today's staff meeting for tomorrow afternoon. His housekeeper, Lattie, had agreed to look after Jamie
until he came home. He would miss his appointment at the barber, though. He supposed he should be
glad he still had a full head of hair. Its grey color seemed to delight Jamie. She surprised him. He had
expected to fumble for words around her, but this morning he had greatly enjoyed their breakfast
conversation.
Thomas shut down and locked his console and picked up his briefcase. Then he headed out for "lunch."
He wished they really were going for pizza. Perhaps they could pick one up on the way, a large
pepperoni dripping with cheese and grease. Unfortunately, he would spend the entire meal feeling guilty
and recalling his doctor's admonitions on the dangers of his former eating habits. Yes, it could shorten
his life if he ate what he wanted, but at least he would die a contented, well-fed man. He had no wish to
have another heart attack, and his cholesterol levels were finally normal, but damned if his reformed
eating habits weren't a bore.
"Out front," where he was meeting Edwards, was a euphemism for an underground lot with NIA hover
cars and trucks. Had Edwards contacted him from within the NIA, he would probably have been more
forthcoming about their plans, a visit to the safe house where the Air Force was holding Alpha. But he
had called from his car as he drove through suburban Maryland, an area riddled with mech-tech types
who loved to ride the wireless waves and explore any signals they could untangle. NIA signals were
encrypted, but with all the mesh bandits out there nowadays, no security was certain.
Thomas took an elevator that operated only with a secured code. It listed no floors; the only clues it was
doing anything were the hum of the cable and a few flashes of light on its panel. The lights stilled as the
hum faded into silence. The silver doors snapped open and Thomas walked into a cavernous garage.
Cars and trucks were parked in separate sections, and pillars stood at intervals, supporting a high ceiling.
The columns glimmered with holo-displays of innocuous meadows and mountains.
He went to the nearest column and ran his finger across a bar at waist height. The meadow disappeared,
replaced by a wash of blue, and a light played across his face, analyzing his retinal patterns. A message
appeared on the screen: Proceed to station four. At the same time, the display on a distant pillar changed
to blue, specifying "station four." He walked over to the new column and waited. The garage was silent,
with a tang of motor oil.
An engine growled, and he turned to see a hover car floating down a lane delineated by holo-pillars. The
car had a generic look, except for its dark gold color, a bit flashy for the military, but appropriate for a
general. Its unexceptional appearance served as camouflage; it was actually a Hover-Shadow 16, the
latest model in a line of armored vehicles with "a few extras," including machine guns and an AI brain.
The digital paint used on its exterior could mimic any design programmed into the car, and its shape
drew on technology used for stealth fighters. Thomas appreciated the Hover-Shadows; riding in one
reminded him of his days as a pilot.
The car stopped a few yards away and settled onto the concrete, remarkably quiet given its turbo fans
and powerful engines. Robert Edwards got out from the driver's side. A man of medium height with
light brown hair, he would blend into any crowd, except for his Air Force uniform. Just to look at him,
most people wouldn't guess he had played offensive tackle at the University of Missouri or that he had
defied his jock image by majoring in physics. Thomas enjoyed conversing with Edwards, who could go
with ease from predicting which teams would make the Super Bowl to discussing galactic formation. He
was a steady officer, one of Thomas's handpicked aides.
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