AMP Siege (20 page)

I sat forward in my chair. "In order to find her, we would have to open a portal and scan. Can we do that without being detected? I don't want to risk reprisals on any of our people should we get caught snooping around."

Frig nodded. "This lab has complete signal isolation from that portal room. It was one of the things that were added during the rebuild effort. If we only perform passive scans, we should be able to go undetected. What we do not have data on is whether or not the portal itself gives off a detectable signature. I have run a few tests, and they have not yielded detectable results. That does not, however, mean that it cannot be detected."

I sighed. "Nothing is ever clean in this world, is it. There is always some level of risk with everything we do. How long would you want for continued testing before you would be somewhat confident that a portal would not be detected?"

Frig thought and responded, "If I can have a week of uninterrupted testing, I would place the odds of remaining unnoticed at no better than... two to one."

I spoke. "Is this something we can have the Gontas working on in parallel? They might even have a few new ideas or different sensor equipment to make use of."

Frig stood and began to pace the room. "I think that is an excellent suggestion, Don. I will have my counterpart on the
Orienta
begin work on that when we conclude this meeting."

I replied, "OK. Take your week, along with the Gonta, and see what you can do. And by the way, when did you start pacing?"

Frig shook his head. "It is a nasty habit that I picked up over the last year. Sadly, I have to admit that it helps to somehow focus the mind."

I nodded with a smirk. "Hmm, sadly, huh. That must get you right in the gizzard."

Frig stopped and looked at me. "Gambits do not have gizzards, Sir. I, however, know what it is that you were implying, and as I said, I have picked up a nasty habit."

George stood. "Well, this meeting is obviously over, and I have other work to attend to. I will be pacing out that door on the way to my office; let me know what you two have decided."

The next six days of my week were spent thinking about an eventual rescue attempt of Ashley. It was decided that after locating her, we would attempt contact using a microwormhole. We needed more information about where she was and if she was being watched before any other plans could be put in place.

The portal opening and closing remained undetectable by every test conducted by Frig and the team of Gonta scientists on the
Orienta
. With only one day left for experimentation, my anxiety level was building. I spent my final evening in the makeshift lounge that had been constructed on the
Suppressor
. I sat at a table with my chin firmly planted in the palm of my hand, looking at the highly alcoholic beverage sitting before me, but never taking a sip.

The testing for an open wormhole had yielded only inconclusive results. On three separate occasions, the data appeared to suggest the tiniest of changes in the gravity field surrounding a wormhole's endpoint. Frig felt that it was an avenue that merited further study. The changing field had only been detected in close proximity to the endpoint and as such was deemed unlikely to be a useful data point unless a wormhole was suspected of being open in the close vicinity. I took that as a safe go-ahead to attempt to make contact.

Frig commented as a microportal was opened, "I will use this scan to map the rooms in this area of the facility. From there, we will have to do a section-by-section search to determine if any Humans are present, followed by an intense bio-scan to narrow down the detected Humans to a smaller set. I believe we should be able to identify Ashley by her prosthetic foot."

I replied, "Well, let's get cracking. I suspect that this might take some time given the fact that we are searching through six hundred million Humans."

Frig was soon working on an algorithm to speed the search process. His early estimate was that it would take at least two days to gather and sort through the data before a full list of Humans with a prosthetic foot would be ready for further dissemination.

A comm call was placed to the
Orienta
, where the Gonta portals would be used to hasten the search. After two hours of collecting data, a list of forty-seven Humans emerged that had the prosthetic attachment on the correct leg. After another twenty minutes of checking and rechecking with a much-narrowed scan, we came to the startling conclusion that Ashley was not there.

I spoke. "If she is not there, then we have to go back to the Grid; she must still be there!"

Frig replied, "Our last scans indicated that all of the Humans had been removed. We will do another sweep. However, if she is not on the Grid, our task has become much more difficult. Scanning an entire planet is a daunting undertaking, to say the least."

I stood and began to pace. "We have to find her, Frig. We need to find her. I need her to be found."

Frig stood and placed his hand on my forearm as I paced past his chair. "Sir, we will find her. I don't see any reason that she would be singled out from six hundred million other Humans. I will begin scanning of the larger cities, with the
Orienta
following my direction. We will find her, Sir."

I stopped and sighed. "I know you will do your best. I will be in the lounge if you find anything."

Frig replied, "I will see to it that you are promptly notified. And, Sir, remember that the night is always darkest just before the dawn."

I walked out of Frig's lab with a dejected look on my face. Ten steps were taken before I turned myself around and headed back.

I poked my head into the lab as I leaned on the doorframe. "Hey, our first priority is to rescue all of our people, is it not?"

Frig replied, "Yes, Sir, of course."

I let out a long sigh. "I think our best option from here might be to search out the Colonel and the Admirals. Maybe even Michael Felix. They are the next in line for the importance of the information they could offer. Have the Gontas search the Humans for them while you search the places you feel are the most likely to tell us Ashley's whereabouts. If we find the Colonel and Admirals first, we can begin forming up plans for a rescue."

Frig spoke. "I don't know of any other Humans who would have offered such when it was their loved one who was missing. You are and have always been a fair and honorable man. Those are leadership qualities that have served you well, Sir."

I tapped the doorframe with my hand as I began to turn away. "Yeah, they are quite the blessing, aren't they."

The lounge was empty of everyone but the lounge staff. A cook, a bartender, and a busboy were all that were there for me to trouble with my issues.

As the busboy wiped down the table next to me, he stopped and pointed at my half-empty glass. "I can fill that for you if you like, Sir."

I looked at the glass and then back at the busboy. "Thanks... uh, Falco. I'd better pass. That would just encourage me to get plastered. If I am going to drink, I would prefer it be for celebration and not for depression."

Falco stuffed the cleaning rag he had been using into a pocket on his plastic apron. "Seems to me we just kicked the crap out of the Colossuns again and found the Grid and our people. I would call that cause for celebration, Sir!"

I slowly nodded. "It should be, but unfortunately my wife is still missing. We scanned all the Humans and came up empty. I can't help but think that I put her in whatever situation she is in because I didn't recognize the Duke for the danger he was."

Falco sat across from me at the table. "You can't beat yourself up over things you possibly could have done in the past, Sir. We all go down paths in this life that may not turn out to be the best for us. Look at me; I'm a busboy in a crappy lounge on the
Suppressor
! Had I chosen differently, I would be a captive on that Colossun planet with everyone else. I don't know, Sir, I like to dwell on where I am and where I want to go rather than on what I might have done differently before."

I reached out and pushed my glass to the center of the table. "Yeah, I've been in need of a little perspective lately. It's just hard to focus when you have one basic thing on your mind 24/7."

Falco stood as he pulled his rag from his apron. "Sorry about Miss Ashley, Sir. But if it was me, I'd be looking for the Duke if I wanted to find her. He would know where she is."

Falco collected my half-empty glass as I stood to head back to Frig's lab. I nodded a thanks to him as I left the lounge. He was probably right in that we were now taking the wrong approach.

As I walked into Frig's lab, I raised my hand as I spoke. "I think you and I should focus our efforts on the Duke. We find him, and I think we might just find Ashley. The Duke likes to talk, and that means he likes to have people around who listen. Ashley was listening to practically everything he said over the last few months, so it only stands to reason that he might like having her around. Find the Duke, and I think we find my wife."

Frig replied, "Brilliant suggestion, Sir. You have been on fire with the suggestions of late. What brought on this epiphany?"

I half smiled. "Yeah, well, it wasn't me this time. It was the busboy Falco in the lounge. He kind of pooped on the little pity party I had started for myself. Finding the Duke was his suggestion."

Frig nodded. "Hmm. Perhaps you should pity yourself more often, Sir. It seems to be yielding good results."

I slapped Frig hard on the back to show my appreciation for his sarcasm. Our efforts were turned towards finding the Duke. The fleets surrounding the planet had the Duke's personal cruiser amongst them, but our scans did not yield any data that said that he was there. We instead picked the most opulent building in the most opulent city. I instantly recognized it as what the Duke had referred to as the King's palace. After an hour of methodical scans by Frig, we had our answer: the Duke was there!

I spoke. "Pin down his location, and I bet we find her within five hundred meters of him. Probably chained to a wall or something."

Several minutes passed before Frig spoke. "I am detecting broadcasts on the channels that you and the others had identified while on the Duke's cruiser before his capture. If he is the one using those channels, it would appear that I have his exact location."

I placed my hand on Frig's shoulder as I looked over the scan results on his monitor. "Scan the floors above and below his location. I'm betting we find Ashley there."

On the first successive scan, we had a hit: a Human with a prosthetic leg from just below the calf down. We had our girl!

I spoke in excitement. "OK, so how do we get her out of there without setting off an alert?"

Frig replied, "We don't, Sir. We stick to the original plan. We must gather what information we can, and derive a course of action from that information."

I pursed my lips in frustration. "Well... is she moving around? Can we open a microportal next to her ear and whisper into it or something?"

Frig turned. "Now see, Sir. That was a brilliant suggestion all of your own."

I replied, "Look, I know you are probably just trying to lift my spirits right now; if you are, then great, if not, well, just don't be jacking me around right now, because I am too strung out for it."

Frig nodded. "Noted, Sir. She appears to be in a stationary position."

I stripped off my arm pad and made my way into the portal jump room. The room was sealed after me and a microportal opened. "Ashley. This is Don. Can you hear me?"

The room was silent.

I repeated my question. "Ashley, can you hear me?"

I then heard a sigh. "Listen, Ferdete. This is the third time you have tried to get me with the phony call. I know it is you. Stop wasting your time. I do not know where Don is."

It was the first time I had heard her voice in months. In my excitement I banged my fist on the rail, forgetting that my new prosthetics were much more powerful than my natural hands.

I spoke again. "Frig opened this portal for me. Can you talk?"

Ashley's voice then came through the portal. "Don? Is that really you? That sounded like you said Frig, and the Duke would not know of him."

I replied, "Yes, thank goodness we found you. We need to know what plans we need to put in place to get you and the others, as well as the Grid, back safely."

Ashley spoke. "Well, I don't have the kind of information you would need for that. And I will be honest. I am still a little suspicious. Tell me something that the Duke would not know, that you would."

I thought for a moment. "OK, what was my father's first name?"

Ashley again replied, "Come on, Don. You will have to do better than that. The Duke could get that information from the archives."

I gave a half smile as I continued to think. "OK, then where was it that you and I first met? What was the name of the restaurant?"

Ashley sighed. "Still too easy. The Duke has access to all the recordings on the Grid. With his abilities, he would have that answer in an instant. Give me something that is just you and I."

I looked down at the floor in thought. "OK, when you first followed the
Swift
in your ship, what were Frig and I smuggling for the Admiral?"

Ashley thought for a moment. "There is obviously too much information in our lives being recorded. I would have entered that information in my ship's logs as well as my action report when I returned to the Grid. Tell me something only I would know!"

I shook my head in frustration. "I want to say you are just being ridiculous, but I know you are just being thorough. OK, how about this, I once told you of a dream I had about you and me walking atop a high ridge on Jarhead. A cool mountain breeze was gently blowing back your hair and—"

Ashley interrupted, "OK, that will do. And for future reference, you have repeated that dream to me about a dozen times... and I of course love you for it. So, where are you now?"

I replied, "I don't want to give away anything that might be listened in on, so, let's stick with information coming from you. And hey, I really am glad to hear your voice."

Ashley spoke. "The Duke took control of the Grid through the airwaves. We are not sure how, as we had him in an isolated room and were unable to detect anything that came from outside of the Grid. Other than communications with the
Granger
, there were no other off-Grid comms. That virus definitely started in the comm circuits, so if it didn't come from the
Granger
, then it had to have come from someone on the Grid."

I replied, "The
Granger
didn't get an infection until we talked with the Grid, so it must have originated there. Could it have been from one of those androids we brought back?"

Ashley replied, "That is highly unlikely as well. Those androids were in the strictest of isolation as well. We are good at keeping things silent if needed; we always have been. There must be something we are not seeing. Bandwidths beyond our range or another form of communication altogether."

I stood and began to pace the room. "How about a spy? We certainly have had enough of those on the Grid. Maybe the Duke was able to turn someone."

After a moment of thought, Ashley replied, "Again, even if there was a spy, there were no signals emanating from the Grid while the Duke was in our custody."

I stopped my pacing. "What if... what if the Duke has the same technology that we are using here today? We have a wormhole opened to his palace. What if we assume he had one open to the Grid? Maybe even to himself?"

I pressed the button to the jump room door, and the portal closed. I raced back around to Frig's lab.

I spoke. "The wormhole. What if the Duke has the wormhole? He could have kept a comm channel open to himself all the while we had him in our grasp!"

Frig turned and looked at me. "Sir, that is a brilliant assumption!"

I replied, "OK, you are going to have to stop calling me brilliant. It's going to give me a complex."

I spoke. "Would that be possible? Could the Duke have known our location and opened a wormhole right there on the Grid? Would we have detected a signal coming from within?"

Frig sat silently in his chair for several seconds. "Let's assume the Duke has the technology as we do. Let us also assume that he has had such technology for much longer than our very short time. It would not be impossible for him to open a portal from within his own brain structure to elsewhere. Ashley, in our prior discussions, had said that Dr. Touchstone wasn't able to locate the Duke's power source. I wonder if it would be possible for him to have a power cell that would provide enough energy to—"

Frig typed away on his console as he continued to shake his head. "No, it is just not physically possible for him to power a wormhole with an antenna structure that would have to be equally small. The physics just do not support that theory. Unless—"