Involuntary Control (Gray Spear Society) (14 page)

He shrugged nonchalantly. "We're not in a rush."

They marched off into the woods.

* * *

Aaron parked his car inside of headquarters. Norbert followed a moment later with the moving van and parked beside him.

Aaron stepped out and stretched his arms. These long drives back and forth to Lemonseed were becoming a pain in the ass, literally.

Bethany and Leanna remained in the back seat of the car. They had held each other for the entire trip like they were clinging to a floating log in the middle of the ocean.

He knocked on the window. "You can get out now. We're home."

Cautiously, the girls stepped out. They looked around with wide eyes.

"I know it looks a little shabby," he said, "but this is temporary housing. Our original headquarters was destroyed three months ago. Finding a new permanent facility is taking a lot of time."

Jack came over.

Aaron nodded to him. "Get the others. I want the whole team to meet the twins."

"Yes, sir." Jack walked off.

Aaron looked at the girls. They had worn the same clothes for much too long, and their hair was a matted, tangled mess. During the drive up, he had noticed they didn't smell very clean either. They weren't going to make a good first impression.
Personal hygiene will be one of our focus items,
he thought.

Jack returned with Nancy and Kamal. Norbert stood by.

"Good," Aaron said. "This is everybody. It's a pleasure to introduce our newest team members, Bethany Satin and Leanna Satin, the royal princesses of Satinia. They will be our computer experts going forward. I'll expect everybody to make them feel completely welcome."

The team nodded and murmured.

Aaron turned to Jack. Fluorescent light gleamed from his pale, bald scalp. His blue eyes studied the girls with obvious suspicion. He carried his favorite gun on his hip, an old fashioned revolver. He wasn't a big man, but he had the look and the stance of a tough guy.

"This is our head of security," Aaron said. "He keeps everybody safe when we're home. He's also our gunsmith and cashier. If you need money or weapons, go to him. Kamal is our science expert."

Kamal was a thin man with dark skin. He wore a white short that was miraculously free of sweat stains. Pressed, black slacks and formal shoes made him the most sharply dressed member of the group. To top it off, he wore a black bowtie.

Aaron continued, "He's a brilliant physicist with an impressive academic record. He does all our physical analysis and forensics. Whatever evidence we collect goes straight to him. A quiet man, but he knows his stuff."

Aaron faced Nancy. Her brown, frizzy hair was cut to a short practical length. She wore baggy, blue overalls that failed to flatter her body. She was a big woman but not fat at all. There was a nasty cut on the back of her right hand, and her fingers were covered in black grease. Her hands were always dirty with something.

"Last but not least, this is Nancy," he said. "She is our Jack, or rather, our Jill of all trades. She handles the plumbing, mechanical, electrical, and automotive work around here. If the job requires a tool, she takes care of it."

"Very pleased to meet you," Nancy said.

The twins smiled tentatively.

"Norbert," Aaron said, "the girls need to bathe. Please show them where the showers are. They also have to cut their toenails. In general, help them get cleaned up."

"Yes, sir," Norbert said. "Stay with me."

The twins followed him down the main corridor.

Aaron turned back to the rest of his team. They were frowning and refused to meet his gaze.

"What's wrong?"

"Sir," Jack said, "I think I speak for all of us when I say they look more like vagrants than princesses or computer experts. Were they living under a bridge when you found them? And they're so young. The Society expects recruits to already have the training and experience to do their job properly. These girls are just... girls. I hate to question your decisions, sir, but are you sure about this?"

Aaron nodded. "The good news is I
am
sure. Bethany and Leanna are extremely talented. I'm confident they'll do the kind of work we expect from them."

"What's the bad news, sir?"

"They're mildly autistic. As you saw, they do a very poor job of taking care of themselves. It's not really their fault. We just have to accommodate them. We, including myself, will make sure they eat, sleep, and bathe at regular times. We'll prepare healthy meals for them."

"Sir," Jack said, "do you really want us to treat them like children?"

"I know this kind of thing isn't normal in the Society, but these girls are worth the trouble. Give them a fair chance before you pass judgment. Regardless, they're part of the team now. I'll expect you to look after them like they were your own daughters. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," everybody responded.

Aaron wasn't as confident as he appeared. There was a real chance the twins would prove totally unmanageable. He would have a big mess to clean up in that case. It was a scenario too ugly to contemplate.

"You can start by helping them unpack," he said. "We brought a huge amount of computer equipment with us. I want that stuff put back together ASAP. We're in the middle of a very important investigation, and the twins need to assist us."

"But sir," Nancy said, "the new air-conditioning units will be here tomorrow. I have a ton of prep work to do before they can be installed."

"And I have to man the security booth, sir," Jack said.

Aaron looked at Kamal. "What's your excuse?"

Kamal shrugged.

"All of you can take a short break from your other duties," Aaron said. "I at least want all the computer equipment in the right room. The twins can handle the wiring, I suppose. We'll set them up in the conference room. It seems like we always have our meetings in the kitchen or my office anyway."

"I'll have to pull our internet connection into that room," Nancy said.

"Which reminds me. The twins already want to upgrade our internet."

"To what speed?"

"The best possible, or better," he said. "Get to work."

The team moved towards the van.

Aaron walked over to the common bathroom, which was located in the middle of the building next to the armory. The bathroom included two showers, a bathtub, two toilets, and a urinal. There was only one room though, which served both sexes. A sign on the door indicated whether it was currently occupied by men or women, and right now the sign showed "women."

Norbert stood outside the door.

As Aaron approached, Norbert said, "We had a problem."

"What?" Aaron said.

"The girls wanted white soap, but ours is pale green."

"Are you serious?"

"It was a major issue for them," Norbert said. "Fortunately, I found some boxes of white soap under the sink, but we didn't have any acceptable shampoo. They only wash their hair with the gold colored, 'no tears' kind. We must have a dozen different bottles in there, and none of them are right."

Aaron sighed. "We'll make a shopping list and buy in bulk. At least they know exactly what they want."

"
Exactly
is the right word. They have no flexibility at all."

"It will be OK once we settle into a routine."

Norbert raised his eyebrows. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to.

Chapter Nine

Bethany's belly was full, her skin was clean, and she was a lot less afraid. Actual happiness was still some distance away, but at least now she could see it on the horizon.

She was sitting in the kitchen with her sister. Aaron had prepared a meal of chopped apples, cheese, plain toast, and sliced turkey. He had thoughtfully served everything on separate plates so nothing would touch. She would've preferred a frozen dinner, but this food was still good. She had eaten until she had felt completely stuffed.

She leaned over and whispered in Leanna's ear, "Aaron isn't so bad."

Leanna shook her head. "He still scares me. Norbert is much nicer. He's like a big, warm teddy bear."

Aaron had just loaded the dishwasher. He dried his hands and walked over to them.

"All done eating?" he said. "Are you ready to get to work?"

Bethany and Leanna nodded.

"Then follow me."

Everybody left the kitchen and walked down the central corridor of headquarters. The place had clearly been an old warehouse before its conversion. It still had the original concrete floor, steel supports, and sheet metal roof. Cars were parked inside the building, which bothered Bethany a lot. They were supposed to stay outside.

At least she couldn't complain about the security. Armor plates covered all the exterior walls, and there were no windows. Surveillance cameras watched every corner. She was with people who were even more paranoid than she was. For the first time in five years, she felt protected.

Aaron led both sisters up a flight of stairs to his office. Bethany decided at once that she didn't like it. Not only was the furniture mismatched, but it was arranged asymmetrically. A clutter of papers covered the glass desk. One of the drawers of a green file cabinet was open.
Does Aaron even care about the mess?
she wondered.

"Sit," Aaron commanded.

The twins found the only two chairs in the room that looked the same. They placed the chairs in front of the desk so they were aligned along the backs as well as with the edges of the desk. Together, the three pieces of furniture formed a perfect square.

Aaron sighed. Bethany didn't know the reason, but people in her presence tended to sigh a lot. Even the servants in the palace had done it.

"I'm going to call Wendy," he said. "She's a banker in Manhattan who also works for the Society. She tracked down the money you stole from our bank accounts, and she helped me find you."

He pressed some buttons on his bulky, gray phone and placed it on the desk.

"Hello?" Wendy said.

"This is Aaron. I have Bethany and Leanna here in my office. I'm sure you ladies have a lot to talk about. I'll just sit back and listen."

"Hi," Bethany said.

"It's an honor to finally talk to you," Wendy said.

"Why?"

"Ever since you stole our money, we've been frantically trying to figure out how you accomplished it. And that stunt you pulled this morning is already legendary. So, how did you do it?"

Bethany looked at her sister.
Should we tell?
Bethany asked with just the expression on her face. Leanna shrugged.
I don't know.

Aaron watched both of them closely.

Bethany decided she had little choice. If she refused to cooperate, a pleasant situation could turn nasty. Leanna was right about Aaron being scary.

"There is a weakness in your encryption technology," Bethany said.

"What weakness?" Wendy said. "We use the latest release from Black Wall Software. That's an industry standard, used by banks and major corporations all over the world. Everybody trusts Black Wall."

"We know that software very well. For the last two years we've worked for Black Wall as consultants. Five months ago, a back door was secretly included in the release. If you examine the sixty-fifth bit of every packet in a session, you can deduce the private keys."

"How did you find that weakness?"

"We put it in the software," Bethany said. "We hacked the Black Wall source code control system and made the change. Nobody else knows about it."

Wendy was silent for a moment. "Aaron," she said, "these are dangerous women."

"I know," Aaron said.

"Somewhere in your office, you should have a disc in a gray metal case. Please give it to our new friends."

Aaron went to a safe that was sitting on the floor. He shielded the dial with his body while he unlocked it. After poking around inside the safe for a minute, he found the gray case and gave it to Bethany.

"What's this?" she said.

"The keys to the kingdom," Wendy said. "What every hacker in the Gray Spear Society needs to know. Use that information with extreme discretion."

"OK."

"The Gray Spear hackers are a close knit community within the Society. We pride ourselves on being the best in the world. We have our own secret forums. When you get online, you'll find a little fan club waiting to talk to you. As I mentioned, you're already a legend."

Bethany couldn't imagine having fans. She had lived in seclusion for so long that just having a friend was a strange concept.

"How did you catch us? We tried to be very careful."

"It wasn't easy," Wendy said. "But you made one critical mistake. You stole from the International Lenders Association."

"I know that name!" Bethany said. "It's a huge bank with no customers."