Involuntary Control (Gray Spear Society) (29 page)

"That is traditional."

"Can we put the cheese and the bread on separate plates?" Bethany said.

"It wouldn't be a sandwich," Marina said.

"We don't like it when our food touches."

"I know, but let's try it my way once. You may be surprised."

Bethany squirmed. She didn't like trying new things, but she also didn't want to make Marina angry. That was a frightening prospect.

"OK," Bethany said finally.

Marina gathered a skillet, bread, cheddar cheese, and butter.

"Pay attention," she said.

Bethany watched closely. Actually learning to cook had never occurred to her. It wasn't something a good princess did.

The procedure seemed simple enough. Marina made a cheese sandwich and cooked it on both sides. The trick was using butter to keep the bread from sticking or burning. The sandwich looked tasty, or maybe Bethany was just very hungry.

"Is that for me or Leanna?"

"It's for me," Marina said. "Make your own."

Bethany pouted.

After Marina finished, Bethany tried. Toasting bread without burning it turned out to be harder than she expected. She threw away four sandwiches before she finally made one that didn't have scorch marks. Leanna learned from her example because it only took her three tries.

"I'm glad we didn't do a more complicated recipe," Marina said dryly. "We'd be here all night."

Everybody sat at the table and ate their sandwiches together. Even though it was an unfamiliar dish, Bethany decided she liked grilled cheese. The flavor didn't challenge her palette, and cooking it herself made it more enjoyable.

"I need to talk to both of you," Marina said.

"About what?" Leanna said.

"You need to get in the habit of addressing me as ma'am. We have a pecking order here, and you girls are at the bottom."

"About what, ma'am?"

Marina nodded. "About Norbert. I know you slept with him."

"He told you?" Bethany said.

"Kind of."

"Can you teach us how to have sex?" Leanna said excitedly. "Ma'am?"

"We're terrible at it," Bethany said. "We don't know what to do, ma'am."

Marina looked back and forth between them. "Are you serious? No. That wouldn't be appropriate. Besides, learning is half the fun."

"But we want to make Norbert happy."

"If you're so eager, read a book. There are ten thousand sex manuals out there."

"We read one this morning," Bethany said, "but we didn't understand it. There was too much icky emotional stuff. We just want to know the correct procedure."

"How many times did Norbert ejaculate?" Marina said.

"Three."

"Then you already have a pretty good idea of the correct procedure. But sex is not what I want to talk about. I suggest you end this relationship before it becomes too serious."

"But we like him!" Leanna said.

Marina raised her eyebrows.

"Ma'am," Leanna added.

"Listen to me. There will probably come a day when he doesn't come home from a mission. If you love him, it will hurt a lot more. When a Spear loves another Spear, it usually ends badly."

"You love Aaron, ma'am."

"I'm paying for that mistake," Marina said, "but I can't stop loving him, so I'm stuck. I can only hope I'm the one who dies first, so I don't have to feel the agony of losing him."

Bethany didn't understand her point. It was irrational.

"That's all I want to say," Marina said. "Now eat your sandwich. You certainly worked hard enough making it."

The twins were still hungry after finishing their sandwiches. Marina showed them how to cook hot dogs in a microwave. Again, it took several tries to find precisely the right amount of time. Bethany wanted her hot dog to be warm but not split open. Hot dogs looked yucky when they had a big crack down the side.

Norbert walked into the kitchen. Bethany and Leanna immediately ran to him, and everybody hugged each other. Bethany loved it when his big, muscular body was pressed against hers.

"We made grilled cheese!" she said.

"And hot dogs!" Leanna added.

"That's great," Norbert said with a smile. "I guess I don't have to feed you then."

"We want to show you the computer room." Bethany grabbed his hand and pulled. "Come on."

"Not yet!" Marina said. "Finish your meal and clean up your mess first."

"We have to clean?"

"Do you see any servants here?"

"I'll show you what to do," Norbert said gently. "It will just take a few minutes."

Bethany discovered washing dishes was a lot less fun than making them dirty. There was a machine, but every plate still had to be rinsed before being loaded. She wondered how her father would've reacted if he had seen his princess standing in front of a sink with a sponge in hand.

Finally, Bethany and Leanna took Norbert to the computer room.

"Do you see?" Leanna said.

Norbert looked around. "What? All I see is a lot of computers."

"We finished setting up our workstations!" Bethany said. "Everything is symmetric. All the wires are exactly the right length. The monitors are mounted in the perfect spots. The power load is balanced across every circuit. We even have redundant networking. It's beautiful!"

"I guess so." He shrugged.

She had expected a much more enthusiastic reaction. Setting up the equipment had taken a lot of time.

"And look at this." Leanna pointed to one of the larger monitors.

Waves of color rippled across the screen with a tangled web of white lines layered on top. The segments of the web were in constant motion: disconnecting, spinning, and reconnecting.

"That's a very interesting screensaver," Norbert said.

"It's not a screensaver!" Bethany yelled. "It's a new type of adaptive search mesh we invented. It's convergent even on pathological parameter spaces."

"I have no idea what that means."

She snorted in frustration.

"It's easy to understand," Leanna said. "We can use this algorithm to optimize complex, non-linear data models, even if they contain discrete states."

Norbert stared at her. "OK." He didn't sound impressed.

Bethany rolled her eyes. "At least God liked our software."

"Huh?"

"He called it magnificent." She raised her chin proudly.

"Who did?" Norbert said.

"God."

He stared at her. "The Almighty communicated with you?"

"We chatted on a secret forum." She nodded.

He turned to Leanna. "You saw this?"

"Yes," Leanna said.

"I don't believe it."

"You think we're lying?" Bethany said.

"I think you're confused," Norbert said.

He examined her workstation more closely. She had attached six computers to twelve monitors of various sizes. Leanna had exactly the same setup.

"You're confused about us being confused," Bethany said in a petulant tone.

"Sure. What else did the Lord tell you?" He smirked.

"He lives in a very boring place but He likes watching people. He thinks relationships like love are very cool."

"That's it?" He faced her. "The Master of the Universe descends from His heavenly throne for a personal chat, and that's all the wisdom He brings?"

"You don't understand," Leanna said.

"I guess I don't. I've served God most of my life. I pray to Him when I wake up and when I go to sleep. Every part of my mind and body is completely dedicated to His greater glory. Has He communicated with me? No. Not a whisper. I don't know if He hears my prayers. Yet, apparently, He's on good speaking terms with you. Doesn't that seem a little ridiculous?"

Bethany didn't understand why Norbert was being so difficult. She had never had a boyfriend before, and she wondered if this kind of fighting was normal. She didn't know how to respond. She needed a technical manual for relationships.

Aaron walked into the room. He was wearing formal gray robes, which she now associated with his role as commander.

"Staff meeting in the kitchen in five minutes. Everybody is invited." He looked between the three of them. "Is something wrong?"

"No, sir," Norbert said. "We're fine. Just having a minor religious debate."

"Make sure it stays minor." Aaron walked off.

Norbert followed him out a moment later. Bethany felt a drop of wetness on her cheek. Was she crying?

* * *

The kitchen was the only room that had enough chairs for the whole team. Everybody was present except Jack. He had to stay in the security booth, but he was listening through the internal surveillance system.

The eight people present were arranged in a loose circle. Aaron wanted everybody to contribute to the conversation on an equal basis. Still, all eyes were turned to him. He felt pressure to look like a confident, wise commander.

"We have a major investigation on our hands," Aaron said. "Here is the latest status."

He quickly summarized recent events for the benefit of the entire team. If he had a quibble with Ethel's former leadership, it was that she had sometimes left her own people in the dark. He had promised himself he wouldn't make the same mistake.

The team was quiet after he finished his report, but he could see anger in their eyes.

"Kamal," Aaron said. "Your turn."

Kamal stood up. He wore a crisply pressed, yellow shirt and brown slacks. As usual he was the best dressed person present.

"I've been analyzing the device Dr. Smythe took out of a victim's brain. It's a remarkable piece of technology. It contains four microchips in a stack, and each chip is two millimeters across. There is a substantial amount of computing power in that small space. Perhaps the most impressive feature is the power source. It is fueled by glucose in the bloodstream, just like the brain itself. It never needs recharging."

"When you call it remarkable," Aaron said, "what do you mean exactly? Is this device beyond the limits of human technology?"

"I wouldn't go that far, sir. It would take an extremely advanced manufacturing process though. White Flame Technology could do it. They're pioneers of nanotechnology."

"How does it work?"

"Very fine wires make contact with key structures in the brain," Kamal said. "That's all I really know. I can read the microcode off the chips, but I can't decipher it."

"Sounds like a job for the twins."

"Yes, sir," Bethany said.

Aaron assumed she was Bethany because she was wearing the Eye of Satinia. Except for that detail, it was impossible to tell the sisters apart. They dressed, moved, and talked exactly alike.

Both girls were giving Norbert funny looks. He didn't acknowledge their glances, but he appeared upset. It seemed the "minor religious debate" hadn't ended.

"We know the enemy left Lemonseed," Aaron said. "Let's call them project 708 for the sake of discussion. Obviously, our first priority is determining where they went. Does anybody have any ideas?"

He looked around the room. Smythe and Marina were clearly thinking hard but they remained silent. Nancy just watched passively. Kamal had a distant expression. The twins were paying more attention to Norbert than the question at hand, while he seemed lost in his own thoughts.

"Think about it," Aaron said. "We'll reconvene first thing in the morning, and I want to hear specific suggestions. Everybody must be prepared to contribute. Dismissed. Marina, Bethany, Leanna, and Norbert, stay here."

Kamal, Nancy, and Smythe left.

"What the hell is going on with you guys?" Aaron said.

Marina looked directly at Norbert. His face turned pink.

"It's a personal matter, sir," he replied in a low voice. "I may have slept with the twins."

"You're not sure?" Aaron raised his eyebrows.

"Well, uh." Norbert cleared his throat. "I'm sure. We had sex, sir."

"I see."

Aaron looked at Bethany and Leanna. It was hard to imagine them sleeping with Norbert. He was so different from them in every way.

"It's not a big deal, sir," Norbert said.

"It's a significant distraction," Aaron said, "so it is a big deal. I won't forbid you to have an adult relationship. Given my situation with Marina, that would be the height of hypocrisy. But I will insist you deal with it in a more mature manner. This isn't high school."

"We don't know what to do," Leanna whined. "It's very confusing, sir. We never had a boyfriend before."

He sympathized. The twins had fallen into the deep end of the pool, and they didn't know how to swim.

"Norbert," Aaron said, "this is mostly on your shoulders. Figure out this mess and explain it to the girls in terms they can understand."

"Yes, sir," Norbert said.