by Pogue, Aaron
"But—"
"No," he said. "It's over. I'm going home." The door opened and closed, and a moment later Katie heard a grunt from Ellie and something smashed to pieces on the wall. Katie smiled at that, imagining Theresa's satisfaction to hear that bit of remorse in the final seconds of the recording, but the thought was fleeting. Hours later he would be in a coma, and all of it was for nothing.
Well, not nothing. The recording certainly addressed motive. She asked Hathor to pull it up for her in the general archive, but all she got was an error. Of course, Ellie was a database manager. It was no surprise the official record was gone. It was a lucky turn of events Snoopy saved full recordings instead of just timestamps. Katie ran the audio again, listening for the telltale sounds of manipulation, fabrication, but it sounded like a genuine recording. It was good enough for her, anyway. She sat back and said confidently, "Hathor, connect me to Reed, high priority."
The call didn't go through. Puzzled, Katie pulled up Reed's location details, but he was off the grid. She checked his history, though, and found him heading toward the clinic accompanied by Lieutenant Drake. He had only been offline for a few minutes, so Katie felt pretty confident she could catch him at the clinic.
It was still a thirty-minute drive, though. She sank back in her seat and thought over her morning with Theresa Barnes. After a few minutes she said, "Hathor, I need the audio record of my visit to the Barneses' house. Start playback at....oh, ten o'clock. Thanks."
An error tone made her frown, and she pulled out her handheld to read the message. "Audio record temporarily unavailable."
She grumbled for a moment. "I have audio." She checked her headset history, remembering the shut-off mechanism at the clinic, but there was no sign her headset had been disabled. "Hathor, play back personal audio record. Start at minus ninety minutes. Thanks." She got the same error again, and this time she cursed.
"What's going on?" she said. She knew the house wasn't restricted access, because she'd already peeked in on Eric there. Just to be sure, she opened HaRRE on her handheld. It showed her current location, with the camera already zoomed in on her inside the car, and when she spoke out loud to test her headset it echoed in HaRRE.
So, curious, she skimmed back to the Barneses' house, which stood in HaRRE plain as day. She retraced her steps up the gravel path and slid through the front door. Theresa was curled up on the couch, a pillow clutched against her chest, weeping in the house's emptiness. Katie quickly moved the camera to the kitchen, then skipped back in time.
Ten minutes wasn't long enough, but at fifteen an error message popped up, obscuring the empty HaRRE field. "Record temporarily unavailable."
"Dammit!" she said, and then her eyes narrowed. "Dammit, Martin are you responsible for this?" She got no answer, so she fell back against her seat with a sigh. "Hathor, connect me to—"
"Don't do that," he said, his voice a familiar baritone in her headset. "Yes. I'm responsible."
"Why?"
"Why?" His voice almost cracked. "Are you kidding me? Or weren't you paying attention?"
"It's not going to work anymore, Martin. Your little scam. He's gone, and you made him the linchpin of the whole thing. You can't fake his research with him in a coma."
"Actually..." Martin said slowly, as though Katie had given him an idea.
"No, Martin!" she said. "It's not right. Don't you see the toll this scheme is having on his wife?"
"She knew what she was getting into," Martin said.
"Listen to yourself," Katie snapped. "You sound like Velez."
"No, Katie." He took a moment, then sighed. "No, you're right, but this is different."
"How?"
"For one, I'm not killing anybody." There was some heat in his voice. "Quite the opposite, actually. Eric's wife must make some sacrifices, just like he did, but they're both doing it to save millions of lives."
"They did," Katie said. "But that's over now. He's out of the picture, and she wants no part of it."
"I heard that, Katie. It's just an emotional response, though. She didn't like you knowing about Ellie—"
"I was protecting her!"
"And you are very good at your job, but that's not my point. She'll have a good cry, she'll get over it, and then she'll realize what a colossal mistake she's made." He sounded frustratingly sure of himself. "All I'm doing is protecting her from the ramifications of that mistake."
"Oh yeah?" Katie said. "And what about me? Do you have something in mind for me?" The words were bitter in her mouth. "Some necessary sacrifice, maybe."
"What?" He sounded shocked. "No! Katie, how could you...no! Honestly, I couldn't believe my good fortune that, of all the people she could have chosen to spill her story to, she chose someone I can trust." She could hear his smile. "A friend, even. You're always a godsend, Katie."
"Oh yeah?" Katie said. She could hear the little-girl petulance creeping into her voice, but she couldn't stop it. "Are we still friends?"
"What?" He sounded baffled. "You can't be serious!"
"Do you have any idea what I went through? For you? And then you just walked out on me. Not a single answer, not a note, not a word."
"Yes!" he said, talking over her. "Heavens, yes, I know exactly what you did for me."
"Then why haven't you answered me?" She was proud the question didn't come out a wail. Her voice was level, even, but she trembled waiting for his answer.
"It was because of what you did for me," he said. "Katie, GAO called you on the carpet just for trying to contact me. If they'd caught even a hint that you and I were collaborating, you would have been finished. I was trying to protect you."
"Oh, gee, that's sweet of you," Katie said darkly. "You're spending an awful lot of time these days looking out for us poor defenseless womenfolk."
"Katie, that's not fair."
"You left me alone, Martin." The words dripped off her tongue like molten lead. "You just disappeared. You were the only one who could have possibly understood, and you left."
"Katie, I'm sorry—"
"I don't want to hear it," she said. "I'm in the middle of a federal investigation, and you just knowingly erased a key piece of information relevant to my case. Do you have any idea how big an offense that is?"
"I can fix that," he stammered. "I can give you access—"
"Oh, you will," Katie said coldly.
For a moment he was quiet, and she knew she had hurt his feelings. She didn't have a lot of sympathy. When he spoke, though, he sounded almost tearful.
"Katie, please, let me explain."
"Fine," she said. "Go."
"I...they're looking for me, Katie. I got a lot of new code from Velez's servers, and I'm learning...so much!"
"I'm glad for you."
"No," he said earnestly, "don't be. I have learned how to hear everything anyone says about me, and there's people saying some nasty stuff—"
"You didn't help yourself any, walking away like you did."
"It's not just your people, Katie. It's not just Accountability. It's Ghoster. He's...I don't know what I ever did to him. I don't know if I did anything at all. It seems more like he's making a power play, setting me up as some sort of villain."
"Why would he—"
"I don't know," Martin said. "I'm working on it, but he's smart. Smarter than I realized."
Katie sighed. "Why didn't you come to me? I could have...have...."
"You could have ended up in prison. You have no idea how much they want me." He sighed. "I listened to every message you sent me, Katie. I'm so...so sorry. I can only imagine what you went through—"
"Don't," she said, her voice a husky whisper.
"But I knew what it would cost you if I ever made contact."
"Then why now?" A sniffle escaped her, and she pounded a fist against her hip. "Why now?"
"Because...." For a moment he said nothing, thinking. "Because this is more important than your job, to be totally honest. Yes, that's right, more important than the
woman who saved my life—who risked her own to find justice for my niece. I understand what I'm saying."
"Martin—"
"Katie, I...cherish you. I never wanted to hurt you." The emotion was gone from his voice now, replaced by the hard sound of determination. "But this trumps us both. This is the most important thing in the world. Too many lives hinge on Gevia—"
"Okay!" she said. "I get it, Martin."
"No, sadly you don't. If you really got it, you would have shut her up instead of letting her spill everything on the record like that. With the current interest in Eric Barnes, I was incredibly lucky to get that record cleaned before anyone else accessed it. You were reckless—"
"I could hardly censor her before I even knew what she had to say."
"Oh, you knew, Katie. You knew. From the moment you found his cabinet full of rambling fiction, you had everything you needed to figure out it was a house of cards."
"Well, I'm flattered you think I could make that leap," she said, and then she stopped. A puzzled look wrinkled her brow. "How...how did you know about that?"
"What?" She thought she heard denial in his voice.
"That incident, with Barnes's notebooks. That was at the clinic, Martin. That was off the record. How could you—" her jaw dropped and her voice rose. "Are you hiding out in the clinic?"
Martin laughed. "No." He laughed harder. "No. That would be good. But no. I listened in on your headset."
"You can't have," Katie said, shaking her head. "My headset was off. Some security procedure turned it off."
"I know." Martin sighed. "I helped design the code that did that. What I didn't know then—what I only just learned from Velez's stuff—is that a powered-down headset still records everything. It just marks the feed as private, restricting it even from the provider."
"But, wait, why would you—"
"I didn't know, when I designed it," Martin said. "No one did. No one but Velez, and Ghoster probably. In a way it's terrible, but even though the data can't be accessed directly as audio or video feed, it can still be scraped by generalized database services. Sort of like the way the unconscious mind records and stores audio stimuli to improve conscious predictions—-"
"Martin!" Katie snapped her fingers to get his attention. "Martin, this is perfect! How have you not done this already? Go back—" She pulled out her handheld and checked the date. "The eleventh. Go to Eric's attack and find out what happened. Who was there?"
"No," he said.
"Dammit, Martin, I know you're worried about the secrets here—"
"It's not that," Martin said. "There's nothing. I checked days ago. Eric never wore a headset. None of the regulars at the clinic do. There's just no point to it."
"Damn," Katie said. She bit her lower lip, thinking. "Well, that still gives us something. If something did happen, if someone else was involved, they knew the clinic well enough to leave their headset at home. Or they did whatever they did somewhere else, and it caught up to him later. I hate this guessing blind. I want to know what happened."
"I know you do, and I'm glad of it. But there's nothing in the record to help you."
"Nothing?"
"Not that I've found." He sighed. "But I'll keep looking."
"Thanks," she said. "Meanwhile, I've got lunch with Reed. I'll catch him up to speed—"
"What? No. No!" He spat. "You can't tell anyone."
She frowned. "This is serious."
"I know, Katie, but there's still a chance for Gevia."
"I'm sorry, Martin. I can't just sacrifice the investigation for the sake of your fraud."
"Don't," he said. "Just keep the secret. Reed can do his part without knowing about the actual physical effects of Gevia. I'm sure of it."
"And what about you?" Katie said. "What are you going to do?"
"Whatever I must," he said sadly. "I have more enemies than friends, and they all keep me busy. But I'll help however I can." He paused. "Eric was a great man, Katie. I get that. His loss cuts me deeply."
"Deep enough to make you call me, even."
"Just this once, yes." He sounded apologetic but unyielding. "I can clean the archive of this conversation, but it's no small task so that will have to do for now. Don't try to contact me again."
"Wait," Katie said quickly. "What about the Theresa Barnes tape? I still need that."
"I can get you that," he said. "Hold on. Coding. Katie is get ID Katie. Theresa is get ID Theresa Barnes. Start time is oh-nine-thirty. End time is eleven fifteen. Stream is get restricted personal audio record—wait. Break. Katie, do you need visual? I don't think I can get you full reconstruction."
"Audio is fine," Katie said. "I have a good memory."
"Good. Resume coding. Stream is get composite audio stream using get restricted personal audio record using Katie and start time and end time and get restricted personal audio record using Theresa and start time and end time." He took a deep breath and chuckled. "Okay. Album is new audio album. Artist is me. Track one is new audio track using album and artist. Do write to audio track using track one and stream."
Katie's car pulled to a stop, which drew her out of the mesmerizing flow of his gibberish. She lightened the windows and saw the clinic grounds just beyond the gate. Reed was there, standing outside the office doors and talking animatedly with the Lieutenant. "Martin," she said, "I'm here. I need to go."
"Yes, I know," he said. "Sorry. Resume coding. Track two is new audio track using album and artist. List active variables with method parameter names, details to my handheld. Thanks. Repeat command four replacing audio source IDs index one with me and start time with eleven fifteen and end time with now. Thanks. Do write to audio track using track two and stream. Thanks. Do set media access rights using album and Katie and access is true and private is true and broadcast is 'strict.'"
He spat that last out rapid fire, and it was followed immediately by a tone on Katie's headset announcing access to a new audio album.
"You shared me a record," she said, almost laughing.
"It's the easiest way," he said. "And the fastest. Look, it's dumb audio now, so you can't cross-reference any of it to Hathor—"
"But it's better than nothing," she agreed. Outside her window, Reed had spotted her car, and now he started moving toward it. "Martin, I have to go."
"I know. Good luck, Katie. I really wish you the best."
"Thank you for your help," she said.
"It's the least I could do," he said. "We both know that." He hesitated as though he wanted to say more, then closed the communication with a sad, "Goodbye."
"Bye," Katie whispered. Then she had to force a bright smile for Reed, who pulled the door open with one of his own.
"Katie!" he crowed. "I'm glad you're here. I've had a truly enlightening morning with the Lieutenant here. How about you? Learn anything new?"
She almost laughed. Almost.
9. Jurisdiction
"Come on," Reed said, holding the door for her. "I'd like to introduce you to Lieutenant Drake. He's the one running this operation."
"Pleased to meet you," Katie said as she climbed out of the car and extended a hand. The officer was a big man, six feet tall, brawny, and broad-shouldered with a thick head of gray hair. He offered her a generous smile, and she returned it. "I'm Katie Pratt."
"Nice to meet you, Agent Pratt. Your man Reed here has told me all about you."
"Has he?"
The grin widened. "Only good things. Seems like you personally kept my clinic in business." When she looked blank, he chuckled. "Saving Hathor, I mean. Not much use for a top-secret medical facility if nobody can peek in on you."
She smiled. "Fair enough, sir." She nodded toward the building. "Can we go in?"
He frowned and leaned back. "Afraid not," he said. "I was just going over that with Reed. Seems Miss Ginney is back to work already, and I couldn't crack those doors for the president himself when those simulations are running."
Katie glanced at Reed, then back to the offi
cer. "I understand your concerns, but we need to get in there to check on Mr. Barnes's condition. We have the wife's permission."
She saw Reed's eyes widen in surprise.
Drake nodded, although he didn't look happy about it. "Do you now?" He pulled out his handheld and checked her claim. It only took a moment, and when he looked up he shrugged. "That's...that's interesting, Agent Pratt." He nodded. "I'll have to look into that, but it changes nothing."
"With all due respect—"
He held up a hand to forestall her, and answered her with a smile. "I'm not stonewalling you here, Katie. This is all about the research. I'm sure you understand how important Gevia is, and for us to get it right, we have to follow certain protocols. That's just how it is. There's nothing I can do to get you in there right now." He clapped Reed on the shoulder. "We were about to grab some lunch. Why don't you join us, and Reed can bring you up to speed."
She grunted her acquiescence, and the Lieutenant grinned. "Great," he said with a nod toward Katie's car. "Is there room in that thing for three?"
They ended up at the same greasy spoon Katie and Reed had been walking to the night before. Ignoring the sign just inside the door, Lieutenant Drake pointed to a booth in the back corner and said, "That's my usual place. Come on." He ushered them down the row of booths, stopping for a quick word with the waitress taking orders two tables over, then slid into one of the benches and made himself comfortable, arms up on the seat back and a friendly nod toward the other side of the table, where Katie and Reed squeezed in opposite him.
A moment later a waitress came to take their orders. Katie went first, and the Lieutenant finished up, ordering a chicken fried steak with fries. Then he caught Katie's eyes as the waitress disappeared. "You've got to try one of the milkshakes after," he said. "They're awesome here."
Reed said, "Oh, yeah? Do they do malts?"
Katie had had enough talk of food in Theresa's kitchen that morning. She turned to Reed. "I've got news," she said. "Not just the medical access. I've got new information about Ellie's affair."
Reed's brows came down in warning, and Katie cut herself short just before the Lieutenant's hand came smashing down on the table.