DeathWeb (Fox Meridian Book 3) Page 6

  The office was modern, but it held on to Fox’s theme for the place, which was art deco. There was a desk, solid and blocky with four drawers down each of the pedestals at the sides and a vanity board at the back. It was pale, veneered, synthetic wood with a comfortable, leather-backed desk chair with looping curls for arms set behind it. The walls were painted a soft green and were largely blank. Another, similar chair sat against the wall beside the desk, out of the way. The office would be used primarily for virtual meetings and what Fox needed in it was space.

  The lounge was big, the powder-blue walls gave it an even more spacious feeling, and there were three fairly large windows, rectangular ones which was not that thematic, but changing that would have meant rebuilding the walls. She had found a good pattern for a soft, comfortable sofa with a scrolled back, and there were two matching chairs. Those were set around a low table, but the basic idea was to have a communal sort of sitting area which faced a wall where vids could be displayed. There was also a dining table with six chairs from a beautifully styled pattern she had found.

  Fox grinned as she saw it. ‘That turned out well,’ she said.

  Kit appeared at her side, looking the same way, though she could really only see what Fox saw at the moment. ‘I believe your selections were all very good.’

  ‘You compiled the shortlists.’

  ‘Our selections then, though I admit I have no particular opinion on aesthetics. This is pleasing. Calming, I think.’

  ‘Uh-huh, let’s try the bedroom.’ Fox crossed the hall and found herself in a room with walls painted a strong red featuring a large bed in dark wood with scrolled head and footboards. There was a dresser, a wardrobe, and a chest of drawers, all in dark wood and designed to match the bed. ‘Uh-huh, that’s about right.’

  ‘It’s quite dark,’ Kit commented.

  ‘The lighting rig can brighten it up a lot, but it’s designed for sleeping. And other bedroom activities, obviously. The red’s supposed to promote… bedroom activities, but the dark is for the sleeping.’

  ‘I shall remember that phrasing. It’s got something like poetry in it.’

  ‘Smart ass.’ Fox opened the bedroom’s interior door and stepped into the bathroom. There was another door leading out onto the hall, and a boxed-off area at the back which housed the toilet behind a third door. And there was a sink, a full-sized mirror, a big whirlpool bath, and a walk-in shower. ‘I’ve never had a bath in my apartment before. Been in hot tubs at hotels a couple of times. Be fun to try it out. Terri says it’s relaxing.’

  ‘This one has a sonic massage system built in. It should be very relaxing. And I believe the shower should meet your needs.’

  ‘I shall reserve judgement until I’ve tried it, like the bath.’

  ‘Where will I be situated?’

  Fox flashed her a grin and went out into the hall, returning to the lounge. ‘I guess that’s the right phrase, but I don’t tend to think of you as that box.’ Walking over to the far wall at the side of the seating area, Fox found a box set low on the wall and popped it open to reveal a connector socket. ‘Here we go. I figured you could sit over here and then your server will be with us when we’re sitting here.’

  ‘Thank you, Fox, that was very thoughtful.’ Kit beamed, always so child-like when she was very happy. It was a quirk of personality which could be a little disturbing at times.

  ‘Not that it really makes a difference. Like I said, you’re not in the box. You’re… wherever you are.’ Fox pointed at where she perceived Kit to be. ‘You’re there.’

  ‘I am currently running on a quantum processor in your right forearm.’ Kit, in turn, pointed to a spot around the middle of Fox’s forearm. ‘I am there. I am software running on a complex, multi-layered processor architecture, in there.’

  ‘That, my dear young AI, is like saying that I am just a lot of electrons buzzing around in some soggy, grey jelly up here.’ Fox tapped her head to emphasise the point. ‘No one is just that. Not in my philosophy anyway. There are some people I’ve met who are less, but most are more. And so are you. And also, this is getting very preachy and I never honestly thought I’d say something like that to an AI.’

  ‘Well then, I shall attempt to assimilate your philosophy and I am very pleased to have expanded your view of artificial minds. That was a little pompous, wasn’t it?’

  Fox shrugged. ‘You’ve a right, I got preachy.’

  18th June.

  The bath was relaxing. Fox lay sprawled in the hot water, eyes closed and arms on the side of the tub, with a glass of cold, white wine beside her. The water swirled around her as the jets pushed it, giving a constantly shifting pattern of heat across her body. There was also the inaudible pulse of the sonic massage system, which seemed to be trying its best to relax tense muscles. But none of it was entirely working.

  Marie had said she would come up to Fox’s rooms once she had completed her acting exercises for the day, and Fox had really forgotten about it, but was not displeased when she heard the girl’s voice. ‘So, this is how the other half bathes.’

  ‘No, this is meant to be relaxing. If I want to wash, I still take a shower.’

  ‘Huh. Kit said it was okay if I came in…’

  ‘Of course it is.’

  ‘You know… You don’t look that relaxed.’

  Fox sighed. ‘I’m going to Dallas with Jackson and Terri tomorrow. It’s three years since the operation there. I think Terri’s hoping we can put it all behind us now.’

  ‘You’re not so sure?’

  ‘I… She might be right. Maybe this is the closure we need. The loose ends were tied up in February.’

  ‘That business when she was kidnapped again? I saw it on the news.’ The water shifted, currents changing direction, as Marie slipped into the water. Fox smiled at the soft sigh which followed.

  ‘Yeah. The survivors of Dallas tried to pull the same stunt, basically, with a little added revenge. There are still a couple of survivors, but they’re locked up and they won’t be out for a long time. And putting them away helped, but it didn’t get rid of everything. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to get rid of it all. I’m not sure I should be able to, or want to.’

  ‘Well, I doubt anyone wants to forget it, but you can forgive yourself for it.’

  ‘Forgive myself? Oh, survivor’s guilt. I think that may be Terri’s problem more than mine. She was kept alive while all the rest of the staff were killed. They wanted a single hostage, and they knew she was going to be there. Jackson Martins’ daughter was all they needed, so everyone else died.’

  ‘Damn. That must have really hurt her.’

  ‘It did, but it made her more determined that they shouldn’t die in vain. There was no way UA were going to get what they wanted. Dallas hardened her, according to Jackson. I’d never met her before then, but she was supposedly easier-going, less inclined to work her ass off into the evening. She went from Terri the intern, dipping her toes in various areas of MarTech to see what fitted, to one of Jackson’s smartest AI researchers in two years. I think it was mostly to make sure United Anarchy didn’t win.’

  There was silence for a few seconds and then Marie said, ‘That sonic vibration thing is doing really weird things to me.’

  Chuckling, Fox brought up the controls in-vision, selected the massage component, and raised the amplitude. She could feel the change, feel the soft vibrations throbbing in her muscles. ‘How’s that?’

  ‘That’s… uh… I think I could come in this after a few minutes.’

  Fox lifted herself and slid across the tub to settle between Marie’s thighs, hands sliding up the limbs and spreading them further. ‘I think that that’s too long and want to hear you screaming sooner.’ Fox’s fingers found their target and started circling, like sharks.

  ‘I can get behind that,’ Marie said. Apparently the prey was not too worried about being eaten.

  Airborne over the Southern Protectorate, 19th June.

  They could have made
the trip a lot faster if they had decided to take another pilot with them. Since they were determined not to, they were being good, and though everyone got a chance at flying the jet, it was Fox who was to handle the take-off and landing, and they were keeping the speed subsonic. At its top speed, the personal jet could have covered the 2,200-kilometre distance to Dallas in under an hour, but as it was, it took more than two.

  And it was not the most exciting of views for a lot of the trip. They crossed into the Southern Protectorate just south of Lexington in what had been Kentucky. Visible habitation had been thinning for a while, but it tailed off faster as they arced south-west, passing to the north of the ruins of Nashville. Here, the depopulation was primarily due to the unpredictability of the weather. Tornados had all but obliterated Nashville while further south there were tornados and violent storms which came up out of the Gulf of Mexico. Florida was depopulated because much of it was under water.

  By the time they were passing Memphis and heading into what had been Arkansas, the effects of water were more obvious, both the lack and the excess. Here the topsoil had been eroded by flash floods and periods of extended drought. The land below them was bleak, a dirty yellow-brown that seemed to have coated the whole landscape in silt.

  ‘Do you think they’ll ever get this land back?’ Fox asked as the navigation system said they were entering Texas airspace. Jackson had been running things, but they were approaching their destination and it was time for Fox to take over.

  ‘Yes,’ Jackson replied. ‘We’re seeing some favourable results in Africa now. I don’t expect to be alive when it happens though.’

  ‘Cheery thought.’ Fox slipped into the second seat in the cockpit and took over the controls. ‘Head back and keep Terri company. You can launch the two guard frames when we’re down.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am,’ Jackson replied, smirking as he pulled his gangly legs out of the foot well. ‘I’ll have them airborne as soon as possible.’

  ‘Just remember, no one even opens a door until we’re sure it’s clear. Some of the gangs out here would just love to get their hands on us and this jet.’

  ‘We’re both aware of the danger, Fox. Don’t worry.’

  Fox was worried. She would have preferred a military aircraft, more weapons, or not being there, but she realised that it was all, primarily, about not especially wanting to see the place again and she had decided that maybe Terri had something. Maybe coming back and settling some ghosts would be a good thing. Checking the flight plan, she started the descent toward what was left of MarTech Dallas.

  ~~~

  ‘I’m getting nothing larger than a cat out there,’ Jackson said as Fox made her way back into the passenger cabin from the cockpit. ‘Nothing on radar or infrared.’

  Fox nodded, picking up an assault rifle which Terri had put out ready for her. ‘Put the frames on an orbital perimeter search.’ She began checking the rifle, popping the magazine to visually check the load.

  ‘I did check that thing out when I took it out of the rack,’ Terri said, her lips twitching.

  ‘Yeah, well, ever since this place, I like to do a check over any weapon I have to use which doesn’t spend all its time with me. It’s mildly paranoid, but after all the jams we had thanks to Marshall…’

  ‘That,’ Jackson said, ‘is an all-electromagnetic feed. Gauss rifle mounted over an electromagnetic grenade launcher. It won’t jam.’

  Fox smiled at him. ‘I know. Mildly paranoid, remember?’ Slapping the magazine back in place, she walked to the rear cabin door and punched the pair of buttons which unsealed and opened it. And the heat rolled in and hit them like a wall. ‘I hope everyone remembered their antiperspirant.’

  ‘Unfortunately, this aircraft doesn’t have a shower,’ Jackson commented. ‘However, the atmospheric analysis is clear, dust levels are low.’

  Fox put on an anti-glare visor and started out of the hatch as the steps locked in place. She felt sweat break out almost immediately under the harsh glare of the sun, but she had selected a material for her bodysuit which drew fluid away from her skin and had dispensed with a jacket. ‘Make sure your arms are covered,’ she said before starting down to the concrete of the landing strip.

  As with MarTech East Africa, the Dallas facility had had its own landing strip, a perimeter wall, and a fence surrounding both the bunker and the airfield. From the looks of it, a tornado, probably several of them, had torn the fence apart in the past three years, but the wall looked to be standing. On the other hand, Fox could see a gate to the east which was open or down so they had minimal security. The best she could hope for was that it limited where anyone might come from if their arrival had been noticed.

  If they had been noticed, it would likely be by people living in the city, forty klicks to the south-west. The bunker was not actually in Dallas, but outside the major urban area, set between the Ray Hubbard and Lavon lakes, or what was left of them. The two big bodies of water were at a higher level now than they would be in a few weeks. Spring rains had washed in, bringing more silt in with them, further clogging the rivers, but deepening the sluggish, algae-laden waters.

  Using the enhancement features on her visor, Fox could see the buildings of the city in more detail. Nothing much had changed, but one of the taller structures had given up fighting and collapsed. She knew there were people out there: anarchist and survivalist groups fitted out with biomods to survive the harsh conditions. They found it easier to handle the tornados and storms when they could have a solid roof over their heads and there were structures in the city which would provide good cover, if you avoided the ones which might fall on you.

  Fox checked behind her and found Jackson and Terri carrying a box between them down the steps. ‘You two okay with that?’

  ‘It’s not heavy,’ Jackson replied, ‘and I’d prefer you had your hands free for that rifle.’

  ‘Paranoia, Jackson?’ Fox flashed him a grin.

  ‘I believe it’s only paranoia if they aren’t out to get you.’

  ‘Reasonable.’ Fox started off across the grass-broken concrete.

  Like in Africa, the Dallas bunker had been a low, concrete structure on the surface with extensive underground facilities. Here the ‘low and smooth’ build had been particularly important because of the danger of high winds. Here the communications antennae had been housed inside a structural plastic shell, but it and the equipment it had protected were all gone now. Fox doubted the winds could have shattered the dome, which probably meant that it had been cracked by some large chunk of wind-blown debris before being ripped open. Luckily, the tornados tended to stick to early evening, when the temperature was even higher, so arriving before midday was fairly safe.

  Unlike Africa, large sections of the structures here had collapsed in. Toward the middle of the buildings, there was a pit maybe three or four metres deep and now filling up with silt. It marked the main elevator shafts which had collapsed in on themselves as the bombs Fox had planted had torn the underground base apart. The main entrance building with its ground vehicle bay was still standing and fairly intact. Fox walked toward it remembering the last time she had seen it: three years earlier when she had been running out of it leaving death and destruction behind her.

  There was a side door which looked like it had been broken open and Fox switched her visor to infrared before pushing through and checking the room. It had been a reception area and there was still a counter for receiving visitors. Behind it was a set of double doors leading to a corridor filled with concrete rubble.

  ‘Looks clear,’ Fox said.

  Jackson entered carrying a large lamp. ‘Yes, this should do. It’ll keep the winds off for a while at least.’

  Terri followed, dragging the crate they had brought over. ‘Yeah, this should do. To be honest, though, now I’m here, I’ve no idea what to do…’

  Turning, Jackson flipped open the box and pulled out a couple more lamps, checking the floor by them as he moved over to the reception desk. Infra
red was good for finding many things, but a dormant snake might be missed. ‘We have the flowers to lay. It’s clichéd, but it’s something to show we haven’t forgotten them. And the thing they died for has finally come to fruition.’

  ‘Yes,’ Terri said, her voice soft. ‘Finally.’

  The first order of business, which Fox wanted it done quickly because it would take time and make noise so it was best handled first, was the plaque they had had made. Jackson had actually programmed the Yliaster unit in Sam’s house to make it since that seemed appropriate. It was a simple, plastic rectangle which had been manufactured to look like brass with letters cut into it. It said ‘Never Forgotten’ and they fixed it to the wall behind the reception desk, next to the door, with bolts which had to be drilled into the concrete.

  With that done, Jackson and Terri took bouquets of roses from the box and placed them under the plaque. Both of them looked like they wanted to say something but could not really come up with anything that worked. Terri gave the plaque a frown and then swallowed, and said, ‘At least I can say now that none of you died for no reason.’ She looked like she might say more, and then shook her head and stepped back, looking at Fox.

  Fox took her own gift of flowers from the box and walked around the reception desk. There was, in fact, only one flower in Fox’s hand: a single red and gold tulip which she placed on the ground and stepped back. ‘When I first met Pieter and asked about the accent, he said he was Dutch. And I said, “That’s clogs and cheese and tulips, right?” And he laughed, and he bought me tulips after that.’ She looked through the broken glass of the door at the rubble. ‘I finally got them all, Pieter. Mission over. We can move on to the next.’ She grinned. ‘You have no idea how hard it was to find that damn flower.’

  There was a rumble of subdued laughter from Jackson and Terri, but Fox was moving again, picking up her rifle from where it was resting on the counter. ‘We need to go. There’s something on radar moving up from the south-west.’