THE QUEST
Chapter 3
Step 2, Brooklyn
"You two are going on ANOTHER side trip?"
"Yes, Mom. It looks like the only one to solve Cathy's problem."
"But why do you NEED to solve Cathy's problem?" asked Helen's voice in exasperation. "There are more than 7 million people in New York City, and many of them probably have problems. What makes Cathy's more important? Particularly since we have a problem as well – figuring out how to take Kevin and Will into the secret."
"I – don't know. God seems to have a reason."
Helen's voice sighed on the other end of the phone link. "OK, I'll go along on one condition. This time, YOU have to explain to Will why you're putting off your return home."
After some marital discussion Adam, who was less intimidated that Joan about the idea of lying to Will, placed a call to his father-in-law. In his quiet but determined way, he explained that a classmate was having problems at home, and that he and "Jane" wanted to try and help out.
"Well, it's quite mature of you to put off on your own happiness for the sake of some friends," replied Will. "I just hope that you're not getting in over your head, trying to solve somebody else's worries."
"I'm sure that we can handle it, sir," said Adam. Because otherwise God wouldn't have sent them on the mission in the first place.
"Well, good luck then. Hope to see you soon."
Adam switched off the phone. "He's cool with it."
"Is he?" said Joan bitterly. "I'm not. It's embarrassing, being frightened of talking to my own Dad. No wonder that Mom is getting tired of all the evasions; she has to deal with it all the time."
"All the more reason to finish with the mission as soon as possible, and head home," said Adam.
"Right."
The next day they checked out of the Princeton hotel; as predicted by God, there was no trouble with the hotel bill.
Joan had mapped a route into Brooklyn that went through Staten Island and circumvented Manhattan. All the same, she was awed by the sheer population density when they were going through the New York area. "Population density" – that was a cold, dry term. What it really meant was that every dwelling they passed contained a family that was as important in God's sight as the Girardis themselves. How could God keep track of all of them? It was easy to say "because He's omniscient", but that too was mere words. Joan could not imagine the sort of Mind that could contain all that – and yet she frequently yakked with God as if he was a boy from down the street.
Luke had said, on several occasions, that he found it difficult to associate the abstract God discussed by Einstein with the human forms that he encountered. Joan did not share her brother's determination to make sense of the universe, but she felt the paradox now. Her Mom was right to question – what was it that made Cathy's difficulties more urgent to solve than anybody else's? But it wasn't as if Joan was going to get a straight answer even if she asked.
They drove their rent-a-car through the streets of Brooklyn until they found the address from the website: a small office building. It was rather unimpressive, outside and in. Joan walked down the anonymous corridors of the building and, once again, wondered why one particular business here was so important in the eyes of God.
Finally they found a door marked SpeedOfThought dot com. The sign looked drab, not dazzlingly professional. The door itself was closed, not open with a receptionist on guard, as would be the case with a larger business. Joan knocked.
A few seconds passed, and finally a bearded young man answered it. "Yes?" he asked, with an unspoken implication of why are you interrupting me at my work?
Joan braced herself. This wasn't like walking up to a strange girl on a campus, where every student tended to trust each other. This was New York. "Hi. I'm Joan Girardi-Rove and this is my husband, Adam. We're school friends of Cathy Adams—" Joan left out the fact that they had known Cathy for about one day.
"Oh, so Cathy sent you to try to talk me over, right?" he asked bitterly.
"No, we came on our own accord."
"Why?"
Good question, thought Joan. I can scarcely say that God sent me. Aloud she said," We thought that we could help, as a neutral third party."
"Scarcely very neutral, if you're friends of Cathy's."
"That's why we came. To hear your side." She was skirting the obvious question of why is this any of your business, and wondering if he was going to say so and slam the door in her face. Instead Lionel said suddenly, "Come in then. But you must promise to keep what I say confidential."
"We will."
The Girardi-Roves entered. It was a small office, and rather a mess, with printouts and machine parts lying about, but the disarray did not bother Joan. She knew and loved enough brainy types to be used to it, starting with Luke.
"Okay," said Lionel. "I suppose Cathy told you the background. Darry and I were cooperating on a new idea. We weren't very formal with dividing the credit, because of each of us was inspiring the other. Yes, Darry was inspiring. Then something went wrong."
"Do you know what?" asked Adam.
"I don't know. I thought at one point that it was Lizzie. He meets the girl, and suddenly he's less willing to work late on the project at night. He'd rather visit Lizzie and, well, you can guess. Then he'd be tired in the morning. I was about to complain about it when Lizzie herself worked out a solution. Some nights of the week would be for work, and some nights would be for pleasure. I liked the way she tackled the problem before it became a big one, and I decided there was no reason to blame Lizzie. But whatever it is that Darry's doing now, Lizzie's doing it with him. I don't know which one talked the other into it."
"What do you think they're trying to do?" Joan asked.
"I don't know for sure, but worst case: the stolen hardware could give him a headstart over me. Darryl could develop the program alone to the point where he could demo it to a large software company and land a huge contract. If he does that, and then I try to claim it's partly my work, I'll look like a parasite trying to horn in on his success."
"Just what does this software do?" inquired Adam.
Lionel suddenly looked wary. "I don't really want to get into that. Hard to explain to laymen, and besides, I have to protect business secrets."
Joan sighed, but could tell he wouldn't budge on the subject if they pushed. "Okay, do you know where Darryl is?"
"Just found out. I hired a detective – not to snoop on the couple, but just to find out where he went. There are in a seacoast town named Sarasota, Florida. Staying at something called the Paradise Hotel. Presumably enjoying the sun and beach life and other things while working on the program."
"Have you considered following him down there?"
"Yeah, but the detective advised against it. Better bring the matter into court rather than have a potentially violent confrontation."
Joan was studying law, but she didn't know if Lionel's approach was a good idea or not. If this was all some weird misunderstanding, a court proceeding could create unnecessary bitterness on both sides, and waste a lot of money. "How about asking Cathy to go to Sarasota?"
"No! I don't want that family getting together and planning how to take advantage of me. I don't have any friends on my side; that's why I was willing to talk to you two. Darry has his sisters and Lizzie and maybe other cronies I don't know about. And remember your promise. I don't want YOU to tell Cathy about Sarasota either. If she DOES go, I'll know she was lying when she said she didn't know what her brother was up to."
"Well, I guess we have nothing else to talk about, then," said Joan, annoyed. "Anything else, Adam?"
"No, Jane."
"Then we'll get back to you if we think of anything. Good-bye."
The couple went down to the parking lot, got in the car, and sat. "Now what?" asked Adam.
"Cold-hearted son of a -" Joan bit back the last word. "Wouldn't trust us with technical info, won't let us give Cathy useful information, thinks girlfriends are interlopers, has no friends of his own, probably for good reason. But none of that's a crime. He could still be the victim of his partner, and we may be the key to his getting justice."
"I hate to say this, but should we break our promise and tell Cathy where Darry is?" asked Adam.
"I'm tempted, but I don't think God would like it that way. Unless an avatar pops up and gives us permission to break the promise."
"Then the alternative is – "
"Going to Sarasota ourselves, yeah. Damn."
"We've got our stuff packed in the trunk. We know God's going to pay for any transportation costs. So there's nothing to stop us from driving to Kennedy Airport and buying a couple of tickets to Florida." Adam shrugged. "I guess this is a case of ripples."
"Right," said Joan. "Except usually we create the ripples. Not get caught up in them!"
She got out the map and checked the route to Kennedy Airport.
TO BE CONTINUED.