The ELI Event B007R5LTNS

jerked the hand free and pushed Robin away as the laser pistol clattered down uselessly.
    Arty immediately lunged forward, grasped Lokus’s left arm, and held him tightly. He roughly pulled at Lokus’s sleeve, tearing it, exposing his activated callback unit. Smiling smugly, Arty said, “Nice callback. Small, discrete. I assume the red button is still the emergency return?” and punched the button.
    Lokus cried “Noooo!”, but the sound quickly faded as his form became translucent and sparkly, the familiar tiny fireworks filling the space where he used to be. Then he was gone. Arty quickly turned and bent over Aurora, moaning quietly where she had fallen.
    Instantly, Pettis snatched up the laser pistol and pointed it at Robin, lying on the floor where Lokus had pushed him. “Now,” he shouted at Eli, “return my data or the kid dies!” He roughly snatched Robin up with one hand.
    “Here, I’ll hold him, Major.” Grochonski grabbed Robin and pulled him away from Pettis. The big man held Robin firmly, but patted his shoulder reassuringly.
    “Major Pettis,” Eli said, “I appeal to you. Please allow me to stop the MDA sweep. I will then return the data immediately.”
    “You’re lying,” Pettis growled.
    “I assure you, Major, I am not. I am incapable of lying; my programming forbids it. I guarantee you that I will transmit the data to NADCOM the moment the MDA sweep is stopped. Please, Major, there are only seconds left.”
    “Fine! Fine! I don’t care! Just give me back my data!”
    “Robin,” Eli said, “You know I will obey only your orders concerning this data. May I stop the weapon?”
    “Yes!” Robin shouted. “Yes, Eli! Stop the weapon!”
    Eli blinked a few times as he accessed the deepest recesses of the MDA project files. He immediately located the stop codes, the call-and-response handshake protocols, and the confirmation passwords. Instantly, he connected to the lab’s external satellite dish, relayed that connection to three nearby transmission towers, and calculated the current position of the MDA satellite. In a flash, he transmitted the codes, negotiated the protocols, and sent the confirmations to the satellite.
    In low earth orbit, the MDA satellite responded to Eli’s commands and began to power down. The blue glow disappeared from the crystal lens as it retracted into the cowling.
    “It is done,” Eli said. “The Eli Event has been averted.”
    Wheeler breathed a sigh of relief. As he glanced at his watch—eight o’clock exactly—Kelly leaned in and urgently whispered something to him. He looked at her quizzically and thrust his hand into his jacket pocket.
    “Now keep your end of the bargain, you hunk of junk,” Pettis ordered. “You think this is over? Send my data back to NADCOM and we’ll see who has the last laugh.”
    “Yes, Major, at once, on Robin’s command. Robin, may I—”
    “Eli, erase the data now!” Robin suddenly shouted.
    Eli blinked once. “Yes, Robin. All MDA project files permanently deleted. Erasure confirmed,” he replied instantly.
    “What? NO!” Pettis cried. He whipped around to face Robin, who was still firmly in Grochonski’s grip. Robin’s face held the same shock and surprise as his own.
    “I didn’t say anything!” he cried, holding up his hands defensively. “Honest!”
    Furious, Pettis aimed the laser pistol at Robin. As he did so, Grochonski spun them both around. Pettis’s shot missed Robin and grazed the big sergeant’s arm just above the elbow, leaving a clean wound as precise and straight as a knife cut. Grochonski crouched protectively over the boy, waiting for the kill shot.
    It never came. Behind him, Pettis suddenly heard Robin’s voice again. “Eli, erase the data now!” He spun around to find Wheeler, grinning, holding up his pocket recorder. “Eli, erase the data now!” Wheeler pressed the rewind button for a second or two. “Eli, erase the data now!” Again. “Eli, erase the data now!”
    Pettis gaped, frantically trying to process what had just happened. Insane with rage, he pointed the laser at Wheeler, murder in his eyes, and glared at him wildly for a moment.
    A moment was all Kelly needed. Like lightning, her foot flashed out and the laser pistol flew from Pettis’s hand, hit the desk hard, bounced off the wall, and fell to the floor in pieces. She followed this with a vicious elbow across the chin and a hard knee to the sternum. The air whooshed out of Pettis; he grunted and staggered