Free Nine-Tenths by Meira Pentermann

bus number fifty in ten. Contemplating his next move, Leonard nearly fell backward when he felt a sharp tap on his shoulder.
    “Tramer, are you deaf? The shuttle’s here.”
    Leonard turned and found a middle-aged, red-haired man staring at him with a look of exasperation on his face.
    “I’ve been calling you,” the man explained.
    Over the man’s shoulder, Leonard caught sight of an unmarked, light-blue van.
    “Come on.” The strange man pulled on Leonard’s arm, leading him to the van. He pushed Leonard through the door. All spaces were taken except two in the back, making the choice easy.
    “Hey, McGinnis. What’s the holdup?” a burly man in the front row asked as Leonard and the redhead shuffled past.
    “Just picking up stragglers.”
    McGinnis. Leonard tucked the information in his already cluttered brain and settled down on the seat next to the window. McGinnis sat down beside him.
    “When we get in, I’ll take you to the coffee pot straightaway,” McGinnis said cheerfully. “You’re clearly not on your game this morning.”
    “Oh, yeah, sorry. I guess I’ve been in my head a lot lately.”
    “No shit.”
    Leonard looked out the window as the motley collection of housing developments and multistory apartment buildings gave way to fields of grass.
    McGinnis cleared his throat. “Do anything fun this weekend?”
    If you include traveling in a supposed time machine to an alternate reality, it’s been a blast. Otherwise, I’ve spent most of my Sunday searching for the stupid pass. “Oh, not really. How about you?”
    “I went to the game. Got great seats.” He seemed quite pleased with himself.
    Football? “How did you score the tickets?”
    “Many hours of shameless ass-kissing, which you rightly observed I’m famous for. But it pays off, man. It pays off. You need to come out of your quiet little engineering hole sometimes.” McGinnis chuckled.
    “Who won?”
    “What? Please don’t tell me you missed the game. What the hell were you doing?”
    “Uh…helping Alina clean the house.”
    “You got to be kidding me. Are you that pussy-whipped?” He covered his heart melodramatically. “The shame, the shame.”
    “She’s been very busy and frustrated at work. So many CARS cases, you know. I just thought if I helped her it might…ease the burden.”
    McGinnis regarded him skeptically. “That’s very thoughtful of you. And I always thought you were an inconsiderate bastard.”
    “Thanks,” Leonard said, really disliking the Leonard who walked in his shoes before he arrived.
    McGinnis laughed.
    Changing the subject, Leonard asked, “So what are we doing today?”
    McGinnis stopped laughing, scrunched up his brow, and stared at Leonard in disbelief. “The same thing we’ve been doing for the past three years. What’s wrong with you, Tramer?” He gazed at Leonard with concern. Then he grinned. “Ah, I get it. Now I know why you were taking Alina’s woes away. I get it, man. Hoping for the payoff. From the looks of you, I’d say you hit the jackpot, because you are definitely a man who had his brains fucked out last night.” He slapped Leonard’s thigh and burst out laughing again.
    Leonard winced but forced a smile.
    Soon he caught sight of a massive building in the distance. As they drew nearer, Leonard distinguished three buildings about ten stories high. Surrounded by a chain link fence topped in razor wire, the buildings seemed ominous yet oddly attractive. The structure in the front looked like an office building; a series of blue glass windows graced the upper floors, catching the sun and throwing splashes of turquoise on the vehicles already behind the gates. The two structures in the back, on either side of the main building, had no windows. They appeared to be longer and wider. Beyond the trio, acres of paved land and two landing strips became visible, as well as about a half dozen small jets and three helicopters.
    At the front gate, the van had to pass through a