Chapter 3: Bad Dream
Lori's commlink beeped. "Hello?"
Cohaagen's angry face appeared. "Where the hell are you?"
Her mouth went dry. How to explain this? Maybe with some of the truth. "I'm on a suborbital flight, Los Angeles to Christchurch."
"Why the hell are you going to New Zealand?"
Shit, she thought. Dammit all, he's going to find out sooner or later anyway. "Doug," she admitted. "He's run off. We've tracked his debit card to a hotel in Christchurch."
"You think so?" sneered Cohaagen. "I'll bet you a million credits there was no biometric confirmation, was there? It may interest you to know that just five minutes ago, he checked into the Mars Hilton using the name of Brubaker. His thumb print verifies that it's really him."
"Impossible!" blurted Richter shoving his face in front of Lori's camera. "I still have the Brubaker I.D. card."
"Then maybe my top secret agent knows how to forge one."
"He's no longer your top agent," snapped Richter. "Those memories have been wiped clean. Now he's merely Douglas Quaid, construction worker."
"You imbecile! He's in Total Recall. He remembers everything!"
"Has he contacted you yet?"
"No."
"Then it's not Total Recall. As soon as that happens, he'll check in. Right now, he's just dealing with bits and pieces of his memories. He remembers the Mars Hilton and his Brubaker cover, but not you, and probably not most things."
"Or," growled Cohaagen, "we have a nightmare scenario: He remembers everything and wants to defect to Kuato."
"Damnation," hissed Lori. "What do you want me to do?"
"Get your sweet ass to Mars. I'll need you to bring Hauser back under control."
"Can I bring Richter with me?"
"Bring whomever you damn well want! Just get here, and get here fast!"