Free The Credulity Nexus by Graham Storrs Page A

spat at him, and hung up.
    “ What was that all about?” Freymann
asked.
    He ignored her
and gave the limo a new destination.
    Freymann read
it off the display. “The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center? What's going
on?”
    “ Are you really CIA?” he asked her. It had
suddenly struck him that she should have known about Blake
already.
    She sneered at
him. “Are you really a PLEO? 'Cause you ask some really dumb
questions. Now tell me what you're doing.”
    They cruised
up the San Diego Freeway and along Santa Monica Boulevard. Rik
explained the situation to Freymann in-between attempts to get a
medical update on his friend from the hospital's systems, and from
old acquaintances in the LAPD. He even tried to call Brie again,
but she was barring his calls.
    “ You sent a potential bioweapon through the
post?” Freymann's level of contempt seemed to be reaching new
heights.
    “ It was a specialist courier service, and
the phials were very securely packaged.” Which didn't sound like
much of a defence, even to himself. “And I didn't know it was a
weapon at the time. I didn't know what it was. Can we focus on the
important issues here?”
    “ Which are?”
    “ That somebody sent a gunman round to get
the package from Blake. Somebody knew I'd sent it to him. God knows
how! Which means that robotic psycho-chick isn't the only one
working against us. Now, if I didn't have my very own Company girl
in tow, I'd suspect the good ol' US of A had a hand in this. So, is
there anything you'd like to tell me?”
    Freymann
shrugged. “We're a bit out of my jurisdiction, here. You might want
to try the FBI.”
    “ Great idea. I'll give them a call. Better
still, why don't you get your buddies at Langley to do
it?”
    They pulled up
outside the hospital's main entrance and got out. The car synced
with the building's parking system and drove itself away to wait
for them. Meanwhile a nurse appeared to guide them to Blake's
bedside – not a real nurse, of course, just a rather poor
cogplus-mediated hallucination – a lucie, as they were popularly
known. Despite the scale of the hospital – a gigantic campus that
grew a little taller and a little denser each decade – it employed
just a few hundred human nurses. To be sick these days meant being
in the hands of robots and administrative AIs. The fact was, most
patients insisted on it, not to mention the insurance
companies.
    Their nurse
avatar was certainly friendly as it led them along endless
corridors and up and down levels, chatting non-stop about how good
the hospital was, how nice it was for the patients to receive
visitors, and what this week's special offers were on body
augmentations and upgrades. The distraught and dishevelled figure
that barred their way when they finally neared the intensive care
ward stood in stark contrast to the neat and chirpy lucie.
    “ Brie! My God, are you all right?” Rik was
shocked at the sight of her. Her hair was uncombed, her blouse torn
and bloodstained, and her right arm was in a sling.
    “ This?” She glanced down at her injured
arm. “This is nothing. If Blake's shot hadn't gone through my arm,
he'd have missed the bastard's heart. Then we'd both be
dead.”
    “ Jesus, Brie, I'm so sorry. I never
meant–”
    “ Just fuck off, Rik. I don't ever want to
see your stupid face again.”
    “ I just wanted to see if Blake was
OK.”
    “ Oh, what? You're concerned now? You
weren't so worried about him when you sent that shit through the
post. You damned well knew someone would come looking for it,
didn't you?”
    Rik moved to
take her by the shoulders, to try to calm her, but she wrenched
herself out of the way. He'd known Brie for years, and it hurt like
hell to see the fury in her eyes. He found himself pleading for her
understanding. “Honest, Brie, I didn't know.”
    “ Tell it to the police, asshole. They want
to know what the hell's going on, too.”
    “ Mrs. Bonomi.” Agent Freymann stepped
forward. “I work for the Government,