Questionable Counsel - An excerpt from Book Four: Legacy of Extropia
Benjamin stopped briefly in the waiting lobby. It was an extremely comfortable and well-appointed space, but not that large. The ‘ward’ that Catalina was on had only six patients; those who were the most demanding and had the biggest checkbooks. The waiting area seemed unusually crowded, with several people, hospital and civilian alike, standing around watching a video feed. Benjamin moved to where he could see the screen.
There was somebody on the screen reporting from the street in a large city. Below his image was a banner declaring ‘Skyline Bank trouble yields violence.’ As Benjamin moved in the reporter was saying, “Still no resolution to the account holders’ predicament, nor any explanation of the widespread reports that the Skyline situation has impacted other financial institutions – but late yesterday there were dramatic developments at the regional office of Skyline Bank, in New York City. The building itself has been closed for a few days, with no sign of people coming or going. Late yesterday, however, the remains of a variety of drones and at least one human body literally fell from the sky, to impact the street right here outside of Skyline. Neither Skyline nor local authorities have commented on these disturbing occurrences…”
“That’s pretty fucked up, hunh?”
Benjamin turned, catching the coffee that nearly spilled on him. Benjamin got control of the cup and said, “Thank you.” The person was shorter than he was and wrapped in blue scrubs, with other medical trappings. It took him a few seconds to register. “Patches?”
She looked at him sternly and turned away, waving for him to follow. He did, and she led him to one of the side doors labeled ‘Consultation.’ She looked briefly around to see if anyone was paying attention to them before opening the door and leading him inside.
This smaller room, of course, was just meant to host private conversations comfortably. “Patches, why are you here? Why are you dressed like a doctor?”
“Because it’s comfortable and inconspicuous, of course.”
“Because you are! You mentioned that one of your girlfriends was having surgery here, so I knew you would be by this morning.”
“You have to impersonate a doctor and come out here to talk to me?”
“This is one of the best places in the city for a private conversation. Do you know how much E&M and nano are blasting around this building? And, this is a room designed for privacy. I guarantee that nobody is eavesdropping on us.”
“Who would be eavesdropping on us? And if we used C2C, nobody could anyway!” Benjamin flashed back to the robbery and Patches’ retribution. He then thought about the strange C2C activity he saw in Dani’s head last night. Patches just shot him an annoyed look.
“So,” said Patches, “Dani came back really late; I don’t suppose that was your doing?”
“No,” he said. “She ditched me right after dinner. She said it was work.”
“That figures,” she said. “I had some desperate hope that you sealed the deal, but that was pretty unlikely.”
“Thanks! And, what the Hell!? Dani told me she really considers you family, and you act like she is,” Benjamin gestured at the room around them. “But, you also act like we should be afraid of her!”
“We should! What did I tell you about forbidden knowledge? Don’t tell me that you bought the routine that this was just my niece showing up for a long-overdue visit?”
“At first, I did,” he admitted. “Until I talked to her last night. She pumped me for information about those thugs in your shop.”
“That’s what I like about you, Benjamin. You have a trait that is pretty rare in people these days. You can learn. Did you stick to the story?”
“I did a pretty good job of selling it.”
“Don’t give me that shit! You’re a blink, the next best thing to a telepath! Don’t play innocent with me. I know you; you couldn’t keep your eyes off of her cloud!”
“Yes! Ok, Yes. She bought it. She thinks that I bought the FUBAR story, and believes that I won’t talk about any of it. Which I won’t!”
Patches grinned and said, “Good job!” She grasped him on either side of the head and kissed his face. After releasing him, she said, “You’re not going to charge me for that, are you?”
Benjamin frowned in disgust. “Yes, it is going to cost you. You’re going to have to tell me more about what the fuck is going on! Why are we scared of Dani?”
Patches sighed. “She has a very tough job. Huge responsibility.”
“Middle management in Texan tech industry development?” Patches shot him the look.
“OK, so she watches over – secrets,” he said.
“And, she came to determine how much we know?”
“She came to determine how much you know. She knows what I know.”
“If she sees a problem, she fixes it.”
That statement sat out in the air between them.
“Are you telling me she came here to consider if she should kill us?”
“No. I’m saying that she came out to consider if she should kill you. If she were going to kill me, she would have brought a team.”
“Why would Dani do that?!”
“Because the secrets she’s protecting are that important! More important than you can imagine! And if she didn’t, it could result in a global catastrophe!”
“What the fuck is going on in Texas?!”
“Nothing! In fact, you don’t ever need to say another word about Texas!”
Benjamin put up his hands in surrender.
“Ok. All I’m saying is that you pushed hard to set me up with your potentially homicidal niece.”
“Look,” said Patches, “she was going to meet you, one way or another. I just tried to define the terms. Give you a bit of a leg up. Plus, I provided an outside chance that you would score. And you did well.”
“Shit, Patches! I have enough trouble with women! I need the pressure of being a good enough date to not be killed?”
“Benjamin. We made it through. We’re Ok.”
Benjamin nodded. “Look, I guess you have to make your escape - or walk your rounds. I need to be ready when my bank opens. I still can’t access my funds.”
“Your bank has a realspace presence?”
“They have realspace right here in Vegas. I figured with innovation like that, they would be better than a big player like Skyline.”
“You weaseled your way into a bank for rich, old people.”
“At any rate, you didn’t see enough of those news reports. The damage is so broad; people are so scared that many banks have shut everything down anyway. They don’t want a run while they check their security.”
“Damn! Well, maybe my problems were just the bank being overly cautious.”
“Oh, yeah,” said Patches mildly. “I’m sure that’s it. So when did you lose…”
“So, I pressed you to show Dani the really good life in Vegas, and I bragged about rich you are.”
“Before what was, literally, the most important date of your life! And then you couldn’t pay?”
“That is entirely a matter of perspective!”
Patches slapped him on the back. “Like I said – You’re still standing. Come on, we better hit the guest coffee stand again and steal you some donuts!”
