Water Dictatorship Part 8

"I don't know. Didn't you say that she worked for GeosWorks?" Uhura said.

"Yes." Angelo said.

"Well, once upon a time, when we wanted to find out what one company was doing, we'd go and ask their compet.i.tion." Uhura said. "Why not take advantage of all the corporate espionage?"

"Then I'll go have a talk with GeosWorks and see what they have to say." Angelo said.

"Wait for me. I've got to get some things together and then I'm ready." Uhura said.

Scott looked at her. "Why are you going?"

"Technical support. I can't really fix this mess. I'd have to rewrite certain very important pieces of Geos. Then you'd have the "Uhura Young Operating System", and there's no guarantee that anything else written for Geos would work with it." Uhura explained. "We'll have to call in Wild Bill's big guns."

"I guess I'll have to authorize it, then." Moody said. "Angelo. Make sure you have your ducks in a row before you take on John Marlowe again. If the Chief hears a whisper of a big money law suit, he'll chuck you overboard so fast your head will spin. If we have some facts to back it up with, then we might be able to turn him around on it, but I don't want to have to do it that way."

"Yes, Sir." Angelo said.

"If Angelo gets thrown to the wolves, I'll have to quit on you, Alejandro." Scott said quietly. "I might have to take some of the SIS people with me."

"Scott, if we eat a big, messy lawsuit, I don't see where there's going to be an SIS afterwards." Alejandro said. "You might find me going with you."

"All for one and one for all!" cheered Uhura.

On the plane up to Seattle, Angelo scratched an itch that bothered him. "Uhura, you said that you used to find out what was going on in the Computer industry."

"Yes, we did." She muttered. She had her lap top open and was fighting it out with the destructive anti-Geos virus.

"Where did you used to work?"

"The Government."

"What part of the Government keeps tabs on the nation's computer industry?" Angelo asked.

Uhura looked up. "There is No Such Agency." She grinned.

"Oh. So what are doing in Vista City?" Angelo asked, confused.

"Can you say 'budget cut'? I knew that you could." Uhura said.

"Sorry to hear it." Angelo said.

"I'm not. You people are much more fun. Now hush, I'm working." Uhura stuck her nose back into her computer.

They arrived in Seattle. It was a sunny day, and the smell of the ocean mixed with the subconscious bustle of a busy port town. They rented a car and drove out to the distant suburbs of the city. That far away from the ocean, the area looked like a soft green forest.

The GeosWorks complex was commonly referred to as a "Campus" and Angelo found it an apt description. They walked past an on going frisbee game. The partic.i.p.ants weren't skilled, but they seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Inside the main entrance they spoke with a very polite and friendly seeming receptionist. After listening to Uhura's description of the problem, she called for a senior manager.

George Cunningham was a round man, balding with a friendly face that showed what sort of stress he lived with. Cunningham and Uhura exchanged a spate of technical jargon. Uhura had copies of the corrupted programs with her.

"Okay." Cunningham said at length. "I've been sort of afraid of this kind of thing. Let me set up an isolated lab computer and we'll run some tests."

They left Cunningham's office and wandered deeper into the large office building. While they walked, Angelo asked Cunningham "Did you know Randi Aiken-Marlowe?"

Cunningham started. "Why, yes I did. That was before she was Mrs. Marlowe, of course. Why?"

"I used to know her, myself. I've heard that she was under a lot of stress here." Angelo said.

"Well, yeah. We all are. The industry is growing and changing at a rate that has never been seen in the world before. We're on the edge of the human performance envelope, here." Cunningham said. "How did you know Randi?"

"I met her in school at UCLA." Angelo admitted.

"You're that Angelo?" Cunningham said. "Small world."

"She mentioned me?" Angelo was taken aback.

"Only once. We had a big party after Geos 3.16 was released. It was a big push and we were all wiped out after wards. We got drunk and maudlin together. She said that she didn't realize what she had in the palm of her hand and so she threw it away. She was referring to you." Cunningham said..

"Is that what this is all about Angelo? A lost love?" Uhura asked. "How sweet. I'm sorry it worked out that way."

"Well, I wouldn't count on that." Cunningham said. "She did mention that she didn't find out until later that his parents were filthy rich. I don't know what bugged her, losing at love or losing a shot at a fortune."

"At least love was in there, somewhere." Angelo griped. His eyes felt itchy.

"Aw, Angelo." Uhura said.

"Did Randi have a problem with the pills that she took?" Angelo asked.

Cunningham shot Angelo a sharp look. "Randi never took any pills. Who told you that?"

"I heard that Bill Dornan demands such high productivity that drugs are the only way to keep up." Angelo challenged.

"No. It's true that Wild Bill likes a high pressure shop, here, but drugs? It's would be severely out of character for our corporate culture." Cunningham walked through a lobby where there was a hot dog cart serving delicious smelling sausages and hot dogs. Next to it there was a bulky cola machine. Cunningham walked up to the cola machine and slapped at a b.u.t.ton. The machine dispensed a cola to him.

"Food and caffeine laden drinks are free. The office furniture was chosen specifically for long term comfort. There are segregated men's and women's showers on the first floor. There have been people whose rents have lapsed because they stayed here so long. We all came from computer science departments. Drug use would be seen as damaging the only thing that gives you status here, your brain. We have the lowest drug and alcohol abuse rates of any industry. I knew Randi Aiken. She didn't take anything except industrial strength caffeine and sugar."

"Hmmm." Angelo said.

The lab consisted of several computers of different makes, set up on tables in a big room.

Cunningham was met by a short, thin man with black spiky hair that stood up in all directions. "What have you got for me, George?"

"This lady says she has a virus that defeated our product." Cunningham said.

"Uh huh, and were you running the virus screen?" The man asked

Uhura gave him a derisive look and they launched into another spate of technical jargon. To Angelo it had the definite sound of a duel in progress. Eventually the spiky haired man grinned. "That sounds like a challenge."

"Let's boot it up and see what happens." Uhura suggested.

"Right, We'll use number five."