Kilgore narrows his eyes and studies the soldier’s face. “You’d do that? You’d get us out of here?”
“For Christ’s sake,” Jamie says, “don’t listen to him, Kilgore. Take him out.”
But it’s the GDL man who lowers his weapon. “Kilgore? Did you say Kilgore?” He stares at Kilgore, and his eyes go straight to the name on his chest. “I think my son plays with that tag. But it can’t... you can’t...”
Kilgore’s mouth hangs open.
The GDL man rocks back on his heels as if he’s just been kicked in the chest. “Hank? Is that you?”
The floor seems to shift beneath Kilgore’s feet. He lowers his shotgun, and he puts his hand on the wall to steady himself. For a second, his lips move soundlessly, but then they form the familiar shape of the first word he ever spoke, “Dad?”
CHAPTER 32
Good Enough for You?
MERVIN STANDS AND STARES at the soldier in front of him, taking in the expensive body armor, the way the man holds himself, the way he handles his shotgun. Is this hard-faced soldier really his son? Is this how Hank sees himself? Mervin loosens his grip on his captive, and the Englishman, despite his wounded leg, takes the opportunity to shake himself free.
The Brit backs away and draws a combat knife from the holster attached to his vest. He holds the blade out in front of him like he knows what he’s doing with it. “What the bloody hell is going on?” he yells, and his English accent sounds strangely exotic to Mervin’s ears, especially considering the guy looks like he’s been living rough for a while.
Mervin heaves a sigh and looks his son in the eye. “Hank—and I guess that really is you in there somewhere—I think you’d better tell your friend to calm down before somebody gets hurt.”
Hank doesn’t speak. He stands, frozen to the spot, his brain numb with confusion. Mervin turns to the Englishman. “Listen, you’ve got a pretty bad wound there. Your health and energy levels must be getting low, and in this place, that can be a death sentence. Let me give you a medikit. It’s a good one—level four. GDL standard issue.”
“Why the hell should I?” Jamie snaps. “You could be anybody.”
“Fair enough,” Mervin says, “but I’m not anybody. Name’s Mervin, and Hank here, he’s my only son. Good enough for you?”
Jamie opens his mouth to say something, and from the look on the Englishman’s face, it isn’t going to be polite, but Hank finally speaks up. “Take it, Jamie. It’s OK. He’s...” He pauses, frowning, and looks Mervin up and down. “Yeah. He’s my dad.”
Jamie lowers his knife. “Is this some kind of joke?”
Mervin shakes his head. “Here’s the medikit, buddy. Take it or leave it. It’s up to you.”
Jamie reads the notification on his HUD. It’s giving him the option to accept the medikit, and it looks genuine enough, but a level four medikit—just like that? It’s too good to be true.
Mervin studies the Englishman’s face. “Tell you what, I’ll stand a little farther back. Give you some room.” He steps back and looks at Hank. “Are you all right, Son? You’re not... hurt or anything?”
Hank shakes his head. “I’m fine.” He looks his dad in the eye. “But, Dad, what the hell are you even doing in here?”
Mervin gives a disapproving grunt. “I might ask you the same thing, young man.”
“But seriously, Dad, I’ve been playing for years. You know I have. But you... you’re in the GDL? Dale—that’s Jamie’s friend—he said it’s real hard to get into the GDL. He said it’s just for guys who’ve seen combat. I don’t get it.”
Mervin takes a breath. “I don’t know this guy, Dale, but he’s right. And this is going to take some explaining, Hank. I guess I owe you that much—and an apology too. I should’ve been straight with you from the start.” He looks down for a moment, and when he looks up and speaks again, Hank hears the familiar weariness in his dad’s voice. “I shouldn’t have lied to you, Son. I think by now you’ve probably guessed the truth.”
Hank juts his chin forward. “In the army—you fought, didn’t you? You weren’t behind a desk at all. That was all a lie.”
Mervin nods gravely.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about it,” Hank says. “All these years. It doesn’t make sense.”
Mervin looks pained; his shoulders slump. “I didn’t want to talk about it. I lost a lot of good men, a lot of friends. I always tried to play my part, right to the very end, but I’m not proud of it. The men in charge, they used guys like me—used us up, wore us out and tossed us on the scrapheap when they were done.”
“Jesus, Dad. I didn’t know. Maybe I could’ve—”
Mervin holds up his hand to cut Hank off. “Don’t you dare talk like that, Hank. None of this is your fault. Hell, you weren’t even born when the damage was done. And you coming along when you did, it gave me the hope to carry on. Without that...” he stops talking, takes a breath.
Hank blinks. “Did... did Mom know?”
“Some,” Mervin says. “She didn’t understand though. Not really. Why she left, I guess.”
“You should’ve told her, Dad. You should’ve told us all about it.”
Mervin tries a thin smile. “I always said you were a smart kid. You got it all figured out. But you know, I just wanted to protect you from all the violence in the world.” He takes a breath and glances around the corridor. “I guess that didn’t go too well, huh?”
“Holy shit!”
The shout startles Mervin and Hank, and they turn as one. Beside them, Jamie stands tall, his shoulders square, his eyes bright. He looks for all the world as if he’s on parade.
“My god, I feel fantastic.” Jamie looks at Mervin. “This medikit is bloody amazing. I feel ten years younger.” He tosses his combat knife in the air, catches it deftly by the handle and stows it in its sheath in one fluid motion. “Right, gentlemen, family reunion over? Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Hank and Mervin share a look, and they can’t help but grin.
“ Glad you’re feeling better,” Mervin says and holds out his hand. “Good to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Jamie says as the men shake hands. “You say you can get us out of here?”
“Sure can,” Mervin says. He turns to Hank. “I need to take you back to the gear room. I’ll get you inside, then we can all log out together.”
“Hear that?” Jamie says with a smile. He walks up to Hank and slaps him on the arm. “We’re going home.”
Hank nods slowly, forces a smile. “Yeah.”
“It’s this way,” Mervin says. “We’d better get moving.” He turns and walks away down the corridor, heading farther into the building.
Jamie starts to follow, but he only takes a few steps before he stops and turns back. “Come on,” he says. “Time to go.”
But Hank stays right where he is. He glances at the door to Room 001. “What about the key?”
Mervin stops walking and turns around. “What?”
Jamie shakes his head. “I told you, there almost certainly isn’t a key. It’s a trick—part of Will’s lunatic mind games. He told me it was in a different room entirely.”
“Maybe they moved it,” Hank says. “He told me they’d hardened the security.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mervin says, “but we’ve got to get out of here. I reckon you boys must’ve kicked up a shit storm to get this far. It won’t be long before a whole bunch of guys come this way, and your luck’s already stretched pretty thin.”
“He’s right,” Jamie says. “We’ve outstayed our welcome. Time to go.”
“But there must be something in there,” Hank says. “Otherwise, why go to all the trouble?”
Jamie heaves a sigh of frustration. “Even if there is a key, I don’t want anything to do with the damned thing.”
Hank looks his dad in the eye. “Dad, what’s in this room?”
Mervin gives his son a stern look. “I’ve no idea. Nobody from GDL has
access to those rooms.”
“What do you mean?” Hanks asks.
“I mean the system won’t allow it. If a room has a number, it’s secure. We can’t go in.” He nods toward Room 001. “Even if that door was standing wide open, I couldn’t go in if I wanted to. And I know better than to try.”
“Don’t you get it?” Hank says. “Your GDL guys maybe can’t go in there, but Jamie and I can. We hid in a numbered room before. We know we can do it. This must be why Will sent us in here—to get an encryption key.”
“I don’t like the sound of that at all,” Mervin says.
“But, Dad, if it really is behind this door, it could be the answer to all our problems.” Hank feels a rush of blood to his cheeks. He’s talking quickly now, almost babbling in his rush to get the words out. “We can access all kinds of accounts. And we needn’t be greedy. We could just take a little from lots of places. No one would even notice. And we’d only take enough to get by. Maybe fix up the house or move to a different neighborhood—somewhere where the houses all have gardens. You always said you wanted a garden. You wouldn’t have to sit around waiting for your next pension check while the house falls down around our ears. We could be happy.”
Mervin strides toward his son. “What the hell have I always told you?” he growls. “I didn’t bring you up to be a goddamned thief.”
“Sure, and look where your high and mighty principles have gotten us,” Hank says, his voice cracking with emotion.
“How dare you?” Mervin roars, his voice thundering along the corridor.
“I’ve been through hell to get here, and been taken for a fool. But now I want my reward, Dad. I damn well earned it.”
Mervin’s face is tight with anger. The muscles along his jawline twitch. He pulls himself up to his full height, ready to unleash a burst of good old-fashioned wrath.
But Jamie steps in front of Mervin and fixes him with an authoritative stare. “Stand down,” he says, his voice calm but edged with steel.
Mervin glares at Jamie, eyes burning. “You stay the hell out of this.”
“Listen to me,” Jamie says, “you’ve got a good lad there. He saved my life today. Maybe we should give him a fair hearing—see what he’s got to say.”
Mervin looks Jamie up and down. “You an officer, is that it? You think you can give me orders?”
Jamie smiles. “No. I don’t claim any authority whatsoever. But I do have a measure of respect for my friend here—he’s earned it.”
Mervin looks from Hank to Jamie and back again. “I won’t stand by and see you take something that’s not yours,” he says. “End of story.”
“I agree,” Jamie says. “But we have a common enemy. The man who sent us here—a man who calls himself Will—he has schemes on whatever’s in that room. If we at least take a look, we can figure out what he’s up to and maybe we can do something to stop him. Make sense?”
Mervin purses his lips for a moment. “That right, Hank? This guy, this Will character, he tricked you into busting in here?”
Hank nods.
“That’s a damned disgrace, sending you to do his dirty work,” Mervin says. “But it doesn’t mean you can help yourself to something that’s not yours to take.”
“Jesus, Dad! Don’t you ever let up?”
“Your dad’s right,” Jamie says. “We go in and take a look. If we can put a spoke in Will’s plans, that’s got to be worth it. But that’s all. We take nothing for ourselves.”
Hank takes a breath and looks away for a moment. “All right,” he says finally. He looks at his dad. “You’re right. I won’t take anything. I just... I didn’t want all this to be for nothing.”
“Oh, it won’t be wasted effort,” Jamie says. “If we can get one up on our old friend Will, that’ll be worth its weight in gold.”
Mervin allows himself a wry chuckle. “Fair enough. There’s nothing like a little payback. And this son of a bitch put my boy in harm’s way—whatever you deal out to this asshole, I reckon he’s got it coming.”
Hank risks a small smile. “Really? We’re going to do it?”
“I’m in,” Jamie says, “so long as we’re all in agreement about our objectives. Yes?”
“Why not?” Mervin says. “But you have to do it fast, OK?”
“Got it,” Jamie says.
Mervin nods. “Good luck, boys. I’ll see you back here in ten minutes, and then we all hightail it out of here, no matter what. All right?” But he doesn’t wait for a response; he just checks his rifle and starts walking back toward the main corridor.
“Dad? Where are you going?”
“You carry on,” Mervin calls. “I’m going to keep everyone out of your hair.” He pauses and glances back over his shoulder. “You’ve got ten minutes, guys. Not one second more.” He walks away, and in seconds, he disappears around the corner.
Jamie gives Hank an appraising look. “Ah. I can see where you get it from.”
“What?”
“Your level head, your situational awareness. This stuff must be in your blood.”
Hank shrugs. He’s never thought of his dad this way. It’s a lot to take in. “I guess so,” he manages to say.
“Right. Let’s go,” Jamie says. “You heard the man. Our ten minutes is ticking away already.”
“Sure.” Hank turns his attention back to door that leads to Room 001, and he starts his scan.
CHAPTER 33
Hidden in Plain Sight
IT ONLY TAKES HANK A MOMENT to find the lock for Room 001. It’s on the left of the door, and when Hank sees the standard alphanumeric keypad, he breathes a sigh of relief. The keypad is similar to the one on the main gate, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. He engages AIPR0N’s security interface, and precious seconds melt away as the mod takes care of the lock.
AIPR0N UNLOCK SEQUENCE COMPLETE
SUCCESS
Hank looks at Jamie. “Done it. We’re in.”
“OK,” Jamie says. “But let’s take it carefully. This is meant to be a secure facility. There could be all sorts of anti-intrusion measures.”
“Sure.” Hank takes hold of the door handle and turns it slowly. He holds his breath, expecting at any moment to hear alarms, but the catch opens with a satisfying click and he pushes the door inward.
Room 001 is in darkness, but as the door opens fully, the ceiling lights automatically flicker on.
Hank steps into the room and lets out a low whistle. “It’s like a vault in here.”
Jamie follows him into the room. “Indeed.”
Both men turn around slowly. The walls are lined with row upon row of identical rectangular doors, each one about two feet wide and one foot high, and each door is made from a perfectly polished piece of gleaming stainless steel.
“I knew it,” Hank says. “The key must be locked behind one of these doors.”
“Perhaps,” Jamie says, and there’s something in the Englishman’s voice that makes Hank turn around.
“What’s up? You thinking we’ll never find it in all these doors?”
“The thought had occurred to me. But I’m more concerned about that.” He raises his arm and points across the room to the only piece of furniture. The simple desk is made from sturdy gray steel, and sitting upon it is a desktop computer that looks at least ten years old. The old technology looks all wrong in the ultra-modern vault, but the computer seems to be working. Its screen is displaying the number 175 in large, bright red characters, but as Hank watches, the number changes to 174.
“Please, no,” Hank breathes. But it’s no use pleading. The number alters to 173. It can only be a countdown.
“Looks like we’re on an even tighter schedule than we thought,” Jamie says.
“What do we have to do—deactivate an alarm?”
Jamie shakes his head. “No. It’s too slow. No alarm would ever give an intruder that much time for their mischief. It must be a time lock. I reckon it’s counting in seconds, so we’ve got just over two minutes to find what
we want and get out.”
“But that’s impossible. There must be five hundred doors in here. I can’t even scan them in that time.”
Jamie crosses to the desk. “The computer must have some sort of index. We just need to find the right commands.”
Hank moves to Jamie’s side. “I’ll see if AIPR0N can interface with it.” He skips through the mod’s security commands, but each one that he tries returns the same error message:
AIPR0N UNABLE TO ENGAGE: UNKNOWN INTERFACE
“It’s no good,” Hank grumbles. “The damned computer’s an antique.”
“It’s probably just a terminal—kept simple and with limited connectivity so as to be more secure. Perhaps we should try the old-fashioned way,” Jamie says. He pushes Hank aside and goes to work on the keyboard. His brow furrows in concentration, and his fingers move slowly, pecking at the keys. He hits the return key and swears under his breath then begins his clumsy typing all over again.
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” Hank asks.
But Jamie is intent on his typing, and he doesn’t reply. The countdown on the screen changes from 164 to 163, and Hank bites down hard on the inside of his cheek. He looks away for a moment, counting down the numbers in his mind. Finally, Jamie stops typing and stares at the screen. “It’s asking for an access code. Did Will say anything about it?”
Hank shakes his head. “No. I guess I could call him up and ask him.”
“I don’t know. He’ll probably try and send us up the garden path.” He tilts his head back toward the door. “Maybe it’s time for a tactical withdrawal.”
Hank hesitates. There’s still more than two minutes left to try and solve the puzzle. I can’t give up now, he thinks. Not after all this. He looks at Jamie. “I’m going to have to ask Will.” He holds up his hand to stave off the inevitable warning from Jamie. “I’ll be careful. I won’t be taken in again.”
Jamie nods once, his lips drawn tight, his eyes narrow.
Hank opens his voice channel. “Will, it’s me. I’m in Room 001, but I need an access code to the terminal, and fast. There’s a time lock, and we’ve only got a little more than two minutes left.”
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