a single shelf under a long, cracked mirror held bottles of bourbon,
gin, sloe gin, scotch, and vodka.
It took only a minute or so for Michaels to find the built-in lockbox
under the bar, a steel plate with a huge Master Lock padlock on a
finger-thick brass hasp.
Michaels had a key to the padlock, but since he didn't know what was
normally in the lockbox, it wouldn't much matter what he'd find in it
if he bothered to look. If something was missing, he wouldn't be able
to tell by looking.
It was dim behind the bar, light shining through two grimy windows on
the sides of the building, hardly enough to see by. He pulled a small
flashlight from his back pocket and shined it at the lock.
Sure enough, there were fresh scratches on the lock and on the hasp.
Somebody had been at it, trying to pry or pick it open. No way to tell
if they had managed it, but it confirmed Morrison's story, at least in
part.
Michaels stood, brushed off his hands, and started for the back door.
Morrison could have done it, of course.
Somebody yelled 'Fire!' a big part of the time he was the guy with the
match. Then again, why bring it up?
Nobody would have noticed without Morrison's report, at least nobody in
Net Force. And Morrison had access to the lockbox--which was, of
course, nothing more than a protected set of files inside the HAARP
computer system.
He could open it whenever he wanted, there was no need for him to break
into it.
Well. At least it gave Michaels something to go on.
He'd have to call Morrison back, get some more specific information. It
didn't seem particularly vital, whatever was in the box, no reason to
break a leg hurrying to get to it. There were people he could pass it
off to, or he could wait until Jay got back from his vacation; he was
only going to be gone for a week.
It had been a nice little exercise, maybe helped keep his VR muscles
from atrophying completely, but nothing earthshaking.
He could drop out of VR now and unplug, but what the hell, might as
well finish the bateau ride, enjoy the sights a little more, hey?
Monday, June 6th Mammoth Cave, Kentucky
John Howard smiled as the guide turned the lights off and the inside of
the cave went black, a darkness deeper than most people had ever seen.
The only things visible were phosphorescent or tritium watch dials, and
they seemed really bright against the inky jet so tangible you felt it
hang on you like a damp coat.
In the gloom, the guide said, 'No sunlight ever gets down here, and yet
people explored this cave much farther along than we are now using only
candles and burning torches. Before the electric lights were wired in,
every 3
body carried a lot of spare batteries and bulbs for their flashlights,
believe it.'
The tourists, unseen in the dark, chuckled nervously.
