Spy, Spy Away

by Diane Henders

  “But what if it leads to that?” Dr. Rawling’s eyes bored through to my soul. “Are you prepared to deal with the consequences?”

  “That would be extremely unlikely.” Stemp’s flat voice gave me a welcome excuse to transfer my attention to him. “Typically, recruitment into an organization like Fuzzy Bunny takes months if not years. Requesting a small, ostensibly harmless item like a phone list is merely the first hook. After that, the requests typically escalate slowly as they test their recruit’s loyalties. We can stall to give Ms. Kelly time.”

  “Though they did try to get Aydan to deliver a reverse-engineered fob two months ago,” Kane put in. “That’s definitely non-typical. Maybe they’re being more direct than usual because they know about her cover identity’s fraud convictions. Since they don’t have to test her willingness to break the law, this could go faster than we think.”

  The cautious relief I’d been nurturing during Stemp’s exposition evaporated and dread rushed in to take its place.

  Dr. Rawling turned back to Stemp. “I didn’t realize you were contemplating this. The only reason I discovered Aydan was taking her qualification tests today was because I received a routine copy of her hospitalization report from Dr. Roth this morning.” His tone was distinctly accusing. “Considering that both tests indicated more preparation would be beneficial…”

  Trust a shrink to find a nice way to say ‘she completely fucked up the tests’. Despite my distaste for euphemisms, I indulged in a moment of gratitude for his tact. And that explained how he’d found out about this mission, too. Stemp hadn’t tattled after all.

  “…I have to reiterate that in my professional opinion, this mission is inadvisable for Aydan at this time,” Dr. Rawling finished. He turned to bathe me in his usual expression of warm sympathy. “Aydan, you’re a very strong person, but I know you understand the consequences of pushing yourself too far and too fast.”

  “Ms. Kelly, this is ultimately your decision,” Stemp said. “And you need to decide. Now.”

  Four sets of eyes turned to me and I gulped, my mind racing. I could slink away like a coward and squander the opportunity. Or I could plunge in. Nightmares and panic attacks at best; torture and death at worst.

  Fear rose to strangle me with icy fingers, but a moment later hot anger bubbled up to sear its grasp.

  Fuzzy Fucking Bunny. Those bastards. What the hell would a little more fear matter to me? I’d been living in fear for months. Always wondering if today was the day they’d capture me. If today was the day they’d torture me and kill me and harm the people I cared about.

  No more, goddammit.

  Those fucking assholes were going down.

  When I spoke, my voice was dead level. “Give me the phone.”

  My spurt of courage lasted exactly as long as it took for the phone to ring. When Hibbert’s fatly satisfied voice spoke on the other end of the line, a stinging rush of adrenaline drove my heart rate into the stratosphere.

  “Miss Widdenback. How nice to hear from you.”

  “Yeah.” The word grated from my tight throat just before it closed up completely. Unpleasantly conscious of the four men watching me, I jerked to my feet and turned away to pace on the opposite side of the office.

  What the hell was I thinking? I couldn’t do this. I was an idiot civilian. And two top agents and the director of clandestine operations were watching me. Christ, now I had a whole new sympathy for performance anxiety.

  Hibbert’s voice filled the longish silence. “Not very chatty today, are we?”

  “Get to the point.” Thank God it came out in a growl instead of a squeak.

  He sighed. “Fine. Five thousand down, five on delivery. But you never did thank me for doubling the offer. And for such a trivial piece of paper, too.” His voice deepened to an oily purr that made me shift the receiver to the tips of my fingers in pure revulsion. “I was hoping you might show me some… appreciation. I particularly liked that scene where you-”

  “The only appreciation you’ll get is from your own right hand.” My voice still wasn’t working quite right, but the anger helped. “It better be clean cash. Remember what I said. I don’t work with amateurs.”

  “You don’t know who you’re dealing with, do you?” The purr was gone, and his tone would have made me shiver if I hadn’t had an audience.

  Stay angry.

  “No,” I snapped. “And I don’t want to know. I just want the money.”

  “Fine. You’ll find the envelope inside the toilet tank in the middle stall of the women’s washroom at the Hogback Tavern. You can pick it up any time after ten tonight.”

  He sounded triumphant. That couldn’t be good.

  “Call me when you have the list,” he added.

  “Where’s the Hogback Tavern?” I was too late. The bastard had already hung up. “Asshole,” I added, and turned to face Stemp’s inquiring expression. “I’m to pick up the first batch of cash tonight at the Hogback Tavern, wherever that is. Then I have to call him when I have the list.”

  “I’ll have Webb research the tavern.” He nodded dismissal. “Briefing in your office at thirteen hundred.”

  Chapter 11

  Flopping onto the couch in my office, I suppressed a small belch and winced at the residual fumes. Note to self: When eating Greek salad at the Greenhorn Café, skip the onions.

  I popped a couple of breath mints just as Spider walked in, his laptop tucked under his arm as usual. “Hi, Aydan! Oh, hey, can I bum a mint? I had major garlic for lunch.” He dropped into the chair opposite me, his hand shielding his mouth.

  I passed over the box. “Don’t worry, I can’t smell a thing. I just finished eating so many onions I think my sinuses are slagged.”

  As he handed the mints back, Kane and Germain strode in, followed by Stemp. As soon as everyone was seated, Stemp provided a succinct summary of the events to date before turning to Spider. “What do you have on the Hogback Tavern?”

  Spider turned his laptop screen to show us a map and sent an anxious glance in my direction. “It’s in Calgary.” He tapped the red arrow displayed on his screen. “Not a good part of town.” He switched to the street view, and I hid my dismay at the sight of the bar. The photo had been taken in summer. The harsh sunlight emphasized the bar’s scarred exterior and blazed off the chrome of a long line of Harleys parked in front.

  “Hogback. Go figure. It couldn’t have been a nice quiet country bar, could it?” I muttered. “Hang on, let me write down the address. Do you have floor plans?”

  “Yes…” Spider flipped to another screen. I was mentally noting the position of the washrooms and exits when Spider spoke again. “I can print off a copy for you, but… are you sure you should go?” I looked up to see his forehead creased with concern. “It’s a really rough place. There have been a couple of gang-related killings there. You should take somebody with you at least.”

  “Gang-related killings take place everywhere, including in shopping malls,” Stemp countered dryly. “Short of getting caught in the crossfire, they present very little threat to anyone except gang members. And you may recall Ms. Kelly infiltrated and blew up an enemy base single-handed. I seriously doubt she needs assistance to retrieve a package from a public bar.”

  Showed how much he knew. I’d need assistance to find my ass with both hands.

  Spider subsided, looking unconvinced, and for an unworthy moment I wondered if he had looked deeper into my mind than he’d admitted.

  No. He wouldn’t lie about that. He was just being his usual tender-hearted self. I gave him a smile as Stemp spoke again.

  “I’ll prepare a phone list for you. Go down and collect the money tonight, and you can brief us on any new developments tomorrow at ten-hundred. Once the transaction is complete, we’ll have a better idea where this might lead, but for now let’s run some scenarios…”

  Much later, we all leaned back in our chairs, and I massaged my aching forehead. Of all the possibilities the team had identified, th
e only one that gave me any comfort was the one I considered least likely: That Hibbert and his bosses would be satisfied with the phone list and bide their time before asking me for anything else. That just seemed too good to be true.

  I stiffened my spine. It was better if they moved quickly. Hiding and hoping it would all go away was just plain stupid. And the sooner I started looking for their death ray, the better.

  I was breathing through the terror of that thought when Stemp’s voice dragged me back to the present. “One more thing, Ms. Kelly. If you do end up undercover, we want to make sure we have a good communication system in place. The doctors have completed their testing of the portable brainwave-driven network generator, and it’s time for a field test. If it works as expected, it will provide you with an untraceable method of communication via the internet.”

  His flat gaze encompassed both Spider and me. “Webb, Ms. Kelly, please take the portable generator and the network key outside the building to make sure it works outside the range of our internal network. Report as soon as you’ve completed the test.”

  “Um…” My hand tightened instinctively on the tiny box. “I thought you didn’t want the key to ever be outside the building’s security perimeter.”

  Stemp released a breath I might have called a sigh if it had come from anybody else. “Now that we understand that you are literally the only person in the world who can use it, the chain of command has determined that we are willing to risk it if there are significant potential benefits.” He met my eyes steadily. “Obviously, if you are captured with the key and the portable generator, the consequences will be…”

  I mentally completed the sentence in the ensuing silence. ‘Devastating to national security; agonizing and fatal to me’. If I was very lucky, the ‘fatal’ part would happen soon after the ‘agonizing’ part. Somehow I didn’t think I’d be that lucky.

  Stemp rose, freeing us from the quiet immobility that had gripped us all. “Please complete the test right away.” He nodded and left.

  “Would you like me to come with you?” Kane asked.

  “Yes!”

  “Yes, please!”

  Spider and I spoke almost in unison. “In fact,” I added, “Carl, if you have time, will you come, too?”

  “Of course.”

  We all rose, and Spider and I exchanged an uncertain look. “Do you want to go to the Melted Spoon?” I asked. “I can sit down there so I won’t fall over when I access the network, and we can all get a snack.”

  “I like that,” Germain agreed. “The layout is defensible.”

  Kane nodded. “And it gives us a fallback position…”

  We all headed for the stairs. When we reached the lobby, Spider headed for the secured area to collect the network generator while I paced in small circles, listening to Kane and Germain discuss their defensive strategy in undertones.

  Our procession down the sidewalk probably looked casual to the rest of the world. Germain strolled in front, turning to walk backward frequently in the guise of tossing banter to Kane, who was trailing Spider and me by a few paces. Watching them, I realized they were visually covering every direction, and I gave silent thanks all over again for their expertise.

  We gained the fragrant warmth of the Melted Spoon without incident, and I drew a deep, calming breath of the coffee-scented air. Settling in our chairs with steaming cups in front of us, Spider and I exchanged a glance while Kane and Germain kept up their seemingly idle conversation, their surveillance blanketing the small bistro.

  Spider plugged the small portable drive into his laptop and poked at a few keys before giving me a nod. I set my tea down and balanced my weight in the chair. Then I closed my eyes, reaching for the familiar void of virtual reality.

  Instead, a rush of data swept me into the vast and complex currents of the internet.

  A shock of terror galvanized me, and I twisted in the stream to fling myself back against the current, frantically searching for the path I had followed. Long seconds later, I reached the portal and slid through it, praying it was the right one.

  “Ow, Christ!” I clutched my aching head with violently trembling hands. “Jesus, shit…” My heart pounded against my ribs, and I propped my elbows on the table, trying to calm my shallow panting.

  “Are you okay?” Spider’s anxious voice made me straighten and squint my eyes open against the fading pain.

  “Yeah.” I swallowed and drew a deep breath. “Shit…” I clamped both hands around my cup to raise it shakily to my lips. My teeth clattered like maracas against its edge.

  “You were only in for a second. What happened?” Spider’s eyes were wide in his pale face. Kane and Germain still scanned the room, but they both eyed me worriedly as well.

  “Just…” I shot a glance at the few other occupied tables. “Just not quite what I expected.” I took another sip of tea and chased it with another calming breath. “Okay, I’m going to try again. I’ll be a little longer this time.”

  My tea safely returned to the table, I closed my eyes for a moment of preparation. Okay, now I knew what to expect. I’d be fine.

  When I stepped into the data flow, I held my virtual self stationary, studying the portal from the inside. It was distinctive, but I didn’t know whether it was distinctive enough for me to recognize again if I got any distance away from it.

  Okay, so I wouldn’t go far. Only to Sirius.

  I ignored the frightened little voice reminding me that physical geography was irrelevant to internet connections and I might be travelling to the other side of the world and back again. And I’d also have to breach the network security at Sirius once I got there.

  Stay calm. Think.

  Data packets rushed past me while I gathered my composure. If I could hitch myself to this node and stretch instead of letting myself get wholly swept up…

  A few moments later, I extended my questing consciousness into the data tunnels.

  The Sirius network was damn hard to find. When I located it at last, I bobbed in the data flow studying it, tethered by the elastic thread of consciousness that bound me to Spider’s portal.

  It looked benign.

  I knew better.

  If it was anywhere near as secure as the Knights’ server, my tether would be snapped the instant I tried to get in. And then I’d be lost. Trapped forever in interminable tunnels…

  Claustrophobia seized me and I fought the panic with everything I had. I wouldn’t be lost forever. If I could find Sirius, I could find my way back to the portable network generator.

  Before I could lose my nerve, I flung myself at the server.

  It slapped me down like a bug, threshing my consciousness in a maelstrom of rejected packets. Completely disoriented, I flung frantic tendrils in all directions, seeking the relatively solid ground of a data tunnel. A couple of my threads connected, and I hauled myself out of the churning pool and collected myself bit by bit to quiver at the edge.

  Lost.

  I was lost. My tether was gone…

  I clamped down on fear. One thing at a time. Stay calm. Just do this.

  It took several terrifying tries before I at last discovered the way in. Shivering in the blessedly quiet corridors of Sirius’s virtual network, I tried to pull myself together for the return trip.

  It would be easier. I wouldn’t get tumbled around. I could just sail smoothly down the data tunnels as usual.

  The yammering voice of fear spiralled into a crescendo. Sail down the data tunnels to where? Completely untethered in a trackless maze of constantly-shifting connections…

  “Shut up!” I spoke out loud before realizing my avatar was visible in the network. If anybody checked the records, they’d discover me standing here trembling like jelly and talking to myself.

  Fabulous. When I died with my consciousness shredded and dispersed over the vastness of the internet, their last memory of me would be of a coward and a nutcase.

  I was about to berate myself further when an idea dawned. At leas
t I didn’t have to look like a total loser. I ducked into a sim room and composed a short email to Stemp explaining that the test was in progress and detailing my experiences thus far. Then I blew out a long breath and slid back through the firewall into the data stream.

  Daunted all over again by the immensity of the task ahead of me, I floated for a moment, gathering myself. Sifting through data packets was such a habit that I found myself doing it without conscious thought, like registering the words of a song playing in the background.

  Camels.

  Caught by the coincidence, I wished with all my heart I’d told Spider to send search requests over the internet to guide me home like we’d done before. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Moron.

  Camels. Camels.

  A wisp of hope illuminated my heart. It couldn’t be. Could it?

  Camels-camels-camels-camels…

  The searches came thick and fast, and I shot down the data tunnel after them.

  Thank you, Spider!

  I blessed his brilliance with all my heart while I traced the data stream all the way back to the distinctive portal and slipped thankfully through it.

  “God, Jesus! Son of a bitch!” I hugged my head, whimpering in pain and abject gratitude.

  “Aydan!” A light female voice penetrated my consciousness. “That’s not good. We need to get her to the hospital. Call the ambulance!”

  Chapter 12

  Grounding myself with relief in the wonderfully real-world coffee fragrance of the Melted Spoon, I pried streaming eyes open to focus on Linda.

  She was bending over me, her young face taut with worry. “Aydan, can you tell me what day of the week it is?”

  I emitted a groan. “It’s Wednesday. I’m fine, Linda. Sorry, I just get these really bad tension headaches…”

  “I’ve never seen a tension headache that makes you unresponsive.” She frowned and extended her forefingers. “Squeeze my fingers.”

  I manufactured a smile and shoved it onto my aching face. “No way. I haven’t fallen for that one since I was a kid.”