– 85 –

 

After limping some distance from the industrial park Norman managed to flag down a taxi. When the driver asked his destination he didn’t answer right away. He wasn’t sure where he should go. On the extremely remote chance that agent Rector was telling the truth, there might not be many safe destinations. He decided to attempt to contact Mekhos directly, and the quickest way would be through his Raim unit left in the basement of his usual café. He gave the driver the address.

Ten minutes later he paid the driver and descended the stairs to the utility room. He looked behind the plumbing supplies on the shelf where he left it, and there it was. He put the Raim back on his wrist and entered the pattern that would allow him to contact Mekhos.

No response.

Usually Mekhos responded within three seconds. He entered the code again and waited. Nothing. Mekhos was compromised. His office had a terminal from which he could run a simple diagnostic on Mekhos’ systems. He couldn’t issue commands but at least he could determine the extent of the damage. Norman exited the restaurant and waved down another taxi.

Once in the back seat he realized that giving the backdoor code to Rector might have handed the perpetrators the window they needed to attack the MC. He was more sure about it with each passing minute. He felt sick that he’d been so easily tricked.

Stravinsky instructed the driver to take him to his downtown office. Once there he would contact the authorities. Stravinsky swiped and tapped his Raim in a sequence that called his Mother. Rector said she had been kidnapped. Stravinsky was sure that his mother would answer the call. He felt it in his bones. Rector was involved.