Book 4: 3rd World Products, Inc.

by Ed Howdershelt

  I asked, “How do you think you're doing out there, Mills?"

  "Well enough,” she said.

  Looking at Steph, I asked, “Your opinion?"

  "Well enough,” agreed Steph. “Group training will make up the differences."

  Nodding, I sipped coffee, then said, “Good."

  Recoiling slightly, Mills asked, “Good? What's good? That I'll be finished quickly, or that you'll be rid of me soon?"

  "I just said 'good', Mills. That's all."

  Her tone dropped menacingly.

  "But that's what you meant, isn't it?"

  Sighing, I said, “It doesn't matter what I meant Mills. You've already decided what I meant. Nothing I say would change your mind, would it?"

  Myra was nearing us when I stood up and quietly said, “Time to shut up and saddle up, Mills. Steph, don't take any shit from her this afternoon. None at all. If she gets nasty with you even once, flunk her ass and we'll go home a little early."

  As Mills stared at me and I turned and walked toward the doors, I heard Myra ask, “Where's Ed going?” and Steph's reply, “He has other plans. Are you ready to go?"

  I was almost to the doors when Myra said, “I'll catch up with you."

  'Oh, hell,' I thought as I turned left outside the doors.

  "Three suit on,” I said, even though two people were across the hall. Myra walked quickly out of the dining hall and looked both ways as I stood still and waited. After a puzzled moment she turned and went back into the dining hall.

  A few moments later Mills and Myra walked out and headed for the front doors. No Steph; she must have zapped herself to the flitter. I remained in three mode as I walked toward the general store and said “three suit off” after turning the corner.

  Linda's office was just visible across the hallway intersection. Her door opened and she ushered two people out, then closed and locked her door and headed my way. I went inside the store and bought two bags of gummi bears. Linda walked in as I received my change from the clerk.

  "Ed?"

  "Hi, Linda."

  She approached me and asked, “Why aren't you with Steph and Mills?"

  "Steph can handle things and I didn't feel like flying."

  After a moment, Linda chose a bag of cookies and paid for them, then nodded toward the door. I walked with her into the hall, where she stopped and opened her cookies as I opened my gummi bears. We each offered the other some of our goodies, but neither of us accepted.

  "Mills can be hard to take, can't she?” asked Linda.

  "Yup."

  "She's not someone you'd like to see working alone, either, is she?"

  I shook my head. “Nope."

  "Reasons?"

  Nibbling gummis for a few moments, I said, “She blinds herself. Sees only what she wants to see and ignores all else. Forms an opinion and sticks to it, right or wrong."

  "You're referring to her opinion about you and Steph, I take it?"

  Shaking my head again, I said, “That too, but, I'm actually referring to the way she's letting that opinion lead her around by her big blue nose. Aside from the fact that what we might do is none of her damned business, Mills has become almost openly hostile toward me, but doesn't seem to feel that way toward Steph."

  "You think that's because Steph is an AI? A computer?"

  "Oh, I'm pretty sure that's it, Linda. Mills just doesn't see her as a real person. I think she could make a subordinate AI's life a living hell of 'step'nfetchit' slavery."

  As Linda munched a cookie, I said, “There are three other AI's in the standby flitters. Are they likely to become sentient?"

  She shook her head. “I don't think so. Elkor made some adjustments to them after the warehouse incident."

  "How do you feel about that, Linda? Do you feel as if they're being shortchanged or denied a potential future?"

  Shrugging, she said, “I've wondered about that, too. But would Elkor have made the adjustments if he'd believed that we'd be doing that to them?"

  "I'll ask him about it later, but I don't think so."

  We stood nibbling for a few moments, then Linda said, “I'll put Mills on a team for a few months and see how it goes."

  Nodding, I said, “Make sure everybody involved feels comfortable about expressing opinions. I guaran-damn-tee they'll have some."

  Chuckling, Linda said, “I'll do that. Are you going to give me a hint about why we're meeting later?"

  "Sorry. Like I said, it's Steph's show."

  Linda rolled shut the top of her cookie bag and said, “In that case, see you later. I've got people dropping by in a few minutes."

  "Okay, later,” I said, and she headed for her office.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  A few minutes later I stood in front of hangar three, munching gummis and gazing inside at two of the Carrington flitters. They were identical to my own except for numbers somehow applied to their decks and the hulls.

  A black guy I remembered as Leo waved when he saw me, and continued working on something on a bench beyond the flitters. I waved back, then went into the hangar and walked up to flitter number one.

  "Flitter one,” I said, “Do you have any other name?"

  In a rather nondescript male voice, the flitter said, “No sir."

  "Not even a nickname?"

  "No, sir."

  Walking around the flitter's field, I asked, “Do you know me?"

  "Yes, sir,” said the flitter. “You are in the shared database."

  "Will you show me my information on a vid screen?"

  "Yes, sir."

  A vid screen formed in front of me and I read what turned out to be no more than a name, a voice ID, a DNA/RNA ID, a security clearance level, and contact information.

  "This is all you have on me?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "If I asked for my complete file, could you access it for me?"

  "No, sir."

  "Even though I'm authorized to read it?"

  "I cannot access that information, sir."

  Hmm. It didn't just say ‘no, sir’ and wait for me to ask why. Interesting, but maybe just a preprogrammed answer for anyone not a member of an active crew.

  Just to see how the flitter would respond, I said, “Flitter one, will you lift me to four thousand feet and allow me to jump off your deck?"

  It instantly responded, “Yes, sir."

  A tool clattered as it hit the floor and Leo muttered, “Oww, damn!” as he rubbed his knuckles and looked my direction.

  He marched over to stand near me and rather stridently asked, “Flitter one, did I just hear you say you'd let this guy jump off your deck at four thousand feet?"

  "Yes, sir."

  Leo turned to me and demanded, “Just what the hell are you doing to my flitters?"

  I said, “Glider on green,” and wide-eyed Leo jumped back with a 'Whaddahell?!' as my kite popped into being above me.

  "It's a new product,” I said with a grin. “I just dropped in to bum a ride upstairs."

  "Jesus!” said Leo. “What the hell is that thing?"

  "It's a hang glider made by a personal portable field manipulator. A PFM. You'll be hearing a lot about them soon."

  "No damn doubt,” he said, eyeballing my glider and thumping a wing with his undamaged knuckles. “Why you askin’ my flits for a lift? Where'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 Li
nda'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."