He seemed to consider that, then said, “No. Stay.”
He came toward her, kissed her. She kept her eyes open while he did, studying his face as he pressed his lips against hers. Though she’d learned over the years to kiss in a way that turned men on, and did so now, she felt nothing — no attraction, no repulsion, no excitement. It was as if he were an object to her, a lab specimen. She knew that thinking about him in this way would not have been considered by most people to be healthy, but although she desperately wanted to, she didn’t know how to think about her lovers in any other way.
At last, as he pulled away, she decided to try something that might convince him that he would want to spend the night with her. She lifted his right hand, kissed his index finger, then trailed it across her cheek down her neck, around the fringed neckline of her dress, and brought it back, touched it lightly to her tongue. She let her lips pucker to greet the moist tip of his finger. A light kiss, yes, but she had the feeling it would be terribly seductive and exciting to him.
She let go of his hand, and Cyrus let it linger beside her lips for a moment, then lowered it slowly to his side.
He took a deep breath to collect himself, then looked at his watch. “I do have a meeting in forty-five minutes.”
“Forty-five minutes? That’s plenty of time.”
“Well, actually, I need to leave now to get there. It’s at the R&D facility.”
When she’d first applied for her job, she hadn’t understood why RixoTray had built its research and development complex thirty minutes away, just outside of Bridgeport, but the more she’d thought about it, the more it made sense: keep the facility isolated, at least a little ways, from any terrorist threats to the country’s fifth largest city, the one that held more symbols of freedom and independence than any other, the city that was known as the birthplace of modern democracy.
After all, if you were an Islamic terrorist group trying to strike at the heart of the Great Satan, you might choose New York City, the financial capital of the West, or Washington DC, the political capital of America, or LA, the home of the entertainment industry that spreads all those corrupt Western ideas around the world. Or you might choose Philly, the historical symbol of democracy. And since your people had already dramatically attacked NY and DC and targeted LAX, that left Philadelphia as a primary target. It was just a matter of time.
She looked at Cyrus, responded to his comment about the meeting by asking the natural question: “At this time of night?”
“It’s with Daniel and Darren.”
Well, that made sense. The twins didn’t exactly keep normal office hours. “I thought they were in Oregon?”
“We flew them in earlier today.”
Earlier today. She hadn’t heard. “I’ll come.”
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
“I’m the principal investigator on the project. I’m the one who implanted the electrodes. I should have been told the two of them were back.”
He was quiet.
She put a hand lovingly on the side of his neck. “I’ll join you, then you can join me at my place. Actually, that’s why I came here, to invite you to a sleepover.”
He considered that. “A sleepover.”
“Mm-hmm. It’ll be fun.” She sat on his desk and crossed her legs, making the most of the slit in her dress. “I have some new outfits to wear. A few sleepover games I thought we could play.” She could tell he was definitely interested now.
Riah handed him the phone receiver from his desk. “Call your wife. Tell her you just got sent out of town on an urgent business trip. Something pressing that can’t wait.” In his position as CEO, it wasn’t an unusual occurrence, and they’d used this excuse to their advantage before.
She waited for him to finish lying to his wife, then led him out of the building to the parking garage. She knew where his Jaguar would be and figured she could pick up her car tomorrow morning when they returned to his office.
They slipped into the Jag.
And took off to see the twins.
Undetermined States
No phone reception, not even one bar, not even enough of a signal to send a text.
Since the sun has dipped below the tree line, I click on the porch light and take a seat on the swing that overlooks the sweeping valley of tall, long-shadowed Douglas firs to wait for Charlene. The main research building lies somewhere across campus on the border of these trees.
After taking a little time to study the map Serenity had given us of the grounds, I scan the chapter on quantum entanglement that I read yesterday, jotting a few notes so I can summarize it for Charlene.
When I look up, I see that all the light has drained from the forest, and I can feel a growing twitch of excitement about our little foray into the research center. However, despite my anticipation, I can also feel myself getting uneasy about the thought of entering, even for a few moments, the Faraday cage.
When Charlene joins me on the porch, she has changed clothes but is still toweling off her hair.
She gestures toward the book I’m holding. “Learn anything new?”
“A couple things, yeah. I’ll tell you on the way.”
“I’ve been wondering… You don’t think there’ll be security?”
“It’s possible. We’ll use the back entrance on the lower level, the one by the woods. According to the info Fionna pulled up last week, it should be clear, but if we see any guards or security cameras, we’ll bail.”
I take the key card that I’d lifted from the front desk, a flashlight, and my friendly neighborhood lock-pick set just in case I’ll need it, secretly hoping that I will. After all these years of practice, I can get through most locks in less than fifteen seconds. Most handcuffs in less than nine. It’s a private game I play — always going for the record.
Charlene grabs the RF jammer and heart rate monitor and we leave for the research facility.
Glenn came to the edge of the property. He’d been prudent with the use of his flashlight and was confident no one had seen him moving through the forest.
There was no fence to scale, so after getting his bearings, he turned his flashlight off, quietly walked through a dark channel in the woods, and emerged on one of the walking trails that led down the mountain toward the main campus.
The night is cool and damp, a mountain night.
With the cloud cover, there’s no moonlight, no stars to guide us. However, pools of hazy light escape from the windows of some of the buildings, and there are enough outdoor lamps mounted on the posts that parallel the walking paths for us to easily follow the meandering trail.
Charlene is close beside me, and I summarize the information I’d read at the cabin about the basics of quantum theory. “According to the Copenhagen interpretation, without measurement — that is, observation — a quantum system remains in an undetermined state of existence.”
“An undetermined state of existence …” She mulls that over. “So, you’re saying that reality isn’t determined yet, so — what? Objective reality doesn’t exist?”
“Quantum physicists would say that’s right, at least not in the way we normally think of it. Unobserved reality exists, just in a fuzzy state of flux that they call a state of quantum uncertainty.”
“A fuzzy state of flux?”
“Well, yes, but they say ‘quantum uncertainty.’ Sounds more scientific. Anyway, it doesn’t stop there. The Copenhagen interpretation also states that upon observation, the quantum system collapses. In other words, it’s forced into becoming one of its possible states — which basically refers to how it manifests itself. It’s a little confusing.”