another place that might provide an escape. Jarren’s been poking around in our camera feeds. Maybe we can find where he’s coming in from, I say.
Won’t work. He doesn’t leave a trail.
But the Q-net picked up on it. Let’s at least look in the clusters for the feeds.
Waste of time. But he trails me to those clusters.
The feeds appear to be undisturbed. However, I catch a glimpse of a smudge on the alarms. It reminds me of fingerprints smeared on glass.
See that? I ask Beau. I scan for more.
What?
I explain.
Nope.
Concentrating on the smudges, I try to make them visible to Beau. No luck. We leave the feeds and work for the next couple of hours to find another way through without success. A part of me suspects we’re not approaching this the right way. However, the rest of me has no clue what is the correct way.
Perhaps if I think of it from Jarren’s point of view. How would I block an entire planet? The Q-net is such a vast network. Lots of pathways, which is why we thought Jarren had to miss at least one, leaving it open. Jarren has to be able to access DES. If we could find him, then use his link, that might work. Except we’re trying to avoid him. This would be like knocking on his door and asking to use his terminal. Plus how do we find him?
The answer pops into my head. By following his fingerprints!
Too dangerous, Beau says after I tell him my idea.
There’s nothing left to try.
There’s always another option. Think harder, Lawrence.
Can we at least locate him? The nightmare image of his bubble around Yulin flashes in my mind.
Silence. You can try.
Progress! I angle so the smears are “visible.” Direction is dodgy in the Q-net, but, to me, going deeper into our camera feeds is “down,” so the opposite way is toward Jarren. Yeah, not the most scientific. Concentrating on the fingerprints, I worm through the upper layers. After an hour, I’m better at spotting them. I increase my speed. One quirk of worming is it’s never a direct path. Finding gaps and cutting through clusters is always a roundabout route.
Another quirk is not always knowing right away when you get to the end. Which is why I barreled straight into Jarren’s blockade, setting off the alarms.
Stars!
Nine
2522:209
The alarms don’t wail like in the real world, but they alert Jarren in seconds. We don’t have enough time to retreat. A message appears from an unknown source, but I’ll bet it’s the murdering looter.
2522:209: Looks like I caught a worm. Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?
I panic, remembering my last encounter with Jarren.
I got this, Beau says.
2522:209: This is Officer Beau Dorey from Planet Yulin. I order you to identify yourself and remove this illegal blockade at once.
>>You security officers sure like to order people around. I’m curious, does it give you a hard-on? I must admit you discovered my blockade sooner than I like. The little worm must have taught you something useful before her unfortunate demise.
My unfortunate demise? I was murdered by him and he doesn’t have the balls to acknowledge that. I get the mental equivalent of a “calm down” from Beau.
<>It’s cute how you keep yapping at me like a little puppy dog. I’m not going to do anything of the sort, Officer Dorey.
<>Good luck with trying to reach DES. Even if you had your little worm, you’d still be stuck. Don’t worry about getting bored. You’ll soon have more important things to worry about.
<>No, I’m warning you, you dolt. Not that it will matter in the end. Good-bye, Officer Dorey.
Jarren retreats and, without thought, I follow, trailing him along the complex path he takes to avoid getting caught in his own traps. I’m moving on pure instinct, hoping he doesn’t spot me. Jarren navigates a series of clusters and then threads his way through an intricate, and fascinating, maze of alarms and programs. I hate to say this, but it’s a thing of beauty.
And then, he’s gone. He slips out so fast, I can’t pinpoint the exact location. But I scan the programming and spot his fingerprints. After a careful inspection, I track him, moving so slow that a glacier melts quicker. I discover a tiny breach in the blockade.
Yes! You’d