Read Online Death Dream by Ben Bova - Free Book Online Page A

quick , he thought.
    For some reason, it made Dan feel almost depressed. The same furniture, the same routine. He realized that he had looked forward to Florida as a bright new beginning and the sameness he saw all around him made him feel as if nothing had changed. Nothing that was really important.

    At dinner, Angela rattled on about Indians and Aztecs and her first VR experience.
    "Hey," said Jace, "that's a game I cooked up, Angie. Did you like it?"
    Nodding, Angela told Jace, "I saw Mr. Muncrief in it!"
    "You did, huh?" Jace glanced at Dan.
    "Muncrief isn't in that sim," Dan said. Then he added, "Is he?"
    Very seriously, Jace asked Angela, "Are you sure it was Muncrief? Not just somebody who kinda looks like him?"
    "I'm . . ."Angela hesitated, "pretty sure."
    "Pretty sure?" Jace asked, grinning. "Or kinda pretty sure?"
    "Kinda pretty sure."
    "Kinda pretty sure, or maybe sort of kinda pretty sure?"
    Angela laughed. "You're talking silly."
    Jace laughed too. "Yeah. I'm a silly person. Didn't you know that?" And he stuck out his tongue at her.
    Angela did likewise.
    Susan said, "That will be enough from both of you. Angela, you can go brush your teeth now. Jace, finish your salad."
    "Yes ma'am," Jace said sheepishly. But the ghost of a smile still curled his lips; he gave Angela a sly wink.
    After Jace left and Angela had gone to bed and the dinner dishes stacked in the ultra-quiet dishwasher, Dan slouched in their old sofa, Susan beside him, blearily watching television.
    "Did your computer work okay?" he asked, eyes on the flickering screen.
    "Fine. Thanks for setting it up for me."
    "And the fax board?"
    "I haven't had a chance to try it yet," Susan replied. "Tomorrow I'll send out reminders about my Florida phone numbers to all my old clients."
    "Good."
    "I'll drive you to the office tomorrow," she said. "I need the car."
    "Uh-huh."
    "We can shop for my car Saturday, okay?"
    "I guess."
    "Or Sunday. Whichever you prefer."
    He let his chin sink onto his chest. The TV show was something about a woman lawyer dealing with sexual harassment in her office. Dan thought about flipping to a different channel but Sue seemed interested in it. "I'll probably go to the lab Saturday. Got a lot of catching up to do."
    Susan did not reply.
    "Jake's jumped a million miles ahead of where we were at Wright-Patt. Even the simple games I saw today are way out. The imagery is fantastic. Not like the cartoony stuff we were doing for the Air Force. I mean, you can't tell the difference from the real world, it's that good. They've beaten the time lag problem, Sue. Hell, even the kids on the staff are light-years ahead of me."
    "You'll catch up to them in a week," Susan said.
    "I don't know. You ought to see what they're doing. Jace is developing conflict games, games that two people can play in, against each other."
    "That's what he was talking about! I couldn't quite figure out what he meant by 'conflict games' and he was rattling on about it so fast. He's really excited about it, isn't he?"
    "There's a lot to be excited about, Sue. It's fantastic."
    "Angie said the same thing about the VR in her classroom."
    "Yeah, she told me about it."
    "How much about the Aztecs do they show the kids?"
    Susan's voice sounded troubled. "I mean, they did human sacrifices, didn't they? Do you think they're going to show that to the children? Cutting out the heart and all that?"
    "I doubt it. What do you think about her seeing Kyle Muncrief in the sim?"
    "I don't know what to think."
    Dan tried to make light of it. "Imagine Muncrief dressed up as one of the Aztec priests, in all those feathers and stuff."
    "How could that be?"
    "Just her imagination. Muncrief must've made a big impression on her."
    "Do you think that maybe she's too young to use VR?" Real worry etched Susan's voice.
    "No," he said flatly, hiding his own concern.
    "I wonder," she said.
    "The school wouldn't let the kids use them if they thought there would be any problems." Listening to his own