Desert Read online

  "How do you know?" Mary asked. "He works the day shift. He could just be leaving early and be gone before we get there."

  He shook his head. "I have access to all the employee's entries and exits. Blake hasn't set foot inside of Gaia in four days. As he is now in charge, I find that more than a little odd. Don't you?"

  Max looked at Mary before answering. "Could he have the flu or something?"

  They both looked back to Les. "If so, it's a really bad bout," Les said. "And in the meantime, Cora and her crew are still up in Nika's suite doing who knows what. Add it all up."

  "I think what you're telling us is that it doesn't all add up," Mary said. Les was always one quick with a conspiracy theory, but even she had to admit he might just be right this time.

  "Oh, it adds up all right," he said. "To trouble. I say we do something."

  Max and Mary both barked out a laugh. Max was the first to recover. "Us? A night guard, a janitor, and a cafeteria worker? We're going to save the company?"

  "Why not us?" Les asked. "We seem to be the only ones concerned enough to care. And just think of the reward we'd get if there is something afoot and we managed to stop it. So much for climbing the ever-growing ladder. We'd be promoted instantly. We could have our choice of positions. It sure as hell wouldn't be the ones we have now."

  "Yeah, but if we try and fail? We might not have any positions at all," Mary said. Someone had to point out the obvious.

  Les flashed his ultra-white teeth in one of his trademark brilliant smiles. The kind that had every girl under five foot seven melting in their shoes. Unfortunately, that included Mary. Of course, she would never let him know that.

  "The only danger is if we get caught. And I have a great plan."

  Oh, Lord. Mary remembered some of his great plans. They'd been getting the threesome into trouble for almost as long as she could remember. Max once again, was on the same page as her.

  "Please tell me it's better than your last plan? You know, the one where we almost died?"

  Les waved a hand, shoving that aside. "I'll admit there may be a tiny bit of risk involved, but I'll be the one taking it. Once I've done my part, I'm going to need help. That's where you two come in. And it shouldn't put either of you in danger of losing your jobs... or going to jail."

  "Maybe you should tell us more about this plot you have created for us," Mary said, doubtfully. She didn't want to end up fired or in jail, true, but she didn't want Les to either.

  "Would you believe I've got my hands on a mirror chip?"

  Max's chin dropped. "How the hell did you do that?"

  Les gave a humble shrug. At least that was most likely what he was going for. "I fought a government employee in the cage. Halfway through I offered to take it easier on him if he could get me one."

  "You threw a round?" Max was even more startled at that prospect.

  "Hell, no," Les said. "The man still lost, but I let him lose with dignity. He appreciated that and followed through with the chip."

  Not a shabby deal, Mary thought. Those things sold on the black market for a very pretty penny. A chip placed within a host computer was undetectable once in and would display a mirror image of that computer's screen onto any computer that had the codes to access it. If it was in Mary's possession, she'd be sorely tempted to just sell the damn thing and buy a small house. But she knew from past experience that there just wasn't any talking Les out of one of his schemes.

  "Let me get this straight," Mary said slowly. "You are planning to put the mirror chip into Cora's computer? How? She takes that thing with her everywhere."

  He smiled. "Ah yes, she does. But all of her evil crew aren't quite so careful. My guess is that whatever they are up to any one of their computers will give them away."

  "So how do you plan to install the chip?" Max asked.

  Les's smile upped to an outright grin. "With my brilliant ingenuity of course. You forget I'm a guard. So, like you, I have full access to the building, even the coveted upstairs suite." He paused. "I know that there are cameras monitoring everything that goes on in Gaia, but would you believe there isn't a single one on the penthouse level? I guess Nika and her dad didn't want to chance anyone hacking into their surveillance system and stealing their magic."

  "Okay, but your rounds are pretty set in stone, right?" Mary asked. "And installing a chip into a computer will take some time."

  "Ten minutes and thirteen seconds, to be precise," Les agreed. "I've got it down to that. I'm usually upstairs for at least that."

  "And the crew is just going to hand over a computer and watch you install it?" Max asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

  "No. But Cora generally leaves the office a couple of hours after we get there, and she only has two members of her crew working the night shift doing whatever they hell they're doing. I've noticed that they both go to lunch at the same time." He turned to Mary. "And they eat right in our very own cafeteria."

  Mary shivered. They did indeed. They were the only employees of Gaia, if they really were employees, that she had an active dislike for. One of the pair had actually made a pass at her. It hadn't been the male one, either. She wasn't against lesbians, but the woman didn't seem to want to take no for an answer. And her male counterpart was egging her on too. Their lunch was Mary's most dreaded hour of the night.

  "So, we all have cell phones, right?" Les asked, tapping his ear.

  That was one of the nicer inventions of the last few years. No more carrying around little boxes that beeped and annoyed everyone around you. Now the phone fits nicely inside one ear and was accessed strictly by voice and head movements.

  "Mary can call me when they enter the cafeteria and I can head up to the penthouse. Then, once I'm done, I'll call Mary to let her know. If they start to leave before I've called, she can give me a warning."

  If that happened, Mary knew she'd be expected to detain them. She shivered again. Surely he wouldn't expect her to do that?

  "A warning I can do," she said slowly. "You know my history with those two, right?"

  Les nodded. "I remember. Just a warning. That's all I ask. It takes a few minutes to get from down there all the way back up to the office suite. Besides, even if they see me, I have every reason to be there as I'll be in my guard uniform and everything."

  Max took a deep breath, considering. "No cameras, no witnesses... " he trailed off looking at Mary. "So what are we missing?"

  Les grinned. "Absolutely nothing. I've thought of everything. Like I said, I'm the only one at risk and that risk is teeny tiny with Mary here keeping an eye on the two nefarious ones."

  "I'm taking it this is going to happen tonight?" Mary asked, hoping he would answer in the negative and give her time to talk him out of it. No such luck.

  "Yup. The sooner the better to save Gaia." He paused as the waitress come by to check their drinks once more. "I'm not sure why, but this really has my hackles up. It feels like a very hostile takeover to me."

  Mary thought again of Nika and finally nodded. "Okay, I'm in. But if you get caught, I've never met you before."

  "Got it," Les said. Then he turned to Max, trying to make it look like an afterthought. "Now that I think of it, you clean the penthouse suite while they're at lunch, don't you?"

  Oh hell. There it was.

  "You know I do," Max said. "I was wondering when you'd get to my part of the plan."

  Les lifted one shoulder. "Nothing major. If you could keep the doors open during your cleaning route and listen for the elevator, that would be great. Cora generally leaves for the night and doesn't come back until morning. But she has keyed back into the building in the middle of the night before to check in on her crew."

  Mary's eyebrows drew together. Something about that phrase. Then it hit her. Cora wasn't the type to leave her crew unattended. She was a control freak to the extreme. Gaia might not have cameras installed up there, but she sure as hell bet that Cora did. If Mary was right, they'd have Les on video and dead to rights.


  When she explained her doubts to the men, for the first time Les looked a little nervous.

  "I hadn't thought about that," he said slowly. "There hasn't been any work crews in that would have installed them, though. Do you think she could have done it herself? She's up there by herself a lot."

  Mary nodded. "She's probably just using small web cameras. The kind they used to call nanny cameras. Most likely not a teddy bear though, so it could be pretty hard to spot."

  Les hit the table in front of him. "Damn it!"

  Max had that thoughtful look. The one that scared Mary to pieces.

  "Max?" she asked.

  "Just a minute, I'm thinking it through," he answered.

  She and Les waited. Max wasn't one to speak without first having carefully thought out what he was going to say. At least when it was important. It had Mary decidedly worried.

  "Okay, I think I've got it," he said finally. "If Cora has set up a nanny cam to watch over her people, she probably only has one, right?" The others nodded. "Well, that camera would most likely be facing the area where they work, right?" More nods. He leaned back, obviously proud of himself. "Well, I think tonight would be a great night to give the desk their computers are on a serious cleaning, don't you?" He shrugged. "And if I happen to forget to put them back?"

  "Then the camera will be at the totally wrong angle to catch me." Les grinned. "Max, you're a genius!"

  Unless she was ultra careful and there were two cameras, Mary thought. But nothing would stop the boys now. They were doing this.

  CHAPTER FOUR: Into the Desert

  Nika was standing over with Evan at the save fountain when Louella emerged from the mayor's house a few minutes later. As she watched, the girl made her way over to Ash and after a very brief conversation, handed her the backpack that held their one and only link to the outside world.

  Since they were all outside now, they started to gather together for the promised brief meeting before splitting up once again to tackle the quests. The save fountain made a good meeting point.

  "So, what did your team find in the way of quests?" Nika asked, her question directed at Ash and Dean. She would continue to pretend Blake didn't exist. It was the best way she could cope with the situation.

  "Nothing out of the ordinary," Ash said. "There are three quests total. Two of them may be worth exploring as they give out advanced weapons for the ranger and well, me, the mage. They aren't all that great considering what we should find later in the game, but they might be nice to have until we do."

  "Do they sound like quests you two can handle on your own?" Nika asked.

  Ash and Dean both nodded. Blake didn't say a word. He had to know he would be pretty much useless to them. If they trusted him more, they could just leave him in town. But he'd most likely just follow them, anyway. Until they could ditch him permanently, the smarter thing would probably be to keep a close eye on him. She was thankful that Ash had volunteered for that task.

  "Okay, then," Nika said. "Our side of town had only two quests available, one is for a reward of straight gold, but the other is for a horse. He looked fast too."

  "That would really help," Dean said. "Then we'd only need to come up with the gold for two horses instead of three." He paused. "How much gold does the other quest pay?"

  "Just a hundred," Evan said. "But that's a third of the cost of a horse, and we should be able to gather enough extra equipment from the battle drops to sell and make up the difference."

  "So, meet back at the mayor's house for dinner and compare notes?" Ash asked.

  "Sounds like we have a plan," Nika agreed. "If the quests turn out to be more than you can handle, and that goes for our quests too so don't think I'm doubting you guys, we can always come back earlier than that and regroup."

  They all agreed and started to part ways. Nika excused herself from her group and hurried over to tap Ash on the shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

  "Sure," Ash said.

  They moved out away from the others a bit and once she thought they were out of earshot, Nika asked, "Why did Louella give you the backpack to carry? I'm right that the terminal is in there, aren't I?"

  Ash lifted the shoulder that was holding the bag's strap. "It feels like it. Should I check?"

  "No need," Nika said, forcing herself not to look at Louella and the others. "Did you ask her why she wanted you to carry it now?"

  "To be honest, it never occurred to me to ask why," Ash said. "I kind of figured she was worried about being able to keep it safe. What with her wings getting shredded and everything. I mean, we did get lucky that Gaia didn't destroy the backpack and the terminal too. We might not get that lucky next time. And computers don't heal."

  Hell, Nika hadn't thought of that. Ash had a very good point. Louella was probably just looking out for the group. But there was still that whole slamming the computer shut issue from before.

  "Do you think Louella's been acting odd lately?" Nika asked. "Like maybe she's keeping secrets from us?"

  Ash just laughed. "Lately? That girl has been odd from day one. And as for keeping secrets? Hell yes, she's keeping secrets from us. She admitted to that the very first time we met her, remember? Louella is just a name she made up for her character. We don't have a clue who or what she is in the outside world."

  Yet another good point.

  "I really don't think we have anything to worry about from her," Ash said. "I mean, we would never have made it this far if it hadn't been for her. So that pretty much means she can't be tied in with the evil VirTech Corporation." She paused. "Doesn't it?"

  Nika nodded slowly. "Yes, I'm sure she has nothing to do with all of that." The more Nika thought about it, the better she felt. Louella had just emailed back home, and she was likely still in her account when Nika had come back. There was a good likelihood that she had slammed the lid of the terminal out of pure reflex not wanting Nika to find out about her outside life.

  So nothing to do with the game at all. Nika could live with that. As long as it didn't put the party in jeopardy, let her keep all the secrets she wants.

  "Thanks, Ash," Nika said, turning to leave. "I'd better go before they start asking questions."

  "One more thing, though, since you brought her up," Ash said. "Just how old do you think Louella is? I'm thinking she might be a whole lot younger than she looks."

  Damn. Another thing Nika hadn't thought about. Was she responsible for an under-aged player? Swallowing, she shrugged. "You may be right." Nika paused. "Let's not let her drink at any taverns, just to be on the safe side."

  "Among other things." Ash laughed, then jogged away to catch up with Blake and Dean.

  Nika returned to her group with a lighter heart, but a heavier mind. She'd better start taking much better care and notice of their little pixie. Now that she thought about it, she was thinking Ash might just be right. Exactly how old was Louella?

  "Is something wrong?" Louella's voice seemed uncertain as if she was worried that Nika was mad at her.

  Nika gave her a smile and shook her head. "Considering being stuck in a virtual reality world, everything is pretty much as it should be. I just wanted to check that Ash was really okay with Blake in her party." A tiny lie shouldn't hurt anything, Nika thought. And it might put the girl at ease. It seemed to work, as Louella returned her smile and dropped her shoulders, relaxed once more.

  "So are we ready to go earn ourselves a horse?" Evan asked.

  "He—, shoot yeah," Nika said. Until she found out the truth about Louella's age, she'd better start watching the cussing in the group too. So far, she'd been pretty lax about the language. If it was possible that one of their members was a minor that would need to change.

  Evan gave her a strange look but kept his mouth shut.

  Louella made a few hand gestures, and Nika knew she was looking at the area map to see what direction they needed to head out in. Ash's group had gone to the gate at the opposite end of the town. The one farthest from the portal,
which was still open and glowing.

  "Looks like we follow the others for the Giddy-up quest," Louella said. "But according to the map, the pig is in the other direction."

  "Da... ng," Nika said, changing the word as she spoke it. This was going to be harder than she'd thought. "Looks like there won't be any killing two birds with one stone today. We'll see how long it takes us to clear out that herd of hyenas. If we still have time before dinner, we can head back for the pig. Otherwise, we might just catch a few more battles in that direction and try to earn some loot to sell that way."

  "We may end up earning more gold that way, honestly," Evan said. "The game starts dropping some pretty cool battle rewards in the desert area."

  "Good," Nika said. "We need all the help we can get."

  By the time they reached the gate, Ash's small party was no longer in sight. That was probably for the better. If they got too close, the system would pester them to rejoin as one party, and for now, two parties meant a faster start to the area.

  Time was their most important need right now. The faster they could get through this desert the better.

  According to the map, the pack of hyenas was directly ahead about a mile and then down a smaller path another quarter of a mile. They set out at a slow jog, keeping their eyes open for desert creatures.

  This area was a far cry from the lush green shade of the forest region. Here, even on the very outskirts of the desert, there was no shade. No green either, outside of the town, until they reached an oasis. Those were scattered throughout this part of the game. They didn't want to give players the feeling that they were dying of thirst. Being thirsty was okay, and normal in this area, but not the dying part. They would find water even here long before it became a desperate need.

  The only way to tell that they were staying on an actual path was the lighter color of the sand. The designers had struggled with that one. They had gone with the slightly unnatural look of off colored sandy paths to make it easier for the players to find their way around. There wasn't much here this close to the town to allow players to get their bearings.