Reach For the Spy by Diane Henders Page B

water.
    I swore and put down
the dripping document to shake myself like a dog.
    “Aydan? Is everything
okay? What was that?”
    “Fine. I’m just getting
tired, I guess.” A tire rolled toward me, and I snickered in spite
of myself. Puns. The lowest form of humour.
    “Maybe you’d better
come out now.”
    “I think you’re right.”
I stood up and stretched, and then shook my head at my own idiocy.
Stretch in the real world, dummy.
    I shoved the mannequin
aside and headed for the portal. Mannequin. Dummy. Got it. Very
funny.
    A board hurtled toward
my head, and I ducked in the nick of time.
    Yeah, yeah, subtle as a
two-by-four to the head.
    I tried to clear my
mind while I skirted the pink hippopotamus twirling in its tutu and
ballet slippers. Flying pigs fluttered gracefully overhead.
    Don’t look up. Don’t
look...
    I dodged the plummeting
clumps of pig shit.
    “Fuck this,” I
muttered. “ Yikes! ”
    I hurriedly folded
sim-space and stepped out the portal to avoid the truly impressive
construct that had been created by my unfortunate choice of
obscenities.
    By the time I
straightened, clutching my raging headache, Spider was still
scarlet. Kane’s impassive cop face showed signs of cracking.
    “Sorry about that,” I
said. “Next time I’ll be more careful with my language.”
    Spider blushed even
more furiously. “No big deal,” he said with a heavy attempt at
nonchalance. He turned away, and I carefully avoided looking at
Kane while I scrubbed my hand over my face to wipe away my
smile.
    A few seconds later, I
thought I had it under control. I caught Kane’s eye. An explosive
snicker burst out of me. He quickly turned away, his broad
shoulders quaking with suppressed laughter.
    “Bless you,” Spider
said without turning.
    “Thanks,” I choked.
“Back in a flash.” I scurried out of the lab and down the hall to
the ladies’ room before I lost it completely. Inside, I propped
myself against the counter and wheezed silent laughter until tears
poured down my cheeks.
    It took longer than it
should have to regain my composure. Every time I stopped laughing,
I glanced at my flushed, tear-stained reflection in the mirror and
started all over again. Poor Spider. I really wasn’t laughing at
him. I just couldn’t seem to pull myself together.
    Finally the pain in my
sides made me sober up. A few last giggles escaped me while I
dabbed at my eyes and patted cool water on my face. I took some
deep breaths and avoided looking in the mirror as I left the
bathroom.
    When I returned to the
lab, Kane’s eyes were still dancing, but his face showed nothing
but his usual calm composure. I managed a straight face with an
effort.
    Spider met my eyes and
turned pink all over again. “This document is going to be really
valuable,” he said quickly. “How much more of it is there?”
    My urge to laugh
vanished without a trace. “Lots. Probably another five pages.” I
sighed. “I guess I’d better get started.”
    “No, I don’t think so,”
Kane countered. His eyes were serious again, too. “You need a rest.
You weren’t controlling the sim at all at the end.”
    As he spoke, the weight
of fatigue settled on my shoulders, and I staggered back a step to
drop into my chair. I realized my hands were still trembling, and
my overworked core muscles vibrated finely.
    “Okay,” I agreed. My
eyes drifted shut.
    “Aydan!”
    “What?” I mumbled.
    I cracked an eyelid
open when Kane took the network key from my hand and pulled me to
my feet. “Let’s get you upstairs.”
    I let him tow me down
the corridor. He half-carried me up the stairs, and I leaned
heavily on him in the time-delay chamber, too exhausted to react to
the cramped space. Then there was another flight of stairs, and a
blessedly soft horizontal surface.

    My eyes snapped
open.
    Kane halted in the
doorway. “Oh, I didn’t think you were awake.”
    I sat up groggily from
the sofa in my office. “Just woke up.” I squinted at my