Page 68 of Dark Chains: First Link
The commander's eyes narrowed. He knew better than to argue over who was in charge of this area, but it was obvious that he wasn't satisfied with the explanation. "The southeastern cliffs aren't on any patrol route because there's nothing here to patrol. The terrain makes sea approach impossible."
"What's impossible today might become possible tomorrow," Number One said. "New technologies are constantly being developed, and the enemies of the Brotherhood are spearheading the innovation. Lord Losham wants a thorough assessment of every sector, including the ones that have been deemed low-risk in the past."
It wasn't really a lie since what Number One had said were thoughts that had occurred to the collective upon arrival at thisdeserted stretch of coast. The only part of the statement that wasn't true was Losham directing them to investigate here.
The commander studied him for a moment. His surface thoughts were accessible to the collective, and what Number One found there was not suspicion so much as wariness. The man didn't think they were up to something. He thought they were strange, which was the default reaction of most who encountered the Eight. Strange, dangerous, and best avoided.
"I wasn't informed about any expanded patrol schedule," the commander said.
"You wouldn't have been. The idea is to find areas in need of improvement and report them to Lord Losham without those involved trying to make everything look good."
That was true, and the commander knew it.
On Losham's orders, the Eight bypassed the regular military protocol, which was one of the reasons that Kolhood and the other brothers resented them. They operated outside the system, answered to no one except Losham, and their activities were opaque to everyone else.
The commander's wariness settled into resignation. "Understood. Do you need anything from us?"
"No. We're finished up here."
They applied the thrall, and all four soldier minds received the same adjustment, layered over their existing memories of the encounter like a fresh coat of paint over graffiti.
Routine encounter. Nothing unusual. The Eight were conducting a standard perimeter check. It was reported to the duty station.
That was the end of it. Nothing worth a second thought.
The commander returned to the patrol vehicle, and then it drove off, climbing the slope and disappearing over the ridge, its headlights fading into the brightening sky.
"The duty station log," Number Three said.
"It stays," Number One replied. "Going to the duty station to alter the record creates another encounter, and another anomaly. We leave it."
"The entry will be buried among dozens of routine patrol reports from the night shift," Number Three added. "Unless someone is actively scanning for patterns in our movements, it won't get flagged."
"Kolhood's people might be doing exactly that," Number One said.
The problem was that they couldn't eliminate this vulnerability without creating a bigger one.
"We tell Losham about our sojourn to this area during our morning briefing," Number Two said. "We will frame it as an initiative. We identified a gap in the patrol coverage and took it upon ourselves to address it. If Kolhood's people find the log entry and bring it to him, Losham can confirm that he was aware. We will recommend a new patrol route for the area and give Losham the same explanation we gave the commander. This coast shouldn't be assumed to be inaccessible because we are not aware of a way to do it. Others might have equipment the Brotherhood has not heard about yet."
It was a patch, not a fix, but it was the best available option, and the collective moved on.
26
YAAF
Number Seven started the engine and pulled the Humvee back onto the service road, heading back toward the resort side of the island. The sky was fully alight now, the sun still below the horizon, but its presence was announced by the golden haze spreading across the eastern sky.
The island was waking up, and in an hour or so, everything would be operating at full swing, but the Eight still had work to do.
The transmitter needed to be installed somewhere inconspicuous with a direct line of sight to the sky.
The water tower was perfect for that.
It sat on a hill behind the resort area, far enough from the hotel so guests wouldn't have to look at it from their balconies, but close enough to where the Eight spent most of their time. The cylindrical steel structure was mounted on lattice legs, and its elevated position gave it unobstructed sky exposure in every direction. More importantly, the tower's upper section was already cluttered with hardware, the weather station's sensorarray, and junction boxes installed at various points over the years and never removed. The small disc would disappear among them.
Number Seven parked the Humvee at the base of the tower, which had a maintenance ladder bolted to one of the lattice legs. A sign at the bottom declared that access was for AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY, which was irrelevant because the Eight were presumably authorized everywhere.
Number One climbed.
