The following morning, though we were both exhausted physically, our minds were rested and our spirits lifted by our ‘encounter’, one of the many occasions we would indulge but which we had denied ourselves in our push to the Watson facility in Albany.
As we walked in companionable silence, my nanocloud alerted me to the completion of the data processing task I’d given it earlier. In doing so, I’d been granted additional memories in the form of every volunteer and staff member who was involved in SynTech. There were also documents pertaining to the original project brief and some classified data involving the intended deployment and function of the nanites that had been developed by the company.
As I had the nanocloud process the information so we could decide how to proceed, Eveline spoke up about our encounter with Taylor.
“Rick,” her voice was quiet, reflective. “Just so you know, I don’t fault you for discussing my circumstances with Taylor, even though I don’t trust her.”
I looked over at my bond-mate and nodded gently. I could feel the tension emanating from her, even without the benefit of the empathic link between us, which was saturated with the sadness of remembered grief. “I hoped I could find the balance I needed to make my point without telling her too much,” I told her quietly as I stepped by her side and took her hand in mine. She didn’t resist despite being in public with me. “The risk of something happening to hybrids as a whole makes me sick to my stomach, but worse, the risk of losing you is not something I can ever accept, even if there were no other choices.”
Nodding once, Eveline said nothing else, her face remaining a stony mask, but through our bond, I felt her appreciation, and her own concern for my well-being.
“So what do we do about her?” Eveline asked.
“Right now, nothing,” I suggested. “After all, what can we do? Nothing suggests she’s a threat to us or our mission unless we make her into one, and she seems to know a great deal more than any of us about how the nanocloud works, so for now at least, I’d say it pays to keep her as a possible ally instead of alienating her without more information.”
Eveline didn’t completely agree, and I could feel a tense, if uncertain denial in her, but she nodded nonetheless, squeezing my hand before separating by the barest of distances, her head down as if in thought, her apprehension regarding Taylor emanating through the bond.
I’d learned that she needed to be left to her thoughts at times like this, so other than projecting reassurance and my own feelings regarding my loyalty to her, I gave her space, physically and emotionally, as we continued our trek to the Canadian border.
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We arrived at the Canadian border a week later, crossing without incident, reporting to the manned Canadian services checkpoint to report our movements as soon as we were able to reach it. The border agents cleared us without issue and advised us to remember the rules regarding travel through the region. Basically, it amounted to ensuring that we broke no laws.
Our plan was to approach Quebec City and the airport in the area, reporting to Laurent’s locally-established task force, where our friends Amélie, Philippe, Caitlynne, and my sister’s wife Rosalie would be waiting for our arrival. A plan needed to be devised for how best to carry out intelligence, infiltrate harvester breeding facilities, exfiltrate our own agents when it came time to, and invade the facilities to liberate the hybrids cubs who had been bred in captivity for the Harvesters’ nefarious misdeeds.
Eveline’s customary disdainful affect was firmly in place as we approached Quebec City that afternoon, and we started encountering the locals again. This was no surprise to me, having known the facade that she projected whenever she was around people she could not trust or did not know, so I pretended we were casual acquaintances as we walked through the city toward the regional airport.
We were making our way to the airport, as we were advised this was where a base of operations had been established for Rosalie’s task force in the North Americas. We would no doubt have time for a proper reunion later, but for now, our destination was clear.
We already know who we were to meet, where, and at what time, having had this discussion with Philippe earlier. Eveline would be the one to communicate, as she had all the details, and knew everyone longer than I did. I was also sure her father had made sure she knew whatever protocols were in place for such a meeting like this.
Unlike the United States, Canada still had both a robust infrastructure and a decentralised governing structure with common laws and rules. Laurent would have seen to it that Eveline knew what to expect, given he was likely prepping her for more important work in the future.
“Can I help you two?” the guard at the airport asked us both, as we approached the terminal entry gate from the highway connecting it.
“We’re here to meet with our colleagues at Gate C,” Eveline told the guard.
“And you are?” The guard asked, extending a hand. Eveline took it, releasing it after a few seconds. The guard then turned to me. “Now, you?”
As Eveline had instructed me earlier, I needed to extend my hand to the guard to take. The moment he took my hand, my nanocloud prompted me with an alert.
Identity hash requested. Do you wish to send?
Yes.
Sent.
The guard released my hand a moment later, nodding to me. “Let me verify this information with your hosts,” he said, then his eyes unfocused briefly, before he seemed to come back to the room and looked between us. “Alright, go on ahead.”
As the guard told us this, the gate automatically swung open, and the guard waved us through. I nodded my thanks, as did Eveline, and we both then walked on through the gate.
As we continued our journey along the tarmac toward the specified gate, I noticed the differences between how the airport looked now, and how most airports looked when I travelled through them in the past. Those differences were minor. The tarmac was in a state of disrepair commensurate with not having the ready ability to re-surface and replace concrete, and many of the buildings appeared to be abandoned, but there were some other buildings that were maintained pretty well, all things considered. Two of the runways I could see from our road-way were clearly regularly maintained, and I suspected that there had to be at least some heavy machinery in existence at this airport in order for this to be possible. It could also be likely that the greatly-reduced population of the planet meant far less air travel, meaning far less wear and tear on the concrete and tarmac of the runways and taxiways themselves.
Taylor’s comments came to mind about the nanocloud being able to repair and reconfigure the environment at will, something that still seemed to be pure speculative e fiction in my mind, and likely impossible.
But then again, that was how I once thought of nanotechnology, and now I possessed a nanocloud that prevented me from getting old or sick.
Soon, we arrived at the gate marked C, which had an open doorway, and Philippe was already waiting for us. He was a canine hybrid, specifically a wolf, and like Eveline, had very human features, a human face, wolven ears mounted in the same place as a human’s would be, and carried a very similar build to a fur-covered Ronnie Coleman. As always, he was cheerful, and was carefree in mannerisms. As we approached, he waved us over.
“Beau Chiot, our friends are here!” He called out.
I felt a burst of anticipation and excitement from Eveline, as she leapt into a trot toward Philippe, reaching him and clapping an arm on his shoulder in greeting, just as Amélie stepped out, gave a happy yip as she saw Eveline, and then jumped forward to give her a hug. “You’re looking much stronger, Eveline!”
Amélie was right. Eveline had packed on all of the muscle she had lost in her journey to Quebec City when we had separated at Mary’s Harbour. All sign of the injury she had sustained while protecting me from the obsidian panther had been healed, and even her fur had grown back. Anyone who had never met her before would never known she’d had her obliques torn to shreds almost three months before. Whereas the last time Amélie saw us, Eveline had been emaciated and looked somewhat malnourished and overly-slender, this was contrasted with her normal physique, her compact-but-substantial build, and densely-packed musculature all over her body. While everyone these days had some degree of muscle-tone including myself, Eveline took it to a whole new level.
“Someone has to keep him in line,” she replied, her tone caustic, as she tilted her head back in my direction. As usual, through our bond, she released a burst of affection and amusement.
She loved to tease, and I loved to feel the amusement whenever she did.
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“So mean,” I quipped. “This is what I’ve had to put up with all the way back here!”
To no-one’s surprise, Eveline stepped back from the hug she gave Amélie, stalked back over to me with an irritated look on her face, and gave me a playful shove. “Arse,” she hissed, before turning back to the other two. “Shall we get inside?”
Amélie and Philippe were set up on the upper terminal departure lounge, where they had managed to convert a large area of the terminal into a working command centre. Everything they were likely to need was here, including a couple of working computer terminals, something that surprised me greatly, given we all possessed nanoclouds that made such devices obsolete. In addition, there were desks that looked completely blank, but in my experience back in Eindhoven, I knew that they were able to interface with nanoclouds and present information and carry out various functions that allow for multiple parties to share information. Off of this central command zone in the lounge were a series of offices, rooms and conference zones that were not a part of the airport as it was originally constructed, but nonetheless constructed so well, that they may as well have been built at the same time the rest of the airport was. Clearly, whenever we had any planning sessions in our future missions, provision had been made for this requirement. A doorway leading off toward what used to be shop fronts leading to duty free purchase zones was marked as rest areas, where I suspected bedding zones and bathing facilities were located.
They had even managed to construct a robust stairwell leading to the roof of the lounge, where I suspected a helipad sat, on which Rosalie’s helicopter sat, waiting to be used for whatever journeys she needed to make from one location to another across North America.
Speaking of Rosalie, she was waiting for us at a command table in the middle of the large open space of the departure lounge. My sister’s wife of forty-five or so years was a tall, slender woman with the build of a dedicated Army Ranger, and had the military background of a Canadian soldier. From what little I knew of her so far, I knew she specialised in sniper work, though she was highly reluctant in discussing it.
Right now, she looked relieved to see us.
“Rick,” she called out in a tone that sounded almost exasperated. “Is it too much for you to call to let us know you’re well?” Despite the annoyance in her tone, she quickly stepped up to me and wrapped me in a fierce hug, her martial strength clear in the tight hold she gave me, before she stepped back and narrowed her eyes. “You know she’s been anxious about you since you both left a couple of months ago.”
Eveline stepped up and gave Rosalie a hug as well, to my utter astonishment. I felt a burst of amusement through our bond. “How are you both?” Eveline asked.
“We’re good,” Rosalie told her, returning the hug, before stepping back. “Glad you’re both well. You’re looking amazing!”
Eveline blew a raspberry in response. “Please! You’ll make me blush!”
“That doesn’t sound likely,” Rosalie quipped. “Come on, I happen to know Dani has missed the two of you fiercely, and I’ve also been telling her about Amélie and Philippe, since meeting them.”
Amélie let out a bark of laughter, while Philippe grinned widely.
“We’ve been hearing about your sister, Rick,” Amélie replied. “If she’s anything like you, I’d be very happy to make her acquaintance.”
“Oh no,” Eveline said quickly, her tone trembling in suppressed laughter, and I felt a burst of amusement from her. “She’s a lot better!”
I pinched her waist, and she elbowed me in response, narrowing her eyes at me. “You’re gonna pay for that,” I told her, grinning back at her, totally unrepentant.
She looked back at me, her eyes narrowing, and even if I missed the amused twinkle in her eyes or the suppressed grin she tried to hide, I couldn’t miss the playful amusement and desire emanating through our bond. “Make me,” she almost-whispered, and I felt a burst of lusty hunger through our bond, as well as a slight hint of her scent, as she walked away with an exaggerated sway of her ample hips.
What a tease!
Amélie’s expression was slack-jawed as she looked at me, then Philippe, then myself again with a look of astonishment. “I’ve never seen her walk with such exaggeration before!” She gasped.
“Later,” Rosalie told us both in what I surmised was her Officer tone. “Right now, let’s all catch up and get on the same page.”
“I was only informed last week that my father was going to contact you regarding North American operations,” Eveline replied in acknowledgment to Rosalie. “So Rick and I have a fair amount of catching-up to do. How is this all going to work, and where are we based?”
Rosalie nodded to Eveline in acknowledgment of her question, then addressed us all, glancing between all of us as she began detailing everything.
“I’ve been asked to take strategic command of Ontario operations for the Foundation,” she began, settling into officer-mode as she spoke. “We’ve been tasked with planning and executing strikes against any known Harvester facilities we can, in an orderly and timely fashion. This includes not only breeding facilities, but any form of research or administrative location that has a connection to them.
“To that end, we will be splitting into two divisions, both based here in the airport. The first will be the intelligence task force. Everyone in this will be responsible for scouting for and discovering any Harvester-related facilities from the breeding labs we’ve been dealing with to date, to any combat or military based setups they have throughout the continent including everywhere from Alaska to Nova-Scotia from the northern territories to Mexico. Rick, if you’re interested, you can get in on this task force and use your data analysis skills to process what does come in from our people seeking these places out.”
“Wait,” I spoke up at that point. “What exactly does that entail?”
“Right now, I haven’t finalised the details,” Rosalie shrugged but continued anyway. “Likely it’ll involve some time here at base, some time travelling to Europe to talk with other strategic bases, and probably some time in the field. Boots on the ground are always a good way to get data, though most of it will be from others, I still want you to get a feel for what they need to do.”
I nodded to Rosalie, saying nothing else. It sounded like a possibly-risky job, but one that needed doing, and if Rosalie felt that experiencing what the other spies would be doing out in the world, I wasn’t about to argue against her.
“The second task force will be infiltration and exfiltration. Ground troops will be responsible for storming facilities and exfiltration of our operatives and rescue of anyone being held captive. We already have several people trained for this task, including some old-guard Marines and reservists from both the Canadian armed forces and the US Army, Navy and Marine divisions. They’re training others, including any hybrids who are willing to sign-up.
“Hybrids? Like me?” Eveline asked.
Rosalie nodded. “Tigers and lions make for powerful soldiers and combatants, canines including foxes and wolves make for unbeatable trackers, and rabbits and squirrels make for innocuous undercover agents. Both divisions can use their unique talents, and who better to understand what the hybrid cubs are suffering in breeding labs than those who have previously escaped their influence?” The idea gave Eveline a great deal of apprehension, and I could feel the conflicting emotions through our bond. “Eveline, if you wish, you can join Rick here, in Quebec, full-time. Your knowledge of Harvester operations will help plan infiltration and exfiltration ops, and your combat abilities, while exceedingly useful in the field, they are put to effective use in any application. An ‘unarmed’ combatant who can execute a lethal takedown of anyone without relying on carrying weapons is a major asset in the field, especially one who fights as well as you, but given your relationship with Rick, I want you to have a choice in where you’re deployed if you want to be a part of this.”
“Let’s just dispense with any questions about wanting to be part of this,” Eveline said with a little intensity, her expression hardening in an instant. “Up until I journeyed with Rick, I only ever occasionally ferried messages from Eindhoven to nearby Foundation contacts in nearby cities, so the only question is… Do you want someone as inexperienced in the field as I am?”
I frowned, wondering what Eveline was talking about, and I felt a jolt of irritation from her as I turned to her, about to protest. “Are you kidding me?!”
Eveline sighed. “You already know me,” she barked, waving a hand around to Rosalie. “But not everyone does, and Rosalie doesn’t know the full details about what happened since I left my father’s mansion before, even if your sister does.”
She was right, I realised. I knew everything I needed to know, but Rosalie had only seen Eveline in combat from a distance, possibly through a telescopic sight on a sniper rifle, and possibly only partially into combat. She had no idea how effective a fighter Eveline was in Sevenum, Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Berlin, Reykjavik or New Salem. I nodded to her once, but she had already softened her expression, seemingly satisfied with the feelings she picked up from me through our bond. Turning to Rosalie, Eveline continued.
“Have you asked Dani about my skills and experience?” she asked pointedly.
Rosalie looked like she had been slapped in the face for a moment, and I hoped there wasn’t a misunderstanding, but she held up a hand a moment later. “I was hoping not to have to drag her into this,” she said after a moment. “Could you tell me more? What experience do you have?”
Eveline nodded, then began an explanation of our journey, carefully edited to leave out the parts of it that were personal and private. Rosalie likely would know those details if she asked Dani about them at some point, but for this meeting, they weren’t needed. Eveline detailed the first time she had saved my fool arse from a silver wolf, then how she had started teaching me combat techniques, then how she had saved my life in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, then Berlin, Reykjavik, and had started to discuss how she discovered me in Quebec City when Rosalie held up a hand.
“That’s fine,” she said. “I saw you just as you’d launched into an initial strike against the panther. Caught when he scraped your torso, how it slowed you down, and how you still managed to break his ribs anyway, how you only lost that particular fight because you were incapacitated by what I could clearly see was poison. It was your going unconscious and that panther’s overconfidence in his victory that gave me the opening for a clear shot at his head.” Eveline nodded, her surprise at Rosalie’s assessment echoing through our bond. “So the choice is still yours. You’d fit in with any exfiltration squad I can put together, especially as your unarmed combat skills are clearly considerable, and your knowledge of these facilities, while not as recent as those we rescued a few weeks ago, is still relevant. You could work in either department. If you’d like, I can put you and Rick in the same division so you’ll never be apart for longer than a day or two.”
While I welcomed the idea of always being close to Eveline, I wasn’t so sure that Rosalie’s accommodation would be a good idea for the mission we were now on, nor could I be sure Rosalie’s gesture would be appreciated. At least I wasn’t sure until I felt Eveline’s growing sense of contentment, and I knew it wasn’t at the idea of being close to me, though that was certainly obvious through our bond.
“I’d appreciate working in the intelligence department. Even basic data gathering might need some field work, right? And if Rick needs to go on a mission that might need combat training, I’d like to be close by in case he needed my help.”
While other guys in my past might have felt emasculated at the idea that women needed to protect them, I didn’t have any such hang-ups. I could feel Eveline’s love through the bond as she picked up on this from me, and she briefly looked sidelong at me with a slight smile.
“You might need to do some information-gathering yourself in the field, where it wouldn’t compromise the mission?” Rosalie suggested.
Eveline nodded. “I understand,” she added.
“Then you’re on the intelligence task force, along with Rick. I’ll formalise the details and handle the specifics with the task force’s leads soon.”
And just like that, Eveline and I were officially working together in the same department of the Foundation’s NorthAm Intelligence Task Force.