Fish Swim in the Lake

Part 5.1 | The hell I won't

alphaDana said, "you mean a Magaz, I suppose." Her tone was chipped flat, and cool.

Vas heaved himself upright and fumbled through his tapered black jacket. "Yesh," he said. "How..." He fumbled a bright orange inhaler to his mouth and pressed it. "How have you heard of them?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Everybody's heard of them."

"They're top secret."

"Top secret where?"

"Up There, apparently... Apparently not here. How did you hear about them?"

"I don't remember. Hang on a cess and I'll vog for them."

"No!" His voice was crumbling but still strong enough to arrest her. "Aud, you've got to help me. I don't know what's going on."

"I thought you were going to help me. I thought I was the one who needed protecting."

"That's what I... We need to get away from here. Where's your car?"

"I don't drive," alphaDana said tightly. "I lost my license."

"What? How?"

"I'm not working for the Euristocrats anymore. Only political and diplomatic staff get licenses. Besides, I can't afford a car anymore."

"I... OK. You'll have to take Tony's car. You do still remember how to drive?"

"How do you know I'm here with Tony?" She asked as though she didn't really care, as though it were simply polite to inquire.

"Tony drove Lola and you came with her. I was expecting you. I just didn't realize it was you. I'm the guy with the MT6 burner. The guy you're supposed to hook up with, so that your dump never makes it onto the record... No, fasten it," he said over her exclamations. "We've got to get out of here."

alphaDana grabbed the encryptor and, after a cesium's thought, disabled it. A moving blank patch was more obvious than a couple of adults frolicking in the woods. She didn't understand half of what Vas was talking about but she understood trouble.

She folded Vas into her arms and carried him through the brush toward the parking lot. It was dark but she kept her sensors damped to keep from being seen. Tony's car was fitted with privacy shields but still operated by an old fashioned key. She mashed the tip of her left index finger against the key slit, penetrated, and stiffened her pseudo-flesh into a notched pick. She turned her wrist and the door clicked open. She threw Vas in onto the back seat.

She sensed the footsteps rather than heard them. She raised her vlogger to highest resolution and kicked in full sweep without regard for being caught. Then she turned around.

"What? alphaDana?" Tony Lambda said. "What are you doing?"

She was looking straight at him, formulating a response, when his head exploded.

Posted by gtaylor at May 06, 2002 03:30 PM