[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]visual world, facing a signboard showing a hierarchy of system menus and
labeled boxes. He pointed at a
DIAGNOSTIC
branch and ran a quick test of vision and motor functions, then entered
AUDIOSYS
to make the connections.
Can you hear me, Michelle? he checked.
I d hope so. You re sitting right next to me.
I meant through the phones.
Yes. You re okay.
Do you read, Kev?
Roger.
Okay. . . .
And Corfe was in darkness, entombed in a clinging plastic shroud. He freed his
arms, worked them up over his head, and with some wriggling and tugging opened
the top of the bag. He pulled the folds low around him and stepped over them
to emerge into a shadowy vault of looming shapes and rectangles that he
recognized as the storage space below the worktop at the back of the
secretaries area in Garsten s office. There was more movement in the bag, and
the second telebot-size mec appeared similar to the one that Corfe was
occupying, but with different accessories. Corfe held the folds of plastic
Page 119
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
aside while it emerged fully. Everything okay, Kev? he asked.
Check, Kevin s voice said on the audio.
Still with us, Michelle?
I m here. The pictures on the two screens are coming through pretty clear
too.
Good. Let s start by getting everything laid out where we can see it, and do
an inventory.
Corfe walked to the edge of the cupboard s wooden base and jumped down to the
floor. Kevin followed, dragging the plastic bag, now relieved of its major
load. The carpet was like a field of closely packed tussocks of coarse gray
grass, making the going bumpy. They stepped up onto the skating rink of
plastic mat behind the nearer of the two desks, and passed beneath an office
chair, looming above them like a gigantic tree of tubes and girders. Here
would be as good a place as any to establish base camp, Corfe decided.
They laid out the remaining contents of the bag and took stock. There were: a
half-dozen specialized mecs, ranging in size from a quarter-inch, to one of
the new Keyboard Emulator models that Corfe had described at Taki s; a
standard keyboard plug, with two feet of lightweight cable coiled like a hose;
a miniaturized recharging unit with power cord; a selection of lines, pulleys,
and attachment slings; assorted tools; a six-foot steel measuring tape.
The first thing, they had agreed, would be to get Kevin and Michelle working
on the computer files while Corfe went off to look at entry points for the
reinforcements. To operate the computer they would first have to plug in the
KE mec, which required getting it up onto the desk. They stood looking up at
it, towering over them like a hangar for zeppelins. There was no quick way up.
They already knew that, of course.
Okay, let s roll out the tape, Corfe said. Now we ll see if this crazy idea
of yours and Taki s works.
We already tried it. It works, Kevin answered.
Taking a side of the case each, they carried the measuring tape to the base of
the chair and stood it on its side so that it butted against the castor and
support bracket. While Kevin wedged the case to prevent it from moving, Corfe
took hold of the protruding metal tag at the end of the tape and backed away
until the markings showed that he had drawn out thirty-
six inches. That should do it, Kevin said, and locked the clamp to stop the
tape retracting.
Corfe came back, and between them they moved the case out from under the chair
and closer to the desk. Working together like firefighters maneuvering an
extension ladder, they raised the tape carefully from the floor, moving it
slowly so that it wouldn t kink and bend, and turned it until the top end
leaned against the edge of the desk. What we need now is something solid up
on top of the desk to act as an anchor and keep the tape taut, Kevin said.
Can you see anything on the screen, Michelle? Corfe asked.
There s a kind of metal desk organizer with lots of dividers and trays, she
replied after a few seconds. She was looking at the screen that Corfe had
pointed out before he coupled in, showing the view being picked up by one of
the two small mecs planted high up in the office since yesterday.
Let me see. Still retaining motor control of the larger mec, Corfe switched
his vision to the channel that Michelle was watching. Hence, he was able to
see down onto the desk and at the same time work with Kevin by touch to move
the tape from below. The organizer was a chromed composition of stationery
slots and trays for pens and other oddments, with numerous edges. Just the
thing. Okay, it s a bit farther to the left, he told Kevin.
With Corfe directing, they steered the tape above the organizer, and then
extended it farther until it suddenly buckled over the edge of desk to fall
across the metal dividers and edges. Now we reel it in, Kevin said.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]zanotowane.pldoc.pisz.plpdf.pisz.plkajaszek.htw.pl
