3rd World Products, Inc., Book 4

by Ed Howdershelt

  "No damn doubt," he said, eyeballing my glider and thumping a wing with his undamaged knuckles. "Why you askin' my flits for a lift? Were's Stephie?"

  "She's training someone on range nine. A Dr. Mills. You'll probably be hearing about Mills, too, if she joins one of the teams."

  He grunted a short laugh and said, "Oh, I already have, man. Team two voted not to mess with her a-tall. Word is she's a real bitch."

  I shrugged, jostling the weightless kite. "Yeah, well, she can be damned difficult, Leo. Glider off."

  The kite disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Leo's eyes narrowed.

  "You sure that damned thing's safe, Ed?"

  "Already been up with it," I said with a nod. "Works fine."

  "Uh, huh. You're really gonna jump off at four thousand feet?"

  "Yup. Look at it this way, Leo... After the first five hundred feet or so it doesn't really matter anymore anyway, right?"

  Leo shook his head and said, "Huh. You must be wearin' a ten-gallon jockstrap to be doin' shit like that."

  Laughing, I said, "What would you say if I told you that a good-looking blonde is probably using one of these over range nine at this very moment?"

  As he turned to walk back to the benches, he said, "Well, then, she's wearin' one, too, as far as I'm concerned. Gimme a minute to get this stuff off my hands and call Spence to watch the shop and I'll come with you. I wanna see this."

  When we neared range nine some five minutes later Leo pointed at the sky ahead of us and said, "I think I see her."

  Myra was using a thermal to stay more or less at the same altitude as she made lazy, slow circles above the range. I guessed her altitude at around three thousand. As she banked her emerald kite Leo muttered, "Jesus..."

  "Flitter one," I said, "I'd like you to take us up where the other glider is. No closer than one hundred yards, though."

  "Yes, sir."

  Turning to Leo as we ascended, I said, "Stop and say hello to Steph before you go, Leo."

  He nodded distractedly as he watched Myra. When we were in position, I softly said, "Glider on," and ran off the deck. Leo shouted and grabbed at me, but I was off the flitter before he could reach me.

  A glance back showed me Leo staring openmouthed as I drifted away from the flitter. I took my left hand off the guide bar to wave at him, then aimed myself in Myra's general direction. Poor Leo. I'd kind of neglected to mention that my kite might not be visible when I jumped.

  In lieu of other instructions, the flitter remained near us. When I looked again, Leo had parked his butt in the pilot's seat. He sat watching us in awe, leaning his elbows on his knees, his hands dangling.

  When I got close enough to Myra, I yelled, "Myra! That's Leo on the flitter! Next time around, say hi to him! He thinks you're kind of special!"

  "Okay!"

  I banked to glide near the flitter and yelled, "Hey, Leo! You wanna try this?"

  He shook his head and grinningly yelled, "No way in hell!"

  Myra had lost some altitude trying to bank to meet us and had to circle once to regain it. She managed that, then swooped past us yelling, "Hiiiii, Leeooo!"

  Leo stared after her for a moment, then shook his head again and waved as he muttered, "Goodbye, crazy people. One, take me down to the other flitter."

  I head the flitter say, "Yes, sir," as it began to descend.

  Keying my implant, I said, "Hi, Steph."

  "Hi, Ed. I see Leo came with you."

  "Yup. I bummed a ride out here with flitter one. Leo likes Dr Pepper, ma'am."

  "I'll offer him one."

  "Any problems with Mills?"

  "No. She's performing very well, in fact. We may finish the range by four."

  "Good. I guess I'll just flap around up here 'till it's time to take her back, milady."

  "Okay, Ed."

  Flit one neared Steph and Mills and Leo waved as the two flitters seemed almost to touch. He stepped across, shook hands with Steph, then Mills, and sat talking with Steph as Mills continued the course. After a few minutes, Leo stepped back aboard his flitter and left.

  After an hour or so of playing skytag with Myra and circling upward in the thermal I realized that I was getting kind of thirsty and that the thrill was gone for the day. It happens; all of a sudden you realize that you'd rather be doing something else, even if you don't really know what.

  Myra was on the other side of the thermal column when I said, "glider off," and began to free-fall. She banked sharply, flew straight at me for a moment, and then her kite disappeared and her parasail appeared.

  At about fifteen hundred feet I called up my own parasail and let it kill my speed, then called up my glider and landed at the staging area. When I tried the break building's restroom door, it was locked, of course.

  I tried the ladies room door. Also locked. No trees, no bushes. Rather than call up a screening field within sight of Myra, I walked around the building and dampened the wall, then went back out front just as Myra flared on approach and touched down.

  She also headed for the ladies room door and found it locked. Glancing around, she seemed distressed. I flicked my knife open and tried to pry the latch back, but it wouldn't move.

  "Sorry," I said, "No luck."

  Myra gave me a wry look and a sigh, then said, "Back in a few," and headed around the building where I'd been.

  The drink machine on the porch didn't have tea or Dr Pepper, I discovered. I settled for something else and sat on the steps. Some minutes later Myra returned and also bought a canned drink before sitting beside me.

  "I tried my parasail on the way down," she said. "It's kind of cool to be able to switch back and forth like that, isn't it?"

  I nodded and positioned my drink can on my knee as I checked out her legs again. Nice. Very nice. I took another sip, then leaned on the porch rail as I watched Steph and Mills in the distance.

  "Yeah, it's okay," I said, wishing I could reach up for my briefcase.

  Myra took note of my tone and asked, "What's the matter, Ed?"

  Shrugging, I said, "Just got bored all of a sudden. Ready to do something else."

  She goggled mildly at me. "You got bored? With what? Flying?"

  "Yeah, that, too, I guess. Just bored in general. I should have brought a book."

  In truth, I had one; I just couldn't reach for it with Myra around. She shook her head in bewilderment and sipped her drink, then leaned against the other rail and stretched her legs down the steps. I knew she was watching me as I let my eyes travel from her ankles to her thighs, but she said nothing.

  "Thanks for wearing shorts today," I said with a small grin.

  She'd been sipping her drink in apparent nonchalance and snorted a giggle that almost made her choke. Once she'd stopped coughing we talked for close to half an hour about nothing much until Steph brought the flitter to a stop in front of us.

  "Dr. Mills has satisfactorily completed the course," said Steph.

  Myra and I stepped aboard the flitter. Myra sat down and quietly congratulated Mills; I said nothing as I took my seat, but when Mills turned to face me, I nodded.

  "Steph says you passed and that's good enough for me. Time to head back."

  Mills simply looked at me for a moment, then turned to face front as the flitter lifted. I tapped my watch on. Linda answered after a few moments.

  "Hi, Ed. What's up?"

  "Mills is finished out here. Where do you want her?"

  "Bring her to the office. This has to go in her file. We'll have about an hour before dinner. Does Stephanie want to use it for her announcement?"

  I looked at Steph. She shrugged.

  "If you can get everybody together," I said, "That's fine."

  "Angela is here going over something with Anna. I'll call Emory. See you shortly."

  "Okay." I clicked off.

  "What announcement?" asked Mills.

  "Steph wants to tell Linda something," I said.

  With a glance at Steph, she asked, "Something about
me?"

  "No," I said, "It isn't about you."

  She eyed me as if to ascertain the truth, then asked, "Then what is it?"

  As the flitter pulled up to the front doors, I said, "We're here. You can ask Linda whether you can sit in on the meeting," and rose to disembark with Myra. Mills got up and watched narrowly as I handed Steph down, then Myra, then she stepped over and hopped down without accepting my hand.

  Mills led the way at a march step; the rest of us ambled along at a more relaxed pace. At Linda's door, Mills turned to see us some distance away and hesitated as she reached for the door handle, then waited for us to join her before opening the door.

  Anna handed Angela some papers which Angela took into Linda's office as we entered the room.

  "Hi, all," said Anna. "Go on in."

  The door opened again behind us and Wallace walked in.

  "Okay," he said cheerfully. "I'm here. We can start the meeting now."

  After everyone was seated, Linda gestured at Mills and said, "First, congratulations to Dr. Mills for completing range training in three days."

  Wallace gave Mills a mildly surprised look and a grin as he led the others in a smattering of applause, then noted that nobody else in the room seemed particularly enthused, including Mills. He subsided with a somewhat confused shrug.

  "Now," said Linda, "Stephanie has something to say." She gestured to Steph and said, "You have the floor, Stephanie."

  Steph stood up and simply said, "PFM's have no moving parts, they will never wear out or need repair, and they operate on power from a broadcasting source. They will also prevent conception while worn."

  Mills looked absolutely shocked. Linda raised an eyebrow and waited to see if there'd be more.

  Myra, Angela, and Wallace looked startled as hell, then Wallace laughed weakly, "Oh, that was a good one, Stephanie. You got us all."

  "I'm not joking," said Steph. "PFM's will prevent conception while worn."

  Wallace sat very still and muttered, "Ho-ly shit," as he met Linda's gaze.

  Myra stared at Steph. Angela looked at her PFM, then her eyes again settled on Steph.

  A good five seconds of total silence went by before Myra asked, "Did you know this when you issued them to us?"

  "Yes," said Steph.

  "Oh, my God..." said Myra. She stared at the PFM on her arm for a moment, then asked, "Is it permanent? Oh, hell, is there anything else we should know about them?"

  "No," said Steph, "And conception is prevented only while the PFM is being worn and for approximately one week after it has been removed. That will vary slightly among wearers. There's an excellent reason for this, I assure you."

  Mills stood up and acidly said, "I'm afraid we'll require more than your assurances."

  Linda said, "Dr. Mills." When Mills looked at her, she said, "It seems fairly obvious that she intends to explain matters."

  Turning to Steph, Mills said, "So start explaining. Please."

  With a nod, Steph said, "I included male and female contraceptive capabilities in order to prevent an unavoidable overpopulation of Earth within three generations."

  She caused two field screens to appear and displayed graphs to illustrate her calculations, showing population growth without the introduction of PFM's to the general populace on one screen and population growth with PFM's on the other.

  When she was finished explaining normal human attrition rates and the effects of a lack of them, Steph simply stopped talking and sat down.

  For some moments everybody was as quiet as stones, then Mills asked, "You don't mind if we try to verify some of those... estimates of yours for ourselves, do you?"

  "I had no doubt that you would," said Steph. Looking around the room, she asked, "Does anyone here wish to return her -- or his -- PFM?"

  Nobody spoke or moved until Angela asked, "Is the contraception optional at all?"

  Shaking her head slightly, Steph said, "No, it is not optional. In order to be fair to all, everyone who wears a PFM will be subject to the contraceptive effect."

  Linda said, "I'm not sure 3rd World will go for this, Stephanie."

  Steph looked at her and flatly said, "If they want to market PFM's, they will."

  Mills snorted. "Why? Because you designed them?" She laughed and asked, "Who the hell are you to be deciding whether people will have children?"

  I started to snap at Mills, but Steph raised a hand and I held my tongue.

  "Dr. Mills," said Steph in a cool tone, "My calculations are the reason 3rd World won't object to contraceptive PFM's. No other reasons are necessary."

  After a long glare at Steph, then one at me, Mills stood up.

  "I've heard enough," she said. "This is ludicrous. People aren't going to agree to trade off their reproductive futures for these... these things. These toys."

  "Toys?" asked Wallace, a note of amazement in his voice. "Hardly. I spent the morning in a lab, Mills. My protective field can deflect baseball bats, fire axes, and bullets. Nothing got through it, not even an argon laser. Toys they aren't."

  He stood up and said, "I've heard you have some kind of problem with Ed and Steph, Mills. Don't let it screw up your thinking. I've seen population figures like those before."

  "Seen them where?" asked Mills sharply. "In a supermarket scandal tabloid?"

  "Enough, please," said Linda, cutting off Wallace's answer. "Dr. Mills, I expect a more open mind in a senior lab official. Stephanie's very good with numbers, so don't automatically disregard her calculations."

  Almost too softly to be heard, Angela said, "I'll keep mine." When we looked at her, she steeled herself against all the rank and tension in the room and again, in a louder voice, said, "I said I'll keep mine. With one of these I won't need my pills anymore, and I hate pills."

  "Same here," said Myra with a nod as she stroked her PFM. "I hate the side effects, but I don't trust anything else. How will they decide who gets these things first?"

  Before Steph could answer, I said, "Money. Same as always. Some from individuals, some from social service organizations, some from the government. Raising funds will give them time to think things over, too, but I know some women at a Florida battered women's shelter and clinic who'll be thrilled to get their hands on PFM's, contraceptive or not."

  Mills actually rose and took a couple of enraged steps in my direction before Linda's sharp, "Mills!" stopped her.

  Linda said, "I know Ed too well to think he's speaking from greed. He's helped that shelter extensively and he made their website. I think he was simply expressing an opinion about their level of interest." She stood up behind her desk and said, "You've been building up to something for days, Mills. What is it about these two that bugs you?"

  With a narrow gaze at Linda, Mills said, "It's rather personal. I'd prefer not..."

  "I'm not asking what you'd prefer," said Linda. "I want to know about your very obvious problem with Ed and Stephanie, and if you can't get it out in the open here and now, you could be looking for another job soon. Is that clear enough?"

  Stiffening, Mills said, "Oh, Yes. Very clear. I just never expected you, of all people, to put concealing an old friend's... indiscretions... above 3rd World's interests." She turned to point at Steph as she said, "I think he's sleeping with that... that thing."

  Wallace glanced at me with a fat grin and his eyes moved to Steph. Linda raised an eyebrow at his reaction and left the eyebrow up as she looked at me. Before I could say anything, she raised a hand and returned her glaring gaze to Mills.

  In frozen tones Linda said, "I fail to see how that would be against 3rd World's interests. How is what they do in private your business? Or ours?"

  Shocked, Mills asked, "You condone it?!"

  "IF they're sleeping together, I'd call it their privilege. They'd be hurting nobody, least of all 3rd World. Why the hell do you care, Mills?"

  "I can't believe I'm hearing this!" Shaking her head in frustrated rage, Mills almost shouted, "She's not even human, damn it!"

>   Linda shrugged and said, "So? Sometimes I wonder about him, too. They'd probably be a good match."

  Wallace laughed shortly and grinned when Linda looked his way.

  Returning her gaze to Mills, Linda said flatly, "Mills, let's hear it. Who appointed you to be anybody's damned Guardian of Morality? What gives you the right to give a damn whether he's sleeping with Stephanie?"

  "Oh, for God's sake!" exclaimed Mills. "Even you? You're referring to this goddamned computer hologram as if it were a real person!"

  I stood up. When Linda's gaze met mine, I held up a hand to take the floor.

  "Linda," I said, "We've all met this kind of blindness before. You won't change her mind, so let's just move on -- or return -- to other things."

  "In a minute, Ed." She faced Mills and said, "Dr. Mills. Listen to me very carefully, please. Your attitude most closely resembles blatant racism, so I'll respond to it as such. You and all others under my influence and control will treat all AI's as you would treat human beings, effective immediately. You -- or anyone else -- will be fired for discrimination the first time you fail to do so. For that matter, a company-wide memo on this subject will go out tonight."

  For a moment Mills simply stared at Linda, then she said, "You aren't in a position to set company-wide policies."

  "I'll second it now," said Wallace, "And 3rd's top brass will back it immediately. It's time to shut up while you still have a job, Mills."

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Mills looked at Wallace for a moment, then at me, Steph, and finally at Linda. She snatched her purse from the chair and walked to the door without a word, but Linda called her name as Mills reached to open the door.

  "Dr. Mills."

  When Karen turned half around to look at her, Linda said, "This meeting isn't over. Walking out that door will be considered a resignation without due notice."

  In an icy tone, Karen said, "Fine. You won't get the satisfaction of firing me," then she opened the door and walked into the anteroom.

  Linda pushed a button under her desk. When Mills reached the outer office door, it wouldn't open.

  Pushing a button on her phone, Linda said, "Connor, send an escort team to my office immediately, please."