Nigel texted John Appleton.
How’s my mother?
“She’s still in a coma,” John texted back.
Please let me know when you have an update! Nigel responded.
Will do, kid.
Then Nigel called Milo, who picked up on the first ring.
“Hey, Nige,” said Milo. “Have you found anything useful?”
Nigel gave Milo a quick update.
“Wow—she has traveled halfway around the world. I’m sure she has some interesting stories,” Milo said.
“Well, I just want her back home! Can you do something for me?”
“Just name it.”
“Is it possible to find all radio waves on a map for all islands near Nigeria?”
“Several scientists around the world monitor and publish information about radio waves all the time. There are also a lot of hobbyist sites with that sort of information,” Milo said.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“See if you can find an island in the region that has the highest concentration of signals,” Nigel said.
“I’m on it, Nige. I will call you back when I have something.”
“If I don’t pick up, send me a secure message.”
“Got it! Hey, you heard anything about your mom?” Milo said.
A single tear formed in one of Nigel’s eyes. “Yes . . . she’s the same. Hey, I need to go, Milo.”
Nigel hung up. Need to stay focused, he told himself.
Eight hours later
Nigel was getting restless, he had never been on a plane and had to move around, which helped him think. Everyone except for Hunter looked tired.
“If we come into contact with Delta, she might be difficult to deal with. How do we defend ourselves against her cybernetic shell?” Nigel said.
“April suffers from aquagenic urticaria. Bacteria in certain water compounds could harm her,” Melissa said.
“I wonder if her transformation into Delta changed that,” Nigel said.
“We don’t know, but it’s information worth having in case things get rough,” Melissa said.
“So why don’t we just spray her with some water and watch the computer melt down? Sounds easy enough,” Hunter said.
Melissa gave Hunter a contemptuous look.
“If someone of Nigel’s expertise can hack into Leviathan’s mainframe, we can lock Delta out!” Melissa said.
“An AI that powerful will have protections in place,” Nigel said.
“Not to mention a lot of blokes with guns,” Jony added.
“Leviathan has a manual override. I found information on it when I was snooping around my father’s office,” Melissa said. She produced a flash drive from a compartment in her jacket and handed it to Nigel. “It’s all on here. Good luck!”
Nigel gave Melissa a smile. “Thanks.”
“My ride is at Newport International. It can hold seven passengers,” Alexei said.
“I don’t even have a passport!” Nigel protested.
“That’s not a problem,” Natasha said.
“We have three open seats. Who will accompany us?”