Ancient Birthright (65 page)

The campus speed limit was 20 mph. She was doing 85 as she passed through the gate and waved good-bye to the frantically waving guard.

Now could it be he wanted me to slow down, so they could get a tail in place?

Riki stayed on the winding two-lane road that led away from the front gate of the Agency complex for several miles before pulling into a gravel turnoff and stopping her car. She opened every compartment and searched the underside for bugs. She discovered three tracking transmitters: One under the dash, one in the left fender well and a third attached to the car’s battery.

The one attached to the battery she crushed in the gravel, the other two with internal batteries she put in the center console. While passing through the next small town, one of the tracking transmitters ended up attached to a school bus, that according to the sign posted near the door, was leaving on a day trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center, and the other found its way to the wheel well of the local Sheriff’s car.

She’d have to add a scanner to the list of equipment she needed and do a complete search of her car to make sure she hadn’t picked up any other bugs. While she was in list mode, she added a new cell phone and gun to the items she needed.

She was third in line to leave the county building parking lot when the Sheriff’s car she’d planted the tracker on jumped the line and raced away with lights flashing. A few seconds later, two black SUV’s swerved through traffic, following.

She saw a deputy crossing the lot and waved him over to report the two vehicles chasing the Sheriff.

Riki was impressed with the speed of the Sheriff department’s response. In less than a minute, no less than five cruisers responded to her report of the Sheriff being pursued.

Riki tapped a button on the steering wheel. “Hey Party Girl, give me a little Whitney Houston.”

“Whitney Houston selected.”

“
I Wanna Dance With Somebody
,” floated from the speakers as Riki painted two smoking strips of rubber down the street.

Chapter 3

Nick flicked off the shower and shook his head like a dog to remove the excess water. He opened the shower door a few inches and reached for a towel.

“I like your boat.”

He froze with the towel halfway through the door. “Mariee? Why are you in my cabin?”

“Just looking around. I’ve never met a boat that talked before.” Mariee moved to peek in the shower.

Nick quickly draped the towel around his waist and snapped the door shut.

“Sorry, Mr. Blade. She awoke from her nap rather earlier than I had calculated.”

“That’s okay, Durall. Make a note of the variance and store the information.”

“Done, sir.”

“Is that his name, Durall?”

“Ah, yeah. Mariee, meet, Durall Multicraft. Durall, this is Mariee Turney. She and her mother will be with us for a few days.”

“Very good, sir. It is pleasant to meet you, Miss Mariee Turney.”

“How come you’re here in Nick’s room and in my room, too?”

“Sir, how should I answer that?”

“Durall, she’s six. It doesn’t matter if she knows about you.”

“Yes, sir. Miss Mariee, I can talk to you in both cabins because I am the cabins. In fact, I am the entire craft.”

“You mean you’re an app?”

“By that, I assume you mean computer application. I’m much more than just a computer. I’m a series 4000Z Multicraft metamorph.”

“What Durall is telling you is that he can change shape and become a boat or a plane or a land vehicle, a very large land vehicle, but he can travel on land if necessary.”

“Can you change into a horse or an elephant?”

“Sir?”

“No, he’s pretty much limited to boats, airplanes and spaceships. But if he had to, I guess he could take on the shape of a horse.”

“Show me. I want to see him turn into a horse.”

“Mariee, we’re in the middle of the ocean. If he turns into a horse, we’ll sink to the bottom.”

“Oh.” Mariee’s eyes got big. “He could turn into a seahorse. Or maybe he can become a whale. Then he could swim.”

Nick hung his head and closed his eyes. “Okay, just this one time. Durall transform to match the shape of an Orcinus orca. Maintain internal configuration where possible. Display the transformation on a screen over the sink.

A view-screen appeared over the sink and showed the outer hull of the 150-foot yacht. The upper decks flowed and changed into the proper shape for a killer whale. When the portion above water completed its transformation, the hull shifted and matched the new shape. The massive tail began moving up and down, and the entire craft slid under the waves.

“Transformation complete, sir. I’ve established a depth of two hundred feet and a speed of
one degree of planet circumference per hour.”

“Thanks, Durall,” Nick eased the shower door open a crack. “Mariee, he means we’re two hundred feet beneath the surface of the ocean and zipping along at about 70 miles an hour. Now, could we get me some clothes before our guest sees more than a six-year-old should?”

A drawer opened, and a light-blue golf shirt rose up on a flat surface.

“I’ll get it,” Mariee ran to the drawer and snatched the shirt. She threw it over the top of the shower stall, and then said, “Here catch.”

After the fact, of course.

The remainder of Nick’s clothes arrived in the shower floating on what looked like a piece of countertop attached to the cabin wall. Nick stepped out of the shower dressed in tan shorts, deck shoes and a slightly damp shirt with a few dark, wet spots down one side.

“Are you getting hungry, Mariee?”

“Nah, Mommy doesn’t like me eating between meals.”

“Okay then how about coming with me to the control room? I want to check on our course and progress.”

“Can we see if Mommy is awake from her nap?”

“Durall will tell us when she wakes up.”

Hopefully, we’ll be close to our destination before that happens. I have a feeling that Dannie is not going to take these travel arrangements as well as Mariee was.

Nick opened the cabin door and had to do a quick two-step to avoid stepping on the other member of the crew. Dustmopier zipped across the deck and climbed Nick’s body to perch on his shoulder. She looked like a cross between a teal-blue oblong floor mop and a feather duster.

“Hey Nick, introduce me to the miniature humanoid?” the mound of fluff said.

“This is Mariee Turney. Mariee, this is my partner and best friend, Dustmopier or Dust for short. She came with Durall when I won him in a poker game.”

“I like you, Nick. You have the bestest friends. A talking ship that can change shape and a…a furry pet that talks, too,” Mariee said.

“I’ll have you know, I’m not a furry pet. I’m a Verderan Windalfluff,” she huffed.

Mariee laughed, “A vegetarian wiggle fluff. I’ve never heard of one of those before. Is your fur soft?”

“What does this kid think I am, a cat?”

“Dust, be nice to Mariee. She’s our guest,” Nick said.

“Guest? I thought she was the target.”

“She’s both. Now let Mariee hold you, so she can feel your moth-eaten fur.”

He gripped her by the fur on her back and lifted her off his shoulder. “Put me down you overgrown ape. And what do you mean, moth-eaten? My fur is in excellent condition.”

Nick moved Dust to Mariee’s arms, “Mind your manners and talk to Mariee. I need to check on our course and make a call to the client, to confirm our meeting.”

“Kid, if you think I’m going to start purring, think again.”

“You sound like my homeroom teacher. She’s all mean sounding, but we know if we give her a hug, she gets mushy.” Mariee stroked Dust and gave her a little squeeze before gently scratching her.

“Oh hell that does feel good. To the left a little, I can never reach that spot. Do you think my fur looks scruffy? Maybe I need to change my shampoo.”

“You got six legs, plus arms and hands. Why do you have six legs?” Mariee asked.

“How come you only have two legs, kid? Looks to me like you’d fall on your face a lot,” Dustmopier snapped back.

“Dust… She’s just curious. You’re a critter she’s never seen before.”

Dustmopier sighed, “I have six legs because where I come from, we had to be able to run, climb and fight all at the same time. There were a lot of really big, nasty things that wanted to make us into cold cuts. My people had to develop arms and hands, so we could make weapons to defend ourselves.”

Nick said, “Dust grew up in an area where her kind was the smallest animal, so her ancestors evolved bodies that helped them avoid being eaten. Show Mariee your eyes.”

Dustmopier’s eyes emerged from her fur and swiveled in different directions.

“Her eyes are enclosed in short armored stalks so she can retract them if a big nasty beast is trying to bite her, or she can extend them like that, so she can see better. With six legs that end in padded toes with retractable claws like a cat, she can climb almost anything. Dust, show Mariee the rest of the ship while I call the client.”

Nick walked out of the room and headed for the front of the craft. He opened a door and stepped into a replica of a modern day cruise-ship bridge. Walls of flat display screens and digital indicators flanked a large-scale map table with a dynamic three-dimensional display of the Earth’s surface both above and below the sea. It even had surface vessels marked by ship icons with their current direction of travel and speed indicated in a small data box next to the icons. Since they were traveling below the surface, the map displayed three submarines that either would cross their course or could be a factor if they detected Durall.

Nick studied the displays for a few minutes before going to a communications console and contacting his client.

“This is Nick Blade. I have the requested merchandise and request a location and time for the transfer.”

A strangely warbling voice came back, “I am transmitting rendezvous coordinates now. We’ll be in position for the transfer in twenty-eight hours.”

“Coordinates received. We’ll be there.”

The connection broke, and Nick spoke to Durall, “You have the coordinates and meeting time, get us there an hour early so I can check the area.”

“I’ll take care of it, sir. Mrs. Turney is awakening.”

“Oh crap. I guess it had to happen sometime. I hope she doesn’t try to rip my head off. It’s going to be a shock to her when she finds out she’s on her way to Indonesia when she just went for a day outing at the beach.”

“Maybe if you take Miss Mariee with you?”

“Oh that’ll calm her down, her daughter coming into the room with the virtual stranger responsible for her kidnapping. Add to that the kidnapped Mariee carrying Dustmopier, an alien life form. All while two hundred feet below the surface of the ocean, in a giant killer whale.”

Nick walked from the room shaking his head and muttering, “Piece of cake.”

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