"But that's ... That's immoral! Illegal! People don't own people!"
I asked, “Does that mean that we can count on your support later? We're taking the matter to court. An extra witness would be nice. An expert witness would be nicer."
Barb sat very still, then said, “Well, uh, I don't know..."
"You don't think Stephanie is an individual? A person?"
"Well, no, it isn't that, but ... Well, yes, it is. I've only known her for a little while, and you both admit that she's a computer. I'd have to be sure that she wasn't just some very complex program ... She may be nothing more than a wide range of preprogrammed responses and a subroutine that decides which response to use."
I grinned and asked, “You mean like most people?” I pitched my voice slightly and said, “Hot enough for ya? Hi, how are you? Oh, fine, thanks. May I help you? No, I'm just looking."
Barbara rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Yes, I see what you mean, but..."
I asked, “Would you be willing to put her to the test sometime soon?"
"A test? To see if she's capable of independent thought? That would be interesting, certainly, but I'm managing half a dozen offices and sixty people, Ed. Where would I find the time?"
"Where do you find time when your Jeep breaks down? When you get the latest flu bug and don't want to infect the office? People like you don't find time; you make it. The only difference is that Steph's problem doesn't have to involve you unless you have the capacity to care a little."
Barbara sat very still and gazed at me for some moments, then her gaze fell on Steph for another few moments. When she turned back to me, she said, “Oh, that was slick enough. What did you used to sell, mister? Cars? Furniture?"
"Am I wrong, Barb? Has anyone ever stood up for you when you needed it?"
Ignoring my question, she asked one of her own. “Did this trip ever really have anything to do with 3rd World or field research?"
"Yes. It did and still does. In fact, Linda will probably be somewhat pissed when she learns that I've tried to involve you in our little problems. We were only supposed to snag your interest in fields and 3rd World."
"Doesn't she share your belief that Stephanie is an individual?"
"Don't know. Possibly. Probably, but she's a hard-core company girl. I'm not even sure she has a hobby."
Barbara shook her head. “Well, then, she doesn't have to find out from me."
I grinned and said, “No biggie. If she tosses me out, I'll take my retirement and have more time to work with Steph."
Steph said, “Touchdown in thirty seconds, everybody."
Barb looked around the flitter, saw the ground rushing up at us, and said, “Oh, my God! Are we falling?"
"No,” said Steph. “Just descending quickly to clear the airspace. We aren't alone up here."
"Should I do anything? Fasten my seat ... Oh, lord, there aren't any. I forgot."
"Just sit still,” I said. “There's nothing you need to do."
The two main buildings of the complex grew larger very quickly, then we were stopped in front of the admin building's main entrance. I rose from my seat, as did Steph, and we stood waiting for Barbara, whose knees didn't seem too steady.
She made it to her feet on her second attempt and walked to the edge of the deck with us, but I stepped down first and extended a hand to let her brace herself when she stepped down. She turned around for a long look at the flitter, then slipped her jacket on and straightened her blouse.
"Ready,” she said, and we proceeded into the building.
After we'd signed in at the front desk, a number of people greeted Steph and me in passing as we headed to Linda's office. Barbara seemed to be trying to look everywhere at once until we stopped outside Linda's door.
"Where are the guards?” she asked.
"If you sign on, you'll get the usual tour, including a review of security measures. One of those measures is not telling visitors anything about security measures."
At my knock, Linda said, “Come in,” and we entered her somewhat austere office. Linda smilingly met us near the door and said, “Thanks for coming, Dr. Breen. It's nice to meet you again. How was your trip?"
"Fine,” said Barbara, accepting Linda's profferred hand. With a glance at Steph and me, she added, “Interesting. Call me Barbara. We're all using first names today."
Linda led her to the office couch and waved her to sit. “Good. Make yourself comfortable. Would you like anything? Coffee, tea, or maybe a soft drink?"
"A tea would be nice. Iced, if you have it."
"Sounds good to me, too,” I said, which slightly startled Linda. I usually drank coffee and helped myself when I was in her office.
Linda buzzed ‘services’ and put in our requests, then turned to face Barbara and said, “I hope you don't mind too much being shanghaied like this, but when your name turned up concerning Ed's incident, it was too good an opportunity to pass. I'll be blunt, Barbara. We want you to come to work with us. I realize that you've said ‘no’ to us in the past, but I thought perhaps if Ed and Stephanie demonstrated some of their capabilities, you might reconsider our offer."
"Oh, they were very persuasive,” said Barbara. “Stephanie was a complete surprise and Ed wasn't at all what I'd expected."
Linda eyed me and said, “I've heard that about him before a few times. I hope he was on his best behavior."
I said, “I was absolutely angelic, as ordered."
Barbara gave a ladylike snort and said, “Oh, yes. Absolutely."
With a dubious glance at me, Linda said, “Well, anyway, glad you could make it. Have you seen enough for the moment? There's a lot more, but most of it is never seen by anyone who doesn't work for 3rd World Products. Company secrets."
Our teas arrived and the discussion was shelved until the services guy had left. Barbara seemed thoughtful as she sipped her tea and set it on the low table. She fiddled absentmindedly with one of the stirring sticks for a few moments, then seemed to catch herself at it and put the stick down.
"Linda,” she said, “I think we need to talk alone for a few minutes.” Looking at Steph and me, she said, “I'm sorry. This is truly private, okay?"
"No problem,” I said. “We'll go visit around for a while."
As Steph and I turned to leave the office, Barb said again, “I'm sorry..."
I waved a dismissing hand and smiled at her by the door. “Don't worry about it, Barb. There are things about me you won't ever need to know. Sometimes I get all wrinkled up when I realize how much Linda knows about some of that stuff."
Linda gave me a little wave and said, “Bye, bye, Dragonfly. Take your lady friend and toddle along. We brass-hat types want to talk about important stuff."
"Yeah, yeah, like chocolate recipes are important. See ya."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Steph and I left Linda's offices and meandered around the building for a while. It was well after eleven when Linda called and said to meet her and Barb in the cafeteria at noon. Ten feet from the cafeteria door, Steph asked if she might be excused and I asked her why.
She said, “Other times that I've sat at tables while people were eating, I've noticed that they often seem uncomfortable. I've surmised that this is because I wasn't eating or drinking with them."
"They get used to you, don't they?"
"Some apparently do, but others may not. Why not simply call me to attend if my presence seems necessary?"
I looked her up and down once and said, “Whatever you want to do, ma'am, but I kind of like your presence."
Steph smiled and said, “I know you do, Ed, and thank you.” Then she disappeared and spoke to me through my implant. “But I'm thinking of Linda and Barbara. You know where to reach me."
I loaded a tray at the buffet line and joined Barbara and Linda at a table.
"Where's Stephanie?” asked Barbara.
"She had other plans. Did you two decide the fate of the world in there? Took you long enough."
Lin
da said, “Oh, we spent the entire time talking about you, Ed.” Barbara chuckled, then Linda added, “I had her sign a few forms, too. All done. She's one of us, now."
Barb said, “Hitch, Inc., gets another month out of me, then I relocate to Carrington and join a lab team here."
I paused in forking up a bit of steak and said, “Good deal. Holler if you need a ride."
Linda cleared her throat and said, “Uhm, well, actually..."
"Uh, huh,” I said. “You've already volunteered me, right?"
With a saccharin smile, she said, “Yup. Afraid so."
"Figures. Why is it I always feel so used after a visit to your office, Linda?"
"You love it. If not for me, you'd be just another bored spitless retiree."
Barbara fluttered a hand above the table and said, “If it's an imposition..."
I shook my head. “Nope. No problem or I wouldn't have offered."
"You're sure?"
"Stephie, come tell her it's okay, will you?"
Steph popped into existence by the table and said, “Just let us know when you're ready to move, Barbara. We'll be happy to bring you to Carrington."
She then disappeared as suddenly as she'd appeared. Barbara and Linda sat staring at the space where Steph had been for a moment, then turned to me.
"Is she upset about something?” asked Barbara.
"Not that I know of,” I said. “She just didn't want to be the only one at the table not eating, so she passed on lunch."
Barb said, “But that's silly! We wouldn't have minded. At least, I wouldn't have."
I shrugged. “Maybe it bugs her, then. Whatever. I left it up to her."
With a rather tense look and tone, Barbara said, “Well, call her back and tell her she's invited!"
"No need. She hears everything that I hear through my implant."
Steph reappeared and sat down at the table, then said, “Thank you, Barbara."
Barb nodded acknowledgement of Steph's thanks, but her eyes never left me as she did so. She asked, “You mean ... Well ... Everything? She's with you all the time?"
Linda snickered and said, “You could say that they're very close, Barbara."
"I can ask her for privacy,” I said. “She knows that people need privacy sometimes."
"I, uh ... Yes, they do. I see. You mean you turn off your implant, or what?"
"No. I mean that Steph won't monitor through me if I ask her not to."
Looking at Steph, Barb seemed to want to ask if that was the truth.
Steph said, “Ed knows when I'm present, Barbara. He also knows when I'm not."
Linda's cell phone beeped. She pulled it out and touched a button, then put it on the table. A few seconds later, the phone beeped again.
"Sorry,” she said, picking up the phone, “But they know better than to beep me a second time unless it's fairly important, so I need to take this call."
Thumbing the recessed ‘talk’ button, she said, “Baines.” A few seconds later, she said, “On my way,” and turned off the phone. “Gotta go,” she said. “Ed, take Barbara wherever she needs to go, but stay available for a possible trip to DC. I'll let you know what's up as soon as I find out myself. Barbara, I look forward to giving you the full tour next month. Thanks for coming."
After a quick round of handshakes, Linda was on her way to her office at a march step. Barbara looked at me quizzically as she sat down, but I had no answers. It seemed likely to me that Steph would have some inkling of what had called Linda away, but I didn't want to ask in front of Barbara.
Barb said, “I wonder what that was about."
"No idea,” I said. “But if I'm going to stay on tap for a run to DC, I guess we'd better finish lunch and get you back to Florida."
Through my implant, Steph said, “Security just reported an inbound aircraft, ninety-four miles East and heading for the base. Speed three hundred knots. Altitude one thousand feet. It isn't answering warnings."
I said, “Thanks, Steph. Be right there. Let's go, Barbara. We're leaving right now."
"But our lunch..?"
"It's over,” I said, taking her hand to pull her to her feet. “We're..."
A muted klaxon alarm sounded in the hallway, cutting off my words. Barbara grabbed her purse, then we headed for the front doors at a quick march. The halls were full of people heading for the stairs. My watch beeped twice. I pressed the answer button as we passed the guard desk.
Linda asked, “Where are you, Ed? There's an unauthorized inbound. Someone stole a plane at the Grand Forks airport and it's coming our way."
Pushing the front door open for Barbara, I said, “We know about it and we're almost to the flitter, Linda. No sweat; we'll be out of here quick."
"Take Barbara to the base shelter, Ed."
"If it's a nuke, we'll be out of range by the time it goes off. If it isn't a nuke, we'll be out of range, anyway."
As we hopped aboard the flitter and sat down, Linda yelled, “That inbound is a Lear jet, Ed! How far can you get in ten minutes?"
"At sixty-four miles a minute, plenty far enough, ma'am. Steph, best course away from that inbound. Three minutes of full speed, please."
Barb was in the midst of asking, “What? Sixty-four miles a..?” as the flitter lifted upward on a westerly course at about six hundred miles per hour.
As soon as we were a few miles from the buildings, Steph took us to maximum speed in a steep climb, then leveled us at what looked to me like about thirty thousand feet. Barbara had screamed and flailingly grabbed at her seat. It was one of those full-bore, horror-movie screams. I grinningly reached to pat her arm and she almost jumped out of her skin before she turned to face me.
"We're fine,” I said. “Relax."
A full ten seconds passed before she managed to say, “Uh. I'm ... Okay now,” and pried her left hand from her seat in order to grab my arm. Her grip was painful.
"Barb,” I said, “Relax a little more, please. You're hurting my arm."
She rather staringly looked at her hand, then her grip softened somewhat.
"Better,” I said. “Thanks. We're fine, Barb. A few minutes at this speed will take us well away from whatever is going on back there. Speaking of that, what's the current situation, Steph? Can you give us a simple display?"
What looked like a radar display appeared on a field screen in the air before Barb and me. The base was at the center of the display and a large circle surrounded it. A moving dot a few inches outside the circle was heading for the base.
Stephanie appeared in the seat to my left and said, “If the intruder crosses the no-fly boundary, it will be shot down no closer than five miles from the base. I've already adjusted my canopy to allow for a nuclear weapon."
"Thank you, ma'am. We might be far enough for safety, but they do tend to be pretty bright. Anything else from Linda?"
"No, Ed. She broke the connection just as we lifted. May I ask why you didn't join the others in the bunkers?"
"Yes,” said Barbara, taking her hand from my arm. “Why didn't we?"
"We'd have been locked in,” I said. “Nuke or whatever, we'd have been down there until someone let us out."
Barbara asked, “So? If that's the usual procedure..?"
I shrugged. “They don't have a Stephanie. Anyway, we're up here and we're just as safe, okay?"
She didn't answer as she looked at Steph, who smiled and nodded. We watched the dot on the screen until Steph announced that we had traveled three full minutes and asked what to do next.
"Just hold us here, I guess. We'll see what happens and whether the base needs us for anything when it's over. If not, we can head back to Florida."
The jet-dot was less than an inch from touching the circle when I thought to ask, “Is there any way to tell whether the plane is carrying radioactive stuff?"
"Elkor sent probes to intercept and examine it,” said Steph. “He detected no unusual radiation."
"That could mean a biological weapon,” I said. “Or g
reat shielding. Elkor, how many people are aboard that jet?"
Elkor said, “One man, Ed, but he wasn't sitting at the controls. I was unable to determine what he was doing."
"Were you able to tap the electronics?"
"The plane was on autopilot at that time, Ed. I received only nominal readings."
"Could you take control of it?"
"That was Linda's first suggestion, Ed. I was unable to do so."
"Can you show us what you saw, Elkor?"
Elkor said, “Yes, Ed,” and the radar image was replaced with a swooping view of the jet as a probe flew close, then circled it. All of the side windows were curtained. We got a glimpse of the cockpit twice, but both views happened too quickly.
"Elkor, can you freeze a view of the cockpit from each pass and put them both on the screen?"
"Yes, Ed."
The screen split into two panels and each panel contained a probe's-eye view of the cockpit. In each view, the man was standing in the open doorway behind the seats, facing the rear of the aircraft.
"Can I get a closer view of the guy from the waist up, Elkor?"
"Yes, Ed.” Elkor zoomed in as requested.
The guy was wearing a white, long-sleeved uniform shirt. His hair was dented around his head as if he'd been wearing some kind of hat. In our slightly side-view of his face, his mouth was slightly open as if he'd been speaking.
"Was he talking to someone, Elkor? Radio or phone?"
"No, Ed. He was apparently just talking."
I grinned and said, “Praying, probably. He was definitely alone up there, Elkor? Nobody else aboard?"
"No, Ed. Thermal imaging displayed no other people aboard."
"Thermal..? Okay, how about unusual heat sources anywhere else in the plane?"
"There was a device on the central floor of the jet that registered one hundred and seventy degrees farenheit at its core. It was connected to another device point seven meters away from it that registered eighty-one degrees farenheit."
"How big was the hot spot gadget?"
"The device measures a meter square, Ed, and appeared to be a small gasoline powered motor. The device connected to it is a two-meter-long cylinder that appears to have been part of a welding apparatus nearby."
Book 3: 3rd World Products, Inc Page 21
