The governor's limo. imcdb.org
As we were finishing dinner on the Abbott’s back deck, we heard the sounds of motors, pulling up to our front gate. Four of us hurried over to see what was going on. It was Mr. Tanaki, waving to us before we even got close. As we opened the gate I recognized the person standing beside him, it was the governor in person with two younger people behind him, his aides I presumed by their sharp attire. I invited them to join us in the living room, Jane and Samantha showing them the way while I paused for a moment to view the strange motorcade that brought them here.
There were four vehicles in all. The jeep in front had four soldiers in it, the men in the back seat holding machine guns in their laps. Behind that was an old limo from which our company must have issued and behind that two more jeeps, all of them full, all the occupants in soldier’s uniform except one in the last car, an older man with a somewhat stern look on his face, wearing a sailor’s cap and jacket as if straight off some yacht.
Scout and Mary joined me in the driveway and I asked them to see if any of these people needed food or drink or anything, as they were about to wait outside while we held our meeting.
I repaired to the house and after a few warm handshakes and introductions we all sat down to talk.
The governor began. “First of all Roland, I’d like to thank you for your plan, wholeheartedly. When we were just this side of Travis we began to see people on the road heading East, people on bicycles, others in small groups camping beside the road. As we passed Vallejo the stream increased quite a bit. Richmond must be emptying out. We had cars canvass that area yesterday and it seems to be working. You wouldn’t believe the resources and the energy we’re putting into this, and the military is fully on board. And now that Mr. Tanaki has been kind enough to loan us his jet for the duration, I’ll be able to fly around the state and get things done. The same plans for L.A. and San Diego and other cities are already in effect. Near Santa Cruz, they might be eating artichokes all summer, but they will be alive. Either way, I consider everyone we passed on that highway a life saved by you. That’s why I’m making this stop, to thank you personally for all that you’ve done.”
To this I responded, “Well we’ve been blessed in a way by a research project that Jaime here was a large part of, from a lab up on the hill, a nanochip mind enhancer that restores everyone to complete health in less than a day. We have a few on hand which we were able to save before the Russians blew it up last Saturday and I would like to give you some samples.”
At this point Jaime interrupted me. “That might not exactly be the case, Roland. I’m pretty sure the lab is still intact, though some of the machinery must have been damaged by the EMP blast.”
“How could it be?” I replied. “What about the bomb?”
Instead of answering me he turned to Claire, sitting at my side.
“Claire, did your friend’s explosive device happen to be in a large, pale green suitcase?”
“Why yes it did” she replied, modestly.
“Then the lab’s safe” Jaime retorted. “I didn’t tell anyone this before, but after going through Frank’s desk to recover the wafers, just as I was leaving, I noticed that suitcase and I knew it was very out of place. The vault door had been left wide open, so I picked it up and placed it inside and shut the steel door tight. I doubt that any explosion could penetrate that wall.”
“Now you have me confused” the governor broke in, “Claire, were you with the Russians?”
“Yes, I was at the time. I was in their company but in no way part of their group. In fact, I was the one who compromised all their systems and called the C.I.A. to warn of the attack. You see I was a part of the lab experiments also. It’s a long, long story.”
“If you are the one who called, I have to thank you for that” the governor replied. “I got a call from one of the department heads at the agency just two days before it happened. He told me the White House was downplaying the whole matter even though the caller had some of the highest level security code names on the tip of her tongue.”
“I have them still” Claire replied and rolled off several secret operation names and the people in charge of them.
“There’s one other thing you need to know” Claire continued. “The chip that I was given, before the bombs fell, allowed me to interface with our largest computing centers directly. As I was putting the finishing touches on my malware, I could sense AI. It was like a ghost in the machine. It could also sense me and that I was creating very destructive scripts against it. I could feel it trying to change subroutines and delete files in my head as we were communicating. It wasn’t able to, but I could see that in another year of advances the network would have been able to cancel me out, me and everyone else, with all the vengeance of a Tasmanian devil. What I’m trying to say is that we can’t rebuild the world the way it was. We have to make it a better place, safer for people, less computerized.”
“Good advice. I won’t forget that and I thank you again” the governor responded. “If it hadn’t been for that one warning, we wouldn’t have made any preparations for the blasts, and this whole state would have been in complete darkness the day after.”
At this point, I stood up, about to get some of the wafers for our guests. Everyone stood up to stretch their legs after the long ride. The governor accosted Jaime to ask questions about the project. Two of the governor’s aides came up to me, a man and a well-dressed woman, both in their mid-thirties.
“I’m Bill” he said, “remember me from the radio? And this is Natalie, the governor’s personal secretary.” Her good looks and the perfume and lipstick she was wearing were almost overwhelming.
“Delighted to meet you both” I replied, “let’s step across the hall to the library. We have some refreshments there if you’d like a drink.”
They followed, and I poured them each a glass and left them briefly to open the safe and take out eight of the twenty ‘k’ wafers to give to the governor. My thinking was this: He needed to be completely on board with us to help out, just like I’d taken on Mr. Tanaki as an ally. Within minutes of our meeting, I liked the man and trusted him. I figured that with sharpened intellects, he and his close staff could make much better decisions for all the people of California.
When I returned, I found the whole group assembled in a tight circle at the far end by the hearth, talking excitedly.
As I approached, the governor turned to me.
“Roland, Mr. O’Keefe and Mr. Tanaki have been telling me the most remarkable things about this wafer and its properties. They say it makes you telepathic. Could you give us a demonstration?”
“No problem governor. Claire would you mind standing back to back with me. Now Natalie, take any book down off the shelf, open it to any page and let Claire have a look at it. I’ll tell you exactly what she sees, word for word.”
The governor was duly impressed, along with his staff, but then he presented us with a very valid objection.
“I don’t think I could perform my duties as governor if a whole set of people could walk into my office and read everything on my mind.”
“First of all” I replied, “this is only one of the side effects of the chip. Its main benefits are a much-increased vitality and health and powers of reasoning and remembering. And I can only do this trick when Claire’s head is right next to mine and also, whenever I do read her thoughts she knows I’m doing it. She can feel me in her head.”
I took the envelope from my pocket and put the eight wafers into his hand, telling him they would probably be very potent even if cut into quarters. He examined them and told us he would have to sleep on it, that he had so much responsibility he’d have someone on his staff try one first to see the results.
With this said, Natalie boldly stepped forward and announced she would try one right away. With a snifter of cognac in one hand, she took a wafer and swallowed it. Claire and I felt like patting her on the back.
The governor turned to us and said, “if this works out I’ll try one tomorrow. I have a meeting with mayors this evening in San Francisco and I’d like to take Mr. Tanaki along so he can see what progress we’re making on his yacht request. But one last thing, before we leave, can I see your communications center?”
We all funnelled downstairs. Charlie and Naomi and Jason had all been sitting at their posts the whole time, even though they sensed an important meeting was taking place upstairs. The governor shook each of their hands, thanking them for the critically important work they were doing, saying he was going to give them each a special commendation someday. When he looked at the maps and the notes on the walls he said: “this is what America is all about, rising to the challenge.”
I almost thought I could see tears in his eyes.
“Where did you get all these sets?” He asked.
“We borrowed these two new ones from some Russian spies that Claire knew about” Charlie told him, “oh, and some of your military friends might be interested in this little black book we found lying around.”
He handed the Russian code book to the governor.
“I’ll pass it along. Thanks for all the great work, keep it up.”
