Page 6 of Wired Ghost

Connor shook his head. “Perhaps. As my powers have increased, sexual desire and interest have waned.”

“We can see that in the older men, in their discipline. The younger ones still suffer. There is much changing of the sheets,” Nine grumbled.

“If I stay here permanently, I will want to understand more clearly why we do things the way we do, and how it helps our mission. If it doesn’t, I am not opposed to the men having lovers and families.”

Nine raised his head, his eyes wide. “That would require a complete overhaul of all protocols.”

Connor smiled. “Then perhaps it’s time for me to get in touch with the Master, before I change things so much here that he can’t recognize this place when he returns.”

Chapter Four

Sophie

Sophie crouchedbeside Jake in the lee of the fallen log. The smell of damp and rotten wood, a pleasantly earthy scent, filled her nostrils. Her ears were tuned for any sound from the trail or the camp, but all she could hear were her own elevated respiration, the twitter of the birds in the trees overhead, and the deep sound of Jake’s controlled breathing. She could feel his warmth too, without even touching him; the man threw off heat like a stove.

She scanned around them one more time, still feeling vulnerable and barely hidden, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She refocused on Jake.

Her partner had his phone out. Using his fingertips, he expanded an image. “This satellite pic of the camp just came in from Bix. This is the intel I was hoping for, going in.”

Sophie leaned in close to see.

The image was surprisingly clear for a satellite picture; it made her shiver a little to think of how much of anyone’s life could be tracked easily using the cameras circling the planet.

The photograph showed a perimeter of forest inside the fence line, providing some cover for the camp. A central metal barn, whose roof was painted in camouflage colors, squatted beneath the trees, surrounded by smaller outbuildings.

Jake pointed a finger at the closest hut. “Drawing a line from the front gate to this shack, I can estimate where we are relative to the main building. Let’s wait here until nightfall. Then make a cut in the fence and go into the sheds that look like they house people; see if we can identify our target. Dark will be a better potential opportunity to extract her, given that they have so many countermeasures.”

Sophie looked up into the canopy of trees. “What time is nightfall?”

“Three hours.”

She raised her brows. “That’s a long time to sit behind a log and wait.”

“We could find somewhere with more cover.” Jake’s smile flickered. “I can think of some ways to pass the time.”

Sophie wanted to smile, but shook her head instead. “I think we should go in now. The longer we’re hanging out here, the more chance of discovery.”

As if to underline her words, they heard the two men coming back. Both ducked lower behind the log. “Gonna have to replace that camera,” Red Cap’s voice grumbled. “Freakin’ pigs.”

“At least with our fence, they can’t get inside the compound,” Primo Beer said.

“O’Brien is going to be pissed.”

Jake and Sophie exchanged a glance. “The boyfriend,” Jake mouthed.

Sophie risked a glance up and over the log. Red Cap was undoing the padlock on the simple gate made of a square panel of fencing wire. He pulled it open with a creak, and he and Primo Beer went through.

The man was turning back around to re-lock it, when the earth shuddered violently. Red Cap fell to his knees, clinging to the fence.

It took Sophie several seconds to understand what was happening as the quiet forest erupted in sounds of disturbance: the trees shrieked and moaned as they lashed back and forth, rubbing against each other. A sound like wind rushed through their branches, raining twigs and leaves on the heaving ground. Everything jerked around Sophie, as if being in a movie that was glitching. Sophie covered her mouth with a hand to keep from crying out.

“Earthquake!” Jake hissed from behind her.

Sophie’s gaze had been on the meth gang. Red Cap stayed on his knees, holding onto the fence, while Primo Beer howled in fright as he lay spread-eagled on the ground.

Jake surged up and over the log, running toward the men and the still open gate, only staggering a little as the uneven bucking of the ground continued—he’d apparently decided to take advantage of the distraction to make a move.

Sophie fumbled her weapon out and pushed up on the log, relieved to find that the earthquake was subsiding into a series of uneven shudders, even as she heard a tremendous rending crash of a tree falling in the distance. She couldn’t seem to steady her legs, but forced them to work anyway, jogging toward the gate.

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