rewind the feed and watch what you’ve missed. You can speed it up. Since you are here, I doubt you’ll see anything at this time of night. Questions?”
Yeah, like why are you being such a bitch? “How do you know if anyone tries to tamper with the feeds?” I ask instead.
“Unless they flash black or ripple you can’t know for sure, but Dorey has secured them.”
Her answer fails to reassure me. “Can you stay another couple of minutes so I can make sure they’re showing live feed?” And that no one has altered the special security loop.
She glares. “Dorey—”
“Is very good, but worming into camera feeds is super easy and I’d feel better knowing they were secure.”
Tora folds her arms and huffs. “I’m sure if I refuse, you’ll run to Radcliff and whine about it. Make it quick.”
I’m torn between calling her out for her nasty comment and not upsetting her further—she might just be exhausted. With no time for drama, I hurry. Beau’s office is unlocked. No surprise since the camera room is the only way into his domain, and it’s always monitored. I insert my tangs, sit at his desk and access the Q-net. Worming through all the security Beau heaped around the cameras, I check to ensure they are indeed showing our base at the current time and date. They are. And just to be on the safe side, I ensure the closed loop is still inaccessible to everyone except me, Radcliff, and Beau. It is. Then I hurry to set up an alarm in case a worm tries to alter any of our cameras.
“Happy now?” Tora leaves before I can answer another snide question.
I am happier, thanks for asking. Scanning the screens, I watch a few dedicated scientists—probably techs—still working. A couple people are in the halls. Most are heading back to their units. Nothing moves outside the base. Not even a breeze stirs the sand. All is quiet in the security area.
After an hour of nothing, I’m bored. I wonder why there’s no terminal in here. Keeping an eye out for intruders would be easier through the Q-net. In fact, the Q-net could do this job.
To keep awake as I scan the feeds, I consider how to make it work. My parents have pictures of everyone who has been assigned to the planet. The Q-net could sound an alarm if an unfamiliar face appeared. But what about fights or crimes? That’s extremely rare in a research base, but sometimes when the chemists mix up a batch of hooch they can get rowdy. I puzzle out how to set up a protocol for the Q-net for those cases. Maybe I could convince Radcliff to let the Q-net monitor the feeds so the officers would get a break. But what about the closed loop? Hmmm. I could write a standard plug and chug program to check the loop.
The best part of my shift is when Niall arrives. Freshly showered, his wet hair is combed back and he smells like shampoo and sage grass. The desire to hug him pushes on my body, but even though no one can see us, we’re in uniform and we made a promise.
“How did your first shift go?” he asks.
“Uneventful.” I gesture at the monitors. “Not even an inappropriate liaison that I could gossip about.”
“Pity. But that’s how it goes for most of security. Long periods of boredom, followed by intense action, then back to boredom.”
“Similar to archeology. Lots of grunt work with discoveries few and far between.”
“Then you should be used to this.”
I yawn.
“Go to bed, Mouse. I’ve got this.”
I tell him about the Q-net alarm I set up.
“You don’t think Beau’s measures are enough?”
“I bypassed them in a few minutes without using my security clearance. Jarren could do it faster.”
“Wow. I’m wide awake now. Could Jarren slip by your alarm?”
“It’s subtle. I wove it through a few layers, but we didn’t call him the super worm for nothing.”
“Not helping.”
“Jarren won’t be looking for it. Not with all of Beau’s safeguards. And not if he believes I’m dead.”
“Better.”
I say good night and head back to my unit. My conversation with Niall replays in my mind and I wonder just how…integrated Jarren is in our communications to DES. I assume he’s been monitoring them, deleting the ones that report on his attack and activities. Perhaps there’s a way to bypass him or to hide the information so he doesn’t stop that file. I’m sure he has a list of words that will