Scene 6
"Taggart," Carter waved him over to where they were sitting. Emily followed, looking a little uncomfortable.
"Sorry to interrupt your breakfast," Carter apologized to her, "but we've got a bat problem that we're hoping Taggart can help with."
"Bats?" asked Taggart. "Can't say I know much about bats."
"It's the B.O.U.S. project, the one Kwon was running after your geese drones were discontinued," Fargo explained.
"Ah, the reconnaissance drones!" Taggart pulled out a chair for Emily and then dropped into one of his own, bending forward eagerly. "That was a great project. I was sorry to see it end. So when Kwon took it over, he started developing bats? That'd be good for night-time work."
"Bats would make great spies," Emily said thoughtfully.
"Why is that?" asked Carter.
"They're found world-wide. Bats are almost everywhere, so they'd never be noticeable. A Canadian goose would attract rather a lot of attention in say, China or North Korea. Bats…" she shrugged. "There are probably at least a dozen species native to North Korea, and China's got even more than that. A good bat drone could pass unnoticed."
"These bats are pretty noticeable," Jo said. "I mean apart from the part where they blew up a barn, they've got some sort of psychological weapon thing happening."
Taggart and Emily looked interested, but Fargo looked unconvinced and Jo narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm serious," she insisted. "I barely saw the thing and it was…my heart was racing, I was ready to fight. There was no reason for me to feel like that."
"Hmm, I wonder if Dr. Kwon was experimenting with frequencies," Emily said peacefully.
"Frequencies? What do you mean?" As always, Carter was first to ask the question.
"Well, if he made the drones bats, he was probably using echolocation for his mapping, right?"
"Sure," said Taggart, enthusiastically. "Sound maps, excellent idea."
Fargo nodded. "Yes, that's right. The bats use sound instead of light or heat to generate images."
"How does that work?" asked Carter.
Fargo shrugged. "It's like sonar. You send the sound wave out, and when it comes back, you can learn all kinds of information about what it hit on its way. Sound waves are slow so we mostly use sonar underwater, because in the air, radio waves are more efficient. Radar, in other words. But radar is detectable, and it can be jammed. As an unnoticeable way of mapping something in the dark, sound is efficient."
"Couldn't we hear it, though?" Carter asked.
All the scientists at the table shook their heads.
"No point in making a bat spy drone that you could hear," said Fargo.
"It'd use frequencies outside of the range of human hearing," Taggart added. "Just like real bats."
"Well, maybe not just like real bats," Emily added. "Real bats use high-frequencies. If these drone bats were using infrasound instead, it might feel…well, scary."
"Ooh, cool," Fargo looked enthusiastic.
"What does that mean?" asked Jo.
"Infrasonic sound is really low frequency sound. It's still outside the range of human hearing, but it induces feelings of nervousness and anxiety in human beings," Emily explained patiently. "Some people describe it as causing chills down the back of the spine, that kind of thing."
"Mystery solved," said Jo, triumphantly. "Now we just have to figure out how to catch the bats."
"Bat catching, eh? You know, I've caught a lot of animals in my time, but I can't say as I've ever tried to hunt bats. Not too many bats in the Arctic." Taggart scratched his chin, looking thoughtful.
"Well, there's also that small matter of the explosion and the dead scientist," Carter pointed out.
"Right," Jo nodded. "But maybe the explosion doesn't have anything to do with the bats. If Dr. Kwon was experimenting with frequencies, maybe he was experimenting with other things as well. Let's call Andy and see if he's found any interesting chemical traces in the wreckage." She pulled out her phone and dialed as Carter and Taggart and Emily started discussing ways to capture bats.
The phone rang. And rang. And rang.
Jo hung up with a frown. "No answer," she said.
"No answer?" Carter looked surprised. He pulled out his own phone and pressed a button. A minute later, he hung up, frowning.
"He should be out at the barn," Carter said thoughtfully. "Maybe we should head out there."
Jo nodded. "Let me get a refill on my coffee. Anyone else?"
"We'll order breakfast in a bit," Taggart answered, looking at Emily. She smiled and shook her head no at Jo, as did Carter.
"I'm good," Fargo waved her off.
Jo stood and crossed to the counter. Leaning on it, she waited for Vincent to finish what he was doing.
The bell on the door jingled and she glanced over to see who was coming in. It was Zane. He looked disheveled, distracted and disarmingly attractive, and her mouth curved in a welcoming smile. When he was out of her sight, she could feel stressed and anxious about this burgeoning relationship, but when she saw him, all such thoughts disappeared, and he was just..hers. Her guy.
She opened her mouth to say hello, but before the words could leave her mouth…
"Just the person I wanted to see," Zane said enthusiastically, as he brushed past her.
Jo paused in shock. Then she turned back to Vincent. "Did that just happen?" she asked him.
"Ah, Zane blew you off in favor of Fargo?" Vincent said doubtfully. "Um, yes." He looked as perplexed as she felt.
"Sonoluminescence," Zane said, holding out his tablet to Fargo.
"Bubble fusion? No way!" Fargo grabbed the tablet and started reading. "No way, not possible."
