Signatures

'Run Trent's software on the data from the Drop Ranger,' Rachel said.

Rocker stared off into the distance.

Rachel watched her, waiting for a response, but she gave no indication that she had heard what she had said. 'Are you doing it already?'

'Yes. There's a large amount data. I'm launching a cluster of processing units to speed up the results. I may need to ask the Heart to provide assistance.'

'Okay,' Rachel said. She didn't know much about the Heart and she had no idea what kind of assistance it could provide, but she had confidence that Rocker knew what she was doing.

The minutes passed by. Rachel considered asking Rocker what was happening but she didn't want to seem impatient. It was difficult communicating with a woman who was half machine, but she was good at what she did. Processing information was her forte. When she had something to report, no doubt she would report it.

Rachel glanced across the dull metal floor, watching the strange patterns in the mesh changing with the light as she moved her head from side to side. She wondered if that was what Rocker was doing in her own way, seeking patterns from seemingly random information. It must be strange to be an implant.

'The process is complete,' Rocker said.

Rachel looked up and sat up straight in her chair. 'What results did it generate?'

'Not much. It found thirty-one matches.'

'Matches of what?'

'I don't know. It looks like a data bundle keyed by location coordinates.'

'Coordinates? Was Trent tracking the location of something?'

'It appears so, but not the location of anything moving. These are coordinates of energy fluctuations that occurred and then disappeared in discrete locations over time.'

'Satellite strikes?' Rachel said.

'No. These are different, more subtle and complex.'

'Can we compare Trent's data with the visual logs to see what was happening at those locations when his algorithm reported an energy fluctuation?'

Rocker smiled. 'Good idea. You're not bad for someone without neural implants.'

'Thanks,' Rachel said. 'I think.'

'Okay, I'm gathering all the visual logs from the Battle of Havers Compound along with the visual streams from the net-feed droids and correlating them against the locations that I extracted with Trent's algorithm.'

'What do you see?' Rachel said. For the first time, she wished that she could see what was going on inside Rocker's head.

'Oh, that's interesting,' Rocker said.

'What?' Rachel said. Rocker was onto something. She knew it. 'What's interesting?'

'Oh I see what he has done now. Smart boy.'

'What has he done? Tell me.'

'Portals,' Rocker said. 'He's identified the energy fluctuations caused by portals. He's located the time and place of every portal that the Kamari opened during the Battle of Havers Compound.'

'He has? Why? What difference does it make where they opened their portals?'

'I take back what I said about you.'

'What?'

'He hasn't just recorded the location and time of the opening portals, he's also recorded the exact patterns of energy fluctuation.'

'I don't understand. What does that mean?'

'Riser Trent was looking for portal signatures, and he found them, all of them. I'm impressed. Maybe we shouldn't underestimate him. If he can do this, what else can he do?'

'Melanie, tell me what this means. You're talking in circles. What is a portal signature? Why does Trent want to know about them?'

'A portal signature is unique. It is full of complex data exposed by the unique energy fluctuations when the portal first opens. Every portal has a source and end gate. The portal signature includes the coordinates of the source and end gates.'

'You mean it tells us where the portals go?'

'Yes, or more specifically, it tells us where the portals came from.'

'From the Kamari underground bases?'

'Yes, Rachel. Trent has found what we have been searching for all along. He's a step ahead of all of us.'