Book 3: 3rd World Products, Inc (41 page)

"Your implant is certainly capable of the task, Ed, but you've never tried so intense a heat before. That's the only reason that I wished you luck."

Wallace waved his hand to get my attention and incredulously asked, “Am I hearing you right? You're going to try to burn a hole in that coin with your implant?"

I grinned and said, “Melt, not burn. Is everybody going to pipe down and let me try, now?"

He sat back and spread his hands in a gesture of vast largesse.

"Oh, sure, sport. Go for it. Don't let me hold you back."

Linda said, “I still say to be careful, Ed."

Nodding, I turned the coin upside down and again set about my task. For some long-seeming moments, nothing seemed to be happening other than a faint wisping of smoke. I couldn't think of a way to try any harder and was about to give the coin to Steph when a droplet of gold fell to the deck and a tiny hole appeared in the coin.

I was so surprised that the coin almost fell to the deck before I caught it with my field. Linda was staring at the coin. Wallace was staring at me.

Steph softly said, “Well done, Ed."

"Thank you, ma'am. Coming from you, that's truly a compliment."

Linda reached for the coin in amazement. I pulled it away from her and she looked at me questioningly.

"It may still be too hot,” I said. “Give me a minute."

In my enthusiasm, I field-cooled the coin a bit more than necessary. Dew formed on the surface, then frost. I decided that frost was as impressive as heat and guided the coin to Linda's hand. She let it rest in her palm for a few moments, then turned it over.

When Wallace reached for it, she quickly closed her hand over it and said, “No, no. Huh-uh. You may get me, but you don't get this coin. No way. It's mine."

Wallace gave her a droll look and said, “Would you mind very much if I just looked at it closely, madam?"

After appearing to give his request some thought, she handed him the coin with, “Well, just don't try to forget to give it back, sailor. There's nowhere to run."

Wallace gave her an obsequious expression as she handed him the coin, then studied it closely for some moments.

"Well, it looks real enough,” he said. “Where'd you say you got it, Ed?"

"From Stephanie. Sifting sand is her hobby these days. When she found a few of these, she gave me that one."

After several moments of studying the coin, Wallace handed it back to Linda and asked me, “What else can you do with that ... thing in your head?"

I shrugged. “Evaporate or freeze your beer. Or whatever else. I can lift a few pounds, too. I'm still figuring things out."

Wallace sipped his beer thoughtfully, then said, “You two are real tight with each other, but you didn't give her the coin while you were alone with her just now. Why do I get the feeling that I was supposed to be here for that little presentation?"

Linda suddenly seemed curious about that, too, but she made a point of keeping her face turned away from Wallace so that only Steph and I could see her expression.

"Wallace,” I said, “You caught me. I put on a display for you to show you that I'm outside your normal range of experience and judgment. I'm also outside your command structure, so I'd appreciate it if you'd leave me out of your own reports. Linda is my boss, and if you have anything at all to say or ask about me, I'd appreciate it if you'd consult with her before mentioning it anywhere else."

"What makes you think I'd have anything to say about you, Ed?"

I sighed and said, “Ah, hell. No fencing. No banter. No bullshit, Wallace. You think I'm an irreverent, borderline nutcase who stays on the payroll mostly because he's an old friend of Linda's. Even after what happened this evening, you think that about me, don't you?"

Linda turned to face him. He stared back at us for a moment, then said, “Yes. I do,” in a tone that seemed almost defiant.

I asked Linda, “You showed him my file? Told him about the station events and some of the other times and places?"

Linda nodded and said, “Yes. We've discussed you."

"In that case,” I said to Wallace, “I have to believe that you have some other reason for wanting to believe as you do about me. If you don't have absolute facts to back up your opinions of me, I'd suggest that you keep those opinions to yourself. I'm not after anybody's job or your girlfriend, Wallace. I like things just as they are, and I'll fight to keep them this way."

Turning to Steph, I said, “Would you please display the log from their flitter, Steph? Skim through it and pull up any mention of me, please."

She did so on a screen that popped up where all of us could see it. Wallace came half out of his chair.

I said, “Sit still or be restrained, Wallace."

Linda put her hand on my arm and said, “Ed, this isn't..."

"Give me some latitude, here, Linda."

She subsided after a tense moment. The first log entry stated Wallace's misgivings about my entering the building without proper weapons or equipment according to recognized standards.

"Refused to carry comm unit. No flash grenades, no rifle, no vest, no backup personnel, no this, no that, etc..."

It also mentioned Wallace's belief that Linda shouldn't have allowed me to go in alone. That earned him a withering look from Linda and an incredulous one from me.

I asked Linda, “Did you tell him about my four and five suits, my comm and field implants, and my gun and stunner?"

"I did."

"Odd that there's no mention of
them
in the log."

"Yes,” she said flatly. “It is, isn't it?"

Wallace began a protest. Linda almost whispered,
"Quiet!"
in a soft, sharp tone that I haven't heard her use very often. Wallace subsided with a startled look.

Most of the other log entries had to do with my progress through the building, noting times and activities, as well as who had been sent to retrieve my victims. One was a comment on my comments, many of which Wallace seemed to have regarded as frivolous.

My little speech was in there, too, and then came Wallace's words concerning the fact that I'd slept through the rest of the evening's events. Then I came to a specific notation.

"Recommend psychological evaluation..."

I looked at Wallace as I said, “No, you don't recommend a damned thing, Wallace. Every move and every word of all personnel on this mission was recorded. Your recommendations are arguably as frivolous as my comments. Steph, wipe that last bit of crap, please."

As Linda and Wallace stared at me, Steph said, “Yes, Ed."

The offending lines disappeared.

"Thank you, Steph. Would you double check to see if anything like that appears elsewhere? If so, I'd like a look before we delete anything else."

"Will do, Ed."

Wallace responded with a degree of outrage.

"That log was an
official document!
"

I gave him a flat gaze and said, “It still is, but
'was'
is the right word for that last line, Cap. You don't really know shit about me, but you can ignore Linda's opinions of me and you're willing to set me up like that anyway. That amazes me a little, I think, and I don't like it one damned bit. Who the fuck are you to judge me? What do you get out of it?"

Wallace stood and loomed over us as he said, “I think you're a goddamned loose cannon, mister. A misfit loner who can't work worth a damn with others."

"So what? I'm not on any of your teams, am I? And
maybe
that's why Linda uses me for some things, Wallace. Did that ever occur to you? Why risk more than one man at a time unnecessarily? That
may
even be why she won't lend me out, too. She knows that I don't play well with others. What do you think would happen if she lent me to some by-the-book stiff like you?"

Linda stood up and said, “Enough. Steph, put a copy of that revised log in my datapad, please. Wallace, you didn't clear your personal log entries with me on one of
my
missions. Boyfriend or not, if you pull anything like that again, you'll be history at 3rd World."

Whups. She called him ‘Wallace', not ‘Emory'. Bad news for the deck hand.

Wallace said, “As second in command, I didn't think I needed permission to make log entries during a mission."

"When they're valid, factual entries, no. When they're opinions, you'll check with me first. No exceptions. If you can't accept that, there won't be any more joint operations between our departments. I'll just pull the personnel I need and they'll be directly under my command."

Wallace's shocked stare at Linda became a glare at me.

In an ominous tone, he said, “I warned you not to come between us, mister."

"You shouldn't have tried to set me up for a fall,” I answered. “
Mister.
"

Linda said, “And
I
said,
enough
, dammit. Wallace, sit down. Both of you shut up and finish your beers. It's my turn to hold the floor."

She stood there glaring until Wallace sat down, then she took a sip of her beer and said, “I think it's just too damned sweet of you boys to butt heads over me, but that's not how we do things. Specifically, that's not how
I
allow things to be done. I thought that bringing you two together might let you find some way to cooperate. Since that isn't the case, I'll have to reconsider some matters."

Linda finished her beer and handed me the bottle.

"I'm leaving, now,” she said. “Lights out in half an hour. If you two have anything else to discuss, keep the noise down. Others will be trying to sleep.” With that, she turned and stepped off the deck to the concrete floor, then walked a few paces away. She stopped, returned to the flitter, and said, “Damn. My manners are slipping. Thank you for the coin, Ed. Good night, Stephie.” She then turned and walked away again.

As we watched her go, Wallace asked, “When and where, Ed? How about right here and right now?"

I shook my head. “Steph won't allow it. She'll stun us both."

He glanced at Steph and said, “Bullshit. Linda said you own this flitter. Is that right?"

"Well, yes, but she's..."

"Then like I said,
bullshit
. That's a computer image and not a goddamned thing more. Cut the crap and let's wrap this thing up if you have the balls for it."

I looked at Steph and asked, “Could you go hang out with Elkor for a little while, Steph? Maybe ten minutes or so?"

"My core is in this flitter, Ed. I can't avoid being here. I could disappear, if you'd like."

"Nah. No point."

Wallace snorted and said, “Yeah, right. Thought so."

"Hey, Wallace,” I said, “Why don't we have it out there in the hangar? Is it maybe because Linda said to keep the noise down and she'll bust you back to DC if we don't? Seems to me you have a similar problem, sailor boy."

After a moment, he grudgingly said, “Yeah, but she'd bust you, too. I don't know how, but she would."

I nodded. “Yup. She'd find a way. Answer me a question, Wallace."

"That depends."

"Why'd you do it? I thought we had a deal. You were supposed to get a wife and I was supposed to keep an old friend."

He shook his head and said, “Not after I saw you work. I meant what I said. You're a liability to any group."

"Fuck a group. Now you know that I work alone, so what's your real reason?"

"That
is
the reason, damn it. You
weren't
alone. There were guys on the roof and in the hallways, cleaning up after you. You put them at risk..."

"Crap, Wallace. I put
nobody
at risk, and you know it. Stop farting around and get down to it. It's about Linda and not a damned thing else. You just want me gone, right?"

He swigged his beer and let his glare settle on me again.

"Yeah. It's about Linda and I just want you gone."

The overhead lights in the hangar flickered once, then again, to signal to everyone in the building that they'd be turned off in the very near future.

I finished my beer and said, “Well, sorry ‘bout that, sailor. I'm not going to abandon her just ‘cause you don't like having me around, so you can take your beer and hit the road. This meeting's over."

He drained his beer, then tossed me the bottle as he said, “I'll be seeing you around, sport. Count on it."

He then hopped off the flitter and marched away toward the row of bunks. Linda had been on her way to the hangar's shower. She stopped and watched Wallace head for his bunk, then looked in my direction.

I realized that the canopy was still in opaque mode and stood up to extend my hand through and above it to give her a little wave. She nodded and turned to continue her journey to the showers.

Steph said, “I could have cleared the canopy, Ed."

"I'm tall enough. No need. Guess I'll wait ‘till the others are through and grab a shower myself."

"There are three shower bays, Ed. You needn't wait."

"No hurry. I'll be up most of the night, anyway, because of those naps. Do you think they'll keep us in this hanger long?"

"No,” she said, putting a screen up that contained two pad memos from 3rd World brass. “These instructions indicate that everyone will be examined and released by tomorrow afternoon. Nobody knowledgeable has any concerns about the possibility of contagion."

"Cool. Has Linda seen these?"

"Unlikely. They were issued only eleven minutes ago. Copies were sent to her and several others within 3rd World and the US government."

I grinned and said, “Wow. You really stay on top of things, don't you?"

Steph smiled. “I make an effort."

We talked for a few more minutes, during which time Linda returned to her bunk and Wallace headed for the showers. I called Linda on my comm watch.

"Hey, lady, want some news?"

"If you're going to tell me that you don't think much of Emory, that isn't news."

"Nope. Sure isn't. But I called to say that I think they're going to spring us out of here tomorrow instead of holding us all three days."

"You've been snooping around?"

"Me? Never. Check your datapad, though. You should have something about it by now."