Veridian stood over her shoulder while she started the system scan. “Kristin ran a scan yesterday. She didn’t notice anything unusual.”
Kayla didn’t look away from the data flashing on the screen in front of her. “Just for basic maintenance. She probably wasn’t looking for a sniffer.”
Veridian leaned forward to study the screen. “How could Carl have gotten one on this system?”
“With a little bit of skill and a whole lot of luck.” She tapped in a few commands. A new set of data appeared on the screen.
“Wait a second,” Kayla exclaimed. She grabbed Veridian's arm and pulled him down next to her. “Here we go. Gotcha, you bastard. Sneaky son-of-a-bitch.”
“You found it?”
Kayla nodded, drumming her fingers on the side console. “Yeah, but I may have to rethink my earlier assessment of him. The guy is an absolute genius or he’s got geniuses working with him.”
She pointed at the screen. “Check it out. This couldn’t have been done remotely. We would have picked up on it otherwise. That jerk managed to get one of his crew close enough to our physical system to install this. From the look of it, he's been monitoring Leo’s com system for weeks.”
He gaped at the screen. “Can you remove it?”
“I could,” she said with a wicked smile. “But I have a better idea. I’m going to reroute the sniffer to link with another file.”
“What file?”
Kayla’s eyes glinted mischievously. “Remember that clip we snagged last week of Leo singing that old Elvis song,
Love Me Tender
?”
Veridian laughed. “Brilliant!”
She was silent for a few minutes while she finished redirecting the file. When it was completed, she turned back to him. “I have another idea, if you’re up for it.”
He ran his hand through his hair, a nervous trait he seemed to use when he was worried. “Uh oh. I know that look. This isn’t going to be good, is it?”
“I want to turn his own idea back on him,” she explained. “If we put together a bug or two to plant in Carl’s base tomorrow, we could get a jump on him and know which areas to avoid.”
Veridian frowned. “That’s pretty risky. You got lucky today, but if he catches you, it won’t go well.”
“Then I won't get caught.” She grinned, stood up and began sorting through some of the boxes of old equipment. “I think we have what we need to put something together. I’ll need your help though.”
Veridian hesitated for a moment as though debating whether she would go through with it even if he refused. He finally shrugged in resignation. “Fine, I’ll help. But planting a bug in his base is going to be difficult. He’ll probably suspect something like this.”
“Don’t worry about that. Carl will be watching me most of the time. He doesn’t trust me. I doubt he’ll be expecting you to do anything. You’ve got that wholesome, innocent thing going on. I’ll distract him while you plant a bug near his communications room. If I get a chance, I’ll plant another one in his office.”
Veridian picked up the soldering gun and magnification goggles. He handed them to her and said, “I hope you know what you’re doing. This could end badly if he catches us.”
Kayla slipped the goggles over her head and grinned. “What’s life without a little excitement?”
The coordinate navigation system flashed on Kayla’s bike monitor to indicate they were nearing their destination. She let Veridian know of their approach through her headset and slowed down.
Carl's facility was substantially larger than the largest ruin rat camp. It was also a permanent fixture, built with specially treated building materials designed to withstand some of the climate effects. There were more than half a dozen bikes parked at the front overhang. Even though they appeared much nicer, she doubted they could keep up with her retrofitted transport. She disengaged her engine and climbed off, careful not to damage any of the scavenged items stored in her backpack.
Veridian pulled up beside her, hesitating before dismounting. She knew he was apprehensive about this visit. Hoping to lighten the mood, she gestured to the size of the base.
“Think he’s compensating for something?” she asked him through her headset.
Veridian groaned and shook his head. “Kayla, that's awful.”
Pleased she had managed to cut through some of his nervousness, she laughed and stepped through the UV Guard at the front entry. The sight of Carl and Cruncher waiting to greet them made it obvious Carl's crew had been tracking them since they approached the facility. Unsurprised, Kayla pulled off her helmet and jacket and hung them on the rack by the entry. Veridian followed her lead.
“Glad you decided to join us,” Carl said and extended his hand in greeting.
“Yeah, yeah,” Veridian muttered but took the proffered hand.
She stepped forward, placing her hands on her hips. “Let’s get this moving. I’m a busy girl. Business first, or the tour?”
Carl's mouth twitched into a slight smile. “And that’s one of the many things I like about you. You get right to it. Let’s go to my office. You can show me what you’ve brought to sell.”
“Suit yourself,” she replied and followed Carl down a long hallway. She noticed Cruncher followed a few steps behind her and Veridian, careful to make sure they didn’t stray. She’d have to find an opportune moment to distract both of them so Veridian could plant the bug. The other bug rested in her pocket. Although it was smaller than her fingernail, her awareness of it made it feel more like a large speeder.
Electronic dividers with the capability of blocking out light and sound surrounded Carl’s office. The costly technology gave the occupants a large measure of privacy. In spite of herself, Kayla was impressed with the extravagance.
Carl stepped over to his desk and waited while she opened her backpack. She spread out the jewelry and carving on the desk.
Cruncher let out a low whistle. “Holy shit, girl. How the hell did you manage to smuggle all of that out of there yesterday?”
She sat on the corner of the desk and feigned innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Cruncher. These trinkets have been in my family for generations. I told you I was just taking in the sights yesterday.”
Carl gave Kayla a hard look before turning to assess the merchandise. He studied each piece carefully before moving on to the next one.
“I may have underestimated you,” Carl admitted. He pointed to the collection. “I’ll give you twenty-five hundred for the lot. That’s a final offer. There’s no negotiation on this one.”
“Done.” She smiled sweetly. “I wouldn’t dream of trying to take advantage of your generosity.”
“Hmm.” Carl turned on his comlink and initiated the instructions to wire the credits to her account. When the transaction was completed, he scooped up the jewelry and put it into a lockbox located behind his desk.
Kayla verified the transaction had completed and hopped off the desk. “So, are we still on for the tour? Or have I worn out my welcome?”
Carl’s mouth twitched slightly as though he were suppressing a smile. “You’re not getting out of here quite so easily. You just cost me a few thousand credits and I intend to make sure you hold up your end of the deal.”
He slipped his hand behind the small of her back to lead her out of the office. She stiffened slightly at the gesture but allowed the contact. Veridian sighed and followed them with Cruncher trailing behind.
Carl took her into a large open room they used as a common area. A dozen chairs surrounded a large conference-style table. Cabinets covered most of one wall with a large countertop. A state-of-the-art food preparation and storage machine sat in the corner.
Two people turned to look at them when they entered. Kayla recognized Corsin from yesterday and a young woman she hadn’t seen before.
“Kayla and Veridian,” Carl introduced them. “This is Corsin and Arlisia. You met Corsin briefly yesterday. He’s one of our scavengers and Arlisia’s one of our crew techs.”
Corsin smiled warmly. “Nice to see you guys again. I’ve heard some wild stories about you, Kayla. You both have impressed the hell out of some of the other guys here.”
Arlisia, a tall, thin girl with a mass of blonde curls on top of her head, looked at Carl and Kayla with open hostility. “I’ve got stuff to do,” she announced, pushing away from the table. “I’ll catch you later, Corsin.”
Without another glance, she headed out of the room. Surprised by the rude departure, Kayla peeked up at Carl for an explanation. His jaw was set and he stared at the door where the young woman had disappeared. Corsin cleared his throat and offered weakly, “Uh, Arlisia’s somewhat temperamental. Ignore her.”
“She’s a good tech, but Corsin’s right,” Carl elaborated on an exhale, rubbing the back of his neck. “She’ll warm up once you get to know her.”
Kayla shrugged. She wasn’t there to make any friends or get caught up in camp drama. There was more than enough in Leo's camp to keep her busy. Carl continued the tour by saying, “Through here we have the crew’s quarters and the tech room.”
The crew’s quarters consisted of a large room separated into individual personal areas. Each personal area had a cot, a small desk, and a storage locker. It was much larger than Leo’s camp where the bunks were sandwiched together in an open room.
Kayla ran her fingers along the wall, admiring the privacy dividers installed in this area. She wondered what it would be like to have a place of her own where she could shut out the world. The only place she ever felt a few moments of peace was down in the ruins. If nothing else, she had to give Carl credit for providing his people with some rather expensive comforts.
They moved to the tech room next. Carl paused outside the door, an expectant look on his face. “I think you’re going to enjoy this room.”
Puzzled, Kayla moved past him and stepped inside. Realization dawned and her eyes grew wide in excitement as she stared at the equipment Carl recently acquired from OmniLab.
“No fucking way.”
Forgetting her plan to act nonchalant, she moved across the room to pick up one of the underground sensors designed to detect rare metals. She ran her fingers across it with reverence, recalling what she'd read about it. Not only was it one of the prototypes unavailable to ruin rats, but it was capable of locating specific rare metals housed within other metals. It had the potential to detect artifacts hidden miles below the surface.
She looked up at Carl in disbelief. A knowing smile flitted across his face. “I picked it up a few days ago. There are some other prototypes in there too. OmniLab developed a new chemical monitoring kit and some other UV protective gear. We were asked to test it out.”
“Oh man. I read about these, but to actually see them…” Her voice trailed off as she began rifling through some of the other equipment, incredulous at the playground of toys around her. Veridian crossed the room to study some of the monitors mapping the topography of the area.
“This is amazing.” He gestured to the monitors. “You’re able to track all of this from here?”
Carl nodded and pointed to one of the screens. “That’s the IM-XL system. It uses our current geographical location to generate some basic topographic maps of the underground ruins. It uses the old world maps as a basis for comparison and updates to provide new potential ruin locations.”
Veridian whistled in appreciation and watched the screen. Kayla barely spared them a glance, clutching the sensor in one hand and digging through some of the other boxes with the other. It'd be interesting to find out how difficult it would be to smuggle the sensor out of Carl's camp.
Carl cleared his throat to get Kayla’s attention. “If you can manage to put the sensor down, we picked up some new lock cracking tools too. I’ve got Zane working with them in the testing room. I’ve heard you have an interest in locks. You’re welcome to take a look.”
Kayla's head jerked up, trying to decide if the man was serious or toying with her emotions. It would be an evil prank if it were the latter. “Really?”
Carl chuckled and nodded. She carefully replaced the sensor, but not before giving it one last longing look. She offered Carl a small smile. “You’ve definitely got some cool toys in here.”
There was no mistaking the pleased look on his face at the compliment. Motioning for them to follow, Carl led them past what appeared to be the communication room and into the testing room. Remembering their purpose, Kayla shot a meaningful look at Veridian. He returned a barely discernible nod.
The testing room was only slightly smaller than the tech room and had a wide variety of different locking mechanisms set up like an obstacle course. Kayla recognized most of them from her scavenging expeditions.
There were two men in the room. One had rich caramel colored skin with short dark hair and eyes. He lounged against the wall and flashed a smile when they entered. Kayla had met him several months earlier and recognized him as Xantham, one of Carl’s communications experts. She wondered briefly if he had been the one to plant the sniffer on Leo’s system.
Kayla didn’t know the other man sitting on the floor working with one of the locks. He possessed an average build and fair skin. His blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he seemed to work the locks with an intimate familiarity Kayla recognized.
Carl cleared his throat and the man on the floor looked up expectantly. “Xantham and Zane, I’d like you to meet Kayla and Veridian. Xantham is in communications and Zane is another one of our scavengers and master locksmith.”
Xantham winked at her and said, “We’ve already met, Carl. Besides, I feel like we’re already intimately acquainted, given how often you’ve asked me to intercept her communications.”
Kayla crossed her arms and gave Carl a dark look. He offered her a sly smile in response. “I protect my interests, Kayla. You’ve caused a significant dent in my revenue over the past year.”