The response was immediate. The level of concern within it was a good sign.
“I just sent to the Pad device’s location. I had to point mine at it to get this message through.”
The response this time was more alarming.
“So, we are not hidden here. We must move again.”
Marshall felt sorry for them, but he was pretty much in the same boat. He suddenly remembered why he was seeking them.
“Before you go, I have information for you. The tall man’s real name is Vincent Farrell. He was on board at launch, a VIP passenger with loads of money. He holds more credits than everyone else on the ship combined at least six times over. Stay hidden, stay safe.”
“Deactivate that Pad device.”
He added for security reasons. His connection with the kids was now officially cut. He would not know where they were anymore, and he would have no way to contact them ever again. It was a sorry ending to the case he was trying to build for his late wife, but he was simply in so far over his head that he couldn’t see any way out. He decided that getting as much ship between them and himself was good for both parties. He shut down his Pad and put it away. Then he continued his trek through the channel. No matter what happened to him, he had given those kids the best shot he could at survival. It a long shot, he had to be honest about that, but it was the only shot they had.
∆ ∆ ∆
Lock was startled by his Pad device buzzing for attention. The others looked at him because of his flinch.
“This shouldn’t happen.” He said aloud, warily.
The device told him he had an incoming message. It was not hooked up to the network and nobody should have the personal device address to direct message him. Yet, the facts were that somebody had done it. He had a new message.
Tina shrugged. Well, you gonna’ open it?” She asked.
Lock pressed the accept button and the simple message displayed on his screen.
“It is me, is that you?”
“Oh my lord, is it really the detective?” Lock wondered aloud. “How could he have found us?” He asked them all.
Tina shrugged again, “Why not ask him?” Her reply was as simple as her suggestion. That was its brilliance.
Lock sent the “How did you find us?” message, not adding in any extra words or phrases.
“I just sent to the Pad device’s location. I had to point mine at it to get this message through.”
“If he could find us like this, then anybody could.” Lock pointed out. “I had no idea that these Pad devices were that trackable. He says he knew our physical location by it.”
“So, we are not hidden here. We must move again.”
The general feeling of calm that they had been experiencing was gone now. They felt vulnerable, exposed and scared. They were preparing to move immediately when a new message popped up…
“Before you go, I have information for you. The tall man’s real name is Vincent Farrell. He was on board at launch, a VIP passenger with loads of money. He holds more credits than everyone else on the ship combined at least six times over. Stay hidden, stay safe.”
“Deactivate that Pad device.”
That was good advice. The pad would get them into trouble if left on. At least they needed to kill the radio in it. But the tall man now had a name!
“Wait a minute!” Tina said. “He’s been on board since launch?” She asked. “I don’t see any code in that sentence. Does he really mean that the tall man is that old?”
Lock looked at the words again. “I think so. There is no misdirection in any of this. He sent us the name in open message without any coding as well. This looks like a message of desperation.” He insisted.
Mrs. Hull let out a sigh. “None of that matters now, we need to relocate before we are discovered, again.” She told them both. They all knew that she was correct.
The group gathered their meager belongings and started off again. Fortunately, Tina had several places in mind that could hide them. She had anticipated moving often to keep the sensors from tracking a pattern. This was a flight that they could not fail. The only way to get the heat off would be to expose this ancient person they were hiding from. That much was becoming clear. Just how long they could keep up this moving and hiding thing remained to be seen. They needed to gain ground on their research in order to have any chance at all. A café was way too obvious of a choice now. Perhaps the library would give them enough access. If they researched this Vincent in texts, it might not trigger anything.
The lights of the secondary corridors were sparsely populated so the trio was moving into and out of darkness at irregular intervals. The sounds of their passing were muted due to their attempts at stealth. Still, delicate instruments had detected their passing. A silent alarm tripped and the maintenance crew was alerted to someone in the lower corridors. It was just as Lock had discovered in the first place. Now they were the ones who were fighting the system. But it wasn’t for destruction, it was for survival. They burst out of the corridors at a hatch that had been disabled quite some time ago based upon the “out of order” sign painted on it. They shrugged off the notification and moved back along the rear of a number of businesses and into yet another shadowed area. This one was near to the air blowers. On a ship this size, the size of a typical fan had to be huge. This one was more of a turbine fan and the blades were each over sixteen meters long. There were hundreds of these blades. At the moment they were turning slowly. They were circulating vast amounts of air through every cabin and shop on this level. There were backups to this system as well and that was one of Tina’s destinations.
“Only a little farther.” Tina urged as she led them through a network of wires and tubes that maintained the speed and power of the fans. Then she found what she was after and dropped down a few centimeters into an area that designers considered extra. This was the area where the fan didn’t fit, but nothing large enough to be useful fit either. On the diagram it looked like a trapezoidal area crossed with diagonal lines signifying that it was nothing. Nowhere was the perfect place to become nobody and to hide from everybody. It wasn’t as handy as the last place they had hidden in. Food and water were farther away. But the motor for the fan was directly above them on the level above. That amount of noise would mask their electronic and heat signatures quite nicely. The cleaning bots never went to lined out places either, so accidental discovery that way was impossible. It was a little tighter than the last place, but the headroom was greater. The motor hung above them and they had a grand view of it. All of the copper wires that fed into the turbine blades were at least as thick as your forearm. This device was meant for a heavy load.
“I wonder how much air that thing moves at full speed.” Tina muttered.
Mrs. Hull looked up at the monster hanging above them. “I hope we never find out.” She replied honestly. Then she looked back at her daughter. “Just how many of these places do you know about?” She asked.
Tina shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno, dozens at least.” She replied sounding more like a child than the guide leading them to safety.
Mrs. Hull’s eyes went wide. “Dozens?” She asked again for clarity.
Tina made a turn in place and then plopped down on the floor. “What can I say? I’m an explorer.” She replied, letting her childish, mischievous and playful sides show all at once.
Lock settled in and decided to check his Pad device for connection. The antenna had been physically removed so the range on the device was dismally short. He pointed it in the general direction he wanted but got nothing. Then he pointed the device at the motor and was pleasantly surprised that the wires were conducting radio signals in addition to their power. They were acting as antennae. He was able to begin his search for Vincent Farrell.
Lock found several images that had been taken at launch. There was even a group photo that showcased the tall man standing at the back of the crowd, his head clearly showing over the rest. There was no mistaking that man, it was him
. The image was five hundred and ninety-five years old. How had he lived that long? In fact, he looked no different. His face had no more lines on it today than it had almost six hundred years ago.
“It is uncanny. The tall man was there at launch. The images are clear, and the archives verify this. He doesn’t appear to have aged a day.” He said.
Tina came over to look over Lock’s shoulder. “How is that possible?” She asked.
Lock rolled his eyes. “I have no idea. I mean, someone living long is one thing, but this is generations old. I can’t explain this at all.” He replied honestly. Then he moved his search to extended lifespans.
“How can someone extend their life to five hundred years?” He asked the computer.
“Lifespan extensions had been obtained for those with large amounts of credits. Chemical and gene therapy can render the user incapable of aging. Although this has only been tested on a limited basis. The repercussions of this therapy, mostly the people that would have inherited all of those credits if the user had died, caused a legal stir that had the entire process permanently banned in all members of the alliance. There are no known cases of this therapy on living humans. Human trials were… unsuccessful. Lab mice lived for over thirty years before an unexpected tank failure deprived them of oxygen.”
Query:
Lock looked at the screen and marveled. “Well, there’s a human who has received this therapy now.” He said. He scratched his head. “How can this information help us?” He asked aloud.
“Are you kidding?” Tina jumped at the chance to speak. “If he has had this illegal therapy, then we can get him arrested for that. He would have difficulty proving he wasn’t guilty since we have photos of him at ship’s launch.” She pointed out.
“You forget the police are on his side. He has enough money to buy the courts as well. This ship probably owes the fact that it launched at all to his immense wealth. How do you fight something like that?” Lock pointed out.
Tina looked deflated. “This really is an impossible mission, isn’t it?” She asked. Her mood was darkening and that wouldn’t help them survive.
“We have to remain hidden until we find something tangible that can help us. There isn’t much we can do other than that. If we’re caught before we’re ready to defend ourselves in court, then we’re finished. I wouldn’t be surprised if they space us.” He said, beginning to follow Tina in mood.
Mrs. Hull clapped her hands and both kids looked up abruptly. “That’s enough of this talk. We have an obligation to our crew and community to expose this man for the criminal element he is. He has bought the police department, he has had Marshall’s wife killed. He has framed you for murder.” She said, ticking off her points on her fingers. “He is not the good guy here.” She stated directly.
Tina looked up again. “So, we’re the good guys?” She asked timidly.
Her mother nodded slowly. “This time, yes.” She replied. “We are also victims right now. So, to clear our names, or more specifically, your name, we need to get the evidence that Marshall had to prove you didn’t kill that home invader. Going after Vincent is beyond us until your name has been cleared because the credibility of a murderer in court is nil.” She informed her daughter. “Furthermore, these searches are dangerous. The more you look up Vincent, the better chance he has to track that device and find you. I suggest you stop doing that now.” She said and her tone solidified into stone during that sentence.
Lock turned off the device right away. “Of course.” He replied to her. “I meant no harm.” He added when she didn’t stop looking at him.
Then Mrs. Hull looked at her daughter. “You said you know dozens of these places. I suggest we use them each for about forty-eight hours or so and then move on again. If you have them, we can leave trackers behind to know if an old location has been compromised. Until it has, it is still a viable place to hide. This way we can continually keep moving and hiding without exhausting your supply of hiding places.” She said, laying out her plan.
Lock was flabbergasted. He had not considered Tina’s mom on par with either of them in the spy mindset category. But obviously he had underestimated her quite badly. “That’s brilliant.” He finally replied and Tina’s mom rolled her eyes.
“Honestly, I thought you’d have come up with it before now. I may be slow on the take for some of this stuff, but my brain still works you know.” She scolded. “Now, I’m a bit hungry and I didn’t get to carry off a lot of food since we went on the run. We were locked up after all.” She pointed out.
Tina took out some wafers that she had in her pocket. She handed one each and got ready to eat it.
“What is this?” Mrs. Hull asked.
Tina blushed. It’s a weight loss product. You eat it and it expands in your stomach making you feel full. It doesn’t have any real nutrients to it so it will be only a tied-me-over until we can get real food. It also comes with an appetite suppressant which can be dangerous. So, don’t eat it quickly. Also, don’t use it for more than two meals in a row or you will be vastly depleted of nutrients.” She explained.
“Why do you have these? You’ve never been fat.” Lock asked. Tina looked at him and worried a bit.
“I don’t use them all that often, but some of the girls at school have them in their regular regimen. If you don’t buy them, people think you are not cool.” She explained.
Tina’s mom looked at the wafer and shrugged. “Well, I don’t condone the use of these things for their intended purpose but using them to last until the next meal is okay so long as we don’t wait too long for that next meal.” She added in conclusion.
Lock chewed a bit of his and made a sour face. “Really tests you resolve at losing weight doesn’t it?” He asked through the terrible bite he was forcing himself to eat.
“I’m afraid so. If they tasted good, then people would eat them all the time and deprive themselves of real food. That just wouldn’t be healthy.” Tina responded. She was just finishing her serving and she made a bit of a sour face. “One thing for sure though, you will appreciate your next meal after this.” She added, trying to stay positive.
“Amen to that.” Lock replied.
Tina injected a bit of reality here. “We’re going to be eating out of vending machines for the foreseeable future. We cannot afford to use our ID’s to get real food.” She told them. “As far as we know, our ID’s won’t do anything anyway. Our accounts are at the least frozen, or at the worst, just deleted. We need temporary ones to get us through.” She reminded them.
Lock smirked. “I told you I could get us those. But we’ve gotta’ get pretty close during the transaction. It won’t be all that easy to pull off.” He told them.
“I thought you’ve never used this program in this way before?” Mrs. Hull challenged.
Lock looked up. “Oh, I haven’t. But I have read the document that comes with it and there is a whole Q and A section on how to get away with it.” He replied quickly enough to suggest that he was ready for the objection.
“Well, we don’t want to rock the boat just now. We’ll wait until later to try this program of yours out.” Tina said and then she yawned. That one infectious move had them all yawning.
“You know, a bit of sleep couldn’t hurt right now.” Lock suggested as he yawned yet again. There were no arguments. The group found little cubby spots and settled in. They were out in minutes.
∆ ∆ ∆
Vincent looked at the screens. His people had been searching this blasted ship for the better part of three days and turned up absolutely nothing. In fact, the only person on his payroll that had come up with anything was that maintenance man and yet he, too, was failing to find the children. This was not the way to get him to calm down. He had camera feeds on his screens. He had ten by ten grids on each screen and five screens across. There were a lot of camera feeds available for his perusal.
“Sir, I think I’ve found something.” The voice was quiet so as not to disturb but it had startl
ed the tall man anyway.
“Yes, what is it?” He asked annoyed. “I was concentrating you know.” He complained.
“Sorry sir, I’ve got a lead for you.” The new person said.
The tall man looked at him with eyes that could bore through steel. “Tell me what you know now.” He demanded.
“Sir, the fugitives are moving through the ship all right, but they are not moving randomly.” He said and Vincent felt his eyebrow rise.
“Go ahead.” He prompted when the man before him failed to continue as directed by etiquette. He always found telling somebody what to do to be annoying.
“I have noticed that they are moving to places that are blind spots for sensors and communication equipment. My guess is that they are carrying some small device with them that could give them away if it was discovered electronically. It was most likely a Pad device, but it didn’t have to be so.” He said. He had the tall man’s full attention.
“So, can you tell me where they are hiding now?” He asked.
“Not directly, but I can give you the four or five most likely places they are hiding based on their last known location and the criteria they need to remain hidden.” He replied.
The idea was astounding. Just five places to be searched at once? He had hundreds of assets in the ship looking already. He would dispatch them to these five locations and nab his fugitives in one swift stroke.
“Tell me the four or five places.” The tall man demanded.
“Sir, there’s the little matter of compensation.” This new source of information pressed. He had the upper hand and he knew it. The tall man’s brows furrowed as he considered what was about to happen.
“What are you asking for?” He asked directly. All negotiations always began with an initial offer. It was usually preposterous so that the final amount agreed upon would be equitable for both sides.
The man who the tall man knew nothing about but could give him what he most wanted right now, sat back in the chair opposite the desk. “I am not asking for a lot.” He began. “I want my brother cleared of any and all charges you may have set against him. I want him returned to me unharmed.” He said.
Eternals Among Us: Book one Page 15
