December 22, 2005
10:31am
Duncan and Veronica had checked out of the Mosser first thing that morning, and now once again stood parked outside the VenTech office-building in Palo Alto.
"Do you want to go over the plan again?"
"It's simple Duncan. I show up a little before 11:30 to 'have a look around.' When I'm on the third floor, I go to use the bathroom. I make sure that it's empty, and then I climb up through the ventilation shaft in the ceiling—"
"How are you going to get up into the ceiling? It's ten feet up and in the middle of the bathroom."
"Easy. I just have to climb on top of the door on the middle toilet stall and swing it open. I should be able to reach the vent that way."
If you don't break your neck.
"Anyway, then I crawl through the shaft thirty feet forward and then ten feet to the right, and that'll put me right over Selkirk's office. With any luck, he'll leave for lunch right around noon again, and I just have to drop down into his office, access his computer using the password we have—"
"Assuming we have it right."
"I'm pretty sure one of the ones we have is the right one. Anyway, then I burn the file onto a CD, log back out, head back through the ventilation shaft to the bathroom, make sure the bathroom is empty, drop back down into it, and walk out of the building with no one the wiser."
"You've got your walkie-talkie with the earpiece?"
"Of course. Do you want to do another sound check?"
"Yes." After verifying that Duncan would be able to remain in radio contact with Veronica once she entered the ventilation shaft, Duncan asked "so what if something goes wrong?"
"Like what?"
"Well, what if neither password works?"
"Then I leave and we try again."
"What if they catch you?"
"Well, I'll try to talk them into believing that I was just playing a prank, and they'll just throw me out of the building, but if not—"
"Then what?"
"Well, if they call the police, call a lawyer."
"What if they don't call the police? What if these guys are more serious than that?"
"I highly doubt that."
"You've been wrong before though."
"Then you call the police."
"What if they don't get here in time?"
Veronica gave him a gentle smile. "Duncan, we're not dealing with Aaron this time."
"I know, but still…."
"Here," she said, reaching back into her duffel bag and passing him a Beretta pistol. "Do you know how to use this?"
"Not really."
"Okay, you hold it in your right hand and you support it with your left. You only ever put your finger on the trigger when you're going to fire, understand? Now, you aim by lining up the rear and front sites with the target, so all three points are on one line, got it? It's got a maximum range of about fifty meters, which should be more than enough inside a building. Keep your elbows bent and your arms relaxed, breathe steadily. This is the safety. Right now it's on, now it's off, back on. It carries fifteen rounds; here're two extra magazines. It's semi-automatic, so it'll fire one round every time you depress the trigger. It's only nine millimeters, so it doesn't have that much stopping power, so you'll want to put at least two or three rounds into someone to make sure he's down."
"Do I need to cock it or anything like that?"
"Only on the first shot of a magazine. You just pull this hammer back until it clicks. You don't have to though; it's double- or single-action, so it'll still fire if you don't. Cocking it on the first shot makes it easier to aim, but again, that only matters for the first shot, so maybe you don't want to worry about that. The recoil'll automatically recock it each shot after the first."
"Okay, so what do I do with it then?"
"Simple, if anything goes really wrong, and I mean really wrong, come and get me."
"Maybe you should take it."
"No, because if I do get caught, it's far more likely that they'll call the police, and if I'm caught armed, that's an aggravating factor on anything they charge me with. But don't worry. Everything's going to go fine."
Why does that fail to reassure me?
12:46pm
"I can't believe it was that easy," said Duncan as they drove out of Palo Alto.
"Why are you so surprised?" asked Veronica, as she inserted the CD into her laptop.
"I don't know. In the movies, whenever someone has a plan that involves crawling through the ventilation shafts, something always goes wrong, and River Phoenix has to jump out of the ceiling to save Robert Redford."
Veronica laughed. "Duncan, this isn't a movie, this is real life. See, in the movies, something has to go wrong so that there's drama."
"Thanks, because I didn't understand that. What are you doing with that CD anyway?"
"I'm going to email the file to your dad. Cell reception's pretty good around here, and the file's not actually all that large, so I should be able to get it to him now. He probably wants it as soon as possible."
"So what are we going to do now?"
"We've still got another week and a half off from school. I say we go enjoy the sun and the surf of Baja."
"Sounds like a plan," said Duncan with a smile.
"Ooh, look, your dad's emailed me back already: 'Well done. I'm very impressed. I've had the options transferred to your account. This could be the beginning of a very beneficial partnership.'"
Wonderful. It's not right Veronica. He shouldn't be making you into one of the help, someone who cleans up our messes.
Duncan noticed that Veronica was plotting something on a spreadsheet. "What are you doing now?"
"Oh, just figuring out how badly I'm going to get reamed by the taxes."
"How badly are you going to get reamed?"
"Let's just say that Uncle Sam is a little bit better endowed than I'm comfortable with."
"Okay, you're going to have to drive the rest of the way to Mexico, because I have to pull over and gouge my eyes out now."
"That was a rather disturbing image, wasn't it?"
"Yes, and I would know."
"You're right, I'm sorry."
"It's too late now."
"You have such pretty eyes though."
"Well, when you put it that way. Seriously, though, how bad is the damage?"
"Depending on how much the stock goes up in value, I should have enough left over to pay for four years at Stanford."
And you'll be out from under his—our thumb.
"That's terrific."
"I know. I really didn't want to have to join the Army, but it was looking like it might have been the only way for me to afford school."
"Don't you have to be at least this high," said Duncan, holding his hand just above Veronica's head, "to join the Army?"
"Making fun of my height. Clever."
"I just work with what you give me."
January 5, 2006
12:09pm
Veronica and Wallace sat down to lunch at their usual table in the courtyard on the first day back at school.
"So, Veronica, how was your break? Did you decide which dorm you want to live in next year?"
"I'm still mulling it over. How about you? How was your break?"
"Are you kidding? I feel like I need another break now. Coach had us training around the clock."
"Well, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it."
"How about Duncan? Did he decide where he wants to live?"
"I'm not—"
Duncan himself just then walked out into the courtyard, but before he could cross to his customary seat at the 09er table, the courtyard, especially the 09ers, burst into applause. Duncan, a mystified look on his face, walked over to Veronica.
"Hey, Wallace. Hey, Veronica, do you know what's going on? Did I do something?"
"Don't look at me."
"Dude, come on," exclaimed Dick Casablancas, gesturing for Duncan to sit between him and Logan. As Duncan slowly walked back over to them, Veronica got up to follow him.
"What's going on?" asked Duncan.
"Dude, don't act like you don't know," answered Dick.
"Yeah, seriously," concurred Logan with a smile.
"It's not an act. What's going on?"
"Dude, look," said Dick, opening up the web-browser on his laptop to a business-news site.
The headline read: "Kane is Back!" Below that the article announced that Kane Software had, following the recent release from prison of its president, founder, and single largest stockholder, Jake Kane, once again revolutionized the world of computing with the release of its latest 'killer app,' Data Expressions. The article went on to explain that this new software would almost certainly be worth billions for the company, and that Kane Software stock had already surged on the news.
"Wait a second," whispered Duncan to Veronica. "How could they have released it so quickly? Shouldn't there have been some big lawsuit with VenTech or something? Isn't that what you were gathering evidence for?"
"That's the way your dad explained it to me."
"Oh no. Veronica, VenTech wasn't stealing it from Kane Software. Kane Software stole it from VenTech."
"Actually," Veronica whispered back, "I stole it from VenTech."
"Of course," answered Duncan bitterly. "'The law looks more harshly on those who commit crimes than on those who pay to have them committed.'"
"This could be the end of a very beneficial partnership."
Are you kidding Veronica? He'll never let you go now. You just made your bones.
"Guys, what's the matter?" asked Logan. "You don't seem happy about this."
Duncan dashed for the parking lot.
"What's with him?"
"Come on Logan, we have to go after him." They ran to the parking lot, only to see Duncan's Mercedes already peeling out.
"Come on, we'll take my car," yelled Logan, running for his X-Terra. "You want to tell me what's going on? Where's he going?" he asked as the two of them strapped in and Logan turned the ignition.
"Probably his father's office."
"Why? What's the matter?"
"I'll explain on the way."
12:24pm
When they arrived at Kane Software's parking lot, they saw Duncan's SUV parked near the door to the lobby. They ran to the entrance, where the security guard stopped them. "Excuse me, but do you two have an appointment with someone in the building?"
"Did the guy who came in here before us have an appointment?" asked Veronica.
"The boss' son doesn't need an appointment," the guard said in a tone that bespoke immense self-satisfaction.
"So call the cops on us," answered Logan, rushing past him. Veronica ran after him as he passed the elevator bank and shouldered open the fire-door to the stairwell. Fortunately, the guard was out of shape, and the two of them were quickly able to outdistance him on the stairs. They finally reached the top floor and ran toward Jake's office, stopping at Bethany's desk.
"Bethany," asked Veronica breathlessly, "is Duncan here?"
"Miss Mars, Mr. Echolls, do either of you have an appointment?"
"Where's Duncan?" repeated Logan, trying to raise his voice while panting.
"He just went in to see his father. Why?"
"You have to let us in now," answered Logan, and something in his voice, or perhaps something in his eyes, persuaded Bethany that she did have to let them in now, and she buzzed the door open for them. The two of them ran in.
When they reached Jake's office, they found Duncan strangling his father.
"Duncan, stop!" yelled Veronica, but Duncan was beyond hearing.
Logan dashed forward and, locking his best friend in a half-nelson, pulled him off of his father. Duncan thrashed around in Logan's arms.
"Logan, he's having an epilapse," cried Veronica.
Logan put his left forearm in Duncan's mouth as Duncan bit down. The suede of his jacket-sleeve protected Logan somewhat, but he nonetheless gritted his teeth against the pain. He held his trembling best friend and whispered in his ear. "Come on, DK, come back to us." After a few more moments, Duncan went limp in his arms.
"Is he alright?" asked Jake, coughing and rubbing his throat.
"I think so," answered Logan, still holding Duncan's now still form, but relaxing his grip. "Are you okay?"
"I'll live. We have got to stop meeting this way Logan."
"Maybe if you stopped doing this, this wouldn't keep happening," said Duncan, coming back to himself.
"Duncan, it's not worth it," sighed Veronica.
"What is the matter?" asked Jake. "Why are you so upset?"
"Why Veronica, Dad? Why did it have to be her? Couldn't you have exploited someone else?"
"What are you talking about Duncan?"
"You could have found a thousand other people do your dirty work for you. Why did it have to be her?"
"To be honest, I don't think there are nearly that many people who can do what she does."
"You could still have found someone else. For that matter, you could have just been honest in the first place. But it wasn't enough for you to steal, you had to drag her into it too."
"Steal? What are you talking about? I didn't steal anything."
"Oh, don't even try it. I know you had Veronica steal that file from VenTech."
"I had her take it back from VenTech."
"Please. Where was the lawsuit, Dad? Why didn't you sue them?"
"They don't have enough money to be worth suing."
"What?"
"Even if Selkirk did finish the program after he left Kane Software, it doesn't matter. Under his contract, it still belonged to us. But since Veronica got it to us before they were ready to release it, it made more sense for us to release it first, rather than wait for them to release it and then sue them."
"Wait, she didn't steal it from them? You were telling the truth all along?"
"Of course I was telling the truth, Duncan. I'm no thief."
"Mr. Kane, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for him to find out, and then when he saw the news—"
"It's fine Veronica. It's not your fault. I'm afraid I haven't given my son every reason to trust me implicitly. Thank you both for getting here when you did, but maybe you should let me talk to my son alone for a minute."
"Alright," said Logan, taking Veronica by the arm.
Duncan sat next to his father at the edge of Jake's desk. "Dad, I'm sorry, but why did it have to be her?"
"Duncan, what do you mean? I told you I didn't have her do anything wrong."
"That's not the issue."
"What is the issue, then?"
"She's not one of the employees, Dad." Duncan's voice was breaking. "She's not a tool for you to use. Why couldn't you have found someone else?"
"Duncan, I'm sorry, but I was trying to help her out. You know she needs the money."
"It's not right." Duncan was weeping now.
"Duncan, I know you love her. Look at it this way, with the money she's going to make from these stock options, she'll be able to afford Stanford, and the two of you will have four years together. You'll never have a better chance to get her back."
"It's not right."
"Duncan," said Jake, putting his arms around his son, "that's the way the world works."
The end.