Chapter 303

"To be honest you probably know more about my strength and weakness than I do. I bounce from one thing to another without much direction these days. My family and friends back home think I am a traitor."

"What do you think?" I asked. She looked at me with an odd expression. "Do you feel like a traitor."

"I had a really terrible choice. Tell the Russian thugs who had their missile, or allow radical thugs to have a huge weapon with unthinkable possibilities. No matter what I chose to do, somebody would see it as wrong. It was wrong to allow mass destruction, and wrong to betray my own people to strangers. In the end I chose humanity over lesser concerns."

"That is so inspiring," I said. After a moment I went on, "Now why did you really choose the Russians over your friends?"

"They weren't my friends. We lived in the same village that did not make us friends. Everyone knew they were radicals, but everyone knew that they were dangerous as well. Everyone knew that they would kill anyone who didn't go along with them.

The Russians grabbed me and persuaded me to help them. They hurt me and threatened to do a lot worse. Finally they offer to move me away afterward. That was the thing which made the difference. So here I am with only minor injuries."

"Believe it or not knowing that you are flexible is a positive. So here is the deal, I need someone to run errands for me. Those errands might be going to search an apartment without the owner's permission, or it might be delivering a package without opening it. Mostly I need someone whose morals are flexible," I said.

"Aren't you worried that I will betray you?" she asked.

"I am counting on you holding out till you get a better offer. It will have to be as good an offer as the one the Russians gave you. You have to know that if you betray me, and I live, I will hunt you down. Everything you know or have heard about me should tell you that."

"Yes, I do understand that. So do I go on the payroll or do you pay me by the job?" she asked.

"I think that is up to you. Do you want regular hours or do you want freedom?" I put it to her straight.

"I need a regular income to be honest Maxine," she stated.

"Okay how much do you need and how much time can you give me and what hours?" I was going to have to devise something for her to do.

"Can I think about it overnight?" she asked.

"Good, I will do the same." I handed her a card with my super duper smart phone number. Actually the super duper smart phone had more than one number.

Sylvia got around town on a moped. I honestly thought it made perfect sense for her. It kept her expenses down and allowed her to still have reasonable mobility. Now and then I would need to supply her with a car for my work.

It seemed time for me to set up that company as Jennifer had been after me to do. I could buy a car in the company name and maybe even move the woody into the company name. I would have a lot of things to consider but those kinds of things kept me from being bored.

What the hell do you think you are doing? the farm boys asked silently, as I rode the bike home.

I'm managing my life just as you hoped I would, I replied.

You should be consulting with us on this kind of thing, the controller informed me.

Bullshit, if you didn't want me to do this kind of thing, you would have just improved the Eve model. Every Eve in the field takes someone operating her 24hours a day, plus oversight and planning people. You must be running six to ten people continuously to keep one Eve in the field, I said.

You are not that much better, the controller informed me.

I would be if you trusted me and backed the fuck off. I do not need a controller sitting there 24/7 and you know it. I can operate just as I did before that fuckhole shot me in the back. You know as well as I do, that the plan is to one day have a case officer with a smarter than smart phone in his pocket. He will contact me, when there is something you want done. I will contact him, when I need something from you.

Otherwise I am an on the shelf weapons system just sitting in some rinky dinky little town, trying to stay out of trouble and do some good, while I wait to go kill someone for you, I said it then had my silent laugh at his or her expense.

So what do you plan to do with a company of your own. We will have to approve it of course, the voice said.

You want to approve every fucking house I buy and renovate? I asked.

We want to approve every operation which might bring you to the attention of the authorities, any authority at all. We certainly expect you to get into a reasonable amount of fringe work, but do not take anything that might bring you to our attention in a negative way. We can exert more control, if we choose to do so, the voice said. The voice made it sound like they had been expecting this kind of thing from me or something like it.

I'm just trying to get the program to where we both want it. You know, that I already go for days without any input from you guys. I don't need a controller hovering over me. I know you have auto control systems. Even now some things trigger the controllers attention other things just go directly into the never ending file system. I might not be a genius like you guys, but I'm not an idiot.

So call your friend and set up your company. Just be careful who your clients are and what you get yourself into.

I waited until I got home before I called Jennifer. "Jen," I said once I got past the receptionist du jour,. "I'm finally ready to set up that management company you have been bugging me about. Kate is history, I want to set up something with one of my expats as manager,"