Traveller Probo
108. USA

Zak and Phil decided to live it up a little and drive from the Helguard office in Chicago to St Louis, where the final preparations for Mississippi Traveller were to take place. They were scheduled for interviews for a television special to raise the project’s profile further, though there had been no lack of publicity. The countdown to Mississippi Traveller headlined all media.

Helguard’s technical staff had installed additional security features for both Transporters, so they agreed a cross country drive would be an ideal way to discuss business while taking time to see more of the USA. With their overnight bags packed, Zak waited while Phil carefully scanned his Porsche. He wanted to test a newly developed bug scanner he had designed to detect the latest in the Woomera arsenal. Phil was increasingly paranoid about the potential for personal surveillance, especially since he had been caught out in his participation with the US Government. In today’s brave new world, if anyone wanted to conduct electronic surveillance, they could do so with the minimum of fuss.

Phil then scanned Zak, who returned the favour before they jumped into the car and sped off to join the Chicago morning traffic. The plan was to drive down to Louisville and buy a couple of bottles of top-shelf bourbon, then head west to St Louis. It was a more convoluted route but they needed some time together.

The cool acceleration pressed Zak firmly into the hard seat and he was reminded why he wasn’t a fan of most sport cars. The hype and the speed were the selling points, definitely not the comfort, though Phil drove with a look of pure joy. He certainly loved his cars. The heavy beats of Stevie Ray Vaughan thumped loudly and, once they broke through the morning gridlock, Zak watched the scenery as they swiftly sped into the country. Phil seemed to drive considerably faster than the inflated speed limit but none seemed to notice or care.

“Damn, this is a nice car!” cried Phil as the stereo blared. “I know it doesn’t have a lot of room but damn, it is a nice ride.” He smoothly accelerated past a couple of struggling semi-trailers as they crested a rise. “I was going to use the BMW SUV you know but I think that was bugged. So we’ll have fun with this baby.”

“So, who do you think is bugging you?” asked Zak. “Are they using ours?”

Phil nodded. “Of course! Ours are the best,” he exclaimed as he shook his head in disbelief and glanced at Zak with his classic smile. “What makes someone think we don’t have the technology to know exactly what’s happening in our own surveillance world?”

“So,” asked Zak with a frown of concern, “is there a problem we should be aware of?”

Phil chuckled, “There’s always a problem.”

“Not our good friends?” asked Zak.

Phil nodded, “It’s always our good friends.”

Zak frowned, “But why? Why would the US government bother to bug us? You’ve been working with them, they buy from us, and we’re in the process of setting up a Traveller project with them.” He shook his head in disbelief, “Are you sure?”

Phil nodded, “Oh yeah. I’m sure. The thing that gets me is that I don’t even think this is above board, you know? Like I think this might not be legal.”

“Why?” asked Zak.

“Well, let me say it this way. Who is our bestest friend in the whole world?” he added with a cynical smile.

Zak laughed, “But she has what she wants, doesn’t she? I mean, the Ukrainian Traveller project, Kiev Traveller, was put off because of Senator Benton. Her back-room deals got me fucking-well kidnapped.” Zak was always vaguely surprised that he suffered no real trauma from his kidnap experience. The Ukrainians had all been rather nice and he had done what they wanted. He was actually rather sad that most of them had vanished into the dark past. “Damned Transporter! As usual it’s about that frigging Transporter.”

Phil nodded as he accelerated. There was no other traffic and they soon travelled at over 200 miles an hour before he slowed to almost the speed limit. Zak thought that, going at this speed, the five or so hour drive to Louisville might only take three. “It’s more than that, I’m afraid mate,” explained Phil. “I think that our good Senator Ruth Benton has shafted us.”

“How?” asked Zak, his mind busy with the possibilities.

Phil looked across at his friend and shrugged. “Well I have to take some of the credit. After all, I put together a gun team to research how the Transporter works. We discovered how to duplicate the ganglion and I believe the technology has been stolen.”

“What? You mean that you suspect the US Government has stolen our proprietary intellectual property?” Zak asked in surprise. “Why would they do that? They have the use of the Transporter, don’t they?”

“Yeah,” Phil agreed. “But they want one of their own. Maybe not one, maybe two or three,” he continued.

“But why?” continued Zak. “What benefit will come of that?

Phil looked across and gave a knowing smile, “Well, national security of course.”

Zak looked incredulous. “What about a Transporter can possibly be tied to national security?” he asked. It was a question they often asked themselves.

“Well, you have me there,” conceded Phil, “but I have my suspicions. Look at it this way. You and I both have an idea how much black budget money the US Department of Defense has. If Senator Benton wants to call it national security, then she will.”

“Shit!” replied Zak as he shook his head, “We could go after them in court. Cite intellectual property theft. Does Peter know?”

“The thing is, I only have a suspicion, so I haven’t spoken to Peter about this as yet. I thought I’d run it past you,” replied Phil.

“Do you have any proof?” asked Zak.

Phil shook his head, “Nothing definite but I have a hunch. I spoke to the chilly Senator just a couple of days ago and I knew. She was too pleased with herself, too smug. Normally, all she does is demand a Transporter for US Government use, which is just bloody stupid, especially after the Saxon Traveller shit-fight. Public opinion has become really suspicious of anything that looks like the militarisation of the Transporter projects. As if it’s not dangerous enough. Add to that the noise the Chinese are making about delays to their own project. My God, if they suspected that the Transporter could be replicated by anyone, we’d have the designs stolen and copied in no time.”

“But the technology isn’t like something any sweat shop can knock out,” replied Zak unkindly. “The ganglion is a nanotech nightmare.”

“You’re right, mate,” agreed Phil. “I don’t think we’ll replace Transporters gracing the street stalls of Bali yet. But the Yanks do have a lot of resources and, I believe, if anyone can make a copy, it’s them.”

Zak threw his hands into the air in frustration. “But why? What the hell would they need the Transporter for? They won’t be able to make any such Transporter research public.”

“Who knows? We just have to keep our ears to the ground. As I said, it’s a suspicion I have.”

“But strong enough to tell me,” frowned Zak.

Phil nodded. “Believe me, something will turn up,” he repeated as he floored the accelerator.