3rd World Products, Book 16 (16 page)

She grinned. “Good. How do you like
this
look?”
 

Eyeing her from toes to nose while she sipped her drink, I allowed, “Well, it’s definitely a helluva lot better in most ways, ma’am, but you don’t have a bright blue sky at your back to frame the picture.”
 

Still grinning, she said, “I think we’re supposed to have the same weather tomorrow. You want me to wear this when we fly? Could we actually get away with that?”
 

“Probably. Who’d be able to catch us?”
 

Tanya laughed, “You’re right! We could fly
nude
if we wanted to!”
 

Reaching to finger a wisp of hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ear, I let my hand trail from there down her neck and shoulders, then down the outside of her arm. Goose bumps rose in the wake of my touch and Tanya shuddered, then looked at the area.
 

“How did you do that? Another field trick?”
 

“Nope. Plain ol’ skin on skin. Y’know, I think you might be a little horny. That could explain a lot right now.”
 

She laughed again and moved closer to sip the last of her drink and set the glass on the table. Her arms wrapped around me, her face lay on my chest, and we embraced for a time. She squeezed me lightly and her residual chuckles felt good.
 

That’s when someone rang the door bell twice and something rapped solidly on the door three times. Tanya stiffened and looked up at me.
 

“It’s almost eight,” she said, “Who the hell would be out there at this hour? Maybe Jessica came back?”
 

“Why guess?”
 

Sending a probe to the door, I found a man and a woman in dark conservative attire. She carried a briefcase. The man stood to one side of the door, the woman on the other side. Both held NIA IDs ready for flashing at whomever opened the door and both looked rather unhappy.
 

Well, that was understandable. There was a bit of a breeze and the temperature had dropped fast after sundown. The woman pulled her collar up and shivered.
 

I said, “A man and the woman who tailed us today. They’re NIA. Maybe they want their dead bugs back.”
 

“Oh, hell.” Tanya turned and hurried to her bedroom.
 

My probe found Avery Treat in his car, watching the scene through his binoculars. I sent the probe around the apartment building and found another guy strolling the green behind the board fence. Also NIA. What was worth four of them?
 

The bell rang and the rapping sounded again. I went to the door, set a field wedge behind it, and opened the door about two inches.
 

“Hi, there,” I said, “Skip the routine. You’re Rick Thompson, she’s Victoria Elgin, and Avery Treat’s the guy in the car watching us. The guy out back is Tony Marden.”
 

That had the desired effect. It disrupted their usual intro patter and made them stare for a moment. Elgin moved forward a bit and lifted her ID into view as she leaned on the door and found it firm. Thompson likewise showed his ID.
 

Elgin said, “We know who you are, too. We’d like to discuss a few things. May we come in?”
 

“It isn’t my apartment. Give her a minute, she’s changing.”
 

“Surely she wouldn’t mind…”
 

Borrowing another cop’s words, I said, “She isn’t here to tell me that. What’s up?”
 

Giving me a narrow look, Elgin said, “We’d prefer not to discuss matters out here in the open.”
 

“I’d prefer not to discuss matters at all, ma’am. Tell you what, hang on one while I call Milton Larcon. Maybe he’ll let you all go home.”
 

Thompson smiled as if he held a trump card and stated, “I’m afraid Mr. Larcon is no longer with us.”
 

I used my core to check. Larcon had been promoted sideways into the NSA. A woman named Ann Fullbright now flew his desk.
 

Shrugging, I said, “That prob’ly means Ann Fullbright got his job. No problem. She’ll know what to do.”
 

Thompson glanced at Elgin, who said, “Okay. Sure, call her if you feel the need. She sent us.”
 

Something about the NIA; unlike regular cops and the FBI, they didn’t respectfully ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am’ people much. In one sense, it seemed to display their true character. In another sense, it dispensed with the phony politeness.
 

Footsteps sounded behind me. Tanya appeared wearing jeans and a long-sleeved blouse and asked, “Ed, why are they still standing out there?”
 

As she stopped beside me, I said, “Because it’s your apartment, not mine.”
 

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake, let them in. I can feel the cold coming in on my feet.”
 

As they entered the apartment, the agents showed their IDs to Tanya. Elgin gave me a frumpy look as she passed me.
 

Thompson said, “Thank you, ma’am. It was getting a little chilly out there.”
 

Elgin said, “Miss Connor, we’d like to discuss a few things like your reasons for contacting Mr. Howdershelt.”
 

I said, “First we’d like to know why you’re curious.”
 

Looking directly at me, Elgin said, “We were told to come here and ask certain questions. We weren’t told why.”
 

“In that case, we were hunting for golden calliopes in the deep, dark woods, ma’am.”
 

Betraying no hint of irritation, Elgin shot back, “How many did you find?”
 

“Not a one. Looks like we’ll have to build our own.”
 

“I see.” Turning to Tanya, she hoisted her briefcase slightly and noddingly indicated the dining area as she asked, “Could we move this conversation to your table?”
 

“Of course.”
 

Tanya led us to the dining table. There was no sign we’d been drinking, not even glasses in the sink. We all took positions near or behind chairs, but nobody sat down.
 

Elgin reached into her case and produced some photos. The one on top was of Tanya and me conferring over her laptop at Wendy’s. Lifting that one and setting it in the middle of the table, Elgin said to Tanya, “We suspect you contacted Mr. Howdershelt because you wish to try to… circumvent… the law in the near future, Miss Connor. Would that accurately summarize the situation?”
 

Before Tanya could answer, I said, “Wishing isn’t illegal yet, though I’m sure someone in the current regime is working diligently to fix that.”
 

Giving me another direct gaze, Elgin said, “For what it’s worth, I personally sympathize with Miss Connor and her mother. Also for what it’s worth, you should be aware that some very specific steps have been taken to prevent Marie Connor’s removal from her current facility.”
 

Thompson gave her a surprised glance, then masked it quickly by looking beyond her and asking, “Is there someone else in the apartment?”
 

Ignoring him, I asked, “Specific steps, ma’am? Could you be a little more specific about those ‘very specific steps’?”
 

With a tiny smile, she replied, “Of course not. We were only sent to warn you about trying anything similar to what you did with three lawyers and an Arizona woman.”
 

“If I’m supposed to have done something illegal, why haven’t I been arrested, milady?”
 

She shrugged. “Political convenience, I’d expect. Most everything hinges on that these days.”
 

Thompson gave her another questioning glance, but said nothing. Elgin pulled out a chair and sat down. Thompson remained standing as Tanya sat down, then looked at me. For whatever reason, he wanted to be the last to sit. Heh. I pulled my chair out, but only placed it out of my way as I reached for the other pictures in front of Elgin.
 

Her hand came down on them as my hand reached them and she asked briskly, “
What
are you
doing?”
 

Meeting her gaze, I asked, “What are
you
doing? Did you haul those out just so you could
not
show them to us?”
 

“They’re confidential surveillance photos, and I’d prefer to select the ones to show you.”
 

As I withdrew my hand, I had a probe pass through and record the thin stack of photos on the table, then buzz through her briefcase.
 

I said, “So start selecting, ma’am.”
 

Lifting an eyebrow, Elgin leafed through the stack and tossed three more pictures on the first one. The top picture was of Tanya entering a motel room. I recognized the place from a sign in the background. The second was of Tanya placing her camera under my neighbor’s mailbox. The last one was of me during the incident in Floral City.
 

I shrugged. “So? You took some pictures here and there. Where’s the good stuff?”
 

Thompson asked, “It doesn’t bother you that Miss Connor has been stalking you?”
 

“Nah. I caught her at it and we talked about it. What currently bothers me is that you’ve been stalking both of us on suspicion of thinking wishfully. Or something like that.”
 

Elgin softly chuckled, “There’s a little more to it than that. Three lawyers and an astronomer more. I can understand your frustration with certain laws, but they are what they are. For now, at least. We were instructed to inform you that if you try with Marie Connor what you’ve done with the others, there
will
be repercussions.”
 

Looking at Tanya, I said, “Hundreds of US citizens — maybe thousands, by now — have visited overseas Robodocs, yet how many are in prison for it?”
 

She said, “I have no idea.”
 

I looked at Elgin for an answer. She regarded me in silence, as did Thompson.
 

Again looking at Tanya, I said, “None, milady. Some have paid fines. All have been sworn to silence, likely by threats of retroactive punishment. But that doesn’t really work too well. There have been some fairly thorough news articles about them. Media vultures are pretty good at digging up info… when they want to. Chances are good some of them watch the Robodoc clinics for visiting US citizens.”
 

Retrieving my coffee mug from the sink counter and sipping, I said, “This ‘preemptive visit’ by the NIA might actually be someone’s real and rather stupid attempt to intimidate us. Or it could also be that someone would love for us take a shot at springing Marie, probably to stir up controversy in an election year. If we were caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, there’d have to be a show trial and we’d become social and political martyrs. Politicians would ride the issue like a racehorse. Everyone who’s ever been to a Robodoc would be dragged out into the open and a big public debate would ensue about what to do with them. Jail? Amnesty? Endless streams of rhetoric and political sniping. Exposing prior support for the laws could end careers.”
 

Sipping again, I grinned and said, “Could be lots of fun. And it would definitely be good for the American people.”
 

Apparently disapproving, Thompson asked, “So you’re determined to go through with it?”
 

I noted that Elgin masked her feelings very well as I said, “I never said that, Thompson. Hell, I
wouldn’t
say that in front of two federal agents. I was just speculating a bit.”
 

Elgin stood up and gathered her stuff as she said, “This discussion is over, Agent Thompson. They’ll do whatever they decide to do and we’ll just have to be ready.”
 

Thompson’s startled expression turned even sterner as he looked at me and said, “We
will
be ready. Count on it.”
 

With a little salute, I said, “Roger that. In the British sense.”
 

“The what?”
 

Elgin gave me a tight, tiny smile and said, “I’ll tell you in the car, Agent Thompson. Let’s go.”
 

Chapter Eleven
 

We escorted them to the door. When Tanya headed back to the kitchen area, I noted she exhibited none of the loose, flowing warmth of our earlier teddy-enhanced encounter. She fairly marched to the fridge, snatched out another pack of juice, and seemed to have trouble inserting the straw.
 

I sent screens to scan the apartment inside and out and found two new bugs; one outside and one inside. I had a use for the one under the table.
 

Frustrated, Tanya threw the pack in the sink, leaned on the table, and raged, “
Goddammit! Why the hell can’t I just take my mother to a clinic without all this other horseshit?!
”
 

She was trembling hard as I rinsed the bag and the straw, then forced the sharp end through the plastic seal. When I set the bag on the table and said, “Here’s your juice thingie, ma’am,” she seemed surprised to see it, then she picked it up with a curt thanks and sipped hard.
 

Pointing under the table, I said, “Don’t sweat it. I can take the rap for it.”
 

Before she knelt to peek under the table, she asked, “
Oh, really?!
And how would that make
me
look?!”
 

Tanya knelt, saw the bug, and reached for it. I stopped her hand and said, “You’ll look like the woman who’s mounting my defense and raising my bail money, of course.” Glancing at her as if doubtful, I asked, “You
would
do that for me, wouldn’t you? You wouldn’t let me rot in prison, would you?”