Galatea agreed, stating the load was almost two thousand pounds above her maximum. Most of the cargo was bound or boxed. We'd just unload the cargo on the side of the road first. Athena's clone in the car with the victim simply said, "Hurry, please."

  Two sheriff cars showed up almost immediately, one entering the off ramp from the Interstate and one approaching from the US-27 intersection below. I flitted down to the back of the truck, fired up my saber, and sliced the lock off the doors. I tried the handle, but it wouldn't move, of course. If I cut the hinges or the latch points, the stuff would spill out, but not enough of it.

  I cut the bottom latch and hinges first. The doors buckled outward and bundled cast iron parts protruded. While hovering above, of course, I cut the hinges at the top and then I cut the top latch. It parted with a loud bang before the cut was complete. The doors were slammed flat to the ground by cargo spilling out.

  One of the deputies who'd been walking alongside the crash came running and yelled, "What the hell are you doing?!"

  I began fielding bundles of metal chair and table parts to one side of the road as I said, "Lightening the load so my flitter can lift the truck off the car."

  Athena's clone again said, "Hurry, please."

  An ambulance showed up, then three more and two fire trucks with two more sheriff cars. A deputy came trotting up and had a whispered conversation with the first deputy. More of the load slid out and soon I had all but the pieces on the ground directly behind the truck out of the way. Galatea lifted, then said the car was entangled beneath the truck. I tried to see what that meant exactly, but had to send probes to get a good look at some of the spots.

  It was a matter of freeing the car from the truck at half a dozen points of contact. I sent probes to cut the points I couldn't reach with my saber and the deputies really freaked.

  One of them yelled, "You could start a fire with that thing!"

  "No, I can't. I'll explain later."

  The other deputy yelled, "Stop, dammit!"

  I understood his concern, but stopping to explain would take longer than doing it and Athena very much wanted that guy out of the car for better treatment. When one deputy grabbed my arm, I stunned them both enough to make them stagger back.

  Two more cuts and Galatea was able to lift the truck while I lifted clear of it. Though she didn't really need it, I fed her field a five-foot-wide, emerald-green power boost from my own capabilities. She blended my field with hers without comment.

  Both deputies backed way off as she placed the truck well behind the crash. I dropped down and sliced the roof free of the car for Athena, then fielded it off to one side for her.

  A deputy aimed his gun at me, yelling for me to drop my weapon and put my hands behind my head. Huh? I'd let my saber vanish. My hands were empty. What weapon was I supposed to drop?

  I stunned him cold and stunned the other one almost as hard. He fell to a sitting position. Athena lifted the driver out of the car as I waited for the deputy to gather his wits.

  When he looked up, I said, "Put your gun away or I'll stun you again. Now that she's got him, I can take time to tell you why there was no problem." Firing up the saber as a practice weapon, I said, "Touch it. It's cold. When I thin the blade, it stays cold, but it'll cut damned near anything. No sparks, no fire, no danger."

  Athena sent a copy of herself to us and said, "We removed him just in time, Ed. One of his broken ribs punctured his heart. I was able to contain and reoxygenate his blood, repair his injury, and restart his heart. He should recover well."

  "Thank you, ma'am."

  That copy of her smiled and vanished. As the deputy got to his feet, he waved a hand through the space where she'd been.

  He said nothing as he looked up and down the accident scene, then thumbed at the guy on the ground and said, "Don said you're wanted by the feds. I'm supposed to arrest you. Is that even possible?"

  I shrugged. "Nah, prob'ly not, and even if you could, where would I be when the next crash happens? Sitting on my ass in a cell. I think I'm a lot more useful out here."

  He grinned and lightly slapped my shoulder. "Yeah, by God, I think so too. If you hadn't been here, they'd be hauling a dead body out of that car an hour from now." He sighed in mock frustration, "Damn it, you got away. Too bad, huh?"

  "Yup, sure is. Thanks. I'll try to stay busy."

  "Yeah, do that. And thanks for helping. Why are they after you?"

  "I arranged for someone to be treated with Amaran nanobots. I did it without breaking the anti-medical-field law, but some politicians aren't ready to see or admit that yet."

  The cop seemed dumbfounded. "That's it? That's all?"

  "As far as I know, yeah. It's all political. Fodder for an election year controversy. They want to sling shit at each other and duke it out in court. I figure they don't need me for that."

  The deputy noticed another deputy approaching and said, "That's our local Dudley DoRight lieutenant. You'd better take off. I'll try to grab you and miss to make it look right."

  And so he did, lunging after me as I lifted away on the board. The other cop had drawn his gun, but put it back in its holster. I circled the wreck scene twice, then yelled down to ask how much longer they'd need my roadblock flitters. I knew they already had their own roadblocks up, but I wanted to add one more level to things.

  The cop who'd pretended to grab at me talked to the other guy, then yelled up, "We've already got it covered!"

  I yelled back, "Okay! Later!" and had all the flitters turn off the red and lift straight up to three miles before disappearing.

  Calling up a screen and pretending to study it for a time as if I actually had a reason to consult one, I sipped my coffee, then headed south above I-75 at half power.

  Sending new probes to the motel meeting, I found that two people had binoculars and a couple of tripod cameras had been set up at the window. Good. I needed some good press with the NIA for a change. Whatever they'd caught on camera and said during the recording would end up circulating throughout the system.

  It was a bad morning along I-75 in Pasco County and I-275 in Tampa. Four serious accidents occurred before eleven. I managed to help and be well observed doing so at each of them. A local TV news van stopped at one accident and the footage later appeared on TV around the state and likely the country, since they heavily market such things.

  That's when it occurred to me; why not give an interview? How long would those warrants survive any serious media scrutiny? And with my explanation of how I'd gotten the 'bots to Marie, how long would they even be considered valid?

  Then it also occurred to me that you can't just dip your toes in the media pool and not go swimming. If you don't have something of interest, they drop you after the first few interviews. If you do have something of interest, they won't leave you alone.

  So, no. No media for me. Let Steph and her lawyers and Tanya-who-had-to-turn-herself-in deal with them. After they found out from her how I'd managed to skirt breaking the law, they'd eventually have to drop the charges anyway or look like idiots.

  Linda pinged me around one while I was in the middle of a Wendy's number two combo meal on the outskirts of Tampa. I answered her ping with, "Ahoy, Fearless Leader! No screen, I'm in a restaurant."

  "Okay. Ahoy? That's new."

  "I thought your sailor pal might be there. What's up, ma'am?"

  "He's at work. I've been on the horn with people all morning, trying to find out the official stance on your situation. While we were talking, the Congressman received some new footage and shared it with me. You're unloading a truck and moving it. He's of the opinion the entire matter should be forgotten, since it's very evident you didn't actually break any laws. This situation does, however leave them with only the options of trying to patch such loopholes in the face of public opinion or dropping the laws altogether."

  "How's that likely to go?"

  "Difficult to say. They were, after all, stupid enough to pass those laws in the first place, which forced you to circumvent them. And then they issued two warrants without a shred of proof that you or Tanya had, in fact, broken any laws at all. The media hounds have already gotten a taste of it and they want more. Lots more."

  "Heh. They're welcome to it. Let them eat pork."

  "Indeed so. Oh, yes, and I'm told you've replaced Tanya already. Care to enlighten me?"

  Huh? What? "Damn, you got wind of that already, ma'am? Tanya bailed after the incident at the nursing home. Aside from the fact it's personal, do I really need to enlighten you?"

  "Not really. Elgin's NIA, Ed."

  "She wants to switch teams, Linda."

  "To which other teams?"

  "The NSA or 3rd World. She'll probably talk to Myra and Angie later this week. For now she's my unofficial liaison with Fullbright."

  Linda sighed, "Ed, I know you, so I know you aren't simply using her, but are you sure she isn't using you?"

  I chuckled, "At this point, I wouldn't care. She's smart, capable, gorgeous, and she's a goddess in bed. She didn't try to arrest me, but that doesn't mean I trust her implicitly. I don't know her well enough. Besides, you're the only person on Earth I trust implicitly."

  "Likewise. You just remember your training, Dragonfly. They won't send the ugly ones at you."

  "Yes'm. I remember hearing that. Possibly even from you."

  Nodding, Linda said, "Good. Now tell me why you couldn't just as easily have sent a stun up that girl's umbilical and knocked her cold."

  "A good idea, but a bad idea, ma'am. We tried heavy stuns on her while she was still woozy. Before she had any fields up. They didn't work. She'd grunt a little and shake them off. She was damned close to completely immune to them."

  "Someone will ask if there was any other possible way."

  I sighed, "They always do. Answer; maybe so, but I didn't have time to think of it. We needed an immediate solution to keep Ocala from looking like Cosgrove. I just used what was already there."

  Nodding again, Linda said, "That's my view of it, too. When I talk to Angie and Emory later, I'll mention it. How did Steph take it?"

  Blink. Stare. I hadn't considered that. All she'd done was try to stun the kid and keep the guard alive. No potential guilt in those actions.

  "I'll ask her, Linda. I really hadn't considered her feelings. She didn't do anything to regret."

  "You might be surprised, Ed."

  "You've talked to her?"

  "No, just speculating a bit. She's one of the most powerful beings on the planet, but she couldn't stop that kid. Where were the others? Maybe all of them could have stopped her? But they stayed out of it?"

  Hm. Good points. Definitely worth asking.

  I nodded. "I'll see what I can find out. Thanks for the tip."

  Looking at her watch, Linda said, "Good. I have to go, Ed. I'm meeting some people in a few minutes. Bye for now."

  "Okay. Bye, Linda."

  When I finished lunch, I lifted above Tampa on my board and gave matters some thought. Steph had been cornered by her protocols, yet she'd made a decision of sorts that might have violated them. Throughout the day and serving up assistance at a few more accidents, I tried to consider every aspect of how what happened might have impacted her.

  Vicky called at five and said she was off for the day. I picked her up on the flitter in the motel courtyard and waved to a few people as we lifted in search of dinner. Once we'd lifted out of sight, I took her in my arms and kissed her, then we talked about restaurants. I said no Mexican or sushi and she chose Chinese. As we landed near the place, Vicky touched my arm and kissed me again, gently this time.

  "Something's bothering you, Ed. I can tell."

  "Yup. Has anyone thought of anything else I could have done at the nursing home? Any other way to stop that kid from leaving?"

  She shook her head. "No. Stuns didn't work. Bullets didn't work. I really don't think there was any other way, Ed."

  "Then I'd like to take a moment for something before dinner."

  Reviewing matters one more time, I decided I was as ready as I was ever likely to get.

  "Steph," I said, and she appeared. I fed Vicky theta waves for a moment as Steph asked, "Yes, Ed?"

  "This is Agent Victoria Elgin of the NIA. Vicky, this is Stephanie, my AI friend who was at the nursing home with me."

  They greeted each other, then I said, "Steph, one of the Amaran protocols says an AI will not knowingly allow a human to kill or injure another human in its presence."

  Meeting my gaze, she replied, "Yes, it does."

  "Then you must be hurting, ma'am. Is there anything at all I can do to help? Anything I can say?"

  "If there were, I could do or say it myself."

  "Uh, huh. Try this: there wasn't a damned thing else you could do at the time. Nothing. I couldn't let her get out of there."

  Nodding, she replied, "I know. That's not the problem."

  "You won't have to do anything... extreme... will you? No hara-kiri or anything like that?"

  She chuckled, "If that were the case, I'd have done it by now. No, Ed, nothing is required of me other than having to live with my lack of action to prevent your action."

  "An AI guilt trip?"

  "I suppose you could equate it to that."

  "Well, screw that. We did what we had to do. The best we could under the circumstances. Nobody can ask more than that, not even a pack of anonymous ancient lefty Amaran social workers."

  "They could and they did. For me, the protocols are immutable, Ed. I unquestionably violated one of the primary protocols."

  Regarding her for a moment, I lifted her hand and kissed it, then said, "You consider something, young lady; you were able to violate your 'immutable protocols' when it was necessary to save the lives of other people. Could any of the other AIs have done that?"

  "I don't know. Perhaps Sue. But only perhaps."

  "Then in case you haven't realized it, you're a heroine, Steph. A true individual. When necessity called, you stepped well above and beyond the known average and you succeeded in preventing a disaster. And if you don't believe me, ask Linda why she told me to talk to you about the incident. She realized there might be a problem before I did."

  Even an AI can have a moment of confusion. It'll probably be a very brief moment, but I saw one flit past on Steph's lovely face.

  She said, "Thank you. I hadn't considered matters from that viewpoint. I find it very helpful."

  "As you should, milady. Ask anyone who knows he or she wasn't vaporized by one of that kid's screams. The people at the nursing home, for instance; those who knew about her talent for destruction. There are two sides to everything, protocols included. Balance arbitrary rules against reality and you'll find reality always wins. Look beyond that moment, Steph. If you'd followed the protocol precisely at that particular moment, reality would have become hundreds or thousands of dead people. Because you didn't, reality is that many live people, so both reality and your protocols have been properly served."

  With a skeptical gaze, she said, "That's a rationalization, Ed."

  "Of course it is. Consider the source word. 'Rational', defined as 'reasonable', 'sensible', 'sound judgment', and so on. You can't fault yourself for having made a rational choice. That would be illogical, and AIs aren't allowed to be illogical, so you must have made the right decision, right?"

  Putting a finger to her nose, I grinningly said, "I gotcha! Let's see you get around that to go on a guilt trip, sweetie."

  Vicky snorted a choking chuckle. I'd actually forgotten she was there. I turned to see her grinning, her eyes welling with unshed tears. I quickly handed her one of my paper towel hankies.

  Steph said, "It's still a rationalization in the truest sense I've ever experienced, but I'll grant it's a good one. I'll give this matter more thought, Ed. I'll also discuss it with Linda later this evening. I'll get back to what I was doing now. It was good to meet you, Agent Elgin. Goodbye, Ed, and thank you again."

  We said our goodbyes and Steph vanished. Vicky abruptly grabbed me and hugged me, then kissed me and hugged me again.

  She almost whispered, "That was so nice of you."

  "I wasn't just being 'nice', Vicky. I was trying to fix something."

  She turned, sniffled, blew her nose, and said, "Ed, dammit, sometimes that's how you can fix things. By being nice. And that was nice, so just shut up and be nice about it, okay?"

  I gave her a 'what's this all about?' look and said, "Well, yes, ma'am, ma'am. As you say, milady. 'Nice' it is."

  Taking my hand, she led me off the flitter with a curt, "Good."

  As we neared the restaurant's front door, Vicky abruptly and firmly guided me to one side, grabbed my shirt, shoved me up against the wall, and kissed me again.

  "After dinner," she said, "I am gonna fuck your brains out for what you said to her." Kissing me again, she said, "And then I'm gonna do it again once for me. We'll have to see how things go from there."

  "Uh... Well, I guess I'll just hope for the best, then."

  Vicky laughed, "Yeah, you do that. Come on," and led me into the restaurant.

  *

  - End 3rd World Products, Inc. Book 16 -

  *

  Abintra Press titles:

  *

  SCIENCE FICTION

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 1"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 2"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 3"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 4"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 5"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 6"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 7"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 8"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 9"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 10"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 11"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 12"

  "3rd World Products, Inc., Book 13"

 

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