Scene 2:  Three weeks later. Rory on the phone to Ray. "Congratulations Ray.  When do you start?  (pause)  When's your last day at the Club?  That soon?  Are they throwing you a farewell party? No ... those bastards ... after years of service ... take your last check and get out.  That sucks.  Did they find a replacement for you?  One of the owner's kids ... sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.   Suppose I take you out for a celebration dinner on your last day?  No, no ... my pleasure.  Amy's getting a good co-worker and you're moving on to a better environment, better salary ... I love win - win situations.  The only losers are the idiots at the Club and they deserve it.  You're off at 6 p.m. right?   ... I'll meet you at the front desk at 5:30.  Good, see you then.

Scene 3: The Club.  Rory in shorts, t-shirt.  With a small gym bag.  Ray sees him ... they shake hands ... walk off.  Rory: "Why don't you show me the basement  for old time sake, like you did when I first came here?"  They walk along a basement walkway until Rory spots his target. "Ray, I'm kinda thirsty ... would you get me a bottle of water."  "Sure. Stay here ... I'll be back in a few minutes ... got some in my office."  Ray disappears. Rory opens his bag ... snaps on a pair of latex gloves ... takes out a small plastic container ... lifts off the lid ... contains three petri dishes of bacteria.  Ray takes one dish ... removes the petri cover half ... puts the agar half on the floor before the huge A/C unit ... flicks the agar half under the A/C ... repeats the procedure two more times ... all three open petri dishes are under the A/C unit  ... near the input vent  ... totally out of sight.  "Go to work boys ... make daddy proud." Ray returns. Rory takes a swig of water.  "God, that tastes good.  Shall we get out of here ... or do you have other unfinished business?"  "Nope, got my final check ... just need to drop off my keys at the front desk and I'm history."  Final shot of the three petri plates under the A/C.

Scene 4:  Rory on Google Earth.  Brings up the shot of Rep. Krupt's new estate.  Place is like a fortress ...  with a swimming pool.   "Looks like it's time I learned about drone technology."

Scene 5:  The Pot Shop.  Hobby store.  Rory enters.  The store owner is behind the counter, wearing a "Fuck the Bastards" t-shirt.  Rory thinks, "This looks promising." "Good morning ... I'm Conrad, the owner ... how can I help you?" "I've got an uncle with a small orchard.  He's getting too old to spray for bugs and I was thinking about trying drone technology.  Can you help me?" "You came to the right place."

Scene 6: Rory's back patio. Electronic equipment on the picnic table.  An electric drone on the patio floor.  A view screen lights up ... shows a view off Rory's patio. Rory is manipulating controls. "I dub thee ... Tigerhawk. OK, Tiger, let's see what you can do."  Hovers it around his back yard ... gets the feel of the controls ... up, down, all around.  "Let's see how the GPS dingus works."  On a second screen, a red dot and a map grid.  Rory types in coordinates, pushes the actuator, and Tigerhawk is off ... the red dot on the screen moving towards the green dot till they overlap.  Rory had the camera viewing downward so he recorded the entire flight ... what a trip!  Swivels the camera all around ... checks out the scenery.  Very cool. But ... so much for play.  Time to practice for the job.  Punch in the coordinates for Rep. Krupt's new digs ... and we're off.  Flight time automatically recorded.  Lands Tigerhawk on the flat stone fence at the rear of the estate.  Time for surveillance.  Everything recorded.  After 2 hours Rory types in the home keys.  8 minutes later ... Tigerhawk is on the patio floor again.  Rory retires to his p.c. for calculations ... size of the pool, pool volume, one way flight time, number of runs necessary to deliver 5 gallons of fluid to target, electric energy consumption ... the whole shebang.  He plugs all of the info into his simulator, hits the go key and watches  as a program shows him an entire night's work ... flights to target, dumping of load, return to base, three minute reload cargo time, repeat ... and repeat ... and repeat ...  Total mission time ... 4 hours, 37 minutes. Calculated pool pH ... nasty!  With nitric acid. "This should be interesting ... never did this experiment before ... will have to record the results." One week later ... Rory has completed his surveillance ... has the entire plan down.  Next Friday morning ... Rep. is back in town for his weekly relaxation. Friday afternoon ... local pool service is at the estate ... skim off any surface debris ... check chlorine level ... pH ... pours from an orange gallon plastic jug that fumes when opened.  One of the Rep.'s bodyguards asks what that crap is. "Muriatic acid ... nasty shit ... don't breath it ... it'd gag a maggot."  Sundown ... 8 p.m. ... Rory punches the GO button.  Tigerhawk takes off on the first leg of the mission ... going to be a long experiment.  At 1 a.m. Tigerhawk is back ... total mission over ... Rory's cleaning  the payload canister.  He can finally relax ... it's done.  Time to send Tigerhawk back for the final show ... park him on the garage roof with a good view of the pool.  Krupt takes his morning dip at 10 a.m.  ...  SHARP!  Time to get some sleep and be back for the show.

Scene 7:  Poolside at the Krupt Estate.  10 a.m.  ... Rep. Krupt exits his house with his 2 bodyguards ...  Krupt in a robe.  Tigerhawk observing  .... Rory recording ... eating popcorn.  "This should be good." Krupt drops his robe ... ugly sight ... walks to the side of the pool ... pauses ... Tigerhawk's camera zooms in ... and Krupt dives in.  Surfaces ... wipes the water from his eyes ... and then notices something is VERY wrong.  His whole body stings ... he's having trouble seeing ... having trouble breathing. Barely able to yell for help.  The bodyguards run up ... all the Rep's skin looks red ... everything else looks normal.  Bodyguards are yelling ... one takes off his shoes ... dives in to save the Rep. ... swims toward the Rep. who is now inert ... bodyguard realizes he himself is in trouble ... starts yelling, "IT BURNS!"  Other bodyguard has a phone but doesn't know what to do.  Calls the cops. Microphone on Tigerhawk catches the conversation.  Cops will be there soon.  Rory hits the RETURN button ... Tigerhawk silently rises and flies home.  Mission accomplished.

Scene 8: The Pot Shop.  Rory is returning Tigerhawk.  Hates to return him but he may never have a use for him again. "How was the fruit tree spraying, Doc ... get it done?  "Oh yeah, worked like a charm."  "Really?" Conrad pushes a button behind the counter ... bolts the front door.  "Let me show you something."  It's a recording of Rep. Krupt floundering in his swimming pool.  "I always hack the feed from my drone ... never know what it's REALLY going to be used for." Rory knows he's got a problem. "So, who's the target?"  Long pause.  Finally, "Rep. Krupt."  They just stare at each other ... then Conrad busts out laughing.  "That worthless fuck ... you killed that asshole ... let me shake your hand!" Not the response Rory was expecting but he'll take it.  "Doc, we gotta talk!"

=================

Next Time:  Part IV   Enter Biomimetics