on the bubble - rajnar vajra.rtf

8/14/2019 On the Bubble - Rajnar Vajra.rtf

1/27

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2/27

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3/27

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4/27

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5/27

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6/27

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{{\bON THE BUBBLE}\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\par\pard\hyphpar }{\page } {\s1 \afs32{\bBY RAJNAR VAJRA\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{{\iIllustration by Nicholas Jainschigg}\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{* * * *\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{{\bEvery mode of communication has its own strengths and weaknesses\u8212?and} {\bemergency reserves. } \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{* * * *\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{August 16, 2028\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

Eve Horton, my youngest granddaughter, reeled in the string tied to her wrist to pull my face down to her eye level. She peered at me, then held my imaged mouth near her left ear. Evidently, my smile wasn\u8217?t enough and she wanted to {\ihear} me claim I was having fun. A helium-filled balloon, even one sprayed withx-change paint, makes a poor loudspeaker, so I gave her the white lie in as muchof a bellow as my dying lungs and senile vocal cords could manage. Satisfied, she let me, or rather my point of view, float back up above crowd level. Despitethe clear afternoon sun, lightbulbs were glowing; thousands beaded tightly on high lines connecting each fairground structure to its neighbors. To most people in the cotton-candy sticky, Tilt-a-Whirl dizzy horde, this might\u8217?ve seemedwasteful\u8212?assuming they noticed. And cared. But my engineer\u8217?s eye wasstill sharp enough to spot omni-voltaic foam sheathing rooftops and tents. Ergo

, this redundant illumination wouldn\u8217?t add a penny to anyone\u8217?s electric bill and probably helped prevent overcharging whatever batteries lurked in the park\u8217?s power shed. Still, according to Horton\u8217?s Third Law, or maybe the Fourth, since I\u8217?ve never finalized my list, every thrifty act has some hidden cost. In this case, checking bulbs and replacing dead ones couldn\u8217?t come cheap. And unlike me, not one of the countless lights was burned out.\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{A boy, not yet a teenager but surely a good five years older than my Evie, passed us towing a balloon displaying a fellow sufferer\u8217?s face: grandmotherly,age spotted, and friendly. Her eyes were as pain lined as mine, but she winked


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at me just before two bulky men with \u8220?Manny\u8217?s Maintenance\u8221? emblems on their gray coveralls stepped between us. I {\ithink} she winked; could\u8217?ve been a transmission glitch. With so many people around, some other x-change tourist might be operating on a microwave frequency close enough to cause interference.... I shifted attention to the translucentclock in my peripheral display. Twenty miles from the fairground, in the hospicewing of Saint Teresa Hospital, in the room I shared with the always astonishingJuan Diego Lopez, I pressed the \u8220?attention\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{button on my x-change remote to make the balloon flash rainbow colors. Eve wastoo busy tugging both me and her mom toward a food stand emblazoned with those appetizing words \u8220?Fried Dough\u8221? to look up, but her mother, my daughter-in-law Amanda, was more alert. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?What is it, Fred?\u8221? she asked before remembering she wouldn\u8217?tbe able to hear the answer. \u8220?Wait a second, sweetheart,\u8221? she told Eve, \u8220?Grandpa\u8217?s trying to tell us something.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Frowning, Evie pulled me down again and turned the balloon so both of them could admire my wrinkles. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Kids,\u8221? I shouted, triggering a juicy cough. I gulped some water and continued. \u8220?Those custodians who passed a moment ago reminded me. Got anappointment coming up with a technician here at the hospice. Be offline for maybe twenty minutes.\u8221? Cough, sip. \u8220?I\u8217?ll flash hello when I return.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

Evie\u8217?s frown deepened. \u8220?But Grandpa! You promised!\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I couldn\u8217?t promise to be with you every single second today, honey. Honest, I\u8217?ll be back before you know it.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Well, I suppose.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Listen to your mother, okay? And Amanda, {\iplease} be careful.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?You know I will, Fred.\u8221? Poorly disguised annoyance edged her voice. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Besides, my job here today isn\u8217?t to catch \u8216?em, just spot \u8216?em.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Right. Sorry.\u8221? I turned off the feed, pushed the featherweight x-c

hange\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?glasses\u8221? onto my forehead, and shoved the video lens staring at meto one side. I kept my expression neutral, but with Lopez nearby I might as well have been wearing a placard. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?You are troubled, {\iamigo?\u8221? } My roommate was standing, practicing one of his Qigong exercises. Perhaps calming himself before his scheduled afternoon surgery, although he never seemed concerned about being sliced open. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Troubled, yeah. Silly of me, I\u8217?m sure. It\u8217?s just that Amanda\u8217?s using my granddaughter again as\u8212?as what we used to call a \u8216?beard\u8217? back in the day.\u8221? Come to think of it, \u8220?back in the day\u8221? had long since gone belly-up. Lopez smiled, spiraling one hand above hishead, palm upward, while the other twirled at his waist. I\u8217?d never met an

yone before who\u8217?d converse while doing Tai Chi, Qigong, Yoga, or the like,but Lopez was one of a kind. Still, he didn\u8217?t respond until completing aslow inhalation. \u8220?I understand you. But you\u8217?ve told to me Amanda ison duty most weekends, so how else could she enjoy these hours with her daughter?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I know, I know. Just can\u8217?t abide the idea of mixing police work with daycare. Not with {\imy} granddaughter.\u8221? County ordinances require an official police presencewherever enough people are gathered, but Amanda\u8217?s team was mainly on the prowl for drug trafficking. The park\u8217?s hired security guards could handle m


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ost pickpockets, flashers, molesters, and idiots with overly short fuses. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Honestly, Juan, I\u8217?ve never been quite sure about Amanda. Don\u8217?t say it! \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Knowing you, you\u8217?re probably about to tell me I should be grateful for the chance to get to know her better. Oh hell, I am grateful. And I\u8217?m for sure grateful to be with Evie.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?This is good. Gratitude is my favorite of emotions.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Really?\u8221? He was trying to distract me and I appreciated it. \u8220?Would\u8217?ve thought you\u8217?d favor ... love or compassion considering theway you go on about those two.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{He began the leisurely arm swings of the form he called \u8220?Drag\u243?n de la Nataci\u243?n.\u8221? \u8220?Love and compassion, Fred, are wonderful and holyfeelings, but may not of themselves drive {\iel cachorrodele\u243?n} from his castle.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?The lion cub?\u8221? Before rooming with Lopez, my Spanish had nearly rusted away. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{His smile widened. \u8220?My affectionate way of saying \u8216?ego.\u8217? Whatemotion other than gratitude makes the heart glow, yet pushes the self aside without pain?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Smoothly, as if he\u8217?d completed his long Swimming Dragon routine rather than just begun it, he slipped into his bed and pulled the thin covers up. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

\u8220?What\u8217?s wrong?\u8221? I asked, surprised. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I did not believe she was due for some time.\u8221? He chuckled. \u8220?My hope was to be in surgery by then.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Jesus!\u8221? I muttered, turning to stare into my bedside water glass,half expecting the surface to display {\iJurassicPark}-style compression ripples. But Mary Reed, our thrice-a-week in-room physical therapist only had the personality of a T-Rex, not quite the mass. Still, her tread was heavy enough to feel through my mattress now that Lopez had alerted me. A moment later, the woman herself opened the door and tromped in, three hours ahead of schedule. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Afternoon, boys! Bill Meyer over at Cedars, bless his sweet soul, passedaway last night so\u8217?s I\u8217?m free this morning and I thought we\u8217?dget to you boys, hey, {\i

temprano}. That means \u8216?early.\u8217? Don\u8217?t it, Juan?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Most certainly,\u8221? Lopez said in his smoothest caramel voice. Mary wasn\u8217?t one ounce overweight, but was a neutron star of a woman: small and improbably dense with linebacker muscles compressed onto a five-foot-five frame.Her race was anyone\u8217?s guess; her mop of hair was dyed white-blond with a scarlet streak in front; her hands were short but thick as mittens. She clearly viewed me as a particularly willful toddler but Lopez as a saint on his deathbed.In fact, cancer notwithstanding, he only acted infirm when she was around, hisgraceful way of avoiding certain exercises he considered \u8220?bad for the chi.\u8221? Considering he\u8217?d already lived three years past his doctors\u8217?most optimistic prognoses, he seemed to be on to something. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

\u8220?Everyone ready?\u8221? Mary asked rhetorically. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Perhaps some other time,\u8221? I offered. Given a shred of hope she\u8217?d go easy on me, I would\u8217?ve confessed how far I\u8217?d cut down on mypain meds this morning to keep a clear head for my granddaughter\u8217?s sake. But I knew Mary better than that. Ignoring my comment, she deposited her case oftorture implements on my mattress and threw it open with her usual violence. \u8220?You been out of that bed at {\iall} today, Freddy Horton?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Sure.\u8221? Twice, and only because I can\u8217?t bear to use a bedpan,


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and each twenty-yard trip to the john took fifteen minutes. Each way. When I\u8217?m low on meds, it hurts just to stand. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{She eyed me dubiously. \u8220?Let\u8217?s change up the order today. After ourwarm-ups, hey, we\u8217?ll move on to stretching, then the ankle weights, wristweights, and you better believe we\u8217?ll end with more stretches. Okay?\u8221? She plucked the x-change glasses off my head, tossing them onto my bedside table, snatched my blankets away, and ordered me to start wiggling limbs. Of course, she respectfully asked Lopez\u8217?s permission before removing his covers. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Not being fond of either agony or embarrassment, I didn\u8217?t enjoy flailingmy arms and legs. But it was fun and dignified compared to what was coming up. Mary was a big fan of \u8220?resistance stretching,\u8221? a somewhat counterintuitive technique developed by one Bob Cooley, God knows how many decades ago. Theidea was to stretch muscles that were simultaneously contracting and fighting the stretch. The technique supposedly reduced the pain of stretching and reducedthe chance of injuries, and I freely admit it didn\u8217?t hurt nearly as much as the Yoga stretches inflicted on me by my previous therapist. But it was absurdly hard work and uncomfortable even on days I was pumped to the gills with analgesics. Naturally, Davis Preston, the hospice\u8217?s handyman, arrived to install the new TV screen while I was performing the most humiliating stretch of the lot: a kind of leg press against a padded board, which Mary pushed toward me withno apparent effort. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?If\u8217?n you don\u8217?t shove harder than that, Freddy Horton, you\u8217?ll be bound to suffer decalficication.\u8221? I\u8217?m sure she deliberatel

y mispronounced the word, just to add aggravation to insult. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Dave, pretending not to hear my grunts, or see the way my leg trembled, or notice my involuntary bursts of high-decibel flatulence, peeled the old forty-five-inch screen off the wall with a thin-bladed scraper. Flakes of paint behind the screen came off as well, but not enough to create a problematic texture. He measured and taped off the perimeter of a much larger rectangle, gave the area a light sanding, and sprayed on a new screen in several light coats, perfuming the room with the plastic sweetness of some water based solvent\u8212?improving the usual reek. He squirted a blobette of gel at one edge, stuck one end of a power cord into it, and the cord\u8217?s far end into a ceiling socket. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?This baby should be much easier to see, Fred,\u8221? he said between my

latest gasps. \u8220?Seventy-five inches! And not only bigger, it\u8217?s an updated model. Just let it set for a good half hour before you turn it on and everything should be fine. I\u8217?ll come back to pull off the tape around suppertime. You remember how to do the adjustments? This one\u8217?ll be way too bright just out of the can.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I\u8212?damn it, Mary, stop that for just one damn moment!\u8212?of course I remember. Thanks, Dave.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?No problem.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{When and why did people replace \u8220?you\u8217?re welcome\u8221? with \u8220?no problem\u8221?? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?How you doin\u8217? with those ankle weights, Juan?\u8221? Mary asked, placing the padded board on my upper thighs and gesturing for me to lift my legs.\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

\u8220?They get heavier every week, Maria.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Well, maybe it\u8217?s time I get you some lighter ones. Hey, c\u8217?mon Freddy, {\ilift}. You want total decalficication?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{* * * *\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{After the blessed moment of Mary\u8217?s departure, I gave my new and improvedTV screen a nice glower before retrieving the x-change specs. So often in our glorious world of competing businesses and mutual lawsuits, everyone wins. Exceptfor the public. The x-change system, once invented, should\u8217?ve put ordinaryTV\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{


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screens on the endangered technologies list. The glasses, streaming visual datadirectly into human optic nerves, provide better clarity and control than evenscientific-grade Light Emitting Plastic because they surpass limitations inherent in even the best human eye. But the entertainment networks were already in bedwith TV and microprocessor manufacturers and wouldn\u8217?t grant X-change Incorporated the relevant licenses.... \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{I propped myself up on my pillows and pulled the video lens and microphone toward my face. \u8220?Headed back to the granddaughter, Juan.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{From the corner of my eye, I saw him get out of bed and resume his exercises. \u8220?Have fun, {\iamigo.\u8221? }\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Thanks.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{* * * *\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{I winced as the system came online, leaving me floating above and to the rightof Eve\u8217?s head, facing directly into the sun. The automatic filters reactedfast, but left me in a detail-obscuring sepia murk. So I had to override the filters. Eyes tearing, lids at quarter mast, I pressed the attention button and this time not even Amanda noticed. The sun had to be washing out the balloon\u8217?s flashes. I fumbled around for the camera control and rotated the brightness dial to full. That did it. Both my loved ones gawked up at me and joined me in squinting. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Grandpa!\u8221? Evie shouted. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Amanda blinked and shook her head. \u8220?You might want to turn that down a sh

ade, Fred. You\u8217?re blazing like an archangel on a mission. You\u8217?ll scare someone.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{I adjusted the setting without bothering to reply; floating as high as I was, she couldn\u8217?t have heard me over the crowd noise. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Much better. You missed fried dough and the petting zoo.\u8221? She grabbed my string and pulled me within easy hailing range. \u8220?And some c-u-t-e things somebody said.\u8221? Amanda glanced at her daughter, who was paying too much attention. \u8220?Tell you later.\u8221? Her words sounded cheerful enough,but I thought her tone was a bit distracted. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I would\u8217?ve loved to see her at the petting zoo,\u8221? I yelled. She pulled me even closer. \u8220?But it turned out lucky I had that appointment.\u8221? All that anti-decalficication had left my muscles shaky, but my voice, if nothing else, was stronger. \u8220?My PT\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

showed up hours ahead of time. So the good news is that all my afternoon business is out of the way. Where are we going? Out of the sun, I hope?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Glassblowing demonstration dead ahead. We\u8217?re going to watch someone making paperweights or vases, but I\u8217?ve been instructed to ask if a unicorn might be in the offing.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Oh? Well, speaking as a balloon, let\u8217?s not get too intimate with any open furnace.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Don\u8217?t worry, we won\u8217?t let you pop, Pop. But if you do, I brought along whatever\u8217?s left in the can. We can always buy a new balloon.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{I shook my head. \u8220?It\u8217?s not that easy, Amanda, with us this far away. The system has to set up phase-lock-loops that\u8212?Amanda, are you listening

?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Sure, Fred. Phase-lock-loops. You\u8217?re forgetting something. The equipment you\u8217?ve got at Saint Teresa\u8217?s and the paint I\u8217?m carryingaren\u8217?t the kind you can buy at Sears. This is police issue, military-grade equipment, with all sorts of bells and whistles. Believe me, if we have to spray some more on, it\u8217?ll hook up just fine.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{She hadn\u8217?t fooled me; I could tell her attention was elsewhere. I was accustomed to her eyes constantly roaming while she was on duty, and they were roaming now, but kept returning to a spot somewhere behind me. Since she\u8217?d only sprayed one side of the balloon with the paint, I couldn\u8217?t dial around t


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o see what she kept peering at. Then a lucky gust of wind turned me just far enough. And I still couldn\u8217?t pick out anything unusual.... \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Something wrong?\u8221? I asked. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?No. I don\u8217?t think so.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Talk to me, Amanda.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Really, it\u8217?s nothing.\u8221? She turned me around to face her. \u8220?I just keep noticing the fairground crew.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Manny\u8217?s Maintenance? What about them?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{She shrugged. \u8220?Never seen so many around. And I don\u8217?t recognize most of them. But they have to be legit, because the ones I do recognize have no problems with the others.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I suppose. Still ... they don\u8217?t work directly for the city, do they, but for a private company. Whichever put in the low bid. Just like the security guards.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?C\u8217?mon, Fred! You\u8217?re not suggesting the entire company couldbe up to something shady? Feeling a bit paranoid, are we? That\u8217?s an occupational hazard of {\imine, } and I try to keep it under control. Anyway, right from here you can seea reason why there might be some extra maintenance personnel around. Let me turnyou again. See all that activity near the power shed? They\u8217?re probably fixing or upgrading something.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Amanda, I think you and Evie should go home. Now.\u8221? \par\pard\plain

\hyphpar}{She frowned and glanced down at her daughter who seemed to be ignoring the adult conversation. \u8220?Why?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Those men leaving the shed aren\u8217?t carrying any tools.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?So? They probably left them inside and plan to come back and finish whatever job they\u8217?re doing. You\u8217?re overreacting. I\u8217?m sorry I brought up the whole thing.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{I tried to keep my voice calm and my expletives deleted. \u8220?You\u8217?re agood cop, Amanda, and I\u8217?ll bet you\u8217?ve grown some good instincts. Here\u8217?s a secret: I\u8217?ve got some decent instincts myself from parts of mylife I\u8217?ve never told you about.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Her expression turned thoughtful. \u8220?Donny mentioned a few things. The army

paid your way through college, didn\u8217?t it?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?My son talks. A lot. Did he mention they had me on a bomb squad in the Mideast? And right now, on the back of my neck, I feel something I haven\u8217?tfelt since a {\ireal} close call in Syria: a cold spot smaller than a fingernail. Get {\iout} of here. Call in sick if you have to.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I can\u8217?t do that. Look, if it makes you feel better, we\u8217?ll stroll past the shed and we\u8217?ll see if my, um, cop-sense tingles.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Don\u8217?t do that! If you won\u8217?t leave, for God\u8217?s sake, atleast send one of the uniforms to ask questions. Or ordinary park security.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

She shook her head and her long dark curls, so like her daughter\u8217?s, followed her head movement like an afterthought. \u8220?And let the doers know they\u8217?ve attracted official interest? I mean, just on the very farfetched chancesomething illegal {\iis} happening?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{I knew it was time to shut up and I did. But I had plenty of time to worry because we weren\u8217?t going anywhere at record speed. Evie was fascinated by everything from the art-glass demo, to a hideous squeakfest surrounding a perpetrator of balloon animals outside the glassblowing tent, to an unfortunate individualboiling to death in a Big Bird costume, et very much cetera. So we were still t


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wenty or thirty yards from the power shed when I felt a tug on my arm. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I deeply regret bothering you, {\iamigo,\u8221? } Lopez said from either two feet or twenty miles away, dependingon viewpoint. \u8220?But my surgery awaits, and the nurse will be here pronto. No, you needn\u8217?t leave your loved ones.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{I disabled the x-change system and pulled off the glasses anyway to see my friend. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{He was beaming at me. \u8220?Since anesthesia general,\u8221? he continued, \u8220?has risks we both know well, I wished to say good-bye and give you my blessings and love beforehand.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Juan, you\u8217?re going to be fine. You have to be, for both our sakes.Honestly, you\u8217?re the only thing that\u8217?s made this place bearable this last year.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?My life is not entirely in my hands, Fred, but I will survive if offereda choice. You have been a great joy to me as well. So I have one more foolish maxim to offer you if you will permit. You needn\u8217?t make a face so sour! Your Horton\u8217?s Laws were the inspiration for my maxims.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Ha. The difference is that {\imy} rules are practical.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?The difference is my maxims are true.\u8221? He smiled to take the stingout of it, but I was a bit stung anyway. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Name one that\u8217?s false.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

\u8220?Your first Law, {\ipor ejemplo}. Conservation of Misery you call it, no?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Right. Misery never actually vanishes; if one part of your life improves, some other part\u8212?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I understand your concept, {\iamigo, } but it does not fit my experience.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?All right. Every rule has its exceptions and I admit you\u8217?re exceptional. So what new truth were you going to lay on me?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?One to explain why you will do beautifully even without me. Perhaps youremember that I once earned my pay as a {\icarpintero?\u8221? } Despite minimal formal education, he\u8217?d uplifted his c

areer from subsistence fishing to rough framing to being one of LA\u8217?s mostpopular private contractors. \u8220?So it is natural for me to see the human spirit as a building, a {\ispecial} house that becomes {\im\u225?s}\u8212?more strong through the years, even as the body weakens.\u8221?\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Nice image, Juan, but what\u8217?s your point?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?A wise person comes to know which walls are load bearing and which can be torn away without harm. At our age, {\iamigo, } we need very few walls.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{After Lopez had been wheeled away by Nurse Bob, heading toward the surgical endof the hospital, which most of us inmates call the \u8220?wrecking yard,\u8221?

it dawned on me I hadn\u8217?t warned Evie or Amanda about my latest departure.So I hurriedly pushed the glasses back in place and returned to my family. Apparently no one had missed me, which might\u8217?ve been a trifle ego-denting, except we were back in the sunlight, which made my face or its absence easy to overlook. Besides, I was too concerned about Lopez to brood about anything petty. This was the third time he\u8217?d gone under the knife in the last five months, both for adhesions and to drain some fluid build-up, but he\u8217?d never supplied such a formal farewell. I\u8217?d learned to respect the man\u8217?s intuition, maybe a little too much, and had the miserable feeling I\u8217?d never see himagain. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{


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So between heartsickness and checking on my granddaughter, it took me a few moments to realize we were only a few yards from the chainlink fence surrounding the big shed. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?What do you {\isuppose} is going on in there, sweetheart?\u8221? Amanda prompted Evie. \u8220?You could ask those two guys if you want to.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I will, Mommy.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Two heavyset men in gray coveralls were smoking cigarettes in front of the fence\u8217?s closed gate, its massive padlock open and dangling from the highest link. As we moved past the first DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE sign, I could see how hard these boys were puffing, perhaps trying to suck tar past the anti-cancer filters.They eyed us warily, and I could almost smell the nervous sweat. My daughter-in-law was no fool. \u8220?We\u8217?ll ask them later, sweetheart,\u8221? she said, taking a sharp left turn and dragging along her little girl who was too surprised to protest. \u8220?First, let\u8217?s go back to the petting zoo! I think you missed one of the lambs.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{X-change paint uses any surface it\u8217?s sprayed on as both a loudspeaker anda piezoelectric audio pickup. It makes a much better pickup than a speaker, butthe stereo imaging is limited. So I was only sure the husky, polite male voicewas coming from behind us because I couldn\u8217?t see who was talking. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Officer Horton, I have a hidden gun with a quite remarkable silencer pointed at your child\u8217?s head. Don\u8217?t turn around.\u8221? The phrasing almost sounded British but without the accent. Instinctively, at the first few wor

ds, I\u8217?d punched the display button on my remote, erasing my face from theballoon but maintaining my sensory contact with the fairground. One of the maintenance men pulled the gate open. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Walk through,\u8221? said the un-Brit, \u8220?then fast through the shack\u8217?s door if you want her to live.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Someone opened the door ahead of us, just barely wide enough to accommodate myballoon, and I got the briefest glimpse of a curtain ahead made of layers of hanging black plastic strips and the trailing arm of a person just disappearing through it. Then the door slammed behind us, and I couldn\u8217?t see a thing. \u8220?Now push through the screen and I\u8217?ll tell you when to stop walking,\u8221? the voice commanded with an unpleasant gentleness. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{A moment later, \u8220?That\u8217?s far enough.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

The shed\u8217?s interior was cave-dark and for one long moment of pure stupidity, I waited for my eyes to adjust. I heard several voices talking at once, rustling noises, and the unmistakable sizzle of ripping duct tape\u8212?also a continual ambient sound, part hum and part buzz. Finally I got smart enough to push the auto-contrast control on my remote, triggering the photomultiplier function.Suddenly, the plywood sheets blocking off the shed\u8217?s two windows were oozing light like thin porcelain, and I could see. Three men wearing compact night-vision goggles were with us, not counting whoever had forced us in here. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{A huge goon with obscenely long arms was holding the silver brooch Amanda had been wearing all day. Another goon had stolen her purse and had pulled her .38\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{from its concealed compartment. He casually placed weapon and purse on a nearby

shelf as the third forced Amanda\u8217?s wrists behind her back and wrapped them in layers of tape. Her ankles were already bound. Evie\u8217?s eyes were huge,and she remained unnaturally silent, even when the tape man bound her wrists infront of her. When they\u8217?d finished making my family helpless, the trio ofcreeps strolled over to a folding table near one wall, sat down in folding chairs, clapped on headset phones, hoisted small control boxes of some sort, and started up low-voiced conversations, presumably not with each other. I boosted my audio feed momentarily, but the only thing I learned was that the three weren\u8217?t telemarketing. Their talk was incomprehensible, filled with grid this and grid that, and familiar street names in downtown L.A. and Beverly Hills. \par\par


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d\plain\hyphpar}{From inside, the shed was roomier than I\u8217?d expected, despite holding so much equipment. The fairground evidently had dual power systems. A low voltage setup involved chargers, voltage-regulators, and an extended bank of deep-cycle batteries hung in two tiers\u8212?probably for the miles of strung lights outside.Hundreds of thin color-coded insulated cables running in neat lines were stapled to the wall, and dozens of small metal boxes were spliced into this highway ofwires. The boxes seemed as appropriate to the system as leeches on a human leg,and the many bright splashes of solder hinted they\u8217?d been added recentlyand in haste. On the high-voltage end, a massive bus fed two major-league Toshiba transformers isolated behind steel meshwork, output cables vanishing beneath the concrete floor but surely leading to the amusement park area with its Ferriswheel and rides. For backup, a heavy-duty gas-powered generator squatted near the rear wall, escorted by a gang of truck batteries. Lawsuit avoidance, I guessed. Wouldn\u8217?t do to have a ride freeze up should city power brown out or failcompletely. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Here and there, little pieces of black electrical tape were stuck to surfaces.Covering the ready lights? The goons wanted the place {\idark}, and the possible implications chilled me to the core. Had they been planning all along to kidnap Amanda and were making sure she couldn\u8217?t see theirfaces? But if so, wouldn\u8217?t masks or disguises have been far easier and cheaper? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{A laptop resting on the shelf with Amanda\u8217?s possessions had a widescreendisplaying a large green outline, rectangular except for its pointed top, and a

host of scattered red dots with a few blue ones; the display must\u8217?ve beendimmed to the limit, it was a bit bleary even to my augmented vision, and the dots flickered as though about to gutter out. A box with a large hole in one sidesat between laptop and purse, probably how our host had kept his weapon inconspicuous. A cheap condenser microphone was half hidden behind the laptop. All thisattention to detail wasn\u8217?t just an old engineer\u8217?s habit. It was my only way to keep panic at arm\u8217?s length. Even so, my heart was racing fit toburst, and my hands were colder than ice. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Mommy, I\u8217?m scared.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Eve\u8217?s little chin was trembling, and the sight broke though all my defenses. Without removing my glasses, I fumbled around until I\u8217?d grabbed my bedside phone. My fingers were twitching to press 911, but something between fear and intuition made me hesitate. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

\u8220?Mommy\u8217?s here.\u8221? From reserves I couldn\u8217?t imagine, Amanda managed to keep her voice soft and soothing. \u8220?Don\u8217?t worry, Evie, everything will be all right.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?If you behave yourself, Officer, everything {\iwill} be all right,\u8221? said the husky voice. \u8220?But I must warn you. Welack time to search you properly, although my ... employee Jimmy always enjoys such opportunities.\u8221? From the table, Gorilla Arms turned and grinned beneath his goggles, and I was glad Amanda couldn\u8217?t see it. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Hence, you may have a concealed means of communication aside from that too-obvious broach, one that might not require the use of hands. If so, I would {\istrongly} suggest you not use it. Be advised: we are all wearing state-of-the-ar

t nocturnal vision devices, which use x-change-type nerve induction to provide ideal clarity. Even if we fail to catch you in the act, we are monitoring these grounds intensely and have, ah, an associate or two at your police department. Isee you shaking your head, but I assure you it\u8217?s true. How would I have known your name and occupation otherwise? You will come in handy to aid in negotiations when we reach that point, but are hardly indispensable. The moment I receive word {\iany} authorities have prematurely become aware of your situation, you and your daughter will die.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Who are you? What do you want?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{


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\u8220?You may call me Mr. Blunt. Please sit down and make yourselves as comfortable as possible. We shall be here for some hours yet. I\u8217?ve a few thingsto do at the moment, but I promise we\u8217?ll have a little chat soon.\u8221? He moved forward and I could finally see him. Tall and very thin with a narrow but protuberant nose. On him, the coveralls somehow appeared almost elegant. His eyes were hidden behind another pair of goggles. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{He turned away, then turned back as if struck by an afterthought. \u8220?I should also mention how well this building is soundproofed to kill noise should thegenerator kick in. Still, I would appreciate silence on both of your parts and Isuggest you take every least whim of mine most seriously.\u8221? He whirled andstepped up to the laptop; a moment later I heard the faint swishing of someoneusing a touchpad. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I can\u8217?t see, Mommy!\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I know, sweetheart. Sit down with mommy and cuddle up close. It\u8217?svery important for both of us to be very, very quiet.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{As they lowered themselves, Amanda swung around so that her back was touching her daughter\u8217?s side. I didn\u8217?t understand what she was up to until herhands, bound at the wrist but still able to grab, worked their way down Evie\u8217?s arm far enough to snag the string. She turned to face forward and pulled my balloon close to her head in one smooth movement. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{I was asking myself a key question: did Blunt know about me? Was it coincidencehe\u8217?d used the word \u8220?x-change\u8221?? Was his threat aimed only at Amanda or was he also making sure I didn\u8217?t dare act? He\u8217?d obviously b

een following us, but x-change faces are hard to see at any distance, particularly in bright light. And I\u8217?d had the system disabled while my loved ones were walking to the shed. {\iAnd} I\u8217?d flipped the picture off the instant Blunt started his abduction routine. The gate goons hadn\u8217?t even glanced at the balloon. The purse-snatcher hadn\u8217?t, thank God, seemed to notice the small spraycan. Maybe they didn\u8217?t know. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{But in either case, I might be able to do something. The question was {\iwhat}. Contact the FBI? No, couldn\u8217?t be sure {\ithey} wouldn\u8217?t call the cops. I noticed a murmuring just at the edge of audibility and boosted my audio. Amanda was repeating, \u8220?Fred, can you hear me?\u8221? I could, but it wasn\u8217?t easy. Her words were slurred because shewas barely moving her lips and the amplification was boosting every other sound

in the room. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Speaking so quietly I was confident the ambient hum-buzz and the trio of phoneconversations would keep anyone farther than a foot away from eavesdropping, I said, \u8220?Okay. I hear you.\u8221? She didn\u8217?t react so I said it again just a tad louder. That did the trick. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Fred, thank God. Can you {\isee} anything?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Everything, dear. I\u8217?ve got the\u8212?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Anyone watching me right now?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?No. Blunt\u8217?s fiddling with a computer and the others are on phones.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?How many others?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

\u8220?Three. The one called Jimmy has to be the missing link and there\u8217?s... Thing One and Thing Two.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Where\u8217?s my purse?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?On a shelf about ten feet in front of us, and your gun\u8217?s right next to it. Thing One seemed to know exactly where it was.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Oh sh\u8212?\u8221? she cut herself off, probably remembering Evie. \u8220?Anything behind me I can use to free my arms?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I don\u8217?t\u8212?actually, yes! If you can scooch over about two feet


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to your left and back up just a bit.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Nothing I\u8217?ll bump into on the way?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?No. You\u8217?re clear.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Amanda leaned over and whispered into Evie\u8217?s ear. A moment later, the twoof them slowly wriggled to the side, stopping often so the balloon would floatback to where I could supply new instructions. Within two minutes, they\u8217?dreached the right spot. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?What now?\u8221? Amanda asked. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Immediately behind you, a battery is hanging from a metal strap that\u8217?s edge-on to you and about the right height. I doubt it\u8217?s very sharp, but the strap\u8217?s thin so the edge should eventually cut the tape if you canforce it between your hands and wiggle your arms up and down.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I\u8217?ll try. First let\u8217?s see if I can work this string under mybutt; I don\u8217?t want us to lose contact.\u8221? Her hushed voice remained steady. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Amanda, I\u8217?ve got to say. I knew my son had done well, but I hadn\u8217?t dreamed he\u8217?d done {\ithis} well. I\u8217?m proud of you. And Evie too. You\u8217?ve got real courage.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I wish. But your being with us makes all the difference.\u8221? She rocked forward and managed to pin the string under her rear end on the first try. Then she extended her arms backward until they touched the strap, a little lower t

han I\u8217?d hoped but high enough to get decent friction if she was flexible enough. Before she could try my idea, Blunt left his laptop and headed our way. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Amanda!\u8221? I cried. \u8220?Freeze!\u8221? Nothing wrong with her reaction time. \u8220?Blunt\u8217?s coming back.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{He stopped a few feet away and squatted down. \u8220?Now, Officer, I will explain your role in today\u8217?s operation.\u8221? His voice was painfully loud inmy ears until I turned down the audio. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?What are you, Blunt? Some kind of terrorist?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{He chuckled. \u8220?Hardly. I consider myself a ... creative entrepreneur. Onevery near retirement thanks to the proceeds you will help us earn.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

\u8220?Why do you keep it so {\idark} in here?\u8221? my granddaughter blurted. \u8220?I don\u8217?t like it.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Blunt frowned. \u8220?You\u8217?re the youngest daughter, aren\u8217?t you? Eve, as I recall.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I\u8217?d like to know about the darkness, too,\u8221? Amanda said quickly when Evie didn\u8217?t respond. \u8220?Why go through so much trouble?\u8221?\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I doubt the girl is old enough to understand such things, but in the spirit of cooperation, I\u8217?ll tell you both. The answer is {\iefficiency}. Efficiency is my personal god. More thought, effort, and time has gone into this than you might believe and I\u8217?ve polished my plan to the finest grit.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

\u8220?So you\u8217?re the one running the show.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?I see no harm in admitting it. Returning to the girl\u8217?s question: since we\u8217?ve needed to work between county inspections, we\u8217?ve had to do considerable work in this shack over the last few nights and couldn\u8217?t risk any light showing should anyone\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{... unauthorized pass by.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Even with your blackout screen?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?We only put that up this morning and largely for your benefit. Wouldn\u8217?t do to have had someone nosy and clever glimpse something so odd when we\u8


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217?ve needed to open the door. You must admit, the darkness keeps you conveniently harmless and ignorant, doesn\u8217?t it?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?You weren\u8217?t worried about the night security guards hearing you?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Ah. You\u8217?re a bit clever yourself, aren\u8217?t you? I must bear that in mind. Of course, you\u8217?re right. I own both Manny\u8217?s Maintenanceand the Confidence Security Agency. No harm in your knowing that since both organizations will evaporate shortly. I think that will be enough questions on yourend.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Can I make one comment?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{He stood up for a moment, rubbed his knees, and returned to his squatting position. \u8220?Just one and only due to my single vice: curiosity.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?If you\u8217?re expecting to retire on what you\u8217?ll get by holdingus hostage, I\u8217?m afraid you\u8217?re going to be disappointed. The LAPD hasa policy\u8212?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?No, no. Now I\u8217?m disappointed in {\iyou}. I intend to hold every single soul in this park hostage, and we\u8217?ll see how well your {\ipolicy} holds up. Almost all is in place, but we\u8217?re waiting for the peak hour, when the grounds are sure to be busiest.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?How can you expect to hold that many people at gunpoint?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Gunpoint? We\u8217?ll be relying very little on guns.\u8221? \par\pard\p

lain\hyphpar}{In an unpleasant flash, I understood the outline on the laptop screen. It represented the fairground\u8217?s perimeter. The dots had to be bombs. And somethingelse began nagging at me, which I couldn\u8217?t pin down. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Sometime within the next several hours,\u8221? Blunt continued, \u8220?Iwill push a button on my phone and then hold the phone to your ear. You will find yourself talking to an operator at your police department. At that time, youwill say nothing on your own but will simply repeat whatever I tell you to say.Word for word. The smallest deviation, particularly when it comes to the numbersof certain overseas accounts, will result in\u8212?let\u8217?s say considerablegrief for you. Do you understand me?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Yes.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

\u8220?Good. Do not speak again until I tell you to.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{* * * *\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{I\u8217?ve never experienced time passing so slowly. Amanda worked on cutting her wrists free, and I worked like hell trying to figure a way out of this mess.Something about the image I\u8217?d seen so briefly on the screen was still bothering me, and I still had no idea what. And the minutes barely crawled. Blunt kept tinkering with something beyond my view on the shelf behind the laptop, and the three stooges blabbed constantly into their mouthpieces. At the hospice, a nurse came into my room and went away when I told her things were just dandy and Iwas busy. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Boss!\u8221? Thing One called out, startling me and making Evie emit oneforlorn cry. \u8220?We got a problem.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

\u8220?I see that. Why, if I may ask, is grid ten suddenly filled with blue lights?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?You know that excavator behind the carousel? Some punk just moved it togrid nine. With the backhoe down. Took out most of our remote\u8212?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Unbelievable. It\u8217?s the bloody {\iweekend! } Canapka Construction doesn\u8217?t work weekends. They barely work atall!\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Easy, boss. Wasn\u8217?t Canapka. Some smart-ass kid hot-wired it and took it for a joyride. With our security team tied up getting ready for crowd cont


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rol, we don\u8217?t got enough\u8212?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?How many technicians can we put on this?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Um. I don\u8217?t know.\u8221? Despite an obvious attempt to sound tough, his voice quavered. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Then would it be too much trouble to find out?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Thing One hastily punched buttons and had a quick discussion over his headset.\u8220?Only four, boss, unless you want to pull anyone off the fence crew or have fewer watchers.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?No. But four isn\u8217?t enough. It seems we\u8217?re going to have to pitch in and get our own hands dirty. We\u8217?ll leave Jimmy alone to hold the fort.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?But boss\u8212?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Is that all {\iright} with you, J.C.?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Of course, sir.\u8221? Textbook sullen. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?And what about you, Zack? Can you bear to leave your station?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Sure.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Officer Horton, you sit tight and keep your girl quiet. Jimmy, what youdo on your own time is your business, but right now you keep your mind on {\imy} business or I\u8217?ll shoot you myself. Got it?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{

\u8220?Yeah. No problem.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Blunt and his Things stepped through the plastic curtain as if it was an airlock, and I heard the door open and slam shut. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Then we were alone with the Missing Link. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{* * * *\par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{For a while, the Link ignored Amanda and became embroiled in a phone argument with someone called Eric who apparently wasn\u8217?t pushing his team hard enoughto get whatever work they were doing completed on time. Eric, I gathered, couldn\u8217?t figure out how he was supposed to increase his pushing while Jimmy waskeeping him tied up. I began to think Jimmy wasn\u8217?t going to be trouble after all. Big mistake. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{I used one of those bells, or perhaps whistles, of my police-issue x-change receiver to photograph the laptop\u8217?s screen, wishing the system had a zoom fun

ction. Checking the recorded image, I was relieved to find the dots clear enoughto provide a detailed map of where every bomb was placed. For backup, I sent the image to Amanda\u8217?s e-mail account and my own before switching back to a live feed and, for the first time, really studying the screen. The issue naggingmy back brain practically jumped out at me. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{A profusion of red dots glimmered {\ioutside} the fairground, spread in a wide crescent near the front gate. I wondered uneasily why they\u8217?d mined that particular area and closed my eyes to think it through. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{An impressively high and strong-looking chainlink fence enclosed the entire park. Even if the main gate were closed and locked, it would be still be the weakest part of the fence, the logical place for a SWAT unit to mount an assault. OnceAmanda relayed Blunt\u8217?s instructions, the entrance area would surely be sw

arming with cops\u8212?Lord! Probably {\ievery} available cop in the county, an FBI contingent, various assault vehiclesalong with the usual police cruisers, maybe even National Guard soldiers. If hisbombs packed enough wallop, Blunt could wipe out most of L.A.\u8217?s law enforcement structure in an instant! Something told me the man had bigger plans thanjust holding the local crowd for ransom.... I opened my eyes and found Jimmy staring at my daughter-in-law. He remained on the phone, badgering someone new, buthis gaze kept shifting between the plastic-strip curtain and Amanda\u8217?s chest. He shifted his chair in tiny increments, seemingly tugged by magnetic surgesuntil he was facing her directly. Amanda\u8217?s breasts were bouncing as her a


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rms worked at abrading the tape, but apparently the Missing Link didn\u8217?t realize what she was doing, or didn\u8217?t care. When the Link got to his feet, his chair creaked and Amanda froze. \u8220?What\u8217?s happening, Fred?\u8221? she asked. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Jimmy\u8217?s walking toward you. No, keep working. I\u8217?m afraid you\u8217?re going to need your hands.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{At close range, the man appeared positively subhuman. The headset seemed as out-of-place as it would\u8217?ve on a gorilla. He sat down in front of Amanda, close, and stretched out a long finger to gently tap the top button of her blouse.She shrank back, but had no place to go. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{For the first time in a long time, Eve spoke. \u8220?Something smells real bad,Mommy.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Jimmy turned slightly, tugged off his headset, and tossed it behind him. Without warning, he moved faster than I\u8217?d ever seen anyone move, lashing out with one of those ape arms to backhand Evie across her forehead. The blow cannonedher skull into the concrete wall behind her, and my little girl slumped over sideways as if her bones had liquefied. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?What have you {\idone?\u8221? } Amanda cried. \u8220?Evie?\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Don\u8217?t you worry \u8216?bout her, pretty lady, she\u8217?s breathing okay. But if you\u8217?re not {\ireal} sweet to me and keep your mouth shut tight afterwards, I\u8217?ll stomp her neck flat. Maybe I should do that first....\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?{\i

No! } I\u8217?ll do whatever you want. Just don\u8217?t hurt her.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?You and me gonna have some fun.\u8221? \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Something more solid than rage moved through me, pushing through my horror andshock. I wanted to hurt this monster, and I suddenly knew how to go about it. Ireached for the flash dial on my remote. Just in time, it occurred to me the sudden brightness would hurt Amanda too. Then I started shaking. I\u8217?d come {\ithisclose} to blowing a real chance to rescue my loved ones. I refused to thinkit might be too late to rescue Evie. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{My knowledge of night-vision goggles was decades\u8212?hell, over a half century\u8212?out of date. But if Jimmy\u8217?s goggles had the kind of automatic filtering built into my x-change system, he might\u8217?ve had no more than a momentof discomfort. And then he would\u8217?ve known about me for sure. Even the bes

t auto-filters take several dozen milliseconds to work. If I wanted to put Jimmyout of commission for long enough for Amanda to get the upper hand, which I wanted with all my heart, I had to produce a light so damn bright it would blind him for at least a few minutes in that one instant. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{And I had a way to do it! But I had to warn Amanda first. And I wasn\u8217?t atall sure my body was strong enough for the job. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{The Link was panting now as he unbuttoned Amanda blouse. She was wearing a soft-looking bra underneath, and he tugged on one cup until one breast was free. Hestarted poking at her nipple like someone trying to spear a fish, no longer bothering to even glance toward the doorway. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{I tilted my x-change glasses to uncover my left eye, put the TV remote on my pillow, and forced myself upright onto the floor. The glasses slipped back into place with the motion so I bent the frames to keep it from happening again. One ey

e in the shed and one twenty miles away in my room, I took a deep breath and gotto work. My plan required getting the x-change camera as close as possible to the wall with the TV, but the camera was attached to my bedframe and the damn hospital bed seemed to be glued in place. You idiot, I told myself after a few futile pushes, the wheels must be locked. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Sweat pouring off me in sheets, I had to stomp repeatedly on each of the four wheel levers before the bed was ready to roll. And then I {\istill} couldn\u8217?t get the damn thing to budge! \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Jimmy had one hand pawing between Amanda\u8217?s legs now while the other was fumbling with her belt. I heard myself swearing, even over the Link\u8217?s heavy


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panting and little chuckles. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{If only Lopez were here! I didn\u8217?t dare call for help from anyone else. One thing you don\u8217?t get at Saint Teresa\u8217?s when you\u8217?re old and sick is respect. Any nurse that came in would have to be convinced I knew what I was doing\u8212?which would take too much time at best. At worst, they\u8217?d insist on calling the police. I shoved with all my energy, and the bed moved maybean inch. And then it was all over. With the first rattle at the door, Jimmy wasmoving with insane speed. He managed to get Amanda\u8217?s blouse partly buttoned and was back in his position at the table as Blunt and Thing One pushed through the plastic strips. Jimmy wasn\u8217?t just brutal, he was stupid. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{Blunt pulled on his goggles and took one quick glance around the room. His gazefroze when he came to Evie\u8217?s unconscious form. \par\pard\plain\hyphpar}{\u8220?Jimmy, lad,\u8221? he said very softly, \u8220?I\u8217?ll be dealing with you later. Right now, I\u8217?m advancing

on the bubble - rajnar vajra.rtf

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