Once everybody was settled, I said to Sue, "Ready, milady."
Sue took us up to about a hundred feet and thirty miles per hour.
"Don't you want to know where we're going?" asked Davidson.
"She knows," I said.
Davidson looked ahead of us, saw that we were definitely heading toward her office, and glanced at Sue.
"Exactly how do you know where we're going?" she asked.
Sue called up a field datapad and turned it to face Davidson, then poked up a strip map of Ft. Bragg.
Once Davidson had gotten over the sudden appearance of the datapad, she asked, "Would you mind telling me where you got that map?"
"Not at all, Colonel," said Sue, "This map is over two years old and is on file in many libraries."
With a glance at the sergeant, Davidson said, "I see."
By then we were nearing her office. Sue set us down in the parking lot and we disembarked, then I stopped to key my implant and whisper, "Let's use the opaque canopy, Sue."
Sue nodded slightly and the fields surrounding the flitter instantly seemed to turn to stainless steel. Both Davidson and her guard took a pace back from the flitter.
"That's just a parking mode," I said.
Davidson nodded rather staringly.
"Elkor," I said, "I'd rather that Tiger didn't wander around here. Would you make him a platform?"
"Yes, Ed," said Elkor, then he morphed into a floating disk and spoke to Tiger, who jumped aboard and sat down.
I said, "Great. Thanks, Elkor," then turned to Davidson and said, "All set, ma'am."
As we were walking into her building, the Army sedan arrived and the other officers followed us in.
When we got to her office, Davidson ushered the rest of us in, then said to Copeland, "Thank you, Sergeant."
He saluted, gave the rest of us a long glance, and then left her office. At her request, Davidson's office clerk brought in a tray with coffee, cups, and condiments and set it on top of a short file cabinet, then left.
"Now," said Davidson, "Let's get comfortable and talk about why Colonel Meyer was delivered to his new post in a flitter."
"Well," I said, "It seemed convenient and I was stationed here a long time ago. Call it nostalgia. Curiosity about how things have changed."
Before Davidson could reply, Tiger said something and Elkor said, "Tiger wants to know if he may get down."
"Colonel?" I asked.
Even as she stared at Elkor, she nodded. "Yes. Of course."
"Okay," I said, "But tell him not to eat any of the plants."
Elkor spoke to Tiger, who jumped to the floor, then Elkor returned to his cat form and sat down on the coffee table to spend a few moments meeting Davidson's gaze.
Davidson eventually looked at me and said, "Okay. We'll say that nostalgia may have been a contributing factor, but I want to know why Col. Meyers was transferred here at all. I knew Col. Moffatt, the man he's replacing. Moffatt was in the middle of a routine two-year assignment here when he suddenly received a posting to the Pentagon."
"Kent said that he received his transfer orders without warning or explanation, too, ma'am."
"And he decided to use his leave to visit his aunt and uncle instead of his parents or anyone else? His aunt and uncle who just happen to live in your neighborhood?"
"I take it you don't buy it, either?"
She laughed softly. "No, but I'm paid to be suspicious."
Davidson sipped her coffee and regarded me for a moment, then said to Sue, "It's hard to believe you're a computer. Where's the rest of you? Aboard the flitter?"
Sue said, "Yes. I use this form for convenient interaction with people."
Nodding, Davidson's eyes met Steph's.
"And you're a computer, too?"
"Yes, I am," said Steph.
"Why does the flitter require more than one computer?"
"It doesn't," I said. "Steph and Elkor are friends of mine. Only Sue is involved with flitter operations."
"I see," said Davidson, her eyes meeting mine for some moments. "May I ask why one of your friends appears as a cat and the others appear as women?"
Shrugging, I said, "Personal preferences."
"Theirs, or yours?"
"Both. In Sue's case, if she later decides she'd rather be a man, I'll get a new pilot program."
Davidson's eyes narrowed. "You'd erase her?"
"No, I'd just get a new program and she'd get a new job."
Looking at Sue, Davidson asked, "Do you have any feelings about that?"
"None negative," said Sue. "I have a female persona because I was assigned to his flitter, but I was allowed to design my appearance and I rather like it."
When Davidson's eyes met Steph's, Steph said, "I am as I choose to be."
Nodding silently, Davidson gave us all another sweeping look. Tiger jumped onto her desk, moved to stand nose-to-nose with her for a moment, then flopped on her calendar blotter.
Recoiling slightly, she said, "Ahh... Excuse me, little one, but uniforms tend to attract animal hair like magnets."
"No problem," said Sue. "I can remove it." At Davidson's skeptical glance, she said, "Really. No problem."
Half an hour of coffee and discussion later, Kent arrived. He went through the motions of reporting to Davidson, then she told him to be at ease and join us. He got a coffee and sat down in one of the sofa chairs in her office.
Davidson turned to face us and said, "Colonel Meyer is close enough to my own rank and the rest of you are civilians, so I'm going to bend the rules a bit. I'm Sandra and we'll use first names in private, if nobody minds."
"Fine with me," I said.
"I'm okay with it," said Kent.
Sue shrugged and Steph nodded.
"Good," said Sandra, then she turned to Kent. "Stephanie said you've been given something called a PFM. May I see it?"
Kent nodded and took off his jacket, then rolled up his left sleeve to display the PFM.
"PFM detach," he said, then he handed it to Davidson.
She studied it intently as he said, "She says it's a prototype. I've already flown with it in hang glider mode. With it, I won't need an issue parachute and I'm told I won't need body armor. It's tuned to me, so nobody else can use it."
Looking at me, Sandra asked, "No body armor?"
"Its protective field will stop or turn most regular small-arms fire," I said. "It'll also stand up to radiation, chemicals, biologicals, and fire."
Kent said, "You didn't say anything about that."
"Figured I'd get the chance sooner or later."
Flicking my knife open as I said, "Five suit on," I drew the blade across my hand, then offered the blade to Kent.
"Try it," I said. "It won't cut me."
After a glance at Sandra, Kent shook his head.
"Then try to cut my shirt."
He did so, making an effort to pinch some of the fabric away from me. His fingers couldn't quite reach it. Sandra also tried to feel my shirt.
Her amazement at the gap between her fingers and the shirt caused her to try several times, then she took the knife from Kent and held my hand still as she dragged the blade across my palm.
"Try yours, Kent," I said. "Just say 'p-field on'."
He did so and took the knife from Sandra, then seemed to have difficulty deciding just where to try to cut himself. He settled for his forearm and pushed the point against his field. It stopped a quarter-inch from his skin. He carefully pushed a bit harder, but couldn't penetrate the field.
"Damn," he muttered, then he handed me my knife.
After another moment of studying the PFM, Sandra looked at me and asked, "Does the Army know about this device?"
"It does now. Kent has one and you've seen it."
Looking at Kent, she asked, "Did you clear this with the brass?"
"Not yet," he said, "It was a weekend."
She looked up and said, "Well, you'll have to get it cleared by brigade or above before you use it to fly on t
his post."
"Got a video camera?" I asked.
She looked at me and said, "I could probably scare up the one we used when you arrived. Why do we need it?"
"I could give an impromptu PFM demonstration. You could tape it. That might help bypass some of the usual skepticisms and trepidations and Kent could do a live demo later."
Davidson gave me a wry grin and asked, "Doesn't 'impromptu' traditionally mean 'without preparation'?"
"Ma'am?" I replied, attempting to appear mystified by her question.
"I noted Kent's time in service," she said, "I also noted the expiration date on his ID." Turning to Steph, she said, "You spoke of starting a PFM company. Should I assume you've already offered Kent a position of some sort?"
Steph nodded. "I have."
Nodding herself, Sandra turned to me and said, "So the word 'impromptu' doesn't really apply at all, does it?"
"Well, you could pretend you don't know about PFM's and Kent could surprise you by jumping off the flitter."
After a moments' thought, she said, "No. If there's any fallout from this, I wouldn't be able to deny knowledge under oath. On the other hand, they'd understand fairly readily if a civilian failed to realize that he should ask permission before using his PFM on a military installation, so don't ask."
I nodded. "Yeah, 'the civilian failed to realize' would probably cover it well enough."
"We'll pick up a unit camera on the way to the parking lot," she said. "We'll say we intended to record the flitter flight and film from the time we step aboard until we land. That ought to be enough fill and cover."
And thus it was. Sergeant Copeland again joined us and we rose to three thousand feet before I dove over the edge of the deck and said, "Parasail on green." My launch was accompanied by a yell from Tiger as he also launched and a shout from Copeland, who somehow hadn't been informed that anyone would be bailing out.
Circling, I caught a glimpse of Tiger's green wings on the far side of the flitter.
I keyed my implant and asked, "Sue, how's everybody taking it?"
"Well enough," she said. "They're all on their feet and the camera's on you. I'll stay within a hundred yards of you."
"Sounds good. I'll switch to the kite near the ground. If they have any questions after that, Kent can handle them."
After some time under the parasail, I said, "Glider on green," and circled the parade field across from Davidson's office twice, then flared on approach, turned off my kite, and dropped perhaps two feet to the ground.
Sue retrieved Tiger, then brought the flitter to within a few feet of me. When the flitter landed, Sandra hopped off and kept the camera on me as she quick-marched up to me.
"Any last words?" she asked. "The battery's low."
Shrugging, I said, "Sure. PFM's are a helluva lot of fun."
She laughed. "That's it?"
I tried to look thoughtful, then said, "Yup. That's just my 'civilian' point of view, of course."
Turning off the camera, she handed it to Copeland, who was staring at me. He seemed to do a lot of that; he kind of reminded me of a very alert Doberman, but in his line of work, that wasn't a bad thing at all.
She asked, "What do you think of PFM's, Sergeant?"
He instantly responded, "If a cat can do it, anyone can. I'd try one right now, ma'am."
Davidson smilingly nodded and said, "Me, too."
Walking up behind her with Sue, Stephanie asked, "Do you mean that?"
Both turned to face her.
"Yes," said Davidson. "I meant it."
"Me, too, ma'am," said Copeland.
"In that case," said Steph, "Please stand by for a moment. Ed, would you join me aboard the flitter?"
Steph disappeared and reappeared by the flitter's console. I looked at Sandra and Copeland and shrugged, then followed her aboard.
"What's up, milady?"
"I just want this to appear to be a major decision."
Chuckling, I asked, "Then it isn't, I take it?"
She returned my grin.
"Not really. I believe in redundancy and something could happen to Kent. Col. Davidson is at a point in her career very similar to Kent's. 'Up or out' is the Army's policy, even when there's no 'up' currently available. Using a PFM may gain her enough notoriety to open a general's slot later, but if that doesn't happen, I could hire her when she retires."
"And Copeland? Why does he need one?"
Shrugging, Steph said, "He goes where she goes. I noticed that they seem to have a bond."
Nodding, I said, "Yeah, I think you read that right. If she expressed an interest in visiting hell, he'd grab his gear and get the door for her."
Steph nodded and we shared a grin as two bright flashes arced across the parade field and a pair of PFM's came to rest in Steph's hands. She stepped gracefully off the flitter instead of disappearing and reappearing and held the PFM's out to Sandra and Copeland, who took them from her in an almost reverent manner as Kent grinningly watched.
"Col. Davidson," said Steph, "Sergeant Copeland. These PFM's are being issued to you for demonstration purposes. They will not function for anyone else. I'll require a signed receipt from each of you -- and from you, Col. Meyer -- so that I'll be able to write them off my taxes..."
Copeland blurted, "You pay taxes?"
"Once my company is operational," continued Steph, "Of course I will." Turning to me, she said, "Ed, I have an appointment elsewhere, so I'll leave matters to you."
With a mock salute, I said, "See you later, milady."
Steph smiled, said goodbye to all, and then disappeared. Copeland looked toward the flitter, possibly expecting her to reappear there and fly away in it, but Sandra looked at me.
For long seconds neither of them spoke, then Sandra said, "She could have issued these to Green Berets or regular airborne personnel. Why didn't she?"
Shrugging slightly, I said, "She doesn't tell me everything, but one possible reason is that Kent showed up at the right time. You were a reasonable backup candidate, and Sgt. Copeland goes where you go, unless we read him wrong."
"Backup candidate?"
"Yup. If Kent doesn't stay in, current plans have him joining Steph's company. You're a light colonel, so you'll probably soon be facing a rank-ceiling, too, and I think Steph'll make you the same kind of offer if the Army won't cough up a star. In the meantime, you're all good choices for demonstrating PFM's; possibly better choices than people from elite outfits."
Sandra met my gaze in silence for a moment, then Kent looked up from studying his PFM and said, "I'd like to know more about that protective field."
Sue suggested that we go back to the office, where during the next hour or so she showed them on a large datapad screen some of the tests that had been performed.
None of them seemed to have any reservations about contraception. Kent and Sandra were childless career types. Copeland had three kids in Georgia and wanted no more.
After show and tell, it was near enough to noon that Sandra suggested we do something about lunch. Copeland bowed out, saying that he had a few things to take care of, so the rest of us went to the Officer's Club and discussed my availability for further demonstrations once the PFM's had been approved.
Sandra offered me a tour of Ft. Bragg, but I demurred. I'd already seen how much the common areas had changed and just couldn't seem to dig up much interest in revisiting other points around the post that would also undoubtedly have changed considerably over the years.
Kent and Sandra walked us to the flitter and Sue and I made our goodbyes, then we lifted on a course back to Florida.
Chapter Sixty-Four
At five until three, I called up a datapad and poked Linda's 'flapping lips' icon. She answered almost immediately.
"Hi, Ed. How was Ft. Bragg?"
Sighing, I said, "Jeez. That's how it is when you work for an ex-spook, huh? Lemme guess; someone spotted a flitter."
"You got it. They also said you and Tiger did some flying."
&n
bsp; "Yup. He's got his own PFM. Linda, you remember that science fiction convention I told you about? The one on the fifteenth?"
"Vaguely. What about it?"
"How about telling me you're going to want me at Carrington that weekend?"
In a tone of vast surprise, Linda asked, "You want me to provide you a way out of a weekend date with Selena? Are you feeling all right, Ed?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Linda. Sel's mother rescheduled her surgery for the fifteenth."
Linda's surprise deepened visibly as her mouth opened.
After a moment, she said softly, "Jesus, Ed. Joanie must really hate you."
With a little shrug, I said, "Yeah, could be. How about it?"
Linda cocked her head and asked, "So you're really just trying to give Selena a way out?"
"Yup. I also want to fix it so I won't be the reason if Selena's not there when her mom goes under the knife."
Nodding, Linda said, "Well, it's for a good cause, so okay. Be here that weekend, Ed. I'll find something for you to do when you get here. Are we even yet?"
Pretending to count thoughtfully on my fingers, I said, "Nope. I figure you still owe me two, but they're little ones."
She grinned. "I never should have let you keep score, damn it. Need anything else today?"
"Nope. Thanks, milady."
"You're welcome. Later, Ed."
Linda disconnected and I kept the pad up for a call to Selena. Sue seemed puzzled.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Does Linda really owe you anything, or were you joking?"
"Just joking."
"I couldn't tell, Ed. That bothers me."
"Some jokes are like that. Don't sweat it."
I checked my watch. Almost three.
Poking in Selena's cell phone number, I said, "You're new at reading people, Sue. Give it some time."
When Selena answered, I said, "Hi, there, most wondrous redheaded woman. Got time to talk? I have a problem."
"Hi, Ed. I'm on my way to class. What's up?"
Sighing as if disappointed, I said, "Linda just told me I'll be at Carrington during the convention weekend."
"What? Why?"
"She just said she'd have something for me to do. That probably means she hasn't got it all set up yet."
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