Taking a couple of hefty sips myself, I replied, "De nada, sweetie. Have I told you how great you look naked?"

  Mock-preening with a grin and an index finger at her cheek, Tanya said, "I remember a few compliments last night. None this morning."

  "Excuse me? Wasn't advising you that you look great naked a compliment?"

  With a little shoulder-shrug and a moue, she said, "Oh, I suppose so. Sort of. I guess."

  I said wryly, "I'll try to do better. After I brush my teeth."

  Grabbing my pack, I headed for the bathroom.

  Tanya called, "Do you really need that in the bathroom?"

  Returning to the table, I took a hefty hit of coffee and handed her my mug with, "You're right. I won't need it in there," and set forth again.

  "Thanks, but I meant the pack."

  "My toothbrush is somewhere inside it."

  "Someday you'll have to show me what else is in it."

  As I reached the bathroom door, I looked back to give her a little grin and, "You'd be disappointed, milady."

  When I came out of the bathroom, I didn't see Tanya in the kitchen. Standing still, I listened. Small rustlings came from the bedroom. Coat hangers bumped together.

  I continued to the kitchen and checked my mug. Less than half full. I filled it with coffee from the pot and used a cooling tendril to make it drinkable immediately, then went to the bedroom. Setting my pack by the bed and my mug on the night stand, I watched Tanya shuffle clothes in a closet.

  Glancing at me, she said, "I was just keeping busy," and hung a jacket on the left side of the closet. She moved and jiggled delightfully for another moment, then turned to face me and stepped forward to embrace me.

  We'd just finished a very nice kiss when the phone rang. Tanya startled hard and glanced at the phone on the night table. It rang again. Her right hand lifted slightly from my chest, then remained in place.

  Tanya said, "I don't want to answer it."

  As it rang again, I shrugged. "Then don't."

  "But it's not even eight yet. Nobody calls before eight."

  She sighed and let go of me to answer the phone as it rang a fourth time. I heard her say, "Yes, it is," and then, "Yes, I do," and "Oh, my God! How bad is it?"

  I picked up my mug and sat on the bed, eyeballing Tanya as she stood stiffly in front of me, alternately listening, answering questions, and trying to pry tidbits of info out of someone who didn't seem to have any answers.

  When Tanya put the phone down, she said, "Jessica's in the hospital," and turned to her closet. She began shuffling clothes again and laid jeans and a blouse on the bed beside me as she said, "She had an accident on her way to work. They're prepping her for surgery now. They said she was driving erratically before the wreck and wanted to know if she was using any drugs."

  As she went to the bureau and opened a drawer, I said, "I guess that's when you said you didn't know."

  She stopped moving and looked at me. "Yes. Why aren't you getting dressed?"

  "To go where and why? Think, ma'am. She'll be in the O.R. and out cold for a while after that. Just call the hospital around ten and ask when she can have visitors."

  Tanya let her hands drop to her sides, the underwear in them momentarily forgotten. After a moment, she tossed the underwear on her other clothes and walked past me to retrieve her coffee from the night table.

  We sipped in silence for a short time, then she said, "I'm going to get dressed. There may be something I can do."

  "Doubtful. They've towed her car and you won't get near it. She's in hospital custody now, but if they find drugs in her, the cops might file charges. You could call her job and let them know she won't be coming in today."

  Staring at me briefly, Tanya asked, "Won't the cops do that?"

  "Possibly. Can't be sure." Reaching to put a hand on her shoulder, I said, "But at least it's something you can do."

  She nodded and reached for the phone, then realized something and got up to go to the kitchen. I soon saw her talking to someone on her cell phone. Putting up a field screen, I linked to the hospital and rooted around a bit, found Jessica's info, and studied it. A broken right wrist, broken ankle, broken nose, and her glasses caused cuts and bruises around her eyes. Her blood workup said she was loaded with amphetamines.

  Tanya looked in my direction and came to see what I was doing. I turned the screen toward her and she hurriedly made her goodbyes to end her call. Setting the phone on her clothes, she bent down to read the screen. I shoved the phone and clothes farther up the bed and patted her butt, then indicated the space.

  She sat down and asked, "How did you get this?"

  "Magic." At her unamused gaze, I added, "And a database link. Jessica got roughed up, but she'll be okay. The surgery is to remove bone splinters in her ankle. She was probably standing on the brake when she hit the other car."

  "She hit another car?"

  Paging back, I showed her cop pictures of the scene. The text report said skid marks showed she'd hit a parked car at about fifty miles per hour in a thirty mile per hour zone. Another version said she'd hit at forty.

  I said, "We might as well get on with our day. She'll only be seeing cops and doctors until this afternoon."

  Giving me a disapproving fisheye, Tanya said, "Ed, I really don't feel much like playing at the moment."

  Handing her coffee to her, I said, "Didn't think you would. I was referring to board training."

  Taking the coffee, Tanya replied, "Oh. Sorry." She sighed, "Damn. Talk about bad timing."

  "There'll be other times." Sipping my coffee, I said, "As much as Jessica may be your friend, her situation is just a distraction, Tanya. You can't do much -- if anything -- for her until she can say what it would be, so we'll just proceed on course and take a break to visit her later."

  "What about my mom?"

  "She can have visitors all afternoon, right?"

  Nodding, Tanya said, "Until eight in the evening on weekdays."

  "No problem, then. We'll just take some time to visit Jessica sometime after lunch. In fact, Jessica just gave us a reason for an impromptu visit with your mom."

  "She did?"

  "She's visited Marie, right? As a friend or just an acquaintance through her daughter, she'd probably want to know about the accident."

  Standing up, I said, "So saddle up, sweetie. It's time to find some breakfast, then earn your wings."

  Tanya stood up, too, but asked, "Should we eat before we fly the boards?"

  I shrugged and chuckled, "Won't bother me any, but you might want to eat light."

  She gave me a dim look and grabbed my dick, which instantly swelled in her hand. Tanya grinned at her effect on it, then grinned at me and said, "Take it easy on me out there or you might have some problems in here."

  "Yes, ma'am. Understood, ma'am. I'd salute, but..." I glanced down, then met her gaze again and said, "That would be rather redundant, I think."

  Tanya squeezed me firmly and said, "Just so we understand each other," then released me with a snicker.

  As we got dressed, I used a link through my core to locate a nearby restaurant where I could get a chopped steak. The core showed me flight paths into and out of Ocala and I picked a clear zone for board practice.

  With a coffee refill, I was ready to go. Tanya took a travel mug down from a shelf, then put it back with a shake of her head and said, "Maybe later."

  When we stepped onto the front porch, I spotted our watcher and ran a field over the area around the door. No bugs; apparently they'd decided not to waste them.

  Reaching for my matrix and tossing it ahead of me, I said, "Board on," and hopped onto it. Tanya reached up for hers and did the same. When I lifted and soared slowly southeast over the building, I wondered if she'd follow me up or go around it. She followed me up and over without much wobbling. Kewl. She might be scared spitless, but she'd try to match me.

  The restaurant shared a parking lot with a motel on County Road 40 near Silver River State Park. We landed on the east side of the building and dismounted the boards under the cover of some trees, then walked around to the front.

  I had two reasons for choosing the place. It was diagonally across the north end of Ocala from her apartment, so any ground tails would be stymied by turns and traffic. It was also at the edge of a state park. We'd be able to play in open airspace above a largely uninhabited area.

  When I ordered a small steak and greens, Tanya asked, "Don't you eat eggs or ham?"

  "Sure, but I don't care for the usual breakfast menus."

  "Why'd we come all the way over here? There's a restaurant not two miles from my place."

  "Remember the guy in the car? Anyone who tried to follow us lost us a few blocks from the apartment. All they'd know is we were last seen heading southeast."

  Nodding, Tanya sipped coffee and asked, "How... uh... strenuous... will our flying really be, Ed?"

  "After yesterday's flying? Not very. A little higher and faster at first. Much higher and faster by noon. Just remember you can't fall off and concentrate on following me."

  Looking slightly dubious, she sipped again. I said, "I'm not spoofing you, Tanya. Surprise me if you can, but I'll only be expecting minimum or average competence on the first real day of solo flying."

  Giving me a long, questioning look, she asked, "There's a minimum? And an average?"

  "Well, I call it that. You won't have to do anything some other first-timer can't do. Today's mostly about building your confidence in your board and yourself."

  "No," she said, "I've seen what you do on your board, so today's actually going to be about building my confidence in me. I'm not sure I can bring myself to do some of the things you do."

  I shrugged. "Then don't. You just do what you can, ma'am. It'll be recorded and we can go over the videos later to cull your shortcomings out of any future activities."

  Heh. Sometimes it's all in how you say things. The word 'shortcomings' made Tanya sit straight and give me a slightly dour gaze.

  "I'll be recorded? Is that really necessary?"

  "Yup. I wouldn't waste time recording if it didn't help people see what needs improvement."

  Our orders arrived and we ate in silence for a time. About halfway through my steak, I received a ping from Angie and asked to see Tanya's cell phone.

  Without turning it on, I held it near my face and quietly answered, "Yes, Fearless Leader? I'm faking this on a cell phone. I'm in the middle of breakfast and I have company."

  "I've had company, too, Mr. Howdershelt. NIA company. They seem to think you're up to something."

  She'd used my last name. Sending a probe to her office, I found a man and a woman sitting near her desk. I said, "Well, big damned deal that is, ma'am. They think everybody's up to something. It's in their job description, y'know. Hey, did you hear the news about Larcon's promotion?"

  "Yes. Ed, what's going on down there?"

  "Look up Marie Connor in my records. Her daughter is Tanya Connor of Ocala, Florida. I'll be teaching her to use a scooterboard this morning."

  "I know about Marie Connor and her daughter. I also know Marie is in a nursing home. The NIA thinks you'll try to remove her soon. How did they get that impression?"

  "I think they're being hopeful, Fearless Leader. What I've been able to turn up points to a political confrontation about the anti-medical field and anti-Robodoc laws. Lots of nasty mud slinging in an election year. I don't want any part of it."

  There was a pause, then, "Not even to help an old friend?"

  "You didn't look her up. I said to 'check my records', not take someone else's info as gospel."

  "Okay. I'll do that. Is there anything else I should know?"

  "Not at this time, but they're an 'act first, ask later' bunch, so I'll call if I need bail money."

  "For some reason, that doesn't seem funny."

  "Maybe you just need another coffee, milady."

  "Uh, huh. You be careful, Ed."

  "Roger that, Fearless Leader."

  After a brief pause, she said, "Okay, then. Bye."

  "Bye."

  She dropped the link and I set the phone down. Tanya hadn't eaten a bite during the conversation. Now she said, "I only heard one side of that. What's going on?"

  Digging back into my meal, I said, "That's what she wanted to know."

  "She who?"

  "My friend and ex-boss, Angela Horn of 3rd World Security. The NIA dropped by to see her first thing this morning."

  With alarm in her tone, Tanya murmured, "Oh, no."

  I shrugged. "No sweat. Finish up and let's get going."

  "I still need to call the office."

  "Do it. Unless you need to stop by for some reason, we'll start the training session from here."

  She nodded and picked up her phone. After telling someone named Pletter she wouldn't be in, she put her phone away.

  Fifteen minutes later we were out of there and in the air, heading east above thick stands of pine. I led a twisty course among the trees for a while, gradually increasing speed. With the help of the board's strict 'no collisions' programming, Tanya seemed to reach a competency max at around two hundred miles per hour. Good enough for now.

  Angling upward, I leveled at four hundred feet and Tanya followed me through some simple aerobatics. On one occasion the centripetal force of a swerve had her hanging by her feet, but she managed to get back upright before I could loop around to help. We tried the maneuver twice more before she got the hang of it. I watched her for signs of unhappiness, but her big grin told me she'd conquered a challenge.

  Heading downward, I entered Lake George on a shallow angle at low speed and waited on the bottom in about eight feet of water. I could barely see the shadow that was Tanya above the surface. A full minute passed.

  Just before the second minute ended, Tanya began her descent, her board submerging flatly with no forward motion. As she settled to the bottom a couple of feet away, I smiled and waved. She didn't smile or wave back, she just stared rather starkly around us with a 'why the hell did we do this?' expression.

  I sent her a ping. She answered with a tense, high-pitched, "Yes?! Why the hell are we down here?!"

  "You were having too much fun upstairs, ma'am. Remember talking about developing confidence?"

  "Yes."

  "Well, now you can have some more. The boards work underwater. Just watch out for the gators."

  Glancing around, she yelped, "Gators?!"

  "I didn't say there was one. I just said to watch for them. Had enough of being underwater yet?"

  "Yes!"

  Without further comment, I shot my board up and out of the water to cruise around the lake. Tanya launched out of the water and made it to a thousand feet before stopping.

  I sent, "Look south. Fifty feet above the water."

  She descended and caught up with me in silence. I headed us east at two hundred miles per hour, hopping over and around obstacles to make her familiar with what might appear in her path at low altitudes.

  About five minutes later we rocketed through the town of Ormond Beach, flashed over the Halifax River, and headed out over the Atlantic Ocean. I kicked my speed up to three hundred, then four hundred. Tanya caught up after each increase and took a position beside me rather than behind.

  After taking some time to marvel and acclimate to our speed, she sent a ping. I answered, "Yewww got me!"

  "Where are we going?"

  "Well, Morocco is due east a ways. Any interest?"

  "No, not really. Why are we out here?"

  "Nothing to hit. We can go as fast as we want."

  "You said we couldn't hit anything back on land. That the boards wouldn't let us."

  "Yes'm, that's absolutely true."

  There was a moment of silence, then she asked, "So, again, why are we out here?"

  Slowing my board to a stop as she shot past me, I turned the board northward, sat down cross-legged on it, and waited for Tanya to swing around and return. She drew alongside on my right and aligned her board with mine.

  Gesturing around, I asked, "What do you see, ma'am?"

  She glanced around and replied, "The ocean."

  "Yup. Lots of it. Anything else?"

  "You. What are you getting at?"

  "Which direction am I facing?"

  "We were heading east."

  "Yup. But which way do we go to get back to shore?"

  Pointing behind us, she replied, "Back the way we came, of course."

  "A right answer that's wrong. I'm not facing east now."

  Looking around more carefully, she saw nothing but apparently endless ocean. I saw her face change with the realization she had no idea which way to go. When her gaze returned to me, it was very stark, indeed, possibly worse than when she'd been underwater.

  I said, "I don't know why you'd ever find yourself in this situation, but people do manage to get themselves lost sometimes. If you know which direction to go, tell the board. If you know a city or country in the right direction, tell the board. For now, just tell it to face west."

  She did so and her board swiveled to point at me. With visible relief, she asked, "Now what?"

  Unhooking my coffee from my pocket, I offered the mug to her. She took it and drank some, then I drank some and put it back on my pocket.

  I said, "Unless you'd like to do some tanning or underwater touring, we'll head back to shore."

  She looked down at the water and shuddered. "We'll head back to shore."

  Chapter Fifteen

  Judging by the sun, we reached shore at about eleven. I could have shown her more, but it was time for a decent break. We landed between a couple of SUVs in a nearly-empty restaurant parking lot and entered the bar facing the beach. The bartender raised an eyebrow when we only ordered a couple of iced teas, but she nodded and brought them.

  On the wooden deck above the sand we found chairs at a table and sat for a time in silence before Tanya said, "This place is almost dead."

  "Yup. The hotel next door is due for demolition."

  Tanya used her cell phone to call the hospital about Jessica. Flicking the phone off when her conversation ended, she said, "They think she'll be available around noon."

  "That's hospital-speak for 'let's screw up lunch for the patients'. Half the staff will be off having their own lunch, so an influx of visitors will slow things down twice as much. Jessica's lunch will show up half an hour late. She'll have to try to eat her first post-accident meal left-handed with a broken nose in front of other people. Or let the food sit on the bed under her nose until they're gone."

 

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