Delphi City

by Bob Blanton

  Marc laughed. “Being mayor on top of everything else I have going on. That’s all I need.”

  “It won’t be any different than what you’re already planning to do. You can delegate to your staff.”

  “What’s the holdup, then?”

  “We’re waiting on approval from New Zealand.”

  “Why are they involved?”

  “You do know that New Zealand is responsible for the defense and foreign policy for the Cook Islands?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “So, since we’re structuring it like a treaty, they’ve stuck their nose in.”

  “Is that going to be a problem?”

  “I don’t think so,” Samantha said. “The investment and subsequent growth should spill over to New Zealand. They’re probably just doing some due diligence and giving some key members of the government a chance to update their portfolios.”

  Marc shook his head, “Should have expected that.”

  “Of course, it also leaves a little more time for some of the officials here in the Cook Islands to update theirs as well.”

  “How long?”

  “Two weeks?”

  “Probability of success?”

  “I’d say ninety-five percent,” Samantha said.

  “Captain, I concur,” ADI told Marc.

  “Great. I’ll pick you up at seven, Sam.”

  “Looking forward to it,” Samantha said.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  Marc knocked on Dr. Metra’s door jamb. “Do you have some time?” he asked.

  “Captain, I always have time for you,” Dr. Metra said. “What can I do for you?”

  “I wanted to discuss the Alzheimer’s treatment.”

  “Are Catie’s great grandparents okay?” Dr. Metra asked.

  “They’re doing fine,” Marc said. “I want to discuss expanding the treatment capacity. We’re planning to bring a lot more patients in.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “I would like to understand our options if we want to have remote treatment sites.”

  “I think we could manage that,” Dr. Metra said. “We would have to make more parts and such.”

  “I’d like to discuss how we can do it without the secret getting out,” Marc said.

  “I see,” Dr. Metra said. “First, let me explain some of the limitations of the treatment.”

  “Okay,” Marc said as he settled into the chair in front of Dr. Metra’s desk.

  “In order for the nanites we use to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, they have to be extremely small,” Dr. Metra said. “Here on your planet, we are limited by how small we can make the nanites.”

  “What do you mean by here on our planet?”

  “I mean in gravity,” Dr. Metra said. “The printers we use to make them work best in micro-gravity. It is not possible to make things as small under normal gravity as you can in micro-gravity.”

  “I see, but we are making the nanites here,” Marc said.

  “Yes, but in order to make them small enough, I have to make them less capable. I have to give them less of a brain,” Dr. Metra said. “If we were making them in micro-gravity, I would be able to give them a lot more smarts and still keep them small. Then they would do the treatment after only one shot without any further help. But because I have to make them, shall we say ‘dumb’, I have to guide them to where they need to be, and I have to wait between treatments for the patient’s body to flush the nanites out.”

  “How do the smart nanites eliminate the need to wait?”

  “They don’t,” Dr. Metra said. “But I can program them to wait. I would program one third to go active each week. They would then just enter the brain on their schedule, remove the plaque, and then they would be flushed. The next week the next third would do the same. Because the ones we’re using are dumb, I have to space the treatment out, and I have to guide them to the brain.”

  “That’s what you use that scanner for,” Marc said.

  “Yes, it creates a field that attracts the nanites.”

  “So, we would need to make more nanite printers and more of the scanners,” Marc said. “How hard would it be to train someone to use the scanner?”

  “We can make a simpler scanner that would be automatic. They would just need to put the patient under the scanner for one hour after the shot.”

  “Anything of interest in the scanner?” Marc asked.

  “Not really, it just emits a field. If you want to disguise what it does, we could have it emit several different fields.”

  “What about the nanites,” Marc asked, “how can we prevent someone from analyzing them?”

  “They’re just lumps of minerals after the treatment.”

  “What about before?”

  “They’re quite small, but I suppose that someone would be able to examine them,” Dr. Metra said.

  “Why are they like lumps of minerals after the treatment?” Marc asked.

  “They destroy the plaque by emitting an electrical charge that slowly uses them up.”

  “Okay, but is there any way we can have them do that without having to come into contact with plaque?”

  “We could add a small timer,” Dr. Metra said. “Actually, a self-dissolving fuse that would only last for two hours or so.”

  “That sounds like it would work,” Marc said. “Can we make the printers and the scanners here in gravity?”

  “For this level of functionality, yes,” Dr. Metra said.

  “How could we protect the nanite printer?” Marc asked.

  “I wouldn’t know, but I’m sure you or someone could work with ADI to make sure it was tamper-proof.”

  “I’ll work on it,” Marc said. “For now, I’d like to keep this discussion between the two of us.”

  “You’re thinking ahead, I see. Keeping it private between us won’t be a problem,” Dr. Metra said. “You’ll let me know when you want me to do any work on it.”

  “I will,” Marc said. “Thanks for your time.”

  “I always enjoy the company.”

  Chapter 11

  Training Catie

  Catie was running for her life. She was just three hundred meters from the compound, but she was gasping for breath. She dug down deep and pushed for all she was worth, but it wasn’t enough. Liz whacked her on the butt as she sped by, leaving Catie in the dust.

  Catie stumbled to a stop and stood there gasping until the security jeep that was following them drove up. She grabbed a ride in the jeep for the last two hundred fifty meters. Liz’s backup was laughing under her breath. Catie scowled at her, and she stifled the laugh driving to the compound in silence.

  “Hey, you should have walked the rest of the way as a cool down,” Liz said.

  “I figured you would rather I cool down inside the compound than out,” Catie snapped. She got out of the jeep and started doing some light stretches. “How could you have so much left that you could blow by me that way?”

  “You started out too fast,” Liz said. “You have to pace yourself.”

  “You told me to run for my life!”

  “Yes, you have to sprint to establish distance, but then you have to dial it back so that you’re just maintaining that distance. Nobody can sprint for fifteen hundred meters, especially after running four miles.”

  “Now, you tell me.”

  “Lessons learned the hard way are always remembered best.”

  “So, I’ve got a lot of lessons that I’m going to remember really well,” Catie said as she symbolically rubbed her butt.

  “You do pretty well,” Liz said. “It seems to me you figure most things out before they bite you.”

  Catie just grunted. “Hey, if we can run down the street like that with only one security guy in the jeep, why can’t I go running without you?”

  “Because this way, there are two of us to protect you.”

  “But you’re not armed. I know your Krav Maga skills would do a lot, but it seems like I would be okay with jus
t the jeep.”

  “Who says I’m not armed,” Liz said.

  “Well, I don’t see any weapons.”

  Liz reached her hand to the left strap of her sports bra and flicked her wrist. Her Bo-staff extended to five feet. She tapped Catie on the butt with it.

  “Ow! Another hard lesson.”

  Liz dropped the Bo-staff, reached around behind her back and whipped out a knife, in a single motion she threw it. It stuck in the tree Catie was standing next to.

  “Ooh, do you have any more?”

  “Let’s just say I like three,” Liz said. “Where’s your Bo-staff?”

  “It’s in the jeep,” Catie said.

  “Not going to do you much good there, is it?”

  “I guess not. Show me how you keep yours?”

  Liz showed Catie the small pocket in her sports bra that she had used to hold the Bo-staff. “I have all my sports bras modified like this.”

  “What about the knife?”

  “I use the space between my shoulder blades. I’ve got enough muscle that there’s a gap there that holds the sheath perfectly,” Liz said. “Look.” Liz turned around so Catie could see the knife sheath attached to her sports bra. “It’s padded, so it doesn’t chafe.”

  “I see, so should I have mine modified like this?”

  “Well, you shouldn’t carry a weapon that you don’t know how to use,” Liz said.

  “So, teach me how to use a knife,” Catie said. “Especially how to throw one. That’s really cool.”

  “Okay, I’ll teach you, but I don’t want you carrying one until I say you’re ready.”

  “That’s okay,” Catie said as she rubbed her butt where Liz had tapped her with the Bo-staff. “Can we start today?”

  “Do you have time? I want to do our Bo-staff lesson first.”

  “I have time. Do you?”

  “Sure, I’m not all that busy yet,” Liz said. “Don’t tell your father, or he’ll dump some onerous chore on me.”

  “I won’t, but he’ll know how busy you are at the next board meeting.”

  “Yeah, I know. I want to help more, but there are a few things he’s got going on that I’d rather he gave to Fred or Kal,” Liz laughed.

  Catie ran and got her Bo-staff from the jeep, while Liz went to the house to get their headgear.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Enough,” Catie yelled. After twenty-five minutes with the Bo-staff, Catie was tired of getting whacked on the butt or the back of her thigh. “I’m too sore to take any more hits.”

  “Then you need to do a better job of defending,” Liz said.

  “I’m trying,” Catie whined. “You’re just a sadist!”

  “Okay, I’ll give you a break,” Liz said. “Let’s do a couple of drills.”

  “Okay,” Catie said as she took off her headgear and shook out her hair. She was sweating profusely. Liz took off her headgear, her hair was completely dry. “It’s not fair,” Catie thought.

  “You’re getting better,” Liz said. “You got me a couple of times.”

  “Yeah, like two versus thirty,” Catie said.

  “You’re still favoring your left leg,” Liz said. “You have to stay balanced and look at my center of mass, not my Bo-staff.”

  “Then how do I block it?” Catie asked.

  “When you see I’ve committed to a move, you block it. You should be able to tell where I’m aiming by my hands,” Liz said. “And they don’t move as fast as the end of the staff, so your eyes will be able to track things better.”

  “I know, you keep telling me that,” Catie said.

  “Okay, I’m standing there, I’m going to attack, and you’re going to just tell me where I’m aiming,” Liz said. “I won’t actually hit you.”

  “That will be nice for a change,” Catie said.

  “Ready?”

  Liz shifted her weight and snapped her Bo-staff forward.

  “Left leg—no waist,” Catie yelled.

  “Look at my center, not my hands. The hands are there; you can see them but don’t focus on them. If I don’t put any weight into it, it won’t hurt, and it’ll be slow enough for you to block anyway,” Liz instructed.

  “Okay,” Catie said as she took a deep breath. She shook herself and relaxed, focusing on Liz’s center of mass.

  Liz shifted her weight.

  “Head!”

  “Right Leg!”

  “Left knee!”

  “Head!”

  “Left ankle!”

  “That’s better,” Liz said. “Does it make more sense now?”

  “I think so,” Catie said.

  “Now get prepared, I’m going to do feints this time,” Liz said.

  “I’m ready.”

  Liz twitched her Bo-staff to the left, then came in from the right. Catie easily blocked it. “Hey, that was easy,” she said.

  “Did you see the feint?” Liz asked.

  “I did, but not that much, it was just like a shadow,” Catie said.

  “See, looking at the center gets rid of all that noise,” Liz said. “Your brain doesn’t have to worry about as much. Some people are twitching the end of their staff all the time, but if you can ignore it, then they’re just wasting energy and slowing themselves down.”

  They spent another ten minutes on the drills before Liz called a stop. “You still up to practicing with the knife?” Liz asked.

  “Yes!” Catie said. “A few minutes at least.”

  They collapsed their Bo-staffs, then Liz went to the tree and pulled her knife out. “I like this double-edged knife,” Liz said. “It’s a good throwing knife, and it’s good in hand-to-hand as well.” Liz handed Catie the knife. “Hold it with the blade sticking out the back of your hand.”

  “Like this?”

  “Yes, that’s the grip you use when you’re fighting with it,” Liz instructed. “Then you can punch and block, and you’re unlikely to stick yourself with it. If you hold it the other way, you’re going to be pulling it out of yourself.”

  Liz threw a punch at Catie, which Catie automatically blocked. “Hold that block,” Liz said. “See, how if you just twist your hand and tilt it a little, you trap my arm. That’s why you hold it that way. Now when you throw it, you hold it the other way.”

  “That’s kind of awkward to switch when you’re fighting, isn’t it?” Catie asked.

  “You’re either throwing it or fighting with it,” Liz said. “You should never switch. If they’re far enough away that you would throw it at them during a fight, then they must be running away.”

  “Okay,” Catie said.

  “Now we’ll work on a two-turn throw,” Liz said. “For you, that should be about fifteen feet from the target. Hold the knife by the handle, set yourself, then shift your weight and throw it, don’t bend your wrist. Let go of the knife when it’s vertical.”

  Catie held the knife and did a couple of simulated throws.

  “That’s good, release it this time,” Liz said.

  Catie did the throw, the knife hit the tree, but it didn’t stick. Liz ran and grabbed the knife. “Step back about eight inches,” Liz instructed. “Then try again.”

  This time Catie’s throw almost stuck in the tree.

  After Liz retrieved the knife, she had Catie back up another four inches. “Try it again.”

  This time the knife stuck.

  “Hey, it doesn’t seem that practical to adjust your distance so you can stick the knife,” Catie said.

  Liz laughed, “No, but we need to practice with your natural throw first. Then we’ll work on adjusting your technique so you can modify the distance.” She ran and got the knife. “Try again.”

  Catie threw the knife, and it stuck again. “Throw this one now,” Liz said as she handed Catie another knife.

  “You did have two,” Catie said.

  “Yep. Now throw.”

  After another ten throws, Liz called a stop. “You’ll need to work on it for a while, get your muscles built up, and smooth out the te
chnique. Then we’ll start working on varying the distance. I’ll put up a board tomorrow and bring more knives.”

  “You mean you don’t like running to get the knife very time.”

  “No, I don’t,” Liz said. “This is about training you, not wearing me out.”

  “But then I might have a chance when we fight,” Catie said.

  “I think you’ll need a bit more than that,” Liz said. “You’re getting better, but you’re still just a neophyte.”

  Chapter 12

  Paintball

  “Okay, this is going to be four on four,” Kal explained as they gathered at the new paintball arena. “The opposition is the four guys we just hired. They’re a bit cocky, and we need to help them focus on their training.”

  Catie, Blake, and Liz nodded their heads. Marc had begged off, especially since there was only room for four players. “The layout is similar to the one we used in Hawaii: four hallways, two or three rooms off each hallway, and a central area that has walls for barriers. Each team enters from the opposite ends of the arena; we’ll be coming in from the north.”

  “What are the rules?” Catie asked.

  “Don’t get shot,” Kal said. “And if you do, you’re out.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Bad guys don’t follow rules.”

  “Great!” Catie pumped her fist.

  “We’ll play it the same as last time. Catie, you’re left-handed, so you’re on the right side; Liz, you play left. Blake, you’re center fielder; once clear you take control of the hallway or room, I’ll cover our six.”

  “Surveillance pucks? Comms?” Catie asked. Surveillance pucks had been their secret weapon in Hawaii. They were from the Sakira and provided a three-hundred-sixty-degree video of the area directly to their comms. They would stick to anything, and the comms were smart enough to correct the view, so they weren’t seeing things upside down.

  “Both teams have them,” Kal said. “Are we ready?”

  Everybody gave him a thumbs up. “We go in expecting them to be already in place, don’t get sloppy. We’ll go left.”

  Blake opened the door. Catie slid a surveillance puck along the floor into the hallway. The hallway was clear, so Blake entered while Catie and Liz covered. Once in the hall, Catie picked up the puck and stuck it to the wall above the door. It would give them a continuous feed of the hallway in both directions. She segmented the view into a couple of small windows in her HUD and set an alarm to alert her if there was any movement.