Chapter 1
The silver Mercedes taxi came out of nowhere and almost ran
Mia over, jolting her out of her thoughts. Literally. As she slammed a hand
onto the offending car hood, her hand got zapped. The latest in hover car
technology. They could now protect themselves from “abuse.” Right. Just a new
way for taxis to be even more obnoxious. The driver just smiled as she shook
out the sting. No use in getting upset. By the time she could think of a
comeback, the driver was long gone, merging into the second tier of traffic,
and even if he wasn’t, he was French. Very little chance he would take anything
an American said seriously. Ah, Paris.
Mia was crossing the Quai des Tuileries, coming from the
river Seine on the Pont Royal, headed toward the Musée du Louvre—arguably the
most famous museum in the world. Also one of the few that had not kicked Mia
out and politely asked her never to return.
She tossed a glance behind her, feeling as though eyes were
on her back. It was a stupid instinct, of course. She was just a Ph.D. student,
who the heck would be following her? Well, with what she had in her purse,
fellow scientists might want to; however, most of them were more accustomed to
white lab coats instead of trench coats. Even so, Mia hurried toward the Porte
des Liones entrance situated along the far southwest corner of the museum.
Clasping her jade scorpion necklace to keep it from
bouncing, Mia crossed the remainder of the street with a bit more caution,
dancing between mothers with strollers, clearly on a play date missions, and
the subdermal tattooed beatsters. She hadn’t had a chance to really use her
martial arts training given her hectic schedule, so Mia took time to enjoy the
solo sport of crowd dodging. Funny to think she’d originally fought her parents
tooth and nail on going to the dojo, but they’d insisted; if she wished
to…gasp…live abroad, she needed to know how to protect herself. Now she
couldn’t imagine life without what her sensei called “thoughtful strength.”
At the entrance to the famed museum, Mia waved her pass
across the holographic scanner and was dinged right in. She nodded at the
virtual security guard—Selle, she thought his name was—as he looked down and
frowned at her well-worn loafers. Even the holograms in France were
pretentious. Shaking off his virtual disapproval, Mia walked up the steps to
the first floor. From behind, a group of tourists shoved past her with little
or no regard for her presence. They were like the Visigoths invading Rome, only
without the manners.
The Mona Lisa will still be there, Mia wanted to shout, but
it was the Louvre, after all.
She put her hand inside her purse to check that the device
about to rock the world’s notion of art and man was still inside. The MedScan
4, supposedly a simple device to perform CAT scans out in the field had been
modified to do so much more. The changes she had made to the program were working
fantastically well. Too well. Like revolutionarily well. Through the grad
student grapevine, Mia had heard stories of innovations of this magnitude being
targeted by corporations and even hostile governments. It might be 2049, but
greed was still alive and well.
As she dug around inside her purse, a postcard worked its
way to the surface. A postcard she had meant to send to her family last week.
At this point, it would be easier just to hand it to them. She was going back
to the States to visit for Chinese New Year in four days.
Four days. 96 hours. 5,760 minutes. It was like an
old-fashioned time bomb ticking down in her head. Now the tightness in her
chest and feelings of absolute doom made sense. It wasn’t some nebulous
international conspiracy to steal her scanner. It was plain ole family phobia.
Now if she were married, pregnant, and could present her
Ph.D. degree to her parents, kind of like her two sisters, then Mia would be in
the clear. However, there was no gold ring on her finger, and last time she
checked
The silver Mercedes taxi came out of nowhere and almost ran
Mia over, jolting her out of her thoughts. Literally. As she slammed a hand
onto the offending car hood, her hand got zapped. The latest in hover car
technology. They could now protect themselves from “abuse.” Right. Just a new
way for taxis to be even more obnoxious. The driver just smiled as she shook
out the sting. No use in getting upset. By the time she could think of a
comeback, the driver was long gone, merging into the second tier of traffic,
and even if he wasn’t, he was French. Very little chance he would take anything
an American said seriously. Ah, Paris.
Mia was crossing the Quai des Tuileries, coming from the
river Seine on the Pont Royal, headed toward the Musée du Louvre—arguably the
most famous museum in the world. Also one of the few that had not kicked Mia
out and politely asked her never to return.
She tossed a glance behind her, feeling as though eyes were
on her back. It was a stupid instinct, of course. She was just a Ph.D. student,
who the heck would be following her? Well, with what she had in her purse,
fellow scientists might want to; however, most of them were more accustomed to
white lab coats instead of trench coats. Even so, Mia hurried toward the Porte
des Liones entrance situated along the far southwest corner of the museum.
Clasping her jade scorpion necklace to keep it from
bouncing, Mia crossed the remainder of the street with a bit more caution,
dancing between mothers with strollers, clearly on a play date missions, and
the subdermal tattooed beatsters. She hadn’t had a chance to really use her
martial arts training given her hectic schedule, so Mia took time to enjoy the
solo sport of crowd dodging. Funny to think she’d originally fought her parents
tooth and nail on going to the dojo, but they’d insisted; if she wished
to…gasp…live abroad, she needed to know how to protect herself. Now she
couldn’t imagine life without what her sensei called “thoughtful strength.”
At the entrance to the famed museum, Mia waved her pass
across the holographic scanner and was dinged right in. She nodded at the
virtual security guard—Selle, she thought his name was—as he looked down and
frowned at her well-worn loafers. Even the holograms in France were
pretentious. Shaking off his virtual disapproval, Mia walked up the steps to
the first floor. From behind, a group of tourists shoved past her with little
or no regard for her presence. They were like the Visigoths invading Rome, only
without the manners.
The Mona Lisa will still be there, Mia wanted to shout, but
it was the Louvre, after all.
She put her hand inside her purse to check that the device
about to rock the world’s notion of art and man was still inside. The MedScan
4, supposedly a simple device to perform CAT scans out in the field had been
modified to do so much more. The changes she had made to the program were working
fantastically well. Too well. Like revolutionarily well. Through the grad
student grapevine, Mia had heard stories of innovations of this magnitude being
targeted by corporations and even hostile governments. It might be 2049, but
greed was still alive and well.
As she dug around inside her purse, a postcard worked its
way to the surface. A postcard she had meant to send to her family last week.
At this point, it would be easier just to hand it to them. She was going back
to the States to visit for Chinese New Year in four days.
Four days. 96 hours. 5,760 minutes. It was like an
old-fashioned time bomb ticking down in her head. Now the tightness in her
chest and feelings of absolute doom made sense. It wasn’t some nebulous
international conspiracy to steal her scanner. It was plain ole family phobia.
Now if she were married, pregnant, and could present her
Ph.D. degree to her parents, kind of like her two sisters, then Mia would be in
the clear. However, there was no gold ring on her finger, and last time she
checked
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