by Kai O'Connal
“He’s more than just a member of your team?”
“He’s an old friend. And he gets results.” Elijah took in a deep breath, then released it. “Now we just wait for the Aztláners to let us see the data.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?” Tango tilted her head to the side. “To have them calling the shots?”
“Not when the prize at the other end is that tower.” He gave her a stiff smile. “If you’ll excuse me, I want to check on my friend.”
The day progressed. Leung seemed to be recovering, Danvers seemed convinced that the discovery of the tower’s precise location was not far off now. He told everyone to plan for movement tomorrow. On his way to pack his stuff, Elijah dropped by Leung’s room. He was sitting up with electronic gear strewn over his bed. His door was open, so Elijah knocked on the frame. The hacker looked up from his work and smiled. “Hey, omae.”
“You better?”
Leung made a face. “I was fine. Just had the wind knocked out of me. Their doc overreacted. Knocked me out with some kind of sedative. Woke up in my bed drooling.” He pointed a small, silver tool at Elijah. “Don’t let them do that to me again.” He looked back at his mess. “I swear I’ve seen that man in a chop shop in Seattle.”
“So how’s your deck holding up after the attack?” Elijah stepped into the small room and sat in the chair.
Leung wore a shirt, a pair of sweats, and thick black socks. His hair was all over the place, and he looked pale. The hacker might believe he was fine on the surface, but the fact he was willing to let someone see him in this non-fashionable state spoke volumes to Elijah.
“It’s okay. I was just working on upgrading it a bit.” He picked up a piece of it. “Figured it could stand to be a little stronger.” He tossed the small tool on the bed and leaned back against the headrest. Dark circles hung under his eyes, and he stared at something in front of him. “Eyetooth tell you what happened?”
“Yes. And the whole thing would be laughable, if it hadn’t been so dangerous.”
“Yeah … toys. A toy shop. Down a dark alley. Exactly the kind of thing every parent warns their kid about.” He took in a deep breath, winced, and then released it. “Doc said to do that periodically so my lung can heal.” He put his hand on his chest and pressed.
“Leung…where was the gear holding the host?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t get a good read on where it was broadcasting from. Like it kept—moving, or something.” He closed his eyes for a second before opening them and sighing. “All I can say is it was old. It’d been re-sculpted long after it was left to its own corruption. It was too easy to subscribe, you know?”
“But it had security.”
“Just the basics for the toy store.”
“IC?”
Leung turned his head to look at Elijah. “Oh, that wasn’t IC. That was just a basic attack with some serious power behind it.”
“How do you know it wasn’t? Eyetooth said it was.”
“I honestly don’t think Eyetooth’s ever seen a righteous case of IC. If she had, I doubt she’d even be here.” He shifted on the bed to get comfortable. “There’s some IC that, when it’s activated, there’s no way to log off. It traps you in the node, and the only way to get out is to jack out, hard, and get wiped with dumpshock. Like I did. “ He licked his lips. “But … something odd happened when I jacked out. I didn’t go straight back—I went to the entry point first, then went out.”
Elijah shook his head. “Is this not normal?”
“Unless it’s some safety measure they’ve got that brings you back before you leave, no.” He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it.
“What?”
“Eh … nothing right now.” He shrugged.
“Is this the same hesitation you had in Argentina at the hotel?” Elijah studied his face. “Something unnerved you during dinner.”
Leung finally looked Elijah in the eye. “I’m not sure yet … and I don’t want to say anything until I have some confirmation about what I think I’m seeing.”
Elijah hesitated, then stood and put a hand on Leung’s shoulder. “As soon as you feel certain, talk to me. No matter when.”
Leung nodded, but didn’t say anything until Elijah moved to the door. “This tower—if it’s buried under ice and a dragon’s interested in it, doesn’t that just hold up signs that say ‘Go Away’ in triplicate?”
It was a very good question. Elijah leaned against the doorframe. “Yes. I believe it does. But does that mean we should abandon it? Or leave it so the dragon or others can take it?”
“I don’t think they’re going to pick it up like yesterday’s soykaf, Elijah. I mean—what if it’s dangerous? What if it does something we don’t want it to do?”
“Same answer, Leung. If it is dangerous—do we want it to fall into the wrong hands?”
“Yeah, but are we the right hands? Since we’re on the Aztechnology payroll?”
Elijah stepped forward. “Get some sleep, Leung. Danvers and his team will leave soon, if they haven’t already. And if they find what I hope they will, we’ll be leaving also.”
Carefully, Leung stood and cleared off his bed, setting what was left of his deck on his desk. “After this, I want a vacation, Elijah. A real one.”
Elijah nodded as he watched him crawl into bed before he shut the door. He paused outside Leung’s door, his own room just a few feet away. Leung’s questions weren’t far from his own. He had wondered if this entire endeavor hadn’t been some colossal mistake the moment they’d been detained in the Metropôle airport. Or maybe the moment they left Chicago. Or left Seattle…
But the tower was out there. The tower that powerful people—including a dragon—were looking for. And tomorrow, Elijah had the chance to get there first.
That thought helped quiet any doubts in his mind.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Eleven hours later, Danvers sent the word.
Two carriers came in to move the two Airdox. Pineapple watched from the Dome, along with Kyrie and Eyetooth, as the mighty machines were hoisted into the air. They would arrive before the teams, and Danvers’ men would be responsible for having them ready for operation. Gauntlet would run one of them, while Cao, in a flurry of excitement, had joined him on the carrier to run the other one. The two had become inseparable since they arrived at the base, and Pineapple’s disdain was apparent—besides the fact that he couldn’t seem to shut up about it.
“I just think it’s too big for her, that’s all.” The troll had his hands on his hips, looking up at the disappearing dots.
“Didn’t you see the hole she dug next to Gauntlet’s?” Kyrie jerked a thumb at the two capped areas behind them in Dome Two. “She’s good, and she’ll be fine. You saw the way Gauntlet treats her—it’s like he doesn’t even see the Infection. Not even a blink.”
“So that makes him a good man?”
Eyetooth reached out and patted the troll’s massive forearm. “Good enough.” She winked at him, then looked around. “Where’s Leung?”
Kyrie shrugged. “Still in his room I think, working on something last minute. He wouldn’t let me in.”
The technomancer’s face cracked with a wide grin. “Bet he’ll let me. What time we leaving?”
Pineapple checked the chronometer on his AR. “In about half an hour. If you see him, tell him to be ready.”
“Oh, I will, sugah.” She waved and half-ran back to the door to the connector tunnel.
With a half-smile, the troll watched her go. “I like her.”
“Yeah, well I’m glad you do. She’s paying just a little too much attention to Leung. And even he’s acting odd.”
The troll leaned over and frowned at her. “Leung is odd—didn’t you notice?”
“Yeah, yeah. I dunno … it’s something about their relationship. They seem to be becoming awfully close, awfully fast. You know what I mean?”
“I guess. But we are out here in the middle of no
where. A man’s gotta find something to occupy his time when he’s not workin’.”
“I just hope she’s not a distraction. We don’t need that.”
Pineapple just stared at her steadily waiting for her to say the rest of what was on her mind.
“Look, just … keep an eye on the both of them, okay?” she finally asked. “Make sure she’s not influencing him in some way. Leading him down the wrong path. For all we know she—or all of Tango’s team, for that matter—could be working for our Amazonian friend.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I’ll do that.”
“I’m heading in,” she said, then turned for the door.
Even after she walked away, Pineapple felt her apprehension about their situation settle over him. Kyrie had made some good points; they weren’t in control of the situation, and they were working for Aztechnology, a corporation he knew she loathed.
But that last bit didn’t matter to him. Pineapple just wanted his fair share, and when it was over, he planned on getting as far away from this godforsaken place as he could.
And for what he was being paid, that would be a very far distance indeed.
Transportation for the remaining team members and assorted staff turned out to be a wagon train of Scania VM42s. At least she now knew what was stored in Dome Three. Most of Elijah’s team was familiar with the shipping trucks, but had never seen that many in one place, or that many upgraded to move over snow and ice. They’d replaced the chassis and installed snow treads supported by four tire mounts. Two in front and two in back. One of the techs reassured her the interiors were warm and easy to drive, and were all outfitted with rigger capability.
Pineapple jumped at the chance to drive one, and Kyrie volunteered to ride shotgun with him. Leung and Elijah stored their stuff in the back in the living quarters as Niko climbed into the back of their chosen VM, and Tango rode up front with him.
Six hours after the carriers took the Airdox, the train of five VMs began the two-day travel to the new site.
Leung and Elijah sat facing each other on the couch in the back compartment. The place looked like a standard UCAS hotel—one that happened to have everything bolted down. Coffee table, two chairs, couch, small table and four chairs, and an all-in-one kitchen.
The two men had both removed their gloves, goggles, and parkas. Leung’s deck sat on the coffee table. With a sigh, he shot Elijah an instant chat request. He acknowledged it, answered a very basic question and raised an eyebrow as the accompanying text that assured him they were now on a secured channel.
Leung frowned.
Leung blinked.
The arcano-archaeologist frowned.
If Elijah’s eyes had gotten any wider, they would have fallen right out of his head.
Leung shook his head.
Elijah glanced toward the driver’s compartment, where Kyrie was chatting with Pineapple.
Elijah gave him a sad smile.
Leung snorted.
Leung nodded, and the two men fell quiet for a minute. Then Pineapple started singing, sounding like a washing machine full of rocks.
Even under the circumstances, Elijah and Leung couldn’t help laughing at that. When they had sobered up, Leung asked,
Elijah thought for a moment, then nodded.
Elijah nodded.
Then Kyrie entered the compartment, and Leung took a breath as Elijah prepared to break the news about the traitor in their midst.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Pineapple surveyed the new drilling site with a skeptical eye. The whole operation had gone from fifty people in a nice, comfy, warm environment to twenty people in a single structure and a lot of portable tents.
The main ops area was set up in the structure, which, as far as he could tell, was one of those cylinder tubes their rooms had been in at the main base. The tents, with two people per, were okay, but they didn’t keep out all the wind. A single heater filled the center of each tent, with cots and waterproof cabinets for storage.
Given the sour reactions from Eyetooth and Leung, the Matrix connection was spotty and, once again, tightly monitored. Danvers met with everyone in the main shelter over a spread of weird pictures and diagrams spread out on a table. Pineapple stood at the opposite end of the table and noticed, once again, that Cao was
missing. “Where’s Cao?”
“She’s preparing the Airdox drills with Gauntlet.” Danvers looked at each of them. “If you’ll note on the pictures near Pineapple, we’ve detected a large mass two hundred and fifty meters deep—and when I give that number, I mean that’s the tip of whatever this thing is. So far, we haven’t been able to measure its depth or width. It’s too far under the ice at this point.”
Elijah’s eyes widened. Pineapple snickered, pretty sure the guy had a hard-on at the mention of something that big.
“The Airdox must have their monowire spools replaced daily, which is why we brought two. While one is drilling, the other will be under maintenance. This will make it possible to drill twenty-four hours a day with small breaks.”
“How long do you think it’ll take to reach the tip?” Elijah asked.
“Normally the Airdox can cut three centimeters a minute, guided by hydraulic legs. Since we’re not drilling sideways, but straight down, we’ve rigged them on a crane that will lower them at roughly the same speed. However, given that this is ice and not solid rock, we’re estimating two days, maybe less. But we’re all going to have to pitch in when we can. Your riggers can’t run the machines in twenty-four hour stretches, so some of you are going to have to learn to run them manually. We’re each putting in four-hour shifts.”
Pineapple raised his hand. “I’ll do it.”
“So will I,” Niko said.
“I will.” Cake stepped forward .
All eyes turned to Elijah, Eyetooth, and Leung.
Leung was the first to hold up his hands. “I am so not a day laborer.”
“Why don’t we jus’ set up sprites to do this?” Eyetooth looked at everyone. “I’m sure Leung and I can whip up whatever y’all need to keep the machines runnin’.”
Danvers pursed his lips. “Let me discuss it with Lucas—see if they’re up to it.”
“Don’t those Airdox belong to your team?” Leung asked.
“Oh, naw. Those belong to Danvers’ people. We brought all the other equipment. Gauntlet has a whole cache of stuff.”
