by Jim Stark
The point I'm trying to make is that your life profile is going to be of interest to a very large number of people in the distant future. They won't all want to meet you from your WIB recordings, but some of them will, and they'll be glad that you took the time to think of them, and went to the trouble of leaving a record of who you were and what life meant to you way back in the twenty-first century. If we're not going to destroy the Earth—and we're not; the WDA will see to it that we don't—then we have to start planning for a future in which human civilization lasts ... well, forever.
Sheena Kalhoun checked her watch again, and this time she did move on ... and Michael Whiteside squirmed.
Chapter 51
TIT FOR TAT
Thursday, March 17, 2033—12:40 p.m.
Lilly had walked about a hundred yards through the leafless bush, stepping gingerly over the remains of fallen trees and avoiding the little pockets of nature's soup—snow, water, last year's leaves, mud. It bothered her that Lars might see her take a pee, and it annoyed her that it bothered her, because she knew he wouldn't peek. He was a Human Three, and besides, she could always LieDeck-verify him afterwards. However, the antsy feeling she had just wouldn't go away as she trudged on.
At last, she came across a depression with a dry-looking log at the bottom ... as good as it'll get, she supposed. She eased her way down, and figured this place would hide her from prying eyes ... if you didn't count the newly arrived birds. She dug some tissues out of her pocket and took a last look around as she positioned herself with her calves backed up against the suspended log. She lowered her pants and underwear, hunched down and released a grateful bladder.
She knew Sheena Kalhoun would be right into her Netcast by now, but she was loath to take out her Sniffer and watch. Of course the WDA could not eavesdrop via Sniffers when they were turned off, but they could when the Sniffer was in use, and no way did she want Control or his minions to catch her in this act. She reached into her inside vest pocket and flipped her Sniffer on as yellow liquid melted into a patch of sugary snow beneath her. At least I can listen, she thought.
...planning for a future in which human civilization lasts ... well, forever.
Number two, we are well aware of the call by USLUC, through its new president, Randy Whiteside, for civilians to refuse their LieDeck-verification. I had nothing to do with the illness and death of Lester Connolly, and I have proven this publicly. And if I had been involved, I would have been interrogated, tried, convicted, fired and possibly even executed by now. But—and I find this odd—there are still those who don't believe me, and are refusing their monthly LV sessions.
Well, that won't do. I am now ordering our agents worldwide to release all those who have been arrested for this offense, and also to stop arresting these so-called refuseniks. This has gotten totally out of hand, and therefore I am putting a stop to it ... immediately.
Lilly wiped herself, threw the tissues to the ground, and pulled up her panties and jeans. She was stunned, and extremely pleased, by this totally unexpected announcement. But ... there must be some consequences, she thought as she kicked loose snow over the evidence and got herself zipped up.
Sheena Kalhoun continued:
However, from this moment on, anyone refusing LieDeck-verification will lose his or her free SuperNet privileges for the rest of their lives ... and they won't be able to buy their way back in, either. Maybe you never thought of this before, but living without the SuperNet could be very tough, and it's not something you want to do to yourself without thinking it through carefully. The General Assembly has recently voted unanimously to rewrite the legislation dealing with LieDeck-verification. The World Court advises us that such a change in the sanction by my order is allowed under world law and the WDA Charter. So it's up to you, people. The WDA keeps the peace for you by virtue of our policing activities, and that work depends upon LieDeck-verification. This new penalty may seem pretty severe, but we are sworn to preserve the peace by whatever means are demonstrably necessary.
Now, announcement number three. This won't affect...
Lilly reached into her vest pocket and clicked off her Sniffer, resolving to review the rest of the Kalhoun Netcast as soon as she got back “home.” That really should solve the LV rebellion, she decided as she planted her left foot carefully on a wet rock and began the trek back to Lars’ hunting cabin. She felt deliciously proud to be a WDA agent ... for the first time in a while, she realized.
Chapter 52
LAWYER HEAVEN
Thursday, March 17, 2033—12:47 p.m.
"Brilliant!” exclaimed the vice president of sales. “By God, she's done it!"
The entire executive committee of Whiteside Technologies—that being six men and four women—had gathered in the boardroom early to catch Sheena Kalhoun's Netcast ... before Michael Whiteside arrived for the Board meeting. People around the world were concerned about the “LV rebellion” that had been going on lately, threatening who knew what level of chaos, but this particular grouping of humans was also in a state of shock that their boss had been able to cobble together enough shares from family and friends to sell control of the company to a competitor ... without even trying to get Board approval. Most of them would likely lose their high-paying jobs, so Michael wasn't very popular around this boardroom table on this day. However, there was nothing they could do stop a shareholder from selling, so all eyes went back to the huge, state-of-the-art MIU screen as Kalhoun continued down her list of announcements.
Now, announcement number three. This won't affect many people, but since I'm on the Net anyway, I thought I might as well use this occasion to inform all citizens of a small administrative change we're making.
For nineteen years, the WDA has bought all its LieDecks, hundreds of millions of units all told, from Whiteside Technologies in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This was done under a contract that has been renewed annually at the pleasure of the WDA General Assembly. Whiteside Technologies owns the patent for the LieDeck, and will therefore of course continue to receive royalties from all LieDeck production, but the WDA will not be renewing this company's exclusive contract to produce the device. In July, that's in four months, this contract will go to SofTech Industries in Athens, Greece, and the work will be spread around its fourteen plants, in as many countries. This means that—
"Holy Christ!” screamed the comptroller of Whiteside Tech. “Michael had to have known about this! That's why he sold out!"
The vice president of sales carried the line of thought from there. “His son Randy's shares were all in that deal, so Michael must have known about the boy's intention to head up USLUC, and he must have realized that some kind of retaliation from the WDA was likely. Call your lawyers, ladies and gentlemen. This deal has the stink of litigation all over it."
It didn't take many seconds before all ten members of the executive committee had scattered to their private offices to call their stockbrokers and their lawyers—although not in that order. They learned immediately that the CSE—the Central Stock Exchange in New York, the only exchange there was—had suspended trading in WT shares until a full investigation could be completed. Those who held shares, including all the top executives of the company, were stuck in neutral on that one. However, all over Ottawa, one could find high-octane lawyers salivating at the prospect of billable hours in the thousands. This was bound to be a bonanza for them, no matter what the truth, or who won.
One fact emerged quickly, and if it didn't prevent ten heart attacks, it did provide a little bit of relief to the members of the executive committee. The money for the sale of controlling interest in the company was still in trust with the firm of Owen, Owen and Podborski, and that was where it would stay until all the lawyers were happy and the CSE investigation was completed. Financial gridlock was no fun for anyone, but it was better than bankruptcy or heavy losses. If the sale is tainted, they all thought, then it might well be stopped and nullified.
Chapter 53
OFF THE
HOOK
Thursday, March 17, 2033—12:51 p.m.
Gil Henderson sat in his plush office with his long-time secretary, Fiona Bledsoe, waiting for the next shoe to drop. Of course Fiona was supposed to be on a week off, but with the recent developments, there was no way she would be anywhere but at the side of her hero and friend. She had simply showed up for work today at her usual 8 a.m.—a little bit later than Gil would have preferred, truth be told.
The WDA knew when to bob and weave and execute a strategic retreat, but it had never actually feared anyone, or anything. To put a finer point on this, WDA strategists had never feared anything with the exception of worldwide defiance, and that had always been considered unimaginable ... until last Sunday. Corporations, even the biggest, were mere pipsqueaks compared to the WDA, as Whiteside Tech had recently been reminded, and individual persons were less than gnats. Gil Henderson had dared to suggest that the head of the WDA, Sheena Kalhoun, might be a murderer, so he found himself expecting her to use this occasion to bring the flyswatter down upon his puny head.
Now, my fourth announcement. There is an apparent contradiction between my LieDeck-verified profession of innocence last Monday, regarding the illness and subsequent death of Lester Connolly, and the facts and figures that were Netcast yesterday by New York Times reporter Gil Henderson. He purports to prove that I must have pre-recorded my message of sympathy the day Lester Connolly was diagnosed, because the message was made from my office at WDA headquarters in New York, and at the time that the doctors made their diagnosis, I was in fact thirty thousand feet in the air on Peace One, on my way to California. That's how Mr. Henderson said he could prove that I knew about Mr. Connolly's precise illness before it was even diagnosed ... or perhaps I should say that he suggested as much, just to be totally accurate.
Well, Mr. Henderson's calculations were correct, but his deducted conclusion was incorrect. I didn't make that Netcast from this office. I made it from aboard Peace One. It was done against a pitch black background, and my image was transmitted live to our WDA studios here in New York, where the background sounds of the plane's engines were digitally removed and the visual image of myself was digitally superimposed against an image of my office. Our PR personnel were merely trying to give citizens a satisfactory comfort zone—nothing more. Hundreds of bioIDed MIU files of these high-tech mixing and editing transactions exist, and eighty-one technicians were involved in this harmless deception. All of those MIU records are being made available for independent analysis, and all these technicians are being made available for independent LieDeck-verification. We're doing this so that you can all be absolutely certain that this is in fact what happened.
Still, my officials should have made that information available on the Net for those who might have been interested. They simply failed to anticipate that keeping it a secret might lead to a misunderstanding. Mr. Henderson is to be commended for figuring out the discrepancy, but as you can now see, it didn't prove what it seemed to prove. We owe all of you an apology for this merry mix-up, and here it is. I'm sorry. I mean that for everyone, of course, but especially for Gil Henderson, whose reputation and professional ethics have been doubted by various news organizations and of course by certain officials here at the WDA. Mr. Henderson, the fault was ours, and I apologize to you personally for any discomfort or any embarrassment you may have suffered as a result of our failure to be far more forthcoming with information about how that Netcast was accomplished back on February the—uh—February eight.
Now, returning to...
"You're still the king, Gil,” said Fiona to her boss and good friend. “Sheena Kalhoun just saved your butt ... our butts."
"Whew!” said Gil as his eyebrows slid up his forehead.
Chapter 54
PARTIAL VICTORY
Thursday, March 17, 2033—12:56 p.m.
Randy sat at the tacitly acknowledged head spot of USLUC's round boardroom table. At his left sat Yolanda “Lucky” Dees. There were elevated screens set into all four walls, so that everybody could see an MIU without effort. A hooded monk from the Canadian base of Jesus-E stood at each of the two doorways, and four more stood out in the hall, silently following the orders they'd been given to protect Randy and his new fiancée ... with their lives, if need be.
Last night had been glorious. Randy was beginning to think he knew what it meant to be “happily married,” and he liked not thinking and dreaming about golf all the damned time. He also knew, for the first time in his life, what it felt like to exercise power, and he absolutely loved that feeling. But now the Whiteside heir found himself outfoxed by the WDA.
During Sheena Kalhoun's first two announcements, the two lovers had done a little innocent hand-dancing under the table, with unconscious pauses at critical points, but the cancellation of Whiteside Tech's exclusive contract had been such a big bombshell that Randy hardly even heard the WDA chief's apology to Gil Henderson and the world. The hand-dancing came to an abrupt end. Randy knew that the sale of his WT shares wasn't a done deal yet, and now a salivating clutch of lawyers would be all over the transaction, maybe for years. He remembered a quote from ... who was that? Charles Lamb—yeah, Charles Lamb who said: “Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.” It was one of those “you cain't-live-without-'em” and “you cain't-shoot-'em-neither” conundrums.
Lucky put a hand on his thigh under the table—the hand with the “small-but-just-fine” diamond ring on it—and gave a squeeze. She had never cared about his wealth—that had been part of her initial appeal for Randy—and she didn't care if he was now suddenly reduced to financial ordinariness, like most of the rest of humankind. “Hey, we'll manage,” she whispered to him as he placed a sweaty palm on top of her hand.
No one had ever doubted Sheena Kalhoun's intelligence or her political savvy, and she was at her powerful best this day. Strangely, Randy found himself remembering his political science lessons, the two dozen historical versions he'd been given for the maxim “The best defense is a good offense,” and because he had over-studied for a test last fall, he had no trouble recalling their names. There was Aristotle, of course, and then Flavius Vegetius Renatus, George Washington, François de Salignac de la Mothe Fénelon (he'd nearly broken his brain learning that one) and ... a few others ... and ... Jack Dunn Jr., the current president of the United States. Of course Ms. Kalhoun has the best strategic minds in the world assisting her, Randy reminded himself as she continued on with her Netcast.
Now, returning to the question of USLUC, we are definitely not too impressed by the organization's call for worldwide civil disobedience, but what I will announce next has nothing to with that, and it has nothing to do with the pressure tactics that have been used for the last few years by LieDeck Unbanning Committees all over the world.
The WDA makes its decisions democratically, and rationally, and our deliberations take into account all the relevant factors, which includes but is not limited to what people want. In the privacy of the WDA Research Center, we have been studying the question of unbanning the LieDeck for several years. Earlier today, the General Assembly of the WDA met in full plenary session and unanimously adopted a new omnibus bill that I presented to them, and it includes a clause on that issue.
While Sheena Kalhoun paused and cleared her throat, Randy and Lucky squeezed each other's hands under the table, as glances of anticipation flew around the boardroom at USLUC headquarters. Whatever the WDA chief was about to say, it was bound to be historic, and bound to have a profound impact on USLUC, and on its hundreds of sister organizations in other nations.
Kalhoun stared at the camera lens.
As of now, at one p.m. today, in honor of the up-coming nineteenth anniversary of the founding of the WDA, the LieDeck is partially ... and I emphasize partially ... unbanned.
Kalhoun allowed the slightest of smiles to cross her rugged visage as she waited out the roar of approval that was surely now echoing all around the world. The members of the Board of USLUC weren't cheering,
but only because they were too stunned to react. A few graphic expressions of surprise were uttered around the circular table, but most of those present were shushing because they wanted to hear the small print, the meaning of the word “partially."
Will civilians be able to go out and buy their own LieDecks? No! Not yet, anyway. But with only a few restrictions, a civilian can make an appointment with a WDA agent, or catch an agent when she or he isn't too busy, and have anything LieDeck-verified. That's how it will work for now, and this is, of course, another free WDA service.
Agents will only use the pin mode of signaling for civilian LieDeck-verification—never the light or beeper modes—and you will have to accept the agent's word on things. Agents are ordered to give civilians the true result, of course—surely that goes without saying. The only area that cannot be subjected to LieDeck-verification is religious faith. The WDA has decreed that all faith must be considered a matter of free choice, and all professions of faith, no matter how alien or unlikely they may seem to others, must be honored and respected as being genuine ... as long as they don't denigrate other people, denigrate other faiths or condone violence, of course.
We feel that enough time has gone by since the Revolution to take this risk without any expectation that people will riot or commit suicide or generally go berserk like they did back in twenty fourteen. Nobody has to submit to any LieDeck-verification challenge, and it should not be seen as proof of your guilt if you simply refuse to be LieDeck-verified on any matter. Furthermore, if any agent smells trouble, she or he can refuse to do it, or they can postpone the LV session until it's sure that there's no mischievous or dangerous intent. And whenever an agent refuses to do a LieDeck-verification, any involved party can, of course, appeal to the courts and try and have that refusal overturned.