Wanted Read online

  Shan turned his palms up theatrically and said, “I get no respect!”

  Ell sighed, “The biggest problem that I see, is what to do about Amy’s kids and your connections to your own families. Teenagers usually don’t want to leave their friends when they’re in high school.”

  Amy said, “Well, I’ve talked to them about it already. You’re right, they don’t want to move, but they know we can’t stay in the Chapel Hill district and they’ve made their peace with it. They’re going to tell their friends that they’ve got to go live with relatives until I get out.” She shrugged, “I think they’re pretty embarrassed, not too surprisingly, to have a mom in prison and I think that secretly they’ll be happy to have a fresh start.”

  “With new names and all?”

  “Yeah,” Amy snorted, “I think, believe it or not, that they’re thinking it’ll be an adventure.”

  The others opined that they could deal with their families, communicating over the net. “It sure is nice that someone already set us up with an untraceable means of talking to them,” Randy said.

  ***

  Emma looked up as someone approached her table. A fairly tall, slender Latin woman, she looked elegant. To Emma’s surprise the woman pulled out a chair and sat. Emma’s eyes widened as the woman leaned toward her and held out her hand, “Hello Emma, I’m Elsa Gardon,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

  Emma shut her mouth, “Didn’t you just have a baby?”

  Ell tossed her head, “A couple of weeks ago.”

  “You know, you’re supposed to have a tummy still!”

  “Um, yeah, I seem to have been pretty lucky there.” Ell had the grace to look a little embarrassed about it.

  “I don’t suppose you got any stretch marks either?”

  Ell gave a minute shake of her head, then flashed a smile, “Let’s talk about your wedding girl!”

  ***

  Bridget walked down to the Quantum Biomed area at D5R. Roger and Ryan had their heads together. “Hey, Roger, you’re getting calls from Stell Simsworth but your AI is rejecting them.”

  He looked up and frowned, “Who the heck is Stell Simsworth?”

  Bridget rolled her eyes, “She’s that blind singing prodigy from Asheville that’s been all over the news lately. Don’t you keep up with your pop culture?”

  “Oh! The girl that sings ‘Forgiveness’?”

  “Yep,” Bridget grinned, “That’s the one.”

  “Do you know why she’s calling?”

  “She wants you to hook her optic nerves up to cameras. Seems she and her family have recently come into some money.”

  Roger closed his eyes, “My God!”

  “Come on Rog’, I know you and Ryan can do it!”

  Ryan had drawn back, “Come on, Bridg’, what if something goes wrong?”

  Bridget raised an eyebrow, “You worried she might go blind?”

  “No, but the optic nerve is right under the brain. Not a place to be screwin’ around at all.”

  Roger turned to look musingly at Ryan, “I know it’s different, but it is a nerve and it should be possible to hook one of your neurotrodes to it, shouldn’t it?”

  “Well, yeah, but I figured we’d be doing that after we had a lot more experience with neurotrodes in the extremities. Besides the optic nerve is significantly different from peripheral nerves. It’s more like an extension of the brain.”

  Roger grinned at him, “You’ve been telling me how we’re going to be hooking neurotrodes directly to the brain someday.”

  “Someday, yeah. But not today!”

  “Maybe it’s time to talk to an ophthalmologist about the possibilities?”

  Bridget grinned at them, “I’ll let Stell know that you guys are working on it…”

  ***

  Brazil’s President Goncalves turned to her aide, “Has Donsaii agreed to appear here at the G-20 yet?”

  “She says she expects to be there but that she can’t be certain. She feels that it will be quite dangerous. She’s quite concerned that the American security detail will attempt to capture her.”

  “Despite our promise to protect her?”

  “Yes Ma’am.”

  “So, when will she confirm?”

  “She says she plans to be there but may have to cancel if word gets out or if there appears to be a threat when she arrives.”

  “But we need to make arrangements for a secure hotel room for her as well as transport to the hotel and from the hotel to the conference center.”

  “She says she’ll take care of that herself.”

  “She won’t be able to get in!”

  “That’s what I said,” the aide shrugged, “She said not to worry about it. She did have me port her a pass however.”

  ***

  Ell pursed her lips as she looked across a small shallow valley at the clustered buildings of the conference center outside of Rio where the G-20 was to be held. From the net she had good data about the conference center as it had existed two years ago. However, since then the actual building where the meeting would be held had been custom constructed just for the conference. Allan hadn’t been able to get access to plans for the new building. She glanced out from under her light enhancing HUD at the real world.

  Two AM and very dark out, time to go.

  With a command to Allan she lifted off the ground on a thin graphene cable and began swinging across the little valley to the conference center.

  Two hundred meters above the conference center she looked down at the flat roof using infrared to spot the guards scattered around the periphery. None were near the little stair shack near the center of the roof. She started spooling down toward it.

  Landing lightly beside the door to the stair she glanced around once more, then leaned against the door and slid a fine flat graphend wire in beside the bolt of the latch. As soon as it was beyond the end of the bolt the graphene balloon on the end of the wire inflated. Ell pulled back on the wire and balloon, pulling the bolt and open back as she did so.

  Releasing the cable to shoot back into the sky, Ell quietly opened the door and started down the stairs. Exploring the building’s interior she found that she’d been correct. Comfortable that they had prevented ingress, the security people didn’t have many people wandering inside the building. She shed the coverall she’d been wearing, revealing a uniform that almost matched what she’d seen the guards wearing.

  Ell explored the building, carefully inspecting the podium where they expected her to speak in the morning. She wondered just how bad her fear of public speaking would afflict her then. The large room with its expansive circle of desks populated by visiting dignitaries would be much more frightening in the morning she knew.

  The podium stood on a framework stage three feet above the main floor. Curtains hung behind it. Ell found a gap in the curtains and hopped down off of the stand.

  Ell crouched and moved under the stand itself. Her HUD projected infrared from a small light and using its IR cameras Ell examined the layout under there. She used the singleport in her index finger to cut an opening in the carpet and fold it back. Next she cut a slightly smaller opening in the concrete. She slanted the cut inward at forty-five degrees so that the piece would stand back in the hole without falling through. Ell pulled her single port tool out of the port inside her uniform jacket and used it to undercut the opening she’d outlined in the flooring. Next she single ported a graphene balloon through into the space beneath the door she’d just cut in the concrete. Inflating the balloon lifted the door up so she could grasp the edge of the heavy concrete door and tilt it up next to the rug she’d folded back earlier.

  Ell pulled her rolled up twelve inch singleport out of the port inside her jacket, straightened it out and started tunneling stairs down into the bedrock beneath the conference center.

  Once she had a nice chamber beneath the concrete door in the floor she climbed back up and drilled some one centimeter holes into the concrete of the door and out into the s
urrounding concrete of the floor, taking care to match them up. She’d had Gary make her some one centimeter diameter by six centimeter long graphene balloons. She gently inflated them, put adhesive on their ends and slid them into the holes in the door. She deflated them so they withdrew into the door, dropped the door into place and reinflated them to twenty atmospheres, forming “bolts” that pushed out of the door and into the floor, solidly locking the door into place. She carefully glued a balloon into place that would lift the door for her when she wanted it open. Ell climbed out of the opening and closed the door again, then glued the carpet in place along the edges so when the door dropped into place it was hard to see the defect in the carpet.

  Satisfied with the camouflage of the door, she deflated the bolts, inflated the door lifter balloon, lifted the cover, dropped down into the tunnel and dropped the door shut, reinflating the bolts. Even, without being in the zone, she did it in only a few seconds.

  Satisfied, Ell climbed back down to the bottom of her stairs and started cutting a tunnel out from under the convention center. Eventually she encountered the concrete of a storm sewer main. Careful tunneling exposed the wall of the sewer main where Ell cut another small concrete door. This one opened out away from the sewer. A carefully positioned graphene balloon held it shut and when it was deflated, let it fall open.

  By then it was seven in the morning so Ell returned to the conference center. Before she climbed out, she changed her clothes for fresh ones delivered through the port inside her jacket. Ell carefully checked for any observers; then climbed out from under the stage in her uniform. She didn’t have a proper badge for the security uniform so she wore her guest badge and took the tactic of rushing out of the curtained area behind the stage as if on an urgent mission, trusting that no one would stop her. She immediately turned into the bathroom outside the big conference room, slipped into a stall and began her transformation.

  Taking off the uniform jacket, she peeled the large flexible two way port off the inside of the left front of the jacket and stuck it to the wall of the stall. She pulled a flexible mirror out of it and stuck it to the wall next to it. She removed her wig, blouse and slacks, putting them through the port to the waldo. He passed her out some large wet wipe type cloths treated to remove her bronzer. Once she’d removed the bronzer from all areas that would be exposed, her waldo passed her a nice, though androgynous green blouse, and black slacks. She’d decided to forgo her trademark pearls.

  Ell had on her graphene underwear and over it a sports bra. The bra had lacers built into it with the laces passed through a port. Her waldo snugged the laces flattening her pregnancy enlarged breasts. Around her stomach she had an inflatable section that would fill in her slender waist to create a more androgynous shape. She put the shirt on over it and finding the shirt to be a little snug, deflated her waist a bit. Then she pulled on the slacks, tucking the shirt into their elastic waist band and belt.

  The waldo passed her a clip on tie which didn’t match her outfit very well and she put it on. She’d picked the ill matching tie as something she thought a man might choose. The waldo also passed her a reddish moustache and goatee combination. She peeled the back off of the adhesive and, studying herself in the mirror, carefully applied it.

  Watching in the mirror she slowly inflated the graphene balloons inside her cheeks, not trying to achieve the appearance of one of her aliases, but just a slightly more masculine look. The balloons behind her ears tilted them slightly forward.

  She studied her image in the mirror. She didn’t look as masculine as she had wanted, but she thought she would pass casual inspection. Most importantly, except for her green eyes and reddish blond hair, she didn’t look like Ell Donsaii.

  After a final check of her neck, wrists, and ankles for remaining smudges of bronzer, she put the mirror back through the port and took the port down off the wall, sliding it into her shirt and sticking it to the inflated balloon around her waist.

  Her HUD showed that her eight o’clock appearance on the conference schedule was in fifteen minutes. Quickly checking to be sure the bathroom was empty, Ell stepped out of the stall and then through the door into the hallway beyond.

  There was a security station at the entrance to the main conference room. She pulled her conference ID placard off its lanyard and handed it to the Brazilian guard, leaning close enough to whisper a Portuguese phrase Allan had given her, “Please pass the word to President Goncalves that I have arrived.”

  He looked at her, puzzled, then down at her placard. His eyebrows went up as he saw the name “Ell Donsaii.” When he glanced back up at her, Ell winked. He blinked a couple of times, then grinned and waved her through the entrance.

  Ell stopped just inside the big room and stood next to a large trash container. To be sure President Goncalves was aware that Ell was present, she had Allan send her a message over the net as well.

  Goncalves stood and walked toward the podium, glancing around as if looking for someone. Ell bent down near the opening of the trash can. Her hands swept across her face and neck pulling off the facial hair and clip on tie. As she stood back up, unbuttoning her collar, all of her facial prosthetics and her belly deflated while the laces on her bra relaxed, transforming her from a slightly pudgy and androgynous guy to a slender and very attractive young woman. Small balloons popped the big square “man’s” type heels off her shoes, leaving her in shoes with narrow heels more appropriate for a woman. She kicked the big heels under the trash can.

  When Goncalves looked her way again Ell gave her a small wave, seeing a startled expression of surprise as Goncalves suddenly saw Ell in a location she had checked only moments before.

  Goncalves turned to the microphone and welcomed the guests back to the conference. “Now,” she said, “I have invited a special guest to give us a brief presentation which I believe will address important changes to our world and our economies in the next decades. She is listed on your program as a surprise guest. This is not because of any desire of mine to startle you with a bombshell revelation, but because she is subject to arrest in her home country. For the purposes of this conference I have extended her the protection of the Brazilian government as we cannot see any reason why Dr. Donsaii, the woman who saved our world from Comet Hearth-Daster, should be considered to be a danger.” Goncalves extended a hand toward Ell, “Dr. Donsaii?”

  As Ell walked nervously toward the podium, Stockton shot to her feet, “I protest! This woman is a wanted criminal! I must demand that you place her under arrest and immediately remand her into our custody!”

  Goncalves turned back to the microphone. “President Stockton, I remind you that you are at present a guest in the sovereign state of Brazil. This woman has broken none of our laws and is also here as our guest. We would be quite pleased were she to apply for permanent citizenship here. In any case, please listen to her presentation as it will certainly help all of us to understand the impact that D5R’s technology will have on our world.”

  Truculently, Stockton remained standing, glaring as Ell approached the podium, then turning to whisper vehemently to her aides and security team. Finally she settled her bulk back into her chair but did not relax. Instead she remained upright, leaning forward on her elbows and glowering at Ell.

  The representatives of the member nations at the conference glanced back and forth from Donsaii to Stockton. Ranging from bemused to wondering, most of them could not fathom why the two women should be at such odds. However, eventually they all turned their attention to Donsaii.

  Regis Fuller, Prime Minister of Australia wondered whether they might be able to entice the young woman with an offer of asylum in his country. Donsaii stood silently for a moment as if nervous. Fuller marveled a moment at the fact that this young woman, wearing only a blouse and slacks, rather than the suits or formal garb of the other participants, and whether actually nervous or not, had such an elegant and commanding presence that the room seemed to be holding its breath as it waited for her to speak.


  Donsaii took a deep breath and began, “Ladies and gentlemen, I would first like to thank President Goncalves for the invitation to speak about the effects that I believe D5R’s new technologies may have on your economies and the economy of our world in the future.” She paused.

  “Second, I must address the proverbial elephant in the room, President Stockton’s declaration of my person to be a menace to my country, and to the world in general. This declaration formed the basis of my arrest and imprisonment as well as my continued presence on the ‘Most Wanted’ list in my home country.

  “President Stockton,” Ell nodded at her chief executive, “is correct in that the technologies which allowed us to reach the stars with the Tau Ceti probe are extremely dangerous and can be correctly characterized as a menace. She and I simply disagree on the means by which these technologies should be restricted. She feels that such technology falls under the purview of the government. I feel that once more than one person understands the bizarre principles involved, it will no longer be a secret and that this technology must remain a secret to prevent great harm. So, I hope that you can understand that, although she and I disagree strongly on the means by which this technology must be restricted, that we are in complete agreement regarding the end goal. I wish to assure you that, even though I have refused to submit myself to imprisonment because I do not feel it actually furthers her goal of limiting this technology, President Stockton has my respect for the determination with which she has been working to keep our country and the world safe.

  “Now, I will speak briefly regarding how I anticipate that certain of D5R’s technologies will impact our world in the future. Beginning with ports, I expect that they will continue to lower the cost of transportation of raw materials and finished goods from one location to another. This will equalize the cost of goods and the value of resources around the world. As an example a farmer in a remote location will be able to sell his exotic but short shelf-life foodstuffs to markets far away. He will earn more and those markets will have access to interesting foods that were previously inaccessible. That farmer will then be able to use the proceeds of his sales to purchase products that would never have been affordable in the past because of the costs and difficulty of transporting them to his location. Ports have, of course, caused economic disturbance as jobs are lost in the transportation industries, but they will also tremendously diminish the cost and the pollution resulting from moving goods. As you know, people cannot pass through ports but even the transportation of people has and will continue to become more economical and less polluting as vehicles are powered directly by driveshafts rather than by the burning of hydrocarbons.