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Dec. 6th, 2007 10:44 amDecember 6, 2007
Fiorello La Guardia International Airport
Eastern Airlines Terminal
"Morning, Kathryn," said Ray as he peeled off his jacket and dropped it into the tray for X-ray scanning. "How's it going?"
"Morning, Dr. Stantz," answered the woman in airport security uniform. "Pretty slow today. Where you headed?"
"Washington this time. Congress again."
"Fun." Kathryn wrinkled her nose. "Got any computers or high speed film on you?"
"Just the usual." Ray handed over the holocomputer, not that it ever did anyone any good to inspect it. The only thing it would do if asked to switch on without the use of Ray's biometric information was produce an LCD screen on which you could play Tetris. "Hey, this is new hardware, isn't it?"
"What, the scanner arch? yeah," said Kathryn, prodding the device into producing some token Tchaikovsky. "Brand new metal detection tech. It's a lot more sensitive. Just got it in last week."
"Wonderful." Ray rolled his eyes and dug his amulet out from under his shirt. "here, hang onto this for me, would you?"
"Sure thing. Step through the arch, please."
Ray did so, and was surprised to hear the high-pitched squeal that went off.
"You sure you emptied all your pockets, Dr. Stantz?"
"I only have the two in this outfit," Ray said, pulling them inside out. "It's a serious handicap to travel without the use of my full cargo pants, frankly."
"Yeah... huh." Kathryn adjusted one of the dials on the control panel. "Back up and try that again?"
Still the squeal.
Kathryn scowled. "Try taking off your shoes this time," she said. "You'd be surprised how often that gives us trouble."
"All right," said Ray, although he was pretty sure there was no metal anywhere in his sneakers. Despite that fact, the new arch squealed a third time.
"Crap. Dr. Stantz, I have to use the wand," Kathryn said. "Sorry about that."
"That's okay. I'm here an hour and a half early for a reason."
Ray stepped away from the arch to the pair of yellow footprints that indicated the Stand Here And Be Scanned Closely, Puny Passenger area. There were a few other people passing through the security checkpoint, most of whom paid no attention, but one or two were looking his way. The number increased a little as Kathryn pulled out the handheld detector and started running it up and down; they didn't get much of that kind of thing at LaGuardia these days. Most people divested themselves of all their metal early on to avoid-
BeeeBeeeBeeeBeeeBeee jerked Ray out of his train of thought. "Something wrong?" he asked, turning his head a little.
Kathryn was right behind him, frowning. "Dr. Stantz," she said as she lowered the handheld, "have you ever had spinal surgery?"
"No, definitely not."
"Does the chain on that amulet of yours rub off at all?"
"No, not to my knowledge," said Ray, blinking. "Why?"
She held out the scanner; its lights were flashing red. "There's something metallic in the back of your neck."
Fiorello La Guardia International Airport
Eastern Airlines Terminal
"Morning, Kathryn," said Ray as he peeled off his jacket and dropped it into the tray for X-ray scanning. "How's it going?"
"Morning, Dr. Stantz," answered the woman in airport security uniform. "Pretty slow today. Where you headed?"
"Washington this time. Congress again."
"Fun." Kathryn wrinkled her nose. "Got any computers or high speed film on you?"
"Just the usual." Ray handed over the holocomputer, not that it ever did anyone any good to inspect it. The only thing it would do if asked to switch on without the use of Ray's biometric information was produce an LCD screen on which you could play Tetris. "Hey, this is new hardware, isn't it?"
"What, the scanner arch? yeah," said Kathryn, prodding the device into producing some token Tchaikovsky. "Brand new metal detection tech. It's a lot more sensitive. Just got it in last week."
"Wonderful." Ray rolled his eyes and dug his amulet out from under his shirt. "here, hang onto this for me, would you?"
"Sure thing. Step through the arch, please."
Ray did so, and was surprised to hear the high-pitched squeal that went off.
"You sure you emptied all your pockets, Dr. Stantz?"
"I only have the two in this outfit," Ray said, pulling them inside out. "It's a serious handicap to travel without the use of my full cargo pants, frankly."
"Yeah... huh." Kathryn adjusted one of the dials on the control panel. "Back up and try that again?"
Still the squeal.
Kathryn scowled. "Try taking off your shoes this time," she said. "You'd be surprised how often that gives us trouble."
"All right," said Ray, although he was pretty sure there was no metal anywhere in his sneakers. Despite that fact, the new arch squealed a third time.
"Crap. Dr. Stantz, I have to use the wand," Kathryn said. "Sorry about that."
"That's okay. I'm here an hour and a half early for a reason."
Ray stepped away from the arch to the pair of yellow footprints that indicated the Stand Here And Be Scanned Closely, Puny Passenger area. There were a few other people passing through the security checkpoint, most of whom paid no attention, but one or two were looking his way. The number increased a little as Kathryn pulled out the handheld detector and started running it up and down; they didn't get much of that kind of thing at LaGuardia these days. Most people divested themselves of all their metal early on to avoid-
BeeeBeeeBeeeBeeeBeee jerked Ray out of his train of thought. "Something wrong?" he asked, turning his head a little.
Kathryn was right behind him, frowning. "Dr. Stantz," she said as she lowered the handheld, "have you ever had spinal surgery?"
"No, definitely not."
"Does the chain on that amulet of yours rub off at all?"
"No, not to my knowledge," said Ray, blinking. "Why?"
She held out the scanner; its lights were flashing red. "There's something metallic in the back of your neck."
