Chương 7
Mara checked the nearby equipment alcove.
Empty.
Hale examined the panel.
“Seal is broken.”
Mara saw it.
A thin numbered security tag had been cut and replaced so carefully the damage disappeared unless viewed from the side.
“When was this corridor last inspected?”
“Before lockdown.”
“By whom?”
“Base communications staff.”
“We need names.”
“Yes.”
She watched him remove nothing and touch nothing.
Good.
At the bottom of the rack, behind a power conditioner, a small black module had been taped inside the cabinet.
Silver letters on one corner.
J-4.
Hale sat back on his heels.
For several seconds he said nothing.
Mara watched his face.
“You said destroyed.”
“I know.”
“Is that yours?”
“I don’t know.”
“Look at me.”
He did.
“Is it yours?”
“It may have been.”
The answer moved through her like cold water.
“What does that mean?”
“Authority modules were assigned by serial. I have not seen mine in almost sixteen years.”
“Would you recognize it?”
“Not without the serial.”
Mara keyed her radio.
“Owen, we found a J-4 module. Do not touch any system associated with comms rack three. Log the discovery and send the location with the next external burst.”
“Copy.”
A pause.
Then Owen added, “Commander?”
“Yes?”
“The camera freeze began at 2208.”
Six minutes before the unauthorized JANUS query.
“Who entered the corridor before that?”
“I’m reconstructing badge logs.”
“Tell me before you tell anyone else.”
Hale looked at her.
She realized what she had said.
So did he.
Mara keyed the radio again.
“Correction. Tell Mercer first.”
Owen said nothing for half a beat.
“Copy.”
Hale stood.
“You don’t have to become perfect because I disappointed you.”
Mara stared at him.
“That sounded almost wise.”
“It was not intended to.”
“You hid evidence connected to five deaths.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re giving me professional advice.”
“No. I’m telling you what people like me do after we realize someone we trusted failed. We become stupid in the opposite direction.”
Mara’s grip tightened on her pistol.
“Go back to the room.”
He nodded.
At 0112, Owen reconstructed the badge logs.
The emergency communications corridor had been accessed by eleven people during the previous six hours.
Most were surface support personnel rotating through storm tasks.
Only three remained in the bunker.
Mara.
Hale.
Owen.
Rourke had not entered it.
Helen had not entered it.
Mara had walked through once at 2049 with a security chief before the full lockdown.
Hale entered at 2116 to take an emergency call.
Owen entered at 2205.
Three minutes before the cameras froze.
Nobody spoke.
Owen stared at the log.
His face went white.
Rourke shifted in his chair.
Helen’s voice softened.
“Owen.”
“I was fixing the communications monitor.”
“What exactly did you do?”
“I reset a fault on the low-bandwidth relay.”
“Did you open the cabinet?”
“Yes.”
Mara’s hand stayed near her holster.
Owen saw it.
That hurt him.
She watched it happen.
“I didn’t put anything in there.”
“When did you leave?”
“About 2210.”
“The cameras froze at 2208.”
“I know.”
“Who else was with you?”
“No one.”
“What did you touch?”
“The relay controller. Power conditioner. Two patch lines.”
“Did you see the J-4 module?”
“No.”
Hale said, “Could it have been behind the conditioner?”
“Yes.”
“Then you could have missed it.”
Owen turned on him.
“Thanks.”
“I’m not defending you. I’m answering the question.”
Owen looked at Mara.
“I didn’t do this.”
“I heard you.”
“That’s not the same as believing me.”
“No.”
His face tightened.
He nodded once and looked away.
It was the right answer.
Mara still hated giving it.
Helen ordered him away from all terminals.
That left them with nobody in the room who could safely continue the technical review.
Rourke said, “I can.”
“No,” four people answered.
He leaned back.
“Good meeting.”
For fifteen minutes they did almost nothing.
The storm had weakened slightly, though wind still struck the base hard enough to make the emergency ventilation pulse.
Mara stood beside the glass table.
Owen sat against the far wall, hands empty and visible.
Hale remained near the coffee station.
Rourke asked for water.
Helen gave it to him.
Then Rourke looked at Owen.
“What was wrong with the relay?”
Owen frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if someone wanted you in that corridor, they needed a reason.”
Mara looked up.
Owen stared at the floor, replaying it.
“A low-bandwidth fault.”
“What kind?”
“Heartbeat loss.”
“Real?”
“I assumed.”
“Logs?”
“I would have to access the terminal.”
“No.”
Rourke nodded slowly.
“Was there an audible alarm?”
“No. Maintenance flag.”
“Who assigned it?”
“The system.”
Rourke’s eyes shifted toward Hale.
“JANUS can issue maintenance flags?”
Hale said, “Legacy versions could.”
The room became quiet.
Owen stood too quickly.
Mara’s hand moved.
He froze.
“Sorry.”
She lowered her hand.
He swallowed.
“If the system generated the maintenance flag, someone could have used JANUS to send me there.”
“Or you could have generated it yourself,” Helen said.
Owen’s face fell.
“Yes.”
Rourke studied him.
“You don’t seem clever enough.”
Owen stared at him.
“That may be the nicest thing you’ve said to me.”
This time even Hale smiled.
Only briefly.
The next external communications burst arrived at 0219.
A cyber response team had received their evidence summary. Weather still prevented air movement, but a hardened ground convoy was preparing to enter the base after first light if roads cleared.
The team instructed them to power down the communications rack containing the J-4 module without removing the module itself.
Doing so would cut their low-bandwidth external link.
Helen approved.
They sent one final status message.
Then Mara pulled the breaker.
The bunker became an island.
At 0243, Grant Hale asked Mara if he could speak to her privately.
“No.”
“Fair.”
He poured coffee into a fresh paper cup.
“Then I’ll say it here.”
Helen looked up from her notes.
Rourke appeared asleep, though Mara doubted it.
Owen sat near the wall.
Hale held the cup with both hands.
May you like
“Amaranth was not altered to conceal a bad source.”
Mara’s chest tightened.
