car?”
“The car’s fine.” Lucas sounded fainter for a moment, as if his head had turned away from the phone. “Chris says so.”
“I don’t believe them,” the faraway voice continued.
“Now, Bobby, if Chris says the car is okay, it’s okay. We’re happy about that, Chris, and we’ll give you another ten minutes to get it on a flatbed. And don’t talk to me about traffic jams, because everyone in town is over at the convention center, so there isn’t any traffic. Talk to me about something else—like why I don’t see any money coming up the elevator. What have you been doing for the past forty minutes, Chris?”
“We’ve been working on the money, too. The problem is, the robots never place money in the passenger elevators, only the freight elevators. To get them to move money to a new place, the Fed engineers have to write a whole new program.”
“You’re telling me the tech geeks can’t handle that?”
“They’ve begun to work on it. When you”—Cavanaugh paused here, no doubt trying to think of a less offensive word than “invaded”—“took over the lobby, we evacuated the building. Nearly three hundred people work in that building, Lucas, and they couldn’t all hang out at the Hampton Inn. We sent them home. Everyone’s getting a paid day off because of you, so you’re a fairly popular man among the staff right now.”
Theresa snorted.
Jason told her gently, “I know he’s laying it on a little thick, butif you can get them feeling good about themselves, for any reason, they’ll look at the hostages that much more generously.”
“So you don’t have any programmers?” Lucas pressed.
“Oh, yeah, we got hold of two. One has arrived, I’ve been told, and the other is stuck in the convention-center traffic.”
Lucas said nothing. Theresa asked Jason, “Is he lying?”
“Chris? No. He meant what he said about not lying to them.”
“I’d lie to them.” Leo sat with one ear cocked toward the radio, as if listening with all his might.
“He can’t. As bizarre as it sounds, the whole thing works on trust. If he says the pop machine doesn’t carry Diet Coke and they know it does, it’s all over. If they can’t trust him, we’ll never get them to give up.”
The radio sprang to life with Lucas’s voice. “Here’s a thought: Why don’t the programmers just pick up the damn money and throw it into the elevator themselves? Bypass the robots.”
“Only the robots enter those rooms. It’s designed that way.”
“Are we standing on procedure now?”
“The rooms are made to keep people out. If any body of matter other than a robot enters, the alarm system trips and all hell breaks loose.”
“I don’t mind if the alarm rings. My ears are tough.”
“It also closes the doors and locks them for twelve hours. It’s a fail-safe thing. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing anyone can do about this. We are all at the mercy of modern technology, my friend.”
Then Lucas said, “I am not your friend,” so that the words coursed through Theresa like a river of ice. We’re not going to make it through this. Paul is going to die.
Then Lucas added, “More than that, Chris, I’m beginning to doubt your commitment to this endeavor.”
“Don’t doubt me yet, Lucas. I might have a solution. There’s a shipment of cash scheduled to arrive this morning. It’s only three million, but at least we mere human beings can touch it without triggering a mechanical lockdown.”
“You trying to haggle with me, Chris? This is priceless. Someone over there decided that these people aren’t worth four million, only three? Or that you only want three-quarters of them back, is that it? Then I might as well kill the last quarter of the group, if I’m not going to get paid for them anyway.”
“Come on,” Theresa said to Jason. “Let’s get that car down there so at least that will be in place.”
“But the tow—”
“We don’t need a tow. I’ll just drive the damn
“The car’s fine.” Lucas sounded fainter for a moment, as if his head had turned away from the phone. “Chris says so.”
“I don’t believe them,” the faraway voice continued.
“Now, Bobby, if Chris says the car is okay, it’s okay. We’re happy about that, Chris, and we’ll give you another ten minutes to get it on a flatbed. And don’t talk to me about traffic jams, because everyone in town is over at the convention center, so there isn’t any traffic. Talk to me about something else—like why I don’t see any money coming up the elevator. What have you been doing for the past forty minutes, Chris?”
“We’ve been working on the money, too. The problem is, the robots never place money in the passenger elevators, only the freight elevators. To get them to move money to a new place, the Fed engineers have to write a whole new program.”
“You’re telling me the tech geeks can’t handle that?”
“They’ve begun to work on it. When you”—Cavanaugh paused here, no doubt trying to think of a less offensive word than “invaded”—“took over the lobby, we evacuated the building. Nearly three hundred people work in that building, Lucas, and they couldn’t all hang out at the Hampton Inn. We sent them home. Everyone’s getting a paid day off because of you, so you’re a fairly popular man among the staff right now.”
Theresa snorted.
Jason told her gently, “I know he’s laying it on a little thick, butif you can get them feeling good about themselves, for any reason, they’ll look at the hostages that much more generously.”
“So you don’t have any programmers?” Lucas pressed.
“Oh, yeah, we got hold of two. One has arrived, I’ve been told, and the other is stuck in the convention-center traffic.”
Lucas said nothing. Theresa asked Jason, “Is he lying?”
“Chris? No. He meant what he said about not lying to them.”
“I’d lie to them.” Leo sat with one ear cocked toward the radio, as if listening with all his might.
“He can’t. As bizarre as it sounds, the whole thing works on trust. If he says the pop machine doesn’t carry Diet Coke and they know it does, it’s all over. If they can’t trust him, we’ll never get them to give up.”
The radio sprang to life with Lucas’s voice. “Here’s a thought: Why don’t the programmers just pick up the damn money and throw it into the elevator themselves? Bypass the robots.”
“Only the robots enter those rooms. It’s designed that way.”
“Are we standing on procedure now?”
“The rooms are made to keep people out. If any body of matter other than a robot enters, the alarm system trips and all hell breaks loose.”
“I don’t mind if the alarm rings. My ears are tough.”
“It also closes the doors and locks them for twelve hours. It’s a fail-safe thing. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing anyone can do about this. We are all at the mercy of modern technology, my friend.”
Then Lucas said, “I am not your friend,” so that the words coursed through Theresa like a river of ice. We’re not going to make it through this. Paul is going to die.
Then Lucas added, “More than that, Chris, I’m beginning to doubt your commitment to this endeavor.”
“Don’t doubt me yet, Lucas. I might have a solution. There’s a shipment of cash scheduled to arrive this morning. It’s only three million, but at least we mere human beings can touch it without triggering a mechanical lockdown.”
“You trying to haggle with me, Chris? This is priceless. Someone over there decided that these people aren’t worth four million, only three? Or that you only want three-quarters of them back, is that it? Then I might as well kill the last quarter of the group, if I’m not going to get paid for them anyway.”
“Come on,” Theresa said to Jason. “Let’s get that car down there so at least that will be in place.”
“But the tow—”
“We don’t need a tow. I’ll just drive the damn
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