Neptune Road Volume IV Read Online Free PDF Page A

Millman
says to no one. A thin man at a nearby table moves his chess piece
as his much rounder friend watches.
     
    Around the corner he hears voices, people yelling.
Somebody has abandoned a white van right in the middle of the
intersection. There's yellow dust floating around it, and the guys
who are supposed to be driving look to be out cold. Several people
get out of their vehicles and begin pushing the van to the side,
holding shirts over their faces to keep from getting knocked out by
the fumes. The van's rear doors flop around.
     
    The investigation from EarthAdmin will have to wait
until Millman can get back to his apartment, or Mr. Green's
apartment really, to read the digital stuff and find out what
Vertical Technologies has to do with anything.
     

093 - Bridge of the Tumbleweed

     
    "You called?" Philo says, entering the bridge.
     
    "Yep, we did," Feller says. "Seems we've got a
predicament. And a delicate one at that."
     
    "The Bird People put stuff in Dr. Mangrove's head,"
May says.
     
    "Stuff?" Philo asks.
     
    "Yeah," Feller says. "And from what we can tell, it's
intelligent. And knows what he's doing. As you can imagine, this is
awkward for the host. The invader knows when the host is trying to
get rid of it."
     
    "What happens when the host - or Dr. Mangrove - does
something the parasite doesn't like?" Philo asks.
     
    "Gives him a horrible headache," May says. "He looks
really bad."
     
    "We have no way to know if there's other damage
happening too," Feller says, but then stops when he considers that
May might not take to that idea very well.
     
    "Yeah," May says. "What if it's eating his
brain?"
     
    So much for Feller's theory.
     
    "So you need a method to remove this implant, if
that's what it is, without alerting the implant that it's being
removed," Philo says.
     
    "Exactly," Feller says. "Any ideas? What did you pick
up when the Bird People plugged you in?"
     
    Philo sits quiet for a few seconds, reviewing the
information. "I've been trying to sort it out," he says. "A lot of
it was gibberish, probably meant to obscure their real systems. I
picked up some codes, and some files, a lot of it genetic patterns
gathered from their various - specimens."
     
    "Yuck," May says.
     
    "Nervous system data, circulatory parameters,
pressure, speed, there was a great deal about the flow of various
components through these systems," Philo says.
     
    "Okay, anything about brains? Brain stems? Skulls?"
Feller asks.
     
    "No, not that I have found yet," Philo says. "But I
will go through it again with that focus and see if anything stands
out. There's a lot about blood. And neurons."
     
    "Okay Philo," Feller says. "It's a start."
     
    "In the meantime we need to create a diversion," May
says, "so we can talk to Dr. Mangrove without actually
talking."
     
    "So you have to communicate without --
communicating," Philo says.
     
    "Basically," Feller says.
     
    "Perhaps I can fashion a way to listen in on Dr.
Mangrove," Philo says.
     
    "How?" May asks.
     
    "I'm not sure yet," Philo says. "But let me try
something."
     
    "Okay," Feller says. "But we'd better hurry before
the old man gets a terminal headache."

094 - A Café in Scar City

     
    "Thanks for meeting with me," Edward says.
     
    "No problem, always happy to help someone new in
town," the dad from the soccer game replies. He's got a thick
British accent and a pot of tea. Edward hasn't ordered anything -
he's trying to stretch his budget. They're in a tent sticking off
the side of a high-rise, a few stories up from the Scar City
mayhem. Not unlike the rigs climbers use to spend the night on the
side of a rock - except it's a whole cafÈ. It's festooned with
sports memorabilia.
     
    "I'm afraid I only know you as Speed Demon," Edward
says. "I'm not Caution Cone, either. My name's Edward."
     
    "Mike," the dad answers. "Nice to meet you for
real."
     
    "Your son is your biggest fan," Edward says.
     
    "Yeah, he uses me to run around, you know, since