with people. Hell, I remember back at Yellow Cab, if you didn't answer up right after a dispatcher called your number, they'd pass right over you."
I put on my seatbelt and watched as Kern did the same. Instead of moving toward our destination, he turned on the interior light. "Before we leave, we need to figure out the rate for this delivery so we can fill out a charge slip. Gotta keep up with that paperwork. So, gimme a rate from here to GML."
I shook my head.
Kern snorted loudly, then explained how to calculate a rate from the delivery-zone map. His tone was patient, but he seemed to bristle slightly when I was unable to find GML on the map. Once he explained that there was a list of accounts, including addresses and the zones where they reside, it was easy to determine the proper rate. I retrieved a charge slip from the glove compartment and began filling it out. "How did you know it was going to the General Medical Lab?"
"This delivery always goes to GML. Besides, that's what it says on the voucher. Of course when you're assigned the call, the dispatcher will give you all that information, but if you need to filter out some information, you can feel free to not hear the destination 'cuz ninty-nine times out of a hundred, it'll be on the package. It's the origin that's important."
I completed the charge slip and handed it to Kern for inspection. He nodded thoughtfully, then crossed the name Farkus from the top of the charge slip and replaced it with his own.
"Already thinking like you're the one in charge here," Kern said. "I like that." Finally, he shifted into gear, and we were on our way.
It was good that we went to GML because it seemed doubtful I could have found the lab on my own. At night, one has to park in a garage across the street and cross an enclosed sky-walk to get to the lab.
After departing GML, Kern took me to a half-dozen other laboratories, concluding with the Red Cross where I was once again the butt of one his half-witted attempts at humor.
"I saved the best for last, Count," he said, as we drove past the sign with the large red cross. "We deliver a lot of blood, but remember, they don't like it when drivers deliver boxes full of empty packets."
You may laugh at the irony of this, but be assured that underneath my feigned laughter lay no thoughts of how nice it would be to enter a blood bank with impunity. Did I not have a job to do? Was I not doing this for money? Kern had mentioned that sometimes we deliver food to customers. Certainly, if a human driver could complete such a delivery without eating the food, why would I not be able to deliver a box of blood without ingesting the contents of those nice little packages? Besides, chilled blood is as gauche to me as chilled red wine is to a human connoisseur.
"Time to learn how to make money," Kern said, after we left the Red Cross. He had me punch the empty button. As he had said, we were now "10-8," ready to take calls.
"Hear that?"
"I am sorry. Apparently, I missed that last transmission."
"Okay, just listen."
A moment later, I heard the dispatcher's voice crackle over the radio: "Odana andGrand Canyon ."
"Ever use a radio before?" Kern asked, as he lifted the microphone from its cradle. I nodded. "Great." He punched the bid button and handed me the microphone. "Remember, you need to know what you're going to say before you say it. And we're in cab seventy. I'll make it easy for you." He promptly pulled the cab over to the side of the road.
The dispatcher called our number before I could read the street signs before us. I opened the channel and paused a moment before finally stating our location.
"Seventy," the dispatcher replied immediately, "the Radisson. Comes up."
I looked at Kern. "What is our assignment?"
"Seventy," the dispatcher said, "did you copy?"
"I got it," Kern said. "Just say ten-four."
And so I did, excited that we had finally gotten a call. But where was the Radisson? I knew it was a hotel, but the location and how to get there was a mystery.
"Update the radio," Kern said. "And you didn't have to say 'at the intersection ofBlackhawk Road andUniversity Avenue .' Just Blackhawk and U."
I pressed the acknowledge button, then paused and consulted the