Master wu, p.10
Master Wu, page 10
“May I help you, miss?” he asked. He did not smile, but his eyes scanned her whole body, stopping at her face. She had taken the time to program her facebots to, at the very least, obscure her real identity. She had given herself a few scars. One large one above her eyes tended to make her eyebrows look much more pronounced. A smaller one at the corner of her mouth added at least 10 years to her age. At least Jayne thought she looked older.
“I am here to inspect the suite I ordered before my guests arrived. I don’t want any surprises. Can you show me the way?” asked Jayne as she shoved her VID toward him. He took out his VID and bumped hers. A quick glance told him who she was and where the suite was located.
“Follow me, Dr. Bancroft.” He turned and walked away.
Jayne quickly followed him. She stared at his back. Over his shoulder, he called, “This is one of the best seats in the house to watch a game. It also has a full complement of virtual chairs. You can become the player of your choice during the game and experience everything they are doing and feeling, even pain if you want a true experience, or are you a purist?” He stopped and looked at her intently. “Are you one of those people who likes to watch the whole game at once as it happens?” Jayne simply smiled in response. He touched her shoulder and squeezed gently, directing her to a PUT alcove. “We can take a PUT right to the suite.”
Thoughts of playing GravBall swirled through Jayne’s mind. She felt a rush, and a shiver ran down her spine. She’d looked up at the young man when he touched her shoulder. He was smiling back at her. His warm smile was disarming.
She blurted, “I used to play.” No sooner were the words out of her mouth than she regretted saying them.
“You used to play? You are pretty small for a player, at any level. I only ever saw one player your size who was any good.” He looked up as if he was searching the ether for a memory. “It was a few years ago. I was watching a HUB game.” He suddenly stopped as if the memory had flashed brightly in his head. “You’re not…” he pointed his finger repeatedly at her. “Are you Jayne Wu?”
Jayne bit her lip. She felt an urge to respond and admit who she was. She suppressed it. “Who?” She shook her head. “I mean, I played when I was a kid, but I was never very good at it.”
“So you are not her. That is too bad. You sure look like her.”
“Well, I’m not whomever you think,” she paused. “I think everyone played as a kid. What about you?”
“Me, never,” he responded quickly.
He directed Jayne to a cycling PUT. They both stepped forward and re-appeared just outside the viewing suite Underhill had rented for her. He waved his VID and the door opened.
“I have sent the door codes to your VID. You can come and go as you please. If I can be of further assistance, just give me a call.”
He was grinning now as he backed away from the open door. “Yes, I think you are her. Is there some reason you are pretending to be someone else? It is none of my business, but I know some people who…” He stopped and grinned, “Enjoy the game, Miss W… Winter.” He walked over to the PUT array and disappeared.
Jayne felt a little sick to her stomach. She had to be more careful. Her entire cover could be blown by stupidity. She had been recognized and needed to fix that mistake immediately. She sat in one of the chairs overlooking the arena pitch, took out her VID and called for the man to return to the suite. She needed some help. While she waited, she planned what to say to him. She needed to know he would not blow her cover. She would tell him that she was working for the GravBall federation to uncover corruption on some of the teams. She tried to anticipate the kinds of questions he might ask. What kind of corruption? The best answer was that she was involved in detective work. All the Nwebbies were investigating allegations that the teams were hiring ringers. A ringer was a pro GravBall player who was not a fixer. By definition, all pro players must be fixers. She would enlist him to help her. That way, it would be in his best interest to keep her identity a secret. If that didn’t work, she would needle him and deal with the problem later.
The door slid open, and a woman entered, dressed in the same burgundy suit with an ID dangling from her lapel. “Yes, Dr. Bancroft. How may I help you?”
Jayne blurted, “Where is Kurt?”
“Who?”
“The young blond man who was here a few minutes ago. I need to talk to him. Can you call him for me?”
The woman looked up something on her VID and then looked back at Jayne. “Are you sure his name was Kurt? I can find no one with that name working this game. Perhaps you were mistaken,” she ventured. “There is a Kurt. He is not working today.”
“He must be. Kurt? A tall blond young man about twenty-five.”
The woman looked down at her VID. “Sorry, Miss Bancroft, but the Kurt who works here is very dark-skinned. He is older than the person you describe.” She paused and waited for Jayne to respond.
Jayne sat down in a nearby chair. Her mind was racing.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Jayne shook her head, and the woman left the suite. All her alarm bells were ringing. She looked around the rooms. She did not know what she expected to find, but she looked anyway. She tossed the cushions on the floor and moved the chairs that would move. She looked behind the wet bar at the back of the room. She could find nothing out of the ordinary. She asked the Sergio Partelli to scan for devices, but none were found. She sat again.
Kurt was a problem. He might be working for Thurston. His words came back to her—‘I know some people who would…’ The whole event concerned her. She had exposed herself and was recognized. ‘I know some people,’ echoed in her head. Did he know Thurston? Then the Consortium leaped into her mind. Jayne shivered and rubbed her scalp to chase away the memory of the dreaded thought-stealing helmet. She chastised herself. What had she expected? She wanted Thurston to come so she could capture him. Maybe he had sent someone else. If he had, she might be in serious danger.
She stood quickly for it was nearly time to meet Rose and Spike and, if she was in danger, then they were also in danger. She opened the backpack and assembled the trap. It was beneath a small table to the right of the door. It had been keyed to the DNA of Thurston’s new body, Ranovich 91. If he entered the suite, it would spring and encase him in an impermeable transparent sac. She hurried out of the suite to the nearby PUT. She touched her VID and stepped on the PUT. She appeared near the arena entrance number 13, where she had agreed to meet her friends. She looked around and saw them just as they entered.
Jayne walked up to them. Once Rose spotted her, she ran into her arms and hugged her and spun her around. Jayne forced herself out of Rose’s arms and commanded them both to follow her to the PUT array. She practically had to drag Rose. “Wait until we are safe inside the suite I rented. We can talk there.”
Rose was about to ignore the request when Spike said sharply, “Rose, go!” He had caught the tension in Jayne’s voice. They all reached the PUT array and were transported almost immediately. Jayne waved her VID, and the door slid open. Jayne entered first and looked around. The room was empty.
Rose turned to her. “I really missed you. Give me another hug.” They hugged.
“The game doesn’t start for another 30 minutes, so sit and tell me everything.” She took Jayne by the arm and tried to guide her to one of the chairs.
Jayne broke away. “I will get us something to drink. You sit.” Jayne felt that sitting was the last thing she should do at this moment.
Spike had opened the refrigeration unit and was pulling out a series of containers. Some held soda and some held beer. He lined them up on the counter. “Take your pick,” he said, and gestured to the refreshments.
Jayne had just reached the bar. She turned to ask Rose her preference when she noticed that the cushions she had tossed on the floor had been returned to their respective chairs and couches. Time seemed to slow as she watched Rose settle herself into one of the large chairs designed for virtual viewing. As she watched, one of the cushions started to swell. She turned to Spike and then back to Rose. The cushion began to hiss out some sort of mist. Rose slumped down and her head dropped to rest on her chest. Three more cushions began to emit mist. Then time sped up as if it were trying to make up for slowing down. Jayne leaped onto Spike and commanded the Sergio Partelli she was wearing to protect both her and Spike from the gas that was leaking out of the cushions and filling the room. A clear film was ejected from the suit near the back of the collar. It quickly enveloped both of them.
Spike tried to move away. He had no idea what was happening, and Jayne had startled him. His inertia caused both of them to fall forward and now he lay on top of Jayne, unable to move. His head was just below one of the leaking cushions. He could see the gray mist falling over him, encased in the protection of the suit.
“Be still, for frack sake,” commanded Jayne as she tried to wiggle her body from under him. “Suit: expand protective film.”
They were now able to lie beside each other with their noses almost touching.
“It is some kind of knockout gas. When I left the suite, the cushions were on the floor. When I came back, they were neatly back where they were supposed to be. Noticing that is the only thing that saved us from being knocked out.” Jayne turned her head and looked at one of the cushions on the far side of the room. “The gas has stopped.
Suit—confirm the air is breathable.”
Jayne felt a vibration fill her skull. She understood the word ‘affirmative’. “Suit—remove the protective film.”
There was a slight popping sound and the film that both protected and captured them disappeared.
Sounds were coming from behind the door. Jayne looked up and realized that someone was coming into the room. She grabbed her VID from the pouch on her hip and quickly changed the access codes for the door. There was an attempt to open it without first requesting entrance permission. When it would not open, someone called, “Delivery. Your snack trays have arrived.”
Spike quickly responded, “Just a moment,” and turned to Jayne and whispered, “What the frack just happened?” He pointed at Rose. “Check her.”
Jayne moved to Rose and checked her pulse. “It is slow, but I think the gas was only meant to knock us out.”
“Move her to one of those viewing chairs,” Spike said as he moved to Rose and they both picked her up and placed her in one of the virtual chairs in front of the glass facing the pitch. “If they can see in, they’ll think their gas trick didn’t work.”
He reached inside his coat and took out a retractable club. He held it by his side. “I couldn’t get anything more past the sensors. It is unlikely they could either and hence the gas. They were expecting to find us sleeping like babies. Probably intending to secret us out of here using a PUT.”
Spike walked over to the wet bar and stood behind it with the club out of view. “Open the door,” he whispered.
CHAPTER 13
Gas Aftermath
Security at GravBall arenas was extremely tight. Everyone who entered was scanned repeatedly for a weapon or possible weapon of any type. Security cameras were able to see much more than the external body as they entered. The new designs could look beneath the clothes, beneath the skin, and even inside the bones of every person entering. Once scanned, the system would then track your location until you left the arena. There had been several attempts to smuggle in seemingly innocuous objects that might be assembled into a weapon once inside. Different people, each with one component, planned to gather together a series of parts of a weapon or explosive device. The Quantum Cray that managed the system would inevitably connect the dots by determining all the possible uses for any series of component parts and flag the suspects before anything could be assembled.
Jayne touched her VID, and the door opened. Sitting in the open doorway was a multi-level cart with trays in the top three levels. The trays were filled with various finger foods. There was no one else nearby. The cart had been abandoned. There was a sheet of electronic scribe on the top.
Jayne walked over and picked up the scribe sheet. It was a hastily scrawled message from Kurt. Jayne read:
Miss Wu,
My whoopee cushions obviously did not do what I intended. I figured you were worth a lot to certain parties and, well, a guy has to make a living. Enjoy the snacks.
Kurt
Jayne looked up from the page and, as if it sensed she was finished reading, the message disappeared.
“What did it say?” asked Spike as he rolled the cart into the suite and reached out to the top tray of snacks. “Was it him? Did Thurston plant the gas?”
Jayne reached out to stop him, but it was too late.
Spike stuffed two into his mouth. “What?” he mumbled through a mouthful.
“If you drop dead from poison, don’t blame me.” Jayne then explained the note and Kurt’s intentions.
“So Thurston did not take the bait, and we can relax and watch the game?” he said and pulled out another tray and walked over to the bar and set it down. He inspected the food on the tray and finally chose a particular type and popped it into his mouth. “These funny-looking ones are really good. I think they are stuffed with small crustaceans. You should try one. Are we going to watch the game? Some of my old team members still play for the Syncopats. She will be sleeping for a few more hours anyway,” he said, gesturing in Rose’s direction.
There was a sudden noise from the open doorway. Three men in security uniforms appeared. They all had weapons drawn and pointed at Jayne. From behind, a fourth man pushed his way to the front.
“Not her,” he barked and then to Jayne, “Thank the deities you are all right. This is what happens when you don’t have the proper security in place.” Rafferty looked over at Rose. “What happened to Rose? Is she alright?”
“She is fine. Just knocked out. Please call a medipod to get her checked out.”
Rafferty ordered one of the security men to make a call. He dismissed them and then turned back to Jayne. “What the hell did you have planned? What if that bastard had shown up with a small army? For frack sake, Wu, this plan of yours was plain stupid. You leaked your location to attract him, and then what? Were you going to have a little chat with him and explain the error of his ways? Tell him it was not nice to be a mind murderer and a real murderer?”
“I had a plan. Just because you were not informed, you assume I did not have a plan. Had he shown up, I would have him in custody. But he didn’t.”
Rafferty shook his head. “So you expected him to walk right in here and announce himself? He sent someone else instead.” Rafferty took out his VID and shoved it in Jayne’s face. “We think this guy was impersonating an arena employee.”
“Yes, that is fake Kurt, but I do not think he is working for Thurston.”
“Who then?” demanded Rafferty.
“Probably himself. I suspect he freelances for the Consortium. He recognized me and saw an opportunity to make a few credits by taking me prisoner and selling me.” Jayne walked over to the snack cart that still sat by the doorway and pulled aside the white cloth that was draped over it. “Once we were all unconscious, he would have concealed me here and wheeled me to the nearest PUT.”
“If you knew that, then why did you let him leave here?”
“I didn’t know that until after he left. I set a security trap for Thurston, not Kurt.” Jayne gestured to an object on the small table to the right of the door.
“Where did you get that? Those traps were designed by the World Police for capturing specific criminals. I am sure you couldn’t buy one, so how did you get it?”
“Winter Bancroft II has her contacts and a great deal of money,” retorted Jayne. “It was not a hard as you think to get one, as you can see.”
Spike walked up to them. “The medipod is here to take Rose and get her checked out. Are you two going to stand here and argue, or are we going to watch the game together? It starts in a few minutes, and I don’t want to miss the opening jump-off.”
“Stay if you want,” Jayne said in an exasperated tone. “I am going with Rose. She might be confused if she wakes up and there is no one around to explain what happened to her.”
Spike turned to Rafferty, “What about you, Raf? I can give a real play-by-play and recommend the best players to virtually become during the game.” He pointed to the virtual chairs. “Those are top-of-the-line. You can even turn on total immersion. That means you experience all the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings that your chosen player is experiencing. It is pretty cool, but I do recommend that you shut off the pain sensors. Those players are used to it and can handle it, but someone like you might not.” Spike laughed, walked over to one of the virtual chairs, and stared down at the pitch.
Rafferty turned to Jayne questioningly.
“There are three very competent security personnel capable of escorting Rose and me to the hospital waiting out there. She will be asleep for a while yet. You might as well stay and watch the game,” said Jayne.
Rafferty shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs just as the ball popped and the crowd roared.
CHAPTER 14
Meeting Sentinel Central
The Sentinels were a group whose declared purpose was to support the fixer class. It had been compared to many 20th-century labor unions in that it would fight for individuals and sub-groups of fixers. One of its most recent activities was to fight for a group of fixers assigned to Biome 2. The gravity on Biome 2 was 1.3 Earth standard. The Sentinels negotiated with the World Government to have the assignment time decreased, as it was causing a permanent physical and mental change in fixers required to work to the full extent of their assignment.
The Sentinels also had a clandestine branch whose activities were hidden, even from the World Police Force. It was this branch that first discovered the activities of the Forevers. They had informed the WP of many of their discoveries but continued to investigate on their own. They believed that parts of the WP and the WG had been infiltrated by those sympathetic to the Forevers.
“I am here to inspect the suite I ordered before my guests arrived. I don’t want any surprises. Can you show me the way?” asked Jayne as she shoved her VID toward him. He took out his VID and bumped hers. A quick glance told him who she was and where the suite was located.
“Follow me, Dr. Bancroft.” He turned and walked away.
Jayne quickly followed him. She stared at his back. Over his shoulder, he called, “This is one of the best seats in the house to watch a game. It also has a full complement of virtual chairs. You can become the player of your choice during the game and experience everything they are doing and feeling, even pain if you want a true experience, or are you a purist?” He stopped and looked at her intently. “Are you one of those people who likes to watch the whole game at once as it happens?” Jayne simply smiled in response. He touched her shoulder and squeezed gently, directing her to a PUT alcove. “We can take a PUT right to the suite.”
Thoughts of playing GravBall swirled through Jayne’s mind. She felt a rush, and a shiver ran down her spine. She’d looked up at the young man when he touched her shoulder. He was smiling back at her. His warm smile was disarming.
She blurted, “I used to play.” No sooner were the words out of her mouth than she regretted saying them.
“You used to play? You are pretty small for a player, at any level. I only ever saw one player your size who was any good.” He looked up as if he was searching the ether for a memory. “It was a few years ago. I was watching a HUB game.” He suddenly stopped as if the memory had flashed brightly in his head. “You’re not…” he pointed his finger repeatedly at her. “Are you Jayne Wu?”
Jayne bit her lip. She felt an urge to respond and admit who she was. She suppressed it. “Who?” She shook her head. “I mean, I played when I was a kid, but I was never very good at it.”
“So you are not her. That is too bad. You sure look like her.”
“Well, I’m not whomever you think,” she paused. “I think everyone played as a kid. What about you?”
“Me, never,” he responded quickly.
He directed Jayne to a cycling PUT. They both stepped forward and re-appeared just outside the viewing suite Underhill had rented for her. He waved his VID and the door opened.
“I have sent the door codes to your VID. You can come and go as you please. If I can be of further assistance, just give me a call.”
He was grinning now as he backed away from the open door. “Yes, I think you are her. Is there some reason you are pretending to be someone else? It is none of my business, but I know some people who…” He stopped and grinned, “Enjoy the game, Miss W… Winter.” He walked over to the PUT array and disappeared.
Jayne felt a little sick to her stomach. She had to be more careful. Her entire cover could be blown by stupidity. She had been recognized and needed to fix that mistake immediately. She sat in one of the chairs overlooking the arena pitch, took out her VID and called for the man to return to the suite. She needed some help. While she waited, she planned what to say to him. She needed to know he would not blow her cover. She would tell him that she was working for the GravBall federation to uncover corruption on some of the teams. She tried to anticipate the kinds of questions he might ask. What kind of corruption? The best answer was that she was involved in detective work. All the Nwebbies were investigating allegations that the teams were hiring ringers. A ringer was a pro GravBall player who was not a fixer. By definition, all pro players must be fixers. She would enlist him to help her. That way, it would be in his best interest to keep her identity a secret. If that didn’t work, she would needle him and deal with the problem later.
The door slid open, and a woman entered, dressed in the same burgundy suit with an ID dangling from her lapel. “Yes, Dr. Bancroft. How may I help you?”
Jayne blurted, “Where is Kurt?”
“Who?”
“The young blond man who was here a few minutes ago. I need to talk to him. Can you call him for me?”
The woman looked up something on her VID and then looked back at Jayne. “Are you sure his name was Kurt? I can find no one with that name working this game. Perhaps you were mistaken,” she ventured. “There is a Kurt. He is not working today.”
“He must be. Kurt? A tall blond young man about twenty-five.”
The woman looked down at her VID. “Sorry, Miss Bancroft, but the Kurt who works here is very dark-skinned. He is older than the person you describe.” She paused and waited for Jayne to respond.
Jayne sat down in a nearby chair. Her mind was racing.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Jayne shook her head, and the woman left the suite. All her alarm bells were ringing. She looked around the rooms. She did not know what she expected to find, but she looked anyway. She tossed the cushions on the floor and moved the chairs that would move. She looked behind the wet bar at the back of the room. She could find nothing out of the ordinary. She asked the Sergio Partelli to scan for devices, but none were found. She sat again.
Kurt was a problem. He might be working for Thurston. His words came back to her—‘I know some people who would…’ The whole event concerned her. She had exposed herself and was recognized. ‘I know some people,’ echoed in her head. Did he know Thurston? Then the Consortium leaped into her mind. Jayne shivered and rubbed her scalp to chase away the memory of the dreaded thought-stealing helmet. She chastised herself. What had she expected? She wanted Thurston to come so she could capture him. Maybe he had sent someone else. If he had, she might be in serious danger.
She stood quickly for it was nearly time to meet Rose and Spike and, if she was in danger, then they were also in danger. She opened the backpack and assembled the trap. It was beneath a small table to the right of the door. It had been keyed to the DNA of Thurston’s new body, Ranovich 91. If he entered the suite, it would spring and encase him in an impermeable transparent sac. She hurried out of the suite to the nearby PUT. She touched her VID and stepped on the PUT. She appeared near the arena entrance number 13, where she had agreed to meet her friends. She looked around and saw them just as they entered.
Jayne walked up to them. Once Rose spotted her, she ran into her arms and hugged her and spun her around. Jayne forced herself out of Rose’s arms and commanded them both to follow her to the PUT array. She practically had to drag Rose. “Wait until we are safe inside the suite I rented. We can talk there.”
Rose was about to ignore the request when Spike said sharply, “Rose, go!” He had caught the tension in Jayne’s voice. They all reached the PUT array and were transported almost immediately. Jayne waved her VID, and the door slid open. Jayne entered first and looked around. The room was empty.
Rose turned to her. “I really missed you. Give me another hug.” They hugged.
“The game doesn’t start for another 30 minutes, so sit and tell me everything.” She took Jayne by the arm and tried to guide her to one of the chairs.
Jayne broke away. “I will get us something to drink. You sit.” Jayne felt that sitting was the last thing she should do at this moment.
Spike had opened the refrigeration unit and was pulling out a series of containers. Some held soda and some held beer. He lined them up on the counter. “Take your pick,” he said, and gestured to the refreshments.
Jayne had just reached the bar. She turned to ask Rose her preference when she noticed that the cushions she had tossed on the floor had been returned to their respective chairs and couches. Time seemed to slow as she watched Rose settle herself into one of the large chairs designed for virtual viewing. As she watched, one of the cushions started to swell. She turned to Spike and then back to Rose. The cushion began to hiss out some sort of mist. Rose slumped down and her head dropped to rest on her chest. Three more cushions began to emit mist. Then time sped up as if it were trying to make up for slowing down. Jayne leaped onto Spike and commanded the Sergio Partelli she was wearing to protect both her and Spike from the gas that was leaking out of the cushions and filling the room. A clear film was ejected from the suit near the back of the collar. It quickly enveloped both of them.
Spike tried to move away. He had no idea what was happening, and Jayne had startled him. His inertia caused both of them to fall forward and now he lay on top of Jayne, unable to move. His head was just below one of the leaking cushions. He could see the gray mist falling over him, encased in the protection of the suit.
“Be still, for frack sake,” commanded Jayne as she tried to wiggle her body from under him. “Suit: expand protective film.”
They were now able to lie beside each other with their noses almost touching.
“It is some kind of knockout gas. When I left the suite, the cushions were on the floor. When I came back, they were neatly back where they were supposed to be. Noticing that is the only thing that saved us from being knocked out.” Jayne turned her head and looked at one of the cushions on the far side of the room. “The gas has stopped.
Suit—confirm the air is breathable.”
Jayne felt a vibration fill her skull. She understood the word ‘affirmative’. “Suit—remove the protective film.”
There was a slight popping sound and the film that both protected and captured them disappeared.
Sounds were coming from behind the door. Jayne looked up and realized that someone was coming into the room. She grabbed her VID from the pouch on her hip and quickly changed the access codes for the door. There was an attempt to open it without first requesting entrance permission. When it would not open, someone called, “Delivery. Your snack trays have arrived.”
Spike quickly responded, “Just a moment,” and turned to Jayne and whispered, “What the frack just happened?” He pointed at Rose. “Check her.”
Jayne moved to Rose and checked her pulse. “It is slow, but I think the gas was only meant to knock us out.”
“Move her to one of those viewing chairs,” Spike said as he moved to Rose and they both picked her up and placed her in one of the virtual chairs in front of the glass facing the pitch. “If they can see in, they’ll think their gas trick didn’t work.”
He reached inside his coat and took out a retractable club. He held it by his side. “I couldn’t get anything more past the sensors. It is unlikely they could either and hence the gas. They were expecting to find us sleeping like babies. Probably intending to secret us out of here using a PUT.”
Spike walked over to the wet bar and stood behind it with the club out of view. “Open the door,” he whispered.
CHAPTER 13
Gas Aftermath
Security at GravBall arenas was extremely tight. Everyone who entered was scanned repeatedly for a weapon or possible weapon of any type. Security cameras were able to see much more than the external body as they entered. The new designs could look beneath the clothes, beneath the skin, and even inside the bones of every person entering. Once scanned, the system would then track your location until you left the arena. There had been several attempts to smuggle in seemingly innocuous objects that might be assembled into a weapon once inside. Different people, each with one component, planned to gather together a series of parts of a weapon or explosive device. The Quantum Cray that managed the system would inevitably connect the dots by determining all the possible uses for any series of component parts and flag the suspects before anything could be assembled.
Jayne touched her VID, and the door opened. Sitting in the open doorway was a multi-level cart with trays in the top three levels. The trays were filled with various finger foods. There was no one else nearby. The cart had been abandoned. There was a sheet of electronic scribe on the top.
Jayne walked over and picked up the scribe sheet. It was a hastily scrawled message from Kurt. Jayne read:
Miss Wu,
My whoopee cushions obviously did not do what I intended. I figured you were worth a lot to certain parties and, well, a guy has to make a living. Enjoy the snacks.
Kurt
Jayne looked up from the page and, as if it sensed she was finished reading, the message disappeared.
“What did it say?” asked Spike as he rolled the cart into the suite and reached out to the top tray of snacks. “Was it him? Did Thurston plant the gas?”
Jayne reached out to stop him, but it was too late.
Spike stuffed two into his mouth. “What?” he mumbled through a mouthful.
“If you drop dead from poison, don’t blame me.” Jayne then explained the note and Kurt’s intentions.
“So Thurston did not take the bait, and we can relax and watch the game?” he said and pulled out another tray and walked over to the bar and set it down. He inspected the food on the tray and finally chose a particular type and popped it into his mouth. “These funny-looking ones are really good. I think they are stuffed with small crustaceans. You should try one. Are we going to watch the game? Some of my old team members still play for the Syncopats. She will be sleeping for a few more hours anyway,” he said, gesturing in Rose’s direction.
There was a sudden noise from the open doorway. Three men in security uniforms appeared. They all had weapons drawn and pointed at Jayne. From behind, a fourth man pushed his way to the front.
“Not her,” he barked and then to Jayne, “Thank the deities you are all right. This is what happens when you don’t have the proper security in place.” Rafferty looked over at Rose. “What happened to Rose? Is she alright?”
“She is fine. Just knocked out. Please call a medipod to get her checked out.”
Rafferty ordered one of the security men to make a call. He dismissed them and then turned back to Jayne. “What the hell did you have planned? What if that bastard had shown up with a small army? For frack sake, Wu, this plan of yours was plain stupid. You leaked your location to attract him, and then what? Were you going to have a little chat with him and explain the error of his ways? Tell him it was not nice to be a mind murderer and a real murderer?”
“I had a plan. Just because you were not informed, you assume I did not have a plan. Had he shown up, I would have him in custody. But he didn’t.”
Rafferty shook his head. “So you expected him to walk right in here and announce himself? He sent someone else instead.” Rafferty took out his VID and shoved it in Jayne’s face. “We think this guy was impersonating an arena employee.”
“Yes, that is fake Kurt, but I do not think he is working for Thurston.”
“Who then?” demanded Rafferty.
“Probably himself. I suspect he freelances for the Consortium. He recognized me and saw an opportunity to make a few credits by taking me prisoner and selling me.” Jayne walked over to the snack cart that still sat by the doorway and pulled aside the white cloth that was draped over it. “Once we were all unconscious, he would have concealed me here and wheeled me to the nearest PUT.”
“If you knew that, then why did you let him leave here?”
“I didn’t know that until after he left. I set a security trap for Thurston, not Kurt.” Jayne gestured to an object on the small table to the right of the door.
“Where did you get that? Those traps were designed by the World Police for capturing specific criminals. I am sure you couldn’t buy one, so how did you get it?”
“Winter Bancroft II has her contacts and a great deal of money,” retorted Jayne. “It was not a hard as you think to get one, as you can see.”
Spike walked up to them. “The medipod is here to take Rose and get her checked out. Are you two going to stand here and argue, or are we going to watch the game together? It starts in a few minutes, and I don’t want to miss the opening jump-off.”
“Stay if you want,” Jayne said in an exasperated tone. “I am going with Rose. She might be confused if she wakes up and there is no one around to explain what happened to her.”
Spike turned to Rafferty, “What about you, Raf? I can give a real play-by-play and recommend the best players to virtually become during the game.” He pointed to the virtual chairs. “Those are top-of-the-line. You can even turn on total immersion. That means you experience all the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings that your chosen player is experiencing. It is pretty cool, but I do recommend that you shut off the pain sensors. Those players are used to it and can handle it, but someone like you might not.” Spike laughed, walked over to one of the virtual chairs, and stared down at the pitch.
Rafferty turned to Jayne questioningly.
“There are three very competent security personnel capable of escorting Rose and me to the hospital waiting out there. She will be asleep for a while yet. You might as well stay and watch the game,” said Jayne.
Rafferty shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs just as the ball popped and the crowd roared.
CHAPTER 14
Meeting Sentinel Central
The Sentinels were a group whose declared purpose was to support the fixer class. It had been compared to many 20th-century labor unions in that it would fight for individuals and sub-groups of fixers. One of its most recent activities was to fight for a group of fixers assigned to Biome 2. The gravity on Biome 2 was 1.3 Earth standard. The Sentinels negotiated with the World Government to have the assignment time decreased, as it was causing a permanent physical and mental change in fixers required to work to the full extent of their assignment.
The Sentinels also had a clandestine branch whose activities were hidden, even from the World Police Force. It was this branch that first discovered the activities of the Forevers. They had informed the WP of many of their discoveries but continued to investigate on their own. They believed that parts of the WP and the WG had been infiltrated by those sympathetic to the Forevers.
