by Birgit Stäbler
with thanks to elfin for letting me play with Duck
Some days were just not worth getting up. Stay in bed, read a good book,
watch some TV, just keep your butt off the street and inside your own four
walls. He should have listened to his little inner voice that had complained
about the ungodly hour of the morning. The one that had reminded Duck that
he would be alone at the Shop with Him. Had he listened? No, of course
not. He had dutifully come to work, knowing full well that he would be
alone with Him until Bear or Casey arrived. But he had promised his friend
and boss to come in early to get one of the test engines going. It would
need some time and since Bear had been called out of town and Casey had
complained about always having the morning shifts, he had finally succumbed
to their pleas.
"I knew it," Duck wheezed and tried to get into a better position.
He moaned as he felt a vicious stab of pain traveling up his leg and
flaring to renewed life in his chest. He hadn't known what hit him. He
had suddenly been surrounded by a loud noise and a strange pressure seemed
to squeeze him. Then his world had gone black.
"Ah, hell!" he groaned and closed his eyes, riding out the pain. There
was nothing else to do. Just lie here and bleed to death. Well, and
suffer a lot, he corrected himself. Except for a cut on his forehead,
which had bled badly enough, he seemed to have no open wounds. A little
comfort, but not big enough to help him overcome the helplessness and frustration.
He turned his head and looked at the partly buried black car that sat
not far from him. A black snout protruded from the rubble. Black as
midnight, Duck thought. Just as mysterious, and one heck of a danger
to mankind. The Stealth had suffered the trauma of half the roof coming
down on him and Duck wondered if an AI could get a concussion. Huh,
now there was food for thought, he mused idly, then chased the thoughts
away. Karr had not spoken a word since Duck had regained consciousness,
which had been about ten minutes ago.
"You alive over there?" he coughed.
"If you are asking whether I'm still functional, yes, I am," the cold,
dark voice answered and Duck shivered involuntarily.
His mind told him that he lay right in the path of the car, that it
could easily run him over, and it wasn't a healthy prospect. He didn't
trust Karr. Well, yes, no …. whatever! He didn't like him. Not true. He
just couldn't…. get warm to idea of this killer machine interacting with
humanity on a day-to-day level. Duck knew what Karr was and it scared the
living daylights out of him. There were no restraints on him; not like
on Kitt. No program prevented the AI to run over, say, him.
"If you want to get into a philosophical discussion about artificial
life, sentiency and the definition of life as such, it would require a
less simple answer," Karr added sarcastically.
"Very funny," Duck muttered and tried to move again, but the pain wouldn't
let him. He hissed, clenching his teeth together, and tears sprang into
his eyes. "Shit!"
"I wouldn't advise movement in your condition."
"I know that!" he snapped.
"Then why do you attempt it?"
Duck shot the Stealth a dark look. To get out of your way is why!
he thought angrily. Karr had taken no damage and if he employed enough
energy, he would most likely be able to free himself from the rubble pinning
him down, breaking out of this death trap. Duck had no intention of lying
helplessly right in the way.
"What happened?" he asked instead of answering.
"It appears that several explosive devices detonated close by," Karr
answered simply.
Explosives? How the heck had that happened? Bear stored what
little explosives he had safely in another room. Even if that went up,
it wouldn't be enough to collapse the building.
"Bombs?" he ventured a guess.
"Apparently. They were hidden from my scanners until it was too late."
"Great," Duck muttered and stared at what was left of the ceiling above.
"Nick has been informed. Help is on the way."
He shot the visible part of the black car an acid look. "I sure hope
so!"
The voice in his head shushed him, reminding him of who he was talking
to. He'd be one flat piece of nick-named human if Karr lost his temper.
Duck was scared of Karr. He wasn't scared of Nick, who was more accurately
the more dangerous dangerous of the two partners since he could kill swiftly
and in oh-so-many ways. But Nick was human; he had a conscience underneath
that cold exterior, and he didn't kill out of malice. Karr on the other
hand, well, Duck had never felt safe around him, whatever Bear said. No
amount of smooth-talking or threats could usually get him near the AI if
Nick wasn't around. Or if Duck saw no way to swiftly get to safety.
So shut up and don't annoy him, the little voice hissed.
He did feel cold though, very cold.
Karr kept track of Duck's erratic life-signs, part of him listening
to Nick's brief bursts of information as to what was going on outside.
The bombs had neatly collapsed most of the building over the Shop, trapping
its two only occupants inside like rats. Karr knew he would be able to
free himself with considerable effort and by using all his power reserves
to tear free, but Duck was in no such position. His injuries prevented
him from it. And they were many. Broken ribs, fractured ankle, a badly
bruised hip, cuts, abrasions and bruises all over his body. He was alive,
but he was also sliding into shock and rapidly into hypothermia.
Can he walk?>
Most likely, though it would be painful>
Your doors are unobstructed?>
The passenger door, yes>
Tell him to try and get over to you> Nick instructed. He has
to get inside and get warm>
He won't do it> Karr told his partner reasonably.
I know he's scared of you, but his life depends on it. Tell him
to get his sorry butt over to the Stealth and inside!>
I shall relay it word by word>
Nick snarled something and Karr felt a smile float through him. He
turned his attention to the injured man. Karr actually enjoyed the game
he played, keeping Duck on his toes and away from him, watching him jump
and run when he arrived. He didn't want the mechanics and technicians to
grow used to him, treat him like a puppy. It was bad enough that Ed didn't
shut his mouth when working on him. At least Bear and Casey respected him.
Duck feared him, which was refreshing, though Kitt chided him for it. Now
it presented a problem, though.
"What?" Duck asked, voice rising as Karr proposed what Nick had told
him. "Oh no… no way… no way in hell!"
"You need medical help. I can at least provide the necessary warmth
to keep you from sliding deeper into shock," Karr told him reasonably.
"It was actually Nick's expressive order."
"Nick's not here and he can put his orders where the sun don't shine!"
Duck sank back, breathing hard. Karr's sensors picked up an increased
heart rate and perspiration on the pale skin.
"You are very stubborn."
"I'm entitled to it."
"You are not entitled to die while there is help available."
Duck shot him a suspicious look. "How do I know you won't suffocate
me while I'm inside?" he asked after a while.
"Because I don't like dead bodies on my new upholstery," Karr retorted.
Duck bit his lower lip, visibly fighting with himself. "I won't make
it. It's too far."
"You will make it."
"What makes you so sure?"
"The human body has a remarkable resilience. The adrenaline level in
your blood stream should be enough to get you over to the passenger door
and inside before the pain overwhelms you."
"Thank you for mentioning the pain," Duck muttered. "As for resilience,
I'm not Nick. Never was, never will be. My resilience starts and ends with
lying here and suffering!"
He won't move, Nick>
A sigh echoed through the link. Great…. How is he?>
Not good. I can't help him medically, but he needs to get warm>
Keep trying>
Karr sighed. "Duck," he said out loud, startling the man. "It is for
your best."
"It's for my best to crawl over several feet of rubble and climb into
you? Right!" Duck growled. "Good one."
"You are cold. You need warmth. I can provide it."
Duck glanced at him again but remained silent.
What's in it for him? Well, most likely Nick's getting on his nerves
to help me. Won't be of any future assistance to the Duo From Hell if I
die. Duck smiled humorlessly. The day he had run into Nicholas MacKenzie
had changed his life forever. Nick had pulled his bacon out of the fire
and employed his talents, but Duck had never come to appreciate just what
he was helping to maintain. So Nick wanted him to get inside Karr. Karr
wouldn't hurt him unless he wanted to piss Nick off.
And he was cold. Terribly, terribly cold. Wouldn't be all that bad
to get warm. Even if Karr did decide to end his misery, he'd die in the
warmth. Now there was a positive thought. He almost smiled at it.
"All right," he muttered. "You win."
"I wasn't aware of any competition," was the level reply.
"Smart ass," he snarled.
Duck's progress was slow and painful; for Duck. Karr watched him with
a sort of indirect detachment; he wasn't ignoring the suffering but neither
was he fully empathic as to what the man went through. He could read what
the pain did to Duck's system through his sensors, but there was only one
person he was empathic to when in pain and that was his partner. Nick was
safely outside and Duck was simply one of the many associates in Nick's
life, though he also provided a sort of entertainment. Not right now, though.
Duck finally made it to the passenger door, breathing heavily, almost
panting. His face was chalk white and he was clinging to consciousness
with an almost superhuman effort. Karr quietly acknowledged the stubbornness.
Heaving himself inside, Duck collapsed over the two front seats, his breath
coming in wheezes now. Karr's inside sensors took in the sweaty, white
complexion, listened to heart beat and pulse, and he closed the door carefully.
He immediately started to raise the temperature. Despite it, Duck started
to shiver violently.
He's inside. Nick, it looks bad>
Paramedics are here. Just keep him awake and warm>
Duck was aware of little else but the blood rushing through his head,
pounding in rhythm to his heartbeat in his ears, and the pain. Especially
the pain. He waited, hoping that the worst of the pain would leave him
but it didn't. He felt a tremor drive through his body and held back the
cry that tried to escape his throat. A second tremor came, but this time
more violently. He couldn't stop his body from voicing the pain this time.
He wanted to roll over on to his side and draw his knees up but he knew
that the pain would be worse if he did that.
"Duck?"
Go away, he thought. Whoever you are, go away!
"Duck, answer me. Please?"
Please? Someone was nicely asking him? The voice echoed in his
ears. It merely added one more hammer to the chain of them that were using
his head as an anvil. He thought he recognized the voice, but nothing inside
him was strong enough to rouse him out of his pain-filled stupor.
"I won't ask a second time, Lawrence."
That got a reaction. His eyes snapped open and he became aware of his
position. He was lying almost on his back, staring at a dark gray car roof.
He lay half across the tilted leather seats, halfway comfortable.
"I know you are conscious, Lawrence. Talk to me."
The voice registered again and he gasped in surprise. "Don't call me
that!" he hissed.
"So you are still with me."
Karr. He was inside Karr. Nick had told him to get inside to keep warm.
He had followed the order. Ah, shit. He had to be completely out
of it to do it.
"Sadly so, yes," he managed, then bit his lower lip. Not just because
of the pain, also because he wouldn't want to annoy the AI now that he
was at Karr's mercy so completely.
"Rescue attempts are proceeding," Karr told him.
"Nice." Duck gazed at the gray above. "You called me Lawrence," he
then suddenly said.
"It is your name."
"Don't use it, okay? Not Lawrence, not Larry, not anything!"
"As you wish, Duck."
Duck glanced suspiciously into the general direction of the dash. Finally
exhaustion let him close his eyes. He was so tired, but at least he wasn't
all that cold any longer. He still wasn't really warm, but warmer than
before.
"Don't go to sleep."
"I want to," Duck mumbled back, his breathing leveling out as sleep
slid in and grabbed hold of him.
"You shouldn't," the infuriating voice told him.
Duck ignored Karr. He was too much in pain to listen to his fear.
"Lawrence…."
Anger coursed through him and heavily lidded blue eyes fluttered open.
"I told you not to call me that!"
"It got a reaction," was the smug reply.
Duck sighed deeply and raised a shaking hand to his itching eyes. "What
do you want?"
"I want you to stay awake. It won't do you any good to sleep now."
"I'm tired. Humans go to sleep when they are tired."
"You shouldn't. Not with your injuries. You have a concussion and should
stay awake."
"Thank you, doc! I didn't ask for you opinion, so shut up!"
A low rumble passed through the car and Duck felt his fear return in
full force, bringing terror along with it. What was he doing? What the
frigging hell was he doing annoying Karr? Oh God, I'm so dead, he
thought. Dead, dead, dead.
Silence settled in the car. Was it getting warmer? Warmer and stuffier?
Duck started to sweat and it had nothing to do with the warmth or pain.
No more air. Karr was suffocating him…..
"I'm sorry," he said in a small voice. "Listen, I….. I apologize… could
you… just… turn on the air again? Please?"
Karr felt surprise register within him him as Duck's weak plea reached
him. The airflow was progressing as before and the heat was not overpowering.
There was enough oxygen for a human to survive easily.
"I did not interrupt the airflow, Duck. Just breathe normally."
Nick, he's declining. I have run another check and he has internal
injuries. Moving into the Stealth nicked a lung when he broke a cracked
rib completely>
The fire department is trying to get inside, but whatever they
move, it might let the whole building collapse>
I can take it> was he growled reply.
I know, partner, I know. They don't know you're in there. Keep
him talking, keep him aware>
Keep him talking. Karr shot his partner a surprised as well as partially
nasty look through the link. Duck liked talking, but he hated Karr. So
Duck talking to Karr was most likely not to happen. Then again, he had
managed to get him worked up several times, making him talk in a way, and
so it might help to simply do what he did best: annoy the man to scare
the living hell out of him – except he wouldn't want to scare him too badly
this time.
"There's air?"
The weak question made him turn his attention back to the injured passenger
inside the Stealth. The whole conversation with Nick hadn't even taken
a minute thanks to the neuo link.
"Plenty," he answered.
"Can't breathe."
"It might help if you untangled yourself." Karr let some of his old
maliciousness drop into his voice. "But if you want to suffocate yourself,
be my guest…. Lawrence."
Duck mumbled something and he watched the mechanic laboriously move.
He cried out once when a sudden movement jarred the broken bones, but in
the end he lay on his back, his breathing evening out. Not much, but mostly.
"The name's Duck," he finally managed.
"Your birth certificate states otherwise."
"Keep your snooping presence out of my data files!"
Karr checked the human's blood-pressure and found it still in safe
parameters. The punctured lung was no problem just yet. The hole was small,
but in time it would grow to be a serious threat to the man's life. While
Duck was rousing again, he was also still very weak.
"I do what I please," he growled as an answer.
"As long as you keep out of my files, fine!"
"There is nothing interesting in them anyway," Karr said dismissively.
"Could've told you that," Duck mumbled. "So leave my stuff alone!"
"You are still in no position to give me orders. Remember who is depending
on who."
"Great. Threaten me now that I'm at your mercy."
"You always are."
Duck closed his eyes, breathing laboriously. "So why not just get it
over with?"
"I'm not in the mood."
The blue eyes opened and a small laugh escaped the pale lips. "Killer
instinct left you?"
"Nick's watching."
Duck gave a little snort and winced. "Funny guy," he muttered. He started
to cough and Karr detected blood on his lips. Not good. Not good at all.
"I have no sense of humor I'm aware of," he retaliated.
"Knew that." Duck's voice was fading and Karr didn't need the medical
scanners to tell him that the man was growing weaker still. Another coughing
spell brought forth more blood. It dripped onto the leather seats. "Whoa,"
Duck murmured. "All ove' th'upholst'ry. S'ry." His speech was slurring.
Not good> Nick muttered as he 'saw' Duck's condition.
While the link couldn't transmit images like a video link, images could
travel. It wasn't like looking at a photo, but Nick's brain translated
it expertly into something his mind could handle. Karr's level presentation
of medical facts supplied the rest.
How about I break out of this accursed death trap?> Karr proposed,
urgency accompanying his words.
The bluish presence that was his partner touched him and Nick tried
to gauge his position. Tons of rubble on top of him, steel and stone, plastic
and glass. All weighing him down.
It is possible> Karr added, almost miffed by Nick's questing presence.
He knew he could do it. He had the power and the shell had not suffered
the slightest chink in the armor. His tires were unobstructed.
Turbo boost would come in handy> Nick remarked dryly.
Your choice> Karr retorted.
It was one of the differences between his and Kitt's abilities. While
Kitt still had his turbo boost for emergency situations, Karr hadn't had
his since Nick had placed the restored CPU in the customized Stealth so
many years ago. He hadn't missed it either. For Nick, the fancy boosting
system had taken away too much space in the Stealth that he could use otherwise,
and he also hadn't deemed it necessary, like so many other nifty gadgets
the Foundation had installed in their prized TransAm.
Burst of speed should do it. Is Duck awake?> Nick asked.
Reasonably but fading fast>
Think he can give the impression of driving you?>
Karr studied the half-conscious mechanic lying sprawled over the seats.
He knew what Nick's intention was. No need to bring up superfluous questions
and investigations by the local PD or fire crew.
If you give me enough time…..>
Nick sent a small smile. Try it. There are too many people around
and we need a halfway plausible explanation. I'll do the rest>
Karr wasn't looking forward to it. All he could use was the anger he
managed to rouse in the injured man. While he would have preferred the
man to just slide into unconsciousness throughout the break-out. He understood
the necessity to get this over with quickly. No questions asked, help administered
with a minimum of wondering about how it had happened.
"Lawrence? Wake up."
That name again. He hated the name. It wasn't a bad one and being called
Larry by friends had been nice. He liked the nick then. He hated it now
nevertheless. Lawrence and Larry were his past. Duck was his present. The
future might be someone else, but about that he didn't think much. Duck
was who he was now. Not Lawrence or Larry. Too many foul-tasting memories
were connected with it. He had adopted his new name, strange and funny
as it sounded, and he stuck with it.
"For the last time, don't use that name!" Duck snarled, biting his
lower lip as the automatically rising backrest of the seat deposited him
in a sitting position. "Yargh! Stop!"
He knew he shouldn't have trusted Karr. Shouldn't have crawled across
the thrice-damned rubble and into the hellish machine. He had been much
better off outside.
In the cold, the little voice added.
Well, yes. In the cold. At least no one was torturing him there!
Adrenaline coursed through him, triggered by the anger, and he glared
at the black dash. "Why're y'doin' this?" he demanded, pain obscuring some
letters and words.
"The fire department can't get into the building in time to help you
because it's very unstable. Nick and I worked out a plan."
Plan. Right. Duck's brain tried to get the idea of what Karr was intending
to do, but he was having trouble thinking straight.
"Larry?"
The anger came and went this time, a small flood and ebb, but it wasn't
enough to spawn another exclamation of anger and annoyance. Not Larry,
goddamnit, he ranted inside his fuzzy mind. I'm not Larry!
"You have to stay awake!" Karr insisted.
"Stop callin' me names," he slurred.
"I'm not."
"Are."
There was something that could almost be interpreted as a sigh, but
Duck wasn't coherent enough to pay enough attention to analyze noises coming
from the AI. Listening to the words was tiring enough.
"Why?" He just wanted to sleep.
"The plan needs your participation."
"You ….'r a computer," Duck mumbled. "You don' need m'help."
"I do."
Duck struggled with the exhaustion that ripped through him. "Leg hurts,"
he mumbled. Everything hurt. It was foremost on his mind. Everything else
was a haze. He coughed again.
"I know."
"How… how'd you know… you can't feel pain," he complained weakly.
"I can feel pain and I do so occasionally."
"Notta leg," he stubbornly insisted to drive his point home.
"I don't have legs," Karr replied. He sounded far of.
"'xactly. No legs. Jus' wheels."
"Duck?"
Go away, he thought. Leave me alone. Wanna sleep.
"You can't sleep, Larry. Wake up!"
Duck managed to grunt something, eyes sliding open. Accursed machine
just didn't listen that he wasn't Larry either. Duck. He was Duck. Oh,
wasn't there something about a plan? Getting them out? A thought hit him.
"You'r goin' t' crash through t'wall, right?"
He felt strangely calm about it, though another part of him screamed
in fear of what that meant. Of course he knew that Karr was virtually indistructable.
It didn't mean he was likely to be inside the dangerous vehicle when it
went through tons of rubble.
"Exactly."
"I knew…" A coughing spell. "I knew y' were unstable an' borderin'
t' ….. insanity," Duck heard his runaway mouth say, though it sounded very
labored. "Justa bi' mo' proof."
"Get your hands on the wheel and look alive," Karr snarled.
"Don' min' me dying 'ere," Duck mumbled but did what he had been told.
"I don't."
"Oh….right….."
* * *
Nick watched the fire department work on a solution to the present problem.
He knew that getting into the demolished building was no easy task. Everything
could come down on them any minute. In time, a solution would come forth,
but time was something they didn't have. Duck was bleeding internally.
He had to get him out of this death trap and into a hospital.
"He's bad off, right?"
Bear's deep rumble jerked Nick out of his thoughts. The huge man stood
behind him, worried eyes turned toward what had once been his work place.
Nick just nodded.
"Ideas?"
"One. I need Duck's cooperation for it. He isn't in the mood, though."
Bear grimaced. Trapped with Karr in a small room wasn't exactly Duck's
dream come true. "Think he'll do it?"
"He has to if he wants to live."
"So you talked to the fire chief about the 'experimental car' you have
in there?" Bear wanted to know.
Nick grimaced. "I mentioned something like it and that we are in contact
with the trapped person because of the communication gear."
"He bought it?"
"Kind of. At least we have a cover, weak but a cover." Brows drawing
together, Nick studied the ruined Shop again. "He's getting ready."
*
Karr's body strained against the tons of rock trapping him. His engine
screamed loudly in the otherwise silent room, wheels spinning, gripping
the stone, then slipping again. The Stealth moved slowly, but it moved.
Duck was sitting half-conscious on the driver's seat, unaware of what was
going on. Channeling all he could into his engine, Karr suddenly shot free.
The incredible momentum he had built up carried him straight across the
room and through the obstacles in his way. Bricks, mortar and dust exploded
outward, obscuring the sight of the black Stealth shooting out of the building.
Karr started to brake the moment he broke through the outer wall, clouds
of burned rubber rising behind him. The moment he came to a complete stop,
paramedics started to rush forward.
Let them in> Nick advised, walking toward him as well.
Duck had lost consciousness by now and Karr let the paramedics attend
him. He was quickly examined, a crevical collar was fastened around his
neck and then pulled out of the cockpit to lay flat on his back. Medical
terms started flying and the hospital the paramedic team worked with was
called through the Biophone. Nick watched them silently. He knew enough
about injuries of this kind to see how bad it was. Karr was supplying the
rest.
Any damage?> Nick wanted to know.
None. I am functional>
I need your take on the explosion. I want to know who did it and
why. Bear and Casey are putting together information as well. They will
relay it to you>
Nick sounded calm but Karr knew only too well that his partner was
angry beyond words. Someone, or several someones, had attacked the Shop.
It might be someone Bear, Casey or Duck knew, but maybe it was also an
enemy of Nick personally. No one would know until they got to the bottom
of it.
*
The ambulance drove off with flashing lights. Casey hugged herself,
feeling shaken and frightened. A huge hand descended on her shoulder and
she gave Bear a brave little smile. She arrived at the scene of the explosion
only to be held back by the police, telling her that there was nothing
to see. Her yells that she had friends there, that it was the place she
worked, had fallen on deaf ears. Instead, she had been interviewed by an
officer. Who worked at the Shop? Did they store explosives? Etc, etc, etc.
Casey had answered the questions automatically. Since Bear's workshop was
in the middle of a very unsavory neighborhood and the police liked to ask
stupid questions all the time, she had built a repertoire of answers a
long time ago.
Bear had arrived only fifteen minutes after Casey and like everyone,
he was immediately asked questions. Throughout it all, Nick had been there,
waiting, eyes on the building, face expressionless. Karr had been at the
Shop for a quick overhaul. Nothing serious. It would have been finished
today. Ed had done his part yesterday and Casey had planned to set up the
preliminaries for Bear's mechanical check.
"C'mon, girl. Let's get somewhere more friendly." Bear gave the shoulder
a gentle squeeze.
She nodded. As they walked over to Bear's jeep she discovered Nick
standing close by Karr, gazing thoughtfully at the ruin of the Shop. The
fire department was still around, securing the area, but no one bothered
Nick much. Thankfully, she thought. Nick wouldn't be in the mood.
* * *
"Rollins." Duck looked up from the file in his hands, a cross between
disbelief and fear in his eyes. "He's dead."
Sitting on the battered couch on the ground level of the warehouse,
Duck gazed almost pleadingly at Nick. His leg was in a cast from the knee
down, scribbled well-wishes, autographs and little works of art adorned
the bright red cast. MacKenzie sat opposite on the mismatched overstuffed
chair, a serious expression in his eyes.
"Apparently he wasn't."
Brad Rollins, a terror out of Duck's past. The man he had fled from
half his life because of one little indiscretion. The man who had sworn
to kill him if he ever found his hiding place. Duck had fled from Mexico
to Canada and ended up in San Francisco, in a run-down looking building
that hid a sophisticated workshop. Working for Nicholas MacKenzie. He had
heard of Rollins' death several months back, feeling something inside of
him unwind and dissipate. He had regained the last of his freedom, but
instead of leaving and beginning once again a new life, maybe even restart
his old one, Duck had stayed and worked for Nick.
"He is now."
His head came up and he studied the impassive features. Blue eyes met
his and he tried to see more in them than Nick was ready to reveal.
"You?" Duck asked softly.
Nick shook his head, a small smile gracing his features. "No. He blew
himself up a few days ago. Lab accident."
"Oh."
Four weeks had passed since the incident at the Shop. He had spent
two of them in the hospital because of his numerous injuries, and afterwards
Nick had more or less dragged him kicking and screaming to the warehouse
for safety reasons. Duck had hated the very idea of being around Karr.
His recollections of the time he had spent buried with the AI underneath
the now condemned building were hazy. He knew he had walked a fine line,
but he couldn't remember all he had said. He counted himself lucky to be
alive.
Bear and Casey had scouted for a new location for the Shop and had
found something a few blocks down from the old place. They were currently
salvaging what they could from the ruined building. It was dangerous work,
but they had professional help from some people Casey knew and who did
demolition. Nick had investigated into the bombing and had found the man
responsible.
It had been a revenge thing then, Duck mused. Against him, of all people.
It was laughable, but it still frightened him.
"So can I go home now?"
Nick chuckled briefly. "Yes. Bear will be over first thing tomorrow
morning to pick you up."
No offer to drive him to his apartment himself. Nick knew of Duck's
phobia and while he did nothing to dispel the fear, he also tried not to
do anything to increase it.
"Thanks." A quick smile crossed Duck's still rather pale and bruised
features.
Nick shrugged but said nothing. Duck remembered a casual remark of
Bear's. Nick protected his allies and friends. He had some of the first
and quite few of the second. Duck felt honored, in a way. His eyes drifted
over the couch toward the Stealth, then he averted his gaze.
"I'll be gone for the rest of the day." Nick's voice drew him out of
his thoughts. "I have some things to take care of."
"Okay."
"Try not to fall off the stairs."
Duck grimaced. He was getting better handling the crutches and he could
get almost everywhere with them. Stairs had been an obstacle at first,
but he had quckly learned to scale them, just so he could get off the ground
level where Karr might try something. The phobia might never leave him,
despite the hours he had spent in close proximity of the AI. Survival instinct,
he thought. Pure and simple.