"So Ian, do you at least grasp the basics of what I'm going to do to your computer?"
"Sure Jane. You're making it faster and easier to work with. I got that part. Understanding the rest of what you said falls into the definitely maybe department."
Jane punched him in the arm, gently, and he didn't dodge. Some things are required for proper bonding.
"OK. Since we have that sorted out, sort of, what about the rest of it?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ian had a very puzzled look. "We reviewed all the upgrades and how they're going to affect my projects. Was there something else?"
[[Jane threw her hands in the air and had a 'why me?' expression. She really is a great actress.
What? You thought that I couldn't directly comment on what was happening? Of course I was watching. We had a great deal invested in this family. Perhaps more than you could possibly imagine. There's no way that there wasn't a monitor assigned.
Who do you think was arranging for people to be Wally'd? Karla has no idea that she was the recipient of that kind of mental touch herself on on number of occasions. Naturally, since nobody else knew about it, she never realized what was happening.]]
"Ian, I know you're not that dumb. Like it or not, we're family now. We NEED to know what kind of work you're doing. At least in general. It may well affect our security measures.
"Oh god! It's not something to do with weapons development is it?" Jane had switched to looking horrified now. Quite a range that girl had.
"Heavens NO! I wouldn't do that. Besides the work on cryptography, I'm working on developing ultra-high capacity, light-weight batteries. That's why I need the 3D modeling capability for the computer as well as the math processing. Of course it's for the military, but all technology like that trickles down to civilian applications, usually fairly rapidly. Can you imagine what that would mean?"
"Electric cars with a range of over 500 miles but only 2/3 the weight of todays cars? Pacemaker batteries that last a lifetime. Solar charged batteries in the poorest areas of the world that would enable the people there to work, and read, at night. Wireless internet anywhere. Reduced famine. Better education. The list goes on almost forever.
"That's why it's so important and why whoever it was kidnapped me. Some other country wants it first. Either that or it was some criminal organization that wants people to stay poor and ignorant so that they can be cheated more easily.
"Speaking of which Jane. How many people does the FBI have watching us?"
Jane was a bit surprised at the suddenness of the question, but she answered it. "Usually one during the day, two at night. They move around fairly often. Out here in the boonies anyone staying put for very long would be noticed and reported to the police.
"Just pretend that you don't know they're there. I'll tell you if anything happens that might impact you. Besides, once they're sure that everything is going to stay calm, they'll probably be reassigned. Good agents are always in high demand."
[[Ian accepted that with an ease that surprised Jane. It didn't surprise me of course. "The Lady" had told him to trust her and he did. Implicitly. And, no, it wasn't me. I'm nothing near as important as she is. I'm just a monitor, the one who watches. That's me. Just the watcher, nobody important.
Now, go back to sleep and forget that we ever spoke. I don't even exist. Just a fading figment of your imagination. We'll talk again later, perhaps.]]
"What are you two talking about Nee-chan?"
Jane and Ian turned and saw Kimiko just a few feet away. She looked ready to begin a camouflage combat course. She was totally covered in fir needles, dirt and assorted leaves. The floor was wearing a healthy coating as well.
To be frank, she looked as if a dust devil had dropped by the house and had given her a great deal of personalized attention.
"Well, I can see what you've been up to, literally it seems. Weren't you supposed to tell me or Mama when you go tree-hopping?"
"Well, I was checking out the trees where I'd put the new thingies for you nee-chan. I wanted to make sure that they were fixed in place right. I never did anything like that before, so I wanted to be sure."
Jane had just as good a BS meter as Karla by now, so she just fixed Kimiko with a piercing stare and pinned her with it. She didn't say a single word. She didn't need to.
After about 20 seconds, Kimiko looked down at the floor and flushed and fidgeted. Finally she couldn't take it any longer.
"Well, it's FUN up in the trees. I can see practically forever from up on the top of the hill. Maybe it's a good thing, cause I saw some people that looked like they were watching the house. So I sorta snuck over to see what they were doing.
"There were two of them. I was about 20 feet above one of them, watching him watching the house. I accidentally knocked down a pine cone and it fell on his head. By the time he looked up, I'd moved to where he couldn't see me, and I made the noise of an angry squirrel. Want to hear it?"
[[She launched into her sound effect before anyone could say anything; she had it down exactly. I was impressed. How odd it was that she could do that but not speak at all.]]
Jane however wasn't impressed. "You what? They're at least half a mile away, they don't ever come closer than that. You know that you should never do something like that. It's dangerous!"
"Jane nee-chan, you never said I couldn't, and neither did Mama. If ya don't want me ta do something, ya need ta tell me."
[[Oh great. Another child who will never do anything expressly forbidden and who will do everything that isn't.] ]
"Besides, if I hadn't done it, I'd never had seen the ones watching the watchers!"
Both Jane and Ian shouted, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"There were two of them. I don't know what they were saying though. They weren't speaking English or Japanese."
Jane spun on her heel and ran down the hall to her workshop. Ian ran the other way and jumped into the chair in front of his computer. Both were very busy for several minutes.
The first to reappear was Jane. She waited for Ian to come back then told them what she'd been doing.
"I called Mr. Forsythe. He didn't seem very upset. The people watching us are regular agents and various freelancers usually watch them to see if there's anything worth selling to one of their customers. He says that he'll have our watchers rotated out of here tomorrow and set them to watching some random place up near the Tri-cities area.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Those watching the watchers will likely follow them. If not, they'll be redirected another way. If they arrest and deport them, it'll be like painting a big sign that says 'come here and see what's going on'.
"So, we're going to be on our own for a while. Not that we haven't been for the past 15 years."
Ian chimed in at that point. "Not exactly unwatched. My contact says that they'll have someone on site in a couple of days. Not agents they've ever used in this part of the world before. He also promises that they'll be more discrete than the first ones."
He stroked his chin as he said softly to himself: "I wonder how long it will take Jane to spot them."
Jane refused to take the bait, but she was the first to speak into the silence that had fallen after Ian said that. "Kimiko, go get yourself a bath. I'll come in and wash your hair. It looks like a bird's nest mixed with a packrat horde. Then, after you're clean, you get yourself back in here and sweep up everything you left on the floor, all the way to the door, and the steps outside. You hear me young lady?"
"Yes Jane nee-chan. Cleaning is one of my specialties, unfortunately."
She sighed dramatically and shuffled her way down the hall, looking over her shoulder now and then to make sure that the others saw how much she was suffering. Then she laughed and skipped the rest of the way down to the bath.
"Not bad," mused Jane. "Once I give her some lessons, she'll be a very good actress. She just needs to tone it down a bit. She's not a bit subtle. But what the hey, she's nine. She has plenty of time to perfect it."
She added, with a sly smile, "And Ian, when she does, I imagine that when she wants something out of you, you'll find yourself doing it for her, and you'll never notice that she's finagled you."
Jane laughed to herself at Ian's expression of dismay, then took herself off to the bathroom to keep her promise of washing Kimiko's hair. And to start another lesson of course. They didn't have all that much time.
------------------------
Karla and Kumiko lay panting on the mat. Actually, "gasping" was a better fit. Master Oh was working them very hard and fast. Obviously he also felt some vague sense of urgency. More obvious and much more infuriating, he was barely breathing hard, even after taking on both of them during the final 15 minutes.
"Well. You are coming along adequately Kumiko. Karla, you keep leaving yourself open after you block an overhead attack. You're setting yourself up for a side kick. Although I expect that your sore ribs tomorrow will be reminding you of that quite strongly."
"Yes Master. I expect that they will." She was feeling about ready to get up on her knees, so she did. No matter what, she always pushed herself, and relaxing was something she did only when she felt completely safe, which was not very often.
"Okaa-san, I think that Master Oh is even faster than Ian onii-san, and I've never seen someone as fast as Ian before."
She concentrated and appeared to be trying to remember something. Then she hit herself on the forehead. Not very hard. I'd told her about what I did to myself that time, and she obviously didn't want to share the experience. Good girl!
She shook her head, then nodded, "No, that is not right. Ian onii-san isn't as fast as he seems. He is definitely slower than you are."
"But he dodged when I tried to hit him. And he moved like greased lightning when I threw that clipboard back to him."
"No he did not. It just seemed to be that way. What he was doing was anticipating where both it and your fist would be. He started moving before you did, both times."
"Kumiko, are you absolutely sure about that?"
"Yes Okaa-san. I am completely certain. I just replayed that time in my head."
"Ah, you 'replayed it'?"
"I believe that is what I said. Almost everybody can do that when something memorable has happened, even many years afterwards. Usually it gets distorted over time and colored by their emotions. After such a short time, my memory is quite clear. I am equally certain that, oh, 10 years from now, it will still seem as clear but will not be as accurate."
Master Oh chose to add something to the conversation at that point. "Karla, you should know that the true martial artist, once progressed enough, will anticipate upcoming movements by their opponents. In such cases it seems as if they're reading the other's mind. In actuality their muscle memory is so good that they move without having to think. It can be a trap if you depend on it, but that is why we stress meditation so much. One must know oneself if one is to progress.
"When you get home I expect that you will question this Ian who has joined you and find out what kind of training he has had."
He had a somewhat woebegone look when he added, "You haven't asked the boy yet, have you?" Then he shook his head at the obliviousness of his student.
It made me feel like a total idiot, as I knew it was intended to. Of course I should have asked.
"Obviously I have more yet to learn than I imagined Master."
"Idiot. If you could imagine it, you'd already know it and would have prepared to defend against it. Or have prepared to counter it. It's what we can't imagine that can kill us. Learn to imagine better."
He was definitely not going to tell me how to do that. Masters always give students problems that seem insoluble. Most just seem that way. Some truly are, and the master himself is hoping that the student will find the answer. Unfortunately for me, like any true master, Master Oh wasn't going to tell me which kind of problem this one was.
By then we had our breath back and chowed down. Kumiko managed three sandwiches this time and a quart and a half of tea. I had my usual five and two respectively. Master Oh surprised me completely by having two sandwiches and a quart and a half of tea himself.
In between bites he just murmured: "You two managed to make me exert myself. None of my students have managed that for quite some time."
Then he went back to devouring his sandwich. Once again he clearly wasn't going to say anything more. Like everything he said, it could be taken two ways.
1) We were good enough that he had to concentrate on defending more than he normally would, thus expending more calories.
2) We were sloppy enough that he had to plan to defend against more imprecise, and thus less predictable, attacks and that resulted in him expending more calories.
After we'd cleaned up, Master Oh took a close look at Kumiko. "Stand straight child, I want to see something."
He looked her over closely, up and down, twice. Then he said, "Interesting Kumiko. You seem to have grown a good two centimeters since we met. Is it that Karla here is feeding you better than you have been accustomed to, or is it that you're in a hurry to get bigger."
He grinned at his joke. The grin fell away as Kumiko blushed beet red and ran out of the studio. That was a major breech of protocol. I'd discuss it with her later, much later I think. Probably when we were alone and she'd had a day or five to calm down.
Master Oh looked a question at me. I just said, "Female things."
He was as wise as I'd always thought. He turned away, picked up some lint from the floor, and put it in the trash.
"I'll see you both on September 28th at 1 PM sharp. Be well."
He turned and went to get his things. I hurried out the door and to the car. I didn't want to be locked inside again.
<
All right already, I'll tell you, but not just now. It's much too delicate a matter to discuss at the moment. OK? Good.>>
As planned we stopped at Uwajimaya on the way home and bought out the store. Kumiko went crazy when she saw that they carried Japanese lunch boxes.
<
She got about 20# of Nishiki rice for sushi. She seemed mildly upset that I wouldn't buy the ultra-premium, imported rice, but it was 20 bucks a pound. When I put my foot down about it, she just giggled and skipped off to the next aisle. She loaded up on konbu, nori, and a half dozen sauces that I'd never heard of. She kept mumbling about "proper meals" and "proper seasonings."
I'm pretty sure that she was teasing me, but not completely. Not gonna ask her either. I have to be above that sort of concern. I'm sure it's in the parent's contract somewhere.
Then she discovered the southeast corner of the store that held the Kinokuniya bookstore. She had a double armload of manga before I could say anything. She said that she'd never been able to finish some of these stories and that they would help her learn her kanji better.
What could I say? I knew that she was making excuses, but I live by a single principle when it comes to reading. It's better for a child to be reading something, even if I don't completely approve of the subject matter, rather than not reading at all. If you teach them proper values, they'll eventually gravitate to better subjects. If you haven't, well, you'll likely get what you deserve.
The thrill that ran through me when I realized that Ian would be stuck learning some of his Japanese from shoujo manga had nothing to do with my approving the purchase. Nothing at all.
<