The meeting lasted the rest of the day, though Pru was able to move it along by accepting many of the suggestions given as “for further study”. She knew it would take time to put things into perspective and full operation.
After dinner, she went to the compound´s Salle and worked out for an hour or so, practicing both armed and un-armed combat routines. After her impromptu match in Ceuta Sector, she had been much more conscientious about exercise and practice. Her endurance and strength were now where she wanted them. She had found that her Neo-Tantra training helped her anticipate her opponents´ moves. But, since nearly everyone she worked out with here was also a Neo-Tantra adept, it didn´t give her much advantage.
Showered and dressed again in one of her pretty pareos, she wandered into the big lounge area, where residents could meet and talk. She chatted with various friends and acquaintances, some of whom she had met in her Neo-Tantra class, others whom she had befriended as a resident, not merely as an executive of the company.
When Terry Sideman came into the room, his fatigue was her first impression, but that was quickly followed by a sense of his pride in her, his growing love and his need. She looked toward him and he beckoned to her.
“Can we go and talk?” he asked.
“Your place or mine?” she responded.
The com rang, waking her. It rang again, and Pru rolled over dismissively, throwing an arm over Terry´s torso. She smiled at the sense of fulfillment and satiety that pervaded her.
The com continued to chime. It couldn´t be for her – she was at Terry´s quarters. The ringing continued, however, and Terry didn´t seem to be responding, so Pru finally touched the Answer button, if only to shut off the noise.
The com announced, “Rerouted call for Prudence Whiteside.”
Jolted alert, Pru touched Voice Only. The screen lit with the Neo-Tantra logo. Underneath were the words “Ceuta Sector”. In a moment, the logo was replaced with Jazira´s face. Her eyes were red and bleary, her hair somewhat disarranged. She peered into the pickup as though trying to see Pru.
“Are you there, Pru?” she asked, her voice shaken. “I need you.”
Pru set the com to track her face and body, but not the rest of the room. “I´m here Jazz. What´s wrong?”
“Oh, I´m sorry to wake you. I just need someone to help.”
“It´s all right. What´s wrong? And, why are you calling from the Neo-Tantra office?”
“Said told me it´s a secure line. I didn´t want to call from home.”
“Yes, well, that´s all right. Now, tell me what´s wrong.”
“It´s Zahl. He´s been kidnapped. At least, I think he has. We were out at a festival in the village, and we were having so much fun. Then I didn´t see him; so, I thought he´d gone to pee, but then he didn´t come back. It got so late and I got scared…”
Pru interrupted her. “When was this, Jazz? The festival, when was it?”
“It was yesterday. No, the day before. I´ve been frantic, looking everywhere and Security couldn´t find him either.” Pru knew that Security could scan large public areas for a CID, even Outside Control. If that had no result, Zahl must be under cover somewhere. But why?
“Jazz,” Pru said firmly, “Calm down. You know I´ll help all I can. But, I need facts.” She moved to sit at the desk on the side of Terry´s room. Roused by the talk, Terry sat up on the bed and reached for his pareo, tying it around his waist, listening carefully.
Pru went on. “What day was the festival, Jazz? Think.”
Jazira pulled herself together with an effort. “The festival was day before yesterday. We went there about 1700. I last saw Zahl about half ten. I haven´t seen or heard anything since, Pru.”
“Has anyone contacted you?”
“You mean, ransom notes or messages? No, nothing… Nothing. Just routine calls from people I know.”
“Did you go to the office today?”
“Yes, but I wasn´t much good. Nothing there.”
“Is Zahlman still spending a lot of time at Wadi Felucca?”
“No, Pru. He stopped going there about three weeks ago. And, he hadn´t been going as regularly as he was when you were here. It´s the Neo-Tantra.”
“What about the Neo-Tantra?” Pru asked.
Jazira showed a wan smile. “We´ve been much closer lately, Pru. He´s changed a lot, and he was even planning to take a Neo-Tantra course with me. He said he was quitting the Wadi Felucca thing because he´d found something better to do.”
“I can believe that, Jazz. But, why do you think he´s been kidnapped? You haven´t been contacted – that´s what usually happens.”
“I know. But, it´s not like him to go off without saying anything. I mean, he used to spend nights out at the Wadi before… But, I´m sure he meant it when he said…” Her eyes were filling with tears again.
“Jazz, hang on. Did you see him talking to anyone at the festival? Strangers, I mean, especially just before he disappeared.”
Jazz considered for a moment or two. “Well… Oh, there was one time: a couple of men I didn´t know spoke to him. He seemed a bit annoyed, but it passed, and I didn´t see them again.”
“You said you think he went to pee. Did he say anything?”
“I´m not sure. I think he excused himself, but I´m not sure. I was talking with someone and I didn´t pay attention.”
“All right. Here´s what I´m going to do.” Pru said, flashing a look at Terry, who still sat on the bed, paying close attention. “I´m going to get the next connection to Tangiers. Tell Said to meet me there – I´ll com you the time. If you hear anything about Zahl – anything at all – com me immediately. Get hold of Mira right away and tell her I said to come and look after you. Is anyone with you?”
“Well, Sarah and Said are here. They´ve been wonderful. Otherwise, there´s only my friends from Qatal. I´m not sure what to tell them.”
“Don´t tell them anything. If anyone coms you, leave a message to tell them you´re visiting Mira. Have you told anyone Zahl is missing?”
“No.”
“Good. Don´t. Call Mira, and then tell Said I want you to stay at Neo-Tantra until she gets there. Then, I guess you should go to her place: talk it over with Said. Tell Said to get hold of Security and find out what he can without spooking them, and to tell them to keep a low profile. He´ll know what to do.
“When… If you go to Mira´s, don´t hide, but don´t take any chances, and don´t go anywhere alone. Now, one more thing, call Isabella, Alia and Zaratta and arrange for them to meet us at Neo-Tantra Ceuta Sector when I get there. Now, repeat what I told you.”
Jazira gave back a reasonably accurate report of what she was to do. Behind her, Said gestured that he had something to say.
“Pru, we have a safe location here in Ceuta where Jazira and Mira can meet. Shall I put them up there until you arrive?”
Pru glanced at Terry. Seeing him nod, she said, “Yes, please. Thanks. We´ll be in touch with details.”
Pru closed the com and turned to Terry, seeking his comment.
He nodded approvingly. “Some day, you´ve got to tell me why you were in The Yemen.”
Pru dismissed him with a wave. “Would you be a dear and get me a connection to Tangiers, Terry? As quickly as possible.”
“You go pack some things, and I´ll get you a flight. Then, meet me in my office. I have some things you´re going to need.”
When Pru hurried into Terry´s office, she had showered, decided against formal accessories and was dressed simply in an everyday kilt, her best knife against her thigh. Her carry-on bag rolled behind her.
“What have you got? Have I got a flight?” she asked.
“You have a flight. Eddie will take you to the portal and make sure you get to the field on time. You have plenty of time; flights to Tangiers don´t run every 20 minutes, you know.”
Pru plumped down in a chair. “Oh, I know. Thanks for your help. Now, what is it you have for me?”
“I have some information and some materiel. Information first.
“You know Ceuta Sector has been watching Wadi Felucca, and you know that your information about Zahlman al-Raschid was of interest to our other side. I´ve had our latest satellite images checked. There are a number of people at the Wadi, and they appear to be in a state of what looks like high alert – sentries and all that. I´ll have our case operator give you a briefing before you leave.”
“Case operator? It´s 0400.”
“Don´t worry. He´ll bring you up to date on everything we know so far. He´ll be here shortly. Oh, and for your information, Neo-Tantra´s Ceuta safe house is the place you´ll use for assembling and briefing your team. Said´ll show you how to get in.
“Now, materiel.” Terry handed Pru a wide, dark wristband set with buttons that looked remarkably like decoration. “This is roughly equivalent to your normal remote and is also keyed to your implants like any remote, plus it has some additional features such as a secure intercom function you can configure for a limited number of people or other groups. It´s also very rugged.” Pru put it on her wrist. He handed her a booklet. “This is the user manual. You have to read it.” He grinned.
Terry handed her silver ear cuffs and a simple, attractive choker necklace. “The earrings are how you hear your wrist com, and the necklace is the microphone. You can sub-vocalize and it will pick up what you say. Call me after you leave to test it. That is, once you figure out which buttons to push.
“Now, I´m going to send some other stuff with you, but not as your baggage. You´ll pick it up at the Ceuta Sector safe house. It won´t be traceable to you, but it will require your handprint to open it. There will be a set of desert fatigues for each of you…” He raised his hand to forestall Pru´s remark. “Like most military issue, they´ll fit almost anyone, within reason, and we do have general size information on all of you.” Pru rolled her eyes.
“There will be a set of heavy duty stunners with extra charge packs for you. Their range is shorter than slug-throwers´ but you won´t have to worry about killing anyone. Shoot anything that moves and figure out who´s who later. Most of them will be out for a couple of hours, and you can hit ‘em again if you need to.
Terry picked up a spherical object from his desk. It had a dull, metallic sheen. “Stunners don´t work through walls, so you´ll also have stun grenades. Flip this catch and throw it into a room. When it hits something, it´ll stun everything in the room. Stay away from the windows and doors or you´ll go down, too. About ten minutes after they go off, the insides melt down, so don´t worry if you can´t retrieve all of them. Try not to let the bad guys get hold of them unused, though.
“You´ll also have a variety of other useful things, Pru, but right now, I´ll let you talk with Solly Fashoma, your case operator.”
A small, thin, intense man came into the office, nodded to Terry, and offered his hand. Pru rose and shook it. “I´m pleased to meet you,” he said, “I imagined it was only a matter of time. I´m sorry it´s so soon.”
“Just a minute, Terry,” Pru said. “How come you aren´t telling me that I need to go to Qatal and wait while OSG forces deal with this? And, I thought you told me Neo-Tantra doesn´t get into the enforcement side, that it´s OSG´s job.”
“In Morocco, Pru, OSG forces are fine for regional security and for cleaning up after something has happened. In this case, we´re going – that is, you´re going to have to make those things happen. If you weren´t the one with the connections and the motivation, we´d have to find a UN SpecialOps force to do it. But, it´s a lot safer if we have people who know the territory – safer for you and for Zahlman.”
Pru nodded understanding and sat down, making a mental note to find out in detail what SpecialOps forces were and could do. Solly began a briefing, using images on the com that filled her in on everything Neo-Tantra´s OSG analysts knew about Wadi Felucca. The Wadi had been under surveillance for some time. She was amazed at the depth of their knowledge, though, based on personal experience from her games there years before, she was able to identify some points that were not clear to Solly. The imagery was brilliant, and the information seemed to be extremely complete.
When Solly was finished, Terry said, “Solly, have you filed for warrants yet?” Solly nodded.
“What warrants?” Pru wanted to know.
“We need warrants to query the CIDs of the people at the site,” Terry replied. He noted Pru´s questioning gaze and explained, “You remember how, in the 21st century, government surveillance got out of control? Well, we still have to get a legal warrant to query the implants of citizens.”
“But at the NT office in Ceuta, they sucked my ID when I came in the door.” She said.
“Yes, but you entered the office voluntarily. That makes it legal.”
“Ah,” Pru acknowledged. “So, if we want to query the IDs of these guys, we have to go to court?”
Solly replied, “Yes, suspicion of kidnapping. There won´t be a problem, and we may not have to use the warrant, anyway. We´ve probably got enough from our satellites to tell us what we need.”
Pru followed her previous thought, “Well, can they use surveillance from cameras and that kind of thing in the CA?”
“Anyone who enters a portal,” Terry explained, “or goes into a Metro or a variety of other locations gets his implants scanned. You´ve probably noticed a beep from your remote when that happens. If you´re a criminal or an Expellee, or if you have one of a small number of medical problems, the appropriate people get notified. Otherwise, there has to be a warrant to allow the police to search the surveillance records for your face or other information on your whereabouts.”
Solly changed the subject to the present problem. “Pru, please be sure and use your new wristcom to keep us up to date. We can trace your whereabouts with it when you are OC, but we don´t need to follow you everywhere you go. You can reach me directly from it, so when you are going into action – if you need to – let me know without fail. Otherwise, we can´t give you backup.”
“Can this trace be detected?” Pru asked.
“The trace function on the wristcom is passive,” Solly explained. “It can´t be detected except when our satellite queries it, which takes milliseconds. The coverage is 95% or better when you´re OC. It doesn´t work in a Controlled Area, because there, you´ll be working through the CA com network. You will have wristcoms for your entire team. Your intercom functions are encrypted, so, while some sophisticated equipment could detect you, your actual communications are secure. Traffic analysis would eventually reveal your command structure and your whereabouts, but that would take time. I don´t expect you will need that much time on this operation. And, these people don´t appear to have equipment that can do that kind of thing.
“Our information is that they are a fundamentalist Islamist revival group descended from the ultra-conservative Wahhabi Muslim sect of the late 18th century.” Pru felt a slight shiver at the mention of the name. Solly did not notice. “They have relatively little equipment other than the modified slug-throwers you know about – at least, we haven´t seen any. We are pretty sure they don´t have sophisticated com equipment.” He looked sharply at her. “But, we´re not sure. If you notice anything, let me know.”
Pru hugged Terry, kissed him. “Thanks,” she said, looking in his eyes. Then, she turned to Solly. “Count on it.”
Eddie, the driver, appeared at the door. “All set,” he said.