The Phoenix Code Read Free

composure as to see what he meant. A V-shape of birds was arrowing across the sky. "Well, yes." More collected now, she turned back to him. "Flying south for the winter, I imagine."
    He indicated the birds floating on the pond, then held up his hand as if to offer them more delicacies. They paddled industriously toward him until they realized he was bluffing. Then they drifted off again. His gold watch caught rays of the sun, glittering with discreet diamonds.
    "They don't cheat," he said.
    "I'm sure they don't." Megan had no idea what they were actually talking about, but she doubted it was birds. Whatever the subject, she loved his voice. Deep and throaty, it rumbled like music, sometimes drawling, other times resonant. "Did you enjoy the session this afternoon?"
    "I suppose." Ah suhppose. "You should have given a talk. You do better work than the lot of them combined."
    That caught her off guard. "Thank you." She hesitated. "I'm afraid I don't know your name."
    He considered her for a long moment. Then he said, "Raj. Call me Raj."
    "Is that your name?"
    "Well, no. Yes. At times."
    "Raj isn't your name?"
    "My mother calls me Robin." He spread his hands as if to say, What can a person do?
    Megan smiled. She could relate to that situation. Her father still called her Maggie-kitten. She didn't mind it from him, but it would earn anyone else a shove into a lake. "What do other people call you?"
    "All sorts of things." He rubbed his ear. "I wouldn't repeat most of them."
    She gave it another try. "So Raj is the name on your birth certificate."
    "No."
    Megan couldn't help but laugh. "You know, this is like pulling teeth."
    His lips quirked into a smile. "My birth certificate, from the fine state of Louisiana, says Chandrarajan."
    She stared at him. "You're Chandrarajan Sundaram ?"
    "Please don't look so shocked. I assure you, I've treated the name well."
    Good Lord. This was the reclusive eccentric who had revolutionized the field of robotics? Unattached to any university or institute, he worked only as a consultant. Corporations paid him large amounts of money to solve their problems. She had heard that one had given him a million, after he made their disastrous household robot work in time for its market release, saving the company from bankruptcy.
    His reputation gave her a context for his conversation. Rumor said he paid a price for his phenomenal intellect; no one could think like him, but he had the devil of a time expressing those thoughts. From what she had heard, his mind didn't work in linear thought processes, so he often made jumps of logic that left his listeners confounded.
    It astounded her that he had come to the conference. She had invited him, of course. He had been a top name on her hoped-for speakers list. She had already known, however, that he rarely attended such meetings. It hadn't surprised her when he declined.
    Yet here he stood.
    "It's actually Sundaram Chandrarajan Robert," he said.
    "Your name?"
    His voice became subdued. "My father followed the custom of giving me his name, followed by my own. But in this country, it's easier for us to have the same last name. So we use Sundaram. Robert is from my mother's side."
    She wondered why the mention of his father caused his mood to turn so quiet. "It's a beautiful name."
    Raj watched her with a long, considering look. "Then there are geese," he mused.
    "Birds again." She gave a gentle laugh. "You know, I have no idea what we're talking about."
    Amusement lightened his voice. "Most people don't respond this way to me."
    "What do they do?"
    "Nod. Look embarrassed. Then leave as fast as they can."
    "Is that what you want?"
    "It depends." He had all his attention focused on her now.
    "On what?"
    "Hair color."
    "Hair color?" This conversation was making less and less sense by the minute. It was fun, though.
    "Red," he said. "Yours is red."
    "Well, yes. My hair is definitely red."
    "Red flag." He walked over to her. "For stop."
    It took a moment, but then she