When the excitement of Connor's loss of dignity dying down, the three of them (Connor, Travis, and Percy) settled down in their own stations of the van. They logged on and began working on something. Annabeth turned to her own monitor and turned it on. She gave her identification and it let her on.
The display immediately came up with an encryption code. It looked very complicated. She looked over at Percy who was looking at the strange map she had seen earlier that looked like a subway or road system map. Figures that she would have to decode an encrypted something. She wasn't even sure what it was supposed to be.
Annabeth decided that she wanted to first try to analyze the different interlocking parts. Her mask appeared on her face again with all the displays loaded up. An analyzer came up and identified certain parts of the encryption code. She decoded it and gained access to a map that was definitely a subway map. It had different stations loaded in as well as different maintenance tunnels and other ways to get from station to station without having to use the actual trains.
It was amazing, but Annabeth failed to see why she needed the map. She didn't need the mask and felt it retract. She looked at the different icons on the map. Several were moving and there was a number by each of them. They looked like long ovals on the different lines of the map. Annabeth decided they must have been the trains as they were the only things marked.
Thankfully people weren't marked although on the edges of the monitor there were different cameras. They seemed to be rotating. They showed different areas and stations every few seconds. There were only four of them. One in each corner. The displays of each camera touched each other on the side edges of the monitor.
Annabeth watched some of the trains traveling. She noticed that with the keypad she could manipulate the map. If she wanted the schedule of one of the trains, she could click on it. If she wanted to take a camera image out of rotation, she could. She could back up on what she saw on the camera and watch it again to be sure of what she was viewing. She worked with these abilities on the map. Finally as she was checking train 1456 she noticed that it wasn't following its schedule. She watched it as it traveled. It wasn't following any of the active trains' schedules.
Annabeth turned and said to Percy, "Hey Percy?"
"Yeah?" He answered.
"I think you want to look at train 1456 because it isn't following its schedule."
Percy raised an eyebrow and exited out of his strange map and the subway map that Annabeth was looking at came up complete with the camera displays on the side. He typed in a few commands and train 1456 came up. It was zoomed in on its progress on the map as well as its schedule blown up in the bottom right corner taking the place of one of the camera images.
"That doesn't look good." Percy muttered. Annabeth couldn't tell if he was saying that to himself or to her.
Annabeth looked around at the other men and noticed that they had swiveled their chairs around so they were also looking at her and Percy's screens. Connor was the first to turn back to his own monitor. He also pulled up the subway map. Travis copied his brother's actions and they typed in the same commands that Percy had, pulling up the schedule and tracking of train 1456.
Briefly, Annabeth was curious about how they found out about what she had discovered, but then Frank's actions up front took her ADHD mind off focus. He had a complex computer system coming from the glove box on the passenger side working. He was also looking at the subway map, but he was looking at other trains. Pulling them up one by one, he would check their schedules in the same manner Percy, Connor, and Travis were doing and then check cameras for the station they were leaving and the station they were going to. All of this and he had one hand on the wheel the entire time driving perfectly in the 5:30pm traffic.
Annabeth was brought back to Percy when he said, "Aha! Caught you, Bucko!"
Travis was looking at cameras at one of the stations. Connor was tracing train 1456 actual schedule. Percy was still on the progress of 1456. Frank was still doing his strange work of looking up all the other active trains.
"Train 1456 is being taken care of by 1724. Looks like some kind of deal has been struck up." Connor exclaimed loudly.
There was a silent pause in which they were all working. Annabeth just watched for any other unusual action on the subway. She watched both the cameras and the map. She was really watching for suspicious actions by people on the cameras as well as any other strange train activities. She was just doing the overview while the men all took care of individual aspects.
"I've got it! It looks like we've got the British Secret Service on our case as well. They are chasing the same guy we're having problems with right now." Travis said in a normal voice.
Percy said, "Nico, is this all coming over the wire?"
There was a pause and the men including Frank all chuckled and Percy shook his head lightly and said, "My deepest apologies."
Another pause and another chuckle from the men. Annabeth shook her head and turned back to her monitor. She decided to pull the schedule for train 1456 up, but trace train 1724 as it progressed. She wanted to be sure they were right about it being a cover train for 1456.
"I think that without a doubt train 1724 is covering for train 1456 and should be done with its shift at 6:00pm which will be its last stop before being done for the day." Annabeth said.
"Annabeth." Percy said, "First of all it's 1800 here. We use military time. Eighteen hundred is 6:00pm okay? Also I don't think so. 1724 is a train that usually runs at night. Does runs during the night hours for the people that work later in the day or earlier in the morning. If 1456 wasn't running, then they probably would just switch off, but since it is, I think that it will be covering 1456's shift as well as its own."
Annabeth thought about it then nodded.
"Is MI6 actually helping us?" Percy asked.
"We aren't sure, yet." Travis said.
"Damnit." Percy cursed. "If they aren't we aren't going to get what we need before he's dead."
Annabeth raised her eyebrows. She wasn't sure about what was going on. She didn't know who they were looking for. All she did was continue her overview of the two trains. She wasn't able to gain any extra information than they had already guessed. At 1815, the van pulled into a parking lot. She looked out the windshield and saw they were at a restaurant. It looked like a very small one though.
She didn't even try to read the name of the place because it was all in Chinese characters. Percy looked up as the van came to a full stop. Frank put his computer system away, put the screen down and came in the back to sit at one of the station. He turned it on and resumed what he had been doing up front. Percy put the screen up again.
Eventually, Percy said, "There we go. That's all we can do."
Annabeth looked at her screen and saw that 1456 had stopped and was off the public tracks where the other trains were still running. It was with the trains that ran the night shifts. 1724 was still running. That confirmed Percy's thought that it would have to also do its own shift as well as 1456's.
Travis gave a sharp nod to his screen and said, "Well we've got that sorted out for now. We should go eat since we're here and I'm hungry."
Percy turned in his chair and looked at Travis for a second then said, "Let's eat."
Frank stood and opened one of the panels and flipped a few switches. The monitors all shut off and Connor's flattened itself into the wall. They keypads all deactivated and folded themselves into the wall as well. When Connor and Percy had opened the doors, the lights all shut off as well.
Frank was the last off. It was only when they had shut and locked the van and were halfway into the restaurant when Annabeth noticed that Daniel had never even come out from the plane. In fact, she didn't have proof that he was even in the plane in the first place. All she knew was that he made it out of the van in Beijing and she didn't see any sign of him once she herself was in the plane.
Jogging to catch up with Percy, she whispered to him, "Where's Daniel?"
He turned his head with an amused look. "You're just noticing he's missing?"
Annabeth could feel her face heating up as she said, "It wasn't exactly the highest on my priority list."
Percy chuckled quietly and said, "Don't worry about Daniel. He's safe right now."
Annabeth wasn't really reassured, but she let it slide. She was going to interrogate Percy more thoroughly when they were alone.
In the restaurant, they were given a private room with a circular table and what looked like a lazy Susan in the center. There was an assortment of distinctly Asian dishes. It looked delicious to Annabeth. It was nice that they didn't have to struggle through ordering off a menu.
They all helped themselves to food and ordered drinks. It was either water, Sprite or Coke. They all got Sprite except for Annabeth who got water. Annabeth was mildly surprised that Percy didn't order Coke considering how much he enjoys it. When she asked him about it, he just shook his head and gave a slight shudder.
"Coke just doesn't taste as good here. Sprite tastes better here. It's just how it works over here." Percy said.
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. It was unusual for Percy to choose any other carbonated beverage when Coke is one of the options. However, Annabeth had never tasted any of the drinks in China before, so she was clueless when it came to their taste.
Their drinks came in tall, thin glasses. They sipped and ate in silence. Annabeth wanted to break the silence, but she had a feeling that she shouldn't be the one to do that. Percy looked over at her and gave her a soft smile.
Once a waiter came in to drop off a plate of orange chicken, then departed, Travis nodded towards the door. The waiter shut the door. They waited another second and then Travis nodded to Percy instead of the waiter though.
"Excellent." Percy said in a slightly quieter than normal voice.
Frank nodded in agreement. He seemed to be watching Percy and Connor eat. Percy had barely been able to stop shoveling food into his mouth long enough to say the single word. Connor was also eating at the highest speed possible.
Frank cleared his throat pointedly. There was no reaction from the rest of the table except Annabeth who held back a smile at Frank's feeble attempt to start conversation. He tried clearing his throat again louder. Travis looked up this time and shot an irritated look at Frank then went back to his own food.
When Frank looked like he was about to clear his throat again, Annabeth said, "Frank, it isn't going to work. I think you'll have to wait until they're done with more of their food."
Frank, red in the face, nodded and went back to eating his own food off his plate. Annabeth, smirking, did likewise. Percy again looked over at her with a raised eyebrow then started eating again.
When Annabeth and Frank had long since been finished, Percy and the Stolls looked like they were just starting to slow down. At that point Frank decided that it was time to start talking business. Annabeth thought that he wouldn't elicit any better reactions trying another time around.
Frank didn't seem to catch the warning look that Annabeth tried to send his way. He cleared his throat very loudly yet again. None of the other men looked up and Annabeth just shook her head. Frank sighed and looked at his cleaned plate. Annabeth knew she wasn't hungry so she just sat back in her chair watching the others.
When Travis had finished his dinner, it seemed like a good time to start talking. Annabeth said, "Alright. What is going on with train 1456."
Percy and Connor also took their heads out of their plates and looked at Annabeth. Connor looked slightly confused and intrigued while Percy looked amused. They regarded her with a sort of mutual interest mixed in.
"What do you want to know? We only have a certain amount of time in here before a waiter comes back to clear away empty dishes and whatnot." Percy said.
"I'm not a big fan of watching you and Connor finish up without at least talking a bit about this. I figured it out and I don't actually know what's going on." Annabeth complained.
Connor said, "I think that's something that Percy is planning on explaining to you in private later on."
Percy shot Connor a look then said, "I don't think it will hurt to tell you a bit about this. Travis?"
"What?" Travis asked looking up.
"Are you texting under the table or something?" Percy asked.
Travis raised his eyebrows in a cornered animal look. "No?" He responded.
"Sure." Percy said. "Listen, I want you to explain the basics of what's happening with train 1456 and 1724."
"Why me, Perce?" Travis asked.
"I think you're the one that would be best suited to tell her the best without saying certain things that I don't want said here." Percy said looking up from his plate again. "Hurry up too."
Travis sighed and nodded. He sat up straighter for a second then sat back again. It led Annabeth to think that he did have his phone and was putting it back in his front pocket. She raised her eyebrow trying to let her know she wanted to know what was going on. Travis was looking everywhere but at Annabeth.
Finally when Percy raised his head again and looked around in the silence to see Travis sitting in silence looking around, he frowned at Travis and said, "I didn't mean wait a couple days. I'm saying explain the basics now."
Travis sighed again. He said, "Fine. Annabeth, train 1456 seems to have been bribed to make certain stops for a specific person. This person has quite a bit of influence. We saw a few of confirmed mercenaries that work for him on the cameras. He is extremely clever and knows how to cause destruction. He can do whatever he likes sometimes. We have had to deal with him before. It just so happens that he is playing a very high contributing part in the crisis situation that we have been initially called out here for."
Annabeth waited for more to come, but Travis remained silent. It looked like he had pulled his phone out again and was doing something with it. Connor and Percy were finishing the last few bites of food on their plates and Frank was also on his phone.
Finally when Percy and Connor had eaten the remaining food in each of the dishes, Annabeth said, "Alright. Can we go now? All of the dishes are gone now."
Percy nearly spewed his Sprite that he was drinking. "You want us to leave? Come on."
"What?" Annabeth asked indignantly.
Percy shook his head and said, "Look, I know you're getting impatient. It's kind of obvious. I think that we need this little relaxing at this restaurant. Besides the waiter hasn't even came back to give us a bill."
Annabeth sighed. She knew that Percy was right, but that didn't mean that she had to like it. They did have to at least wait for their bill to come before they could leave. They had finished off every dish that had been on the lazy Susan. It still impressed Annabeth how much food Percy could put away.
The door opened. The waiter had come back in. He was carrying a bottle of Sprite and a pitcher of ice water. He took a glance at the table and seemed surprised that all the food was gone.
Percy raised his glass as did Connor and Frank. The waiter went around and refilled their glasses. He also asked if they wanted any extra food, but Percy waved it off. Annabeth was half expecting Percy to order more food for him and Connor, but was very thankful that he hadn't.
The waiter gave the bill to Percy. He nodded appreciatively and dug in his pocket for money. He came up with the exact amount that was on the tab. Annabeth was about to comment on giving the waiter a tip when she remembered Percy telling her that one isn't supposed to tip people in China because of their economy. Percy looked at her like she knew exactly what she was about to say and slightly amused by it.
Percy gave the bill back to the waiter with the money. Frank stood up first and the rest of them followed suit. Connor had to chug the rest of his drink before he was ready to go. It was a surprise to Annabeth that Frank and Percy had finished their own drinks so quickly, especially with Percy having to pay the bill.
They all walked out of the restaurant. When they were back in the van with Frank up front, Percy turned the monitors and lights on. Frank drove them to the hotel they were staying at then climbed in back as well, raising the screen behind him again. They all logged on and started tracking train 1456.
It was disappointing that time around though. They didn't find any trace of any of the people they were looking for. As time ticked on with them all in the back of the van, Percy seemed to get more anxious by the second. Annabeth could swear she saw him start sweating when they had been working for an hour.
Annabeth leaned over to Percy and said very quietly, "What's wrong?"
Percy jumped and nearly toppled over the back of his chair. He looked over nervously like she was cornering him. He said, "Wrong? What do you mean? Nothing's wrong."
Annabeth just looked at him. He should know that he wouldn't be able to fool her with his weak lies. When Annabeth didn't look away, Percy said, "Look, don't worry about it. We'll get it figured out."
Annabeth sighed and stood up. She announced to the men, "We're going inside the hotel. We are going to get checked in and go up to our rooms. We can resume working on this tomorrow if we need to."
Travis jumped up out of his chair immediately. "Awesome." He said, "I know this place has a bar. Let's go open a tab, guys."
The other men gave small chuckles. Percy rubbed his eyes as Annabeth knelt right beside his chair. "We don't have to go, Percy."
"No." Percy responded. "I want to go. Besides, getting a few drinks will loosen some of my tension."
Annabeth didn't want Percy drunk because she wanted information. She had been hoping to talk to Percy to get all the information about what was going on with the suspicious train, MI6 and all the other jazz that was happening. If Percy went to the bar and drank with the rest of the men, Annabeth knew that when he got back to the room, he would not be sober enough to talk about that. At the same time, Annabeth knew that he was extremely stressed out and deserved something to get rid of it. She just wished it wasn't alcohol. She couldn't remember the last time he was drunk, therefore couldn't remember the effects alcohol had on him. In turn, that meant that she had no clue how Percy would act coming back drunk or how to deal with him.
Percy was studying Annabeth with a concerned gaze. "Do you not want me to go? I don't have to." Percy asked her.
Annabeth made up her mind. She shook her head and said, "It's fine. I'm not going to. I'll wait in our room. Just do me a favor and be back before 1:00am."
Percy grinned. It was the first sight of her Percy that she had seen that entire day. "I'll be there by 0130."
Annabeth shook her head and said, "You better not pull that. And use twelve hour time!"
Percy gave a bellowing laugh and held her hand as they stepped out of the van. They allowed Frank and Connor to shut the back doors and lock the van. They all went into the hotel and waited in the lobby for Travis to get all the rooms. Annabeth giggled when she noticed that Travis had all the bags with him. Leo was waiting for them in the lobby. She was just getting around to speculating Nico's whereabouts when Travis came over to them with room keys.
"Got 'em" Travis said when he had reached them.
"Awesome." said Leo.
Frank and Percy nodded in agreement and Connor clapped his brother on the back and went back to grab the remainder of their bags which Travis had left at the front desk. As Connor was coming back, Travis was distributing key cards.
"Because Percy is extremely prone to memory loss, he got us the same room numbers. The only difference is that Connor is rooming with me instead of Frank. Frank is going to go with Leo." Travis explained.
Percy rolled his eyes at the memory loss comment, but nodded his head when Travis had explained the rest. "That sounds about right." Percy agreed.
Percy gave Annabeth both the key cards muttering, "Just in case," as he did so. The rest of the men each got one for their room.
"Okay. Let's get all our stuff up to our rooms then go down to the bar." Frank suggested.
The men nodded in assent. Then Leo asked, "Annabeth, are you going to come with us or not?"
Annabeth shook her head and said, "Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to stay sober tonight. I'll have Percy take a shot for me though."
The men all laughed as they made their way to the elevator. "A shot of what?" Leo asked.
Another round of laughter then Annabeth said, "That's between Percy and me."
The men cracked up a third time while also making "ooohhhh" noises. Percy wrapped an arm around Annabeth's waist and kissed her neck as they waited for an elevator.
The elevator arrived and they went up to the second floor again. They all went to their rooms which were aligned the same way in relation to each other. Annabeth and Percy went into the room with a plaque reading 7710. Travis and Connor went into 7709 while Frank and Leo went to 7708 right beside Annabeth and Percy.
Percy put his smaller bag on the desk and left his big suitcase by the two armchairs. Annabeth set her bag on the bed closest to the wall separating main room from the bathroom.
Annabeth was planning on taking a shower while Percy was down in the bar with the rest of the men. Percy sat down on the edge of the bed Annabeth had chosen. He pulled her down so she was sitting next to him.
"Are you sure you're alright with me going down to the bar?" Percy asked her.
Annabeth nodded. "You need to escape all the work for a little bit. Just don't get hammered. I am not dealing with a hangover tomorrow morning."
Percy chuckled. "Don't worry. I'm not planning on drinking quite that much."
"Good. Then I'm fine."
Percy nodded. "Well I better get going. I'll see you before 0100 if you're still awake." He said with a sly wink.
Annabeth blushed as she watched him turn and walk out the door.
A/N: Here's chapter 16. The problems are gradually being revealed.
Jessica Jasso - I can't thank you PM because you're a guest. However, you give great feedback that I have been taking into account and I'm working on incorporating it in.