West of Nothing

18. The Pterodactyl

The pressure pop of the Bridge doors had become so familiar that Mason failed to notice the entrance of a stranger until he heard an unfamiliar voice.

"Finally, some place dim," the visitor sighed in relief. "Those fluorescent lights are murder on a hangover. Not as bad as this Arizona sun though. I'm surprised I've got any retinas left. Your driver wouldn't even stop at a gas station so I could pick up a pair of sunglasses."

"There aren't many gas stations on the way to Fort Nothing," Major Zeus said.

"Fair point."

"Who the fuck is this?" Shouter gave his usual welcome.

"Let's just say I'm in the trucking business," the man said.

"This is Clayton Ramone," Major Zeus introduced him. "He's the CTO of the autonomous driving division of WhiteStripe trucking."

"Damn, you blew my cover," Clayton said. "CTO is actually a demotion. They forced me to step down as CEO when they bought my company. The fact I'm now a mega-millionaire does soften the blow a bit."

"What's he doing here?" Shouter said. "Did he get lost on his way home from Vegas?"

"How'd you know I came from Vegas?"

"You're wearing a Palazzo T-Shirt, asshole."

"I felt I owed them some free advertising after they let me pull off the biggest winning heist in history last night."

"I see how it is," Shouter said. "Now that things are getting interesting, you're bringing in the big shits. Who's next? Elon Musk and the Kardashians?"

"I don't think you have to worry about Elon," Clayton said. "He's not returning my calls. There's a bit of a legal kerfuffle over who owns the patents to our crystal lidar technology."

"Clayton has some experience that might prove valuable to the project," said Major Zeus.

Shouter wasn't buying it. "You got it backwards! He's just looking to get his hands on new tech for his own company."

"This kid has some fire," Clayton said. "He reminds me of my ex-wife."

"He has a speech inhibition disorder."

"So does my ex-wife," Clayton said.

"Fuck you!"

"In any case," said Major Zeus. "I'm sure you're wondering why I brought you all the way out here at great risk to your retinas."

"Something to do with an autonomous robot? Is that the little tyke over there? Jeepers, he's small. I was expecting something a bit more... imposing."

"He punches above his weight class," Skunkworks said. "You can see it better on the overheads."

"I didn't come all this way just to watch it on vid." He went up to the bell and leaned forward until his nose almost touched the glass. "What's up with the dead cricket?"

"It wasn't dead when we put it in there. And no, it didn't die of natural causes."

Clayton whistled. "So we have a deadly bug assassin on our hands. Now that is interesting."

"We were just about to run an experiment." Doogie held up the robotic manipulator, which he had finally gotten mounted to the bottom of a lid. "I call it The Pterodactyl."