by James Cox
Everett sat at a table in a heavily-windowed alcove overlooking the scene Robin saw before. On the table sat enough food to last Robin a week but something about Everett's mien told her he would discard any leftovers.
"Ahh. You look ravishing, my dear. Why you would hide such beauty escapes me." He rose and held a chair for her. "Do help yourself. You will find the fare here quite good. I believe in nothing less than the best and most exquisite."
Everett sat and filled his plate. Robin took small portions at first but the delicious smells wafting from the various bowls and platters plus her hunger soon had her eating more. Everett nodded with approval and she found the food every milli as good as he said. When she finished her plate he took her hand and led her to a sitting room. He gave her a packet of drugsticks and a lighter, both very expensive.
"Now to our business, my dear."
Robin lit a 'stick casually but focused her attention microscopically on Everett.
"I need someone who can manage data for me," said Everett, "This data is quite varied in its nature and source and I shall need it processed quickly, efficiently and accurately. That, my darling, is something at which you excel."
Robin almost relaxed at this. Only Aaron's presence and his and Everett's actions the previous night kept her guard up.
"B-but why," she asked, "If that's all you need then why did you... I mean..."
"Bring you here," asked Everett with a smile, "It's quite simple. The data I need is protected behind the most sophisticated security. Before you can process it for me you must first acquire it."
Robin swallowed the fear trying to form inside her.
"Y-you want me to steal it?"
"Steal, my dear, is far too ugly a word for such a beautiful mouth. Think of it as retrieval and archiving. Or, perhaps, aggressive offsite backup."
"B-but I'm a data tech. I'm not a burner or a cracker."
Everett rose, walked to her and cupped her chin in his hand.
"Please, my dear. You sell your talents far too short. Of course you are a burner and a very adept one."
"I'm not," said Robin with the beginnings of an idea, "No! I'm not a...."
Robin's head snapped back and spots swam before her eyes as Everett slapped her hard. The side of her face stung and tears formed in her eyes. He grabbed a handful of her hair and forced her to meet his gaze.
"Do not lie to me, dear Robin," he said mildly, "You will not find that at all pleasant. You are a very adept burner, a cracker, a cryptonixer, dog-stomper and file pirate. Using only openware and apps that you yourself modified or created you broke through the security at Data Secure, Larston Industries, Rofic-Robertson and Capital Interstellar among others. Each of those companies employs young burners, coders and crackers to maintain their security yet you slipped past them as though they were statues. Then, after stealing data from each you managed to hide it so well that neither the CA nor my associates were able to find it."
Everett ran a finger down her face.
"In addition to that, my heart, your efficiency as a data tech is second to none."
Robin realized, with horror, that Everett's fingers traced a scar down her neck. She wanted to flinch away but Everett's gaze held her as solidly as Aaron's.
"You do in one morning," continued Everett as he started another scar, "more than most of your peers do in a full day. Or longer! Your supervisor had you fast-tracked for advancement." His finger stopped. "It is, truly, a pity what happened to him."
"W-what happened?"
"Robin, my sweet, you must learn not to ask questions you don't want answered. Trust me, my darling, you truly do not want to know. Besides, I can offer you horizons he could not even conceive."
Robin considered this before forcing the question out of her mind. Later, perhaps, when this was a bad memory she'd find out.
"Now come along, my dear. Come and see your new toys!"
Everett led her down the hallway to a room near her bedroom. Aaron followed, not visible but certainly felt.
The room had a large window, no doubt with an exquisite view, but Robin felt her attention drawn to the room's contents. On a desk with a comfortable chair sat a terminal several orders of magnitude better than Robin's. Beside it was a fan of dedicated coprocessor cores complete with independent storage and chip burners, all meshed to the main terminal. On and around the desk lay boxes of applications, modules and programs. Robin saw every security program she'd ever used along with every greyware penetration app, or its commercially-available version.
"I trust this is to your liking," smiled Everett, "I've tried to provide adequate tools for your... assignments. If these will not suffice you may download what you will. The net connection here leads to a five-node automated hardwired jumping spline. The pipe is T-alpha, hard-spliced through at least seven anonymous links." He handed her a chip. "Here are your first objectives. Have them done by this evening."
Everett smiled again and left. Aaron settled into a chair beside the door.
A spark of hope blazed up within Robin. She had no doubt Everett would monitor her progress but she felt he himself had little net expertise. With a nervous glance at Aaron she went about installing and configuring warez.
Robin downloaded all her familiar openware apps as a matter of course, including a chat client. Infrequent glances at Aaron showed the man slumping in his chair. She could think of few things more boring than watching someone install software and she acted on that. One of the first things she grabbed was a music browser and now it worked through a long playlist of soft, relaxing tunes. Robin carefully set her encryption tunnel in place and gave Aaron one last look. His eyes were closed and his breathing slow and steady.
'[system]FoxBird is in +UptownCafe+'
Several of the reggies posted huggles and smoochies but Robin had no time for them
"Help me," she typed, "I've been kidnapped and I don't know where i am but you can trace me please notify the cas Im in a lot of trouble and i need your help..."
'{action}FoxBird *huggles* and *smoochies* all her friends.'
Robin watched aghast as those words appeared in place of what she entered.
'{action}FoxBird has a long job ahead of her and I probably won't be here for a while.'
'Thanks, Birdie,' posted BAKBLAST, 'We were worried.'
'Aww... Thanx. gtg! *hugglez* and *smoochies*. Bye.'
The client disconnected from chat and purged itself from memory. The door opened and when Robin turned she saw Everett walk in and Aaron fully awake.
"My dearest Robin," said Everett, "I am so, so disappointed with you. Cyril predicted you'd try this and I thought he was wrong. You really mustn't try to leave me. You have nothing awaiting you but a long time in prison. No excellent food, no net access... Nothing but a waste of your life."
"I'm sorry," said Robin meekly, "I'm sorry! I won't try again."
Robin tried to cling to her chair as Everett and Aaron each took an arm. She struggled vainly as the two men dragged her to the door and into the hallway. Aaron held her arm in a painful lock that only hurt worse when she tried to wriggle out of it. She tried to kick but Aaron ignored it and Everett simply wasn't there.
The first thing Robin saw in the room was a pair of shackles hanging from the ceiling. She struggled harder, screaming and kicking, uncaring of the pain it caused her. With no apparent effort Aaron shackled her and began pulling her upward. When the tension in her body finally silenced her Robin saw Everett standing before her with... something.
"In case you don't know," he said, "this is a nerve lash." He fingered it lovingly. "It has ten settings. The lower ones cause the least pain but you stay conscious longer." He grasped Robin's shirt and ripped it away. "The pain is much more intense on the higher settings but unconsciousness comes more quickly."
Everett's eyes took on an obscene glow.
"Ordinarily, my sweet, I would let you choose your own setting. Since this is your first time..." He set it. Then, using Robin's hair for le
verage, he forced her head down and kissed her cheek. "The true pity is that the lash doesn't leave scars. At least not visible ones."
Robin tried as hard as she could not to cry out. Her resolve lasted through the third stroke. Then, with fire and cold and simple pure pain blazing across her back she began to whimper. Then she cried out, then screamed and screamed and screamed...
Finally, mercifully, blackness overcame her.
***
Lorna Gallaway scowled at her terminal. She had all her current cases prepped pending court action so she had some free time. The terminal displayed all data relevant to the Macy case. She had all the notes she made, documents returned from her discovery and the other evidence she'd collected. She firmly believed Macy innocent and her subsequent disappearance simply didn't sum up. LaGrange still hadn't shown up and Railing expressed concern over that. She tried to convince the CA but without success; they simply marked her fugitive and subject to mandatory incarceration upon arrest.
The Personnel office at Durastel was vehement about not hiring Macy. They allowed Gallaway an amazing amount of access to verify it for herself. She had contract numbers and crypcerts for hires starting before and finishing after Macy's claim and she didn't appear on any of them.
Gallaway visited the address Macy gave her and found no Durastel branch there. True, there was an office complex but it was available for rent and had been so for the past three months.
Still not convinced, Gallaway called Richmond Garry, an investigator who had done excellent work for her before. He hadn't yet produced any results but she knew he would find anything findable.
If Macy was innocent she was probably also in a lot of trouble. If not... Few people managed to fool Lorna Gallaway. If Macy belonged on that short list she'd pay the admission dearly!
Chapter 4. Rescued?
Robin woke curled in her bed. Her shirt still hung in tatters and her back burned with remembered pain. She moved a little and the pain vanished.
"Time to get up."
The voice belonged to Aaron and Robin didn't really want to face the man. Not, it turned out, that she had a choice. Rough hands stripped back the covers.
"I said get up. You still have a lot to do today."
Gathering her shirt as best she could Robin rolled over and made to rise. Aaron gazed at her as he would some interesting animal, or perhaps a slab of meat he planned to cook for dinner. Somehow that made it worse.
"I need to get dressed," said Robin with a small defiance that surprised her.
Aaron gestured at the closet and didn't move otherwise. She grabbed another shirt and headed for the fresher. He waited when she emerged and wordlessly escorted her down the hallway.
Everett sat behind Robin's terminal idly perusing its contents.
"Welcome back, my dear."
His eyes and oily smile made Robin feel like she'd been dipped in fresh sewage.
"I hope you've rested, dear Robin. You'll be hard pressed to finish your assignments by this evening and I do expect you to be ready for dinner with me." He eyed her again. "No matter. Before you begin we have matters to discuss.
"When you attempt to access my data you will be traced. You may be tempted to allow them to succeed. Don't." Everett examined his fingernails and blew an imagined particle of dust off one. "There are three possibilities if the CA finds this place.
"First and most likely is that they would find your body, this terminal and enough evidence to convict you as the worst burner, data-thief and i-jacker this planet has ever seen. An associate of mine took some liberties with the biometrics you so generously furnished us. The results... do not align themselves with the seemingly law-abiding citizen everyone believed you to be.
"Second, the authorities might find you alive. Your release has been revoked and an evasion charge of the most serious nature has been added to your other crimes. And, of course, there is the evidence I mentioned already. You will find little comfort and no mercy in the courts now, my heart. You will be sent to GC immediately upon arrest and any sentence you receive will automatically be of maximum length."
Everett regarded her a moment.
"You won't like general confinement, Robin. You will be incarcerated with the most hardened criminals on this planet and several others around. No doubt some of them will find you as... charming as do I.
"Third, my dove, you simply will not be found. We will move to another mansion similar to this. I know I can find another burner and I believe equally well that I can find... other ways to enjoy your company."
Now he rose and ran his fingers gently down her face.
"Do not disappoint me again."
Robin sat at the terminal, shaking. Aaron and Everett had gone and the room felt less oppressive but Robin still knew they had her caged. Two tears traveled down her cheeks and she cursed them. Bleak despair settled over her. She tried to consider her choices but realized she had none. She inserted Everett's chip into the terminal, configured her warez and started burning.
***
The weak-chinned man slouched against a wall and lit a drugstick. Normally he avoided them but they fit the persona he wore. He leaned against a dingy wall of a dingy store on a dingy street and observed a group of dingy men.
A man walked down the street. He fit it perfectly; he looked no different from any around him. Still, he perked the weak-chinned man's attention. He watched the others carefully. His hidden datacaster reported static: the new arrival to the group brought a garble. Several embryonic ideas gestated within his brain and the presence of a garble elevated two of them to the fore. Most likely the trail he followed now would dead-end or disappear, still he would follow it. He found thoroughness a virtue well-suited to what he did.
After a few minutes' conversation the group across the street broke up. The weak-chinned man picked his target and started following. To him patience was not a strong point. Patience was an axiom.
***
Robin cursed mentally and collapsed her tunnel. She'd long since lost track of the days or weeks since her capture. Her terminal had a clock and calendar but she no longer bothered checking it. It simply didn't matter.
Whenever she accomplished an exceptional task Everett rewarded her. She now had a holovee in her room and if she finished early enough she could go swimming. Shame and guilt still troubled her at the gratitude she felt.
Aaron and Barkeley were now just part of the landscape. Each wore his cold, aloof arrogance and Robin didn't let it bother her. They spoke seldom and she less and all were happy that way. She also managed to avoid Everett's lashing. Mostly. When she failed at something, a more frequent thing now, he hinted or brought it to the table and left it curled beside his plate. Then Robin succeeded the next time she powered up her terminal.
Until now! Silverton Supply Inc. had to be a front company for something else. Publicly they sold light industrial and household robots and accessories. They specifically did not supply heavy-duty or military-spec equipment. All of that and their data security had Robin completely stopped!
The door opened and Robin's heart sank. It was time for dinner and she still hadn't cracked Silverton.
"Hello, my sweet." Everett powered down the terminal and took Robin's arm. "Do you have anything for me today?"
"No, Claud. Their security is too tight."
"A pity, that."
Everett spoke no more words on Silverton during their walk down the hallway nor during dinner. He also didn't have the lash which made Robin even more nervous.
"Come, my darling," he said, after dessert, "I've something to show you."
Robin walked with planet-heavy weights dragging down her feet. Everett led her into the lowest level of the mansion's impressive basement.
"I have a guest who has been here longer than you, my heart. One who, unfortunately, disappointed me once too often."
He did something to the wall and the corner split open. A foul, acrid stench of unwashed flesh and sewage wafted out. Robin wanted to bend
over and retch but Everett held her firm.
Dim light illuminated the room at the end of the passage. It deserved no better. Condensation and filth oozed down the walls and a cot with a dirty heap of rags on it rested in one corner. Then the rags moved.
"Speak with him, Robin," said Everett, thrusting her forward, "I think you'll find it most enlightening."
The rags shifted and shuffled until a face moved.
"H-hello," said Robin softly.
The man on the cot - boy, she corrected - gazed blankly at her. Then, slowly, recognition dawned on her. His skin hung loose off too-visible bones but the hair, the eyes...
"T-thomas? Turbo?"
"NO! NO!!" The man thrashed weakly. "NO! I WON'T! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! You can't... You... you... no..." The words soon faded to unintelligible gibbering.
The room spun around Robin. Then the passage. Then the basement. A taste of fresher air...
A hard slap snapped Robin back into focus. Everett's face filled her vision.
"You know him, Robin? Is he, perchance, your dear lover TurboFan?"
Robin tasted bile and wanted to vomit.
"Yes, my dear. I know. How could I not? Dear Thomas is alive by my gratitude." Everett smiled with nothing but cruelty. "He led me to you, my heart. He was not much of a burner. He was sloppy and careless. Now... now he lives at my sufferance."
Fingers along her skin.
"Death would be a mercy to him, my sweet. You see, he is most tragically addicted to pandream. I did that to ease his pain. Do you want to ride in the dream, my love?"
"N-no... no." Robin barely managed the words. She closed her eyes and turned away.
"Then do not fail me again."
Aaron's arms dragging her along. Small comfort, Everett left.
***
Robin woke from a night of horrible nightmares. She showered hard, trying to wash away the filth she still felt. She dressed quickly, not even noticing the clothing that once scandalized her. She didn't really feel like breakfast but Everett insisted.
Robin paused outside the dining room. Voices, Aaron's and Barkeley's, drifted out.