I let the motion continue into a skritching of Bear's chin. The moments of silence stretched out between Ellen and me and I began to wonder if I might have been mistaken about Gary monitoring us through her watch. Her gaze was unfalteringly calm as she watched me.
There was a slight clicking sound and Gary's voice came from Ellen's watch.
"I'm doing three things at once here and I can't get away at the moment. Tell him what he wants to know, Ellen. We've only reached this point in things a little sooner than we'd expected."
Ellen never took her eyes off me as she answered. “I'll tell him."
"I'll leave the link open."
Chapter Five
"First,” said Ellen, “The why. We search for potential client worlds who are on the verge of space travel. They're worlds advanced enough to understand and want what we're offering and capable of eventual independent success. When we think we've found one, we send observers who remain on the planet as long as required to validate or invalidate the planet's readiness. If the planet is judged ready, we send a ship like the one you've seen."
I nodded. “It's too big not to be carrying the makings of a factory or two, so I'll guess that if negotiations go well you can set up shop immediately, right?"
"Right. Earth will become a training center and a source of personnel for self-contained factories near this system's asteroid belt. We will train some of your people and provide the beginnings of the industries. It will be up to Earth to replicate the manufacturing facilities and train further personnel. Our involvement in the manufacturing processes will end the day your first replicated factory is functional and producing quality goods consistently. From that moment on we will simply market what is produced."
I thought a moment. “Our space program isn't even close to being up to this. Are you going to run a shuttle service or give us the means to get out there?"
Ellen smiled. “You aren't going to be fruit pickers or day laborers, Ed. We won't be taking you to and from work in trucks. You'll be using what you'll be making and that will be our short-range shuttle craft. The first factory will be here on Earth. The first replicated factory will be near the asteroid belt. People of Earth will receive factory plans, necessary parts and hands-on guidance, and nothing more."
It sounded reasonable enough to me.
"Ellen, let's leave the rest of the details of business setup for later. What brings you to my door out of all the possible doors on Earth?"
She smiled and said, “This will frustrate you, Ed. I don't know. I didn't choose you and neither did Gary. We were simply told to try to arrange something with you and it seemed that I'd have the best chance with you. Who picked you and how they picked you is a mystery to me, too."
Gary's voice emanated from her watch. “Before you ask ... I don't know either, Ed. Contacting you was just part of a list of things we were given to do."
Unfortunately, their explanation made some sense to me. How many times had I been given the task of locating someone behind the Iron Curtain without much, if any, explanation? I had simply passed the info or whatever else was intended for them and made my way back to the West.
I asked, “What are the chances of finding out why I was picked?"
"Poor at the moment,” said Gary. “The decision was made before we left. We were told to make contact with you and to try to recruit you for local assistance if you seemed of sound mind and body. If you weren't amenable or were unable, there were two backup names."
Ellen was still smiling at me, but now it was a small, 'wish-we-could-help-you' sort of smile.
I asked, “When were you going to let me in on things and put me on your payroll, Gary? Weeks or months from now, or when I finally caught on?"
"We were going to try some time with you and see how things went first. It probably wouldn't have been months. From the way things have gone already, I don't think whoever picked you expected it to take long, either."
I nodded and thought a moment. “I'm going to get a coffee, Ellen. Want one?"
She was moderately surprised, but she said, “Yes, thank you."
I grabbed my cup and headed for the kitchen. If Ellen and Gary weren't just con artists looking for a mark, then someone, somewhere, knew me or knew of me. How they might have known was irrelevant for the moment.
As I made our coffees, I decided to proceed as if that someone knew all there was to know about me, even if Ellen and Gary didn't, but suddenly that didn't add up right. I'd never gone into the East to work with a local hire without knowing something about him or her.
When I'd handed Ellen her coffee and sat down again, I said, “Bullshit."
Ellen was startled, even though I'd spoken softly. I said it again.
"Bullshit, people. Open up to me or finish your coffee and go try the next guy on your backup list."
There was dead silence as I sipped my coffee. Bear realized something was up and looked at me with the beginnings of alarm. When I said nothing to reassure him, he looked up at Ellen, but she was looking hard at me. Bear jumped down and came to sit on the floor next to my left foot.
A female voice came from Ellen's watch. It said, “Well, damn, Ed, I guess I can stop wondering about you, can't I? Once a spook, always a spook."
It took me a moment to recognize a voice I hadn't heard for many years.
"Linda?” I asked. “Linda of many moons ago and spook central, Germany?"
"I'm flattered,” she said, but she sounded somewhat irritated.
"Linda, why didn't you just contact me yourself? Why all the games?"
"Do you really have to ask, Ed? How long have you been out of the business?"
"Not long enough to miss spotting your two ringers, miLady."
Ellen looked at me questioningly. “We aren't phonies,” she said.
"The hell you aren't. Aliens or not, you weren't being straight with me."
Linda said, “Whatever. It doesn't matter now, Ed. Gary will pick you two up tonight and you can drop by my office."
"Where's your office and how long will I be gone?"
"You'll be aboard the ship for three days or so. I presume you're thinking about your antique cat? Three days at most. Dump his box and fill his dishes. He can get by without you for that long, can't he?"
"Probably, but I'm bringing him with me. He's seventeen years old, Linda."
"We don't have any facilities for pets up here, Ed.” She was using that 'Be-reasonable-and-just-do-as-I-say' tone I'd always disliked so much.
"Will my room have a bathroom? If so, no sweat. I'll bring the necessities."
"Goddamn it, Ed, can't you just leave him with someone?"
I sighed. “Linda, I'm bringing my cat. Someday I'll try to explain if you'll listen, but for now, I'm just bringing my cat with me."
Ellen was grinning at me. She was blatantly enjoying the exchange.
I heard Linda's exasperated sigh. “This is essentially a job interview, Ed. Would you take your cat to a job interview?"
"This is a three-day briefing, not a job interview, and Bear comes, too."
"You're being deliberately difficult, Ed. We may have to reconsider you."
"Spare me the manipulatory dialogue, Linda. You had a reason for choosing me and sending people to check me out. If you didn't think I could do what you'll need done you wouldn't be talking to me now. To you he's just a cat. To me he's my own personal Bear and he's so old he poots dust. I don't like the idea of not being there for him and I'm not leaving him alone in the house for three days."
I heard Linda's muttered, "Jesus!" and Ellen's stifled giggle. She exaggeratedly mouthed the words at me, "Poots dust?" I shrugged and nodded.
"Just an expression,” I said. Ellen was trying not to let her laughter out.
Linda's curt voice came back with, “All right, bring the damned cat, Ed. Just make sure you bring whatever else it needs, too."
"Will do, ma'am. Didn't mean to make you cranky."
There was silence for a moment, then Gary
came back on. “She's gone, and I think she's a little upset. I didn't think those chairs could move that fast."
I looked at Ellen. “Chairs?” I asked. “You mean like a scooter for getting around on a ship that size?"
Ellen's expression turned to one of concern.
"Uh, no. Not a scooter, Ed. You didn't know she uses a wheelchair?"
I was slightly shocked. “It's news to me,” I said. “What happened?"
Gary said, “A car accident near Washington six years ago. She's paralyzed from the waist down, Ed. That's one of the reasons she's living and working on the ship. Our doctors are going to try to repair some of the damage."
I thought about Linda's pride in her long, graceful legs and my fascination with them so many years ago. She'd been fond of jogging in the mornings.
I said, “I'd appreciate it very much if you'd make that one of your priorities."
"It already is,” said Gary. “Preliminary examinations seem to indicate a strong chance of success. Maybe as high as eighty percent restoration."
I nodded. “Good. Very good. What time will you pick us up?"
"It gets dark around seven,” said Gary. “We're trying not to be too obvious about shuttle flights for the time being."
"Good,” I said. “That gives me time to run to the grocery store. I'll pick up a smaller pan and some litter for Bear and maybe a few snackies for myself. Do you guys have Dr. Pepper aboard that boat?"
Ellen laughed. “You'd better get some before we go. I don't think I've seen that on the menu, but we do have coffee now."
"You might want to come along,” I said. “There isn't much to eat in this house that doesn't come in a can marked 'soup'. We need to make a list."
Ellen agreed and the project got underway. I called my neighbor and told her I'd be visiting friends for a few days and that I'd be taking Bear with me. She said she'd keep an eye on the house for me.
On the way to the store I pretended to hear something from the engine and checked the oil before going into the store. I bought a can of oil additive and told Ellen I'd be right back. She was pushing the shopping cart through the produce area as I went out.
My first stop was the car. I opened the hood and left it that way as I went to the phone booth. I went through a quick ID and Clark came on the line. After filling him in on everything, I went to the car and dumped in the can of additive, then headed back into the store.
Ellen was reading labels in the middle of the baking goods aisle as I tossed the additive container in a register trash can and grabbed a paper towel for my hands. I read the box in her hand as I walked up to her and asked if we were going to be having a devil's food cake anytime soon.
She put the box back on the shelf and said, “If we buy one from the deli, yes. I've just decided that I'm not going to be baking very often."
"Damned right. That's how I feel about cooking in general."
"I can see why. Food preparation isn't what I want to do with my time."
By general consensus we settled on mostly canned goods and packaged goods that could be zapped in the microwave and were just about finished when Ellen's watch beeped twice. She responded by touching one of the buttons twice and we continued shopping until the list was complete.
Once we were inside the car she tapped the watch button again. Gary's voice came on immediately.
"Ed, are you there?"
"Of course I'm here. Where else would I be?"
"Making another phone call, perhaps. Hold for Linda."
Linda came on almost instantly and her tone was acid.
"We know you called Clark last night and today, Ed. We had to bring him into this to keep it quiet. Is there anyone else we need to contact to avoid leaks?"
They must have been keeping tabs on the agencies’ communications.
"Just my way of playing it safe, Linda. Like you said, it's been years. I thought I might need some extra support. Until I'm sure I don't, I'll keep a card or two up my sleeve for emergencies. You wouldn't mind if I call Clark and see how he feels about all this now that you've talked to him, would you?"
Linda sounded tired. “Oh, hell, no. Of course not. Call the FBI and the Kremlin while you're at it, Ed. I thought maybe hearing from me would..."
I interrupted her. “Last night I didn't know you were involved when I set something up. Today you're a voice coming from a goddamned wristwatch speaker, and how do I know you aren't some kind of special effect? Anyway, I had to call in order to keep them from coming looking for me when I'd been out of touch three days. Beyond all that, I reserve the right to trust, but verify."
The silence from Ellen's wristwatch seemed to have a cold quality to it.
"Linda? Show me where I'm wrong. Put yourself in my position as a solo operative having to improvise in the field. Until I have proof, I'm having to guess. If you can't or won't see that, I don't want any part in this operation. At the moment I have no way of knowing who you're working for these days."
The silence continued for another couple of moments, then Linda spoke again.
"Call Clark. Verify whatever your little heart seems to think needs to be verified. But you'd better damned well start hearing me, Ed. Right now."
This Linda and the Linda I'd known in Europe were very different personalities.
"And you hear this, Linda. Fuck you and your attitude and Gary's new mission tonight is to pick up Ellen and her luggage. Over and out and byebye."
I parked the car by the phone booth, pulled Ellen out of the car, and held her wristwatch up by my face as I called Clark.
Before I could utter a word, he said, “Ed, it's real. Linda's real. All of it's real."
I said, “It was real, Clark. I still don't know what they want me for and Linda's turned into a ten-point bitch. I don't need that kind of shit and I just bailed. They can get somebody else."
"You what?! You can't bail on something like this!"
"Dunnit, Clark. Told her to fuck off when she barked at me."
"Oh, good-god-damn! Where are you now?"
"Why do you want to know? Would somebody get real about all this? I'm not the guy for whatthehellever is going on, Clark. I'm going home and I'm gonna toss everybody out and I'm gonna read a book or something. It's over, okay?"
Clark went ballistic. “No, it's not okay! You're in this up to your ass already!"
"Then I'm getting out while I can. Bye, Clark. Nice talking with you again."
I hung up and said, “Let's get back to the house and get you ready to go, Ellen. I expect we may have some company soon, and unless somebody's real nice to me I'm going to throw the whole damned lot of you out."
Ellen was staring at me. I walked to the car and opened the door for her.
"Are you walking or riding, ma'am?"
She stepped over and got in, looking up at me oddly as I closed her door.
As I started the car, she asked, “What if you can't get out, Ed?"
I looked across at her and said, “Take off that watch for a few minutes, Ellen."
"I don't think so,” she said. “Not after all that."
"We'll lock it in the trunk and I'll give you the key. I just want to say something without the extra audience."
Gary's voice said, “No. Don't even think about it. He may be dangerous."
"If I'm dangerous enough to hurt her, do you think one of these damned watches will stop me?"
"Don't do it, Ellen."
I leaned over and grinned, then kissed her hand. “Do it, Ellen. If I do anything to you they'll come looking for me anyway."
Ellen thought about it a moment, then took off the watch. I went around and got the door for her, then opened the trunk. She set the watch inside and I closed the lid, then handed her the keys before I walked back toward the store. Ellen quickly caught up with me.
I said, “If I decide I want out, I'll get out."
"What?” Ellen shook her head. “I thought you just quit!"
"Nope. I'd love to tour that ship. What I ju
st did was invite everybody to back off and rethink their approach. Besides, they don't give up that easily."
Ellen grinned and asked, “Aren't you afraid I'll tell them what you just said as soon as I put the watch back on?"
"Nope. Tell them or don't. Same thing to me at this point, ma'am. I won't be treated that way. That means either they improve their attitudes or I quit."
Ellen shook her head again in confusion. “If it doesn't matter, why did you have me take the watch off and why are you telling me all this?"
"I'm just messing with them a little. You can say you took a calculated risk to try to gain a bit of info. Right now you couldn't drive a pencil into Gary's rectum with a hammer. He's all clenched up. Linda is facing the possibility that I actually won't take her attitude, which is and has been the truth. She has to decide if that makes me unemployable. Clark is in a panic for the moment because if I quit, he's probably lost the possibility of a part in all this. Linda or others could simply tell him to sit down and shut up about it."
Ellen had giggled shortly at the image of hammering the pencil, but she only grinned as she said, “I'd really rather you wouldn't quit, Ed. This has been a very interesting afternoon."
"We'll see how it goes, ma'am. As I said, I'd risk a lot to be with a woman like you. I guess I'd be willing to put up with a lot of Linda's crap to be with you, too."
Ellen laughed and said, “And I told you that it would be up to you to decide whether having me as a roomie was a blessing. I'm not perfect, you know."
"You're as close to perfect as I've ever met, miLady. Someday, when I get over my terrible shyness problem, I'll ask you for a kiss just to see if I'm right."
"Don't wait,” said Ellen. “Do it now. Verify."
I nodded, then stepped in to kiss her. When I felt her arm move, I almost wanted to dance away out of her striking range, but I stifled the wariness. Ellen's arm settled around me and the kiss lingered for another moment.
When we parted, I said, “Thank you, Miz Alien Lady. That was very nice. You do, indeed, seem to be perfect."
"You're not bad, yourself, Earthman. Maybe there's hope for your planet."
Book 1: 3rd World Products, Inc. Page 6