Chapter 12

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Dave was palpably excited. Ian knew that Dave had a bit of the Mutt and Spike mentality about him. This was the role, much like in the old cartoons, where one manifestly charismatic person, Spike, had a hanger on who just wanted to be cool by association, Mutt. This presented itself in the cartoon as the little dog pestering the big bulldog asking him if he wanted to go chase cats, fetch sticks, bite mailmen, huh Spike?

Ian understood the relationship for what it was. He liked Dave's honesty, integrity, loyalty and the fact that he was always willing to support Ian in some way during any and all crazy opportunities. One day, Ian was hoping to have these qualities himself.

But for once, Dave was the one who had a skill that Ian needed, and Ian could see Dave's excitement. Although Ian would never purposefully forsake Dave as a friend, he knew that Dave did not have the confidence to know that. Dave was always trying to impress Ian with some little activity, anecdote or special favour. Ian did not need this attention, and Dave's attempts to get Ian to work at the gas station were just manifest attempts to keep the two of them as best buddies. Nevertheless, Ian truly liked Dave's company. Dave was friendly, energetic, and had similar tastes in recreation. There were differences though. Where Ian was a bit of a wannabe womaniser, Dave was pretty conservative in his views on morality. Ian had never known Dave to have taken a woman home with him. However, Ian did not suspect that Dave was gay, it was just that Dave's whole ethos, from work ethic, to relationships, to politics, was more conservative than Ian's. One thing Dave was that Ian did envy, Dave was very intelligent. Dave could run a computer like no one else Ian had ever seen. Dave could handle the more complex problems given out in the university math classes with no difficulty. Ian had trouble enough setting an alarm clock, and only used the computers in the student lounge when he needed to cram out an essay. The contrariness that he fostered in rebellion against his parents had stunted his own abilities to use any form of technology. He did not even understand most programs on the computer, he just knew how to type in a word processor. And even then, he often convinced some girl he had dated to type it in for him. After all, he did not want to be one of those "techy Indians".

Dave powered up his computer, and while it was doing its thing, he commented on an upcoming blues guitarist going to put a concert down at the Trib. The blues was one thing they both enjoyed. Ian, knowing that if this pulled off, he would be able to afford to go to many concerts, just maintained the small talk. He was too excited about establishing a getaway route.

"It's running." Dave opened the application. Their eyes settled on a spinning globe on the screen. "Let me see. Great Plains. Here we go." The globe was quickly approaching their screen. The globe spun until the city of Great Plains/Saint Barbara was below them, then it advanced rapidly. As the viewpoint dropped towards the surface of the earth, the higher resolution photos started appearing. "Where is the start?"

"Uhhh." Ian stalled. He did not want to have Dave do his work, let alone know about this. "Uhhh, the eight hundred block of Kingfisher Avenue." Ian was a bit desperate. He felt trapped. It was evident that Dave had no intention of letting Ian go by himself onto the computer. However, he felt his cover story was enough to keep Dave's curiosity from getting the better of him.

The computer zoomed into the start point. Ian could make out the location of a bank right from there. That seemed to be the only business in that area. Was this bank the target? It had to be.

The computer display was impressive. The resolution of the image was so detailed that he could make out cars on the street, sidewalk locations, and the houses with pools in their backyards. Looking at the neighbourhood, he instantly realised that it was going to be a tough go to try to execute an escape.

He needed to start moving the map without Dave. He braced himself. "Dave, this looks simple enough, do you mind if I try that?"

To Ian's surprise, Dave was more than happy to hand over the reins of the computer to Ian. Dave gave him a few instructions, such as how to move the map, zoom in and out, plot virtual map pins, and draw the route on the map. Ian remained impressed with the application. But needed to get Dave away, for the time being.

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