by John Carrick
He had seen it.
When he went to the Fox home…
When he opened that drawer in the daughter’s bedroom….
He had felt it.
He’d been holding the Metachron in his hand, so clearly he could not have reached out and picked up the Micronix with that hand.
Now, almost a week later, it occurred to him that he had indeed seen the original prototype lying in the drawer in Ashley’s dresser.
He had also seen the prototype in his hand.
For some reason, the dual image had scrubbed the original from his mind. When he’d looked back to the drawer the second time, the device had Not been there. It had only been in his hand.
It only occurred to him now, a week later, that he had two hands.
But even now, it hurt his mind to think of moving the Metachron from his right hand into his left, in order to pick up the Micronix.
It was named the Micronix. It could only be held in his right, in his dominant hand. But the Metachron was in his right hand.
His mind knew, on some elemental level, the single hand could not hold both the amplifiers. That, of all things, was utterly impossible.
Von Kalt did not rise from the lounge chair, even to relieve himself, until well after midnight.
King’s false identity had been in place for years, a standard merc package of storage drives and sensory amplifiers that he mostly ignored. His own amplifier, one of the first copies of the Micronix, rested in his pocket, undetected by Von Kalt, granting King access to power far beyond what the newbie was capable of.
King let the deputy director explore. If necessary, he was close enough to take action, if it came to that. For now, all he had to do was watch the watchers.
It was frustrating, being unable to communicate with Ross, Croswell or Snow. Fox had long ago established a radio-silence protocol, if the amplifier network was ever compromised.
Von Kalt’s not-so-secret possession of the device was ominous but not completely out of control.
King hoped they’d found Fox, or his trail. None of the men present had any inkling as to the doctor’s whereabouts. They had all been assigned, as had he, the day after Fox vanished. It seemed clear to King that the key to finding the doctor lie in finding Von Kalt’s last contingent of bodyguards.
Ross had footage of them handling the rendition, so they had probably been given the task of guarding the doctor, as well. After Von Kalt walked Johnson off the deck, King had changed his mind. This was definitely the best place to be right now. When the time came, he’d be very useful next to the deputy director.
Thursday, July 9, 2308
Von Kalt used the restroom and returned to his investigation of the camp, moving through the registry servers, the wired teenagers and their souped-up counselors. He looked for anything that might even resemble a hint of the Fox family, but the data was clean. He went back and combed through it all again.
The transports had delivered the children to this facility. A second, private shuttle had delivered their mom, no less than three hours later. They had to be there.
Finally, he realized his mistake. It was an unregistered net user that caught his attention. He’d been looking for some trace of the mother and her children, but if their attendance were discretely being covered up, he needed to be looking for the gaps.
Someone had gotten on a terminal and accessed a gamer-stream account, but the user had not logged in to the lab’s access tree. Von Kalt quickly found the user’s history, and that it mirrored the Science Program’s assigned lab hours. He figured, given the games accessed, and the fact that the camp was geared toward eight to ten year olds, this was most likely Fox’s son, Geoffrey.
Using the same process of elimination, he quickly found similar discrepancies in two other programs. Like the science camp, the gymnastics program had a roster for forty-four people and matching room assignments, but forty-five people were clicked through the cafeteria at their assigned meal times. Forty-five people were reported attending the daily functions, but there were only forty-four names on the daily roster.
He found the same anomaly in a martial arts program. All three programs fed and housed someone whose name never appeared in any of the daily logs. It almost would have been better for them to use an alias.
Von Kalt wondered why Fox hadn’t chosen to give his children an alias, to better protect them. A moment later he realized the answer; pride, hubris. Fox didn’t want his wife and children to go under assumed names out of pride. He wanted them to introduce themselves and Ana, Ashley and Geoffrey Fox.
Then, as Von Kalt was doing now, he could simply use the Micronix to sweep the registries for any mention of their names.
Von Kalt looked out over the subdivision, the ground based, albeit moderately expensive neighborhood. He wondered why Dr. Fox had insisted on living here? He could afford a perfectly protected castle in the sky. His children would be safer that way.
The edges of Angel City hovered overhead, replacing half the stars with their own blinking and twinkling lights.
The answer came to him like a bolt of lightning. The Micronix could not have fallen from the balcony of Fuji Dozo to land at Ashley’s feet, if she lived in the sky.
Von Kalt dismissed the idea as ludicrous. The Fox family had been living at the same residence for over a decade. There was no way Fox planned Fuji Dozo over ten years ago. Von Kalt realized That thought was ridiculous. Whatever Fox’s reasons for living on the ground, he wouldn’t have hesitated to take advantage of the fact.
Von Kalt paused. He needed to think - clearly.
Fox had created the Micronix and by default, the Metachron. How could Von Kalt, a user, take the creator by surprise? How could Von Kalt out think the man who had turned him into a God?
Perhaps Fox was already listening; hearing his every thought, able to read the history of everything he had done since taking the Metachron. Perhaps Fox had Let him take it.
But even gods could be manipulated; it is just a matter of leverage. And even gods could be killed, if you learn their weakness. Surely, even Gods fear open Rebellion.
Having devoured Anastasia Zelena’s infamous case history, as both a spy, and later as a special operations officer, Von Kalt suspected she most likely volunteered as an assistant to the martial arts camp.
However, that was rather obvious. It would be a better cover for her to be helping out with the gymnastics program.
Yet, that would mean the ballet-obsessed daughter would be doing a kung fu camp? And there was no ballet or any sort of dance program on the entire facility. The Heart of the City Inc had lost that market to a summer charter branch of Wellstone. Questions and the search for answers consumed him. He lay on the lounge chair, silently seeking and finding.
Chapter 34 – Kitsunegari
Friday, July 10, 2308
Ross sat at his desk while Secretary Croswell leaned against the wall.
The communications terminal lit up with the incoming call they’d been waiting for. Ross transferred it to his monitor, illuminating the images of Anastasia and Doctor Te, in Jerusalem.
“I was just explaining to Dr. Te that our friend has gone missing,” Ana said.
“Missing?” Te echoed.
Ross nodded. “Stanwood’s goons gassed a café.”
“Who is Stanwood?” Dr. Te asked.
“Back when you were working out here, he was Senator Miller’s right hand. He’s the National Intelligence Director now.”
“God help us,” Te replied.
“I say it’s time we got rid of him, but Fox says no,” Ross answered
“If Fox is accused of murder, perhaps murder is not the solution?” Te suggested.
“I guess it would depend on your definition of the problem,” Ana replied.
“Right now, the problem is that he is missing, yes?” Te asked. “I think I can help with that. I have always thought that the key to finding anything lies as much in where it is not, every bit as much as where it might
be.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Croswell asked, stepping forward.
“I mean, where would Stanwood not keep Fox?” Te asked.
“He’d keep him away from Terillium,” Ross answered.
“And that means far away from any city,” Croswell added.
“We just need to find Stanwood and make him tell us,” Ana said.
“We can’t do that. For one, we can’t prove he was involved, and he still has the President’s ear,” Croswell said.
“Well we have the footage of Von Kalt,” Ross countered. “And I still owe the both of them for what they did to my arm.”
“I put King on Von Kalt. If he pays Fox a visit, we’ll know about it.”
“Let me skin his face. He’ll tell us,” Ross said.
“I’m telling you, we can find Fox. No problem,” Te asserted. “Stanwood has already told us where he will be.”
“How’s that?” Ross asked.
“As you said, he won’t be in a city or around other people. He won’t be over water, because as you said, he won’t be around any metal at all.”
“That would mean desert, most likely,” Ross said. “He won’t set up in a forest. He’d want to be able to see someone coming.”
“He might have gone underground,” Croswell said. “I mean literally underground.”
“He’d be somewhere he could go unnoticed, which eliminates all military installations. He wouldn’t risk that, not with you as Sec Def, ” Ross said, nodding to Croswell.
“You’re right. It will be the Department of Science and Energy, or DARPA, or the old NASA bases. There were a ton of those,” Croswell said.
“Once we find them, how do we get in? They’ll have a full protection suite set up,” Ross added. “Even in our phase cam, we’ll still set off their thermal sweepers.”
“There is no way to get in quiet over sand. Stanwood’s at least that smart,” Ross said.
“You have an answer for that, don’t you?” Croswell asked, nodding to Doctor Te.
“I didn’t think you sent Ana back out of the goodness of your heart.”
“I don’t know why anyone would ever want to ascribe personal motives for anything I do.” Croswell smiled. “This is sheer tactics.”
“I do have a way to approach over open terrain…” Te said.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We don’t even know where he is yet.”
“And we won’t know until we actually start looking,” Ana said.
“We’re running recon from Kojima. We’ll have likely locations in another day or two, we’re still combing through the data dump.”
“We are almost ready for field operations. She just needs a few more days with the operation interface,” Te said.
Ana looked at Dr. Te as if he were crazy.
“Not like we have any locations yet anyhow,” Croswell looked pointedly at Major Ross.
Dr. Te gestured and turned the camera, “Well, here she is… This is Sabor.” A robotic cat walked into the frame. She sat and turned toward the camera, her ears turning independently.
“Numa, the lion, is in pieces on a table in the lab. He’s going to be there for a while,” Te said, looking over his shoulder. “Anyhow, she won’t show up on thermal sensors, or silhouette registers. She can land outside any perimeter and just walk in.”
“I’ll see what I can do to narrow things down,” Croswell said. “How many of these Sabers do you have ready to go?”
“She’s the only one,” Te answered.
“And the Lion? What do you think, maybe next week?”
“Numa’s got at least a year before he’s ready,” Te answered.
“Then Saber will have to do,” Croswell said.
Dr. Te didn’t bother to correct Croswell’s pronunciation. He’d gotten Numa right easy enough.
“We’re just talking recon, right?” Ross said. “I mean, we don’t want to just walk off with your life’s work,” he said to Dr. Te.
“Oh, don’t worry.” Te said. “I’m curious to see how she does in the field. I also have some insects and mice. Hopefully we can also put them to work, but they have limited range.”
“I can’t believe you sent me out here now,” Ana said directly to Croswell. “But at the same time, I get it.”
“This has been planned for months,” Croswell said.
“My husband’s abduction has not been planned for months.”
“Technically, he’s Anastasia Zelena’s husband. You are Captain Analynn Snow of the United States Marine Corps.
“And why are you always in my shit anyhow? I’m doing the best I can, same as you. I’m doing everything I can to protect you and your children and it is a full time job.”
Croswell was smiling, clearly putting her on. “What do I get for it?
“Grief. Who wants an eternity of this nonsense?
“It has to stop, Captain.” Croswell was smiling, shaking his head. “You’re the only one he listens to anyhow. Why haven’t you talked any sense into that husband of yours?”
Ana sighed, “He doesn’t listen to me any more than he does to any of you. The only way She stays with him is because she doesn’t ask him any questions, or give him any advice,” Ana countered.
“We need to test the cat, so test it,” Ross said. “This is a great test.”
“Is Fox in on this?” Ana asked. “Is this some ploy to get him political points? Playing the victim card?”
Croswell shook his head. “I can’t believe you would even say that.”
He looked her in the eye, across the digital telecom channel, “No. I promise you, none of this is planned. This is not a test, I swear on my mother’s grave.
“And President Conway approved nothing. I know for a fact. Stanwood is running his op off-book.
“And since there’s no reason to believe he wouldn’t send someone after Dr. Te, the best place for you, is exactly where you are.”
“You said that,” Snow pointed out.
“It’s still true,” Croswell answered.
Friday, July 10, 2308
After breakfast, Von Kalt abruptly ordered his men pack up their gear. They left the cameras running on their automatic settings and had locked the doors in less than forty minutes.
Von Kalt checked them into the penthouse of a luxury hotel, directly across the street from the Heart of the City camp facility. New surveillance equipment was delivered, and the main room was soon cluttered with screens and control boards.
“Now what?” Lieutenant Hernandez asked.
“Now we wait,” Von Kalt answered.
“It’s your money.”
A new card game started at a new dining room table.
Ashley’s Journal, Saturday, July 11, 2308
I’ve tried not to hurt anyone since Jason, but today Sihing Shou got in my face about it, I was taking it easy on this kid, Anthony. I could have beaten him, but I didn’t want to.
After two rounds of nothing, Shou asked me why I didn’t just hit him and get it over with.
I said, “Why don't you hit him?"
He didn’t laugh. He said something like… "He's half my size, he's no challenge for me."
I looked him right in the eye… “You’re twice my size, and it wouldn’t be fair for me to beat you up either.” Only I didn’t actually say it. I thought it. I wanted to say it, and I think he got my meaning, because he turned around and went to talk to Anthony.
Lots of them were watching.
None of them talk to me. I don’t know whether to be happy or sad about that. Either way, I get what Mrs. Rabier meant. There is a lot more to life than ballet. That much I do get.
When Shou blew the whistle to restart the match, the third round…
I moved so fast! No one saw it coming. I kicked Anthony in the chest; hard and fast, swinging my foot like they showed us.
He landed on his back and with a "whoosh.”
Then he started flopping around like a fish out of water.
&
nbsp; The whole place got quiet.
For a second, I was afraid he was going to die.
Shou helped Anthony sit up and softly tapped him on the back. Soon enough he was breathing again.
Once Anthony was okay, Shou gestured for me to step to the center of the ring and raised my hand; winner by technical knock out.
I remember he looked at me like I’d been hustling him and asked me, "You're not a martial artist?"
"I'm a ballerina," I said.
He said, “Ahhh.” Then he smiled and nodded.
Cleary explained that I’d knocked the wind out of Anthony and that when he flexed his diaphragm, it was like he was like tugging at the door of a refrigerator you just closed.
I asked him if it was permanent. He laughed and said it was no big deal. Anthony would be fine.
I felt a little better then. I’m just glad I didn’t kick him in the face.
Sunday, July 12, 2308
Fox sat in his plastic cell, meditating. He wondered about the physical necessity of the interface at all. His previous research showed that terillium saturated the human body, as well as the airspace in an area and any metallic objects in its immediate environment.
He focused, but there was nothing. In a strange place, he needed the amplifier to make a connection. There was no way around that.
Over the past week, he’d come to understand that he was housed in a plastic structure, inside a large warehouse or barn, constructed of wood and cement. His guards could be heard lounging nearby.
In the mornings, the sun crashed through the rooftop skylights and illuminated everything. The walls of Fox’s cell glowed with an opaque brilliance. The sun moved across the sky and eventually everything got dark. The soldiers only had no interior electricity, so once night came on, it came on in full.
The cell was outfitted with surveillance cameras running optic lines to a remote server and wirelessly streamed back to the monitors at the nearby observation lab. Other than that, there was no metal anywhere nearby.