“I am connecting you now,” the phone said. It was as good as its word and a moment later I could hear the phone ringing at the other end.

“Nanotechtrics, how may I help you? “ the computer generated smarmy voice said.

“I want to talk to the boss,” I called out.

“Whom shall I tell her is calling?”

“Good girl,” Angelina said, always an enthusiast for female equality.

“Not her, him, James, his father…”

“Grrrk, “ the computer said as it was interrupted. “Good to hear from you, Dad. Long time no talk. “

“Too long. All work and no play. But work first. I need a supercomputer for some research we are undertaking, one that’s not as big as a house and needs an electric cable as thick as your arm to supply the juice.”

“You have just described our Nanotechtric-68X. I’ll get one to you at once.”

“Everlasting thanks,” I said and disconnected. The doorannunciator bleeped.

“I’ll get it,” Angelina said, then-“James, what a pleasant surprise, come in.”

When my son says at once he really means it. “When you phoned I was in my chopper-and I had a 68X with me. I was just a hop away.”

He brought in a battered leather suitcase, set it down and then it was kisses and handshakes all around. I eyed the suitcase suspiciously.

“Planning a trip?” I asked.

“Our latest model, the 68X.” He swung it up onto the table and pressed the latch. A screen flipped up and the keyboard popped out. I looked at it dubiously and he laughed. “This is just about our first working model. We breadboarded it to fit into this old suitcase. Streamlining and whizbang decor will all come later. For field testing this can’t be beat.” He patted it affectionately. “It works in a massively parallel mode. It uses distributive resources that reach out to memory spread across high-speed networks, which makes its speed not only unmeasurable-but even hard to just estimate. Its high-end massively parallel systems are really in the several teraflop range.”

My eyes crossed: he had lost me. “Teraflop? Fall to earth?”

“Not quite. One teraflop equals exactly one trillion floatingpoint calculations per second. So you can see that this little baby is really in the big league. One thing that helps as well is the fact that all the memory is nanobased.

We have invented and patented a molecular nanomemory where rows of molecules are flipped one way or the other to record data. I will demonstrate. Do you have a database I can copy?”

“Far too much in one of them. In the computer, filed under KAIZI.”

He hummed to himself as he connected the two computers and hit a button. There was a quick crackling sound and the hairs on the back of my neck lifted up. James peered at the screen and smiled.

“Done,” he said. “And less than one-hundredth of one percent of the memory in this computer has been used. Now what do you want done with it?”

I told him about our encounter in the forest and Kaia’s problems. He nodded understandingly and his fingers skipped over the keys. He smiled when I mentioned the daily transfer to my bank account, shook his head when I mentioned how easily my employer had found this same account.

“We will have to do something about that. Find a secure place for your hardearned income.” He leaned back and cracked his knuckles while the screen before him flared and crackled. “I’ve started a search program, really a lot of search programs running at the same time in a neural network. But– we sure have a lot of material to search for. What I have done is I have tapped into the interstellar web. We are now recording every detail of every occurrence of any kind, in any city where a robbery took place. All of the details of activity before and after the time that one of the banks was robbed. Then comparisons of all the data will be made. Such as, let us say, a spacer with the same name left every one of these cities exactly one day after each of the robberies …”

“We have them! Find that spacer and we find the thieves!”

“Easier said than done. And that was just an imaginary example. I think the real tracks are going be a lot harder to find. But let us get all the facts first, then try to relate them. I’ll leave the program running since it will take some time to produce any results. In the meantime why don’t you open a bottle of champers so we can celebrate your new job-and the first real test of my 68X.”

Even as he spoke Angelina brought a tray with bottle and glasses and we drank the toast. A moment later Sybil arrived, which made the parry all the merrier. But James was still working while he sipped.

“Dad,” he asked, “what do you know about banks?”

“That is where the money is!” I said happily.

“I mean more than that. What do you know about fiduciary bonds, roll-over percentages, PEPS, short-term interest-bearing investments, treasury bills and bank certificates of deposit?”

“Happily nothing. It is the money in the hand that counts.”

“Agreed. But since we have been running our own business I have dipped my toe into the golden water of finance and find it most lucrative. But I am a mere amateur. We will need someone with expert knowledge of the banking system if we stand any chance at all of finding the perpetrators of this crime.”

“I think that Bolivar is the right man for the job,” Sybil said, for she had been listening to us when Angelina had gone for a fresh bottle of bubbly. My eyebrows raised.

“But he is out among the stars,” I reminded her. “Indulging in his profound enthusiasm for lunar geology. And giving him all aid in his projects is Sybill who, I understand, shares his enthusiasm for life on the frontier.”

“She does, but a little of it goes a long way. We have stayed in close touch and I can sense her feelings, since they are the same as mine. She has not said so in that many words, but living in a space suit for days on end does not do much for one’s hairdo. Not to mention personal hygiene. We have been talking of alternative possibilities that might necessitate a little break from the joys of airlessness and free fall. She, as I do, of course, has a keen interest in art history, archaeology, and, interestingly enough, the banking profession. Between working spells as an agent for the Special Corps I have always indulged myself in a fiduciary hobby. Some investing here, a little bit of takeover bidding and asset stripping there. Just for fun, as you might imagine. But my bank balance is a pretty solid one. Such a coincidence, your new interest in the banking profession.”

“I have always been interested,” I said humbly. She laughed.

“I don’t have quite the same interest. I mean, after all, if no one made deposits how could you make all of those withdrawals that you specialize in?”

“Point made-I stand corrected.”

“Perhaps it is more than a coincidence, and coming events cast their shadow before them. But the very last time that Sybill and I talked it was about how much she misses the old give and take of the stock exchange. And-dare I say it? – a life that at times is more attractive than lunar exploration. If only for a short while. I am sure that if Bolivar thought about it, that he would enjoy the joys of banking as well. And I know that Sybill would be more than happy to help him with her specialized knowledge.”

“But are you sure that he will like it?” I asked.

“Of course he will,” Sybil and Angelina said at the same time. I am sure that Sybill was in agreement as well. Yes, of course he would. At three to one odds he didn’t stand a chance otherwise.

“I will arrange it,” Sybil said. “There is a branch of the Banco Cuerpo Especial on a very hospitable planet called Elysium. It is a little known fact that this bank is owned, run and operated by the Special Corps. If we are all in agreement we could shake the dust of Usti nad Labam from our shoes and go there. It will be a real family reunion. The computer search will continue and I will help Sybill with Bolivar’s new career.”