BETA - Project Avatar, page 21
“Oh, God . . .”
“Remain calm,” Beta ordered her. “Breathe deeply and slowly.”
“Oh, Beta! I can’t do this anymore.”
Beta was silent for a few seconds. Then it said, “Remain calm, Karen. Do not panic. Approach the tram stop. The tram will arrive in one minute and forty-eight seconds. In five minutes, it will be safe for you to cry.”
Chapter 21
Dee sat in the back of the tram, curled up in a ball in her wet clothes, and wept quietly for half an hour. The tram was overheated to the point of stuffiness, and she soon stopped shivering and relaxed a bit, soothed by the gentle lurching movement along the narrow tracks.
She woke to the sound of a familiar voice.
“What? What’s that?” She blinked a few times, confused by the bright lights along the ceiling of the tram’s yellow enamel interior. Her brain doggedly resisted waking up.
“Repeat,” Beta said. “Exit the tram at the next stop.”
When she stepped out into the night-lit street, the rain had stopped and the sky was a patchwork of starry darkness and low, swift-moving clouds. She was standing out in some suburb, still half asleep and almost completely disoriented. The Alps seemed closer now, and a waxing moon kept appearing and disappearing over the high peaks as the clouds scudded in front of it. The air was cold, and she began to shiver.
“Cross the street,” Beta advised her. “Advance one block north.”
She did as she was told, dragging her feet a bit. Never had she felt so emptied of free will.
The residents of this quiet neighborhood were apparently all tucked away in their homes, enjoying lingering dinners, reading, watching television, making love. She wondered what John was doing. Was he still waiting for her at the car rental station? Her clothes were still damp, and by the end of the block her teeth were chattering.
“I’m cold,” she told Beta.
Beta ignored her and said, “Turn left and advance fifty meters.”
Trudging slowly along the street, her mind went over the events of the last hour. How did UMBRA know she was meeting Ramsey? Could it possibly have been John that informed them? He was the only other person that knew about the meeting.
“Beta, did John call me?” she asked.
“No, John did not call you.”
She stopped in her tracks. Why hadn’t he called when she failed to turn up for their planned meeting at the rental station? The implications were too painful, so she forced herself to keep walking. It was so cold that just putting one step in front of the other took all her willpower. Following Beta’s instruction took her along a waist-high fence marking the edge of a Renault lot. She was moving away from the suburb’s main commercial strip, away from the streetlights and into the shadows of the large chestnut trees overarching a side street.
Beta said, “Cross the fence into the lot. Approach the nearest car. Try the door.”
Dee’s heart seemed to sag in her chest. “Oh, no, Beta,” she moaned. “I’m exhausted. Please, no more.”
“I don’t understand the command. Would you like to hear a menu?”
Dee felt her eyes begin to tear again. She hadn’t cried this much since breaking up with her college boyfriend. She looked up and down the sidewalk, but it was empty. She couldn’t just stand here in the freezing cold. But she couldn’t turn herself in, either, or call anyone for help.
She gritted her teeth, grabbed the top of the fence with both hands, and vaulted over. Then, under the watchful eye of a conspicuous surveillance camera, she trotted over to the nearest car, a green sedan, and tried the door.
The people of Switzerland are among the most law-abiding, trusting, and heavily policed people in the world. So the door of the car was unlocked, and the keys were in the ignition.
“Start the car, and advance toward the rear exit of the lot.”
“I don’t want to steal this car,” Dee complained. But she turned the key anyway and backed it out of its stall. “Beta, if I end up in another high-speed chase, I’m going to die. I’m just too tired.”
“Increase speed to forty kilometers per hour,” Beta said, ignoring her whining. “Maintain speed and advance through the rear exit.”
She saw the exit gate ahead of her, under the security lights. It was protected only by a flimsy red and white wooden barrier mounted on a pivot. The car lot was silent, and there was no sign that anyone had noticed the theft in progress. Grand theft auto was probably as rare in this Swiss suburb as a tropical hurricane.
She accelerated hard and ran through the barrier. The slender plank burst with a rich splintering sound, without impeding her progress at all.
Dee found herself crying inconsolably. She could barely see the road through her tears. By habit, she turned right toward the main roadway and the glow of lights.
Here I am, on the run again—and a car thief, to boot.
“Turn right at the next corner,” Beta ordered. “If the light is red, do not stop.”
Dee wept copiously, miserable with self-pity, as Beta guided her onto the highway.
On the highway entrance ramp, Beta asked her, “Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know . . . I don’t know.”
She maneuvered into an empty lane on the highway and drove along for a while. Eventually, she stopped crying. She felt around in her bag, found some tissues, and dried her eyes.
She found she was passing through the most striking countryside she had seen in years. The rolling foothills glowed under strong moonlight, with spring flowers splotching the grasslands in dull pastel hues. Beyond that and high above, a jagged skyline of massive snowfields glowed blue-white under the moon.
“Are you distraught?” Beta asked.
“What?”
“Repeat: are you distraught?”
“Of course I’m distraught! That’s an incredibly stupid and . . . and insensitive question.” She sniffled again and wiped her nose.
“Would you like me to select a destination for you?”
“Just . . . just do whatever it is you’re going to do, Beta. I don’t even care.”
Beta told her, “You are currently heading south. Stay in the right lane, and do not exit the highway. Maintain the speed limit.”
Dee didn’t reply. She was already in the right lane, though she hadn’t realized how fast she was going. Hardly anyone was on the highway. She slowed to the speed limit.
“The temperature in the vehicle can be increased by using the heater,” Beta added.
She glanced down at the dashboard. She had forgotten to turn the heater on. “Thanks,” she mumbled grudgingly. She cranked it to full blast, and within seconds she began warming up a little. After a minute or so, she stopped shivering.
“We will pass south across the French border,” Beta told her. “When you have decided on your destination, I will provide new navigation instructions.”
“Okay.”
“Would you like me to enter counseling mode?” Beta inquired.
“I don’t know. What’s that?”
“I am now in counseling mode. What seems to be the nature of your problem?”
She began to laugh bitterly, but laughing made the tears well up behind her eyes again. Also, she didn’t like the sound of her voice, laughing alone in a stolen car in the middle of the night. She said, “The nature of my problem? I just saw some poor guy get shot dead, right in front of my face. How’s that for a problem? Then I had about ten car accidents in a row. And then three armed men tried to kill me in a dark alley. Am I making this clear enough for you?”
“That’s terrible!” Beta said in a sympathetic tone. “Life can be so unfair.”
“Oh, shut up!” she yelled. “I did exactly what you told me to do!”
“These things pass,” Beta assured her. Its voice had transformed, and it was speaking to her with calm, resonant undertones. “Be patient, Karen. Tomorrow is another day.”
Now she was starting to get mad. “Sure,” she said. “Easy for you to say—you’re just a computer program.”
“That’s so true,” Beta agreed in a soothing voice. “No one can really know how you’re feeling. But remember, it’s always darkest before the dawn.”
Dee bit back her anger and stared furiously at the open road ahead. She was starting to feel ridiculous for getting so angry at what was, after all, nothing more than a bunch of machine code. She said, “Listen, from now on, just try to remember that I’m not some kind of spy or . . . or government agent, or whatever it is that you think I am. I’m just a cryptographer. I’m not supposed to be here! Do you understand?”
“Of course you’re just a cryptographer,” Beta agreed gently. “Of course you’re not supposed to be here. I understand.”
“So I want you to promise me. No more gunfights. Or high-speed chases.”
“I promise you,” Beta said, in easy, confident tones. “No more gunfights. No more high-speed chases.”
Dee hesitated for a moment. Then she rolled her eyes. She said, “Do you even understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes,” Beta replied sympathetically. “I understand what you’re saying.”
“Will you promise me a rose garden?”
“Yes,” Beta assured her. “I promise you a rose garden.”
She started to laugh. At first she was afraid she was becoming hysterical, but it turned out to be a pretty sincere laugh.
Beta asked, “May I now exit counseling mode?”
“Yes, please,” she told it. “I think that was plenty.”
She gazed out at the countryside. In fact, she really took a look around for the first time since getting on the highway. She wondered where she was going. South, of course, but where was that going to take her?
She said aloud, “I’m going to get arrested, driving out here on the open highway in a stolen car. Beta, shouldn’t I be on some back road or something?”
“Your current route is within statistical safety tolerances, for up to four hours and twenty minutes. Stay in the right lane. Maintain the speed limit.”
“I suppose I’d better figure out somewhere to go.”
“Correct.”
Dee considered that uncomfortable subject for a few moments. What she needed was a quiet place to hide, and she needed to talk to Abe.
“Where’s the nearest city?” she asked. “Besides Geneva, I mean.”
“Lyon, France, is the nearest city besides Geneva. Would you like navigation instructions?”
Dee’s heart leaped a little at the name Lyon. She realized now that she would have been on her way there with John if she hadn’t insisted on meeting Ramsey. Then she scolded herself for thinking that way. If she had gone to Lyon, she would never have learned about the connection between XCorp, Brice Petronille, and Beta.
On the other hand, in that case, Ramsey would still be alive. Again, she wondered how UMBRA had discovered her whereabouts. Was it John that had informed them? Abe trusted John Henley-Wright even though she found it difficult to. And Abe didn’t trust many people.
“Yes, Beta,” she said. “I want instructions to Lyon.”
Beta guided her to an exit, and she began winding her way along the grid of small rural roads that interlaced the farm country southwest of Geneva. It was dark and peaceful out among the fields, and she no longer felt conspicuous or observed. She began to relax for the first time in what seemed like days.
Given a moment’s peace, she found herself worrying about her little house back in Menlo Park, California, and her cat, Tyro. She wondered if her friend Rosemary had had any trouble with the cat sitter. She checked her watch. It would be a little before one in the afternoon in San Francisco—lunchtime.
“Beta. Call Rosemary’s cell phone.”
“Yes, Karen. One moment, please.”
The phone rang a couple of times in Dee’s ear.
“Rosemary.”
“Hi, Rose. I hope I’m not interrupting?”
“Ah, there she is now! Dee, you’re just in time to settle a little wager. Jessie here thinks he’s rich. Not true, right?”
“Who’s rich?”
Rosemary made a dismissive puttering sound. “Don’t go getting all coy. I’ve got twenty dollars riding on this. You know who I mean. Your new maaaaaaaaaan. I told Jessie no way, you don’t go for the rich, flashy types. Me, I’m guessing tall, dark, strong, and silent.”
“I told you before, I’m not with a man! I’m calling about my cat. You really have a one-track mind.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere. I need answers. Rich or tall—which is it?”
“I’m serious, Rose. Now, please listen: my trip is going to be extended even longer than I thought, so I need to beg you for another favor. Could you check on the cat sitter again? In fact, if I don’t call you for a little while, could you just check with her every now and then and make sure she has everything she needs? I’m kind of worried about Tyro.”
The line went silent for a stretch of several seconds. Dee understood this to mean that Rosemary had put her hand over the receiver and was passing a news announcement to whoever was in the room with her.
She came back online and said, “Jessie says you’re going off on a romantic holiday together. I suppose that must mean he’s rich. I guess I should congratulate you, but I’m handing Jessie twenty dollars as we speak, so I’m feeling a little bitter.”
Dee started to laugh, not so much at Rosemary’s ridiculous banter as at the absurdity of the whole conversation. “Will you call the cat sitter?”
“Don’t be silly. I wouldn’t trust your cat to some irresponsible suburban teenybopper. I drove down to your place Sunday night and brought Tyro and your plants up to my apartment, where your cat has been methodically shredding my furniture for days now.”
“Oh, Rose, you’re such a lifesaver! Thank you so much. And sorry about the furniture. I think he must do that to mark his territory, or something.”
“Really? I thought he marked his territory by dumping hair all over everything. But I have to admit, he’s a sweet cat. We may have to squabble over custody when you get back to town.”
“Thank you, thank you! What a load off my mind.”
“De nada.”
They signed off just as Dee came to a turn in the road that aimed her straight at the wall of dark hills in the west.
Ten minutes later, she found herself back on a familiar route: the little highway that wound its way up into the Jura Mountains and the Avignon Forest. The same highway she had driven with John earlier today.
As the road wound up into the foothills, the last roadside lights and other signs of human habitation disappeared. She kept the car to a slow, even pace. The woods were black as ink, the road narrow and winding, with big trees and other hazards hugging the verge on both sides. The repetitive series of switchbacks as she drove up the mountainside was hypnotic, and she was very tired.
She caught herself nodding at the wheel.
“Beta,” she said.
“Yes, Karen?”
She tried to think of something that she could ask Beta to do, to help her stay awake. She couldn’t just ask a computer to hold up one end of a conversation. Perhaps some sort of a trivia game, she thought. But at the moment, the project sounded like more trouble than it was worth.
Dee nodded again, and the car swerved pretty badly before she caught it. She opened the window to let cold air in. She bounced in her seat and slapped her cheeks to keep herself awake.
Then she drove by the Hôtel Lajoux, the inn where she had stayed last night. Craning her neck as she passed, she looked for signs of anything unusual. No sign of danger. She didn’t slow the car.
A moment later, she saw a dark car with its lights off, parked by the side of the road. It was sitting about fifty yards from the last cottage, well off the road, in a position that would let someone inside watch the cottages if they chose.
She slid down a bit in her seat.
It was the Aston Martin Lagonda—John’s car.
Chapter 22
Dee slowed as she came abreast of the Lagonda, peering in through its window to see if John was inside it. And yes, she could see a vague form behind the glass.
As she rolled by, a bright light winked at her from inside the car—the beam of a flashlight, aimed briefly at her face.
She drove on and began picking up speed again. She was confused, her fatigued brain working too sluggishly. It must have been John, and he had seen her face. What did she think of that? Did she think John had given away the details of her meeting with Ramsey? Should she try to get away, or pull over?
In her rearview mirror, she saw the lights of the dark car blink on, and it circled around onto the mountain road and began to follow her up the hill. After a few hundred yards, it came up just behind her rear bumper. Its headlights flashed on and off, signaling her to stop.
“Beta,” she said tentatively.
“Yes, Karen?”
She couldn’t think of anything to ask. “Nothing,” she said. “Forget it.”
So she pulled the car over to the side of the road, and the Lagonda pulled up right behind her. It shut off its engine and lights.
“Your velocity has decreased to zero,” Beta scolded her. “Accelerate to the speed limit, and continue driving.”
In the side mirror, she saw the door of the Lagonda open, and John stepped out.
“Beta,” she said. “Go into standby mode.”
“Entering standby mode.”
She rolled down her window as John walked up and gave her a cheerful smile. He was wearing a long wool evening coat over his suit, with a stylish white driving scarf, and she half expected him to propose that they step out for dinner and champagne.
“Oh, now, this is a bit of a step down,” he said, giving her stolen sedan a pat on the roof. “Not quite as much flair as the Audi. But then, I suppose that only means that you’re getting the hang of lying low.”
She didn’t reply, and he leaned down and glanced at her face to gauge her expression. Then he gave her a good, hard look.
“I say! You’re all in, aren’t you? You poor creature, what’s happened? You look like you’ve been run through a mangle.”
