Chapter Two
When we arrived in Tallahassee, we saw Selena's Mercury Sable in the lot, but she didn't answer her doorbell. I used my key and we found Selena in her hot tub, so we joined her there with kisses and drinks as Toni excitedly told her about our side trip. When she wound down a bit, Toni asked Selena how bad the office fire had been.
"The fire was only in Dick's office," said Selena, "But the smoke was so bad they're having to clean half the third floor before Monday." With a laugh, she added, "The company's new unofficial mantra is 'Don't be a Dick'."
Selena sipped her drink and pointed at the TV in the corner of the patio with a derisive snort and said, "Check it out; an ad for yet another show about people with telekinetic powers. Three TV shows and a couple of movies so far this season. If Hollywood ever had any originality, it's definitely in hiding."
"They copy each other like monkeys," said Toni. "Remember when the three major science fiction TV shows all had their key people kidnapped, memory-wiped, and forced to work on some dismal industrial planet during the same week?"
"Yeah. And there was that 'shooting at bumpers to set off airbags' thing, too. A week after Ed released his second "In Service to a Goddess" book, a new TV show about cops in Las Vegas used that trick. I think they stole the idea."
"You'd never be able to prove it," said Selena, "They'd just blat out some 'great minds think alike' crap." Turning to me, she added, "But it was a helluva coincidence, wasn't it, Ed?"
Nodding, I said, "Oh, yeah. But you're right; proving it would be damned near impossible."
"And now," said Toni, "They've come up with a show called 'Jake 2.0'. And guess what? He's full of nanobots -- like Ed -- and he interfaces with computers -- like Ed -- and he works for a spook outfit -- like Ed -- and..."
Looking very dubious, Sel muttered, "Oooo..." as her gaze shifted to me. "You getting paid for any of that?"
Shaking my head, I said, "No, but if he starts using fancy field tricks like this..."
Sending a neon-blue field tendril to the fridge, I opened the door with it, retrieved a bottle of Ice House beer, and bumped the door shut with a loop of the tendril as I drew the beer back to the hot tub.
As I opened my new beer, I used a neon-red tendril to deliver my empty bottle to the kitchen trash can, took a sip of beer, and finished, "...That's when I'll hire a lawyer."
Toni reached for the red tendril as it looped above her head, so I didn't let it disappear. As her fingers touched it, they slid along the surface for a distance, then wrapped around it, her nails barely touching her palm as she squeezed it gently. I made the tendril twine gently around her arm and stroke her cheek as she studied it.
Peering at me, she grinningly asked, "Is it any kind of a coincidence that your field tendrils just happen to be almost exactly as big around as a certain part of your anatomy?"
Glancing at the tendril, I laughed, "Huh. It was, yeah. It won't be from now on, though. Thanks for the tip, lady."
Selena asked, "Ed, how come Sue and Tiger didn't come with you?"
"Sue's working with Linda. Tiger wanted to visit the pond at the end of Crescent Street."
Selena's left eyebrow went up. "Sue can split herself, Ed. She could have come with you."
Nodding, I said, "Yeah, but she didn't."
"What's she doing with Linda? Tailing the jet?"
"Yeah, probably. They want to know where it's going."
Toni gave me a look similar to Selena's and asked, "You mean you don't even know what she's doing?"
"Nope, but whatever it is, she's doing it with Linda."
I realized instantly that what I'd said hadn't come out the way I'd intended. The ladies glanced at each other with rather stark, exaggerated stares, then burst out laughing.
We spent most of the weekend in the bedroom, the pool, or the hot tub. Sue joined us on Saturday afternoon and Toni asked her about the jet, but Sue said only that the jet situation had been resolved and quoted security rules.
Time was made for visiting a couple of nice restaurants and even for the ladies to do some shopping. There was a minor furor when we landed at the main entrance to the mall, but it wasn't because we arrived aboard a flitter.
The fuss was due to our abrupt appearance as we stepped away from the flitter's concealing field. One of two elderly women sitting on a bench inside the mall doors began screaming and pointing, then apparently fainted.
Under the very wary gaze of the other woman, Sue, Selena, Toni, and I walked past the event as if we had no idea what was going on, but once we'd turned the corner by the fountain and found a place out of the flow of traffic, Sel and Toni cracked up with laughter.
Eyeing them, Sue seemed highly skeptical of their humor. Her gaze shifted to me.
"Sue," I sent through my implant, "We aren't responsible for that woman's inability to remain sane and reasonable. She might just as easily have freaked out if someone with pink spiked hair and a nose ring had walked in."
"Still, Ed... Laughing at an old woman's fear..."
"Uh, uh. Nope. She's old enough to have learned how to keep her cool, too. You didn't see anyone else freaking out, did you? Not even her friend on the bench. We didn't storm the building, ma'am. We just walked in like everybody else. She went nuts like a poodle at a stranger."
"To her, we appeared from thin air, Ed."
"To her, to her friend, and to everybody else who happened to be looking out at the time. She's the only one who..."
Toni waved a hand between us and we turned to face her.
"Are you two having a conference without us?"
I said, "Yup. Sue had a question about the old woman."
"Why she freaked, you mean?"
"You got it. Where are we going from here?"
Glancing around, Toni pointed at a few stores and said, "There, there, and there. And maybe there. Where will you be?"
"The bookstore or the restaurant area, unless you need me to carry your loot or watch you model lingerie."
Selena snorted, "Yeah, right. We'll manage, I think. Sue, what about you?"
Sue smiled and said, "I think I'll go with everybody."
She glanced around once, waited until a few people passed us, and then a second Sue materialized beside Sel and Toni as the original moved to stand by me.
"Ready," said both Sues in perfect unison.
A clerk in the shoe store beyond us froze and stared. The Sue beside the ladies grinned and waved at him as they turned to go. My Sue tugged my arm to get me moving.
Maybe five paces from the shoe store entrance I felt the clerk's stare on my back and said, "That guy's really having some trouble with your twin sister act, Sue."
With a chuckle, she asked, "Want to go back and explain it to him?"
"Oh, not unless he makes an issue of it, I guess."
As we passed the games gallery near the restaurant section of the mall, I saw a couple of kids trying to maneuver a three-point grappler to grab a stuffed toy bear in a plexiglass box.
The grappler dropped and wrapped around the bear's head, but the bear was wedged so tightly among the other stuffed toys it couldn't be budged. The grappler tugged upward and the spring-loaded arms spread, leaving the bear behind.
I sent a tendril into the plexiglass box and probed against the bear. Yup. The stuffies had been practically anchored against each other. It was a ripoff game.
Giving the tendril a sharp twist made the contents of the box erupt. The kids backed away a pace and made all the usual noises people make when something blows up in their faces. The bear was now lying on its side in a corner of the box.
"Bet you can pick it up now," I said.
The kids looked at Sue and me, then back at the box. One of them fished out a quarter and stepped up to give it a try. The grappler again settled over the bear -- this time around the body -- and the grappler winched upward with the bear dangling from the blunt hooks.
Amid much cheering, the grappler dropped the bear into the hole in the front of the box and the kid retrieved it from the delivery chute.
Sue and I continued walking toward the bookstore for some moments before she said, "That wouldn't have occurred to me."
"What? Loosening up the pile?"
"Yes."
"Why not? They deliberately jam everything into those boxes so stuff won't come loose."
With a glance at me, Sue said, "But by attempting a game, people accept the inherent risk of losing their investment. It could be argued that what you did was a form of cheating."
Shrugging, I said, "It could be argued that the game was rigged, too. I'm happy with the results, ma'am."
"But..."
"But, hell. The game is about getting something out of the box. They... fudged... a little by cramming the prizes together. I fudged a little by loosening them up, so it evens out. The un-rigging just became, um... an unspoken part of the game."
With a rather arch glance at me, Sue said, "I see. Would the same rationale apply to a game of roulette?"
"Why would I be at a roulette table, Sue?"
Manufacturing a sigh, she said, "It's a hypothetical question, Ed."
Shaking my head, I said, "Nope. Just can't see it. It isn't me, ma'am. What else ya got?"
"You're being difficult."
"Not at all, milady. Here's the bookstore. Think up another scenario while we browse a bit."
Sue looked around the store from the doorway.
"You browse," she said, "I've read everything in the store," and disappeared.
Keying my implant, I asked, "Was that a huff? It looked a lot like a huff."
"You can envision a huff, but not a roulette wheel?"
"I guess I must be subject to selective perception."
"Maybe that's why you aren't seeing me at the moment."
A guy in a brown sports jacket tapped my shoulder and asked, "Sir, where is the woman who was with you and who are you talking to?"
He flipped his wallet open to display a rent-a-cop badge and ID, then flipped it shut and put it away.
As a few people drew near or stopped in our vicinity, I said, "She left. Do you have some good reason for needing to know who I'm talking to?"
"Sir, please don't be difficult. I need to see some ID. If you don't cooperate, I'll have to take you to the office."
"For what?"
"Creating a disturbance in the mall."
Gesturing at the half-dozen people around us, I said, "Let's take a quick poll. Are any of you people disturbed?"
There were some snickers and a laugh. Some guy said, "My girlfriend thinks I am," and there was another laugh.
"I'm afraid you'll have to bust yourself," I told the rent-a-cop, "You're the only one creating a disturbance here."
As Sue asked, "Should I reappear?" the guy gave me a droll look, reached for my arm, and said, "That's enough. I'll check your ID at the office. Let's go."
Keying my implant, I answered both of them. "Nope."
To the rent-a-cop, I said, "Why don't you tell everybody why you're hassling me? I'm sure they'd like to know what I've done to earn your attention."
"We prefer to handle these matters discreetly, sir."
"That's not going to happen. If you don't let go of me, you can expect a big scene and count on going to court."
"You're threatening me?"
"Why not? You're bothering me. State a good reason or go hassle someone else."
We had a staring match for a few moments, then the guy let go of my arm and said, "Just don't give me a reason to stop you again."
"Let's be real clear about something. You didn't have a reason to stop me this time, and now it's time to either let this whole thing go or take it to the next level."
To bolster my view of matters, I fed him some theta waves and watched his demeanor soften as he said, "Yeah, okay. But I'll be watching."
"That's your job."
He ambled calmly away without even a glance at the others and made it perhaps ten paces before he stopped, looked around with a somewhat confused expression, and peered at me for some moments before heading across the promenade.
Without a word to the people standing nearby, I entered the bookstore and headed for the magazines.
Through my implant, Sue asked, "Were the theta waves necessary, or were you again just 'evening things out'?"
"Yes to both. Badges bring out the worst in some people. He didn't have a case, but he had a problem with backing away from the situation. The theta waves were a kicker to make him cooperate."
"You don't think he'd have seen the sensibility of backing away?"
Leafing through a 'Scientific American' magazine, I replied, "No, I didn't, and why hope when you can be sure?"
A couple of articles interested me; I bought the magazine and headed for the restaurant section of the mall.
"Ed, may I ask why you bought that magazine when everything in it is available to you through your datapad?"
"Where's my datapad?"
"In your briefcase, as always."
Chuckling, I said, "That would be my currently-invisible briefcase in the field above me, true? The one I'm not supposed to reach for in public, that is."
"Cute. You could read it later."
"But I have time to kill now, ma'am, and I don't know how much time that will be."
I felt someone watching me intently as I bought a coffee and chose a table. Sitting so that I could see the main corridor of the mall, I saw the rent-a-cop in a clothing store as I opened the magazine and sipped coffee.
He was the watcher, of course, and I had the feeling our encounter in front of the bookstore wouldn't be our last. Some twenty minutes passed before the guy appeared in the restaurant entranceway and headed toward my table in a determined fashion.
Decisions, decisions. Let him come over and explain that I was waiting for two women -- or possibly three, if Sue was still with them -- to finish shopping? Or simply drop him with a stun and let him try to figure out and explain to others why he passed out?
Nah. Let him come over and see what was on his mind. If he got nasty, then I'd zap him.
When he got to my table, he said, "This mall has rules against loitering. You've been sitting here for half an hour."
"Twenty minutes."
"Are you waiting for someone?"
Sipping my coffee, I said, "Yup."
"Who?"
"Two women. Since I seem to be your only interest today, stick around; I'll introduce you to them."
His gaze narrowed. "Don't get smart with me. I'll run you out of here for loitering and ban you from the mall."
Punting a chair a short distance from the table, I replied, "Get a coffee, take a break, and tell me why the hell you picked me. I never even got inside a store before you showed up, so don't give me any bullshit about suspicious activities."
He leaned on the table and growled, "I've seen people like you before. You watch everything and everybody all the time, and that's what people do when they're up to something."
With a chuckle, I said, "Yeah, well, that's what you're supposed to be doing, too, but here you are, pestering me while the shoplifters clean the place out at their convenience."
Muttering, "Goddamnit, that's it!" he straightened up and shoved a chair out of the way as he came around the table.
When he grabbed at my arm, I grabbed his hand and twisted it so that he had to go to one knee to ease the excruciating pain in his wrist.
Putting down my coffee, I said quietly, "Enough. Go away and stay gone. If you grab at me again, I'll hurt you for real."
He glared at me in silence. I increased the pressure on his wrist until his eyes shifted to it in alarm.
I asked, "Well? Yes or no."
Sue materialized within his range of vision. The guy startled so hard I had to let go to avoid snapping his wrist. He stood up quickly, rubbing his wrist and staring at Sue. With a hard look at me, Sue vanished again and the guy's eyes bugged out.
Keying my implant, I said, "Huh-uh. Oh, no, no, no. Get yourself back here, lady."
Reappearing, Sue met my gaze in silence, completely ignoring the mall guard's goggle-eyed amazement.
"What the hell was that about?" I asked.
"You were hurting him."
"It was our business, not yours."
She glanced at the guard and back at me, then said, "I believe he will leave you in peace now."
"That's not an answer. Why did you interfere?"
Carefully enunciating each word, Sue said, "It seemed the thing to do."
"It was a private issue."
Her left eyebrow went up. "Was it? What if he'd come back with the police?"
"Not likely. He'd have had to explain too much, like having no good reason to hassle me in the first place and allowing things to escalate unnecessarily."
Turning to the guard, she asked, "Do you concur with his opinion?"
Startled again by being addressed by her, the guard responded, "Uh... Well, yeah, I think so. Who..? What..? Uh, are you real..?"
Ignoring his questions, Sue asked, "Would you have left peacefully prior to my appearance?"
Glancing at me, the guard said, "Uh, well... Maybe not right away, I guess..."
Selena and Toni hurried around the corner of the entranceway and toward my table as Sue gave me a look of smug vindication until the guard said, "But, uh, he's right, ma'am. I wouldn't have called the police."
Sounding an awful lot like someone's mother, Sue rather piercingly asked, "Then why were you being so difficult?"
It occurred to me that I'd heard the word 'difficult' fairly often over the last couple of hours. Standing up, I gave Sel and Toni a small wave and a grin as the guard tried to stammer a reply. I pulled a couple of chairs out, but the ladies didn't sit.
I asked, "Are you through shopping, or did Sue call for reinforcements?"
"Yes and no," said Selena. "We're through shopping, but Sue didn't call us."
"Then why were you in such a hurry?"
Toni said, "We bought ice cream," and held up a bag. "We want to get it home."
I zapped the box inside the bag with a cold field that caused frost up to the handle straps and said, "No problem," as I picked up my magazine and sipped the last of my coffee.
Sue said, "I'll see you all later," and vanished again as I took the bags from Sel and Toni. The guard continued to stare at the space that had held Sue and passed his hand through it. The ladies and I headed for the mall's front doors.
The guard and one of the employees from the fried chicken place followed us to the doors and outside. When we stepped into the flitter's field and vanished, the fried chicken woman muttered, "Oh, my God!" in a rather shrill whisper.
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