3rd World Products, Book 17 Read online

Eyeing me for a moment, Marie chuckled, “Interesting that you made that distinction.”

  She seemed to find that humorous, but did her comment require any sort of response? I decided not and just gathered the bow and arrows to install them in the hall closet. When I returned to the table, I put up a screen to display how I and others used our boards.

  Marie watched for a while with only a few comments, then tapped the ‘pause’ icon and turned to me.

  “Ed, Tanya showed me some old pictures you located for her. I recognized them; places and people and all that. She said there were other pictures, but she didn’t have them. Why not?”

  “Nothing nefarious, ma’am. Some of the training centers are still in use. Some of the pix were of us and the others, some weren’t. I didn’t have anyone’s consent, so I didn’t share them.”

  “Do you still have them?”

  “I didn’t save copies, but I can retrieve them again.”

  “Would you show them to me?”

  Shrugging, I said, “Sure. You’re in some of them and you knew everybody else in them. I’ll set up a feed and you can look through them while I check email.”

  “You don’t want to see them?”

  Giving her an askance look, I said, “I’ve already seen them.”

  Studying her nails as she spoke, she said, “Yes, of course. But… what if I have questions?”

  “About what?”

  She continued studying her fingertips as she murmured, “Oh, I don’t know. Just… things.”

  Uh, huh. She wanted me there while she rooted through them. Why? The Marie I remembered would have wanted to review everything in private before going over any details. Hm. And the Marie I remembered had been a controlling harridan. This one seemed a bit more human. She wanted company for this trip down memory lane.

  “Yeah. Okay.”

  I took a seat at the table and she took the chair to my left. That might sound like old-fashioned manners, but it actually had more to do with the fact she was observant; she’d noticed I usually used my right hand to manipulate screens.

  First up were the pictures I’d given Tanya. They made a good starting point and allowed me to observe Marie’s reactions. She seemed to enjoy them in a melancholy manner; her eyes sometimes brimmed with unshed tears, but there was a small smile under them most of the time. Good ‘nuff, then. On with the show.

  Some of the pix I hadn’t showed Tanya seemed to reach Marie in a deeper manner. Her smile widened or narrowed according to who or what was on the screen and she hit the ‘pause’ icon once to retrieve some tissues from her purse.

  I’d expected the kind of chat you might have while looking through old pictures, but she remained silent throughout the show. I didn’t try to guess what was going through her head and only spoke to point out time frames and locations that weren’t readily obvious.

  When the last picture in the collection appeared, I said, “That’s it. If any more turn up, I’ll let you know.”

  Not taking her eyes off the pic of Mike and herself clowning around on the pond pier at camp three, Marie nodded.

  “Thanks. Now I know why you didn’t show these to Tanya.”

  In my best Texas drawl, I replied, “Yup. You wuz actin’ like a brazen hussy with a man other than her dear ol’ daddy. She might’a had an opinion about that.”

  Marie gave me a droll expression and, “Just say ‘you’re welcome, Marie‘, and leave it at that, please.”

  “Ah. Yes’m.” Clearing my throat gently, I stated clearly and firmly, “You’re-welcome-Marie.”

  That got me a wry smirk and, “Jerk.”

  Turning her gaze back to the screen, Marie gazed at the picture for another few moments, then tapped the ‘off’ icon and said, “It’s almost five o’clock. Where do you want to eat?”

  Pretending shock, I asked, “What?! After a day like today, you aren’t even going to cook me a dinner?”

  With another droll gaze, she snorted, “I don’t even cook for me when I can avoid it.”

  “Well, it was worth a shot. There’s a buffet place in Brooksville.”

  Standing up, she said, “Good enough,” and made it as far as the kitchen’s alcove archway before she stopped cold, put a bracing hand on the kitchen counter, and put her other hand to her belly.

  Standing up, I stepped over to take a light, steadying grip on her arm and asked, “Do you feel okay?”

  I smelled the scent of her hair. A rush of warmth flushed through me and I instantly recognized the source. Marie was exuding pheromones. Heh. Big ‘uns in attack mode.

  Marie blushed through the expression of shock on her face and managed, “Uhm… Yes, I’m fine. I’ll be right back.”

  As she walked away with quick, short steps, I said, “Look under the bathroom sink. I think they were Lori’s.”

  After stopping to turn and give me a fisheye for a moment, Marie continued her journey. I called up info about how nanobots affected the female reproductive system. Marie had been treated almost three months ago. If she was again equipped to have periods, why hadn’t she had one before now?

  That info either wasn’t listed or was there in a manner I couldn’t assemble or deduce with limited medical knowledge. Taking a seat at the table, I linked to Athena and asked the same question.

  “Why is she having menstrual cycles, Athena? Her ovaries weren’t on the list of things to fix.”

  “Of course they were, Ed. The female reproductive system provides integral developmental chemical and hormonal support and regulation to a number of organs and functions. Instead of expending resources unnecessarily by directly providing that developmental support and regulation themselves, the nanobots simply restored their natural source.”

  Huh. Okay.

  “Marie wasn’t issued a PFM, ma’am. Didn’t anyone mention she might be fertile again soon?”

  “I’m sure someone thought to mention it.”

  “I’m not. She seemed pretty surprised just now.”

  “Shall I review her treatment records and…”

  “Nah. Don’t bother. I’ll ask her. Unless you want to?”

  “I will if you wish. If she truly didn’t know and you tell her, she might want corroboration.”

  I laughed, “Yeah, prolly so. If she didn’t already know this could happen. And speaking of that, why did it happen tonight? Why not sometime during the last few months?”

  “Perhaps she’s met no one who could initiate her interest in a sensual manner.”

  “That’s a little hard to believe. She’s been surrounded by feds and lawyers and 3rd World people since her treatment. There had to be at least one guy who’d get her attention in a crowd that size.”

  “Perhaps not. Why speculate? Ask her.”

  “Might do that if it doesn’t seem too much like prying. Or I might just go with the fact that I both piss her off and turn her on. That would be a lot simpler, wouldn’t it?”

  Athena chuckled, “I suppose so.”

  Sipping coffee, I said, “Now I’d like to ask you a question about you, ma’am. Why were you so upset that I was able to operate my sim on the moon?”

  A foot-wide field screen appeared in front of me. It was filled with complex mathematical calculations in a font so small I almost asked for magnification. Pretending to study the math, I scrolled it up a few pages and sat down at the table.

  Sipping again, I said, “I think I see the problem, ma’am.”

  Athena laughed softly and made no other comment.

  “Okay,” I said, “Let’s put it another way. This seems to say that what I did wasn’t possible. Something similar says the same thing about bumblebees; that they can’t fly.”

  “I’m familiar with that construct.”

  “It has the same problem. Someone overlooked something, ‘cuz bumblebees do their bumbling in the air.”

  Chuckling again, Athena said, “I’d agree.”

  The bathroom door opened and Athena said, “I’ll let you get back to Marie. Bye, Ed.
”

  “Bye, Athena.”

  Her field screen remained. I tapped it ‘off’ and let it vanish just before Marie stepped into the kitchen. She set her bag down, picked up her coffee mug, and began making a fresh coffee.

  With her back to me, she asked, “Ed, how did you know?”

  “Women in heat produce some delicious pheromones, ma’am. I got a big ol’ whiff of yours when I held your arm. They also produce a slightly metallic scent, but that can be from taking vitamins or other medications.”

  Stopping her motions with the mug and spoon, Marie turned to fix a narrow gaze on me. In a low, ominous tone, she carefully enunciated the words, “In heat?! Would you care to explain that?”

  “Nope. You already know how it works, so finish making your coffee. Did anyone bother to mention you’d be fertile again?”

  Her narrow gaze continued for a couple of moments, then she turned back to her coffee project and said, “Yes, but I expected some… hint of it… before now. I wasn’t sure it had really happened.”

  She brought her assembled coffee to the table and sat across from me, then said, “I haven’t had to deal with it since… well, for about the last fifteen years.”

  I chuckled, “That explains the shocked look a while ago. You found the Tampons?”

  Nodding, she replied, “Yes. I took three. I’ll get some of my own soon and replace them.” Leaning back in her chair, she said, “I guess you think this puts a damper on things.”

  “Doesn’t have to. I wasn’t counting on getting laid and you can deal with things well enough otherwise.”

  With a somewhat incredulous expression, she asked, “Do you ever listen to yourself?”

  “Am I wrong? You can deal with it, right?”

  She snapped, “Hell, yes, I can deal with it.”

  “Then let’s just get on with whatever.”

  Her voice rose an octave. “And what would that ‘whatever’ be?”

  Sitting back in my own chair, I sipped and said, “Put your damned feathers down, lady. I just mean nothing’s changed unless there’s something you aren’t telling me. Having a period never took you offline way back when.”

  Marie’s glower turned into a sort of grumpiness, then she sipped her coffee and sighed, “Yeah, okay. Sorry. Look, I’m going to head home tonight.”

  “After dinner. We were heading for a buffet, remember?”

  “You still want to go?”

  “We still have to eat and they don’t deliver.”

  She met my gaze for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. Dinner. But I’ll probably want to leave right after.”

  “As long as nobody can accuse me of letting you starve.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  She left her unfinished coffee on the sink counter and I hung mine on my pants pocket as usual. A few minutes later we descended toward Brooksville, but she abruptly veered to the right. I followed and saw her heading straight for a guy who was backing his way out the doors of a convenience store.

  He turned with a drink cup in each hand and Marie leveled off about thirty feet above the parking lot.

  She sent, ‘False alarm’.

  ‘Okay. We’re heading north a bit.’

  Marie followed me and caught up just as I started descending toward the restaurant. We landed between larger vehicles and met on foot behind one of them. She took a minute to check her appearance in an SUV side mirror, then we headed inside.

  A few minutes later we had food and drinks and found a booth away from any small children. Marie was silent for a time as she worked on her roast beef and greens. I was silent because I wanted her to open any conversation and possibly give me some insight as to what she was thinking.

  Taking a sip of her tea, Marie abruptly said, “I might not want to work for anybody for a while, Ed.”

  Hm. Okay. I shrugged. “That’s up to you.”

  “What’ll I tell your friend Angie?”

  “Whatever you’d tell me.” Putting my fork down and sipping my own tea, I added, “It wasn’t a job offer. It was an interview offer.”

  “That’s about the same thing, isn’t it?”

  “Almost. Not quite. Doesn’t matter. If you aren’t ready to hitch up, just say so. Got something better in mind?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just… one day I’m a cripple, the next I’m almost a kid again. I know I owe you and others a lot for that, but…”

  She let her sentence trail off.

  I finished a bite of steak and nodded slightly. “Yeah. Doesn’t matter. Not ready is not ready. Besides, 3rd World Products didn’t have anything to do with your renovation. That was all handled by the AIs and me and we don’t give a damn whether you go back to work or lounge around in your undies chugging bon bons and watching soaps all day.”

  Marie snorted a chuckle. “Not very likely.”

  “Just presenting some options, ma’am.”

  “Not very good ones.”

  “Got something better in mind?”

  “Oh, I…” She stopped in the middle of cutting some meat and looked at me rather flatly. “That was cute.”

  I returned a small smile. “No, that was just conversation. I’m not trying to pry, Marie. If you have some deep, dark, secret project in mind, you don’t have to tell me about it.”

  Her gaze turned wry. “No, nothing deep and dark. I just got to thinking… Ed, I left service when Tanya was in her teens. Took an early retirement. She needed a mother right then a lot more than the company needed me.”

  A few bites later, I prompted, “And?”

  “And,” Marie said around some greens, then she swallowed them and continued, “I’m not sure I want to get back into that life. Having a boss and assignments and all that. I don’t really know what I want to do. I’m still getting used to being whole again.”

  I shrugged. “Makes sense to me, ma’am. Remember Chuck Fenner? He retired early in ‘89 and bought an RV. As far as I know, he’s still on the road somewhere.”

  Marie just looked at me rather starkly for a moment, then said, “Oh, that makes me feel old as hell. I had to think just to remember who he was. The last time I saw him he was about twenty-three. He’d been with the company all of six months, I think.”

  “Sounds right. Carter and Ford caused some changes in the agency and he didn’t like where things were going. Said some unkind things, in fact, and put them in writing as reasons for wanting to retire. A month later we got postcards from Yellowstone.”

  After another bite of greens, Marie asked, “So why’d you bring him up?”

  “Just making some thinking time. You do what you want, Marie. There’s no bill to pay as far as the AIs and I are concerned.”

  “Then why do I feel as if there is?”

  “You’ll have to be the one to figure that out. I suggest you put it on a shelf and see if it’ll answer itself somewhere along the line.”

  We’d nearly finished eating when Marie said, “I’m still going home tonight. I want to think about some things.”

  Marie studied me for a moment, then resumed eating. A few bites later, she spoke again.

  “You really don’t give a damn, do you?”

  Pretending ignorance, I asked, “About what, ma’am?”

  Her gaze narrowed a bit. “Whether I stay or go.”

  “Ah. It would be easier to care if it were my decision. Otherwise it’s just a vague possibility.” Doing my best to look hopeful, I asked, “Or would you like to throw your autonomy and insecurities to the wind and have me decide for you?”

  Marie’s gaze narrowed further. “You’re still a complete wise-ass, aren’t you?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, apparently so, ma’am.”

  Getting to my feet, I excused myself to visit the bathroom. About halfway there, Galatea pinged me. When I answered, she told me Myra Berens had sent a voice message with her datapad. I linked to the message while doing other things. Myra had simply asked for a return call as soon as possible. I sent back, ‘Got your message.
I’m at dinner with an old acquaintance. I’ll call you shortly.’

  Washing up and heading back to the table, I sat down and sipped my tea as Marie finished her meal.

  She sipped her own tea and seemed to study me for a moment, then quietly said, “Something’s up. What is it?”

  “Just need to return a call.”

  Her gaze narrowed. “You don’t have a cell phone.”

  “A datapad call.”

  She echoed flatly, “A datapad call. You don’t seem to have a datapad, either, Ed.”

  Pretending to be stricken with shock, I replied, “Suspicious woman. You don’t believe me, do you?”

  Sipping again, she said, “No, not really.”

  “Well, just spear me through the heart, y’know? Stomp all over my pore lil’ feelings and kick them into the street.”

  Rolling her eyes, Marie groaned, “Spare me. You don’t give a microscopic damn what I think, and I think you just want to see me hit the road the minute we get outside.”

  “Bet you a roll in the hay, ma’am.”

  She snorted a soft laugh. “Of course you would.” Setting her glass down, she got to her feet and said, “If you’re finished, let’s go. I can get back in time to do some laundry.”

  I got up and we headed for the front doors. As I pushed one open, I said, “Tea, please disable Marie’s board until further notice.”

  That made Marie’s head snap around.

  As I stepped well to one side of the doors and glanced around, she followed asking, “What the hell are you doing?!”

  We were alone. I said quietly, “Marie, you’ve known me since 1971. I’ve occasionally told you and others less than the complete truth or nothing at all. I’ve even let you jump to your own conclusions when it suited me, but I’ve never actually outright lied to you. Not even once, and you damned well know it.”

  Calling up a small screen, I had it display and play Myra’s message with the date and time received, had it play my reply, and then asked, “Believe me now?”

  With a sullen glare, Marie grittingly replied, “Yes.”

  “Great. Tea, you can let Marie’s board work now. Thank you.”

  Marie and I stood looking at each other for a time, then she asked, “Was that really necessary?”