Wired - Douglas E. Richards [93]
Kira glared at him but said nothing.
“Your chances of escape are exceedingly small. But I’m a careful man, and you have an impressive history. So I’ve implanted this explosive device to be on the safe side. Just in case you do manage to pull off a miracle and escape, or think you see an opening to kill me while you or Desh are still hostages.” He paused. “So until you’ve given me your secret, if I happen to end up dead somehow, you’ll have until the clock strikes ten, either a.m. or p.m., whichever is closer, to say your prayers. With me dead, the sterilization plan goes forward automatically. And even if you managed to escape and kill me right after I’ve reset the timer, you would only have twelve hours to stop my plans. Even with your skills, even taking multiple doses of your treatment, you’d never be able to do it in that short of a time.”
“You’re bluffing,” said Kira. “Implanting an explosive device in my skull would be risking my death, leaving you no way to get the secret of longevity you so desperately want.”
Sam shook his head. “No risk at all. I have every intention of resetting it every twelve hours religiously—as long as I’m in good health. The only way you die is if I’m already dead, and at that point the fountain of youth won’t do me a lot of good.”
“No risk at all?” said Kira scornfully. “You’re more insane than I thought. What if the receiver fails? And what if your signal can’t make it down to this basement and through my skull? How many bars of reception do you think I get inside my head, anyway?” Her lip curled up in disgust. “Take it out.”
Sam’s eyes blazed, betraying a rage at having been spoken to in this manner, but only for a moment. His eyes quickly returned to normal and he smiled serenely. “Not to worry. The device has two receivers for redundancy. And while the explosive is a few centimeters deep in your skull, the receivers are affixed just a few millimeters below the surface of your skin. And they’re next generation. Won’t be available to the public for another year. Nothing but the best for you, my dear. You could be in a coal mine in West Virginia with your head in a freezer and my call would make it through.”
Kira glared at him but said nothing.
Sam pushed himself off his perch on the table to a standing position on the concrete floor. “So let’s review your options,” he said. “Option one: you tell me the secret, and no one’s reproductive abilities have to be destroyed. I remove the explosive device from your skull and you live a life of luxury—heavily supervised luxury, but luxury nonetheless—while you continue to work on immortality.”
Sam smiled insincerely. “Option two: you don’t tell me, our generation will be the end of the line for humanity, and you’ll end up telling me your secret and working on immortality eventually anyway.”
Kira’s eyes continued to burn with a seething hatred. “As I’ve said,” she hissed in barely contained, clipped tones. “I need to verify that you can do what you say before I make any decisions.”
Sam nodded. “I’ll make sure you get all the evidence you need.”
36
David Desh realized it was time to turn his attention toward escape. Even though his watch had been removed and he had been unconscious for an extended period since he had last looked at it, his mind had somehow kept perfect track of time. It was nearing 10 o’clock. Sam’s discussion had come to a somewhat logical conclusion, and he would need to leave and reset the booby trap in Kira’s head. He had no doubt planned to end the conversation just prior to having to reset his device for dramatic effect.
When Sam left, would he leave them alone, handcuffed, or would he have them actively guarded? Desh raced through probabilities and options, considering and discarding dozens of strategies. His mind seized on one he thought had a good chance of succeeding. But he would need to