Chapter 11

[] 

Thallin paused, thinking. I could tell he was trying to come up with a way out of this. <I can think of several, Braywater, but I'm not telling,> I thought. Then his expression changed as he sighed, "Oh boy." 

Then he grinned at me, suddenly, and started talking. He said, "I was born on..." 

"Not that beginning!" I snapped. Then, calmly, "Alright... Let me see," I said, putting my finger to my chin. "Ah. Tell me about Izi. Who is she?" 

"Her name is Izabelle Fate," he replied, "and her rank is Lieutenant Jg. She's twenty-one years old, and was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Claire and Jack. She's a Veritech pilot who's working with me on the VX-001. We're experimenting with a full immersion virtual interface system. Er... She's got brown hair..." 

"Thanks," I stopped him. "That should be enough about Lieutenant Fate's records for the moment. Why was she completely naked when I came in earlier? And why did she say she didn't have any clothes?" 

"She... er... was caught in a bad situation during the attack on Macross, and the only clothes she had were destroyed." 

"But that was several months ago, Thallin." 

"We hadn't been able to acquire any until now. Er... actually, I... we've been so busy since the attack that we just haven't had time to think about it. In fact, I'd have to say she's been completely immersed in our work." I could almost see a wry grin appear on his face. 

"Hrm. Alright. Now, how come she clunked me over the head for my clothes, then?" I said, shifting the ice bag carefully and wincing, making sure he noticed. 

"I'm not quite sure about that. I'm sure she would be able to answer that question better than I can. I might venture to say that all the work and stress from the experiment has her more than a little addled, though. That could certainly be the reason for her odd behaviour." 

I nodded at this, <He could be right, but it doesn't quite feel right. There's something more.> "Okay, Thallin. That helps out on those points, but now you've got me wondering about this experiment you're working on. What's it about?" I took a sip of my chocolate, letting the warm, soft flavour flow right through me. <God, I love this stuff.>"The experiment... well... What did you say your clearance was again?" 

"I don't know the official term yet, but I'm a commanding officer in charge of sixteen pilots and a full support crew." <As soon as I find out who they are.> "That should count for something." 

"Well, I don't know... I'll tell you the official spiel, though. The VX-001 project is an experiment in radio control Veritechs. Through the use of virtual reality and a complex control computer, we seek to take the pilot out of the danger of the combat field while simultaneously improving the capabilities of the Veritech. Once the pilot is removed from the external equation, a mess of problems can be eliminated, such as the effects of G-force on human pilots. A normal human pilot can only withstand nine gravities, even then only for a short time. The Veritechs themselves can handle forces much stronger. If a pilot doesn't have to worry about G.L.O.C., he can pull off some rather fantastic maneouvers. Ones that would have killed him if he were in the plane." 

I asked, "Gee-Lock? What's that stand for?" 

"Oh, sorry. That's 'Gravity Induced Loss of Consciousness.' I'm sure you've experienced it before, or have come close to it, being a pilot." 

"Alright. Go on, then," I urged. <This is some good stuff. I just hope I can remember it all.> I patted my suit's pockets, looking, without hope, for my tape recorder. It wasn't there. 

"There are other advantages, too. The space that would normally be taken up by the pilot can be used for other things, except for the nominal amount of space that would be required by the additional control circuitry and computer hardware." 

I interrupted, "Computer hardware? Tell me, Thallin: Would this plane of yours use standard Veritech computers? The components would be the same, right? Things like navigational equipment, damage control systems, movement and transformation hardware, and combat computers?" 

"Err... Yes... the components they use are very similar." Then he paused, scratching his chin and avoiding the cold look I was giving him, then he continued, "In fact, we can... and did... use stock standard parts for our repairs." 

"Where and when, exactly, did you get these 'stock standard parts,' Thallin?" I asked, with an evil hint to my voice. I wanted to make it apparent to him that he was going to die if he had done what I thought he had done. 

"We took them from your Veritech, right before the transformation battle." He lightly squeezed his mug for a moment, and then he met my gaze. "I apologise sincerely for that. I had no idea that your Veritech had been stationed to this hangar, and I assumed that Izabelle had requisitioned it for replacement parts. I am terribly sorry if it inconvenienced you in any way." 

<Aargh! I wish he weren't so cute!> "Well, I could have been killed, but I wasn't, so I guess I have to forgive you. But, Thallin, remember this: 'Never assume anything, because it makes an Ass out of U and Me.'" <I can't remember how many times my father said that to me.> "Don't worry about it too much, though, because it introduced me to a whole new concept of space flight. In fact, you probably saved my life," I smiled. I did my best to give him the same smile Izi had given me. I don't know if it worked. 

At that moment, Miss Fate walked back into the bay, wearing an RDF uniform that looked like it was made for a man. <Those are probably Thallin's. Don't worry, girl, I know how those feel on ya.> She walked over to us, tugging on the sleeves, which were a bit too short to be comfortable. 

She said, "Thallin, I think Kay's suggestion was valid. I think I should acquire some suitable, and fitting, attire. I hope you can see to it for me." 

Thallin was about to answer her when I interrupted. "Wait, Thallin... What time is it?" I asked, quickly getting to my feet. 

Thallin checked his wrist, but Izi immediately replied, "It is fourteen fifty-five, Kay. Why? You seem troubled." 

"I'm late for class!" I realised. I didn't want to be late to my last training class, especially when I wanted to pass on this new theory. Thallin stood up as well, and I said, "Thallin, Izabelle, I really have to go." I extended my hand toward Thallin, and he looked at it. I was about to pull my hand into a salute when he reached out, grabbed it, and shook my hand. I gave him a nod and a smile as I walked past them both. Once I reached the door, though, I turned and smiled at Izi, "It was... er, nice to meet you Lieutenant Fate. I hope to meet you again under less violent terms." Then I turned and rushed to my class. 

Turns out it was cancelled. 

Since I had another full hour before my reservation for the simulators, I went back to my office. The password prompt had timed out, so I pulled back into my personal account and started thinking. <If I could write a repetitive script program, I could crack that password, no problem. Problem is, will somebody notice? I have to risk it. I had to run out before I could ask Thallin anything about himself, so I have to find my information through here.>I immediately set about writing a program that would ask for every conceivable password in succession. It would give one password for every prompt it received, and, if it received something other than a password prompt, it would record the last sequence of characters used and back out of the location immediately. <Hopefully, it will catch the password before Thallin logs on and sees a message saying someone has been trying to get into his account.> I brought my computer back to Thallin's data prompt and started the program. It was trying one password every three quarters of a second, so I couldn't possibly sit here until it finished. 

So I went out for lunch. 

Forward to Chapter 12.
Back to Chapter 10. 

Return to the Kay Landers contents page.