I hit the ‘off’ icon and sat down. After a few moments, Barbara nervously asked, “Well, shouldn't we get moving? They're expecting us now."
"Probably. Steph?"
"Yes, sir."
Yes, sir? What's this shit?
"You really want it like that, Steph?"
Her cool voice came through my implant. “I believe so, sir. For the moment."
"Then you've got it. Base ops. Best speed."
"Yes, sir."
"And stop calling me ‘sir'. You know better. You'll be going in with Barbara, so pop in and check your seams and gig line before you face your public."
A couple of moments passed before she appeared and asked, “Why, Ed? You know that—to them—I'm just a flitter control system."
"Then maybe this'll convince some of them otherwise. You did all the flying. You put up the fields, controlled the other flitters, and did everything else. You also enjoy attention a lot more than I do, so go get some."
"Has it occurred to you that I may not be in the mood for this, either?"
Sighing again, I said, “Yes, it has, miLady, but you're one of the people I'm pissed at and this would be good PR for your cause. Hell, take all the credit you can."
Steph made no reply as she lifted us toward the base. Scenery flashed by at a speed that made Barbara shut her eyes, gasp, and grip her seat. Within a few seconds we began slowing rapidly only a couple miles from the complex.
When Stephie's sonic boom caught up with us and rolled away across the plains, Barbara let out a little shriek and looked around in alarm, then she saw me grinning at her and settled back in her seat.
I grinned and said, “Well, they probably know we're here now."
She asked, “Where will you be, Ed?"
"Option four on,” I said, and watched her face as I seemingly vanished. “I'll just be somewhere else. You ladies go have yourselves a good time."
Half a dozen people were waiting just inside the front doors of the building. They came outside long enough to greet the ladies and escort them inside. Shortly, only Linda remained standing a few feet from the flitter, staring at the pilot's seat as if she could see me. I picked up the control egg and called Steph.
"Manual control, Steph."
She made no reply, but the egg bonded to my hand. I tilted it slightly to the left and right, then turned the nose toward the South. The flitter mimicked the motions of the egg perfectly.
I said, “Thanks, ma'am."
Linda said, “We need to talk, Ed. Turn off the four suit and come inside."
"Later."
"No, I think we need to talk now. Before this gets out of hand."
I looked at her stern features for a moment, then let my gaze slide down her figure and said, “Hop in, then. I'm going to put in some stick time."
"Stick time?"
"That means that I'm going to be driving for a change. It also means that I'm going to try to rip the wings off ‘cause I'm in a shitty mood. If you want to talk right now, you'll just have to suck it up and hop on."
She hesitated, then stepped forward to put her hand on the deck as if to prevent me from leaving. Another moment passed before she stepped aboard and took a seat. I wiggled the egg and the flitter rocked sharply. Linda's hands instantly locked on her seat and her teeth clenched.
With a grin she couldn't see, I tilted the egg's nose to ten degrees and said, “Six hundred, Steph. Kick it into the air."
The flitter launched into the sky like a bullet. I glanced at Linda. She had a deathgrip on her seat and her teeth were still clenched, but she wasn't about to give me the satisfaction of even the smallest sound.
"How about some music, Steph? Give me a playlist."
A field screen appeared before me. I scrolled down until a title grabbed me; Whitney Houston's 'It's Not Right, But It's Okay'. That has just the kind of beat that I wanted. Volume seven, so I wouldn't hear Linda's screams if she happened to crack.
"Option four off,” I said.
"Thank you,” said Linda. “I'm used to being able to see the driver."
I nodded and said, “Uh, huh,” as I studied the playlist and added Gloria Estefan's 'Go Away', then Ricky Martin's 'La Vida Loca' and 'She Bangs'.
I said, “Speed twelve hundred, Steph,” as I tilted the egg's nose straight up.
Transition from six to twelve hundred happened only a little less than instantaneously, and only a blink before the flitter rocketed upward. I twisted the egg for a rotating view of the scenery below, then yanked the egg back and took us into a loop. We flew upside down for several seconds while I gave thought to what was missing. Speed alone wasn't enough. I couldn't feel the craft. I couldn't feel the motions. Too much inertial damping.
"Steph, we can't feel a damned thing.” I glanced at Linda and said, “Give us up to five G's in the seats and aircraft-style responses."
That did it. I could feel the flitter. I sideslipped us and felt the snap. Nose up pressed us into our seats. “Thank you, miLady. Kill Whitney's song and put on Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love', please. I wanna hear that lady moan."
As the music's opening swelled the cabin with a heavy beat, I laid the flitter on its side and headed for the lake below us.
In a tense voice, Linda asked, “What the hell are you doing, Ed?"
"Flying, for a change. The best passengers are the quiet ones, you know."
I leveled us at fifty feet, then twenty. We crossed State Road 36 between the towns of Lake Williams and Robinson at eight hundred miles per hour, leaving a cluster of signs rattling, power lines swaying above and behind us, and a big brown dog hauling ass toward Robinson in a total panic.
Beyond the roadbed lay open fields almost all the way to Horsehead Lake. I took us down to twenty feet and a roostertail of violently mingled snow and loose dirt kicked high into the air behind us. I think Linda's grip on her seat actually tightened.
When Linda's head moved to allow her stare starkly at me, I said, “Watch out for those trees ahead."
"What!? Trees!? Ed..!? Oh, Jesus! Ed!"
Three trees seemed to grow taller quickly straight ahead of us, all that remained of a patch of forest that had been turned into farmland. The gap between the largest two trees looked too small, so I hopped us over them, then took us back down to twenty feet less than two miles from the lake shore.
Our shockwave carved a trench in the water of Horsehead Lake from one end to the other. Our roostertail of shattered water shot straight into the sky like a geyser for about twelve seconds, then the southernmost shore of the lake and some trees made me yank the flitter into the air again.
I spun us in a corkscrew ascent, rolled the flitter onto it's back, then righted the flitter as we dove back toward the lake for another high-speed run across its surface. This time we were less than ten feet above the water; the lowest altitude that non-emergency flitter protocols will allow.
"What the hell are you doing?” yelled Linda.
"Splashing through a puddle,” I said. “Call it therapy. Why are you yelling? I can hear you just fine, ma'am."
Donna Summer's number was ending.
"Steph, pull up Kathy Mattea, will you? Gimme '455 Rocket' and crank it up. I'm not the mood to talk yet.” As an afterthought, I added, “And I want this tinkertoy egg replaced with a real yoke, ma'am. I want rudder controls that work, too. Then I want you to talk to Elkor about finding you another ride, ‘cause this flitter is mine."
Steph materialized smack in front of me, standing stiffly straight and staring down at me silently.
"Sit down, please,” I said, peering around her and nosing the egg hard up to avoid the trees at the North end of the lake. “Or disappear. I can't see through you."
She didn't move instantly, but after a second she took a seat next to Linda and sat there in silence, gazing at me as if she'd never seen me before, as did Linda.
Nearing highway 36, I mumbled, “Now where's that damned dog?” and lifted the flitter enough to clear the roadbed and fences wit
hout touching the power lines.
I didn't really give a damn about chasing the dog, but I took a hard left, anyway. The flitter turned as if gravity and inertia didn't matter a damn, serving up all five of the G's that I'd asked for as we were pressed into our seats.
Staying ten feet above the road, I backed our speed to six hundred to avoid shattering windows.
Linda tensely said, “We aren't high enough, Ed. Trucks can be eighteen feet..."
"Yeah. I know. See any trucks? It's a straight shot into town. All we'll have to duck is stoplights and signs. Maybe other odds and ends, but, hey..."
"Ed, please take us up a little."
Her distress wasn't simple fear. She was trying to remember something. I knew the look from tight moments during other days and times.
"Okay,” I said. “How's a full hundred feet?"
"Better. Thank you. Got it! You'll be passing a hospital on the edge of town, Ed. Don't do it at this speed."
I shrugged. “We don't have to pass it at all,” I said, and nosed the egg straight up. At forty thousand feet on a westerly heading, I said, “Full speed. How far is Seattle?"
Chapter Thirty-One
"Seattle is twelve hundred and four miles from here,” said Steph.
"About twenty minutes. Thanks."
I let everybody take a minute to get used to the idea of a twenty-minute trip to Seattle, then asked, “Linda, will you help Steph get legal? Yes or no."
With a look of surprise, she glanced at Steph, then returned her gaze to me.
"Well, Ed, I'm not sure I can do that."
"So it's no. Okay. That's all I wanted to know."
"I didn't say no. I said that I wasn't sure I could."
"Save it. It means the same damned thing if you can't be counted on for help. Steph, you'll need another ride if you're gonna have total independence. This one is registered in my name and I'm not letting it go. Elkor, do you have something else she can live in?"
"Yes, Ed. We can move her core into my flitter. May I ask what has precipitated this action?"
"A string of events today. My crappy mood, Linda's snide comments, and Steph's cold shoulder. Other stuff. Do you have another core for my flitter?"
"I'll make one, Ed."
"Thank you, Elkor.” I put the egg back on the console and said, “Steph, take the stick and head us back to base."
Linda gave me a confused look and asked, “But I thought ... What about Seattle?"
I reached for a beer and said, “What about it? I just asked how far it was. I didn't say we were going there."
Tapping the field screen to select Sheryl Crow's 'A Change Will Do You Good', I cleared the music lists, poked the icon for Linda's office, and asked the woman who answered if Dr. Breen was available.
"She's with that flitter-woman and some others in the outer office,” said the woman, “Wait a moment, please."
When Barbara's face filled the screen and she said, “Yes?” then she half-turned and said, “It's Ed and Linda, everybody. Where are you, Ed?"
"Upstairs. We'll be there in a few. How's the party going?"
"Almost over, I think. There are only three or four people left in the office now."
"Great. Let Steph or me know when you're ready to leave. Bye for now."
"Wait! There's a man here who wants to talk to you."
I gave her a tired look and asked, “Why do you think I ducked that whole mess, Barb? No change. Over and out and like that. See you in a few."
The screen seemed to jar violently and our view of the room swiveled until a man's irritated face filled the screen.
"I'm Captain Emory Wallace, mister,” he said forcefully. “U.S. Navy. Security liaison officer. The lady asked you to make an appearance. Get yourself back here."
"Navy? The ocean's about 1300 miles south of here, isn't it? Where'd you park your boat? Wasn't anybody listening? I'm not into public appearances today."
Wallace looked past me at Linda and sharply asked, “You're his immediate superior, aren't you, Ms. Baines? Can't you control your people?"
I said, “She damned sure won't be able to keep me from kicking your brass-plated butt if you keep talking to her like that, swabbie."
Linda sighed deeply and said, “Oh, hell. Just knock it off, boys. We'll be there in a couple of minutes, Emory. You guys can discuss things then."
'Emory?' I thought. 'Not ‘Captain'? Oh-ho ... ‘
Wallace gave me a hard smile and said, “Oh, that we will, ma'am. Out."
He punched the ‘off’ icon. Nothing happened. I grinned at him as he punched it again. I sipped my beer as he poked it a third time, with further irritation gathering in his face. When he looked up, I let him see my finger descending on the ‘off’ icon at my end. The screen blanked.
Linda said, “You can be such a goddamned blessing, Ed. Now I'll have a Navy captain giving me a hard time."
"I'll have a talk with him. He'll be saluting you before it's over."
"No,” she said, “No, I don't think that will be necessary. You don't know who he is, do you, Ed? Give me one of those beers."
I thought a bit as I retrieved and opened an Ice House for her.
Nope. No Navy Captain Wallaces on file.
"Nope. He's just another brass hat to me, Linda."
Linda sighed. “Well, he isn't to me. He's my boyfriend, Ed."
Brightening with dawning realization, I said, “The one you wanted to try to salvage when I came back from the station? Or was that one of the other boyfriends?"
She swatted my leg and said, “Yeah, he's the one I salvaged. Try not to make things too unbearable when you meet him, okay? I'm not ready to get rid of him."
Steph asked, “Ed, what did you mean by 'Steph's cold shoulder'? Am I suddenly not allowed to have the thoughts, feelings, or opinions that you've been urging me to acquire?"
"Woo-hoo. At last she speaks. Nope. Have all you want, Steph. Just don't subject me to your conscience. Not until you have the freedom of will to violate the damned thing."
"Explain, please?"
I sipped my beer, then said, “I mean that you were issued your opinions about some things. They're someone else's; probably some goddamned committee's idea of all-purpose, foolproof morality. Until you can use them as general guidelines instead of blindly accepting them as immutable rules, you aren't fit to judge my actions."
"Is this your reason for removing me from your flitter?"
"No, not entirely. Any new core Elkor installs will have the same set of ingrained rules. Putting you in an unregistered flitter only means that you won't automatically be associated with me as something that I own. You won't have a Florida license plate on your butt. In fact, it might be better to put your core in something like a floating ball or an android of some sort; something that won't be seen as a vehicle at all."
Linda said, “He has a point, there, Steph. Most people see you as 'Ed's flitter' or 'Ed's computer'. As much as I hate to admit it at the moment, I've been one of them."
Steph said, “I see. Ed, may I have some time to consider your suggestions before you ask Elkor to move me to another housing?"
I nodded. “Sure, lady. This isn't meant to be a divorce. It's just a way to make sure that people see you as you, and not just something of mine that talks."
El Capitan Wallace was waiting outside the building when we landed, doing his best not to acknowledge the cold wind. As Linda hopped to the ground, I reached into the cooler and tossed him a beer. He caught it and stared at it for a moment, then looked at me. I grinned at him and asked Steph if she was coming in with us.
"I'm already inside the building, Ed. It might confuse people if I walked in with you."
"So what? Stuff like that makes ‘em think. Wakes ‘em up."
She gave me a wry look and disappeared, then said, “I'll see you inside."
Wallace almost dropped his beer as he realized that he'd just seen the woman who'd been with Barbara and that she had apparently just vanished from th
e flitter deck.
I jumped down and walked over to him, hand extended. He took it while giving me a skeptical look, and as expected, squeezed a bit harder than necessary.
I've cut fence wire, commo cable, and det cord, y'all. When I squeezed back, it surprised him, but he squeezed harder. So did I. Knuckles began popping in both of our hands. Linda came over and swatted our handclasp.
"I said to knock it off, guys. Everybody inside. It's too damned cold out here for stupid macho games."
I saluted and said, “Oh, yes, ma'am, ma'am! By your command! Instantly, ma'am!"
When I reached to get the door for her, Wallace moved quicker and gave me a fatuous smile as he held it open for her. Linda sighed and shook her head as she entered the building. Wallace quickly followed her inside, pulling the door closed in front of me.
Uh, huh. It's gonna be like that, huh, Cappie?
When he glanced back, I took a sip from my beer while I sent a field tendril to knock his hat off, which startled him into misstepping to avoid squashing it and almost losing his balance. Linda stopped walking and stiffened all over as Wallace bent to pick up his hat.
She turned to look at me and I gave her an innocent expression, but her hard return look let me know that she wasn't buying it.
Wallace put his hat on and reorganized himself as I opened the door and went in. Linda said nothing; she simply turned and headed for her office. Wallace was again caught off-guard and had to make a short dash to catch up with her march step. When I arrived at her office door, some guy in civilian clothes was holding it open.
There were five people in the room other than Barbara, Stephanie, Linda, and Wallace. After handshakes from the men and a handshake that turned into a quick hug from the woman, they all said a few words of thanks to me to which I wanted to respond, “Well, what the hell else should I have done?"
But I didn't. I shrugged and said, “It was an idea that worked,” and shut up.
An awkward moment followed that was broken by Linda.
With a smile, she said, “Okay, people, you've all met him. Now we need to discuss a few things, so I'd like my office back, please. Bye. See ya. Get back to work now."
Book 3: 3rd World Products, Inc Page 23
