Okay. RUMSFELD
is the current opcode for Flash Priority
Mission Abort. Di Manes doesn't have to look it up because the MMCS has just
obligingly displayed today's signals protocol in a little red window in the middle
of the dataspace. He has never seen anything in the middle of the dataspace
before. He has never seen a little red window, either.
"Say," Di Manes wonders aloud. "Just out of curiosity, what might lead to a Flash Priority
Mission Abort?"
Saul stands above her and places his hands on either side of her head.
Carefully positioning his knuckles so he doesn't break her cranium,
he feels around until he finds the eject buttons.
They are right below her high cheekbones, labeled
EJECT
He jabs both sides simultaneously and she shrieks: both eyes pop out of
her head and straight up into the air, optic nerves flapping spermatic tails behind.
Saul snatches the left, but the right squiggles out of his grasp, a fishy squishing from
one hand to another. He is swift, but the plucky eyeballs are slick with blood and
internal fluids. Finally he stops his frantic grasping and both are cradled.
"No;
I love this part."
"What?"
He gasps for breath, and soon is calmed.
She is writhing. He watches her knees buckle
and flop, then returns to his job. He goes and holds her head still, throwing the old eyes
into the recycling bin, where one pops. He ties the new eyes in with a ball of twine and
waits for her to stop twitching. Saul has blood all over him from the chase, so he goes into a
hidden and previously unmentioned antechamber where he puts on a new set of clothes
and types in the English version:
It's not as if they've actually drilled for this,
but Lorraine and
Harry have always
been sensible folks
who believe in keeping a clear head and knowing
exactly what to do in a pinch. She calls the security service and keys the code for the
silent alarm.
He finds the magazine for the Ruger,
checks the safety
and quietly loads
up. When they're both composed and ready they head downstairs. Harry carries the
firepower in front,
"You actually... stood by."
"At attention."
I thought the
Russians
were coming and we were all
drafted."
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