The Big Board
“You’re a bright, powerful young woman,” her mother had said, “and men are going to resent you for that because we live in a system that was designed by men for men, and every time a man sees you succeed, he sees a little piece of that system fall away. I’ve dealt with it my whole life, but do you think I cried?
Hell no. When a man called me a bitch, or ignored my idea in a meeting, or didn’t invite me to the golf course where the real business happens, I didn’t go home crying.
I fought back. I came up with a better idea that couldn’t be ignored; I became a better golfer than anyone in the company; I chipped away at their system.
And now all those men work for me. So you go back to that school and you don’t get an A on the next test, you get an A-plus, and someday that asshole kid will be working for you, if he’s lucky. ”
“Where are the coordinates?”
“Just a few miles from Marie Maxwell’s house.”
“A few miles? Not at her house?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Does she have a storage unit? Or an office?”
“It’s a residential neighborhood,” said Lidenbrock 2. “There’s something else. I went down to the big board when Valentine 6 called. I didn’t want to wake you until I saw it for myself. But I noticed something strange. The signal had a pulse to it.”
“What’s odd about that?”
“The signals are usually steady. We’ve only ever seen one other signal that pulsed like that.”
“And what signal was that?”
“The radio,” said Lidenbrock 2. “I was there when Harry Maxwell turned it on here at the club just before the Great Debate to see how the big board would react.”
“The radio,” said Pilgrim 3, whirling around from the fire to face Lidenbrock 2. “You think this signal is the radio?”
“It could be,” said Lidenbrock 2.
“I thought the radio was destroyed.”
“We all thought that, but according to that signal, it may still exist. And someone has activated it.”
“If we could get the radio,” said Pilgrim 3 with a gleam of greed in her eyes, “we could…”
“We could what?” said Lidenbrock 2.
“Get Nemo 7 and Montag 5 over there right away,” said Pilgrim 3.
She tried to suppress a smile, without much success.
If the radio still existed, and if it still worked, Pilgrim 3 could be free to do what she had wanted to do ten years ago—what Harry Maxwell had tried, and failed, to do in private Pilgrim 3 could accomplish in public and the acclaim would be instant.
She would be the most famous person on the planet. She just needed that damn radio.
“Find out everything you can about that address,” said Pilgrim 3. “And tell Nemo 7 and Montag 5 not to go in until they get the signal from me. We may not get another chance like this, and I don’t want to screw it up.”
“Absolutely. Oh, and, Madam Vault Keeper, there is one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Valentine 6 waited almost twenty-eight minutes after the light turned red before calling.”
“Twenty-eight minutes?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Why would she do that?”
“She was working a double shift overnight. She claims she dozed off.”
“Do you believe her?”
“No reason not to.”
“Take her off the big board,” said Pilgrim 3. “Make up some excuse—it’s down for maintenance or something.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Can you jam her phone?”
“Absolutely.”
“Do it. And, Lidenbrock 2?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Follow her.”
“Absolutely. I’ll find someone right away.”
“No, you follow her.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you, Lidenbrock 2. Did I not make myself clear?”
“Absolutely, ma’am. Perfectly clear. I’ll get right on it.”