Bixby didn’t understand.
Pander said, “You look confused. You didn’t think I’d manufacture that thing without a backup plan in case Laramy ever got hold of it, did you? Of course I put in a self-destruct sequence. I do that for anything of importance. Don’t you?”
Bixby thought only of the opposite. He still thought of his murdered crew, but he would also miss Venture Lab. He dreamt of building, not destroying. But both sentiments fell away again—it felt unusually systematic. He re-focused on practical things. “So you’re not going to tell me where we’re going. What’s to prevent me from lunging for the gun after you’re high?”
“I say a lot of things, but you’re not stupid. You know a good play when you see one. You won’t go with Laramy for one simple reason.” Pander took an appreciative look at Bixby. “Besides, I can take you. Even if you get a lucky punch in and knock me out, you have no idea where we’re going and you can’t redirect the pod. Not even I can do that now. It’s programmed in.”
Bixby said, “What makes you think I see a good play here?” Pander pointed at his own head with the joint. He meant to say Laramy would put an implant into Bixby’s head—and he was right. Bixby said, “And you wouldn’t?”
Pander hunched forward and said, “I’ll give you a permanent exception if you agree to stay—but you have to help me get to the top. And no more secrets.”
Bixby said, “Why didn’t you take Constantin’s ship? You were in control.”
Pander burst out in laughter. “Okay, I take it back. You really are stupid. Think about it—I just pointed a gun at Constantin Laramy. I’ve already made a personal enemy of him. If I had kept the ship, or killed him or took him as a hostage, what do you think the Laramy family will do? There are limits to what a good guy with a gun can do.”
Bixby said, “There are rules to corporate warfare?”
“Hey, it’s one thing to steal back a scientist they were trying to take from under us—their leadership will understand and respect that, especially because they know we don’t have to hide it from arbitration. They haven’t won a judgment yet and it will weaken their case when we bring up their attempt to seize you before. But it’s quite another thing to kidnap or kill a Laramy. Then it’s personal for their whole clan.” He tapped the ashes off the end of his joint onto the floor. “But you’re changing the subject. Will you agree to stay?”
Pander had played it perfectly. Bixby felt like a pawn, but he could be gracious. He hadn’t planned on leaving anyway. That was forced onto him by Ellen and he thought by Pander too when he had been pretending. There’s something else going on here, he thought. He said, “If I agree, you will give me my lab back? And full independence?”
Pander finished his joint and started the one Bixby had refused. “Once I’m a director, my hands will be freer. I can promise you the implant exception for now, but the other stuff will have to come later.” That was a start that Bixby could live with. In honesty, it was better.
“With Ellen gone, I won’t have quite the same authority for a while—I built my reputation on her moves. People need time to digest the story of her betrayal and to dissociate it from me. I need to come out of this looking like a hero, and you’re going to help me with that—I’ll tell you exactly what to say.” Bixby wondered how far Pander’s willingness and skill went to twisting truths. Still, it afforded him some protection from the bureaucrats above him in the firm.
Pander enjoyed more of the second joint. He said, “When I’m a director, Constantin won’t go after me in the open. I’ll be too important, and there’s a code about these things.” Bixby couldn’t tell if it was ego, greenabis or honest self-belief speaking, but his respect for Pander rose—not agreement. But respect was a start. Maybe there was more skill to Pander’s business moves than Bixby had credited him for.
A permanent exception. If he accepted, Bixby would banish the specter of his father’s last promise—that he would end up with an implant in him one way or another. He thought of the emptiness of his childhood, the long hours of experiments he had enjoyed, but also of the pretty girls he had missed out on. Then Bixby said, “You love Ellen, don’t you?”
Pander put his smoke down on the table sitting between them and stared in Bixby’s direction blankly. After a moment, Bixby thought he might get angry, but instead, he said, “It’s that obvious, is it? She’s infatuated with that Constantin. Everything fell apart when she met him. He’s got all that power and Intrinsic—like royalty. She said it was his natural confidence, but I said—”
Pander regarded Bixby strangely. Tilting his head and looking more intently, he said, “You’ve got something there.” He gestured at Bixby. Bixby palmed his own neck. The bag. The officer must have torn it while handling him.
Bixby knew the patch under his neck was exposed. Pander was too cool to let on, but he must have been inspecting him all along. He hoped Ellen and Constantin hadn’t noticed it.
Pander said, “What did you install? How long have you been working on becoming a cyborg?”
Bixby said, “I started as soon as I realized the implant exception wouldn’t last forever. I meant to counter and defeat any implant that was ever attached to me, but I learned a few other things on the way.”
“Like what?” When Bixby hesitated, Pander picked up the greenabis and pointed it at him. He said, “Remember, no more secrets.”
Bixby quickly calculated what he could hold back without detection. “Like interfacing with ships to fly them by thought—”
“You can do that?”
“Not yet.”
Pander smiled. “But you will. And you’ll find a way to bring the Proxima to warp too with your phasing technology. That will be enough for us to retake the market from Laramy. If your green pebbles aren’t enough, I’ll give you all the time and resources you need. Just make it work.”
Smeiser ships were gathering at Venture Lab, beyond the escape pod’s viewing portal. Bixby said, “I thought you said we aren’t heading back to Venture Lab.”
“That’s not Venture Lab. We call this one Bunker Lab. When Ellen ordered the first one, I had two of them made. I’m in operations, remember?” He finished his greenabis and leaned back to enjoy the docking procedure. “You’re not in charge of it yet either, so don’t get any ideas. You’ll have to earn it.”
Pander shut his eyes and said, “And drop the transferring souls bullshit—it’s a waste of time. They’re all fucked up by the time you move them anyway. And they’re just copies. You’re not that smart.”
Bixby looked at his new home through the portal. He thought of all he would achieve there, and all he would work to hide from Smeiser, Laramy and the rest of the world. He was glad Pander didn’t believe in what he had done.
Pander said, “You can start by getting that fighter to warp speed. I ordered a new Proxima for you—the Pendulum Proxima.” Bixby wondered what of Pander’s was swinging back and forth.
“The next batch of volunteers will be ready for test flights in a couple of years. The nanobots worked this time.”
You mean trafficked humans, Bixby thought.
Pander said, “You’ve got to hand it to those moon folks—weak backs but strong hearts.” Then he dozed off, high and mighty—mighty and high.
Bixby thought of Ninnever, awaiting him in the Hall of Artifacts.
Other Books by the Author
Evil Tech Support: A Beginning (Book 1)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D2MLB2Y
Evil Tech Support, Book Two (Coming Summer 2019)
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