Net Force - Tom Clancy [95]
He had to get out of VR now!
The damage-to-system warning light flashed on his computer, along with the vox: Warning! System Failure! Warning! System Failure!
Plekhanov degeared and slapped at the power switch, killed the juice to his computer, not bothering with the emergency shut-down procedures. Data would be corrupted, the OS would be mangled and the VR was probably a total loss. None of that mattered when seconds counted for escape or capture.
Damn, damn, damn! How had they found him?
How much did they know?
Sunday, October 3rd, 3:10 p.m. Quantico
Ahead of them, the Corvette exploded into a bright flash of light, then vanished.
Shit! Jay said.
There he goes, Tyrone said to Bella. He spotted us and crashed out. To Jay, he said, You get anything useful?
Yeah, yeah, I think so. He was on the road to Central Asia-Russia, one of the CIS, maybe. He might have turned off at the India Road up ahead, or been going on through to the Orient, but if he was planning to head south, he should have cut that way a hundred klicks back. Besides, he doesnt drive like any Japanese or Korean Ive ever seen. I think he was going home, and I think he drives like a Russian.
What is he talking about? Bella said.
Tyrone explained it to her, about programmers styles.
Were gonna have to take what weve got home and study it, Jay said. Maybe we got enough to nail this sucker.
Sunday, October 3rd, 3:23 p.m. Quantico
Michaels waved his phone circuit to life. Yes?
Boss, Jay Gridley. We got something on the guy who has been giving us fits in Europe and Asia.
Michaels felt a quick stab of disappointment. Steve Day was higher up on his personal priority list right at the moment; still, the other business was more important for Net Force, even if his career did go down in flames. Thats great, Jay.
Ill be in there as soon as Ive tied up the loose ends, Jay added.
As soon as Michaels discommed, the phone cheeped again.
Hello?
Hey, Dadster!
Hey, Kidster.
You sleeping late?
Three-thirty in the afternoon and she wanted to know if he was still in bed. He smiled. Nope, Im at work.
As a matter of course, Net Force had an agent keeping an eye on Susie, plus the local cops had been alerted, but there hadnt been any signs of trouble so far.
Mom got the visual fixed. Scope it out.
The image of his daughter blinked onto his computer screen. She wore blue coveralls and a red T-shirt. Her hair was shorter than he remembered; she must have gotten it cut. What a beautiful child she was, a younger image of her mother. That was a totally objective thought, of course, her being beautiful. He grinned, tapping the camera control to send his visual to her.
Whoa, Dadster, you look like Dracs old granny.
Who is Dracs granny?
Come on, you dont watch Dracs Pack! Its only the number-one entcom anywhere, Dad! Vince OConnell is Drac, Stella Howard is his wife, Brad Thomas Jones is the son? The old granny is the mom from Chunk Monks? Are you living on the moon?
He grinned again. I havent had much chance to watch the entcom casts lately.
Its a great show, you should watch it. Anyway, you look awful. Youre not sick, are you?
Nope. Just tired. Working too hard, not getting enough rest. But I got a dog, though.
A dog! An RW dog, not a sim?
Yep.
What kind? When did you get it? Will you bring it with you when you come for my play? How big is it? Whats its name? What color is it? Is it smart?
He laughed. Its a toy poodle, his name is Scout and hes about as big as a medium-sized cat. Hes pretty smart. I think hell like you.
Too shiny! She glanced off camera, then yelled: Mom! Dad got a dog! Hes going to bring it when he comes to visit!
He heard his ex-wife mutter something in the background.
You think hell like me?
Im sure he will, sweetie.
Watching her, the thought about leaving Washington and moving out West came up again. It sounded better all the time. Of course, he would rather go out with his banner held high, not dragging