Nick and Maggie were having lunch in the ss hall. It was interesting to see how nearly all the other humans avoided them—avoided Nick, more to the point. I suppose I am a mass-murderer now, he mused. Fair enough.
One exception was Alyssa, who walked right up to them with her lunch tray. "Hello. May I join you?" Nick glanced at Maggie, whose expression tightened a bit. He was about to say no when she spoke.
"Sure, Alyssa." Her voice wasn't warm, but it wasn't completely hostile either.
"Thanks." The redhead took a seat, and Nick carefully did not look at her beyond a casual greeting glance.
"How are you doing?" he asked, to be polite.
"Decently well, thank you. My bosses were sad when you cut off my intel, but I'm grateful that you let stay friends with Petra and keep talking with her."
"Oh?" Maggie eyed the CIA agent.
"Yes. I'm a research geek, first and foremost. The way Petra does searches is...amazing." She shook her head. "I really hope you give the world a better search engine before you leave. I ought to be asking for it just for and mine, but...the whole world would benefit hugely."
"Well, Petra won't be around later on. A lot of what's amazing about her searches is Petra herself."
"Thank you, Nick," Petra said. Alyssa and Maggie both blinked, but Nick was used to Petra joining conversations at random by now.
"I'm aware," Alyssa said. "Even so, the way she organizes information is incredible, and library research and design is going to see major upgrades."
"How did you get into your line of work?" Nick asked.
Alyssa took a deep breath. "I like making weird connections. Like, I'll see a coincidence, and ask, 'is that really just a coincidence, or is there a deeper aning or reason for it?' and that's just what draws in. Did you ever read Friday by Robert Heinlein?"
Nick hadn't, but Maggie said that she had. Alyssa nodded.
"Well, there's a bit where Friday gets access to a futuristic library. The amazing thing is, what Heinlein was describing was basically a search engine, only he dreamt it up in 1983 or so. And there's this whole bit where she gets asked to find connections between the lengths of won's skirts and n's beards and the price of gold, and to show off what a supergenius she was, she found a simple formula for the relationship. That's fictional, of course, but still...that's what I wanted to be when I grew up. The person who could research and find the patterns."
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"So that's how you chose your profession?" Maggie asked.
"Pretty much."
"Well—"
"DOWN!" Petra suddenly yelled.
The word flashed on Nick's HUD at the sa ti. He had had enough interaction with Petra over the past year and more, so he trusted her implicitly when it ca to physical threats. He dove sideways and down under the table, grabbing Maggie's hand to yank her down as well.
There was the CRACK of a shot, and then a thud as sothing hit the table and fell off.
The lunch crowd broke into yells, barks, trills, and more.
< CLEAR. >
Nick got up, sowhat hampered by Maggie's death grip, and saw a bloody sar on the table. Alyssa sat still, wide-eyed, staring at the floor. When he moved to get a better look, he saw Jack Smith face down on the deck, the back of his head a bloody ruin. For a mont he felt his gorge rise and regretted the lunch he had started, but got himself under control in a mont.
"What happened?"
"Jack Smith tried to kill you, Nick. I stopped him," Petra said matter-of-factly.
Oh, for fuck's sake. Again? Nick thought inanely. He took a deep breath. "Thank you, Petra. You saved my life again. Good job."
"Thank you, Nick."
A crowd had gathered, with too many people asking questions at once.
He turned to Maggie. "You okay?" She had a death grip on his hand as she swallowed, and Nick squeezed back in reassurance. "Is anybody hurt?" he asked belatedly.
"Only Jack Smith," Petra told him.
Alyssa was breathing heavily. "Shit. Shit. I froze. Shit. This is why I'm not—" She shook her head, cutting off whatever she was going to say.
Nick sighed. "Petra, who told him to kill ?"
"I don't know, Nick."
How could you not...? Nick stopped the unhelpful thought. She's naive. The orders probably ca in a weird code or double-talk or sothing...
"I guess one of the billionaires' families used their influence to try to get revenge," Maggie guessed, her voice still a bit faint.
"We knew it was a possibility," Nick sighed. "I should have been more careful."
Polla Mastook walked up. The Goldaskian looked vaguely disapproving. "Petra, can you please clean up the body and ss? People are trying to eat here."
"Yes, Polla."
"Thank you."
The floor reshaped itself and sort of folded over the body, making a lump that then sank into the deck in a couple of seconds. The three humans were startled when the table sprouted a cover, folded up and sank into the deck as well, taking the blood (and their als) with it. In monts, there was no sign left of the attempted assassination.
"Petra, please make sure the Captain and Dr. Vickall are notified of this attack," he said. What else should I be doing?
"I have already, Nick."
"Nick! You are unhurt?" Grrmyip asked from the crowd.
"I'm fine."
The next little while was taken up by answering the sa questions several tis. Maggie never let go of his hand once. Alyssa looked pale and excused herself quietly. Father Mangiano said sothing to her, but she shook her head and left the ss hall.
"Let's get out of here," Maggie urged.
Nick nodded. Neither of them had any appetite. Ti to retreat.
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