Free Thirst No. 1 by Christopher Pike

file. Mr. Riley had accumulated a lot of information on me. The Alisa Perne file is large. I estimate, given the equipment I am using, that it will take me five minutes to copy the file onto both diskettes. Ray will return before then.
    While the file copies, I return to the office entrance and study the lock. I can hear Ray

    Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) walking down the stairs. He hums as he walks. He doesn't think there is anyone outside.
    I decide to jam the lock. Taking two paper clips from Riley's desk, and bending them into usable shapes, I slip them into the tumblers. The first diskette finally fills as Ray returns from his quick outside inspection. I slip in the second diskette.
    "Sita," Ray calls. "It's me. There was no one there."
    I speak from the back office. "You want me to open the door for you? I locked it like you said."
    "Never mind, I have the key." He inserts the key into the lock. But the door does not open. "Sita, it won't open. Have you thrown the latch?"
    I approach the door slowly so that my voice will sound closer, but I have turned the monitor around so that I can keep an eye on it. The bytes accumulate quickly, but so, I suppose, do Ray's suspicions.
    "There is no latch," I say. "Try the key again."
    He tries a few times. "Open the door for me."
    I give the appearance of trying real hard to open it. "It's stuck."
    "It opened a few minutes ago."
    "Ray, I'm telling you it's stuck."
    "Is the lock latch turned up?"
    "Yes."
    "Turn it sideways."
    "I can't get it to turn. Am I going to be stuck in here all night?"
    "No. There's got to be a simple solution to this." He thinks a moment. "Look in my father's desk. See if you can find a pair of pliers."
    I am happy to return to the desk. In a minute I have to remove my second diskette and exit the files. I open and close the drawers while I wait for the copying to finish. When it is complete, I jump into the file, scan the first page, then highlight the remainder of the file—
    which is several hundred pages long—and delete it. Now the Alisa Perne file contains only the first page, which holds nothing of vital importance. I return to the screen that requests the password. I put both diskettes in my bade pocket. Striding back to the door, I pull out the paper clips and slip them in my back pocket as well. I open the door for Ray.
    "What happened he asks.
    "It just came unstuck."
    "That's weird."
    "Are you sure there's no one outside?"
    "I didn't see anyone."
    I yawn. "I'm getting tired."
    "You were full of energy a few minutes ago. You want me to take you home now? I can come back later and study the file."
    "You may as well look at it while you're here."
    Ray returns to the computer. I lounge around the reception area. Ray lets out a sound of surprise. I peek in the door at him.
    "What is it?" I ask.
    "There isn't much in this file."
    "Does it say who Alisa Peme is?"
    "Not really. It just gives some background information on who contacted my dad to

    Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) investigate her."
    "That should be helpful."
    "It's not, because even that information is cut off in midsentence." Ray frowns. "This is an odd file for my dad to create. I wonder if it's been tampered with. I could have sworn ..."
    He looks at me.
    "What?" I ask.
    He glances back at the screen. "Nothing."
    "No, Ray, tell me. You could have sworn what?" I worry he may have registered how big the file was when he first started on the computer. Certainly it is much smaller now. Ray shakes his head.
    "I don't know," he says. "I'm tired, too. I'm going to look at this stuff tomorrow." He exits the files and turns off the computer. "Let's get out of here."
    "OK."
    Half an hour later I am at home, my real home, the mansion on the hill overlooking the ocean. I have come with the diskettes because I need my computer. My good night kiss to Ray was brief. His emotions