Book 3: 3rd World Products, Inc (44 page)

"Steph will play it back for you if you want, Linda. All I'm asking you to do is keep an eye on Wallace and watch for games. Verify everything independently."

After a moment, she nodded and began eating again.

Linda finished eating and said that she'd see me later. I finished a second helping of breakfast, then went back to Stephie to learn a bit about networking with datapads.

Lo and behold, the first thing that I learned was that Wallace already had a snooper network in place and that my phone and my first pad—the one issued to me when Ellen had been staying with me—had been included in his surveillance net for months.

"He must wonder why I don't use that pad much,” I said, “How about Linda's pad, Steph? Is hers on his list, too?"

"No, Ed."

I sipped coffee from my mug and nodded.

"That figures. She'd tear him a new one if she caught him at it. Well, that simplifies matters, Steph."

"How so, Ed? If we establish a network, his system will discover it."

"I don't need the net now, Steph. People will believe what they think they've overheard a lot quicker than something they're told directly. We'll just use my old pad to send Linda a note when we get back to the house."

"Elkor could deliver the pad to you here, Ed."

"Yeah, and you or Elkor could activate the pad and dictate a message through it for me, but the GPS signature would make him suspicious. I'll wait until I'm back in Florida, Steph. I want to think about what to say."

"I can alter the GPS signature to match our current location, Ed. Speaking of Captain Wallace, he's approaching the flitter."

I turned to look. Wallace was halfway across the hangar on a bee-line toward us, tapping his datapad off and tucking it under his arm. When he arrived, he almost tried knocking on the hull before he realized that it might not be solid. Instead, he reached to touch it first.

His fingers sank into the field and it occurred to me that it might be fun if Steph solidified the field at that moment, but that might have exacerbated matters somewhat.

I leaned to poke my head through the soundproof field long enough to say, “Permission granted, Captain. Come aboard."

His head poked in and he looked around once before stepping up to the deck. He chose a seat and sat down, looking first at Steph, then at me.

"We got word that we'll be released this afternoon,” he said.

"Good of you to let us know. Are we supposed to go anywhere in particular after they let us out of here?"

He shook his head. “Don't know. You'll have to see Linda about that. Look, Ed, I just came by to see if we can get past last night. For Linda's sake."

An olive branch? Coated with what kind of poison?

"Excuse me for asking, Wallace, but why the sudden change of heart?"

He looked so sincere as he said, “We were both on edge last night after all that happened. Maybe we both should have said a lot less than we did."

What the hell. If he was sincere, fine. If not, no change.

"Yeah,” I said. “That's true enough. We still don't have any good reason to be at odds, Wallace. She's your girl and my boss and we aren't likely to have to work together, if only because of that. That's the whole story as I see it."

There was an awkward silence. Either Wallace was unfamiliar with signing truces or he hadn't planned for an easy agreement. After some moments, he stood up and stuck out his hand. I took it because that's how those games are played.

"Well,” he said, “Good enough, then. That's all I came here for.” He tapped his datapad and said, “I'm still taking and filing everybody's debriefing reports. Guess I'll get back to it now,” then he stepped off the flitter and headed back to the others.

I looked at Steph, then sat down and sipped my coffee.

"You're still skeptical of him, aren't you?” she asked.

"Hell, yes. Get any readings on him?"

"His bioscan was inconclusive, Ed. The only small spike occurred when he said,
'for Linda's sake'
."

"Was it a truth spike or a lie spike?"

"If I knew that, the results wouldn't be inconclusive."

I chuckled. “No. I guess not. Thanks, Steph. You know, maybe it wouldn't hurt to send a message from the old pad now. Got a link to it?"

"I do now. Why not compose the message on your newer pad for your own convenience, Ed? I can simply send what you show me through the other pad."

"Sounds good. Thanks again, miLady."

My message to Linda read:
'Just a quiet note to let you know that Wallace dropped by the flitter. He didn't quite offer an apology, but he didn't ask me for one, either. Could be he's finally realized that I really wasn't bullshitting him. Gonna give him the benefit of the doubt for a while and see how things go.

If I can ignore the fact that he's sleeping with you, he should be able to ignore the fact that I'm working for you. Did you tell him what you've always told me about not messing around with your minions?'

As an afterthought, I added,
'PS: I've always hated that policy.'

"What do you think, Steph? Is it candid enough?"

"It's quite possibly more candid than Linda would like in her padmail, Ed."

"She's tough. This is a bid for peace in our time, Steph. Gotta be frank. Send it whenever you're ready."

"The message has been sent. Linda's pad should have it in a few seconds."

"Great. Now let's keep an eye on Wallace. He should have it as quickly as Linda."

A few seconds later, Linda turned to look at her pad on the end of her bunk and reached for it. A few moments later she looked toward us and nodded slightly.

Wallace was talking to a guy who'd been on the other team flitter when he glanced down at his pad. He resumed talking to the guy for a few moments, then walked over to the buffet table for a canned drink. After a quick look around, he tapped his pad on and studied it for a few moments.

His face reflected slight resentment for a moment; probably about the time he read the line saying that I could ignore the fact that he was sleeping with Linda. Steph and I saw him glance around again, then he took a sip of his drink and let his gaze fall on our flitter.

"Closeup of his face, Steph?"

A bit of the canopy field modified and suddenly Wallace's face seemed only a few feet away. He no longer looked resentful; he looked thoughtful. He glanced at the pad again and nodded slightly, then tapped it off and set it on the table. He looked in our direction again for a few moments, then took his pad and drink over to Linda's bunk.

Linda looked up from her own pad and set it aside as Wallace approached.

I asked, “Sound, Steph?” and Wallace's words became audible within the flitter.

"I just finished Collier's report,” he said with a grin. “They all say pretty much the same, as expected. Maybe we should just type up one report and have everybody sign it like a petition."

Linda returned his grin and said, “That makes too much sense. Some bureaucrat would feel deprived. Was that you getting out of Ed's flitter earlier?"

He nodded. “Yeah. We had another talk. I think it went better than the one last night."

"How so?"

"Well,” said Wallace as he sat down beside her, “He said that he's pretty sure we really aren't likely to have to work together, and that would definitely make things easier for all of us. Is he right about that?"

"Very much so,” said Linda. “Ed has always worked alone, Emory, and as you've seen, I can send him into situations where I can't send the usual people. There have been others backing him at a distance to provide communications and support, but he's always preferred going in alone. I have no doubt that he'd retire rather than accept a permanent position on anyone's team. Either of you may end up in a mission support role for the other, but you won't have to work together unless it becomes absolutely unavoidable."

Wallace seemed to digest that news for a moment, then asked, “What is he, Linda? A glory hog, or just someone who can't lead or follow worth a damn?"

Linda sat very still as she gave Wallace a hard gaze. After a few moments, she said, “Whatever he may be, he has an 80-percent-plus success rate, Emory. When his missions have failed or gone sour, it has never been his fault."

As an example, she told him about the time that a pilot couldn't find our pickup zone near the East-West German border. He'd flown too far north and had been spotted zig-zagging above the border as he'd looked for our signal.

What had been considered a milk run had turned into a run for our lives. I'd had to hotwire a truck and send it through the the fence, then herd the family through on foot.

Guards had arrived at that section of the fence in time to fire a few rounds at us, but we managed to get across the border. Their tracer rounds had hit the truck's fuel tank, and the burning truck had been what had finally alerted the pilot to look for us further south.

Wallace said, “You two
do
go back a few years, don't you? The Berlin Wall came down in what..? Eighty-nine?"

In a quiet tone, Linda said, “That border incident happened in early 1972, Emory. Yes, you could say that Ed and I
do
go back a few years.” She paused for some moments, then said, “Making things difficult here for Ed would make things difficult for me, Emory. Even if you succeeded in getting rid of him, you'd be gone, too."

Emory nodded slightly and said, “Yeah, I'd already figured that out."

He stood up and looked around their indoor encampment, then asked, “Any word on when they're letting us out of here?"

I said, “I've seen enough, Steph. He either bought it or he didn't, and now there's no doubt in his mind about how Linda would handle more trouble."

At four that afternoon I was aboard my flitter, sitting back with my feet up on a field-generated footstool and reading a novel on my datapad, when the hangar's big doors rolled open.

Close to fifty people were assembled on the pavement beyond the doorway. For some moments, nobody moved, then Dr. Mills, a small woman with a big briefcase, stepped into the hangar and approached Linda and Wallace.

They held a quick conference, then Wallace turned to his team people and said, “We're outta here, people. See you all in the morning. Dismissed."

While everybody else headed for the doors, Linda, Wallace, and Mills stood talking by the buffet tables. I saw Linda raise her watch and press a button. My watch beeped in response.

I tapped my watch on and said, “Hi, Linda."

"Are you planning to stay here in the hangar another night, or what?"

"We'll be along. I've got two pages left of this chapter. You want me to be anywhere, or can I scamper on home?"

"If you stick around another hour or so, you can go to dinner with us. Dr. Mills offered to take us all to a restaurant in Carrington. We just want to check in with our offices first."

I didn't have to think long about it. I looked at Steph and covered my watch as I asked her if she wanted to go to dinner.

She shook her head and said, “You go if you want."

"I don't really want to go, either. I've had too much company since yesterday."

I uncovered my watch and said, “Thanks anyway, but Steph and I have something we want to do before it gets too late."

Steph gave me a questioning glance as Linda said, “Okay, if you're sure."

"Yup. See you later, Linda."

She signed off and the three of them headed for the hangar door. Steph asked what it was that
'we'
wanted to do before it got too late.

"We want to go home,” I said. “Unless you have someplace better in mind. I don't want to spend time with Linda
and
Wallace, and Mills will probably turn dinner into yet another rehash of last night. Better we should give your lawyer a call and see how things are going with getting you legal and the sale of the gold. It might be fun to check out that new dance club in Gainesville tonight, too."

With a smile, Steph said, “Yes, it might."

"In that case, why don't you aim us at Florida while I call Selena? It's a school night, but that's never stopped us before."

Steph lifted us and took us through the big hangar doors several feet above the heads of those still standing outside. When we were clear of the buildings, she launched us in a high arc toward Florida.