Waypoint Kangaroo by Curtis C. Chen

Author:Curtis C. Chen
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781250081797
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Dejah Thoris—Deck 6, stateroom 6573

5 hours before my nanobot-flavored dinner with Ellie

As soon as I get back to my stateroom with the Red Wine, I lock the door, activate the comms dish, and call Jessica again.

This time she answers. She’s wearing an olive-green, ribbed, wool pullover with patches on the elbows and shoulders. The room around her is dark except for a couple of computer displays and a few blinking lights on her medical instruments.

“Where the hell have you been?” she asks. “I’ve been trying to contact you for—” She shakes her head. “Never mind. Please confirm that you’ve secured all the equipment. Over.”

“Affirmative.” I pull the vial of plasma out of my jumpsuit and hold it up, transmitting vid from my eye. “I spun down a sample of my blood and separated out the plasma to extract the nanobots. By the way, why are you wearing an SAS commando sweater? Over.”

“We can discuss my fashion choices later. Give me a wideband radio spectrum view of that vial. I need to make sure the nanobots precipitated correctly. And please verify that you’ve kept the vial within half a meter of your body at all times. Over.”

I wiggle my fingers to adjust my eye’s sensors, and a series of glowing outlines appears over my arm and hand. Tiny bright circles blink at the bottom of the vial. I pull it closer so Jessica will get a good picture. “Let me know when you’ve got enough. Over.” I leave the channel open, streaming data back to Earth.

Jessica nods at her display. “Serum nanobots look good. I’m uploading their new firmware now. Do not disconnect, repeat, do not disconnect your receiver until I say so. Over.”

I tuck the vial back into my jumpsuit and wait. After a couple of minutes of staring at the side of Jessica’s head, I open the box containing the Red Wine, pull the bottle out of its tissue paper wrapping, and turn the label so we can both see it. “So will this do for the expensive booze? Over.”

She turns her head back to face me and says something in Mandarin. “Please tell me you did not steal that! Over.”

“Of course not,” I say. “I’m on a cruise ship. Everything’s for sale. I paid with the platinum card.”

Jessica makes a fist, raises it as if she’s going to slam it down on her desk, then slowly opens and lowers her hand. “Just in case you’ve forgotten. Let me remind you that we are trying to hide what we’re doing. Is there some reason you think Lasher will not notice a ten thousand dollar purchase and demand an explanation? Over!”

“Relax,” I say. “He’s got bigger fish to fry. If he does ask, I’ll say I felt like having some fun on my vacation. That’s what he told me to do, right? I’ll tell him I was trying to impress a girl.” It’s not a lie. I sure hope Ellie appreciates this outrageous wine.

“And how will you explain all these long-distance comms with me? Because he’s going to notice that, too.

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