3rd World Products, Book 16 (46 page)

As smugly grinning Marjory started to drift toward the huge hole she’d made in the wall, her umbilical to the gurney stopped her. Looking at it with what seemed to be a mix of disgust and contempt, she sent a field to slice the cable at the bed rail.
 

That’s when I finally got smart. A couple of feet of Marjory’s umbilical lay on the floor outside her personal field. How much was enough current to set off blasting caps? Hell, I didn’t have the slightest goddamned clue, but I knew it was wasn’t much.
 

The slender wires didn’t look as if they could handle twelve volts with any serious amps. Steph reappeared and received another devastating blast as I sent a probe to latch onto a few of the trailing wires to ground them. I then sent another probe charged with twelve volts and ten amps to spread out and contact all the other exposed wires at once.
 

There was a very loud and sharp ‘
PAK!
‘ sort of sound, a cloud of pink filled the immediate area, and Marjory’s body dropped four feet or so to the floor. I immediately zapped the screen. Tanya didn’t need an opportunity to stare at my results.
 

Sipping the last of my drink, I waited to see how I felt about blasting that kid’s head off, but no sensations came to me other than a dose of relieved weariness.
 

Tanya came out of her shock, got to her feet, and stood looming over me looking as if she might also explode. She started to say something just as Steph materialized by the console and raised a hand. Tanya’s eyes lightly glassed over and she gently, carefully deposited her butt into one of the flitter seats as Steph turned to look at me.
 

I asked, “How’s the first guard, Steph? Did you manage to keep him alive?”
 

“Yes. Fields have temporarily replaced what’s missing. New parts will be grown and installed.”
 

Nodding, I said, “Great. Anybody else hurt? Other than the ones she killed or vaporized, I mean?”
 

“There are a few minor injuries. Nothing critical.”
 

“Good. Let me know if anybody gives you the least amount of crap at all tonight about using medical fields on US soil. I’d very much enjoy the workout.”
 

I knew she was re-checking my bios before she quietly asked, “What do you want me to tell them, Ed?”
 

With a shrug, I asked, “What
can
you tell them? You can’t lie. You can’t say you did it or that it was any kind of an accident. Things went the way they had to, Steph. I guess you could let them draw their own conclusions if they somehow fail to ask you what happened. But that’s very unlikely and it brings up another question. Why are you still there to be asked anything?”
 

“They saw me, Ed. I’m not virtually anonymous like some of the others. I also believe a factual report is necessary.”
 

Nodding, I replied, “Yeah, that’s a point. Whatever, ma’am. Say what you have to. Do what you have to.” I gave her a wry little grin and said, “Say, you know some lawyers, right? Maybe we ought to call one of ‘em? Maybe even soon?”
 

She smiled gently. “Okay. I’ll let you know how things go.”
 

“Good ‘nuff, Steph. You know you’re still gorgeous, right?”
 

She nodded. “I keep myself like this just for you, Ed.”
 

Rolling my eyes, I chuckled, “And now I know how it feels, don’t I? Thank you, milady.”
 

But I realized she hadn’t been kidding at all as she looked from me to Tanya and said, “I’ll say goodnight, then,” and vanished.
 

Tanya roused, yawned, then roused some more. She suddenly came fully awake and sat bolt upright. When she turned to me, she asked, “
What
did she just do to me?”
 

“Theta waves. Totally harmless. Want another drink?”
 

Even as I asked that, I realized what I really wanted was some coffee. Tanya shook her head.
 

“Not just now. I think I’d like to go see my mother now, please. She was in the middle of it
all.”
 

“She was in the next-to-last bed at the far end of the building, ma’am, and she needs her sleep.”
 

Standing up again, Tanya said, “I asked. Now I’m demanding.”
 

“You’ll demand yourself right into federal custody if you go down there, lady. Warrants out for us, remember?”
 

She shook her head. “I don’t care. I’ll deal with it.”
 

“You don’t have to ‘
deal with it
‘, dammit. No laws broken. Give Steph and her legal beagles a chance to get their hands dirty. They’ll get us out of this in a flash.”
 

Tanya came closer and said intently, “
Now. Please.
I need to be with my mother when she realizes what’s happened to her.”
 

Hm. Yeah, I could see that moment in my head. It would be a helluva shock, but Marie wasn’t some dollhouse diva. She’d get through a facelift and a general fix-up just fine. On the other hand, Tanya looked as though she might attack me if I refused. Mental sigh. Looked like the evening was over.
 

“Tea, take us down, please. Tanya’s going to visit Marie.”
 

As the flitter changed course, Tanya said, “Thank you.”
 

“Sure, lady. Last call for alcohol, though. Want a drink before they slap the cuffs on you?”
 

She looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “No, but stop the flitter,” and stood up. Opening her small suitcase, she picked up her bourbon bottle and studied it for a moment, then slung it over the side. It flashed to plasma with a solid ‘
bang!
‘. Next went her two boxes of mix and a bottle of something I hadn’t packed. All of it vanished, then she picked up the gin.
 

“Whoa! Not that one! Leave the bitter lemon, too.”
 

Tanya nodded and set those items on the deck, then shut her suitcase. A moment later she opened it again and disentangled her small pack from the large one, then put the big pack in the suitcase and closed it again.
 

Standing up, she said, “Ready.”
 

I blatantly eyeballed her and said, “I’ll tell Steph where to tell her lawyers to look for you, ma’am.”
 

“I wasn’t expecting you to come with me, Ed.”
 

“Then you expected right. I hate the political circus. Let ‘em play their power games without me. Without you, too. Stay with me, Tanya. We’ll use probes to contact Marie. In a few weeks we’ll be forgotten and she’ll be out of there.”
 

As if I just wasn’t quite getting it, Tanya gave me an exasperated, weary expression and said, “Let’s
go
, please.”
 

Getting to my feet, I carried her suitcase to the edge of the deck and sighed, “Yes, ma’am. Enjoy your cell. Tea, take us down again, please.”
 

As she prepared to take the big step off the flitter, Tanya turned to me and kissed me. Stepping back a pace, she said, “Thanks for… for
everything
, Ed.”
 

“You, too, Tanya. Remember, now; step one: say ‘
lawyer
‘. Step two:
shut up
. Got all that?”
 

She grinned and nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got it.”
 

The front doors were obstructed with vehicles and barricaded. The side doors were only guarded, so I let her off near one. The guards saw her walking toward them between two cars and one asked, “Where the
hell
did you come from, lady?”
 

She noddingly glanced over her shoulder and said, “Over there. I’m here to see my mother.”
 

“No visitors tonight. There’s been an accident.”
 

“It wasn’t an accident.”
 

He glanced at the other guard, then asked, “What do you know about it, ma’am?”
 

Tanya raised her voice a bit and said, “If you don’t let me in, your boss is going to rip you a brand-new hole. Are you
really
ready for that?”
 

The guy gave her a narrow look, then used his radio. After some chat, he asked, “Is your name Connor?”
 

“Yes.”
 

The guard spoke to his radio and opened the door for her. Tanya went inside and he closed the door. I sent a probe to see how they’d receive her. A young black woman met her, showed ID and took her suitcase, reassured her about Marie, and led her to Marie’s bed. Then, as Tanya reached to touch her sleeping mother’s hand, the polite young woman slapped a cuff around Tanya’s wrist and shackled her to Marie’s gurney.
 

Heh. Ha. Snicker. Toldja so, but you just wouldn’t listen, ma’am. They just
aren’t
nice people.
 

Tanya studied her new bracelet, then looked at the woman and said, “If this were necessary, I wouldn’t be here.”
 

Without a word, the woman walked away.
 

I sent a probe to open the lock on Tanya’s cuff, then had it hook the empty cuff on the gurney.
 

Tanya chuckled softly, “Thanks again, Ed.”
 

Through the probe I said, “No extra charge, sweetie. See if you can find out why Marie hates me.”
 

She grinned. “Okay.”
 

“Thanks. Bye for now, ma’am.”
 

“Bye. Oh, wait! Can I still contact you with a ping?”
 

“For now. If we can’t pick up where we left off, though, I’d rather hook it into your phone.”
 

To leave her with that thought, I canceled the probe. Would she ping me immediately to argue the matter? I used probes to listen to various other conversations in and near the damaged area as I waited. They yapped and yammered, but didn’t tell me anything useful.
 

While waiting for Tanya to maybe ring me back, I bundled copies of the evening’s events at the nursing home and sent them to Angie and Linda with a note that I’d call them tomorrow. When Tanya hadn’t pinged me for almost five minutes, I guided Tea upward into the night.
 

What to do? Where to go? It was almost eleven.
 

Chapter Twenty-nine
 

I parked half a mile up and sipped coffee as I considered those weighty questions and watched the lights of the world below. On a whim, I sent a probe to locate Elgin’s duty phone. It was in a room at the motel where she’d ditched her burn phone. It was on, too, and in use. I didn’t listen to the call or send a probe to her room; I just waited until her call ended, then used the probe to ring her phone.
 

She answered, “Hello? Who is this?”
 

I said, “Hi, Agent Vicky! Want to go for a midnight flitter ride and try to talk me into giving myself up?”
 

She was silent for a moment, then she asked, “
Would
you actually give yourself up?”
 

“Well, probably not, but you could at least
try
, right?”
 

“Uh, huh. And if you wouldn’t give yourself up, would I actually be able to arrest you?”
 

“Also probably not, but you could…”
 

She interrupted, “Yeah, yeah. I could at least try. Uh, huh.”
 

“Hey, there’s still the flitter ride, ma’am. That would put you close enough to make an effort. And I have a bottle of gin and some bitter lemon. And it’s still early enough to get whatever you like if that won’t do.”
 

Elgin sighed, “You’re really just making a pass at me, aren’t you?”
 

“Well, yes and no, ma’am.”
 

After a pause, she stated, “Really. Tell me about the ‘no’ part.”
 

“I can’t. You’re bugged.”
 

“You can turn them off. I’ve seen you do it.”
 

Trying to sound disappointed, I sighed, “Aw, hell. You saw right through that, didn’t you? Okay. Back to the flitter ride, then. Ever been on a flitter, ma’am?”
 

She chuckled, “No, but I’ve driven a Porsche.”
 

I made a raspberry noise. “Flitters are way better.”
 

“And I’ve flown my father’s Piper Cub.”
 

“Good start, but flitters are still way better.”
 

Ice rattled in a glass and she asked, “You said gin, right?”
 

“Yes’m, I certainly did. A fresh bottle, too.”
 

“That’s what I just had. And it
would
put me where I could at least
try
to make that effort you mentioned.”
 

“Yes’m, it would, indeed. I’m absolutely sure of it.”
 

She laughed, “I’ll just bet you are. And you’ll bring me back here whether I arrest you or not, right?”
 

“Yes’m, I’ll bring you back. In good health and hopefully good spirits. I promise. Oh, hey, do you have a bathing suit?”
 

“No. I didn’t think I’d need one. It’s winter, you know.”
 

“Oh, well. Just a thought. How soon can you be ready?”
 

She paused, then said, “Five minutes. No, make it ten.”
 

“Is that it? Ten? No more bids?”
 

“Yeah. Ten. From the time we hang up, smart guy.”
 

I chuckled, “Okay, then. Look out your window in ten. Bye, Agent Vicky.”
 

“Bye, Ed.”