to suit our needs?”
Isis elbowed Tech in the ribs and smiled approvingly when he glanced at her, his eyes blinking rapidly at Harwood's declaration.
“Good timing as always. A lot of interesting stuff has just come in,” Menem said in a conspiratorial voice. “I'm sure I can you hook you up.”
Harwood grinned. “Splendid. Do you have any copies of a certain ghost program Tech obtained from you a couple of days ago?”
“Subterfuge, wasn't it?” Menem said looking at Tech.
Tech nodded.
“All gone,” Menem apologized. “Very, very popular.”
Harwood stroked his beard. “Do you happen to know where that particular program originated?”
Menem glanced around, then lowered his voice to say, “It was a Mach Two release, Myst'ry. But word has it PE has been test marketing a lot of programs on the sly using Mach Two as a front.”
“Peerless Engineering,” Harwood said with great interest and a meaningful glance at Tech. “Do you have anything else from Mach Two?”
Menem disappeared from the counter. Isis looked from Harwood to Tech and back again, but kept to herself whatever questions she wanted to ask. A moment later, Menem returned with two minidisks nested in plain, hemp-paper envelopes.
“Blueprint and Skeleton Key,” he said, setting the respective disks on the countertop.
Tech repeated the titles, frowning in disdain. “Those sound like gamer soft.”
“Blueprint is a detailed map of the southern Ribbon,” Menem said quietly. “Skeleton Key will open many a locked door.”
Harwood studied the disks for a moment, then said, “We'll take both.”
Menem smiled, then prized a third disk from the breast pocket of his tropical shirt and slid it forward. “This one's on the house, Myst'ry.” He winked.
Harwood regarded it and grinned. “You dog! Turbo 7.5. Last version I had was, what, 3.1?”
“Untested. But if you're used to 3.1, fasten your seat belt.”
“Thank you, Menem.” Harwood shook the man's hand with affection, then gave him a Global One debit card.
Menem accepted the card and ran it through the swiper.
“Aren't you worried about being traced?” Tech asked in concern.
Harwood shook his head. “It's a blind account.”
“I'm sorry, Myst'ry,” Menem interrupted, “but the scanner rejected it. Says you've overdrawn your account.”
Strange frowned in puzzlement. “There must be some mistake.”
Menem's enormous shoulders heaved. “Wouldn't be the first time.”
“Well, no matter,” Harwood said. He fished another debit card from his wallet and handed it to Menem, then he looked at Tech. “Perhaps I should hire Felix to find out what became of my credit, huh?”
Tech was all for the idea. “He could sure use the work.”
Chapter 10
Tech and Marz spent the evening repairing and defragging Felix's cybersystem and installing several of Harwood's artillery programs, including one called Armor, which was capable of firing bursts of disabling code at hostile programs. Marz also installed the Mach Two software packages Harwood had purchased from the Boruans, along with the Turbo program Menem had given Harwood. He hated not having the time to run diagnostics on the soft. But Harwood had said that they should trust Menem.
Of course, Menem—Tsunami—was the person who had sold Tech and Marz Subterfuge, but no one was mentioning that.
If the office was a mess before they had entered, it qualified as a certifiable disaster now with pizza boxes, soda cans, bags of chips, containers of salsa, and candy bars strewn over nearly every horizontal surface.
Tech hadn't been surprised to find Data Discoveries vacant, for unlike most data dicks, Felix was, generally speaking, a day person. What was surprising was that the access lock on the cybersystem had been lifted, which meant that Felix had some how found the money to pay his fines.
Tech hoped he hadn't turned to outright crime.
Two hours earlier, the building's security guards had paid the office a visit when
Isis elbowed Tech in the ribs and smiled approvingly when he glanced at her, his eyes blinking rapidly at Harwood's declaration.
“Good timing as always. A lot of interesting stuff has just come in,” Menem said in a conspiratorial voice. “I'm sure I can you hook you up.”
Harwood grinned. “Splendid. Do you have any copies of a certain ghost program Tech obtained from you a couple of days ago?”
“Subterfuge, wasn't it?” Menem said looking at Tech.
Tech nodded.
“All gone,” Menem apologized. “Very, very popular.”
Harwood stroked his beard. “Do you happen to know where that particular program originated?”
Menem glanced around, then lowered his voice to say, “It was a Mach Two release, Myst'ry. But word has it PE has been test marketing a lot of programs on the sly using Mach Two as a front.”
“Peerless Engineering,” Harwood said with great interest and a meaningful glance at Tech. “Do you have anything else from Mach Two?”
Menem disappeared from the counter. Isis looked from Harwood to Tech and back again, but kept to herself whatever questions she wanted to ask. A moment later, Menem returned with two minidisks nested in plain, hemp-paper envelopes.
“Blueprint and Skeleton Key,” he said, setting the respective disks on the countertop.
Tech repeated the titles, frowning in disdain. “Those sound like gamer soft.”
“Blueprint is a detailed map of the southern Ribbon,” Menem said quietly. “Skeleton Key will open many a locked door.”
Harwood studied the disks for a moment, then said, “We'll take both.”
Menem smiled, then prized a third disk from the breast pocket of his tropical shirt and slid it forward. “This one's on the house, Myst'ry.” He winked.
Harwood regarded it and grinned. “You dog! Turbo 7.5. Last version I had was, what, 3.1?”
“Untested. But if you're used to 3.1, fasten your seat belt.”
“Thank you, Menem.” Harwood shook the man's hand with affection, then gave him a Global One debit card.
Menem accepted the card and ran it through the swiper.
“Aren't you worried about being traced?” Tech asked in concern.
Harwood shook his head. “It's a blind account.”
“I'm sorry, Myst'ry,” Menem interrupted, “but the scanner rejected it. Says you've overdrawn your account.”
Strange frowned in puzzlement. “There must be some mistake.”
Menem's enormous shoulders heaved. “Wouldn't be the first time.”
“Well, no matter,” Harwood said. He fished another debit card from his wallet and handed it to Menem, then he looked at Tech. “Perhaps I should hire Felix to find out what became of my credit, huh?”
Tech was all for the idea. “He could sure use the work.”
Chapter 10
Tech and Marz spent the evening repairing and defragging Felix's cybersystem and installing several of Harwood's artillery programs, including one called Armor, which was capable of firing bursts of disabling code at hostile programs. Marz also installed the Mach Two software packages Harwood had purchased from the Boruans, along with the Turbo program Menem had given Harwood. He hated not having the time to run diagnostics on the soft. But Harwood had said that they should trust Menem.
Of course, Menem—Tsunami—was the person who had sold Tech and Marz Subterfuge, but no one was mentioning that.
If the office was a mess before they had entered, it qualified as a certifiable disaster now with pizza boxes, soda cans, bags of chips, containers of salsa, and candy bars strewn over nearly every horizontal surface.
Tech hadn't been surprised to find Data Discoveries vacant, for unlike most data dicks, Felix was, generally speaking, a day person. What was surprising was that the access lock on the cybersystem had been lifted, which meant that Felix had some how found the money to pay his fines.
Tech hoped he hadn't turned to outright crime.
Two hours earlier, the building's security guards had paid the office a visit when
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