Chapter 4 – Electric Eye
Erik was profoundly exhausted. Throughout the night, he had chosen obscure dirt roads and even narrow paths that had required all his concentration to not fall over with the bike. When he had refueled, he had half expected black helicopters rising up from behind the gas station any moment. But now he was back on the outskirts of the city, with no sign of trouble around him.
The cell phone beep alerted him. He read the short message and it didn't tell him anything he couldn't already have guessed.
Assault by government force. For sure.
He considered whether it was safe to return to his apartment, or if he should be heading north to his cabin immediately. First option was certainly more pleasant. Just a short visit to do the most necessary things.
Erik understood now how foolishly he had flirted with getting exposed and caught. Even flying the IAC just for the hell of it. But somehow the government agencies hadn't activated properly until now. Why? To first let the ex-Agents into a sense of false safety and to make them make mistakes?
He considered if he should tell Kim anything, or even take contact at all. Strictly speaking from her last behavior she didn't deserve to know, and probably didn't even want to.
Fuck. Suddenly life had a new meaning. That was a Burzum quote.
...
They were in the recording room. Russ knew nothing yet. Ian couldn't remember when he had last seen Jo this freaked out. That, and the implications of what she was telling, were honestly tearing him apart, but he wanted to control himself. As a last resort he could use dissociation. He was not absolutely sure whether he still could enter the state, as it had been long.
He forced himself to analyze the situation rationally.
"So, the warning was sent out. Means that Mad Dog's guys didn't reset the timer. Of course it could be for any reason, but I don't want to take any chances. So you're right we have to assume it's a serious reason," Ian said.
"We have to assume Torzu and Gorehound are caught, and they're spilling their guts just now," Jo replied, agitated.
Ian thought Jo probably meant "beans" instead, but guts certainly sounded more extreme. He considered. They all had trained together in Mad Dog's HQ, and the two certainly knew the identities of him, Jo, Erik. He had to assume that one way or another, they would eventually crack under interrogation. So, to tell the truth, Jo had every right to freak out.
"If I stay here, I'll put Dad at risk. And if I run, I have to assume they'll eventually use him to flush me out," she continued.
Ian wished he could come up with something to bring Jo comfort. But there were little options. Her reasoning could not be faulted in this case either.
"Could be time to contact the rest of the Agents. Or Hermann Grieg. More brain power to figure this out. I remember Hermann promised his help if any of us got into trouble just for saving the world. Though – they could be compromised too. And any contact or movement is a risk in itself. Fuck. It's hard."
Jo put hands on Ian's shoulders, and appeared suddenly more calm.
"It's not like you have to solve this right now. Or alone. It's my mess really. Remember, I made the choice to go with the Shadow Unit guys."
Damn. It shouldn't go this way around, her comforting him. But still, Ian appreciated the gesture, that Jo did not want him to feel any excess pressure. Ian knew of course, that his thinking was old-fashioned. That he'd always want to protect Jo from any danger, that it was always his primary responsibility. Though it was hard to fight how he felt, and to tell the truth he had brought the danger to her. Repeatedly.
Jo appeared to think some more.
"If I stay, I can protect Russ. Or when necessary, I leave the studio with him and we go on the run together. Meanwhile, if you need to get on the road to meet others, you do just that. I initially thought I should trash this phone, but I was just freaking out unnecessarily. It's still safest to use the Agent channels if we need to say in touch. I remember how Blowfish explained it, that the messages are constantly being routed differently."
"That sounds good. Better than anything I can come up with right now."
Jo kissed him quickly and left the room, possibly to explain things (in some censored version) to Russ, and Ian was left wondering. Usually it was always him who displayed excess affection. Though she had appeared to calm herself down, Jo was probably not just freaked out, but deeply terrified in a way she had never been. Ian knew the punishment for her misdeeds at Area 51 would certainly be capital.
It could be that she thought these were possibly their last moments together. But Ian did not want to inquire further, to actually verify it, because it could only bring more anguish. Ian even thought something absurd, that Jo would necessarily never have needed to go to Area 51. If she had stayed out of danger, living with Fury in her head could have become more tolerable with time.
But fuck. No. He certainly couldn't wish Jo that. Even going on the run was better.
...
Kim had progressed to the phase where the bass guitar did not disgust her that severely any more. She was lying on the worn sofa, that made her cramped flat even more cramped and honestly she had wanted to throw it out many times, improvising primitive doom metal riffs. They were not inspired. Nothing felt inspiring.
It wasn't just because of thinking of Erik. To be honest she had not thought about him much. But she felt a lack of purpose, that had come after the soul corruption incident. If she briefly thought back to Erik, he had explained feeling that also.
To be honest, this whole line of thinking sounded like an invitation to insanity. Did she really need to be saving the world to feel purpose? Like, all the time? No. Doom metal had to be enough. She just needed to find her way again.
After playing for some more, Kim checked the fridge. She was out of mostly everything. A trip to the grocery store was necessary, though in her current mood seeing people was mostly intolerable. Well, she could tune them out to a degree.
Though she could easily walk to the nearest store, Kim thought of rather driving some distance away to clear her thoughts. She could also make some unnecessary dangerous overtaking manoeuvres and listen to the radio too loud and check whether that made her feel alive. Of course, that could end badly, as the piece of crap car wouldn't allow much. Well, she just needed to keep herself somewhat in check.
...
The observation crew inside their unmarked van across the street watched the subject enter her vehicle, the yellow-black Smart Fortwo.
"Subject is leaving. Should we trail?" the operator asked. On this occasion Sebastian was on the other end, and appeared to be overseeing the surveillance directly. The operator thought it was unusual, but maybe Sebastian had a suspicion the subject would be doing something especially significant today.
"Yes, but discreetly," came the answer. "Do not let her know you're there."
...
Sebastian had the feeling that things were being put into motion just now. Like pieces of some unknown machinery. He just did not know their purpose yet. And sometimes he had an odd premonition of things happening before they actually did. As he thought this, his cell phone rang. It had happened again! This call was from another crew of technicians, those in charge of handling the Area 51 material.
"Live recognition produced a result. We have identified a subject on a motorcycle. Male, tall, heavily built. Ninety-five percent confidence. We have his current location and are tracking him through the traffic cams."
"Good. Carry on."
Sebastian knew he had to get a helicopter in the air now. The cameras alone were not enough, if the man decided to do something sudden. Things were almost happening too fast, and he felt the adrenaline begin to rise.
Possibly this was the turning point for the case, or both cases, to begin unravelling.