In those two months the popularity of donating creativity soared sky-high and more followed when COMA struck a blow at drugs. This time the Agency didn’t forget its own interests – the drug-dealers and pushers were “downloaded” compulsorily, as criminals. Drug addiction had also been defeated, this applied to every kind of illegal highs apart from weed. The arguments about that were still going on but way things were headed, it was going to be declared a drug. The last bastions of legal marijuana, Amsterdam and Los Angeles were losing the battle.
Alcohol consumption also fell, but not heavily. The people who became alcoholics were usually pretty stupid, with such low levels of creativity that it was pointless to sell it for the money. They could never afford a good boarding house for themselves, so they preferred to carry on drinking, although there were some cases when in order to get their next drink, alcoholics did go to donate “for peanuts”. COMA adopted an internal regulation on the minimum level below which it didn’t buy anyone’s energy.
So, smoking had been conquered. Only a few smokers were left, mostly rich people and members of the older generation. They were too old to listen to the warnings about how bad you smoking was for you and too arrogant to give up their beloved habit of puffing on a pipe or pulling at a cigar for any reason at all. For people like that, smoking a cigar was a matter of individual style, a hobby and a part of their life. There was a chance that the retrograde Link was like that too. Everything seemed to suggest it. Like many geniuses, he was not very particular about his appearance, and greyish white traces of ash could be seen on his trousers and the sleeves of his jacket. The cigars also turned in his photos a few times. The tobacco industry was at its last gasp but still working for people like Link.
Bikie came up with the idea of digging through the lists of clients on the servers of tobacco shops near the university. He asked Isaac not to bother him.
“I like to socialize and I get distracted when there’s someone else with me,” he explained. “So when I’m working, I’m a loner.”
Isaac did not object since he was sorting out the patent documents for his anti-rain device. The important thing now was not to sell too cheap. Wolanski’s idea of using the V-Rain on the open verandas of restaurants added a good two million to the price, if not more. And he went to visit Vicky in the hospital: he wanted to see her all the time now. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but he couldn’t. Neither could she hear.
Chapter nine
Working on his new approach Bikie collected the addresses of tobacco sellers who turned out to have been a lot more numerous in Link’s time since here were very few of them now. First of all he excluded the shops that were too far away, and then he picked out the ones that sold expensive cigars and worked around the clock. He broke into their databases with no problem and to start with he focused on a tobacco shop that was located only a short distance from the university campus they had just come back from.
“We know when Link was in England. We know when he started giving his lectures or when he went away to conferences. I’ve highlighted the relevant dates. If he paid for cigars with his card, we’ll see its number on those days,” Bikie explained to Isaac.
Sales at the little cigar shop were pretty sparse, on some days no one bought a single one. “Good kids,” Bikie growled, “smoking is bad for you.” There was a time when he was a heavy smoker himself and he had ignored all the warnings. It was hard to imagine how many cigarettes he would already have smoked sitting there like that and working on his puzzle. Now even during an intensive search he never even thought of smoking….but coffee was a different thing.
Bikie took a swig from his cup and looked at the results of analyzing payments by dates. Every time Link came back to England, a purchase for a substantial sum was made at the tobacco shop. Bikie compared the numbers of the cards used hoping to see that it was the same customer every time, then he could assume that it was the professor’s card. But, alas, he saw that the cigars were purchased with at least two different cards. Did that mean that Link was the owner of at least one of them?
The analysis continued and Bikie decided to break into the data bases of tourist agencies located fairly close to the University. Even though the procedure didn’t look too promising, he launched the program for comparing cards into which he had entered the numbers that came up at the English tobacco shop. While the program was working he went to take his mind off things by seeing what Isaac was up to.
Isaac had just come back from the gym and his hair was still wet after the shower. He was sitting on the sofa with the television on.
“It’s time you took a stroll down to the shop and bought a couple of new t-shirts for yourself. While we’ve been living here, you’ve pumped yourself up a lot. Good for you, of course, keep at it. But your old clothes are skintight on you now; they make you look like a dance teacher.”
Isaac snickered and reached for the remote to turn up the sound. The jingle to introduce the news played and an affable presenter announced in a brisk voice:
“And now the latest science news! In Africa new crops developed by UNICOMA that are tolerant to heat and consume only small amounts of water are being planted. The food that is grown is already semi-dehydrated, and its volume expands several times over when liquid is added which is extremely convenient. The compressed harvest from one acre fits into a single small truck. It goes to the warehouse, from the warehouse to the shop and onto the shelf. The customer can easily carry the compact package home and then soak it in water.”
“To deliver the amount of food that you get from one pack you would have had to hire a truck before!” an old man in a shop announced briskly from the screen, leaning down to the journalist’s microphone.
Then the television told them about the latest news in medicine. In a discussion about a large number of conveniences and innovations available to the disabled, the developers presented a new generation of artificial limbs which were practically indistinguishable from real ones. “In the future they can go even further and make them better than the human body, if one of the scientists comes up with a suitable design. As yet it’s only a dream,” summed up the pretty reporter with the bright-white smile. “But with the new technology, dreams come true.”
At the end of the bulletin they showed a brief glimpse of a demonstration against downloading OE in Delhi. The protesters carried placards saying: “Veggies have dimwit children”. The presenter switched to a spokesman for UNICOMA, who said yes, some children are born with a low level of creativity, but it was too soon to draw any conclusions. “They are still very young, still babies, and perhaps their creativity levels will increase as they grew. Ordinary children also have low creativity when they are born and it develops as they mature. In any case, we are giving this matter special attention, tracking the problem and not forgetting about it. The possibility is being considered to produce a remedy to correct the situation. We have already tripled the downloading fees for specialists working in this area.”
“Not all of the children are born as Happies, which shows that the situation can be corrected. In any event, UNICOMA is certain to solve this problem, as it has previously solved other problems of mankind,” the presenter summed up.
Isaac knew that UNICOMA was tracking the problem; he had seen the table of Veggie children’s creativity levels. But it wasn’t true simply to say that the level was low, because most of the children were born without any creativity at all and it would be a good idea to have paternity tests for the ones who did have some. So UNICOMA lied. Isaac was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
After the advertisements came the sports news. In sports Happies performed no worse than ordinary people. Physical ability was still the determining factor here. The Veggies simply kept themselves in good shape under the guidance of a trainer, and basically accomplished with ease any task they were instructed to do.
Suddenly Mick Jagger’s voice started singing in the room where Bikie’s computer was at work: “
I can’t get no satisfaction!”
“What the hell’s that?” Isaac started in surprise.
“The program is signaling that it’s found a match!” said Bikie with a sly wink.
The friends dashed to see what had been found. It turned out that the numbers of both cards used to buy cigars were found in the payment database of one tourist agency. They had been used several hours apart to pay for a flight to Sardinia. The same cost, a one-way flight. But the most exciting thing was the date of the payments. It coincided with the day of Link’s disappearance, the very same day when he didn’t show up to lecture to his waiting students.
“Both cards again?” Bikie exclaimed, as if he was talking to the monitor.
“Have you forgotten?” said Isaac, turning his blazing eyes towards his friend, who was so proud of his discovery but at the same time had failed to see the obvious. “Link had Yoshi Kato with him. I’m sure she bought him cigars too. And they flew to Sardinia together. And by the way, they paid at different times to keep things secret.”
“It sounds convincing! It is convincing, dammit! But was Sardinia their final destination?”
“Let’s take a look at the tobacco situation there shall we Bikie?”
“Already looking,”
Until quite recently there had been two cigar shops left on the island, both quite excessive for a dying economic sector. But on the other hand, that was the way it ought to be in a place so well-loved by the rich. One shop had already closed now, but the other was working. Bikie opened up the databases of both and rummaged around in the accounts section to see if the two familiar cards showed up there. Alas, the numbers weren’t in the databases.
“But look here!” Bikie exclaimed. “Literally two days after Link’s disappearance a really big purchase was made in one of the shops. It looks very much as if someone stocked up well in advance before going into hiding. As a former smoker, I can tell you Isaac, that when your nerves are stretched you smoke a lot more.”
“Obviously Link couldn’t use the old cards for buying things. He must have had new ones ready in different names.”
“If we assume that Link hunkered down on Sardinia and he has a new card, he must have used it quite a few times.”
“Bikie, this is a lead, this is our chance to find him. Check the purchases for the last seven years on the card that came up and check that the card used for that large purchase hadn’t shown up in the shop before then and I’ll go and pack. We’ll go to Sardinia, keep the tobacco shop under observation and lure Link out into the open.”
While Isaac was packing Bikie shared the news with him: no one had used that card before to buy anything at the tobacco shop, or anywhere else on the island. But the number showed up again later at that shop and in several supermarkets. Deliveries have been ordered on it too, but Bikie did not manage to discover the delivery address. “Delivery companies have been flourishing, they have the money for good data protection,” said Bikie, making an excuse.
At last they had a theory about where Link was that was based on more than mere hope. It was much better than the straws they had been clutching at before. With their computers and their own two heads, they could set up a brainstorming session even in New Zealand if necessary and Sardinia was relatively close. Not Asia or North Africa luckily. The only thing keeping Isaac here was Vicky. His heart ached at the thought of having to part with her again and this time he did not know for how long. Wolanski’s house was super-comfortable, but his feet were itching to get on the road.
With their plan set, Isaac and Bikie felt better. The nervousness that had dominated the last couple of weeks subsided. A decision that has been taken firms things up, setting a concrete goal, switching the thoughts over to the new challenge. Neither of them wanted to admit that the logic for the journey was rather flimsy, that Link could have moved on from Sardinia, so without agreeing they supported and encouraged each other.
That evening Isaac had yet another good sign. He got a text, short but extremely encouraging. Michelle Blanche asked him how he was getting on. He decided that today luck was definitely on his side. Forgetting about Vicky, he immediately remembered the unbelievable evening that he had spent at Wolanski’s place with Michelle, chatting and discussing things like old friends and even kissing. That was the first time she had shown any real liking for him.
Isaac answered that he was doing great and plucked up the courage to say he would be glad to see her again and the sooner the better because he was going away and he didn’t know for how long. As he waited for Michelle’s reply the minutes stretched out into hours, and when she finally replied: “Yes, I’ve freed up my evening, we can meet!” – Isaac was engulfed by euphoria.
Everything was coming together incredibly well, at last they had a serious lead and his nascent relationship with Michelle was getting on track. It felt really good to fall in love, and memories of that evening kept coming back to him.
On days like this he thought there were quite a lot of good things in his life. As he packed his suitcase, he remembered how he used to go picnicking with his family at a campsite. They drove there, and those trips were always real adventures! His mother and stepfather took turns to drive, while Vicky and he gazed out of the windows spellbound.
Remembering Vicky again, Isaac realized with some confusion that his feelings for her were similar to what he felt for Michelle. ‘Okay, there’ll be time to figure things out,” he decided.
Now that they calmed down a bit, the two friends started thinking about what they needed for the journey and how they were going to get there. Isaac had a clear opinion about that but he knew Bikie would be against it, dreaming of going on his motorbike, and Isaac spent a long time choosing his words before bringing up the subject. As if he was thinking out loud, he said they would need at least some inconspicuous old van for the surveillance of the shop. It would be better to drive to Sardinia in the van because you couldn’t do much talking on a motorbike. They could take their things; have a roof over their head, all hunky-dory. And if everything went well, they wouldn’t be coming back on their own. In the end Bikie realized that Isaac had already made the decision but they only had a motorbike so the question was where to get a van.
“Look, Bikie, what if we try borrowing some kind of van from someone in your crowd? Or maybe swap something for it, something that your crowd really values?”
“Isaac, you don’t want us to go on my Harley, and you’re dropping hints, wondering where we could get a van from, aren’t you? And since there’s nowhere a van could come from I have to sell or exchange my Harley right? Now tell me….are you totally nuts?”
Isaac nodded guiltily, as if to say, thank you Bikie for sparing me the need to suggest it.
There was a brief pause and then an argument followed. Bikie protested heatedly, screaming that his Harley was his life, his brother, his love and destiny. The stuff you no way sell or exchange, either temporarily or permanently.
“I’ll never, ever lend out my friends, my women or my motorbike!”
But in actual fact he was arguing with himself. He was the one who had voiced the idea of swapping the Harley. Bikie was a pretty sound analyst, and he realized that he was stuck with nowhere to turn. His logic was backing his own wishes into a corner.
“Now listen, Isaac. You talk about fantasy and creativity. Everyone who isn’t a Veggie wants to express himself, not everyone tries, but they all want to. Musicians express themselves through music, scientists through science and I express myself through my motorbike!” Bikie went hyper. “It’s more than just a piece of machinery. It’s my alter ego! I can’t sell it or swap it. It is me! I wouldn’t sell me! We bikers aren’t like that.
“There was this guy in the bar who had a sports bike and he was summoned to court for speeding. He managed to convince the judge that at a speed of two hundred and seventy kilometers an hour it’s impossible to read a speed limit sign. The judge who used to be a biker himself once awarded him the minimum fine and ju
st gave him an official warning instead of confiscating his bike. That’s the way we do things.
“My Harley is my membership in a big family, my attachment to people who aspire to freedom and don’t rely on rules and authority for this freaking system that we fight against… It’s my comrade-in-arms. Do I have to lose my comrade for the sake of the struggle? What would you choose, Isaac? We’re not them, we’ve got hearts!”
Bikie talked on and on, discouraging himself more and more and cursing the situation. He turned sullen and angry, realizing that he had no way out.
“All right Isaac, let this freaking system choke on my Harley. It’s decided, I’m selling. It won’t be a sacrifice, it will be an iron bone stuck in their throat. Only I can’t do it myself. I’ll send you to a friend of mine, he’s been asking about my bike for a long time. He’s bound to buy it. Better let him have it than some other creep, even if I’ll have to give him a discount. At least he’s a straight up guy. My brother will be in reliable hands.”
Isaac nodded without speaking. He knew firsthand what it was like to sell a part of oneself.
Chapter ten
The next day Isaac called the prospective buyer for the bike and they agreed to meet in the evening. In the meantime he set his eye on a roomy American-made van. It was a hell of a machine, working on the archaic fuel combustion principle, guzzling gas like a crazed horse. But then, the only windows were in the two front doors, on the driver’s and the passenger’s sidesso you could carry whatever you liked in the back and no one would see it from outside.
Before setting out to close the deal he dropped in to see Peter and outlined the situation.
Wolanski was upset for Bikie he couldn’t buy the bike, it would have been a violation of his father’s will, and they couldn’t put off the journey until he received his money.
“There’s an operational Volkswagen in the garage. If you guys can find a way to destroy it – burn it or smash it up – I could buy the van to replace it. But that’s a couple of weeks’ hassle, or maybe ten days, and extra risk for you. You decide.”
Collective Mind Page 15
