The Centauri Conspiracy Read online

Chapter Three

  Companions and books

  Duncan Bakman stares at numbers twenty-six on the panel of the elevator that it stopped at. It stopped at his floor Duncan realizes slipping his book into his jacket pocket. The thought of it being his floor made him smile and Duncan Bakman enjoys a moment looking at the number twenty-six lighted on the panel before pushing “open.” When he stepped out of the elevator the doors slide closed automatically behind him, and Duffy notices that he stands in a short wide hallway going into a large room filled with pricey living room furniture.

  However, it was not the size of the room or the quality of the furniture that captures Bakman’s eye. Duffy Bakman stares at what else is in the room, in his living room, and sitting on his couch. His eyes gawk openly at three shapely and pretty mechanical-women in tight fitting one-piece pink tunics of companions. His lips smile warmly remembering his four ex-wives that complained about his numerous companions, and looks warmly at these three good looking mechanical women programmed as companions to please a man.

  Thanks Harry his mind tells him and his smile fades into a happy grin. As Bakman steps toward the center of his living room the smallest mechanical, a short petite silver-blonde, rises and steps forward with a handful of papers.

  "Please sir," a flat unemotional female voice asks as a small hand holds out four sets of papers and a photo-light pen. "Harry said you are to sign these papers for your companions!"

  "Okay . . . sure."

  Forgetting to look at or read the documents handed to him, but not forgetting to look at the shapely companion in front of him. While signing Duffy is interested again in his image suddenly appearing on each document. Between each signing his glancing eyes study the short petite body and pretty face of the mechanical before him. Openly his eyes move up and down his companion’s curvaceous tightly tailored pink tunic. What Duffy sees he likes. Between stares at the silver-blonde his hand signs his name on all the lines her finger indicates.

  As Duffy Bakman willingly signs, the other two mechanical women rise, walk slowly toward him, and stand beside to him. One is tall, wide of shoulder and hip, a brown-haired mechanical woman with an extra well-endowed statuesque torso. His mind compares her to an Entertainment Screen mud-wrestler on the adult-only restricted screens, and the other one a medium-sized slender-framed model-type with jet-black hair. Both of his pretty companions smile warmly back at him.

  His photo-light pen quickly finishes signing all four sets of papers before Duffy turns to better study the other two but never once stops to wonder about the need to sign four documents to own three mechanicals.

  The first one, the petite silver-blonde finally smiles while accepting back the documents and photo-light pen, lightly her fingertips touch his cheek, walks to the elevator with an exaggerated hip swing, and the elevator door closes behind her. The light on the floor indicator quickly reads twenty-five.

  “So,” blurts out Duffy as his arms pull both pretty and shapely companions to him. With a grin and a nod of his head at each of them for Duffy knows the other one is merely going downstairs to give the signed papers to Wray or Harry. With a laugh, Duffy stretches out both of his arms again, pulls both even closer, and hugs his two new smiling companions warmly. After giving each a warm and very friendly get acquainted kiss a grinning Duffy Bakman hooks arms with them.

  In a good humor Duffy orders, "Girls, show me around."

  Two soft sensual female voices reply almost in unison, “Yes Duffy,” and hook their arms inside his offered arms.

  Duncan Bakman and his two eye-catching companions walk forward exploring his floor with its fourteen rooms. During the walk-through tour, Duffy learns their names: Dee, the small petite silver-blonde one; Vee, the medium height slender black-headed one; and Zee, the tall husky well-endowed brown-haired one.

  One room, a smaller room that was really a large windowless closet or storage room, interests him for it has stacks of red plastic shipping boxes—all filled with copies of The History of New England. They all look just like the one he carries in his coat pocket, and Duncan Bakman stops for a minute to look at page 233 in several. In each of the five or six books that he looks at all have a different last number. The invoice on the top of a box claims a shipment of one thousand books. A paper lying on top of a box written in Harry’s shaky hand explains that one book has numbers to a five billion account, Duffy Bakman had that one in his pocket with his million dollar check inside, and the rest were worth a million each. That left 999 secret accounts each worth one million untraceable dollars—999 million. That amount of money would buy a lot of people, many secrets, untold things, and off the shelf information Bakman knew. Suddenly, Duncan “Duffy” Bakman got a new understanding of the size and scope of the OpDyke project he had signed on to. Without asking Harry, Duffy knew it was for bribes and purchasing secrets needed for his populate-other-planets project. It was money to make the Bakman Report and other things happen.

  When Duffy and his two pretty companions finished their walk-through the smiling petite silver-blonde returned.

  "Dee," Duffy asks because she seems to be the leader of the trio, "tell me about all this . . . this arrangement." His index finger pointed toward himself, the two pretty companion hanging on to each of his arms, and ends by pointing at her.

  "Zee is what she seems a mechanical companion and is further programmed to be your personal bodyguard. Her additional programming does include self defense, weapons, surveillance, and how to drive or fly any vehicle."

  "I'm impressed."

  "Also, Vee is a mechanical companion with additional programming in weapons, communications and technical skills. Vee can write a good letter, operate as a secretary, decode messages, create undetectable forgeries, operate and program any computer devise, skillfully fire a weapon if your life depends on it, and use her technical skills to eavesdrop."

  "What your special skills, Dee?"

  "I’m knowledgeable in cloning. I'm not a mechanical—I’m a clone. Clones and cloning are illegal and owning a clone is illegal. When I was a baby fresh out of a clone lab, my creator took me to a hospital and my mother-to-be checked in. Harry’s wife, Mary OpDyke, planned to stay three days and leave with me—her new baby daughter. That way no one would ever know I was a clone. There was a government sting operation to close down people making money doing that very thing targeting that hospital. The government placed me in a nursery until they could transfer me to a termination site. Harry OpDyke's agents rescued me; I've spent my life living in one secret cloning operation after another. While growing-up, I was arrested twice and Harry’s people rescued me both times. The last time was two years ago. This time Harry ordered constructed a special mechanical companion unit built to look just like me and also named Dee. The mechanical Dee is programmed as a companion, about cloning, about detecting and disarming explosive charges, and about bodyguard skills. It disappeared and I took its place here. When the authorities inspect the OpDyke building the mechanical Dee re-appears.”

  “We have been getting ready for your arrival, Duffy, for almost a year." Dee pauses for a moment as she studies Duffy Bakman's face to gauge his reaction to what she has just told him. Satisfied that she had not shocked Duffy enough to stop his rather nice brown eyes from glancing up and down at what her tailored pink companion tunic covered. Dee giggles. Stepping in close she twists her upper body around and pulls her silver blonde hair aside so Duffy can see her mechanical numbers and corporation owner tattooed on the back of her neck beneath her hair.

  “Without a medical scan or counting my eye blink-rate, I’m a mechanical,” Dee told him. Then, Dee turns back to look at Duffy Bakman, stares into his brown eyes, and smiles warmly for a long moment before continuing.

  "Duffy, you should be more careful about what you sign. The papers you signed were to own three mechanicals rightly enough. Now, you own . . . these two and a mechanical Dee around here someplace. For my protection, you also signed a marriage contract with Dee Dae Iversen.” />
  Dee pauses again to see if she shocked Duffy. Seeing no sign of it or a displeased look on Duffy’s face she continues.

  “Today, don’t you think, it seems more mature without all that romance for two adults to just sign a piece of paper and pay a hundred dollar fee to record it on the New Dallas Computer of Records. However, I will admit it did sound so romantic and wasteful of finances in the old Middle History times with a public ceremony, witnesses, pretty white dresses, flowers, rings, and a party afterward. Yet, when our papers are filed on the Computer of Records in about an hour, right after lunch, my name will be officially and legally be Dee Dae Iversen-Bakman. Then, Duffy Bakman you'll be a married man again . . . for the fifth time.”

  Giggling over Duffy’s sudden grin, Dee adds, “Duffy, I can tell you on good authority that this time your wife won't divorce you for having a few companions on the side like the last two did.”

  Warmly Dee laughs while pointing at each of the two mechanical companions and at him. Both mechanicals smile and Duffy Bakman chuckles.

  “Nor, will I run off with a richer man like your first two wives did." Then, Dee continues with an almost little girl giggle. "Your third companion is around here someplace. They will file the papers first thing this afternoon, but if I'm caught a third time not even hiding as a wife can save this clone from termination? If I'm lucky, they will prolong my existence for a time by letting me fill an empty seat on a Mars or Moon Colony Mission."

  "Which will you be to me Dee Dae Iverson-Bakman—a companion or a wife?" Duffy Bakman asks with a larger grin forming.

  His grin made her smile. Dee represses a giggle before she answers. "We will see about that later. Maybe Mister Duncan Bakman, I'll be neither or both or just a friend. I found out about this project more than five years ago. For three years now, I’ve not taken any medicine—not even for a headache. I've been having my eggs harvested. I plan to have it remembered that I helped put this plan into operation; and I am to be the only women, clone or not, to have offspring on four planets. If I decide you're not the man to father my earthly children . . . fine . . . , but if not I’ll find someone else. I think there are two or three promising rather handsome prospects on the lower floors. Now kind Sir, will you take your ladies, your companions and I, up to the 27th floor for lunch and let the tailor take your measurements for a new wardrobe."

  Dee leads the way toward a locked heavy metal door, toward a stairway with an up arrow. Stopping with a hand leaning on the door pad hardware, Dee turns to look back, and adds.

  "They know about me on the 27th floor.”

  While punching numbers onto the pad to open the door, Dee adds, “I need to eat too. I'm hungry. After that I’ll leave you to enjoy your companions for the rest of today."

  When the door opens, Dee Dae Iversen wrinkles her nose at her husband-to-be in less than an hour, suggestively her hips sway walking through the doorway, and giggles loudly as her index finger wiggles a “come here” sign at the others. When she sees they have started, Dee disappears up the stairway.

  Following her, Duffy, Vee, and Zee hear her giggles rising.