System failure, p.6
System Failure, page 6
It wasn’t like her to shirk a job, and John’s eyebrows shot up, but he smiled as he watched her wander innocently over to the agents’ vicinity. Eva had ears like a bat. It was one of the unintentional by-products of her prototype inner AI, though—since she took her superhuman hearing for granted—it seemed to be an enhancement of a thoroughly natural talent. If there was anything to be discovered, Eva would hear it without Baeker and Field even realizing she was listening.
Eva sat on the bank, rested her arms on her knees, and gazed out at the water’s silvery twilight surface. John imagined her ears swiveling like a radar so clearly that he could almost see it happen, and he grinned to himself.
It wasn’t any trouble to set up the tent, so they didn’t really miss Eva’s help, but the interior ground cover had to be secured down. John unfolded it and beckoned Salome, and they crawled into the tent with it together, exchanging a conspiratorial grin.
“I’m starting to come around to your and Eva’s point of view,” whispered Salome as she attached one corner securely. “I don’t trust these guys one bit. I watched them all day, and I didn’t like how they were staring at us when they thought we weren’t looking.”
“Once you notice, you can’t unsee it,” murmured John.
There was a rustle at the tent’s opening, and Eva elbow-crawled in beside them. Her eyes shone with angry excitement.
“What did you hear?” hissed John. “I know that’s what you were up to!”
“Mostly,” said Eva, “they just complained about this whole mission. They do not like us any more than we like them; I can tell you that much.” She gave a dry grin. “But it seems that’s because they don’t see the point of it. They’re under orders, and they don’t even know what it’s all about.” She hesitated, and her face darkened with anger. “Then I heard them talking about the missing couple—my parents.”
“We don’t know for sure they’re your parents,” whispered Salome gently.
“I do,” Eva told her with a glare. “No doubt—do you understand? And these men, they called my mother and father ‘two idiot middle-aged rich dopes who thought they knew better than their tour guide.’”
John whistled softly. “So Baeker and Field have no idea at all,” he said. “They don’t know why your parents were searching for you.”
“They might guess; they obviously know there’s a connection, and that’s why I’m here,” said Eva. “But that’s the extent of what they know.”
Salome glanced at John. “So they’re not here to help Eva find her parents. Why would they be assigned to us, then?”
“I think I know,” declared Eva. “I think they’re taking us deep into the jungle so that no one knows where we are and we lose phone contact. And then they will take us into government custody.” She took a deep breath. “I think the US government wants complete control over the Ghost Network.”
“Oh, no way,” said John, alarmed.
“Not if we have anything to say about it,” said Salome with a scowl. “We are an international group, and I am not even American!”
“Me neither,” growled Eva. “I’m not really certain what I am but definitely not American.”
“I am,” pointed out John, “and I still don’t want to be a tool of the state.”
“So what do we do now?” asked Salome.
“We do what the Ghost Network always does,” grinned John. “We fix this on our own. And from this point on, we make our own way to the Ma’yaarr Complex.”
The glorious golden sunset had long faded, and the chirping and trilling of poison dart frogs was slowly being overwhelmed by the scrape of cicadas and the scream of birds. Night had finally settled over the camp. It was the blackest John had ever seen; no moon rose above the forest canopy, and the stars were obscured by thick foliage. He lay very still in his tent, trying to listen for the sound of Baeker’s and Field’s breathing above the noises of the forest, but it was impossible.
At last, he couldn’t stand it any longer. As he tentatively unfastened the tent flap and crawled out, his heart was in his mouth. There was no movement from the agents’ tent, and although he couldn’t make out any deep breathing or snoring noises, there didn’t seem to be any low voices in conversation.
Barefoot, he edged over to the tent that Salome and Eva shared, feeling with his toes for brittle leaves or twigs that might give him away. But just as he crouched to call softly to them, their tent flap opened and both girls peered out.
“Are we good to go?” breathed Salome.
John nodded. “I think so. Be very quiet.”
Like him, the girls had gone to bed fully dressed in shorts and T-shirts, but none of them put their sneakers on until they had crept a good distance from the camp. John was on pins and needles because he was afraid that Salome might step on a snake or a spider and wouldn’t be able to stifle a shriek. But luck was with them, and they were able to get farther away without any incidents. With their shoes quickly back on their feet, they pressed on farther into the forest, John’s phone glowing in his hand.
He risked raising his voice a little louder. “I wish Slack was here. He can navigate anywhere. He’s clever.” In a growl he added, “Way too clever.”
“Don’t be too envious, John.” Eva growled. “It’s not just his natural ability, after all. Your father’s AI infusion improved his map-reading ability like crazy.” Her voice became a little resentful. “He has that connection to the mother computer IIDA, just like the rest of you. She can help you with most things, yes?”
“You may not have the IIDA connection, Eva, but you’re smart and instinctive enough not to need it,” Salome reassured her. “That’s what I believe. Anyway, John, don’t worry about navigating; IIDA should be only for emergencies, and I don’t want to communicate with her right now because it might get back to Mikael. With John’s app we’ll find the area well enough. And then with all our MindReaders, we’ll let Ana guide us in. Um, how far do you think it is?”
“Only about ten miles,” said John. “But we’re in a rain forest, after all. The terrain is going to be rough.”
“Let’s aim back toward the river,” suggested Eva.
“Jaguars and anacondas can swim, you know,” said Salome with a shiver.
Eva shot her a glare. “That’s not the point. So can piranhas.”
Oh, great, thought John, with a roll of his eyes in the darkness. Remind Salome about the piranhas, why don’t you . . .
“The point is,” Eva went on, “it’s easier to follow the river. Even with the app, we could lose our way in the dark—enough to add extra miles to the walk.”
“Agreed,” said John. “But Baeker and Field will be searching for us by daylight. We need to be ready to dive back into the rain forest at the first sound of a boat engine.”
They angled back toward the river and were soon struggling through the undergrowth, with the water’s surface, sheened in starlight, not far to their left. John could see Eva’s point about navigating, but walking close to the river didn’t improve the terrain. Their feet sank in the mud, and more than once they tripped over trailing roots. They blundered into huge leaves that showered them with the rainwater they contained. They had no choice but to walk in their soaking-wet clothes and mud-caked shoes even when the ground was more level. The sounds of the night were almost deafeningly loud: the distant booming of howler monkeys, the resounding cry of bellbirds, and the distant eerie screech of a piha.
Salome stumbled into another unseen ditch, catching herself with her hands, but she yelped. “Ow! Thorns.”
“Sh,” said John. He promptly found his leg caught by a trailing vine and staggered sideways with a gasp.
“You two,” Eva growled. “There’s no need for—”
Her shriek was louder than the monkeys, cicadas, and birds put together; John almost jumped out of his mud-caked shoes.
“Get it off me! Get it off!”
John spun around, almost falling again, and focused his phone flashlight on Eva. What looked like a black splatter covered the top of her blonde head, and for a moment he thought it was river mud—until it scuttled.
Salome squealed and darted forward to swipe at the spider with her shaking hands. It dropped from Eva’s head to her shoulder, then seemed to vanish. He had never seen anything move so fast. He shuddered, peering down at the ground, though the darkness was so encompassing that he’d never have a hope of finding the spider.
“Ewww,” moaned Salome. Eva was still trembling, raking her hands through her hair.
“Hush,” said John suddenly. He went still, and eventually even Eva calmed down enough to listen.
He didn’t know why he bothered to call for quiet so often; the forest sounds were so loud and so constant it was unlikely anyone would hear their clumsy footfalls or their shaky breathing. But that scream of Eva’s had rivaled the howler monkeys . . .
In response to a nearby rustle of branches, John spun around unsteadily, his heart pounding.
“Who’s there?” he called.
A torch beam glared suddenly in his face. Baeker and Field! he thought with a surge of panic, swinging his own flashlight around.
But the man who stepped out of the undergrowth was neither agent. Instead of a sharply cut suit and leather shoes, he wore a Barcelona soccer shirt, cargo shorts, and Havaianas flip-flops. He barked something at John, and John turned anxiously to Salome.
“What’s he saying?” John knew Salome could always translate with IIDA’s help.
Salome stared at the man, biting her lip as he spoke again, more calmly this time.
“I have no idea.” She shrugged. “Even Mother can’t help me. That’s not Portuguese.”
The man frowned and asked what sounded like another question. Salome shut her eyes, finally risking a brief communication with their “mother” IIDA, John guessed. The supercomputer would eventually decode the language, he knew, but it would take time.
The man’s gestures, though, were perfectly understandable. He raised a hand and beckoned them sharply.
The three glanced at one another.
“Should we go with him?” asked Eva.
“He doesn’t seem hostile,” said Salome, “but even if he is, I don’t see what alternative we have.”
The man beckoned with his arms again, more urgently.
“I think he’s from a local tribe,” said Eva suddenly. “That would explain the language. Doesn’t your programming recognize it at all, Salome?”
Salome shook her head. “No, but IIDA will get there. I just hope Mikael isn’t alerted to the IIDA activity.”
“He’s probably too preoccupied,” said John. “And he can’t possibly monitor everything IIDA does. He’d have to be a supercomputer himself.”
“That’s what I’m hoping,” said Salome, biting her lip.
“Even if he notices,” shrugged John, “a quick translation won’t give him our location—using GPS sure would.”
“True. In the meantime, I think we should go with this guy. I hate this forest.”
“I guess he might be able to help us,” suggested John. Uncertain, he nodded at the man and moved a couple of steps closer. The man smiled. Now John could see the flecks of red paint on his cheekbones: arrow shapes drawn casually but deftly.
“Those definitely look tribal,” he remarked to Eva, and she nodded.
“All right,” she said. “I’m making the decision for all of us. Let’s go with him.”
<<>>
The hut he led them to was hard to make out in the darkness, but when John shone his flashlight over the walls, he could see it was built of bamboo, pale and sturdy in a cleared patch of forest. He swallowed hard. At least it didn’t look like the lair of a supervillain. Their unexpected host swung open the door and beckoned them inside.
John didn’t know what he’d been expecting—mud floors, an open campfire?—but to his astonishment the hut’s interior didn’t look dissimilar from his mother’s house. Smaller, for sure, but there was a floral-patterned armchair and a matching sofa, a small television, and scattered colorful rugs. A fridge hummed in the corner, next to a small gas stove. Beside the fridge sat a small cage on a wooden table. Salome gave a gasp of delight and crouched beside it; the straw shivered and rustled, and a brown and white guinea pig wriggled out, its nose twitching inquisitively.
“It’s adorable,” she gushed.
“He’s naughty,” said their host, “but cute.”
The three stared at him in astonishment, but he only gazed back blankly. John nudged Eva.
“IIDA’s been working,” he murmured. “We got the translation download.”
Salome turned her head and grinned at them. “I knew Mother could work fast.”
“I was surprised to come across you in the forest, especially at night. Can I offer you something to drink?” asked the man. “I’m Tiago.”
“I’m Salome, and this is Eva and John.” Salome replied fluently in Tiago’s language, as she nodded at her friends. “And I’d kill for a cool drink!”
Grinning, Tiago opened the fridge and brought them tumblers of juice, sharp and sweet. They sipped gratefully, trying not to peer too nosily around the hut.
“I’m embarrassed that I expected a mud hut,” whispered John.
“Yeah, me too.” Salome smiled at Tiago. “You have a lovely home.”
He shrugged modestly. “It is comfortable. But what are you doing in the forest? Are you lost? If so, I can guide you to where you need to go.”
John exchanged a hopeful glance with Salome and Eva. “We’re not lost, really”—he indicated his phone—“but we could use some pointers to get us to here the fastest way.” Turning on the screen, he enlarged the GPS map.
Tiago rose and came closer to peer at the screen. His eyes widened, and John thought his face grew paler.
“No.” Tiago stood up sharply. “You must stay away from that place.”
“What?” John gave a laugh. “It’s just a school.”
“A school? That is no school. To teach evil?”
Salome frowned. “No, you must have misunderstood. It’s just a . . . a branch of our own school. A normal school. We are visiting; we’re expected.”
Tiago took a step backward. “That part of the jungle, it’s bad. You must not go there.”
John opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn’t want to make things worse by implying that Tiago believed in evil spirits . . .
“The place is evil,” said Tiago, flatly. His eyes had grown hard. “Bad things live there. All of us who live in the forest, we know stories.”
“But that’s all they are,” John insisted. “Just stories. I know these schools are secretive, but they’re not evil.”
“Believe the stories, don’t believe the stories. It is your choice.” Tiago moved toward the door; it was clear he wanted them to leave. “But I will not guide you there.”
“At least they made it to Brazil,” sighed Akane, slumping down onto the edge of Slack’s bed. “There’s nothing Mikael can do about that.”
Slack peered at her over the lid of his laptop. “I’m sure he’d like to try. Apparently, he’s livid.”
“Not half as livid as Tina.” Akane grinned. “Dmitri was waiting outside Mikael’s office, and he heard the whole Skype call between them. Voices were raised, apparently. A lot.”
“But mostly Tina’s, I imagine.” Slack chuckled. “She would not be impressed that Mikael managed to mislay their son.”
Akane tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling. The lighting in the Wolf’s Den was the closest technology could get to natural sunlight, but she still missed the open air and real daylight. “The whole school’s talking about their disappearance. And because we’re not letting on where they are, you and I are the villains of the tale.” She waggled her eyebrows at Slack and grinned.
“Because we covered for our friends? We’re so selfless,” cried Slack dramatically. “When we would have dearly liked to be on the adventure ourselves.”
“Howard McAuliffe is scandalized,” Akane told him. “But I was passing Ms. Reiffelt on the atrium ramp, and I swear she gave me a wink and a thumbs-up behind her folder.”
“That’s because we’d have been perfect East German spies. Back in the day she’d have recruited us.” Slack giggled. “Does history relate how Mikael reacted when he got to his nonexistent Shanghai conference?”
“History does not relate,” grinned Akane, “but Dmitri does. That was part of the conversation with Tina that he overheard. Apparently, Mikael was ranting like a maniac. He did not enjoy falling for one of John’s pranks.”
“I’m glad you’re here to keep me up to date with the gossip,” said Slack. “I’m so bored in here. Nobody else would tell me.”
“It’s nice hanging out with you,” blurted Akane. She reddened slightly. “I mean, getting to know each other better. Without the others here. I—”
Her voice dried, but Slack, too, was blushing slightly. “I know exactly what you mean. And I’m, uh . . . I’m enjoying your company too, Akane.”
She turned away quickly and cleared her throat. “So you haven’t seen many others while you’ve been in here?”
“Oh, a few. Adam and Leo came by the other day to update me on Project Husky—oh, and also to laugh at my predicament, but never mind—but they wouldn’t say much at all about John and the others vanishing. I thought they’d be jealous.” Slack frowned. “But they didn’t seem to mind one bit that John, Salome, and Eva are off having illicit fun somewhere unspecified. If anything they looked—well, smug.”
Akane raised her eyebrows. “That’s odd. From everything you’ve told me about those two, I’d have expected them to be seething with jealousy. Don’t they like to be the big fish and the center of everyone’s attention?”
“Yup, and they were totally Lykos’s teacher’s pets. I don’t like it when those two are happy about anything.”
