Double Bait (Stone Blade Book 2), Page 2

  Buying what she needed took Robin not long at all. On her way back home she picked up an extra pack of drugsticks. She had no doubt Turbo would be on this evening and she knew she'd be extra wicked for him. After a moment of consideration she also bought another small bottle of wine. Just in case.

  Robin had just settled in front of her terminal when the comm beeped. The screen cleared to show her aunt's severe visage.

  "Hello, Aunt Lilly."

  "Robin? Open your video, dear. I can't see you."

  Robin quickly extinguished her 'stick and waved the smoke away from the pickup. When she opened video her aunt's expression rippled but didn't really change.

  "Hello, dear. Why do you always blank me? Are you hiding something?"

  "No, Aunt Lilly, I block everyone."

  "Hmpf." Lilly made a show of examining what the video picked up. "No boyfriend, I suppose. Is the rest of your apartment as clean as what I can see?"

  "It's clean, Aunt Lilly."

  "It's a pity and a shame, dear, that you don't have a boyfriend. A pretty girl like you shouldn't spend all her free time alone."

  Robin bit down on her feelings. Not that she hadn't thought the same but Lilly made an art of grinding salt into that particular wound.

  "I know, Aunt Lilly, but..."

  "You have your career to consider," finished Lilly, "But there's no reason you can't have both, Robin..."

  Robin suppressed a sigh and began nodding, smiling and making positive sounds to what her aunt said. It was as standard as an opening move in two-across. She tried to cite her need to keep current and to stay on top of data formatting trends but Lilly didn't give her much opportunity to speak.

  "Well," said Lilly, finally winding down, "I didn't call you to talk about your social life."

  It was just a perk, thought Robin.

  "You remember my friend Maria? Her daughter Ellen is getting married next month. It's the weekend of the 14th and you need to schedule some time off."

  "But..." Robin tried to marshal her thoughts. This was new!

  "But nothing, Robin. You haven't been down here in almost six months. There will be more than a few eligible and very nice young men there."

  "But I..."

  "Robin, dear, how else can I make sure you're taking care of yourself?"

  Because maybe I've learned something in the last twenty-eight years, screamed Robin inside her head.

  "Besides, I promised your mother I'd look after you. How can I do that if you won't ever come visit me?"

  Lilly smiled. Robin tried but the sudden attack from an unexpected direction bit her deeply.

  "You really should take more vacation, dear. In fact, why don't you schedule a couple of extra days. I'll send you a ticket." Something beeped. "That's me, dear. Flora's trying to call. I'll send you the tickets a week ahead and I'll see you next month. I love you dear, and take care of yourself. 'Bye."

  The screen blanked before Robin could hit the cutoff. She shook once, then again, then the tears started in earnest.

  Robin had no memory of her father save as a vague, warm comfort from her youngest days. Her mother told her he died in space, working on an asteroid grinder for a large corporation. That gave them a settlement but not a large one so they moved in with her Aunt Lilly.

  Lilly never approved of Robin's father. She knew that both from inference and from overheard conversations between her mother and aunt. Robin's mother started career training several times but each time Lilly squelched it. She had no children of her own, she'd said, and Robin needed her mother's time more than her mother needed a job. She also tried to oppose Robin's career education but her mother won that argument. She never doubted that Lilly loved her sister and her niece but neither did she have a doubt of the path Lilly wanted their lives to take.

  Then came the accident. Robin was asleep when the cargo hover rammed theirs. Her only clear memory was the crash webbing deploying, the flames and the smell of the fire suppression system and char. Robin was still in surgery when her mother died.

  Afterward there was only Aunt Lilly. She spared no expense for the doctors to repair the damage to Robin but Robin could still see the scars. And feel them.

  ***

  After a time the emotional gale wracking Robin subsided. She went to the fresher, washed her face and rinsed her mouth. When she felt stable she poured herself a generous glass of wine and sat at her terminal. She logged in and checked; Thomas still hadn't logged in and at the moment she didn't feel like a cargo ton of help requests. She left Thomas a message under most of his identities.

  '[system]datamorph is in +UptownCafe+'

  Robin responded blandly to the greetings she received. Of all the reggies in channel only rackrock and RimFire knew this nick. Rocky wouldn't call on her unless things turned grim, not likely given what she saw currently, and RimFire wasn't up as a moderator.

  As Robin expected Rimmie sent her a chat immediately.

  '[system]RimFire:PRIVNAME:LoriAnn Hi there.'

  '[system]datamorph:PRIVNAME:Robin Hey.'

  'You hiding or just need to talk?'

  'Yes and yes.'

  'What happened?'

  'Auntie commed tonight. Usual tirade but I wasn't in the mood for it.'

  'Bad?'

  'Bad++. She doesn't approve of my life so she thinks I should be bullied until I change it. Then demanded I visit for friend's wedding. I _know_ she has someone or someones picked out for me.'

  'Y that bad?'

  'It's... Well, she has her idea of who I _ought_ to like, never mind what or who I _want_ to like. Or not.'

  '*sympathy* I know, Robin. My PUs are always after me to marry Frank.'

  'So why don't you,' asked Robin before she could think. Then, 'Sorry! Sorry++!'

  'Problem-- Answer: Not ready yet. We're satisfied with what we have now, why change it?'

  'IC. Works == works.'

  'Exactly! I love my folks and I know they love me but they're set in their ways and just don't get mine. Maybe auntie is the same way?'

  'Yah. I just wish... I dunno. I wish she could see what I've done and NOT what she thinks I should do. Does that make sense?'

  'Plus-plus. Now for the bad news: won't be happening 'till the universe implodes. Parents - and aunties - always see the little girl (or boy) that grew up, never the grown-up version. But... we all luvz you here just the way you are!'

  'Thx. Plus-plus!'

  '*smile* U feeling better yet?'

  'Starting to.'

  'Good. U thought about a visit IRL? Frank and I would *really* like to meet you.'

  'Thought+. Not ready yet, tho.'

  'Problem--, then. Whenever you decide we'll be ready.'

  '*smile*'

  'U feeling any better now?'

  'Little bit. I wish Turbo would get his duff here!'

  'Me 2 4 U, hon. Meanwhile u sit back and relax. I'll tell Rocky not to up you.'

  'Thanx++ and hugz++'

  Robin did indeed relax. She chatted idly and even joined a punsling when the topic turned to data technology. Two of the reggies, MoldyGrape and Tint_in_tin started it. As usual. Before long Robin was laughing as hard as she'd been crying earlier. Several of the reggies left when the puns turned really rancid and a few newts tried a line or two. Also as usual Tint scored the most points but Grape drew the most groans.

  '... get a BYTE,' posted MoldyGrape, 'But only if the FICHES are NYBBLING.'

  Robin groaned in spite of herself. Grape had set that one up for several lines and Tint took the bait, which he usually didn't. The punsling just started noising up on its fifth or sixth wind when an urgent message flashed on Robin's screen.

  '[system]DCHAT:rencrypt(32):tombomb its thomas pls accept'

  '[system]datamorph:PRIVNAME:Robin Hey sweetie! *BIG hugglz* I've missed you! What's with the crypto and odd connect?'

  'Hey babe. Can't talk now. pls acept. [system]xfer:rencrypt(32):dgX02.edcx'

  Robin accepted and the - very large - file began to tr
ansfer.

  'I'm getting it, sweetheart. Now tell me what's going on. I *really* missed you today!'

  'k. missed you too darlnig. had a big burn today. hit some bad dogz and may have to purge my system. if I can b4 they do.'

  Robin chilled at this.

  'I thought u were out of that! U set up security now!!'

  'i know baby but this was big. I mean BIG! Good offer for lots of... flamse they just spiked my masque.'

  This chilled Robin even more.

  'Hey. Can they trace this to me? I don't need the CAs coming after me.'

  'nagh, babae got layerz going. fractal flames behidn crash-trap. virmites and mirror-backlash on a five-node jumping spline it's plenty FLAMES they just spiked my morrorback hang on babe got to handle this'

  The chat terminated abruptly. After a few seconds the file transfer terminated. Robin immediately logged out and spiked her connections. She grabbed a blank chip, burned Thomas' file onto it and, when that finished, encryption purged the file from her machine. Then, just in case, she fragwiped the terminal memory. Then she powered down the machine.

  ***

  Robin crushed out her drugstick and lit another one. Despite the ventilation her room was thick with smoke. Her throat was raw but so were her nerves, still. She powered up her terminal and interrupted the standard startup. First her aunt and now this. She stepped through the start sequence and canceled any modules that would establish a net connection. She knew Thomas' data was illegal, just not how much so. The machine beeped and cleared to a low-level interface.

  He was good at data and net security, she knew that. They had many conversations on that topic and he gave her a lot of pointers. Robin isolated a chunk of memory and activated a port monitor, software legal only on a private net or personal machine. Not that she ever planned a less-than-fully-legal burn but he said he'd feel better with her well-protected.

  The monitor showed nothing unusual but she carefully orchestrated the start sequence. Robin chided herself for being silly. Thomas never had fewer than half a dozen connections active at any time and even the best security warez took more than zero time, at least three to five seconds, to synchronize and begin tracing. Robin finished her 'stick and stopped herself from lighting another. She checked the portmon. Nothing.

  Robin carefully warmbooted the machine with the portmon and several similar warez active through the restart. She felt ice down her back as the standard auto-login established a spurious connection. A single drop of sweat started down her spine.

  With finesse she hadn't used since college Robin synced with the connection and forked a copy into isolated memory. As she began dissecting the copy data started flowing through the original. She started to sever it but stopped herself: nothing to find on her machine!

  Puzzled, Robin checked her data. The connection used a standard and very familiar protocol. When she traced it to the app initiating it she almost spat on the floor.

  "Adware!" She made a curse of that word.

  Now she did light another 'stick. Irritation battled outright anger inside her now. She meticulously avoided ad-pushes and pops since they used system resources. That someone managed to slip one into her machine angered Robin. Contemptuous of discovery now she traced the offending app to a streaming viewer she downloaded, used twice then discarded. The uninstall either left this behind or seeded her machine with it when she erased the viewer. She carefully tracked down every tendril of the adware, neutralized it and deleted it securely.

  "Sewer-sippers!"

  Robin checked the portmon one last time, feeling much better now. It showed no anomalies and nothing unusual in the least. Something still nagged her, though. Thomas trusted her with his data, at least she could protect it for him.

  Robin located and plugged a chip she rarely used. Per its instructions she downloaded it and carefully configured it so that - in theory - no one but her could use this particular copy. She cleared her isolated memory and plugged the chip containing Thomas' data. It held a lot but nothing she couldn't handle. Next she copied all the pix and anims she had into isolated temporary memory, added a simple automenu and fused the lot into a chippable image file.

  Robin started her HIgh-riDER program. She pointed it to Thomas' data and then to hers. It located the storage-hungry images and animations and began weaving the other data untraceably into it. When it finished she'd have a perfectly ordinary picture archive with Thomas' data hidden inside it. It would not happen instantly, though, so Robin had a long time to wait. She reached for her glass.

  The wine rippled as her hand shook. She took a good sip, put down the glass and walked into the fresher.

  "You are being stupid," she told the reflection in the mirror, "Stupid, foolish and silly!" Then she added a finger-shake worthy of Aunt Lilly. "Stop it now, settle down, log in and chat with your friends!"

  But the reflection only stared at her, silent, for a long time.

  Eventually Robin did log in as Morphie1337, a nick she didn't bother to register. Though she felt ridiculous for doing it she spoofed her connection before logging into the channel. Rimmie and Rocky greeted her as they would any newt and she simply lurked in the channel. She disabled her autopops and actionscripts and set her security at max.

  After another glass of wine Robin felt sleep stalking her. She logged out, powered down, tidied her desk and went to bed.

  Chapter 2. A New Job

  Robin woke the next morning with the most awful, horrible, disgusting taste she'd ever experienced sticking to the inside of her mouth. Her throat felt tender and the beginnings of a headache gnawed from the back of her eyes all the way down her shoulders. She rinsed her mouth, brushed her teeth and rinsed again. Then she took a headache tablet.

  "Bull-dray stupid," she told her reflection, "You were ignorant and idiotic and you should have known better. But you weren't thinking, were you. As usual."

  By the time she finished a long, hot shower her head throbbed and her mouth only got worse. She had a quick breakfast she didn't taste and pondered her day over a rare cup of chog, strong and unadorned.

  When her headache finally eased Robin dressed and took a hovertran downtown to the closest mall. She perused three datamarts and a software boutique before lunch and, amazingly, had the appetite for a decent-sized meal. Another hour and a half sufficed for the remaining software shoppes and left Robin standing outside the mall's cinema.

  The lobby swarmed with families and kids mostly old enough to roam unattended. Robin examined the shows critically before selecting one. She really didn't care what she saw, she simply wanted out of her apartment a while. Robin gritted her teeth as she almost heard her aunt's smug satisfaction at that. She made her choice, bought a small bag of nibblers and a soda and settled into the theater.

  Robin stood outside the cinema waiting for the crowd to dissipate. The movie was as good as its reviews and very entertaining. The crowd finally started to thin when Robin felt someone beside her.

  "Pardon me, signora. I was wondering if you would care to join me for a cup of chog."

  He stood taller than her, quite handsome in a rugged, asymmetric way. He smiled invitingly and Robin felt herself joining him in it.

  "I'm Trevor," he said, "Today my afternoon is totally mine and I would really enjoy spending it in the company of a lovely lady."

  Her age, perhaps a bit older, thought Robin. His smile told her she was the lovely lady and she warmed at that. Then she felt his gaze light on her face. It warmed, then burned, then began tracing the faint lines down and around her neck.

  "Ahh..." she stammered, "No. But th-thank you. No." She tried to keep her voice steady and mostly succeeded but she still felt the burning gaze. She flipped her hair forward self-consciously and dropped her gaze. "Th-thank you," she mumbled.

  Trevor said something as she stepped away but it didn't register. Robin quickened her pace, careful not to run but not far from it. She didn't jostle anyone but she felt several heavy gazes following her. She finally
settled into a hovertran, her hands shaking. Silently she began calming them, then herself.

  '[system]FoxBird is in +UptownCafe+'

  Back at her apartment Robin lit a 'stick even before turning up the ventilation. After her initial panic hindsight sank its fangs hard. She spent the last half of the trip home chiding herself for running away. It was patently ridiculous to think Trevor had been staring or regretting or anything other than what he said. Still, she couldn't un-leave so Robin bit down on her feelings and regrets until they went away.

  'Hey, hey, FoxyLadyBirdie!'

  Robin laughed as MoldyGrape, currently up, bestowed upon her one of his ridiculous huggles. She didn't know whether to need a cold shower or an antiseptic bath so she took both in channel, to the delight and applause of all the reggies and some of the newts there.

  '... and I say I did *not* flunk them,' posted MoldyGrape, 'They *earned* the grade they got, some of them at bargain wages!'

  MoldyGrape sent Robin a chat, which surprised her.

  'Hi, gorgeous,' he said, 'What's oscillating on your side of reality?'

  'Not a lot. Enjoying my weekend, mostly. Saw a movie today.'

  '!? Whichso?'

  '"Brief Flowers of the Dawn."'

  'Gaaaaaaaah! I saw that one last week.'

  'U didn't like?'

  'No, I *did* like. But my brain was in an outer-orbit-plus-microjump mood.'

  '??'

  'Finals week, dear. Took me a long time to grade all my papers and I was six-sigma stressed out until I turned them in. Da Grape was one out-zone stape.'

  'lotf. Does that mean you were in a JAM?'

  '*groan* Yepz, and I really wanted to get TOASTED.'

  Robin couldn't help chuckling at that.

  'What about that "mostly,"' posted Grape, 'I had a talk with Rimmie and she said you were feeling low. No details but lots of concern.'

  '{action}FoxBird has *no* (profanity) secrets. Was low but got a little better.'

  'Polar! U need to talk u know where to find me.'