Kelli backed her car into the power outlet and looked in her rear view mirror with irritation as her hair flew upwards in dry stray wisps as the electricity hummed through the vehicle. Maybe the tailored nutrients were making her impatient, but she just wanted to be out on the open road. Taking a compact out of her purse, Kelli smoothed some anti-wrinkle cream across her forehead and the frown lines disappeared.

A tap on her window startled her into dropping the bottle onto her silk pants suit.

“Sorry about that, Ma’am,” the station attendant said and handed her a brown towel from the dispenser.

Kelli dapped at the stain the cream made and watched in relief as it soaked up and into the towel. “That’s OK. I must have been in another world.”

“Ten credits, just beam here.”

Kelli pointed her ring at the tablet he held, shivering a little at the vibration it gave out. The tablet chimed that the transaction was finished and the station attendant waved her off.

“The journey of a thousand miles starts with a lead foot,” she thought and pressed the accelerator to the floor as she merged on to the New York Interstate.

“Reminder,” a rugged, sexy male voice intoned.

Kelly toggled a flashing switch so she could communicate with her PDA and still drive.

“Go ahead.”

“Birthday present for your nephew Keith.”

“Go to Toys-R-Fun.com and pick out an educational gift under $25 credits. Cross reference it with his acquisition list. If you can find something that fits on his wish list, perfect. Charge my personal account.”

Kelli swerved into the transporter lane. She hoped she wouldn’t hit traffic. “What time is it?”

“9:30,” the voice sounded like it just got out of bed.

Kelli closed her eyes briefly to do the travel calculations. She should make it to Hawaii in less than two hours.

“Reminder,” its husky voice whispered.

“What now?”

“Are you wearing your sunscreen?” The voice sounded like it hoped that was all she was wearing.

A brief moment of panic hit Kelli, but she glanced down quickly and was relieved that she was wearing the shield bracelet that would protect her from the harmful UV rays.

“Yes,” she sighed.

“See you soon.”

Kelli gave a double take. “I’m sorry, repeat?”

There wasn’t an answer.

She gave a deep shuddering sigh. It was now official. She was losing it. It was only a matter of time. Her job was high pressure and she had just finished the Ramirez’ deal, which had been three months of sheer hell. Her PDA had been her lifeline. She would have been dead in the water seven times over if it wasn’t for that little device. It kept her organized, reminded her to eat and sleep. Storing all her information on it had been brilliant. The corporate hackers crashed her system, but never expected where the data really was. When it was over, Kelli had been the last one left standing on the hill, pistolas smoking, the victor. Except, her chest still felt constricted in steel bands and she had trouble sleeping. And now she was hearing things.

Kelli fumbled for the coffee maker and pressed the double espresso button with extra sugar. She needed this vacation. Two weeks on an island all alone. No cell phone. No PDA. The smell of Blue Mountain Jamaican coffee wafted through her car. She eagerly pressed her mug against the spout on the dashboard. “Look out!” Her car swerved sharply to the right avoiding several safety beacons that had popped up to alert drivers of road conditions. Kelli grabbed the wheel in both hands, glad that she purchased the auto pilot program. A robotic arm lifted her rescued coffee to her lips and she took a big slurp.

“That was close,” she said and squinted to read what the beacons were warning her about.

Pirate activities in the area. Proceed with caution.

“Damn them. Can’t the authorities start cracking down on these things?”

“They can’t be everywhere,” her PDA said in its deep, dark voice. It sounded smug.

“I don’t remember purchasing the personality program,” Kelli said. “I went with the ‘hubba hubba’ voice because Madelene conned me into it. But I definitely didn’t want back talk from yet another entity in my life. I get enough of that at work.”

“Ahargh, avast and prepared to be boarded.” It was her PDA’s voice, but with an erotic pirate’s growl.

“No, no, no!” Kelli slammed the wheel with the palm of her hand as her car’s controls locked.

Her car switched lanes and she was no longer going towards the Hawaii teleport station.

“Look,” she said, trying to reason with the pirate. “Ramirez is a done deal. The data has been purged. If you’re looking for revenge, can’t you drain my bank account or something fun like that? This is my first vacation in five years. I want to see Hawaii before the volcanoes swallow it up. I want to bury my toes in the black sand beaches until it’s too hot for me to dig any farther. I want . . . Tahiti?”

Her car flew over the tire nubs into the farthest lane and horns blared. Accelerating into the jump, she closed her eyes, but it was over before her brain could comprehend it. With a slight brimstone smell, her car came to a halt in a parking lot of a grand hotel. Her car door opened. The crash of the ocean drew her attention to the blue green surf. She stumbled out and was hit by tropic heat.

“You forgot to pack your bikini,” a familiar seductive voice said from a hammock across from her.

“I don’t wear a two piece,” Kelli said and stared at the man in blue jean cutoffs with a patch over one of his cybered blue eyes. “Who are you?”

“A gift from Ramirez. You can call me P.D.”

“Petey?”

He grinned and held out his hand, “Close enough.”