THE QUEST
Chapter 6 Flight or Fight
"Luke?"
"joan?" came a small voice from her cell phone.
"Could you speak louder? There's a lot of noise in the background."
"I can hear it. Where are you?"
"At an airport catching a plane to Washington DC."
"Why are you flying from New York to Washington?"
"Um, we're not. We're flying from Florida to Washington."
"FLORIDA. What are you doing in Florida? Well, dumb question. I'd like to be in the Florida sun right now. But you told Mom you were going to Brooklyn!"
"Yeah, long story— is the family missing us?"
"Let's just say there's a lot going on. I'm going to celebrate Hannukah with the Polonskys, since they're lonely with Grace still abroad, and I want to learn more about her heritage. Sister Lily is in a Christmas pageant; apparently they thought it would be cool to have a Virgin Mary that was really pregnant, riding on a donkey. Mom is painting some of the scenery. Dad's on a big case, though he doesn't seem to want to talk about it. Like you."
"Touche. OK, let me explain—"
She described the whole story as much as she understood it. "At first I thought it was a spat between two nerds – ulp, sorry. But others are getting involved. That burglar wannabe may have wanted to steal the idea, and God wants us to get involved. Can you make any sense of this?"
"Being a fellow nerd?" Luke asked in annoyance.
"Um, nerd in a Pickwickian sense?" She had picked up the term reading in the bookstore.
"What is – oh, never mind. Well, I know some background which may be relevant. Back in the 1970s, the Xerox Corporation came up with some of the computer ideas that we take for granted today – menus, dialog boxes, mouse clicks. But they dropped the ideas and didn't patent them. That put the ideas in the public domain, so that everybody can use them without paying royalties to the inventor. If somebody HAD patented them, the owner of the patent would be a billionaire by now. On the other hand, the extra cost might have discouraged people from using the ideas, and the history of computers might have been very different."
"So these two computer guys might be on the track of something big. Something with a lot of ripples."
"It's possible. Unless you can find out more about that program, that's the best I can suggest."
"Right. OK, here's a more practical question. We know the burglar guy is trying to get to Washington from here, but he's definitely not in the waiting area for this flight. Can you find out what his alternatives are?"
"Should be easy; there are already programs on the web for mapping an itinerary."
"Oops, they're announcing our flight now, and we probably won't be allowed to use our cell phones in the air. We'll call you again when we land."
"OK."
On the flight up, Joan filled her husband in on Luke's suggestions.
"So this mainly a business dispute," concluded Joan. "It seems odd that a little family business could have a major effect on the computer world, but stranger things have happened. A single mother writes HARRY POTTER and makes herself a multi-millionaire. But God has never had us intervene in a business dispute before."
"I think it's something bigger," said Adam. "Trying to break into somebody's hotel room. Do you think that's the detective that Lennie hired?"
"No. I met a detective friend of Dad's last year, Keith Mars, and he told me about the business. Legitimate detectives have to follow rules to keep their licenses."
"Then maybe the burglar is a third party who hopes to steal the programmers' ideas."
"Or working for the third party, more likely. I suspect his employer is in Washington. If we trail the guy, we may find the real thief."
"And then?"
"I don't know. Maybe it'll be clear when the time comes, and we can go home afterward."
So they sat. Luke had once pointed out the paradox of air travel: more than a century ago it would have struck people as science fiction, but actually experiencing it was deadly dull. They had not brought reading material; they could not communicate with the outside world, and they both wanted to be somewhere else: in Arcadia.
Finally they landed and were permitted to use their cells again. Luke had done good research. "Sarasota is just a regional airport, so the options there were limited. There are basically two alternatives the guy could have taken: a flight to Washington with a local stop in Orlando, or he could have travelled to Tampa Bay and caught a plane. Either way, he won't have arrived in Washington yet, even with his original head start. When he does arrive, his path will be constrained by the fact that there are security bottlenecks at various points of the airport."
"Just two. So Adam can watch for him at one bottleneck, and I can watch at the other. What are the times?"
"The Atlanta flight should arrive at 4:00, and the Tampa Bay flight at 4:20."
"We'll have to rush, then. Good thing we have our luggage with us."
Joan stood at the "bottleneck" keeping an eye out for the man in Adam's picture. If anybody asked, she'd pretend that she was watching for her boyfriend, and the questioner would think that was romantic.
A B C E E F G went her cell phone.
"Hello?"
"Jane, this is Adam. I've spotted him."
"Great! Where are you?"
"Hard to describe. I think he's headed toward Ground Transportation; better head there."
"OK"
A few minutes later, another A B C E E F G.
"Yes?"
"Saw him walk to the Avis rent-a-car, but then I think he saw me. He changed direction, heading for the taxi stand."
"I'm almost there. Try to get in line behind him."
Joan finally reached the taxi stand. Her husband was standing behind the bearded man, who was giving him dirty looks but obviously was reluctant to do anything violent in a crowded area. Just as Joan joined Adam, the man got in a cab. Fortunately there was another cab right behind it, and the Girardi-Roves piled in the back seat, luggage and all.
"Follow that car!" yelled Joan.
"For real?" asked the cabby. "I thought that only happened in TV shows."
"It's for real! Go."
The cab pulled out, and a relieved Joan turned to her husband. "Déjà vu. I got in a car chase the last time I was in Washington."
"How did that happen?"
"I was driving around with Keith Mars' daughter Veronica, and she spotted something suspicious. Turned out to be right, too." She did not want to add that when she and Veronica Mars got back to their dads, they both got an angry lecture about endangering their lives. Was she doing it again?
The taxis went northwest, then on the 14th street bridge over the Potomac River. So far Joan was in familiar territory. But after crossing the Mall and the northern half of the Smithsonian complex, the taxi in front of them turned east, into what Joan considered unknown territory. She had visited Washington as a tourist before, and nearly all the tourist sites were on the west side of the city.
About fifteen minutes later Joan was feeling hopelessly lost, and a remark from the cabdriver confirmed that it wasn't just subjective. "Whoever it is we're following, they're going in circles. Either they're trying to lose us, or the other driver is ripping off his customer taking the long way. Not that I would think of doing such a thing," he added hastily.
"Just keep going," Joan commanded. In ordinary circumstances she would be aghast at the fare she was running up: it would probably take all their cash, and she was relying on God supplying more funds, maybe at an ATM.
Finally, the cab in front of them stopped and the bearded man got out. Maybe he had run out of money. He walked into an alley that was definitely too small for their cab to follow.
"Let's go after him, Adam!"
"Hey!" said the driver. "You can't leave without paying."
"Jane, you stay and settle the fare. Here's my wallet. I'll chase the guy," said Adam, getting out.
Joan was inclined to argue, but realized that doing so would delay them and let their quarry get away. Sulkily, she sat with their luggage and looked through her purse, while Adam took action.
The man was apparently doing the circles trick again, zigzagging predictably. Adam was glad that he had a photographic memory; he might need it to find his way back to Jane and the taxi.
In another set of alleys, the bearded man turned a corner. Adam followed – and found himself facing another man, who was pointing a gun at him.
"Surrender or be shot," the man ordered.
Adam indulged in a little theological speculation. Would God protect his life so that he could complete the mission. Or would the gunman have free will, and decide to shoot Adam if he didn't cooperate? Maybe Joan was the only one for whom God had future plans.
Adam raised his hands in surrender.
TO BE CONTINUED
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Joan's ring tone is the first line of the show's theme tune, "What if God was one of us?")
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: I described Joan's adventure with Veronica Mars in a previous story on this JOAN site, entitled LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY)
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: "In a Pickwickian sense" is a line from Dickens' PICKWICK PAPERS, meaning that you don't intend an insult seriously)