Reach For the Spy (19 page)

“We’re going to do
things a little differently today,” Kane informed me. “Webb will
monitor from the lab as usual, but I’m going to come into the
network with you. If you’re incapacitated for any reason, I’ll be
able to get you out.”

“Or we’ll both die in
there.”

“No.” Kane shook his
head. “That won’t happen. Don’t forget, I can be woken from the
network easily from outside the sim. It’s only dangerous for you
because you can’t be roused from your trance externally when you
use the key.”

I gave him a wry look.
“Are you sure you want to come in with me? How are your
pigshit-dodging skills?”

He laughed. “My job in
the sim is to create virtual umbrellas.”

“Yeah, that would have
worked. Too bad I didn’t think of it.”

“You were doing more
important work. Speaking of which, Stemp wants you to take a new
direction today. He wants you to leave the files for today and get
into the network traffic to see if you can track down some more IP
addresses for Fuzzy Bunny’s sites.”

I frowned at Spider.
“Any suggestions? I really don’t know what I’m doing.”

He returned a shrug.
“Whatever you did before worked. I know how I’d do it if I was
working externally, but your sim visualized things entirely
differently than I would have. Just go with what you did before. If
that doesn’t work, we can collaborate on an approach.”

“Okay.” I sighed. “Wish
me luck.” I closed my eyes and concentrated on stepping into the
network void.

My heart lurched as I
entered, but there was only familiar whiteness this time. Just as
Kane popped into existence beside me, a wisp of black mist drifted
by, carrying the faint reek of burned flesh.

“What was that?” he
demanded.

“Sorry. I just...” I
took a deep breath and stood on the mountain top. It still looked
flat and two-dimensional, and I struggled to open the long vista. I
sagged with sudden relief when the scent of spruce came to my nose.
The crisp, fresh breeze sighed across the deep valley. I flopped
onto the ground before my wobbling knees could drop me.

Kane sat down beside
me. I gave him a quick sideways glance. “Thanks. Nice
umbrella.”

His mouth quirked up,
but his eyes were grave. “You’re welcome.”

I sighed. “Well, I
guess I’ll start poking around. I don’t really know what this is
going to look like to you. Last time I did this, it was kind of
like... being sentient Silly Putty. Or something. I kind of
stretched in all different directions. And I need to be
invisible.”

“This is going to be
complicated.” Kane frowned. “I don’t dare try to follow you. The
key makes you undetectable, but I’d stick out like a sore thumb
with my fob. But if I can’t see you, I won’t know if you need
help.”

“Spider? Any ideas?” I
asked the virtual sky.

“I haven’t a clue,” he
admitted. “I don’t even know how you did it the first time. I don’t
know what your rules would be.”

“Shit!” I churned my
hands in my hair. After a couple of minutes of thought, I turned to
Kane. “Okay, let’s try this.” I took his hand. “I’ll turn invisible
and stretch wherever I need to go, but I won’t let go of your hand.
If I squeeze your hand, or if you need to bring me back, just start
pulling.”

I grimaced. “It might
take a while to reel me in. I might be on the other side of the
globe.”

He scowled and took a
firmer grip on my hand. “All right.”

I faded into
invisibility and felt Kane’s hand tighten around mine. Then I let
the sim dissolve around me and floated my consciousness up into the
tunnels of the network.

I effortlessly
intercepted and opened data packets, snooping on network messages
and services. My invisible self was infinitely flexible, and I
stretched into multiple channels simultaneously, sniffing my way
along. Vast amounts of data rushed by me, and I absorbed it as
easily as a dark cloth absorbs sunlight.

In the virtual file
room, I poured my attention like water over and around the files
without bothering to interpret their content. Instead, I touched
and smelled and tasted, listening to the faint echoes of electronic
signatures.

Find a path that feels
like these files.

Casting down infinite
corridors, I caught a sudden whiff. My consciousness snapped into
focus, burrowing down the corridor. Yes, this was definitely the
right one. I methodically backtracked, holding the scent.

Kane startled when I
snapped back into existence beside him. He was clutching my hand
painfully, and I gave our clasped hands a little shake. “Go easy,
Superman.”

“Sorry.” His grip
loosened. “Your hand just... shrank. To almost nothing. I could
barely feel it.”

“Mm. Oh well. Hey,
Spider, I’ve got some IPs.”

“Great, shoot!”

I passed the first
batch over to him. “I’ll go and get the rest. Hang tight.”

I quested down the
tunnel again, snapping back to report IP addresses as I discovered
them. Finally, the scent led me to a firewall. I poked my virtual
head cautiously through, sampling the data packets. Triumph flowed
through my attenuated body.

Gotcha!

I laid a careful trail
of virtual breadcrumbs on my way back.

I flopped on my back on
the mountain-top, gasping and grinning.

“What?” Kane
demanded.

“I got one. Found one
of Fuzzy Bunny’s sites.”

“Are you sure?”

“If it smells like a
bunny and tastes like a bunny, it must be a bunny. Hey, Spider, can
you see my breadcrumbs?”

I heard his laugh
through the network interface. “You have the most bizarre sim
imagery. But yes, I can track the markers you left. It’ll just take
me a while.”

“Good, then we’ll take
a break,” Kane said. “It’s past lunch time.”

I gazed up at him from
my supine position. “That explains why I feel like I can see
through my stomach.”

He glanced over, and
then looked away. “I
can
see through your stomach. Let’s get
out of this stupid sim.”

“Sorry.” I tried to
pull myself together. Literally. My body oozed like tar over the
warm rocks.

“Stop,” Kane said
firmly. “Come on, let’s dance.”

Vertigo whirled my head
as the mountain top changed to a ballroom. A waltz played and I
stepped into his arms. He waltzed me expertly over to the portal,
and we went through together.

I moaned and swore when
the pain ripped through my head. The aches and bruises of my
real-world body pounded me again, and I keened miserably for a few
moments.

Straightening was a
punishing effort. My body had stiffened considerably after being
immobile in the chair for so long. When I finally groaned my way
upright, Kane and Spider were both watching me with worried
eyes.

I bit back the last of
the obscenities. “Thanks for getting me out. That was smart.”

Kane grimaced. “I was
hoping a complete change of context would shock you into
concentrating again. I’m glad it worked. The only other idea I had
was to try to pour you into a pail.”

“That would have
been... disturbing.”

“It was disturbing
enough as it was, thanks,” he replied. “Come on, let’s get
lunch.”

At the Melted Spoon,
turned heads and whispers greeted me. Apparently the rumour mill
had been in full swing. I shifted uncomfortably and stared at the
menu board while I waited in line. Beside me, Kane stood
impassive.

A small, elderly man
rose from his table and was making his way to the door when he
spotted me standing in the lineup. He veered over and patted my arm
gently on the way by. “Good job, honey.”

I was gazing after him
open-mouthed when Kane nudged me. “You’re up.”

“Oh.” I turned to give
my order to the woman behind the counter. When I reached for my
wallet, she smiled and shook her head. “On the house. You did what
a lot of us have wanted to do for a long time.”

I shook my head,
baffled. “What, get beaten up by a couple of losers? You can have
it.”

“No. Stood up to a
couple of bullies.” She handed me my sandwich. “Enjoy.”

“Thanks...” I drifted
away to a corner table, bemused.

Harks wasn’t a popular
guy. By the time I’d finished my lunch, several other people had
dropped by the table to congratulate me, though I couldn’t imagine
why. I tried to explain that I hadn’t done anything except failed
to escape, but nobody seemed to want to hear the facts.

After the third
attempt, Kane leaned over. “Don’t bother. They want a hero, and
you’re it.”

I grimaced and gulped
the last of my sandwich. “Let’s get out of here.”

A pale, thin young
woman stopped me on my way out. “I’m so glad you fought back,” she
whispered. “I wish I had.”

Something in her face
stopped me in my tracks. I cut my eyes to Kane, and he stepped
outside the restaurant to wait.

“Did he assault you?” I
asked quietly.

“Yes.” She hung her
head. “But I was too scared to tell anybody. He said if I told,
he’d... do terrible things to me.”

I took her hands. “Tell
the police now. He can’t hurt you anymore, and every woman who
comes forward will strengthen the case against him.”

She backed away. “No, I
couldn’t. I’m not brave enough.”

I sighed. “I know how
scary it is. But you’re not the only one, I know it. Just think how
much good it would do if every woman he’d attacked went to the
police now.”

She met my eyes
timidly, and I smiled at her. “Just think about it, okay?”

“I will.” She turned
away quickly, and I went outside to join Kane.

He paced easily beside
me as I marched along the sidewalk. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

I took a deep breath
and unclenched my fists. “That asshole Harks has been assaulting
women all over town. And then he threatens them to keep them
quiet.”

“Was that woman one of
his victims?”

“Yes. And she’s still
too scared to come forward. I tried to encourage her, but... Jesus,
I wish I could have kicked his ass the way he deserved!”

“You did something
better. You made sure he’ll get punished for what he’s done.”

I felt my lips twist as
I looked up at him. “You really believe that? He’ll get a slap on
the wrist, and come out even meaner and uglier than he is now.”

Kane sighed. “Maybe.
Maybe not, if more women come forward.”

“Well, I’ll start
spreading the word, then. Maybe some good can come out of this
after all.” I looked up as Sirius Dynamics loomed in front of me
again. “Godforsaken hellhole.”

“Please get that
thought out of your mind before you go into the sim again,” Kane
said seriously.

I took a deep breath
and clasped my hands together. They trembled visibly anyway. Along
with the rest of my body. I closed my eyes and leaned back in my
chair, belly breathing and doing my best to clear my mind. The trip
down the stairs had been like being slowly buried alive. Breeze and
sun blotted out, replaced with canned air and canned light.

I tried to refocus.
That imagery wasn’t helping. I opened my eyes again, and the
institutional grey of the walls advanced on me. Prison walls.

Jesus!

Spider and Kane were
watching me worriedly. I swiped my hand over my aching face. “Just
trying to get focused before I go in.”

I clamped my eyes shut
again and imagined my hillside, clinging to the warm, sweet alfalfa
smell, the buzzing of the insects in the grass, and the long
stretch of fields locked in their wild dance with the wind. The sun
baked my back, and I stretched my pain-free body.

Kane smiled over at me.
“That’s better.”

I sucked in a breath
and the vista contracted rapidly around me when I realized I’d
stepped into the sim.

“No, stay with it,”
Kane encouraged. I wrapped my arms around myself and repressed a
whimper. Bars sprang up around me, but Kane was instantly on his
feet, holding them back. “No,” he said firmly. “You control this.
It doesn’t control you.”

I held onto his words
and held onto the sight of him holding back the bars. They slowly
dissolved, and the sun came out again. I took a deep breath. “Okay.
I’m okay now. Thanks.”

I breathed some more.
“Okay. I’m going to go and see if I can put a bug on that Fuzzy
Bunny server.”

Kane reached for my
hand, and I stretched my invisible body along my path of
breadcrumbs. I seeped through the firewall and floated through the
enemy network, stealthy as air. I sniffed through their files and
noted their automated synchronization routines with satisfaction.
I’d be back another day to sneak into their other facilities.
Today, I had something different in mind.

I teased delicate
tendrils into their services and applications and created miniscule
pinholes in firewalls. I built a tiny invisible bug to skitter
along my gossamer pathways, listening and learning. And then I
stretched an infinitesimally fine thread behind me while I eased
back into the sim.

In Sirius’s network, I
carefully constructed the ear that would listen to my new little
creation. Ever so gently, I connected the thread and breathed life
into the system. The tiny thread vibrated as the data began to
stream down it, and I smiled. Yes, this was good.

At last, I turned my
attention to the tugging on my virtual arm. I snapped into
existence in front of Kane, stumbling into him as he yanked my hand
again.

“Aydan!” His eyes were
dark with worry. “What happened? Where were you? I’ve been pulling
on your hand, and it just... stretched. I couldn’t get a grip on
you.”

My knees wobbled and I
sat hurriedly on the ground. My head spun. “Sorry. I was setting up
a surveillance system,” I mumbled.

The hillside spun
faster. Like a tornado.

“Stop!” Kane’s voice
rose over the roar of the wind. “You control this!”