dotwav by Mike A. Lancaster

Author:Mike A. Lancaster
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Published: 2016-08-16T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: PERIHELION

Joe requisitioned a vehicle—a midnight blue SUV—and proceeded to sling it through the city traffic with the comfortable familiarity of a London taxi driver. There was very little mirror, signal, maneuver to his driving, but there were occasions when he’d use two of the three. Most of the time he just seemed to trust his skill and the two-ton bulk of the vehicle.

Ani sat in the passenger seat, one eye on Joe’s driving, the other on investigating the tablet that Abernathy had just given her. She’d genuinely never seen anything like it.

“This is one sweet piece of tech,” Ani said, her voice betraying her wonder. “It’s like an iPad from the future. On steroids. It’s lightning fast. There are three operating systems accessible with the press of a button. Dual desktops in Windows and Mac OSX flavors; and then there’s a Linux command line OS …”

“Yeah, but can you play Angry Birds on it?” Joe asked.

“Play it? With this, you can hack the app and make them a whole lot less angry. I can’t believe that I just got handed a tablet computer that’s better than any laptop I’ve ever used.”

“Abernathy loves his toys.” Joe braked abruptly and gave an apologetic smile.

Ani waited until they were moving again and then asked, “So what’s the deal, anyway?”

Joe needed to slow down again, but this time he feathered the brakes, swung the steering wheel, accelerated, and then threaded the SUV through a clump of traffic.

“The deal?”

“Yeah.” Ani put the tablet down on her lap and turned to look at Joe. “I can understand law enforcement using kids to infiltrate groups of other kids. It makes a lot of sense. I can even see YETI using someone from across the pond as an asset. But sending us to interview adults—what’s that about? Is this really just an interview for a job?”

Joe laughed.

“Abernathy is patched into levels of government the rest of us don’t know exist, and has resources beyond measure. The fact that he’s not using them tells me he has something else in mind. Three things, probably, because that’s the kind of game Abernathy is always playing. Every move he makes tends to accomplish more than one goal. And he thinks many, many moves ahead.

“First thing: I’ve been off active duty for a while, and this is my first operation back. I think that he needs to see that I can still handle things—any things—that get thrown at me. Second: the interview. You are an unknown quantity. Computer savvy, obviously, but how will that translate into street smarts? Investigative fieldwork is a good way to test your temperament and abilities in relative safety.

“Finally, by sending us instead of some seasoned investigators, I suspect he’s seeing how we work together. Seeing if we can work together.”

“So you really think that if I do okay here, I get the job?”

“Yep.”

“He does know that I’m still in school?” Ani said, her brow wrinkling. “I mean, hello!”

“If you make it onto the YETI payroll, they’ll educate you as well.

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