Tricks and Traps (Gray Spear Society Book 7) (12 page)

There was no humor in Tawni's eyes. Sheryl swallowed.
These people are crazy,
she thought.

"Some of them know something is going on," Tawni said. "Aaron is monitoring the situation. It's a security risk. We may have to move eventually."

"That's a shame. This place is cool."

"Security comes first."

Tawni led the way to an Italian restaurant which was in a back corner of the hotel. All the furnishings were made of brass, dark wood, and black leather. Opera music played softly in the background. Tawni and Sheryl were given a table.

Sheryl opened the menu, and the high prices immediately caught her eye.

"Who is paying for lunch?"

"I have a credit card," Tawni said.

"Me, too, but am I allowed to use it? What's our salary?"

"Zero. We have access to money through our false identities. I buy what I need, and Aaron pays the bills."

"Is there a budget?" Sheryl said.

"Not really. Aaron and the twins handle the finances, and they won't tell me where the money comes from. It's some kind of mystery involving God. Sometimes it seems like the money is created from nothing."

Sheryl was intrigued. "There are secrets within the Society?"

"Big ones," Tawni said. "Don't get too curious. Aaron will tell you what it's safe for you to know."

A waiter came to take their order. Sheryl asked for a cheese ravioli dish, and Tawni ordered spaghetti with meat sauce. Much fancier items were on the menu, but neither woman was looking for an elaborate meal.

When they were alone again, Sheryl said, "I watched Aaron and Marina spar."

"Oh?" Tawni had a disappointed expression. "I wish I had seen that."

"It was terrifying. I thought they were going to kill each other."

"The big boys play rough."

"How can they move like that?" Sheryl said.

"That's the Lord's anger. It turns us all into monsters eventually. The longer you're in, the nastier you get. Aaron and Marina are tame compared to some other members of the Society." Tawni shuddered. "I've seen nightmare shit. Wait until you meet the legate."

"Who?"

"Aaron's boss. She's a black slice of death. Wesley's bodyguards are just as scary. They make the worst serial killer in the world look wimpy."

Sheryl didn't want to think about becoming a monster. It was more than she could handle at this point. She was already completely overwhelmed.

The food arrived. She could tell from the first bite of her meal that it was the best cheese ravioli of her life. The cheese was creamy and bursting with milky flavor. The pasta had just the right amount of firmness without being chewy. She sighed with pleasure.

"Eat fast," Tawni said. "If Aaron calls for us, he won't wait."

Sheryl ate quickly.

* * *

Aaron was studying the result of the X-ray scan of the steel box. A rotating three-dimensional image was on the screen before him. Each of the small parts were rendered with superb definition and colored by material density. Nothing was hidden from view.

However, there were a great many parts, and they fit together in intricate ways. It was impossible to make sense of the mess.

He stepped back so other people could take a look. Smythe, Norbert, and Marina gathered around the screen.

Aaron was standing in Kamal's laboratory. Complicated scientific equipment stood on the counters and the floor all around the room. The general theme was stainless steel, glass, and buttons. Kamal loved his toys, the more expensive, the better.

"Shoot this data over to the twins," Aaron said. "Maybe they can figure it out."

"Yes, sir," Kamal said.

Aaron left the laboratory and went straight to the computer room. He was expecting to find the twins there, but their seats were empty. His shoulders sagged. The life of a commander was sometimes full of irritations.

He yelled up at the ceiling. "Where are the twins?"

"On the roof, sir," Jack replied through overhead speakers. "Again."

Aaron snarled.

He jogged across the exercise area and climbed a flight of stairs. When he emerged into the open air, bright sunlight made him squint. It was an oppressively hot, humid day. Dead still air provided no relief.

The twins were seated in lawn chairs near the white shed again. He hurried over to them.

"Go downstairs," he ordered. "I have something for you to look at."

"But, sir," Bethany said.

"Quiet! I let you work on your firewall project all morning, even though you should be investigating the monkey machines. I held my tongue. I was very tolerant. Now I need your help, and it can't wait. I'm still your commander. I shouldn't have to beg for your time."

The sisters exchanged enigmatic looks. Their faces revealed no emotion at all.

Bethany finally nodded. "Yes, sir."

She and Leanna went downstairs, and Aaron followed.

When the twins were seated in their chairs, he said, "Kamal just sent you an X-ray of a box. Tell me how to open the box safely."

Bethany's fingers began to dance. The X-ray image appeared on her screen, but instead of just rotating, the diagram was disassembling before Aaron's eyes. He watched the components virtually fly apart as she performed her analysis. The effect was hypnotic.

"Sir," she said fifteen minutes later, "the results are on the printer."

He went to the printer and found a sheet of paper. It showed detailed instructions explaining what buttons to push in what order. Helpful little diagrams accompanied each step.

"This is perfect," he said. "Thank you. You can go back to the roof if you want."

"We'll stay down here. We should review the universal equations again. Maybe this time we'll understand them better."

"Still having trouble?"

"A lot of trouble," she said. "We're not smart enough. God is becoming frustrated. We're afraid of what might happen."

"Try to stay calm and focused. Fear won't make you smarter."

"Yes, sir."

Aaron gathered his
legionnaires
around the steel boxes. Tawni and Sheryl were a little slow coming back from lunch, but he didn't comment.

Aaron handed the sheet to Sheryl. "You're the expert on puzzles. Follow these instructions to open the boxes."

"Yes, sir." She accepted the paper and looked intently at it.

"Be careful. A mistake might kill us all."

Her face lost its color.

"Go on," he said. "We don't have all day."

He put his arms around Marina and pulled her close. She snuggled against him as they watched Sheryl work.

Aaron could tell right away he had given the job to the right woman. Sheryl's long, thin fingers had a remarkably soft touch. Every movement was precise. She triple-checked every step and never rushed.

"Do you know how to pick locks?" Marina said.

"I'm pretty good at it," Sheryl said.

After about five minutes, Aaron heard a click. The metal walls of the box opened and fell outwards.

"Excellent work," he said. "Now do the other two while we examine this one."

"Yes, sir," she said.

The team crowded around. Aaron cleared away some packing foam to reveal the Super Double Monkey machine. A thick glass case enclosed an astonishingly intricate mechanism. A dozen brightly colored balls of various sizes were free to roll around on a series of curving tracks. There were hoops, springs, rubber bands, traps, and many little gadgets. A silver bell was at the end of each track.

"How do you play this thing?" Smythe said. "I don't see how to keep score. What's the goal?"

"I don't know," Aaron said.

There were many knobs and levers at the base of the machine. He played with them and saw components move inside the case. With a little practice, he found he could push the balls around. It was entertaining in a childish way.

"I think you want to move the balls along the tracks," Marina said. "They're like little obstacle courses. Maybe if you hit the bell, the machine pays out. It could be fun."

"We have three," he said, "so we can afford to break one. Let's crack this one open and take it apart. Maybe we can figure out what makes it so extremely addictive. It doesn't look dangerous from the outside, but we should still be very careful."

He picked up the game with both arms. It felt like it weighed about fifty pounds. He carried it into the machine shop and placed it on a workbench. Nancy was repairing a small piece of electrical equipment in the shop.

"Can you cut this thing open for me?" Aaron said. "Try not to break anything inside."

"Yes, sir," she replied.

The shop contained tools of all kinds. Hand tools and small power tools filled shelves along a wall. Free standing equipment took up floor space elsewhere. Raw materials such as wire, pipes, and screws were on racks in the back.

Nancy grabbed a battery-powered tool with a circular blade that was two inches across. The cutting edge sparkled, and Aaron guessed it was coated with diamond dust. When she turned it on, it made a noise like a dentist's drill.

She sliced into the glass. Tiny chips flew, and he moved back to protect his eyes. She was already wearing goggles.

There was a loud hiss. She dropped the saw and began to cough violently.
Poison gas,
he thought.
I should've known.
He held his breath, grabbed her arm, and yanked her out of the shop. He slammed the door to hopefully contain the gas.

"Get her into the medical lab!" Smythe yelled.

The medical lab was adjacent to the kitchen. Aaron carried Nancy in his arms and placed her on an operating table in the center of the room under a cluster of bright lights.

She was still coughing but not as badly as before. Smythe quickly checked her vital signs. He tore open her shirt and pushed his hands into her chest.

"Her lungs feel normal," he said. "Heartbeat is regular. No obvious injury."

She tried to sit up.

He pushed her down. "Stay put!" He slipped a plastic mask over her face and turned on the oxygen supply.

Aaron watched Nancy anxiously. He had screwed up, and she was lucky to be alive. The embarrassment and guilt were painful.

"I'll keep an eye on her, sir," Smythe said.

Aaron nodded. "Good. Everybody else, clear the room."

Norbert, Tawni, Sheryl, and Marina followed him back to the exercise area.

Sheryl exhaled. "That was intense."

"Too intense," Aaron said. "I'm sorry. That was my fault. An air-tight glass case was the clue that something nasty might be inside." He slapped himself on the head. "Damn!"

Marina gave him a hug, but it didn't help much.

He walked swiftly to the weapons locker. He grabbed a gas mask from a hook on the wall near the body armor. He put on the mask and pulled the straps until they were uncomfortably tight. His skin was already sweating under the thick rubber.

He went back to the machine shop. The monkey machine had black soot covering the inside surface of the case. He grabbed a hammer and angrily smashed the glass. The components of the game had burned or melted completely. It had self-destructed.

Marina entered the room wearing a gas mask.

She looked at the mess. "The oxygen in the air must've triggered the reaction. Whoever built this game really didn't want anybody messing with it."

Aaron found the controls for the ventilation system and set them on full power. The suction teased his hair.

He and Marina left the room and pulled off their gas masks. He didn't understand how soldiers could wear those rubber bags on their heads all day, especially in desert heat. He would rather risk getting poisoned.

Sheryl finished opening the other two metal boxes. Everybody else stood around and watched silently. Nobody offered any suggestions for what to do with the two remaining machines.

Aaron's phone rang. He checked the caller ID and didn't recognize the number.

He answered cautiously, "Hello?"

"This is Andrei," a man declared in a thick Russian accent. "I have information for you."

"Great! Hold on." Aaron hurried to his office and sat behind his desk. He took out a notepad and a pen. "I'm ready."

"We found some of your Super Double Monkey machines. The containers are difficult and dangerous to open."

"I hope none of your people were hurt."

"Small scratches and burns. Nothing serious."

"I'm glad. Did you discover who makes them?" Aaron said excitedly.

"No. The boxes are relabeled in Vladivostok so they appear to come from Russia. My city is not the origin."

"Then where is it?"

"A place called Muncie, Indiana," Andrei said.

"Are you telling me these things are built in Indiana, shipped to Russia, relabeled, and shipped all the way back here?"

"Correct. I also have a name for you."

Aaron readied his pen. "What?"

"The Ultrastar Pinball Company. That is all I know."

Aaron wrote the name down. "You've been extremely helpful. Thank you. I'll pursue this lead immediately."

"I am happy to support a brother warrior," Andrei said. "Good bye."

Aaron put away his phone.

Marina knocked on the open office door. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, of course."

She sat on a chair across the desk from him. "Who was that?"

"Our Russian friend, Andrei," he said. "He told me Vladivostok is just a front. The monkey machines come from Muncie, Indiana. Our investigation must go there next."

She raised her eyebrows. "That's in the Detroit territory."

"Which means I need to make a couple of phone calls, starting with Ethel."

"I'll be very quiet."

Aaron nodded. Ethel would react badly if she found out Marina was visiting Chicago. He dialed his boss's number.

Ethel answered after two rings. "Hello?"

"This is Aaron, ma'am. I need your permission to work with the commander of Detroit. My investigation is crossing into her territory."

"You have my permission. I will text you the number."

"Thank you, ma'am," he said.

"In your last report, you mentioned you're pursuing a new recruit. A magician. How is that going?"