Great in theory, and fun to ride, but they certainly hadn’t lived up to their promise or their hype. At least not yet.
“Lieutenant,” Alex said. “What’s up?”
Fernandez pointed at the scooter. “We’re testing some new Segways,” he said. “We’ve got two HT beta models. One runs on compressed hydrogen, the other on a fuel cell. They are both supposed to have more oomph than the old battery-powered electrics. This one, the fuel-cell unit, will supposedly haul a fully equipped soldier — we’re talking a two-hundred-pound trooper with a hundred pounds of gear — for thirty-five miles at twenty miles per hour before refueling. That’s twice the electrics’ maximum range.”
“Sounds pretty good,” Michaels said.
“Yes, sir. Unfortunately, this one just died after what I figure is about five miles. On top of that, I just learned that when the power goes out, the nice little stabilizing gyroscope stops whirling around. It’s got safeties so it doesn’t slam to a stop and throw you nose-first onto the concrete, of course, but once it comes to a stop, you need to get off quick. Otherwise, you will fall.”
“So you’re not impressed, I take it?”
Julio shook his head. “The thing is, Commander, it’s a great idea, but it’s got to work. If one of these shuts down in the middle of a hike, say, I just don’t see a lot of guys in the field hoisting this sucker over their shoulders to add to their packs, or towing it behind them like a tired old dog.” He shrugged. “In other words, sir, what we have here right at this moment is your basic eighty-five-pound lawn ornament.” He touched the thing’s upright post and handlebar.
Michaels laughed. “I guess this means you’re not going to buy one for yourself anytime soon.”
“Well, actually, Commander, these things are a lot of fun, and the electric ones work pretty well, even if they don’t have much range. And there are definitely field applications where extended capacity would be very useful, mostly flat terrain stuff, of course. Now, granted, all our troopers can hike ten or fifteen miles in full gear anyway, no problem, but going twice as far at a time, and getting there rested, sure wouldn’t hurt their operational capabilities any.”
He sighed and kicked the scooter lightly, just to watch it wobble some more. “I guess you have to expect glitches with beta models. I’ll drag this one back to the mechanics and see if they can figure out what’s what. At least the manufacturer built in a motor/wheel disconnect so you can at least push a dead one.”
“Careful,” Michaels said seriously. “I hear they are rigged to blow up if anybody tries to open them.”
Fernandez chuckled. “Yes, sir, I’ve heard that, too. But I’m going to let the shop boys worry about that. That’s their job.”
Michaels watched him go, then turned back toward the door. As he reached it, however, he heard Jay Gridley call out, “Hey, Boss!”
Michaels turned back around. “Jay,” he said. “What’s happening?”
“There’s another virus making the rounds. This one is a little odd thing that shuts off your system’s monitor. From its language and construction, I’m guessing it’s from the same guy who built that first one I told you about, the filler.”
Michaels frowned. “How bad?”
“It’s nothing major, Boss, but it’ll be aggravating to a lot of folks. I have a couple of the boys working it.”
“Okay,” he nodded. “Good work. Anything else?”
“It’s pretty quiet on the electron front. Just some low-rent scams, porno, the usual. The big news is that I think I’ve figured out a way to get that fund transfer from CyberNation I’ve been tracking nailed down. I’m going to take a shot at it and see.”
“Excellent. Keep me posted.” He paused, then switched gears. “So, how’s everything at home, Jay? You’ve still got that newlywed glow about you, you know.”
The younger man grinned. “Well, I can’t complain. Saji is pretty much the perfect woman, as near as I can tell.”
Alex grinned back. “Hold to that thought, Jay. Nisi defectum, haud refiecendum.”
Jay frowned. “Which means?”
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Jay laughed. “I hear that, Boss.”
Michaels grinned and turned away. This time, no one stopped him as he made it through the door and headed for his car.
10
The hearing aid was just a tiny little thing, Howard thought. It certainly wasn’t very impressive looking.
Geneva Zuri held it in the palm of her hand, showing it to him. “I’ll give you an instruction booklet to take home,” she said, “but the basics are pretty simple. If you pull this little door open, you can see where the battery goes.”
Howard took it from her and did as she had suggested. At first he thought he was going to drop it, it was so small, but after a few moments he started to get the hang of it.
He frowned slightly when he saw the button-style battery. At maybe half the size of an aspirin tablet, it was going to take a pair tweezers to load and unload it.
“That’s how you turn it off at night,” Geneva said. “Just open the door and take out the battery. We recommend that you keep it in its case with the silica granule packet to dry it out. In the morning, pop it back in, close the door, and you’re good to go. Try it. It helps if you pull your ear out with one hand and use your thumb to shove it in.”
“What’s the little button on top here do?”
“Changes the channel. Put it in, I’ll show you.”
Howard was used to using earplugs for shooting. He had no trouble inserting the hearing aid.
He didn’t know exactly what to expect, but he was just a tiny bit disappointed. He didn’t notice any change at first.
He frowned. Was that somebody talking? He shook his head. No, they were singing…
He turned to look, and saw somebody walking past outside the window. He grinned.
Zuri leaned forward and looked into his ear. “Nice fit. Shake your head.”
He did. It didn’t move in his ear at all.
“It won’t fall out by accident,” she said. “In fact, it’ll take a little effort to remove it. Some people have problems with that.” She leaned back, rustled a paper at him, and that sounded very loud. She knew it, too. He could tell by the way she smiled. “You expected to hear some kind of roaring sound when you put it in, didn’t you, like the wind or static or something? Maybe some feedback squeal, like a cheap PA system?”
“Yeah, I did.”
She smiled again. “What it’s supposed to do is make the bad ear work like the good one. It won’t be perfect, but it should seem as if both ears are working better. You’ll be able to pinpoint sound location better, too.”
He nodded.
“That button you mentioned?” she went on. “Reach up and push it.”
He did and heard two soft beeps.
“Again.”
He heard only a single beep this time.
“One beep is the normal mode,” Zuri said. “That’s the default when you turn it on in the morning. The second channel, the two-beeper, is for very loud environments, those with a lot of background noise. In the two-beep mode, it will pump mid-ranges, like most speech, but not the hum of your computer drive or car’s engine. All you have to do is toggle back and forth until you get it where you want it.”
She reached over and snapped her fingers by his good ear. “Cover this ear.”
He did so.
She snapped her fingers by the one with the aid in it. “Sound about the same?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now pop it out. It’ll help if you come underneath, use your thumb, and pry a little.”