Read Online The Phoenix Variant: The Fifth Column 3 by Nathan M Farrugia - Free Book Online
Authors: Nathan M Farrugia
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work pays better.’
Aviary grinned. ‘That’s because you’re stealing the wrong cars.’
Sophia noticed her wallet was sitting on the couch, part of Leon’s photo visible. She reached down to collect it.
‘You should never invite a terrorist into your home,’ Sophia said.
‘Really?’ Aviary said. ‘Because I’ve been doing that for weeks.’
‘I’m serious.’ Sophia noticed Aviary’s license on the kitchen benchtop. ‘Your name is spelled like a—’
Aviary raised an eyebrow. ‘Like a large enclosure for birds? Yeah, my mother liked birds. Really liked birds.’ Aviary quickly circled the couch to her desks. ‘I have to show you this.’
Sophia noticed an assortment of colored iPhones and HTC Ones on the desks.
‘I’m not using a fucking iPhone,’ Sophia said.
‘I knew you’d be receptive.’ Aviary laughed. ‘That was kind of a half-hearted pun and I need nachos.’
Aviary flipped open one of her laptops. Sophia barely recognized the operating system, Kirin, developed by the Shadow Akhana a few years back. It looked like Aviary had made some significant changes of her own. But she didn’t mention it and instead pulled up a new window.
‘Google Maps,’ Sophia said. ‘Yeah, I know how to use that now.’
Aviary snorted. ‘Hang on.’ She hit a few more keys and buttons until she was satisfied. ‘Look at the overlay.’
Sophia stepped closer until she was beside Aviary. The map had zoomed out to encompass the United States. There were dots sprinkled across different states.
‘OK,’ Sophia said.
Aviary zoomed out more, until half the planet was visible. There were more dots across Europe. She zoomed in on one of the dots, somewhere in northern France. She kept zooming in until she could make out the building number and the street name.
The dot moved fractionally to the left, then stopped.
‘It’s live,’ Aviary said.
‘You’re tracking someone,’ Sophia said, leaning in.
Aviary couldn’t hide her grin any longer. ‘Not just someone.’
Sophia’s heart kicked up a few notches. She stepped back, fingers moving over her pistol grip. ‘Where’s this data coming from?’
‘The Fifth Column,’ Aviary said. ‘I’m pretty good,’ she added quietly.
Sophia just stared at the screen for a moment, trying to get a handle on what she was seeing. ‘This is … this is incredible.’
‘You said you wanted to find them, right?’ Aviary said. ‘And with all the Akhana spies dead, because people killed them and stuff, that was going to be kind of hard. The operatives’ RFID implants aren’t just passive tags. They also contain geolocation broadcasting capabilities. So presto, you can see where they are anywhere in the world.’
‘And it’s live? The whole time?’ Sophia said.
‘Yeah,’ Aviary said. ‘Well, it drops out sometimes, but not for long. Dependent on the Fifth Column satellites that track them.’
‘How many operatives are here? In this country?’ Sophia said.
Aviary didn’t need to look. ‘Thirty-nine.’
Sophia nodded. ‘More than I thought.’
Panning the map back to the US, Sophia noticed at least a dozen on the eastern seaboard. They were clustered; six in Washington, three in Philadelphia and three only ten miles east of her, in Newark. That made her uneasy.
Aviary reached for one of the phones on her desk. ‘Something else.’
Sophia shook her head. ‘Don’t even try,’ she said. ‘They’re too dangerous, and they’re unnecessary. I might as well check in with Denton on FourSquare.’
‘You’re kind of embarrassing. No one uses that anymore,’ Aviary said. She showed her the iPhone, wrapped in a powder-blue rubber case. She peeled back one side of the case and popped the SIM card tray with a paperclip. The tray was empty.
‘No SIM card,’ Aviary said. ‘No IMSI number. No voice. No text. Just data. Sexy, sexy data.’
Sophia glared at it. ‘So it’s an iPod. I have one of those already.’
‘You don’t have
Aviary grinned. ‘That’s because you’re stealing the wrong cars.’
Sophia noticed her wallet was sitting on the couch, part of Leon’s photo visible. She reached down to collect it.
‘You should never invite a terrorist into your home,’ Sophia said.
‘Really?’ Aviary said. ‘Because I’ve been doing that for weeks.’
‘I’m serious.’ Sophia noticed Aviary’s license on the kitchen benchtop. ‘Your name is spelled like a—’
Aviary raised an eyebrow. ‘Like a large enclosure for birds? Yeah, my mother liked birds. Really liked birds.’ Aviary quickly circled the couch to her desks. ‘I have to show you this.’
Sophia noticed an assortment of colored iPhones and HTC Ones on the desks.
‘I’m not using a fucking iPhone,’ Sophia said.
‘I knew you’d be receptive.’ Aviary laughed. ‘That was kind of a half-hearted pun and I need nachos.’
Aviary flipped open one of her laptops. Sophia barely recognized the operating system, Kirin, developed by the Shadow Akhana a few years back. It looked like Aviary had made some significant changes of her own. But she didn’t mention it and instead pulled up a new window.
‘Google Maps,’ Sophia said. ‘Yeah, I know how to use that now.’
Aviary snorted. ‘Hang on.’ She hit a few more keys and buttons until she was satisfied. ‘Look at the overlay.’
Sophia stepped closer until she was beside Aviary. The map had zoomed out to encompass the United States. There were dots sprinkled across different states.
‘OK,’ Sophia said.
Aviary zoomed out more, until half the planet was visible. There were more dots across Europe. She zoomed in on one of the dots, somewhere in northern France. She kept zooming in until she could make out the building number and the street name.
The dot moved fractionally to the left, then stopped.
‘It’s live,’ Aviary said.
‘You’re tracking someone,’ Sophia said, leaning in.
Aviary couldn’t hide her grin any longer. ‘Not just someone.’
Sophia’s heart kicked up a few notches. She stepped back, fingers moving over her pistol grip. ‘Where’s this data coming from?’
‘The Fifth Column,’ Aviary said. ‘I’m pretty good,’ she added quietly.
Sophia just stared at the screen for a moment, trying to get a handle on what she was seeing. ‘This is … this is incredible.’
‘You said you wanted to find them, right?’ Aviary said. ‘And with all the Akhana spies dead, because people killed them and stuff, that was going to be kind of hard. The operatives’ RFID implants aren’t just passive tags. They also contain geolocation broadcasting capabilities. So presto, you can see where they are anywhere in the world.’
‘And it’s live? The whole time?’ Sophia said.
‘Yeah,’ Aviary said. ‘Well, it drops out sometimes, but not for long. Dependent on the Fifth Column satellites that track them.’
‘How many operatives are here? In this country?’ Sophia said.
Aviary didn’t need to look. ‘Thirty-nine.’
Sophia nodded. ‘More than I thought.’
Panning the map back to the US, Sophia noticed at least a dozen on the eastern seaboard. They were clustered; six in Washington, three in Philadelphia and three only ten miles east of her, in Newark. That made her uneasy.
Aviary reached for one of the phones on her desk. ‘Something else.’
Sophia shook her head. ‘Don’t even try,’ she said. ‘They’re too dangerous, and they’re unnecessary. I might as well check in with Denton on FourSquare.’
‘You’re kind of embarrassing. No one uses that anymore,’ Aviary said. She showed her the iPhone, wrapped in a powder-blue rubber case. She peeled back one side of the case and popped the SIM card tray with a paperclip. The tray was empty.
‘No SIM card,’ Aviary said. ‘No IMSI number. No voice. No text. Just data. Sexy, sexy data.’
Sophia glared at it. ‘So it’s an iPod. I have one of those already.’
‘You don’t have
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