3rd World Products, Book 17 (37 page)

Mythology? No. Well, not quite. History? Of a sort? The name rattled around in my head as she presented him the box and touched the top to make it recede to the edges. In what was now a tray were a datapad and a PFM, and I suddenly realized what was unique about her. Disa wasn’t wearing a PFM. She had no field presence at all.

Disa began explaining how to operate the pad as she helped him open a clinic account. She then asked for certain info and used it to verify details of his Stateside accounts before performing transfers that somehow became immediately effective.

I sipped coffee and watched her. Not an AI, definitely human. Twenty-five, about? Kind of cute, but a sharp, almost stony gaze when she occasionally glanced up at me. Inherent dislike? No. I was still wearing my rabble rouser suit. It wouldn’t match the pic in my ID info, but her pad had verified me anyway. Heh.

She was saying something about leaving the building. “…not wise without your PFM…” and the word ‘
wise
‘ triggered my memory about her name. I grinned at her.

Noticing my pleased expression, she looked up at me questioningly and asked, “You have a comment, sir?”

“Yup. I finally placed your name. Disa was a very wise queen of Sweden. Nobody knows exactly when. I doubt if they even know if she was real or not, but I’d like to think so.”

Turning to Morely, I said, “If she’s anything like that Disa — and she seems to be so far — you couldn’t be in better hands. I’m going to shove off now, Doc. See you later.”

To Disa, I said, “Very nice meeting you, Disa.”

As I turned to step back aboard the flitter, Disa said, “Wait, please. Milla suggested you speak with our legal department before you return to the US. She said you might have difficulties there.”

“She’s right, but an AI friend has a legal team there.”

Stepping to the edge of the deck, Disa said, “If you mean Stephanie, she also heads our legal team. I’ve researched Mr. Lane’s situation as well as his medical condition, sir. There’s a possibility you would be arrested if you returned to the US at this time.”

I considered matters. What the hell; it was late, I was tired, and I had a room if I wanted it. Why not? But not as the rabble rouser.

“Disa, thanks, but I need to clear this bay for a flitter that’ll be arriving very shortly. I think you’ll recognize the pilot.”

When the doc glanced at her, I thumbed at myself. She gave me a little nod, so I said, “Later,” then had Galatea back out of the bay and hover above the entrance. A full minute passed, then I canceled my rabble rouser suit and had Tea nose back into the bay.

Disa and Morely had moved away from the landing spot to stand by the bay’s main door. As Tea settled to the deck, Disa motioned the doc to stay put and approached.

With a small smile, she reintroduced herself. The doc didn’t stay by the door, of course. He edged forward as I greeted her.

“Nice to meet you, Disa. Call me Ed, please. I see Morely’s here, which means Steve Lane also got here.”

Still smiling, she replied, “Yes, he did.”

Morely asked, “You know me? How?”

Calling up a screen, I showed him his picture and said, “You’re this guy, so your name’s Morely.”

“Ah… yes. I am. And it is.”

Sending a tendril to grab my backpack, I let the flitter vanish and said, “Great, then I must be in the right place. I think I’d like to find some food, ma’am.”

As I hitched the pack onto my shoulder, Morely stared at me as if seeing an alien creature.

Apparently unruffled, Disa said, “No problem, sir. Our cafeteria is always open.”

Morely’s stark gaze switched to her. He rather sharply asked, “
Didn’t you see what he just did?!
”

“Yes,” said Disa, “He used a PFM field.”

“A what?!”

I said, “That silver thing in the box you’re holding is a PFM, Doc. If you practice a little, maybe you’ll be able to do that, too.”

Disa’s left eyebrow arched, but she said nothing. Morely looked in the box and picked up the PFM, then studied it.

I said, “Just put it on your arm and say, ‘PFM attach’. You get it off by saying, ‘PFM detach’.” Looking at Disa, I asked, “Didn’t you tell him that already?”

She chuckled, “Yes, I did, but he seemed rather hesitant.”

“Ah. Well, then… Doc, those things will stop small arms fire, germs, and radiation. They’ll also let you call for help when you get lost in this place, so quit screwing around, stick that one on your arm, and let’s get going.”

With some trepidation, Morely tried it, then immediately tried detaching it. After the usual amount of marveling at it, he put it back on as Disa ran through a quick description of its basic properties and abilities. Mention of its contraceptive ability made him balk and eye the PFM warily.

I suggested we discuss anything else about them over dinner and gestured for Disa to lead the way. She took the hint with a nod and turned to head for the door. I followed her and Morely trotted to catch up and fall in on Disa’s left.

A few steps later, he asked me, “You said your name was Ed?”

Nodding, I said, “Yup. Still is, as far as I know.”

Glancing at my bare forearms, he asked, “Where’s your PFM?”

“Where people can’t see it. They draw way too much attention back in the States.”

“So I don’t have to stick it on my arm?”

“Stick it anywhere you want. Works the same.”

He held his arm out to look at his PFM and said, “These things were a
great
idea. I’ll bet the Amaran who invented them is rich.”

Disa’s eyes flared a bit and she glanced up at me. Was she just silently commenting on the doc’s first thought about PFMs? I grinned, shook my head slightly, and said nothing.

About two doors down from where we’d delivered Lane, we stepped into a shuttle elevator much like the one I’d seen years ago aboard the big ship. There was a map of the building on the wall. Disa touched a spot and the shuttle moved sideways for some moments.

When the door opened, we’d arrived at a cafeteria. I took a small steak and a baked potato, then moved on to find some greens. Disa stayed with Morely and they joined me at a table some minutes later.

He’d opted for a regular dinner, but she had only a small salad and a drink. Morely rattled on about how excited he was to be there and Disa mostly kept quiet unless asked a question. She seemed to spend a lot of time looking in my direction.

I’d nearly finished my dinner when Morely asked, “Ed, is there something wrong? You haven’t said much since we left the bay.”

I shrugged. “Not much to say. I’m ready to turn in for the night and let Disa go back to herding you around.”

Disa grinned and chuckled, “Herding?”

“Can’t let him run loose, can you?”

“Well, no. Of course not. But don’t concern yourself. Escorting guests is one of my duties.”

Morely asked, “What else do you do?”

“Many things, doctor. My job is guest accommodation.”

Glancing at me, Morely made a little ‘
Oh, Ho!
‘ sort of face. Hm. Maybe he had a somewhat extended concept of her job. I hoped not. Or rather, if he did, I hoped he kept it to himself.

Looking at Disa, I said, “You have my permission to slap the snot out of him if necessary. In the meantime, I’d like to find my room and get flat soon. It’s been a long day.”

Calling up a screen, I had it display a map of the building and said, “If you’ll just tell this where I need to go, I’ll get underway.”

She eyed me oddly as she said, “If you wouldn’t mind, sir, I’m expected to deliver you both to your rooms.”

Shrugging, I sipped my coffee and said, “Okay, but do me a small favor, will you? I’m Ed. Stop calling me ‘sir’.”

Disa gave me a rather direct look, then nodded slightly and focused on her salad. Morely dug into what was left of his meal. I sipped my coffee again and wondered why Disa was so stiff. She had to see I wasn’t the type to need deferential treatment.

Hm. On the other hand, maybe she’d been burned a time or two by people who’d told her to relax, then gotten snippy. Oh, well. I didn’t expect to be there long enough for it to matter.

Morely had nearly finished. He paused to sip his drink, eyeing me over the rim of the glass, then asked, “How did… uh… the other man… he never told me his name… How did he get Lane out of that ICU without setting off all the bells and whistles?”

Meeting his gaze, I replied, “Most likely very carefully. And that’s all I’d tell anyone else, so don’t feel slighted.”

Ah, but I could see he did, indeed, feel slighted. Sitting a little straighter, he said, “I shared the risk, didn’t I?”

Again calling up a screen, I watched Tea’s recording of the event in triple-time, then said, “According to this, you signed a form, then you waited outside for a ride to Guyana.” Sipping my coffee, I said, “But I won’t tell you because you flatly don’t need to know.”

Giving me a fisheye, he archly asked, “Are you
serious?
Do you
really
think I’d tell anyone?”

Giving him a firm, flat look, I replied, “I’m absolutely sure you would with the right pressure. Don’t push.”

Looking irritated as hell, he yelped, “
Push?!
Look, I don’t consider a casual question to be…”

Feeding him theta waves until he sagged and toppled forward, I moved his plate. Grabbing his collar to help his unconscious head meet the table gently, I said, “Disa, I’m gonna head off to bed. What’s my room number?”

Staring at Morely, she stammered, “Uh… 3823. Turn left in the corridor.
What
did you do to him?”

“Theta waves. Lots of ‘em. Thanks and goodnight, ma’am.”

With that, I stopped feeding Morely thetas as I got up and headed for the drink counter. After topping up my coffee, I left the cafeteria. Disa and a somewhat dazed-looking Morely watched me go; her with a thoughtful expression and him with unconcealed anger.

A few doors away I realized I didn’t have a keycard and almost turned around, then continued to my room’s door. There was no slot for a card. Linking to my core, I looked for info about the clinic and found I had only to touch the door to make it open. It had been keyed to a record of my DNA on file since I’d first received nanobots.

I touched the door and it turned translucent. When I moved through it, the door re-opaqued behind me. I wondered what other things about the place might be field effects. Might learn something I could use.

The bathroom wasn’t unusual and the room had light switches, undoubtedly for guests who’d be unused to discussing their lighting arrangements with a computer. Using a probe, I had a filtered look at the room and discovered most everything right down to the bare concrete walls were field constructs. Kewl.

After another sip of coffee, I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and hit the sack. Sleep came quickly.

Waking, however, seemed to take its sweet time. I realized why; I had no place to go, nothing to do, and coffee without having to get up to make some. I ran a warm tendril through my almost-full mug of overnight coffee and sat sipping. Check the news? Later. Email and messages, though. I’d use them to focus a bit.

There were a few overnight book orders. Twenty spams. Two fan mails. After all that, I checked the news anyway, specifically the news from Dallas, for the so-called ‘public’ view of Lane’s departure.

Details about Lane’s disappearance were sparse, indeed. One article questioned the actual severity of Lane’s wounds. It seemed to imply Lane had somehow gotten out of bed and walked out of the hospital on his own. It also ignored the fact that no hospital ward or hall cameras had seen him do it.

Another article speculated he’d been ‘spirited away in the night’ by persons unknown and the doctor who’d signed the release form. Well, at least nobody had made the release form disappear.

I didn’t bother with videos. None of the news bits contained what I was looking for, which was any official statement that a crime had actually been committed. That didn’t really mean much other than that someone had realized the significance of the release form.

A quick scan of police and federal databases produced no arrest warrants for Doc Morely. That, too, meant nothing, really. One could quickly be issued. Best of all, there was no mention of me. That didn’t mean they didn’t suspect me, it just meant they had no evidence.

Sending a ping to Marie, I had time to sip twice before she answered with, “Hi. I thought it best to step outside and I’m not using a screen. Are you okay?”

“Yup. Just fine, but I think it best to keep a distance for now.”

She chuckled, “Oh, definitely. Yes, indeed. Some people are very upset right now.” With another chuckle, she added, “Others, not so much. Several are downright happy, in fact.”

“Glad to hear it. I heard from one of them last night. She seemed to know the situation pretty well.”

“She does. I was there when he called her. She cut him off at one point and told him to hold the rest, then came here in person to discuss matters during a visit to a range. I was also there when a number of people called him late last night, and I think it might be a while before we can continue our date.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured, too. Anything official yet?”

“Not as of last night, but I haven’t been up there this morning. Hold one, someone’s coming.”

I waited until she said, “All clear. Need me to do anything?”

“Thanks, but I can’t think of anything I can’t do from here.”

“Well, the offer stands. Keep me posted. I’m scheduled for something, so I guess I’ll see you when I see you. Bye for now.”

“Okay. And thanks for the offer. Bye.”

Sipping coffee, I reviewed the conversation. It had been pretty straightforward. No special stress to any words, no veiled warnings. The news screen’s ‘incoming message’ icon flashed and I tapped it, then tapped off the screen’s video.

Disa said, “Good morning, Ed. I… she paused, then asked, “Your screen is off?”

“I haven’t primped yet, ma’am. Might scare you. What’s up?”

“I’m calling to invite you to breakfast.”

“With or without Doc Morely?”

“Without. He’s attending an orientation.”