by Ellen Clary
/Search!/
Lars strode out into the room sniffing the floor and the chairs and on top of the desks. He kept coming back to the places where Herman and Lincoln sat. He said, /Funny smell./
Amy said to Lars, “I know you’ve smelled that one before, but keep looking for the other smells.”
As Lars kept sniffing around, Amy said, “He doesn’t appear to be finding a correlation.”
Beth said, “Our burglars might have been using different people, but I don’t like how this implies lots more people involved.”
Lars was checking out Herman’s desk again. He was standing in front of the dock for the data unit when he swung his head over to the leg of the desk and then stopped at a spot. /Here./
“Really? He found something on the leg of the desk. Good job, Lars. Cookie and a ball for you later.”
Lars jumped up and down, nearly hitting his head on the desk, front feet leaving the ground, hitting the floor, and bouncing up again. /Cookie!/
“Good boy,” Amy said. “Come here.” She gave him a dog treat. “Wait here.”
Beth and Amy bent down to look more closely at the desk leg. Beth looked over her shoulder and asked Ann, “If I were taking out a data unit, would I be kneeling in front of it?”
“Sure, if you’d never done it before.”
“And if I lost my balance a little while I was trying to figure it out, I might put my other arm right there,” she said, pointing to the place that Lars was indicating. “Amy, can you check if there’s any DNA?”
Amy already had her handheld out. “Checking for DNA.” She held it over the spot. It had already been programmed to ignore anything left by an overenthusiastic canine. “Yes, there’s enough. Taking a sample.”
“Excellent.”
CHAPTER 7:
Herman and Lincoln are Ill
AMY RECEIVED a call that Herman and Lincoln were in the Riverview Hospital, an imposing building further up the river. While there was indeed a view of the river, Amy thought the view was mostly for the family and friends.
Amy was directed up to the pair’s private room in Intensive Care and Intervention. They were unconscious. Above each bed was a colorful display showing vital signs like pulse, heart activity, blood pressure, and respiration. There was another graph displaying what the label said was brain activity.
Beth was there with a doctor whose name tag said “Thelms.” He was wearing that concerned, professional look.
Amy, who had trained as a basic Med Tech, looked at the display and said, “I’m not a doctor, but that doesn’t look good; it looks like a kid with a crayon.”
Dr. Thelms said, “We think it’s the nanobots.”
Amy did a double take. “What? Slow down for me. You mean the very small molecular machines?”
“Yes, there are nanobots in their bloodstream. We tested for them.”
“In their bloodstream? How?”
“It’s possible someone gave them doped drink or food,” he said.
Amy gave the doctor a dubious look. “I thought that nanobots were given one job to do like grow a certain type of tissue or help knit a bone.”
“These appear to be creating their own special version of bodily chaos.”
Detective Beth said, “I was making a timeline for Herman and Lincoln. Lincoln told me that they were at the tavern watching the Neutrinos win the playoffs.”
Amy said, “Sure, everyone watched that game, so?”
“Lincoln told me that someone bought Lincoln and Herman’s table drinks, even handed the glasses to them. Lincoln drank some of his and Herman downed his. They’re doing further testing, but it’s possible those nanobots could be causing the disorientation symptoms. There is previous evidence suggesting that—and,” she did something that looked like a ta-da motion, “a strange, distinctive, subtle body odor.”
Amy looked thoughtful. “That unusual smell that Lars was noting?”
Beth said, “It’s likely we won’t know for sure, but it is one more bit of information.”
Amy looked at the doctor. “And you think doping their drinks was possible?”
Thelms inclined his head. “It’s a stretch, but it certainly is possible. All it would take is someone with a small doping pipette.”
Amy looked at the display of brain activity. She was looking at something more like an electrical storm rather than what she would expect from someone who was unconscious. She looked directly at Thelms. “How are you treating this?”
“Sedation isn’t working very well,” he said.
Amy asked, “Gods, what are they doing? The nanobots, that is.”
Thelms said, “They are triggering release of adrenalin and other hormones that raise the heart rate, BP, and brain activity.”
Amy asked, “What’s controlling them?”
“Well, we’re not sure, but it could have been initially controlled from outside. We’ve enabled an electromagnetic field barrier around this area. When the EMF is active, there are no signals in or out. If you notice, your handheld isn’t receiving a signal.”
Amy glanced down to see an unhappy device. “Yep.”
Herman’s wife, Carolyn, was there, wiping Herman’s forehead with a towel. Then, she would wipe her tears with the other end of the towel. Amy admired her precision under stress. Carolyn asked, “How long can he and Lincoln continue like this?”
“We don’t know, we’ve never seen it before,” Thelms answered.
A nurse, whose name tag read “Louise,” entered, looked at the displays, and made notes on what Amy presumed was a mobile data chart. Amy thought that was odd since it had to be recorded by a computer, but she figured having someone record it meant someone was actually paying attention rather than just relying on the auto alarm; besides, the barrier probably disabled the feedback to the computer. Herman’s blood pressure seemed elevated, but it was not killing him. His heart rate was definitely much higher than resting. His eyes were shut and creased at the corner, and his forehead had that dull-but-shiny look of just-wiped sweat. His head would jerk to the side from time to time. This was a man under stress. She looked over to confirm that Lincoln was going through something similar.
Someone opened the door. “Beth Hanscom, your office wants you to contact them as soon as possible.”
“I can call them in a second.” Beth got up and said to Amy, “I think I’d like you to come with me.”
“Er, okay.”
Amy rose and followed Beth out. In the hallway, she picked up her phone and said, “This is Beth.” There was a pause as she listened.
“Really? … Oh no. That’s really not good. … And that’s even worse. … How much time do we have? … Oooo. … Okay, I’ll have them take it down. But we need to meet with the concerned parties to come to some agreement. … Tell them we’re taking it down and considering their offer.”
Amy, who had been watching the news monitor, turned quickly to look at Beth.
Beth hung up. She inhaled and let out a long breath through pursed lips. “Wait here one moment.”
Beth hurried down the hall and Amy could hear her telling the staff to please disengage the EMF shield and, yes, that she was sure.
Amy reentered Herman and Lincoln’s room.
Beth came back in holding a second device. “As you may have guessed, my commander has heard from our bad guys. Without outside control, the nanobots are programmed to overwork the brain circuitry until it dies. Herman and Lincoln have maybe thirty minutes tops. If we take the control down, the nasty dudes can control the bots better.”
“Through hospital walls?”
Beth continued, “I guess. We need to find a way to buy more time and we’re not sure how to do it.”
“What haven’t you told me?” Amy asked, looking directly at Beth.
Beth paused for a moment, inhaling and then exhaling. “Our bad guys have figured out that the data units are encrypted and they want the decryption code. Nanology does not want to give it to them.”
Amy, trying to remember what Harris had taught her, said, “Don’t the data units have self-destruct options? Can’t we just lower the EMF shield and send a nuke signal?”
“Yes, but our bad guys also have what appears to be a basic type of security to block outside control signals.”
Amy said, “That’s not fair.”
“Little is in this shadowy world,” Beth said.
Amy looked thoughtful and said, “Can our computer whizkid Harris get around it? Too bad there isn’t a dummy code.”
“He might be able to, but there’s not a lot of time. Nanology is checking for something that would give out some information, but not all of it. I’m not even sure if Nanology has the decrypt code. It’s possible that only Herman and Lincoln have it.”
Amy asked, ‘“How the heck are we going to find these people?”
“That is the billion-dollar question, isn’t it?” Beth said.
CHAPTER 8:
Demands
AN OFFICER walked in and whispered to Beth. She stood up stiffly, phone in hand, and motioned for Amy to follow. Amy thought, I’ve been doing a lot of this today.
Beth said to her phone, “Put them through.”
Amy could tell it was an audio-only connection, as Beth put the handheld up to her ear.
Beth looked at the floor, her free arm wrapped around her body, listening and hardly breathing.
Then she sighed and looked up.
“Look, you can’t do that to these men, no matter what you want. If they die, you’re out of luck. They’re both good men, loving husbands and fathers, well-liked members of the community. If you hurt them, you’re going to make a lot of people very unhappy and you still won’t get what you want.”
Amy noticed that during this short monologue Beth had been pressing buttons on her handheld, and she realized that Beth must have been setting up a trace on the phone conversation.
“You want the encryption decodes for the units you have? We can talk about that. I don’t have them, but I can ask the people who do. But you have to stop mistreating these men or nothing is going to happen, and we’ll be coming after you for murder. … Yes, really. Stop with the nanobot attacks and we can talk further. Yes, we know that’s what’s happening. You need to stop this. Nothing happens until you do.”
Beth moved closer to the room where she could see the stricken men through the window.
Amy could see Herman’s brain activity readout still looking like a hyperactive child’s scribble. Then after a moment it started to settle down. Beth leaned to look at Lincoln’s and Amy could see over her shoulder that his had also quieted. Then Beth held up the other gadget she had been holding. Amy hadn’t seen anything like it before. She watched Beth push a button on it. Nothing happened except for a quiet beep and a single red light.
Amy could hear the person on the other end of the phone yelling and cursing in a funny voice that must have been disguised. She figured that Beth had turned the electromagnetic field blocking back on.
Beth, the picture of calm, said in an ever-so-slightly elevated voice, “Yes, the signal is now blocked. This is so we can better talk without having them muddling the picture.” She paused, listening. “I’m sorry this upsets you, but you still have the devices and we can negotiate over those. No, this isn’t bad faith, it’s more balancing the playing field and it’s the humane thing to do—isn’t that what you want?” She paused again and Amy could see her almost smile. “Threatening me will do you no good, I assure you. I will pass on your requests for the encryption codes. Can I reach you at this number? Good. And I do so hate those voice scramblers. You sound silly.”
Hanging up, Beth said, “I traced the caller’s location. I should have sent you when I was talking, but I wanted another person present.” Amy’s handheld beeped. “Harris has tracked the signal to where the phone is right now and he sent the coordinates to you. Could you and Lars join Steve and Pearl at that location to see if you can figure out who is on the phone? The phone is still on, but they could turn it off any time. There will be backup present, but I’ve told them to keep a low profile.”
Amy said, “Yes, Lars is waiting in the car.”
Amy charged out to her vehicle, jamming the handheld onto the docking station and telling it to go to the location indicated. She added to the car’s instructions, “Hurry, LAI code 3, no siren,” and the car sped off with lights flashing.
She said to Lars, who was wide awake, “We’re going on a Search.”
He barked and said the equivalent of: /Hooray./
The phone’s location was Quincy Park, only five minutes away. When they got close, Amy put the car into manual mode, turned off the flashing lights, and drove slowly around, looking for anything obvious. The park was near the river and there were other people around. Parking the car, they got out. “Okay, Lars, we’re going on a walk.”
/Walk!/
“But we have to look casual.”
/Huh?/
“Walk slow, and sniff things.”
/Oh./
Seeing Steve in the distance, she put the micro-transceiver in her ear.
“Steve, can you hear me?”
Steve’s voice in her ear said, “Hey there. Got a few possibilities.”
“At least that phone is still on and here somewhere.”
CHAPTER 9:
At the Park
QUINCY PARK was one of the smaller ones in the city. It had that broken-in look, with patches of brown pathways and ordinary green grass instead of the supergreen biograss that they had over at the park near Central, but it was still well-kept with some nice mature pine trees and magnolias. It was the middle of the day, and there were people running and walking while others ate their lunches on the benches. A food vendor was doing brisk business over at the entryway, selling wraps that represented a surprisingly wide selection of world cuisines.
Steve was leaning towards the cart. “Mmmm, that tandoori smells great.”
Grabbing one of his arms, Amy said, “Catch crooks first, then we feast.”
Sighing, Steve turned back. “So, where is this dweeb? … Oh, Harris?” He spoke into his headset knowing that Harris was coordinating the search from Central.
Amy heard Harris’s response: “Last known position is in the park somewhere.”
“You can’t be more specific?” Steve asked.
“With your handheld, yes, but not with this cheap-ass disposable stuff the suspect is using.”
“Is he on the phone now?”
“No.”
“Can you be less helpful?” Steve asked Harris. They had a playful relationship that came out in oddly combative ways.
“Yes,” Harris said.
“Oh, shut up.”
“Suit yourself.”
Amy broke in. “Has that phone moved around much?”
Harris said, “Not from what we can tell.”
Amy looked around. “So he’s sitting down? Why would he do that?”
Steve said, “Okay, you go to that end of the park and I’ll go to the other and we’ll work towards the middle.”
“And we’re looking for people sitting down?”
“Or lying. Maybe he went and got drunk,” Steve said.
“Right. Try to be helpful,” she replied.
Amy and Lars, walking past the playground and yoga area, got briefly waylaid by children wanting to pet the doggy.
“Yes, he’s cute. He’s three years old. He’s friendly. Likes to say ‘Hi,’ but he really needs to go on a walk or he’s going to become incorrigible.” She realized she needed to come up with a better term, but it worked for now and they soon found themselves at the end of the park. Amy asked Lars to walk slowly and sniff around.
“We’re at the end of the park. I see two runners, six walkers, five eating lunch. The lunchers are in two groups. One is two women and the other is three people, two men and one woman. The two women are in their thirties, dressed in business pant suits. One navy with a yellow shirt, one black with a white top
. Medium build. The three look like they work for a technical firm: T-shirts and jeans or khakis. One of the men is heavyset, but the other two are average size. Each group all seems to work together; the three are talking about baseball, the two are talking about their flakey boyfriends.”
Steve said, “Similar over here—mostly the lunchtime crowd, though some walkers. Everyone seems to fit in as much as anyone else. Wait, I see one lone guy just sitting there with a phone in his hand. He has very dark skin with wavy black hair to his shoulders. Medium sturdy, athletic build. Can’t tell his height yet. Probably a hundred seventy-five pounds. Wearing a dark blue baseball cap forward—can’t see the logo. Sunglasses. White tank top. Nice arms. Old blue jeans. Seems on edge, looking around.”
Amy said, “I’m on my way. Look casual. Let’s go, Lars.” They went back through the park but steered around the playground area, slowing when they could see Steve and Pearl in the distance. Pearl was heavily engaged with sniffing the ground. They got a little closer and then Amy stopped under one of the magnolias to stretch. Lars looked at her with a puzzled look.
Amy said to Lars, /It’s okay, I’m just stretching. Relax. Sniff./
Lars’s nose hit the ground.
Amy said, “Okay, I see you, Steve, and the suspect.”
Steve said, “Moving closer. Slowly.”
As Steve came closer, the man spun around on the bench. Steve froze and Amy debated whether to send Lars charging in.
He said to Steve, “Hey, have you seen a blonde guy about five-foot-six wandering around? He’s likely in shorts.”
“Er, no, sorry,” Steve said.
“Well, he’s my boyfriend, and I’m not so sure I should be saying that anymore.”
“Er.”
“What do you do with such people? He’s an hour late and it’s not like he has a stupid job to go to.” He waved his right arm in the air. “He’s all like: ‘I’m on a break from work right now while I figure out what direction I want in life.’ Oh, please, dude. Can you believe this? And does he call to say I’m running late? No, and he’s likely not carrying a handheld at all because he wants to be electronically emancipated during this time of reflection. I tell you this is making me reflect a lot myself. Self-involved twit.”