Deserter

Chapter 14

Kris was late for something: class or a rally or duty. She raced down a long hallway trying every door she came to. Some were locked. Others opened. There was Eddy or Mother or Father or Grampa Trouble, each mad at her for interrupting them, not doing what she was supposed to do. She ran, trying more doors. She had to find Nelly. Nelly was important. Nelly and…

ITS FIVE, DO YOU WANT TO WAKE UP? Nelly asked quietly.

Kris lay in bed, sweating as her heart slowed to merely pounding. NELLY, DID YOU DO THAT?

D0 WHAT?

MAKE ME DREAM LIKE THAT?

i DO NOT THINK SO.

Kris heard the reply and the ambiguity in it. NELLY, HAVE YOU BEEN MESSING… NO, DOING ANY TESTING ON THE CHIP AUNTIE TRU ADDED TO YOU?

YES.

i TOLD YOU NOT TO.

YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU COULD NOT RISK ME FAILING YOU NOW. I UNDERSTAND THAT AND HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY CAREFUL WITH MY TESTING.

I HAVE HAD BAD DREAMS, NELLY, WHENEVER I SLEEP PLUGGED IN TO YOU. I AM GETTING SOME KIND OF FEEDBACK FROM THE CHIP.

THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE, KRIS. I HAVE ONLY LOOKED AT DATA IN THE FIRST BUFFER SAM DESIGNED. I HAVE ALLOWED NOTHING IN THE SECOND OR THIRD BUFFER. THERE COULD BE NO LEAKAGE.

MY DREAMING TELLS ME THERE IS SOME KIND OF LEAKAGE.

KRIS, THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE. YOU ARE WRONG.

INTERESTING WORDING FOR A COMPUTER, Kris thought for the far-too-manyith time. Nelly had been acting… interesting. Kris had thought it was the most recent upgrade. Now she had to consider the chip. But Nelly refused to consider the chip.

NELLY, I AM HAVING STRANGE DREAMS JUST LIKE GRAMPA RAY TALKED ABOUT WHEN HE WAS HAVING PROBLEMS ON SANTA MARIA. I DON'T KNOW HOW THE CHIP MIGHT BE DOING IT. IT IS AN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY. I REALLY NEED TO BE ABLE TO DEPEND ON YOU RIGHT NOW. WE ARE IN REAL TROUBLE. WOULD YOU PLEASE NOT TEST THE CHIP?

KRIS, THE CHIP IS FULLY BUFFERED.

I KNOW, NELLY. BUT HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN MY DREAMS?

I HAVE NEVER UNDERSTOOD DREAMS, OR SLEEP FOR THAT MATTER.

NELLY, TRUST ME. THE TESTING IS MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO SLEEP.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO SLEEP WITH ME PLUGGED IN.

RIGHT, BUT I NEED YOU DURING THE DAY.

CAN I TEST AT NIGHT?

I REALLY WISH YOU WOULDN'T.

IF YOU SAY SO, KRIS, I WILL STOP TESTING UNTIL WE CAN DISCUSS THIS WITH TRU AND SAM.

THANK YOU, NELLY. Now all Kris had to worry about was whether or not the chip had already done something to her computer. What a wonderful start to the day.

Kris slipped out of bed, pulled on a sweatsuit, and tiptoed to Abby's room. The maid uniform was set neatly atop one of the trunks beside a brown raincoat and a shoulder purse. Today could be a quiet day of running errands. It might turn into a run for her life. Back in her room, Kris located the body stocking in the bottom of one bureau drawer and pulled it on carefully. She added the undies from that oh-so-long-ago walk through Katyville as well as the shoes. The brown uniform went on easily over that. She put on the beret and managed to merge its line out into Nelly's with no trouble. The raincoat covered everything; the purse held a makeup kit fit for a spy. Where are the nanos? Kris asked.

I PARKED THEM UNDER THE EPAULETS OF THE RAINCOAT.

VERY GOOD. I THINK I'M READY TO GO.

I AGREE.

Not sure how to take her computer's approval, Kris stepped from her room and closed the door. As she turned, the lights came up in the living room; Jack sat on the couch, legs crossed, face grim. Silent, he pointed her to a place on the couch.

Kris took the offered seat. For a long minute, the two of them eyed each other in wordless challenge.

''It's not safe down there,'' Jack finally whispered.

''I'll be careful.''

''There's a party tonight.''

''I'll be back in time.''

Jack mulled that for a while. ''I could call the guards.''

''And we'd know nothing more about this hand we're playing, or what deck Sandfire is stacking. We stay ignorant, we lose.''

''I could go.''

That stopped Kris for a moment. ''Only Nelly can control the nanos. You'd have to do a lot more talking than I will.''

''Then I go with you.''

''Jack, that just doubles the chance of failure. You answer the door here, and they'll assume I'm here. We both go…''

Jack scowled. ''You get yourself beat up, and they'll never let me work with you again.''

That one gave Kris pause. She'd never considered that they might punish Jack for what she did. Would they be punishing Jack or punishing her? She'd never let on just how much she liked having Jack around. She'd have to think about that, but not now.

''I'll be careful,'' she said, standing.

Jack reached for her hand. She pulled it back; he turned his hand over, showing a wad of bills. ''You'll need this.''

Kris pocketed the money and made her way to the door. Tom's room was closed, no way to see how Penny was doing. She opened the door only enough to slip out… and found herself facing a guard standing across from her. He frowned a question at her. Kris pulled her raincoat closed over her maid's uniform, stifled a yawn, and mumbled, ''Long night.''

The guard's frown deepened for a second, then his face went neutral, and Kris could almost hear him ordering himself to forget he'd ever seen a maid slipping out of this suite so early in the morning. Such was the privilege of people who lived in such suites. They could make common folks in brown maid uniforms vanish from other people's sight. Kris had a lot of thinking to do when this was over.

Pulling her beret farther down, Kris hurried for the freight elevator. That took her inward to a service area in what would have been a basement anywhere dirtside. A break and change room was on her right, the rear of the kitchen to her left, sending forth quite different aromas from those blown into the dining room. A new shift was coming on; Kris slipped by them, head down. There must have been enough staff turnover; no one remarked on her. She was quickly out the back door into a service corridor that stank of garbage and had just been hosed down. She followed this alleyway, gray-sided with color-coded pipes overhead, to a service slide way. It took her down to Stop One—Elevator Access. Kris paid cash for her ticket and found an out-of-the-way seat on the ferry's main deck.

''Money,'' she whispered to herself. She had her credit chit, but that would leave a golden trail right to her. How could she have forgotten something as basic as money? Easy, kid. You never lacked for it, she scowled to herself.

Halfway down, she stopped in the ladies' room to put on makeup. Powder darkened her skin. A pencil added worry lines to her forehead and mouth. Mascara made her eyes wider, and contacts made them brown. A puffy nose, mole on her right forehead and left cheek should throw off face analysis software if she remembered to suck in her full lips. Hunching her shoulders and stooping to shorten her height, Kris left the rest room, passed through the dining area, and climbed to the observation deck. As was usual on the Wardhaven ferry, this early among the working folks, it was pretty empty. Kris settled into a corner, opened an abandoned newspaper from yesterday, and tried to observe the five other people in view without being obvious.

She didn't have to worry; all five were stretched out on seats, dead to the world. After a moment, Kris stretched out, merging into their tiny herd. She followed when landing bells awoke them and sent them yawning for the exits. Beret down, coat held close, she slumped her way through the terminal and out onto Heidelburg's streets. NELLY, WE'LL NEED A CAB.

i SUSPECTED YOU WOULD WANT TRANSPORTATION TODAY. TURN RIGHT; A CAB WILL DRIVE BY SOON.

Kris followed Nelly's instructions. Half a minute after she began walking down Second Street, an orange cab drove past her and pulled over to the curb. Abu Kartum got out, leaned against his car, and began to whistle something that sounded vaguely Irish.

HERE'S OUR RIDE FOR THIS MORNING, Nelly said.

NELLY, I DON'T WANT THIS POOR MAN IN THIS MESS.

WE CAN ARGUE LATER WHEN WE ARE IN THE CAB. I SUGGEST YOU TELL HIM YOU NEED A RIDE HOME.

AUNTIE TRU IS DEFINITELY HEARING ABOUT THIS AS SOON AS WE GET BACK, Kris told her computer but kept a plaintive smile on her face. ''I need a ride home. I'm feeling kind of wobbly.''

''You spitting up blood?'' Abu said, edging away from her.

Damn, I forgot about the Ebola thing. ''No fever. I think it was something I ate,'' Kris said, rubbing her tummy.

That seemed to satisfy him. He opened the door for her. ''Where to?''

NELLY!

''Two nine six four,'' Kris repeated as Nelly fed her an address, ''Northwest 173rd Street.''

''You live a long way out to work on the beanstalk.''

''I usually take the, er… trolley,'' Kris said as Nelly provided the word for local mass transit.

''It'll be a bit of a drive. I'll try to cut you a deal. Slump down so a taxi cop doesn't get me,'' the man said as he put the cab in gear without touching the meter.

''Thank you,'' Kris said and tried to make herself smaller.

''I know you?'' the cabby said, glancing in a mirror that let him see his fare.

''I don't think so. I don't take the cab very often.''

''But you did last week.''

''I doubt it.''

''I don't forget hats. Not beanies with fancy pom-poms.''

''I just got it at a secondhand store.''

''Yeah, and I got my draft notice in yesterday's mail.''

''Draft notice?'' Kris hadn't heard about that. Then again, how long had it been since she'd asked Nelly for a news update?''

''Yeah, come any planetary emergency as announced by the government, I'm expected to report for weapons training. Me with six kids to feed, and I'm going to be out of my cab and learning how to shoot a gun. You know what they're going to pay me?''

''No.''

''Neither do I. Nothing on the news. Nothing in the letter they sent me. Nothing my eldest boy could find on the net. It's just here, and it's like no one knows anything about it.''

''I don't either.'' Nelly, search.

I AM SEARCHING. HE IS RIGHT; THERE IS NOTHING.

STOP THE SEARCH. LET'S NOT CALL ATTENTION O OURSELVES TODAY. DON'T DO ANYTHING SOMEONE COULD USE TO LOCATE US.

THAT WAS MY INTENTIONS FOR TODAY. THEN YOU ASKED FOR A SEARCH, AND I DID IT. I SHOULD HAVE ARGUED WITH YOU.

YES, YOU SHOULD HAVE. NOW, SHUT UP.

''I really don't know any more about this than you do,'' Kris told the driver.

''I should think a Princess would know more than a cabby.''

''Princess?'' Kris tried to make it sound like a question.

''Yes, Princess Kristine. I saw you dragging the little girl out of the lake yesterday. I thought I knew who you were last week. Why are you in my cab?''

''I am asking for a ride home. I'm dressed as a maid in a Hilton uniform. That is all you need to know. Anyone asks you, you can tell them that, and you'll be as safe as I can make you.''

The cab stopped behind a bus. Abu turned to Kris. ''And you think that will make me safe. People are disappearing. You don't think a man like me, a lowly cabby, knows these things. Things are going on that I do not like.''

''I know. I didn't want to involve you, but when I ordered a cab, my computer ordered you. I'm sorry. I can get out here.''

Kris heard a click as the doors locked. ''What makes you think I do not want to be involved in what you are doing?''

''Nobody else does. At least, none of my friends.''

''Your friends live on Turantic?''

''No,'' Kris admitted.

''Well I do live here. And I am starting to feel that if I do not get involved in something I do not know about, then I will become involved in something I do not want to be involved in. I do not like this talk of war.'' He turned back to traffic. ''I do not like this talk of drafting me to fight someone else's war.''

''I hear this talk of war,'' Kris said. ''But I don't see how Turantic can fight a war. It has no Navy, no Army, no nothing.''

''It soon will have me in that Army you say we do not have.''

''So it seems. But listen, I am—'' Kris bit her tongue, ''I may break some Turantic laws sometime in the future. I can't let you become involved in something that could put you in prison. Your children and your brother's children need you.''

''So, I will not let you involve me in any such crimes,'' the cabby said, smiling into his mirror. ''Do you want to change the address I am taking you to?''

NELLY?

NO CHANGE.

''Just keep taking me there. It might not be the right address, though. I may need to go someplace else.''

''No problem. I will take you anywhere you want today.''

The sun came up, a red glare that quickly disappeared into a leaden overcast that left the air heavy and the day shaded in grays. NELLY, HOW WELL DO YOUR NANOS HANDLE RAIN?

NOT VERY WELL.

''Is there a weather channel here, Mr. Kartum?''

''You may call me Abu, Your Highness; my friends all do,'' the cabby said, punching the media station on his dashboard to life.

''And my friends all call me Kris.''

''Kris, a knife and a long knife. You must be very sharp.''

''Pardon,'' Kris said as the announcer told her there was a forty percent chance of showers today.

''A kris is a knife, very sharp, used by the sacred warriors of an Islamic sect. It dates from long ago on Earth.''

''I remember reading something about them.'' Kris had, when she was thirteen or fourteen, come across that alternate meaning of her name and promptly forgotten it. A girl rapidly becoming a woman had not chosen to dwell on the reminder that she could be a deadly weapon. It was bad enough just being a Longknife without having to juggle other sharp objects.

''Maybe today it will help you to be as sharp as you need to be,'' the cabby said into his rearview mirror.

Their drive took them from a pleasant jumble of homes and small businesses into a serious industrial park. Gray factories, even a few with belching smokestacks, sprawled next to each other, separated only by parking lots and clumps of apartment buildings or bars. Abu turned a corner and slowed to a halt where the road separated a slate-gray four-story apartment complex from a dirty brown industrial complex of huge, boxy structures.

''This is the address you gave me.''

''I don't think this is the place,'' Kris said, opening the door. ''But I won't know until I look around. I'm going to walk a few blocks and see if I can spot the place.'' She got out, glanced over the apartments, then ducked her head back into the cab. ''If this isn't the place, I might need a cab three or four blocks down the road.''

''Then you might find one if you look hard enough.''

Kris plodded slowly along the cracked sidewalk. Men and women, dressed for dirty work, crossed her path, dodged cars, and passed through two heavily guarded gates in a tall fence, topped with a serious-looking roll of barbed wire. No uninvited human was entering that place.

So Nelly ordered nano spies up and away. Kris carefully did not look at the plant. In an hour, she would know everything there was to know. But for now, she knew nothing and would learn nothing. One of the decisions Kris had made last night was to forgo telemetry. The risk of discovery was too great. Like ancient Mata Hari, these spies would report only in person.

Kris walked five blocks and was at the end of the plant when she spotted a cab. It stood by the far curb… empty.

Waiting nervously for the light to change, Kris debated continuing on a straight line past the cab. There were no police cars, no sign of an arrest. She crossed the street when the light brought traffic to a halt, then breathed in relief.

Abu knelt on the sidewalk, his prayer rug beneath him, bowing to the east. Kris started to walk past him, but he rose from his prayers. ''Lady, you look like you could use a ride.''

''I sure could,'' Kris agreed.

''My obligation to my business and my children kept me from praying at sunrise, but Allah is most understanding. Now that I have made my morning prayers, let me continue with my duty to you.''

Kris made to get in the back, but with a slight touch to her elbow, Abu pointed her at the front seat. ''If I am to drive you around without my meter running, you must look like my sister's daughter,'' he said, pointing at the two lights on the sign that rode atop the cab. Kris took the offered place as Abu walked around to the driver's side. He pulled into traffic, adding, ''If Abu is seen driving around with an attractive young infidel, there are those who might talk or wonder. If, however, you wore a properly modest head cover, there would be fewer questions.''

''I don't own any head cover,'' Kris told him. She didn't even own a tiara. There was little left after Nelly used all the smart metal and salvaged the gold to make reel-out antennas.

''There is a respectable shawl in the glove compartment. My wife left it. Sometimes she goes places in town where a shawl is not respected. Allah is most understanding, unlike some people.''

''Is it hard to follow your faith?''

''Is it hard to be a Longknife, to be so different?''

''Yes,'' Kris agreed.

''Then maybe Allah has shown you a little of what he sends his faithful.''

''Could you turn here?''

Abu changed lanes, then made a left. They were a block past the factory into an area of eateries, bars, and small apartments.

''Is this where you want to be left?''

''Yes. I need to be here about a half hour, maybe longer.''

Abu frowned as he pulled over. ''This is not a good place to hang around. I will have to drive off.''

''I'll have Nelly call you,'' Kris said as she got out.

''Leave the scarf. This is no place for a woman of faith.''

''I can take care of myself,'' Kris assured him.

''If Allah wills it,'' he said and left her.

Kris watched him go, then glanced around. Working class. Problem was, she wasn't working. Maybe she hadn't thought this through as well as she thought. Her stomach rumbled; Kris hadn't had breakfast. That answered what to do next. The pom-pom on her beret was broadcasting a homing signal for the nanos, so she needed to stay outside. That answered where to eat.

A truck claiming to be Mama's Place slumped in a dirt parking lot half a block down, selling quick breakfasts to people coming off shift. Kris joined the crowd. Men and women stifled yawns and scrubbed at tired eyes as they waited. Some still had energy to gripe. ''I swear to God, they're speeding up the line.'' ''You're just slowing down.'' ''No, they are speeding up the line. I'm gonna talk to the union stew; they can't do that.'' ''I did talk to the union rep, and they are and they can and you better just be happy you got a job.'' ''Ain't that what they always say.'' ''Well, maybe having this job means we won't have to worry about that draft notice I got yesterday.'' ''Why not?'' ''They don't draft people making the guns the army needs.'' ''Who says we're making guns?'' ''And what do you think that box is you're putting together, an eggbeater?'' ''It ain't no gun.'' ''If it ain't a targeting system, I'll eat it.'' ''And if you keep running your mouth, you'll be begging them to draft you. The jail they'll put you in ain't gonna be nice.''

Kris stood at the head of the line; she ordered a breakfast burrito of rice and beans, added a potato fry, and got a juice for free in a meal deal. As she reached for money, it dawned on her paying with a Wardhaven bill might not be the brightest idea of the day. She dug in her pocket, keeping her money out of sight and getting a ''You do have money for this, cutie,'' from the old man purporting to be Mama. She produced five dollars, Turantic, and got a few coins in change and her meal.

Most people scattered to their homes, but a few hung around the other side of the truck where a makeshift counter hung. It gave those with nowhere to go a place to set their food as they stood and ate. Kris took up a small corner. Talk was low and generally about the coming war. Half seemed to think Hamilton had done everything that had gone wrong for the last six months, or maybe forever. Others thought Wardhaven was at the root of the trouble, or at least cooperating with Hamilton.

''We take on Wardhaven, we're going to need help.'' ''I hear Greenfeld can stand up to those Wardhaven snooties.'' ''Yeah, I expect Greenfeld can fight till the last drop of Turantic blood.'' ''You like those Wardhaven snobs?'' ''I don't like Greenfeld. Any way you cut your cards, they're bad blood.'' ''They're our friends if we need them to fight our enemies.'' ''I say we need better friends and fewer enemies.'' ''I hear some Hamilton thugs beat up a woman last night.'' ''No, you got that confused with the Wardhaven cruds that tried to kidnap that girl off her sailboat yesterday.'' ''I heard on the news they both happened.'' ''No, you got it all wrong.''

Kris backed away from the counter before anyone came to blows. Walking down the street, she reviewed what she'd heard. Weapons… this was probably some kind of weapons plant. She and Nelly had worked so hard to patch together the nano spies from a bit of jewelry only for her to learn what she wanted by just hanging around a lunch wagon and eating a burrito.

WE WILL HAVE MORE SPECIFICS WHEN THE NANOS COME BACK, Nelly said, a tinge of defensiveness in her voice.

THAT WE WILL HAVE, Kris agreed.

But the nanos' pictures would not show the confusion boiling in people's minds. Was it Hamilton or Wardhaven or Greenfeld that was their enemy? Lots of differing opinions. All the facts kept being turned upside down. With no communications off planet and all kinds of things happening on planet, people were left in the dark and swatting at everything. Kris wished she knew more about Turantic, more about these people before all hell started nibbling at them, driving them crazy.

As Kris rambled under gray skies, the nanos reported in.

THE FIRST FIVE ARE BACK. THEY REPORT NO ENCOUNTERS WITH HOSTILE NANO GUARDS, Nelly reported.

WHAT DID THEY FIND?

i AM CORRELATING THE DATA.

Kris pulled a pair of glasses from her pocket. Nelly began to run schematics across the lenses. It looked like the place was putting together thirteen-millimeter antirocket lasers. Nice for defending small ground units, but not what she was looking for. More nanos showed up, identifying a production line full of four-inch secondary batteries for cruisers or the main lasers for small destroyers.

WE HAVE A STRANGE NANO BUZZING AROUND US, Nelly announced.

CONVERT IT OR KILL IT.

THAT IS WHAT I AM DOING.

Kris paused in her walk, turned her back on the plant, and studied a building offering studio apartments by the week. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Abu's cab. He paused at a stop sign, then turned right and headed away from her. Kris tried humming a tune but found her mouth too dry to do much more than blow air. Above her, a crackling sound told her Nelly had resorted to destruction before the computer said, I HAD TO KILL THAT ONE. IT WAS STARTING TO TRANSMIT.

Kris sauntered toward the street she'd last seen Abu on. Two minutes later, he pulled up beside her. She got in. ''Drive as fast as the speed limit allows and change directions randomly.'' ''Are you in trouble?'' the cabby said, doing as she asked. ''I don't think so. But why make it easy for the bad guys?'' ''Put on the scarf. I know some very random streets.'' In three minutes, they were weaving in and out of traffic on a series of roads that had to have been laid out by a exceedingly drunken cow. Kris left the driver to his own devices while she reviewed what she had and what she wanted. Small arms for an army or even secondary lasers for ships was interesting, but she wanted the main battery for a fleet. An army could be defensive or offensive. A fleet, at least a large one, was anything but defensive. And to arm ships, you needed very big lasers and capacitors. That meant very big factories. Kris went down Nelly's list, hunting for the largest.

There it was, about as far on the other side of town as it could be. I PLANNED THAT ONE FOR LAST, Nelly said, JUST BEFORE WE HEADED HOME.

THAT SOUNDED GOOD LAST NIGHT, BUT IF THEY'VE GOT NANO GUARDS AT THIS LITTLE SHOP, I HAVE A HUNCH WE'D BETTER DO THE MOST INTERESTING TARGET FIRST. WE MAY NOT GET ANOTHER CHANCE.

HUNCH, Nelly said. INTERESTING CONCEPT. YET YOUR ROUTE DEFIES PATTERN ANALYSIS. IT IS ALSO NOT THE SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN TARGETS. IT IS NOT ECONOMICAL.

BUT IT MAY SURPRISE THE OPPOSITION AND KEEP US ALIVE.

I BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND ''SURPRISE.''

Kris told Abu her next target. He greeted it with a scowl. ''I know it's a bit out of our way,'' she said.

''That is not the problem,'' he said, bringing up a map. ''There is only one way into that plant. See these communities. They are gated now. I cannot use those roads.''

''Gated communities that close to a major industrial plant. That doesn't sound right.''

''But that is what happened last year. The plant is behind a large berm. Its sounds and sight does not offend the community.''

MY MAPS DO NOT SHOW THOSE COMMUNITIES AS GATED, Nelly said.

ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF HIRING A MAN WHO KNOWS THE LOCAL CHANGES, Kris said, struggling to resize her problem. Going there was sticking her head in the lion's mouth. Maybe she was overreacting to Nelly frying a guard at the smaller plant, but Kris had a very strong hunch this lion's mouth would have a lot more teeth than the last. Gating whole housing areas. They didn't want strangers around.

''I want a look at that place,'' Kris said, stabbing at the map. ''You know a quiet place we can pull over and talk?''

Two minutes later, they pulled into an empty parking lot at a small God's Word Is the Bible church. ''They are very full on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, but today is not one of them.'' Abu said. ''Maybe it is time that you stop protecting me. I cannot help you if I am in the dark.''

Kris studied the man. The olive skin of his face was creased from years of working in the sun, but his eyes were clear and open. His offer was honest. It saddened Kris that all she had to offer him was coconspirator status. The man deserved better. She started slowly.

''There are space docks above the beanstalk loaded with merchant ships, brought in suddenly, and in mass, for some kind of upkeep that does not require a lot of oversized additions to the ships. However, I have been watching just such oversized packages passing through the secure freight elevator. I don't know what's in those crates, and I would very much like to know.''

Abu nodded. ''I have been stuck in traffic behind just such shipments. They do come from that plant.''

''Which will teach me not to ask questions.'' Kris sighed. ''So far, I have not involved you in anything but a conversation. If I say more, you may become indictable for crimes.''

''Like industrial espionage. Yes, I know what we do to people who break that law on Turantic.'' The cabby frowned. ''What do you think is going on?''

''Back when my Great-grandfather Ray was just leading a brigade, fighting for Unity, the Society of Humanity was playing catch-up. They made a Navy by adding reactors and power storage, lasers and ice to a lot of merchant ships.''

''And you wonder if Turantic is doing the same?''

''There haven't been any profits here for three years. The money has to have gone somewhere.''

''And what did I help you do at that last factory?''

''I released nano reconnaissance drones upwind to ride the wind to and through the plant. They brought me pictures, mostly antimissile lasers for army use.''

''Something I may be carrying next week. Hmm. What is the range of your nano spies?''

So much for avoiding that word. ''Nelly?''

''About two kilometers,'' the computer said.

''We cannot get that close to that plant. Do you have any that could go farther?''

''I could remake the nanos to a range of ten kilometers, but that would mean cutting their numbers by a third,'' Nelly said.

''Allah akbar,'' the cabby muttered. ''Your computer can do such a thing in the hour it will take me to drive across town?''

''If Nelly says she can do that, she can do it.''

''Nelly. The computer has a name.''

''I most certainly do,'' Nelly said. ''I will not be bossed around by a ‘Hey, you.' ''

''She sounds like my wife. Be careful, young woman, or you may end up as henpecked as me.''

''I think I already am.'' Kris sighed. ''Nelly, I want a homing device as well. Our hang time on the other side of that last plant was too risky. Let's drop a homer and let the nanos close on it.''

''I will do that.''

''Now, wise cabdriver, how do you propose that we get around the security at that plant?''

''There is a major road here, upwind of the plant. I think I may have car trouble there for a few minutes. Then, about seven kilometers downwind of your plant is a very swank restaurant. Too expensive for my blood, though they claim to serve food straight from the Levant of old Earth. My Miriam serves better food on her bad days. Anyway, that is just the place that a maid at a fine hotel might apply for a job to better herself. They are hiring, and I can download a job application. Would you like to see about a better job?''

''Would I.'' Kris grinned. ''You know, this Princess stuff is not nearly what it's cracked up to be.''

''We should all have your problems,'' Abu said dryly. But at least he was honest. Kris could count on one hand the people she'd met who would actually have said that to her face.

''May Allah grant us all fewer problems soon,'' Kris offered.

''Not a bad prayer, for an infidel. Put on your shawl like a respectable woman.'' Kris did, but not like a respectable woman, so Abu corrected her shawl before starting the long drive.

The clouds showed enthusiasm for neither burning off nor shedding rain, so the day drew on, neither blue nor wet, just a gray weight. The cabby stayed quiet, and Kris accepted his silence. Nelly stayed busy, a gentle hum in the back of Kris's mind as the computer shuffled smart molecules around. Kris studied the map, gnawing at the problems that might come her way and concluding that this spy job was a bit more complicated than the movies let on. No way was worrying a problem like this exciting or sexy. Who would waste money for a ticket to really get killed, drowned, or thrown in jail? No question about it, excitement was something horrible happening to someone else as far away from your own thin and delicate skin as possible.

''Maybe I should ask Crossenshild for some training,'' Kris muttered, thinking of the job offer from Wardhaven's head spy.

''Did you say something?''

''Just making a note to myself,'' Kris said. ''Ignore me.''

''With such a marvelous computer, I would think that you would have your, what do you call her, Nilli, remind you of everything.''

''I am Nelly,'' the computer snapped. ''Nell, Nell, Nell.''

''I apologize if I hurt your electric feelings,'' the cabby said.

''She's a bit touchy since her last upgrade,'' Kris whispered.

''I am working hard. Do not distract me.''

''Well, Nelly,'' Kris said, ''you might reduce your distractions by not listening to us mere mortals talking.''

''But that would eliminate my situational awareness.''

''What's the matter, don't you trust me to keep us safe?''

''No,'' Nelly said.

The cabby raised an eyebrow over a widening smile.

''Now you see why I don't bother Nelly with minor stuff.''

''Seems to me you may soon need a dumb computer to keep track of your day.''

''Don't let Nelly hear that.'' Kris grinned, but she knew Nelly did hear that, and with her computer behaving so strangely, Kris could only wonder what she'd make of it.