Renegade World: Future Past (16 page)

“Just one a day.”

Great.

S
arai brought two cups of tea into his office. The other
four employees had gone home for the evening. Even so, after she put the cups
on his massive wood desk, she shut his door. She nodded her head. “Prophet
Avram, she is the one.”

“Perhaps, Sarai.” He stroked his short beard and took a sip
of tea. “She could become the one,” his emphasis on become. He took another sip
and then stared upwards. “She is remarkable for a human. May she please Adon.”

“Her enhanced senses are remarkable.”

“Some of that’s her mother’s work. You know, we actually
smell different to her.”

“That’s why she asked me if we had a dog in here?”

“Yes, and why she asked me if I owned a dog.”

Sarai accessed the data. “Even without her non-biological
systems she can see at twenty feet what the average human can see at five feet,
and she can hear sounds sixty percent softer than the average human can hear.”

“That is most likely due to my work, but her ability to see
in low light is due to Anita’s manipulations as is her enhanced olfactory
system. I’ll also take credit for her superior strength and endurance, but I
suspect her oxygen uptake is due to Anita’s tinkering.”

“And her skin change. Is it due to the DNA that gives us
our shapeshifting ability?”

“She may have some ability to shapeshift like us. We can
cause our cells to replicate not only a couple of orders of magnitude faster
than a human, but we can shift the cells around to reconfigure our anatomy.”

“Based on the growth records that her mother sent us, her
cells may be able to replicate somewhat faster than usual for a human, and it’s
possible that she can manipulate her cells in a limited way such as to cause
her melanin to decrease or increase.”

“Those abilities did not surprise me.” He took another sip
of tea. “I was surprised that her attempt to change my mind had any effect on
me.”

“The Idumean DNA?”

“Yes.” He smiled. “Thirty percent of humans, mainly males,
would find it hard to resist her suggestions.”  After checking, he laughed.
“Naami’s dad and the males of the Lieber family are among those who are suggestible.
Although…perhaps their AIs might diminish her ability to influence them.”

S
oon after leaving the clinic, Naami said, “I’m starved.
Can we stop for frozen yogurt?”

“We’ve got dinner reservations in an hour. Can you wait
until then?”

“I’m starved. I don’t think I can wait. Please?”

“OK.”

Abraham, pick out an acceptable yogurt shop near here.
Send it to Hypatia to forward to the auto-driver.
Naami’s mom always used
the auto-driver. Naami wasn’t sure how her mom had passed the license test. For
insurance purposes, a licensed driver had to be in the car even though the auto-driver
drove it.
Are you monitoring the rear camera like I asked?

Yes.

 A block later the car turned right. Two blocks later the
car took another right. A block later the car turned right again, then turned
into the parking lot of a strip mall, and parked in front of a small yogurt
shop.

Naami’s door opened.
Naami, get out and look at the
white pickup truck stopped at the stoplight. Quick, before the light turns.

What would Nancy do?
She stepped out, stretched, and
looked for a white pickup. When she spotted it, she looked at it briefly, and
then rotated her upper body one way and then the other, looking at the pickup
each time her upper body faced its direction.

“Naami, you don’t need to wait for me. I don’t want
anything.”

“OK, Mom.” She went into the shop, empty except for the
teenage girl working behind the counter.

“Hi. What can I get you? There are fifteen different
flavors to choose from. I can read them to you if you need.”

I can’t wait until I’m older.
Naami pointed to the
peach. “I’d like the peach.”

“What kind of cone?”

“Waffle.”

“What size?”

“Large.”

“That will be ten dollars.”

The point of sale beeped as Abraham paid. The girl nodded,
put a waffle cone under the dispenser, and pulled the lever down until it
swirled out the amount for a large.
I’d hate to wear a red and white paper
hat.

The girl handed her the cone and said, “Enjoy your cone.
Thanks for coming in. Come again.”

Naami just waved, her mouth already full of frozen yogurt. She
walked out to the car and slowly scanned up and down the street.
Abraham, I
don’t see the pickup. Compare any of those cars I just scanned to cars that
were behind us since we left the hotel this morning.

I had already isolated the images of all vehicles that
have been behind us today. It will still take a minute.

I can wait while I eat my ice cream.
She looked in
at her mom.
She’s working, and she’d freak out if I told her.
She
continued to make the frozen yogurt disappear.

Naami, the silver Nissan Altima parked in the next lot
is the same year and color as one that was behind us this morning. I only have
a partial plate from earlier today, and you can’t see the plate from here, so I
can’t be sure.

Let’s find out. We can kill some time by taking the
scenic route to dinner. Plot us a route past parks, gardens, or other things
that people like to see.

By the time they arrived at the restaurant, Abraham had the
license of the silver Altima, the white pickup, and a white Toyota Camry. Those
three cars had taken turns tailing them after they left the yogurt shop.

Abraham, can you hack the New Mexico DMV?

Probably. Do you want the owners of those vehicles?

Yes.

OK. You eat, and I’ll work on it.

“Mom? We’re here.”

“OK. Just give me a minute to brush my hair and collect my
thoughts.”

Naami and her mom didn’t talk much while they ate. They
split an order of Thai chicken wings, a little spicy for her mom, but just
right for her. Her mom ate salmon while she ate a green chili cheeseburger,
made with ground buffalo.

“I like buffalo.”

“Better than beef?”

“Definitely better than most ground beef and maybe a little
better than the grass-fed beef we have at home.”

“Why do think you like it better?”

“I don’t know exactly. Maybe because it smells better to
me.” 

“I don’t know where you got your taste for spicy food. I
don’t like it as spicy as you do, and your dad hardly likes any spice.”

“Spices smell good. Meat smells good. Yogurt smells good
and tastes good. Most other fresh food smells OK except for potatoes. I don’t
like the smell of potatoes at all.”

Naami, the pickup was reported stolen, and the other two
cars are rental cars. I have the names of the two renters. I think you should
pass what you know to an adult.

What would Nancy do? I’m not telling it to Mom. That’s
for sure. What would Nancy do? I know. Put together a highlight package of them
following us.

I won’t have any video of you and your mom in the car.

I think it’s enough if you just get a shot of Mom
walking into the hotel. Make the subject of the message something about
kidnapping Anita Evangelista-Schmidt. Send it to Karl Hunter. He’s the head of
security at ANT, but make sure he can’t trace it back to us.

K
arl. Wake up, Karl. Urgent security matter, Karl.

Why did I ever think an implant was a good idea? “
OK,
I’m awake. What time is it?”

Three minutes past two Central Daylight Time.

“Brief me.”

Your personal email account received an email from an anonymous
account, subject: ‘Anita Evangelista-Schmidt To Be Kidnapped’.

He got out of bed and walked to the kitchen. “Show me the
details.”
The video showed two cars and a pickup tailing a vehicle. The
final shot showed a woman, identified as Anita Evangelista-Schmidt, walking
into Hotel Andaluz and then the pickup pulling away from the hotel. He knew
that Anita had made a last minute trip out of town. “Access Anita’s calendar.”
He saw the calendar a minute later.
Hotel Andaluz. Darn, and I thought
this was going to be a cushy job.

He poured himself some water and made his first call. Two
calls and thirty minutes later, he went back to bed. “Wake me at six.”

A
t four PM the next day, Naami followed her mom onto
ANT’s corporate jet, trying to hide her smile.
This worked out well. I only
had to spend part of a day at the clinic, and I finally get to fly on the
corporate jet. Maybe I can talk to the pilot.

 She smiled at the lean, muscular bodyguard who had
accompanied them this morning.  Somehow, he looked older than his thirty-one
years; perhaps, it was his short black hair and beard that made him seem older.  “Are
you coming with us, Jake?” She had bombarded him with questions the entire time
he had been with them. His answers had been polite but terse.

“No, Miss. My job is done. Have a nice flight.”

“Thanks for watching out for us. Now that you’re done,
you’ll show me your gun, won’t you.”

He stared at her before he finally said, “Not a chance.”

She deliberately looked at his right hip and then down at
his left ankle, but she couldn’t see any sign of the two concealed handguns
that she had observed when he was in the car.

He waggled his finger at her. “You’re a troublemaker.” He
laughed, his stern demeanor finally cracking. “But come see me in fifteen or
twenty years. You’ve got talent.”

L
ilith’s alarm woke her for her shift. She slipped on her
glasses and put in her earbuds. The only LunarX employee without an implant,
she was considered eccentric. She had had to bend the will of the LunarX
recruiter to hire her despite his objection to her lack of implant. Though
considered an abomination by the faithful and banished to this star system, she
still couldn’t of her own accord let the humans put technology into her once
sacred body.
Pesky humans! They have nearly reached our technological level
despite their short lives, and despite my efforts to control their population
growth and knowledge. Maybe Samael is right that we should help them destroy
themselves before they become a menace to other star systems like the
Azazelites.

I was wrong to come to the moon. They won’t use this as
a base to launch a more extensive exploration of their star system as they
predicted five years ago. My efforts here were not necessary.
Once
again, she debated whether she should disappear on one of her mining runs.
It’s
too risky.
Once again, she decided to wait. Her shuttle was parked on
Earth, only Samael knew where, out of communication range. She could reach her ship,
currently parked on Phobos observing the human Mars colony, but it would take
over a month to get here. Despite its cloaking system, the humans might be able
to infer the existence of the large ship during its long flight.

Normally, more patient than short-lived humans, her patience
was growing thin. She should have been sent back to Earth two years ago when
her contract was up, but due to problems with the LunarX supply ships, she was
stuck here.

She pulled on her jumpsuit and boots. Standing in front of
her mirror, she brushed her blonde hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. She
lowered her jumpsuit’s front zipper as low as she knew she could get by with
and then left her Spartan two-meter-by-three-meter living quarters. After a
quick stop at the communal bathroom, she headed down the tunnel to the mess
hall.
It’s the horrible food. That’s why my patience is exhausted.
Their
locally grown food came primarily from algae, supplemented by sweet potatoes,
tomatoes, sugar beets, onions, garlic and other herbs, and she was allergic to
onions and garlic.

There was no line when she ordered her food. She scanned
the hall as she waited. Built to serve one hundred employees, only
thirty LunarX employees were stationed here, and only eleven were currently
eating. She took her meal and sat across from a stocky, forty-something guy who
was sitting alone. “Good morning, Ralph.”

“I don’t know about good, but I suppose it’s morning
somewhere. In this place, who knows?”

“Aw Ralphy,” she winked at him, “we’ve got to have a little
fun one of these nights.” She leaned forward and smiled.

“Can’t tonight. The big guy is bringing me along on his
trip to the ANT facility. I won’t be back until late. How about tomorrow
night?”

“I can’t wait.” She rubbed her foot against his leg.

“Me neither.” He licked his lips but then scowled and sat
up. “Sorry, I gotta go. The big guy’s getting impatient with me.” As he walked
away, he sent her a message.

She raised her eyebrows.
Kind of kinky for him.
The
team leader of the helium-3 processing team, Ralph was immune to her hypnotic
charms, but she didn’t need them. After sex, he always wanted someone to
confide in.

Back when Ralph had arrived, he was gung ho about helium-3 changing the
world. But after three annual shipments, he confided his fears that the promise
of helium-3 was once again dimming. The three teams, one Russian, one American,
and one Chinese, all were failing to deliver on promises.

She smiled. Twice before, human scientists had predicted imminent
breakthroughs in helium-3 fueled fusion. The first scientist, an American,
disappeared in 2028, Samael’s doing. The scientist was found several years
later working as a bartender in Fiji under a new identity with no recollection
that he had ever been a scientist. The second scientist, from Shanghai, had
been discredited in 2036 when he couldn’t reproduce the results of prior work.
She had not suspected him of being suicidal until after he killed himself.