Ada activated the apartment’s built-in phone, and Bridget’s bubbly voice gushed out of the speakers.
“Hey, Luna! You there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. What’s wrong?” Luna replied, still expecting the to hear the worst.
“Oh … not much. Just wanted to talk … you know?”
Luna clenched her fists in annoyance, silently grateful that her friend couldn’t see her enraged face.
“I’m eating dinner, Bridget,” Luna said, her words precise and edged.
To no great surprise her verbal salvo missed the mark completely.
“Oh, that’s okay. I don’t mind if you eat while we talk. But thanks for asking me anyway.”
“All right, I’ll do that. If you hear a lot of loud chewing, it’s probably me fighting off starvation. But don’t let that bother you.”
Luna motioned for Ada to turn down the TV, then placed her dinner on a tray and walked back to the couch while the sound of Bridget’s laughter reverberated around the room.
“Okay, so what did you want to talk about?” Luna asked, plopping down on the sofa.
“Well … it’s about Keith. I … I think he’s avoiding me.”
“What makes you think he’s avoiding you?” she asked through a mouthful of food, trying her best to banish her grudging thoughts. Even though she could be annoyingly spacey and sappy at times, Bridget was Luna’s friend.
“Well … he never came back to his apartment last night. And I didn’t see him all day today. Not even in the cafeteria.” Bridget sighed, paused for a moment, and then continued, “I was getting worried, so I called the Agency and asked for him. And you know what they told me?”
“No, what’d they tell you?” Luna replied.
“They told me that he was unavailable! My Keith, unavailable!” Bridget’s voice cracked and was instantly replaced by the sound of loud sobbing. She struggled to speak, “What … what if there’s another woman? What if he’s cheating on me? I know there must be something going on—otherwise he would have come home last night … ”
“Um … Bridget?” Luna asked, “What exactly were you doing in Keith’s apartment?”
“Nothing … I was … waiting for him. I wanted to throw him a welcome home party … ” Bridget sniffled.
“You were the only one at this party, weren’t you?”
“He was supposed to be there, too … ”
Luna sighed. “Okay, Bridget. I think you might be right. He is avoiding you. But I don’t think it’s because he’s cheating.”
“What do you mean?”
“Honestly? I think Keith is avoiding you because you’re coming on a bit too strong … you know?” Luna spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. “I mean, it sounds to me like he’s really uncomfortable with all the attention you’ve been giving him.”
Bridget hesitated—something Luna had never experienced in all their years of friendship. After almost a minute of silence, Bridget spoke, “So … what should I do?”
“I think you should probably consider taking a step back. Give him some space for a while.”
The moment her words left her mouth, Luna braced herself for an outburst. But instead, with a heavy sigh Bridget said, “You’re probably right. Even though I don’t want to admit it … you’re right.”
“Do you want to get together tomorrow?” Luna offered, sensing her friend’s distress.
“Yeah? I would actually like that a lot. How about like, lunch or something?”
“That sounds good to me,” Luna replied, smiling. “I’ll see you tomorrow. We can talk more then.”
“All right. See you then, girl. Enjoy your dinner.”
There was a muted click and the line went dead.
Luna finished off what little remained of her dinner then got up, brushed the crumbs of her pants, picked up her tray and walked into the kitchen to clean up the mess she’d made during her rushed cooking. She set her tray down on the counter then began the daunting task of returning the various items scattered around the kitchen to their proper places. Once everything was put away she rinsed her dishes and was in the process of putting them in the dishwasher, when a blurb on the TV about the two missing employees from the Unitech plant caught her attention.
She turned around just in time to catch the late-night anchorman’s final words before the station cut for a commercial break—much to her frustration. The break gave her some time to think about what Mark had told her about the two men that he’d seen being led away by Leon and his gang.
She wasn’t certain the two men Mark had mentioned were in fact Raúl Sanchez and Frank Travis. But his descriptions of them and the fact that he’d seen them around the same time the two employees first disappeared was too much of a coincidence for her to ignore.
Luna tapped her foot impatiently as the commercial break dragged on and on. Finally she decided to just forget the news report and research the two men herself.
“Hey, Ada,” Luna said, clicking off the TV.
“Yes, Miss Luna?”
“I want you to do a different search. Look up Raúl Sanchez and Frank Travis.”
“Right away, Miss Luna.” The AI replied. “Would you like me to save the results of your previous search?”
Luna nodded. “Yes. Save everything. I want to keep going through it after I see if anything interesting turns up on the other two guys.”
Chapter 20
“This had better be important, Landers.” Edgard said as the Chief strode into his office. “My secretary was pretty confused when I told her to go home early. She probably thinks I’m punishing her or something.”
Landers closed the door behind him and checked to make sure it was locked. History had taught him that he could never be too careful—especially at a time like this.
“I’m sorry, sir, but it is of the utmost importance that what I am about to show you remains confidential. At least for the time being.”
“I just hope this is as important as you made it sound over the phone.” Edgard replied, walking over to his desk. “It’s not often something is considered a matter of life or death.”
“I’ll have to let you come to your own conclusions on that one, sir. But I imagine you’ll agree with me once you’ve seen the vid for yourself.”
Landers walked over to Edgard’s bookcase and located the vid player. He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a small plastic case containing the hastily copied recording, which he then inserted into the rectangular disc reader.
“Alex, dim the lights and activate the holo-projector in this room, please.”
“Right away, Chief Landers,” Alex replied, activating a holographic display above the CEO’s desk.
“All right, so this vid was delivered to the security Agency via e-mail.”
“Were you able to trace the source?” Edgard interrupted, motioning for Landers to take a seat.
The chief nodded and eased himself into the chair nearest him. “Yes, sir. We traced it back to Research Station 121.”
“Station 121? Wasn’t that the same place Miss McKelly went to?”
“Yes, sir.”
Edgard leaned back and scratched his chin. “So … I take it this is a message from our friends in the swamp, then?”
Landers nodded again and reached up to tap the holographic display, which immediately began to play a fuzzy video.
The two men watched in silence as the ghostly image of a man with long ratty dreadlocks flickered to life, filling the screen with his smirking figure. At first glance the man looked no different from any other Swamper: he wore dark, water-resistant clothing and carried typical Swamper weapons and homemade gear. But Landers had noticed at once the way this particular Swamper carried himself—the way he seemed to look down on the rest of the world. And he knew that despite this man’s unkempt appearance, he was not someone to be taken lightly.
The mystery man reached up and removed the rusted breathing mask covering his unshaven features and locked his flashing e
yes on the camera—almost as if he could see the two men watching him.
His thin lips parted into a grin, exposing his pitted, yellow teeth as he spoke. “Greetings my little Techie friends,” he said, his heavily accented words dripping venomously with over-exaggerated disdain. “I am Leon Valentin Vespasien, Liberator of the People. And I’m the one who just shot down one of your fancy choppers! So how does that make you feel? Not too good, I hope. Anyway, I was just calling y’all to let you know that this is both your final warning as well as the first of what I hope will be many attacks to come. Unless you dismantle Cathedral and cede control of your holdings and resources to me immediately, there will be more violence between us—violence that is within your power to avoid. I am talking to you, Edgard!” Leon shouted pointing a bony finger at the screen. “Give up now, and I may let you survive … although it would be just as easy for me to kill you all now. I guess I’ll just have to choose which one I prefer when the time comes” He shrugged and took a step back. “So, I suppose I will leave you with that in mind and wish you the best of luck. Try not to make the wrong choice now. Until we meet again. Good-bye!”
With a cackling laugh and a quick departing wave, the taunting video ended, leaving Landers and Edgard to stare at each other in silence.
“Was it just me, or was he mocking me specifically?” Edgard said after a few moments had passed.
“He … seems to do that with most of his threats, sir. It’s his MO.”
“Most of his threats? You mean you’ve had more contact with this man?”
Landers nodded slightly and leaned back in the chair. “Well, not exactly. What we’ve heard before were rumors—mostly Swamper small talk about a mercenary turned vigilante setting himself up as some sort of liberator. This is the first solid evidence we’ve had to support the reports so far. And frankly, sir … it has me worried. He did manage to bring down one of our Stratocruisers. If he’s become strong enough to threaten our air superiority, then he could be capable of anything.”
“Relax, Chief,” Edgard replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “From what I’ve heard, what happened out there was a freak accident—a textbook example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Swampers got lucky, and now they’re letting it all go to their heads.”
“Just the same, I respectfully request that you allow me to place you under Agency protection. You will have one of my best men with you at all times and five more within spitting distance ready to assist if it should come to that.”
Edgard sighed deeply and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk. “Do you really think this is necessary, Carl?”
“Yes, sir. I do. I made a mistake once before, and I don’t wish to make the same mistake again.”
“Very well, I’ll humor you. But only until this crisis blows over.”
“Thank you, sir.” Lander replied, rising from his chair. “I will see about posting those men immediately.”
Edgard walked over to place his hand on Lander’s shoulder. “I know how hard it was for you when Jack was murdered, but don’t worry, Chief—I can take care of myself. What happened in the past will stay in the past. You have my word.”
If only it were that easy, Landers thought, remembering the bloody scene in the CEO’s office on that night so many years ago.
Landers nodded quickly. “Thank you, sir. Nonetheless, I’ll do everything in my power to ensure your safety and the safety of Unitech as a whole.”
Edgard smiled. “You’re a good man Landers—the kind of man I can trust.”
Chapter 21
“What do you mean ‘there are no results’?” Luna asked, checking Ada’s latest search again.
“I mean exactly what I said. I’m sorry, Miss Luna, but there are no results for either of the subjects you specified.”
Luna shook her head. The AI was right, there were no results—nothing at all. No social networking pages, no blogs, and no histories or records on either of the two men.
“Ada, can you access the Unitech mainframe from here?”
“I’m afraid not,” Ada said, shaking her holographic head. “I’m sorry, Miss Luna, but the Unitech mainframe is a closed system. It can only be accessed via a terminal connected to the governing AI’s land feed or from within the Unitech complex itself.”
The land feed? Luna repeated silently. Just like in the swamp …
She paused for a moment to consider all the possible ramifications of her latest revelation, and then she turned her attention back to the AI.
“Ada, transfer back into my headset. We’re going back to the lab.”
“Of course, Miss Luna. However, before we go might I ask why we are going back to the lab?”
“Here’s the plan: The mainframe has a record of all Unitech employees—past and present. If these two men used to work for us, then Alex will have a copy of their files. And since I can’t find anything on the Internet about them that means I’ll have to access the files in the mainframe. But, as you pointed out, the mainframe is a closed system, which means we’ll have to get to a terminal in order to access it. Hence we’re going back to the lab.”
“Ah. I understand,” Ada replied, “but before we go, I feel that I must express my concern that your health may be endangered by lack of sleep if you continue these late nights. If we are going back to the lab, I would recommend that we finish our business there as quickly as possible so that you may return home in time to get the amount of sleep your body requires.”
“Your concern is noted. Now transfer your holographic butt back into the APD,” Luna replied, tapping the tiny headset in emphasis.
Even though Luna knew she could use some shut-eye, she also knew from experience that her mind was once again too overstimulated for her to even consider sleeping. So she decided it was best to tough it out.
“Very well, Miss Luna,” Ada replied. “Transferring programs now. One moment, please.”
Her holographic body shimmered for a moment then disappeared, replaced by a tiny pinpoint of blue light blinking on Luna’s headset.
Luna unplugged the device and dropped it into her pocket. She then pulled on her raincoat, switched off the lights, and slipped out of the apartment, locking the door behind her.
A few minutes later she found herself behind the wheel of her BMW cruising down one of New Denver’s many exit ramps. The outbound streets were practically deserted this late at night, so she had little trouble merging onto the main highway leading up the mountainside toward the Unitech research complex.
Thirty minutes later she was through security, making her way toward Research Building 3. She eased the car to a stop and popped the door open, watching her breath transform into a billowing cloud of steam as she stepped out of the BMW’s warm interior.
A cold shiver ran down her spine, and she pulled the edges of her raincoat tightly against her. She quickly checked to see if her car was locked then made a mad dash for the research building’s front door. It was locked.
Frantically she tore through her pockets until she found her ID badge. In one swift motion she pulled the card from her pocket and swiped it in front of the security scanner.
An instant later Luna pushed her way through the heavy glass doors, sighing with pleasure as she walked into the warm, dry room.
She was halfway down the hall on sub-level four when Alex spoke: “Doctor McKelly, what are you doing here at such a late hour?”
“Oh … nothing really, Alex. I just had some questions I need answered.” If there was even the slightest possibility that something—anything—was known to mankind; then chances were Alex already knew it. There was very little room for ignorance in the world of a super AI like Alex.
“Ah, I see.” Alex continued in his synthesized monotone. “What exactly do you wish to know?”
“I was interested in accessing the records for information about a couple of employees.”
“Oh? Weren’t you able to find anything on the public Internet network?”
“Understood, Doctor. Please, browse my database at your leisure. If you need any assistance, do not hesitate to ask. I will help you in any way that I can.”
“Thanks for the offer, Alex. But I brought my own AI with me this time. I’m pretty sure we’ll do okay by ourselves. But I’ll keep you in mind, just in case we run into anything we can’t handle.”
“I understand,” Alex replied, powering up the laboratory’s lighting systems. “Just remember, I’ll be right here if you ever need me.”
She eased herself into her chair and lightly tapped a few holographic keys to bring the desk’s built-in terminal out of standby mode, then quickly typed in her password and brought up the system’s primary search engine.
“Okay, Ada, let’s see what you can do now,” Luna muttered as she pulled the all-purpose device out of her pocket and plugged it into one of the terminal’s USB ports.
“Linking data stream to Unitech mainframe,” Ada said through the terminal’s speaker system. “One moment, please … success. System link complete. You may search when ready, Miss Luna.”
Luna grinned. “All right. Get ready to download some files, Ada.”
“Understood, Miss Luna. Awaiting downloads now.”
“Access the employee database and enter the same search we did before. Let’s see if that gets us anywhere.”
“Of course, Miss Luna. Beginning search now.”
Luna leaned forward to prop her elbows on the desk while she stared at the search’s progress bar inching its way across the screen. I hope whatever’s in here is worth all the trouble …
Chapter 22
Saul Edgard stared out at the rain-streaked cityscape before him and took another sip from his wine glass. He’d been worried at first when Landers had called and asked to speak with him about Leon Vespasien. But now that he knew the true reason behind the Chief’s concerns, he could breathe easy.
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