Safe House

At a time like this, Maj thought grimly, there’s only one thing Cluj’s mind is going to be on. Weapons. He needs weapons.

And Dad said that the government there was beginning to look at Laurent’s dad’s work as something besides medical technology….

Maj shivered. “That’s enough,” she said to the computer. “Virtual call. Tag it nonurgent/accept if convenient. Leave as a message if unavailable or no response.”

“Whom are you calling, boss?”

“James Winters.”

“Working.”

There was a pause.

A moment later, “Maj,” James Winters said. “Good morning.” He was at his desk in his office at Net Force — a plain office, with some steel bookcases and a laminated desk, covered with work as always. The Venetian blinds were pulled up to show the mirror-coated windows looking out onto a sunny day, and, with one exception, showed an inspiring view of the parking lot.

“Mr. Winters,” Maj said. “Wow, you get up early.”

“Actually I slept in this morning,” he said, and grinned very slightly, so that it was hard for Maj to work out whether he was pulling her leg or not. “But congratulations for taking so long to make this call. You’re learning the art of restraint.”

Maj blushed. The last time they had worked closely together, Winters had upbraided her for being impatient. Maj didn’t think she was particularly impatient — it wasn’t her fault if she could figure things out faster than some people, and make up her mind much faster. Unfortunately she suspected James Winters of perceiving her as impatient…and perception was everything, in the game she was preparing to play in Net Force. Assuming they ever hired her…which would almost certainly be a decision that would have to pass across this man’s desk.

“Restraint?” Maj said, playing the innocent for the moment.

“Must be at least a day since you found out what was going on,” he said. “I would have thought you would have called to pump me yesterday.”

Maj could only smile at that, and at the idea that this man could be pumped without his permission. “No,” she said, “that’s not what I’m interested in at the moment.”

“Oh? What, then?” He glanced at the one window that didn’t show the parking lot. Maj knew that window was tasked to show the view in Winter’s backyard at home, where a small brown bird was currently pecking enthusiastically on an empty bird feeder.

“I didn’t know you had clout.”

Winters raised his eyebrows, looked at her sidewise. “I think I’ll take that as a compliment…for the moment. ‘Clout’ how, specifically?”

“You got a whole spaceplane diverted.”

“I did?”

“Oh, come on, Mr. Winters!” She gave him a look that she hoped wasn’t too exasperated. “You were on the link to my dad early yesterday morning…and no more than half an hour later that flight came down two airports away from where it was supposed to be.”

“Mmm,” Winters said, “interesting, isn’t it….”

His attention was on the little brown bird again. “Go away,” he said, “it’s summer, can’t you see that? Come back in October.”

Maj held her piece for the moment. After a breath or so, Winters turned back to her and smiled, just slightly. “Well,” he said, “just so you know. I didn’t divert that plane. But there was an air marshal on it,” he said as Maj was opening her mouth. “On the spaceplanes, there always are. And I shoot with the air marshals and some of the FBI and Secret Service guys, once a month or so. This fellow knows me…and I was able to convince him to go have a word with the pilot and convince her that there was a need to land elsewhere. The airlines do this kind of thing all the time for much less reason. And when it happens, they’re happy enough to send sky-jitneys for the passengers so that everyone gets where they need to be on time.”

Maj nodded. “You were that sure that someone was going to try to intercept Laurent….”

“Not that sure,” Winters said. “Let’s just say that, after talking to your father, I didn’t see any harm in throwing a wrench into the works, one that could possibly be mistaken for an accident. Assuming, of course, that there were ‘works.’ And I think it’s safer to assume that there might have been. Some of the people we’re dealing with here are…not nice.” The grimness of his expression belied the casual phrasing.

“So Laurent’s father is pretty important,” Maj said.

“Not politically. No, I take that back. We’re not sure how important he might be, politically. Scientifically, there’s not much doubt he’s irreplaceable. But either way, your father was very concerned…and let’s just say that there are people who take your father’s opinions seriously. Me, for one.”

This was one of those things that Maj was still getting used to, and still occasionally finding hard to understand. She was uncertain exactly what it was her father had to do with Net Force, and he had not been very forthcoming about details.

“Anyway,” Winters said, “how’s Laurent doing?”

“He’s okay,” Maj said. “He’s out with Dad at the park, running.”

Winters raised his eyebrows. “I would have thought he might still be sleeping,” he said. “Jet lag, or just general fatigue…”

“Not a chance. He was in here not twenty minutes ago, looking terrific. You’d think he hadn’t just come six thousand miles at all. It’s abnormal.” Maj grimaced — she always suffered terribly from jet lag, especially traveling East to West. “Or just unfair.”

Winters made a rueful face. “I know someone like that,” he said. “His mother’s a Nobel Prize winner in medicine — I think she must have fed him some magic potion when he was a baby…or just passed on a hereditary ability to ignore time zones. He flies halfway around the world and it doesn’t even make a dent in him. Makes me sick just to think about it.” He laughed a little. “But anyway, I see that you took the opportunity, while he was out of the way, yadayadayada…”

“Uh, yes.”

The little brown bird was back at the feeder again — Winters looked at it with a resigned expression. “So, Maj,” Winters said. “Is he a problem, this kid?”

“Not at all,” she said. “Very nice, in fact. Maybe he acts a little old for his age.”

“It wouldn’t be strange,” Winters said, rather quietly, as if more to himself than to her. “It’s not exactly a peaceful environment he’s been growing up in, though superficially it may look that way. There’s a lot of stress…a lot of fear. And it’s going to be worse for him, now that some of the pressure’s off.”

“He’s pretty worried about his dad,” Maj said. “Though he’s trying to cover it up.”

“He has reason to be worried,” Winters said. “How much has your dad told you?”

“Most of it,” Maj said, feeling it smarter not to be too specific.

Winters nodded, and to Maj’s disappointment, refused to be drawn on the subject. “The country from which he’s been taken,” Winters said, “is not exactly a friendly one. They’ve been smarting under technology and trade sanctions for a long time, and it’s not a situation that’s likely to change. They will not take this lying down.” He paused. “I think your father may have mentioned that some extra security is in the offing….”

“Yeah.”

“Good. I’m thinking about what else we can do. Meantime, keep an eye on Laurent. I wouldn’t let him run around town by himself.”

“It hadn’t occurred to me. Anyway, he doesn’t seem interested in that…he’s a lot more interested in our Net setup.”

Winters grinned a little. “Yes, I would expect he might be…their Net back where he comes from isn’t anywhere near as involved as ours. The government there keeps a pretty tight stranglehold on communications, generally. It wouldn’t do to have the people get any clear idea of how much greener the grass is on the other side.”