“You’re challenging Denys?”
Ari nodded. “I’m bringing your father in. He’s already left Pytho. That was for his protection, to get him home where there are witnesses. I could divert the plane. But that would tell too much. Say that I can hide certain orders from Denys. Not a whole plane. It’s due in at 1500. We’re projecting arrival about 1400. We’re running that close. I can stall its landing, divert it to Svetlansk or somewhere, after we’ve landed. I hope to have Denys thinking I’m coming back for safety reasons. But he probably won’t accept that.”
He had thought he had had all he could take, already. He sat there with adrenaline pouring into his exhausted system and wondered why he was relatively calm. We’re going to die, he thought. Somewhere along this—they’re going to get us. Somewhere in the networks of Security orders, the airport, the military—the Bureau—House Administration—
“The first thing he’ll move on,” he said, “is my father and your friends. And they haven’t got a way of finding it out.”
“I sent Amy a very simple message this morning. It contained a codeword. There’s a good chance she’s been able to warn the others: she’s on Base One right now, and that’s a lot of defense in itself. Don’t worry.”
“God.” He took several slow breaths. “Why are you trusting me?”
Ari gave a one-sided smile—her predecessor’s expression, so like her it affected his pulse rate. “I could say, because you know how safe your father and Grant are with Denys right now. Or because you made your choice when you told them to call me.—But the real reason is, I always could read you—better than anyone in the House. You’re my friend. I never forget that.”
“You choose a damned peculiar way to show it.”
The smile hardened. “I choose what works. I don’t get my friends killed letting them run into a situation I can see and they don’t. I don’t argue about some things. I’m self-protective as hell. But you’re special with me. You always have been. I hope we never come to odds.”
He felt a profound unease at that. And reckoned she meant him to.
“I want to help your father,” she said. “But you have to keep him from bringing this to Council. You have to get me the time. Give him time to know me, not the Ari he remembers.”
“He’ll do that for me.”
“He won’t trust you.”
That hurt. It was also true. “But he’ll give me the time. He won’t betray his friends, but if I ask him I can get that from him. He is reasonable, Ari. And he does care what happens to me.”
“That’s clear too.” She leaned her head back, turned her face toward Florian, beside her. “Tell Wes come help him. I’m going to trank out about half an hour. I’ve got to have it.”
Justin thought the same. He unbuckled, levered himself out of his seat, and let the Security medic take his arm and steady him on his way aft.
xiv
Grant rested his head on his hands and wiped them back through his hair. “Here,” Quentin said, and offered him a soft drink from their own kitchen.
“Thank you.” He took it and sipped at it, sitting on the couch, while Amy Carnath pored over the output that they had linked up to the living room monitor.
Justin was all right; the plane was up. They were on their way back; the worst of their fears had not come true; but they were not home yet.
Ari had stalled the press conference till dawn, putting out bulletin after bulletin, each more appalling than the last, until she had come on herself and fueled a whole new set of speculations—not laying it indubitably to the Paxers, but by implication taking into Khalid, perhaps even intimating the existence of high-level complicity, virtually declaring for office—
Then, after the news conference, a message came through Base One to sera Amy, and Base One started pouring out instructions…
Amy, this is Ari, via Base One. This is all pre-recorded, so you can’t talk back and forth, just listen and do this.
Something’s happened. I can’t know what in advance, but if you’re getting this, something drastic will have happened, and I’m either in hospital, dead, or somewhere outside Reseune and in trouble.
First thing, protect yourself.
Second, the warning flasher we talked is out over the House system now, so everybody knows to take precautions.
Help them if you can. Base One is now available for you to use on Florian’s and Catlin’s level, and that means you can get information and perform operations without leaving a flag even for Denys or Giraud. The Help function is under Tutor if you need it.
I don’t think they’ll go at you. They know Base One uses lethal force. I don’t advise your taking other people up onto the floor, but use your discretion in extreme need.
Don’t use Base One to request information outside Reseune. I can, but for various reasons I haven’t incorporated that routine under this access—mostly that it’s hard not to give yourself away. I’ve encoded every single contingency I can think of and if I’ve activated this, I’ve probably fired you off a list of pertinent items via a code transmission in the net to Base One.
As follows:
Assassination attempt; from inside Reseune; Jordan Warrick; not involved; Jordan Warrick moved; to Reseune; trust Grant; but; Justin Warrick; whereabouts uncertain; in Novgorod; watch out for; Denys.
Grant drank his soft drink and stared bleakly at the computer flow, codes, mostly, which he could not read, which, very likely, Amy could not read, but the advanced system which had annexed their home unit very probably did read, and Base One answered Amy’s questions.
“Damn,” Amy said.
Grant did not like that. He waited for illumination, and finally got up, but Quentin’s instant, wary attention dissuaded him from taking a step in any direction.
“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly. “Sera?”
“Oh, damn!” She spun her chair around. “Security’s just gone off-line. The whole net is down.”
“Denys is aware,” Grant said with a cold feeling; and then saw the black screen come to life again.
This is the House System emergency function. Someone has attempted interrupt. The Bureau has been notified and the interrupt documented.
The System is now re-integrating. Source of the interrupt: Security main offices.
Control of the System has now passed to Ariane Emory.
All Security personnel, stand by further orders through normal channels: Security main offices are downgraded to: Unreliable; House Administrative offices downgraded to: Unreliable; control re-routed to: RESEUNE ONE.
“God,” Grant breathed, and sat down.
“Well, Denys has done it,” Ari said, and leaned back in her seat, watching the system-flow transit the briefcase flat-screen, Florian and Catlin reading over her shoulder.
“That sounds like my predecessor’s work,” Florian said.
“It might well be. And mine.—I’m surprised at Seely letting Denys try that.”
“Seely is likely following orders,” Catlin said. “Seely would have advised against it.”
“Might not be there?”
“Might not,” Catlin said, “but mostly, I think, they’re preparing to defend the Administrative wing.”
“Makes sense,” Florian said. “The system may have downgraded his Base, sera, but I’m sure he’s already gone to manual on those locks.”
“Negotiation’s what he’s aiming for. He has absolutely nothing else to gain. Denys wants to be immortal. Giraud is down there in that tank, and Denys can’t keep his hand on everything.”
“Security won’t like to be used against the House,” Catlin said. “Abban I can understand. Seely I can. Some of the others—”
“Yakob?” Florian suggested.
“Could be odd tape. Could be odd tape on that whole senior wing. They’ve had twenty years to do it. I don’t trust any of them.”
“Don’t count the Administrative systems as gone, sera,” Florian said. “There could be a way—check and see if t
here’s any order for Q system equipment credited to Administrative.”
“Security 10: acquisitions: Administrative: computer equipment: search.—Why? You think that could have been the tamper in Security?”
Florian leaned on her seat-back, nodded vigorously as she looked up over her shoulder. “Acquisitions might not turn it up either,” he said. “You can rig modules you could port in a suitcase, right down to the memory. Giraud could do it, easy. Right past Decon and everybody.”
“Security 10: widen search, last item: computer equipment: twenty-year range: search.—You’re right. Denys isn’t stupid—even about the House systems. It makes damn good sense: divert Base Two to an alternate system, outflow without respecting any command-level inflow—like a one-way filter, to shut out the House system and still run it?”
“It’s more complicated than that, but that’s generally the idea. Your predecessor was full of tricks. He’d know there were protections—”
“He does know. What about airport defenses? Can we get in there?”
“As long as we have affirmative control while we’re going in, and it’s talking to us,” Florian said, then shrugged. “Unless that system can do something I can’t figure. It’s always possible. Jeffrey BJ’s supposed to be in charge at the airport, and I don’t know there’s anything wrong with him; but I’d say the best thing to do is check the flight schedules, make sure nothing’s inbound, and then use the override to reorient and then lock down: that way if Denys’ Base is going to touch anything off it won’t hit anything.”
“I can name you a handful,” Catlin said, “who can make sure that power stays down.”
“You two take it.”
He came around and sat down carefully in the chair next to her, and took the microphone. Catlin perched on the leather arm of his chair; and for a few moments it was all their peculiar jargon and names she did not know, but Catlin and Florian did.
Meanwhile she watched the dataflow. Search negative. She was only moderately interested. It made thorough sense, what Florian suggested; and Giraud could well have gotten the equipment in years ago. They had had all her childhood to set it up, and make sure it functioned.
Kill the airport defenses first, get the plane on the ground; and then figure something could go wrong with the precip towers: envelope rupture would make things uncomfortable for anyone trying to get to the House; figure that Denys might simply have ordered the buses uphill and parked them.
Search: she keyed, airport: bus, ser #?; graph.
The schematic of Reseune turned up both buses, at the front of the Administrative wing.
She keyed orders to the main boards at the precip towers. They were an hour away from the field.
Then she got up and went, herself, back where her Security staff sat talking together: they had heard the net go down and re-establish itself, each and every one of them who had been listening to the net, and that was all of them, she figured.
“We’re doing all right,” she said. “Stay seated: listen. Florian’s taking the defenses down. Wes, Marco, you stay with me and Dr. Warrick, on the plane: we’re going to be busy as hell and someone’s got to coordinate whatever they can set for our protection. Dr. Warrick’s a friendly, but he doesn’t know the Rules: if so happen we have to move, you see he does what you tell him. The advance team is going to have to get into Administrative, and Florian and Catlin are going to be leaders going in. Tyler, you’re First after either one of them.”
“Yes, sera,” Tyler said, a smallish, wiry man, white-haired and crew-cut. Tyler had served as one of Ari senior’s staff. Two of the others were retired marines, Wes was a Green Barracks instructor, and the rest ranged from diplomatic security to Marco, who was a systems programmer.
“We’ll have a number of other Security on call-up,” she said. “Take that advisement from Catlin: she’s doing the organization, Florian’s doing the special work, Catlin will brief you: we’ve kept this operation in ready-state for the last two years, not quite like we’re improvising, all right? We just didn’t know our target. Now we do. And we know right where the keys are. All right?”
“Yes, sera.”
She patted Tyler’s shoulder, walked back down the narrow aisle past the galley and the staff restrooms; and opened the door of the bedroom. Justin was asleep, completely out.
Burns and bruises, Wes had said. Memory gaps were the serious part; but, as Wes put it, you have one go off next to you, you drop a few things. Nothing unusual.
“Wake up,” she said. “Justin. I need you up front.”
xv
“They’re in,” Amy said. “That’s the Tower. They’re on the ground.”
Grant, leaning on the back of the couch, breathed again.
Amy had confused hell out of Security, changing the whereabouts of everyone on her list for protection, lying with one output while she monitored the whereabouts of every Security unit in the buildings they could access, called Security personnel on the Approved list to Wing One, and secured the doors.
While Sam Whitely down at the motor pool arranged transport for Green Barracks personnel and Maddy Strassen and ’Stasi Ramirez and Tommy Carnath had simply gone missing to unlikely places as lies in the net persuaded any inquirers they had taken refuge in B lab and down in the Ag lab.
Call to Family council, the advisement flashed out on the net: Ariane Emory, calling emergency session via House System, to consider the question: nomination of Dr. Yanni Schwartz to replace Denys Nye as Administrator of Reseune, meeting to be held at 1700 or as soon as practical.
Grant stood back and folded his arms. He had no vote. He was following the scroll of activity on the monitor, that had accelerated markedly ever since RESEUNE ONE had entered approach. That last advisement came as a vast relief to more than himself, he thought: a calculated bit of psych, a tag of grim humor: Emory in full flower.
There were Security orders all over the system of a sudden, outpouring from Base One.
Ari did not look up from the screen; and Justin did not speak, following the flow on an auxiliary Florian had used. Occasionally she gave a voice input or pushed a key; and changes happened. Queries were incoming: RESEUNE ONE’s crew, forward, kept their posts, keeping the plane ready to move away and, if the airport seemed threatened, to take to the air again.
He had much rather stay on the ground; and he wished to hell he had some knowledge of the codes that might have told him where things stood.
“We’re all right,” Ari said. “Sam’s got the trucks up from Green; they’re going up the hill—no challenge yet. He’s holding inside Administration, probably inside Security itself.”
She made more changes.
She could, she said, open any doors that were not disabled or under an outlaw Base’s control.
Makes it easier, Florian had said, stuffing the pockets of his jacket with various small components out of his own kit—probes and wire, mostly, with some sort of system evident. And Florian had taken a small bag from a locker, and another from a second locker; and handled those very carefully, while Catlin had arranged things with the Security agents aft.
They must be halfway up the hill now, Justin thought.
“Sera,” the intercom said suddenly, communication from RESEUNE ONE’s crew. “We’ve got a phone relay from Administration. Dr. Nye, asking to speak with you personally, sera.”
“Don’t divert your attention,” Justin muttered.
“Damn right.—Put it over the intercom; we’re all intimate here.—Justin, punch that yellow button on your arm-rest and pass me the mike, will you? This one’s engaged.”
“Ari,” Denys’ voice said over the intercom. “I really think you’re being a little excitable.”
Ari laughed, never taking her eyes from the screen in front of her. She held out her left hand and Justin laid the mike-wand into it. “Are you hearing me, uncle Denys?”
“I’m hearing you fine, dear. I wish you’d make clear exactly what’s going on here, and call off your
troops before they do serious damage to the wing.”
“You want to unlock those doors, uncle Denys? We can talk about this. I promise you’ll be safe. I’ll even continue Giraud.”
“I don’t know what happened in Novgorod: I’m sure it’s more than you’ve told me. Can we talk about this?”
“I don’t mind.”
“I’m willing to resign. I want protection for myself and my people. I think that’s reasonable.”
“Perfectly reasonable, uncle Denys. How do we make that official?”
“You stop your people. You guarantee me custody of Giraud’s replicate. I’m perfectly willing to accept retirement. I have the means to make taking this place extremely expensive; but there’s no need. I have the feeling you must blame me for the events in Novgorod—”
Ari laughed again, with less humor, Justin thought. “I really don’t know, uncle Denys. I don’t entirely care. I’ve rather well overrun the course you set for me; and it’s my time. The changing of the seasons. Perfectly natural. You can have a wing, you can have your comforts—I know that matters to you, uncle Denys. You can work on your books,—I do know about that. They’re wonderful. You have so much valuable yet to do…”
“You’re very flattering, young sera. I want Seely.”
Ari was silent a moment. “Under some restrictions. I can agree to that.”
“You don’t touch him!”
“I wouldn’t hurt Seely, uncle Denys. We can work something out. I promise you. I won’t file charges. Your life will be exactly the same. You don’t travel anyway; and you’ll have Giraud to occupy you and Seely, won’t you? You were a damned good parent, you know; and very kind, really you were. You could have done a lot of things to me Geoffrey did to Ari senior; and you took a chance with the program and didn’t. I really have quite a warm feeling for you about that, uncle Denys; and for Seely; and for Giraud. Giraud and I got to be really close at the last; and I really don’t think he did it, I think it was a worm in Abban’s tapes. I think it was something you put there. Maybe not. I may have an over-active imagination.—They’re going to take those doors down, uncle Denys; and practically speaking,—you’re running out of time.”