The Intruder (24 page)

While he was waiting on the supervisor, he had nothing to do but survey the room. Just beyond the first arc of workstations he saw a man who seemed to be standing in the middle of the second arc. Jeremy assumed there was a gap in the workstations, hidden from his view, but then he noticed something odd. He closed his left eye to be sure. 

When Jeremy opened his eye again the man turned enough for Jeremy to see his face. It was the same man Hanna and MacKenzie had met at the Chocolate Bar that night; the man he had spied on for MacKenzie.

Almost as soon as Jeremy recognized him he looked up -- not at Jeremy, but in another direction. He appeared to be startled. Jeremy turned to see what he was looking at and thought he caught a glimpse of another net spy, a woman, but she vanished before he could be sure. His peripheral vision told him that the man was gone as well.

"Shut down these terminals and clear this room immediately," he said to the supervisor in a commanding voice. The supervisor looked at him in angry surprise. Jeremy didn't have time to get into a contest of wills.

To Lenzke. Urgent. Net spies seen in central computer area. Recommend immediate evacuation.

He made a quick visual sweep of the room as he sent the message, then systematically searched every square foot.  

"Everybody out," the supervisor called a moment later. "Move it. Move it," he yelled to his astonished staff.

*
             
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*

After Jeremy was convinced the area was free of net spies he left the main computer room and reported to Lenzke. The formerly quiet and well-ordered halls were now abuzz with activity. Workers were tearing the place down, almost recklessly. In a matter of minutes it seemed that hundreds of technicians were packing up the electronic equipment. Movers were dismantling desks. Cleaners were vacuuming and picking up discarded paraphernalia. Men in white suits followed with sophisticated scanning equipment, ensuring that not the smallest particle was left behind. When Jeremy arrived at Lenzke's office, the two of them were standing alone in a bare room. Only the carpet was left.

Lenzke questioned him carefully and at length about the event. Jeremy took offense at his brusque and somewhat prosecutorial manner, but when Lenzke was done with his questions he smiled and assured Jeremy that he had done the right thing.

"The bad news is that this will set us back a couple days at the least," Lenzke said, "and we've got some important operations going on." Jeremy could hardly believe the time estimate. Could they really move an entire office in a couple days?

"But the good news, for you at least, is that you're at liberty until further notice. There'll be no office for you to watch for a little while, so go have some fun." Lenzke smiled at him -- an odd smile, Jeremy thought. He was trying to be friendly, but the strain between them showed. 

Then the words sunk in. A couple days off? He hadn't expected that, but he shrugged his shoulders and headed for the door, beginning to like the idea that he could pick up and go anywhere he wanted without worrying about luggage, money or advance plans. And, despite his best efforts, he was almost beginning to like Lenzke.

*
             
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*

It was about 6:00 when Jeremy arrived at the Capitol University campus. Hanna and MacKenzie liked to eat dinner together in the dorm cafeteria, and, although he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of dormitory food after the gourmet meals he'd eaten for the last week, he really wanted to see them.

Getting into the cafeteria turned out to be easier than he thought. It was a woman's dorm, but the cafeteria was open to the public and there were quite a few men there. He didn't see Hanna or MacKenzie, but he needed to eat anyway. He ordered a plate of food, picked up a self-service cup of coffee, and took a seat. 

After a couple minutes -- far shorter time than he expected for a chicken pot pie -- he received the signal that his meal was done and he started toward the food dispensers. As he reached for his plate he felt someone brush against his shoulder, and then heard a sharp hiss. Before he had time to wonder about it, he began to feel dizzy. He turned to see what was going on and noticed a nurse beside him with a concerned expression. "Are you feeling okay, Mr. Mitchell," she said, and then he blacked out.

*
             
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*

Jeremy awoke, and before he even opened his eyes he realized he had a splitting headache. He groaned as he sat up and looked around the room. He was in an office, sitting in a comfortable, padded chair, and Hanna and MacKenzie were sitting opposite him on the other side of a large desk. They were both wearing eye patches. And then he noticed that he was as well.

"Hanna?" he said, and then grabbed his head and groaned again.

"Drink this." She offered him a small cup of bluish liquid. "It'll help your head." He took it and swallowed it in one gulp. "I'm sorry they had to do this to you, but we had to be safe. Listen to me, Jeremy, and trust me, okay? Don't send any messages to anyone for a little while. Not until you've heard what we have to say. Promise?"

Jeremy nodded and tried to sit up straight. Whatever she had just given him was sickeningly sweet and made him very thirsty. "Can I have some water?" he asked.

MacKenzie poured him a glass from a pitcher that was behind her on an inexpensive lamp stand. Jeremy realized that the headache and the thirst were an aftereffect of whatever his kidnappers had used to knock him out in the cafeteria. What was harder to understand was how Hanna and MacKenzie were involved.

"I'm really sorry, Jeremy," Hanna said again.

"So what's the deal?" he asked, trying to reconcile himself to the fact that his life was going to be complicated from now on. And perhaps that was fitting, he thought -- that trouble should pursue a man fleeing from justice.

Hanna shook her head. "It's a long story, but the bottom line is that you've fallen in with the bad guys."

Hanna and MacKenzie took it in turns to explain the VR tanks, the suits, and their trip with Duncan to the agency office. They were convinced now that Duncan was telling the truth: the hole had never been safe. The government had been using it to keep an eye on everybody, sometimes using the information their intruders discovered to manipulate public opinion, sometimes for the crass political goals of those in power, but most of their effort was directed toward keeping an eye on anyone who might be on to them, or who might try to disrupt the political situation.

Hanna told him about the incident in the control room, and she told him what she saw. One of the terminals was monitoring Daniel McMillan, a U.S. Congressman from the state of Illinois. He was the most likely man to run against the powerful senator from Illinois, Wanda Powell. Powell's ratings were dropping, but McMillan was a rising star. Powell was also the chairwoman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and she was hawkish towards China.

Jeremy vaguely recalled reading something about China. There had been growing tension with the United States, and many analysts believed that stability in the domestic political landscape was the best way to mollify the fears of some of the more radical Chinese factions. If Powell had her way, there would probably be a trade war with China, if not a shooting war, within months.

"So what does this have to do with anything?" Jeremy asked, still a little disoriented from the drugs.

"McMillan died of a stroke about an hour ago," she said.

"And you think the ...," he was about to say "the agency," but he caught himself. "You think the people in that room had something to do with it?"

"It would be a pretty fantastic coincidence otherwise, don't you think?" MacKenzie asked.

Jeremy was beginning to doubt coincidences.

Hanna explained that after they left the computer area, Duncan took them on a VR tour of some of his previous trips, which had been stored electronically to be used as evidence against the government.

What they saw was horrifying. Nearly all of the 23 people murdered in the District of Columbia over the last two years had been under surveillance. Duncan suspected that some of them were members of other underground organizations like the Millerites. Scores of other people had met untimely deaths from sudden heart attacks or strokes.

Jeremy hoped he would be offended at the suggestion, but he found such cold-blooded and ruthless tactics all too easy to believe, not only from his lessons at the agency, which spoke casually about neutralizing targets and eliminating security risks, but because it was what he had been raised to believe about Society anyway.

"So why don't you just go public with all of this?" he asked. "Broadcast it on the hole."

Hanna shook her head. "Duncan says that's the last resort. He's actually quite sensible about this thing. At first I thought he was a nut, but I'm growing to respect him a lot." Jeremy felt a flush of jealousy, but tried to suppress it.

"He says most people are being left alone," Hanna continued. "It's not as if things are that bad. We don't want to start a riot or anything. It's just that the government has assumed the role of the invisible hand, manipulating things -- by coercion, murder, whatever it takes -- to keep order."

"And now it seems that they're manipulating pretty serious stuff. If they want to keep Powell in power, that's not good news," MacKenzie added. After a few rocky decades of experimentation in the early parts of the century, with radical growth followed by equally radical contraction and isolation, China had finally found
its
own path to prosperity and had begun to assert itself throughout the western Pacific Rim and eastern Europe. There was some fear that Australia might be in jeopardy, and India was showing signs of sympathy with China's goals. The United States wasn't directly threatened, but U.S. interests in central Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa could be at stake.

"If Duncan were to go public with what he knows," Hanna continued, "there would be Pandemonium. Duncan thinks that would be a greater evil, and he's not willing to do it. Not yet, at least."

Jeremy brooded in silence. His headache made thinking painful, and he resented this guy Duncan's interference in Hanna's life. But he also had a keen sense of responsibility. He knew there were bigger issues involved. Like it or not, he was in the middle of it now, and he would have to do what was necessary.

"I'm not completely convinced," he said at last. "I'm not saying I doubt you," he continued, looking up and giving them both a serious look, "but I can't jump to conclusions about this. I've been wrong too many times in the last few weeks to make any hasty conclusions. I'm willing to keep an eye on things," he continued, "and I might even let you know what I find out, but don't count on it."

"That would be good," MacKenzie said. "Would it be too much to ask you to look the other way if you see us again?"

Jeremy nodded. "Until I've got a better handle on things, yes, it would be too much to ask. But if I find anything, or make up my mind, how should I contact you? If the hole is compromised, it's likely they're watching me as well: if not out of suspicion, just as a general security procedure." In fact, he knew that they were, but he didn't feel the need to disclose that.

"Write letters," Hanna said. "We still have a postal service, you know."

"Just remember to keep your left eye closed when you write, or turn off your implant," MacKenzie added. "They can only monitor what somebody with an implant sees. Understand?"

"Yeah, I think so," Jeremy said, and then noticed something else on Hanna's face. "Is there anything else I need to know."

"Dr. Berry's involved with this somehow," she said. "Duncan's been keeping an eye on her. It seems incredible, after what she put you through, but he thinks she might be working for you -- I mean, for the group you're in."

Jeremy tried not to show his reaction to that comment.

"Yeah, we know," MacKenzie said. "You can't say anything. She's not directly involved with the intruders at all. Or that's the way it seems. Duncan does computer work for her, and he's been snooping through her files. He can't find anything to link her to the intruders. She's involved somehow, but he's not sure how. Keep an eye out for her."

"I have a question," Jeremy said. "Why did Duncan want to kidnap me at the hospital?" he asked. "Was he trying to recruit me?"

"It wasn't Duncan who did that," Hanna said quickly, and somewhat defensively. "But it was someone ... connected with him." She looked up apologetically. "I can't tell you everything."

Jeremy studied her face in silence. "I've got to think about that some more," he said, "but right now I'm starving. You had your goons interrupt my dinner, you know." Hanna smiled.

"Okay, let's eat. But don't forget this," MacKenzie said, holding out a small, metallic box.

"What is it?" Jeremy asked.

"This is a dark box. It blocks communications to the bug you were wearing when we caught you, which is inside."

Jeremy didn't understand, but it was clear that Hanna and MacKenzie were watching his face carefully to see how he would react.

"Oh, I see," he said after a minute. "You weren't sure if I knew I was wearing that thing?"