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." She clenched her fists in exasperation."Why can't you plota probable route for the subject from the Tower to the apartment complex?""Who said I couldn't? I never said I couldn't," it sounded infernally smug.She counted to ten very slowly."Buckley, plot the most probable route, basedon the target's pattern, from the Tower to the apartment complex.Display onscreen.""Okay." A section of Chicago street map appeared on the screen with a routeoutlined in red.It looked like the one she remembered from Friday, but itpaid to make sure."Now, without erasing the current map and plot, add to it the plot of thesecond most probable route for the target to take from the Tower to theapartment complex.""Why do always get saddled with the idiots? Can't do it." It sounded ratherpleased about it.I"Why can't you follow that last command, buckley?" she asked between grittedteeth."No data on the target's movements exists that is inconsistent with the firstPage 75 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlroute.""He takes the same route every time?" Does the guy have a death wish, or what?"Brilliant.Keep this up and you may actually begin to understand some of themany things that could go wrong with this situation.Not that it'll do anygood," it pronounced morosely."Fine.Without getting caught by the host computers, hack in and watch thecameras along his route.If he's moving along the route now, or whenever hestarts moving along the route, tell me, place a dot on the screen to show hisprobable location along the route, updating the information whenever you getmore data from the cameras.""Are you sure you want to know?""Why, is he en route?" she queried sharply."No.I just thought if you were one of those people who handles disasterbetter when you don't know it's coming.""Buckley, other than telling me when the target leaves the Tower to start overhere, or telling me if he starts to go somewhere else, shut up.""Touchy today, aren't we?" It fell silent.Cally checked the cheap briefcase she'd gotten from an office supply store inthe mall.Change of clothes, sealed in plastic, good.Okay, drugs, winecooler, plastic ties, multiple pairs of pantyhose, gags, gloves, switchblade,soundbox.She took the small, gray box with a switch on top and flippedit on."Testing, testing, testing." The sounds of traffic became muffled and hervoice was hollow and muted.She turned it off and clipped it to her beltbefore taking the switchblade out and shoving it in her pocket.It was auseful weapon when you wanted to avoid killing someone, as it usuallyimmediately convinced them you would kill them, and ensured their fullcooperation in whatever you asked of them.Well, with certain psychologicaltypes, anyway.Right now the non-target's healthy sense of terror was thewoman's best chance of staying alive.She opened the wine cooler and took a couple of swallows, making a bit of roomat the top.Then she took the bottle with the red mark and carefully pouredthe drugs into the wine.The drug bottle went back in a pocket of thebriefcase, and the cap back on the wine cooler.She swirled it around verygently.Won't take much to mix it up, but we don't want any soda-pop showers.She put a small red mark on the label with one of the markers and the winecooler bottle went back in the case, along with a fresh one, and took out asmall pink nametag and pinned it to the lapel of her jacket.The tag announcedthat she was Lisa Johnson and bore the familiar logo of a well-known cosmeticscompany.She glanced at her watch.Four-twelve."Buckley.""We're about to die, aren't we?""No, buckley.Keep looking for the target's car, but I also need you to accessthe cameras I placed in apartment 302C and tell me whether there's anyone homeand where they are.""Ah, the confidence of youth.Two in the apartment.""Two?!""One in the kitchen, one under the couch.""Under the."I'm gonna kill him."Buckley, ignore the damn cat.How many human beings in 302C?""Obviously, you're underestimating the damage a properly enraged house cat cando.One human, adult female, in the kitchen.""Right.Tell me if she leaves the apartment or anyone else enters.""You're welcome.""Thank you, buckley," she added.Page 76 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"You know, it's not too late to fly home and forget the whole thing," itoffered hopefully."Shut up, buckley." The car was silent for a few moments."Oh, except fortelling me when the target leaves and updating his progress along the routehere.""Right."She tried to avoid tapping her nails as she waited.The one thing that hadbeen hardest to train out all those years ago had been a tendency to fidgetwhile waiting for something important.It still took an act of will.Shepunched up some music on the car's system, just whatever was next on the cube,and suppressed the desire to tap her nails as the melancholy opening pianolines of "Hello" drifted into the enclosed space.She wrinkled her nose, "Noangst, thank you very much," and paged through until she found "Don't Fear theReaper." It wasn't so much that the modern remix was better than the originalas it was that it was less.dated.Several members of the original bandhad purchased rejuv by signing up for a colonization tour on Diess early on,then had proceeded on an exhausting round of after-hours concerts, earningenough from their fellow colonists, Fleet, and Fleet Strike personnel to buyback their contracts and pay their passage home
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