Hope nodded and trotted along the hall toward the conference room. Anthony padded up the stairs to the Resource Room, used his thumbprint and his FURCS pad to unlock the door and slipped inside to see Ben sitting and staring at his workpad, oblivious to the world.
Anthony coughed loudly until the boy looked up and saw him. “So, are you still trying to figure out why we had those power outages last night?”
“Yes and no. Sir.”
Anthony sighed. “I’ll need more of an explanation than that.”
Ben set down his workpad and tried to push his nonexistent glasses back up his nose. “They weren’t strictly power outages. Someone was trying to hack into the FURCSnet last night. The built-in defenses kept them out, but it had to keep rebooting to do it. And that caused the brief losses of power.”
Anthony frowned. “Thirty-nine seconds for the system to reboot may be brief, but it’s still a power outage. And it happened repeatedly. Make it stop.”
Ben’s mouth fell open. “I can’t do that without compromising the FURCSnet. The attacks have so far failed to introduce any malicious code, but the forced reboots themselves can be considered a kind of hack, and eventually a virus may get in.”
“So find a way to stop these attacks. Won’t that stop the power outages?”
“I’m working on that. The fastest way would be to stop the attempts at the source. Find the hacker.”
Anthony squinted at the young man. “Are you telling me the person responsible for this is actually inside the compound?”
Ben nodded. “There’s not been a breach in the firewall. These attempts come from someone who’s connecting directly to the FURCSnet. Theoretically speaking, they’d only have to be in range, but whoever is doing this must also be using a FURCS pad. The system pings the location of every pad connected, though. And none of them registered as being in use outside the perimeter wall last night.”
“You’re absolutely sure? There’s no way anyone could’ve been using a FURCS pad on the outside, or using something that mimics a FURCS pad?”
“Absolutely. I’ve been double checking. There’s no doubt these attacks come from within.”
Together with the poisoning of the guards, this confirmed the existence of at least one mole within the community. Now he knew they weren’t chasing an illusion—there really was a saboteur on the inside. It was an unpleasant way to find out.
Anthony’s face must’ve been something to see—Ben looked white as a sheet. “I’m doing everything possible to locate the source of the hacking, sir. But the way people tend to keep their pads connected to the net all the time means I have to examine everyone’s actual activity. But whatever code is attacking the system, it will be disguised. I have to hope I can spot something suspicious. Until I have something more to go on…”
“Alright. I understand. It’s going to be tough. There will probably be more attempts, and it sounds like that will help.” What a thing to be saying. “In the meantime, I’ve got another task for you.”
Young Ben didn’t exactly look enthusiastic.
“Don’t worry. It’s not that difficult, and I doubt it’ll take you long. But I need to make sure there’s no further sabotage of our food supplies. Could you run up a comprehensive list of where all the stockpiles and storehouses are and how they’re currently secured?”
Ben looked relieved. “That’s a simple task with the right access. You could do it yourself in no time. All you have to do is—”
Anthony cut him short. “Don’t explain. Just do it.” He wondered how many people were at work to undermine the FURC, and what they’d try next.
Ben smiled. “Yes, sir. I can even analyze where our supplies are the least secure. That way you can prioritize efforts to protect them.”
“Good. Now if you’d do that right away—then you can get back to hunting the hacker.”
The young man nodded before returning to his workpad and tuning out his boss. Anthony grinned and left him to his task, slipping out of the Resource Room and stalking back down the stairs. Hope was there at her desk and nodded to him.
The three officers he’d requested to see were all standing in his office, waiting. He’d have preferred to have a few minutes to himself to lie down and get a short nap, but he needed to get these three working right away. He’d not get much rest anyway until Kat was back. If only I could make contact.
Anthony crossed behind his desk and sat before he regarded the officers who stood before him. Or two officers and a trainee. Susan stood there with a blank expression. Paul was fighting an effort not to grin, and Anthony wondered what that was about.
Probably something to do with Sara. Although she was still an officer trainee, she was grinning at both men—trying too hard to imitate Kat. Anthony needed to exercise more discipline around here.
He spared Susan from the glare he gave the two others. “I have a special assignment for you tonight and it’s serious. You’ve heard about the guards who got sick?”
Tall Paul nodded. “Food poisoning.”
“Not the kind you probably think. Someone put arsenic in their supper. An intentional poisoning—and likely an act of sabotage. Roughly two-thirds of the guards are out of commission, and we’ve got to assume whoever is responsible won’t stop there.”
No one was grinning now. Paul held up a hand like he was in a class wanting to ask a question. “Do you want us to find them?”
His tone was doubtful, and no wonder—none of them were trained detectives. Not to mention everyone in Security had been searching for a potential mole for weeks with nothing to show for it.
Anthony shook his head. “No, but I have to consider the vulnerability of the rest of the food supply. I’ve got Ben compiling a list of locations. Instead of your normal patrol, I want you three to split up and check each one. If the supplies aren’t secure, find a way to make them.
“But first I want you to go to the clinic. The sisters there will give you equipment and instructions for collecting samples from every place you go. And you’ll take those back so they can be tested to make sure they’re not already contaminated.”
Sara pouted. “That sounds like grunt work. Let someone else do it.”
Anthony didn’t have any trouble scowling. “It is grunt work, but it’s an important security measure. And you’re the ones I can spare for it.” Leaving the patrols spread thin, but there was no help for it.
Susan spoke up. “You said to split up—do you mean you don’t want us partnering as usual?”
“Ben’s not available right now. And since this is just grunt work, you shouldn’t need backup. But if you do, or if you have trouble getting a site secured, call for help. Salazar and Whitaker will be on patrol tonight, and I’m always available.”
Sara snickered. Susan nodded.
Anthony narrowed his eyes at the trainee again. “Alright then. You can head over to the clinic now, and I’ll send the list to your FURCS pads as soon as Ben finishes making it.” He looked at Susan. “You are the senior officer, so I’ll leave it to you to divide up the list between the three of you.”
Susan nodded. “Understood, sir.”
He knew Susan was up to the task and wouldn’t mind working solo. And Paul was perfectly reliable. But he worried about Sara—aside from her relative lack of training, she was an old friend of Kat’s who’d recently transferred to Security and often seemed to be trying to emulate Officer Miles. Which was both impossible and dangerous.
Paul saluted, and Sara grinned at him again before they turned and left him alone in his office. He needed to hurry up and call the clinic so the sisters knew what was coming their way, and then call Ken and make arrangements for David’s transfer before the boy showed up for an orientation. And I’ll have Ken warn his guards that I’ll be patrolling the buffer zone tonight.
Anthony was tempted to head outside the compound altogether. But the place was sealed up tight and the days were gone when he could slip out and back in at his leisure. And risk breakin
g my neck.
He chided himself for a fool, but he wouldn’t be caught napping when Kat returned. Or sitting at a desk, waiting. At least if he was out there, he could help her get back into the compound.
If she hadn’t arrived back by morning, or if they hadn’t managed to at least make contact, Anthony would have to see about putting together an expedition to go and repair one of those malfunctioning cell towers.
Chapter 6
Causing Delays
6:45 p.m. Saturday, March 1st
KAT scanned the ground ahead of her as she made her way back toward the clearing. The sun had set and the light was fading fast, but it wasn’t yet dark enough to don her night vision goggles. She hadn’t found any traps, or traces of recent human activity in the vicinity other than their own. Now she only needed to make sure she didn’t trip. So she forced herself to go slow.
After being up most of last night and then prepping everyone for moving out this morning and getting them to this temporary rest stop, Kat and MacTierney had both slept for several hours. While the others kept watch. Supposedly.
Only an hour ago Bart had knocked on the window of the SUV, looking like he’d just woken from a nap himself. The man probably always looked that way, but she’d not have been surprised if he’d slept through his watch—thankfully Fiona and her three daughters had also been keeping vigil. Kat trusted that they’d have been more alert.
She emerged from the tree line and scanned the entire clearing, but everything looked alright. MacTierney was sitting on the roof of one of the Camerons’ carriers with binoculars, scanning the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. Presumably Fiona and the girls were napping inside their vehicles.
Kat and MacTierney had stopped here last night because the trees screened the clearing from view of the highway and the wide open space meant no one could approach without being spotted. And she had needed rest prior to her infiltration of the Cameron estate. She’d forced her sergeant to stay awake and keep watch.
So it’d been a good place for them to stay while they waited out the day—to resume heading back to the FURC in the dark. With the night vision equipment they’d brought along, it would be safer. They could travel unseen without lights, avoiding the law and scavengers alike—though these days it could be difficult to tell them apart. It may be slow going, but it’ll be less dangerous than by day.
Tony often and repeatedly accused her of being headstrong and impetuous. Well, Kat was going to exercise an abundance of caution to get Chief Cameron’s family safely to the FURC. That was her mission and that’s what she’d do, even if it took her an entire week to travel a distance she could drive in a little under three hours. Theoretically. There were many dangers between here and there.
She walked up to the SUV and pounded on the passenger side window, right above where Bart had laid his head down on his duffle bag. He half-raised himself up until he saw her baring her teeth at him. She didn’t care if he knew it wasn’t a smile.
The man frowned as he scrabbled for the handle and opened the door. She grabbed the outside handle and jerked it all the way open. “I’m sure you’ve had plenty of rest by now. It’s time to move out.”
She stepped back while Bart crawled out of the cab—and that was when she noticed what the dusk must have hidden from her. The SUV was slanting heavily toward her. Both tires on the passenger side had deflated.
Kat shook her head. She’d never felt it, but she must’ve run over something that had punctured the tires and caused them to slowly leak out while she’d been sleeping. If she hadn’t still been drowsy, surely she’d have noticed the problem when she woke. I can’t believe I missed this.
Bart stood glaring at her. “What are you staring at?”
Kat squinted at the useless article. “Didn’t you notice something was wrong?”
She gestured at the tires, but the man only followed her gaze and grunted.
She leveled a look at him. “We’ll have to jack up the chassis and then repair and re-inflate them. Or we may have to replace one or both.” She hoped the well-prepared Fiona had spares that would fit their SUV—if they were needed.
Bart seemed sullen. “You don’t expect my help with that, do you? I didn’t even want to come along. You forced us. I’d have been perfectly happy to stay where we were safe.”
“You mean where you’d likely have been blown into tiny bits, don’t you?” Kat frowned at him. “If you’re not going to help, at least get out of the way. And if you feel the need to keep complaining, take it to your wife.” She must be used to it by now.
He clenched his jaw and glared at her for a long moment, probably to try and convince her he wasn’t letting her boss him around. Then he reached back into the cab and grabbed his duffle bag before shuffling over toward the other vehicles. He passed her sergeant on the way, as MacTierney walked over to their SUV. At least she thought it was MacTierney. It’s getting too dark to be sure.
Kat took a deep breath as her sergeant rounded the vehicle and came up to her with a salute. “Anything wrong, Lieutenant?”
She took the mini-flashlight off her belt to shine on the deflated tires. “Grab the jack out of the back and get to work. I need to ask Fiona for help.”
MacTierney saluted again, then crossed to open the rear cargo hatch and started rummaging around—it shouldn’t take long since they hadn’t yet begun to redistribute the loads. The Cameron carriers remained packed tight.
She circled around the leaning vehicle to stride over to where Fiona and her girls were yawning and stretching. At least that’s who Kat assumed the four shadows were—it was getting pitch black out. She wasn’t going to shine a light in their faces to check, but since they were all standing together she’d just call out in their general direction.
“Our SUV has two flat tires and we need to head out soon. Maybe we can patch them, but it would be quicker to pop on spares now and see about repairing them in the morning once we’ve stopped again. We’ve got one spare, of course, but I’d like to borrow one of yours. If it’ll fit. I’d also like your help changing them so it’ll go faster.”
One of the silhouettes spoke with Fiona’s voice. “You want me to loan you one of our spare tires and help you change it?”
Kat sighed. That woman would always be difficult, and Kat didn’t have any authority over her. So she’d have to convince her. Again. “We need to get back to the FURC. What would you have me do?”
Asking for alternatives was good strategy. If the woman didn’t have any better ideas, then she would be forced to go along with Kat’s. Even more helpful if Fiona did have a better suggestion.
The woman’s shadow snorted. “First let’s see if our spare will even fit. Grace will know.”
Fiona nodded at the dark shape next to her and flipped on a flashlight, swinging the beam in an arc ahead of her as she strode over toward the SUV with Grace following, her own flashlight dancing behind.
Since Kat had just finished scouting around the entire camp, she knew there wasn’t anyone around to see their lights. At least there hadn’t been a short while ago, but someone could come along anytime—another reason to hurry, but it looked like this fleet wouldn’t be sailing soon.
She turned her own light to the ground in front of her and stalked after them back to where her sergeant had managed to get the jack positioned under the rear frame in the dark and already started inching the truck into the air.
MacTierney smiled in the sudden glow of their lights around him. “Thanks. Now I can really get to work.” He went back to ratcheting the SUV higher.
Standing off to the side, Fiona and Grace swung their flashlights on the damaged tires and began inspecting the tread. Kat looked to try and see where the puncture on the back tire was.
“Stop.” She flashed her light on MacTierney—he paused with his hand on the lever and blinked at her. “Leave that and come here.”
Her beam joined the other two in illuminating a long slash in the sidewall at the bottom of the
tire. It hadn’t been visible before her sergeant’s efforts had raised the back end. And it wasn’t a jagged gash like anything she might’ve run over could’ve made—the clean slice must’ve been deliberate sabotage.
MacTierney followed her gaze. “Like someone took a knife to it.” He was shaking his head.
Kat turned her light to the other tire, but it was still resting on the ground and she couldn’t see, but she’d wager it was the same. No one could have got close enough. “That idiot Bart must’ve done this.” But why?
Remembering that she’d sent him sulking back to his wife, Kat turned to MacTierney. “Sergeant, I want you to go over there and get that man and his wife and bring them here. We’ll see what he has to say for himself.”
She was confident he’d fold when confronted. I knew that man was trouble from the start. But she’d ignored her instinct.
Fiona put her hand out to stop MacTierney before he could take more than one step. “We just left Lacey sleeping in one of the jeeps. But Bart wasn’t anywhere around.” She turned to Kat. “Why would the fool do this? Or did I just answer the question?”
“I don’t know, but he must have done this while I was out patrolling through the woods. I should’ve realized that right away.” But she’d been frustrated and not thinking clearly. “I want to know where he is now—he could’ve taken off, or he could still be in the camp somewhere. We should look. But we also need to take care of the SUV and get ready to move out. And soon.”
Grace spoke into the silence that followed. “We should check out your SUV for further damage. He might have sabotaged something else.”
Her mother grunted and looked at Kat. “And it would be a huge waste of time to replace those tires if it still won’t run.”
Kat turned to her sergeant. “Inspect the vehicle for further damage and find out if one of the Camerons’ spares will do. I’ll go find the one who did this.”
Starting the Slowpocalypse (Books 1-3 Omnibus) Page 29
