Chapter 5

"I'm bored," I heard from somewhere behind me. I was working in my office at the time tending to a few of the projects I had started before I'd fallen into this brilliant scam with the girls. I suppose I could have postponed them or even quit them altogether but I'd taken them in good faith and I really hate not finishing what I started. Besides I really didn't expect even a generous finder's fee for returning the girls would make me independently wealthy; I'd hoped to live far too long for that. So, I needed to keep myself out there, make sure people could still depend on me. I have a good rep and had to make sure it stayed good.

What did I do? Actually that's a good question. The simple answer is just about anything anybody needed me to do, within limits. I said before I dealt in information and that's exactly what I did: I moved information around and collected a fee for doing it. No, I'm no computer genius; I can't hack someone's protected net, but I know someone who can. I make sure information, and money, flows from one area to the other keeping all involved happy. Nothing too illegal for the most part. You need a part for your thirty-year-old MDX 32 Surfacerunner? They haven't been made for twenty-five years so good luck finding it in the parts distribution chain. Well, I know someone who just might know where one can be found, or made, or if not I know someone who can retrofit a new part that will work. You can do that yourself, you say? Have at it, buckaroo; it's a free planet more or less.

I'm selling you the time it would take you to do it yourself. Want to find out how much overhead your competitor has for a new line they're coming out with? I can find out. You want to find some loser that owes you money? I can do that too. You want me to find you some willing young piece of ass because you're tired of your present bed toy? Go fuck yourself; I don't do that. I have standards; they may be pretty low and at times flexible, but I do have standards.

Anyway, I was sitting in my office, actually one of the spare bedrooms that I'd set up a work station in, getting some of this done when Terry found me. I know, you're thinking that with Sharon I could have done it just as easily sitting in the common area and you'd be right, but I like separating life and work; so sue me. I realize some of you A-types think that work is life but for me it isn't. I work so I can live, not the other way around.

I say she found me but it's not like I'd been hiding. I tried not to keep anything secret from the girls; there wasn't any real point to it anyway. There was one new project I didn't want them to see but that was mostly because I didn't want them to worry overly much about it; it scared the shit out of me enough for all of us. I was trying, very, very delicately, to find out just how the girls ended up in the state's meat factory and not as honored guests at the local Hilton waiting for transport back home. Somebody fucked with the system and if that somebody knew somebody else was looking into it I had to assume they wouldn't be very happy about it. So I was going slowly and making sure my sources kept a really low profile for their protection and mine. Other than that the girls were welcome to walk in on me at any time so it didn't take much effort for her to find me.

"I'm bored," Terry said again.

"So un-bore yourself," I answered glibly. If I'd have known then what I know now I would have cut my tongue out before telling Terry that, ever!

"Actually we're all bored."

"Again, so?"

"So it's your responsibility to keep us entertained," she said as if stating a fact. "You aren't doing a very good job."

"How do you figure it's my responsibility?" It had been four days and I could understand that they were probably getting a touch of Mars-fever. Terrapors are used to open spaces and Mars hasn't got much of that, not unless you suit up and go outside which is interesting for about the first five minutes. How long can dirty brown sand keep your attention? If you're like me, not long.

"You're our owner and therefore you need to exercise us." Terry seemed to take great delight in shoving that fact in my face for some reason. Eve hated the idea and never mentioned it. Keelin — well, Keelin was different. She never really mentioned it. No, what she did was much worse; she seemed to accept it as established fact. Half the time she'd follow me around like a love-sick puppy with those big green eyes and sexy little body ... I've never considered myself any kind of saint but if I manage to keep my hands off that sweet young thing until they leave I'm sure I'd have earned my ticket to heaven or wherever. I talked about it with Sharon in her head-shrink mode and she explained that Kee had fixated on me as her savior or some such rubbish. I tried not to make a big deal about it given what she had gone through but it sure was hell on me.