“Douche,” Shalie said under her breath as she approached. She was back to her khaki shorts and tight tee.
“Agreed,” Callum answered. “What’s wrong? Your date go wrong?”
The scientist frowned. “We never quite got there. You kicked Nick and his daughter out of the facility, remember?”
“Oh yah, sorry,” Callum mumbled. That wasn’t quite accurate. The girl and her father had wanted to leave. He hadn’t exactly exiled them. He tried to recover. “Is there something I can do for you?”
“No,” Shalie said. “I just came to deliver the bad news in person.”
Callum’s heart sank. He’d had enough bad news for a year. “Could you get in line?”
“We lost six robots in the tank. Another crushed his spine trying rescue the Great White and yet another two were swept out to sea.”
Well, if that was all, it wasn’t that bad. They could buy new robots. So what was Shalie so worried about?
“And?” he asked.
“That means we are nine robots down,” Shalie said as if he couldn’t do simple math in his head.
“And?” he prompted again.
“We don’t have enough robots now to facilitate an evacuation if needed.”
Again, Callum sighed. “They were the third layer of protection in that event. We should be fine.”
Shalie looked to the monitors showing the cyclone raging outside and half the buildings without their roofs, then to the Hammerheads enclosure that no longer held any Hammerheads sharks.
Not a great omen.
“You put in those layers of protection for a reason, Callum,” Shalie reminded him.
“Yes, but I think we’re good. Like you said the infrastructure is holding up nicely.”
Shalie flashed a smile but it seemed forced. “You’re right. But that isn’t it.”
“Great, what are you going to tell me now?” Callum laughed harshly. “The robots are in rebellion?”
Shalie looked down at her feet, twisting the toe of her work boot on the steel floor. “Now that you mention it.”
“I was joking,” Callum said, not feeling like laughing now.
“Not rebellion per se…”
“Then per what?” Callum asked.
The scientist shrugged. Usually he found her head cocked to the side incredibly cute and endearing, right now it just made a knot in his stomach.
“Well, they kind of understand their own mortality…” Shalie indicated to the Great White shark cruising on the monitor.
“At her hands?”
Shalie nodded. “They are just asking for the sleds and a well thought out schematic on how to proceed. They aren’t refusing to help.”
“Well, isn’t that bloody kind of them,” Callum snorted. He wanted to say a whole hell of a lot more, but this was Shalie. He bit his lip, literally. “So what is the plan?”
“I’m going to try and fix the damaged QX to bring us up to 9 total robots and once the storm passes, I’m hoping to get some telemetry on those robots lost to sea.”
“I’m sure you’ll make do,” Callum said, however it had the opposite effect he had hoped. Instead of feeling his trust in her, Shalie’s frown drew her lips practically to her chin. His instinct was to reach out and touch her arm, but he didn’t. No matter how much he wanted to. They had a good working relationship. A better relationship than any romantic relationship he’d ever had. And look how crappy his last serious relationship had turned out. She’d fled all the way back to America to get away from him. He couldn’t risk that with Shalie.
He’d interviewed nearly a hundred robotic engineers for her position. Every other one of them had either been a geek boy. Immature. Sloppy. Or some old guy that was constantly reciting the Foundation series. Shalie was the only one that seemed to get what the park was all about and could actually help in other areas than just the tech side. She brought a welcome feminine perspective to the place.
So instead of reaching out, he just nodded as Shalie turned to the door. She looked over her shoulder once. He grinned back, but nothing more.
He had a park to run.
* * *
Dillon wore the darkest pair of jeans he owned and black tee-shirt, he hoped that the QXs didn’t mind. He didn’t exactly have a nice suit for a robot funeral.
Shalie was also in a dark dress standing at a small stand to hold a piece of paper.
“I’m not sure what to say,” she started, her tone flagging. “But I can talk about how much I enjoyed working with both 14 and 9. They were steadfast in their devotion to Salechii and I hope that they knew how much I and everyone here appreciated their work.”
She stood there for another moment, went to open her mouth then closed it again. Abruptly she stepped away from the podium. Dillon figured it was his turn.
“14 had a great sense of humor. He really got that pie in the face joke for my birthday.”
Several of the robots grinned. Not a full smile like QX did, but it still seemed like they got what Dillon was trying to say.
“And 9. 9 was crazy good with computers. He fixed over a half a dozen glitches that were supposedly going to take a guy coming out from Stockholm to fix. He was rad. All the way rad. I’m going to miss him.”
Dillon hadn’t thought he was going to get so emotional at a QX’s memorial. But he could feel himself choking up. He wasn’t lying. He was going to miss poor 9.
Quax came up next to Dillon so he stepped aside.
“Brothers,” Quax said, “And one robot going through a sexual reassignment reboot, I stand here heartbroken that our ranks have been so decimated.” Quax stepped out around the podium and strode amongst his fellow robots. His tail, tapped each on the shoulder. “I tried to warn you all. Human and QX alike. But none heeded my words and I am so sad that they came to fruition.”
One of the QXs, Dillon thought it was #1 stepped forward. “You are right Quax, we did not listen to your warnings and for that we are all sorry. We are only glad that 14 and 9 knew their EI chip before they were unnaturally taken from us.”
Quax nodded. “From now on, safety first is not only a human watch word, but a QX motto as well. “Safety first.”
It was a little eerie to hear the other robots repeat the words over and over again in a chant.
“Go forth and be safe,” Quax said. The other robots stomped a foot in unison, shaking the small room, turned on their heel and exited the door.
Dillon stepped forward and offered his hand to Quax. “Beautiful ceremony, man.”
“Thank you. It’s my first.”
“You could never tell, bro,” Dillon reassured the QX then noticed Shalie over in the corner turned away from them. He crossed over to her.
“Hey, you okay?”
“What have I done?” Shalie asked.
“What do you mean? It was a perfect service. Not too long, not too short.”
“No, I mean about having to have a service at all. Before I modified Quax’s chip, They didn’t know fear, or loss or grief. What have I cursed them with?”
Dillon put his hand on Shalie’s back. That’s what he always did when his mom was upset. “They don’t see it as that. They see it as a blessing.”
“Are you sure?’
Dillon looked over his shoulder at Quax. He was pretty sure that the QX wouldn’t mind him sharing this information given the situation.
“Quax asked me if he was ever incapacitated and the company was threatening to take away his EI chip, to pull it and hide it until it was safe. That’s how much that chip means to him.”
“And the others?” Shalie asked.
“The others could have asked you right here and now to take it out and none of them did, even the sexual reassignment robot,” Dillon commented. “And what is up with that?”
Shalie snorted. “I have no idea. The robots aren’t even supposed to have sexual assignments. That EI chip really has taken on a life of its own.”
Dillon patted her on the back. She seemed a whole lot
better than when they started the conversation.
“So…” Dillon paused suddenly not so sure he wanted to ask the question.
“Yes?” Shalie asked, wiping away the tears.
“So, if a girl, through her father, asks a robot if a guy has a girlfriend, does that mean she likes him?”
“I assume we are talking about Nami, Nick and Quax?”
Dillon nodded his head. He was pretty sure the grilled cheese sandwich had sealed the deal, then she seemed to enjoy his home away from home, but who could really tell with a girl. They were so freaking confusing.
“Not exactly the normal gauge,” Shalie chuckled. “But from what I’ve seen, yes, Nami likes you.”
“Great, great,” Dillon said. “All I needed to know!” and then he was out the door planning his next move.
CHAPTER 10
Nick rose with a start. He breathed heavily as he tried to orient himself to his room. Only it wasn’t a room, it was a lagoon. Fish swam before his eyes. Not in an allegorical way, but a real way. Yet he could breathe. How could he breathe if he was underwater?
And where was that dream? The one where he and Shalie actually had dinner and it went so well, he had a PG-13 evening?
Then another sharp knock came at the door. Door. Okay, if there was a door and a knock, he couldn’t be underwater. Then it hit him. Shark park. Right. He was staying at the shark park. Okay, now everything made a lot more sense. He rolled over to find the clock blinking four forty five am.
That did not make any sense. Who the hell was bothering him before five am on his vacation? He staggered up, grabbed a sheet to wrap around his waist and made it to the door as the person on the other side kept emphatically knocking.
Why was he surprised when he found Jack the Shark Hunter on the other side?
“Come on, funakalo, let’s get a move on!” Jack shouted as he entered the room, his lackeys chasing close behind.
“Exactly what are we moving onto?” Nick asked as he rubbed his eyes trying to get the little yellow crusties out from the corner of his eyes. They appeared lodged in there this morning. Probably because he was awake at this ungodly hour. He had written into all of his contracts no call times before six am.
“The reef, you wanker,” Jack scolded. “I thought you liked adventure?”
Great. Here it came with the cameras rolling, testing Nick again.
“I do, just at a decent hour.”
“No, no,” Jack said, “We’ve got to get out there before dawn so we can see all the predators coming out to hunt.”
Nick groaned internally. He couldn’t externally without making it into a promo piece. There was no way out of this and the sooner he just gave into that the better.
“Give me a few minutes to dress,” Nick said. “And I’m going to need some coffee.
Jack held out his hand and one of his assistants put a cup into it. “Got you some caramel foam thing.”
Nick frowned. Okay, he did like his sweetened Frappuccinos, but Jack didn’t have to make a big deal of it. “I usually take it black,” Nick said, “But if this is all you’ve got.”
With that he grabbed the drink from Jack and downed a swig. It was good. Really good. Like downtown Hollywood good. Just the right amount of syrup versus whipped cream. Whoever made this coffee knew what they were doing.
Maybe this morning wouldn’t be so bad after all. Then he looked over to Jack who was rubbing his hands together, plotting with his crew the day’s filming. He really was leveraging this accidental meeting into a full-blown sweeps week episode.
Nick couldn’t blame him. He wasn’t that old and rich that he’d forgotten his Top Ramen days. When he would ask any stranger if they had a part he could play in their film. He’d down the rounds of waiting tables at all the fine Los Angeles restaurants, trying to get discovered. Funny, it was his volunteering at a local shelter that got him his big break.
He’d never forget that. It had been his kindness, not his ambition that had gotten him everything he had accomplished. One day Steven Spielberg of all people had come in with his family to adopt a kitten. Nick had not only found them the perfect kitten but had talked them into adopting an older cat as well.
In gratitude, Steven had offered him a background role on his current film. It could have turned out to be nothing, but one of the walk-on actors got strep throat and Nick had filled in. He’d done so well, he was asked to come back for a few more scenes and from there he blew up.
One of those ten years in the making overnight success stories.
So how had it come to be that he had no pets? Not a dog. Not a cat. Not even a beta fish for Nami. Maybe she wouldn’t be so paranoid if she’d had some animals in her life.
Oh yah, he’d married a cold-hearted shrew who refused to allow any animals into the house. Well, now that they were moving to Aspen, Nick wanted a barnyard full of them. They were going to empty out the local shelter.
That was going to have to wait though as Jack tapped his foot behind Nick. “We don’t have all bloody day to pull off these moves.”
“Maybe a moment of privacy will accelerate things?” Nick suggested.
With a roll of the eyes, Jack urged his crew out of the room. “You bloody better never come to the African jungle, jam, you’d never bloody survive.”
Nick would keep that in mind.
* * *
Tonaka sat in the lotus position on the carpet of his room as his wife gently snored on the bed beside him. He allowed the tranquil seascape to wash over him. With the knowledge that all of the robots had unhindered access to EI, he needed a deep meditation like this.
With the Great White shark gone from the enclosure, the rest of the inhabitants were emboldened. What was the American saying? While the cat was away the mice would play?
Jellyfish, in huge schools, crossed the bay with impunity. Their translucent flesh allowing the wan light from the moon to pass through. Their tentacles dragging along behind like a symphony of strings.
The reef was also unusually busy this early morning. A moray eel was poking his head out of his coral home, nearly coming all the way out, then slinking back inside. Tonaka wanted to reassure him that the Great White was three pens over.
Angel fish, perfectly striped swam up and down the reef. Sometimes swimming in between the bright orange and red anemone’s tentacles, almost taunting them. Go ahead, sting me.
Tonaka grinned. He was so proud to be a part of this endeavor. To help educate people about nature and to progress his robotic goals? It was a match made in heaven. Nature and science working together seamlessly.
Or so the dream went. The reality was turning out to be stickier than that. But wasn’t it always? If robotics was such an easy discipline, the world would be rife with them. Instead his was a lonely road to tread.
And now Dr. Hofstrum mucking up the works? Making unauthorized changes to his robots? It wasn’t her name on them. It was his. His reputation. How could she risk a lifetime’s achievements on a single robot?
He let out a cleansing breath. Thirty years ago, would he not have done the same? Could he have tempered his enthusiasm and ambition to sit on the sidelines and not fix something he clearly could fix?
The answer was a definitive “no.” He would have done exactly the same thing as Shalie. With impunity. He could not blame Shalie for his own failings. Science was pocked by unintended consequences. If you truly were going to practice your profession, you couldn’t avoid them.
His wife snorted, nearly waking herself up. She rolled over, facing him with a lopsided smile on her face. After the mini-strokes, she didn’t have nearly the control of the left side of her face as she did before.
He would take the half smile. It was better than nearly everything he’d seen in the last few months.
Life truly was unfair. You worked your entire life to have a nice comfortable retirement then your body betrayed you. Turning your golden years into misery of a thousand different shades. He knew how humiliated Nica felt.
She hated having to be catered to hand and foot. She hated the fact she couldn’t go all the places they had planned. Their entire lives they thought they would be traveling the world at their age.
Exploring Asia first, then branching out from there. Allowing the wind to take them where it would.
Now they were hobbled by her walker and lack of stamina.
Tonaka was determined to give her a life of dignity and comfort until the end. The doctors warned that she might have a mega-stroke at any moment. A terminal stroke. Tonaka planned to make each and every moment with her count until then.
And if he had to create a robot specifically to help him manage her at home, he would do it. What other good was it to have an entire robotics factory at your disposal? He might rethink the EI chip however, given the recent developments.
A timid starfish moved away from the coral reef and began “walking” across the acrylic partition. Tonaka could see each and every suction cup on its ventral surface. Such a small thing, but so very complicated. Nature in its ever-changing glory.
He wondered how he could incorporate these suction cups into his robot models. How could climbing straight up a slick surface benefit mankind? He wasn’t sure, but it was too cool an idea not to try.
“You should get some rest,” his wife murmured from the bed.
“I am,” he reassured her.
She moved under the covers getting comfortable he supposed. “What is on the agenda for the day, Anata?”
Tonaka grinned at the term of affection. How had he gotten so lucky in life to have such a woman? “After you get another four or five hours sleep, we are going to pet the whale shark.”
“But I can’t swim,” Nica protested.
“Ah, but I hear that he comes for brine shrimp, he is a bit of an addict. Do not worry, san, we will have a lovely day.”
With that Nica smiled again, tucking her head down into her pillow. Her eyes fluttered as she tried to stay awake, but like a toddler, she finally succumbed to sleep. Tonaka didn’t move until he heard her soft snores.
Apex Predator Thriller Series Collection (Including the blockbuster new shark park thriller, Salechii) Page 14