“I have to agree—but it’s still pretty cool. Is that where the relay is too?”
“Yes. That’s what I’m calling about. Could you get it out of there before she finds it, and hang on to it until I see you next? She’s probably not the kind of person who’d get mad about something like that if she did find it, but why risk it?”
“Okay, sure—if I get a chance. You said in a pouch in her laptop?”
“Inside the lid. There’s a row of elastic pockets for holding diskettes and stuff. The relay is in a black plastic pack with a rubber band around it—it’s a two-inch card with some chips and a couple of batteries.”
“I’ll see what I can do. . . .” Kevin glanced huffily at the mec still staring at him from his bookshelf. “And we need to call a truce on this business right now, Taki. I don’t think I like the thought of being spied on like this anytime, anywhere in my own house. So let’s draw the line right here, okay?”
“Okay. You’ve got it.”
There was a tap on the door, and Harriet stuck her head in. “Anyhow, I have to go,” Kevin said, nodding at her and speaking into the phone. “I’ll do that thing for you if I can. You take care, okay?”
“Thanks, Kev. Talk to you later.” Taki hung up. Kevin replaced the phone and looked at Harriet.
“It looks as if Vanessa and Michelle will be finished soon downstairs,” she said. “And Beverley called from the office with some figures that your father said you wanted.” Beverley was Eric’s secretary at Neurodyne.
“Oh, great. They must be the scaling constants.”
“I haven’t the faintest idea. They’re written down in the kitchen. Oh, and speaking of kitchens, a tin of black, sticky, nasty-smelling stuff has appeared by the side of the sink. You wouldn’t know anything about it, by any chance?”
“Oh, yeah, right. That’s mine. I’ll move it.”
Kevin got up to follow Harriet back down. As he turned to close the door, he looked across at the mec again. Just for a moment, he thought he caught it starting to wave at him. . . . But then again, he could have been mistaken.
He heard Vanessa talking as he and Harriet reached the bottom of the rear stairs. “Oh, Eric’s up to his eyes in something or other all the time. But there’s no need to tie him up with this. I’ll have Phil Garsten call you first thing tomorrow morning. He can give you all the details.” She was coming through the door from the den. Michelle answered, following immediately behind her.
“I’m glad I stopped by. Things still get done quicker face-to-face in the long run. Is Kevin in? I wouldn’t want to rush off without saying hello.”
“He should be about somewhere. . . .” Vanessa looked around as Harriet appeared through the archway from the rear hall. “Have you seen Kevin anywhere, Harriet? Ms. Lang was just—oh, there he is. Kevin, Ms. Lang is just about to leave. She wanted to pay her regards.” Harriet nodded and disappeared in the direction of the kitchen.
Michelle smiled. “Hi, Kevin.”
“Hi.” The wheels in Kevin’s head slammed to a halt. Again, the adult knack for instantly following up with something that didn’t sound dumb eluded him.
Michelle smiled. “Well, you’ll be pleased to know that I seem to have survived it all without mishap—no midnight screams or trips to a psychiatrist.” She was carrying a burgundy attaché case, Kevin saw. There was no sign of a laptop.
“That’s pretty good, I guess,” he responded. Maybe they spent hours thinking things up and then waited for the right occasion. Or was it that they’d just had more time to collect material?
“Oh yes, and while I think of it—did you run me a copy of those movie clips that you told me about? They sounded fascinating.”
She remembered! Kevin nodded a head of shaggy dark hair. “Yes. It’s down in the mec lab.”
“Do you want to run down and fetch it?” Vanessa said.
“Sure.”
“I’ll come with you and pick it up,” Michelle suggested. She looked at Vanessa. “Then we won’t have to keep you standing here waiting. I can go out the back way and walk around to the car. Kevin will see me out.”