“As far as I’ve been able to determine,” she began, “We have the only copies of this footage thanks to the efforts of Agent Elgin.”
There were a few smiles. Someone snickered and someone else coughed. Fullbright pounced on the guy who’d snickered with, “Nelson. On your feet. She managed to acquire this footage while none of the rest of this gathering turned up diddly-squat. If you think anything about this is funny, I can remedy that right now with a great deal of extra work nobody else wants to do.”
Nelson fidgeted like a kid in school and said, “Understood, ma’am.”
Scanning the room, Fullbright said, “If I hear of anyone giving Agent Elgin any trouble at all… Just go ahead and test me, people. This isn’t a frat-house and I won’t stand for it.”
One woman stood up and said, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t sign up to prostitute myself for the government. I think what she did was altogether immoral.”
Vicky stood up and asked, “Exactly what did I do? The man talked. I listened. There was no ‘trade‘ as you seem to want to infer. He won’t allow himself to be arrested, so he insisted on meeting aboard the flitter. He bought the DVDs used to make copies of his flitter’s recordings and he put me back where he found me unharmed. Maybe you haven’t realized this yet, but he didn’t do all that for me or us. He did it so someone else would have a factual record of what happened at that nursing home. Homeland would slam a lid on this if they could, just like the Canadians did. We all know that. Now they can’t and it’s a damned good thing, because native field users have apparently been popping up for years. He said his stuns and fields were like throwing pebbles at a bear. A supercomputer AI couldn’t stop her. In other words, you can stick your prissy attitude and your filthy suspicions right up your… where the sun doesn’t shine, Agent Lee, because there are far more important things to worry about.”
Some guy actually applauded a few claps before he stood up and said, “Damned right. Now I have a question. What are we supposed to do? The girl turned herself in for her own reasons and there’s no point in even trying to tail him. Even if we did manage to catch up with him, how the hell would we capture him?”
Agent Lee said, “Wait ‘til he comes back for her. If he puts up a struggle, shoot him like any other fugitive.”
Fullbright said firmly, “Sit down and be quiet. We’ll talk later.”
Lee sat down with some real attitude showing.
Fullbright said, “Agent Reed has a good point. He can stun anyone who tries to take him down and I doubt our service weapons would have much success.” She chuckled, “Besides, from what’s on record, one of his hobbies is answering 911 calls. Even if we got a good chance to arrest him, we could be doing more harm than good.”
That was it for Lee. She stood up, said, “That’s called ‘dereliction of duty’, Agent Fullbright. I’m not listening to any more of this,” and strode for the door. Nobody tried to stop her.
Reed remained seated as he said, “No, I believe it’s actually called ‘recognizing your limitations’. We can’t arrest him. Can’t, not won’t. And he’s not a dangerous criminal, so as I see it, we’re wasting our time and resources on him when we could be working other cases.”
Fullbright said, “I agree, but that isn’t our call to make. We have to continue to try, even if we’re wasting our time. I have, however, instituted a quiet investigation into the motives and methods by which our lawmakers were motivated to draft and pass laws against Amaran medical devices.” She grinned and added, “Strictly as a means of gaining a better understanding of the motivations of our quarry, of course. To better enable us to try to capture him, also of course.”
Reed snorted a laugh and said, “Sign me up for that task force!”
Fullbright said, “How gracious of you to volunteer, Agent Reed. I’ll assume you were serious and find you a few other volunteers to fill out your team.”
Several hands went up. A few people stood up, as well. Fullbright pointed at four of them in turn and said, “All of you report to me at three this afternoon. We’re going hog hunting.”
Chapter Thirty-two
A woman pointed and said, “Oh, God,” as she got to her feet. I turned the probe to face the room’s big east window and saw she’d been watching an accident in progress about two hundred feet away on I-75. Tea reported a 911 call about it even as I watched a rental truck fail to stop and climb up the back of a car at the tail of the four-vehicle crash.
Splitting Tea into three neon-red flitters, we flew to the scene. I sent two flits ahead to block the exit ramp and warn other traffic away from it, then hopped on my board and flew off Tea’s deck as I parked her above and to one side of the crash.
Apparently a car had drastically slowed or stopped halfway down the ramp for some reason and a car behind it hadn’t, slamming into the first car. Another car had hit them and spun away to roll into the ditch on the right. Then the rental truck had climbed almost fully on top of the rear car and crushed the roof. My core said two dead, five injured.
I called Athena and she appeared, then split into five sims to begin working on the survivors. The truck would be a problem. My probe showed it to be fully loaded with bolt-together metal patio furniture and bench kits in boxes, which could explain why it hadn’t been able to stop in time. Adding that to the truck’s weight, it didn’t seem to me that a flitter would be able to lift it.
Galatea agreed, stating the load was almost two thousand pounds above her maximum. Most of the cargo was bound or boxed. We’d just unload the cargo on the side of the road first. Athena’s clone in the car with the victim simply said, “Hurry, please.”
Two sheriff cars showed up almost immediately, one entering the off ramp from the Interstate and one approaching from the US-27 intersection below. I flitted down to the back of the truck, fired up my saber, and sliced the lock off the doors. I tried the handle, but it wouldn’t move, of course. If I cut the hinges or the latch points, the stuff would spill out, but not enough of it.
I cut the bottom latch and hinges first. The doors buckled outward and bundled cast iron parts protruded. While hovering above, of course, I cut the hinges at the top and then I cut the top latch. It parted with a loud bang before the cut was complete. The doors were slammed flat to the ground by cargo spilling out.
One of the deputies who’d been walking alongside the crash came running and yelled, “What the hell are you doing?!”
I began fielding bundles of metal chair and table parts to one side of the road as I said, “Lightening the load so my flitter can lift the truck off the car.”
Athena’s clone again said, “Hurry, please.”
An ambulance showed up, then three more and two fire trucks with two more sheriff cars. A deputy came trotting up and had a whispered conversation with the first deputy. More of the load slid out and soon I had all but the pieces on the ground directly behind the truck out of the way. Galatea lifted, then said the car was entangled beneath the truck. I tried to see what that meant exactly, but had to send probes to get a good look at some of the spots.
It was a matter of freeing the car from the truck at half a dozen points of contact. I sent probes to cut the points I couldn’t reach with my saber and the deputies really freaked.
One of them yelled, “You could start a fire with that thing!”
“No, I can’t. I’ll explain later.”
The other deputy yelled, “Stop, dammit!”
I understood his concern, but stopping to explain would take longer than doing it and Athena very much wanted that guy out of the car for better treatment. When one deputy grabbed my arm, I stunned them both enough to make them stagger back.
Two more cuts and Galatea was able to lift the truck while I lifted clear of it. Though she didn’t really need it, I fed her field a five-foot-wide, emerald-green power boost from my own capabilities. She blended my field with hers without comment.
Both deputies backed way off as she placed the truck well behind the crash. I dropp
ed down and sliced the roof free of the car for Athena, then fielded it off to one side for her.
A deputy aimed his gun at me, yelling for me to drop my weapon and put my hands behind my head. Huh? I’d let my saber vanish. My hands were empty. What weapon was I supposed to drop?
I stunned him cold and stunned the other one almost as hard. He fell to a sitting position. Athena lifted the driver out of the car as I waited for the deputy to gather his wits.
When he looked up, I said, “Put your gun away or I’ll stun you again. Now that she’s got him, I can take time to tell you why there was no problem.” Firing up the saber as a practice weapon, I said, “Touch it. It’s cold. When I thin the blade, it stays cold, but it’ll cut damned near anything. No sparks, no fire, no danger.”
Athena sent a copy of herself to us and said, “We removed him just in time, Ed. One of his broken ribs punctured his heart. I was able to contain and reoxygenate his blood, repair his injury, and restart his heart. He should recover well.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
That copy of her smiled and vanished. As the deputy got to his feet, he waved a hand through the space where she’d been.
He said nothing as he looked up and down the accident scene, then thumbed at the guy on the ground and said, “Don said you’re wanted by the feds. I’m supposed to arrest you. Is that even possible?”
I shrugged. “Nah, prob’ly not, and even if you could, where would I be when the next crash happens? Sitting on my ass in a cell. I think I’m a lot more useful out here.”
He grinned and lightly slapped my shoulder. “Yeah, by God, I think so too. If you hadn’t been here, they’d be hauling a dead body out of that car an hour from now.” He sighed in mock frustration, “Damn it, you got away. Too bad, huh?”
“Yup, sure is. Thanks. I’ll try to stay busy.”
“Yeah, do that. And thanks for helping. Why are they after you?”
“I arranged for someone to be treated with Amaran nanobots. I did it without breaking the anti-medical-field law, but some politicians aren’t ready to see or admit that yet.”
The cop seemed dumbfounded. “That’s it? That’s all?”
“As far as I know, yeah. It’s all political. Fodder for an election year controversy. They want to sling shit at each other and duke it out in court. I figure they don’t need me for that.”
The deputy noticed another deputy approaching and said, “That’s our local Dudley DoRight lieutenant. You’d better take off. I’ll try to grab you and miss to make it look right.”
And so he did, lunging after me as I lifted away on the board. The other cop had drawn his gun, but put it back in its holster. I circled the wreck scene twice, then yelled down to ask how much longer they’d need my roadblock flitters. I knew they already had their own roadblocks up, but I wanted to add one more level to things.
The cop who’d pretended to grab at me talked to the other guy, then yelled up, “We’ve already got it covered!”
I yelled back, “Okay! Later!” and had all the flitters turn off the red and lift straight up to three miles before disappearing.
Calling up a screen and pretending to study it for a time as if I actually had a reason to consult one, I sipped my coffee, then headed south above I-75 at half power.
Sending new probes to the motel meeting, I found that two people had binoculars and a couple of tripod cameras had been set up at the window. Good. I needed some good press with the NIA for a change. Whatever they’d caught on camera and said during the recording would end up circulating throughout the system.
It was a bad morning along I-75 in Pasco County and I-275 in Tampa. Four serious accidents occurred before eleven. I managed to help and be well observed doing so at each of them. A local TV news van stopped at one accident and the footage later appeared on TV around the state and likely the country, since they heavily market such things.
That’s when it occurred to me; why not give an interview? How long would those warrants survive any serious media scrutiny? And with my explanation of how I’d gotten the ‘bots to Marie, how long would they even be considered valid?
Then it also occurred to me that you can’t just dip your toes in the media pool and not go swimming. If you don’t have something of interest, they drop you after the first few interviews. If you do have something of interest, they won’t leave you alone.
So, no. No media for me. Let Steph and her lawyers and Tanya-who-had-to-turn-herself-in deal with them. After they found out from her how I’d managed to skirt breaking the law, they’d eventually have to drop the charges anyway or look like idiots.
Linda pinged me around one while I was in the middle of a Wendy’s number two combo meal on the outskirts of Tampa. I answered her ping with, “Ahoy, Fearless Leader! No screen, I’m in a restaurant.”
“Okay. Ahoy? That’s new.”
“I thought your sailor pal might be there. What’s up, ma’am?”
“He’s at work. I’ve been on the horn with people all morning, trying to find out the official stance on your situation. While we were talking, the Congressman received some new footage and shared it with me. You’re unloading a truck and moving it. He’s of the opinion the entire matter should be forgotten, since it’s very evident you didn’t actually break any laws. This situation does, however leave them with only the options of trying to patch such loopholes in the face of public opinion or dropping the laws altogether.”
“How’s that likely to go?”
“Difficult to say. They were, after all, stupid enough to pass those laws in the first place, which forced you to circumvent them. And then they issued two warrants without a shred of proof that you or Tanya had, in fact, broken any laws at all. The media hounds have already gotten a taste of it and they want more. Lots more.”
“Heh. They’re welcome to it. Let them eat pork.”
“Indeed so. Oh, yes, and I’m told you’ve replaced Tanya already. Care to enlighten me?”
Huh? What? “Damn, you got wind of that already, ma’am? Tanya bailed after the incident at the nursing home. Aside from the fact it’s personal, do I really need to enlighten you?”
“Not really. Elgin’s NIA, Ed.”
“She wants to switch teams, Linda.”
“To which other teams?”
“The NSA or 3rd World. She’ll probably talk to Myra and Angie later this week. For now she’s my unofficial liaison with Fullbright.”
Linda sighed, “Ed, I know you, so I know you aren’t simply using her, but are you sure she isn’t using you?”
I chuckled, “At this point, I wouldn’t care. She’s smart, capable, gorgeous, and she’s a goddess in bed. She didn’t try to arrest me, but that doesn’t mean I trust her implicitly. I don’t know her well enough. Besides, you’re the only person on Earth I trust implicitly.”
“Likewise. You just remember your training, Dragonfly. They won’t send the ugly ones at you.”
“Yes’m. I remember hearing that. Possibly even from you.”
Nodding, Linda said, “Good. Now tell me why you couldn’t just as easily have sent a stun up that girl’s umbilical and knocked her cold.”
“A good idea, but a bad idea, ma’am. We tried heavy stuns on her while she was still woozy. Before she had any fields up. They didn’t work. She’d grunt a little and shake them off. She was damned close to completely immune to them.”
“Someone will ask if there was any other possible way.”
I sighed, “They always do. Answer; maybe so, but I didn’t have time to think of it. We needed an immediate solution to keep Ocala from looking like Cosgrove. I just used what was already there.”
Nodding again, Linda said, “That’s my view of it, too. When I talk to Angie and Emory later, I’ll mention it. How did Steph take it?”
Blink. Stare. I hadn’t considered that. All she’d done was try to stun the kid and keep the guard alive. No potential guilt in those actions.
“I’ll ask her, Linda. I really hadn’t c
onsidered her feelings. She didn’t do anything to regret.”
“You might be surprised, Ed.”
“You’ve talked to her?”
“No, just speculating a bit. She’s one of the most powerful beings on the planet, but she couldn’t stop that kid. Where were the others? Maybe all of them could have stopped her? But they stayed out of it?”
Hm. Good points. Definitely worth asking.
I nodded. “I’ll see what I can find out. Thanks for the tip.”
Looking at her watch, Linda said, “Good. I have to go, Ed. I’m meeting some people in a few minutes. Bye for now.”
“Okay. Bye, Linda.”
When I finished lunch, I lifted above Tampa on my board and gave matters some thought. Steph had been cornered by her protocols, yet she’d made a decision of sorts that might have violated them. Throughout the day and serving up assistance at a few more accidents, I tried to consider every aspect of how what happened might have impacted her.
Vicky called at five and said she was off for the day. I picked her up on the flitter in the motel courtyard and waved to a few people as we lifted in search of dinner. Once we’d lifted out of sight, I took her in my arms and kissed her, then we talked about restaurants. I said no Mexican or sushi and she chose Chinese. As we landed near the place, Vicky touched my arm and kissed me again, gently this time.
“Something’s bothering you, Ed. I can tell.”
“Yup. Has anyone thought of anything else I could have done at the nursing home? Any other way to stop that kid from leaving?”
She shook her head. “No. Stuns didn’t work. Bullets didn’t work. I really don’t think there was any other way, Ed.”
“Then I’d like to take a moment for something before dinner.”
Reviewing matters one more time, I decided I was as ready as I was ever likely to get.
“Steph,” I said, and she appeared. I fed Vicky theta waves for a moment as Steph asked, “Yes, Ed?”
“This is Agent Victoria Elgin of the NIA. Vicky, this is Stephanie, my AI friend who was at the nursing home with me.”
3rd World Products, Book 16 Page 36