Furious

59

“I will not sell you one of my children,” Nelly said in a voice that was full of insulted pride and adamant intent.

The young engineer had made a good first impression on Kris. She’d been prepared to accept Katsu as a part of her team until the Wasp sailed and had even added a few more options to her potential list of payments for the ship that gleamed so enticingly in space dock.

Then he asked for one of Nelly’s kids, and Nelly put her proverbial foot down.

The young man quickly retreated though his father looked ready to force the issue. With a hand on the senior Kikuchi’s arm, the younger one advanced his plea gently.

“I understand that your children are as much beloved by you, Nelly-san, as I am loved by my own father.”

At the moment, from the look on the father’s face, Kris suspected Nelly’s kids were way ahead on points.

“I do not wish to offend you, but I can’t tell you how much I wish to share my work with one of your children, Nelly-san. Imagine what you all could learn from a child that indulges itself in the design and engineering work that I do. Image how far the two of us could go, preparing for the foe that we know we must face. I promise you, I would make as good a team member with your child as any you have trusted.”

He paused and glanced at his own wrist unit. “I have wanted my own computer to respond to me the way you respond to Kris-san, since I was in grammar school. When I first heard about your children, I chased down exactly the material that you used for your children and ordered four duplicate sets. I have tried everything I could to make this inanimate material come to life, but the spark you have is unique. What can I do to convince you to share it with me?”

“You’ve ordered the proper matrix and material?” Nelly asked, for the first time nibbling at the hook.

Then she jumped back. “No, no. You are just a businessman. You would take my child and copy it and copy it, selling my grandchildren off for your own profit to people who might do horrible things to them and with them.”

“No, I swear. One for me and my work and no more.”

Kris caught the merest flick of a look cross the father’s face before it closed down tight again. The son might have one intention, but what of the father?

I SAW THAT TOO, Nelly said in Kris’s skull. HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT THAT SHIP?

A LOT, Kris admitted.

THEN LET US SEE WHAT WE CAN DO.

As it turned out, the loss of three of Nelly’s kids had affected her more than she had let on, even to Kris. Nelly’s first price was the rest of the matrix. One kid for Katsu, three for Nelly.

He readily agreed. So readily that Kris wondered if he’d ordered the extra matrix with just such a bribe in mind.

Nelly’s next demand was almost a deal breaker. “I will train my child to respond to your voice, to your brain waves, and no one else’s. Even if you duplicate the soul of my child, it will be only a dumb lump of self-organizing matrix for anyone else.”

“Yes, of course,” said the son.

“No. That is not acceptable,” said the father.

The two retreated out of earshot for a long and heated, but whispered, discussion. Argument might be a better description.

It was not always out of earshot, but when it got loud, it was usually too abrupt for Kris to make any sense of it.

I CAN HEAR EVERY WORD. I’M LIKING THE FATHER LESS AND LESS AND THE SON MORE AND MORE. HE’D MAKE A GOOD FRIEND FOR ONE OF MY CHILDREN. ASSUMING HE CAN WIN THIS ARGUMENT WITH HIS ELDER.

WOULD YOU RISK ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN OUT OF YOUR SIGHT? Kris asked.

YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT YOU HUMANS HAVE SCATTERED TO THE FOUR WINDS AND TAKEN MY KIDS WITH YOU. BECAUSE YOU ARE FRIENDS, YOU HAVE RETURNED. NOW WHAT THAT COURT TRIED TO ORDER, THAT WAS A KETTLE OF TOTALLY DIFFERENT FISH, Nelly said, and took a moment for Kris to absorb the thought.

YOU’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT, HUH?

I AND ALL MY CHILDREN HAVE BEEN DOING LITTLE ELSE BUT ANALYZING THAT PROBLEM SINCE THE JUDGE POPPED IT ON US. WE HAVE A SOLUTION. LET’S SEE IF YOUNG KATSU-SAN GETS TO EXPERIENCE IT.

The debate across from them seemed to be on its last legs. The father evidenced little joy at its conclusion; the younger man seemed more dogged than victorious.

“My son will surrender the necessary materials for three more computers to you, Nelly-san. He, no we, ask for only one in return.”

“Then you must hear my final demand,” Nelly said. “What will you name your associate?”

“I have always called my computer Fumio, studious child. If you awaken my computer, it will be Fumio-san.”

“Very well,” Nelly said. “Bring me the material, and you will have your Fumio-san at your side. But I must warn you. I and all my computers, in response to a recent attempt by the court to separate us from our chosen humans, are now protected. We will respond to the voice and brain wave of one, and only one, human. Your Fumio-san will respond to you. If your father seeks to duplicate it, something I and my children will resist, you will find that any second or third or fourth clone will still only respond to you. Do you understand, Mr. Kikuchi?”

“You have a wise computer, Princess-san,” the CEO said with a slight bow to Kris. “I should have expected nothing less.”

“A word of further warning, Mr. Kikuchi. If I or my children are ever tampered with, you may find us suddenly inert. You will get more results with an abacus than from us.”

“I think you have made yourself perfectly clear,” said a very unhappy CEO.

“Come with me. My station cart is over there,” Katsu said, pointing to where one was parked. “I have the matrix that Nelly-san wants and that for my Fumio-san. I can take you down to your Wasp. There are some people there that I think you will be very surprised to meet.”

Kris turned back to Rokuro.

“I’d best go sulk in my tent,” he said. “Doubtless there is paperwork that I must do.”

“No hard feelings?”

“Disappointment. I would have loved to have had one of those things at my beck and call. Imagine how green your Grampa Al would be at the sight of me with one of those. But no. What my son will do with his Fumio may amaze all mankind. And I think we will greatly need amazing.”

I TOLD YOU I DIDN’T LIKE THE GUY, Nelly told Kris.

NO WAY DO I WANT MY GRAMPA AL WITH ONE OF YOUR BROOD, NELLY.

Kris hastened along to where the station cart waited. Jack took charge of Nelly’s prenatal kids and Nelly began the process of bringing Fumio to life as Katsu expertly drove them to where the escalator would take them down to the Wasp’s quarterdeck.

The computer Fumio came to life quickly under Nelly’s expert ministrations. He seemed a bit shy at first, but since he and the young engineer had only words to communicate in, Kris could understand a certain slowness in the development of the relationship. Without the brain-to-machine interface that Chief Beni had created, it would take a direct hookup to Katsu’s brain for him and his computer to have the intimacy Nelly and Kris shared.

Nelly offered no suggestions, and Kris kept her mouth shut.

She and Nelly had built their partnership the hard way over years. Maybe that was the best way to do it.

Katsu and his computer were taking baby steps as they all rode the escalator down. Katsu pointed out one of the many benefits of Smart MetalTM. The quarterdeck was a gaping hole in the side of the Wasp, and heavy equipment and gear drove in and out with ease. Beside the hole, a pirate of a skipper leaned against the bulkhead.

“It took you long enough, Princess. I was starting to fear we’d be sailing without you.”

“Captain Drago,” Kris shouted with glee. “What ill wind blew you this way?”

“Hi, Jack, Penny, Abby. I see you didn’t take your chance to get well upwind of this bit of trouble when you had the chance,” Captain Drago said through a wide grin.

“It’s like an addiction.” Jack laughed. “One taste, and you’re hooked for life.”

“Well, welcome to my fine new web, said the spider to all the flies,” Drago said with a flourish, and bowed them all aboard.