3rd World Products, Book 16 (10 page)

Steph laughed softly, “My pleasure, sir,” and gently guided Tanya to the chair by her laptop.
 

While the ladies conferred, I stepped out the back door and took a seat at Tanya’s tiny patio table. Again sending probes to the nursing home, I studied their findings through a link to my orbital core. The place was basically a block-long elongated rectangular box. It had two main entrances, one for guests and one for service necessities.
 

There were also six emergency exits; one at each end and two spaced evenly along both the front and back walls. All doors had alarms and could be remotely locked.
 

I thought there might be one or two windows that would open somewhere in the building — possibly in some honcho’s fancy office, for example — but there weren’t. And the only honcho’s office wasn’t particularly fancy, really.
 

That led me to check out the place’s track record, and I was somewhat impressed. Their books were clean, they actually vetted their employees, and they didn’t charge ten bucks for an aspirin, yet the place was moderately profitable on a continuous basis.
 

There were also no legal actions pending against it. Huh? I checked other nursing homes and found they all had two or more lawsuits working pretty much all the time. Some were very obviously frivolous, but they counted. Yet Marie’s nursing home had none at all. It hadn’t been sued in four years and that case had been very quickly dropped by the plaintiff.
 

I buzzed through the employee records and discovered paramilitary people in rent-a-cop uniforms as well as various staff medical occupations. Passing one of my probes through a number of nurses and doctors, I found several were armed.
 

My core discovered the place was heavily monitored. All activities in the public areas were well and clearly recorded. At night, infrared and motion sensors would trigger cameras and the attention of guards.
 

Yet there was apparently nothing going on in the place that didn’t go on in all nursing homes. Most of the patients were elderly and infirm. Others were infirm by disease or injury. So why use elite guards in disguise?
 

The building stood alone, unconnected by so much as a covered walkway to any other
building. That likely meant the reason for the guards was below the building. I sent a probe through the floor. About two feet later it emerged through the ceiling of an office complex corridor.
 

An underground complex in Ocala? How the hell did they keep it dry? Most of the town wasn’t a hundred feet above sea level. Probes followed four main corridors and found what appeared to be main entrances concealed at two parking garages and a couple of office buildings over a block away.
 

My probes found no signs of medical or chemical research, just hundreds of people at computers and work stations. I had my core investigate and it said they were examining transcripts of international communications for keywords and phrases concerning terrorism in several languages.
 

Good ‘nuff. I let my probes dissipate and returned my attention to the matter of liberating Marie. Maybe have her transferred to another facility? On what premise? Money? Maybe. Was there another competent place that could and would take her for less? I checked the bills involved. Like I said, these people weren’t charging exorbitant prices. It would be tough to find a similar place that was cheaper.
 

On the other hand, it might only be a matter of making things look right. Some machine could spit out a bill of lading to ship Marie Connor to another facility for various reasons. But somebody official would have to sign off on the transfer. An ambulance would be used, but they belonged to independent agencies who charged by the trip.
 

Or was I needlessly complicating things? The docs, nurses, and janitors made rounds, as in all such facilities. While Marie’s door was open, they only actually checked on her between rounds if her gadgets called for attention. She shared a room, but her roomie could be stunned or theta’d if necessary. I could cast my own fields to conceal and move Marie.
 

Reviewing records of daily activities, I had my core develop a chart that spanned a full month just to be sure any incidental visits were covered. It seemed to me that a weekday morning shift change would be the best time to engineer an exit. Make it a Monday for best effect. And, this being Saturday, we just happened to have a Monday coming up soon. Good ‘nuff.
 

I marked my places, closed my studies, and went back into the apartment. Steph and Tanya looked up as I entered and shut the sliding door.
 

Tanya said, “Okay, I’m officially impressed now, but mostly with Stephanie, I’m afraid. You, not much more than before. Sorry.”
 

I sighed, “Oh, well. I’ll do what I can to boost my score, ma’am,” and took a seat at the table. “Steph, I marvel every time I see you. Sometimes even when I don’t see you. I think you’ve marked me for life, milady.”
 

Steph hiked an eyebrow and replied, “Thank you. I think. Marked you for life?”
 

“Yup. You set the bar so high it’s hard to imagine that any woman could ever top it.”
 

That lifted Tanya’s eyebrow. She asked, “What kind of bar would that be, Ed?”
 

Shrugging, I said, “Beauty, honor, character. Intelligence, of course, artificial or not. Compassion. Grace. Need more?”
 

Steph rolled her eyes and Tanya grinned. “There’s more?”
 

“Yup. Oh, hell, yes. Self-determination. Ambition without blind avarice and success that has never been at the expense of others. I think of her as something of a goddess, really.”
 

Tanya chuckled, “So I see.”
 

Steph asked drily, “Are you through?”
 

“Only for now and only because you’re so modest. Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that before.” Looking at Tanya, I said, “She’s modest to a fault, too.”
 

“That’s what she said about you, but I haven’t seen it yet.”
 

“She probably means I don’t stick around after I do something for somebody. All the high-fiving annoys me.” Looking at Steph, I asked, “Is that what you meant?”
 

“Not entirely, but that’s definitely a factor. I told her you don’t collect applause or trophies.”
 

Trying to look enlightened, I nodded. “Ah. Yeah. Was that after she asked what this was going to cost her?”
 

“Not precisely, but along those lines. I’ll let Tanya handle any discussion of that portion of our conversation.”
 

Nodding again, I replied, “Good ‘nuff. What are the chances of getting her a PFM?”
 

“Poor. I’m contractually obligated lately and the laws haven’t changed regarding sales to individuals. But I’m under no obligation to report the existence of similar devices not produced by my company.”
 

“Good. I’ll see what I can do about getting her a board.”
 

Tanya asked, “Excuse me? Aboard what?”
 

“A. Board. Two words, ma’am.”
 

Standing up, I called up my board beside the table. Tanya goggled at it, then touched it, then accepted an invitation to stand on it and marveled some more.
 

I asked, “Ever been surfing?”
 

“No. I used my brother’s skateboard sometimes, but nothing like this.”
 

“Think you could still ride one?”
 

“Not without a lot of practice.”
 

“That could be arranged. Its main value for the next little while might be as a commo device.”
 

“A what?”
 

“Commo. Communication.”
 

Steph suddenly sat a little straighter and seemed to be listening to something. She said, “It’s time for me to get back to what I was doing. It was nice meeting you, Tanya.”
 

Tanya grinned and replied, “It was
wonderful
meeting you, Stephanie. I hope your law firm does very well. Soon.”
 

Grinning, Steph said, “Thank you. Ed, you know where to find me.”
 

“Yes’m, that I do, and I’m sure I’ll see you again soon, one way or another.”
 

Still grinning, Steph popped out of existence. Tanya stared at the empty chair for a moment, then looked at me and said, “You’ve no idea how often I’ve wished I could do that.”
 

Chapter Seven
 

Linking to my orbital core, I requested it to create a scooterboard for Tanya. About a minute later, a shiny matrix appeared outside the sliding glass porch door. I let it enter and directed it to hover in front of Tanya. It stationed itself a few inches above the table.
 

Tanya stared hard at it for a moment, then asked, “Uh… Ed, what is this thing and why is it… um… staring at me, I think?”
 

“It’s a board matrix. Touch it. Let it taste your DNA and link to you. There’s a disk in a recessed area. Pick it up. That’s how you’ll guide the board and chat with me when we aren’t close enough to talk or can’t talk freely.”
 

“Okay, but I wasn’t kidding about needing instruction and practice to ride something like your board.”
 

“You can learn to fly it later. We wouldn’t want to be seen doing things like that right now. Can you ride a bicycle?”
 

She gave me a droll glance as she held the disk up and studied it. “What do I do with this now? And of course I can ride a bicycle. Who
can’t
ride a damned bicycle?”
 

“You’d be surprised. How about a motorcycle?”
 

“If you mean operate one, no. I’ve ridden bitch before. A friend took me to Daytona Bike Week two years ago.”
 

“That’s a crappy term for being a passenger. You probably won’t need it anymore.”
 

“You mean you’d rather I wouldn’t call it that?”
 

“I mean that and something more. That disk accepts mental commands, ma’am. Just put it against your arm and think it should attach there.”
 

Tanya developed a wary look. “Attach how? And will it come off again?”
 

I sighed, “Hell, yes, it’ll come off again. When you think it should. Until then it’ll be like a part of you.”
 

With very apparent reluctance, she put the disk against her forearm. It just lay there.
 

I said, “You aren’t thinking it should attach.”
 

“Just a minute, okay? This is all new to me.”
 

“All we have to fear is fear itself. Make it stick, ma’am.”
 

Another moment passed, then the disk seemed to flatten and spread a bit like liquid. Tanya’s arm now had a shiny silver hexagonal three-inch freckle. She startled hard, stared, glanced at me, and then stared at it some more.
 

“Finally,” I said, “At last. Now think ‘scooterboard’.”
 

She echoed flatly, “Scooterboard.”
 

“No, dammit. Like a command. And think it at the disk.”
 

In a firmer tone, she looked at her shiny freckle and said, “Scooterboard.” The matrix quickly morphed and expanded into what looked like a wheelless scooter.
 

Tanya froze with a short, high-pitched squeak and sat staring up at the scooter hovering above her dining table. I went to grab a handlebar and guide it down beside her.
 

“Hop on,” I said, “Ride it around the apartment. Let it adjust to your butt and height and ergonomic stuff like that.”
 

“But it’s… It’s transparent!”
 

“No, it’s ‘
translucent
‘. It’s waiting for you to give it a color.”
 

She shot me a glare and snapped, “I
mean
… how can it hold me? I can practically see through it!”
 

I sipped and asked, “So what? Are you gonna be like this with every little thing?”
 

Standing up, Tanya snapped, “I damned well might, just to spite you and your ‘just do it’ attitude.”
 

“That’ll be helpful. Can you think of a better way to do it other than to ‘just do it’? Plunk your butt on that thing and see if you can make it go.”
 

“I’m not dressed for this. I’m wearing a skirt.”
 

“So tuck it and keep your dainty little knees together, ma’am. Besides, it’s a step-through
model. You don’t have to straddle it.”
 

Giving me a droll look, Tanya said, “Look, I’m going to change, okay? How do I turn this off for now?”
 

The scooter instantly returned to its matrix form.
 

I said, “There you have it.”
 

Tanya gave the matrix an arched eyebrow and glanced at me as she turned to head for the bedroom. The matrix followed her, of course. She turned at the bedroom door to say something that came out as a soft, unintelligible screech when she saw the matrix a foot or so from her waist.
 

“That’s something else,” I said, “You’ll have to tell it where to park when you aren’t using it. But that can wait.”
 

“Does it have to come in here with me?”
 

“Any reason it shouldn’t? Never mind. Just close the door and it’ll wait for you.”
 

She did so. The matrix remained by the door knob until Tanya reappeared wearing a blouse, jeans, and sneakers. She strode across the room toward me, casting glances back at the matrix that trailed her.
 

“What were you saying about a place to park it?”