The Radical Chronicles

Chapter 14

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“In the early days of the Radical movement, we had no clear system of field communication. It wasn’t until the inception of the Executive Operative program at the order of the first Chief Executive that cryptology protocols were even discussed. Prior to that, we operated blind in the field, always risking capture.”

Radical Archive – excerpt from the Executive Operative Origins

Veronica listened to the hum of the car and the sounds of the dark city as they drove to the meeting spot. A thousand thoughts streamed through her head, and none of them seemed to reach a logical end. Outside the car, street lights zoomed by steadily, almost at a blur. The city was beginning to shut down for the evening as business owners closed shop, went home, and curled into their couches to spend time with family and wind down.

Veronica envied that. She knew deep down that even if Radicals won freedom in her lifetime, she wasn’t wired that way. She realized her life would always be living just below the radar, constantly considering her next move.

“Everything okay?” Chad asked. “You seem to be a million miles away.”

Veronica half-smiled. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just lost in thought. Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” he said.

“Have you ever wanted a different life? Like a normal one?”

Chad gazed over at Veronica out of the corner of his eye. “I guess, but I don’t know. I was raised to rebel against that.”

“You were raised to rebel against the Central Government. Those are two different things entirely,” Veronica said.

“You think?” Chad asked.

“I have to believe that good, normal people lead regular lives all around us, separate from the Central Government’s influence.”

“I never really thought of it that way,” Chad said. “It’s always been easy to see it in black and white terms.”

“It’s never black and white Chad. Just as there are good non-Radicals out there, corrupt Radicals exist too. I’ve met my fair share of them. It’s part of the reason I did what I did earlier.”

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Chad said.

Veronica turned her head and looked out the car window again. She’d learned through her short life to trust her instincts, even if they went against everything everyone around her was saying. She shook the feeling off and tried to focus on the night ahead, especially since it held the potential for danger. This would be her first mission under Todd’s direction, and she didn’t want to disappoint.

When Chad pulled into an unmarked garage a while later, Veronica finally felt the immediate pressure from the situation. Chad steered the vehicle to the closest spot near the exit ramp and shut the engine down.

“We have to meet Todd upstairs,” he said flatly. Veronica knew Todd still had the earlier conversation on his mind.

They walked over to the stairs and ascended to the tenth floor little by little. They didn’t relish having to walk up that many flights of stairs, but chancing the elevator could’ve alerted the building’s security if the cameras focused in on their faces.

At the tenth floor stairwell entrance, Todd and Molly stood waiting on their arrival. Molly waved and Todd crossed his arms.

“Where’s your team?” Todd asked.

“I gave them the rest of the day off earlier since it was so slow,” Chad said. “I hope it’s okay I brought Veronica. She was with me grabbing some dinner when you called, and this mission seemed right up her alley.”

Todd’s expression didn’t change. “Chad, please remember I am the one who determines who is ready to go on missions and who needs more offline training before they head into the field,” he said. “I wasn’t ready to put Veronica into the field yet.”

Veronica raised an eyebrow. “I’m standing right here you two,” she said. “And for your information, I’ve been doing field missions for a lot longer than most of you.”

Molly laughed involuntarily. “Sorry, but she’s right. This girl had it together before I knew what I even wanted to do with my life.”

Todd sighed. “Fine, but please consult me the next time you decide to make a decision like this again.” He turned and looked at the stairwell entrance. “Veronica, could you break the magnetic lock on this door? My information shows this floor’s cameras have the most security flaws we can exploit.”

Veronica nodded and went to work trying different devices to test the door for alarms, then removed a small round device from her shoulder bag with a handle on the top side. To an untrained eye, it looked like a black metallic scrub brush missing its bristles. She pushed the device against the door frame, waited, and removed it when she heard a small click inside the device.

“The door’s lock is disabled. It should remain open until the next time they reset the security systems,” Veronica said.

“We have until midnight then,” Todd said. “Plenty of time.”

“What exactly are we here for?” Veronica asked.

“The Central Government is installing new firewall protocols soon, and they’ve already been uploaded into this building’s systems. If we can get our hands on them, we can begin working on a workaround before they go system wide,” Todd said.

“What systems do they affect?” Chad asked.

“Every system,” Todd said. “It’s one of the reasons this mission is vital. I came myself to be sure it goes smoothly.”

“It seems like the Central Government has been consolidating security for a while now… and this just confirms my suspicions,” Veronica said.

Molly turned to Veronica. “What do you mean?”

“I’m sure Todd already knows what I’m referring to, but basically, the more consolidated their security is, the more difficult life will be for Radicals. Just think… if they ever manage to centralize all of their databases and route them through the Criminal Justice Guild database, we’ll be screwed.” Veronica glanced over at Todd for confirmation.

“She’s right,” he said. “The more they streamline their processes, the more we have to hide, the harder we have to work, and the worse off life will be in general for all of us.”

Chad finally chimed in, “So this system wide initiative is bad then.”

“It’s the first step in the process of bringing the entire Central Government into collaboration toward one common goal: control. Imagine it… you go to use any public terminal and you have to log in and be retinal scanned against a Central Government database just to use a private facility,” Todd said.

“They can’t do that,” Molly said.

“Why not?” Veronica said. “They do what they please already; this is just the next step for them.”

Todd motioned for Veronica to follow him. “Chad, you know the drill. Contact me if you see anything suspicious. Molly, you follow behind Veronica and cover the rear. Veronica, you and I have a date with the system mainframe.”

“Where is it located?” Veronica asked.

“One floor up, but it’s under a lot of closed circuit security,” Todd said. “We may have to take out each system one by one to get there.”

They traversed the tenth floor hall-by-hall, checking to be sure no one from the office stayed late working. The office appeared standard; the floors had an indistinguishably gray carpet, the walls were painted white and had ordinary-looking abstract paintings spaced out appropriately as far as the eye could see, and varnished wood cubicles seemed to occupy every inch of spare space.

Halfway through their trip to the center of the office, Veronica stopped Todd in front of a closet. “I have an idea if this is open,” she said. She tried the door, found it unlocked, and opened it. Inside she found everything someone would need to clean up the floor: mop buckets, cleaning supplies, and enough paraphernalia to arm them all.

“Each of you take a spray bottle or a mop. Act like we’re the new cleaning staff and learning our way around the floor before we begin cleaning,” Veronica said. “That way, if we do run into someone, we have a passable cover.”

Todd smiled. “Smart thinking Veronica.”

With accoutrements in hand, the three interlopers continued making their way toward the center of the floor. As they neared the central corridor, Todd slowed and held up a hand signaling Veronica and Molly to stop. He pointed ahead, indicating he heard someone approaching. They all looked around for an officer or cubicle to duck into, but nothing appeared accessible in time. Their only option was a locked door in the center of the hallway.

“Go,” Molly whispered. “I’ll hold them off. That’s what we have these for, right?” She held up a rag and spray bottle.

Todd nodded and turned to Veronica. “This is as good a place as any. Do your magic on that door.”

Veronica already had the right tool in hand to break the door lock before Todd made the call. As she fiddled with the locking mechanism, Veronica kept an ear to her periphery listening to Molly’s rendition of novice office cleaner. While Molly had grown physically and emotionally, Veronica knew almost right away Molly’s acting skills hadn’t improved much from her days in the facility.

“Why did you let her go?” Veronica asked. She kept her eyes focused on the lock while she spoke.

“To buy time,” he said. “I need you more than her right now, so letting her go was the right decision.”

Veronica stopped working and looked up at Todd. “That’s not how I operate,” she said.

“No, it’s how I operate,” he said bluntly. “Now get that door open.”

“Fine.” Veronica stared Todd down a moment longer, then went back to work at disabling the lock. Paces over, she could hear Molly’s cover failing horribly as the security guards began asking for official identification. The lock clicked a few seconds later. Still fuming, Veronica looked over at Todd and waited for him to intervene in the situation behind them before she’d open the door.

“Go, I need you safe. I’ll handle the guards,” he said.

Before he could turn to make his way though, Todd flew forward as a baton smashed against his back. Weaponless and holding a heavy bag of gadgets, Veronica knew she’d be no match for the guards. She flung the door open, hitting the up-to-now unseen guard on his first attack. Veronica looked down to be sure she hit him hard enough, and then ran into through the entrance into the small server and elevator station room.

“Chad, are you there?” she said after closing the door. ‘Oh Chad, please answer!”

“Chad here, what’s up?”

“We need you. Molly encountered guards, and before we could help her one ambushed us. Todd is lying outside a door toward the center of the floor next to the guard I just clocked with a heavy door frame,” Veronica said. “Get over here now!”

“I’m on my way. Stay silent until I get there, and try to lock that door,” Chad said.

Veronica felt around the dark room for a light switch. After fumbling twice, she finally illuminated the small room and was able to find her way back to the door leading to the hallway. She re-engaged the lock, listened for noises outside the door, and waited. Seconds turned into minutes, and impatience began setting in after no word came from anyone.

Veronica tried contacting Chad again, but received no answer. The same went for Todd and Molly’s transmitters – they all simply wouldn’t connect a transmission.

“I have to go on without them,” she said aloud.

Veronica looked around the room for the entry point Todd must have suspected would exist there. It wasn’t until her third time walking around the tiny room that the solution dawned on her: the elevator shaft. The room also served as an elevator service room, so it would have to have access to one of the central shafts.

Veronica began pulling open panels and small doors trying to find the entrance to any of the central elevator shafts. Since buildings all seemed to have similar structural designs, she guessed the entrance would have to be able to fit a regular-sized body in case an actual crew man had to go down rather than sending down an automated repair snake.

Finally, after opening nearly every panel and tapping every wall for false-front doors, Veronica found the hatch in the back corner of the room next to a power supply terminal built into the wall. Below the terminal, a small hatch opened up into one of the elevator shafts – a crawl space just big enough to fit a small, limber body (yet tight enough to induce claustrophobia in virtually anyone). She looked back at the door, willing Chad or Todd to knock.

When noises did begin to emerge on the other side of the door, Veronica jumped from the surprise. The noise didn’t sound friendly though; the sound came from someone trying to get the door open, and quickly. She also heard whispered voices on the other end of the door. Time seemed to be out.

Veronica dove head first into the narrow crawl space, inched forward and pulled her body through as quickly as her muscles would allow. Across the room, the door lock clicked. Veronica felt around the dark elevator shaft, trying to find something to hold onto. The ledge just above the shaft seemed to hold her weight well enough, so she used its leverage to pull her body the rest of the way through. Once inside the shaft, she reached back through the opening and quietly pulled the door shut.

She wanted more than anything to stay and listen to their conversation. She could hear as they entered the room and began the same process she had in opening doors and knocking on walls trying to find her hiding spot. They’d find her soon, so she had to keep moving.

Veronica pulled herself up the shaft one hand at a time, gripping the pitch black elevator shaft blindly. She could feel sweat forming in every crevice of her body as her stress levels skyrocketed. She knew she needed to do something to calm her body down. She stopped climbing and gripped a ledge with her right hand as she let go of the ledge with her left. She carefully reached into her shoulder bag, straining the entire time to keep a hold on the shaft. Time seemed to stretch into infinity as she looked for the tiny pen light she always kept stashed in her bag. When she finally found it, she twisted it on, jammed it into her mouth, and swung her arm back up to the ledge before she lost her grip.

She could finally where she was, and thankfully she was close to the eleventh floor door shaft opening. She could pry it open after climbing another couple of feet. Although she knew she was far from being out of the woods, things began looking up for the first time since the guards initially showed up to ruin the evening.

No sooner had she breathed a sigh of relief than the rusty tenth floor hatch below her flew open with a loud kick. Veronica looked down without pointing her head down (which would then point the light with it). She now had moments to get up to the landing, pull a magnetic clamp out of her bag, and open the doors.

She climbed furiously, not looking back. In her head, Veronica could see the two elevator doors open, and she mentally crossed her fingers that no one was standing on the other side waiting on her arrival. As she pulled herself up onto the tiny eleventh floor stoop, Veronica took a breath and began rifling through her bag. Below her, noises began filling the black void. The men would be looking for her soon in the shaft since it was the only way she could go. She needed to get onto the eleventh floor so they wouldn’t know what floor she ended up escaping to.

She finally found the clamp and breathed a small sigh of relief. After securing it on the right door, she used her body weight to pull the door, opening it enough to allow a small body through the opening. She sucked in air, flattened herself as much as she could manage, and pushed her way through the small opening into the eleventh floor central elevator bank area. Without missing a beat, Veronica pulled the clamp off the interior portion of the door and repeated the process in reverse from the outside and closed the door behind her.

The eleventh floor looked like a carbon copy of the tenth, complete with the same non-descript artwork and dull rugs. Veronica looked around, performing a brief inspection of the immediate premises. No one seemed to be approaching, and if they were, they were making a silent run. No alarms seemed to be going off either. For the moment, she seemed to be running under the radar, and thankfully so.

Veronica pushed her sweaty red hair back behind her ears, wiped her forehead, and began looking for the central computer network hub Todd mentioned. Veronica knew approximately where it should be located based on the way the tenth floor was laid out, so she followed her instinct and headed down the corridor to her right.

Since the elevator bank was located in the dead center of the building, she didn’t have far to travel. One turn down the next corridor lead Veronica to the network hub – a room indistinctly labeled yet locked – the only door in the hallway that seemed to be locked, in fact. She felt through her bag, looking for the magnetic disruptor she was beginning to love, unlocked the door, and slid in undetected.

The interior had a similar feel to the Blithe Spirit hub, only on a much smaller scale. Whereas the Blithe Spirit hub had enough combined terminal power to hack the Central Government systems, this network was lucky to support the entire building’s infrastructure. Veronica took a seat at the nearest terminal and began working at accessing the information they’d come to retrieve. Within a couple of minutes Veronica realized what was happening. She looked at the screen in front of her after the incomprehensibly easy hack she’d performed, staring at a Trojan program she knew like the back of her hand. Something didn’t add up.

“What the…” she said to herself.

If she hooked up her tablet to the network, the Trojan would lock on and infect her system, carrying the virus to the Blithe Spirit hub. She could isolate the Trojan before she hooked up her tablet to the system, but that would take time – something she didn’t have a lot of at that moment. She had to make a tough decision to make. After pondering the situation briefly, the answer came to her. As plain as day, Veronica knew exactly what had to be done. She pulled the tablet from her bag, wiped the memory, and plugged it into the terminal to begin a full system download. When she hit the key to begin the download, she sped out of the network room and ran down the hallway toward the elevator bank. She had a sneaking suspicion, and needed to know if she was right. A few moments later, her suspicions were confirmed when she received a transmission.

“This is Veronica,” she said quietly.

“You’re alive!” Molly said. “I managed to escape with Todd’s help. Where are you?”

Veronica took a deep breath and tried to calm her voice. “I’m downloading the information now. Don’t come up, you might draw them to me before it completes.”

“Where should I meet you?” Molly asked.

“Meet me at the same rendezvous point we planned earlier,” Veronica said, and disconnected.

Veronica had no intention of going there, but had no way of telling that to Molly. The transmission seemed too conveniently timed. The Trojan must have set things in motion – a time clock they’d go by in capturing her. They were expecting them tonight… everything seemed too timed, too surgically precise. The transmission confirmed it all. Veronica knew Molly couldn’t have escaped their custody regardless of Todd’s actions, so she had to play along to throw them off.

Veronica arrived at the elevator banks, still seemingly in the clear. This moment would make or break her escape. She pulled a mini-tablet no bigger than the palm of her hand out of her shoulder bag. She attached it to the elevator control panel and hacked the electronic control system. Once she established a link, Veronica sent a set of instructions, disconnected the tablet, and used her magnetic clamp to open one of the two sides of the elevator in front of her. Now she just had to wait.

A moment later, she heard the familiar hum of the approaching elevator car and hopped on once it began its slow ascent to the top level of the building. She tried to wait until the very last moment to jump to minimize any noise from landing in case anyone happened to be in the elevator at the time. Once on the elevator car, she waited and listened as the car made its way to the top floor of the building. She was certain they’d noticed the car’s motion, and knew they’d be waiting on whatever floor the elevator arrived at when it stopped. She planned for that.

The elevator car stopped one floor before the top floor. Before she heard the familiar arrival ding announcing its arrival, Veronica began climbing the short distance to the next floor to begin the second phase of her escape. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she pulled at the doors, still listening to the elevator car below her. As the door gave way and opened, Veronica finally heard the sounds she knew would hear sooner or later: the noise of footsteps and voices inspecting the car. She pulled the magnetic clamp from the interior and attached it to the door’s exterior. The pushing and jabbing noises on the car’s roof began just as she completed closing the door – a task that was making her increasingly exhausted.

Veronica opened her shoulder bag, dropped the clamp in, and looked left and right to try to figure out which way to go. She searched for any signs to direct her, but seemed to be running low on luck. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and took off toward the stairwell, hoping it went all the way to the roof. When she arrived, she opened the door a crack, looked inside, and waited for noise. When she didn’t hear footsteps immediately on the other side of the door, she opened it the rest of the way and looked to be sure it had roof access.

The sight of the stairs leading up nearly made her weep with joy; the faint sound of multiple footsteps somewhere on the lower floors quelled that joy though. Veronica quietly closed the door to the hallway and took the stairs two at a time to the roof. Once she arrived at the access door, she saw it had a small chain and lock on it, preventing her access. Undeterred, she kicked it in, risking alerting those below her to her presence.

Above her on the roof, the New Chicago skyline tried to make her forget she was running for her life. The serene cool night air beckoned her to look over the edge at the night below and to take in the view. She couldn’t be distracted though; rather, she scanned the edges of the building frantically, hoping her impromptu plan was going to work. When she couldn’t find a window-washing scaffold, she began searching the roof for a storage locker or even a pulley for someone to repel down the building. They had to clean the windows some way, and that would require some sort of pulley system.

A minute into her search, Veronica began to panic. The immense roof seemed to have countless spaces to store the equipment, and she didn’t have the time to search every nook and cranny. The sound of the roof access door opening a moment later confirmed her fears. The footsteps and shouts from armed guards ended Veronica’s escape hopes.

“Stay where you are,” the lead guard shouted as they ran toward her. They wore riot gear on and had large blasters pointed at Veronica’s chest.

Veronica stopped immediately and held up her hands. “I surrender,” she said.

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