Chapter Twenty-Three

Rosa was thankful the snow had calmed, and the automated driving app was partially restored, at least for now.

The mobile security detail’s armored transport configuration was well-prepared for handling the icy terrain. And besides, he wanted to get there as fast as possible.

The troop’s transport and defense carrier AI knew all the best routes and, more importantly, which ones were passable and were not.

He called on the way, asking Aura to gather Viktoriya and meet them downstairs as soon as they pulled up.

They arrived at Aura’s apartment building in less than ten minutes from leaving the house.

Rosa and one guard quickly exited the vehicle and rushed to the automatic lobby doors, where six guards were already posted outside.

He saw Viktoriya through the glass, with Aura close behind her. The doors hissed open, and he hurried inside to his daughter.

He wanted to sweep her up in his arms. He was so relieved to know she was safe, letting out a tremendous sigh.

But he knew better than that.

Too much stimulus triggered her, especially right now, since she was already overwhelmed with everything happening around her.

“Dad!”

“Thank you!” he said to Aura as Viktoriya made her way to her dad.

“For keeping her safe.”

She smiled back, though he noticed her gaze lingering on Viktoriya.

“No problem, Rosa, anytime. You know that.”

“Dad!”

He nodded to the soldiers outside.

“I’m assuming you got the message?”

“Of course,” she replied, still glancing toward Viktoriya. “Edmund called a few minutes ago. I can’t believe security’s already here, if I’m honest. It’s like they were around the corner or something, like they were already watching me.”

Aura shrugged.

“At least some of them are cute,” she smirked.

That was her way; always finding a quirky, funny spin on things was in her DNA.

He laughed. Only she could find it possible to laugh during all this.

“Well, be safe,” he said, giving her a curt nod.

She smiled. “You too.”

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“Dad! You’re not listening to me!”

Aura turned to the elevator, and Rosa motioned for Viktoriya to head toward the door.

“What’s going on, Dad? Where is our car? What is that army truck for?” she asked as they headed into the snow, rushing to the military transport.

“Dad, Mom already said I could visit with Choe today. She just now brought me over!”

“I’ll tell you in the army truck, but for now, let’s hustle in quickly.”

“Dad! Stop grabbing me, please!”

Her breathing was speeding up, and she was on the edge of hyperventilating.

He hadn’t realized how tightly he was gripping her hand as he rushed in front of her toward the transport unit.

“Dad, I did nothing wrong! I want to see Choe!” she yelled.

Now, with a loose grip on her as he led the way, the door opened for them, and the security team made sure they got in safely.

“Will you please let go of me!” she yelled.

Once inside, he looked around at the quiet street. There seemed to be no one there other than the military rolling in.

He let a wave of relief rush over him. At least he hadn’t been followed there.

Now they just had to make it back home.

“Buckle up! Secure all doors,” the driver instructed the vehicle AI as soon as the door shut behind them.

“Locked,” the AI responded in a thick Australian accent. “Destination?”

“Kuzland’s,” the driver said. “And as quickly as you can.”

“Dad, what is that smell. Like, um, burning oil or something?”

The transport stealthily pulled into the road, the combustion engine in near-complete silence. Rosa looked back to Viktoriya, who seemed to be deep in thought.

“You asked what was going on?”

That got her attention. She turned her head away from the bulletproof window and toward him. “Yeah, everyone is acting strange. Why are we riding in this thing? Why does it smell so oily? Mom already said it was okay for me to vis—”

“There’s been an attack on TITAN, a cyberattack. Edmund has sent the military to protect us, both at our home and here at Aura’s—wait, what?” he said and stopped, while his daughter had an ‘ah-ha’ look on her face, raising one finger.

Rosa paused at the sight of his daughter’s face, messaging the realization of something profound.

“So, I guess… I think that, that may explain the phone call earlier.”

“Yeah, Edmund called all of us—”

She shook her head slowly, now looking upset as she crumpled her eyebrows.

One guard turned his head slightly, watching her response out of the corner of his eye as he tried to focus on what she was saying.

“Not that phone call. The earlier one. Today. I overheard Aura when she was on her phone. She was hiding in the laundry room and talking to, well, I actually don’t know who she was speaking to.”

“Viktoriya,” Rosa said, leaning forward. “What are you talking about? What did you hear? What did she say?”

“Exactly?”

He nodded. “Yes, what was said, exactly?”

“Well, Choe got yellow paint on my shirt, so I was just going to the laundry to get some cleaner—”

“Sweetie, just—What she said, what did you actually hear? Please.”

“Right,” she said, refocusing.

“I heard Aura say, ‘do it now’ and ‘screw waiting five years,’ she also said that everyone—all the scientists, or at least I think that’s who she was talking about—were all terrified.”

He sighed. That wasn’t anything damning. He scolded himself for a moment for actually thinking that Aura could be involved in something dangerous.

How could she, after all?

“And then she talked about how they had waited long enough and to take it now. And they had to do it to save us all from the Frost. They had to take it over.”

His heart sank. This must be some sort of coincidence.

“Viktoriya, now this is really important. Does Aura know you heard this?”

She shook her head.

“And this is exactly what you understood?”

She nodded.

“All right, all right,” he said, raising his hand to his forehead, trying to calm his nerves.

The guard stopped staring at Viktoriya and asked, “Sir, are you okay?”

“Yes, yes… I’m fine.” Then, turning back to his daughter, he said,

“As soon as we get home, we’re going straight to the labs, locking ourselves in and calling Edmund. He needs to hear this, and Vik, he’ll need to get it straight from you. Is that okay? Can you do that for us?”

She nodded.

“Of course. I can speak to strangers now… if I try not to think too much about it. Do I have to look at him?”

“No, not if you don’t want to. Only if you choose to, thank you, dear.”

“Okay. I will not be looking at him.”