Chapter 8
Brie
The boat engine vibrated beneath my feet as we skimmed across the crystal waters of the Grand Bahama Bank on Wednesday morning.
I gripped the small ferry’s railing, watching the endless horizon that had given Blue Haven Cay its name.
The air was hot and sticky, a stark contrast to the crisp fall weather at home.
I allowed myself a moment to simply breathe—to absorb the reality that I, Brie Reynolds, was actually in the field.
Will stood beside me, hands tucked casually in his cargo shorts’ pockets as he chatted with one of the other passengers. The boat carried about forty people—all Mnemis technicians beginning their two-week shift rotation.
Once we’d arrived in Freeport last night, we’d checked into our hotel, made some quick calls, and crashed.
I’d woken up in the middle of the night and found Will’s bed empty.
He’d been hiding in the bathroom, talking to the staff at his mother’s facility.
Near as I could make out, she’d had a minor fall, but was okay.
I’d snuck back to my bed before he came out, so he wouldn’t know I’d heard him. The last thing I needed to do was stress him out any further.
He didn’t say anything about it this morning.
Part of me wanted to ask if everything was all right. But after the way our visit with her on Monday had crushed him, I couldn’t find the words.
Will nudged me with an elbow when the man he’d been talking to left. “You’re smiling.”
“I’m excited.” My initial panic about going undercover had gradually given way to excitement.
Even still, the closer we got to the data center, the more my stomach fluttered with nerves.
I leaned closer to him, and he wrapped an arm around me, so I could whisper, “I know we’re here on a mission, but I’ve been trying to crack this place for months. Now I get to see it from the inside.”
He lowered his voice to match mine. “Honestly? I was surprised you were all right with Ashley taking the job in the first place.”
“I wasn’t!” An excited giggle burst out of me. “I was so jealous!”
Will’s brows drew down. “Jealous?”
“Of course! She was going inside, and there wouldn’t be any camera feeds for me to ogle everything!
” Instead, I’d be able to stroll through the racks and experience firsthand what the indomitable Gideon Tremaine used for his security.
“Gideon’s such a genius. I can’t wait to see what he built.
And how his staff has improved his initial designs. ”
“You’re so sad.” Will shook his head slowly, mocking me. “You’re going to be amazing. You may not want to leave.”
“Only if you promise to stay with me.” I shared a smile with him, and he squeezed my waist.
A woman approached, travel mug in hand, and leaned against the railing next to us. She was in her mid-to-late thirties, with shoulder-length brown hair and sharp eyes that somehow reminded me of Scarlett. “First timers?”
I nodded. “That obvious, eh?”
“Everyone looks the same on their first trip out,” she said with a small smile. “I’m Claire, by the way. Claire Lawson. Software support and data security.”
“Will Stone,” Will said, extending his hand. “And this is my wife, Brie.”
Wife. The word came out so easily. He’d obviously been preparing for this longer than I had.
Claire shook his hand and took a sip from her mug. “Mnemis is certainly a test for any relationship.”
“We work well together,” I said, which was true enough. “Different specialties, though. Hardware for him, software for me.”
Claire nodded, turning to face the approaching island. “It’s an intense environment—long shifts, close quarters. Probably helps to have someone who understands the pressure.”
“What’s it like down there?” I asked, letting my genuine curiosity show. “The information package we received was so vague.”
“Amazing,” Claire said. “I worked at a couple of massive data centers before I came here, including the Citadel and the BumbleHive.”
“The BumbleHive?” Keep calm, Brie. Don’t gape at her. That was one of the US Intelligence Community’s hubs. “Why’d you leave?”
“You’re not the first to ask. Fascinating work, but it’s bogged down by a lot of red tape.
But here?” She gestured to the island ahead of us.
“Tremaine handed control over to our team, so we’re allowed to adjust and upgrade as we see fit.
There’s a whole rack in one of the server rooms that’s filled exclusively with pseudo-files for us to test approaches on. ”
This was right up my alley. “What sort of tests?”
She held her mug up next to her face to block her words while she stage whispered, “That part’s classified until you’re finished with your probation.”
Well, shit.
“How long have you been with Mnemis?” Will asked.
“Three years now. I originally thought I was coming for the weather and planned to be here a year at most.” She shrugged. “I ended up staying. The challenges keep things interesting, and the team becomes something like family.”
Will closed his eyes and raised his face toward the sun. “But the weather’s pretty good, too?”
“It is. The isolation’s a hassle, and being underground takes some getting used to, but did you read about the employee island?”
“We did.” I looked at Will, who was staring out at our destination. “You brought your bathing suit, right, honey?”
Honey? The word had come out as easily as ‘wife’ for Will. But did I like it? Was I committed to it, now that I’d used it in front of someone?
He didn’t look at me, but he smirked. “You packed it for me, didn’t you?”
“Lazy bum.” I nudged him with my hip.
“Not to worry,” said Claire. “There’s a shop inside the facility where you can find any necessities you may have forgotten.”
The boat slowed as we approached the island. From this distance, Blue Haven Cay looked like any other tropical paradise. It was long and narrow, surrounded by white sand beaches and dotted with lush greenery. The gleaming structures of Sapphire Cove Resort rose from the center of the island.
“How big is it?” I asked.
“The main island’s about fifty acres, and the data center is roughly the same. We’re only using half the space thus far, but when you go through all that effort to excavate, you account for expansion.”
“Where’s the power come from?” asked Will, despite Gideon already having given us those details. “With that much computing power, the needs must be massive. I only see a few wind turbines. Solar can’t be enough. Not much geothermal here, right?”
Claire tilted her head and didn’t answer right away. Had we asked too much already? She turned slowly and pointed at the island. “We’re approaching the staff entrance. You’ll see it all soon enough.”
The boat veered toward what appeared to be a rock face near the end of the island.
As we drew closer, I realized it was a natural grotto—a cave entrance partially hidden by the island’s limestone formations.
Signs hung on the rocks and the hill above: “DANGER - RESTRICTED AREA,” “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY,” “VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED.”
“Bloody hell.” Will gave a low whistle of appreciation. “If that wouldn’t draw me into the place, I don’t know what would.”
Claire chuckled. “The signs up top are mostly about protected environmental spaces, which I suspect keep more people away than these.”
The boat navigated carefully through the shadowy entrance. The temperature dropped as we entered the cave, sunlight fading behind us. Spotlights embedded in the rock walls illuminated our path, scattering through the crystalline water and refracting upward.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Claire said, gazing at the shimmering waves of blue light dancing across the ceiling. “I believe this is half natural geology and half artificial, but you’d never know where one ends and the other begins. It provides additional security and shielding.”
The grotto opened into a larger cave, where a poured-concrete dock clung to one side.
A heavy-duty steel security door was set directly into the rock wall, illuminated from above.
No signs, just lights drawing the eye to the entrance of Mnemis, and a small scanner fixed to the stone beside it.
Three armed security personnel stood nearby, alert and watchful, two of them with M4s slung over their tactical vests.
I tensed, memories of prison security checkpoints flashing through my mind. Annual visits with my father, the suspicious gazes of the guards, searching my backpack when I was only eight…
“Don’t worry about the security team.” Had Claire noticed me tense up? Would she be suspicious of me already? “They’re here to protect us. They’re nice guys once you get to know them.”
I nodded, forcing the memories away. This wasn’t a prison. We were here by choice, with a plan and a goal.
Will, who’d been casually stroking my back, took my hand. “Opportunity of a lifetime, remember?”
I nodded again. He was right. Excitement was what the butterflies in my stomach were from, right? It wasn’t the slowly growing dread that I was unprepared? I couldn’t get this wrong. Couldn’t hide behind my computer screen this time.
Fieldwork is a significant change, Brie. Changes never work out well.
This one’s temporary.
Only two weeks, Brie. You’ll be okay.
The boat docked, and staff began disembarking. Those ahead of us approached the steel door one by one, each swiping a key card before entering. Will and I gathered our luggage—one suitcase each plus our backpacks—and followed.
As we stepped onto the platform, the only guard without a gun, tall with closely cropped salt-and-pepper hair, approached us.
“Mr. and Mrs. Stone.” His bearing screamed military even more than Rav’s did. “Derek Moss, head of security. Welcome to Mnemis.”
“Thank you,” Will said, shaking his hand. “Impressive entrance.”
“Just the beginning,” Moss replied. “First, we’ll need you to go through our entrance screening.”