Scene 13
The Vancouver-to-New York translocation terminal was almost as busy at 8 pm as it was during the day, but the travelers had changed from men and women in business attire to uniformed watchmen, policemen, and a fair portion of dressed-up Vancouver socialites heading for adventure among New York's high-class nightlife. Anna and Ivana had to wait in a sizeable line, and it was nearly midnight Eastern Time when they finally arrived in the Big Apple. ¨Now what?¨ Ivana asked, a tone of apprehension in her voice. She looked like she was starting to give some serious thought to the logistics of the situation and realizing that it might be impossible.
¨We go to my place in Albany to prepare,¨ replied Anna. ¨Don't worry about getting in. I've got that figured out.¨ Ivana shrugged, unconvinced but not willing to argue since she didn't have any decent suggestions of her own. She followed Anna out of the cross-country section of the terminal and into the local wing, getting into a short line of other people going upstate.
Within minutes they were at the main terminal of Albany; from there, a fifteen-minute walk brought them to Anna's apartment, a cozy place in an old brick building that looked more like it belonged to a 20th-century radio hobbyist than a gladiator. There were old parts and wires spread around several tables in the living room, and reconstructed radios of all different kinds and eras adorned the rest of the apartment. Ivana knew the place well and loved its anachronistic ambience. She also knew that many of those radios did a lot more than just look interesting. Anna was an expert at retrofitting old devices with new receivers and transmitters so they could pick up or send phone and ´net traffic. These had the advantage of being generally difficult to trace, unlike every new electronic device sold in stores; they all came with tracking codes attached to their signal.
Upon entering, Anna walked purposefully through the living room and into her small training center, stopping in front of the equipment closet. She opened it and pulled all the workout and training clothes on the rack to the left side, twisting the dowel they hung on. Ivana watched with interest as a sizeable panel, maybe three feet square, popped out of the wooden right wall of the closet, revealing a compartment within. Despite their closeness, Anna had never told her about this. Her teammate turned to face her.
¨I've got some stuff in here that civilians aren't supposed to have…. gear, and information. I know we're friends, and I trust you, but the less you know the better for both of us. Ok? Most of it has nothing to do with what we're doing tonight anyhow.¨
Ivana nodded her understanding. ¨Mum's the word. I'll just go get a snack while you get the stuff together.¨
¨Thanks.¨
A few minutes later, whileIvana was munching on a microwaved bean burrito in the kitchen, Anna appeared with her arms full of gear. She carried a bundle of black clothes under one arm, and two equipment belts plus their Tournament team comm devices dangled from the other hand. She was already dressed up in Infiltrator gear – black, one-piece clothing that looked almost like a wetsuit but made from ¨soft kevlar¨, astretchy, flexible materialthat stopped most lower-caliber fire. It also had small interlocking plates of carbonium sewn into parts of the chest, back, legs, and arms. Ivana had never gotten the chance to use this kind of gear, although she'd read about it. It had sounded awesome. Now she could see that it looked awesome in real life.
Anna noted Ivana's impressed look and gave her an apologetic grin. ¨Sorry Ivana, there's only one of these, and you're too tall.¨ She tossed her teammate the clothes she held, which, upon closer inspection, looked like cold-weather neoprene bicycling gear. Ivana didn't say anything, but she must have had a what-the-hell-is-this look on her face, because Anna added hastily, ¨It's better than it looks. I added some soft kevlar pads in the thighs, chest, and back. Not ideal, but for someone with my history it pays to be a little paranoid.¨
Ivana sighed. ¨Right. But you're taking point. What have we got on the belts?¨
¨Mini-cutters, titanium cord, your standard big-ass knife, and…¨ she tapped a small canister next to the knife, ¨sleep spray. Make sure to aim it away from your own face.¨
Ivana took the belt as Anna handed it over. ¨Don't worry, I've used them before. Do you think we'll have to this time?¨
¨With luck, we won't need any of this stuff. But no harm being prepared.¨
¨No sidearm?¨
¨Too loud, and we're not going to kill anyone anyways.¨
¨Yeah. Hey listen, I've kept my mouth shut up to this point, but now I really have to ask… how do you propose to get us into the facility?¨
¨Just a sec.¨ Anna went into the living room and picked up two translocator beacon wrist launchers from the table. ¨We're getting in with these.¨
Ivana was disappointed. ¨C'mon Anna, you know their perimeter security will just detect us the moment we cross the wall. And anyways, where are the beacons?¨
Anna smiled triumphantly. ¨Where, indeed?¨ She tossed Ivana one of the launchers. ¨Put that gear on. I'll be waiting.¨ She touched a button on the launcher and was gone.
Ivana got over her surprise quickly, and jumped into the bicycling gear (at least Anna had removed the reflective strips), pulling on the black neoprene face mask that was rolled up in the pants before buckling on her belt and wrist launcher. She took a deep breath and punched the button to translocate.