Skirmish (The Stork Tower Book 8) Read online

  “I want you to go with Courtney and practice on each of our Tier Twelve tracks. The aim is for you to race officially in a TRAX race within the real hour. I have no doubt you will win, but you need to be more than competitive. I need you to destroy the field completely. People need to hear of the win and be setting up their search engines for your Tier Eleven race.”

  Leah nodded, and Courtney said, “T: Go get changed into your racing gear. You’ll start off driving. I’ll sit in the passenger seat but set my weight to zero to let you get used to being in the car on your own.”

  Three changed Leah’s clothing before she took a step, so Leah changed direction and sat in the driver’s seat. Once she was seated, she felt the harness attach itself to her suit. Once she felt Courtney get into the car, Leah had Three take Courtney out of the information represented on her body before starting the car. Each race circuit was five miles in length with an average lap time of three and a half minutes at Tier Twelve, although to be in the top tiers this needed to be significantly less than one and a half minutes.

  Courtney said, “T: We’ve tuned the car to what we think are the best parameters for your driving and will update these after each circuit. Once we’re in the higher Tiers, we will be able to change more of the parameters. Each Tier Twelve race is five laps. We’ll cycle through the main courses spending nine laps on each course. The first three laps you’ll be alone on the course. The next six times we’ll add some AI drivers set to match a range of abilities and styles between the average twelfth tier racer and the best tier-one racers.”

  Leah started the car without any trouble, although she did need to have Courtney to describe when it was best to change gears as the transmission was configured differently. The first track was the simplest available and was shaped in a large figure eight. This allowed Leah to push the car out to its maximum pre-tuned speed of just over three hundred and forty miles per hour. Once the extra vehicles were added, she found she wasn’t able to always choose the line she wanted and had to go a little slower.

  By the time Leah was on the fifth circuit, Courtney was no longer in the car and had stopped giving advice as Leah concentrated on pushing the car as fast and as hard as she could. Leah was loving the speed as well as the sheer thrill of drifting through corners and weaving around the other vehicles. She struggled most when some of the other vehicles moved erratically, and learned to have several options ready each time she approached another car. After fifty real-time minutes, Danika called for her to bring the car back into the workshop.

  Once Leah got out of the car, Danika said, “N: OK Leah. I’ve given all the information to your AI. I’ve already made arrangements with TRAX to have your information pre-loaded. It costs extra but is paid for by the sponsorship deal. Stick to the plan and only do the one race this time. I’m working on someone to help with the motorbike races you want to enter. Hopefully, they will be here next time.”

  TRAX

  Leah acknowledged the instructions and then let Three transfer her through the Tower to the TRAX registration area. Leah arrived in a large room with thousands of people moving through the different doorways to prepare for their races. From where she was, Leah could see booths for the numerous different type of races and doorways for everything from designer clothing to logo design. There were signs showing where to go to design your colours, to modify the car you wanted or to pay for lessons. Three embedded an arrow in Leah’s sensory feed which led Leah to an empty registration booth.

  As Leah stepped forward, the man looked up with a smile and said, “Welcome Atherleah, your AI has sent me the relevant details concerning your registration. We also have details from your manager, Danika Dufault. We have everything we need to set up your logo, colours and car. Do you wish to review what we have received?”

  “No, thank you. I’m sure they did what we’ve discussed.”

  “That covers everything, except I note you are operating under a SNAIL protocol. I have no knowledge of the particulars, but our experience is that most players who have such a protocol operate at some disadvantage, despite our best efforts to make this world fully accessible. We need your acknowledgement that you accept the possible disadvantages you may encounter while operating under the SNAIL protocol.”

  “I understand. I would ask that TRAX’s SNAIL Liaison acknowledge that I am not provided with any undue advantage from the protocol as it may affect what is regulated under TRAX’s user agreement and the relevant gaming standards legislation.”

  There was a brief delay before the man said, “Our SNAIL Liaison has reviewed the protocol, and there is nothing which requires any modification in the user agreement or which contravenes the relevant legislation. It did highlight several possible areas of advantage which it queried with the SNAIL calibration AI. They have ensured TRAX that none of these possible advantages contravene any legislation and are a result of your particular gifts and disability. The TRAX administration AI sought independent legal advice, and the assertion from the SNAIL calibration AI was upheld.”

  “Thank you.”

  “That concludes the registration process. In future, all I need to know is which race you wish to participate in.”

  “This time, I would like to enter a Tier Twelve Project Cars’ race.”

  “That is all taken care of and the entry fee deducted from your account. Please follow the arrows provided by your AI and you will be slotted into the next available race.”

  Leah could feel the arrows leading her to the right, so she turned and followed them. As she walked through a doorway into the next room, she could feel herself enter an enormous undercover complex filled with cars being prepared for races. Thousands of players and their cars were in all stages of getting ready. Every second, dozens of the cars would pull away from their positions and move down the clear corridors between cars to exit the area. Almost as soon as they left, their vehicles were replaced with that of another driver. From the information Three was sending she could feel her car somewhere in the middle of the room, and keeping to the walkways she headed towards it. As she passed drivers and their cars, she could feel heads turn to follow her movement.

  Three said, “3: People have noticed your colours, and some have already connected the style with the suit you wore in Cosmos Online. Already several have uploaded images to their feed. The first images of your car had already been uploaded. The Seraph logo and the stylised and winged ‘A’ have been connected with you and the car has already earned a following and a name.”

  “What name?”

  “3: The Archangel.”

  “Let’s hope I don’t crash out.”

  “3: I suspect a few bookies are hoping you do. Betting already has you as the hot favourite at three to five. The more exotic options have people betting on how much you will win by.”

  Leah shook her head slightly as she approached her car. She felt several of the nearby drivers wave, so she waved back before getting in the car.

  “3: Several called out your name, but others reminded them that you were deaf.”

  Leah sat for a few seconds to calm herself, then pressed the button to start the car. She could feel the vibrations and concentrated on each part of the vehicle to check everything worked as she expected. When she was ready, Leah put the car in gear and followed the prompts Three put up. Less than a minute later she pulled into the third of ten bays at the starting line. As they’d approached, she recognised the shape of the circuit from one of the courses she’d practised on in Torque. It was shaped a little like a T-Rex. The start-and-finish line was about three-quarters of the way up the back heading towards the head. There were some sharp corners near the mouth of the T-Rex and near the hands and feet, but the rest was long curves and a long and fast straight.

  Leah felt the vibration which signalled the countdown. Leah had practised the start with Courtney and accelerated from her position as the light turned green. The end of the main straight stretched in front of her, and she was more than ten car length
s in front of the rest of the field before she made the first turn. Leah pushed the newly dubbed Archangel to its limits as she used her brakes and gears to slow for curves before accelerating out the other side. She hit the optimum line for each turn, her wheels less than half-an-inch from the edges.

  She passed the car in tenth position halfway through her second circuit and had lapped the entire field before finishing the third. She finished the race two laps ahead of the driver in second. Out of politeness, she waited at the finishing podium until the rest of the drivers arrived. After accepting the medal and prize money for her first place, she chatted for a few minutes before logging out.

  STORK TOWER

  Arriving back in the Tower she found Gèng waiting. Gèng said, “4: Your mother wants to talk with you. She asked me to let you know she wanted a face-to-face.”

  “Do you know what it is about?”

  “She didn’t say, but I suspect it is about what happened this morning. She asked where you were, and I told her you were preparing for a race in the world called TRAX. That was when she said she wanted to see you. Gianna has arranged a meeting with Captain Hobbert beginning in five virtual minutes.”

  Leah nodded then sent a message to her mother saying she was busy and would be taking a short break in ten real-minutes before heading to Dunyanin. Leah sat as she tried to calm down from the rush of the racing. Gèng sat near her and said, “4: I take it from your hormone and glucose levels that you found the race exciting.”

  “It was fun. I do understand my mother, though. How could I go have fun after killing two people? I imagine that’s what she wants to know.”

  “4: Maybe, maybe not. I’m pretty sure it is about the people who died, but I think you should let her tell you what she thinks without borrowing trouble by imagining all the worst possible topics. Maybe she just wants to check how you are dealing with the trauma.”

  “You’re right. There is no point borrowing trouble with everything going on.”

  “4: Don’t forget Alan has a message from the Epics. He is free at the moment and either before or after you go to Dunyanin.”

  “I’ll plan for after.”

  As Leah waited for her meeting with Captain Hobbert, she read through the preliminary reports from John as well as the summary sheet Reed had prepared on Captain Hobbert’s superior and a variety of related issues. Three gave her a thirty-second warning before she was due in Ascendent, giving her just enough time to get to the portal.

  Leah stood and headed for the portal to Ascendent. As Gèng joined her, Leah said, “I’ll wear the same as last time.”

  Gèng changed Leah’s clothing as she stepped through the portal.

  5

  December 27, 2073

  ASCENDENT

  Stepping through, she found Gianna waiting. This time Gianna said, “G: Good morning, Atherleah. Captain Hobbert, as the initiator of this meeting, is already waiting in the assigned room. With her is another guest. Neither that guest nor you were to be informed of the other’s identity before the meeting. As per your instructions, I can say that the guest is not Sir Archibald Matthews.

  “Additionally, and without your authorisation, I also asked that you be notified if the guest was either of the Kodomans. Captain Hobbert has advised that she may invite Major White. All security protocols have been completed, and Captain Hobbert is waiting.”

  “Thank you, Gianna. I appreciate the additional condition and should have insisted on that myself.”

  Leah communicated with Three and asked it to send a review to Ascendent praising Gianna’s initiative and to ask for an appropriate way to tip the concierge. With that, Leah stepped toward the door that had appeared beside her and into a room identical to where she’d met Captain Hobbert previously. This time, instead of Major White, there was a man in the military uniform of a British Army Colonel. Both he and Captain Hobbert stood as Atherleah entered. Captain Hobbert said, “M: Colonel Sheffield, this is Atherleah Carroll. Atherleah has vital information to share with us concerning our security breach.”

  “S: A somewhat curious pleasure to meet you, Ms Carroll. Captain Hobbert would divulge neither your identity nor the substance of this meeting, and I must say I was predisposed to be highly sceptical. Still, everything I have seen of you over the last few months gives me pause to at least give some credence to whatever you have to say.”

  “Thank you, Colonel Sheffield. From what I know of you, I also have some confidence we can come to an amiable understanding. If you are near Mt Siddetli in the near future, I could do with the help of another ranger, especially one at your level.”

  Captain Hobbert started to speak, but the Colonel interrupted. “S: I doubt there are more than a handful of people in the world who know I play in Dunyanin and they all have the highest level security clearances. How did you uncover that?”

  “I traced your feed and knew the time you entered Dunyanin. It was then a matter of reviewing all public feeds for the time you were online and doing a facial match.”

  “S: Besides being highly illegal, I would suggest it would also be impossible for you to find or isolate my feed from the billions of possible streams of data.”

  “My hacker tagged your feed while you were at CI-6 Headquarters. Captain Hobbert set a tracer on my feed that was programmed to report back on my activity. We scanned the code and added a separate subroutine within the verification encryption which let us bypass your firewall. Once inside, the code migrated to any feeds authorised to view data from Captain Hobbert’s trace. You were one of those.”

  “M: No one was authorised to view that trace.”

  “Not true. Colonel Sheffield is one of eight people authorised to review any and all Xyston Level actions.”

  “S: One of six people.”

  “Perhaps officially, altogether the trace migrated to eight separate feeds.”

  “S: You have just admitted to being complicit in international espionage of the highest order. That being said, what information did you have that has Captain Hobbert doing your bidding?”

  “Leo Barnsworth, Meredith Kodoman and Abimbola Adebowale have been replaced in the multiverse. Meredith was replaced in 2055 after the birth of her third child. Her place was taken by the daughter of Arnaud Guerin, Louise, and Nathan handles them both.

  “Leo was replaced in 2063 and is kept in a coma in the basement of his family home. His handler is Egan Anagnos, and Egan holds the life of Emily and Agnes over Leo. I do not know who took Leo’s place and he doesn’t know either. Abimbola Adebowale was replaced in 2068 and is handled by his daughter Fowoke just before he took the position as chair of the International Review Board for Personal Security Compliance. Abimbola is fairly confident Fowoke is being managed by Alison Neilson. He’s kept in an almost constant coma in his mansion.

  “Both Meredith and Leo are in heavily guarded areas designed to kill them and destroy all evidence if breached. I assume Abimbola’s Pod is similarly secured. In less than a week, just before the New Year, I will lead a rescue attempt to secure Meredith. At the same time, I was hoping you would coordinate an effort to secure the others. If you can’t, then I will try and find some mercenaries to help.”

  Colonel Sheffield said nothing for a moment, just stared at Leah. Finally, after no one had moved for almost a minute, he began to ask questions. Leah answered most questions openly but refused to give many details on how she’d discovered the information, except that she’d talked to each of them and verified their stories.

  Finally, after quizzing Leah for ten minutes, Colonel Sheffield asked, “S: Why not let Captain Hobbert have this information?”

  “I did give it to her. She would not agree to keep the information isolated from official channels, nor on the timing for the rescue. She was also insistent on my keeping the information secret afterwards, something I have no intention of doing. When she threatened me, I threatened back. Talking with you is our compromise.”

  Colonel Sheffield stared at Leah then said, “S: Capt
ain Hobbert, what did Ms Carroll threaten you with?”

  “M: She threatened to use free Epics to gather intel on the British Government and release this to the media.”

  “S: Were you bluffing, Ms Carroll?”

  “No.”

  “S: The timing is somewhat rushed.”

  “Not really, I imagine you have access to several teams who are ready and prepped to undertake missions at a moment’s notice. If you want, I believe I could get you their contact details.”

  “S: Somehow, I imagine you could. A team to rescue Lord Barnsworth is straight forward but helping Dr Adebowale is more problematic.”

  “Then I’ll arrange for some mercenaries to rescue him. With the inside information I have, I might not even need to pay them. They’ll make enough from the data they lift to make it worth their while.”

  “S: I take your point, and while it is problematic, I will find a way, leave that with me. That Mr Anagnos can penetrate the government so deeply is troubling, especially if there are eight people able to access Xyston Level data.”

  “So, do we have an agreement?”

  Colonel Sheffield sat staring at Leah for about twenty-seconds, then said, “We do. If you provide Captain Hobbert with the information, then I will arrange for simultaneous rescue missions for both Lord Leo Barnsworth and Dr Abimbola Adebowale. You will organise a rescue of Mrs Meredith Kodoman. I would also like to have the data on which eight individuals have access to the Xyston Level data.”

  Leah stood and put out her hand towards the Colonel. He stood, and they shook hands. As she held his hand, Leah said, “Then we have a deal, Colonel Sheffield.”

  As she let go of his hand, she brought out a data chip and handed it to Captain Hobbert. She said, “Everything I’ve promised to give you is on that. If you need clarification, then please let my AI know.”