Book 3: 3rd World Products, Inc

by Ed Howdershelt

  Joey said, “Yes, ma'am,” then he punched off the intercom and looked at me as he started to speak.

  "I heard her,” I said.

  Joey's mouth shut and he glared at me for a moment before he made an effort to look busy at his desk. Some minutes later, I put my coffee down on the small table between the chairs and fished out the gold coin and my folding knife. Joey didn't seem happy to see my knife, but he had curiosity enough to ask what I was doing as I lightly scraped the coin.

  "Cleaning the crud off this doubloon,” I said. “It's been at the bottom of the ocean for a few hundred years."

  Joey was on his feet and heading my way instantly. He stopped within a yard of me and stared at the coin, then asked, “It's real?"

  I nodded and handed it to him and said, “Yeah. It's real."

  He examined it closely, then flipped it over and spent a few more moments examining it. The timing couldn't have been better. Breen's office door opened and she strode past Joey's desk to approach us. Joey quickly handed the coin back to me and moved to one side as I got to my feet and put my knife back in its belt pouch.

  "Good morning,” she curtly said to me. Turning slightly to face Joey, she asked, “What was that about?"

  "He was showing me a coin, ma'am. He says it's a real gold doubloon."

  As he spoke to her, I took a moment to look her over. Five-seven or so, as advertised. A solid figure that didn't give the impression of being overweight, so she probably worked out to stay fit. Dark blue pumps and near-knee skirt with a pastel blue blouse. Collar-length, dark blonde hair and subdued makeup. No jewelry other than a simple gold band on her wedding finger and single-diamond earrings.

  She said, “Back to your desk, Joey. You still have some of Friday to finish."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  Joey quick-marched back to his desk. I had the feeling that she'd probably had to order him not to salute her. Breen noticed my examination of her and turned to face me. She didn't ask to see the coin as she focused first on my jeans, then my fatigue shirt, then on my face.

  "Mr. Howdershelt,” she said, “You aren't quite what I was expecting, but thanks for coming. Bring your coffee and let's go to my office."

  Without waiting for my response, she turned and started that direction. As we passed Joey's desk, she said, “Hold my calls.” Joey nodded and said, “Yes, ma'am."

  In her office, she waved me to a chair by her desk and sat down in the padded leather chair behind the desk, then spent a moment gazing at me as she had before.

  Without preamble, she asked, “Ms. Baines told me a little about you when she confirmed that your field, not the flitter's field, froze the gunman's hand. Why did you do that?"

  "There was a gun in his hand. He was shooting at me."

  "So you were trying to do what, exactly? Clog the gun's mechanism with ice? Freeze his trigger finger?"

  I don't like lying to people, but I don't mind terribly if they accept their own conclusions when those conclusions serve my interests.

  I said, “He managed to empty his gun at me. Maybe I'd have been better off to freeze his brain."

  Her mouth fell open at that suggestion and she gave me a truly odd look, then said, “I don't find it particularly comforting to know that you might be able to do something like that, sir."

  "Call me Ed and don't worry. I wouldn't do that to someone who wasn't trying to kill me or someone else. Now that I think about it, total freezing probably wouldn't be necessary. A bolt of cold in the heart would put someone down without killing him, wouldn't it? Make the heart spasm?"

  Her eyes narrowed as she said, “Uh, yes, I suppose it would. Exactly how did you freeze that man's hand?"

  I put my coffee on her desk and said, “I used a field. Like this."

  Gesturing to draw her attention to my coffee cup, I sent a cooling field into what was left of my coffee. By the time the coffee had turned to ice and frost had formed on the cup, her expression had turned from rather stern to somewhat amazed. She reached to touch the cup, then yanked her hand back slightly. Glancing up at me, she reached again, this time lifting the cup by its handle.

  "Well,” she said softly, “That's quite a trick. What else can you do?"

  "Warm it back up. Boil or evaporate it. Move it around."

  "Move it? How?"

  "Put the cup down and I'll show you."

  She set the cup on the desk and moved her hand well away from it. I fielded the cup into the air and sent it on a journey around the room, then returned it to her desk. As it settled to the desktop, I sent a warming field into it so that it was liquid again before it touched down. Breen reached for the cup again and again pulled her hand back in startlement. Her voice held a touch of wonder as she said, “It's hot."

  I shook my head. “No, just warm. I don't like my coffee scalding hot."

  Picking up my cup, I sat back and drank some of the coffee. Breen continued to stare at the cup for a moment, then her gaze switched to me.

  "How do you do those things?"

  "Field manipulation. My flitter taught me."

  She laughed shortly. “Your flitter taught you?"

  "Yup. Stephie can do things that make what I just did look like kindergarten stuff."

  Shaking her head in amazement, she sat back in her captain's chair and seemed to give matters some thought as she stared at my coffee cup.

  "Are you saying, then, that anyone can learn to do this?"

  "Nope. I don't think anyone can just learn to do it.” Tapping my skull just behind my ear, I said, “I have an implant. Now how about telling me something?"

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Breen studied me for a moment before asking, “What do you want to know?"

  "Why did my boss tell me to come here and do a show and tell?"

  After a slight pause, she said, “A man was killed because you froze..."

  "No,” I interrupted her. “It isn't about a dead gunman. Why are you so interested in fields and why does my boss care that you're interested?"

  "Did you ask her?"

  "You're evading. I'm asking you."

  She gathered herself and sat straight, then said, “And I'm deferring your question for the moment. It's a personal matter."

  I gave her a very questioning look and asked, “Fields are a personal matter?"

  In a firm tone, she said, “Not fields. Let it go for now."

  Shrugging, I sipped what was left of my coffee, then said, “You said that I wasn't what you were expecting. What were you expecting?"

  Breen raised an eyebrow at me, then smiled slightly condescendingly.

  "Well, I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but most of my visitors don't show up looking as if they're about to work in the garden."

  "I like being comfortable, Dr. Breen, and I didn't come here to try to pick up a date or stun people with my sartorial good taste."

  "What if I had invited you to lunch at a decent restaurant?"

  "You do that and I'll go buy a suit right now. But you won't. You seem the type to leave business matters in the office. To you, lunch is off the clock."

  "You're so sure of that?"

  "Sure enough that I'm not worried about having to buy a suit. Tell you what, though, Dr. Breen; if you're really interested in fields, take an hour off and fly with Stephanie and me. She's parked right outside the front of the building."

  Breen simply gazed quietly at me for a few moments, then she rose and went to her window. I rose to follow and arrived near her in time to hear her mutter, “Oh, my God...” as she seemed to freeze at the window.

  The flitter was hovering at a height somewhat lower than the window and well to our right, but it was completely visible. I looked for a latch, but the window was the kind that doesn't open.

  "Steph,” I said, “Would you please bring the flitter to our window?"

  From my watch came Steph's, “No problem. On the way."

  The flitter shifted quickly to hover just outside our window. Breen actually
stepped back a pace when it suddenly arrived, then she stepped back to the window and simply stared in silence for some moments.

  I tapped Breen's shoulder and received only the barest acknowledgement of attention.

  "Want to see the inside?” I asked. “I'll ask Steph to clear the canopy."

  Breen glanced at me questioningly, but she nodded. “Yes, please."

  "Steph..."

  "I heard, Ed."

  The canopy cleared and suddenly the flitter looked more like a flying platform with seats and a console. I didn't see Steph aboard and wondered why she'd disappeared. Breen gasped slightly and glanced at me again.

  "I thought there'd be more to it,” she said.

  "Simple designs work best,” I said.

  Breen nodded slightly as she stared, then her eyes turned to me again.

  "What?"

  "I said..."

  "I heard you. Were you part of the design team?"

  I grinned. “Well, I did suggest a smaller flitter than the school bus-sized thing they were making at first. Something for local, personal use."

  "But you weren't on the design team?"

  I shrugged. “Nope. There was no design team. Just one person."

  In true shock, she asked, “They entrusted the design of a mass-production vehicle to just one person? Are they insane?"

  "Nope. Same engine and control systems as the big ones on a smaller frame. No problem. You're worried about safety, right? Don't. Want to meet the pilot?"

  Returning her gaze to the flitter, Breen said, “There's nobody aboard. I thought you were the pilot."

  "Nope, not really. Stephie likes to do the driving."

  "Who's Stephie? Your girlfriend?"

  "Not exactly. Want to meet her?"

  "Of course I'd like to meet her. I'd like to meet anyone who can tell me..."

  "Steph,” I said, “Now's the time to drop in."

  "Here I am,” Steph's Kathleen Turner voice came from behind us.

  Breen spun and shrieked at the same time.

  "Sorry,” said Steph. “Ed and I forget that other people aren't used to..."

  "Where the hell did you come from?!” Breen almost yelled. “How did you get in here? Joey!"

  The office door opened and Joey poked his head into the room. His jaw dropped when he saw Steph. Breen edged around behind me and said, “Security! Now!"

  "Hold it!” I said. “Wait, dammit! I called her and she came. Steph, disappear from here and reappear on the flitter, please. I'll call you back in a minute."

  Steph let her image begin dispersing from the bottom. In short order only her eyes and her smile remained, then they dispersed, as well.

  Oh, lordy, she's seen ‘Alice in Wonderland', I thought. Oh, well. Good trick.

  As the frenzied questions began from both Joey and Breen, I raised my hands in a placating gesture and said, “Just take it easy, okay? She uses fields to make images. Look at the flitter, people."

  Steph waved and smiled at us from her seat by the console, then she disappeared again and reappeared standing in the middle of the deck, still waving and smiling.

  I let Breen and Joey assimilate what they were seeing for a moment, then asked, “Can she come back in here now? You guys won't panic?"

  Joey stumbled halfway into the room and pointed out the window as he asked, “What ... What's that thing outside?"

  "My flitter.” With a glance at Breen, I said, “Okay, Steph. Come on back inside."

  Steph smilingly reappeared precisely where she'd been standing before. She extended a hand to Breen and said, “Hello. I'm Stephanie Montgomery."

  Breen seemed frozen for a couple of moments, but I saw her pupils widen considerably as she gazed at Steph. Breen rather hesitantly reached to take Steph's hand and said, “Dr. Breen."

  Joey muttered, “Oh, God, Oh, God, Oh, God...” as he backed out of the room and ran to his desk, where he picked up the phone and punched a button.

  As I headed for the door, I asked, “Steph, block his call?"

  "Done. His phone is inoperative."

  I hurried out there and stood in front of Joey's desk as I said, “Take it easy, Joey..."

  He dropped the phone and shrieked and started to try to dodge past me, first to one side of the desk, then the other. Rather than grabbing at him, I zapped him once with my stunner to calm him. He woozily leaned on the desk, then let himself settle into his chair.

  I rolled Joey into Breen's office and closed the door, then said, “Enough hysterics from everybody, okay?"

  Breen cautiously approached, asking, “What did you do to Joey?"

  "Stunned him a little to settle him down, ma'am. Give him twenty minutes and he'll be his usual snooty self. By the way, the stunner uses a field, too."

  "Are you sure he's all right? How does it work?"

  "Classified. If you aren't working for 3rd World, you don't need to know. Same goes for all the other field stuff. I can show and tell some, but I can't tell you how they work. Joey will be fine."

  "Classified..? I have a ‘Q’ clearance ... Oh, hell, that's where I've seen your name! You're on the E-list for nuclear disasters in Florida. Which group are you with?"

  "The Citrus county group. I know about your security clearance, Dr. Breen. Doesn't matter. It's for something else entirely. Now, how about that flitter ride?"

  Joey was rousing himself a bit. Before Breen could answer, he shouted, “No! Dr. Breen, don't go with them!"

  I turned to him and asked, “And why the hell not, Joey? My visit wasn't any kind of secret, was it? We'll be seen leaving together. Everybody'll know who she left with. Besides, we're on the same nuke emergency list. It's like we're already old buddies, right Dr. Breen?"

  She favored me with a faint smile and said, “Well, I wouldn't go quite that far, but you're right; we're both on that list.” Turning to Joey, she said, “Joey, there's no problem here. Go back to work. I'll see you later."

  "But..."

  With a voice laced with steel, she said, “Just go back to work, Joey. I'll be fine."

  Joey hesitated, but he acquiesced. When he tried to rise, his knees didn't work well and he flumped back into the chair. I told him to sit tight and rolled him back to his desk, then checked his phone.

  "It's working again,” I said, hanging up the receiver. “No hard feelings?"

  Joey just looked at me resentfully until I turned to return to Breen's office. Breen was rather blatantly examining Steph's field image.

  I said, “Steph designs and makes her own clothes. Saves me a bundle."

  That prompted Breen to reach for Steph's lapel and finger it.

  "It feels like real cloth,” she said in a wondering tone.

  With a grin, I said, “I told you she was a lot better with fields. Ready to fly?"

  "I, uh ... You'll bring me back here?"

  "Yeah, we'll bring you back here. This isn't a kidnapping, Dr. Breen. In fact, my orders are specifically not to kidnap you.” With another grin, I asked Steph to play back that portion of my conversation with Linda.

  Linda's disembodied voice said, “Try to summon up a bit more enthusiasm, will you? We want you to bring her aboard by any means short of kidnapping her."

  I shrugged. “See? No kidnapping allowed."

  "See what?” asked Breen. “Where did that voice come from?"

  Steph said, “My field can be used to replicate sounds, Dr. Breen."

  After a long look at Steph, Breen actually smiled slightly as she asked me, “What was that part about lacking enthusiasm?"

  "Um,” I said, “Well. My boss made me think that approaching you might be difficult. I don't like difficult. Guess it showed a little."

  "I see. If you know my security clearance, you probably know more than that about me. What in particular made you think I'd be—as you called it—difficult?"

  "The overall picture. How many people making as much as you don't own something other than a twenty-year old Jeep? How many people don't have a boyfriend
or girlfriend listed in the security logs? Even my boss has a boyfriend, and she can be a real dragon sometimes."

  "I see,” she said again.

  There was a knock at the door. I looked at Steph and shook my head. She disappeared quickly as the door opened and the hallway guard stuck his head in.

  "Sorry to intrude, Dr. Breen, but your secretary..."

  Breen shook her head and waved a hand as if in dismissal as she glanced out the window to see Steph sitting near the flitter console. She said, “Joey is just having a bad morning, Frank. He'll get over it."

  "Uh, he said there was another woman..."

  Looking around, Breen asked, “In a green outfit? Like the woman on the flitter?"

  Frank looked outside and saw Steph. She waved and smiled at him.

  "Uh..."

  "Would you like to come in and look around, Frank?"

  "Uh, I guess not. Sorry for the interruption, Dr. Breen."

  "You're doing your job, Frank. How's Joey?"

  "Kind of hysterical, I think, but otherwise okay. I guess."

  Breen nodded. “Have Gladys give him a pill, then tell him to get back to work. He still has some of Friday's results to finish posting."

  With a nod and a “Yes'm,” Frank retreated, closing the door behind him.

  "Everybody hold your positions,” I said. “That kind of bluff only works every time in the movies."

  Sure enough, Frank reopened the door a few seconds later and said, “Sorry to interrupt again,” as he quickly scanned the room. Seeing nothing unusual, he finished, “What if Joey isn't up to coming back to work? Should we send him home?"

  "No,” said Breen, striding toward the door. “You can send him down to personnel to see about another job and tell them to have someone else up here when I get back, and if you open my door again without knocking, you'd better go with him."

  Her tone and words seemed to startle Frank slightly. He pulled the door shut.

  "Tough lady,” I said. “I like that."

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Breen looked at me rather askance and said, “Uh, huh. Right. 'Everybody hold your positions'. If I bet that your girlfriends have all been doormats, what would I win?"