Outside, the grass was starting to brown and the leaves on the trees had a rainbow display of fall colors—yellow and orange hues on the oaks and the maples painted a brilliant red. Jim and Marta sat on a stone bench. As the autumn days braced for the inevitable descent into winter, the winds were picking up. Marta pulled her sweater tight around her shoulders. For a few minutes neither said anything. Dana was restless and Marta draped a privacy blanket over her shoulder to nurse. Jim saw a look of stillness smooth the lines of her tired face and knew that mother and child were engaged in a ritual that he would never understand. Jim wondered, not for the first time, what it might be like to have a child suckle, to provide life directly to this tiny wonderful baby.
Marta emerged from her reverie and broke Jim’s. “What’s up?” she asked. “Did you find something?”
“Unfortunately, yes. There’s copycat code in my slate. I didn’t see it when I first looked, but she can see everything I’m doing.”
“Wait a minute,” Marta said. Her brows were knitted in concern and confusion. “I don’t get it. I came back to the lab weeks ago. How come you didn’t find it earlier?”
“She’s good, Marta, very good. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s actually pretty cool how she did it. If she stored lines of code on my slate’s memory, I’d have found it right away. But she used heat. Heat, Marta! This woman is amazing. She’s got nanoparticles that appear inert but when they’re hot enough, during a databurst, they scan my slate and then transmit to her on the next databurst.”
“You sound pretty impressed,” said Marta. “So she jacks our slates, but she gets your approval because she’s so clever.”
Jim looked at his wife. He said nothing for several seconds.
“Never mind,” Marta said. “Go on. Tell me about her wonderful technique for stealing our privacy.”
Jim was silent for another long moment. “Stop it, Marta. She’s my friend. That’s never going to change. I will always be her friend but you and Dana come first. You know that. So, do you want me to go on or not?”
“Okay, I’m sorry. I am. Please, go ahead.”
Jim took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Marta, she’s got a nanoscale laser. It fires a burst that polarizes the element gadolinium to store data. It takes her less than a trillionth of a second to copy any changes to the slate. Then when I communicate with the slate, or do a handshake with someone, there’s another equally brief burst to transmit the information. I don’t know how she picks up the data, but she has it set up to transmit only during databursts. It was only a matter of luck that I found it.”
“How did you find it?”
“I was playing a game,” Jim said. He shrugged sheepishly. “I couldn’t get past a certain obstacle so I recorded everything the sleeve processed and played it back at a very slow speed.”
“You? Jim Ecco? Mr. Natural? Jacking a game? Querido, you are full of surprises.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll tell you about it sometime. Anyway, when I was in playback mode there was a heat spike that I almost missed. If I hadn’t slowed the playback, I would never have seen what she’s doing. And by the way, that’s where she planted the copycat—in the game. I guess she figured I didn’t play games either.”
“Why was she monitoring your slate, Jim?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “She can’t care about dog training. It’s not like I’m part of the work that you’re doing. Maybe she thinks you’ll store something private on my slate. I don’t have a clue. But I’m going to drop my slate in the Charles River and then get a new one.”
“What about all your notes?”
“Backed up.”
“What about the copycat code. Won’t that back up, too?”
“No. It’s all on that damned game. You can bet I won’t have it on my next slate.”
“What do we do now?” asked Marta. “We’re doing some good science. In fact, I think that I want to focus on research, translate what I learned from Abuela into something the world can use. I’m not sure I want to pursue a clinical practice.”
Jim grunted. “Research, not patients? Can I still say I’m married to a physician?”
“Will you be serious?”
“I am,” Jim said. “I confess. I have fantasies of being married to a rich doctor and being a kept man.”
“Forget it,” Marta said, but her tone was lighter. “What should I do?”
“You have to see this project through, that’s a given. It’s part of your curriculum. Not to mention that you’ve got a crack at two good medicines. If Eva wants to run with them, make a business with them, that’s fine. And it’s not so much that she’s jacking me. Eva’s my best friend—after you, of course. It’s just her way. Look what she’s done for us. She kept me out of jail and helped us get married. And I feel like I understand her. Well, almost. But I love you, Marta. I love being a father and part of a family and working with the dogs. And that trumps everything else.”
“Querido, thank you for saying that,” Marta said. “Yes, she’s your friend and you care about her. That’s mostly fine with me. But I’m going to say something, and I want you to hear me, to take what I say to heart. And Jim? I’m only going to say it once.”
Marta faced him, leaned forward slightly and enunciated each word as if delivering a verdict and pronouncing a sentence. “I do not trust her when it comes to you. But I trust you and that’s what’s important.” Marta paused for emphasis. “Listen carefully. The moment I think she might do something thoughtless with Dana, or if I think she’s going to compromise him in any way, that will be the end of Eva’s relationship with him.”
She paused to let her husband absorb her ultimatum.
“Look,” she continued, softening, “it’s delicate. Eva becomes a different person around Dana. She’s caring, gentle, and considerate. Those are three words that I would have never used to describe her. He brings out the best in her and he’s already very attached to her. But he’s not on this earth for her benefit. The entire earth exists solely for him. If she crosses a line that involves Dana, we will not have Eva in our lives. Is that unequivocally clear?”
Jim swallowed. “Yes,” was all he said, all he needed to say.
Marta concluded, “I am Mother and I have spoken.”
After graduation, the three friends followed separate paths. Marta and Eva continued their education. Eva pursued twin doctorates in computer science and chemistry, completing both in three years. Marta went on to medical school and then focused on botanical research and the art of grant-writing to pay the bills. She travelled to the world’s rainforests, searching for remedies like those she found in El Yunque. Jim divided his time between childcare and his work at Haven Memorial. What started as part of his court-ordered community service had become a career. He was conscientious, effective in his job, arriving early and working late, caring for the shelter’s dogs. The work gave him a sense of purpose and helped him to manage his temper. While his work with dogs was fulfilling, he still mourned for Ringer.
He would never have another dog in his household.
Although Jim and Marta lived less than a mile from Eva, the two women did not communicate or visit. Jim maintained his friendship with Eva with Marta’s approval, although she was uneasy when Jim brought Dana to visit with Eva.
Neither Jim nor Marta realized at the time that they would enable Eva to attain her dream of creating a scientific empire. The day that Eva would pay an unexpected visit to Jim at Haven Memorial was still in the future; a day when the three would be drawn back together as colleagues was still very much in the future.