Polar Quest

42

Shortly after midnight, Kilkenny parked the rental car in a residential neighborhood that abutted the drainage creek about a mile downstream from Vielogic’s U.S. headquarters. Icy drizzle fell continuously from the dark, overcast sky, making hard surfaces slick and the ground soft and spongy. The cul-de-sac was dark except for the bluish flicker of television sets that leaked through the blinds and drapes of a few nearby homes.

Kilkenny donned his dark gray SEALskin just as he had in Antarctica, and he wore a throat mike connected to a secure digital transmitter and a pair of wrap-around glasses that could project holographic images. Tao was dressed in a form-fitting black Lycra cat suit with flat rubber-soled boots.

Kilkenny led the way into the drainage ditch. As they moved quietly along the banks of the creek, the noise of wind and trucks on the nearby highway overwhelmed the faint sounds of their progress.

‘We’re on the move. Do you copy?’ Kilkenny mouthed.

‘Loud and clear,’ Grin replied. ‘I show you just under a mile from the target.’

Kilkenny glanced at the way point readout on his heads-up display. The numbers appeared to float ten feet in front of him. ‘That’s a good read. I’ll keep you posted. Out.’

The combat electronics Kilkenny wore transmitted a secondary signal across the digital connection to Grin, providing a link between the small computer on his body and the more powerful machines in the Greenwich Village loft.

The facilities along Research Row appeared as hazy islands of light shrouded in the darkness. Kilkenny got used to staring through the droplets on his glasses, each glistening with a distorted image of the distant lights. They emerged from the creek at the rear of Vielogic’s property and ran across a large meadow toward one of the strangest buildings they’d ever seen. Kilkenny reached the sharp edge of the nearest wing, followed by Tao. The cold stone surface glistened with reflections in the tiny droplets of rain.

‘About thirty feet ahead you’ll find an entry,’ Grin said, his disembodied voice quietly speaking in Kilkenny’s ear. ‘It’s got card-reader access, mag lock, and an alarm. There’s also a camera on the roof and another inside trained on the door. Hold your position while I deal with all this stuff.’

Grin studied the images on the display wall. All the smaller monitors showed live video pulled directly from the building’s security cameras. He was seeing everything the guard in the command center saw.

From the three-dimensional image of the building on the large screen, Grin selected the exterior camera aimed at the door Kilkenny and Tao planned to pass through. He recorded thirty seconds of video showing the door and the dark, rain-soaked side of the building. Grin created an alternate video feed for the monitor in the building command center. Instead of a live view from the camera, the security guard now saw a seamless loop of recorded video. Grin repeated the same trick on the camera that watched the same door from the inside.

‘I got you covered. You can move in.’

Kilkenny took the point and motioned with his hand to move toward the door. As he and Tao approached, they heard an audible click as the mag locks released. Kilkenny opened the door and led his team in.

‘Just close the door behind you,’ Grin said into Kilkenny’s earpiece.

‘We’re in,’ Kilkenny mouthed.

‘Go left,’ Grin instructed, ‘then hold about ten feet from the end of the hall while I deal with the next camera.’

The corridor was dark except for strategically placed light fixtures that were always kept on in case of an emergency. They moved silently, the soft rubber soles of their boots muffling their careful footsteps.

Grin guided them down secondary corridors, avoiding the brightly lit main atrium that was the circulation back-bone of the complex. The pattern of their incursion consisted of cautious moves forward, interrupted by tense moments of waiting while Grin cleared the next leg.

‘There’s a security man headed toward you. Duck into the suite two doors ahead on your right,’ Grin instructed. ‘I’ll pop the lock.’

As Kilkenny neared the door, the mag lock buzzed loudly and released the door.

Shit! Kilkenny thought.

The noise from the mag lock echoed like a cannon shot on the hard surfaces of the walls and floor. Kilkenny pushed the door open wide and waved Tao inside quickly, then he eased the door closed.

‘Grin,’ Kilkenny mouthed, though shouting in his mind, ‘don’t reset that mag lock until the security guard is gone. It makes way too much noise.’

‘Okay, I’ll wait.’

Down an intersecting corridor, the security guard heard the metallic sound of a mag lock releasing a door. He reached over to his shoulder and switched on the mike clipped to his epaulette.

‘Danny, it’s Carl. I’m down near the intersection of corridors one-five and one-six. Do you show any mag locks being opened?’

‘Negative. All doors in your area show secure.’

‘We may have another fault. I’d swear I heard one of ‘em release. I’ll check it out.’

As the guard turned the corner, he caught the reflected image of a closing door in the glass protecting a signed lithograph. He studied the reflection for a moment, then moved toward the door. The light on the door’s card reader glowed green — the door was unlocked.

The guard drew out his Beretta, then turned the handle and cautiously pushed the door open.

Kilkenny yanked the door, pulling the guard toward him. As the guard stumbled forward, Kilkenny struck his extended forearm just below the wrist, and the pistol fell onto the carpeted floor. Kilkenny swung upward with his hand flat, fingers extended. He chopped the side of his hand sharply against the guard’s neck and knocked the man unconscious. Kilkenny caught the guard before he hit the floor and pulled him into the suite.

Tao picked up the Beretta and closed the door while Kilkenny pulled some zip ties from his belt pouch and bound the man’s hands and feet. He then removed the guard’s dark blue tie and gagged him with it.

‘Get his card key,’ Tao said.

Kilkenny unclipped the badge from the man’s breast pocket. ‘Grin, how’s it look out there?’

‘While you were holed up, I hit the rest of the cameras. You’re clear to the research labs. I’ll keep an eye out for any other patrols.’

‘Good, because somebody will eventually miss this guy and go looking for him.’

They moved with silent efficiency through the final stretches of corridor. As promised by Grin, the surveillance cameras had all turned a blind eye, and they encountered no other security guards along the way.

Once inside the single-story laboratory wing, Kilkenny pulled a small wireless computer from his thigh pocket and switched it on. The device — a modified Palm X — began emitting a short-range transmission tuned to the specific frequency used by the Ice Pick probe. Even though the probe was hardwired to the computer system at LV Station, wireless communications had been built in to allow the researchers to test the probe’s ability to remotely receive instructions. Unfortunately, the combination of Ice Pick’s short reception range and interference caused by the shielding around Vielogic’s labs meant that Kilkenny had to be fairly close to communicate with the probe.

Beyond the entry doors, the wide corridor ended abruptly in an alcove. Doors to gendered locker rooms faced each other from opposite walls, and directly ahead a pair of automated stainless steel and Plexiglas doors formed the first barrier to an air lock through which large pieces of equipment could be brought into the laboratories.

Grin unlocked the locker room doors as they approached.

‘This way,’ Kilkenny said.

They moved through the men’s locker room into another alcove, this one leading to a Level 2 decontamination space.

‘Yo, man,’ Grin said, his voice clipped by static, ‘we got a couple of problems.’

‘Talk to me,’ Kilkenny replied.

‘Your signal is getting a little sloppy.’

‘I’m surrounded by a lot of metal. What else?’

‘The building data I acquired is a little out of date. I don’t have control over the systems inside the Level Four suite. I can open the Level Three staging area, but you’re on your own after that.’

‘Understood.’

Kilkenny stripped off his glasses and throat mike and handed them to Tao. ‘Here, you keep in touch with Grin and hold the corridor.’

‘I’ll bang on the door if anything comes up,’ Tao said. ‘Be careful in there.’

Grin bypassed the security on the next air lock and Kilkenny stepped inside. Once the door closed, he was bathed in ultraviolet light. After several minutes, the normal lights came back on, and the next doorway slid open with a pneumatic hiss.

The walls of the eight-foot-wide corridor were modular panels of stainless steel and glass, with black gaskets at the seams. There were four Level 3 labs in this section, two on each side of the corridor. The corridor was rated Biohazard Level 2 and kept separate from the labs by means of positive air pressure in the corridor and negative in the labs.

Kilkenny held out the Palm X. The handheld computer reported no contact with the probe. He jogged down to the end of the corridor. The door to the Level 3 staging area was already open. Like the labs, the staging area had negative air pressure relative to the Level 2 corridor. Kilkenny stepped into the staging area and the door slid closed behind him.

He walked past the decontamination shower and bathroom and entered the gowning area. Along the wall he saw alcoves containing Chemturion biological space suits. Each suit bore the name of the researcher who used it, and Kilkenny quickly selected one he thought would fit. He slipped on the bulky, multilayered outfit and gained an immediate appreciation for the discomfort endured by spacewalking astronauts.

He carefully picked up the Palm X — his sense of touch greatly diminished by the rubber gloves — and stepped into the final air lock. The air inside the suit was already getting warm and his faceplate was fogging up because of his body heat and respiration.

Kilkenny passed through the air lock into the Level 4 lab. He located an umbilical line dangling from the ceiling and connected it to his suit. Immediately, Kilkenny felt a rush of air. His faceplate cleared, but he was still sweating heavily and his hands felt slick inside the rubber gloves. He checked the Palm X:

Where? Kilkenny thought, looking around the large, equipment-laden space.