Jayne clutched the brick in her hand. It felt real and heavy, rough against her palm and fingertips. Her hold on reality blurred further, except for Merry’s voice breaking down the façade once more. “Jayne, we only have a matter of minutes before our cover is blown sky high.”
Burrett smoothed out a patch of mortar. He held up a brick, but before he could place it down into place, Jayne reached up and stopped him. They held the brick up, together, over the wall between them.
Jayne looked into Burrett’s piercing eyes. “What are you getting out of working with Dean Geiger? Is he promising to release you? What?”
Burrett let go, and the digital brick disappeared above them. “I get nothing from working with Dean Geiger. It’s what Dean Geiger has gotten working…” Burrett placed his thumb and forefinger atop his forehead, “…with me.” The VR world responded to Burrett’s thoughts as if it had become part of his consciousness, and a zipper appeared down the length of Burrett’s body. He began to unzip himself, only to reveal his identical self beneath.
Jayne punched her fist into her hand. “Why can’t you be straight with me, Burrett?”
Burrett pointed down the length of the endless brick wall. “It is straight.”
Jayne almost had a panic attack when the world around her destroyed itself, like Burrett unzipping his body, to reveal an entirely new world around her.
It was the ISA offices. She was somewhere familiar, though it was a place she hadn’t been in months… or years.
Jayne looked up and saw Merry. “Merry?”
Merry unhooked the VR rig from around Jayne’s head. “I’m so sorry, Jayne, but we have to go. We can try to access the world again, but it’s not worth you getting caught. Not now.”
Jayne helped Merry take the VR headset off. “How long was I in there?”
Merry shrugged. “Maybe thirty minutes.”
Jayne rubbed her sore temples. “Oh my god. I feel like… That felt like… years.”
Merry nodded. “Yeah, that’ll happen. How do you feel? Do you think you can climb a rope?”
Jayne eyed Merry, confounded. “I can. Technically.”
Merry walked open to the window and opened it. “Good. Because they’re on their way.”
Jayne walked over to stick her head out of the window and looked down. They were halfway up the Malicarsh building. “Great. And how exactly do I get down from here?”
Merry smiled and slapped Jayne on the back. “We’re not going down. We’re going up.”
Then, the end of a rope dropped onto the back of her head, accompanied by a whistle. Jayne turned her head to look up. She saw Fred looking down her, smiling. He gave her a thumbs up.
Jayne pulled her head back in, and turned to Merry. “What about you?”
Merry shook her head. “I have an alibi in place. We’re good. We’ll have to go into the VR world again. We’ll figure that out later.”
Now it was Jayne’s turn to shake her head. “No, I figured it out. Burrett was being… very convoluted, but I understand what he meant. Burrett has nothing to do with any of this.”
Merry opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn’t think of the right words.
In place of Merry’s silence, Jayne continued. “Dean Geiger used Burrett like a suit. In the VR world. It’s been Geiger disguised as Burrett, not Burrett himself. Burrett is merely a uniform for the message, but not the fact of the message.”
Merry scrunched her eyebrows. “I’m sorry, what?”
Jayne laughed, realizing that it would only ever make sense to her and Burrett. “Dean Geiger has been hiding in plain sight. He’s been after me all along, and he’s been orchestrating everything from the beginning.”
“Everything?”
Jayne nodded. “Everything.”
Pounding at the door. Not fist pounding, but the sound of thermic devices being attached along the sides. In thirty seconds, the sliding door would be pulverized to a meaningless, bent sheet of metal.
Merry grabbed the rope hanging outside the window and handed it to Jayne. “Go, climb up. Vlad and Fred are up there with Cameron’s cruiser. We’ll meet tomorrow.”
Jayne grabbed the rope. She scooted halfway out the window. “But Merry, what about you?”
Merry laughed, a genuine laugh, in excitement about her plan. “I’m going to do what I do best.”
“What’s that?”
Merry smiled. “Be perverted. Now go!”
Jayne climbed out of the window, rapidly ascending sixteen floors to the roof of the Malicarsh building, a mere fifty feet from the base of the next level.
Merry slammed the window shut. She adjusted the settings of the VR rig and put it on as she settled into the couch.
In a matter of mere seconds, the thermo devices popped with their powerful, but precisely contained explosions.
Six tactical officers raided the office, blasters out. They surrounded Merry, who leapt up off the couch and clumsily removed the VR rig. “Holy shit! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! What the fuck is going on?”
One of the tactical members shouted out toward the hallway. “Suspect detained!”
Another tactical member hoisted Merry off the couch and threw her into handcuffs. A plainclothes officer swaggered in from the hallway, but his confidence crumbled into disappointment once he looked Merry up and down.
Merry played the part of frightened prisoner. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was doing something illegal. I was just trying to—”
The plainclothes officer cut her off. “You’re not Jayne.”
Merry furrowed her brow and scoffed. “No, of course not. Do you think I’d be hanging out in my own offices if I was Jayne? Besides, I told you goons yesterday I want nothing to do with her. She betrayed us.”
The plainclothes officer didn’t drop his guard. “We’ve been tracking VR activity, and we found a connection, from this building, linking with VR activity joined to Burrett.”
Surprise flashed on Merry’s face. “Oh, wait! Do you… You think I was connecting to Burrett?? Oh my god!” She started laughing.
The tactical team looked to each other, starting to suspect they had, once again, arrived at a dead end.
The plainclothes officer holstered his weapon. “What’s so funny?”
Merry tried to stop laughing. “I just… I thought I was in trouble for… other reasons.” She motioned to the VR rig.
The plainclothes officer glanced at the VR rig. “Magnuson, hand that to me.”
Tactical team member Magnuson picked up the VR rig and handed it to his superior, who put it on over his head.
He fell into the VR world. He was not standing in rolling green hills under blue skies. He was standing in a Greco-Roman palace in the center of a cushion covered marble floor. The massive cathedral-like space was replete with trays of rich foods and ripe fruit. From wall to wall, beautiful naked bodies participated in the most depraved acts of bacchanalian excess and carnal exploration that far surpassed anything the plainclothes officer could comprehend.
He quickly removed the VR rig. “Holy shit.”
Merry smiled, sheepishly. “Yeah, I mean… Everyone’s got their kinks, ya know?”
The plainclothes officer threw the VR rig down in disgust at both what he just saw and the failure of their operation.
He looked down at Merry in righteous judgment. “You’re disgusting.”
Merry giggled. “Are you flirting with me?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Room #34, Geffen Dormitory, Tesla University of Technical Arts, Theron Techcropolis, Amaros
Jessica rolled over to grab her ringing comm. Her blinds were down so the true sunlight, which she received a little of being so close to the highest level, didn’t penetrate her dorm room.
She reached over Ian, who she was lucky enough to have brought home the night before. She’d been in the middle of a dry spell for the past few months, so bringing home a big dumb guy with strong hands that she felt zero romantic attac
hment to was exactly what she was looking for.
He was still soundly asleep next to her, either sleeping off the booze or their extended hours of nighttime activities that had lasted until five in the morning.
Jessica picked up her comm and answered, her voice scratchy and tired. “Hello?”
She heard a nervous, almost adolescent voice on the other line. It sounded like they were trying to mask their voice. “Hello, Jessica… This is… Mister Pancake…”
It was too early for Jessica to put up with pranks. “I’m sorry?”
The voice cleared his throat before saying it again, adding emphasis as if that would help. “Mister… PANcake…”
Jessica dropped her head onto her pillow. Slowly emerging from sleep, she made the connection. “Fred!”
“Ssshhh!!!” from the other line. “No, this is Mister Pancake. We need your help.”
Jessica looked at the time. It was one in the afternoon. She felt Ian roll over and begin pecking the back of her neck with kisses. She shoved him away and responded to ‘Mister Pancake.’ “Okay, okay. What do you need?”
There was a pause before she heard a reply. “Uh… We need your dorm.”
Jessica started to worry about this, and how involved she was about to become. “Okay… what time?”
There was a knock at the door.
+++
After Jessica hastily tossed Ian’s clothes onto him, thanked him for the better-than-average sex and ushered him out the door, she was immediately overwhelmed by the makeshift spy agency headquarters getting set up in her room.
Merry shoved all of Jessica’s skincare products off her dresser to make room for her tablet and the largest processor she could manage to bring. It was loaded with over a yottabyte of every possible ounce of information that might prove useful to bringing Dean Geiger down.
Plus, it maintained an encrypted digital trace that allowed her to access Dean Geiger’s new data bank without detection.
Jessica picked up her lotions off the floor. “Okay, I’m being very generous letting you guys commit treason against the state in my dorm room. Please respect my space. Okay?”
Jayne nodded and placed a reassuring hand on Jessica’s shoulder. “Of course. Right, Merry?”
Merry grumbled as she powered up her tablet and began syncing to the data bank.
Jayne cleared her throat pointedly at Merry. “Ahem. Merry?”
Merry sighed. “Okay, I’m sorry about your… beauty… potions or whatever.”
It was an empty apology but coming from Merry it meant a lot. Jessica moved the lotions to her desk. “Look, my finals start this week, okay? So you guys can do whatever you need to do, as long as you keep it down while I study.”
Merry smirked. “You weren’t worrying about studying this morning, princess.”
Jessica pulled Jayne aside. “Look, I don’t need this!”
Jayne placed two reassuring hands on each of Jessica’s shoulders. “Merry’s fine. She just doesn’t like you right now because you’re very preppy and she’s very goth. But eventually she’ll grow to appreciate your skincare routine and matching pillows and comforter set. I’ll talk to her, and I’ll make sure we stay out of your hair while you study.”
Jessica extended her hand. “Deal.”
Jayne clasped Jessica’s hand in a firm shake. “Thank you, Jessica. You’re literally helping us save the world.”
There was a knock at the door, rendered meaningless by Vlad immediately opening it and allowing himself in. The thick odor of weed wafted in with him. “Okay, everyone, I’m here!”
Vlad looked familiar to Jessica, but she couldn’t place him. “Who are you?”
Vlad stared red-eyed and dumbfounded at the blonde college student. “I’ll be honest with you. I taught you for one semester last year, but I was barely in class because… I was helping these bozos.”
Vlad’s face clicked in Jessica’s mind. “I knew it! You’re the worst teacher I’ve ever had.”
Vlad bowed. “The one and only.”
Jayne waved Vlad over to join her on the other half of the small room with Merry and Fred. “Alright, leave Jessica alone. We promised her she could study, so we’re not allowed to talk to her anymore.”
Jessica hopped on her bed and gave Jayne a thumbs up. “Thanks, roomie.” She put in earbuds, opened her tablet, and got down to hydro-chemistry 101.
Jayne brought her team in for a quiet huddle. “Okay. We know Dean Geiger is behind everything now. Everything. Now, we put an end to it. We bring him down. At the very least, we make sure he loses this election. At the best, he spends the rest of his existence in a virtual reality prison like Burrett. How will we do this, you ask? That’s what we have to figure out.”
Merry chimed in first. “I’m going to analyze Geiger’s campaign. I have every piece of media related to it, from ads to interviews to all of his press conferences. Then, I’m going to find dirt that contradicts him. Basically, I’m going to play politics.”
Fred snapped his fingers. “I’ll help you out Merry. I’ll start reaching out to all of my underworld contacts. If Burrett or his people have been working with them, that’s not going to be a good look for his message. We can expose him…”
Vlad smiled. “Or blackmail him.”
Fred and Merry laughed, in love with that idea.
Jayne threw her hands in the air, separating the conspirators. “Whoa! No. No blackmail. We’re not stooping to his level. Guys, look. I have been down some dark holes these past couple weeks. I’ll be honest, I’ve basically been the criminal Dean Geiger’s made me out to be. No more. I’m not bringing the rest of you down to that level. I’m climbing out of that hole. We don’t blackmail Geiger. We’re not extorting him. We will expose him. We’ll make him look like the fool, the tyrant, the liar, all in one. He’s already dug his own grave. We simply have to plan his funeral. Got it?”
Merry pouted, turning away from the huddle. “Aw, Jayne. You’re no fun. You never let us blackmail anyone.”
Jayne smirked at Merry. “If anyone should ever be worried about blackmail, maybe the girl with the most virus infected browser history of all time should keep her mouth shut.”
“Hey!” Merry sounded as if she took offense. “I designed my own anti-virus programs and they work!”
Jayne laughed, then turned to Vlad. “Vlad, what’ya got?”
Vlad took the one-hitter out of his mouth. “Yeah… What were we talking about?”
Fred was already going through his contacts, but he looked up to playfully scowl at Vlad. “Seriously? You’re making the rest of us look bad.”
Vlad wracked his brain as he tried to come back down to reality. “Oh, right! Burrett.”
Jayne dropped her face in her hands. “No, Vlad. Dean Geiger.”
Vlad stared at Jayne dumbfounded. “What did I say.”
Fred and Merry were deep in their own work now. Jayne spoke to Vlad directly. “Vlad, I need you to go work with Cameron and find out what the police know about us. They don’t know you guys are working with me again. And cooperation is going to make you look good. Find out what they know, so we don’t get caught in a snare. That’s more important now than ever.”
Vlad frowned, as if Jayne was out of her mind. “I can’t smoke weed in a police station, Jayne.”
Jayne mocked empathy. “Aw, poor baby.”
“Well,” Vlad shrugged, “one for the road!” He lit the one hitter and dragged on it 'til there was nothing left. “See you suckers later!”
With a broad wave, Vlad was out of the dorm.
Merry rapidly scanned through the info on her tablet. “So, Jayne. What are you going to do?”
Jayne pulled out her comm. “I’m going to reach out to an old friend.”
Fred immediately knew who she was referring to. “Hell yeah!”
Jessica took her earbuds out. “Ssshhh! I can hear you guys and all of your incredibly top secret plans. Please be quiet, these chemical formulas aren’t going to balance
themselves.”
Jayne grimaced. “Sorry, Jessica.”
Fred and Merry zeroed in on the matters at hand. Jayne initiated a very important call on her phone.
+++
Techcropolis Police Station, L45, Theron Techcropolis, Amaros
Cameron led Vlad into the evidence room and locked the door behind them. Vlad stood by a shelf stacked with crates of clothes and paraphernalia with potentially helpful DNA samples – blood, spit and bodily fluids.
Cameron stood across from him, by the stack of shelves loaded with confiscated weapons.
The two men knew each other, were at least familiar with each other, but they had never worked one on one. There was an odd moment of examining the other one in an attempt to understand how to proceed with the new aspect of your alliance.
Cameron spoke up after a few moments passed. “Vlad?”
Vlad blinked as he emerged from his daze. “Yes?”
Cameron crossed his arms and leaned against the shelves. “You’re stoned, Vlad.”
Vlad nodded. “Speaking of, you got any drugs in here? I mean, it is an evidence room, so I was thinking you might.”
Cameron shook his head. “Not for you. Besides, I think there’s more important stuff to deal with. And fast, I can’t spend too much time in here.”
Vlad accepted that he wouldn’t be leaving the evidence room with pounds of marijuana and mirrored Cameron’s serious posture. “Okay. We need to know about all the monitoring you’re doing with Jayne. We don’t want to get pinched this late in the game.” Pinched? Vlad laughed to himself. That sounded really cool. The police lingo was coming out of nowhere. Maybe it was the Kill ‘Em All series rubbing off on him.
Cameron checked out the window of the evidence room to make sure no one was walking by. “Okay, listen. We’ve got constant eyes on the ISA offices. We also know about the pancake place.”
Vlad nodded. “Jack Flap’s, yeah. Good to know.”
Cameron didn’t take his eyes off the window. He checked out the corner of his eye every few seconds. “Obviously security is tight at all border exits and entrances now. They don’t care if you’re a one-armed dwarf, they’ll treat you like you might be Jayne in disguise.”
Exposed (Interplanetary Spy for Hire Book 2) Page 25