Biowar

41

While the guard pulled another inspection in the other trailer, Lia used her small digital camera to send pictures of the interior of her trailer back to the Art Room. There were no papers, no reports, not even any doodles in the lab that she could find.

The guards repeated their earlier routine, grabbing a cigarette and then going together into the building as they swept through the rooms there. Lia climbed up and out, slid the top vent back in place, then ran to the other trailer. The lock and alarm were easily defeated; she put her dongle on a computer in the first room and immediately the Art Room infiltrated and began copying the contents of the drive. This time, the security precautions were rudimentary and the computer was networked with the others in the trailer; as each computer booted, it gave itself over to the Art Room’s probe without a whimper.

Lia moved into the back of the trailer. Unlike the other one, this facility looked as if it was used for administrative tasks or even as a classroom. There were no papers or anything else lying about.

“All right,” said Rockman. “We’ve got it. You can get out.”

“What’s up?” asked Lia as she walked back to retrieve the dongle.

“What do you mean?”

“Something’s wrong. I can tell from your voice. Where’s Charlie?”

“Heading back to the city somewhere.”

“Somewhere?”

“Lia, concentrate on your job, please. We want you to make the scene ready for a seizure operation. We need some flies planted. I have a list of locations.”

“Screw off, Marie. What happened to Charlie?”

“We’re having trouble tracking him.”

Lia cursed. She couldn’t get the dongle to disengage and had to push at the computer, leaning back awkwardly.

“Hide,” said Rockman. “The guards are coming.”

“Where should I go?”

“He didn’t go into the back room on his last sweep,” said Telach. “It’s a rest room.”

Lia pulled up her Mac 11 but retreated as Telach had suggested. The rest room was bare — a tiny sink and some sort of chemical toilet. It also stank. She folded against the corner behind where the door would open. She could feel the guard’s footsteps shaking the trailer floor as he approached.

Belatedly, she realized that she hadn’t had a chance to shut off all the computers.

The door to the rest room opened. Lia slid down the Mac 11, the silencer just over the doorknob.

The guard said something, then let the door go.

Lia started to exhale. Then something made her throw herself down. As she hit the floor, the doorway exploded with a spray of automatic rifle fire.