Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe Part 6

James studied the floor between them.

"A feint isn't a move, it's a threatThe first time, when I just pointed the sword at you, I made a moveYou didn't feel threatened, so you didn't reactThe second time, you felt threatened and reactedThat was a feint.i.t isn't done with the sword or even the sword armIt's done with the entire body, and most of all with the entire mindNow, let's try it again."

James obediently took up his position in front of the robot againHosato's practiced eye noted the ten-sion still in the boy's sword armApparently his stu- dent was getting tiredThey'd have to end this lesson soon.

The boy feinted and attacked, better than last time but still clumsySurprisingly, Suzi reacted, moving smoothly to parry the feintThe boy's disengage slipped under the parry, and his point thumped home against the manikin.

"Good!" Hosato called"Try it again."

To himself, he wondered for the hundredth time about Suzi's circuitsIf the Hungarian had not a.s.sured him time and time again Suzi had no emotional capac-ity, he would have sworn she was going soft, overre-acting to give James confidence.

He let James complete half a dozen repet.i.tions be-fore commenting again.

"Much better," he called out at last"Okay, let's call it a day."

The quick sag in the boy's body betrayed his care-fully concealed fatigueHosato pretended not to no-tice.

"Tell you what, James," he said"When you get home, find a full-length mirror and practice your lunge in front of it, lunging dead ahead at your own reflectionThen alternate the lunges with feintsWhen you can't see the difference between your lunges and your feints, you'll be ready to fool an opponent."

The boy nodded weakly.

"Okay," Hosato concluded, turning quickly away to store his gear in Suzi"Same time tomorrow?"

"Urn. HayamaCould. can we talk?"

Hosato shot a glance at the boyHe was still droop-ing with fatigue, but there was something intense about his eyes.

"Sure, James." He smiled, wandering over to a folding chair"What's on your mind?"

The boy hesitated, then followed him"I've been taking lessons for two weeks now." he began, ". and you say I've been learning fast."

"You have." Hosato wondered what this conversa-tion was leading to.

"You meant it, didn't youYou weren't just saying that?"

"Seriously, James, you're one of the best students I." He broke off his comments as a thought oc-curred to him"You haven't gotten into a duel, have you?"

Hosato was suddenly towering over the boy.

"WhatNoNothing like that."

"Good." Hosato sighed, sinking back into his chair_"What is it, then?"

"I. I was wonderingDo I show enough promise for you to take me with you. as sort of an ap-prentice?"

Hosato was surprised by the sudden wave of af-fection he felt for the boy.

"James," he said, shaking his head slowly, "being a duelist is a lousy way to earn a livingThat's why I'm trying to give it upYou wouldn't-"

"I'm not talking about being a duelist or a fencing master."

The sharpness in James's tone brought Hosato's head up with a snapTheir eyes met.

"That isn't what you're doing here, Hayama." The boy's voice was as steady as his gaze"You know it, and I know it, so let's not kid each otherOkay?"

Hosato's protest died in his throat before that gazeInstead, he studied the boy coolly for several mo-ments.

"All right, James," he said at last"What is it ex-actly that you think I'm doing?"

"I. I don't know," the boy admitted, his cer-tainty faltering at last"Theft maybe industrial espionage maybe you're just hiding from the au-thoritiesWhatever it is, you're no fencing coach."

"Really?" Hosato forced a mocking smile.

"Oh, you can coach fencing, all right, but that's not all you can doMaybe you can fool my father, or Sasha, or even the computers, but remember, I'm the one you kicked your first day hereI have that as proof that you and Suzi there are more than you pre-tend to be."

"If you're so sure of yourself, James, why haven't you reported your suspicions to someone?"

James made a face"First of all, they'd probably just laugh it off as some kid whining about losing a fightBut more important, because I'm hoping you'll take me with you when you finally leave this rock-pile."

Hosato shook his head"I don't understand you, JamesYou want to take off with someone you don't know, someone you think is a criminalWhat kind of future is thatWhat are you expecting?"

"What kind of future do I have here?" the boy countered"Whatever or whoever you are, you're liv-ing outside the structure outside the accepted rulesThat's what I want, but I can't do it by myselfI don't have the money or the knowledge to try it on my own, and when you're playing for keeps, you can't afford to learn by trial and errorI need a teacher or a protector and so far, you're the best candidate I've found."

"What's so bad about life here?" Hosato pressed"Your father-"

"My father!" The boy sneered"My father can't comprehend that anyone might not want to work for the corporations, the same corporations that have shelved himThey've decided he's too volatile and outspoken to be promoted, but too talented to let goSo they've set him up as a big man in a little slot, given him a staff to order around and a product fam-ily so stable even an idiot couldn't mess it up, and then they forget him."

"Maybe your father doesn't see it that way."

"Sure he doesHe's a lot of things, but he isn't stupidHe knows he's been shelved, but instead of walking out and trying it on his own, he's fighting itSecurity robotsA revolutionary new productDid you know he's been ordered to drop the projectAnd he's still spending fourteen hours a day working on itFor whatSo he can get slapped down again when he finally makes his proposal?"

"Why is everyone against the project?"

"They say it can't be doneRobots can't handle Security, and it's a waste of company time pursuing it."

"Surely he has something that makes him believe it's possible."

"All I know is he keeps saying."

James suddenly broke off his oration in mid-sentenceHis eyes searched Hosato's with a new in-tensity.

"Is that it?" he asked.

"Is what what?"

"The security robotsIs that what you're doing hereIs that why you're pumping me for informa-tion?"

Hosato heaved a great sigh and stood up"James, I think this has gone far enoughI don't know what problems there are between you and your father, and I don't want to knowWhat I do know is that it's highly improbable you'll convince me to be an ac-complice if you want to run away from here."

"But-"

Hosato halted the interruption with an upraised hand.

"I've listened to you, now it's my turnYesYou're rightI know karateI usually don't admit it because I'm sick of everybody a.s.suming anyone with yellow skin is a karate expertI used it on you that first day for the same reason Suzi gimmicked the tapesI needed the jobI was hungry, and the only other way I could get money was killing people, and I'm sick of it."

He fixed James with a hard stare.

"Now, if you want to report that to Sasha and get me tossed out of a job, go aheadI don't want it bad enough to put up with being called a thief and a liar."

He started for the door, with Suzi floating at his heelsAt the last moment, another thought occurred to him.

"Remember this conversation, JamesRemember what I have to do, what I have to put up with just to eatThen think long and hard before you make any serious moves toward an independent life."

"But what if one of the units breaks down?"

Hosato interjected the question casually as he or-dered another round of drinks through the keyboard mounted on the tableAt this time of day the bar was empty and they could talk uninterrupted.

"Not much chance of that." His companion gri-maced"And even if it did, nothing much would hap-pen."

There was a soft warning gong, and the square in the center of the table sank slowly from sightA few moments later, it sighed back into position, the empty gla.s.ses gone and fresh drinks standing in their place.

"Nothing much?" Hosato prompted"With no one monitoring the manufacturing area, I should think it would have major problems, if not a permanent work stoppage."

The little bearded maintenance man shook his head slightly, but not enough to interrupt his drinking.

"That's what I'm telling you, Hayama," he said, putting down his gla.s.s at last"The new system's modularized with parallel units and flow monitorsIf anything goes wrong, anything at all, the d.a.m.n ma-chines pull the entire unit and slap another one in placeDown time would only be about fifteen min-utes thirty at the max."

Hosato shook his head, setting his gla.s.s down with-out drinking.

"I don't know, RickIt still sounds to me like you could get yourself in a lot of troubleYou've got a Mexican standoff between Maintenance and Security over who's responsible for watching the manufactur- ing areaIf anything goes wrong, someone's going to get blamed, and from where I sit, that'll be Main-tenance."

"Don't worry about it," his friend insisted"Nothing major can go wrong, not the way it's set up nowAt best, a mechanical failure would be a nuisanceWe're just hoping there'll be enough nuisances to prove our point."

"How can you be that sureI mean, surely there's some point of vulnerability that could send things in-to a tailspin."

"Let me tell you, HayamaI've been working here for twelve yearsI've seen almost everything imagina-ble go wrong at one time or another-the plumbing, the machines, the life-support systems everythingBut I haven't seen anything yet break down that couldn't be fixed or replaced in minimal time, and that was before the modular systemI remember one time-"

A high beeping interrupted his orationWith a sigh he thumbed a b.u.t.ton on the side of his belt pager and stood up.

"No rest for the wicked, I guess," he grumbled, tossing down the last of his drinkThen he reached forward and punched the keyboard with practiced ease"I'll get this tabHave one more on me, okayI've got to run."

Hosato smiled and waved as the maintenance man departedAs soon as he was out of sight, however, the smile dropped from his face like a mask.

The table bonged again as his fresh drink rose into view, but he didn't even look at itInstead, he stared intently at the far wall as he tried to organize his thoughts.

Well, Suzi, he thought, there's good news and bad newsThe good news is that no one's watching the manufacturing areasThe bad news is that, according to the maintenance crew, the production lines can't be gimmicked.

That was their opinionHosato would have to be convincedThere was a big difference between coin- cidental machine failure and deliberate sabotage.

Unfortunately, that also meant he was going to have to scout it himselfHe had hoped that wouldn't be necessaryThat's why he had sought out the talka-tive little mechanic, sprawled in his favorite barThe right words would have saved him a lot of trouble"If the Z units go, we're all out of workIf you look sideways at the W runners, they stop dead. I keep telling them there's no backup for the four- wheels, but no one listens" Any phrase like that would have given him a targetInstead, he was going to have to do his own dirty work.

Well, he hadn't really expected the answer to fall into his lapHe had hoped, but he hadn't really counted on itThat's why he was wearing his Ninja suit.

He stood up and reached for his employee card, then remembered Handel had already paid for the drinksRick was a nice guyIt was a shame he was going to have to put him out of work, along with the rest of McCrae Enterprises.

Hosato paused for a moment after emerging from the bar's dimness to let his eyes adjust to the lightOne of Sasha's guards was walking past and swept him with an impersonal gazeHosato smiled and nodded a greeting, which was ignored.

He wasn't worried about detection, yetAt the mo-ment, his Ninja suit looked like an ordinary turtleneck jumpsuit with wide turnback cuffsThis was no acci- dentPart of invisibility was being able to blend with the general populace before and after the job, and the suit was designed to enable him to do precisely that.

Setting his legs for a purposeful stride, he left the mall and living quarters and headed into the tunnels leading to the other buildings of the complexThere were occasional security guards about, but none paid him particular attention.

The boldness of a daytime scouting mission had its advantagesIf seen, he would be a.s.sumed to be going about normal businessAt night, the only ones mov-ing about would be him and the guards, which would immediately arouse suspicions.

As he navigated the tunnels, he debated trying for one of the buildings housing a product family other than Turner'sIt would be better if he practiced his trade in another area to avoid throwing immediate suspicion on himself as a member of Turner's staffAs quickly as the thought occurred to him, he re-jected itBefore he could make his penetration, he first had to traverse the corridorsIf he were seen in a building other than where the guards were used to seeing him, the balloon would go up and he'd have a great deal of difficulty explaining his presenceNo, it would have to be Turner's building.

That decision made, he turned up the flight of stairs leading to his chosen targetWhen he reached the second landing, instead of continuing up to the office levels, he paused in front of a small metal door in the wall marked "Maintenance Access."

He shot a quick glance up and down the stairs, but for the moment he was aloneActually, even if he were observed at this point, he was relatively safeThis was a scouting mission only, and as such he had no incriminating equipment or explosives on his per-son that would betray his true intent if seen or searched.

Working quickly, but with careful precision, he pulled out the winding stem of his wrist.w.a.tch and swept it over the door and frameThe second hand, now still, showed no new movement.

Apparently the door was what it seemed, a plain metal door with no lockThere were no indications of electric currents to betray a hidden alarm system.

Hosato stared at the door for a momentThe big question was, what was on the other side of the doorA guardA cameraIt was ludicrous to believe an outfit as security-conscious as McCrae would leave this vital pa.s.sage vulnerableWell, there was only one way to find outFixing an expression of mild curiosity on his face, he opened the door and looked inside.

A low, dimly lit corridor stretched away before him for some thirty feet before terminating in an abrupt right turnCurious.

He stretched his arm in and swept the floor, walls, and ceiling immediately inside the door with his wrist-watchNothing.

Gritting his teeth, he stepped inside and let the door shut behind himNothing happened.

He waited impatiently for his eyes to adjust to the gloomIt was here somewhereHe could feel it instinc-tivelySomewhere nearby was an alarm waiting to be triggeredThe question was, could he find and iden-tify it before it alerted the guards to his presence?

Cautiously he edged forwardHe studied the walls, ceiling, and floor for telltale openings or holes, while at the same time he swept the same surfaces with his wrist.w.a.tchIt was here somewhere.

Ten feet down the corridor, he found itUncon-sciously he nodded to himself with professional ad-miration and satisfactionVery neat.

The second hand on his watch jumped, indicating the presence of electrical currents under the 'floorProbably pressure plates set to trigger an alarm if anyone walked across that portion of the corridorShort of tearing up the floor, there was no way of deactivating the trap or telling how far down the cor-ridor it extended, so he probably couldn't jump over it.i.t was a very effective system, which would catch the average intruder before he detected it, and stop him coldFortunately, Hosato didn't fit into that category.

He scanned the walls with his watchAs he sus-pected, they were free of alarms.

He sighed inwardlyWell, this was itBeyond this point he could no longer claim to be lost or curious if caughtThere was no way in which someone could casually or accidentally bypa.s.s this trapPenetration beyond this point could only be calculated and delib-erate.

Squatting down, he pressed the bottoms of his pants legs against the sides of his boots, taking care to be sure the proper electrical contacts were madeStanding again, he unrolled the turtleneckIt was longer than it appeared, coming up over his head and sealing with the same type of fitting that attached his pants to his boots, leaving him peering out two narrow eye slits in the resulting hoodFinally he folded the wide sleeve cuffs down over his hands and sealed themAs the final connection was made, sealing him in com-pletely, the Ninja suit activated itselfHe was ready.

Stepping to the wall, he pressed his palms against it, then one kneeThen he picked up his other leg, and, suspended in midair, pressed the knee against the wall.

He hesitated for a moment, then pulled one hand free and pressed it against the wall a foot farther down the corridor; then he pulled his other hand free and repeated the process.