it to find his worm?”
“Hard. I don’t think anyone else could have spotted it.”
“But you think Jarren is hoping that by spreading the power outages over five nights, we won’t think to look for a worm.”
“Yes.”
“Can you stop it?”
“Maybe, but if I do, it might alert Jarren.”
“And he’ll try another tactic to kill us.” Radcliff scrubs a hand over his face. “What’s the perimeter of tonight’s blackout?”
I grab the portable and pull up a map of the base. Then I connect with the Q-net—it’s getting easier to do—and have it show the areas for each night in different colors. I hand the device to Radcliff.
He studies it. “I don’t think we can contain the HoLFs past the stairwell. We’re going to have to risk you warning Jarren.”
“I said I might be able to disable his worm.”
“I’ve complete confidence in you.”
No pressure.
“All right.” Then I get an idea. “We could send a bunch of panicked messages to DES to distract him during that time. Have you contacted them since Jarren found our escape tunnel?”
“No.”
“You might not be able to.”
“You think Jarren closed the tunnel.”
“Yes, and that’s probably why he’s trying to get the HoLFs to kill us, so we don’t find another way to contact DES. The timing makes sense.”
Beau shows up. “Did you tell him?” he asks me.
“Yes. He knows about the four days.”
“What about the file?”
“I forgot.” And when they both look at me, I say, “I’m sorry but only having four days to live has me quite distracted.” I fill Radcliff in on the Q-net file. “I’ll send it to my parents through their portables, they’re the best ones to read through it and see if there’s anything useful.” Of course I plan to examine a copy as well, but no need to mention that.
“Good. I’ll go update your parents and discuss options,” Radcliff says, but makes no signs of leaving. Instead, he’s gazing at his son.
Oh. I release Niall’s hand and slide off the edge of the bed. Then I hook my arm in Beau’s and tow him to the hallway.
“What are you doing?” Beau asks.
I point my chin through the glass window. Radcliff is standing next to Niall’s bed, resting his hand on his son’s head.
“Oh.” Beau stops resisting. “Any improvement in his condition?”
“No.”
We go further down the hall and stop. I fill him in on the part of the conversation he missed.
“I hate that guy,” Beau just about growls. “Jarren has balls to threaten us. I can’t wait to see Radcliff cut them off and feed them to him.”
“Actually, after learning Jarren’s responsible for Niall’s injuries, I’d like to be the one to feed him his balls.”
Beau claps me on the back. “That’s my partner.”
“Are you two conspiring?” Radcliff asks, joining us.
“Always, sir,” Beau says.
“Should I be worried, Officer Dorey?”
“Not you, sir.” Beau and I share an evil little grin.
“I’m not going to ask. Dorey, you’re with me. Lawrence, check if we still have our connection to DES and take a closer look at Jarren’s worm. I want to know how much time it will take for you to disable it.”
“Yes, sir. Should I try to reach DES again if we don’t have contact?”
“No. Hold off on doing anything for now. Message me as soon as you find out.”
“Yes, sir.”
They continue down the hall and I return to Niall’s room. He hasn’t moved and he still looks like he’s one step away from death. Feeding Jarren his own balls is going too easy on him. I check the screen, but Niall’s vitals are the same. I kick off my boots and lie next to Niall.
“How about a bribe?” I ask him. “You can help me castrate Jarren, but only if you wake up.” Nothing. Not even a twitch. “Think about it, but not too long or you’ll miss all the action.” I reclaim his hand. “All right, I’m going into the Q-net.” Keeping up a running commentary, I explain everything I’m doing as I first send Lan’s file to my parents’ portables and erase all evidence of it in the Q-net. Then I take a closer look at Jarren’s worm.
Complex just doesn’t do it justice. And it doesn’t feel…right. There’s layers here that are like one of those optical illusions. They appear to do one thing, but then it switches to another. Confusing. It’s going to take me hours to figure out how it works before I can even start unraveling it.
Unless I embrace the crazy and ask the Q-net for help. Why not? I