Confused, Joanie looked from Solaria to Betta.

"Is this true?" she whispered.

Betta nodded her head slowly. The disappointment in the girl's eyes bothered her. Why, she didn't know. She had followed her directive. That was her job. Joanie's opinion shouldn't matter.

"You kidnapped me and lied to me?"

"No," Betta replied.

"No?"

"No, I did not kidnap you or lie to you."

"Then what do you call all of this?" Joanie growled, her anger replacing the hurt.

"I was told to guard you. I followed the directive."

"Oh, I see. So your job was to protect me."

"Yes."

"To what purpose?"

"I don't understand the question."

"What or who was I being protected from?"

"I don't have that data. My directive was..."

"To guard me, I know, but you don't know from what."

Betta tried to think of something to say; some answer that made sense but she had never questioned her a.s.signments.

Solaria listened to the exchange not wanting to interrupt. There was no doubt the young woman had formed an attachment to the Hubot. More interesting, though, was Betta's reaction. She appeared bothered and confused. Solaria could empathize with her. As a Hubot, reconciling emotions with the logical order of things was difficult. Deciding it was time to leave, she interrupted them.

"We have to go."

"I'm not going back with you. I don't even know you," Joanie declared.

"That doesn't matter. You will come one way or another. I will kill her if you don't come quietly."

Joanie felt helpless.

"What about her?"

"She can break the chords at any time. Her orders are to guard you. She can't ignore them. She'll follow us."

"What do you mean, she can't ignore them? She can do what she wants."

"Unfortunately, she can't. Now get dressed. We have to get you out of the hotel quickly and unnoticed. The Company has another man downstairs watching the place."

Jumping up, Joanie pulled on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt and looked around.

"I'll get a change of clothes later."

"Good."

Turning her attention back to Betta, she hesitated for a minute and then made a decision based more on instinct than logic.

"I will tell you how to get in touch with us but only if you agree to my terms."

"I can find you without agreeing. You know that."

"Yes, but I can save you a lot of time and trouble. Besides, there's no guarantee your employer will continue to keep you activated."

Activated! Betta's suspicions were confirmed. The intruder knew what she was.

"What do you want?" she asked reluctantly.

"I want you to locate the GPS located somewhere in your system and destroy it. The Company knows your every move and I don't want them to know where we are. You must come by yourself."

Betta wasn't aware that she was being monitored but it made sense. Obviously the Company would track her every move.

"I don't have a problem removing it."

"Then meet me at the library at this address in three weeks."

Solaria quickly scribbled the information down and put it on the table. Motioning for Joanie to leave, she followed closely behind.

"My estimate is that you will be free in less than thirty-three seconds after we are gone. Don't follow us. Your time will be better used deciding whether you want to be a slave to Dynamicon or your own person."

Shutting the bedroom door behind her, she hustled Joanie out of the suite and down the hallway to the elevator.

Jain stood inside pressing the stop b.u.t.ton. Once the two entered, she handed Joanie a blonde wig and long jacket. Then she gave Solaria a dark wig and slightly tinted gla.s.ses.

"You get her out of here. I'll check out in the morning so no one gets suspicious."

"See you in a few hours."

Slipping into the jacket, Joanie grimaced at the wig in her hand and then put it on. Her thoughts were still on the woman tied up in her suite. She felt awful leaving her like that even after finding out she had been lied to.

"Will she be okay?" she asked, looking from Jain to Solaria.

"She'll be fine. I have no doubt you'll be seeing her shortly. Now, let's get out of here."

Minutes later, Solaria and Joanie strolled casually through the lobby and out the front door. A man sitting in the shadows glanced up at them and then back at his paper. It was going to be another boring night for him.

CHAPTER 25.

Two Weeks Later IT WAS ALMOST closing time at the library when Jain spotted Betta walking through the door.

"Could you watch the front desk while I let everyone in the backrooms know we'll be closing soon?" she asked, turning to her a.s.sistant.

"Sure thing."

"Thanks. I'll take care of the woman who just came in."

"You know, Jain. I may not be a lesbian but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy talking to good looking women."

"Okay. You tell her we'll be closing in thirty minutes while I check in back."

Jain knew Betta wouldn't go anywhere. Patting her a.s.sistant's arm, she glanced again at the Hubot and then walked away.

Solaria was scanning the plasma screen when she heard Jain's footsteps approaching.

"She's here," Solaria said.

"Yes, you want me to bring her back here? We'll be closing in a few minutes."

"That will do. I need to talk to her alone."

"Ummm. There's not going to be any fighting is there? I mean I'd hate to try and explain to my boss..."

"Don't worry. She's not here to fight. Besides, it wouldn't be very logical to have a battle in such a public place. There are cameras in every room."

Jain snorted.

"Like you haven't already taken care of them. I've noticed they are suffering from a lot of malfunctions lately. It's strange that it only happens when you're around."

Solaria gave Jain a wicked grin.

"You should get them checked."

"I intend to once I'm sure they won't have a reason to act up again."

"Good thinking. Now, it's time I met with Betta. Would you show her the way back?"

Jain nodded and left. Betta was walking around the aisles, scanning the t.i.tles and authors. The librarian got the impression she was memorizing each one for future reference.

"Betta?"

Turning, Jain found herself pinned by expressionless brown eyes. Straightening to her full five foot two height, she met the glance with a stoic resolution.

"Yes, I'm Betta."

"Would you follow me?"

Without waiting for a reply, Jain led the way to the computer room. Pushing open the door, she motioned for Betta to enter and then returned to her desk."It took you long enough," Solaria said, standing to greet Betta.

"I had to isolate the Company's subprograms first. It took a while even with the data you provided."

"And the transmitter?"

Betta held up her left arm displaying a three inch incision along the underside. b.u.t.terfly bandages held it together.

"I removed it. It now belongs to a rodent."

Solaria was impressed. Being part machine didn't mean she experienced less pain. Her biological neuro-system was similar to humans causing the nano-processors to temporarily mal-function when the body was under considerable stress.

"How did you locate it?"

"My supervisor supplied the information."

"Your supervisor?"

"Yes, he was very cooperative."

Solaria didn't doubt it.

"And where is he now?"

"He is inoperative."

Surprised, Solaria frowned. She didn't like the thought of Betta killing a human even under these circ.u.mstances.

"You killed him?"

"No, killing a human is only acceptable for self-defense, to protect others and to complete a.s.signments if needed."

"Then what do you mean by inoperative?"

"Mr. Justin sustained several broken bones and some bruises during our conversation. He is in agreement with me that it is in his best interest to relocate to a place far from here."

"And that would be where, exactly?"

Betta shrugged "I suggested Tibet."

"Tibet?"

"It is a logical choice. The country has no commercial value to the Company therefore they have no operatives there. As a scientist, Mr. Justin likes all of the comforts that modern society can offer therefore no one would expect him to live in such a technologically deficient environment."