Chapter 19 #2
I could’ve explained to Byte how amps are order-takers, but I didn’t want the others listening in, and I’ve long since figured out that Byte wasn’t like any other amp.
But Talon had a point. If Byte upgraded at the wrong time, it’d get me killed…
it had already about got me killed doing that exact thing.
“I’m in control and good to go,” I said bluntly as I made my way toward the door.
Talon blocked the way and eyed me warily. “You sure?”
I bristled. “What’s it look like?”
His brow furrowed. “I’m not sure. You look fine now, but a minute ago, you were comatose. How do I know you’re not going to crash when we’re in the middle of the spaceport, and the medics take you in, only to discover you’ve got something weird in your brainpan?”
“It won’t happen. It takes time for my amp to prep an upgrade. We’re talking a day, at least. I tell you, I’m good,” I said.
“You better be. I have a life here that I don’t want to bug out on if you get us busted.
” He finally stepped aside and tapped in a code on the panel next to the door, then it opened.
Before I could step outside, a floating orb buzzed in, announcing in a metallic voice, “Border patrol scan underway. Please wait outside this ship until the inspection is complete.”
I froze, not expecting a drone. Lyra grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I glanced at her, and she smiled. “It’s here to scan the ship, not us.”
“Private arrivals from another TerraSoft spaceport don’t need scanned again,” Talon elaborated. “Probably some cost-cutting measure some time or another. But it saves us an hour of having to go through a stupid security line again.”
The three of us walked down the ramp and stood there, waiting for the drone to finish. A minute later, it emerged, flashing a green light. “The ship has passed inspection. You may remain docked here for seventy-two hours.”
“I’ll only need forty-eight,” Talon said.
“You don’t live here?” I asked.
“I live here, there, and a bit of everywhere. But I can’t stay at the spaceport docks today. I gotta head up to the northside docks to pick up some cargo, but those are accessible only from atmo flights; no direct orbital flights.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Do I look like a flight instructor? Go to flight school, and you can learn all the ins and outs of the docks and flying.” He led the way then, and Lyra and I followed.
He doesn’t like us very much.
“No shit,” I muttered, though I wondered why. I hadn’t done anything to piss him off, at least nothing that I could think of.
“No shit,” Talon echoed.
I decided I didn’t like him either.
No one spoke as we made our way through the spaceport.
We’d arrived in the private concourse, which was about half the size of the commercial concourse Lyra and I had departed TerraSoft-11 from.
Still, the experience was strangely the same as the last time I was here.
We rode a cart through the spaceport, and I kept expecting enforcers to jump out at any moment, but the cart veered off just before we joined with the main terminal and began heading down what I soon discovered was a tramway to a huge underground parking ramp.
Talon led us to his car, though I couldn’t figure out how he could tell his apart from the rest. All the cars were the same model and color, each reminding me of a giant grain of rice with what made me think of giant ball bearings for wheels.
He programmed the car, and it drove us somewhere deep inside Aberdeen.
That was my assumption, anyway, since 1) cars like this didn’t drive through Dreswick without a security escort, 2) the road was a gray, smooth, tunnel with skylights and there were no vehicle tunnels in Dreswick, and 3) the sky above was way too clean to be Dreswick.
The AV parked in a garage that resembled a mini version of the spaceport’s garage. As we emerged from the car, Talon said to me, “Try to act less like you and more like me if we come across someone.”
“You mean more like an asshole?” I offered.
“Less like a flea-ridden mongrel,” he said.
“Play nice,” Lyra cautioned. “We’re on the same team.”
“Are we?” Talon mentioned before entering an elevator.
We had to hustle to catch up before the door closed. I scanned the compartment for a camera.
I’m detecting active networks in this building; however, this elevator has no surveillance apparatus.
I stepped up to Talon. He was taller than me, so I had to look up. “If you got something to say to me, then how about say it.”
“Cal,” Lyra warned.
Talon gave me a droll look. “I don’t have anything to say.”
I believe he’s speaking the truth. He’s not displaying behaviors indicative of subterfuge.
“It sure seems otherwise.”
Talon sighed. “Listen, I don’t have a problem with you.
But there’s an aura of trouble around you.
If your amp is as special as Kynan seems to think it could be, then that means the resistance is probably going to do something incredibly stupid, and I don’t like it when people I care about do stupid things.
It generally means someone’s going to get hurt or worse. ”
“You’re worried about Kynan,” Lyra said.
Talon didn’t say anything, which was answer enough.
“I’m not here to tell the resistance to do anything,” I said. In fact, I didn’t really care what the resistance did. What I cared about was finding Nolan and getting payback for Grandmother, and I was counting on Byte—and no one else—to help me accomplish those things.
“I know. They’ll do it all on their own,” Talon countered.
The elevator opened to a carpeted and well-lit hallway lined with numbered rooms. I think the hallways in my apartment building had both carpet and lights at one time, but the carpet had been worn away from decades of hard use, and the lights had since been broken—and the bulbs had probably burnt out long before that.
A woman was strolling down the hallway, and she didn’t make eye contact as she passed. She acted casual, but there was something wrong—she was too alert for how casual she was walking. I glanced at Lyra and said quietly, “One of yours?”
She gave a nearly imperceptible nod.
The threat risk is low as the female has no obvious weapons and isn’t wearing any clothing or decals to indicate an enforcer. I’ll recalibrate my threat assessment process to also take body language into account.
“Good call,” I said so quietly that I hoped Lyra didn’t hear me.
I wondered how much of this floor was filled with resistance members—based on what I’d seen so far, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Kynan Kade owned this entire floor.
Talon stopped at a door two down from the end, and he swiped his armlet over the lock.
It clicked, and he stepped inside without any announcement.
Lyra followed, and she looked back to make sure I was coming…
as if I had somewhere else that I could go.
I entered a living room that looked completely normal—normal in what I’d expect to see in an Aberdeen apartment.
There was a matching set of two sofas and two chairs with a black coffee table in the center.
An ornate area rug lay under the furniture.
There was a man sitting there, a gun holstered at his waist, and the way he looked us over, it was obvious he was a security guard.
Interesting. There’s a significant level of network traffic originating twenty-five feet ahead and down, through that hallway.
“Morning, Talon. He’s been expecting you,” the guard said.
“How’s his mood today?” Talon asked.
“Cranky.”
Talon chortled. “I figured as much. Buzz us in.”
The guard reached under the coffee table, pressing something I couldn’t see.
Talon led Lyra and me down the hallway. We entered a bedroom with a bed that looked far too comfortable, and then he opened the closet door and pushed aside the clothing on hangers to reveal a PIN pad.
I couldn’t see what he entered, but there was a click, and then the entire back wall of the closet opened inward.
“Impressive,” I said and meant it.
“Just wait and see,” Talon said, stepping through.
I made eye contact with Lyra. “You been here before?”
She shook her head. “I’ve only been in Aberdeen a few times, and never at HQ before. I didn’t even know where it was, not that I really know now. I lost my bearings after Talon’s tenth turn or so.”
“I got the feeling he programmed the AV to take the scenic way,” I said.
Ah, another form of subterfuge. That makes sense. I had connected to the car’s navigational system and found it odd to be taking an inefficient route. I had thought the system was merely outdated.
We stepped through the secret entrance to find a stairwell heading in both directions, which made me realize the resistance also owned the apartments directly below and above the one we’d entered.
As Talon led us downstairs, I pondered aloud, “I wonder how many other apartments the resistance owns in this building.”
“That is none of our business,” Lyra said.
Every apartment is registered under a different name. However, I can attempt to identify the systems being used on each network to find commonalities.
“I was just being rhetorical. I already assume they own at least several units, if not entire floors,” I said to both.
“The less the enforcers can pull out of any individual, the safer everyone is,” Lyra added.
I disagree. I believe the more information we have, the better equipped we are to avoid enforcers altogether.
“I agree,” I said to Byte.
“I’m glad, but I bet your amp thinks differently,” she pointed out.
I shrugged. We reached the next floor, and Talon opened the doorway.
As we stepped through, I realized this was no apartment.
Maybe it had been one once, but now it was an open layout of desks, computer screens, and cots.
At least twenty people were seated at various desks, working busily—most didn’t even look up when we entered…
except one, and I recognized her bright red hair right away.
Skeleton Key.
I’d assumed she lived in the Crawl. That she was here made me wonder just how bad things were down there. She glanced up, and when she noticed me, she shot me a wink. I dipped my chin toward her.
The network bandwidth in this facility is impressive. I’m reading massive data transfers in progress.
I wanted to ask Byte to find out more information, but I’d have to talk out loud, and I didn’t want anyone eavesdropping on Byte’s and my conversations.
Grandmother had always taught me that being quiet drew less attention.
She’d also said something about when someone was quiet, people might think they’re an idiot, but it was better than opening their mouth and removing all doubt.
Through the years, I’d seen a lot of truth in what she’d said. Instead, I kept quiet.
And damn, I missed Grandmother.
With all their tech and resources, the resistance should’ve been able to do more to keep people from disappearing.
In fact, I’d never seen the resistance step up and prevent anyone from being disappeared.
The realization made my temperature rise a few hundred degrees, but I remained silent, simmering.
Cal, I detect heightened stress levels. I do not identify any immediate risks in this facility; however, I deduce that every person in this room is likely armed. Is that your concern as well?
“Sure,” I said under my breath, and that seemed to placate my amp.
Something I didn’t get was that this was an apartment building, yet this room was the size of at least two apartments, and it had been fully remodeled.
I wondered how they were able to build this place without being noticed, let alone how they kept anyone from seeing what was taking place in here.
A building this nice obviously had maintenance staff.
Anyone who opened the door, let alone a passerby when the front door was open, would see this setup.
It made me even more curious as to just how much of the building the resistance owned.
It went far beyond a crew of vocal, idealistic protestors.
And that was when another door opened, and men with guns stepped out.