Private Lives

Tom Clancy, Steve Pieczenik, Bill McCay Private Lives

1

“Everybody else is here,” Megan O’Malley told Matt Hunter as she met him at the door to her house. Her hazel eyes blazed as if she were accusing him. “You’re almost late.”

“Um — sorry.” Matt blinked, then thought for a second. “Hey! Isn’t on time good enough these days? Are you trying to make me feel guilty?”

“You’re right. It’s my turn to say ‘sorry.’” Megan looked a little stressed out despite her smile. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just that I’ve got a three-ring circus running in the living room. How do you guys manage things when David has you over?”

“David never has more than four people over at a time,” Matt said. “With his kid brothers on the rampage, that’s about as many people as his folks’ apartment will hold.”

He glanced at the plate of assorted snacks in Megan’s hand. Come to think of it, he was a bit hungry…. “And his idea of entertaining people is to turn the holovision on. He doesn’t generally provide food.”

“Speaking of holovision, that’s what we’d better do,” Megan said, looking at her watch. “The show should be on any minute.”

The show was Washington Personalities, a long-running and highly regarded local news show where reporters interviewed some of the interesting but less-well-known folks who lived and worked in the capital. The reason Megan had invited everyone over was today’s guest. Captain James Winters was going to be featured on this broadcast.

Captain Winters was a Net Force agent, a member of the special bureau of the FBI responsible for policing the web-work of computers that strung together the country and, indeed, the world. Besides being a crack federal agent, he was also the liaison for the Net Force Explorers.

Matt was a Net Force Explorer. So was Megan, and so were all the other kids sitting expectantly in her living room. Matt, Megan, Catie Murray, Andy Moore, Maj Green, P. J. Farris, David Gray — most of them had met at Net Force Explorers meetings. They’d become friends through the experiences they’d shared.

The Net Force Explorers had proved to be much more than a high-profile computer club for all of them. The kids had learned a lot about technology — and each other — while taking part in some pretty wild adventures.

And the man who’d always been there for them, even when they sometimes went off the deep end, was Captain Winters. All the kids were pleased that he was getting his fifteen minutes of fame.

Andy waved Matt over to where he sat on the couch, pointing to a lumpy object down by his feet. The wise- guy grin on Andy’s face was as typical of him as the disheveled state of his blond hair. “Last one in gets the weirdest seat,” he announced.

“It’s not weird,” Megan protested. “It’s retro.”

Andy gave her a look. “Which means?”

“It’s a phrase from back in the 1990s. That’s when this antique beanbag chair was probably made — unless it dates back to the 1960s.”

“Oh,” Andy said sarcastically. “So retro means ‘old junk.’” He grinned at Matt. “Enjoy your seat.”

“You can enjoy it, too,” Megan told Andy. “You got in just ahead of Matt — and stole my seat on the couch when I went to let him in.”

Andy put on a big act of looking hurt. “You’re the hostess — I thought you’d want me to have this seat.”

“I might have, if you hadn’t gone making fun of my beanbag chair.” Megan handed the tray of snacks to Catie, grabbed Andy by the arm, pulled him off the sofa, and plopped down in his place.

“You can join me down here,” Matt said, sinking into the beanbag. “It’s surprisingly comfortable.”

“Probably give me mildew,” Andy groused, flopping down. He glanced up at Megan. “She sure is feisty,” he muttered. “Think that’s what keeps Leif interested in her?”

“I didn’t even know he was,” Matt said, glancing at Andy in surprise. Leif Anderson was another of the Net Force Explorers, but he lived in New York City most of the time. Even though his dad had tons of money, Leif wasn’t able to come flying down to Washington, D.C., on a school day.

“Hey, is somebody recording this for Leif?” Matt asked.

“Already taken care of,” Megan assured him. “So cut the sound — the show’s starting.”

The HoloNews logo swam into existence over the projection unit from Megan’s family computer. Tinny, canned theme music began to play as cheesy computer graphics formed the letters Washington Personalities.

Matt shrugged. Well, after all, this was no prime-time show with a big budget.

A young news announcer grinned from the holographic projection. “It’s Thursday, September 18, 2025, and this is Washington Personalities. I’m your host, Jay-Jay McGuffin, and my guest represents a well-known law-enforcement agency — with a surprisingly human face.”

The camera pulled back to show McGuffin sitting in an armchair that looked like an overgrown, hollowed-out billiard ball. Seated across from him, looking uncomfortable in a similar chair, was Captain Winters.

“Jay-Jay is right,” Andy kidded from the peanut gallery. “Winters does have a surprisingly human face. And would you call those things they’re sitting on retro chairs?”

“Shhhh!” Megan swatted him on the head. Matt always found himself a little in awe of the captain. Even in a sport coat and open-necked shirt, there was something undefinably military about the man. He made the casual clothes look like a uniform. But he smiled, looking definitely human as he responded, “Thanks, Jay-Jay. It’s a pleasure to be here.”

Jay-Jay McGuffin ran through a quick series of questions to establish exactly who James Winters was. Then he threw in a curveball. “You went from being a colonel in the Marines to being a captain in Net Force. Does that rate as a demotion?”

“Well, not in terms of pay,” Winters replied with a quick grin. “And, as a Marine, I was responsible for keeping almost a thousand young men combat-ready — and for keeping as many of them as possible alive if we actually got into a fight. While it is in many ways equally — maybe even more — important work, apprehending computer criminals for Net Force is not, thankfully, such a life-and-death business.” He paused for a second. “Especially when you consider my major assignment.”

Matt was impressed by the way Winters fielded the question. But then, handling the media must be part of his liaison duties. Certainly, he had just managed to steer the interview in the direction he wanted.

“That’s right,” McGuffin said, “you’re the national coordinator for the Net Force Explorers. Why don’t you tell us a little about the group?”

Winters had a lot to tell, and as far as Matt was concerned, the captain did it very, very well. Jay-Jay McGuffin, however, was less impressed. “Is it appropriate to use a youth organization to recruit for a government agency?” the newsman asked.

“Man, he’s really getting on the captain’s case,” Andy complained. “If any of us gave Winters that much grief, he’d let us know about it.”

Winters’s years as a Marine had given him lots of experience in how to cut someone down to size with a single glance or a few well-chosen words. Matt had been on the receiving end of that skill a few times. Andy and Leif had gotten more than their share of the captain’s technique.

The captain sounded downright pleasant as he explained that the Net Force Explorers operated as a social and educational organization. “The kids are strictly civilians. We don’t give them police training, and they have no police powers.”

As the captain spoke, Matt wondered if Winters was thinking about the kids in this room and some of the cases they’d gotten involved in. As the man said, Net Force Explorers had no police powers. But that hadn’t stopped Matt and his friends from testing their nerve — and their computer smarts — against spies, criminals, and terrorists.