Lost Past (28 page)

             
“
Jorxt
is not your friend,”
Saxant
said. Linda considered the comment wasn’t informative, but she was willing to go along.

             
“And you are?”

             
“To a degree. I’m not happy about how you’ve been treated, but my loyalties are with my species. I think we need you, however.”

             
“Why?” She appreciated his apparent honesty, but didn’t know how much to trust him.

             
“There is an Earth saying about opening a can of worms. You’ve certainly done so. Our society is divided, but there has been little rebellion, because both sides need each other. You’ve shown how they can destroy each other without weapons, and frankly, my side has more to lose if society is torn apart by war
, since we benefit more
.”

             
“Virus checkers are pretty standard on Earth. It wouldn’t take you long to program one.“

             
“I’m not
Jorxt
,”
Saxant
said. “I know that the immediate problem will be solved, probably within days, but I am more concerned about those who copy you.”

             
“They won’t be able to use my code once virus checkers are programmed.”

             
“They’ll be able to use your ideas, and that’s frightening.”

             
Linda was skeptical of this.
Plict
society had many opportunities to study humans and presumably would know about computer viruses and cyber warfare. How could the sides of the divided society not have considered this possibility?

             
“You don’t believe me,”
Saxant
said. Linda guessed he studied humans. “We’re not really a very imaginative species, and it never occurred to us that what happened on Earth could happen here. If anyone thought about it, they probably assumed our computers were better designed.” He stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I realize there are going to be some problems here, and I have some preparations I need to make. If you trust me to help you, you should delay
Jorxt
for several hours. If
Jorxt
gives you trouble, I want you to tell him two things. First, he’s used my possessions enough so that I can use his without a qualm, and second, I really do have a permit. When he puts those facts together, he’ll get angry enough to ignore you for a while.” He made her repeat it, then left her to her strawberry/onion beverage.

             
Linda didn’t understand what
Saxant
was talking about and wasn’t sure she wanted to be involved in what might be some kind of dissention between
Saxant
and
Jorxt
. Nor was she sure she should trust
Saxant
. Was he on her side at all, or was she just a dupe in some kind of game he was playing with
Jorxt
?

             
What was more troubling was
Saxant’s
perception. Although she could only read a few people, that experience gave her a better understanding of others, giving her an advantage in understanding people. In addition, her tendency to snoop gave her better knowledge to judge human interactions. And sometimes she learned from John, both by telepathy of his thoughts about people and his comments to her. But
Plict
reacted differently and she had no basis for understanding them. She wondered if she would have been better off learning about
Plict
than about their computers.
Saxant
studied humans and understood human reactions. She never studied
Plict
.

             
She always worried that anyone who learned about her telepathy would feel at a
disadvantage. She never thought she would experience that disadvantage herself.
             

             
Jorxt
returned and grabbed her arm, half-dragging her into another room. “You are going to solve the computer problem,” he said as he pushed her into a chair in front of a computer.

             
“Or?”

             
“I’ve sent for Wilson to be brought here. I might get in trouble for killing you, but I won’t for killing him.” She was surprised at how the thought of Wilson’s death hurt her.
She briefly wondered why she was safe from
Jorxt
, but realized it was because she was Arthur Saunders’ daughter.

             
Linda still had no way of reading
Plict
emotion, but the lack of a change in tone and the absence of facial expressions suggested this was simply a statement of truth, not a threat. “All right, but it will take days.” She was lying, because it shouldn’t take her more than a day, since she put in no anti-detection code in the original virus.

             
Virus checker or virus hunter?
She tossed a mental coin and realized she wanted the virus checker. It was more
routine
and she wouldn’t be giving them any information they couldn’t easily obtain. She started writing the program, although she missed having the man pages, which were unavailable due to the problems with the network.

             
Because she needed a copy of the code to block, she went to the LINDA websi
te, or more accurately the 12-09
-14-04-01 website. She couldn’t resist checking to see if Dad copied her code. He had, leaving a message: I INSTALLED IT BUT NOT SURE IF I WILL USE
IT
. She was happy he used the word “will” not “can” because it implied he had some control.

             
No one else visited her website. Come to think of it, she should have some physical visitors. Didn’t
Jorxt
say he sent for Wilson? Why wasn’t he here? He felt close, closer than their apartment. Suddenly, she sensed Dad and John. They were coming toward her very rapidly, too rapidly to be walking, but they were still pretty far away.
Outside the city?
Probably. She never completely believed Dad was here, in spite of the messages on her website.
Knowing they were near
gave her new confidence.

             
Saxant
wanted her to delay, and she found a use for extr
a time. She put a message into
the network for John or her father.

***

             
“What do you mean, he wasn’t there?”
Jorxt
thundered. “I sent you to get him.”
             

             
“We searched everywhere. Cara was there, but Wilson was gone,” said Franz.
Jorxt
thought it was Franz, but couldn’t be sure. Even the humans had trouble telling the clones apart. How could he be expected to know which was which? He never wanted to make a mistake on it, because it would interfere with his godlike image. Maybe he should get them to wear different clothes. No, they would guess what it was for. He hit Franz hard enough to knock him down. It was completely safe, because all four of them would accept whatever he did. The blow should leave a bruise, making it easier to tell who was who. Next time, he should do it with something in his hand to cut the clone’s face. A scar would be a nice identifier. If he knocked some teeth out of another clone, then there would be no problem at all.

             
“Franz,”
Jorxt
said, being smart enough to pause, because he wasn’t sure that he hit Franz. One of the others reacted, so
Jorxt
changed what he was going to say. “Go bring Cara here.” Franz left.

             
“
Goran
,”
Jorxt
said with another pause. He assumed he hit
Alvar
, but when the clone he hit reacted, he was able to cover. “Redeem yourself by helping Franz.”
Goran
looked
relieved and eagerly ran after Franz. “
Alvar
and Hernandez, you said you searched this level. Try the basement below and the farm above. Find Wilson.” He didn’t need to wait for a reaction, because
Alvar
was the only blond left.

             
A voice came from behind him.
Jorxt
whirled around to see Linda. She was standing still, like she was watching him, not like she just arrived. How dare she watch him!

             
“What is the command to compare strings? I think it’s ‘STRINGCOMPARE’ but I can’t remember the syntax. The man pages aren’t up.”

             
Jorxt
was dumbfounded. She must have seen what happened and instead of cowering, she was asking him about computer code. Worse yet, he didn’t remember the answer.
Jorxt
stormed out to find his Bud.

             
“?,” wrote
Jorxt
-Bud IX. “Manual offline. Command sounds right. Don’t remember syntax.”

             
IX erased his tablet and wrote something he showed to
Jorxt
, but not Linda: “
Saxant
would know.”

             
Jorxt
grabbed Linda’s arm and pulled her forward. Instead of coming obediently, she braced herself on a doorway with her other hand.
Jorxt
hit her and she kicked him.
Jorxt
released his grip in shock. IX leaped forward to kill Linda, but a word from
Jorxt
stopped him. If IX killed her, he would never get the program. In addition, he would be denied the right to bud again. He never thought the law was unreasonable before. How dare a mere human attack a
Plict
. Except, legally, she was
Plict
, which meant he couldn’t let his Bud kill her.

             
He looked around and saw two Buds observed his humiliation with humor. One was a recent Bud he knew, thus sure to share it with his progenitor. How could he make this look right? What could he do to make it so he wasn’t laughed at? “
Jorxt
-Bud IX,” he said firmly. “I should have shared my plan to see how humans that are not genetically progra
mmed react to us. I’m sorry
I almost allowed you to commit a crime.” He turned to Linda and said in his most conciliatory tone, “I hope you forgive me this test, Linda, but I needed to know how much you would defend yourself.”

             
“Ms
.
Saunders,” she said.

             
“I’m sorry?”
Jorxt
asked.

             
“To you, I’m Ms
.
Saunders. And I will defend myself with lethal force, if required.”

             
“That’s good to know,”
Jorxt
replied. Only it wasn’t good.

             
Linda asked the Buds her programming question. One of them picked up a slate and started writing. Linda asked a couple of questions, but seemed satisfied.
Jorxt
looked at the Bud and suddenly realized he was wearing
Jorxt’s
clothing. His new aqua wrap, which he just ordered but never wore. It was too loose on the Bud, which meant the Bud was too thin to live long. He didn’t recognize . . .

             
“
Saxant
-Bud!”

             
“
Saxant
-Bud I, to be precise,” said
Saxant
, upon entering the room.
Saxant
looked at Linda and asked, “Did you tell him?”

             
“No.”

             
“Tell me what?” asked
Jorxt
.

             
The human seemed to be enjoying this. “You’ve used his possessions, so he can use yours, and he has a permit. Whatever that means.”

             
“My new wrap!” It was the latest style, and very expensive.

             
“I can’t let my Bud go naked,”
Saxant
said.

             
“But . . .”

             
“You ate the food I brought in without asking, you’ve used my
loofah
, you make free with my body oil, you used my private transmitter, you even used my space ship without refueling. You never ask permission. You act like you’re entitled.”

             
“You can’t have a permit,”
Jorxt
complained, ignoring
Saxant’s
litany.