Part 18 (1/2)
”But that's over. Your mission failed.”
”No it didn't. I have you.”
Good Lord. In the absence of Charon, would she carry out his orders over and over, until something
changed her programming? He rubbed his eyes, then pressed the heel of his hand against his aching chest. He needed his nitro, but she had refused to let him bring anything. He had only his flannel s.h.i.+rt and jeans with the outer seam on the right leg ripped open to accommodate his cast. He wore a tennis shoe on his left foot, and the cast covered his right foot, except for the toes.
”I wouldn't have hurt her,” Alpha suddenly said. She had an odd tone, as if she wasn't certain what to do with her words.
”Her?” Thomas asked.
”Your granddaughter.”
”I thought you were going to kill her.” He had meant to sound calm, but his voice tightened with strain.
”I wanted you to think that. But I wouldn't have.”
”People will look for me,” Thomas said. If he could convince her of the futility in this, she might bargain for his freedom.
”Not right away,” Alpha said.
”I'm expected at meetings tomorrow.”
”You know that console in your house?”
Unease washed through him. ”What about it?”
”You don't pa.s.sword-protect your email.”
”I'm the only user.” He had actually pa.s.sword-protected the console anyway, but he often left it on for
days at a time.
”It wasn't protected tonight,” Alpha said. ”You were already online. I sent your General Matheson a note. From you. It said your doctor advised you to stay home.”
h.e.l.l and d.a.m.nation. That would please C.J. no end. Matheson had promised Janice, when she was
dying, that he would take care of Thomas for her, even though C.J. was fifteen years younger than Thomas. Matheson had stuck by that vow these past four years, hinting Thomas should go home when
he worked late, asking if he had eaten well, always looking out for him. He was almost as bad as Thomas's children.
”Even so,” Thomas said. ”When he doesn't hear from me again, he'll investigate.”
”Eventually. We'll be gone by then.”
”Gone where?”
Her face lost all expression. ”To Charon's base.”
”Which one?”
”You don't need to know.”
”What happens when we get there?”
”We get there.”
”And then?” What would she do without Charon to provide input?
No answer.
Thomas spoke tiredly. ”You do know why Daniel Enberg was coming to see me, don't you?”
”No,” Alpha said.
”He's my doctor.”
”For your leg?”
”For my heart.”
”What's wrong with your heart?”
He put his head back and closed his eyes. ”My arteries were clogged. I had an operation last year to clear them, but I have to be careful. I have chest pains. That's what I was trying to tell you about my medicine.”
”Those white pills.”
”Yes.”
”They're here.”