was probably unconscious right after the crash, but I would swear that I felt you holding me, protecting me.’
‘I did the best I could. I’m sorry it wasn’t enough.’
‘We’re both still alive. I think you did great.’ She took hold of his hand as he stared into her iridescent blue eyes. ‘I’ve never had the courage to say anything before. I’ve just been so afraid that if I tried to change our relationship, to make it into something more than it is, I’d lose what we already have.’ Kelsey blushed at her own honesty.
Nolan agreed with what she’d said about their relationship. He’d grown up with Kelsey, and he had a difficult time thinking of her romantically, thinking of her as something other than family. It now became clear to him that there was nothing wrong with thinking of Kelsey in a different sense, as family.
‘Kelsey, I don’t want you to be afraid to love me. I’m not afraid to love you.’
Nolan rose from the wheelchair, leaned over, and kissed her gently. She turned her head slightly and returned his kiss, full on the lips. The kiss was gentle, slow, and passionate. It was not the kiss of old friends; it was the kiss of new lovers.
A forced cough from the impatient nurse brought an end to the kiss. ‘That’s enough, you two. Beat it, Mr Kilkenny, or I’ll have to hose you off. This is a hospital, not Club Med. Ms Newton needs her beauty sleep, and, Lord knows, you could use some, too.’
‘I guess I am a sight for sore eyes.’
‘And I’ve got the sore eyes for looking at you, Kelsey. I’ll see you in the morning. Sweet dreams.’ Nolan sat down in the wheelchair and rolled toward the nurse standing guard at the door. ‘Have you ever considered a career in the military? I know some people who could use a tough drill instructor.’
The nurse laughed as she grabbed the back of the wheelchair and rolled him out of the room. Their banter trailed down the corridor as Kelsey closed her eyes. She was still shaking, not believing her sudden bravery at exposing her feelings to Nolan. Since January, they’d spent more time with each other than anyone else, and, in recent months, that time had become the highlight of her day. Nolan was a kind, thoughtful, and intelligent man, and in him she found something she’d never found in anyone else: love. A smile lingered on her still-most lips as she drifted into sleep.
39
Sean Kilkenny picked up his son at the hospital’s main entrance, which overlooked the Huron River Valley. Spring was in full bloom and the view of the river, as it flowed along the Nichols Arboretum, was spectacular.
‘Ready to go home?’ he asked as he tossed Nolan’s overnight bag in the back of his Explorer.
Nolan thanked the orderly who had wheeled him down and then climbed in the passenger side. ‘I’m ready to get out of here, if that’s what you mean.’
‘I understand. After my recent experiences with your mother, I’m not too fond of hospitals, either. Are you interested in stopping by MARC before we head home? I’ve got a few things I’d like to take care of, if you feel up to it.’
‘Sure, I want to check in with Grin anyway. Say, did Mosley get my gear out of the wreck?’
‘Yes, right after he swore Grin and me to secrecy over this whole mess.’
‘Good, he got you both in the loop. I hope the bypass is still in one piece. I don’t want to make another trip to Chicago just yet.’
‘I wouldn’t think so,’ Sean agreed. ‘I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, Nolan. Grin is a brilliant young man and a very hard worker, but when I asked him to explain what you and Kelsey were after, I got a dissertation about ten levels higher than I could comprehend.’
Nolan could easily picture Grin soaring way past his father with the intricate details of neural-network systems-not a topic for the faint of heart. ‘Grin’s a little wired about the whole thing. I admit, it’s a very interesting situation we’ve found ourselves in, and that little black box in Kelsey’s lab is an exciting topic of discussion all on its own.’
Nolan filled the remainder of the ten-minute ride with a layman’s tour of Spyder technology, which was everything he’d gleaned from Iverson during his visit to Moy Electronics. The narrative continued with the CIA’s current theory on how this Spyder had come to Ann Arbor and who was now controlling it. Sean Kilkenny pulled his truck into the MARC parking lot, stopped in his usual space, and sat behind the wheel, digesting what he’d heard.
‘So we’re not dealing with some kid joyriding a PC through our computer; we’re up against some damned industrial spies.’
‘Sure looks that way, Dad.’
As they entered the MARC building, the receptionist flagged them down. ‘Nolan, Cal Mosley just called for you.’
‘I’ll phone him from the lab.’ Nolan then looked over his other message slips and stuffed them in his pocket. ‘Where’s my stuff, Dad?’
‘In my office.’
Kilkenny searched through his dark blue Eddie Bauer bag for the box that Iverson had given him on Sunday. His soft-sided bag didn’t look all that bad, considering the rough ride it had been through in the Mustang’s trunk. He found the box still well protected by his clothing and completely intact.
‘It takes a licking; let’s hope it keeps on ticking. I’ll be down in the lab.’
‘Just let me know when you’re ready to go home, son.’
In the MARC computer lab, Grin was hard at work running a system diagnostic. It was a tedious procedure that more often bored the system administrator to death while it ran. True to form, Grin sat back, his feet propped up on the main console, reading a book on the mythologies of early man. The cover illustration of a ceramic Earth Mother caught Kilkenny’s eye.
‘What are you reading there, Grin, a five-thousandyear-old Playboy ?’
Grin’s focus shifted upward from his book to cast a look of disdain in Kilkenny’s direction. ‘Thank you for that commentary from the culturally illiterate. You may now crawl back into your dark corner and warm yourself by the glow of your television.’His stern look broke into a wide smile as he got up to greet Kilkenny. ‘Good to see you back, man, but geez, you look terrible.’
‘Really, I hadn’t noticed. But enough of this pleasant chitchat. Are you ready to go to work?’ Kilkenny held up the box of Iverson’s special hardware.
‘You bet.’Grin shared Kilkenny’s enthusiasm for taking on their unwanted intruder. ‘Mosley briefed me about that thing in your lab, and you’ll be happy to know that it’s been very quiet all weekend.’
Kilkenny was looking forward to putting a computerized noose around the stainless-steel rat that had infested his lab, though he would have preferred putting the real thing around the necks of those responsible for it being there. ‘Let’s see what we can discover about our friendly little Spyder.’
Like the Spyder, Iverson’s bypass was a simple black cube equipped with connector ports for external communications lines. Grin brought the Cray off-line while Kilkenny powered down the experimental optical processor. They followed the standard procedure so the Spyder would be unaware of a sudden severing of its communication link to the university network. Grin joined Kilkenny in the latter’s lab after the system successfully shut down.
‘Well, Dr Grin, the patient is under. Shall we perform surgery?’
‘I’d prefer to use a hammer, Dr Kilkenny, but I’ll be happy to assist you.’
‘Excellent.’ Kilkenny held out an open hand. ‘Phillips screwdriver, please.’
The procedure took only fifteen minutes, in which Kilkenny mated the bypass to the Spyder. Once connected, the bypass would provide complete access to the Spyder’s program and a view on everything that the device was doing. The bypass tied in exactly as Iverson had promised and, after double-checking all the connections, they brought the optical processor back on-line.
Grin returned to the main lab and scanned the MARC network screens and his message file. ‘The network is
