piled equipment on top of him while Gretchen kept a lookout, then they shut the lid and maneuvered the crate out of the bay.
Gretchen felt like a big sign hung over her head and flashed "Guilty! Guilty!" as they emerged with the crate into the bright sunlight and steered it toward the van. Ben tapped his ear and muttered to empty air while Gretchen and Lucia opened the van doors.
An alarm sounded just as they got the crate inside.
Douglas Markovi sat in his office and fumed. This stupid glitch had so far cost him an entire day's work, and it would show on the weekly statement. No doubt HQ would blame him for the whole thing and it would probably cut into his bonus, all because that goddammed bitch of a technician hadn't done her job right. He'd have to talk to legal about that, see what damages they could recover from Compulink. Meanwhile, maybe they could set up some lights in the cacao groves, get the hands off their lazy asses this evening and get some honest labor out of--
An alarm blasted through the room. Markovi jumped.
"Attention! Attention!" barked the computer. "A hand has left the boundaries of Sunnytree Farm. Attention! Attention! A hand has left--"
Markovi waved a frantic hand over his desk computer and the holographic screen popped up. The alarm continued to blare. "Billy, close down the exits and show me which hand has left the farm. And shut off that goddammed noise!"
The alarm instantly shut off. "All hands are accounted for," the computer said.
"What? But you just said someone had left."
"Please restate request."
Markovi ground his teeth. "Billy, explain the inconsistency in the last two reports."
"No inconsistency found. All hands are accounted for."
The vidscreen chimed and flashed the words Incoming Call. Markovi tapped his desk. Alex appeared on the wall looking worried. "What's going on boss? Did someone go AWOL?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Markovi snarled. "Get your ass down to the quarters with Joe and do a physical head count. I want everyone--"
He was cut off from another blast of alarm noise. "Attention! Attention! A hand has left the boundaries of Sunnytree Farm. Attention! Attention!"
"Billy, shut the fuck up!" Markovi yelled, and the computer obeyed. "Billy, run a count of all hands."
"All hands are accounted for."
"Billy, did any shackle bombs go off?"
"Negative."
"What the hell?" Alex said.
The vidscreen flashed another incoming call, and a moment later, one of the Compulink techs--the wimpy one who Markovi had yelled at earlier--appeared on it.
"Sir," said the tech, "we've been tracking the glitch, but it isn't exactly a glitch."
"What do you mean?" Markovi demanded. "Does this have something to do with the alarm system?"
"I think so, sir," the wimp said. "Your system doesn't have a glitch-- it has a virus. That's why our original fix didn't work. I think it's spreading to other systems in your mainframe, including the alarm system. That's why it keeps going off, just like the sprinkler."
"How the hell did we get a goddammed virus?" Markovi barked. "Our goddammed system is isolated."
The tech shrugged. "We can try to track it down for you, sir, since we're here."
"How much is this going to cost?" Alex asked from his half of the vidscreen.
"It won't be our emergency rates, sir," the tech said. "We're already on the premises, so--"
"Attention! Attention! A hand has left the boundaries of Sunnytree Farm. Attention! Attention!"
"Shut up, Billy!" Markovi screamed. Then to the tech, "Just fucking fix it!"
"We'll have to shut off the alarm system for a while," said the tech.
"No way!" Alex said. "What if someone runs off for real?"
"Your hands won't know the system is off-line unless you tell them," the tech said. "And it'll only be for about ten minutes while we clean and reboot the computer system. How far could they get even if they found out?"
Gretchen felt like a big sign hung over her head and flashed "Guilty! Guilty!" as they emerged with the crate into the bright sunlight and steered it toward the van. Ben tapped his ear and muttered to empty air while Gretchen and Lucia opened the van doors.
An alarm sounded just as they got the crate inside.
Douglas Markovi sat in his office and fumed. This stupid glitch had so far cost him an entire day's work, and it would show on the weekly statement. No doubt HQ would blame him for the whole thing and it would probably cut into his bonus, all because that goddammed bitch of a technician hadn't done her job right. He'd have to talk to legal about that, see what damages they could recover from Compulink. Meanwhile, maybe they could set up some lights in the cacao groves, get the hands off their lazy asses this evening and get some honest labor out of--
An alarm blasted through the room. Markovi jumped.
"Attention! Attention!" barked the computer. "A hand has left the boundaries of Sunnytree Farm. Attention! Attention! A hand has left--"
Markovi waved a frantic hand over his desk computer and the holographic screen popped up. The alarm continued to blare. "Billy, close down the exits and show me which hand has left the farm. And shut off that goddammed noise!"
The alarm instantly shut off. "All hands are accounted for," the computer said.
"What? But you just said someone had left."
"Please restate request."
Markovi ground his teeth. "Billy, explain the inconsistency in the last two reports."
"No inconsistency found. All hands are accounted for."
The vidscreen chimed and flashed the words Incoming Call. Markovi tapped his desk. Alex appeared on the wall looking worried. "What's going on boss? Did someone go AWOL?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Markovi snarled. "Get your ass down to the quarters with Joe and do a physical head count. I want everyone--"
He was cut off from another blast of alarm noise. "Attention! Attention! A hand has left the boundaries of Sunnytree Farm. Attention! Attention!"
"Billy, shut the fuck up!" Markovi yelled, and the computer obeyed. "Billy, run a count of all hands."
"All hands are accounted for."
"Billy, did any shackle bombs go off?"
"Negative."
"What the hell?" Alex said.
The vidscreen flashed another incoming call, and a moment later, one of the Compulink techs--the wimpy one who Markovi had yelled at earlier--appeared on it.
"Sir," said the tech, "we've been tracking the glitch, but it isn't exactly a glitch."
"What do you mean?" Markovi demanded. "Does this have something to do with the alarm system?"
"I think so, sir," the wimp said. "Your system doesn't have a glitch-- it has a virus. That's why our original fix didn't work. I think it's spreading to other systems in your mainframe, including the alarm system. That's why it keeps going off, just like the sprinkler."
"How the hell did we get a goddammed virus?" Markovi barked. "Our goddammed system is isolated."
The tech shrugged. "We can try to track it down for you, sir, since we're here."
"How much is this going to cost?" Alex asked from his half of the vidscreen.
"It won't be our emergency rates, sir," the tech said. "We're already on the premises, so--"
"Attention! Attention! A hand has left the boundaries of Sunnytree Farm. Attention! Attention!"
"Shut up, Billy!" Markovi screamed. Then to the tech, "Just fucking fix it!"
"We'll have to shut off the alarm system for a while," said the tech.
"No way!" Alex said. "What if someone runs off for real?"
"Your hands won't know the system is off-line unless you tell them," the tech said. "And it'll only be for about ten minutes while we clean and reboot the computer system. How far could they get even if they found out?"
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