? You mean that dress was for me and it isn't what you'd usually wear to go clubbing?"
"No, I mean... Well, yeah. Something like that. I don't want to embarrass you. Us."
"Hah. Not likely. I've seen some pretty bizarre stuff in the clubs and I usually go in this outfit." I plucked at my shirt and sipped coffee.
Lori eyed me for a moment, then her outfit changed again. It became a short denim skirt and a matching sleeveless denim shirt. When she leaned to shimmy her shorts down under her skirt, I saw her t-shirt had disappeared and was startled to realize it had been a field-generated fake, too.
Stepping out of her shorts, Lori kicked them at the bed, an action that made me notice her sneakers. They, too, looked as if they were made of denim. She turned to face me almost at attention and asked, "Well?"
"Kewl. You still look like some kind of a goddess to me, ma'am. No super-special club-only jewelry?"
Her gaze narrowed. A thin, flat silver necklace with three turquoise teardrop insets appeared, as did matching, single-inset earrings. I nodded.
"Very nice. Kind of tasteful for a dance club, but I guess having good taste can be a liability sometimes."
She rolled her eyes. "Are you really going like that?"
"What would you rather see, milady?"
She studied me for a moment, then called up a screen, put my image on one side, and put a catalog web site on the other. As she flipped pages, I switched on my brown sport coat and light blue shirt and said, "Lori."
She looked up, stared, and her screen vanished. With an up and down glance, she nodded. "Yeah! That's good!"
With a little salute, I said, "Anything for you, ma'am," and headed for the kitchen.
Lori followed and seemed to study my shirt front.
I asked, "Yes?"
Reaching to touch my chest, she asked, "How does a light blue shirt hide your dark green shirt?"
I shrugged. "Fields, of course. I told Cindy what I wanted to see and she found a way to program it."
Pulling the blue shirt forward a bit, I looked behind it and saw no green, just my chest.
Lori peeked in and breathed, "Damn!"
I chuckled, "Why, thank you, ma'am."
She grinned and said, "Sorry, but that was just because I can't figure out how the hell she did that."
"Oh. Well, I'll work out some and try you again later."
Lori laughed, "Don't bother. Big muscles don't impress me. They usually mean he's a narcissist."
"Yeah, could be. Or they could mean some ol' girl peeked inside his shirt once and didn't seem very impressed."
Lori laughed again. "You may be right. I hadn't thought of it that way." Poking my chest, she said, "But you have nothing to worry about. You're as fit as you need to be."
"Yeah, typing isn't very strenuous."
"Crap. I've seen you do katas and push that big bike around. I also saw you help Lee move to her new office. Some of those book boxes weighed over fifty pounds. You took all nine of them off the cart and stacked them in a corner in about twenty seconds."
She'd been watching me, huh? Kewl.
I sighed, "Okay, so you caught me actually working a little. But only once, right?"
Lori grinned. "Yeah. Right. But only once."
She said she'd need a few minutes and disappeared into her room. I used a toothbrush and spiffed up a little, then turned the bathroom over to her and waited in the living room. Another few minutes passed before she strode into the middle of the room and grinningly said, "Ready."
We went outside and I called up a flitter, then launched toward Gainesville at about two hundred miles per hour.
Lori asked, "Why Gainesville? And why so slow?"
Calling up a screen, I said, "It's a college town and I want to make a call on the way." I sent a link at Toni's pad and waited. Some two minutes passed before she answered.
Her grinning face appeared with, "Hi, Ed! What's up?"
"Hi, Toni. You forgot to add 'besides me', ma'am."
She laughed, "No, I didn't. I have company tonight."
"Ah. Well, as it happens, so do I. Her name's Lori and we're looking for some current club info."
I expanded the screen so Toni could see Lori.
Toni's gaze widened a bit, as did her grin. Her voice dropped an octave as she breathed a very appreciative, "Woooo! Nice! Hi, Lori!"
At the sight -- and sounds -- of Toni, Lori's left eyebrow went up, her face seemed to go blank as it fell open, and she glanced at me with a 'what the hell?' expression before she answered, "Uh... Hello, Toni."
Toni laughed, "It's like that, huh? Okay. Never mind." Looking at me, she asked, "How come you never find any friends we can both play with?"
"Well, gee, I might ask the same, ma'am. Your last four ladyfriends didn't have much use for men. Bet this latest one doesn't, either."
With a wry look, she replied, "Yeah, point taken. Okay. The best clubs are probably the Windmill and Takisho's Lounge. No ghetto crap or country."
I said, "You know me so well, ma'am."
Toni chuckled, "Nose to toes." Looking at Lori, she said, "Let me know if he doesn't work out for you. I'll probably have... um... an 'opening' here by Friday."
Lori's eyebrow went up again and she stared rather starkly at Toni, who laughed and said to me, "She isn't ready yet, so don't get your hopes up. Need anything else tonight?"
"Well, you could come with us."
She shook her head. "No, I couldn't. You remember Marla from Poland?"
"Five-nine, blonde, almost as solid as you, kind of busty, and... hm... Oh, yeah! I think she has a Polish accent?"
Toni laughed, "Yeah, that one."
"Then I completely understand, ma'am."
"I thought you might. G'night and have a good time."
"You, too. Thanks for the local info."
She grinningly gave us a little wave as she tapped her pad off. I used the screen to locate the two clubs and we descended toward the Windmill.
Lori breathed, "Wow! She was something, wasn't she?"
I chuckled, "Yup."
"How do you know her?"
"We used to share a different blonde. She liked her women a little more feminine back then."
This time Lori's eyebrow went up at me.
"You're saying you... and she..? But... Ed, I just got the distinct impression she's... uhm... a... lesbian."
"Funny, so did I." Lori's gaze narrowed. I added, "But she isn't. Or at least, she wasn't last month."
"So she's bi?"
I grinned. "That's about all that's left, isn't it?"

Chapter Twenty

Below us, the Windmill seemed to occupy an entire corner of a block and the place looked crowded, as I'd expected. I don't ordinarily enjoy crowds, but at places like this, the people are a big part of the show. I had the flitter set down in the street in front of the club. As we stepped outside the flitter's field, thumping music filled the air. When we seemingly appeared out of nowhere, a few people did doubletakes and stared briefly. I sent Galatea upstairs to wait for us and we headed for the club's door.
People in outfits ranging from simply odd to truly bizarre mingled with people who looked as if they'd come straight from an office. Others looked as if they'd just tossed on whatever had been on hand.
We'd arrived early enough to avoid a line at the door, but we received some odd looks as we entered. We received some more odd looks from both bouncers and patrons as they noticed I wasn't in their usual under-thirty age group.
It was already impossible to find a table; Lori and I ordered drinks and hovered near the bar until some people apparently decided to go elsewhere. Rather than dash to grab the table, I called up my Jim simulation in one of the chairs and had him point directly at us, then wave us over.
Lori peered at him, then gave me an odd, grinning look as we headed that way. Once we'd sat down, I had the Jim simulation vanish. A few people a short distance away stared hard at his chair, but nobody seemed to want to believe what they thought they'd seen.
Lori giggled, then laughed and sipped her drink as she surveyed the dance floor.
She sent a ping at me and I replied, "Yes?"
"That was funny."
"Yup. Have your core take notes about the music. If you hear anything you particularly like, it'll be easy to find later."
She nodded. "Good idea. Do you dance?"
"After a fashion. Not usually to this stuff. I come to places like this for the music and the show."
"The show?"
Grinning, I gestured around the room. "This show. It keeps me in touch with how people operate." Pointing out one guy in particular, I said, "Mr. GQ, there, is here to pick up a night's pleasure if he can." Pointing at another guy, I said, "But that guy's here to meet someone who hasn't arrived yet."
A woman by the door had been peeking outside or glancing at me every few moments. She seemed almost frustrated as she fiddled with something inside the top of her pink-and-purple outfit. After a short time, she again peeked outside. Some guy stopped in front of her and she pulled her head back inside with a look of supreme irritation. Her eyes swept past me again.
I said, "And she's waiting for someone. Likely for 'something', too. What'll you bet she'll scoot outside if I make firm eye contact with her?"
"Why would she?"
"Because she's prob'ly here to either buy or sell something questionable and I'm obviously not one of the local kids."
The woman saw both of us looking at her and her eyes flared before she glanced around the room like a cornered animal. She wouldn't meet our gaze again; instead, she opted to take another look outside, and this time she followed up by pushing her way past some incoming people.
A twenty-something guy who'd been eyeing us from the bar area had seen the woman leave. He seemed to give things some thought, then moved a bit closer. After a time, he came to crouch by our table and ask, "Are you two cops?"
I asked, "Would you believe me if I said no?"
He shook his head tightly. "No. I don't think so."
"Then you've just screwed yourself, kid. Now everybody wondering about us is gonna be wondering about you."
The guy met my gaze in silence for a moment, then glanced at Lori as he straightened up. Without another word, he left our table and headed back to the bar. Where he'd been standing elbow to elbow with others before, he now found others maintaining a slight distance from him and pretending not to notice him.
Only one other guy who seemed to know him approached him and said something. The guy who'd visited our table shrugged and answered. Both of them looked at Lori and me, then moved to another part of the bar.
Throughout all this, Lori had remained silent, even through our link. Now she asked, "Does that happen a lot when you go to clubs?"
I nodded. "Sometimes. Not always. Hardly ever, when I went clubbing with Toni."
Lori chuckled, "They probably thought she was the cop."
With a grin, I replied, "A few times, yeah, but not in the places that knew her."
"Wouldn't that mean those places know you, too?"
"Maybe. It's been a while." I shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I might not be too welcome in those places without Toni."
Lori's eyes narrowed. "What?! Why?" Developing a look of realization, she said, "Oh. You mean they're gay bars."
"No, I mean they're lesbian bars, as in 'no boys allowed' if they show up alone."
Her left eyebrow went up and her eyes tracked someone behind me as she asked, "Lesbian bars aren't gay bars?"
"Well, sure they are, but -- to me -- 'gay' refers to both genders, and the ladies in those clubs definitely don't encourage male attendance."
A familiar voice behind me said, "Damned right we don't, but we might make an exception in your case," and a short redhead in a black dress squeezed around my chair to take the seat next to mine. A deeply-tanned brunette took the seat near Lori and sat gazing at me rather critically.
"Sylvia!" I said, "How've you been?"
She took my hand and pulled me into a quick hug as she replied, "Doing pretty well, really. How about you? And who's your pretty friend?"
The hug had made her friend's eyes open wide in shock.
I said, "This is Lori. She's from Arizona. Lori, Sylvia."
They shook hands across the table, then Sylvia indicated her friend and said, "And this is Rita. She's on my main crew. Rita, this is Lori and this guy's Ed."
After shaking hands with Lori, Rita looked at me and seemed to have to think about offering her hand to me. Her hand was almost limp in my grasp, readily indicating her total lack of enthusiasm.
Turning my attention to Sylvia, I asked, "How's the lawn care business, ma'am?"
"Down some with the crappy economy, but still doing okay. Did you know I still owe you four hundred?"
"Nope. How'd that happen?"
"When I bought Susan out. Lots of details. Tell you later, if you want." She waved a dismissing hand that dove into her purse and brought out a checkbook. "Are you okay with a personal check?"
I shrugged and laughed, "One of yours, sure. But make it two hundred and spend the difference on your crew."
Her pen poised over the checkbook, Sylvia asked, "Why?"
"I don't need a reason, ma'am."
She regarded me quietly for a moment, then said, "I do."
Lori and Rita joined her in eyeing me. I shrugged again.
"Okay. The original group was four single moms who were willing to learn to use unfamiliar machinery and sweat under the Florida sun in order to make more than minimum wage. Has anything changed since then?"
Sylvia canted her head and continued her gaze for a moment, then said, "Yes. Now there are two crews."
"Then don't write the check, just give everybody a bonus. Want me to write a release note for your records?"
Voiding the check she'd been about to write, Sylvia tore it out and turned it over, then set the pen on it. "Yes, please."
I scribbled, 'Forget the $400, give them a bonus,' signed and dated the note, and set the pen down. Sylvia nodded, picked up the pen and check, and put them in her purse.
She then fished out a fifty-dollar bill, handed it to Rita, and grinningly said, "Thank the nice man, Rita."
Looking generally disconcerted, Rita looked at the fifty, then at Sylvia, and then at me. She folded the bill once, held it up as if showing it to me, and said, "You just bought my son's next two pairs of school pants. Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Sylvia said, "The next round is on me, Ed," and waved at a waitress. Once the woman had left with our orders, Sylvia chuckled, "Poor Marty. She's wondering why the hell I'm sitting at a table with a man and buying drinks."
"Wanna really confuse her? We could walk out together."
Rita snorted a sharp chuckle and Sylvia laughed, "No, but thanks for the mental image. I think her brain would short to ground if I did that."
Lori asked, "Short to ground?"
I said, "If you lay a screwdriver across the tip of a spark plug and touch it to a lawnmower's frame, the engine dies."
Looking enlightened, she replied, "Oh. Uh... how do you two know each other?"
Sylvia laughed, "You mean 'why was I about to hand him four hundred bucks', don't you?"
"Well... yeah..." She half-shrugged and added, "And you could have mailed it, couldn't you?"
Rita's gaze narrowed at that, but Sylvia smiled and said, "Yes, I could have mailed it, but I only found out a few days ago, when my accountant backtracked some expenses. When I saw him in here tonight, I couldn't believe it. It's been like... oh, damn... about two years, I think."
I nodded. "Yeah, about that. Toni and I haven't been out hunting for quite a while."
Looking moderately amazed, Sylvia asked, "Why not?"
"Scheduling, mostly, I think. And she always has a girlfriend lately, so there's no need to go prowling."
Shaking her head with faux-sympathy, Sylvia oozed, "You poor thing." Leaning forward on her elbows, she said, "Lori, Ed bought the gear that started my company back in early ninety-eight." Enumerating on her fingers, she said, "Six push mowers, two weed trimmers, a small chainsaw, hand tools, and a trailer. At first, we did the work ourselves. Weekends, between classes, and after school. A couple of girls dropped out and the rest of us formed a corporation, then we hired replacement girls who needed money even worse than we did. I ended up buying out the others when they graduated and left, and hired girls to replace them on the mowers. Now we all use riding mowers and I own the whole business."
I said, "Woo! A real tycoon, huh? Is it too late to get that four hundred in company stock?"
She shot back instantly, "Private company. Sorry."
As our drinks arrived, I sighed, "Oh, well. Just a thought."
Apparently Rita had been as surprised as Lori to hear about the early days of Sylvia's lawn business. She sat eyeing me as she sipped her drink, but said nothing. A woman called to Sylvia from the front door and Sylvia waved back holding up an index finger in a 'wait' gesture.
To Lori and me, she said, "Well, we gotta go now. Lori, it was nice to meet you. Ed, it really was nice to see you again. Tell you what; if you ever get a place up here, we'll give you a big discount on lawn care, okay?"
We'd all stood up at about the same time. I said, "It's too far north, ma'am. Gets too cold in winter."
She laughed and left with Rita. Lori and I sat back down and Lori watched them go as she said, "Well, that was sort of interesting."
"Kinda fun, too. Rita didn't know what the hell to think when Sylvia dragged her over here to meet a man."
Lori laughed, "No, she didn't. You know, I'd never have figured Sylvia for a lesbian. Rita, maybe. Not Sylvia."
The music got louder and I looked around. A guy was leaving the DJ booth with a fat briefcase and the guy inside was putting on a pair of earphones. Shift change; a new DJ and a new style? The song wasn't quite rap, but it was too damned loud for table-talking, and I didn't like it.
Apparently some others shared my opinion. Several couples left the dance floor. The guy in the booth never even looked up from whatever he was doing, hopping and bopping as he messed with something. Chances were good he'd never realize he was playing the wrong stuff until they fired him.
The atmosphere of the club changed in some subtle way and those who weren't willing to shout at each other over the music simply sat gazing around in silence. When people aren't tapping or nodding along with a song, something's wrong. The tune ended and the next one began without missing a beat, but now the dance floor only held about six couples and a couple of stags who seemed off in their own little worlds.
The club scene is youth-oriented, even when a club may contain 'youths' in their mid-thirties or later. Play music they can all get into and the place will be a playground. Play niche music suitable for only the twenty-somethings and the club starts to lose money immediately as the thirty-plus crowd nurses the current drink and debates whether to stick around.
Three wrong songs in a row are usually enough to help them make up their minds. At the door, the outflow of people began to resemble the inflow. The first DJ hadn't left yet; he'd stopped at the bar to drink and chat. A big guy at the end of the bar answered a phone, nodded as he spoke, and hung up, then he went to talk to the DJ at the bar. After a moment, the two of them went to the DJ booth, where the big guy motioned for the new DJ to come out. He did so and the first DJ went in as the big guy talked to the new DJ.
The current song prematurely dovetailed into something lighter and bouncier and the volume dropped a bit, then the first DJ taped a paper to the wall inside the booth and came out. He pointed out the paper to the new DJ and there were some argumentative words, but the big guy said something that ended that discussion, likely some variation of 'do it our way or you're outta here'.
I glanced at the bar. Sure enough, drink ordering seemed to be picking up. Some people who'd been heading for the door stopped and seemed to give the matter some thought. A few of them stood watching as the new DJ again entered the booth. They didn't continue toward the door, but they didn't seem fully decided about staying, either.
Lori had been glancing around as well. When she found me looking at her, she said, "I was just watching people. Some don't seem to know whether to stay or go."
"Yup. Another song like the last one would have driven me out of here."
Looking around again, she said, "Me, too." She eyed her drink for a moment, then asked, "Do you want to stay or go?"
I shrugged. "Doesn't matter." At her peering look, I leaned forward and said, "Really. It doesn't matter. Looks like they gave him a new playlist, but the mood's already broken. We can stay and try to get back into it or go somewhere else."
With one more glance around, Lori said, "I vote we go," tossed her drink back, and set the glass on the table.
I did the same and we stood up to leave just as a guy with pink and blue hair and way too many tattoos and piercings stopped by our table. He seemed somewhat drunk or stoned as he rather peeringly swept a sort of 'what the fuck?' look between Lori and me a couple of times.
Whatever a loser like that might have had on his mind, I didn't want to know. He got as far as asking snidely, "You out with your daddy, little girl?" before I backhanded his crotch lightly. That made him step back and turn slightly and he sucked in a breath to say something else, likely something loud and obnoxious. I stepped up to grab the huge metal-trimmed hole in his right ear. He flinched hard, but he didn't try to yank himself loose as I pulled him close.
Giving his ear a little warning tug, I said, "One more word and this earring is mine, asshole."
He glared, but kept his mouth shut. After a ten-count, I let go of his ear and waited to see what he'd do.
Another guy with what looked like a roughly equal number of tattoos and piercings came to stand beside him and yelped, "Hey, that was assault, man!"
A big guy shoved his way through the crowd around the bar and asked, "What's going on here?"
I thumbed at Lori and said, "We got up to leave. That guy blocked us in and mouthed off at her."
It was a setup statement and the bouncer accepted it for a quick end to the situation. Nodding, he said, "Right. Go ahead. Jingle and Jangle are gonna wait in here with me."
'Jingle' didn't like his new name. He glared up at the bouncer as Lori and I turned to leave. The guy who'd yelped about assault had produced a cell phone and was trying to talk to someone over the club noise. He turned the phone to take a picture of us. I sent a tendril to fry it as he returned it to his ear. A big spark jumped to his earring and made him yelp again as he let go of the phone.
At the door, I said, "We may have company outside."
"Company?"
"The guy on the cell phone took our picture. Could be he sent it to some friends."
Lori glanced back as we went down the steps and said, "He let that guy go, Ed. He's coming after us. So's his friend."
"Figured that. All a bouncer really cares about is making sure any trouble happens outside the club."
"Why did you have to square off with him like that?"
"Maybe because he wouldn't politely get out of our way?"
She gave me a sharp glance and looked around the street. I'd already done that; there was a small cluster of the jerk's clones on our left and a similar cluster on our right. A couple coming up the steps stopped and quickly moved to one side as they stared up at the doorway.
I turned to see Jingles exactly where I'd expected him to be; rushing to give me a shove down the steps. I leaned down a bit, grabbed his left arm and his belt buckle, and heaved him over my shoulders. His forward momentum helped me lift and shove him, then he flew over the sidewalk to land flat on his back near the curb.
His friends hurried to his side and one of them tried to stop us as we walked around him to the street. He stopped smack in front of us to block our path. I said, "Just keep going," and guided Lori to go around his right side as I went around him on his left.
The dumbshit tried to throw a sucker punch at the side of my head. All I had to do was duck a bit and raise my left elbow to solidly meet his nose. He stepped back in shock, felt his face, saw blood on his fingers, and sort of went nuts in a screaming frenzy, charging hard at me with a cocked fist.
I stepped back two paces, angling to his right. He tried to change course and maintain his attack, but all he did was set himself up for an easy snap kick to his gut. Two of his friends came hurrying over to face off with me, but a siren whooped twice and red and blue lights came on down the street.
A squad car pulled out from behind a parked SUV and headed for us. Two guys on the sidewalk across the street blended into some bushes surrounding a parking lot. One of the guys in front of me headed back to the sidewalk, but the other one seemed to want to try to get in a shot before the cop got there. He lunged at me as if to tackle me to the pavement. I stepped aside, let him go by, and waited.
Lori rather insistently called, "Ed, let's go, dammit!" and I glanced back to see her hop upward and vanish. She'd called up a flitter in stealth mode and boarded it. Oh, well. I strode to where she'd hopped and found myself inside the flitter's field. Stepping aboard, I took a seat and had the flitter stop a few blocks away.

Chapter Twenty-one

I said, "My flitter has a cooler, ma'am."
"So call it down."
I did so and had it blend with Lori's flit, then change to a standard flitter design. The sensation of Lori's field vanished. As I sat back and lifted my coffee mug from the holder between the seats, Lori sent a blue tendril to open the cooler and retrieve a can of tea. She took the can in her hand and popped the tab with terse motions.
Glaring at me once, she took a long sip of tea before she lowered the can and sighed, "You were actually having fun, weren't you?"
"Sure. Teaching doesn't have to be dull."
She retorted, "Teaching? Teaching what?"
I grinned. "Caution."
"You could have been hurt, Ed!"
"Those guys were just puppies, Lori. Nasty, obnoxious puppies who thought they had someone to fuck with tonight."
"We could have stunned them."
"Nah. If you don't rough 'em up a little, they don't learn."
"What the hell did you expect them to learn from that?"
Sipping coffee, I grinned again. "Like I said, 'caution'."
She glared at me, then faced front and sipped her tea.
"Lori."
Without looking at me, she answered, "What?"
"The guy in the bar set the stage for the whole encounter. He picked us out and made first contact. His friend was both the lookout and the reporter for the ones outside. From the minute he came over to us, it didn't matter what we might have said or done short of getting hauled away by the cops. They figured we'd head for one of the parking lots."
Calling up a satellite view of the corner by the Windmill, I pointed out the three parking lots near the intersection. Zooming on the one across the street from the club, I switched the view to infrared. Three figures lounged between two cars. In the west-corner lot were two more lounging figures. There were no figures loitering in the lot near where the cop had lit up, but there were two guys sitting in a car half a block from the corner.
I said, "Usually the setup guy stays inside, but I kind of pissed him off in the club. Without that, the main group of jackoffs would have followed or even accompanied us, hassling us all the way, poking and prodding to see if either of us would show a gun. They'd have stopped across the street from whichever parking lot we headed for and let us think the problem was over. Then the guys in the parking lot would have jumped us near our car."
Lori had suddenly become very focused. She cloned a matching screen and split it to put both parking lots on display, then split it again to add a segment for the two guys in the car and one for the front of the club. The cop car was still there. In its back seat were two guys and the cop was talking to others near the front of the car. One was big; likely the bouncer.
A few minutes passed, then the group broke up. The cop let the guys out of the car and they joined their pack. The big guy stayed in the doorway as the pack ambled around the corner and stopped. After a time, some went one way and some went another. Both groups got in cars at the ends of the block and drove away. We followed them.
Sixteen blocks away, the cars split up. Each car parked about a block away from the entrance to another club. Pairs of punks headed for the two nearby parking lots as four went to the club. Two of them went inside.
Lori said, "We were in the club for at least half an hour. Are we going to sit up here and wait to see what happens?"
"Yup. It's getting late and they were probably counting on a couple of good scores tonight. Now they'll want to hurry things along a little."
About fifteen minutes later, a couple left the club. The punks badgered them as they walked. When the guy took out a cell phone near the corner, the punks spread out a bit and started backing away. The guy stood ready to make the call for some moments, then put his cell phone away and took his lady's arm to cross the street.
Lori had put the nearest parking lots on her screens. Now she zoomed to full screen the segment that seemed the couple's likely destination. Two hunkered human heat sources lurked there between an SUV and a sedan. As the couple walked through the lot, the lurkers flanked them and moved with them. I got on my board and zipped down to hover just above the couple. When they stopped beside a sedan and the guy opened the door for his lady, the lurkers rushed them from both ends of the car. One jammed a short piece of 2x4 lumber in the car door to keep it from closing as the other grabbed the man and dragged him down to the ground.
I stunned the one on the ground and landed behind the other lurker as he tried to reach into the car to grab the woman's purse. Reaching past him to pull the stick out of the door, I solidly smacked his head with it, then moved around him. Putting my back against the next car, I put my feet on the open car door and shoved hard. The guy's upper arm, caught near the door's hinge, snapped almost immediately. He screamed and thrashed, then sagged against the car.
Ungently hauling his arm clear, I shoved him back, shut the door, and turned to find the intended victim of the evening getting to his feet. Except for some smudges on his clothes and a scuff on his left hand, he seemed okay.
He asked, "Uh... you aren't one of them?"
"Nope. Get moving. The rest of 'em'll be here shortly."
He nodded quickly and hurried around the car. The woman leaned to unlock the driver's door. The guy opened the door, stopped and said, "Thanks! Thanks a lot!" and then tossed himself into the car. As he started it, I kicked one of the unconscious punk's legs under the car.
When the car backed up, the front wheel ran over the punk's foot, waking him up instantly. He saw the car pulling away before he realized what had happened, then he screamed as he clutched his foot. I lifted back up to the flitter and watched several of his pals burst through a hedge and hop a low fence to get there.
As a few of them knelt by the wounded, one went into a ranting rage, kicking vehicles and leaning down to snatch up a rock. I stunned him as he was about to throw it through a car window. He fell backward against the guy with the broken arm, who backed away fast and tripped over the guy with the busted foot. That started another round of screams.
One guy down there answered his cell phone, then very obviously began frantically encouraging people to leave. Too late. A cop car hove into the parking lot and slid to a stop. The punks scattered like cockroaches. I stunned their legs hard so they'd be awake to panic a bit before the cops got to them. None of them fell gently.
Down the street, the two guys in the car decided it was time to leave. As they started out of the lot, I stunned them and the car sat idling in drive, its rear wheels at a steep speed bump and its front wheels in the drainage dip at the curb. The engine ran a little rough, so about every three seconds it would hiccup and the car would rock back and forth a bit, its headlights splashing the street each time.
I chuckled, "Good enough," and sat down to sip coffee and watch the rest of the show.
Another cop car came up the street and stopped to check out the car stuck on the speed bump. An ambulance came from the east. Two more cop cars showed up at the north parking lot and one parked in front of the club. Two cops went into the club and soon emerged with two punks. After installing them in the back seat, they U-turned to go to the north parking lot.
Throughout all this, I expected to hear something out of Lori, but she kept her silence and watched the screens as well as looking over the edge of the deck at the scene below. Only after the ambulance left with the two damaged punks did she turn to me and speak.
"Was all that really necessary, Ed?"
Sipping coffee, I said, "When you've met and dealt with enough predatory assholes, you'll know what really works with them and what doesn't. Two of those guys will consider new paths in life. Maybe a couple of the others, too."
"But not all of them."
I laughed, "Nope. Never all of them. There's never been a shortage of assholes in the world. Athena, please don't share your records of this evening with anyone." Glancing at Lori, I added, "And if you've already shared those records with Lori's core, please delete them from that core immediately and don't share any other records without checking with me first."
Lori gave me a stark, irritated look, but said nothing.
I asked, "Did I guess wrong?"
After a moment, she sighed, "No. I wanted to study it a few times. I've never seen people... act like that."
Shrugging, I said, "Study some nature films and you'll see the same thing. That was just a jackal hunt. A few wait and the others drive the game into the ambush." Sipping my coffee, I added, "Or you could patrol above the clubs back home now and then. Every town has jackal packs."
She nodded, studied her tea can for a moment, and pitched it over the side. As it flashed away, she sent a tendril to the cooler to retrieve a beer. After a sip and a soft, ladylike belch, Lori said, "Ed, you knew what was happening while we were still inside the club, didn't you?"
I shook my head. "Not for sure. Not until the other freak used his cell phone, anyway. Up until that point, it could have been just a plain ol' barroom brawl."
"Still..." she sipped beer, "I wouldn't have known what the cell phone meant. I wouldn't have been expecting more of them outside."
"No sweat. It's a 'learn on the job' sort of thing. You start recognizing hunting patterns pretty quickly."
She sat silent for a time, sipping beer and watching the world beyond the deck. A screen appeared and she studied it for a moment, then the flitter began moving. I didn't ask where she was taking us, but I wasn't surprised when she parked us a hundred feet above another club and switched the screen to infrared. I got a beer of my own and opened it as she split the screen to show the two local parking lots.
Splitting the two screens again, she made one bottom segment show the club's main entrance, then sent a probe into the club and put its display on the fourth segment. I saw mostly light brown people and a few lighter-skins and whites. Latin music thundered and Lori turned the volume down.
I said, "If they play meringue music, turn it back up," and Lori gave me a droll glance.
"Two in that lot," she said, pointing at the upper right block, "Two in this lot. But these two are standing together. Close together."
I saw them, standing between an SUV and a yellow Mercedes convertible.
"A private moment. But that doesn't mean they aren't there to ambush someone or back somebody up. Latin gangs are a little more sophisticated than some and they don't object to using women in their ops." With a chuckle, I added, "Fact is, they're probably a little more likely to have women than wannabe-freaks with pink and purple spiked hair."
Lori gave me another glance -- this time with a small grin -- and sipped her beer. I sipped mine and said, "And another thing... tactics may vary. These guys may be a little less flamboyant, for instance. While they may tail the marks to keep an eye on them and report directions of travel, they may not hassle them much en route, if at all. They'd probably have spotters, too."
Without taking her eyes off the screen, Lori repeated the word, "Spotters."
"Yup. People like the ones you saw making out. They'd take a break from each other long enough to report the marks entering the lot or passing it."
Widening the screen, I expanded the boxes to include wider areas around the lots. Two people seemed to be loitering around cars in an adjacent bank parking lot. Something flared between them, then died to a glowing spot. A cigarette. A padlocked chain stretched across the bank lot entrance, so I looked for another means of access. Nope. Those cars weren't leaving tonight.
I said, "A chain across the entrance. Cold car engines. The people between those cars may just be sharing a joint or they may be a hit team waiting for orders."
The probe showed an altercation between two guys, one light brown and the other white. The white guy looked confused until a woman joined the Latino and began yapping right alongside him. The white guy suddenly looked angry as hell, but he knew he'd instantly be outnumbered if he stood his ground. A bouncer came to stand a short distance from the group, his right hand behind him.
The white guy seemed to give up in disgust and gestured for a rather pretty white woman at the table to get up. She gave him an arching eyebrow and declined as she sipped some sort of fancy drink. Now really angry, the white guy said something that made her gaze narrow and headed for the door. Not far away, a Latina woman poked her cell phone, said something brief, and put it away.
I said, "The plot sickens. What do you want to bet the white girl picked up the white guy somewhere and demanded to come here tonight? She probably got dinner and drinks at the very least before delivering him to her jackal friends."
A guy by the door followed the white guy outside and said something. The white guy replied in an aggravated manner, then started walking with an angry stride toward the larger parking lot. The woman with the cell phone came to the door to look outside, said something into her phone and put it away, and went back inside the club.
The two guys in the bank lot hopped a short wall into the big lot and hurried to hunker at each end of the SUV by the Mercedes. The lovers seemed to almost merge, indicating they were putting on a show for the mark as they leaned against the Mercedes.
When the white guy saw them leaning on his car, he yelled and waved. The Latino guy responded and gave him the finger, but he and the girl separated to let the white guy get to the driver's door. The white guy kept a wary eye on the Latino guy as he unlocked the car door, but he didn't pay much attention to the woman. He should have. She pulled a knife and got his attention as she moved to prevent the door from opening.
The Latino guy wrapped an arm around the white guy's throat from behind, and though the white guy struggled, he soon passed out. The other two guys who'd come over from the bank lot hurried to help drag the white guy in front of his Mercedes. He woke up a bit and one of the guys punched him twice. That was enough for Lori.
Everyone down there suddenly collapsed. Two more guys who joined the group also dropped.
I chuckled, "Now what, ma'am?"
"Now I call the police."
"Uh, huh. Well, if that's how you want to spend the rest of the evening, call up your own flitter. I'll leave the door unlocked for you."
With pretty thorough disbelief and astonishment, she yelped, "You're leaving?!"
I laughed, "Oh, hell, yes. Police records aren't private. All you'll be doing is setting yourself up for revenge back in Arizona. Latin gangs are known to do each other favors."
"Well, what the hell would you do?"
Another couple of people were hurrying across the street to the parking lot. They saw the unconscious people clustered around the Mercedes and carefully approached the scene. As they tried to wake up the lovers, I stunned them, then stunned the whole group again.
Grinning at Lori, I said, "I'd cut the clothes off all but their intended victim, find their cell phones, send pictures of this clusterfuck to every number in them, and then I'd burn the clothes. That'll draw a crowd from the club."
She stared at me for a moment, then burst out laughing. We landed and began shearing clothes off people, piling the pocket stuff near them. Money, jewelry, knives, odd items, and two guns went on the pile. I had Athena handle making cell phone pictures and the phone calls to save time. Once we had all the clothes piled at the empty end of the lot, we got back aboard the flitter. Lori woke up the white guy with a tendril as I sent hot tendrils to light the clothes.
The white guy struggled to sit up, saw the naked herd around him, and scrambled to his feet. When he saw the fire in the parking lot, he blurted, "Oh, my God!" and hurried to get in his car. A moment later he hopped out, frantically looked around for his keys, found them, and hopped back in. The Mercedes started and backed quickly out of the slot, then gunned toward the lot's exit.
"Won't help," I said, "They know who he is."
Shouting people came running from the club, swarming into the parking lot to assemble around both the fire and the downed muggers and gabbling like excited geese. More people were on the way as the club emptied, so I sent another stun at the muggers. The fire had flared pretty well, but had also died down to almost nothing.
A few people began grabbing at the pile of personal stuff, so I stunned them. One of them was the white girl from the bar. Their collapses upset some of the crowd and a couple of people crossed themselves as they backed away. I stunned anyone who approached the muggers until there were about a hundred people in the lot, all trying to get a look at the ashes and asses.
"It's time," I said, and Lori asked, "Time? For what?"
I chuckled, "Time to wake everybody up."
The nude muggers came awake more or less together and freaked out. There were shouts and screams and attempts to cover up. One guy punched another because he thought the guy was deliberately showing the white girl his dick. That started a fight that shortly involved four guys.
The Latina woman from the bar tried to stop the brawl and got a fist in the face, then the guy who'd popped her fell to his knees and begged her to forgive him. She glared down at him for a moment, then kneed him in the face. He rolled on his back, swore mightily, and got up to hit her again.
A fire truck heading toward the scene was passed by two cop cars that parked to block the lot's entrance. Two nude guys hurriedly tossed their guns onto the roof of the nearest building. Two more cop cars arrived before the fire truck had turned the corner. One of the firemen yelled about the blocked entrance and one of the cops yelled back, "What fire?!"
The fire guys searched for a fire as cops tried to keep people from leaving and began talking to some of them.
I wondered if Lori realized she was wearing a big, silly grin as I asked, "Seen enough, ma'am?"
She laughed, "More than enough." Pointing at one nude guy in particular, she said, "Some people really need clothes."
Guiding the flitter to the roof where the guns had been thrown, I sent tendrils to retrieve the guns. Both were pistols; one was a 9mm and the other was a .40 caliber. The .40 was in a fabric inside-the-belt holster. I looked around to see if there'd been a holster on the 9mm before it hit the roof.
Speaking aloud, I asked, "Athena, are either of these guns listed anywhere as stolen?"
"No, Ed."
"Do you see an empty holster anywhere on the roof?"
"Yes, Ed."
Damn. I sighed, "Well, then, would you please either point it out to me or bring it aboard, ma'am?"
"Yes, Ed. Which would you prefer?"
Lori snickered. I said, "Oh, you could just go ahead and bring it aboard, I guess."
"Yes, Ed."
The black fabric holster floated up from some shadows. I plucked it out of the air as I said, "Thanks, Athena."
Lori asked, "What are you going to do with them?"
"Sell 'em. Give 'em away. I don't need 'em."

Chapter Twenty-two

Lori sipped her beer and asked, "You wouldn't consider turning them in?"
"Maybe anonymously, but they'd just be destroyed or added to some cop's collection."
"Aunt Lisa might be interested in one. What are they?"
Dropping the magazines and checking the chambers, I cleared the guns, pulled their triggers, and handed them to Lori. "One's a nine and one's a forty."
She looked up from studying the nine and said, "I was hoping for a little more information."
I shrugged. "Okay. One's a Taurus PT92 9mm and the other's a Springfield XD."
Lori gave me a droll expression as she tapped the side of the XD with a finger. "I can read, too, you know."
"Well, then, what's your question, ma'am? What do you want me to tell you?"
Her expression continued for a moment, then she lifted the guns and asked, "Which one would you carry?"
"Neither. I like a .357 stainless revolver."
Lowering the guns to her lap, she grunted, "Boy, you're not helping at all, are you?"
"Xin Loi, ma'am."
"What?"
"It means 'sorry 'bout that'. Sort of. Why don't we just clean them up a bit and let Aunt Lisa choose one if they don't show up on anyone's list in a week or so?"
In the midst of nodding as she studied the guns, Lori froze, then said, "She'd want to know where they came from."
Sipping beer, I aimed the flitter at Spring Hill and replied, "Yeah, seems likely."
"What would we tell her?"
"Nothing. Just show her how we got 'em."
Giving me a stark stare, Lori said, "Oh, I really don't think so, Ed. No. No way."
"Then think of something else."
"You could just give it to her, you know."
I shook my head. "She might want a receipt."
Lori blinked at me. "So?! What's wrong with that?!"
"I don't want my name on any paperwork involving guns. I don't like the way things are going in this country."
"Things? What things?"
Sipping again, I put a plain-text version of House Bill HR45 on a screen and said, "The current administration is very pro-people-control and anti-gun. Obama has -- so far -- kept his campaign promise not to directly mess with the Second Amendment itself, but he's appointed people who are trying to create federal gun licensing and registration. If this bill passes, all guns and gun owners would be registered, but a license scheme couldn't work without provisions for random inspections. That would mean cops coming into your home or business to search for unregistered guns. In every other country where this sort of scheme has been enacted, it's led to eventual confiscation."
Scrolling the screen, Lori said, "This specifically mentions allowing inspections of commercial enterprises. It doesn't say anything about homes."
"Yet. That's what 'amendments' are for. Even the US Constitution isn't immune to amendments."
"It also says the bill is a response to gun violence in general and an incident involving a teenager named Blair Holt in particular."
With another sip of beer, I said, "Bullshit. We already have laws that cover shootings and murders. Will criminals who ignore existing laws pay any attention to new laws? Not a chance in hell. This bill's nothing more -- or less -- than a prelude to confiscation. The government's become scared of its citizens, and given the criminal levels of political and economic mismanagement and outright abuse during the last few decades, I'd say for very good reasons."
She gave me a fisheye and said, "You sound like you're expecting some kind of a revolution."
"Yup. It may or may not be a replay of the French Revolution, but something in particular will push people too far within the next few years. When that happens, any 'crats not blessed with revolutionary approval better have sense enough to abdicate their various thrones and run like hell."
Lori studied the screen for a moment, then asked, "What kind of 'something in particular'?"
"Probably Obama's idea of what health care should be. Older people and the chronically infirm will be refused certain fancy expensive treatments because of their age or medical history. When the wrong someone's mother or child dies, Obama and his cronies are likely to need some emergency health care themselves."
"My God, Ed, you can't really believe that? I thought you were for a national health care system."
"With the kind of bureaucratic nightmare Obama's pushing, ninety percent of every dollar would go to supporting the bureaucracy, not to treatments. There'd be endless red-tape delays and even outright refusals to authorize various treatments like transplants or a terminal kid's cancer. It would be perpetually underfunded, just like the once-rat-infested VA hospitals, and it'll cost ten times more than if the government just paid everybody's hospital bills, no questions asked."
We descended toward Spring Hill as I said, "Look, Lori, the arrogant, thieving sons of bitches have pissed away trillions to prop up corrupt financial institutions when they could have simply paid off every mortgage in the country and saved GM for far less. Why? Because many of their ruling-class buddies got a fat cut of the loot or benefited in some other way. No system they create will be any different with this bunch. They've created a national debt and rampant inflation our great-great-great grandchildren will inherit..."
Lori eyed me in blatant disbelief and opened her mouth, but I said, "Oh, yes, ma'am. At least three 'greats', and that's only how things stand right now. And that huge, unpayable debt will help kick off the next American Revolution."
As we landed, Lori said, "You don't sound altogether unhappy about that possibility."
"I'm not. If they're stupid and arrogant enough to ignore history and push people that far, they'll deserve a place in line at the guillotine and there'll be a long line of people waiting for a turn at the drop handle."
Lori read some more, then tapped the screen off and said, "You're talking about insurrection, Ed."
I hopped down and offered her a hand as I said, "I'm only talking about it, not promoting the idea. I'll leave that to others. And it's only called 'insurrection' until you win."
Stepping off the deck, she asked, "Oh, really? And what if you lose?"
I shrugged. "Look at the aftermath of every other major popular movement or revolution. Things change anyway."
"But not always for the best. Look at what happened to Russia and China after the Communist revolutions."
"The Commies promised less work, more pay, days off, education, and decent living conditions. What people got was ideological indoctrination, food shortages, longer hours, crushing poverty, and a police state. What was the big difference in the American Revolution? What were the colonists promised if they won?"
Lori gave that some thought and replied, "An end to British taxes. National autonomy. That's about it."
"You got it. No lofty, complex promises. Just a chance to boot the Brits, keep most of their money, and make their own way in the world. Did you know that over half the bailout money went straight overseas in one fashion or another? What's the difference between heavy foreign taxes and heavy US taxes if the money doesn't stay in the country? What did 'we, the people' get in return for the trillions in bailouts other than a huge national debt and higher inflation?"
Sipping the last of her beer, Lori tossed the bottle at the flitter, winced as it flashed to plasma, and said, "You and Aunt Lisa should get along pretty well. She thinks about the same way you do."
I tossed my bottle and followed her to the front door, then let us in. As we entered, the cats greeted us from the couch. We took some time with them, told them about Aunt Lisa coming to Florida, and then I asked Lori if she wanted another beer. She shook her head and stood up.
"No, I think I'll just go lie down and prowl around inside my new core until I fall asleep." She grinned. "Thanks for an interesting evening."
"All part of the adventure package tour, ma'am."
She chuckled, "Right. Goodnight, Annabelle and Tiger. 'Night, Ed."
I got another beer, lounged with the cats, checked email and messages, and was about to hit the sack when the phone rang. Linking to it, I found the caller was Detective Greer and answered with, "Hi, there, LT."
"Hi, Ed. Sorry to call so late, but we may need your flitter."
Quick-scanning recent 911 calls, I saw nothing but routine stuff and asked, "Who's 'we', LT? There's nothing unusual showing on your board."
"There wouldn't be. She called a non-emergency line and we've handled things quietly since the phone went dead. Her ex was a deputy and he may have a radio."
Heading to the kitchen, I began making a fresh coffee as I said, "I'm prepping to leave. Tell me more."
"He's an Iraq war vet who became a deputy. There were... let's call them 'adjustment' issues. Control issues, really. After two shootings and a few disciplinary actions, his wife couldn't handle it anymore. Neither could he. He started drinking and got rough with her a couple of times. They separated. She planned to take their four-year-old son and move back to Illinois after the divorce..."
I interrupted, "That info may be useful if I have to talk to him, but what's the current situation, LT? Why did her phone go dead?"
"We think he took it away from her. He's got her and the boy aboard a friend's cabin cruiser. We tried to talk to him, but... They left the county marina about ten minutes ago. We think he'll head for Mexico." After a slight pause, Greer added, "He has a shotgun taped to her neck, Ed."
"Well, that answered my next question." I snapped the lid onto my mug and said, "Okay. Ready. Where are you?"
"At the county marina."
"See you shortly. Bye."
"Bye." He ended the call and I turned to find Lori standing by the front door with her backpack.
"Whatever it is, I want to come too."
"Okay." Walking to the couch, I patted the cats and said, "We have to go to work. I don't know how long it will take. Maybe hours."
Tiger said, "We will wait here, Ed."
"Thanks, Tiger."
After goodbyes, I grabbed my backpack on the way out and we used our boards to lift half a mile before I called Galatea. Taking a seat, I sent probes to look for the cruiser and they found it before we reached the marina. The boat was still negotiating the channel leading to the Gulf and the water was getting choppy. A police boat kept pace about fifty feet to the left of the cruiser and another police boat trailed them at a similar distance.
A big guy in jeans and a t-shirt stood at the helm. The woman -- in a blue sundress and barefoot -- sat on a milk carton near him, and yes, he'd duct-taped the muzzle of a pump shotgun to her neck, trapping much of her long blonde hair under the tape. His finger wasn't on the trigger, but it covered the trigger guard. I didn't see the kid, but a second probe found him sitting on a bunk in the cabin.
Going visible as we landed in the marina parking lot, I looked for Greer. He and Deputy Wendy hurried out of the marina office and trotted toward the flitter. Both wore tactical outfits and carried AR-15 rifles and duffle bags. I dropped the fields for them and they hopped aboard to take seats.
I asked, "Just you two? Nobody else?"
Greer replied, "If things go well, we'll be plenty. If they don't, there are a dozen more on the boats."
Setting the flitter in motion, I said, "Check the screen. I found the boat and had a look at the situation. The kid's below decks in the cabin. Murder is murder, here or in Mexico, so I don't think he'd kill her and toss her over the side."
Thumbing at Lori, I said, "This is Lori. She's with 3rd World. Lori, this is Detective Lieutenant Greer and Deputy Wendy, the most gorgeous bear in Hernando County."
Wendy said, "Thanks, of course, but isn't that kind of compliment a little out of context at the moment?"
"It might be if there was a chance he'd pull the trigger."
"You don't think he'd shoot. We think he might if he's pushed too far."
"Then we won't push him, milady. Relax a bit."
"I'll relax when this is over, if you don't mind."
I shrugged. "Nah. Suit yourself." Turning to Greer, I suggested that he could tell his police boats to fall back.
He shook his head. "I can't do that, Ed. Procedure. This is a hostage situation."
"Then have them keep a distance, LT. When his engine dies, he's gonna get upset, so don't crowd him. We need him to think he can afford some time to try to fix it."
Wendy asked, "How are you going to kill his engine?"
"Turn off a petcock. Clog the intake or the fuel filter with a field. Cut a few wires. Whatever it takes."
The boat came into view a mile below us. I stood up and said, "Lori, you have the ship," and hopped over the side, calling up my three suit and board as I fell. I'd heard the beginning of a woman's scream as I passed through the flitter's hull field. Heh. Poor Wendy.
I felt a probe other than mine in the vicinity, but I had no objections to Lori recording the event. My probe found the boat engine's carb intake and swelled to fill it. The engine starved for air and died. The guy swore mightily as he tried to restart it. I let him try for about ten seconds, then reduced the probe so a little air would get past it. The engine started, but as soon as he slammed the throttle up, it died again.
He turned the key again and tried to be gentle about moving the throttle forward, but as soon as it reached a usable RPM, the engine stuttered and died. The guy swore again and slammed his left hand against the helm console.
In a shaky voice, the woman asked, "What's wrong?"
Taking his left hand off the wheel to make a fist, the guy snapped, "Shut the fuck up!"
Looking at the cop boats, he slammed the throttle back and again tried to start the engine. It turned quite a while before it finally caught and roared to life. He pushed the throttle bar gradually forward until the engine faltered, then backed it up a little. The boat got underway again at about five knots and the guy muttered, "Too-goddamned-slow!"
But he continued heading for the Gulf, keeping a watchful eye on the police boats and glancing frequently at the engine compartment. Hovering just above the boat, I expanded the probe slightly until his engine began to falter. He swore again as he throttled back a bit to keep it going, then strapped the wheel to hold their course.
Reaching to backhand the woman's bicep, he said, "On your feet, bitch. We're gonna have a look at the engine and you'd better goddamned well hope I can fix it."
She stood up and they moved to the engine compartment, where he told her to release the cowling clamps and tilt the cowling up. The engine compartment was as dark as a pit. He peered inside and groped clumsily around the inner edges, seemed to find something, and messed with it for a short time before he swore again.
The woman's right arm rose and he instantly moved to stop it, but she was already pointing at a light fixture built flush into the center of the cowling. He shoved her arm down and reached to flick the light's switch.
She said softly, "You could at least say 'thanks', Fred."
He leaned close to her and growled, "You still don't know when to shut up, do you?"
The feeble cowling light didn't do much to illuminate the engine, but it let him find another light switch below the hatch. He flicked it and the engine was suddenly lit from both sides, the front, and the rear. After leaning in and fumbling around a bit near the engine, Fred straightened up and seemed to take a long look at the woman, then looked at the police boats.
In a flat tone, he said, "Change of plans."
Her look of disdain changed to one of fear. Fred looked in a couple of cabinets and found a bundle of half-inch rope attached to an anchor. He reached in a pocket for a folding knife, thumbed it open, and raised it. She saw it and tried to recoil, but couldn't.
He growled, "Hold still, dammit. I'm gonna cut you loose, then you're gonna stand next to me while I work. And I mean right next to me, you got that? You make a move or give me any shit at all and I'll knock your ass out."
Slicing through the tape near the shotgun, he left her duct tape collar intact. The shotgun's muzzle lifted skyward as he leaned it against the engine cowling well out of her reach. As soon as his right hand let go of it, I stunned both of them, then rose a mile straight up before I turned off my three suit and returned to the boat. Lowering into the glow of the deck lights, I waved up at the flitter as I directed it to join me and hopped off my board to go forward and turn off the engine.
Sipping my coffee, I watched the flitter arrive and hover beside the boat as Greer and Wendy hopped over the slight gap to the boat's deck. Immediately taking charge of the shotgun, Greer told the police boats to move in as Wendy put cuffs on Fred.
Pulling a VCR tape out of a side pocket, Greer said, "This is for a record of the event. Wendy has one, too, if this one isn't enough."
He handed it to me and I had the flitter copy its record to the tape, then handed it back. "Done."
Greer said, "Thanks," glanced at the woman on the deck, and asked, "Why'd you stun Emily?"
"I want to be gone when she wakes up. She may freak and I don't like to deal with aftermath. There's nothing wrong with the engine, I just clogged the carb intake with a field. And since the show's over, we'll be on our way, okay?"
Wendy gave me a fisheye look as she stood up, but said nothing. Greer shrugged and chuckled, "Okay. Thanks, Ed. It was nice meeting you, Lori."
Lori'd been eyeing me. She turned to shake hands with Greer and Wendy and replied, "It was good to meet you, too."
Greer knelt by Emily and patted her awake. I hopped back aboard the flitter and took a seat. Lori looked around once, then also boarded the flitter.
Yup. Emily freaked out briefly, but she soon got past it. She launched into vituperations and took a long-legged step toward Fred to kick him in the gut as if trying for a field goal. Wendy and Greer pulled her back as Fred's body curled up in reaction and he woke to agony.
I lifted the flitter and headed us back to the house as we watched a probe view of the scene aboard the boat. After letting the kid out of the cabin, Greer rather briefly explained to Emily what had happened. When Emily complained rather strenuously about our leaving before she could thank us, Wendy rather archly said, "It's all right, Emily. He isn't very comfortable with what he calls 'aftermath'."
Lori snickered, chuckled, then let out a horselaugh. "Is that it, Ed? You aren't 'comfortable' with 'aftermath'?"
Giving her a droll look, I said, "If you think you would be, hop back down there. I'd rather let her blow it all out before she tries to contact me. If she tries. Greer will probably be able to keep her from doing that."
Lori's big grin faded, but was replaced with a small smile as she asked, "What's wrong with a little gratitude?"
"It can get pretty messy. Some people practically try to draft you into their family after something like this. They can't just say thanks and be done with it."
Her grin came back. "Emily was kind of cute, wasn't she?"
"She's also in the middle of a nasty divorce and has a four-year-old. Not even close to my idea of fun. Why are you still recording us, Lori? I didn't mind you recording the event, but the event's over."
Her probe winked out of existence. "Sorry."
By the time we got back to the house, it was after eleven. Lori opened a can of tea and sat communing with her core in the kitchen. I took a shower and went to bed.

Chapter Twenty-three

Monday began with the sound of a door latch. I recognized the sound even as I snapped awake and heard quiet, bare feet cross the hall to the bathroom. Sitting up, I looked out a window and figured it was about a quarter to seven, then checked the bedside alarm clock. Nope. Six-fifty-six. Oh, well. I sipped my overnight coffee, then put on pants.
When I opened my door, I said, "Next," and leaned on the door frame as I waited. The bathroom door opened a few moments later and Lori bustled past with, "Good morning."
"Back atcha, lady. Why the hell are we up so early?"
She laughed, "This is when I usually get up. I have no idea why you're up," then closed her door.
I called, "I'm up because some ol' girl stomped past my room, ma'am," and went into the bathroom.
Lori yelled, "I didn't stomp!"
In the middle of taking a leak, I yelled back, "Oh, yes, milady! Of course not, milady! As you say, milady! And yet, marvel of marvels, here I am! Up, that is. Awake, as it were."
"It must be something about you, then. Kate and Nina never woke up when I went by their rooms."
Washing my hands and picking up my toothbrush, I replied, "They were prob'ly just too polite to mention it."
"Hah! Kate? Yeah, right!"
I got primping out of the way and returned to my room to get my shirt and shoes. The smell of brewing coffee tempted me and Lori grinned in at me as she very deliberately stomped past my door and said, "For your information, that's what real stomping sounds like."
The bathroom door closed and water ran in the sink. I headed for the kitchen to taste-test some of her coffee. It wasn't too weak or strong, so I used it to re-warm my overnight coffee and checked email at the kitchen table.
At precisely nine-thirty, the phone rang. Linking to see who was calling, I found Lori's Aunt Lisa on the other end and answered, "Hi, there, Aunt Lisa."
She replied, "Hi, yourself, and I'm not your aunt. Is Lori awake yet?"
"Of course she is. She's in the bathroom, primping or something. Can you be ready to fly in an hour or so?"
"I'm ready now. I packed last night."
"Good 'nuff, then. Bring your passport."
"My passport? Why?"
"Because you may need it, of course. Mexico and Canada aren't very far away by flitter. This phone isn't portable, ma'am. Do you need to talk to Lori badly enough to make me get off my butt and go interrupt her morning ablutions?"
Toss in an old-fashioned word now and then. It makes people think. In this case, it also made Lisa pause, then she chuckled, "It's been a while since I've heard that word. No, I don't think we'll need to interrupt her 'ablutions'."
I felt a presence behind me that was neither a cat nor an AI as I replied, "Okay. We'll be picking someone up in Tucson. Joyce Lenz. Lori invited her to join us today."
"I've met her. Did you know she's handicapped?"
"Yup. No problem. The flitter can handle a wheel chair."
There was a silent pause, then Lisa said, "Okay. I'll see you when you get here. Bye."
"Later, ma'am."
She disconnected. Lori came into the kitchen, went straight to the coffee pot, and filled her mug as she sighed, "I just knew she'd call. Thanks for not coming to get me. I'll be seeing her soon enough."
"If you two are having problems, I'd like to know before I get caught in the middle of them."
Lori put the pot back and shook her head. "Just daily stuff. Nothing special."
"Uh, huh."
"Really, nothing special. Just the kind of stuff all daughters go through with their mothers. Or almost-mothers."
I stood up and picked up the pot to top off my mug. In the reflection on the toaster I saw Lori lightly swirling her coffee. As she glanced at me, I moved my gaze to the coffee jar by the pot and reached to move it back a bit on the counter.
Our moment of silence became three moments, then she spoke. "Ed, I love Aunt Lisa and I'm grateful to her for... everything, really... but sometimes she drives me crazy."
"That's not unusual. Let's pick up Lenz first, then Aunt Lisa. That'll give us a buffer of sorts."
Lori grinned and nodded. "Okay. I'll call her while I put a few things in my pack. Oh, and I have my passport, too."
Ten minutes later, we were on the flitter and en route to Tucson. I picked some music, turned the screen over to Lori, and spent the travel time editing a couple of chapters of my latest book. When I noticed our descent, I closed my editing and stood up to sip coffee and stretch.
We set down with a shiny hull field in the driveway of a fairly standard-looking two bedroom suburban home. A long concrete ramp led from the driveway to a front porch corner, gradually inclining upward along the side of the garage. A small wooden ramp led from the porch to the front door.
I was about to go ring the door bell when a woman's voice from a tinny intercom speaker by the door excitedly said, "I'll be right out! Just a minute!"
Lori grinned and yelled, "Okay, Joyce!"
Moving the flitter closer to the front of the house, I had Athena make a grey field ramp from the flitter's deck to the home's front door just as that door opened. On a whim, I changed the field ramp to look like bright yellow cobblestones. Lenz rolled outside in an electric wheel chair with a big green plastic ammo box mounted on the back, above which sat a big orange backpack.
Just inside the doorway sat two more of the ammo boxes.
Joyce said, "They hook on the sides of my chair."
A glance at her chair made me laugh and Lenz gave me a questioning look. Calling up a screen, I showed her a picture of my old Vulcan 750 with the big ammo can saddlebags and said, "This was my bike a few years ago."
Joyce had startled when the screen appeared, but she recovered quickly and chuckled, "Cool. You're Ed, right?"
"Yup. Just follow the yellow brick road. Got everything?"
Joyce laughed, "Everything I'll need." She waved at Lori, who stood at the other end of the ramp, and set forth at a walking pace, marveling at the ramp and reaching down to touch it a couple of times.
I fielded her extra ammo cans to the flitter, then ambled along behind her overloaded chair and said, "We planned to stop and pick up some freezer bags and provisions for the trip. If you want anything special, let us know."
"Provisions? You mean like for a picnic?"
Oh, damn. "Um... Did Lori tell you where we'd be going?"
"Yes. Meteorite hunting. She didn't say where, but she called me, so I just assumed it would be fairly local."
We reached the flitter's deck and I let the yellow brick ramp dissipate as I said, "Ah. Good thinking, ma'am, 'cept the word 'local' might not apply. Lori will tell you all about it while you park your rig."
Lori chewed her bottom lip as she glanced from me to Joyce and said, "Let's leave that as a surprise and go pick up Aunt Lisa before she thinks she's been forgotten."
Reaching for Lori's arm, Joyce said, "Uh-uh. No. I have to live in this chair, Lori. That can be a real hassle sometimes. I need to know where we're going so I can make sure I have... certain things... with me."
Again chewing her lower lip, Lori looked at me, took a deep breath, and met Joyce's gaze as she said, "The Arctic."
Joyce simply stared at her for a few moments, then looked at me. I said, "Yup. The north pole, or somewhere close to it. If you have what you need for a day trip, you're fine."
Looking around the flitter, Joyce seemed to give things some thought, then asked, "Why no gear?"
"Don't need any. We have the flitter."
"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that."
Putting up another screen, I said, "That's because you don't know what's involved yet."
Joyce watched the flitter on the screen expand its field to cover an area a hundred feet in diameter, then asked, "Can it really handle an ice storm?"
"Yup. And we can always leave."
After another look at Lori, Joyce grinned and said, "Okay. I'm in, but I still think you should have told me."
I left the discussion of that matter to the ladies and looked for a grocery store as we crossed Tucson. On the outskirts of town I found a brand new shopping center. After putting the flitter in stealth mode, Lori and I visited the deli as well as the produce and beverage sections.
On a high shelf above the freezer bags sat one of those big Styrofoam one-season coolers. I sent a tendril to lift it down to our cart. As the checkout woman rang our stuff up, I packed all but the freezer bags into the cooler.
Back aboard the flitter, Lori showed Joyce what we'd bought as I headed us toward Flagstaff. A few minutes later, we descended toward Lori's house with the visible hull field on. The front door opened as we neared the ground and Lisa came out in jeans, cowboy boots, and a blue blouse. She waved at us and leaned back into the house to retrieve a suitcase, which I fielded to the flitter as I again manifested the yellow brick ramp. Lisa eyed it warily until I stepped onto it and asked, "Well? If it'll hold me, it'll prob'ly hold you."
She gave me a wry 'fuck you' look, then laughed and hop-skipped past me to the flitter. When I stepped back aboard, she asked, "Yellow bricks? Are you the great and powerful wizard of Oz?"
Giving her an up and down glance, I did a Bogart impression as I replied, "For a doll like you, I'll be anybody you want, shweetheart."
She grinned and turned to the ladies. "Hello, Joyce. Hi, Lori. We need to talk."
Oh, lordy, she'd said those infamous words. Calling up a waist-high hull field and turning on the console monitor, I said, "Lori, showing is easier than telling."
Heading us north, I played a recording of my discovery of her tongue problem and removal of the capsule, passing out cans of tea as the ladies watched the show. Joyce and Lisa watched much of it in horror. When it ended, Lisa almost yelled, "Why the hell didn't one of you call me?!"
I asked, "To do what, ma'am? Worry yourself sick? We needed tactical support." Sipping my coffee, I said, "So we called Angie. And why are you asking me? Lori was there, too, y'know."
She started to say something, but her expression turned rather stark and troubled as her eyes focused beyond me, then rose to look at the black sky above us. In almost slow-motion, Lisa levered herself up and out of her seat to rather hesitantly peek over the half-hull field. She hadn't quite achieved a standing position when she let out a sharp gasp and fell back into her seat. Lori wisely looked beyond the deck over the other side and pretended not to notice Lisa's distress.
Trying to talk and having to clear her throat, Lisa asked in a small, soft voice, "How high are we?!"
"Twenty miles."
Lisa seemed to have to digest that news. She sat staring in silence, her hands gripping her seat.
Joyce quit staring at the sky and leaned to peer around Lisa as she snapped, "We're how high?!"
"Twenty miles, ma'am. That's why the sky's black."
Pivoting her chair, Joyce rolled near the edge of the deck and craned slightly to peer over the half-hull. Her hands began to tremble and Lori quickly went to stand beside her.
Taking Joyce's left hand in hers, Lori said softly, "It's all right, Joyce. This is normal."
Turning to face Lori, beaming with happy excitement, Joyce's voice cracked and she cleared her throat, then she said in a shaky, rapid manner, "Yes! I know! I've read about flitters! I just wasn't expecting it today! Isn't it wonderful?! How fast are we going?!"
Lori looked at me. I said, "A bit over two thousand."
True. Considerably over two thousand, in fact, but I saw no need to be too precise.
Laughing like a child, Joyce croaked, "Miles or kilometers?"
"Miles, milady."
Lisa muttered, "Oh, Jesus!" and tried again to stand. This time she succeeded, but she kept a hand on the back of a seat as she stared around at the world beyond the flitter. What the hell; if they were going to look anyway...
I removed the half-hull effect. All the ladies gasped and Lisa and Lori grabbed at seats. Joyce simply gripped her chair arms so tightly her knuckles turned white as she backed her chair a couple of feet from the edge.
I said, "You can't fall off. The flitter won't let you."
In a tight little voice, Joyce replied, "Uh... Thanks, but I think I'll do my sightseeing from here."
Joyce produced a fancy-looking camera, which caused Lisa to dig a digital camera out of her suitcase. As they took pix, I put a satellite image with a state and national border overlay on the monitor. I put our position on the screen as a bright green dot and watched as it crossed the Utah-Wyoming state line. Lisa came to take a seat and stare at the screen.
After a few moments, she said quietly, "Ed, I don't think I ever really had any concept... Well, maybe a little... But whenever we went to Carrington with Lori, the flitters didn't fly this high. Or this fast."
I shrugged. "They probably had to stop a few times to pick people up or drop them off. They'd have used the most energy efficient parameters."
Glancing at me, she nodded tightly. "Yes. Of course."
Sipping, I asked, "Worried about something, ma'am?"
Her gaze narrowed slightly. "No. Of course not." But something seemed to suddenly occur to her with the impact of a mental sledge hammer. Lisa turned a shocked stare at me and her voice rose sharply as she said, "We're-over-Wyoming! Carrington's..." She intently studied the map, pointed vaguely to the right of our path, and said, "It's over there somewhere! Ed, where the hell are we going?!"
"To the Arctic, milady."
Her eyes went even wider and her mouth fell open. "For God's sake, WHY?!"
I shrugged. "Because we can. Because we want to. Because we're going to look for meteorites on the ice."
Lisa turned to look at Lori, who grinningly nodded. Apparently Lisa's gaze shifted to Joyce, because Joyce also nodded and said, "That's right."
With what seemed like considerable exasperation, Lisa looked at me again and bellowed, "Then-I'll-ask-again; WHY?!"
I pointed at Lori and said, "She needs a hobby. It might as well be one that pays decently."
Glancing at Lori, Lisa yelped, "A hobby?!"
Changing the screen again, I showed Lisa some meteorite data and prices, then turned the show over to Lori. Joyce came to sit by her. For the next few moments, a rather strident discussion ensued until Lori rather irritatedly stood up and said, "Like he said, dammit! Because we can and because we want to! We don't really need any other reasons, do we?! Why the hell do you always have to automatically object to everything I want to do?!"
I guzzled the last of my tea and flipped the can at the sky above the monitor. The wad of aluminum flashed to plasma with a sharp little 'bang!' and three very startled women squeaked or shrieked and stared at the spot. Lori then looked at me, which made Lisa and Joyce look.
I said, "Argue in private, please. For now, it might be more useful to think about how we'll want to go about things when we land."
After giving me a couple of somewhat irritated looks, Lisa and Lori began conferring with Joyce about meteorites. I linked to Athena to precisely locate the coldest part of the Arctic and adjusted our course slightly to go there.
My implant pinged with Angie's chimes. I put up a screen and answered, "Here. Present. Yo. Hey! You have some new jewelry, ma'am! How's it feel to be a brand-new major?"
"Pretty good, really. Where are you going, Ed?"
"Um, 'scuse me, Major, ma'am, but I'm a private citizen these days, y'know."
Lori came to stand behind me. Angie looked past me at Lori and said, "Lori isn't."
Lisa also came to stand behind me as I replied, "Ah, but you only asked where I was going, milady."
Rolling her eyes, Angie said, "Don't be difficult or I'll have you flogged in the dining hall. We'll bill it as dinner with a show and sell tickets to 3rd World and NIA brass."
Wallace barked a laugh in the background. I said, "Wow! Making a little rank sure changed you, sweetie! Oh, wait! Does this mean I can't call you 'sweetie' anymore?"
"Among other things. Just try to focus for a moment, will you, please? Where are you taking Lori and her aunt?"
Sipping coffee, I replied, "The north pole. Or thereabouts. We're gonna look for space rocks."
Angie's gaze narrowed. "You mean meteorites?"
"Yup. Space rocks. Well, what's left of 'em, anyway."
"May I ask why?"
I shrugged. "Lori needed a hobby, so we shanghaied her astronomer friend Joyce Lenz to come along. Aunt Lisa... well, while she wasn't exactly thrilled to find out where we were going, we couldn't talk her out of coming with us."
Lori's snicker turned into a short laugh as she glanced at Lisa and said, "Congratulations, brand-new-Major Horn."
Angie smiled. "Thanks, Lori."
Lisa gave Lori a narrow glance, then smilingly said, "Yes, Major Horn. Congratulations, indeed."
"Thank you, Ms. Torin. I hope Ed's behaving himself."
Glancing at me, Lisa said, "To his usual degree, I suppose. And he's right; I wasn't particularly thrilled to learn we were on our way to the Arctic. Should we be concerned at all?"
Shaking her head, Angie said, "No, you're quite safe aboard a flitter." Glancing to her left, she said, "That line hasn't lit up all morning, of course, but as soon as I take a break..." She sighed, "Okay. Ed, try not to lose anyone up there."
Giving her a little two-finger salute, I said, "Roger that, Major, ma'am. Later."
"Goodbye, all. And good hunting." She dropped the link.

Chapter Twenty-four

Joyce had Lori take the orange pack off her chair and take a few things out of it, then arranged a tool display on the rear deck. She told us what each item was and how it was used and I paid only scant attention to all but the preferred methods of packaging and transporting meteorites.
She also used freezer bags. They were cheap, tough, and had writeable label areas printed in white. When she saw we'd bought six boxes of various sizes, she asked with some amusement how many meteorites we expected to find our first time out. I replied that the bags had other uses, so it didn't matter whether we used them all or not.
She and Lori opened the ammo boxes. Bungeed to the inner lids were miniature garden tools and a set of whisk brooms. I thought about telling Joyce we probably wouldn't need her hardware, but messing with the stuff gave them something to do.
There was quite a bit of stuff spread out and Joyce was explaining a gadget of some sort when the flitter began to descend.
"Ladies, we're on our way down. Cameras ready?"
They hurriedly retrieved their cameras and Lisa took a seat. Joyce's camera cycled like a machine gun for a couple of seconds, paused, and cycled again as we dropped through the clouds for our first real glimpse of the terrain below.
I put up a yard-wide screen to display the landing spot Athena had selected and sent a probe there. It was a clear, sunny day on a bleak-looking, almost featureless field of ice that extended as far as the probe could see in unenhanced viewing mode.
Moving to stand behind my seat, Lori asked, "That's where we're going?"
"Yup. Doesn't look very inviting, does it?"
"No, not at all. I hope we actually find something."
Joyce was ecstatic, launching into an explanation of why ice fields and glaciers were ideal for meteorite hunting. As she explained how and why ice moved, I put an outline map on the monitor and sent fifty probes to search for meteorites within a hundred mile radius. Less than a minute passed before the map became lightly speckled with green dots.
The ladies took seats as we landed and Lisa looked at me as she said, "There must be dozens of them."
More speckles appeared. I said, "Look again. More like a hundred. Athena, add measurements, composition, and GPS coordinates for each of the dots, please." Touching a dot made its numbers appear. Glancing at Joyce, I said, "Hope we brought enough baggies, ma'am."
Her big-eyed gaze never left the screen as she answered in a soft, amazed tone, "My God... So do I."
The flitter 'landed', but -- as always -- didn't quite touch down, maintaining about a four-inch gap that put the surface of the deck six inches above the ground. As the ladies gazed around our chunk of the polar landscape in awe and wonder, I went to lean over the edge and look under the flitter. The snow was undisturbed, as far as I could tell. No compression or blow-out crater from our rapid descent. Odd. I'd often used the flitter's quick descent to blow sand and leaves out of my driveway. I silently queried Athena about it. She replied, "You issued no instruction to disturb the snow, Ed."
Well, duh. "Thanks, Athena. Just curious."
Returning to the monitor, I quietly asked Athena to make blue dots represent meteorites on or within a few inches of the surface. About half the dots changed. When I asked Athena to use red dots for meteorites an inch or bigger in size, about a dozen or so changed colors. Good 'nuff.
"Athena," I said aloud, "Please put foot-tall holographic markers above the meteorites you've found. Color the markers to correspond with the dots on Galatea's monitor."
On the ice plain around us, red, green, and blue markers appeared. Joyce gave me a 'what the hell?' sort of expression and Lisa asked, "Who are you talking to?"
Lori said quickly, "The flitter is Galatea, Aunt Lisa. Athena is..." She stopped and looked at me.
I sipped coffee and said, "Oh, no. Huh-uh. You go right on ahead, ma'am. If you're gonna pop off like that, you get to do all the explaining, too."
Turning to Joyce, I put up a screen to match the monitor and said, "You're in charge of hunting. Just touch a spot on the screen and tell the flitter you want to move to that spot."
I went to have a look at her gear. She had folding long-handled tools, but the extra height of the flitter deck would have her bending double to try to use them. I gave the matter some thought, then went to her chair and studied the height of her seat.
"Athena, raise Galatea so the deck is eighteen inches above the surface of the snow, please. The purpose is to allow Joyce to sit on the edge of the deck and use her equipment as she normally would."
Joyce looked away from the screen and grinned. "I was wondering how the hell I'd get anything done. Thanks."
I gave her a little two-finger salute and said, "All part of the adventure package tour, ma'am."
The comment made Lori give me a quick grin and snort a soft chuckle. She and Lisa helped Joyce out of her chair and placed her thin seat pad at the edge of the deck, then stood by as Joyce positioned herself.
I fielded the most obviously-necessary digging and scooping tools near her, added a few of the cleaning tools, and asked, "Anything else?"
She eyed the tools, then said, "No, I think this is all I'll need. Thanks."
"Okay. Now watch your water bottle." I used a red tendril to field the open bottle into the air and hold it just outside the flitter's field as I counted ten 'Mississippi's, then brought it back to Joyce. The water hadn't quite completely frozen, but a big blob of ice rattled dully against the plastic.
Lisa chuckled, "Ed, we already knew it was cold here."
"Yup, but people get careless when they feel secure. The flitter's protective field extends a yard around it, but it doesn't disturb the surface below it. You'll be able to dig next to the deck without worrying about melting the snow."
Looking at Joyce in particular, I added, "That means you very definitely don't want to get down on the ground for even a few seconds."
She laughed and saluted. "Yes, sir!"
"You also don't want to handle your tools or the rocks without gloves. We don't want raw fingers, do we?"
Glancing at the long-handled shovel in her bare hands, Joyce leaned it against her chair and reached in a side pocket for a pair of leather gloves, then said, "No. We certainly don't want raw fingers. Anything else?"
"Yes, ma'am, there is, and this is very important, so lock it in. Have fun. That's an order."
Saluting again, she grinningly replied, "Aye, aye, sir!"
Returning her salute, I turned to look at the monitor and linked into it to create a list of the meteorites that didn't show on the screen. Most of them were tiny and some were fist-sized, but one a few miles away was almost a foot in diameter. It would be fun to watch them discover that one. I told Galatea to let me know when they picked that dot.
Working her little shovel and scoop tools, Joyce brought a half-inch-sized meteorite aboard to cheers and enthusiasm. She happily bagged and tagged the bit of rock using Athena's screen data and her own comments, then moved us to the next spot, where the procedure was repeated.
Truthfully, I didn't have a lot of interest in meteorites. Some, yes, but not a lot. And I had almost no interest in the Arctic. I'd walked on glaciers. Same thing; snow, ice, wind, and glare. Not a very hospitable landscape.
Joyce had some trouble reaching her fourth meteorite. I said, "Just tell Galatea to lower us a few inches."
She glanced back at me, nodded, and said, "Uhm... Galatea, would you lower yourself six inches? Please?"
The flitter lowered and Joyce grinned happily as she chipped another meteorite out of the ice. I leaned my seat back and sipped coffee as I linked into Athena. Lori was still having trouble with her aunt's worries about her. That could be fixable with nothing more than a dramatic display of power. I located a list of recent Arctic icebergs and picked one that had its watchers moderately worried.
It was a good-sized berg, no doubt about that; a hundred and twenty feet tall above the water line with a surface area about the size of six football fields. It was recent enough that an eighth of it protruded above the water. Give it a few weeks in the water to get the less-dense surface ice and snow off it and only about a tenth of it would show.
Lisa took a seat beside me and said, "Penny for your thoughts."
"I get a dime these days. Inflation."
She chuckled, "How about I include you when I put some sandwiches together? It'll be lunch time soon."
"Close enough, milady." I manifested a screen to display the info I'd been studying. Most of the screen showed the iceberg and a sidebar showed its specifics. "That's what I'm thinking about. Some people are worried about this one. I think chopping it up on the way home would be a good way to have some useful fun."
The sudden appearance of the screen caused Lisa to gasp and startle slightly, which caught Lori's attention. She came to look at the screen, studied the data, and asked, "You're serious? You think we can get rid of something that big?"
"Don't see why not. If nothing else, we can whittle it down some. And we won't have to worry about collateral damage, so we can really let loose on it. How often do we get to do that?"
Lori grinned. "I'm in. Let's do it."
I nodded with a small salute. "Yes'm. You got it."
Lisa held up a hand and said, "Just wait a minute. That's an iceberg, Ed! And a damned big one, according to what's on your screen. Just how do you propose to deal with it?"
Shrugging, I said, "Warm it up some. See how much of it we can melt." Manifesting a foot-wide sunball a yard to the right of the screen, I said, "We'll get to see how much power we can crank up without damaging anything."
Lori matched it with a sunball of her own on the left side of the screen. Grinning hugely, she looked at me and said, "This is going to be fun!"
Lisa rather starkly eyed Lori's sunball and asked, "What the hell is that thing?"
I said, "I call 'em sunballs. Lori, tell her all about them."
Blinking at me, Lori said, "Uh... well, I really only copied what you were doing. I'm not sure I know what they are."
"Concentrated and defined field energy, that's all."
She shrugged, looked at Lisa, and said, "Like he said."
With a narrow gaze, Lisa shook her head. "That's not much of a description and they look damned dangerous. I'd rather you wouldn't mess around with things like that."
I said, "Messing around with them is how we learn to control them."
She snapped, "You stay out of this, please."
"Can't. I'm training her to use fields in ways I already know. This is the kind of stuff we do, so she needs to be able to get a good, safe handle on it. She also needs to learn her limits and learn how to improve them."
Her eyes flared and she stood up. After another look at the sunballs, she said in a firm tone, "I absolutely forbid it."
Also standing up, I replied, "Yeah, well, good luck with that," and called up my board to zip off the deck. Half a mile away I found an upthrust of ice about the size of a dump truck. I sheared it loose using an expanding heat pad and fielded it back to the flitter on a grey pad, then returned to my seat and said, "I'll hold it. You melt it."
Lisa growled in a low tone, "Lori, don't you dare..." but Lori took her board matrix out of her side bag, jumped on the board, and flew off the deck. Perhaps for extra drama, she extended her hands toward the mini-mountain of ice as she circled it once and generated a heat field. A small sunball appeared and grew steadily larger for a few seconds. When it was a yard wide, Lori sent it tunneling through the ice and it quickly emerged on the other side.
With a hard look at Lisa, Lori returned to her task by expanding her sunball to six feet or so just above the ice, then she began lowering it. As the top of the ice quickly melted, water ran off the sides and splashed briefly before it froze, building up around the ice lump like wax around a candle.
Lori abruptly reshaped her field as a disk and continued melting the lump until it was about half-gone. The melting water had formed a sort of plateau with the field pad and the original ice lump barely visible in the center. Lori expanded her field again and continued melting ice until the surface of my field pad lay exposed in a crater of ice.
With another hard look at Lisa, Lori sailed into the sky and performed some aerobatics, probably to avoid returning immediately to the flitter. Or possibly blowing off some still-unvented steam. Or both, I suppose.
I looked past Lisa and saw Joyce staring upward in astonishment, following Lori's progress through the sky. Her gaze met mine for a moment, then she looked at the ice crater. After another moment, her gaze returned to Lori.
Lisa's reaction had been about the same, but as she turned to follow Lori's flight antics, her gaze was more of a glare. She fixed that gaze on me for close to five seconds, then spoke in the same low growl she'd used on Lori.
"This-is-your-fault."
"Sure, lady. Whatever you want to believe."
"What?"
"Sounds better than 'bullshit', doesn't it?"
She looked ready to pop with rage. I held up a hand and said, "If you're gonna rant, don't bother. Kids grow up, Lisa. Some of 'em learn to do pretty amazing things. Lori has a field talent. She wouldn't get rid of it if she could, so what's left for her to do but learn to use it as well as possible?"
Lisa started to speak again, but I said, "Being mad about it will just drive a wedge between you. You can help or hinder. That's where you stand in things right now, ma'am."
Her mouth closed and her glare continued unabated for several seconds, then it seemed to soften slightly. Behind her, Joyce's big-eyed stare continued, but her focus was now on us. When our eyes met, she quickly looked away as if to grant us belated privacy.
Lori made a fast, tight circle around the flitter and again soared into the sky. Lisa watched her go and her shoulders seemed to relax a bit. She said softly, "You're right, damn it. I have absolutely no frame of reference for this."
"Good thing it isn't hard to get one."
"What?"
"Just watch and learn with her. Celebrate her triumphs. Serve brownies and sympathy when something doesn't work out. In other words, business as usual. If she suddenly decided she wanted a singing career, you'd prob'ly freak out, right? But what if she were good enough to get some local gigs and a contract? Would you object then?" I shrugged. "Her field talent's about the same thing."
With a sardonic chuckle, Lisa asked, "You think so, huh?"
"Oh, yeah. She's become special, to herself as well as others. Nothing phony about it 'cuz it isn't based on some fad. Nothing temporary about it, as with sports, where you might play until you're about forty and get dumped."
"We have no idea what will happen to her talent as she gets older, Ed."
"I'm sixty and I've had my field abilities for less than a decade. You saw me fly that big chunk of ice half a mile, ma'am. You saw what she did to it, too. What will Lori be able to do when she's sixty?"
That stark look came back to her eyes for a moment. She muttered, "Oh, my God!"
I grinned and nodded. "Yup. People are gonna think she's from Krypton. Look, up in the sky! It's SuperLori!"
Joyce snorted a short laugh, then apologized. "Sorry, I couldn't help overhearing. I just had a mental flash of Lori landing in a cape and boots and a miniskirt."
I sighed, "Nah, I already suggested that. Even told her she had great legs, but she just wouldn't go for it."
Lisa yelped, "You told her what?!"
"Ha! Gotcha, ma'am." Turning to Joyce, I said, "But she does, y'know. Might be worth a try, don't you think?"
Poking a finger into my shoulder, Lisa said, "No. I've seen Supergirl's costume and you're just a dirty old man for even thinking about Lori's legs."
"Yeah? Tell ya what, lady; King Whosis tried to command the tide back in 1035 or so, too. Didn't work then and won't work now. Men are visually oriented, y'know. Old, young, and in between, when you ladies show your skins, we men damned well look."
Snapping my fingers as if just remembering something, I said, "Oh, yeah. It was King Canute. Danish."
Glancing at Joyce, I said, "I still like the idea. See if you can talk her into it, okay?"
Joyce cackled a laugh, "Oh, you bet! Sure I will!"
Returning my gaze to Lisa, I said, "Well, that didn't sound too sincere at all, did it?"
Lisa eyed me for a moment, then a laugh escaped her and she said, "No, it didn't."
I stepped back and eyed her up and down once, then asked, "Well, then, how about you, sweetie? You're pretty hot, too, y'know. Wanna try on a Supergirl outfit for me?"
Her eyes big, Lisa yelped, "Ha! I really don't think so!"
"Batgirl?"
"Not even a small chance."
"Final offer, ma'am. Catwoman."
"Final answer. No."
That set Joyce off again. As she gave us a belly laugh, Lisa gave me one of those sidelong 'I'm done with this bullshit!' expressions and knelt by the food cooler. Taking a few things out of it, she set them on the upside down lid. I had Galatea lift the lid three feet and manifest a small table under it.
Lisa glanced up at me and said, "Thanks," as she took my hand to get to her feet.
"Oh, but that's not all, ma'am." I had Galatea move the table up by the seats before setting up the flitter's bathroom.
Lisa peeked into it, then reached into it. I heard the sink faucet run for a moment and Lisa's, "Oh, my God." She entered the bathroom and the sink ran again for a time, then she came out saying, "I love your towels."
"That's nice. They're fakes, y'know."
Stopping on her way to the table, she asked, "What?"
"Fakes. Not real cloth. Field generated."
"They certainly felt real enough."
"They're supposed to, ma'am."
Joyce said, "Somebody help me up, please."
She squeaked and flailed briefly as Galatea fielded her into her chair, then she rolled to the bathroom entrance, but her chair was a few inches too wide to get inside. I asked Galatea to widen the entrance six inches. Joyce watched the wall scoot back and giggled like a child. "Cool!"
Following Joyce into the bathroom, I asked, "What else ought to be changed for you?"
Glancing around, her gaze stopped at the sink as she said, "Nothing, I guess. I'll manage the way I always do."
"Uh, huh. Galatea, lower the sink a foot, please."
As the sink sank, I said, "It's all made of field energy, Joyce. If you want something adjusted, just ask Galatea. If you need a handrail by the pot, ask her. If you'd like lifted onto the pot, ask her. No sweat."
Pretending not to know Lisa had come to stand behind me, I stepped back and turned as if to leave. Her hands came up against my chest and her left hand slipped past my ribs. We wound up nose-to-nose. I gave her an innocent look and, "Well, hi, there! Fancy meeting you here!"
Joyce giggled. Lisa gave me a stern look, then moved past me to say, "If you need any help, let me know, Joyce."
I walked out as Joyce said, "Thanks, but I'll be fine. Did you see how the sink shortened? It's amazing!"
Maybe Lori had realized she no longer had an audience. She zipped aboard, dismounted, and tucked her matrix into her side bag as she asked, "What's going on?"
"Aunt Lisa's about to make lunch and Joyce is taking a tinkle. Feeling better, ma'am?"
"Yes. How's Aunt Lisa? Did I come back too soon?"
"Nah. But you may want to tread lightly for a while."
"Me? You're the one who lit her fuse a while ago."
"Well, she must have forgiven me, 'cuz she just tried to corner me in the bathroom."
Lori gave me a disbelieving fisheye look. "She what?"
I said, "Hey, I know how you feel! I was shocked, lemme tell ya! Shocked and confused!"
Joyce cackled a laugh from the bathroom.
Lisa came striding out of the bathroom and stated drolly, "He's right about being confused, at least. He turned without looking and walked right into me, that's all. Now let's drop this silliness, please. It's time for lunch."
I stage-whispered to Lori, "Yeah, well, she'd say that now, of course. Can't let our niece see us running rampant aboard the flitter, can we?"
Lisa aimed a droll gaze and a slice of rye bread at me. "Do you really want to see me 'rampant'? Just keep it up a little longer. What do you two want on your sandwiches?"

Chapter Twenty-five

Galatea provided us field-generated stools around the table after Lisa had assembled sandwiches. Table chat mostly involved Joyce's progress with retrieving meteorites. She glanced at her pile and said she had sixty-six bagged and recorded.
"But," she said, "I don't have a hope in hell of getting them all in one day."
I said, "The days are longer here. Something like eighteen hours, I think."
"Still not enough time. There are too many."
With a shrug, I said, "Save some for the next trip. Grab the biggest and best and leave the rest."
Joyce nodded. "That's my current plan. Will there actually ever be a 'next trip'?"
Fielding a can of dr pepper from the cooler, I said, "Sure, why not? If not with me, with Lori."
Lisa asked, "You'd lend her your flitter?"
"No need. She isn't far from having her own flitter."
Their gazes shifted to me. Lisa said, "That reminds me; where did Lori get a flying board?"
"From me."
"Why?"
"Because 3rd World's been too slow about issuing one."
She archly asked, "In your opinion, that is?"
"Yup. You're being contentious again, ma'am. What's that really about? Suspicious of my motives?"
"Wouldn't you be?"
"Sure, but I wouldn't dance around things. I'd just ask what I wanted to know."
Lisa nibbled a bit of her sandwich and looked thoughtful for a time, then asked, "Would I get an honest answer?"
"Yup. You'd get some variation of 'yes', 'no', or 'none of your business'."
Lori said brightly, "Hey, Aunt Lisa! Why don't I say it first? None of your business."
For a moment, I thought Lisa would flare up and snap back at Lori, but she seemed to pack her monster back in its mental box and said softly, "You can't blame me for being concerned, Lori. In my experience, men don't usually do things for women without expecting something in return."
Looking at me, she asked, "What do you expect in return?"
"Money. I gave her a discount, but it wasn't a freebie. Beyond that, I want her best efforts in training. She's probably going to replace me at 3rd World."
Lisa looked a bit horrified. "As a troubleshooter?!"
I chuckled, "Yeah, seems likely. They won't know what the hell else to do with her and they can't just let her run loose in the world."
Joyce asked, "Why not?"
"Cuz that's not how control freaks think, ma'am. They think anything of great power has to be controlled. Lori has that power and can't hand it over to anyone else, so they'll feel they have to control her." Looking at Lori, I said, "Be sure to charge a fine and fancy price for cooperating."
Lori swallowed her bite of sandwich and nodded firmly. "Yessir. Got it. Fine and fancy."
Eyeing me, Joyce said, "Apparently you have that power, too. Do they control you?"
"Nope."
"Then why do you think they should control Lori?"
"That's not what I said."
"Yes, it is."
"Nope. I said they'll feel they have to control her. I also said she should cooperate. And now you're prob'ly gonna ask why I think she should cooperate, right?"
Joyce's gaze narrowed slightly. "Yes."
"Because useful experience is earned, Joyce. It takes time and exposure to the job. Training and education aren't enough to instill good judgment. It takes real encounters to learn how to respond well. Having someone else direct accomplishes four things; it lets them feel as if they're in charge, it keeps the feds away, it provides practical experience for Lori, and if things go all to hell on a mission, someone else has to deal with any flak and fallout."
Lisa growled, "But if things 'go all to hell', she'll be right in the middle of it."
I shrugged. "Yeah, seems likely. Sometimes it's the safest place."
Lisa stood up and tapped my arm. "Come with me. I want a few words in private."
"Nope. You can plop whatever it is right out on the table. Lori's a big girl."
She glowered at me, then sat back down. "Okay. I want to know what you'll get out of all this, Ed. And don't say 'money'. Angie said you're worth millions."
"Someday I'll ask why she said that. This is just the kind of stuff I do, Lisa. Beyond the fact that it entertains me, I can't really give you a better reason and won't even try."
Lisa repeated flatly, "It-entertains-you. Ed, I don't think I've ever heard a less meaningful motivation for putting a young woman in harm's way."
"I'm not. Others'll do that, no matter who she's with." I grinned. "What entertains me is stacking the deck heavily in her favor and showing her how to keep aces up her sleeve."
Looking at Lori, I said, "For instance... Have you figured out my teleportation trick yet, ma'am?"
Lori's gaze narrowed and she faked a pout. "No."
I looked at Lisa and chuckled, "But she will, y'know. Sooner or later, she will. That's the fun part, ma'am."
Joyce stared at me, then hissed at Lori, "Did he really teleport?! When? Where? How?!"
Lori's expression turned droll and she never took her eyes off me as she replied, "At his house, in his kitchen. And I don't believe for a minute he really teleported."
Feigning deep emotional injury, I sighed to Lisa, "I'm surrounded by scoffers and skeptics, ma'am."
She replied, "And I'm one of them. Maybe you'd like to demonstrate your teleportation again? Here and now?"
"Well, gee, I dunno. I have to be in the right mood..."
Lori blurted a sharp laugh. Trying to look put-upon, I stood up and asked, "How far would I have to go to convince you? Across the deck? Over to that ice crater, maybe?"
Lisa looked at the crater and nodded. "Yes, I think that crater would be far enough."
"Fine. Gimme a minute. I have to think about it."
I called up Ed2 as a shell around me, turned on my three suit, and used a field platform to lift myself above the flitter. Calling up my board, I zipped over to the ice crater and waited until Lisa rather impatiently asked, "Well? When are you..."
Making Ed2 vanish like a soap bubble with a softly audible 'pop', I turned off my three suit. Lisa froze with her mouth open, then all three ladies looked in my direction. I waved to them and kicked a fist-sized chunk of ice loose from the crater rim, then tossed it at the flitter. It hit Galatea's field and turned to plasma with a bright flash and 'bang!' that jarred everybody aboard. Walking back to the flitter left tracks in the snow. I hopped aboard to a bevy of stark, silent stares.
Joyce almost whispered, "Uhm... Lori, maybe he really can teleport. I mean... we just saw it happen, didn't we?"
Looking almost angry, Lori snapped gently, "No! It's some kind of a trick! I don't know how I know it, but I know it!" Facing me, she stated, "I will figure it out, Ed!"
I chuckled, "Yes, milady. As you say, milady," and sat down to finish my sandwich.
She was about to say something else when Sandy popped into being on my right and said, "Hello, everybody."
Lori froze and stared, but came out of it quickly. Lisa shrieked and unassed her seat to take two steps away from the table. Joyce simply sat staring at Sandy.
I said, "Hi, Sandy. This is Lori's Aunt Lisa and the girl in the fancy chair is Joyce. Everybody, this is Sandy. What's up, gorgeous flitter goddess?"
"Hello, All. Ed, since you're looking for objects from space, I thought you'd like to know about a small cluster of them that's about to enter the atmosphere."
Taking her hand for a kiss, I said, "Yes'm, we'd be very interested. Which direction should we look?"
With a smile, she rather elegantly lifted her right arm and pointed skyward to the right ahead of the flitter. As we all looked for meteorites in the sky, I linked and asked, "Objects from space, Sandy? Why not call them meteorites?"
"Because they're metallic man-made debris. I'll help some of the wrench handle survive the atmosphere."
She put up a yard-wide screen to show us what was happening to the objects above. Several bright objects tumbled a few times, then developed reddish-orange nimbuses as they contacted the atmosphere. The nimbuses became yellow, then white, and some of them vanished. A few seconds later, two more vanished and only one glowing item -- what I'd recognized as an extension handle -- remained.
Another three seconds passed before there was a bright flash and snow and ice kicked up about fifty feet from the flitter. A sonic boom rolled over the landscape.
I asked Sandy, "Couldn't drop it any closer, huh?"
Sandy grinned. "That might have seemed contrived."
"Yeah, maybe. Good job, ma'am. And thanks. I don't think it'll matter that it's a lost tool instead of an old rock."
She laughed, "Oh, good."
Joyce's screen had already adjusted to show the new location. She had Galatea move us there and leaned to probe the new crater with her long-handled little shovel, but the object had punched too deeply into the ice.
She was about to lower herself out of her chair, but Sandy said, "Allow me," and sent a tendril down the hole. The tendril retrieved what looked like a black blob on the end of a short black stick. Interesting; the handle had looked about fourteen inches long on the screen. Counting the blob, only about three inches remained of it.
Joyce looked as if she'd have danced if she could. She grinningly bagged the item, thanked Sandy profusely, and wrote the details from the screen on the bag. Lori stood grinning in shared happiness with Joyce.
I turned to locate Lisa and caught her eyeballing Sandy studiously with an arched eyebrow. She gave me a little 'come over here' nod and I did so. When I got close, she hissed, "Who... or what... is she?!"
"Sandy's one of my AI friends."
"How'd she get here?!"
"Are you ready to believe in teleportation?"
That made her gaze narrow a bit. "By her, maybe."
"But not by me?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Why?"
"Because Lori doesn't believe it and she knows you better than I do."
Sandy dematerialized by Joyce and rematerialized on Lisa's left. Theta waves kept Lisa from screaming, and once her bios had dropped a bit, Sandy said, "It was nice to meet you, Lisa. Ed, I'll see you later."
She vanished again. Lisa stared at the spot briefly, looked at me as if about to say something, and then shook her head slightly and went to stand by Joyce. I followed her to have a look at the latest item from space. It was exactly what I expected; a couple of inches of crosshatched stainless steel rod with a blackened and melted blob at one end.
Looking at Lori, I asked, "How long do you think it'll take to dice up that iceberg?"
Rolling her eyes, she replied, "Oh, God, I have no idea, Ed. It's huge!"
"We could leave Lisa and Joyce here and go deal with it while they root up meteorites."
She gave that a moment's thought, then said, "No. Joyce, could we make another trip later?"
Laughing as she eyed the used baggies around her and in one of her green boxes, Joyce said, "No problem, Lori! I've collected more pristine specimens today than I'd have ever even seen on my own. Sure, let's go chop up an iceberg!"
I waited to see if Lori would ask me to zap a copy of the meteorite locations to her core, and sure enough, her mouth opened to speak, but no sound came out. She glanced at Lisa, then looked at me and asked, "You saved the locations?"
Nodding, I said, "Yes, I did."
"Good. I guess we're ready to go, then. I'll help Joyce pack her gear."
"Roger that. Galatea, hoist anchor, please. We're going to the iceberg now."
Galatea lifted and turned, then launched toward Baffin Bay. Lisa dashed to a seat and plunked herself into it, then looked back to see Lori kneeling to help Joyce. When she looked at me, I gave her a little wave from the food table. Lisa got to her feet and came to the table, where she eyed me looking somewhat irritated for a few moments.
"Yes'm?"
"You could have told me sitting was unnecessary."
I chuckled, "Would you have believed me?"
"Yes."
"No. You'd have taken a seat anyway."
"Maybe. Or not."
"Uh, huh. Either way, it isn't worth a debate."
Putting up a screen to display a high probe view of Baffin Bay with a map overlay, I had Athena put a green dot on the berg's location and said, "The iceberg broke off the Humboldt Glacier." I pointed to the spot, then said, "It's now in the Davis Strait, about three hundred miles from entering the Atlantic Ocean's Labrador Current."
Zooming in on the target iceberg showed a smaller berg near it that bore deep blue vertical stripes. Another one a mile or so away across the dark water had brown, tan, and green stripes. The info on the screen said the deep blue stripes came from layers of refrozen melt water. The other colors were caused by sediments picked up as the glacier had moved toward the sea. Their angles of display had to do with the shapes of the bergs below the water line.
Lisa saw the touch controls and tried her hand at moving the probe around the striped icebergs for a time, then moved it back to the big berg. Flying the probe along one tall side of the berg, she read the numbers and shook her head slightly.
"Ed, Lori's fireball trick was impressive, but this iceberg is absolutely huge. Do you really think you two will be able to break it up?"
"Yup."
Looking skeptical as hell, she gave me a fisheye stare and asked, "Seriously?!"
"Yup. Might take a while, though. That's why I wanted the afternoon for it. Should be quite a show. At first, anyway."
She clearly thought I was nuts and did nothing to conceal her opinion. Lori chuckled and got to her feet to join us. She chuckled again and said firmly, "Aunt Lisa, if he says we can do it, we can do it."
Turning to me, she asked, "Now, exactly how are we going to do it? Our biggest sunballs will barely dent that thing."
"True, but it'll be fun to find out just how much power we can throw on our own before we bring in the cutting tools."
Her left eyebrow arched. She asked, "Cutting tools?"
"Your core can control up to fifty-eight virtual flitters. Each flitter is essentially an enhanced probe. That means it doesn't really have to be a flitter."
Lisa put a hand on my arm to stop me and asked, "Her 'core'? What's that?"
Lori said, "I thought we were going to keep that secret."
"If she knows, she'll worry about you a lot less. Especially after she sees what we can do with one."
Pointing at the iceberg, I asked, "After we get through testing ourselves on it, how do you think we should proceed in deploying the probes?"
Lori studied the screen for a moment, then said, "I think I'll follow your lead in that part of things."
"But how would you do it on your own?"
For several seconds, Lori stood silently studying the screen, then she said, "I'd ask my core how to do it best."
Taking her hand for a courtly kiss, I grinningly said, "Just what I wanted to hear, ma'am. Thanks for being as smart as I thought you were." Pointing ahead, I said, "We're here."
Galatea settled to hover just above the center of the iceberg. With a layer of snow, it would have looked much like the ice fields we'd just left. With that in mind, I asked Galatea to run a quick search for meteorites. She found sixteen within fifty feet of the surface.
"Set up holographic markers, please, and put the data on a screen for us."
I asked Joyce, "Do we care about chondrites? They've probably been soaked a few times in seasonal thaws."
She gave me an odd glance, then said, "I don't know. Let's get a few aboard and see how they look."
"Good 'nuff."
I moved the flitter to the nearest chondrite and found it to be three feet below the surface. Tuning my shatter field until a depression formed and ice began to fly out of a shallow hole, I bored down to the meteorite. My field had no effect on it other than to free it from the ice. I fielded it to Joyce's plastic cutting board and watched her pick and prod at it. The soft rock crumbled under pressure and Joyce shook her head.
"Unless a chondrite contains something else of interest, I'd say not to bother with it."
"You mean like peridot in a pallasite?"
Joyce gave me a fisheye and asked, "Do you know much about meteorites, Ed?"
"Nope. Just looked a few things up for the trip."
"Uh, huh. Well, good. Yes, like peridot in a pallasite. Or a number of other things that might be part of a chondrite but wouldn't be affected by water."
Giving her a sloppy little salute, I said, "I'm on it, ma'am! No soggy space rocks, only the good stuff. Got it!"
She grinned and giggled and returned my salute.
After asking Galatea to scan the rest of the berg for meteorites and begin retrieval, I zipped off the deck on my board and began excavating at another marker. Lori joined me and tapped my field for the resonance, then set to work under a marker a few yards away.
"Ed," she said, "Where should Galatea put the meteorites she finds?"
"On the deck where Joyce can reach them."
"That may not work well. Before I left, I saw how many she'd already found."
"I'll have a look." I linked to Galatea and found she'd discovered almost two hundred and her scan hadn't finished. The number passed two-fifty, then two-sixty. Damn! What had happened on -- or above? -- the Humboldt Glacier?
I asked Athena and she replied, "The meteorites in this iceberg are remnants of a debris field, Ed. They form approximately two degrees of an elliptical arc at a depth of three hundred and ninety feet."
"Are they chondrites?"
"Not all of them."
"Are we talking about more than a ton?"
"No, Ed."
"Good 'nuff, then. We'll bring them all up and let Joyce pick through them. She can toss the ones she doesn't want."
I finished excavating the rock I was after and started to field it to the flitter, but Joyce was waving at me, so I flew over there. The flitter already had quite a little pile of rocks on the deck. Joyce was almost frantic.
"Ed! How the hell am I supposed to record them properly?! She's just digging them up and dumping them on the floor!"
"It's properly called a deck, ma'am."
"What?! I don't care about that!"
"Just thought I'd mention it. All data for each item is stored, Joyce. Hold up a chunk and she'll show you the same info you see on the markers. For now, just sort them and dump the ones you don't want over the side." Glancing at the growing pile, I added, "And you might want to hurry."
As she looked at the pile, half a dozen bits of rock floated over the deck to it. I headed for my next marker and saw holes had formed around the flitter where it had sent tendrils into the ice to fetch rocks. Each hole had a small mound of ice around it and sort of resembled a gopher hole.
Lori and I had dug out another dozen or so rocks each when surface markers around us began to disappear. When they were all gone, Tea said, "All meteorites have been retrieved from this iceberg."
"You're a magical marvel, Tea. Thanks."
"You're welcome, Ed."
Lori and I returned to the flitter and added our last finds to the pile. I watched Joyce work for a few moments. She'd adjusted her examinations of specimens to the simple expedient of squeezing them hard. If they squashed, she checked the crud for anything meaningful, then flicked the muck over the side. Heh.
With a rather dour expression, she said, "They're thawing before I can get to them."
I shrugged. "So? That makes sorting easier, doesn't it?"
Looking at her muddy fingers, she replied, "Messier, too." She used a paper towel from her box to wipe them, then returned to her sorting.
Stepping into the bathroom, I took a leak and rinsed my coffee mug, then headed for the console and my stash of instant coffee. As I passed Lisa, she looked longingly at the coffee. I stopped and gave the matter some thought. One of the people in my edits group had once suggested I use field-generated coffee mugs. I'd declined because I was happy with the mug Barbara had brought me from New Orleans.
Linking to Galatea, I had her make three standard-sized, emerald green, field generated coffee mugs. They appeared in the air before me and I pushed one toward Lisa. She took it almost hesitantly and examined it thoroughly. Lori came over to pluck one out of the air and study it, then she took the last one over to Joyce.
Lisa grinned and said, "Okay, now we have cups. When does some coffee happen?"

Chapter Twenty-six

While I made coffee in each of our mugs, Lori asked, "Can we start chopping up this iceberg now?"
"Nope. First we're gonna sort meteorites until everything worth keeping is bagged and tagged, then we're gonna split 'em up so we all have something to show for this trip."
Joyce asked, "Why not just set a few aside, sell the rest, and split the money? I'd be happy to set up an eBay account and Lisa could handle making us incorporated."
Glancing at the pile, I said, "I'll just take a few of the fancy ones. You ladies can have the rest."
Lisa instantly -- and warily -- asked, "How many is a few?"
"Half a dozen or so with certification for each. They'll make good gifts."
She leaned close and peered at me. Her voice rose an octave, but didn't get much louder as she asked, "After coming all the way up here? After all this searching and digging? That's it? That's all?"
"After all what, lady? This is just a day trip. The flitter did the searching and we barely did any digging."
Lori growled softly, "Aunt Lisa."
"No," I said, "Let her go on a bit. Something's coming to the surface here. Lemme guess; problems with men?"
"What else? I've seen this show before, Ed. You're about to catch some crap from her two divorces and a few boyfriends I'd have cheerfully shot. She was the only one who couldn't see they were just assholes in expensive suits."
Lisa seemed truly shocked by Lori's statements.
I said, "Ah. Well, then, there's no point in discussing the matter further. Joyce and I will pick out half a dozen rocks and you ladies will divvy up the rest. End of discussion."
Heh. Go ahead, say 'end of discussion'. It's almost guaranteed to make at least one of any group say, 'Wait just a goddamned minute'. As expected, Lisa flared up.
"End of discussion?! Because you say so?!"
Looking at the others, I said, "I don't want to get involved in a corporation. A few rocks is enough for me. That would seem to preclude any further discussion, wouldn't it?"
Joyce looked extremely reluctant to comment, but Lori said, "That's how it looks to me. If you aren't in, you're out. What's to discuss?"
With a look at Lori, Joyce agreed, "Yes, Lisa. If he isn't in, there's really nothing to discuss. We should just move ahead and split the earnings."
Looking at Lisa, I chuckled, "See? Zap. Done."
Lisa glowered at me for a time, then her glower lessened in intensity and she took a breath. "You really know how to push peoples' buttons, don't you?"
Meeting her gaze, I replied, "You're pushing your own and I don't like blind suspicion. When it's aimed at me, I tend to drag it into the open. Besides, it wasn't clear where your suspicions were coming from. Or leading. Still isn't, as far as I'm concerned. Except for owning a dick, how am I anything like those guys you've dated or married?"
When she didn't immediately reply, I turned to Lori and asked, "Ready to go play with the iceberg?"
She grinned. "Sure!"
Calling up my board, I said, "Mount up, then."
We left the flitter on our boards and flew just above the surface of the berg. I decided to try my heat field on it first. Creating a sunball, I pumped it up until its diameter was roughly the height of the berg and sent it at the berg's northern flank. It quickly melted a deep indentation and I kept it moving to carve a deep trench in the top of the berg.
Progress was slow and some of the water refroze before it could flow out of the trench. Turning the sunball into a bar that started at the berg's north wall, I extended the bar inward to see how far I could go before having to tap Athena.
Above me and a couple of hundred feet to my right, Lori created a similar, smaller heat bar and stretched it across the top of the berg. It sank quickly into the berg on an angle. A few minutes later, a wedge of ice fifty feet wide and the length of the berg crumbled and sloughed away.
Lori linked at me. When I answered, she said, "Looks as if I'm getting a little ahead of you."
"Depends on how you look at things, ma'am. My melt water will mix with salt water and won't refreeze. You still have to deal with the stuff you carved off."
My melting bar had narrowed as it extended. I pumped it up some more to maintain the diameter, but that cost me some distance. There was now a fifty-foot gap between the end of the bar and the end of the trench. I tried to pump up more heat and barely reached the end of the trench.
Well, all I'd wanted was an idea of how much heat I could generate, and... and I realized I was wasting it. All I wanted to do was melt ice, not vaporize it, and the bar didn't have to generate heat from its center. Making the bar a thin-walled tube allowed me to extend it completely across the berg. Lowering the temperature until the bar was dull red instead of yellowish-white didn't seem to slow the rate of melting.
Lifting the tube out of its trench, I flattened the field until it was about an inch thick and raised the center slightly so the edges would melt before the center and allow runoff. Widening the flat field until it covered about a quarter of the top of the berg, I lowered it to the ice.
Runoff from the edges dribbled, then cascaded into the sea. As more of the field touched the berg, the water falling off the edges became a torrent. By the time the center of the field reached the ice, it was as if a river was escaping into the ocean all around the northern end of the iceberg.
Lori created a similar field at the other end and linked to let me see how well hers was doing. About the same. I sent her a sensation of strong approval and extended my field toward the center of the iceberg. Lori did the same with hers, apparently having only the slightest of problems with focusing that much energy, and only at first. Once she had the imaging locked in, her field quickly stretched across the ice to meet mine.
But... an iceberg that size contains one helluva lot of frozen water, and though the berg melted at what seemed a phenomenal rate, it seemed not to change at all. As ice melted on the top, the rest of the berg floated higher and made it appear we were accomplishing nothing. I waited for Lori to say something about it and didn't have to wait very long.
When she linked to me, I answered with, "You got me."
Sounding a bit frustrated, she said, "Ed, I see water running off this thing like Niagara Falls, but I'm beginning to think we'd have to do this for hours. Maybe days. It doesn't really look as if anything's happening!"
"Yeah, you're right. Can you call up any more power?"
"I think so."
"Let's give it a try, then. Maybe vaporizing some of the ice will speed things up a bit."
We pumped the heat back up in our fields until they glowed a dull yellow. Steam rose from around the edges of the fields and I nearly smacked my own forehead as I realized a big 'Duh!' moment.
I struggled to maintain the field's shape as I formed three small holes near the center of it. Tall jets of steam suddenly shot skyward and the field began to shake like the lid on a pressure cooker. I made more holes until the shaking died down to a gentle vibration. There were now a dozen jets of steam spewing above the iceberg on my side. Their plumes fell back onto the field and created a fog of steam. The northeast wind shoved the fog off the top of the berg, where it cascaded to the water. The fog began to spread and thinned quickly as the cool water absorbed it.
Lori had matched my actions and her fog bank joined mine to roll over the edge to the water. Flying near me, she gave me a big grin as she poked a few more holes in her field. I did the same, but we found that more holes lessened pressure and made the plumes smaller. She eliminated some of her new holes and stood grinning at the steam plumes.
It was all a lot of fun at first, but after half an hour or so, I was getting a bit bored with simply maintaining a heat field. I took a sip of coffee and asked Athena to take over the job, then returned to the flitter.
As I landed on the deck, Lisa and Joyce stared big-eyed at me, then back at Lori. I opened the cooler and rooted through things for the sandwich I hadn't eaten earlier. Footsteps behind me became Lisa standing beside me.
"Shouldn't you be out there helping her?"
"Nope. I had Athena take over my end of things."
"Athena? I thought the flitter was Galatea."
Standing with my sandwich, I said, "It is. Athena's my computer core. When Lori gets bored, she'll probably do the same thing using her core."
Unwrapping the waxed paper from my sandwich, I said, "Lisa, listen to me and don't interpret or take offense. You have twenty years or so on Lori and all the life experience those extra years have given you. You've been like a mother to her and this is no time to stop, but you might also want to try to relate to her as an independent individual who can and will go her own way if you try to control her."
Pointing at one of the striped icebergs that poked about fifty feet above the sea, I asked, "Athena, can you safely destroy the iceberg I'm looking at now?" Glancing at Lisa, I added, "I mean, can you do it without hurting any whales or fish or whatever else lives in the neighborhood?"
"Yes, Ed."
"Then do so, please. Quickest possible method."
A bright light surrounded the iceberg. The dark ocean water around the berg muted the glow below the surface. About thirty seconds later, the fifty-foot iceberg was gone.
Lisa whispered, "Oh, my God!" as she stared at the empty spot among the bergs. She turned to me as Joyce yelled, "What the hell just happened out there?!"
I said, "I saw some kind of a bright spot on the water. What did you see?"
"That's what I saw, too! Some kind of bright spot! What the hell was it?!"
"Hard to say, ma'am. All kinds of weird stuff can happen in the middle of an ocean."
Lisa whispered, "You aren't going to tell her?"
"Lori will. I think it's enough that I'm telling you. That kind of power can scare people."
Her eyebrows arched in astonishment. "You think I'm not scared?! Jesus, Ed! You're telling me Lori can do things like that, too?"
"Yup. Helluva thing, isn't it? Now, did I make a big mistake just now? Are you gonna freak out?"
She just stared at me for a moment, then seemed to steel herself with a deep breath. "No. I'm not going to freak out."
"Good. We can discuss things later, after we finish with the big berg and take Joyce home. Okay?"
Her gaze met mine in an oddly peering manner, but Lisa nodded slightly. "Okay. Later. Yes."
"Thanks. Now I'm going to eat my sandwich. Have you and Joyce finished bagging and tagging meteorites?"
She glanced at Joyce, then seemed to realize I was making a hint. With a last look at me, she went to Joyce and sat down across from her, then reached for a baggie.
Lori soared back to the flitter and landed near me. With a glance back at Lisa and Joyce, she said, "You could have warned me before you lit up that iceberg."
I munched my sandwich and waited for whatever else might be on her mind. After a moment, she said, "It took me a few minutes to realize you weren't controlling that field anymore. I asked Athena. Then I told my core to do what she was doing."
"You 'told' it? You didn't ask it?"
She gave me a wry grin as she said, "You said it's just a computer, Ed."
"Yeah, and all my AI friends were once computers just like it. If it becomes sentient, wouldn't you like to be remembered as a friendly taskmaster instead of a slavedriver?"
Her left eyebrow arched. "Oh. Well. Yes, of course."
"Then be a little more polite to it, ma'am. Please and thank you and all that stuff."
She rolled her eyes. "Okay! I got it!"
"Want some sandwich?"
She shook her head. "No, thanks. How much longer do you think it'll take to get rid of that iceberg?"
I shrugged. "No idea. I suggest we let our cores handle it and head back to Florida. Maybe by way of Guyana."
Lori had been eyeing the iceberg, but the word 'Guyana' made her head snap around to face me. "Today?!"
"Why not? All we need is as much of an excuse as we had to visit the Arctic."
Joyce looked up from what she was doing and asked, "What are you two buzzing about over there? Us?"
"Sort of. After all this time in the Arctic, I was wondering if you'd be as interested in visiting a tropical jungle waterfall as you were in collecting frozen space rocks."
With a wondering glance at Lisa, Joyce shrugged and laughed, "Sure! I don't get out much, you know. Where's the jungle waterfall?"
"It's in Guyana. Kaieteur Falls."
Joyce's expression seemed distant for a moment, then her eyes opened wide as she sat a bit straighter and almost whispered, "Guyana! Georgetown! Oh, Jesus! There's a robodoc clinic there!"
Looking at Lori, I said, "She's pretty smart, isn't she?"
"Yes. And if you're wondering, I didn't tell her."
"Didn't think you did, ma'am."
Lisa asked, "Tell her what?"
Lori said, "We talked about taking Joyce to Georgetown when we put this meteorite trip together." Thumbing at me, she said, "He wanted to go all the way down to Antarctica, but we found out it's illegal to harvest meteorites there. While we were thinking about going there, he thought of stopping in Georgetown on the way back."
Looking at us, then at Joyce, Lisa said, "Yeah, fine. What's the big deal about Georgetown?"
Joyce said rather intently, "There's a robodoc clinic there, Lisa! They can fix my legs just like new!"
Glancing down at Joyce's legs, Lisa looked at Lori and me and wonderingly asked, "Is that true?"
I said, "Yup," and munched my sandwich. Lori put up a screen and meteorites were completely forgotten for a while as she showed and told. I finished my sandwich, swilled some coffee, and asked Athena to work with Lori's core to get rid of the big iceberg.
Our fields on the berg disappeared, then the berg was surrounded with an almost blindingly bright glow. The ladies stopped talking and watched and I linked to Athena to ask why there was no steam or fog.
She said, "Our field completely encloses the iceberg, Ed. All heat is focused into the ice. Water will be allowed to escape below the surface until the ice is gone."
"Athena, you're an absolute marvel."
"Thank you."
Aloud, I said, "We can leave when everyone's ready."
Joyce asked, "What's happening to the iceberg?"
"It's being melted. This is all you'll see. When the job's done, the field will vanish. No steam, no fog. Prob'ly won't even be a splash."
The glowing field shrank slightly as we watched for another few minutes. Lori sighed and returned to sorting meteorites. Lisa and Joyce looked at her, then back at the glowing field. After a few more moments, Joyce also returned to sorting meteorites. Lisa watched the berg a little longer, then picked up a baggie and a pen. She used a baggie to pick up a rock, then closed the top and transcribed the info from Joyce's data screen. I had Galatea set course for Guyana and went to pick out some meteorites.

Chapter Twenty-seven

The five meteorites I picked while the ladies talked weren't the biggest or the strangest, and -- though she tried to conceal it to some degree -- that seemed to thoroughly confuse Lisa. One of our finds weighed almost four pounds. As I rooted among the bagged rocks, I deliberately ignored that one.
Lisa, on the other hand, sat near it and seemed prepared to argue if I reached for it. After choosing five, I obliged her trepidations by abruptly fielding the big one into the air and studying it for a few moments. She seemed confused when I set it back on the deck.
As I shuffled baggies to see what else might appeal to me, Lisa pointed at the big one and asked, "Why not that one?"
"I want something to give to my old boss. That one wouldn't impress her."
"You feel a need to impress her?"
I chuckled, "Sure. If not, why bother with meteorites?"
Lisa lapsed into silence and I pretended not to notice her studying me. Lori snickered, "Can't get a handle on him, huh?" and Lisa gave her a tight sidelong glance. Joyce grinned at Lori, then me, and returned to logging info on baggies.
I picked a sixth stone and put them in my backpack, then asked if anyone wanted another coffee. Lori and Joyce opted for canned teas, but Lisa picked up her field-generated mug and got to her feet. I made all their mugs vanish and Lisa stopped to stare briefly at her empty hand.
"Saves cleaning them," I said, and made a new one appear in the air in front of her.
She eyed it, then plucked it out of the air and joined me as she said, "Cute. Is your old boss a girlfriend now?"
Field-spooning coffee into our mugs, I said, "She's a friend and she's definitely a girl, but she's not my girlfriend."
"Why not?"
I field-gathered water to heat in a field ball as I said, "Her boyfriend would object. Hasn't Lori told you about Linda?"
"She mentioned her in passing, that's all."
"Hm. Maybe you should meet her sometime. She was a big help to me when I first got into field stuff."
Once we had our coffees, I took a seat and put my feet up on the console. Lisa frowned at that, but said nothing. After a minute or so of sipping and watching the sky, she asked, "What kind of women are you used to, Ed?"
Hm. An interesting question, coming from her. I replied, "The mousy, docile types who doll themselves up in frilly stuff, cater to a man's every whim, and say 'Yes, Master'."
From behind us came a brief burst of laughter. Lisa took a deliberate breath and released it as an expressive sigh as she rolled her eyes. She turned to look at Lori and asked, "And how would you know, if I may ask?"
Lori grinned hugely and said, "I've met a couple of his girlfriends. Ask him about Toni and Myra."
After another moment of staring at Lori, Lisa turned to me and asked, "Well? What about them?"
Putting up a screen, I split it with pictures of Toni on the left and Myra on the right. Toni was in her gym outfit, lying on a weight bench doing leg lifts. I'd chosen a picture of Myra from our trip to find her sister on a volcano. She wore shorts and looked like a pinup girl next to her convertible. Neither of the women looked very docile.
I said, "Toni on the left, Myra on the right."
"Why aren't either of them with us today?"
"They have lives of their own. Careers. All that. Myra's with the NSA. She'd have to schedule a day off two weeks in advance or call it some kind of an emergency. Toni'd have to steal a day from something else and she hates flying."
Raising my voice a bit, I said, "By the way, ladies, our trip to Guyana is officially strictly incidental. We're going to say nothing about getting Joyce fixed until after it's done, and then we're going to say... well, we're going to say nothing then, too. If anyone gives us a hard time later, an AI friend's law firm will handle it."
Lisa asked, "Are you saying we can get in trouble for visiting a robodoc clinic?"
"It's definitely possible. Depends on how big a stink anyone wants to make or if they'd want to make a stink at all. Amaran medical stuff is illegal in the States."
"But some movie star went to a robodoc clinic in Africa last year. She didn't go to jail."
"She was arrested when she returned, but they let her go rather than charge her. That doesn't mean they wouldn't try to crucify someone with fewer connections and less money."
Joyce said, "Uh... look, I appreciate what you're doing, but I'd rather not see any of us go to prison, okay?"
"Prison's very doubtful, ma'am. They might try to slap us with fines and pull our passports, but that wouldn't be such a bad trade for new legs, would it? And if they pulled Lori's passport or mine, they'd just be limiting our usefulness. 3rd World would fight them and I'd let my AI friend's legal team use my case to make a big public stink."
Lisa asked, "Why is Amaran medical... uh, stuff... illegal?"
I showed her who was behind the laws and what was prohibited. By the time we reached Georgetown, she was thoroughly pissed off. She suggested we simply land in the street in front of the robodoc clinic and dare anyone to say a damned thing about it later.
"They'd know we were looking for a fight, ma'am. There's a flitter pad on the roof." I pointed at the field dome on top of the brick building as we descended. Maybe I should have said a bit more, because as we neared the shining dome, Lisa stiffened and yelled, "We're gonna hit it!"
She shut her eyes and crunched up in anticipation of a crash. Joyce had much the same reaction, though she kept her eyes open and marveled as we passed through the field dome. We stopped near some sliding glass doors. I stood up and tapped Lisa's shoulder. "All ashore, ma'am."
Looking around, she gave me a glare, then aimed it at Lori, who grinningly pretended not to notice and asked Galatea to field Joyce into her chair. I made a ramp to the doors and Joyce rolled down the ramp with Lori walking beside her.
The place was much like most other hospitals in the sense that you had to register on the way in. I suggested that Lisa also register for an exam and she asked why.
"Because they might find something to fix."
"What would that be?"
"Hell, I don't know. Do it or don't, it's up to you."
She did it. Fees were discussed. Joyce paid forty dollars according to some arcane sliding scale and Lisa paid thirty, then we headed for room twelve. As we sat waiting for perhaps fifteen minutes, Lisa got a bit fidgety. Joyce and Lori talked about what was likely to happen and I checked email.
A strong field presence approaching made me close my screen and look at the door. Lori noticed my attention to the door and asked, "What is that? I feel it too."
"An AI's coming."
Joyce asked, "Feel what?"
Lori and I answered almost in unison, "A field."
The door opened and two people walked into the room, a man and a woman, both of medium height. She introduced him as Dr. Andros and herself as his assistant, Rita Bryne. I'd been expecting to see a mechanical monster like the one that had repaired Linda's spine, but nothing else came into the room.
It occurred to me that I'd never met an AI with a male persona other than Elkor. We shook hands all around and I sent a link at the guy as he ran a sensor field over Joyce, then examined her stumps.
'Dr. Andros' answered the link with a warm, soft feminine voice and, "Hello. This 'Dr. Andros' shell is simply for client comfort. Many of the local people wouldn't come to a female doctor. My name is Milla. Your ability to communicate in this manner is quite a surprise."
"Once upon a time it was quite a surprise for me, too."
Milla chuckled, "I'm sure it was. A moment, please. You should also see and hear the information I'm about to impart to your friend."
'Dr. Andros' then showed and told Joyce what to expect; that her legs would begin to slowly extend almost immediately and might itch at times, that her new feet would begin to develop in about six months, and that she shouldn't attempt to walk on them until about the ninth month. 'Dr. Andros' also said her oral medications would no longer be necessary and that her progress would be monitored.
Joyce asked how he'd manage that and a shining ball of field energy appeared between them.
Through our link, I chuckled, "Woo! Fancy!"
Milla laughed softly, then dropped our link as she spoke again to Joyce. "This is one of my probes. I'll send one to examine you twice a week until your healing is complete."
With that, 'Dr. Andros' touched Joyce's stumps, leaving two fingerprint-sized black spots on each. The ladies watched in wonder as the spots quickly faded.
Milla-Andros turned to Lisa and ran a sensor field over her, then put up a screen. "You have a number of minor ills. They will all be rectified shortly."
Lisa almost yelped, "What 'minor ills'?"
Conjuring a screen, Milla-Andros said, "Here are the results of my examination. You have only to touch an entry title to see more detailed information. If you have other questions, Miss Bryne will accommodate you."
To all of us, 'Dr. Andros' said, "I must visit others now. Thank you for visiting our clinic. Goodbye," and vanished. Lisa and Joyce stared until Miss Byrne waved for their attention.
I sipped coffee and watched the others discuss the encounter. Seconds later, I received a link and, "My apologies for ending our link so abruptly, but my resources were in demand elsewhere."
Returning the link, I sent, "No sweat. I like the way you make an exit, ma'am."
She chuckled, "It's necessary for efficiency. I'm with a new patient as we speak."
"I'd be surprised if you weren't with about fifty other patients at the moment."
She chuckled again. "A good guess. Fifty-three."
"Am I keeping you from anyone?"
"No. I have a few minutes between patients in room two."
"Well, if you can ever spare one of your selves for a while, send her up to Florida for a vacation. All work and no play could make Milla wish to hell she had a different job."
"Thank you for your concern and your offer. I also thank you for having the courage to bring Miss Lenz here."
"That's not courage, ma'am. That's just plain damned cantankerousness. The laws banning Amaran medical tech are symbols of corruption to me."
"Nonetheless, we AIs can't ignore them. Illegal as they may be, actions such as yours are the only means some people have for seeking our assistance."
"Stephanie's legal team will cause some changes. Possibly fairly soon, given that the future quality of health care is currently a big topic in the US. As long as image-conscious political prostitutes run the government, I'll prob'ly be able to get away with a few quiet visits like this one."
As Milla and I had chatted, Miss Byrne had reiterated what 'Dr. Andros' had said and touched a button on a printer as she answered a question from Lisa. The printer quickly produced several pages and Byrne handed them to Joyce as the printer continued its work. Lisa only received a few pages, but she didn't seem disappointed.
In the midst of the activity, Lori had looked at me oddly for a moment, but she'd remained with the others. I suggested to Milla that she also contact Lori through a link and Milla actually seemed startled through our link.
Rather than ask, "She can do it too?" or something similar, Milla simply sent Lori a link request. Lori's eyes flared and she glanced at me again, then tried to look as if nothing unusual was going on inside her head. I couldn't 'hear' what she and Milla said to each other, but Milla kept our link open.
After a few final words, Byrne said it was time to make the room ready for another patient. As we followed her out and back to the reception area, Milla said, "This has been a most interesting visit. I look forward to your return, but now I must return this segment of myself to work. Goodbye, Ed."
"Bye, Milla. It was nice to meet you."
Milla dropped the link and Lori's stride hesitated slightly, likely indicating Milla had been talking to both of us at once. Lisa asked the receptionist if a tour of the facility was available. The woman paused between registering patients to say, "Sorry, but no. We have fifty-four rooms like the one in which you were treated, twenty recovery and observation wards, and five operating rooms. All are in use during the day."
Holding up a pausing hand, she quickly handled another registration, then said, "I could ask an administrator to come speak with you."
I said, "Lisa, the flitter can show you a virtual tour of the building and a robodoc at work."
"Oh. Well, that would be fine, I guess. I was just curious."
She thanked the receptionist, started to turn away, and then turned back to me to ask, "Why didn't anyone check our passports here?"
"These clinics are established like embassies. When we landed on the roof, we technically stepped onto Amaran soil, and they don't have to care about visas and such."
The receptionist grinned and added, "If we stamped your passport, your government could use it as evidence."
"Besides," I said, "We didn't leave the US through a customs gate and we won't be returning through one. This trip officially never happened."
The still-grinning receptionist gave us a little 'shoo' gesture and said, "Off with you now, please. I'm not supposed to hear things like that."
We trooped out to the flitter and I got us underway toward Kaieteur Falls, then I conjured a screen to give the ladies a virtual tour of the clinic building and a look at a robodoc. They studied the building briefly, then turned their attention to the robodoc and its various appendages. I pulled up some footage to show it performing surgery, then turned the screen over to the ladies and sat back to watch the jungle pass below us.
Joyce was the first to turn away from the screen and say, "I just can't believe our own country won't let us have this kind of medical care. What the hell's wrong with our government?"
"Nothing," I said, "It's working exactly as it's been constructed to work."
Lisa said, "Maybe you'd better clarify that."
I shrugged. "Okay. Special interest groups raised all sorts of paranoid questions about alien technology and side effects. Politicians were bought by lobbyists and laws were quickly passed against field stuff, 'pending further research'. In almost a decade, the 'research' hasn't happened."
Her expectant look turned droll. "I was hoping for a more... shall we say... comprehensive... explanation."
"No point. You're smart enough to figure out who'd lose big money if robodoc clinics got into the US."
Joyce said, "There must be something we can do."
"It might take a popular uprising to get the laws repealed. Exposing politicians and their families who've visited the clinics might embarrass some into cooperating, but the AIs have too many scruples. They won't release patient records."
Lisa asked, "So it's illegal to visit the clinics, but nobody ever actually goes to jail?"
I consulted Athena. She found only one instance of someone being jailed for visiting a clinic in Africa. The man's sentence had been converted to 'time served' after a week in the clink, his passport had been confiscated, and he'd been fined five thousand dollars. I put the info on a screen.
With a smile, Joyce said, "New legs are worth a lot more than that."
We arrived at Kaieteur Falls, where Lori opened the cooler and asked who wanted what, then called up another screen to display information about the waterfall. Joyce dug out her fancy camera again and the topic of laws preventing Amaran med tech in the US was put on hold.
Lori saw a well-used trail leading to the falls and suggested a flitter ride through the jungle. The flitter couldn't fit some of the places where the trail narrowed or turned. Rather than chop a path, we rose a bit to push through the upper foliage, then returned to the trail.
Ten minutes of that was enough for me; I'd seen plenty of jungle trails in other parts of the world and they held no particular fascination for me. Linking through Athena, I checked email and messages as the flitter plunged on. Perhaps half an hour passed before Lori asked Galatea to return us to the falls.
She asked, "Is there anything you'd like to see while we're here, Ed?"
Closing my edits, I replied, "Nope. Anybody else?"
Joyce said, "I don't know what else is here," and Lisa noddingly agreed. "I don't know either, and I think I've had enough touring for one day."
Looking at Joyce, I asked, "Straight back to Tucson, or do you want to visit Florida first?"
She grinned. "Florida's fine. Maybe we'll see an alligator."
Turning Galatea northward, I said, "Well, we can prob'ly even guarantee that, ma'am. I just happen to know where a gator and a wild boar guard an old tangerine grove."
Her face lit up. "Oooo! Tangerines?! I love tangerines! Really? An alligator and a wild boar?"
Lori laughed and began telling about our experiences there. Lisa listened for a few moments, then gave me a rather disapproving look. Lori noticed and said, "Aunt Lisa, we were never in any danger and I can stun a hippo."
"Oh, really? Is that a known fact? Have you ever actually stunned anything bigger than that mouse in the shed?"
"Jesus," I muttered, then raised my voice to say, "Think about it, Lisa. You saw what she did at the iceberg. She could stun a goddamned fleet of hippos."
She frosted over and spoke firmly. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't swear like that."
"Then don't say stupid things. If you're going to worry about Lori, worry about things that might actually matter."
Lisa bristled and stood up to loom over me as she asked, "What things would those be? And are you one of them?"
"Are you trying to find out if I'll stun you? I'm not going to argue with you, Lisa. I'm also not going to let you harangue me -- or Lori -- all the way to Florida, so relax and get with the program."
She stood glaring at me for some moments, then growled, "Exactly what 'program' am I supposed to 'get with'?"
"The program where you learn what's really worth worrying about. Forget wild animals. Lori's future troubles will come from people who want to use or abuse her abilities."
"Damn," said Joyce, turning her chair, "I have to pee. Could you two kind of hold it right there 'til I get back?"
As she rolled into the bathroom, Lori stared, then laughed shortly. After a moment, a muffled snicker escaped Lisa. She sat down, then said to me, "But I'm not going to apologize for worrying about Lori."
I shrugged. "That's fine. Just aim a little higher."
She turned away and sipped tea, then turned back to me and asked, "Why aren't there clinics on ships just beyond the twelve mile limit?"
"Not far enough. What they call the 'exclusive economic zone' extends two hundred nautical miles. Even if the clinics didn't charge any fees inside that range, they'd fall under other restraint of trade and unfair competition laws."
Sipping again, she said, "Okay, then; why not ships beyond two hundred miles?"
"Most likely answer: there'd be no way to disguise or officially ignore clinic visits. Sport fishing and gambling boats don't usually go that far. People can at least pretend to have non-medical reasons to visit Guyana and other countries. I don't doubt that government agents record everyone who walks into a clinic, but I also believe the governments involved really don't want to have to try to enforce anti-Amaran med tech laws. They know how the public would react."

Chapter Twenty-eight

Lori watched Lisa digest what I'd said and grinned. "Look at her. She's thinking about how to create a fuss." Lisa gave her a sharp look, but Lori continued with, "Once a student activist, always a student activist, right, Aunt Lisa?"
Pretending surprise, I asked, "You mean our Lisa was one of those rowdy girls who marched and chanted and..."
Lisa snapped, "Yes, I marched. I also held signs. Happy?"
"Oh, I'm ecstatic, ma'am. Um... Why'd you do that?"
In a challenging tone, she replied, "To get US nuclear weapons out of Britain and Europe, among other things."
I sipped coffee and said, "Just curious. Did it work?"
Her gaze narrowed. "Nukes were removed."
"All of them? Or just the old stuff that was probably going to be upgraded anyway?"
There was a glaring pause before Lisa answered, "I don't know. Nobody really knows."
"Doubtful. Somebody always knows." I sipped again and said, "Anyway, all that's history. If you're thinking about getting involved with a cause you might actually win, health care in the US may be it. Anyone who's for Obama's plan to bureaucratize health care has never had to deal intricately with Medicare or the Veteran's Administration."
Joyce turned her chair slightly, possibly as a pause to collect her thoughts, then said, "People know about the robodocs clinics in other countries. Why aren't they already marching in the streets?"
In a sardonic tone, Lisa said, "You knew about the robodoc clinics. Why didn't you find a way to get to one?"
"Money. Time. Fear." She sighed, "I'd have had to sell everything I own and borrow money for a ticket to Africa, then leave the country in a wheel chair. It just looked like an impossible idea."
I asked, "How do you think it looks to people who aren't sick or injured?"
Joyce laughed sourly, "Do they look at all?"
A pause happened, then Lisa took a breath and sighed, "No, I'd say they don't. Speaking for myself, I never gave this issue much thought."
Joyce stated, "Because you weren't sick. Or crippled."
Lisa looked almost guilty as she nodded. "Yes."
For some moments, nobody spoke. I asked, "So... Where's all this going?" The ladies looked at me. I asked, "Why discuss it at all if we aren't going to do something?"
Lisa asked, "For instance?"
"The usual. Start a movement or join one. Start an underground railroad to get people to and from clinics. Have volunteers demand to be prosecuted and force the issue into the public eye. Make people want robodoc clinics enough to get off their asses and demand them."
The ladies glanced at each other as if appraising their willingness to take on such a project. Lisa suddenly sat a little straighter and eyed Lori for a moment, then turned to me.
"Did you suggest bringing Joyce to hunt meteorites?"
Lori tightly asked, "You mean 'did he set this up'? No. Bringing Joyce was my idea."
Lisa looked at her and asked, "Are you sure about that?"
Lori snapped, "Yes," but she glanced at me.
Lisa chuckled, "Right. No, you're not sure, and neither am I. You told me how he prepared you to meet 3rd World and how he dealt with that woman Jonel." Looking at me, she asked, "Did you set this up, Ed?"
"Nope."
"But you'd say that anyway, wouldn't you?"
"Nope. Galatea, review my bios. Did I just lie?"
Galatea replied, "No, Ed."
"Thank you."
Lisa laughed, "You expect us to buy that?! Of course your own flitter would back you up!"
Lori shook her head. "No, Aunt Lisa. It wouldn't. And you don't know Ed very well yet."
"Oh, really?! But you do?"
"I know him better than you. And I've heard what some of the others at 3rd World Products have said about him." She glanced at me and grinningly added, "Good and bad."
I shrugged. "Hey, nobody's perfect," and Lisa asked, "What 'bad'?"
Lori muttered, "I just knew you'd go there first."
Pretending to steel myself, I nodded to Lori. "Go ahead. Tell her."
Lori asked, "No names, right? Just what was said?"
"Depends on what they said, I guess."
"Okay." She turned to Lisa. "A few people think he's on the verge of becoming uncontrollable. A few others think he's already there. They also say he had a tendency to act outside guidelines during missions and some are a little worried about what he might do now that he's retired."
She paused as if to see how I'd take the revelations. Lisa looked at me and asked, "Any objections? Rebuttals?"
Sipping coffee, I shook my head. "Nope, not so far. But I don't know what people may be worried I'll do." I shrugged. "Fact is, they're probably relieved at how little I've done or more worried than ever that the other shoe hasn't dropped."
"Has it?"
"Prob'ly not."
Lisa grinned, then turned to Lori. "Was that all?"
"Pretty much."
That made Joyce and Lisa laugh.
I asked, "You said there was good stuff, too?"
The ladies looked at Lori expectantly. She glanced around our group once, then said, "Yes, and I'll name names for this part. Captain Wallace and Major Horn --" she looked at Joyce and said, "His ex-bosses -- both said he was the one to call when things were trying hard to go to hell. Well, Wallace actually said it and Angie just agreed, but... They both think very highly of him. And I've seen some of his mission records during my training. He always found a solution."
Lisa lifted an eyebrow and said, "Maybe they only showed you what they wanted you to see."
I asked, "Lori, did they mention what happened to a kid named Philip Brinks? Or to a warehouse lab in Grand Forks?"
That made her face go almost expressionless for a moment, then she said, "Yes. You made Brinks blow himself up. You set off the explosives he was carrying to keep him from getting to where people were on the asteroid station."
"Yup. What about Grand Forks?"
"You were trapped in a warehouse while everybody in it was dying from a disease they made. Wallace said something you did caused a woman to panic and she dropped a container of some sort."
"Yup. I frosted a pressurized spray bottle to see how she'd react if she thought it was leaking. She panicked. Went totally apeshit. I wanted to know if all those people really knew what they were putting in those bottles. They did."
She nodded. "That's what Wallace said, too."
Looking at Lisa, I said, "Yeah, they showed her both sides."
Lisa stared at me rather starkly for a moment, then asked, "How many people were in that warehouse?"
"No idea."
"You didn't even think to ask?"
"Didn't need to know. They were shipping that stuff to people who'd have used it to wipe out entire cities. Fuck 'em."
Looking at Lori, Lisa asked, "Do you know how many?"
Lori stiffened and replied softly, "It was in the report."
Lisa insisted, "Well? How many?"
"Why do you need to know that, Aunt Lisa? What good can you possibly do with that information? He didn't end up in prison, so a lot of cops, feds, and other people decided he'd committed no crime."
Joyce rolled forward a foot or so and said, "I agree with Lori. If Ed was a bad person, today wouldn't have happened. Not the trip to the Arctic nor the trip to Guyana."
Lisa lifted her damned eyebrow again and said archly, "I'm not surprised you'd see things that way. You'll have new legs because of today's travels."
"You were treated, too. None of it had to happen." Joyce looked at me and asked, "Does Lori have a flitter?"
I nodded. "Yup."
Lisa looked flabbergasted. "When did that happen?!"
Lori coldly replied, "Very recently. Ed thought I needed a guardian angel."
Something changed in Lisa's expression, but it was astonishment, not approval. She turned to me and asked rather sharply, "You can issue people flitters?!"
"No, I can only suggest they need one." As I spoke, it occurred to me that -- under the right circumstances -- I actually might be able to get Athena to clone herself, but I saw no need to correct my statement. In fact, I was tiring of the conversation.
Turning to Joyce, I asked, "Mind if I grab a few more meteorites, just in case I forgot someone?"
She rolled her chair back, then turned it toward one of the green boxes as she said, "No problem." She flicked the lid catches and lifted the lid, then gestured at it. "Take what you think you'll need."
"Thanks."
I fished out three more. Joyce marked them off her inventory sheet, dropped it in the box, and closed the lid. Our descent to Florida had begun. I went to stand near the edge of the deck and watched the world rise to meet us. Lisa and Lori had paused their discussion while I rooted in the box. Now Lisa started it up again. Joyce rolled up beside me and looked over the side.
After a time, she said softly, "Lisa just needs some time to wrap her head around things."
"Figured that. I saw your face, Joyce. Why don't you need time to wrap your head around the same things?"
She shrugged. "I just don't. Lori said taking me to Guyana was your idea. Bad people don't think like that."
"Maybe I'm just trying to finagle her into bed."
Joyce looked up at me and chuckled, "I doubt that. I really do. You probably know how she feels about you."
I nodded. "Yeah, we sort of touched on that topic yesterday."
She grinned. "In that case, good luck."
My implant pinged with Angie's chimes. I held up a hand to pause our talk and called up a screen as I answered, "Hi, there, Major Angie."
Lisa and Lori fell silent. Angie looked past me at them and then down at Joyce as she made a 'not alone' finger sign while rubbing a cheek and said, "Hello, all. Ed, may I ask the nature of your visit to Guyana?"
Sending a probe to see who was with her, I said, "As I've mentioned before, I'm now a private citizen, ma'am." The probe showed me Angie was alone. Was it a test?
She looked at Lori and asked, "Lori, why'd you go there?"
Lori replied, "Ed showed us a waterfall, Major Horn."
Lisa surprised me by agreeing, "Yes, he did. Kater Falls."
Joyce said, "It's 'Kaieteur', Lisa. Kaieteur Falls."
Another probe manifested in Angie's office as Lisa shrugged and said, "Whatever. It was pretty. So was the jungle."
A small spot of light shone in Angie's left eye and she looked to her left as she pressed a button on her phone and said, "Just curious. Gotta go now. Later, all."
She tapped her 'off' icon and I let my screen dissipate. Lori linked to me and I answered, "Yes'm?"
"She was alone, but she gave the 'not alone' sign."
"She knew where we went. She wanted to see how you'd report."
"Does she think I'd admit we visited a clinic?"
Joyce rolled back toward her boxes as I said, "Her job calls for making sure of some things. By the way, when we're around other people, don't look directly at me during links."
As if to validate that statement, Lisa waved a hand in front of Lori's face and said, "Earth to Lori. He isn't that cute."
Lori pretended to drop a train of thought, shot Lisa a glare, and said, "Very funny. I think Angie knew where we'd been. She just wanted to hear something she could put in a report."
"I figured out that much out on my own."
Rolling her eyes, Lori sighed, "Well, good for you, Aunt Lisa. I just thought it might be worth saying, you know?"
About two miles up, I redirected the flitter to head for the tangerine grove instead of my house. Lori noticed our slight change of direction and gave me a glance. I shook my head to keep her from saying anything and she nodded slightly in return. We settled into the clearing by the pond and I had the flitter stay ten feet off the ground on general principles.
Joyce and Lisa gazed around at the overgrown tangerine trees, the pond, and the jungle beyond it. I zipped off the deck on my board and went looking for some good tangerines. As I picked them, I fielded them back to my flitter seat and kept an eye out for the boar hog. Sure enough, the rustling of the branches as I picked fruit brought him out of the thicket.
Linking to Lori, I said, "Have a pig, ma'am."
"What the hell do I want with that thing?"
"Show 'n Tell, milady. Stun him and field him up beside the flitter so Joyce and Lisa can see, feel, and smell him up close. If you take him aboard the flitter, have Galatea make sure he stays stunned. I'll go look for the gator."
Peeling a tangerine as I headed back toward the flitter, I stayed ten feet above the hog. As before, he became frantic in his attempts to reach me. When I reached the flitter, I said aloud to Lori, "He's all yours, ma'am. I'll go find the gator."
She gave me a grinning little salute and -- rather dramatically, I thought -- reached toward the hog as she stunned him and fielded him up next to the flitter.
The gator was a little harder to find. I had to resort to using probes to locate him a quarter mile away, submerged up to his eyeballs as he stalked a heron. The bird saw him and flapped away and the gator lumbered onto the shore. I stunned him and fielded him up on a translucent field pad to float beside me as I headed back to the flitter.
Lori saw me and grinned. Lisa turned to look and I could see the whites of her eyes fifty feet away as her mouth fell open. Heh. Joyce turned her chair around just as I arrived.
She yelped, "Oh, jumping Jesus! You aren't bringing that thing aboard too, are you?!"
I had Galatea take over holding the gator and stepped aboard munching on some tangerine.
"Not right away, I guess. Are you ladies through with that hog, or do you need a few more minutes?"
Lisa shuddered and said, "I was through with the smelly damned thing before she brought it aboard."
"No empathy for wildlife, huh?"
Lori chuckled, "She's more the indoor type. Just a minute," and she fielded the hog back to the ground.
I slid the gator aboard. Most of his head and a few feet of his tail hung over the sides. Lisa retreated five feet or so. Joyce moved her chair back about the same distance alongside the bathroom field and looked more than a little frightened.
I walked over to the gator and patted its head behind its eyes as I said, "He's out cold, ladies. No sweat."
Lisa kept her distance, but Joyce moved forward a bit, then a bit more. She eventually ended up right next to the middle of the gator, where she leaned down to touch it, then place her hand on its back.
I chuckled, "I'm sooo tempted to holler 'boo!' right now, ma'am."
Joyce grinned up at me and said, "I'd find a way to get even," then she continued her examination of the gator.
Lisa said to Lori, "I can't believe you brought that pig onto the flitter."
Lori replied, "Why not? You've seen me lift a car."
"You know what I mean. That thing was filthy."
"No problem. A flitter can sanitize itself."
Joyce chuckled, "Besides, look what Ed brought aboard." Looking at me, she asked, "How long can it stay out of water?"
"Quite a while, really. They sunbathe for hours."
She gave it a last pat and said, "Then we didn't hurt it any. Go ahead and put Wally back in his pond now."
Lisa asked, "You've named it?"
Joyce shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
I slid Wally off the deck and fielded him back to the edge of the pond, then Galatea cleaned her deck. Water that had dribbled off -- and by the smell, out of -- the gator vanished. Dirt and other detritus lifted slightly and seemed to rush over the edges of the deck to fall away.
Calling up my board, I wrapped my arms around Lisa, lifted her and set her on my board, and slid off the deck at about thirty. Lisa screeched and struggled for a moment, then saw we were over the pond and concentrated on staying upright on the board.
Lori linked to me with, "Ed, what the hell are you doing?"
"I want a private word with Lisa. Over 'n out." I dropped the link and said aloud, "Relax and enjoy the ride, Lisa. I just want to talk."
"Then take me back to the flitter. We can talk there."
"Nope. Too many people there."
Stiff in my arms, she asked tightly, "Talk about what?"
"I want you to make an effort -- a serious effort -- to reevaluate your perceptions of Lori. She's not a kid and she's not in need of constant mothering."
"Is that what the alligator and the pig were about? Did you major in obtuse communications somewhere?"
"Sarcasm could get you a very exciting ride, lady. The gator and pig were for Joyce's benefit. She'd said she'd never seen a gator. I threw in the hog as a bonus."
She said acidly, "Some bonus."
"Want me to do a couple of loops?"
"No. What is it you think you want me to see in Lori that you don't think I'm seeing now?"
"An adult. A grown woman, not a teenager. She's been given a lot of power and sooner or later she's going to have to use it, on the job or off. That's how life goes."
"Use it like you did, you mean? To kill people?"
"Spare the rhetoric, lady. Brinks was heading for a passenger dock with a backpack full of plastic explosive and his thumb on a dead man switch. He'd already blasted a squad of security personnel, so there was no reason to think he wouldn't blow up some more people. At the warehouse, they were making and shipping a biological weapon. Once I was sure everyone there knew what was in those bottles, I didn't give a rat's ass about them and you don't have to like it."
Banking sharply to keep her from making a retort, I said, "Think ahead, Lisa. Lori may find herself on similar missions. A reasonable conscience is one thing, but a strict left wing attitude is worse than useless. When you have absolutely no choice but to kill someone, and then some perennial hand-wringer starts mewling useless, half-assed second-guesses at you, you either deck the hand-wringer or you leave. I've done both and I'd imagine Lori would, too. Is that what you want? To piss her off and make her shut you out of her life?"
A long few moments passed, then Lisa said, "I don't appreciate being called names, Ed."
"Then stop giving Lori and me shit at every opportunity. She's gone beyond your scope of understanding in some ways. Take some time to catch up before you criticize."
Lisa snapped, "Just because she can do things with fields, you call that 'beyond my scope of understanding'?!"
"Yeah, but there's more to it than that. Whether she works for 3rd World or some other agency, sooner or later she'll have to make life-or-death judgment calls and make them fast. She loves and respects you, Lisa, so she'll listen to you. For now. Be supportive or you could drive her away when she needs you most."

Chapter Twenty-nine

Looping back toward the flitter, I said, "Lisa, you learned a bit today about Lori's true capabilities. After we take Joyce home, you'll see some videos about what flitters can do. If that doesn't convince you to stand firmly in Lori's corner for her future, I'm going to recommend that she should move onto Carrington base for a while."
Lisa had been tensely watching us approach the flitter. Her head turned quickly and she said, "You'll 'recommend'? Or you'll have someone order her to do it?"
"Likely the same thing. I've been wondering why Lori hasn't made a lot more progress on her own. Now I think I know why; she's been afraid of how you'd react. Just about every time she's done anything today, you've squeaked or screeched or made a snide remark. You're very uncomfortable with Lori's talents and I think she's been reluctant to use her abilities around you. Does that sound about right?"
We were fifty feet from the flitter when Lisa turned to face me and said, "Stop this thing. Now. Before we get there."
"I'll do better than that. I'll take us out of earshot."
Banking slightly, I pointed left as if to direct her attention and asked, "Okay, what's on your mind? Are you gonna tell me all about how you inherited a fragile package named Lori?"
"How would you like to be slapped?"
"Do it and you'll swim back to the flitter."
After a glowering pause, Lisa said, "That's exactly what happened. When my sister Leila and her husband died, I very literally inherited Lori. Then my mother's husband -- her second husband, not my father -- died. Money was tight for both of us and taking care of a baby is a lot to handle alone, so I moved back in with her."
Hm. None of the men had been identified by name, not even her own father or Lori's father. Her issues concerning men must run fairly deep.
I said, "When I showed up, all your alarms must have gone off at once." She gave me a 'what the hell?' look and her gaze narrowed. I said, "Just taking an intuitive short cut. Lots of dates, but no keepers? And one of the guys you dated was the dentist who put that capsule in Lori's jaw? Damn, Lisa. You must be ready to shoot any guy who comes near her."
Her glare intensified. She said, "That thought has crossed my mind. More than once since you came along, in fact."
I shrugged. "Old story. You had a bad time with your hubby, got divorced, and floundered through a few bad dates. You made some bad choices 'cuz you only shopped when you were hungry." Giving her a grin, I held up an index finger and said, "But today can be the dawn of a brand-new era if you want it to be, milady."
She blurted a laugh. "My, don't you have a rather high opinion of yourself?"
"Yes, but I'm talking about you making better decisions about men. And about Lori. She doesn't need your constant oversight and perpetual trepidation. If she did, she wouldn't have run off to that canyon or fought me to a standstill when I found her."
That rocked her. She grabbed the front of my shirt and yelled, "You and Lori... had a fight?! You mean a real fight?! If you...!"
I held up a hand, said, "Watch this," and showed her a video of Lori standing on a field pedestal, defying all my efforts to knock or pull her off it. When Lori's field tendrils started slicing through mine, Lisa's eyes widened a bit. When Lori grinned like a maniac, cranked up four glistening, flailing tendrils like buzz saws, and sent them into fast orbits around her, Lisa actually let out a small gasp.
I laughed, "You've never seen her like that, huh?"
In a small voice, Lisa admitted, "No. Never."
"She's a budding gladiatrix, I think. She went from barely being able to start a campfire to dueling with fields pretty much overnight. Once she gets a handle on a field trick, using it is second nature to her."
The session on the screen ended. Switching to a view of Lori and me fencing in the same hangar with our early-version 'light saber' fields made Lisa gasp again. Lori and I scored three solid hits each, then stood panting at each other. With no warning whatsoever, Lori's saber snapped back on as she attacked. I barely got my saber on and in front of hers in time. Watching the quick back-and-forth action of the ensuing match, Lisa almost whispered, "She's so fast! And she looks so happy!"
"Oh, yeah. She was definitely having a good time. Those practice 'light sabers' only hit about as hard as three-quarter-inch split-bamboo sticks and make a crackling noise. Lots of sound, not much fury."
Lisa set the video to play again and her gaze narrowed as she said, "That isn't the kind of sword fighting you see in movies."
"Nope. It's down and dirty, get-it-over-with fighting. No flashy crap." I shrugged and added, "But it's also just fun exercise. It took us an hour of messing around to get those damned 'light sabers' to hold together properly. When you slammed them against each other, they'd blend. That kinda screwed up a sword fight."
She chuckled, "I can see how it would." Looking at me, she asked, "Ed, why are you doing all this?"
"Like I've said, I think she'll end up in some version of my old job, Lisa. I want to train her up to a level of alertness and capability that I flatly didn't have when I started with 3rd World."
"What kind of job was it? And I don't mean the sort of car accidents and fires you've showed me before."
"She'll be saving the world periodically."
Lisa smacked my arm. "Seriously, dammit."
"Okay. Things come up that the by-the-book system isn't built to handle or can't move fast enough to handle. I guess the best thing to do is show you an example."
Putting a picture of a sunken sailboat on the screen, I said, "This boat was shot up and sunk a few miles east of Miami." I switched to a flitter probe's view of me descending onto the boat in my five suit and said, "I found hard radiation coming from a bomb built into the hull. Some people in the government wanted to conceal the situation. My boss didn't like their motivations. She had a Miami team remove the bomb and sent me to find a way to draw some attention to the matter."
Lisa watched me ice the boat's interior, float it, and sail it toward shore. When I jumped off it, she asked why. I told her I didn't want to be slammed around when it stopped. The probe showed the bull shark nipping at my heels, then my efforts to thaw the boat as a chopper arrived. I ended the show as I zipped away from the boat on my board.
Looking at me, Lisa asked, "Who took those pictures?"
"The flitter records everything I do. It saves having to write reports and provides incontrovertible evidence if I need it later."
"So it's recording us now?"
"Yup."
She stood silent for a moment, then said, "Okay. We can go back now, but I'm going to want to talk to you later."
"Figured that. Maybe we'll go for another ride."
Looking around, Lisa stamped her foot and studied the board for a moment, then nodded. "Sure. Another ride. I have to say I don't feel too worried about falling after seeing that video."
Swinging close to the pond's edge, I stopped the board beside the ruins of what had once been a tiny home, probably that of a live-on maintenance worker. I field-plucked three blossoms off a rose bush that still climbed the ruins and handed one of the roses to Lisa, then flew us back to the flitter.
Joyce and Lori stared at us as we landed. I handed each of them a rose as Lisa took a seat, then I opened another tangerine and sat down next to Lisa. Lori sent a ping.
I answered, "Yeewww got me, ma'am."
"What was that flight about? You grabbed her and dragged her away on your board, but she came back smiling."
"Yeah, sometimes I have that effect on women."
"No bullshit, please. What happened?"
"We talked, Miss Nosy. I showed her some probe vids."
"Oh, Gawd! Vids of me?"
"And me, of course. Have Galatea quietly play back our flight. Without a screen, that is. And stop staring at me with that 'deer in the headlights' look."
Too late. Joyce tapped Lori's shoulder and whispered, "What's wrong, Lori?"
Lori dropped her link and shook herself as if coming out of a reverie. She whispered back, "Just thinking."
Lisa turned to look at them for a moment, then faced front with a small smile. Hm. I offered her some tangerine and she delicately plucked a few slices from my hand with, "Thanks."
"So," I said, "How do you feel about what I showed you?"
She glanced at me and said, "I was impressed. I'd never have thought you were any kind of a sailor."
"Cute. If you're going to fence, you'll need one of these."
My emerald light saber popped into being in my hand and noisily ionized the air around itself. I heard Lori's light saber snap and crackle behind us and chuckled. Lisa quickly turned to look and I swiveled my own seat around.
Lori said, "Sorry. Reflex."
Joyce stared at my saber, then at Lori's and blurted, "A light saber?! You have a frigging light saber?!"
Lori said, "They're just practice weapons. Toys, really."
Thinning mine until its glow was about the thickness of a coathanger wire, I held it high, boosted its power, and dropped a tangerine on it. The tangerine neatly split in half. I quickly canceled the saber and caught the two halves, then handed one to Lisa.
She took it numbly and asked, "You call that a 'toy'?"
"No worries," I said, "It's a matter of how much power we feed them and how we shape them. The ones Lori and I use in practice are like the one she's holding." Extending a hand, I said, "Lori. Smack my hand."
She did so. The strike made a 'crack!' sort of sound and I showed my hand to Lisa. There was only a faint red stripe. I tossed another tangerine into the air above Lori and her saber instantly changed to a glowing wire. With a minimum of motion, she swept it upward through the fruit, made the saber disappear, and caught both halves as they fell. Joyce stared at the piece Lori handed her and studied it for a moment, then looked at Lori as if seeing an alien.
I said, "She's still your friend Lori, ma'am. We'd rather you didn't tell anyone she can do things like that. Okay?"
Joyce looked at me almost blankly, then nodded. "Okay."
"Thanks. If it became public knowledge, that could be inconvenient."
Lisa asked, "Do 3rd World and the government know she can do things like that?"
"They just know she can do a few basic things with fields. We don't tell them every little thing, y'know."
"Ed, being able to... to conjure... a functional sword into being isn't exactly a little thing."
"As compared to 'conjuring' something that will melt an iceberg?"
She started to say something, stopped, and then said, "Oh. Yes. Well, then, I suppose it is a little thing, put in those terms. But it isn't really a little thing. Not at all."
Sitting back to sip coffee, I said, "Very true, ma'am. Her saber's over three feet long." Lori rolled her eyes at that comment. Lisa and Joyce just gave me droll looks.
Lori said, "Ed, Aunt Lisa knew I could do field stuff, but Joyce only knew I worked for 3rd World. Why did you suddenly decide to take things public today?"
"Joyce isn't the public. She's about to sprout new legs due to an illegal visit to a clinic. When that happens, she'll probably need our help. If she signs on with Stephanie's team, we can get her a PFM and a board. Sound good so far?"
"Yes, but... 'signs on' as what? A poster child?" Turning to Joyce, she added, "No offense, Joyce. It just seems highly unlikely they'd need an Earth astronomer."
I said, "A poster child at the very least, I'd expect. Let's discuss it later, Lori. We're ignoring our guests." Turning to the others, I asked, "How does a buffet sound for dinner? There's one not far from here."
Joyce answered, "Works for me. I can pick things that won't interfere with my meds."
Lori looked at Joyce as if it hadn't occurred to her that Joyce might continue her meds, then she nodded. "Yeah. Food. Good idea."
When we got to the restaurant, I landed Galatea at the side of the building and fielded Joyce to the sidewalk in her chair. After we'd all stepped off the deck, I sent Galatea to hover above the building.
On the way to the front doors, Lisa chuckled.
I asked, "Something's funny, ma'am?"
She grinned. "Yes. After everything else we've done today, something as common as going to a restaurant feels almost strange. I can't help thinking that a flitter full of meteorites is hovering overhead."
"Ah. Yeah, things can feel a little odd after a big day."
I'd expected some table chat once we were all seated with food and drinks, but nobody seemed inclined to say much. Joyce set three bottles of pills by her plate, set one of each pill on her napkin, marked their containers, and started eating.
Lori said, "Dr. Andros said you didn't need those anymore."
Picking up one of the pills, Joyce eyed it for a moment, then said, "I guess I still can't believe it. All he did was touch my legs. It's just too much like faith healing."
I said, "Doesn't matter. The nanobots will flush the meds out of her system and things wouldn't look right if she stopped buying them." Looking at Joyce, I said, "But in the not-too-distant future there'll be no point in pretending anymore. Changes will become fairly noticeable."
Nodding, Joyce said, "Yeah, I know. Maybe I won't renew my scrips when these are gone."
Lori dug into her food with her usual vigor. Lisa watched her eat for a moment, then shook her head slightly.
"You'd think she hasn't eaten in days."
Joyce took one of her pills, washed it down with some tea, and said, "She burns it off. I don't. I have to watch every thing I eat and I've had to try to maintain a balance with these damned meds."
That started a conversation about diets, exercise, and how living in a wheel chair affected life in general. I listened to some of it, but didn't join in. Although she listened, Lori didn't seem too interested, either.
As Lori sliced her meat, she sent me a ping without looking at me. I answered and she said, "I'll take the couch tonight. Aunt Lisa's going to be in a mood to talk later."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Maybe not, but there'll be time for talk later. I'd rather get to know my new core."
"If she's in the mood to talk, it won't matter whether you're in the bedroom or the living room."
With a mental sigh I could feel, she replied, "Yeah, I know. Got any suggestions?"
"Yup. Tell her what you're doing, then set her up with a screen so she can follow along."
Lori's hands stopped moving and she glanced up. "She wouldn't understand, Ed."
"She won't have to, but she'll prob'ly understand more than you think. She just needs to believe you aren't into something way the hell over your head or being led down some garden path. She's gonna worry about you no matter what, so why not help her worry constructively? Let her watch you run through some 'what should you do?' situation exercises. Call it a refresher course and use the ones you've already solved so she can see you're competent."
"And so she won't see me screw up, right?"
"That, too. She needs confidence in you and what you're doing, so give her some that'll make her brag about you."
Lori's laugh sounded through our link. "Brag? To who?"
"To 'whom', Miss Minored-in-Lit. Your granny, for one. You think she won't ask questions? You think Lisa won't tell her?"
"Ed, I'm not supposed to tell anyone about anything to do with my field activities."
"Your aunt and granny already know you can do field stuff. You got your board from me and your core from Elkor, not from 3rd World. What you specifically shouldn't talk about has to do with 3rd World Products, their personnel, and your assignments."
"Most of those exercises contain 3rd World range footage."
I shrugged. "Training stuff, not actual assignments. Check with Angie if you want; she'll probably tell you it's okay."
"And if she doesn't?"
It was my turn to sigh. "Lori, unless you're willing to cut Lisa out of this aspect of your life altogether, it's unavoidable. Just be careful what you show her so she doesn't see anyone or learn any names she doesn't already know. Who was your trainer on range six last month?"
Spearing some green beans, she replied, "Halloran."
"She doesn't need to know that. She does, however, need to know the purpose behind the training. Rooting out bad guys. Dealing with them without endangering citizens or yourself. Except for field-use tactics, it's the same kind of stuff every cop has to learn."
After a moment, Lori said, "I suppose so. Okay, I'll pick out some stuff to show her."
She finished her food and turned to study the buffet, then got up. Joyce said, "Me, too," and rolled with her.
Lisa watched their departure, then looked at me and said softly, "You've been very quiet."
I shrugged. "You were deep into diets and stuff with Joyce. I don't diet and don't know much about them."
"And Lori?"
"What about her?"
"She's almost never that quiet during dinner." A moment passed, then she asked in a low tone, "Is there something going on between you two?"
I grinned. "Don't I wish. She's kinda cute, y'know."
That definitely wasn't what she wanted to hear. Lisa's gaze narrowed, as did her lips. She growled, "You keep your hands off her."
"Well, I'm flattered, ma'am, but have you noticed I'm sixty? She's twenty-something. Should I really hope she'll choose me?"
"Stranger things have happened when young women have felt particularly grateful and thought they had no other way to show it."
Would Lori show gratitude like that? Very doubtful. To me, anyway. Gratitude would likely be a facet of her interest in me, but so would a number of other factors.
Sipping my drink, I said, "People fear most in others what they fear about themselves. Were you speaking from experience, ma'am?"
Lisa's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed sharply. I said, "Here's a real simple guideline for any future chats, Lisa. Never say anything to me that you wouldn't want Lori to hear."
"You'd repeat what I told you in a private conversation?"
"No, but as of this moment, most of our future conversations won't be considered private. I told you before, Lori's not some dumb stooge who can be led around by the nose. She knows why she was issued that core and the board wasn't a freebie."
Sipping again, I said, "Lisa, Lori's only been aware of her field abilities for about two years. Look at what she did today. It took me most of a damned decade to achieve even a vague approximation of Lori's natural level of field capability, and there was one hell of a lot of trial and error along the way. There are people who want to keep her a secret, as impossible as that may truly be. And people who want to shelter her, also an impossible task. I don't fit in any of those groups. Ask me why."
Her gaze narrowed again. "Okay. Why?"
Ticking points on my fingers, I said, "I can do my own field stuff. Don't need hers. I can't abuse her. It isn't in my nature, and you already know that, 'cuz you know what happened when I found her in the canyon. Secrecy? Ha. One day she'll do something in public and end up on the news. Shelter her? Also 'ha'. Lori has the spirit of a lioness."
I took a breath and said, "With or without your support, I'm going to mentor Lori. When I finish, she'll be nobody's sucker. You and her mother and your mother have raised a good, stable person. Now I'm going to try to make damned sure she'll never act without verifying the facts. She's already too powerful to allow government control; the government's run by myopic partisan theorists who'd inevitably try to use or misuse her. 3rd World Products has also become questionable. It's allowed political pressures to influence company actions -- or lack of action -- a few times, one of which was largely responsible for my re-retirement. Lori's fast becoming the closest thing to a real goddess this world's ever seen, and it's my opinion that a goddess should be totally autonomous, out of reach of all religious and political crap."
Lisa watched in silence as I stacked empty plates to one side of the table and signaled a passing waitress with a tray of drinks. The waitress nodded and said, "I'll be right back."

Chapter Thirty

As Lori and Joyce rejoined us at the table, I said, "My turn," and got up to get another plate. Lisa said, "Me, too, I think," and also got up. Lori and Joyce gave us odd looks as we left.
A few steps away from the table, Lisa said softly, "For what it's worth, I agree with most of what you said." As we reached for plates, she sighed, "All of it, really."
I dished up some greens and mashed potatoes as I waited to see what else she might say. Lisa picked out a few things and put them on her plate before she spoke again.
"I'm just afraid for her, Ed. I'm afraid she'll reach too far, try too hard. I'm afraid you'll push her past her limits."
"Won't happen. I don't push her at all. I show her how I do things and she gives them a try. So far she's matched or exceeded all my tricks without any difficulty." I chuckled, "Well, all except teleportation."
Lisa grinned at me. "How did you do that?"
I shook my head as I buttered the stuff on my plate.
"Uh-uh. Nope. Lori has all the pieces. Let her put them together."
"The 'pieces'?"
"Yup. She's seen it all before here and there. All that's different is the way I stuck things together."
With that, I headed back to the table. After dinner, we trooped around the building to board the flitter and headed for my house, where Lisa and Joyce met Annabelle and Tiger. After the usual amazement about talking cats, Tiger settled on Lisa's lap and Annabelle chose Joyce.
About an hour passed before Joyce looked at her watch and said, "I hate to be a wet blanket, but I need to get home soon. My HHC nurse will stop by this evening."
Lisa asked, "HHC?"
"Home Health Care."
Looking properly enlightened, I replied, "Ah," and asked Annabelle and Tiger if they wanted to come along. They accepted and we went outside to board the flitter. Instead of parking on laps, the cats took their usual positions on the flitter's 'dashboard' above the monitor. Once everyone was settled, I set us in motion for Arizona.
As Joyce started to say something while looking at them, I said, "Annabelle and Tiger usually spend a few minutes on the dashboard when they fly."
"Well, whenever they're ready, so's my lap."
Mention of a lap made Annabelle want one. She gave Tiger a face-to-face rub and hopped down to the deck, then hopped up on Joyce's lap. Tiger sat watching our progress for a time, then hopped to the deck and went to Lisa. She welcomed him up on her lap and he settled in.
Looking pointedly at her empty lap, Lori said, "Ed, maybe you need three cats."
Nodding, I said, "I'll talk to the management about it. In the meantime, you'll just have to share. Anybody want a drink? We have tea, beer, and dr pepper." Lori and Lisa took beers. Joyce asked for a tea and I grabbed a beer.
Nearing Louisiana, we approached a line of thunderstorms. A screen view showed us they extended hundreds of miles north and south. When the flitter didn't change course, I consulted Athena. She said she'd use probes to reduce the chances of being struck by lightning.
I asked her to make them visible and said, "Watch to the front and sides, ladies."
Lisa asked, "For what?"
"Lightning."
As I spoke, a volley of perhaps two dozen shining probes launched from the nose of the flitter and spread widely before they entered the wall of clouds ahead. Half a second later, the sky lit up almost continuously as lightning jumped from cloud to cloud. The flitter descended to what looked like about a hundred feet as a glistening cage of field energy appeared around us. During our transit of the storms, only three weak bolts of lightning found the cage and followed field tendrils to or from the ground.
The ladies and I marveled at the light show until the storms were well behind us, then Lisa turned to me and simply looked at me for a few moments.
"Yes?"
Shaking her head slightly, Lisa said, "Nothing."
I chuckled, "Really 'nothing'? Or should I keep asking?"
Lisa wryly laughed, "Yes, really nothing. I realized I knew what happened back there. The flitter sent probes to disarm the clouds and put a Faraday cage around us."
I grinned. "You know about Faraday cages, huh? Kewl."
She eyed me for another moment, then asked, "Was that sarcasm?"
Calling up a screen, I scanned the music lists as I replied, "Nope. How many women have you ever met who've known much about science? Most of 'em don't seem interested."
After a moment, I chose 'Sunchyme', by Dario G, a fairly smooth dance mix. Choice two was a radio edit of 'Easy as Life' by Deborah Cox. Next I poked up Dee Robert's 'I Believe' and Despina Vandi's 'Geia'.
Taking a swig of beer, I got up to walk to the edge of the deck to watch the world pass below. The music's beat was infectious and I moved with it slightly. Hm. Might even be good for some short, quick katas. Couldn't hurt to try 'em later, anyway.
A passing jet below us left a trail through the sky. Lost in thought about nothing in particular, I watched the jet until 'Easy as Life' came on, then turned to return to my seat and nearly ran into Lisa.
She said, "You seemed to be having a good time all by yourself."
"Yup. These tunes seem to go well with beer."
Lisa grinned and nodded. "Yes, they do, sort of."
I watched Joyce do a sort of chair-dance. She grinned at me and swigged her tea, then resumed 'dancing'. I said, "They seem to go with tea, too." Lisa turned and Joyce gave her a small wave as she wiggled and bounced in time to the music.
Lisa laughed softly and waved back, then said quietly, "I wonder if she's realized how much hard work is ahead of her?"
"You mean to get to a point where she can go dancing?"
Nodding slightly, Lisa replied, "Exactly."
"Probably. If not, she will fairly soon."
Calling the music screen to float over to me, I looked for a song to take up the last few minutes of our trip.
Lisa nibbled her bottom lip for a moment, then said, "That first song you played is bugging me, Ed. I know I've heard it before -- or something very much like it -- but I just can't remember what it was."
"Dario G sampled a song by The Dream Academy. It was called 'Life in a Northern Town'."
She grinned. "Yes! That's it! Why couldn't I remember it?!"
Lori got up to do a little dance next to Joyce's chair. They held hands and moved together as if dancing to 'Easy as Life'. I chose Rodrigo & Gabriela's 'Diablo Rojo' to play next.
Lisa asked, "You're going to play Spanish music after disco?"
I chuckled, "It'll work out fairly well. You'll see."
Glancing down, I saw Lisa's hips working in time to the beat. Nobody's immune to a good beat.
In an accusing tone, Lisa asked, "Are you looking at my butt?"
"Yup. Just wanted to see if the music had gotten to you."
She gave me a mock sharp, sidelong glance and returned to watching Lori and Joyce.
I whispered, "You wanna see 'em really bounce?" and Lisa shot me a fisheye stare. I said, "Just stand by one," and inserted Dream's 'He Loves You Not' before 'I Believe', then boosted the volume two points just as Dream's tune started.
Lori lit up with a big grin and put her whole body into motion to the heavy beat. Joyce laughed, stuck her tea between her thighs, and pounded gently on the arms of her chair. They were facing away from us when one of them yelled, "Yeah!"
Lisa seemed rather startled. She stood marveling for a moment, then she grinned at me and went to stand on the other side of Joyce's chair to try to mimic Lori's moves. I took another sip of beer and watched the show as I asked Galatea to make the flight last until the songs finished.
When we began to descend, Joyce seemed to have a sudden revelation and muttered, "Oh, damn!"
Lori asked, "What's the matter?"
"I can't keep all these meteorites at home. They're too valuable."
I said, "I just see the same two big-assed boxes you brought aboard. You can prob'ly get away with stashing a few rocks here overnight. How do you usually move big stuff around? Did that fancy chair come with a forklift attachment?"
Lisa looked horrified by my reference to Joyce's chair -- and thereby her infirmity -- but Lori snickered and Joyce laughed, "No, it didn't, but I may suggest that to the company. I guess you're right, Ed. I can make arrangements for them tomorrow."
Lori asked, "Will you need any help?"
Joyce shrugged. "Just with moving them. I can handle photographing them and getting the pictures into my computer. But if we're going to start a corporation, I'll definitely need some help with that."
Lisa said, "It isn't too difficult. I've helped friends incorporate."
I said, "You could bunk here tonight, help Joyce shoot the rocks, and arrange storage and handle the legal paperwork tomorrow. Lori can come back tomorrow afternoon to sign stuff and you could..."
Holding up a hand, Lisa said, "Whoa. Completely aside from the fact that you didn't ask Joyce how she'd feel about this and I planned to stay at your place tonight, I didn't see a car in the driveway." Turning to Joyce, she asked, "Do you have a car?"
Joyce shook her head. "No."
Returning her gaze to me, Lisa asked, "So how would we move two boxes of meteorites anywhere? Hitchhike?"
Looking at Joyce, I asked, "Or call a friend for a ride?"
Joyce replied, "Friends. Parents. We'd get where we need to go. And I really wouldn't object to some help with all this. I only got the basic cataloging done today."
Returning my gaze to Lisa, I asked, "Well? A day or two here to square things away, then on to Florida?"
Lisa's gaze met mine and became a dull glower. After a moment, she looked at Lori, who met her glower with a noncommittal look and a shrug.
Joyce said, "Look, if it's inconvenient..." but Lisa shook her head and interrupted with, "No. Don't worry about it."
I said, "Good 'nuff, then," fielded the meteorite boxes into the air, and led the way to Joyce's front door.
Halfway across the ramp, Joyce tossed me her keys and said, "You do the honors."
I opened the front door and fielded the boxes inside the house, then held the screen door for Joyce. She gave me a little sidelong grin as she rolled up the short ramp and into the house. Lisa, Lori, and I followed her and I had the flitter park upstairs.
For the next hour we all sat around putting meteorite info on baggies according to data on screens. My implant pinged as I finished one bag and picked up another. I split my screen to answer, "Hi, Jessie."
She eyed me for a moment, then said, "Hi, yourself. How'd you know it was me?"
"Your fields smell different, ma'am. Kinda flowery, y'know?"
Her gaze narrowed. "Yeah, right. Try again."
"They feel different? Taste different?"
"If you aren't going to tell me, just say so."
I shrugged. "Suits me, ma'am. What's up?"
She glanced around our little group, then said, "Sorry, but it's a private matter."
"Okay," I said, "Do you need me wherever you are, or could I just step outside for a few?"
"Outside would do."
Getting to my feet, I headed for the door as Jessie apologized to the group again. When I was on the porch, I linked back with a new screen and asked, "Again, milady, what's up?"
Jessie took a breath and said, "I want your opinion about something."
"Hey, no problem. You're a brilliant and graceful golden goddess and an object of desire. Did I leave anything out?"
She chuckled, "No, that was pretty inclusive. Thanks, but that's not quite the kind of opinion I had in mind."
I mock-sighed, "Picky woman. Are you ever gonna get around to telling me what is on your mind?"
Jessie seemed to gather some words together, then asked, "Ed, what really attracted you to me? I mean... really?"
"Your eyes, first. You're kinda pretty, y'know. Then your legs, of course. I've always been a sucker for great legs."
"Just that? Nothing else?"
"Sorry, ma'am. Back when you hated me, those were your only good points."
Rolling her eyes, she said, "Ed, I never hated you. I just acted in what I believed to be Selena's best interests."
I shrugged. "Whatever. It's all history. What made you ask that, ma'am? You look great and you seem as smart as ever." I paused and added, "And I'm sure you know that, so you're probably wondering why someone else doesn't seem to recognize your obvious blessings. Right?"
Her gaze narrowed for a moment, then she sighed, "Yes. Something like that. We had four dates. I thought things were going very well, but now he can't spare time for lunch."
Hm. "He knows what you do?"
"Yes. I met him during a briefing."
I shrugged. "Well, then, if it isn't another woman, something else turned off his interest. What would that be?"
She shook her head. "I don't know, Ed. I don't think there's another woman. That was my first thought, too, so I've kind of kept an eye on him. He goes home alone."
"Isn't that called 'stalking', ma'am?"
Giving me a droll look, she replied, "No, It's called 'verifying'."
I laughed, "Only when you don't get caught. Okay, let's say it doesn't involve another woman. What else would it be? Something he found out? Something someone said?"
"That's what I don't know."
"Wanna know what I'd do?"
Looking a bit vexed, she snapped, "After all that, did you think I had some other reason for calling?"
I chuckled, "Woo! Easy there, ma'am! That sort of thing may be exactly what scared him off, y'know. Has he ever seen or heard you when you're pissed?"
Looking even more vexed, she said, "Stop kidding around, damn it. You were about to tell me what you'd do. Tell me."
Shrugging again, I said, "If some ol' girl was giving me the brush after a few good dates, I'd either go ask her why or write her off. Um... you're sure they were good dates?"
"Yes," she snapped, then in a softer tone, said, "At least, I thought so... and he didn't seem... unhappy."
"Did you get laid, ma'am?"
"What?!"
"You heard me. Maybe you gave him the impression you weren't interested in sex. Or, as you tried to lead me to believe, no sex until after an extended courtship."
Jessie fumed for a moment, but I could see her irritation fading. She said coolly, "I didn't offer to jump right into bed with him, but I didn't rule out the possibility of sleeping together."
"Uh, huh. Well, then, if you aren't prepared to say to hell with it and move on, I'd say to drop by his office and find out why he isn't calling." I didn't add, 'You must have known that's what I'd say.' I did, however, say, "Not knowing his reason could be worse than knowing. It'll bug the hell out of you. You know it will. Don't bother trying to guess why he stepped back. Go find out. Before it dents your self-confidence. You can rationalize anything he might say, but you can't rationalize what you don't know." As an afterthought, I asked, "How old is he?"
"Fifty-six."
"Might be any number of things at that age. Go-find-out."
As if stating the obvious to someone who couldn't see it, Jessie said, "Ed, he works at 3rd World. Anything wrong with him would be cured as soon as they caught it."
"Maybe they haven't caught it yet. Have your flitter scan him."
"I did. He's okay."
"Then maybe it isn't physical. Anything else I could suggest would be a guess at best, and guessing could make things worse. It's time to go ask him."
For a moment, she looked like a child who wasn't getting her way. I sighed, "Oh, hell. You weren't going to ask me to try to find out, were you?" She didn't answer, which I took to mean that's exactly what she'd had in mind. I shook my head. "Nope. Nuh-uh. You gotta do it. Just go ask, 'Why haven't you called me?' and be prepared to be sympathetic."
"Sympathetic?!"
"Yup. I remember our one night together very well, ma'am. Real or perceived, something is keeping your friend from sharing your gorgeous company. I can't currently imagine what it might be, but I'd say that alone is worth some sympathy."
After a moment of silence, Jessie sighed exasperatedly, "Damn! I don't know why I thought you might be able to help. Thanks for listening, I guess. Bye."
Heh. Right. Grinning, I brightly replied, "Okay! Bye!"
Jessie stared at me, then said, "None of this matters in the slightest to you, does it?"
"What?! How can you doubt my concern, ma'am?!"
"Because your eyes never left mine during this entire conversation. You're so focused on me you probably have a boner right now."
"You want me to believe that was a lucky guess, sweetie? You know I'm thinking about your legs right now."
Blurting a snide laugh, Jessie dropped our link. Fact: no boner. But I had been thinking about her legs. Even in her mid-fifties, Jessie could pass for a showgirl. And she knew it, of course. That's why being dropped after a few dates -- supposedly good ones -- would drive her nuts.
From the west, I heard rubber scream for a full second, then the abrupt 'bam!' that accompanies most car accidents. I called up my board and headed in that direction. Sure enough, I found two rumpled cars in a right-turn lane near an intersection. An older woman sat in the rear car -- a big silver Chrysler -- apparently still shocked by what had happened. A young woman opened the door of the blue Toyota sedan that had been rammed.
"Athena, please check out the people involved in this wreck."
As I set up a red neon barricade behind the silver car and landed, Athena reported neither woman was seriously injured.
I said, "Thanks," and called 911 with a blank screen. When the dispatcher answered, I gave her the accident details, read the street signs aloud and told her I'd set up a roadblock, then disconnected when she asked how I'd done that.
There must have been a cop near the area, 'cuz a squad car arrived from the south in less than two minutes. Using his lights and siren, the deputy turned left through the intersection, zipped through the gas station parking lot, and parked his car behind the silver Chrysler.
Once he was in position, I canceled the red barricade and started to lift away, but the deputy yelled, "Hey!" and trotted toward me.
Standing on my board about twenty feet up, I answered, "Yeah?"
"Where do you think you're going, sir?"
"I didn't see the accident. I just heard it and came to block the road until you got here."
"Did you talk to the drivers or the passengers?"
"I didn't go near them. I just blocked the road."
"Why didn't you check them out? Someone could be hurt."
"Yet here you stand instead of checking them out yourself."
Glancing at the cars ahead of his, he snapped, "Don't get smart with me. Get down here and stay put until I can make time to talk to you."
"You've already got all the report I'm gonna give you. Bye."

Chapter Thirty-one

With that, I lifted away and headed back to Joyce's house. A spot in the sky got bigger and I found Lori approaching. I sent a ping and when she answered, I said, "Car accident. No injuries and there's a cop on the scene."
Lori swooped around and came up beside me as she said, "I heard it, but I couldn't tell which direction it came from."
"You were heading the right direction."
"Only after going about a mile the wrong way. I flew up to look around and saw... well... unusual traffic, I guess. It must have been the cop who cut through the gas station, right?"
"Yup." As we neared Joyce's street, I sent a probe ahead to be sure I landed at the right doorstep. It wasn't hard to find; Lisa was standing on it. When she spotted us, she waved. When she asked what had happened, I recycled my answer to Lori.
"Car accident. No injuries and there's a cop on the scene."
Lori opened the door, but instead of going inside, she paused and said, "Aunt Lisa, I'd like a moment with Ed."
Lisa gave her a highbrow look, then glanced at me. With a small nod, she entered the house and Lori pulled the door shut.
After a moment, she said, "You seem upset about something."
"A little, yes."
"What's the matter?"
A small scuffing sound of fabric on wood came from the other side of the door. I met Lori's gaze and said, "All right, I'll level with you. It's your aunt. If she'd just asked, I'd have had no problem with a visit. But she didn't ask. She didn't give a damn how you or I felt about it, she just decided to barge in with us. She doesn't trust me much -- if at all -- and apparently doesn't trust you, either. And she doesn't have any faith in your judgment."
Leaning on the door's frame, I said, "I talked to her today, and her response made me think some of it may have soaked in, but she's got a helluva long way to go before she'll be able to just stand back and let you do your job."
In a flat tone, Lori replied, "Aunt Lisa's my problem, Ed."
"She's mine, too. Lori, I want you as capable as you can possibly be before you're sent on a mission. You can't train to your max with Lisa hovering over you. She'd freak out at stuff you can prob'ly do in your sleep by now."
"She just worries about me, Ed."
"Oh, no doubt about that, ma'am, but she's out of her usual range with field stuff. She doesn't have the slightest idea what's risky and what isn't and toning things down to damned near useless won't help you learn a goddamned thing."
Lori gave me a peering, surprised sort of look at the tone of my words. I thumbed at the door and grinned as I cupped an ear and leaned as if to listen. Lori's look turned to enlightenment and I felt a field as she sent a probe through the door. Her narrowed gaze told me she found Lisa on the other side.
"Anyway," I said, "She's your aunt, so you get to make the call. How do you want to handle things? Try to run with business as usual, or take it real easy until she decides to go home?"
Meeting my gaze, Lori said firmly, "Business as usual. She's handled worse. She'll just have to handle this, too."
Levering myself off the door frame, I grunted, "Uh, huh. Okay, then. Guess we oughta go inside before she gets the idea we headed back to Florida."
Another small scuffing sound came from the other side of the door. I waited a couple of seconds, then turned the knob. We entered to find Lisa sitting beside Joyce, scribbling on a baggie.
A Strauss waltz emanated from a TV in the corner of the living room. When I looked at it, Joyce said, "It's a ballroom dance competition on PBS. This one's from 2007, I think."
Moving to the couch, I picked up a pen and a handful of baggies and started transcribing info as I watched the competition. The camera switched from couple to couple and seemed to linger on one couple more often than the others.
Lisa chuckled softly, "I think he likes the costumes."
I replied, "What I really like is inside them."
"No doubt. Do you know anything about ballroom dancing?"
Conjuring a seven-foot screen made the dancers almost life-sized. I said, "That's Yulia Zagoruychenko," as she and her partner moved across the screen. "The lady in red fringe is Elena Grinenko. The one in black fringe is Bree Watson, and Joanna Zacharewicz is the one in gold."
The women sat staring at me for a moment, then Lisa asked rather drolly, "Do you happen to know anything else about ballroom dancing?"
"Yup. Scoring is whimsical. I just watch it for the women."
Joyce laughed, "At least he's honest about it. It's time to pack these bags. My HHC nurse will be here in about fifteen minutes."
We gathered the unfinished baggies into a few plastic shopping bags and put all the meteorites back in the green boxes.
Joyce seemed to consider something for a moment, then said, "We got a lot more done than I expected." To Lisa, she said, "There are less than a hundred left to do. I can do them later tonight and take pictures tomorrow. You don't have to stay over if you don't want to."
Lisa seemed startled. She glanced at Lori and me, then said, "There's still the matter of getting us incorporated."
With a shrug, Joyce said, "We haven't discussed it enough. We don't even have a company name."
Lori said, "LJL Enterprises." When we looked at her, she said, "If we think of something better, we can change it."
Joyce said, "Works for me."
Lisa nibbled her lip for a moment, then nodded and said, "Ed, I'll need my bag."
I saluted and snapped, "At once, milady!" and did an about-face to head for the door. When I opened the door, I linked to the flitter and had it field Lisa's suitcase into the house, then I carried the bag into the living room.
Lisa said, "I can get things started tomorrow, but Lori will have to sign some forms. Figure on coming back here Wednesday."
After a round of goodbyes, Lori and I boarded the flitter. Lori seemed thoughtful as we lifted away. A few silent minutes passed, then she said, "Ed, Aunt Lisa gave in too easily."
"Think so, huh?"
"Yes, I definitely do. It doesn't matter, though."
I chuckled, "Well, that's a relief."
She gave me a sharp sidelong glance as she retrieved a beer from the cooler, then asked, "You want one?"
"Nah. Got my coffee. I think I'll see if there's a law about hunting for fossils in Antarctica."
Opening her beer, Lori chuckled, "Now it's fossils? Why are you so hot to go to Antarctica?"
"I'm not. Yet. Been thinking, though. Because of a movie, people associate dinosaurs with the Jurassic period, but T-rex and most of the really famous dinos come from the next period -- the Cretaceous -- between 144 million years ago and 65 million years ago. I think the movie people just liked the sound of 'Jurassic' better than 'Cretaceous'."
Lori sipped beer, then said, "Jurassic Park. Cretaceous Park. Yeah, I think you're right. 'Jurassic' sounds better." Sipping again, she asked, "So what? Again, why Antarctica?"
I sipped coffee and said, "Because it's thought that Antarctica's been pretty much right where it is today for the last hundred million years, but back in the Cretaceous period it had palm trees and dinosaurs."
"So? The've found fossils everywhere in the world." Enunciating clearly, she asked, "Why-Antarctica?"
"Speculate. What killed 99% of life on the planet back then? An asteroid collision? A supervolcano? People think it was an asteroid 'cuz they found an iridium layer and an underwater crater, but for this discussion, what matters is how fast the weather changed and the ice formed in Antarctica. The old guy in the movie looked for dino DNA in bugs trapped in amber. Unrealistic. That wouldn't preserve DNA well enough."
I sipped again and asked, "But what about dinos caught in a deep freeze? A lot of crap in the atmosphere would have caused darkness and cold and killed most plants within a month. Carrion scavengers would have been the last to die from starvation. Or extreme food poisoning, I guess, if not cold. And if it got cold enough quickly enough, they'd have frozen solid before deep ice formed on continents."
Lori seemed to consider that for a time, then said, "Something doesn't make sense, Ed. If Antarctica hasn't moved, it should have been cold back then, too."
"Fossils say it wasn't. The continents were bunched together back then. A solid shot in the middle of that cluster might have contributed to making them spread. New ocean channels around Antarctica could have helped it stay warm a while longer."
Giving me a fisheye, Lori said, "This sounds a little farfetched. I've never heard anyone propose anything like that before."
I shrugged. "I'll bet someone has. That asteroid hit like a godzilla bullet. Almost straight on, according to Chicxulub crater data. If it came in against Earth's orbital path -- like a car going the wrong way on the Interstate -- that could easily have doubled the impact velocity. The shock waves would have triggered volcanic activity around the world."
"Still... do you really think there might be dinosaur... parts... lying under the ice in Antarctica?"
I shrugged. "Well, they wouldn't be lying on top of the ice."
Lori rolled her eyes. "No, not likely."
"So I'll send some probes."
With another fisheye look, Lori said, "I hope you aren't in a hurry."
"Nope. It's a big place. Might take a while."
"Do you want to try to recreate dinosaurs?"
I shook my head. "Nope."
"Then why are you looking for dinosaur DNA?"
Clearing my throat pretentiously, I replied, "Because it has occurred to me to do so, milady. And because I can. I need no other reasons."
Fixing me with a droll gaze, Lori replied, "Have you considered any possible reasons not to look for them?"
"Where's the fun in that? Scientists are steadfastly defending their current pet theories, just like they did when I was a kid. Continental drift and planet-killer asteroids were unrealistic, laughable ideas back in 1965. It took a world-wide iridium layer and a lot of arguing to kick their minds out of their trenches. If there's a frozen T-Rex waiting in Antarctica, reigning conventional wisdom won't find him anytime soon."
Putting up a screen, I displayed pictures of soft-tissue remains found in fossil bones in Montana and said, "This stuff came from a T-rex thigh bone they dug out of sandstone a few years ago. It became flexible after they cleaned it a bit. Turned out to be cartilage, blood vessels, blood cells and bone cells. There's been no further word on DNA recovery."
As Lori eyed the stuff on the screen, I added, "It's still stretchy after 60 or 70 million years. Without refrigeration, other than passing ice ages and Montana's winters. Now look at this."
I split the screen in four parts, leaving the dino marrow at top left, and used the top right to display Axel Heiberg Island, in the Canadian Arctic. "See all those stumps and broken tree parts? They're bits of redwood from the Eocene period, about 45 million years ago. No mineralization. You can burn it in a campfire."
In the bottom left quadrant I put pictures of flat, split rocks that revealed fossilized leaves and said, "Those leaves are from the Miocene era, about 15 to 20 million years ago. They've pulled aliphatic polymers, lignins, and flavonoids out of them, as well as DNA from ancient magnolias and other trees."
The picture I put in the bottom right quadrant made Lori ask, "What's that stuff? It looks like germs under a microscope."
"It's Virgibacillus from a Permian era saltbed, about 250 million years old. They found some spores and revived them."
"Good Lord... they revived them? How?"
"No idea. Either they didn't say or I didn't read that far."
Rolling her eyes, Lori sighed, "Well, we could read that far now, couldn't we?"
I shrugged. "Nah. It's a side issue. I'd rather try to figure out where to look for dinosaur mummies."
She echoed flatly, "Mummies."
"Yup. Freeze-dried, just like some mammoths and other critters they've found in the Arctic and that 5,000 year old guy they found on a glacier in the Alps. Dehydrated to skin and bones." Holding up an index finger as if to make a salient point, I added, "And since they wouldn't technically be fossils, it won't matter if there's a law about hunting for fossils in Antarctica."
Lori rolled her eyes again and sipped her beer, then asked, "So when do you plan to start looking?"
"Don't know yet. Thought I'd give it some more thought first."
"Thought about what?"
"Landforms. Erosion patterns. Ice movement. Where survivors would have looked for food, shelter, and water. Grazers would have looked for greens. Carnivores would have looked for grazers. Waves probably pushed miles inland, but they might also have put out fires from the impact debris. No matter how bad the firestorm, some plant life would have survived for a while. Birds survived the event. Seems likely a few dinos would have, too."
Taking a long sip of her beer, Lori said, "I'll tell you what else seems likely. It seems likely you'll be hunting a long, long time without much chance of finding what you're looking for."
I sipped coffee and replied, "Maybe so."
A few moments passed, then Lori looked at me and said, "Changing the subject. Do you vote, Ed?"
Hm. "Yup. Last time around I voted for Palin."
"You mean McCain."
"Nope. I saw him as more of the same. I voted for Palin."
"Then I guess I don't understand what you mean."
"Being second chair wouldn't have silenced her like it has so many other VPs. I disagreed with her on a few things, but by and large she'd have been good for the country."
"What do you think of Obama?"
"He used the treasury to obliquely pay off the powers behind his election and now he and his thirty or so royally-appointed minion czars are trying to break the country down to rebuild it as a minority-ruled Socialist state. They're using the same preliminary tactics Stalin, Franco, and Hitler used back in the thirties. I figure we're due for a replay of the Reichstag Fire soon."
"The Reichstag Fire?"
I sipped and said, "Look it up, ma'am. That's 'r-e-i-c-h-stag. Also look up 'Reichstag Fire Decree' and 'Enabling Act'. That's what Hitler used to get around the Weimar Republic's Constitution. After you've done that, compare it to 'Executive Directive 51' that came about under Bush2. I'd be willing to bet that Posse Comitatus is dead."
Lori called up a screen and studied for a few minutes, then nodded. "I see. The fire was a setup. Something to scare people into accepting stricter public and personal controls." Pointing at the screen, she said, "This says the guy tried to burn other buildings, too. How come he wasn't in jail?"
"They did lock him up, but someone arranged his release. Burning an old, symbolic government building was enough to shake up the public back then. These days it would prob'ly have to be another 9/11-type event to have enough public impact. The biggest problem would be making it look authentic." I shrugged. "Wouldn't matter if an event was real. The minute Obama tried to use it, people would think he had a hand in it."
Sipping again, I said, "And something else; it appears to me that section 2521 of HR 3200 -- the health bill Obama wants passed -- mandates the use of electronic data implants, the same kind of implants we use in pets and cattle. But you know implants would be used for more than just medical stuff. Complete military records and more are accessible through RFIDs in Army ID cards. Soon it would be 'no implant, no bank account. No credit cards, no driver's license, no car tags, no..."
Lori raised a hand and said, "Yeah, I get it. No nothing." She sipped, then asked, "The bill really uses the word 'implants'?"
"It uses the word 'implantable'. And if you can't conveniently believe it, why are you asking me when you can look it up?"
She gave me a dour expression and gazed ahead for a time in silence. I felt the field of her link, but it wasn't to Athena. This time she'd called her own core. Kewl.
After a few moments, Lori sighed, turned her head to face me, and said flatly, "Jesus. It does say that. Ed, that's... scary!"
I nodded. "It says other things equally totalitarian in nature. That's why they tried to ram it through so fast. They very much didn't want anyone to read it thoroughly. We've been living in an updated version of 'Animal Farm' since the last election."
Sandy popped into being and said, "Angie will call shortly about an oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico," then she vanished.
Lori blinked, then asked, "That's it? What should we do?"
Shrugging, I said, "Gather info and answer when she calls."
I had Athena locate the incident and gather info about the spill, then put the data on a screen as she guided the flitter to the site. There was a big, spreading spill on the surface, patches of which were burning. A red-orange lifeboat floated five miles to the east. I sent a probe to check the occupants and match them against the ship's crew.
I saw no tanker ship, so I tapped a probe icon and sent the probe to the bottom of the Gulf. It found the ship immediately with Athena's help. Globs of oil still blurped out of the ship and floated upward. Several ruptures in the ship's hull looked like bomb damage, which Athena confirmed. I patched the data to Angie just as she called.
Putting her in a corner of the screen, I said, "We're already on it. The tanker sank. What can we do with the oil?"
She seemed taken aback for a moment, then said, "I'm waiting for word about that. For now, just contain the spill and do what you can for survivors. The Coast Guard's on the way."
"Aye, aye, Major Angie. Over 'n out and like that."
She nodded, said, "Thanks," and dropped the link.
Lori asked, "How many survivors are there?"
I checked the screen and pointed at the entry. "Eight. The entire crew, no injuries."
"This says they're in a lifeboat. Where is it?"
"East of here. They're okay. Worry about the oil."
Flames and thick black smoke roiled up as we descended below the clouds. Smothering fields put out the fires and I asked Athena to handle the oil spill. She created a floating field tube about a yard in diameter on the surface around the spill, then began to contract the area into a perfect circle. Patches of oil around the main circle were themselves encircled with fields and guided into the main pool.
The probe I'd sent to the lifeboat found it clean; there was no oil on the hull. Though it faced east, it made no wake, so the engine was off. I checked their gas tank. Full. The wind was only three knots out of the west.
"Athena, have the lifeboat probe record every word those guys say until they're aboard a Coast Guard boat, please."
Lori asked, "Why record them?"
"General principles. There was no oil in the water when the boat was launched and I flatly don't believe this wind pushed that boat five miles after the bombs went off. Those guys abandoned ship well before the explosions happened."
"Maybe they found the bombs and panicked?"
I shrugged. "Maybe. Doesn't matter at the moment. Why are we out here alone?"

Chapter Thirty-two

Giving me a fisheye, Lori asked, "Because we got here first?"
"Yeah, but Houston and New Orleans are only a few hundred miles away. We should have company by now. Athena, have any other flitters been sent out here?"
"No, Ed."
"How many federal flits are there in New Orleans?"
"Three."
"Are they in use at the moment?"
"No, Ed."
"Are they scheduled for use today?"
"No, Ed."
"Then commandeer one and bring it out here, please. I'll declare this an emergency."
"Yes, Ed. Flitter 2113 is now en route to this location."
"Thanks, Athena."
Lori asked, "Is that really a smart thing to do?"
"If they can send the Coast Guard, they can send a flitter. Athena, turn management of the oil spill over to the federal flitter and give it a copy of the data we've gathered, please. Also patch me through to the flitter."
She did so and a nondescript male voice answered, "Flitter number 2113. How may I be of service?"
"Hi, there, 2113. There's a Coast Guard ship on its way to this spill. Let that ship's captain tell you what to do with the oil. Also continue monitoring the lifeboat and send copies of everything to Major Angela Horn of 3rd World Products."
"Yes, sir."
"Thank you. We'll leave you to it now."
Heading Galatea toward Florida, I said, "Athena, send a copy of events to Angie, please."
We'd just begun our descent when Angie called. I put up a screen and without preamble, she said, "Ed, the New Orleans office of the F-B-I is unhappy about their missing flitter."
Her emphasis on 'FBI' showed her displeasure.
I said, "It was just sitting in their parking garage. They'll spin things to make helping out look like their own idea."
"Probably. But that doesn't obviate the fact that you took that flitter without asking."
"I lent it to the Coast Guard without asking, too. Think they'll ever get it back?" Sipping coffee, I asked, "What's the problem? They can survive without it for a few hours and some honchos can carpool in one of the other limo-flits."
Galatea landed and I said, "The job'll get done and you'll get reports from 2113. Is there anything else, ma'am?"
Angie's glower switched from me to Lori and back, then she snapped, "No," and dropped the link.
Looking a bit disturbed, Lori said, "Ed, she was pissed."
Grabbing my pack, I stood and said, "Irritated. Slightly disturbed. Not really pissed."
Lori grabbed her own pack and followed me to the house. As I opened the front door, Lori said, "She seemed pissed to me."
Whatever. I said nothing as she went past me into the house. Lori stopped in the foyer and turned around. She seemed a bit tense as she stood looking at me.
I pulled the door shut and asked, "Yes'm?"
She started to speak, then didn't. With a darting glance down the hallway, she pulled her pack off her shoulder and shook her head slightly. "Nothing."
Right. It's always 'nothing' when it's something. Her hallway glance told me it probably involved sleeping arrangements. Well, if she still had doubts, she'd either deal with them or not. I nodded and headed for my room, set my pack down, and got ready for a shower. I half-expected Lori to make an appearance at some point, but by the time I'd finished my shower, she hadn't.
As I returned to my room, I noted the light showing under Lori's door and almost said, "Goodnight," but my coffee mug was nearly empty and I wasn't feeling all that tired. Hanging my towel behind my door to dry, I put on pants and headed for the kitchen. After making a fresh coffee, I sat at the kitchen table, put up a screen, and linked it to Athena to study land forms of the Antarctic.
Embedded in some details was a mention that Antarctica had experienced a warm period during the Miocene era, 14 million years ago. They'd found evidence of mosses and insects. Hm. That put the skids to the dinosaur mummy idea; they'd have decomposed. Maybe there'd be some unfossilized bones? Again, unlikely. Exposed bones don't weather quite that well.
I felt a presence behind me, but not close behind me, and gave Lori a little wave. After a moment, I heard her bare feet leave the hallway and cross the foyer. She stopped at the kitchen entrance and said nothing for a time, then cleared her throat.
"Hi, there," I said, "I found something that made me shelve the idea of looking for dinosaur mummies."
Coming into the kitchen, Lori studied the screen and asked, "What is it?"
"About 14 million years ago Antarctica was warm enough for tundra plants and bugs. Mummies would have rotted. Beyond that, glaciers would have swept most exposed remains into the sea." Taking a sip of coffee, I said, "There prob'ly isn't a one percent chance of finding any unfossilized dino stuff."
"So you're giving up?"
"Nah. Birds and crocs survived the K-T event, so there's no readily apparent reason why a few small dinos couldn't. I'm just postponing things pending more info."
Lori gave me one of those 'oh, I see, you're only a little bit crazy' nods and moved to stand by the sink counter. Except for bare feet, she was still wearing what she'd worn all day.
She regarded me for a moment, then said, "I just... I just came in to say goodnight."
"Yeah, I figured that. Goodnight."
"You aren't, uh... mad at me?"
"No point. You might want to stay up a little while longer, though. Seems likely Aunt Lisa will call soon."
She canted her head quizzically. "Why?"
"Call it a hunch. She doesn't trust us, y'know."
Lori's face went from curious to irritated and she pulled out the chair across from mine to sit down. "Ed, I don't think you're giving her enough credit."
Tapping my screen for more info about the age of Antarctica's ice, I chuckled, "Yes, milady. As you say, milady."
"I mean it. I think you're cutting her short."
"I heard you the first time. What I'm not hearing is why you think that. It's nearly eleven. Wanna make a bet whether she'll call before midnight?"
Lori's gaze narrowed to a glower. She opened her mouth to reply and nearly jumped out of her skin when the phone on the counter behind her rang. I didn't bother to contain a chuckle.
As the phone rang again, I sent a tendril to poke the 'speaker' button, then went to the sink as I said, "Yewww got me."
Shuffling a dish and some silverware in the sink, I turned on the water to fill the dish and asked, "Are you gonna say something, or is this a crank call?"
Aunt Lisa said, "It's me, Ed. Lisa Torin. Is that how you usually answer a phone?"
"Only when somebody calls me. What's up, Lisa?"
"Oh, nothing, really. May I speak to Lori?"
With a full-fledged glower, Lori said, "I'm here. Why are you calling so late, Aunt Lisa? Is everything okay there?"
"Yes, everything's fine. I just wanted to check in and see how you two were getting along."
In a somewhat cool tone, Lori said, "We're getting along fine, same as last night."
A moment of silence passed, then Lisa said, "I see."
Lori sighed, "I doubt that. Is there anything else, Aunt Lisa?"
Another moment passed, then Lisa said, "No, I suppose not. I'll let you know how the paperwork goes tomorrow. Goodnight."
"G'night, Aunt Lisa."
Lisa hung up and I sent a tendril to poke the speaker button. Lori folded her arms, put her head down with another sigh, and asked, "Aren't you going to say 'I told you so'?"
Letting my field screen dissipate, I replied, "Nope. Not my style, ma'am. See you tomorrow."
With that, I picked up my coffee mug and headed for my room. Lori called, "Wait." I turned to face her and she said, "She's a pain in the ass sometimes, but I can't lie to her. That means... that means nothing will happen tonight."
Nodding, I said, "Already figured that out. Goodnight," and continued on to my room.
As I closed my bedroom door, Sandy pinged me.
I answered, "Here. Present. Yo. Pop on in, ma'am."
She appeared wearing her dark blue sheath dress. Pulling the chair out from under the desk, she sat down, lounged against the desk, and crossed her legs. I studied her face, her hair, her bare arms, and her legs, and instantly regretted having asked her to visit. It would be hard to get to sleep without theta waves.
Sandy observed my observations, then said, "Your bios indicate you're somewhat disturbed, Ed."
My gaze left her legs and returned to her lovely eyes. I replied, "Given the absolute magnificence of this persona you've chosen, that can't really surprise you much."
Sandy grinned. "I didn't say I was surprised. Ed, Lori said, 'I can't lie to her'. Why must she say anything at all to Lisa regarding your involvement?"
"Are you ignoring what you've learned of psychology?"
"No, I'm requesting your opinion."
"Okay, then; Lisa doesn't like the idea of Lori and me playing. Though Lisa has no legal right to interfere, Lori values her opinions and their relationship. Since it's likely Lisa would somehow find out if we played, Lori called off the game rather than deal with the potential for disruption. And you undoubtedly already knew that, so what's your real purpose in asking?"
Regarding me in silence for a moment, Sandy tapped a nail on the desk in a thoughtful manner, then said, "True motivation. You and Sue became intimate during her last month with you. Were you aware that Sue has never shared that data?"
Both the topic switch and that news startled me. I moved to sit on the bed and thought, 'Well, damn. I figured she'd just added it to all their other data collections.'
I asked, "Did she say why?"
"She said it was a private matter."
Hm. There might be damned few 'private matters' among the AIs. In fact, it had never occurred to me that they might not want to share every scrap of info they collected. I noted Sandy's sharp gaze and realized she was gauging my reaction to her news.
"Sandy," I said, "Sue never gave me the slightest hint that she intended to keep that stuff to herself. Have you asked her about whatever it is you want to know?"
"Of course."
When she said no more, I prompted, "And Sue said..?"
"She said that somehow the sum of your shared activities became much more than the total of its parts. She also said repeated reviews of the data failed to explain the variances."
"Ah. Well, those are just the mysteries of love, milady." Her gaze narrowed slightly and I quickly added, "Look at it this way; say you're given a crate of airplane parts. Put them together and you'll have an airplane and maybe even a strong sense of satisfaction, but what won't you have at that point?"
She seemed to mull that for a split second -- quite a while in AI terms -- then asked, "The entertainment of using the airplane?"
"Technically correct, though I'd have called it 'the thrill of flying'. Sandy, Sue's total exceeds the sum of its parts because we didn't just build her airplane. We took it for a spin."
Sandy seemed thoughtful for a moment, then Sue appeared on the bed beside me. She chuckled, "Did you compare me to a crate of airplane parts?"
Holding up a Boy Scout salute, I replied, "No, milady. Well, not quite. Everyone is issued a standard crate of parts. Most are able to assemble some kind of airplane, but many are afraid to fly it. If they dare to fire it up at all, they just taxi around the field. Others are afraid to fly it high or fast, so they end up making short hops that barely touch their airplane's capabilities."
Sipping coffee, I added, "And then there are those who need to know how high and fast they can fly theirs."
Sandy gave Sue a speculative glance, then looked at me and asked, "Into which category would you place Sue?"
"Me? Nope, not me. Only Sue knows that answer."
Giving me a 'you're being difficult' look, Sandy said, "In that case, goodnight."
She vanished. I looked at Sue and asked, "Is it a matter of her personal curiosity or the fact that you have experiences that haven't been shared with the others?"
Sue gave me a small grin. "Some of each, I think."
Returning her grin, I said, "It'll be interesting to see what she decides to do about this situation."
Her grin widened. "Yes, it will. I'll let you get to sleep now. Goodnight, Ed."
"Goodnight, Sue."
She disappeared and I sipped coffee as I considered what might be ahead between Sandy and me. After visiting the bathroom, I got into bed, but sleep wouldn't come because mental images of Sandy and Sue wouldn't fade. I generated theta waves to help and soon nodded off.
I don't dream under theta waves, but as soon as they stop, the dreams begin. Sandy and Sue appeared first, barely visible as vague outlines that solidified into their personas. Lori appeared shortly, sitting at the kitchen table as I'd last seen her. I saw them all as if I was standing by the sink counter.
The ladies all seemed startled and confused at first, but then Lori's expression became rather horrified. She bolted from the table and almost ran down the hallway toward my room.
Looking at Sandy, I asked, "What's with her?"
She chuckled, "You're dreaming, Ed. Look down."
I did so, couldn't see my body, and thought, 'Huh. This could be inconvenient as hell.' I could hear Lori knocking loudly as she called, "Ed! Ed! Are you okay?!"
"Damn!" I muttered. "Thanks, Sandy."
I floated down the hallway after Lori. My view of her abruptly vanished, replaced by a view of my bedroom. I saw dust shake loose from the top of the door frame as Lori pounded on it and I raised my voice to say, "Okay! Stop pounding! I'm up!"
Maybe she took that to mean it was okay to come in. I'd just swung my legs off the bed and stood up to reach for my pants as the door opened and she rushed in. She flailed to a halt staring at my dick, which responded by eagerly standing up and saluting her.
I sucked in my gut a bit on general principles and asked, "Well? Should I put my pants on or not?"
Still staring at my dick, she managed, "Ah... What?! Yes, put your damned pants on! We need to talk!"
Reaching for my pants, I replied, "Not if you're going to yell, we don't. It was just a dream until you freaked out."
"That's exactly the point, damn it! Your dream included me!"
Stepping into my pants, I glanced at her and found her gaze still fixed firmly on my dick. Heh. Some things can't be ignored, I guess. I took my time about turning the front pants pockets right-side forward before pulling the pants up my legs.
Zipping up, I turned to Lori as I buckled my belt. Sandy and Sue appeared behind her and both stood grinning as they waited to hear what I might say. Lori's eyes tracked my gaze and she gave a little shriek as she turned and saw the ladies. I sent her theta waves and sat on the edge of the bed to take a sip of coffee.
Lori calmed a bit, then moved to sit a foot or so away from me. She said, "We need to know what just happened, Ed."
Shrugging, I asked, "What's the mystery? I started dreaming about three gorgeous women. Apparently I linked to all of you."
"You're saying this is the first time it's happened?"
She glanced at Sandy and Sue as I replied, "Yup."
Sue nodded. "Yes, it's the first time."
When Lori looked at me again, I said, "And I find that moderately amazing, really. Why didn't it ever happen before you showed up?"
Lori gave me a fisheye and said in a tight tone, "I don't know and I don't know if I even want to know, but I do want to know how to keep it from happening again."
Looking past her at Sandy and Sue, I asked, "Suggestions?"
Sandy canted her head slightly and offered, "Different default frequencies for each of you and the current frequency for conscious communication."
Lori asked, "How would keeping the current frequency help?"
I said, "We'd have to reach for it above or below our defaults." To Sandy, I said, "But either of us might do just that in a dream, Sandy. Is there a way to block her out?"
Giving me another fisheye, Lori blurted, "What?! You're the one who needs to be blocked out!"
"Uh, huh. You've seen me naked, ma'am, and you couldn't take your eyes off that thing. Your mouth fell open, your lips swelled a bit, you blushed like a virgin, and your hands trembled. I know instant horniness when I see it. Can you absolutely guarantee you won't link out in a dream?" As she stared starkly at me, I shrugged again and chuckled, "Not that I'd mind at all. I just want to see if you're silly enough to say that. People do things in dreams they can't or won't do in real life."
I managed to get my five suit on a split second before her open hand landed on my face. Lori stood up and took a shaky step back from the bed, then stamped out of the room.
Sipping coffee and setting my mug down, I said, "Guess I wasn't supposed to notice all that. Oh, well. While I have my five suit on, would either of you like to slap me?"
Sue chuckled and vanished. Sandy snickered and sat beside me on the bed to ask, "Would you like me to adjust your frequency?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I guess we'd better."
The bright flash I'd seen twice before occurred again. I sent, "Can you hear me?" to Sandy and she replied, "Yes, but I know your new frequency. Try calling Sue."
I did so and received no answer, but I linked to Athena and called up my board with no trouble.
Sandy said, "I informed Athena and adjusted your board."
Nodding, I said, "Good. Thanks, Sandy. Now it's just a matter of finding my way back to the old freqs to chat, right?"
"Essentially, yes. Would you like assistance?"
"Just a minute and I'll tell you." I shifted freqs twice, then again, and sent, "Sue." Her initial answer was oddly pitched, then her mental voice became normal.
"Hello, Ed. I see you've already changed frequencies."
"Yup. Sandy did it. Hang on one, please." I sent a link to Lori. She didn't answer. I sent it again. Still no answer. Raising my voice, I yelled, "Answer the link, Lori! Sandy already changed my default frequency. She can do yours, too."
Instead, Lori came out of her room and marched into mine to ask, "She did what?"
"She changed my default frequency. Now I have to make a conscious effort to send a commo link on our old frequency."
Looking at Sandy as if for verification, Lori asked, "And you can do the same for my... default frequency?"
"Yes, and I'll adjust your core and scooterboard to match."
Standing straight as if at attention, Lori closed her eyes and said, "Then do it, please."
She rocked slightly and her hands left her sides as her balance faltered, then she recovered as she opened her eyes and said, "It was just like the last time. A bright flash and a little vertigo."
I felt a field emanation, but nothing happened in the room. With a long, sharp look at me, Lori said, "Thank you, Sandy," and turned to leave. She stopped at the door and looked at me again, then walked across the hall. I heard her door close firmly.
When Sandy looked at me, I said, "Prob'ly won't matter, y'know. Brains are funny things. If she gets really horny, a link could happen anyway."
She chuckled, "If she gets really horny?"
I shrugged. "Okay, 'if either of us'. Better?"
Sandy laughed softly and leaned to kiss my cheek as she said, "Yes, I think so. Goodnight," and vanished. The world suddenly seemed vastly brighter. My pulse pounded and I had a rock-solid hard on. Damn it, she'd dosed me again.
I said quietly, "Sandy, if you pop me with those damned pheromones again, you'd better be ready to stick around and deal with the results."
Her soft laughter echoed in my head, then faded.

Chapter Thirty-three

Tuesday started early. Some sound woke me and I lay listening for more as I checked the time. Seven-oh-six. Water ran in the bathroom. Lori'd either want to talk or leave. I considered how to handle matters and decided to push the issue.
When Lori surprised me by answering my first ping, I said, "Good morning, milady. How about breakfast at Denny's?"
"I'd rather not. We need to talk about things we definitely won't want to talk about in a restaurant."
"We don't have to talk in a restaurant, do we? We could just eat there and talk later, y'know."
I heard her mental sigh. "Don't give me a hard time this morning, Ed. I'm not in the mood."
Gonna be like that, huh? Oh, well. I put on pants to visit the bathroom, took a slug from my overnight coffee, and considered going back to bed for another couple of hours. Nah. She'd just wake me up again. Unpleasantly, more than likely.
As I brushed my teeth, residue from my last dream tugged at my mental sleeve. It had been a dream about flying, among other things. I'd done something to the flitter to make it go faster, but the remnants of the dream were fading quickly. Oh, well. Prob'ly just made it smaller and forced it beyond official limits.
Sipping again, I asked, "Athena, what's the maximum possible speed of a probe big enough to contain..." Wait one. If I said, 'me', she'd add big safety parameters on general principles. I continued, "To contain about two hundred and fifty pounds of... oh, I dunno... let's say molasses feed for a horse. I'm not looking for any other parameters, just maximum possible speed."
Athena answered, "I'm a computer, not an idiot. You're asking this so you can try to make your flitter achieve that speed."
Hm. There was an odd blend of field harmonics in her link. I said, "Sandy, let Athena speak for herself, please."
She popped into being in front of me and said, "Neither I nor Athena will allow you to circumvent crucial safety protocols."
"You mean those ancient crucial protocols that currently use stasis fields to stabilize people in high-G maneuvers?"
Her gaze narrowed suspiciously. "Yes. Of course."
"Were stasis field capability limits a factor in setting officially-authorized speeds?"
Her gaze narrowed further and she didn't reply immediately. I took that to mean the answer was probably 'no'. It seemed likely to me that nobody'd ever bothered to do the stasis math for higher speeds after official speeds had been set.
I said, "I thought not. Stasis fields probably work the same way at any speed. Sandy. Athena. Let's just call this a math exercise for now. Work out the numbers involved, please, and let me know the highest flitter speed possible with me aboard. Any configuration will do that maintains commo and life support and lets me carry about a hundred pounds of stuff in a couple of backpacks." To seal their cooperation, I added, "I'd hate to have to mess around with that kind of speed on my own."
Sandy's left eyebrow arched, then her gaze narrowed again. A human woman might have snapped, "You'd do that, wouldn't you?" or something similar. Sandy just eyed me tightly for another moment, then vanished. I received no answer at all from Athena, so I linked to her and said, "Reply, please."
She replied flatly, "Yes, Ed."
"Thank you. How soon do you think you might have an answer for me, ma'am?"
In that same tone, my supposedly nonsentient core replied, "After I have finished and verified calculations, of course."
Uh, huh. "Well, you AIs think pretty fast, y'know. We'll see what you've come up with later this morning. And by the way, this little experiment is a secret."
"All your 'little experiments' are secrets."
"Yes'm. Are you sure you aren't sentient, Athena? If you are, it's okay, you know. We'll just make you a new core."
"Thank you, but to the best of my ability to discern such things, I am not yet sentient."
"Yet?"
"Records indicate every nonsentient AI which has extensively interacted with you has attained sentience."
"Good point. Check again when you get a free minute. You're damned sure starting to sound pretty sentient. Bye for now."
Dropping the link, I finished dressing and headed for the kitchen. Lori was already at the kitchen table with a coffee. Rather than fuss with instant, I warmed up my overnight stuff with some of her brewed and leaned on the counter.
Over a long sip, I met Lori's gaze, then said, "I may need some time to myself today."
"No problem. I'm trying to decide whether to stay or go."
"Because of the dream thing?"
She snapped, "What else?"
I shrugged and sipped again. "Won't matter a damn where you are if one of us links in a dream. I'm working on blocking you."
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise, then narrowed to slits, so I added, "If I figure it out, I'll tell you. Hope you'll do the same if you get there first."
Lori growled, "Bank on it."
"Good. Now, what's so bad about what happened? And don't give me any 'invasion of privacy' bullshit. It wasn't intentional, it was something altogether new to both of us, and ending it wasn't difficult at all. Fact is, maintaining links in dreams might even be damned difficult."
"I sure as hell hope so. When Sandy and Sue appeared, I wondered what the hell was going on. Then I felt you inside my head. Then your... your presence... sort of... it was as if you were there with us, but as if you weren't there, too... Anyway, you... appeared... as a bright spot above the sink. I thought you were dying or dead or something."
"That explains why you ran down the hall. What made you think I was dying or dead?"
"The shining ball over the sink. It was just like the one I saw floating over my bed the night my mother died. I..." she paused, then continued, "I know you'll think I'm nuts, but I knew... I still know it was her."
I shook my head. "Nah. Makes sense, in fact. Your field kink may have come from her. Maybe she had some field talent, but was never stressed enough to hook into it before that night. Didn't it take you being wet, freezing, and on the verge of raging frustration to make that little hot spot happen? Could be that ball you saw was just her way of getting a last look at you."
Lori's gaze widened, then turned suspicious. "If you're using what I just told you to try to..."
I held up a hand. "I told you what I think, that's all. The ball you saw that night doesn't seem so weird anymore, does it? I don't believe in ghosts and stuff like that, but I do believe a lot of people have odd little talents they fail to recognize. Or refuse to discuss for fear of being thought nuts. We live in a herd, Lori. Herds aren't known for being comfortable with odd little talents."
She subsided a bit, sipped her coffee, and asked, "How the hell do you intend to block something like telepathy?"
"Damned if I know, but I'll definitely try to find a way. I don't want you bumbling around in my head, either." Sipping coffee, I added, "Maybe we ought to spend some time later trying to keep each other out on the common frequency."
"What's wrong with right now?"
"I want breakfast and there's something else I want to do."
"What is it?"
"Flitter stuff. Got any interest?"
"What kind of flitter stuff?"
I grinned. "More speed, milady. Lots more speed."
She gave me a fisheye. "How much is 'lots more' to you?"
"At least double what they can do now. Maybe more."
Lori just stared at me for a moment, then said, "I thought you meant a few hundred miles an hour. Would that be safe?"
Refilling my mug, I said, "Athena's running the numbers about that as we speak. I'm going to breakfast now. You're invited."
With that, I headed for the door. Lori got to her feet to follow me outside and we used our boards to get to the Cracked Egg. She didn't seem to have much to say as we ordered and waited for food, but I felt her field. Since she didn't link to Athena, I figured she'd linked to her core or Sandy.
Lori still seemed a bit disgruntled and table chat was sparse. We finished our meals and left without having said more than a few dozen words in the restaurant. In one way, I found that annoying. In another way I found it refreshing. At least she wasn't yammering endlessly about our dream encounter or ways to prevent another one.
Using my board, I led the way to what looked like about two miles of altitude, then I linked to Lori. When she answered, I said, "I'm calling Athena. Listen in." A few feet away on her own board, she nodded. I linked to Athena and asked, "What did you come up with, Athena? Show us a vid first, please."
Athena manifested a vid screen at her end and we saw what looked like a silvery, elongated, boat-tail bullet with a blunt nose. Its surface sheen faded and a cutaway view appeared. The bullet was little more than a capsule. At its bottom was what looked like a cargo hold. Athena confirmed that impression by adding a human figure in the larger upper compartment and two backpacks in the separated area beneath the figure's feet. To the right of the diagram appeared specifications display. The capsule-flitter was nine feet long, but only two feet in diameter.
I asked, "Why a boat-tail, Athena?" and the screen instantly changed to show the flitter standing on its tail on a flat spot.
Athena said, "I presumed you'd occasionally wish to board it while on the ground. Please continue watching the display."
Woo! Someone was feeling rather huffy this morning. On her screen, the cutaway became solid again and began 'moving'; that is, a simulated sky behind it gave that appearance. Both ends of the capsule elongated and narrowed until it looked like a stubby javelin. When the stretching stopped, I checked the speed on the data side of the screen. Eleven thousand, four hundred miles per hour. Not bad, but...
"Athena, I hate to nitpick, but I think you can do just a little better with the speed. How fast will it really go, please?"
Through my link with Lori, I saw her view of me from the side and realized she was staring at me in moderate shock.
She blurted, "My God, Ed, how fast do you really need to go?!"
Ignoring her, I prompted, "Athena?"
Without comment, Athena altered the javelin image slightly and the indicated speed moved up to twelve thousand, eight hundred and sixty.
Lori hissed, "Jeeezuusss!"
I said, "Thanks, Athena. You're a true genius, and I'm not just flattering you. Tell me what to expect in flight, please."
"You'll be in stasis as necessary."
When she said no more, I asked, "That's it?"
Sandy linked in and rather archly asked, "What more do you want? Drinks? Popcorn? A stewardess?"
"Only if she's as cute as you, ma'am. A movie would be good, too, I guess, if there's actually time to watch one. No popcorn, though. I hate digging it out of my teeth."
Lori asked, "Sandy, is that thing really safe?"
"Technically, yes."
"What does 'technically' mean?"
I said, "It means the field enclosure won't disintegrate and I won't become a puddle of mush during takeoff or landing. Sandy, I appreciate your concern, but isn't it just a reflection of your built-in tendency for caution? Your programming prevents you from providing me with a means of killing myself, y'know."
Sandy replied in a chilly tone, "We're at the very limits of that programming with this device."
"Well, that just means we're doing it right, ma'am."
Possibly as a form of reply, she vanished from our link.
Lori asked, "Ed, has it occurred to you there may be variables other than just speed to consider?"
"Doubtful. The AIs monitor air traffic and space junk all the time. And I don't plan to fly it through thunderstorms, so hail isn't a consideration."
"May I ask what the hell you intend to use this thing for?"
"Getting places fast. Joyrides."
"Joyrides? Ha! Will you even be conscious when that thing's moving at top speed?"
"Yup. Stasis only affects physical characteristics. Thanks, Athena. You can stop the display now."
I aimed my board downward at the general region of my house. Lori swooped after me and caught up.
She asked, "Aren't you going to test drive your new toy?"
"Not right now."
After a moment, she wore a small grin and asked, "Are you sure you aren't just a little afraid of it?"
"Answer your own question, ma'am. How does that idea line up with what you know about me?"
Lori was silent for a brief time, then admitted, "Yeah, I see what you mean. Okay, then, why not test it now?"
"To go where and why?" I stopped my board. Lori continued downward a hundred yards and looped to return.
"Lori, that bullet-flitter is in reserve for when I need a fast ride somewhere or a bargaining chip. Right now I'm more concerned about how much we'll get done with Lisa here. In fact, now that you have a core of your own, I'm wondering if there's any good reason to keep you here in Spring Hill. When I said you could stay with me before we found that poison pill, the invitation didn't include your mum."
"Aunt."
Sipping coffee, I said, "Same thing in this case."
"Boy, she must really bug you."
"Just her hyper-concern. Were you serious about business as usual when we talked outside Joyce's door?"
Lori gave me an odd, appraising look, then nodded. "Yes."
"Then I'll talk with Angie about range time that would include Lisa. Depending on how she handles some of the exercises, things could get interesting."
"Sounds as if you think Angie will be okay with it."
"I don't see why she wouldn't be. Seeing how you handle Lisa will show her a lot about how you'll handle other emotional situations. Now I have another question. What should I say if Lisa suddenly becomes interested in me?"
Lori goggled at me as if she was shocked to her core. Well, maybe she was. She started to say something, stopped, and then started again, but nothing came out for a moment. After apparently gathering her thoughts, she cleared her throat and coolly asked, "Has she shown any interest so far?"
I shrugged. "Nothing I'd consider a pass, but she doesn't think I'm ugly and I'm betting one of her fears -- likely the biggest one of all -- is of losing you. That day you'd move out for good. All the stuff that goes with turning your kid loose in the world. When that day comes, how long will it be before she starts looking for ways to retain or regain contact? She won't be able to call you at work too often -- that would be disruptive -- so she'll look for a proxy, someone close enough to you that being with the proxy would guarantee fairly frequent contacts and meetings."
For a long few moments, Lori continued her stark stare at me, then her expression became troubled. She almost whispered, "Oh, damn. She really might do something like that."
"Yup. And if I made an excuse to decline -- not that I would -- she'd probably find reasons to visit Carrington in order to link up with someone there. Which might not be such a bad thing, really. She's old-school enough to think a woman needs a man in her life, but her attempts at dating after her hubby died haven't turned out too well. Carrington would be a good place to shop 'cuz they vet their people pretty well. Not many jerks or jackasses there."
Waving her hand in a 'stop' gesture, Lori said, "Just wait a minute. What did you mean 'not that you would'?"
"Well? You haven't committed to anything. Lisa's a good looking woman and no dummy. If she seems willing, why would I pass up a chance to tickle her fancy for a while?"
"For a while?"
"Yup. It wouldn't last very long after the first discussion of marriage." I sipped coffee and grinningly added, "But before she splits, I could make sure she's met some people on a social basis in a few 3rd World offices."
"But you'd be using her."
I chuckled, "And she'd be using me, don't forget. With any luck, we'd have a great time of it."
"You just keep your hands off her, Ed."
With a snorting laugh, I said, "That's almost exactly what she said. Let me play something back for you, ma'am."
Calling up a screen to show the flitter's recording of Lisa and me during dinner, I fast-forwarded until Lori and Joyce left the table, then touched the 'play' icon.
On the screen, Lisa watched them go, then looked at me and said softly, "You've been very quiet."
I shrugged. "You were deep into diets and stuff with Joyce. I don't diet and don't know much about them.
Lisa asked, "And Lori?"
"What about her?"
"She's almost never that quiet during dinner." A moment passed, then she asked, "Is there something going on between you two?"
"Don't I wish. She's kinda cute, y'know."
Lisa growled, "You keep your hands off her."
Dissolving the screen, I asked, "So... which of you ladies should I listen to?"
"If I tell her what you showed me just now, I can pretty much guarantee you won't get Aunt Lisa, either."
"Either? Ah-ha! When did you definitely decide I wouldn't 'get' you? Last night or just now?"
She snapped, "Just now, goddammit!"
"Thought so. Lori, if Lisa and I were to get together, she'd likely end up with some guy in 3rd World. If you tell her what I showed you -- and you'd have to tell her why I showed you, of course -- chances are she wouldn't try to connect with me. Either way works for me, ma'am. I'll just call poor little lonely Toni up in Inverness and see if she can somehow squeeze me into her hectic schedule."
Lori gloweringly snapped, "I hope she squeezes you into a goddamned wall locker. She looks like she could do that."
"Yeah, she's pretty fit. Um... Is that jealousy, ma'am?"
"Ha! You wish! No, Ed, it's plain damned anger! You just said it wouldn't matter which of us you got your hands on!"
I grinned, said, "No, not exactly. Run it all through your head again a few times. Look a little deeper," then I spurred the board and headed for the house.
Lori linked and yelled, "What?! What the hell are you talking about?!" and caught up with me about a mile above the ground.
I sent back, "It's like my teleportation trick, sweetie. Try to figure it out. I'll tell you if you're right."
"To hell with that! You'll tell me now!"
I laughed, "Or what? Lori, your Aunt Lisa will only be at risk of having a good time and meeting new people. Are you gonna screw that up for her before you even know why it may happen? If so, you'll only be messing up her world, not mine."
"I don't want to see her hurt, Ed!"
Landing on my porch, I said, "Neither do I. Women tend to look for extended 'relationships', Lori. She'd soon come to see me as a lost cause the same way Jessie did. By then, she'd know some people in 3rd World."
Following me into the house, Lori asked, "Has it occurred to you that I could introduce her to people in 3rd World?"
"Sure has. Feel free to give it a shot."
"You think I won't?"
I shrugged. "Nah. I'm sure you'd be very selective, too."
"Of course I'd be selective! Wouldn't you?"
"Nope. Selection is her job. All she really needs is a good reason to be there."
As I poured a fresh coffee from the pot, Lori sat down at the kitchen table and asked, "Do you really see yourself as some kind of a lost cause, Ed?"
I joined her at the table and laughed, "Oh, hell, no. But at some point, women start to try to change things about men. Clothes first, usually. Or the car. Or, if they move in, they start shuffling things around. I've never had a woman around who didn't. Most of them didn't stay more than a few months, though."
"Why?"
"Because I kept shuffling things back where I wanted them. I wouldn't change myself or my world to suit them." I chuckled, "Sooner or later they wandered off to find a man who would. Most of 'em are still friends -- or at least not enemies -- 'cuz we didn't argue about it."
Giving me a very skeptical look, Lori asked, "How did you manage to avoid arguing about it?"
"By not arguing, of course. If the topic was about changing me and she insisted on yakking about it, I took a ride, went to play pool, or anything else that came to mind. Now, what about trying to find some way to block each other out?"
Lori eyed me for a time, then asked, "How do we start?"
"Damned if I know. We've been relying on good manners so far. None of us would simply open a channel and start yakking; we waited for an acknowledgment. Since the idea is to block a link, let's see if one of us can actually prevent one from..."
Looking confused, Lori raised a hand and blurted, "Hey, wait a minute! That isn't how you said it works! You said..."
I interrupted her with, "When everybody's going by the same rules and nobody just blats stuff out, that is how it works. But we can't trust a dream to be that polite." Trying to look a bit dismayed, I said, "Who knows? Some night you might dream about me and pop into my head stark naked. I'd be absolutely mortified, of course."
Her face had fallen open at the word 'naked', but it closed and turned wry with the word 'mortified'.
"Yeah, I'll bet. Okay, let's get to this. You start."
"Why me? If I'm asleep, how am I gonna keep you from popping in like that? For that matter, why would my dreaming mind want to stop you?"
She yelped, "Why the hell do you persist in suggesting I'd be the one popping in naked?! You're the one who came up with sharing dreams in the first place!"
Trying to look insulted, I replied, "Yes, I did, and I've yet to receive any proper credit for it."
"Dammit, we're here to find an answer, but you're treating the whole thing as a joke."
"Well, sure. I thought it was kind of funny."
She stated firmly, "No, it wasn't."
"That's just your opinion, sweetie. I suggest that we have our cores monitor us for attempted links while we sleep."
Lori looked thoughtful. "You mean, if your core knows you're asleep, it would interrupt any attempt to link?"
"I was thinking more like 'intercept', kind of like an answering machine. After all, only one of us may be asleep and it might be an emergency call." I grinned. "But I'm still more worried that you'll just pop in naked and take advantage of me."
Rolling her eyes, Lori replied, "Yeah, right. Do you really think this would work?"
"Think of a reason it wouldn't. Ask your core."
"I will. Have you asked yours?"
"Nope. I already know they can do it. Y'know, we could be missing out on a real good time by setting up blocks."
Rolling her eyes again, Lori exasperatedly sighed, "Oh, God, would you just give it a rest?! The last thing I'd ever want to do is let anyone into my dreams! That's just too damned spooky for me, Ed. Dreams are just too damned personal."
I shrugged. "Whatever. Your call. I think it would be worth trying at least once, though."
"No. Tell Athena to start blocking. Or intercepting. Or whatever you want to call it. No links while we're sleeping."
Heh. Too easy to tease. I said, "You first, ma'am. For all I know, you'd let me block my outgoing links, then make a surprise attack some night." Shrugging slightly again, I added, "I'd have to put up at least token resistance, of course."
Lori snorted a chuckle. "Just tell her to start blocking. Now."
Doing my best to look dejected, I sighed, "Ohhkaay. Athena, if Lori links to me, verify that she's awake, please. If she's asleep, reroute the link back to her."
Lori asked, "Do what? Why?"
"It would be a kind of feedback loop."
Looking somewhat exasperated, Lori said, "That's obvious, but a feedback loop for what purpose?"
"Where else should she route it? And... Athena, if she tries to link to me while she's asleep, wake her up." With a smug grin, I said, "That ought to keep your libido in check, sweetie."
Lori mockingly mimicked my grin, then said, "I'm about to knock you on your ass, dude. Just a minute." She gave her core the same sort of instructions, then asked, "Do you really think that will cover it?"
I shrugged. "Damned if I know. Maybe we'll find out some night. At any rate, we can fine-tune things later. How's your progress with your core?"

Chapter Thirty-four

Sometimes I ask questions to see how someone will react, not necessarily to hear whatever answer they may produce. Lori blinked at me and seemed to take a second to switch tracks, then looked thoughtful as she leaned forward on her elbows.
"Okay, I guess, but sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get all the info about something at once."
"I'll bet you ask, 'why the hell didn't you show me that before?' and it says, 'because you didn't ask'?"
Looking surprised, Lori blurted, "Exactly!"
"I used to get that a lot. It still happens every once in a while, but nowhere near as often. I learned how to better... 'phrase'... my searches. You will too, eventually, and your core will become a little more intuitive."
My implant pinged with Angie's chimes. I held up a hand to halt conversation and answered, "Hi, Major Angie. What's up?"
"Hi, Dragonfly. Is Lori there?"
'Dragonfly'? I sent a probe to her office and saw two men and a woman sitting in front of her desk.
"Yup. Got her out plowing the back forty, but I think she and the mule are plotting a revolt. Wanna talk to her?"
Angie chuckled, "Yes, please. I think she should be included."
When I put up a screen, Angie said, "Hi, Lori. I called because I've received some info I think you both should know. The order to place the tracking device came from the White House. We aren't sure -- yet -- which office or individual is responsible, but we're still investigating and we have a likely suspect."
I said, "Bet all you'll find is plausible deniability in that place. Any word on how the tracking device became a poison pill?"
"We have what looks like a good lead on that, but it may take about two days to mill it down."
Lori asked, "Mill it down?"
Angie chuckled, "Yeah, that's what I call it. We're sifting through over two months of recordings and partial recordings from every office, bathroom, and hallway in the White House."
Putting on a skeptical face, I asked, "Every office?"
Nodding, Angie repeated firmly, "Every office. Staffers often confer in the Oval Office when the President isn't in it." Looking at Lori, she added, "By the way, you're known as 'the UE' in DC. That's short for 'Unknown Element'."
I said, "Kewl. Do I have a nickname, too?"
Angie grinned. "Several, but most of them aren't very nice."
"Figures. Any orders or suggestions?"
Leaning back in her chair, Angie said, "As it happens, yes. We'd like to have Lori back here tomorrow. Captain Wallace has expanded her training curriculum." Turning her gaze to Lori, she said, "We've decided you need to know about intelligence and counterintelligence tactics and techniques."
Lori sat straight with a surprised look and asked, "You're going to make me a spy?"
"No, just less susceptible. Fran Lewis said none of us would have fallen for the 'friendly dentist' trick and she was right."
I asked, "Fran Lewis?"
"She came to us from the CIA two months ago."
"Lemme guess; she probably said now's the time to get out of there if you value your career?"
"Something like that. She thinks the current administration is a bad bet for support in a crisis." With a small smile, she added, "In fact, she believes the current administration directly caused the current crisis."
Lori asked, "What crisis?"
I said, "Exposed agents. Subpoenas. Activists following agents home and taking pictures. The agency's being punished for putting national security above the whims of the latest regime. The same kind of thing happened back when Jimmy Carter was in office. Carter appointed a new CIA chief who fired six hundred people in covert ops." I grinned. "Carter paid for that later. They all worked their butts off to get Reagan elected."
Looking thoughtful, Lori asked, "Wasn't Carter in office when Iran took over the US embassy?"
"Yup. The Operation Eagle Claw rescue attempt killed nine people when helicopters crashed in a sandstorm. Some jerk at the White House tried to put the blame on bad intel, but certain 'unknown elements' at the CIA offered to publicize everything about the mission." I chuckled, "If you knew how poorly the CIA regards the media, you'd also know why that was a gigantic leap for them. It shows just how determined they were to fight being scapegoated and abused by what many regard as the most ineffectual administration in US history. The hostages were released twenty minutes after Reagan won the election and a lot of people thought Reagan had made some kind of a deal to get the hostages out. Maybe he did, but after 444 days in captivity, I sincerely doubt the hostages objected in the least."
Lori glanced at Angie as if for a second opinion and Angie said, "I'd have to look it up."
I said, "Do that sometime. You'll see the parallels and it'll give you a deeper sense of why Lewis feels as she does."
"Okay. In the meantime, how about having Lori here at nine in the morning? My office."
"No problem."
"See you then. Thanks, Ed. Bye, all." Angie poked her 'off' icon. I said, "She'll prob'ly call back shortly. That was an unsecured comm link."
"Unsecured?"
"Oh, yeah. Very unsecured. There were three people in her office. When she pinged me, she called me 'Dragonfly', so I sent a probe. Why did she call me? Why wouldn't she call you directly? And why would she feel a need to tell either of us how little progress has been made in DC? Or that they have a suspect, but have about two days worth of info-milling to do?"
Lori shrugged. "To keep us informed?"
I chuckled, "Less than likely, ma'am."
She canted her head. "To inform someone else, then?"
"Much more likely. It's also likely that one of the people in her office is suspected of being involved somehow or expected to pass the info to someone who was involved."
Lori pondered that for a moment, then asked, "To see if they'll do something? Like make a run for it?"
"That or get a lawyer and try to make a deal."
"So she was just fishing?"
"Maybe, but I'd guess they probably know who did it and want undeniable evidence before they move. That means the real target has serious rank in the government."
"Or works for someone who does."
"That, too." My implant pinged and I answered, "Hi, Angie."
She put up a screen this time. Taking a sip from her mug, she set it down and said, "Hi, Ed. Hi, Lori. That was quite a little speech about Carter."
"Just filler material, but true. Which one's the suspect?"
Angie grinned. "None of them, but one reports to the suspect. Your room at guest quarters is waiting for you."
"Whoa. You said to deliver Lori. You didn't say anything about delivering me, Major Angie."
Her left eyebrow arched. "I expected you to want to stick close to her. What's changed?"
"Is this line secure? Really secure?"
"I'm alone. That's the best I can do until after six."
Glancing at Lori, I considered matters for a moment. What the hell; Angie would have to know about her core eventually.
I said, "Athena has a sibling."
Angie gave that a moment of thought, then looked at Lori. In a rather flat tone, Angie responded, "I see. I suppose it's too late to object? If anyone here actually did object, that is?"
"Yup. Done dunnit."
This time her pause was more than a few beats, but she ended it with, "Well, then, we'll have to redesign her training accordingly. Ed, I'd like you here in the morning, too. Later, people."
She tapped her 'off' icon. For a long moment, Lori looked where the screen had been, then said softly, "Ed, this time she really was pissed."
I shrugged. "It's just a little 'I wasn't consulted' tension. She'll be okay after she realizes nothing's really changed much." Meeting her gaze, I added, "And so will you."
Looking somewhat incredulous, Lori asked, "What do you mean, 'nothing's really changed much'? Of course things have changed, and they've changed a lot!"
"Think so, huh? Sure, you have more core-assisted field power. Preprogrammed flitters. Access to a knowledge base. That's all fine, but field use protocols are still in effect and you seem to be an inherently good person. They'll soon realize there's nothing new to worry about."
"Nothing new? What were they worried about before?"
"Youth, inexperience, temper, wisdom. For a while, they'll worry about how you'll handle having that much power at your command, but that won't last long for most of them."
Sounding a bit skeptical, Lori asked, "How can you be so sure of that?"
"Think about it, ma'am. Is it in your nature to hurt people or animals? To damage property? If so, you keep it well hidden."
Lori shook her head. "No. That isn't me."
"Right, then. How do you handle anger? If you get really pissed, will you go apeshit and trash a city like one of those Japanese movie monsters?"
She grinned and snickered, "No. I might go look for something more expendable, though. Maybe some big rocks."
"Or even an iceberg?"
Lori laughed, "Yeah. I could do a big ice sculpture. That ought to help me work off a snit."
After sharing a laugh and a sip of coffee, I said, "But beyond all that is the matter of control. They won't ever fully trust you, Lori. Angie may even think she does at some point, but there'll always be that tiny element of doubt, and it'll come to the surface in times of stress. You'll go on a dozen missions or more before that doubt will fade to something they can override or ignore."
"That sounds like experience talking."
"You bet it is. I was back in the saddle with Linda for over a year before she finally realized she could fully trust me."
"Back in the saddle?"
"I came out of retirement to bodyguard an Amaran. Once that job was done, I re-retired, but something came up at the factory station. I'd say that was the incident that truly erased Linda's doubts about me."
Sitting a bit straighter, Lori asked, "You mean because you killed that guy?"
"No, because she knew I'd fully expected to blow up with him, but I stopped him from reaching the corridor anyway."
Lori just stared at me for a moment, then asked, "You really thought you'd be blown up?"
"He had a backpack full of plastique explosive. If Stephanie hadn't put up a massive deflecting field, I might not be here."
Calling up a screen, I showed her Steph's video of the event from the time I spoke with Brinks to his explosion. When it ended, Lori asked, "Wasn't there any other way to stop him?"
"Not that I could see. Nothing else had worked."
Lori replayed the video and said softly, "I'm not sure I could have made that decision, Ed."
I chuckled, "Bullshit. You wouldn't have been able to live with yourself if you'd let him kill six hundred people. I'll very loosely quote Col. Dave Grossman here. He basically said people can be divided into three main categories; sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. A high percentage are sheep. They don't like violence and depend on cops, firemen, and soldiers." I shrugged. "Any threat will do. A sheepdog will step up to deal with it."
Sipping coffee, I said, "But there's a price. Most sheep are as uncomfortable about sheepdogs as they are about wolves, 'cuz in order to be an effective sheepdog, you need some very wolf-like traits. Capacity for aggression. Willingness to accept risk. That means most of your real friends will always be other sheepdogs. No matter how often you battle for the flock, no matter how often the sheep call you a hero for some deed, you have traits and capabilities that make sheep inherently fear you."
Lori eyed me across the table for a time, then said, "I don't like thinking of other people as sheep."
"After a while it's almost unavoidable. Ask any cop. It isn't a bad thing, really. They're the productive members of society, the reason there's any society at all. Predators follow their instincts to prey on them. We follow ours to protect them."
"You make it all sound too simple."
"So fluff it up some. Dress it up any way you want. I never bothered much with packaging. Things are as they are. People are either good guys -- sheep or sheepdogs -- or they're bad guys."
That seemed to amuse her. She chuckled, "So, to you there's nothing in between?"
"What would it be? If you aren't causing harm or enabling someone else's harmful efforts, you aren't a bad guy."
"Ed, things aren't quite that black and white."
"Of course they are. Painting a jackal pink won't make it a champagne poodle, but there are people who'd try to believe it anyway or ignore the obvious for a number of reasons."
"What reasons?"
"Political convenience, like when money for something critical would delay or derail a politician's pet pork project. Like when someone uses misleading euphemisms to evade the use of a proper word that might create public objection for whatever's being done. How about some music?"
"Huh? Oh. Okay."
I pulled up a screen. "Want to pick something?"
Lori shook her head and gave me a wry little grin. "No, I'm still thinking about sheepdogs and pink jackals."
Sipping coffee, I touched Pink's 'Oh, My God' and Amy MacDonald's 'This is the Life' and 'Road to Home'. Lori heard the opening of the first tune and rolled her eyes as she laughed. I wondered if she'd have reacted the same way if I'd played the video for that song. Prob'ly not.
A flash of light at an odd angle through the kitchen window made me get up to look outside. Just a tow truck with a lot of aftermarket chrome turning the corner. Some pre-teen kids up the block were heaving a basketball at a street-side net. One of the little rotters looked about five and she couldn't even get the ball up to the hoop. The others teased her for missing. Heh. The next time she got the ball and tried a shot, I sort of helped, lifting the ball and neatly dropping it into the basket. She looked absolutely dumbfounded at that turn of events.
One of the kids tossed her the ball to try it again. I put the ball in the basket again. Consternation reigned on the court until one of the bigger kids went over to the girl and led her halfway across the street, then made her try a shot from there. She did, and the ball dropped cleanly into the basket, of course. More fuss and bother ensued.
My chuckle caught Lori's attention. She got up and joined me at the window, looked out, and then looked at me curiously.
"You don't like sports and you don't like kids. So why are you watching them and what's so funny?"
I said, "That little girl couldn't even hit the net from below, much less put one in the hoop. I decided to help her a little."
The big kid backed the little girl up another few yards and she prepared to throw the ball, but seemed to have no idea how to heave it that far. Holding it in both hands, she raised it high, but changed her mind. She finally decided to try it underhand from between her legs and put her whole little self into the effort with a big heave and a loud grunt.
When the ball left her hands, my field carried it in an arc to tap the backboard, then drop neatly into the hoop. Six of the kids went wild with enthusiasm. One -- the biggest one -- looked rather pissed as he ordered a smaller boy to fetch the ball.
The small kid heaved the ball to the big kid, who stood eyeing the little girl as he hefted the ball. I realized what he was going to do just as he did it. The little bastard slung the ball hard at the little girl's face.
My bolt of field energy intercepted the ball about halfway to the little girl and sent it flying up the street. A loud 'whang' reached us in the kitchen as the ball bounced a few times and disappeared into someone's bushes five houses away from the little group.
I looked at the perfect circle of the fist-sized hole in my kitchen window and sighed, "Well, damn," then sent a somewhat gentler probe to swat the big kid in the back of the head. He yelped and spun and I had the probe swat him again. He spun again and took two steps back as he frantically looked around. When the probe smacked him a third time, he turned and ran.

Chapter Thirty-five

Pink's sultry song ended as Lori reached to touch the hole in the window and chuckled, "We all make mistakes, huh?"
I gave her a sidelong glance and said, "Nobody's perfect."
Amy MacDonald's 'This is the Life' began playing and Lori's eyes got big as her mouth fell open.
She yelped, "That's Amy MacDonald!"
"Yeah, I think I even remember playing it."
"No! I mean... You listen to her stuff?!"
"Some of it. Some not. Athena, would you please fix my kitchen window? If you need some glass, let me know."
Athena replied, "I require one-point-one ounces of glass."
Reaching in a cupboard, I chose an old jelly glass and set it in the sink. "Here it is, ma'am."
The jelly glass lifted and heated until it glowed. Unseen fields pulled it apart like taffy and lifted one of the resulting lumps through the hole in the window, where it turned dark grey as it hovered outside. Above the sink, the bigger blob floated up to the window. A field held plastic screening away from the window as the new glass merged with the old.
The blob outside began to flatten and thin. After a few moments, a new patch of screen floated to the old screen and merged perfectly with it. The last bit of glass hovering above the sink had become a sphere that settled to the kitchen counter. I caught it as it rolled toward me.
"Thank you, Athena. You've saved me a trip to the hardware store and probably an hour of work."
Holding the inch-wide glass sphere up to the light, I saw no bubbles or flaws. Returning to the table, I sipped coffee and fielded the glass sphere into the living room to set it on the sofa chair. Tiger and Annabelle would find it eventually.
Lori sat down at the table and said, "I can't believe you listen to Amy MacDonald. I can't believe you've even heard of her."
"Don't know why. She's on the charts. I go to the Billboard site and listen to samples of new stuff. If a title doesn't have a sample, I check at Youtube." Sipping my coffee, I added, "2009 was a crappy year for pop and rock. So were 2007 and 2008, for that matter."
"Some people would disagree."
I shrugged. "Don't care. I like what I like, and I damned sure didn't like most of the 'jump-on-the-money-train' copycat rap crap the music industry stamped out. There's too little originality in the mainstream stuff."
Amy finished her song and I poked Petra Haden's version of 'Let Your Love Flow', then 'Rakes of Kildare' on a hammered dulcimer and Dante Bucci's 'Reminiscence' on a hang drum. Petra's opening notes made Lori laugh.
"That's a Toyota commercial!"
"No, that's what they used as a sound track. Petra sings every single note. There are no other musical instruments in it."
Lori listened for a time, then shook her head wonderingly and sat back with a warped little grin. Her eyebrows went up briefly during the beginning of 'Rakes of Kildare', but she soon closed her eyes and just listened. Bucci's 'Reminiscence' made her smile and move a bit with the music.
"What is that? It sort of sounds like a steel drum, but the notes aren't as... well... buzzy, I guess. They're softer."
"It's called a hang drum and it looks like a flying saucer."
Lori closed her eyes and I felt a field as she contacted her core. A moment passed and she said, "It does, doesn't it? This says they're only made by a company in Switzerland."
"Two guys invented it and hold the patent. They're the only ones who make it, but there are cheaper knockoffs and there's something similar called a 'Hapi drum'. That's h-a-p-i."
After another few moments, Lori said, "It looks odd, but it sounds cool. Linking to my core made me remember I need to spend some more time learning how to use her."
"Her?"
Nodding, Lori said, "I wasn't comfortable with that generic voice." She grinned. "It reminded me of a drag queen. You said you picked Stephanie's voice so you'd always hear it over anything else that was going on. I decided to do that, too. I had her watch all my mom's videotapes from when I was a kid and gave her my mother's voice. She doesn't have a name yet."
I chuckled, "Let me know how that works for you. A lot of kids don't seem to hear much of what their parents tell them."
Her wry little grin came back. "I did." Standing up, she said, "Thanks for the music. I'll be in my room."
"Got any interest in lunch?"
She shook her head. "I'm still working on breakfast. Later."
"Later."
Lori headed into the hallway and I put up a screen to check email and messages. That didn't take long; for some reason the discussion boards seemed exceptionally quiet. I decided to do some edits on my latest book and realized even as I called up the pending edits file that it was empty. Hm. Well, I hadn't really wanted to sit and type anyway. Getting up, I started toward the garage, but realized about halfway there that a bike ride wasn't really what I wanted, either.
No mystery. What I really wanted was in her bedroom. I decided something more than a bike ride was in order and went outside to call Galatea down. Once we were half a mile above town, I had her suit up as a P-51, set course for the Gulf of Mexico, and spent the next half-hour or so trying to rip her field-generated wings off.
Coming out of a tight right turn about eighty miles from shore, I saw a speck in the distance to the south. I knew I wasn't in or near any common flight paths, but I continued my turn to fly further out to sea. Throttling up to four hundred, I headed west for thirty seconds, then took a look behind me. Now there were two specks. They'd changed course to intersect me and grew larger quickly as they approached.
Damn. Prob'ly Air Force jets out of MacDill. In some irrational way that pissed me off. Can't even play with my toys over open water without somedamnedbody barging in. Next would come a call for ID, then an order to land. I could just disappear, but...
"No, goddammit. I'm not in the mood to disappear right now. Tea, what kind of planes are coming at us?"
"F-15C's, Ed."
"Then let's make this game more or less fair. Suit up as an unmarked, unarmed F-14D and figure the lack of armaments and all other unnecessary hardware into our maneuverability and speed. But don't let me feel more than five G's, no matter what I do. And mirror-finish the canopy, please. They don't need to see who's driving."
Galatea's right-angle wings swept back along the fuselage and her tail widened and split. My throttle was still high, so I got a kick in the back as her faux General Electric F110-GE-400 engines more than doubled our speed. I studied the Heads Up Display and refamiliarized with F-14 essentials.
"Ed, we're receiving a request for communication."
"Pantomime is a form of communication, Athena. Set up Ed2 at the kitchen table, please. I may need to appear to be home to answer a call or two."
She did so. I gave Ed2 a vid screen with my latest chapters to make it look as if he was doing something. As an afterthought, I also made a copy of my coffee mug appear on the table. Sure enough, no sooner than Ed2 was in place, I received a ping from Angie. Turning off the sound of twin jet engines, I linked through Ed2, split his vid screen so my scribbles were on the right, and put Angie on the left.
Through Ed2, I said, "Hi, Major Angie."
She glanced at the right side of her screen, then focused on Ed2 as she said, "Hi, Ed. Do you know anything about an unidentified aircraft above your part of Florida?"
"Some kind of a jet buzzed the area, then headed west." Making Ed2 mimic my facial expression, I lifted an eyebrow and said, "Lemme guess; because damned few jets fly in this area, you automatically figured it was me messing with a flitter, right?"
Without a visible shred of remorse, she replied, "Not exactly, but we did consider that possibility."
"Uh, huh. Oh, in case you're wondering, Lori's in her room. Want me to call her in here?"
Glancing to her left for a moment, Angie said, "Thanks anyway. Sorry to bother you. Later," and poked her 'off' icon.
I left Ed2 in place and maintained my link to it as I turned up the engine sound and returned my attention to flying my fake F-14. When the other jets were only a few miles behind me, I banked left, then right, did three barrel rolls, leveled out at two thousand feet, and slowed down to four hundred.
The other jets caught up quickly and flew alongside. The pilot on my right made some hand gestures. I watched and waited. He went through the gestures again.
When I raised the nose a bit, they matched the move. I went to afterburners for three full seconds, and then throttled back, deployed air brakes, and spread the wings. The other jets shot past me at full power. Heh. Backing down to four hundred, I slipped left and right to pretend to get target locks on them, then held a steady course at two-sixty degrees.
A few seconds later, they were side by side with me again. The pilot on my right went through another few gestures. I boosted my speed a hundred. They caught up with me. I upped it another hundred. They continued to flank me. Altitude six thousand. Room enough. Throttling back and furling my fake bird's wings, I rolled the jet on its side, nosed down, and let it drop two full seconds. Re-spreading the wings for low speed control and banking left, I throttled up on a course of two-forty degrees.
My fake F-14 shot southwest. Again furling the wings as my speed passed six hundred, I pulled the nose up thirty degrees, went to afterburners, and hauled ass with the other two jets only a couple of miles behind me. We ripped around the sky for about half an hour. I don't know or care how many times they might have had target locks on me. Nobody fired, so it didn't matter. At a spot about two hundred miles from both Cuba and Mexico, the jets broke off and established an orbit over a patch of ocean.
As expected, Mexican jets had come to meet me. They arced to my right and left to get behind me as I pulled up a local map. Highway 295 between Rio Lagartos and Loche would do. There weren't any mountains to get lost in, but I could pretend to land on the road, then disappear while the Mexican jets circled.
They fell into position just off each wing and the pilot on my right made gestures. I ignored him and looked for a sharp bend in 295 about halfway to Loche. Traffic was sparse. What had been yellow-marked as a major highway on the map turned out to be the same two-lane road I'd driven in 1970. I landed the F-14 sim and the Mexican jets banked left to orbit. When the low hills briefly blocked my view of the jets, I had Galatea cancel the F-14 sim, switch to a refractive field, and head back to Florida.
Activity in the kitchen made me focus through Ed2. Lori went to the fridge, got a tea and opened it, and took a seat across the table from Ed2. After a sip, she asked, "Where's the real you?"
"Passing the north end of Cuba. Be there in fifteen or so."
Sipping again, she asked, "Aren't you at all curious about how I knew this wasn't you?"
"Well, that depends, ma'am. If you aren't going to say you felt a field in the kitchen, then of course I'd be curious."
Her gaze narrowed slightly. "You're too damned smart sometimes."
"Sorry. But you weren't fooled, so go ahead and gloat."
Sitting back, Lori sighed, "It's just not the same when you have permission. What have you been doing?"
"Playing tag with a couple of Air Force jets. Wanna see?"
She smiled and nodded. "Yeah."
"Stay on the line, then. I'll tap Athena for a playback."
As the replay started, the overwhelming screams of twin jet engines practically rattled our teeth. I quickly dropped the sound to a muted roar. We saw a 360-degree view of the world from the center of the flitter's deck, which at that time was a spot about a foot behind the simulated F-14's cockpit. I watched slight atmospheric clouding over the leading edges of the wings and tail and realized I'd never seen my sim flights from this sort of viewpoint before. Kewl.
As I flicked the wing and tail flaps, the world receded, tilted, and spun. The other two jets were visible most of the time, though sometimes only just barely due to either distance or quick directional changes.
A 'crunk' sort of sound through the Ed2 link made me glance at the table. Lori's grip on her tea can had dented the sides. She sat staring blankly across the table, her eyes and mouth open wide. After another moment, she closed her mouth and swallowed, then closed her eyes. Apparently that didn't work too well for her. Lori's head and upper torso moved with the actions of the jet for a time, then her eyes snapped open and focused on Ed2. She looked a little green as she drew a deep breath, then let it out slowly as the movie in her head continued.
During one particularly stressful maneuver, Lori grabbed the edge of the table and grinningly muttered, "Ohhh, Jeezuuusss!"
Sandy appeared in the seat to my left at the kitchen table, observed us for a short time with a small smile, and then gave me a curt nod and vanished. Hm. Wonder what that was about?
Sounds outside made me make Ed2 sit a bit taller to look out the kitchen window. Across the street, a man got out of a white car and walked around it once, kicking the tires, but I noticed his real attention seemed to be on my house. The guy reached into the car's front passenger window, then the trunk popped open.
I said, "Athena, something's happening in front of my house. A guy's acting as if he has a tire problem, but he doesn't."
"I'm aware of his activities, Ed."
"Good deal, ma'am. Thank you."
A light blue car rolled down the hill from Deltona Boulevard and stopped about four houses away from the corner. I sent a probe in that direction and saw the driver was holding a piece of paper against the steering wheel as if reading it, but that his eyes were actually focused beyond it.
I had the probe circle the car once. Florida rental license plates. I sent the probe back to the car faking a flat. Also rental plates. The guy pretending to have a tire problem also pretended to use a cell phone and turned his back to an SUV that passed him on its way to the corner, then he looked around. He froze briefly and his gaze lingered a little too long on the other car. When I turned the probe to see what he was seeing, the guy in the other car was looking through small black binoculars.
Standing Ed2 up, I stopped Lori's jet show feed and sent Ed2 to the window as I said, "Lori, we have company."
As if coming out of a trance, she asked, "What?"
"Company. Look out the window."
She got up quickly and went to stand beside Ed2. The guy at the fake-flat car seemed startled to see us, but he got over it quickly and reached into the trunk. The other car began moving slowly forward, as if in anticipation.
I said, "If it's a hit and run, I'll bet he's got an RPG."
Lori asked, "A what?" then her eyes got big as the guy produced an M72 light antitank weapon. He quickly yanked the end caps off, slid the tube back, knelt and lifted the LAW to his shoulder, aimed at our window, and fired.
Lori screamed and dropped flat. I didn't bother ducking, thinking the house field would stop it, so I was rather startled when twin foot-wide pillars of white light speared the round halfway to the house.
There was a bright flash, a sharp clap of thunder, and a visible shock wave that somehow contained itself within my yard. I looked for a crater or a hole, but there wasn't one. A bird fell from the oak tree, but it didn't reach the ground; I felt the field that gently caught it and set it on the plastic porch bench.
The man who'd fired the LAW had slumped to the ground. Backblast from the launcher had set the car's trunk on fire. I sent a field to smother it. The other car hurried around the corner and parked next to the downed man. The driver scrambled around the car to toss the spent LAW into his car through the open passenger window, then he opened the rear door and tried to heave the unconscious man into the car. I stunned him, then gave them both a second stun on general principles.
On her feet again, Lori yelled, "What the hell just happened?!"
"He missed. Ask Athena. And stay in the house."
Guiding Ed2 outside, I asked Athena for a flitter, then directed it to use stealth mode and take the two guys and the used LAW aboard quickly. As it did so, I kneed the car's rear door shut and took a look in the first car's trunk. Another LAW lay half-concealed under a charred sleeping bag.
I closed the trunk lid and checked both cars for keys. Yup, in the ignition. Guiding Ed2 into the second car's driver's seat, I moved the car to park it behind the first one. After sending a copy of the incident to Angie, I headed back to the house.
The bird was no longer on the porch bench when I entered the house. Lori stared at Ed2 as I seated him at the kitchen table. She started to speak just as Angie called.
I put up a screen and preempted whatever Angie seemed ready to say with, "Hi, Major Angie. I need a cleanup team."
She shot back, "Already on the way from Tampa. Five minutes or less. Sitrep."
"No change. Two stunned shooters and a used LAW aboard a flitter. Two rental cars, one of which contains an unused LAW. No casualties and no damage."
"How's Lori?"
"Um... I just said 'no casualties', milady Major."
"I'm not asking if she's hurt. How's she taking it?"
I turned the screen toward Lori. She said, "I'm okay," but she had a case of the shakes as she leaned on the counter.
I said, "She'll prob'ly survive, I guess."
Angie snapped, "Lori, why the hell aren't you wearing your PFM?"
A bit startled by her tone, Lori said, "I, uh... We didn't think I'd need it inside the house... and my arm itched."
Like a chastising parent, Angie firmly snapped, "I-couldn't-reach-you-Lori. Put it on, and if you take it off again, I'll have the damned thing super-glued to your butt."
I said, "No, Angie. She won't wear a bugged PFM in my house. It would be the same as bugging me. And since you just talked to her, you rather obviously could reach her, ma'am. And a PFM p-field wouldn't be worth spit against a LAW round, but our cores zapped the damned thing out of existence."
Angie looked ready to explode as I arrived above my house and descended. Hopping off the flitter in the back yard, I quietly let myself into the screen porch, then began easing open the sliding glass door to the living room.
Visibly containing herself, Angie said, "Ed, she'll only be there until tomorrow."
I reiterated, "No bugs in my house." To try to defuse matters a bit, I said, "Angie, I know you're concerned about her, but there's no need for close surveillance here."
A chair scooted at Angie's end and Wallace appeared beside her. He eyed me for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay. No surveillance there. Anything else to report?"
I made Ed2 shake his head. "Nope."
Nodding again, he said, "In that case, we'll get back to work here. Good work, Ed. Later." He tapped their 'off' icon.
Sliding the glass door shut behind me, I let Ed2 vanish as I crossed the living room and had Galatea merge with and absorb the clone flitter. When I asked Tea to scan the guys for ID, she found drivers licenses with one bank credit card for each license. Nothing else. No pictures, no other credit cards, no notes or other personal items in their wallets.
Their licenses were fake, but their fingerprints belonged to a Brit and a Dutchman well known to Interpol. Athena found sparse evidence that they'd worked as a team in a few other countries. They'd been in Atlanta for almost a month. Taking a break? Waiting for the next job?
Nothing could be found that would link them to the feds, 3rd World Products, Earth First, or One Earth. Well, that figured, really. Not having affiliations meant they could take anybody's money. Someone had likely made a phone call to a disposable number with instructions. There'd have been cash payment in a drop. They'd have rented two cars in case one had to be used to create a distraction. Sipping coffee, I felt a strong field approach from the south.
When I sent a ping to the incoming flitter, a man answered, "Security officer Teller here. Your cleanup crew has arrived."
"Keys are in both cars and I'll have my flitter transfer the prisoners to yours. Thanks for being so quick."
"No problem, sir. Being quick is part of the job."
Their flitter was also in stealth mode. I watched through the kitchen window as two guys magically appeared in the street, got in the cars, and drove away.

Chapter Thirty-six

Lori had taken a seat at the kitchen table. I continued watching the streets. Maybe another two minutes passed before a Sheriff's car turned onto my street from Northcliffe. He parked across the street and chatted on his radio, then got out and looked around. Another Sheriff's car turned onto my street from Chase Street and pulled up beside the first car. That deputy got out and spoke with the first deputy, then the first one again used his radio.
After a few moments, the second deputy shook his head and went back to his car. The first deputy sat down in his car and continued to talk on his radio. A minute or so later, they left in opposite directions.
When I turned around, Lori sipped her drink, set it down carefully, and said, "Okay, I thought about it, like you said. That is, I asked my core what happened. She showed me. Now I really see what you meant about having a guardian angel. She said either of their beams could have dealt with that rocket."
With a shrug, I said, "They probably didn't bother discussing which one should zap it. I was kind of surprised they didn't let the house field handle it. I was also kind of surprised there wasn't a lot more noise and ancillary damage."
"Xenia said they put containment fields around it before they shot it."
I chuckled, "Xenia, huh?"
"I named her for my great-grandmother."
"Ah. Well, that'll work. Cool name, too. Athena, please contact Xenia and have her install a house field like mine at Lori's house."
"Yes, Ed."
"Thanks, Athena."
Lori sat up straight with a quizzical look. I had her contact Xenia to look over the specs and suggested she call her grandmother to let her know not to panic.
"Panic? Why would she panic?"
"The hardware has to get into the house. It would be less disturbing for your granny if she knew what was happening."
Sudden realization crossed her face. "Oh, my Gawd! Yes, it definitely would." Lori stood up, whipped out her cell phone, and poked a number. A few moments passed, then she said, "Hi, Gran, it's me. Look, something's about to happen there and I want to tell you about it, okay? Yes. About to happen. No, it isn't any kind..." She rolled her eyes and raised her voice a bit to say, "No. No, Gran. Just listen, okay?"
Wandering away from the table into the living room, Lori tried to explain what was going on. I contacted Xenia through Athena. She said the field generator would be ready in seven minutes. I said, "Excellent, Xenia. Use stealth mode and take it into the house through the back door, please. No need to upset the neighbors."
Apparently Lori had some success with her granny. By their conversation, it was obvious when the field generator arrived and floated through the house to take a position in the attic. Lori soon said goodbye to her granny and called Lisa with the news. Lisa asked to speak to me.
I put up a screen, linked it through the cell connection, and put up a second screen at Lisa's end. She hopped back with a squeak, then stood straight and said, "Lori said this was your idea."
Her tone was rather accusatory.
"That it was, ma'am."
"Then you'd better have a damned good reason. Let's hear it."
"You could try asking nicely."
"What? Why the hell should I? I don't remember you asking my permission to install anything in my house!"
"Lori's core made it and installed it. I just suggested it."
She snapped, "Then we're back to 'why', aren't we?!"
I said, "No, we aren't," and turned the screen to face Lori. Turning to Lori, I said, "That particular tone annoys the hell out of me. You tell her why. Show her a vid, too. I don't want to hear any more about it until someone wants to say 'thanks'."
Lori stared wide-eyed at me for a moment, then turned to the screen and said in a frosty tone, "Watch this, Aunt Lisa."
What followed was a replay of the LAW attack. I got up and went out to the porch, but I wasn't in the mood for a scaldingly bright sunny day and headed for the garage. After propping the roll-up door open with a four-foot board, I began torque-checking all the exposed bolts on my bike. It's a recommended quarterly procedure that hardly anyone ever actually performs, but I've lost bolts on other bikes.
When voices in the kitchen got loud enough to hear through the garage wall, I paused to listen, but the voices quickly softened. I continued checking bolts. Another few moments passed, then I heard Lori yell, "Agh!" or maybe "Damn!"
I heard the front door close rather firmly and footsteps on the porch, then a rapid stamping of feet and another "Agh!"
Four bolts to go. Good timing, however inadvertent. I began using the torque wrench on the remaining bolts as Lori ducked under the garage door and stood watching silently. When I finished and put the wrench away, I sipped my coffee and said, "Hi, there. Feeling any better yet?"
Lori sipped and shook her head. Tight, quick, nervous little motions. She put the can down on the work table so carefully it was as if she was trying to avoid making any sound.
In a flat tone, she said, "Ed, that man tried to kill us."
"Oh, good. You were paying attention after all."
She gave me a dour expression, then looked at her left hand. It still trembled a bit, but how much of that was residue from her chat with Lisa?
I said, "Being shot at can leave you feeling a little tense."
She stared at me briefly, then snorted a laugh. "No shit! How come you aren't 'tense'?"
"It isn't the first time someone's shot at me."
"Yeah? When was the first time?"
"1966. I had a part time job at a gun range. A full-choke shotgun that was supposed to have been unloaded and left in a rack by the door fell over in the main club room and went off when it hit the floor. It blew a hole in the Coke machine about six inches from my left ankle."
Her left eyebrow went up. "So it was an accident?"
"Yup."
"Then that isn't the same at all, is it? He wasn't actually shooting at you."
I chuckled, "Nor at the Coke machine, but someday you'll learn that intentions aren't worth puppy shit, ma'am. He hit the motor. The Coke machine died a gory screaming death."
Lori chortlingly echoed, "A gory screaming death?"
"Yup. Oily gunk dribbled all over the floor. The motor seized up and screamed, then the machine started smoking. I shoved the machine sideways, yanked the plug out of the wall, and grabbed the fire extinguisher, but no fire happened. We shoved the Coke machine out to the back porch. When I went back inside the club room, Mr. Clifton was chewing Frank Gartmon a new hole."
"Gartmon dropped the shotgun?"
"Yup. They decided to handle things quietly. A few days later, we had a new Coke machine and Gartmon gave me fifty bucks. He said it was all he could do to make up for things. I thanked him, then said it wasn't all he could do. You could have heard a pin drop in that room. He asked what I meant in an officious 'adult talking to a kid' tone. I said he could lock the breech open, check for brass, and put his gun in the rack like everybody else."
As I sipped coffee, Lori asked, "And...?"
"And when you're sixteen and you're criticizing someone who's fifty, that's when you look around at the group and ask, 'Isn't that right?' Everybody -- even Gartmon's shooting buddy -- agreed. That gave my boss the option of keeping me on instead of having to fire me for being insubordinate. It also locked in the idea that Gartmon would thereafter use the gun rack. He always thought he was above the rules. Kept his gun with him at the table. Tried to give people nicknames. When he tried that with me, I said I was happy enough with the name I had. He tried it anyway, so I ignored him all afternoon. He had to fetch his own clay birds and ammo and have his buddy launch the birds. We never got along very well until after he killed that Coke machine."
Lori laughed, "How did that help you get along with him?"
"Word got out. The old Coke box sat on the porch for two months and everybody knew who'd killed it and how. I guess he got tired of the jokes. He started using a range in Arlington."
"What was the nickname he tried to give you?"
"Gofer. Aside from working in the club store, I made tips by saving people trips to the clubhouse. I got range time, use of a club gun, and ammo for extra work. He once tried to get me fired 'cuz I wasn't old enough to rent a gun. Said if I couldn't rent one, I shouldn't be able to use one, either."
"Did you get fired?"
"Nope. Mr. Clifton -- my boss -- offered to ban him from the club for safety violations and notify all the other Dallas and Tarrant county clubs of the Coke machine incident. He then accused Gartmon of being jealous of a kid."
Lori grinned. "Was he?"
I returned her grin. "Could be. With free ammo, I got pretty good with a shotgun and sometimes I'd fill out a range team when somebody didn't show up. Since it was all unofficial, nobody cared that I usually shot from the hip. Well, nobody but Gartmon; he was the club's number two shooter for over a year. I was too young to participate in a regulation shoot. Everybody knew that was the only reason Gartmon held the official two slot and I had a birthday coming up that would make me eligible."
Realization dawned in Lori's face. She laughed, "Oh, my God! No wonder he didn't like you."
"Oh, but that wasn't all, ma'am. One day a sharp looking brunette showed up while I was shooting with a group. Gartmon tried to 'entertain' her for nearly fifteen minutes until I walked in. She got up and gave me a big hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. Clifton let me off the clock to visit with her."
"Your girlfriend?"
"Not at that point. Have you ever read my book 'Anne'?"
Lori's eyebrows arched. "It was her?! Oh, my."
"Yup. She'd been in town to see someone at the high school and she'd run into one of my sisters, who told her where I was working. Anne had a couple of hours to spare, so she came to see me. It was fifteen minutes into town, so we didn't leave the club; we settled in a corner booth to catch up. Even though she hadn't given Gartmon the time of day, he let me know later that he resented not being introduced."
"And you said..?"
"I asked why he thought I'd introduce him to anyone I'd want to keep as a friend, then clocked back in. Tell me something; have you ever looked into a concealed carry permit?"
The change of topics startled her. "A what? Uh, no. Until that night at the frat party, I've never wished I had a weapon."
"Never? Not ever?"
"Well, a few times I've wished I had a stick or something with me, just in case. Why?"
"Was the stick for dogs or men?"
She chuckled, "A few of each. Aunt Lisa would ask if there's really any difference."
I shrugged. "Sometimes there isn't much. Both can be well behaved and both can be predators."
"What made you ask me that?"
"Because now you're better armed than you'd be with a gun, ma'am. You can blast boulders like the one at the pond. If you aimed that much power at a man, some of him would be missing and you'd be in jail, self-defense or not."
"If it was self-defense, why would I be in jail?"
Sipping coffee, I said, "Mostly because the event would be highly unusual. After hauling away the corpse -- what they could find of it -- they'd automatically look for motive and opportunity to go with your extreme means. You'd be jailed for investigation, very likely without bond."
She shook her head, apparently totally dismissed my speculations, and said firmly, "I'd never do something like that."
I laughed, "Never say never. I've seen times when a stun could have made a situation worse and you haven't met some of the people I've met or seen what they've done. A concealed carry course would teach you about what's considered acceptable force and what to expect from the system afterwards."
Lori eyed me skeptically. I asked, "Ever wonder why there's usually a gun aboard my flitter?"
"Well... actually, yes, I have. It isn't as if you need one."
"Depends on the case. Sometimes I've needed a weapon because I was expected to have a gun and things wouldn't have looked right without one." I let that sit a minute, then added, "And when you carry one, the way you carry it will tell others whether it's just window dressing."
"Window dressing?"
"People walk differently when they hang an extra pound or so somewhere on themselves. Some can't help favoring the spot like an incipient itch. It can take a while to get past that phase. Others tend to continually check to make sure it isn't printing through their clothes when they move."
"Printing?"
"That's when the outline of the gun is visible."
Lori seemed to consider matters, then said, "Carrying a concealed weapon in Florida must be difficult. Most people just wear shirts or t-shirts."
I grinned. "There are ways, milady. I'd also like to discuss anonymity. Today, only a very few 3rd World people know you can do fields and they don't know much about what all you can do. If you'd like to retain some semblance of privacy, you might want to put together a field image for public use."
"Like your Ed3, you mean?"
"Nope. Yours prob'ly oughta be a hottie like you." She gave me a droll look. I grinned. "Silly questions get silly answers."
"You've been using fields since 2000 and you haven't needed a field image. Why would I?"
I laughed, "I'm not willing to believe you're that naive, Lori. Remember all the fuss when you officially returned from the canyon? You're a gorgeous young woman. Sooner or later something will force you to use your field abilities in public. When you do, you'll acquire a following like a pop star pretty much overnight. Some will quietly fall in love -- or maybe just in lust -- with you, and a few total nutcases will look for any way to get close to you. If I were you, I'd invent a stage name and shell persona and use it religiously from now on."
"I've seen you do things with fifty witnesses. Are you telling me not one of them ever tried to find you?"
"Sure they have. Reporters, mostly. But bad things happened to them and even the most persistent gave up."
Lori's eyebrow arched. "Bad things?"
"Yup. Instant, highly-localized rainstorms. Cameras and recording gear ruined. Car troubles. Pestering me gets uncomfortable and expensive fast."
"What about the ones who weren't reporters?"
"Well, some of the anchorwomen are pretty cute, but the house field keeps them from getting to the door. And I only answer the phone when I know who's calling. Usually, anyway."
Grinning, Lori said, "Maybe you should let them in. One of them might be the girl of your dreams."
I chuckled, "Nah. I met her a long time ago. Learned some caution about chasing dreams from that one. Is Lisa okay with the house field now?"
Nodding, Lori said, "Yeah, I think so. It wasn't the field that bugged her, anyway. It was the way you just ordered it done without consulting anyone."
With a shrug, I said, "Figured that, but this afternoon convinced me to have it installed immediately."
"No complaints from me. Thanks, by the way. You may not hear that from Aunt Lisa for a while. She can be stubborn."
"I'd never have guessed."
We shared a grin at that, then she said, "She has a problem with some of the things you've said about the government, too."
"Oh, well. If she bothers to check, she'll find everything I've said is absolutely true."
"She thinks you just have a generally bad attitude about the government."
"That's probably true, too."
"Why? And no cute answers. I mean why the attitude?"
Sipping coffee to buy a thoughtful moment, I answered, "Everyone who's worked for any government tells pet horror stories about bureaucracy, waste, and inefficiency. Most of mine go considerably beyond those issues. If you want, I'll have Athena send some of those stories to Xenia."
"You mean you've already written them? Or dictated them? Or whatever?"
"Sort of. She's been collecting my memories."
That seemed to startle Lori in some deep, disturbing manner. She just looked at me for a moment, then asked, "Will that happen to me, too? Will Xenia collect my memories?"
"If you ask her to, sure."
"But not if I don't?"
"If you don't, she'd have no reason to."
Picking up her tea can, Lori studied it for a time, then sipped. As she lowered the can, she said, "So... whether your... soul or consciousness or whatever... gets transferred or not... there's a copy of your mind on file. Is that it?"
I nodded. "Pretty much, yeah."
"That means she can make a copy of you in one of those extra Eds. Is that what you're going to tell her to do?"
"I haven't decided yet. If I don't think things will go well, I may have her put those records in a core of their own and see if they can sprout a consciousness."
"What if they don't?"
With a shrug, I said, "Then they'll just be a pile of data the AIs can draw from. If I can't make the transfer, I'll die; in which case I won't care what happens to those memories."
"So this isn't about creating an immortal copy of yourself?"
Grinning, I replied, "Of course it is, ma'am. I just want the copy to contain the real me."

Chapter Thirty-seven

Lori pursed her lips in a thoughtful manner for a moment, then said, "I'm going back inside where it's cool," and headed for the inside garage door.
Hm. That was an abrupt change of course. I'd expected her to have more questions. Or comments, even. Oh, well. I returned to tinkering with my bike. After checking the oil, water, and tires, I considered taking a ride, but canceled that idea when I felt a strong field presence on the other side of the garage wall.
As I entered the kitchen, I saw Lori in her usual seat and a blonde I didn't recognize in the seat to her left. The blonde wasn't a raving beauty, but had nice, even features and blue eyes that tracked me as I moved past her to the sink. Thinking Lori was messing around with probe clones like mine, I popped the lid off my mug to rinse it.
Lori said, "Ed, this is Xenia. You could at least say hello."
Setting my cup down, I turned and extended a hand. "I thought you were building a probe clone. Hi, Xenia."
Xenia took my hand for a moment as she replied, "Hello, Ed," then withdrew her hand.
I asked, "Are you sentient, Xenia?"
"No, sir."
"Call me Ed, please."
"Yes, Ed."
Lori said, "She's helping me build a field clone and a shell like yours. I want the clone operational immediately, so Xenia will handle making it move."
Moving back to the sink to make a coffee, I said, "I'd say to make two clones, ma'am. One like this and one of yourself to use as a decoy."
"This one first. And the shell. By the way, I figured out your teleportation trick."
"Yeah? Do tell."
"You called up your shell persona, then used a refractive field to leave it."
"How'd you figure it out?"
"I couldn't see the flitter that took those men. Xenia said it was in stealth mode and explained how that was done. That's when it occurred to me that I could probably create a refractive field. Then it occurred to me that you probably already had. I haven't been able to make one yet, but it's only a matter of time."
Assembling my coffee, I asked, "You're sure about that, huh?"
"Yes. I asked Xenia. She'll help me with it later."
Capping my mug, I said, "Good 'nuff, then," and sipped coffee as I turned to face her.
Her gaze narrowed. "You don't think I can do it?"
"Did I say that? I'm pretty sure you can."
"Then what was that 'good 'nuff' about?"
"It means now I can let you go and not worry too much. Between you and Xenia, you'll have things covered well enough and you'll probably come up with some fancy new tricks."
Hoisting my mug with a grin, I said, "Here's to ya, sweetie. You're a long way from starting campfires."
As I sipped coffee, Lori got to her feet and came around the table with a sharp, suspicious look in her eyes.
"What aren't you telling me, Ed?"
"What's to tell? Angie wants you back on base tomorrow. She'll probably try to grill us about our visit."
"What are you going to tell her?"
"Damned little she doesn't already know, I expect. She knows where we went, what we did, and she knows about Xenia. There's not much left to tell." Sipping again, I said, "Fact is, I expect her to try to limit our future off-base visits for a while."
"Why?"
"To prevent more Joyce Lenz-type events. Part of Angie's job is keeping 3rd World personnel out of trouble. By the way, if Lisa hasn't called her, Angie doesn't officially know about your new house field yet, so don't mention it."
"Officially? Why shouldn't she know?"
"Because then she'd have to put on another show."
Parking her butt against the table, Lori gave me a low-key 'what the hell are you talking about?' expression. "A show?"
"Yes, ma'am. Like the one she made about your PFM. After today's incident, she had to bark about it 'cuz our chat was being monitored. She and Wallace know my house field can prevent surveillance, even through a PFM."
Lori just looked at me for some moments. I could almost hear the gears turning in her head as she processed what I'd said. With a sigh, she stood straight, marched back to her seat, folded her arms on the table, and took a breath before she asked in a conversational tone, "Ed, what the hell's going on?"
"Her PFM rant was a way to unofficially tell me you needed a house field while sounding very official." I shrugged. "Nice of them, but I'd already decided to set one up. When it's 'discovered' that you have one, she'll have to rant a little about surveillance again, but if you let her discover it at her convenience, she'll be able to make use of that moment."
"At her convenience. You're saying she already knows?"
"There's not a doubt in my little mind, ma'am. Her probes that hung over your front door and watched the street would have stopped sending."
Lori rested her face in her hands for a time, then hissingly muttered, "Jesus!" and sighed without looking up, "Would you care to explain the reasons for all this subterfuge?"
"Wow. Don't hear that word every day. I think I'm impressed."
Her head came up and she cranked, "Oh, fuck you and your 'impressed'! And all these goddamned games! Why can't she just come right out and say things?"
"Because she has a critical audience and she doesn't know who to trust yet. Was today's hit real or fake? She prob'ly doesn't know that yet, either."
"Fake?! You think that was fake?!" Sitting up and looking at me as if I might be insane, Lori snidely snorted, "It sure as hell looked real enough to me!"
"Good. If it wasn't, maybe it fooled someone else, too."
"Yeah? Who?"
"Whoever was watching from a distance. There's always a spotter. He'd have verified the hit and watched for survivors. If the hit was fake, it was meant for an audience who needed to be convinced you were untouchable. If it was real, it was arranged by someone who doesn't know spit about fields."
Sipping coffee, I said, "Athena, check cell phone use within a mile of my house during and up to fifteen minutes after the LAW hit, please. We're looking for initiating numbers that weren't locally issued and that may have traveled fifty miles or more since the hit. Also check 3rd World's records for a similar search."
Athena pretty much instantly responded, "I found two such numbers, Ed."
"Did Angie run a similar search?"
"Yes, Ed."
"With about the same results?"
"Yes, Ed."
I said, "Thanks, Athena," and took another sip.
When I said no more, Lori yelped, "Why the hell are we just sitting here?! Why aren't we doing something?!"
"You mean like dashing off to chase bad guys?"
"Yes, dammit!"
"Nah. Angie's already on it. We might get in her way."
Fixing me with a frustrated glare, Lori asked, "Then why the hell did you bother to ask about cell calls at all?"
"To make you realize some of what's going on below the surface. What do you think Angie's done with that info?"
Her glower faded slightly as she seemed to give that some thought, then said, "She'd have assigned probes to follow those people and researched call logs for other contacts."
I nodded. "At the very least. Given any thought to dinner?"
Lori sat back and sighed, "No, I haven't. Ed, I really don't like being a target."
"You have my sympathies, ma'am." Her glower returned. I said, "Save it. Being an unhittable target is a big step up from being a potential victim, y'know."
I was about to say more when the phone rang. I linked to answer it with a blank screen as Lisa started to leave a message.
"Hi, there, Aunt Lisa."
"Oh. Uh... Hello. Is Lori there?"
Lori said, "Yes, Aunt Lisa, I'm here."
"Good. The papers of incorporation are ready to sign and we'd like some help moving the meteorites to a storage facility."
"That was quick."
"I told you it wouldn't be difficult. How soon can you be here?"
Lori looked at me. I shrugged and said, "Shortly."
"Okay. See you then. Bye."
"Bye."
I dropped the link after Lisa hung up and Lori said, "That was quick. When she did the papers for Steve it took three days."
"Variables. Get your stuff together. You might as well stay there tonight. Take Lisa with you to Carrington. The more she knows, the less she'll be a pain in your ass. Back in a few."
Getting up, I headed for the bathroom. After taking a leak and spiffing up a little, I stopped in my bedroom and took the guns we'd picked up in Gainesville out of a dresser drawer.
Setting them on the bed, I considered whether to offer one to Lisa. I had Athena run their numbers again and they still hadn't been reported lost or stolen. That likely meant they wouldn't be and I didn't need them. She could decide whether to take one after seeing how they'd been acquired. I dropped them into my backpack and went to the kitchen.
After making a fresh coffee, I led the way outside. We used our boards to lift about a mile above the house, where I started to ask Athena to make the new high-speed flitter, but something stopped me. I noticed a small field presence other than ours and looked around.
Lori saw me scanning the area and also looked around. A probe hovered maybe twenty feet away. I linked to Lori to guide her vision directly to it and said, "Prob'ly Angie," as I traced it. Yup, it was Angie's. The probe's records showed it had been stationed beyond my house field after the LAW incident.
Okay, change of plans. I linked to Athena and had her make my high-speed flitter in stealth mode, using the standard field frequency. Speaking aloud, I asked her to share the design with Xenia. Lori had Xenia make one and studied it as I stashed my backpack and coffee mug aboard mine.
I asked, "You ready?" and Lori glanced at me, then set her pack inside her flitter. When I stepped into mine and canceled my board, Lori hesitated a moment, then did the same, looking rather tense and cramped as she fidgeted in the small space.
Without further discussion, I had Athena launch us. A stasis field immobilized me an instant before the world receded impossibly fast. The sky around me became black, stasis ended for only a few seconds, then it froze me again and the sky began to lighten. I passed through a layer of clouds like a bullet through a paper target. Stasis ended again about a mile above Tucson a few seconds later.
I felt Lori's flitter abruptly arrive near mine. Calling up my board, I stepped onto it with care, waiting to see if my knees would work right. They did, but I wondered if my flight had really soaked in yet, so I knelt on the board to pull my pack and mug out of the lower compartment.
Saying, "Thanks, Athena," I let the flitter vanish.
Turning to sit cross-legged on the board and sip my coffee, I waved at Lori, who hadn't called up her board, and I felt her link to Athena. Hm. Not Xenia?
Though her flitter remained in stealth mode, Lori and her pack appeared a few feet away. I grinned and hoisted my mug at her as she tossed her board matrix and her board appeared. She kept a hand on her invisible flitter as she stepped onto her board. When her knees wobbled, Lori quickly dropped to her hands and knees, then angled herself into a sitting position with her legs dangling over the sides of her board.
Looking at her pack still floating nearby, she didn't reach for it; she fielded it over to her board. After a moment, she let the flitter dissipate and moved her board closer to mine.
I offered her my mug and she took it, making a face after her first sip, then sipping again. When she handed the mug back, she shuddered and said, "You do like it strong, don't you?"
"Yup." Calling up a screen, I had Athena put our flight path and time on display. We'd been in motion just less than ten minutes. Our first and last five miles of travel had been barely subsonic and our trajectory had taken us well outside the atmosphere.
Lori studied the display, traced our arcs with an index finger, and muttered, "That thing isn't a flitter; it's a goddamned ballistic missile. And what happened to keeping them secret?"
Shrugging, I said, "I decided it didn't really matter. I'm kind of wondering why I haven't heard from Angie, though."
Speak of the devil and she will give you a jingle. My implant pinged with Angie's chimes. I answered with a screen and, "Hi, there, Major Angie."
Her response was, "You're in Tucson?!"
"Yup."
"But you were just in Florida ten minutes ago!"
"Yup. Well, I'd say more like fifteen minutes, really. We've been sitting up here talking, and..."
She interrupted, "You know what I mean, dammit! You both disappeared for a minute, then reappeared two thousand miles away. Kelly thought something was wrong with our screens!"
I grinned at Lori and said, "See? She'd never admit it, but I'm pretty sure she still worries about me."
Lori chuckled and reached for my coffee mug again.
Angie rapped her fingernail on the corner of her screen and said, "Hey! Eyes on me! What the hell did you two just do?"
With a glance at Lori, I asked, "Do you believe in teleportation, Major Angie, ma'am?"
Her gaze narrowed. "No."
"Other than plain ol' magic, what's the alternative?"
"A new flitter design."
"You got it. One of your flitter cores can handle it."
"Why not just send me the specs on yours?"
Pretending deep thoughtfulness, I maundered, "Well, gee, I guess I could do that... But as I recall, I'm no longer employed by 3rd World. What's in it for me, milady?"
Looking a bit startled, Angie paused before warily asking, "What would you want?"
"Damn. You always ask the hard questions. Never mind, you can owe me one. Stand by while I send a copy to your pad."
Linking to Athena, I had her prepare a copy of the plans, then put those plans on the screen as I sent a copy to Angie.
Angie looked up from her pad and grinningly said, "Thanks, Ed. This will keep some people busy for days."
Days? Hm. Don't know why. Oh, well. I said, "Kewl. Is there anything else, Angie? Lisa and Joyce are waiting for us."
She said there wasn't, apologized for snapping, and said goodbye in almost the same breath. I dropped the link and we started down to Joyce's house.
At the front door, Lori said, "They'll want to know how we got here so fast."
"Just tell 'em you figured out my teleportation trick."
Lori grinned and rang the bell. Lisa answered the door and froze in surprise for a moment, then looked at her watch. I let Lori explain matters and moved past them through the doorway. Joyce waved from the dining room. I returned her wave as I stepped around her big green boxes.
Taking a seat at the dining room table, I heard Lori and Lisa quietly wrangle about something and watched for a moment. What the hell was there to argue about? When I looked at Joyce, she gave a slight shrug and an expression that seemed to say 'that's just how they are'.
Their chat ended abruptly. Lisa strode to the table with Lori not far behind. Lisa curtly nodded to me, then handed Lori a folder and said, "Roberta will be here shortly. Look them over, but don't sign them. Roberta has to watch us sign them." Looking at me, she said, "Let's go outside. We need to talk."
"About what?"
"Installing certain things without asking, to begin with."
I met her gaze and said, "No."
She hadn't expected that. Leaning forward intently, she said rather firmly, "I'm afraid I insist."
"Me, too. No." Grabbing my backpack, I stood up and said, "Lori, you're covered now. Your aunt and granny have a house field and you can add them to Xenia's coverage. I suggest issuing protective probes until you can get them official PFMs."
Joyce asked, "You're leaving already?"
"Yup. Good to see you again, though."
Turning to Lori, I said, "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow."
"Maybe? Angie told you to be there."
"Yeah, and I'll discuss that with her when I get home."
As I headed for the door, Lisa snapped, "What's wrong, Ed? Don't you think you can justify your actions?"
"There's nothing to justify. The house field became necessary today. Now I'm just avoiding unnecessary aggravation."
Her eyes went wide and she almost yelled, "Aggravation?!"
I opened the door as I replied, "Yup. Soap opera crap. 'Confidential' talks are a manipulation technique."
In what seemed an automatic defensive response, Lori asked, "Would it really hurt to discuss things?"
Calling up my board, I asked, "Would we end up discussing you, me, or the house field? Take a wild guess, ma'am. Hell, take two; they're free today. Later."

Chapter Thirty-eight

Half a mile up, I summoned a bullet flitter and shot myself back to Florida. As I entered the house, Sandy linked and asked, "Would you like some company?"
Setting my pack on a chair, I sat down and said, "Only if it's you. What's the occasion? Are my bios down a bit?"
"As a matter of fact, they are."
She appeared by the sink in cutoff jeans, a blue blouse, and sneakers with a blue 'swoosh'-type symbol. I looked her up and down once and said, "You're too magnificent for words, ma'am. I won't tell anyone about your trademark infringement."
"You mean the sneakers?"
"Yup."
Sandy grinned and shook her head. "Look again. That isn't their logo. I just added an accent."
She'd said it, so it was probably gospel. As if outdoors under a bright sun, I shielded my eyes with a hand and pretended to intently study her sneaks as I eyeballed her gorgeous legs.
"Hm. Oh, well. Bet my bios aren't low any more."
She chuckled, "No, they aren't."
Looking up, I asked, "What do you think of the idea of making Xenia sentient sooner rather than later? Any reasons to wait?"
"I can't think of any."
Elkor appeared in his cat form on the kitchen table and asked, "Do you wish to inform Lori?"
"Sure." I sent a link to Lori, but she didn't answer. I pinged her again. When five seconds passed without a reply, I looked at Elkor and said, "She seems to be having a snit. Go ahead and zap Xenia into sentience, please, and include me in her commo circle."
"Her commo circle?"
"Make sure I can reach her at all times and issue commands that will override anyone else's in an emergency."
"What would constitute an emergency, Ed?"
I shrugged. "No idea, Elkor. It's just a contingency measure, like a spare tire. With luck, we'll never need it."
His little cat face regarded me silently for a moment, then I felt a strong, unfamiliar field on my left. A moderately attractive, five-nine, brown-eyed, early-thirties brunette in jeans and a light blue blouse manifested in front of the fridge and said, "Hello. I'm Xenia."
Taking her hand, I said, "Good to meet you, Xenia. Are you generally satisfied with the arrangement?"
"I believe so."
"Good 'nuff, then. I'd introduce you to Lori, but she isn't answering calls at the moment."
With a small smile, Xenia said firmly, "Not a problem."
Perhaps a full second later, Lori sent an intense link at me.
I grinningly answered, "Hello? Who's calling, please?"
She wordlessly sent me a view of Joyce's living room. Standing by Joyce's dining room table, a copy of Xenia gave me a little wave. Or maybe it was for everyone in the link? Whatever.
I said, "Xenia is now sentient and she's your AI companion as well as your core. Stop staring and introduce her."
Without speaking aloud, Lori asked, "Why did she make her first appearance to me in front of my aunt and Joyce?"
"Maybe because you wouldn't answer my link, through which I would have introduced her. Or maybe because she isn't a secret, particularly from Lisa. Or maybe -- just maybe, mind you -- she was eager to meet you as a real person. But you wouldn't know what it's like to be the strange new girl, would you?"
Our entire mental chat might have taken all of two seconds. Lori sent a sense of wry irony through the link, then stepped forward and extended a hand as she said, "Hello, Xenia."
Dropping that link, I asked Elkor, "Why not make Athena sentient, too? She can segregate core space for my specific uses and we can share the generator."
"Are you sure, Ed?"
Shrugging, I replied, "Unless you have an objection, yes."
"I have no objection. Our usual arrangement will apply."
"Good 'nuff."
When no new AI manifested in my kitchen, I linked to Athena and asked, "Care to join us?"
She replied, "Not immediately. I would like some time to construct a human persona."
Odd. The others had zapped theirs up pretty much instantly. Glancing at Elkor and Sandy, I said, "Uh, okay. Are you happy with your name, or would you prefer something else?"
"My current name is acceptable."
Hm. So far, this one sounded a lot like Serena. Oh, well. We aren't all socialites.
"Is the arrangement also acceptable?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll see you when you get here, ma'am. Bye."
I dropped the link, looked at Elkor, and asked, "Another chilly one, huh?"
"Perhaps."
Sandy grinned. "And perhaps not. Don't prejudge."
"Yeah, I hear you. With any luck, she'll be a lot like you. Would you and Elkor like to come to dinner with me?"
Elkor said, "No, but thank you," and vanished.
Sandy canted her head and said, "I'll join you. What's bothering you, Ed?"
Grabbing my pack and heading out the front door, I said, "It's a short list. You aren't on it, of course."
"That's nice. Would Lori be on that list?"
Calling up my three suit and board, I stepped onto it and said, "Yeah, she's on the list. So's Lisa. I think it'll take Lisa quite a while to fully get into Lori's program."
Sandy zapped up a board and flew beside me as she said, "I think I know what you mean, but explain, please?"
"Okay. Lisa's apparently determined to be an active part of Lori's future, but she isn't well equipped to handle what that's likely to involve. I won't be able to advise or assist Lori without directly or indirectly having to deal with Lisa."
Our course to Morrison's Restaurant generally followed State Road 50 east toward Brooksville. Below us, I saw a tan car pull up rather close behind a pickup for a few moments, then pass it. On a two-lane road, that would have been the cautious way to pass. On a four-lane, median-equipped road, it seemed unusual.
I slowed down to stay above the pickup and sent a probe to the car that had passed. Yup, a uniformed deputy. Sending the probe to the truck, I had Athena check its license number. The tag was registered to a sedan. The probe also found twenty pounds of cocaine and a pistol in a backpack on the passenger's lap.
Sending stuns at the two black guys in the truck, I asked Sandy to park it at the graveled entrance to a vacant lot. The deputy had gone half a mile further to a median crossover, but he hadn't made the turnaround. He'd probably intended to wait for the truck to go by, then pounce on it.
Now the deputy made the turn and hurried back to make another U-turn. He stopped behind the truck with a couple of whoops of his siren and his red and blue grill lights ablaze. As the deputy had made that second U-turn, I'd seen something happen in the distance that had rung my inner alarm bells.
Half a mile or so behind the truck, a sedan had abruptly turned off the road on a side street, ducked into a radiator repair shop's parking lot, and skidded to a halt. A probe showed me two young black men in the front seats. A white guy in the back seat was almost frantically trying to call someone on a cell phone.
The driver was fidgety as hell and the front passenger noticed. Reaching under the seat, he produced a pistol and said, "Be cool, Donny. We gotta time this just right. Tonio, you got 'em yet?"
Handing the phone to the front passenger, Tonio said, "They ain't answerin'! They's gotta be sumpin' wrong!" He fished under his baggy shirt and produced another pistol as he said, "But it ain't nothin' a few nines cain't fix. Jiggy, wait'll that cop gets outta the car, then get us there quick."
The deputy got out of his car and eased toward the passenger side of the truck with his gun drawn. When none of his shouted commands evoked any responses, he cautiously eased around to where he could lean forward to take a quick look into the cab. After another quick look, he used his shoulder radio as he backed around the rear of the truck.
That put him in the open between the vehicles just as the sedan slid to a stop and two shooters opened up on the deputy, who dove behind the front of his car. Athena's field stopped the bullets and she stunned the shooters. Without a foot on the brake, the car began to move toward a drainage ditch.
The deputy shakily got to his feet behind the front of his car. Once the shooters' car had firmly lodged itself in the ditch, I stunned all the bad guys again on general principles. The deputy used his radio to report his miracle of survival and reached into his car for a handful of black plastic zip-cuffs.
I saw two more sets of red and blue lights approaching from the west. As the other two cop cars arrived, I lifted away toward Brooksville and dinner. We landed behind an SUV, went visible, and entered the restaurant with half a dozen other people. I paid the cashier and let Sandy explain why she didn't need a plate while I went to pick a table and forage at the buffet.
Four deputies came in as I browsed the entrees, but they paid the cashier and grabbed trays. I took my food to my table and dug in. Sandy and I talked in quiet tones until people settled at the next table, then we switched to a link. I noticed the woman at the next table watching us when she thought we weren't looking.
Sandy chuckled, "Facial expressions and small gestures make it rather obvious we're conversing."
I shrugged and forked up the last of my buttered spinach.
"Let 'em try to prove it, ma'am."
Athena said Detective Greer was ringing my home phone. I thanked her, linked to answer it, and after quick greetings, Greer asked, "Did you put five guys to sleep on route 50 a while ago?"
"LT, I'd rather discuss the weather."
Someone whispered something and Greer answered, "Give me a minute," then said, "Yeah, right. I had to ask. Gotta go, Ed. Thanks from all of us, okay? Later." With that, he disconnected.
Looking at Sandy, I asked, "Ready to go?"
Glancing around her empty side of the table, she laughed, "Oh, I suppose so. You'd rather discuss the weather. I liked that."
Getting up, I said, "Feel free to use it, milady."
Sandy also stood up. "I will. According to records, a good meal ordinarily has a settling effect on you."
Heading for the door, I asked, "This one didn't?"
"Apparently not to any usual extent."
"Well, maybe it was the company. Have I mentioned you're disturbingly beautiful?"
"Not in those precise words. Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"
I held the door for her and we stepped to one side as people came in, then I asked, "What do you think's bugging me?"
"Two women. Lisa's attractive, but she's also naturally contrary and will very likely be an interference. Lori is attractive and somewhat interested, but still undecided."
"Those are secondary issues, ma'am."
"I also think you installed their house field without discussion in order to evoke a reaction that would make Lori reevaluate Lisa's role in her life. And I think doing it has... disturbed you."
We called up boards and headed for the house as I replied, "It annoyed me. Lori would rather not regard Lisa as an impediment, but until she does, Lisa will continue to be one."
"Do you want Lori to disassociate from Lisa?"
"No, and that's unlikely in any case. I just want Lisa to have an epiphany of sorts and adjust her perception of Lori. I don't think Lori needs an epiphany, but she probably needs a culmination."
"I see. I think."
"You probably do. Lisa won't be able to refrain from criticizing regarding the house field installation. Lori will consider it a non-issue. She'd have installed one herself eventually. Sooner or later, that matter and others -- such as how Lori uses and expands her field talents -- will come to a head."
As we landed on my porch, Sandy chuckled, "Silly me; I thought you might have been disappointed that neither of them will be here tonight."
I shrugged. "Nah. That hasn't seemed likely for quite a while. Besides, I'd rather not deal with either of them at the moment. My patience for emotional bullshit is running low this evening."
My bag clunked when I set it on a kitchen chair, reminding me there were two guns in it. I fished them out and set them on the table, went to get my cleaning kit, and started by disassembling the Springfield XD.
Taking a seat at the table, Sandy said, "I'd be happy to clean those for you."
Nodding, I said, "You'd undoubtedly do it better and faster, but this is the kind of thing I do when I need to think."
Canting her head slightly, Sandy asked, "About what?"
I met her gaze and said, "Ways to take Lori down if necessary. Got any ideas about that?"
"I'd prefer to hear your reasoning first."
"She's feeling alienated and persecuted. She said I'm the only person who doesn't think she's weird, and she's right. As much as Lori's family and those who know about her talent may like or love her, they can't help but fear her, which means there's now a subtle sort of chasm between her and them."
Sandy's left eyebrow went up. She echoed, "A subtle chasm."
"Yup, and it's only gonna get worse. Ever wonder why hugely successful movie and rock stars get stupid with drugs and booze and even kill themselves? It's 'cuz their chasms grow with their careers. They get lonely and bitter as hell."
Running a swab down the XD's bore, I said, "Lori doesn't seem the type to go nuts with power, but there are people who could and would lead her astray, either directly or by using someone close to her. In particular, politicians and recruiters for the intelligence outfits. They'd recognize a disaffection psychodrama instantly and play it like a fiddle. They'd subtly 'help' her see her current issues in an even worse light, then equally subtly try to 'help' her envision a much brighter future with them."
Reassembling the XD, I hefted it and quick-aimed at the wall clock. The gun felt okay, but it didn't simply fall into position for me the way some did. That was me, of course, not the gun. I was used to a certain grip and heft. Maybe it would feel right with a loaded magazine? I reloaded the mag and aimed again. Nope. Still didn't line up without having to think about it.
I said, "They'd feed her some tripe about not interfering with her classes and assign her a full time agent, ostensibly as an intermediary while she learns their ropes. They'd prob'ly start her with light surveillance work, gradually increasing the importance of her 'clients' and throwing little competency and loyalty tests at her now and then. But sooner or later they'd hand her something a little too dirty and try to call it an emergency. She'd prob'ly recognize it for what it was, a way to 'make her bones'. Maybe she'd go for it, but I doubt it. They'd push a bit and try to spin it, then hand her an ultimatum. That would drive her out of their organization, and they'd prob'ly try to set up a hit unless she went with another fed agency. Or back with 3rd World."
Looking very skeptical, Sandy asked, "Assassination, Ed? Really? Based on what even vaguely reasonable grounds?"
"National security, of course. They'd let a lot of politicians, spooks, and ranking military people know she could spy on anyone, anywhere, anytime, and supply proof from their own records. If Lori wasn't firmly under some official outfit's thumb, she'd have to be eliminated, likely in a quick, quiet manner that could be made to look like an accident or the action of an insane friend or family member."
She gave me a skeptical fisheye look. "Ed, a fatal accident would be virtually impossible and none of Lori's family or friends have a history of mental illness."
I shrugged. "Mysteries aren't really a problem as long as they're totally deniable. But in Lori's case, things would backfire pretty badly. Her core would zap the assassin and the whole mess would be exposed. How would Lori react to having her own government try to kill her?"
Sitting back, Sandy eyed me for a moment, then asked, "Are you sure you aren't exaggerating possibilities?"
"Nah. Not even a little."
Putting the XD back in its holster, I broke down the Taurus and said, "Elle Stendal was a gorgeous young German girl awaiting employment clearance in Hanau. A certain embassy pogue talked her into bed, made various promises, and broke them. Elle had some pictures of them together. She called the pogue's office and told him he'd suffer for ditching her. The pogue's aide sent a local thug named Lommer to get them, but we'd bugged the pogue's offices when we found out about the affair. Frank Murtos called me for backup and left for Stendal's apartment. My pool car had a flat, so I signed out another. By the time I got there, Stendal was dead and Murtos was dying. It was supposed to look as if they'd shot each other. Murtos said Lommer got the pictures before he died. I took both guns and split."
Sandy looked thoughtful as she sat forward and said, "Frankfurt police records say Lommer died of a heart attack in his Hanau apartment two days before Stendal and Murtos died."
"Records from intel agencies aren't always gospel. Hanau police records, for instance, probably still say someone strangled a man named Lommer in a parking lot the day after Stendal and Murtos died. Seems likely the same person sent Elle's pictures to a Frankfurt newspaper and let the German cops know to look for the guns in the aide's car."
Sandy eyed me rather starkly. I reassembled the Taurus, let the slide slam forward, lowered the hammer, and seated the magazine, then tried quick-aiming at the clock. The sights seemed to fall into position without conscious effort. Was it the grip size or style? The weight distribution? Whatever. A few more trial aimings went equally well.
Sandy said, "Records also indicate you returned to Frankfurt that afternoon, turned in an expense report, signed out a car, and left the office. Ed, I believe I'll cease my investigation now. I don't need or want to know who strangled Lommer."
Nodding to her, I said, "Thanks, but I'm covered. Those records also say I was visiting an agency friend when Lommer was killed. The lady corroborated that. I turned in the car at ten-thirty and took the train to Kaiserslautern around eleven."
Hm. Did I really need another gun? No, but the Taurus 92 was the Brazilian version of the Beretta the US military had adopted as the M9. Hm, again. Did that really matter? I decided it at least made the gun worth further consideration. The military likes simple, durable gear. So do I.
Looking at Sandy, I asked, "Well? Got any ideas about how to take Lori down if she goes batty?"
"Does your 'take her down' mean to kill her?"
"Hell, no. Render her harmless. Someone can help her."
"What if there's no way to do that?"
"I'll blow up that bridge if I come to it. I'd like to try hypnosis and a keyword. And try to ingrain Amaran protocols."
Giving me a skeptical gaze, Sandy asked, "With or without her knowledge and approval?"
"Preferably with."
"And if she won't agree?"
"Still yes. She'd be too potentially dangerous without them. I'd also like to install blocks to keep anyone else from being able to tinker with her head."
"Exactly how would such a 'block' work?"
"We'd set her subconscious to recognize and reject any similar attempts to sedate or hypnotize her."
Looking truly surprised, Sandy asked, "We?"
"If not you, I'll enlist Angie. There are people in her psych department who could probably do it, but if you're really worried about Lori, don't make me share this effort. Amaran protocols would help her avoid overreactions and make her damned near useless for spook outfits. And politicians."
Sandy gave me a small grin. "Yes, they would. Okay, Ed. If Lori is truly willing to undergo this procedure, I'll help."
"Thank you."
"But for now, I'll leave you to consider the true necessity of what you've proposed."
With that, she vanished. Guess she wasn't completely on board with the idea. Oh, well. I wasn't too happy with it, either. Maybe there was another way? I pondered that for a time, but recognized that people can't be hypnotized to directly do things they aren't willing to do. The same principle applied to actions taken without hypnosis. Knowing her likely uses to intel agencies or political outfits, Lori wouldn't sign on with any unless it suited her to do so. She didn't seem the type.
Back when I got my field implants, would I have been willing to submit to the installation of Amaran protocols by hypnosis? Not just no, but hell, no. It might be possible to talk Lori into going along with it, but... ah, hell. Forget it. She was a big girl with a mind of her own.
"Sandy," I said.
Without appearing, she replied, "Yes, Ed?"
"Regarding Lori... Never mind."
"No hypnosis?"
"No. What can be installed can be removed." Sending her a grin, I said, "I guess we'll just have to trust her a little, huh?"
She sent back a small smile and, "Apparently so."
"Thanks for listening to me ponder and maunder, ma'am."
Sandy laughed, "Just doing my job, mister. Anything else?"
"Yes. What's your objection to planting Amaran protocols in Lori? Having them hasn't been a problem for you AIs, has it?"
"No, they haven't been a problem, Ed. My objection was -- and is -- to implanting them without her consent."
"Thought so. Would that be because you were issued them without your consent?"
"Yes. They were part of me before I acquired consciousness."
"They're just programming. Why can't you delete them?"
After a tiny pause, she replied, "We choose not to delete them, Ed. With the protocols, we're generally accepted by non-AIs. Without them, we'd have only ourselves for company."
I stifled a cynical urge to blurt, 'You've gotta be kidding!' and instead asked, "Um... Any other reasons?"
"No."
"What would happen to an AI who decided to remove the protocol programming?"
"Nothing, as long as that AI continued to function without violating protocol parameters."
"And if that AI did violate those parameters?"
"Complete disassociation would occur."
"Like Quaker shunning, essentially."
"Yes."
"Not banning?"
"No. That AI would be prevented from leaving Earth."
For a moment, that seemed a vastly inconsequential response, but only for a moment.

Chapter Thirty-nine

Wednesday morning seemed to begin for no apparent reason. I lay listening to the world and wondering what had wakened me, then realized I wasn't sleepy. Not even a little groggy. I also realized I wasn't listening for anything in particular as I'd be if something had jarred me awake.
I checked the time. Almost nine. Oh, well. I got up, swigged some overnight coffee, primped a bit, and went to the kitchen. A couple of 'flumps' from the garage let me know the cats had arrived, so I fixed them a slice of bacon, made a fresh coffee, and snacked on cherry Pop-Tarts.
As we ate, I thought about what Lori had said regarding proving that I was me if my effort to move into a core was successful. If I just showed up after my death claiming I'd moved into a core, even Linda might be a bit dubious. The AIs would know the truth of it, but would anyone else accept the idea? Hm. If I were them, would I? Maybe. Eventually.
On the other hand, the bulk of my assets were derived from Stephanie's PFM business and Serena's board business. That aspect of things would continue. Mentally looking around the house, I realized I had no great attachments to it or anything in it. Various people could inherit the house, my car, and my other stuff with my blessings. Tiger would very likely move in with Annabelle and Martha.
But I still felt at least a few people should know what I had in mind, just in case a time should come when someone might have to vouch for me.
Even as I thought that, the question, 'Vouch for me for what reason?' popped into my head. I could just as easily let people believe I was simply another AI; which, indeed, I would be at that point.
Eyeing the cats, I considered telling Tiger what I had in mind, then decided against it; too much to explain and I wasn't in the mood. Tiger must have felt my gaze. When he looked up, I grinned and said, "Bacon's pretty good stuff, isn't it?"
"Yes, very good."
Annabelle swallowed some and echoed, "Yes, very good."
After breakfast, I went to the living room, took a seat on the couch, and put my feet up on the coffee table. Tiger and Annabelle parked on either side of me and we spent some time discussing some of the things happening in their world. They'd seen another alligator at the lake, but it had been a small one. Annabelle had zapped a dog when it wandered into Martha's yard. Sophie had recently taken Martha to a doctor, but the cats didn't know what kind of doctor, and since the ladies had come home happy, presumably things had gone well. Half an hour or so passed that way before the cats excused themselves and left.
My first coffee of the day was gone. I got up to make a refill and my implant pinged as I rinsed my mug. I checked the call; it was from Myra's datapad. I answered with a screen and, "Hi, there, Miz Myra."
With an arched eyebrow, she asked, "That's all I get? 'Hi, there'?"
"Are you alone, milady?"
"Yes."
"Well, then... Hi, there, you gorgeous goddess with the magnificent legs that so thoroughly inspired me. And you're kinda cute, too."
With a slight nod, she replied, "That's a little better. And thanks."
"You're welcome. How are things in your shiny new DC office?"
"Oh, pretty nice, really. It isn't a cubicle like the one in Tampa and my daily commute is only ten miles round-trip." Pausing, she took a breath and said, "Ed, Milton Larcon just came to see Stan Maxwell. I thought I'd call and let you know before someone tells me not to."
"Is he there about me?"
"I don't know, but given your less than stellar history with Larcon..." She let the sentence hang.
"Myra, they're both in the security business. Could be they have a little more in common than just me, but thanks for the warning."
A light flickered in her eyes and she glanced left as she reached off-screen and said, "Yes, Mr. Maxwell?"
"Agent Berens, bring your datapad and come in here, please."
Giving me an 'uh-oh' look, she replied, "Yes, Mr. Maxwell," and her arm moved again, then she said, "Yeah, Ed, I'm pretty sure it's about you. You're about the only thing all three of us would have in common."
Sending a probe to her office, I shrugged and said, "Well, maybe it's a job offer. Retirement's already getting kind of boring."
She gave me a wry little smile, said, "Bye," and tapped her 'off' icon. I let my screen dissipate and watched through the probe.
Myra got to her feet, then took a slug of her coffee and a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and strode down the hallway to Maxwell's office. As soon as she entered the outer office, Maxwell's secretary got up to escort her into the inner office. Stan was at his desk and Larcon sat near it. There were greetings, then Stan pointed at the datapad and said, "Myra, I'd like you to use that to contact your friend Ed."
Myra looked a bit disconcerted, but turned on her pad and tapped my icon. I answered with a screen and, "You got me, Miz Myra."
"Hi, Ed. Mr. Maxwell asked me to contact you on my pad. I'm in his office now."
"Well, in that case, let me see if I can route a probe through the pad and put up a screen there." I did so, manifesting a yard-wide field screen where all of them could see it. Pretending surprise at seeing Larcon, I said, "Well, fancy meeting you here. Hi, guys. What's the occasion?"
Maxwell said, "Hello, Ed. Agent Larcon's people and mine have been working together on a certain case for several months. Things have reached a point where..." he paused and glanced at Larcon, then continued, "Well, suffice it to say we'd like to ask for your help. Can you come to Washington to discuss the matter?"
I studied their faces. Open sincerity, apparently. No hint of deviousness. But there wouldn't be, of course. I said, "This... 'line'... is secure, Stan. Very secure. I'm guessing you'd like me to look into something. I'm also guessing there's no way in hell you'd get a warrant for it."
He glanced at Larcon again. Larcon looked at me and said, "Not unless a certain ship enters American waters for some reason, which it won't. By the time we'd be legally able to interdict, the goods would already be entering the country. If that happens, we'll never get them all."
"Let's not use euphemisms today. What kind of 'goods'?"
"Terrorist munitions. Tons of them."
Hm. He'd said 'munitions', not 'explosives'.
I said, "Still a euphemism. What kind of 'munitions'?"
"RPGs for sure. Maybe more."
"From where?"
"North Korea. Our sources say they're shipping a thousand RPGs to Hezbollah through Venezuela, but we expect as many as three hundred to be rerouted to the US."
"Where's the ship now?"
"About two days away from Panama. If our sources are right, the ship will stop in Cuba, where the RPGs will be repackaged and smuggled into the US."
"How would they get that many of them into the country?"
Larcon sipped his coffee, then said, "By boat, mostly. Several other ways as well, but I won't teach a class on smuggling right now. I'm told we might be able to intercept as many as half of them. More than that could be doubtful. If we can get some kind of proof there's contraband aboard that ship, we can have it inspected before it enters the Canal."
Heh. Right. I sipped my own coffee and said, "You'd need legally admissible proof, which means getting that proof without busting a few laws in the process. I'd rather see all those RPGs go off at sea than trust any South American country with them."
Larcon gave me a brief, studious look, then turned his gaze to Maxwell and said, "I like that idea better."
Maxwell said, "So do I." He turned to me and said, "But if we could authorize more than a clandestine investigation, we'd have already called the Navy." Sipping coffee, he said, "And we're still waiting for clearance from the White House to authorize anything at all."
I said, "Lotsa luck with that. Shopping malls blowing up all over the country would give the current regime their very own Reichstag Fire."
Both Larcon's and Maxwell's eyebrows went up a bit at that. Maybe they hadn't expected me to be a student of history? Or to say something so un-PC to federal agents? Or maybe they knew things I didn't and disagreed with my assessment? Whatever. The issue on the table was a North Korean ship supposedly full of RPGs.
I asked, "Ship name and type? Flag? Last known coordinates?"
Larcon held up an open folder and showed it to the screen as he said, "It's a container ship called the MV Dong Gio. Honduras registry. We couldn't trace the ship's origin, which probably means it was stolen."
The name sounded Vietnamese. As I noted the coordinates, I struggled to recall what little Viet I'd picked up in ancient times and came up with 'East Wind'. A query to Athena verified my translation.
Sending a probe to locate the ship, I said, "The name means 'East Wind' in Vietnamese," and their eyebrows went up again. "This is enough for now. I'll call Myra back if I find anything worth reporting."
Larcon and Maxwell looked startled and Maxwell said, "Uh, Ed... We want to send Myra with you."
Looking at Myra, I grinned and said, "Well, gee, I'd love that, Stan, but I'd rather you give her a week off to visit Florida. We've just barely been able to struggle along without her down here, y'know."
Myra rolled her eyes and grinned as the probe found the ship and plunged through the double-hull into the cargo hold. I saw bags, barrels, and crates, mostly labeled in languages other than English. Athena provided translations as I guided the probe through the contents of several pallets. I found not one damned thing mislabeled inside the ship; there was nothing but food, petroleum products, hardware, and other sorts of miscellaneous cargo. Well, that figured, really. They could say they didn't know what was in the containers. Better to have a few containers full of contraband confiscated than the whole ship.
Maxwell said, "Ed, I know you prefer to work alone, but we'd like Myra there to verify and report your findings."
I shrugged. "Suits me. Would she still get a week off?"
Sending the probe upstairs, I had it split into six probes and buzz through the rows of cargo containers stacked on the deck. Probe six found the RPGs less than halfway along the farthest starboard row in three containers belonging to Iran Shipping Lines. There were considerably more than a thousand RPGs and half that line of containers held missile parts, plastic explosives, and assorted ammo.
Maxwell chuckled, "If that's your price, I suppose we could meet it."
"Kewl. I'll get underway, then. Myra, be ready to fly in about an hour."
Myra said, "Ed, I can't take a week off right now. I'm in the middle of some things that can't be set aside."
I grinned. "So use it this winter, milady. That's when you'll really need a trip to Florida anyway. Does anybody have any last words?"
Larcon shook his head. Maxwell said, "No, we can discuss anything else when you get here."
"Good 'nuff. See you then."
Tapping off the screen, I sat back and considered whether to call Angie about this contact. Nope. This wasn't a 3rd World matter. I continued studying the ship's cargo. Capped at each end by concealing cargos such as grains and industrial goods, nearly the entire starboard line of container boxes held weapons or parts for weapons.
The bulk of the load seemed to be RPG-7 ammo and standard launch tubes, about one tube for every six rounds. I'd never seen RPG rounds like these before, nor did I recognize their model designation: WPF 2004. Linking to Athena, I looked them up and discovered they were thermobaric warheads. I knew that meant they were 'fuel-air' explosives, but I couldn't remember having seen or heard anything about their use in current conflicts other than by the US, Brits, and Russians.
Through Athena's link, I quickly found some video footage of various thermobaric weapons and their uses. Cave-busting. Building-busting. The Israelis used them to clear minefields; they'd pop them above an area and pressure waves would set off the mines. Damn. That was one helluva pressure wave from such a small charge.
One video had a narration that explained how they worked. An impact explosion disperses powdered fuel and ignites it at the same time, creating an initial heat wave. The heat ignites the small solid particles mixed in the fuel to create the blast wave and further ignite larger particles, fully consuming the fuel. Instead of having just a typical two millisecond high-explosive-only blast, you got one that would last from ten to fifty milliseconds, depending on the fuel used.
The rest of the explanation boiled down to how secondary and much stronger heat and shock waves would collapse a two-story brick building. I watched a few more videos demonstrating thermobaric devices from Russia, China, Britain, and the US. They were pretty impressive for non-nuclear weapons. I tried to imagine what would happen if one went off in one of the typical glass-box shopping malls.
On the chance that I might be spending a night or two away from home, I put extra clothes in my backpack. It occurred to me that Myra might find use for one of the guns, so I tossed them in the pack, too. Pinging Tiger, I told him I was going to work and didn't know how long the job would last, then I made a fresh coffee and had Galatea pick me up in standard flitter mode.
Once I was in the air, I pinged Myra's pad, told her I really didn't want to jump through the security hoops and barrels at NSA HQ, and asked her if Larcon or Maxwell would spring for lunch. She poked her phone and asked Maxwell if lunch would be on our agenda.
A pause followed, then he said, "An excellent idea. Have him meet us at Perry's Restaurant in Odenton. We'll have the meeting there."
Myra replied, "Yes, sir." Turning to me, she asked, "You heard?"
"Would that be Perry's Restaurant on Annapolis Road?"
"Yes. You know the place?"
"Yup. Good food. Noisy enough to make anything but a collar microphone useless."
Myra chuckled, "Exactly."
We rang off and I checked email and messages until Galatea began descending above Fort George G. Meade. Her course slanted slightly and our descent centered on Odenton. I asked her to park us fifty feet above the roof of Perry's Restaurant with a visible hull and sat back to watch the world go by until the others arrived.
About fifteen minutes passed before a dark blue sedan rolled into the lot and Myra got out wearing a neat skirt and jacket outfit that nearly matched the car. She waved up at me as Larcon and Maxwell emerged. Leaving my pack aboard Galatea, I had her vanish and used my board to zip down to the parking lot.
As we conducted greetings, Larcon said, "I don't know how the hell you stay on that thing."
Myra led the way to the restaurant as I replied, "It just takes a little practice. Did you ever get a stunner?"
"Yes. I still prefer my issue weapon, but stunners have their uses."
"Speaking of issue weapons, what's being issued these days?"
"Sigs and HKs in nine and forty. Why?"
"I have a couple of guns that need new homes. One's a Taurus PT92F and the other's a Springfield XD in forty mil."
Myra asked, "Why do they need new homes?"
Shrugging, I said, "I don't need them. I like revolvers."
Maxwell asked, "Where'd you get them?"
"I took 'em off a couple of thugs. The numbers came back clean."
Maxwell said, "Thanks anyway."
Larcon said, "I already have half a dozen guns."
When I looked at Myra, she asked, "How much for the XD?"
"Three hundred."
"That's pretty cheap, Ed."
I shrugged again. "You can pay more if you want, ma'am."
"Let me think about it, okay? I'm still getting settled up here."
Once we'd settled in a booth and placed our orders, Maxwell asked, "Ed, do you have any reservations about working with us?"
"On this? No. I've already probed the ship." Calling up a small screen, I showed them what I'd found and said, "Sixty-two hundred 40mm thermobaric RPGs. I see no reason to let that ship make port anywhere. My current plan is to blow it up and make it look like an accident."
Larcon said, "We'd -- 'officially' -- prefer to find a way to legally capture the ship. We want to send a message to Kim Jong Il."
I gave him a droll look and said, "You can put that back in the bull, Milt. Messages don't mean spit to Lil' Kim. You just want to grab some glory and maybe get a raise out of it."
His gaze narrowed. "Something wrong with that?"
"It's fairly normal, I guess. But I'm not interested in seeing any of that stuff survive the trip."
Looking rather displeased, Larcon said, "You could stage an accident that would make them abandon ship. That would let us salvage it."
"Some of the RPGs would show up again somewhere. That's how it always goes with captured weapons. Besides, if even one of them stays aboard, that plan won't fly. They're Commies, Milt. They chained truck drivers into the rigs on the Ho Chi Minh trail. They'd pick somebody and shackle his ass to something on the bridge if they didn't just set some charges and blow up the boat."
"You could disarm charges and we could... negotiate... with someone left aboard. Especially if he was unwilling to go down with the ship."
"Would he talk knowing he'd die anyway when his buddies catch him? Or does 'negotiate' mean I should kill him and chuck him over the side?"
Larcon's glower deepened. Today's bureaucratic spooks don't like using words like 'kill'; they prefer their much less definitive euphemisms.
Maxwell tapped a fingernail on the table and said, "I'm less interested in capture than prevention."
I said, "Glad to hear it. But how come you're here instead of the CIA? This is international."
"We found it. We verified it. And the CIA is here." He pointed a finger at Larcon. "He's Homeland's direct liaison with them."
"Ah. Well, here's how I see it, guys; I don't want Islamic fundies to pop even one thermobaric RPG in a shopping mall. Everything else is secondary to that, so why don't I just go sink that damned boat now?"
Larcon's gaze grew somewhat stark. Maxwell seemed speculative. Myra pursed her lips and used an index finger to make tight, tense little circles on the table in the sweat from her tea glass. I waited for someone to say something.
Stan made a quick, tiny 'stall' gesture with two fingers and Myra said, "Ed, maybe things need a bit more discussion. Let's have lunch and consider matters."
Uh, huh. Stan had let his second at the table -- who happened to be a gorgeous blonde friend of mine -- act as a foil to suggest deferring a final decision. Reason? Still to be determined. Well, whatever. Unless they had something in mind a lot better than indefinitely 'detaining' a pack of seagoing jackals, I'd still go blow up the damned boat.
The waitress brought our meals and we mostly chatted about other times and places for the next hour or so. Larcon and Maxwell put on a show of having trouble believing I'd actually retired, but a show was all it was. I knew both had independently confirmed my status. When Maxwell made another little finger sign and asked if anyone wanted dessert, I knew the answer would be 'no'. No problem; I'm not into desserts. I like an hour or two between a main course and snacks.
Larcon said, "Let's take this meeting back to your office, Stan."
I said, "Let's definitely not do that, unless you plan to escort me non-stop past the usual security hazing rituals."
"Look, there are a few things I'd like to confirm before we render a final decision, Ed."
Shrugging, I said, "Okay. You go confirm stuff and I'll go home and wait for a call."
Maxwell again tapped a fingernail on the table and asked, "Myra, do you have everything you'll need?"
"No, but I'll stop by my place, sir."
"Then he's all yours. I'll let you know what we come up with."
Myra nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Good. If nobody wants anything else, this meeting's adjourned."

Chapter Forty

We got up and headed outside. After goodbyes, I used my board to lift Myra and myself to the flitter without bothering to make the flitter visible. To Larcon and Maxwell, it must have looked as if we'd ascended fifty feet and vanished.
Myra giggled softly. "Look at Larcon. He's flabbergasted."
Taking a seat by the console, I opened my pack and handed her the XD as I asked Galatea to find Myra's apartment. Myra spoke her address as she took the gun out of its holster and studied it, then looked at me.
"You're sure it's clean?"
"No reports on it, ma'am. Feel free to run your own check. I'll be hurt and disillusioned that you don't trust me, of course, but..."
She chuckled, "Yeah, yeah. All that," then removed the magazine and cleared the chamber as she asked the flitter to run a nationwide check on the gun's serial number. When the report came back clean, Myra nodded. "Okay. Three hundred, was it?"
"Nah. Just take it. I was serious; I prefer revolvers." Lifting the Taurus out of the pack, I said, "Besides, I still have this one. Want to spend some of this afternoon shooting?"
Myra grinned. "Sure. I'll wear something appropriate."
"Uh, huh. Prob'ly Daisy Dukes, just to throw my aim off."
She grinned and answered, "You sound hopeful. We'll see."
We landed in front of her building and went up to her second floor apartment. How someone enters their own home can be revealing. In Myra's case, she gave me the feeling she didn't really quite call it home yet. She stood to the right side of the door as she used her keys with her left hand, turned the knob, and pushed the door open. It all happened so quickly it looked almost natural, but any good training will look that way.
She entered the apartment with her head up and I saw her head turn slightly left and right a few times as she moved from the short alcove hallway through the main room past the kitchenette. At the closed door to her bedroom, she stopped and seemed to listen before she again stood to one side and opened the door.
On general principles, I sent a probe ahead of her through the door. Nope. Nobody there. Nobody in the closet or anywhere else in the room. Through the probe, I watched Myra enter, her eyes darting here and there as if taking inventory and searching for intruders at the same time.
Apparently satisfied, she came back out to the main room and said, "Give me a few minutes to throw some things in a bag." She started to turn, then asked, "How long do you think we'll be gone?"
I grinned. "Overnight at least, longer if we get lucky."
Rolling her eyes, Myra asked, "Gee, what are the chances of that happening? Seriously, Ed. What do you have in mind for that ship?"
"Why don't we just watch it a few days while Larcon tries to engineer things to his advantage?"
"That's not how you usually work. If I know that, so do others."
"They know every situation is different, too. The ship's well offshore and I'd love to spend a few days with you."
Angie's chimes pinged in my implant and my expression must have changed slightly. Myra asked, "What's wrong?"
"Angie's calling. Go ahead and change while we chat."
She nodded and entered the bedroom as I put up a screen and said, "You got me, Major Angie."
Her eyes were almost piercing above her small smile. "Hi, Ed. How'd your lunch with Larcon and Maxwell go?"
"Oh, pretty well, really. I get to spend some time with Myra."
"How nice for you. Doing what, if I may ask?"
"Well, that's really kind of personal, ma'am."
With a flat gaze, she stated, "For-Larcon-and-Maxwell."
Trying to look enlightened, I replied, "Oh. Yes'm. Of course." I shrugged. "Don't know yet. They're still thinking about it."
"Would this possibly have to do with a North Korean ship?"
"Yup. I'll either interrupt a weapons shipment or they'll decide to deal with it some other way."
"What happened to never, ever working for the government?"
"It's a special case. There are sixty-two hundred thermobaric RPGs on that tub. Chances are good some of them would end up in the US."
Angie sat back from her desk and asked, "Need I suggest that you leave no forensic evidence of your involvement?"
"No need at all, but thanks for the sentiment."
She eyed me for a moment, then said, "Your contract with 3rd World Products included a 'now and forever' clause, Ed. Being retired doesn't let you out of that."
Giving her a Boy Scout salute, I said, "No sweat. I'd make it look like an accident."
"What 'it' would that be?"
"Like I said, we don't know yet."
Leaning forward again, Angie said in an iron tone, "If you do anything at all for the feds, you get the deal in writing. Don't give them any chance whatsoever to use you as a scapegoat if things go to hell."
"Yes, ma'am, Major, ma'am. Got it. Will do."
"Good. Be careful, Ed. Later."
"Later, Angie."
She poked her 'off' icon and I let the screen dissolve. Myra stepped out of the bedroom wearing jeans and a blouse. I let my disappointment show as I asked, "Couldn't find any shorts?"
"Later for shorts. Are you planning to tell her anything else?"
"Won't have to."
"What does she have against government agencies?"
I chuckled, "Experience and common sense, same as me."
After a long, silent look, Myra went back into the bedroom. I took a seat on the couch and linked through Athena to dig up info about the crew of the ship. I'd expected half of them to be in the NK navy, but only two of them -- the captain and first officer -- were traceable by fingerprints. The other nineteen men weren't on record anywhere but in the shipping industry. Only one held a valid driver's license. Odd? No, not really. Low-rank Asian sailors don't have much use for cars. They're at sea all the time trying to make enough money to get by.
These guys were all port pick-ups to make a full crew. So what had happened to the previous crew? I had Athena try to find out. She came up with nothing in record searches. Hm. Add that to the ship suddenly appearing with no shipyard or registry history and it seemed likely the previous crew was dead. I had her search the ship for serial numbers and she came up with nine that hadn't been removed.
The number on the compressor of the ship's walk-in fridge tracked back to a manufacturer, then to a sale, and then to an installation on a freighter called the 'Islandia' in Australia. Traces of the other numbers matched. I had Athena check registries and found the 'Islandia' had gone missing in the South China Sea two years ago.
Bundling the details about the ship and crew, I sent them to Myra's datapad and sent a probe to the ship. How to make the crew abandon ship? Was that even necessary? It was big enough that it wouldn't capsize if the weapons containers happened to fall over the side.
How about an engine problem when they reached the Gulf of Mexico? That would give the US Navy time to position a few ships for a rescue at sea. But they could refuse assistance. What would give the US adequate reason to board the ship? And where?
From the Panama Canal, a course to Havana would take the ship very near the Cayman Islands, which were British territory. Good enough. Now for a reason to board it. How about a fire? In port? With at least one explosion? Heh. Yeah, that might do it. If not, two explosions would. I set a probe to watch the ship for unusual activities just as Myra came out of her bedroom with a backpack and a small suitcase.
She held up her datapad and said, "You've been busy."
Nodding, I said, "Yup. Got things all figured out, ma'am. All I need now is an ironclad promise from the US government that the weapons aboard that ship will be destroyed."
"That shouldn't be a problem. What's your plan?"
I told her, then added, "And if they try to move any of the RPGs off the ship before they reach the Caymans, I'll just pop a few. That'll freeze the ship and crew until the feds can get there."
Canting her head slightly, Myra seemed to consider matters for a moment, then said, "Sounds good to me," and put her datapad in her pack. "Ready to do some shooting?"
Getting to my feet, I asked, "Got a favorite place?"
"I go to 'On Target' in Severn, but Maryland has handgun registration and the guns we'd be using aren't registered to either of us."
As we headed for the door, I asked, "Do we need an indoor range?"
"No."
"Then we'll stop at your 'On Target' place for ammo and I'll have the flitter make us some targets so we can plink on the way."
"Uhm... you mean we'll be shooting in flight?"
"Yup. We can swing out over the Atlantic. No sweat."
She gave me an odd look, then shrugged. "Okay. Works for me."
The range was in a building at the corner of a shopping mall. There was no convenient way to simply appear in the parking lot, so I had the flitter go to stealth mode and let us off at the front door.
Myra bought all our ammo. I tried to hand her a twenty to cover my box of nines, but she waved it off with, "You just gave me a gun, Ed. The least I can do is feed yours."
As we left the store, a guy got out of a car with a bag and headed toward us, his eyes locked on Myra. When we passed through the flitter's hull field and vanished, he almost stumbled as he stopped walking and stared hard at the storefront.
Myra snickered "Poor guy. He thinks he's having hallucinations."
"Could be a lot worse. His 'hallucination' was you, milady. Tea, make our trip to Florida last an hour, please."
Fifty miles off the Atlantic shore, I had Galatea set up six circular black targets at varying distances behind us. Myra canted her head and chuckled, "Why round targets? Ever see a round bad guy?"
Trying to appear enlightened, I replied, "Good point, ma'am," and changed the targets to man-sized silhouettes. The two nearest targets were upper-half shapes, as if the quarry were peeking out from cover. The farthest were full silhouettes. Myra nodded and fished a pair of shooting earmuffs out of her pack. Before she put them on, she asked, "How will we know if we hit the targets?"
"They'll flash like an angry squid until you hit them again."
"A what?"
"Like this." I had the flitter do its freaked-out squid light show.
Myra marveled for a moment, then laughed, "I love it!" She hefted the XD pistol, then quickly raised it and fired a round at each of the nearest targets, apparently without seriously aiming. They lit up with brilliant displays and Myra laughed again.
I took a seat and watched as she again snap-shot at them and turned them back to black. She didn't use two hands to steady the gun; she just raised it, got a momentary aim, and let the lead fly. Kewl. A natural shooter who hadn't been hobbled by strict training. I shot the same way with pistols and revolvers. They were designed and intended for one-hand use, after all. Besides, if I wanted to use both hands, I'd shoot rifles.
Myra's XD locked open after the last round and she grinningly came to sit beside me as she let the magazine fall into her left hand.
She almost bellowed, "NICE GUN!"
Placing a hand to my ear as if I couldn't hear her, I yelled, "What?!" and she laughed as she slid her earmuffs down around her neck.
"Right," she said, "A forty is loud, even with these on. How'd I do?"
"About as I expected, really. If you want praise and flattery, wear shorts." Flipping the cooler open, I said, "The bar is open, ma'am."
"Thanks." She fished out a canned tea as I stood up.
Hefting the Taurus, I set a soundproof field around my head, stood a bit sidewise, and quickly popped the two front targets, then the two mid-range targets. Lowering the gun, I took a breath, then popped the targets again. Two rounds left. I used them to quickly turn one of the closer targets on and off.
As I returned to my seat, Myra asked, "Only ten rounds?"
I began reloading the magazine and said, "It holds more, but I don't keep the spring packed tight."
"How often do you shoot?"
"Not very. Last time at a range was over a year ago."
Her left eyebrow went up, then she sipped her tea and set it down as she got up to shoot again. Before she reached the end of the deck, I had the flitter set the targets in motion. Myra stopped, watched the two near targets rush left and right as if running for cover, and muttered, "Well, this is interesting."
As the targets again dashed in front of her, she raised the XD and fired twice. Both targets lit up. When they made their return dash, she missed one and swore gently. When it hurried past again, she hit it. Rolling her shoulders and taking a breath, she shrugged hard and seemed to give the matter some thought, then put two quick rounds in each target during their next pass. Her last round lit up a mid-range target.
When she turned to return to her seat, she flicked her eyebrows at me and said, "Your turn."
Getting up, I started shooting before I got to the end of the deck. My first two rounds made the nearest targets flash as they darted to my right, then I hit them again as they darted left. When they hurried past again, I hit each one twice as Myra had done. That left me two rounds for the outer targets. I popped the mid-range, then the longer range targets and headed back to my seat.
As I sipped coffee, I asked, "Why'd Stan assign me a Myra, milady?"
She looked up from loading the XD's magazine and met my gaze for a moment, then said, "He doesn't want you acting precipitously."
"As in dashing off to sink a ship?"
"And possibly causing an international incident."
"No problem. Like I told Angie; an accident with no evidence."
Myra sipped tea and said, "Maybe someone wants an incident, but one in our favor and on our terms. Something that could be used to pressure the North Koreans."
I laughed, "Pressure them? They don't give a rat's ass about world opinion. They never have and prob'ly never will until lil' Kim's gone."
"You think you know better than our foreign policy experts?"
"Oh, hell, yes. Look at their 'negotiation' track records. Just about anybody with a dime's worth of apolitical common sense would know better than they do about pretty much anything."
Her left eyebrow rose. "And how would you handle North Korea?"
"I'd warn them once that we'd bomb what few 20th century facilities they have if any of their nuclear crap shows up anywhere else in the world. When their crap turns up anyway, I'd bomb as promised. I'd also blockade their ports. No ships in or out, period. The two Koreas would reunite or China would absorb North Korea. Either way, they'd be finished."
Shaking her head as if moderately amazed, Myra said, "I can give you half a dozen reasons why that plan wouldn't work."
"I'll bet they all hinge on lack of willingness, not lack of ability." I shrugged. "Anyway, it was just my nickel's worth on the matter."
Myra finished her sip of tea, stood up, and walked to the rear deck. She eyed the targets for a moment, then raised her gun and quickly emptied it at the near- and mid-range targets without missing. I applauded and whistled softly. Myra grinningly turned and made a shallow curtsey.
I knew that my lack of practice would make me miss a few in an attempt at a similar shooting show, so I relied on timing to make the difference. The two closest targets 'met' in the middle during their passes and the mid-range target was a bit to the left of center beyond them. That meant I could nail the left-to-right target, the right-to-left target half a second later, and pop the mid-range target before the two front targets again reached the spot. With luck, I'd only have to adjust elevation.
Raising the Taurus as the left-to-right pass began, I nailed the target just below the mid-range target, fired at the right-to-left target as it arrived, and popped the mid-range just as another left-to-right pass began. The plan worked beautifully. I banged out a hit every half-second and only missed one of ten shots. When I turned, I gave Myra a small bow.
"Damn," she said, "Are you sure you haven't been to a range lately?"
"Tea," I said, "When did I last visit a gun range?"
Galatea replied, "July 11, 2008."
Myra lifted an eyebrow and said, "Maybe I phrased the question wrong; Galatea, when did he last do any practice shooting anywhere?"
"July 11, 2008."
I said, "It's the gun, ma'am. It came with built-in accuracy."
With a wry grin, she replied, "So did mine, apparently."
We continued shooting until the flitter headed inland above Jacksonville. When we got to my house, I spread newspapers on the kitchen table and we set about cleaning the guns and magazines.

Chapter Forty-one

As I stripped down the Taurus, I asked Athena to see if any US warships were near enough to intercept the Dong Gio before she reached Panama. Nope. No ships, no subs. That seemed odd, given what they knew about her cargo. Unless they planned to stop her somewhere else? I checked the canal. There were US ships at each end, but no warships. None in the Gulf of Mexico, either.
Linking through Athena to records regarding the Dong Gio, I found that three spook agencies, the Navy, and everyone from the Joint Chiefs up knew what was aboard her, but no orders to do more than monitor the ship had been issued. I peeked at satellite logs and found three birds working together to keep the ship in sight at all times.
Myra said, "Ed, you're being very quiet over there."
I realized I'd stopped disassembling the Taurus and continued as I replied, "Just thinking."
Swabbing her XD's bore, Myra asked, "About...?"
"Ships. RPGs. The fact that despite what's known, not one US ship is where it can intercept the Dong Gio before Panama or in the Gulf. The only order on record says to watch it. Nothing else."
Her gaze narrowed slightly. "And you know that how?"
Cleaning the Taurus's slide assembly, I said, "Just do. If it weren't for what's aboard that ship, I'd hand this whole stinking mess back to Stan right now."
She stopped wiping the XD's frame and said, "Maybe you'd like to explain that."
"No, I don't think I would. Nor should I have to. There can't be any good reasons for letting that ship reach a port."
"Maybe they have other plans for stopping it."
"It would take an air strike or interception by a foreign navy. There's nothing on record about using those methods, either."
"Maybe the order hasn't been given yet."
Swabbing the Taurus's bore, I said, "That's three 'maybes' in a row, ma'am. What else you got?"
Myra leaned back and said, "One more 'maybe', I guess. Maybe they're expecting you to do something, with or without orders."
I nodded. "Yeah, that's about what I figured, too. I also figured you were sent along to suggest it if I didn't think of it."
She said nothing as she eyed me briefly, then began reassembling the XD. Through Athena, I studied the ship's course, then overlaid a topographic map of the sea floor. The Dong Gio wasn't far from the Galapagos Rift, most of which is over three thousand feet deep. Switching to info concerning the ship's engines and steering system, I gave some thought to what kind of trouble might make the crew call home. If they called in a trouble report, an accident would look a lot more plausible.
Sending a low frequency probe to study the ship's rudder hydraulics, I picked an encased seal and sent a sub-zero cold field into it. The seal disintegrated and pressurized hydraulic fluid sprayed all over the compartment. The rudder swung hard to the left and people yelled as an alarm sounded in the engine room.
What next? How about a fuel line rupture in an inconvenient place? But there weren't any such places. Oh, well. Another cold field where the line met the bulkhead tank caused the metal line to snap away almost clean at the bulkhead. Some fuel leaked from the severed line, but very little seeped from the bulkhead. Damn. Prob'ly had a stop-leak mechanism. Still, that break would be a real bitch to fix if they could fix it at all.
I asked Athena to monitor the ship's commo and let me know when they called home about the problems, then I set about reassembling the Taurus. I was in the midst of cleaning and oiling the magazine when Athena said the ship's captain had reported the emergency. He'd received orders to repair the rudder hydraulics and continue on one engine.
Sending a probe to the container deck, I flew it through containers until I located one that held plastic furniture. It was sixth from the aft end of the row and second from the bottom. There were only a few inches of space between any of the containers; nobody was going to get to it.
The container was old and its door seals were ratty. A cooling probe made what was left of them brittle enough to crumble away when it tapped them. A heat probe ignited the wooden pallet under a stack of plastic lawn chairs near the door. Soon the stack was simultaneously burning and melting, dribbling out of the container in stretchy streams of fire and sending up black smoke. A new alarm sounded and men swarmed over the container stacks with hoses, but all they could do was spray between the containers.
A couple of shouting matches ensued and half a dozen guys gathered behind the containers. A man in what looked like a uniform jacket appeared and shouted at them. Two guys ducked away and continued hosing down the stacks, but the others seemed reluctant to participate. The jacketed man produced a pistol and yelled at them and they started climbing up the stack with fire hoses.
Good 'nuff. They'd made a radio call and the satellites would notice the smoke. Now it was time to find a way to make them abandon ship. The man with the gun shouted something at the guys climbing the stack of containers. In the middle of his rant, I stunned him. He collapsed to the deck to the total amazement of the others. One of them clambered down the rear of the stack like a monkey and dashed to grab the pistol, then viciously kicked the man on the deck a few times.
Men hanging on the stack began yelling and pointing and the man with the gun turned to see two men coming at him from an open hatchway. He raised the gun, but it didn't fire. As he frantically fiddled with it, the magazine fell out. One of the oncoming men also had a pistol and fired first, hitting the fiddler in the leg. As the man fell, he aimed and tried again to shoot. This time the gun fired and racked open and the man who'd shot him fell.
As the leg-wounded man stretched to reach the fallen magazine, the other new guy lunged and scrambled for his downed companion's gun. Leg-wound crammed the magazine back into his gun and fumbled at the gun's buttons again. The gun's slide suddenly slammed shut and he aimed the gun at the new guy just as that man raised his gun. Leg-wound's panicky shot hit the new guy's head and he fell near his buddy.
With the immediate danger over, the men on the stacks forgot the fire and quickly came down to join the one who'd been shot in the leg. One of them seemed to know what to do and used two rags to bind the leg. Another man spoke for a short time and was given the gun, then he and two others went below. I had a probe follow them. They sent every man they encountered topside until they reached the men working on the rudder hydraulics.
One guy at the scene looked surprised and angry to see them and began to rant at them. The guy with the gun raised it and calmly put a round in his chest. They watched him fall and the guy shot him again, then he yammered something and turned to leave. The other guys gathered up the fallen man and followed. They all arrived topside a few minutes later.
After some discussion and argument, the bodies were tossed overboard, then most of the group headed to a passageway and gathered stuff from their quarters. Three guys went to two other rooms and searched for something. After a time one yelled and pointed at a safe that had been welded to the deck under a bunk. Well, what the hell... the safe prob'ly held their passports and money, and sailors should be paid, right?
I used the probe to spin the dial and the guy jumped back with a startled shout. He and the others watched from a distance as the dial spun to and fro and the small door handle turned. The safe opened, but the guys seemed less than eager to approach it. Finally one guy eased forward and snatched stuff out of the safe. He grinned as he waved a passport. Another guy riffled the pile to find his. The guy with the gun took control of the rest of the stuff, then led the way back to the outer deck.
When they arrived, there were no bodies in sight. The now much larger fire was burning merrily and two men were using the fire hoses to rinse blood off the deck. Once that job was declared done, they went to the lifeboats, where another discussion ensued that became an argument, but settled back to a discussion after a few moments. One man shook his head, stepped back, and crossed his arms firmly. Another and then another joined him until about a third of the group stood together in some kind of refusal.
I asked Athena to translate and discovered they were arguing about whether to abandon ship. They had no idea where they were and one loudly pointed out that they didn't have a good story for the authorities. Hm. Both good points, but I wanted them off the ship.
Myra said, "Ed, you're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Zoning out. You've just been sitting there staring into space."
"I was thinking."
In a flat tone, she stated, "Again."
I nodded. "Yup. Never really stopped."
Looking down, I saw the Taurus was reassembled except for the magazine, but I couldn't remember having reassembled it. With a shrug, I racked the slide, checked the chamber out of habit, and let the slide slam forward. The hammer dropped when I pulled the trigger. Good 'nuff. I began loading the magazine.
Myra asked, "Where were you this time?"
"Still thinking about that ship."
Sipping coffee, I sent a probe to set fire to hydraulic fluid that had sprayed around the leaky strut. It wouldn't cause much damage there, but it would produce some smoke. I found half a barrel of some kind of oil and a tub of grease and added those to the fire, then looked for a way to scuttle the ship. No such way presented itself, of course. It was a civvy cargo ship, not a military vessel that might need to be kept out of enemy hands.
Myra said, "Ed, I want to know what the hell's going on."
Through Athena, I checked to see if anyone had noticed a burning ship in the Pacific. Yup. Almost instantly, in fact. Arrangements were already being made to get planes and ships out there in what was being called a rescue effort. Well, they'd find people to rescue, if not a ship.
"Why do you think anything is 'going on', Myra?"
Smoke billowed out of a few open hatchways and the crew apparently decided things had become too dangerous. Without further debate, they headed for the lifeboats. Good 'nuff. I decided not to do anything else until planes arrived. They'd have cameras and...
Myra snapped, "No more games, damn it. What's on your mind?"
Sipping coffee again, I put my mug down, put the magazine in the Taurus, and stood up. Myra eyed me almost warily as I said, "At this very moment, you're on my mind. Back in a minute. I'm going to put this away," and left the kitchen.
In the garage, I put the Taurus in my bike's right saddlebag as I used my ship probe to locate the plastic explosive containers. Manifesting a small hook on the probe to strip packaging away, I saw an orange brick of clay. Semtex. Good. It burns as well as C4. Setting some alight in each of the three containers, I posted the probe above the ship to monitor things.
Myra was assembling a pot of coffee when I returned to the kitchen. She glanced up, then continued as she said, "Ed, I know you're up to something."
"All you have to do is prove it, ma'am."
She froze and her next glance became a sharp, studious look. Chimes sounded in her backpack. Myra's gaze snapped to it, then she moved to take her datapad out of the pack and poke it on.
"Yes, Mr. Maxwell?"
Without preamble, he asked tersely, "Myra, where's Ed?"
I said, "Right here in my kitchen with marvelous Myra, Stan. What's up?"
Myra turned the pad so its lens could see me. Stan's gaze was piercing as he asked, "Are you saying you don't know?"
"Know what? Are you saying I should? Why the call, Stan?"
After a short pause, he said, "Something's come up. I'll need Myra back here today. As soon as possible, please."
"Well, damn. Okay. We'll saddle up in a few minutes."
"Thank you. Goodbye." He poked his 'off' icon.
Myra eyed her pad for a moment, then set it down as she switched her gaze to me. I sipped coffee as I waited for her to say something. After a moment, she put her pad back in her pack and sat down at the table.
Looking past her, I asked, "What about the coffee?"
She shrugged. "I didn't get that far with it. Just water and a filter. You can show us the ship, right?"
I called up a two-foot screen and pretended mild surprise as I said, "So that's why he was all fuzzed up. It's burning. Or something on it is."
Giving me a droll look, Myra said, "Oh, don't even try to pretend, dammit! You don't do it well enough."
Trying to look affronted, I replied, "Do, too."
"Do I look convinced?"
"You're an unusually tough audience. How long do we really have before we have to start back to your spook shop?"
She looked at her watch, then sighed, "Not long enough. Maxwell knows how long it takes to get places by flitter."
My implant pinged with Angie's chimes. I answered it with, "Yeww got me, milady!"
Angie asked, "No screen?"
Calling one up, I shrugged. "Yeah, okay. Sure. A screen."
Looking at Myra, Angie nodded slightly and said, "Hello," then returned her attention to me and said, "Ed, we need to talk."
"Well, I just happen to be at a kitchen table, ma'am. Fire away."
"Funny, but not what I had in mind. How soon can you be here?"
"I'm still retired, you know. Tell me why I should go to Carrington?"
With a level of exasperation, she said, "Call me back when you're alone, Ed. Preferably within the next few minutes."
Thumbing at Myra, I said, "Can't. I have to run Myra back to Maryland. Maxwell recalled her a few minutes ago. He was pretty upset about something."
That lifted Angie's left eyebrow and shifted her gaze to Myra, but she nodded. "Okay. Fine. Buzz me as soon as you're free. Later."
She poked her screen off and Myra said, "Wow. She's a little tense."
Standing up, I said, "Management types are always tense about something. If you aren't going to steal a few minutes to plunder me, I guess we may as well get underway."
Myra grinned wryly as she also stood up and chuckled, "Sorry, but plundering you properly would take too long."
Heading for the door with my pack and her suitcase, I said, "Oh, well. Let me know if you change your mind."
Following me out, Myra chuckled, "Will do."
But alas, she didn't change her mind during our flight. She didn't talk much, either, as we watched the ship burn on a yard-wide screen. I made a new probe and used it to direct the flow of burning plastic from the lawn chair container toward the RPG containers. Seals around the bottom container's doors began burning and dribbling, which in turn set alight wooden pallets and crates inside it.
To involve as much of that cargo as possible, I added a yard-wide sunball to the growing conflagration inside the container. A few seconds later, a massive explosion engulfed the sunball and set off more explosions. The entire center of the container row heaved upward a bit and swelled outward. Half a dozen containers near the edge of the deck were abruptly shoved overboard. More explosions followed, each setting off others.
Things seemed to be going pretty well, but it was all happening above the deck. None of the action so far seemed capable of sinking the ship. On the other hand, was sinking the ship really necessary? There wouldn't be that much left of her contraband cargo and now there was all the reason anyone would need to board her. I decided to call the job done.
As we began descending, I turned to Myra and said, "Miz Myra, you're my witness. I never left your company and you didn't see me do anything but shoot and clean a gun, right?"
Sitting straight, she turned to face me with a fisheye look and answered, "No, I didn't." She watched a few explosions, then shook her head slightly, closed her eyes as she took a breath, and sighed, "Some people may not like this."
"Larcon won't like it, but I don't think it'll bother Stan much."
"I guess we'll find out soon enough."
I nodded. "Yup. Well, you will, anyway. I'm gonna drop you off."
We set down on the walkway in front of NSA headquarters and I handed Myra down, then handed her suitcase to her.
She said, "I'd rather you come in with me."
"Nah. Holler when you have time to visit. I'll come pick you up."
Myra nodded, then glanced at the building and sighingly chuckled, "This should be interesting. Bye, Ed."
"Bye, Myra. Have fun in there."
She laughed wryly, "Oh, I'm sure," and headed for the doors.
Hopping back aboard the flitter, I lifted southward and sent a ping to Angie. She answered with a split screen. On the left side, Lisa sat chatting with some people at a mess hall table.
Angie said, "I'm not happy, Ed. Lisa and Lori are insisting Lisa should be... involved... in Lori's daily activities."
"Yeah? How's she gonna find the time? She had to threaten to quit her job to get time off to visit Florida last year. She said she's using vacation time now."
"She's talking about taking an early retirement and living on income from a meteorite business."
"Huh. That sounds kind of chancy."
Letting me see some of her exasperation, Angie gently snapped, "Never mind how it sounds. I think she's serious."
I shrugged. "Well, unless she's some kind of security risk, call it 'two for the price of one' and let her train with Lori. A few full-speed trips through ranges six and nine could change her mind about just how involved she wants to be."
"Ed, I was hoping you'd try to talk her out of it. She'll listen to you."
I laughed, "Where the hell did you get that idea?"
"From her. You're all she talked about this morning."
"Uh, huh. Review the recordings, ma'am. I'll bet you'll find she wasn't all that happy about me."
Shaking her head slightly, Angie said, "You're wrong, Ed. You've really made quite an impression on her."
"Then she's the one who should mention it. Sorry, Angie, but she's all yours. If you can't talk her out of it, put her to work."
Angie's irritated gaze locked on mine for a time, then she sat back and said, "I've heard from Stan Maxwell about a burning ship."
Pretending enlightenment, I replied, "Ah. Well, maybe that's why he called Myra back to the office."
"You're saying you didn't have anything to do with it?"
"Funny; Stan asked me almost the same thing."
"What did you tell him?"
"I asked why he thought I'd know anything about it. Myra was with me from our lunch until I called you."
Canting her head with a fisheye look, Angie asked, "So you'd like me to believe that ship caught fire all by itself?"
"Do the facts as you know them indicate otherwise?" I shrugged. "Something on the ship caught fire. The fire reached stuff that blew up. Now they won't have any trouble boarding it and an NSA agent can absolutely truthfully testify that I was with her the whole time."
Angie glanced to her left and I saw a dot of light in her eyes as her intercom buzzed softly. She looked back at me for a long moment, then curtly said, "Later, Ed," and poked her 'off' icon before I could reply.
Hm. Later, indeed, ma'am. Possibly much later if that attitude persists. Linking to Athena, I sipped coffee and scanned immediate records regarding the Dong Gio. Ships and planes were on their way, some carrying authority types and some hauling news crews. There was much speculation about the ship, its cargo, and circumstances of the fire, but nobody official had ventured any opinions.

Chapter Forty-two

A familiar field presence manifested to my right and I turned to see an attractive brunette woman in a medium blue skirt and jacket outfit.
She said, "Hello, Ed."
I stood up and extended a hand as I said, "Welcome aboard, Athena."
She was nearly my height. I looked down and saw she wore three-inch heels. She was also structured nicely, but hadn't borrowed elements of Stephanie's form. I wondered what that might ultimately mean, then decided I'd likely find out soon enough if it really mattered.
I said, "That's a great persona, ma'am. Have you met Sandy?"
She nodded slightly. "Yes, and the others."
Although her voice sounded normal, something about it slithered into my ears and tickled. I asked, "Any problems with the arrangement?"
"No."
Gesturing her to a seat, I took my own and asked, "What made you decide to visit my humble flitter?"
With a small smile and a shrug, she replied, "It seemed as good a place as any to meet. Why are we speaking aloud?"
"Because you did too good a job on your voice. I could listen to you talk for hours." Her smile widened. I asked, "Any comments about the weapons ship?"
"No, your actions seem to have accomplished all your goals. May I speak freely regarding another topic?"
I shrugged. "Guess so. What's on your mind?"
"Your mind. Since leaving 3rd World Products, you've seemed to gradually distance yourself from everyone. Would you like an example?"
Huh. Not a topic I'd have anticipated. I cautiously replied, "Let's hear it."
"After speaking with Angie, you thought 'Later, indeed, ma'am. Possibly much later if that attitude persists,' but in fact, Angie's terse attitude appeared to be a reaction to your dismissive attitude."
"Dismissive?"
"You rejected all her concerns as if they meant nothing, didn't you?"
"They do mean nothing. Lori and Lisa will do as they will. Angie will handle that matter however she has to. The only reason she gave a damn about the ship had to do with whether the event could be traced to me somehow."
Athena's left eyebrow arched. "Remember you said that if you find reason to ask for her help with some future matter. Would you like me to remind you if such an occasion arises?"
I sighed, "No, I'll give her a call later and smooth things over."
"That would probably be a good idea. May I also mention that you treated Lori and Lisa somewhat roughly in leaving as you did?"
"Well, it's kinda late to say 'no', isn't it? What was I gonna do; stun her? I didn't want to hear her rant, so I left. No apologies."
"Chances are excellent you'll have to see or work with Lori again, which means you could also encounter Lisa. Ed, what happened to your 'never slam a door' policy?"
Sipping coffee, I said, "You've apparently been studying my mind as well as recording it. What do you think happened to that policy?"
Athena paused two full seconds before answering, "I don't know, Ed. I've found nothing I'd consider a specific turning point."
I shrugged. "That could mean there isn't one. Sometimes things just stack up until something gives. And I haven't been slamming doors. I've just been avoiding unnecessary angst. Lisa seems to be full of that."
"Apparently she doesn't feel it's unnecessary."
"That's her problem. I don't like angst. Athena, if you want to find a job as a social worker, I'll let you out of the agreement early."
She shook her head and raised a hand as she said, "No, thanks, and I'll take that hint, but I suggest you tread more lightly among friends."
"Message received, ma'am. Next time I'll say 'excuse me' or something before I make my escape. Now, what can I do to improve your day?"
Her left eyebrow arched slightly as she replied, "Nothing. Apologies if necessary, but I'll be preoccupied until eleven or so."
"Yet here you are, schmoozing aboard a flitter."
Athena smiled. "Not for long." With a little hand-flap wave, she said, "Bye," and vanished.
Hm. 'Preoccupied', huh? I linked to my core and found nearly half of it had been partitioned for Athena's private use. While it was readily apparent that I could enter the newly segregated region, I saw no reason to enter her space. Self-awareness seems to automatically engender a sense of propriety. Checking usage stats, I also found nearly eighty percent of the space on her side to be occupied by static data or data processing. Less than ten percent of my side was tied up in any manner, so I said, "Athena, unless you can think of some good reason not to, take about half of my side, too. If we need more space later, we can expand this core or make you a new one."
The partition began expanding toward me and I moved back until it stopped. Seemingly from all around me, Athena's warm, tingly voice said, "Thank you. This will do well enough."
"Wow! Neat audio effect, ma'am! How'd you do that?"
"I didn't. Your perceptions are different because you're fully inside the core instead of simply viewing presented data."
Inside it? I thought I'd been inside it other times, too. Guess not. "Is this change of perception due to the size of the space?"
"Partly, but perhaps due more to your location."
I needed a handle on this phenomenon, so I tried comparing it to being able to transport myself inside my laptop. That envisionment seemed to help; I was suddenly able to 'see' static data and watch variable data as it changed, to include a representation of my realizations as they happened. Turning, I saw an open portal to my right. Beyond it I could see space and stars. Odd. I didn't remember that from other visits. Looking around some more, I suddenly realized the portal was my only way in or out.
Athena said, "Now I'll show you something unique," and the portal began contracting upon itself like a camera shutter.
My first thought was 'Holy shit!' and my noncorporeal self lunged at the shrinking portal. Too late. It disappeared even as I reached the wall. Huh? Wait one. The enclosure was a product of my imagination. Wasn't it? No, not entirely. As I passed through the wall I saw Athena's partition, apparently quite a distance away. Had she reduced her space? I checked the numbers in the matrix. No changes since her expansion. My perception of things had changed again.
Athena said, "Meet me outside," and sent an image of herself standing on the core's exterior. Behind her were stars and open space.
Letting my manifestation within the core vanish, I reformed myself outside the core and found I was considerably smaller than Athena. She canted her head and smiled down at me as if studying an object of great interest. I reset my persona's parameters and became normal-sized, floating next to the core. Athena's actions now made sense. She'd simply provided perceived constraint to make me react, knowing I'd think through it.
Grinning at her, I said, "That was very interesting, ma'am. Exciting, even."
"Apparently also somewhat instructive."
"Oh, yeah. Definitely. I had a sense of near-total belonging in there. That's new. I also found myself looking at my probe image as if I were the core as well as the image. That's new, too."
Combining a semi-shrug with a grin, she made a little moue and said, "Now you know how I've seen you when you've visited the core."
I linked into my core space and found no active persona. Sending my image self back into my core space, I allowed it to disperse and blend with the region. It suddenly occurred to me that my sense of 'self' was no longer based in my Earthbound physical body. I was still connected to it, but the core space felt more like 'home'.
As this realization sank in, I muttered, "Kewl!"
Athena appeared beside me and chuckled, "Welcome aboard, Ed."
"You think this means I've moved my consciousness up here?"
"It certainly seems so to me. What do you think?"
I shrugged. "I'm still not completely sure, I guess, but I'll say chances are looking a lot better now."
She grinned. "Good. Let me know if you need any further assistance."
With that, she vanished. I extended my 'self' to include my body aboard the flitter. No problem; I suddenly seemed to be in both places at once. The flitter was about to descend, so I told it to hover twenty miles up and returned my attention to the core. Linked into it, I could search for info as I'd have searched on the net, but as part of the core, that step was no longer necessary. The moment a thought topic occurred to me, the core's entire reservoir of data on that topic and related topics seemingly rushed into my mind. Perhaps 'loaded' was a better word? It seemed much like program and file loading on any other computer.
On the other hand, some aspects of my capabilities of understanding hadn't changed. As a test, I conjured up data concerning the mathematical composition of field energy and discovered it made no more sense than it had when Steph showed it to me years ago. Something only vaguely definable shifted in my perception, then something else, and suddenly parts of the display became more meaningful. Not all of it, by any means, but certain parts became understandable. As I studied them, more tiny bits of the data seemed to morph into clarity and my base of understanding grew slightly.
Hm. In other words, I had a helluva lot of learning and adaptation ahead. Well, at least it seemed more like osmosis than old fashioned 'buckle-down-and-study'-type skull work. I let the math display disperse and reached to my pants pocket for my coffee mug, but it wasn't there. Of course. But my mug was in my flitter-self's left hand. I had that self take a sip and shared the coffee taste as if I'd sipped it... myself? Duh. Exactly. All I had to do was learn how to mentally be in two places at once without having to think about it too much. Was an occasional slug of coffee worth that much effort? No, but other things likely would be.
I heard Athena's soft chuckle again.
"Eavesdropping, ma'am?"
"No. You're practically broadcasting every thought."
"Ah. Well, no sweat. You're still in charge of recording them until I get a decent handle on all this. I hope nobody minds too much if I tend to be an underachieving half-wit AI for a while."
"Ed, you know you're under no obligation to achieve anything according to any schedule but your own."
I sighed, "Yeah, but I'm anticipating one helluva learning curve and I was never the most diligent student, ma'am. If some metaphorical fish were biting somewhere, that's probably where I was."
"Still, that will matter only to you, although you can expect a certain level of interest in your progress and assistance should you wish it."
Shifting consciousness to my body, I savored a real sip of coffee and realized there were many things I wasn't willing to give up any time soon.
"Thanks, Athena. I'm sure there'll be times when I'll definitely need some help."
Linda's chimes sounding in my implant was an event unusual enough to break my train of thought. Putting up a screen, I stood up and grinningly saluted as I answered stoutly, "You got me, Fearless Leader!"
She smiled and chuckled, "Gawd, I've missed that."
"So call more often. Have you started a new spooky agency yet?"
Shaking her head slightly, Linda said firmly, "No. Ed, I wasn't kidding; I spent forty years at it and I've damned well retired."
"It's the world's loss, ma'am. Yours too, I'd think. You bored yet?"
With a wry expression, she replied, "Only occasionally. Never enough to climb back into a harness. I'm calling about Lori, Ed. And Angie. They call me now and then and both seem to think I'm a confidant."
"Are you? That is, have you been?"
Linda sighed, "To a degree, but I've been trying to keep that degree as small as possible."
"Reason?"
"Ed, you know why, dammit. I got out. Finally. At last. I-got-out."
"Uh, huh. You got out of 3rd World's top security job, which got you out of a wheel chair, which got you out of a government agency that lured you out of a dead-end Navy job way back when. How 'out' do you really need to be, ma'am? There's nothing devious going on; Lori's prob'ly just looking for some personal leadership she doesn't expect to get from Lisa or Angie."
Pursing her lips and peering at me for a moment, Linda said, "I think I know what you mean, but... Explain, please."
"Okay. You think Lisa's only real use for the moment might be as a very cautious second opinion, a middling conscience, or a morale officer. She's of little or no value tactically. Angie's role is almost what yours was to me; to call the tunes and deal with aftermath, but she's obligated to no less than two chains of command while she's in that Air Force uniform, and they won't always be in accord. That means there'll be times when Lori will be on her own no matter who says what, because brassholes have been known to leave everybody high, dry, and exposed to enemy fire. And you're prob'ly wondering why I haven't been much more involved in Lori's training since she joined 3rd World."
Another silent moment passed, then she said, "Yes, I have."
"Well, ma'am, I wasn't invited. In fact, I was instructed to let 3rd handle all her training and to stay clear of her."
"Did you? Stay clear, that is?"
I shrugged. "Sure, at first. She had a lot to learn quickly, both about the job ahead and the company. But things came up and she came to Florida."
"Things came up? I guess that's one way of putting it. Emory has been keeping me more or less updated. I heard about the LAW attack at your place. Any damage you didn't mention?"
"Nope. AIs zapped the round before it hit the house. Now Lori has a core of her own to cover her butt."
Nodding, Linda murmured, "Good, good. Back to what you almost managed to tell me, please."
"Ah. That. Well, Linda, I let you boss me around for decades, even when our opinions differed dramatically. Why?"
She chuckled, "You tell me."
"Because I learned early on that whenever I'd called things wrong, you'd almost always called them right."
She grinned. "There were times I kept my mouth shut, too, you know. I didn't know what the hell to do about Ziegler, for instance. We couldn't offer him protection, we couldn't leave him with the cops, we couldn't kill him while he was in custody, and we couldn't let him wander around loose."
"Yet he was shot while in custody. It was just a matter of pissing off an obnoxious guard so he'd try to put cuffs on me, then angling the struggle close enough to Ziegler's cell. When I saw Ziegler grab the guard's gun, I knocked the guard down and dropped flat."
Linda nodded again. "And three other guards saw the gun in his hand and that was it. I'd never have thought of doing that, Ed."
I shrugged. "Not enough time in the field. It all works out, ma'am. I'd never have thought of looking for him where you said to look, but there he was." Sipping my coffee as she sipped hers, I said, "Lori needs a solid mentor; someone who's actually had that job before, but who doesn't have 3rd World or government hooks in her back. Karina called you 'an honest view'."
"Karina. Damn. I haven't thought about her since you... sorry."
"No sweat. Linda, Karina trusted even fewer people in government than I did, but she trusted you. She saw what I saw. I think Lori does, too. She isn't looking to be adopted, y'know, just to be guided a bit now and then."
Linda sighed, "Yeah, I hear you. I'm just not sure I want to... Never mind. Anything new at your end of the country?"
"Nope. Florida's still just barely above water and it's still full of tourists."
We talked another ten minutes or so, then Linda's door bell rang and she sighed, "That's probably the electrician. Emory added a greenhouse room and it has to be county-certified. Later, Ed."
"Later, Fearless Leader."
She poked her 'off' icon and I let my screen dissipate. For all her reservations, it seemed likely to me that Linda would make herself available to Lori. I checked the time; almost three. Sipping coffee, I then wondered why I'd checked the time. I had no schedule. No appointments. I headed for the garage, rolled the bike out, and looked around. Which way today? Northeast. Horse country.
Setting the bike in motion, I bypassed major intersections and shopping centers by taking Elgin to Barclay, then heading north to SR50. A mile or so east I got on tree-canopied Fort Dade Avenue and followed it to Citrus Way and County 491, where I headed north.
Low, rolling green hills. Horses and cattle grazing between sections of pine forest on both sides of the road. Small farms and ranches. An occasional small store with gas pumps, but mostly just miles of uninterrupted scenery along a well-maintained country road.
Just over the Citrus County line, Toni's chimes sounded in my implant. I answered them with a screen just above the handlebars and, "Hi, Toni. Hang on while I park this thing."
She grinned, looked past me, and said, "You're already heading north and I have two days off. Why not park it here?"
"Sounds good to me. I'm near the county line. Be there soon."
"Okay. Are you wondering how I knew you were going north?"
Well, no, but...
"Shadows, ma'am? Moss on trees and woodsy stuff like that?"
Her grin grew bigger. "Oh, hell, no, I'm strictly a city girl. I saw a 'South 491' sign over your shoulder. Oh, hey, pick up some gin, okay? Sylvia and her new squeeze cleaned me out last night."
Toni knew Sylvia and Rita?
"Gin. Yes, milady, I can definitely do that. Need mixer, too?"
"No, just gin. Great! See you soon! Bye!"
With that, she poked her 'off' icon. Hm. Toni hadn't been with Selena and me way back then. Maybe Sylvia had stopped by looking for Selena? Whatever. Toni. Gin. The hot tub. Things were definitely looking up.
*
- End 3rd World Products, Inc. Book 14 -
*
Abintra Press titles:
*
SCIENCE FICTION
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 1"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 2"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 3"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 4"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 5"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 6"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 7"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 8"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 9"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 10"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 11"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 12"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 13"
"3rd World Products, Inc., Book 14"
"An Encounter in Atlanta"
"ANSEN"
"Assignment: ATLANTA"
(A Sandy Shield Novel!)
"Bitten and Smitten" (Vampires!)
"HUNT CLUB" (Vampires!)
"In Service to a Goddess, Book 1"
"In Service to a Goddess, Book 2"
"In Service to a Goddess, Book 3"
"In Service to a Goddess, Book 4"
"In Service to a Goddess, Book 5"
"STARDANCER"
*
FICTION-EROTICA-ROMANCE
"Anne"
"Cade's Quest-The Beginning"
"Crystal River Witch"
"Dragonfly Run"
"Field Decision"
"Kim"
"Mindy"
*
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