Chapter 206: on the Lamb With Lucy

During the next two weeks the three of us toured The British Isles. We saw the white cliffs of Dover from a boat tour. We saw the coal mining towns of Wales from pedal bikes. After a day on the pedal bike, I was in pain again. Fortunately I had plenty of pain killers and they were all legal.

The third week of our tour we were off to Ireland. The tour was filling Lucy's computer with first hand experiences. Not even her builders knew her capacity for learning, so the tour was laid out to just throw things at her. After Ireland the team came over to evaluate Lucy's performance and her state of mind, if there were such a thing, at that time.

The two day evaluation gave me time to rest and catch up on my TV shows on the computer. After Ireland we were back in the London hotel operated as a CIA front. The scientists had taken over the ballroom downstairs as well as most of the top floor. Lucy came in to sleep with me at night, otherwise I saw very little of her over those two days.

"Maxine we need to talk," Priest said to me on the third day.

"You have my attention," I said it over breakfast in the hotel's dining room.

"I think you will agree that Lucy has made tremendous progress in her assimilation abilities. She might be considered a quirky academic, if dropped into a social setting." Priest said.

"I can see that. She would be the nerd nest door kind of thing, but anyone who had a good knowledge of how things work, would know she was different." I suggested.

"Yes she still has a ways to go, but I am very pleased with her progress. You two seem to be a good fit," he suggested.

"Don't get any ideas, when my contract time is up, I'm out of here," I said.

"I hope you change your mind, but if you don't, we will still part friends. You have given the project a huge lift. Lucy might have learned from anyone, but she has learned from you and it seem to be the perfect environment for her." Priest said.

"I have no idea what her mission is, but she can be a great resource. I'm not sure how much creative thinking she can do, but she is still a huge asset," I said.

"Actually, you just cut right to the heart of it. We would like for you to begin teaching her how to problem solve on her own. Give her the perimeters, and the outcome you want, then see what she comes up with. If it isn't too far off the wall, try it and see what she learns from it."

"You know this could get messy?" I asked.

"I trust you will keep it manageable. Lucy listens to you and gives your advice and opinions more weight than anyone else. We didn't program that into her. She has made her own value judgment, which is also a huge step forward." Priest said. "She has also played a million video games and is proficient at them all, which should help her with her creative thinking.

Yes, but they are structured, real life isn't," I suggested.

"That is also true, Once you learn one game, it is easier to play the next." Priest said.

"The same is somewhat true of life's real situations." I agreed...

We left England the next day unexpectedly. But only Lucy and I traveled together. Lamar shadowed us on a different train to dover then a different ferry to France. In Calais we were on our own. Since we started in the middle of the night. we arrive in Calais early in the morning.

"So Lucy I just know you plugged into the Internet last night when you found out where we were headed." I said.

"Yes I did," she admitted.

"So here we are in Calais, where do we go from here it's up to you. I will not make this decision." I said forcefully.

"I don't really have a preference," she said.

"Then we will sit on this dock till hell freezes over," I replied with a smile.

"Alright then Paris," she said.

"No too easy anywhere else in France and we will go there. Not Paris it's too obvious. Lamar could find us there. We are going to drop off the radar for a week at least. No big brother watching over us." I said.

"But I have a tracking device," she informed me.

"I expected that to be the case. For this exercise the tracking device had been disabled. So where to my little runaway?" I asked. Not only did she have a working tracking device, but I was sure that our conversations were being monitored as well.

She didn't have to think long, but she did it out loud. "So they have tracked us this far, but from here we plan to leave no trail. We need cash." she informed me.

"Well they know we are here, lets go to a bank and convert some plastic to cash. How much cash do you think we need."

"Maybe a thousand US dollars?' she asked.

"Don't ask me tell me. How many euros is that?" I asked.

"700 more or less at the current rate," she said.

"Then that's our budget for this escape," I said. "We will have to be frugal. The ball is still in your court. Where do we go? You think about it while I get the cash."

The CIA had given me a credit card with a unlimited draw. I'm sure there was a limit, but they didn't expect me to reach it. I went into a bank presented it along with my passport and left with 700 euros. When I turned from the teller window, there was Lucy and she wore her first spontaneous smile.

She rattled off a name I could never pronounce or even come close to spelling. It sounded a little like Marie Stew so that's how I thought of it. "So how far to Marie Stew?" I asked. She smiled again, because she remembered my habit of renaming places for my own convenience.