Convergence (6 page)

Telepathy worked much like the sense of hearing. Though human ears detected all manner of sounds, mental filters ensured conscious awareness of only the most critical. She focused on thoughts she expected for her target, and after several minutes, her mind pulled those thoughts from the cacophony inside her head. She wondered, idly, if the Hunter Porthos felt a similar overwhelm when confronted with dozens or hundreds of Energy users. She suspected he found the mental overload taxing. But she had little time for thoughts of Porthos now. Her target’s thoughts grew louder, and she soon spotted the man in the light green uniform. The color designated Bernard as a member of the IT department, the smallest and most secretive human employment opportunity on the Island. She watched him as he meandered through the plaza toward the Headquarters entry, acknowledging a few coworkers but remaining generally aloof and apart. The Aliomenti targeted men like Bernard for their IT department. Naturally introverted and shy, Bernard would happily work among the machines, without the need for collegial association with others. While the existence of IT itself wasn’t secretive, the specific nature of the work—and the location—were. The Aliomenti relied upon those machines to maintain their wealth and manage the operation of their far-flung banking empire in a world of fully digitized currency. They’d never allow a social encounter to bring the wrong people into the all-important computing environment.

Ashley knew her way around such environments, though. And more critically, she knew how to take advantage of such access.

As Bernard walked, she followed, floating above him as he moved inside the mammoth building. The change in temperature startled, a cool, brisk breeze replacing the warm outdoor air. The sound of chatter amplified, sound waves reflected by walls and flooring rather than scattering into the wider world. Ashley tuned out the additional noise as workers switched from social banter to work chatter, discussing business investments, political intrigue, and the Aliomenti influence in both arenas. She watched as Bernard carefully stayed away from the crowds flowing to the dozen elevator banks, noted that he skillfully let the others skip ahead into the waiting cars, until he remained alone.

Bernard moved toward an isolated bank of elevators, ignoring the “Out of Order” posted to discourage his fellow humans from visiting. Bernard nodded at the guard and held his identification card in front of the call button, murmuring small talk at the man identified as Rand by the name badge affixed to his shirt. The call button glowed green rather than the usual dull orange. Bernard pressed the button, and seconds later the doors opened. Ashley floated above Bernard as both moved inside the elevator car. She pressed herself against the roof of the car as the doors closed, calming herself to prevent any loud breathing. They’d made the nanoskeletons invisible, but the occupants still carried mass and made noises. She had to be careful.

Bernard whistled to himself as the floor indicator tracked his upward progress, spending the thirty seconds of the ride reading messages on his phone, alternatively smiling and frowning. When the doors opened, he stepped out into a room that housed the computer equipment operating the Aliomenti banking, business, and political empire. Money and securities existed not as paper or coins, but as digital items, bits and bytes accepted as money. The loss of these machines and the data stored and processed would precipitate the loss of Aliomenti wealth and influence in the world. Though they maintained backup sites throughout the world for critical data, recovery and migration to a new base of operations would take significant amounts of time.

If Ashley succeeded, they wouldn’t have the time required to make that adjustment.

Bernard glanced around to make sure there were no visible signs of disturbances, and then stepped behind a desk near the elevator door. The “operations desk” featured a three-quarter oval of work surfaces, physical displays, and keyboards that left Ashley, a long-time lover and innovator in the computer technology space, jealous. The setup permitted Bernard, the only person on duty, to monitor the health of the thousands of computers and storage devices housed inside this room on the seventeen and a half floor of the Headquarters building, a floor only accessible by elevator for those with the correct badge coding.

Bernard dropped the few possessions he’d brought with him and began moving from screen to screen, glancing at the streams of information presented. He’d understand what issues were open with the equipment and identify which he’d tackle first.

Ashley used that time to move away from him.

She floated above the floor-bound equipment, looking for a rack of computers not in Bernard’s physical line of sight from the desk. She took care to avoid brushing the equipment cabinets. The monitoring sensors in the room would be highly sensitized, and she wanted to be certain she did nothing to trigger alarms and raise his suspicions.

Subterfuge remained the key objective in her efforts.

She found a cabinet beyond his line of sight and settled in above it, expanding her exoskeleton to provide an invisible working space. She opened the pouch, undoing the silent zipper Cavern researchers developed after many requests from those Outside. She checked the contents of the pouch once more, verifying the presence of the tools she’d need. She found the tablet computer loaded with the software necessary for the mission, a lighter, and a tiny device with a small flashing light.

The small device, a “data interceptor,” would help her gain access to the server and the Aliomenti network, at which point she’d be able to install her special software program. She pulled the interceptor from the pouch, resealed the silent zipper, and floated down to the back of the computer server housed inside the cabinet.

She moved the interceptor toward the network port and cable exiting at the back of the machine.

“Who’s there?” The voice belonged to a woman. She was nearby.

Very
nearby.

Ashley held still, not daring to breathe, wondering if she’d accidentally disabled the invisibility as she’d moved in to start her phase of the attack.

If she had, she’d destroyed the invasion plan.

Athos sat staring out the
window into the abyss.

The energy generated by his speech the day before was lost in the inertia of the moment. They were prepared to strike, but with no target, ennui set in. He’d busied the men and captains by asking them to redistribute the entire crew among the eleven subs to ensure the best mix of skills and personalities. They’d taken on that activity with fervor, believing it the prerequisite for an imminent launch of an attack on the Alliance.

When they finished, he still had no answers.

The men slept in restless frustration in their bunks as he tried to find a solution to the quandary.

While the simplest approach called for him to blame Porthos, he knew the excuse would fail to resonate with the men. He’d known the Tracker for five centuries, and the man simply didn’t miss like this. They’d long struggled to find Stark unless the man
wanted
to be found. It was logical to assume, then, that Stark had taught his Alliance his tricks of non-detection.

He couldn’t tell them—or the Leader—that, though.

The fact was that he and the rest of the crew felt the heightened Energy in this space and had noted the growing intensity as they’d moved to deeper water. They couldn’t claim a failure by Porthos and mesh that with their own experience. There had to be a reason they felt powerful Energy from the water, a reason why Porthos had reported that Energy contained the signals of hundreds of unique individuals, and a reason why those facts didn’t bring them to an Alliance base in this space.

He knew there was an answer, struggling to break free in his mind, and felt it was something so obvious he’d wonder how he’d missed it for so long. A glow fish lit up near the window, startling him, and he sat back, watching as the light faded and the fish swam away, pulled along by an underwater current. Athos drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair.

And then he froze.

Drifted. The glow fish’s light had
drifted
. The Energy of the Alliance base, masked by the overwhelming volume of water at these depths, had only recently drifted to the surface, finally enabling Porthos’ detection. The Energy had drifted
vertically
.

Why couldn’t it also drift
horizontally
?

He sensed the crew of the
Chameleon
stirring, including Scott, who retained his captaincy despite Athos’ presence. Athos had decided he didn’t want to manage the operations of the submarine, preventing an unwanted power struggle. He stood and moved toward the smell of breakfast.

“The Energy
moved
. This isn’t the entrance.” Confused, sleepy faces looked back at him. “The Energy leaked out of the water on the surface, right? It moves with the water. This isn’t where the Energy started. It’s where the bulk of it gathered and rose to the surface. We were doing the right thing yesterday. Now we need to expand the search zone and track the greatest intensity.”

Scott yawned, though his face grew more animated. “So… we circle through the zone and figure out which direction beyond the original space shows the strongest Energy, and then search in that direction? Basically like a bloodhound following a scent?”

Athos nodded. “Precisely.”

Scott rubbed his chin. “So we’ve been looking in the wrong place, then?”

“Somewhat.” Athos considered, and nodded as the idea cemented in his mind. “It wasn’t practical to think diving deeper would unveil a base of operations. At these depths, a minor crack spells death. The Alliance wouldn’t position themselves for extinction like that.” Further realization struck. “They didn’t build in the water at all. The water is just the door. The base itself?” He looked around at the men. “It’s underground.”

“But if they’re underground, why are we finding the strongest Energy in the deepest parts of the ocean?” Scott asked.

It was a fair question. “The entry can be in the deep water. It makes sense from their perspective. We aren’t likely to search a mile or more below the water. And we’d certainly not do so here, where even the surface water is dangerous given the extreme cold.” He shook his head. “It’s clever. But we’ve figured out their secret.”

“So you’re saying the base is… nearby?”

“Right.” He looked around for a map. “As I said, we’ll need to dive to a reasonable depth—deep, but not near the threshold—and then begin our new canvassing effort. This time, though, we’ll need to use wider passes and compare observations about the strongest Energy. The strongest Energy will come from the source. That’s the path we’ll follow to the entrance to their lair.”

The men glanced around at each other, uncertain how to react. They couldn’t assail his logic, but Athos could hear the thoughts and feel the emotions of doubt. They didn’t doubt his words, but they lacked confidence in the man who’d pronounced them. Memories in the form of thoughts trickled to him, memories of stories of failed Hunts and rumored pre-Aliomenti military disasters. They wondered why Athos would get something right
this
time.

They were, at best, apathetic about his plan.

He stood tall and glared around the room. “The
Chameleon
will commence a dive to two thousand feet heading due south on course for the Antarctic landmass. The remaining submarines will follow, arrayed at one degree increments surrounding the
Chameleon
and at the same depth. Men are to note and record any increase or decrease in Energy intensity once outside the original search zone. Am I clear?”

Silence.

“I said…
am I clear
?” He raised his voice, not quite to a shout, but near enough to cause those closest to step back slightly. He could sense the annoyance, the mental eye rolling, and the doubt. After a few painful seconds, the men moved around. The comms operator opened a channel to the remaining submarines, allowing Athos to explain his plan. Thankfully, the men in command demonstrated a stronger immediate commitment to act.

Athos wondered if that represented a shift in belief regarding his leadership skills, or if the captains simply recognized the importance of action in keeping the crews engaged rather than mutinous.

The
Chameleon
altered course moments later and began the dive to two thousand feet, altering course to head due south. The crew reported that the remainder of the fleet fanned out behind them.

He felt the decrease in Energy intensity as they left the original search zone, and his heart began to sink. He kept his face passive, staring out into the eternal darkness. After all, this should be what happened, he reasoned. If he trusted Porthos’ gift—and he did, though often with deep reluctance—he needed to accept that the Energy would fade outside the zone nearer to the surface.

They hit two thousand feet some ten miles south of the zone when they hit a new, powerful exterior sluice of Energy. His spirit soared. “Captains,
Chameleon
is experiencing a new burst of Energy. Has—?”

“Sir, this is
Bloodhound.
We’ve had a couple of members of the crew here fall down because the stream of Energy here is so powerful.”

Success. “This is
Chameleon.
Have others observed similar reactions?”

He heard a strong chorus of negative responses.

“Very well, then.
Bloodhound
, you are to maintain your current depth and course. Others, please stand by for revised depths and relative coordinates to
Bloodhound
. We’re going to surround that submarine above, below, and on all sides, shifting as needed to track the strongest path of Energy straight to the entrance of the Alliance base.”

Twenty minutes later, the remaining subs arrayed out around the Bloodhound, and Athos could sense a change in temperament among the crew and in the voices of the captains on the radio. There was excitement, a sense of purpose, a grudging acceptance that Athos had gotten it right this time. The radio chatter remained active, and they constantly shifted course based upon the strongest Energy readings, trending gradually deeper and to the east.