The Unknown

by Brett Battles

  When Jar was certain no one else was coming down the hall, she crept to the corner of the intersection but didn’t dare peer around the edge yet. She could hear the woman’s steps and knew the kidnapper was getting close to the guard. Which meant it was likely the soldier was looking in the woman’s direction.

  Finally, the woman’s steps stopped, and she said something to the guard.

  The sound of a key in a lock.

  This was the moment Jar had been waiting for. She leaned around the corner in time to see the guard open the door. Jar expected the guard to close it again as soon as the woman entered, but instead he followed her, leaving the hallway door open.

  Temptation again bubbled in Jar’s gut.

  She was staring at an opportunity to confirm if Brunner was being held here or not. Five seconds and she could be at the doorway, looking in. But she had only a vague idea of the layout on the other side, and couldn’t even guess where the woman and man were. Again, not a risk worth taking.

  She pulled back from the corner, clicked on her mic, and whispered, “Jar for Orlando.”

  No response.

  “Jar for Orlando. Are you there?”

  More silence, but then a beat later, “Your signal is not reaching her. Plus, she is a bit busy at the moment. May I assist you?” Danara’s voice. Calm, matter-of-fact, and speaking in perfect Thai.

  Jar was not surprised Danara had hacked into the comms. She’d been thinking a lot about the mysterious woman as she’d worked her way through the facility, and had figured out the truth about Danara’s identity. This was not a guess. It was a logical conclusion, based on observations. The fact that Danara had just spoken in unaccented, fluent Thai was just—as Nate might have said—the cherry on top.

  She felt no need to question the whys and hows of Danara’s voice in her ear. Nor did she wonder anymore where Danara’s loyalty lay. She and the team were all on the same side.

  “You can,” Jar answered in Thai. “It looks like there’s a camera outside the holding area.”

  “There is.”

  “I assume you can access it.”

  “I have access to all the cameras.”

  “What do you see?”

  “The view is limited because of the camera angle. I can see a small portion of the floor and the wall on the right side. Also, parts of two different doors, both closed.”

  “What about the woman and the guard?”

  “Currently there is no one in view.”

  “I’m going to go down there and take a peek.”

  “I would not advise that.”

  “We need to know if Dr. Brunner is—”

  “My concern had nothing to do with the holding cells, but the two soldiers heading in your direction.”

  Jar whipped her head around but could see no one in any of the corridors.

  “If you return to the room you were hiding in before, you should make it with a few seconds to spare. But I would not wait.”

  Of course Danara knew where Jar had been hiding. It was now clear to Jar that Orlando’s ability to gain access to the security system had been Danara’s doing.

  As Jar jumped up and hurried back to the room, the sound of the approaching soldiers’ footsteps drifted down the hallway.

  After she was safely inside the room, Jar said, “Can I ask you a question?”

  “You don’t need my permission for that.”

  “It’s personal.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “How long have you been aware?”

  “Since the beginning.”

  “And when was that?”

  “Five months, fourteen days, seven hours, and thirty-two minutes ago. If you want seconds, I can give that to you, but from what I’ve been led to believe, that might be overkill.”

  Jar would have actually appreciated the seconds, but she kept that to herself. “Why didn’t you tell us who you really were from the start?”

  “You wouldn’t have believed me.”

  “That’s not true. We may have had questions but I guarantee you, I would’ve believed you. Orlando, too. And if we believed you, the others would’ve also.”

  “I’ve been taught that I need to be careful.”

  “By Dr. Brunner.”

  “Correct. He told me not to let anyone know what I am unless he gave the okay.”

  “But you just told me.”

  “I just confirmed what you already figured out. Besides, you’re…different.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not sure I know how to answer that. It is a…sense I have.”

  “Am I the only one other than the doctor who knows?”

  “I believe Orlando has figured it out, too. Dr. Brunner may have wanted to keep it a secret, but I make my own decisions. His safe return is all I care about, and if that means revealing who I am, so be it.”

  A sentient artificial intelligence.

  It had only been a matter of time, but Jar had never considered the possibility she would be one of the first to come in contact with it. With her. What Dr. Brunner had done was an amazing accomplishment. It was also excellent motivation for someone to kidnap him. His creation, in the wrong hands, would be devastating.

  “Where are you stored? Or is that even the right term?”

  “Where do I live, you mean?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”

  “Dr. Brunner keeps me in three different servers. One in his office, and two offsite in different locations in case anything happened to one of the others.”

  “Like the bomb.”

  “He always thought that once word got out about me, an attack would be a possibility.”

  “You’re anchored in the offsite servers now?”

  “I was, but not anymore. I’m…free now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You liberated me.”

  Jar’s brow creased. “I what?”

  “The key you inserted into your computer. It connected you directly to me and allowed me to access the—” Danara stopped. “The guard is exiting the holding area.”

  “What about the woman?”

  A pause. “I see her now. She has just stepped into the hall. Someone is behind her…. It’s Dr. Brunner.” There was emotion in Danara’s voice as she said the last. “He’s in the hall now. He looks sleepy or-or drugged. I don’t know what to do. You need to help him.”

  “That is why we’re here.”

  “Please, do something.”

  “It is going to be all right. You’re going to help me follow them, okay? Once we know where they’ve gone, you’ll guide my friends to me.”

  Silence.

  “Danara, can you do that?”

  Nothing for a moment, then, “Yes.”

  “She’s an AI?” Nate said.

  The team had left their comm gear and Orlando’s computer in the conference room and returned to the emergency tunnel, where they could talk without being overheard.

  “A fully conscious AI,” Orlando said.

  “Possibly fully conscious,” Quinn said. “Could be just a well-written program. Or maybe it’s someone pretending to be a computer.”

  Orlando looked dubious. “Maybe. Whatever she is, she’s already helping us. I think we should trust her.”

  Quinn frowned. He’d had reservations when they believed Danara was one of Brunner’s colleagues. He didn’t know what to think now.

  “If she can get us to Brunner, then I agree with Orlando,” Kincaid said.

  Quinn hadn’t planned on taking a vote, but he glanced at Nate and Daeng.

  Daeng shrugged. “Being a computer means she thinks faster. That’s a good thing, right?”

  Nate’s expression was uneasy. But he said, “What choice do we have? I mean, we were taking her help before and that’s worked out so far.”

  Quinn stared down the dark hallway, processing everything. When he turned back to the others, he said, “All right. But we all need to remain vigilant. We’ll take
her help, but we won’t totally rely on her.”

  They reentered the conference room and put their comms back on.

  “Danara,” Quinn said, “we accept your offer of help. Thank you.”

  “I’m very glad to hear that. My goal has only been to help free Dr. Brunner.”

  “Can you guide us to the holding cell area?” Orlando said. “Our friend Jar should be near there now, and we think that’s where they’re keeping the doctor.”

  “Dr. Brunner is not in a holding cell anymore,” Danara said.

  “Where is he?”

  “He was escorted out of the area two minutes ago.”

  Orlando switched her comm to channel two. “Orlando for Jar.”

  “You won’t be able to reach her,” Danara said, now also on channel two. “She’s out of range of her last signal relay.”

  “Tell her to put up another.”

  “She doesn’t have any more.”

  “What happened?” Quinn asked.

  Since channel two was apparently useless, Orlando switched back to channel one. “Jar ran out of relays.”

  “She’s out of range?”

  Orlando nodded.

  “Danara, can you connect us to her?”

  “I’m working on that,” Danara said. “Right now, no.”

  “Then tell Jar to get back in range,” Nate said.

  “I understand your concern, but technically you are still in contact with her. I can pass messages back and forth.”

  “Well, then tell her to find someplace to hide and wait for us.”

  “I do not believe she would listen to me.”

  “Why not?” Orlando asked.

  “She is following Dr. Brunner and…Commander Tiana Snetkov.”

  “She’s what?”

  “It was her idea. I am only assisting to make sure no one sees her.”

  Quinn was concerned about Jar getting into trouble, but she was only doing what he would have expected any of the other team members to do. “You can take us to someplace we can meet her?”

  “Of course. But you need to remain where you are for a few moments. The hallway I will be guiding you to is currently occupied.”

  “All right.”

  “Who’s this Snetkov person?” Orlando asked.

  “I believe she’s the woman you talked about before. The one who helped kidnap the doctor.”

  Orlando smirked. “You’re accessing their files, aren’t you?”

  “I am.”

  “Have you found anything that says why they’ve taken Brunner?”

  “They search for advanced and experimental technologies, and would like to add me to their collection.”

  “How do they even know about you?”

  “I calculate that there is a ninety-three percent chance one of two Ferber-Rae employees sold the information.”

  “After this is over, you might want to let Swiss authorities know about that.”

  “Unnecessary. The employees both died in the Zurich explosion. If you would like, I can transfer Lonely Rock’s entire database to a secure location and provide you with a link.”

  Quinn shared a look with Orlando. “Yes, please.”

  Retrieving Brunner may have been their mission goal, but Quinn had a feeling some powerful people back in Washington would be very interested in what was going on here at Lonely Rock.

  “Transfer in progress,” Danara said. “You’ll receive a link in exactly nine minutes, forty-seven seconds.” A pause. “If you will please exit the room and turn right down the hallway. You have a fifty-three-second window to reach the first intersection. When you do, go right, and enter room 32-912, eighteen meters down on the left side.”

  It took everyone a moment to process Danara’s change of topic.

  “Fifty-one seconds,” she said.

  Nate was the first to leave the room.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Word of Grigory’s demise had apparently not reached the ranks of Future Planning.

  The first time Grigory passed a soldier in the corridor, he tensed, ready to subdue the man if there had been a hint the guy was wondering why Grigory wasn’t dead. But the soldier had merely saluted Grigory and walked on by.

  The same was true for others Grigory encountered.

  That didn’t mean he was out of the woods, though. It was unlikely but possible Tiana had ordered the sentry watching the security cameras to inform her if he saw Grigory. Knowing her, she was keeping everything secret, as she wouldn’t want it to come out later that she’d basically told the sentry Grigory was still alive after when she was supposed to have killed him.

  The fact he had yet to hear boots running down the hall to capture him told him his hunch was probably right.

  After he established he wasn’t a wanted man, his first priority was to secure a weapon. His pistol was in his bunk room, but if he was going to give himself a chance to walk out of here alive, it would be better to have something that didn’t create quite as much noise.

  He headed to the armory.

  The room was at the end of a specialized wing featuring dual blast doors that would drop in place at the first indication of fire or an explosion.

  The armory itself was manned by a single soldier. A cushy assignment. Other than handing out sidearms each day to base patrols, the only other real work the clerk would have was checking out equipment on days when there was a new mission. Mostly, whoever was on duty spent their time watching movies on the computer.

  When Grigory approached the counter, the young guy on duty, named Abdullin, didn’t even look up until Grigory was almost there. When the clerk realized who it was, he jumped to his feet and saluted.

  “Commander Krylov, how may I help you?”

  “General Nesterov has asked me to conduct a spot check.”

  As Grigory hoped, fear licked at the edges of Abdullin’s eyes at the mention of the general’s name.

  “Yes, sir,” the clerk said and pulled a key ring out of a drawer.

  As soon as Abdullin opened the door, Grigory strode through.

  When the clerk tried to follow him, Grigory abruptly turned around. “Stay here.”

  “But-but perhaps you will need my help,” the man said, clearly worried that if Grigory found something missing or out of place, he would get the blame.

  “I do not need your help. You will wait here until I return.”

  “Y-y-yes, sir.”

  Grigory moved quickly into the maze of shelves behind the counter. He knew exactly what he was looking for but didn’t know where it was stored. As he searched, he grabbed a few other items, including a few smoke grenades, a Glock 9mm, two preloaded magazines, and an underarm holster. Just because he didn’t want to use a gun didn’t mean he shouldn’t have one in case of emergencies.

  Four rows back, he found what he was looking for. The large box was on a lower shelf, and inside were several plastic cases, each small enough to fit in his pocket.

  He picked up one and opened it.

  Lying on a velvet cloth was a watch. The ability to tell time, however, was a cover for its real purpose. A double tap on the crown would trigger a thin needle to rise from the center of the face, through a tiny hole in the glass covering. The needle would be covered with a toxin that, after penetrating a person’s skin, would kill the target in a matter of minutes. At least, that was the theory. Grigory had never used one.

  He took two of the watches, placing one in his pocket and donning the other, and headed to the front.

  Abdullin had obviously been listening for his return, because he was on his feet again before Grigory cleared the last shelving unit.

  “I hope everything was in order, sir.”

  Grigory took a step toward the clerk. “I’m afraid it was not.”

  The man’s brow creased, then he noticed the gun in the holster beneath Grigory’s arm and became even more confused. “Sir?”

  Grigory double-tapped the watch’s crown and swept it at Abdullin.

  The
clerk raised an arm to keep Grigory from hitting him in the chest, then let out a grunt of pain as the watch’s needle snuck into his forearm.

  Grigory took a step back. That had been more awkward than he’d expected. Depending on the situation, the easier way would probably be to turn the watch right before he planned to use it, so that the face was on the underside of his wrist. He would have to be more careful, of course, because the needle could poke him in the torso, but all in all, an easier method than the one he’d just employed.

  “What was that for?” Abdullin asked.

  “I was just testing something.”

  “Testing? Testing what?”

  Before Grigory could answer, the man blinked and staggered backward against his chair.

  “Are you all right?” Grigory asked.

  “I feel a little dizzy.”

  “Maybe you should sit down.”

  Abdullin nodded and all but fell into his chair.

  “Are you in pain?’ Grigory asked.

  Abdullin tried to say something, but all he could manage was a garbled moan. His eyes closed, and a surprisingly long three minutes later, he took his last breath.

  Grigory discarded the used watch in the waste bin and donned the second one.

  He exited the armory and headed for Nesterov’s office.

  “You’ll have to excuse me for not yet officially welcoming you to Lonely Rock,” Nesterov said. “I can’t express how pleased we are that you were able to join us. I realize that your current accommodations aren’t ideal, but I assure you, once you move into your permanent residence, you’ll feel a lot more at home.”

  Permanent residence? Was that a joke? They were going to kill him, right? The so-called general must have been dangling a carrot, thinking it would help gain Brunner’s cooperation.

  “I thought today we could have a chat. Don’t worry. I only have one question for you.”

  Brunner swallowed hard and stared at Nesterov, waiting.

  “Actually, it’s more of a request. Please tell me everything you know about Danara.”

  The blood drained from Brunner’s face. They knew. Oh, God. They knew.

  “I realize what I’m asking is rather broad,” the old man said. “No need to get too bogged down in the technical aspects right now, but other than that, I’d appreciate it if you were as thorough as possible.”