“That horrible man!” the woman burst out. She lurched such that it almost seemed as if she might drop the phone again (Agent Toller even tensed to catch it before it hit the ground) but her grip had become so tight her knuckles went white. “I aught to go over there and flay him alive … Read more
When Agent Kathy Toller disembarked the hybrid car she no longer looked like she actually intended to shoot Agent Ellis Warren for interrupting her “me time” with the Tom Clancy spy novel—instead, he’d given her something even better to read: the financial document report for one of the conspirators who’d rented the van that gave … Read more
A queue of people had already begun to form in front of the MU basement theater. The university had set up a small ticket office there adjacent to the gift shop along the corridor that led out into the amphitheater area—where the ASU Improv did their shows for larger audiences. The movie poster for The … Read more
The Memorial Union of Arizona State University always looked as if it prided itself at being the center of all student flow for the campus—and this fact had not been lost on the administration or student groups. The long, broad hallways adorned themselves with tapering banners emblazoned in the maroon and gold of the school … Read more
“I think that her friends are onto me,” Agent Warren said aloud as he leaned back from the computer and stretched. Never before had he spent so much time staring at a computer screen in his whole career—or at least, he reminded himself, when he did so it wasn’t in a dark hotel room. As … Read more
The metallic voice of the robotic automatic message repeated what the earlier voicemail said about the subject of potential academic probation and she cut it off midsentence. “What is it?” Frog asked. “Academic services again,” Elaine said. “I didn’t know those automatic systems were so persistent. I might need to hack into it just to … Read more
“It’s a very competitive game,” Brad said. He gestured towards the laptop as he paced back and forth, waving his hands as he spoke. “I have a suspicion that the other teams have also received this message. Think about it. Why only offer the secrets to me? There’s nothing about exclusivity.” Zane tapped his finger … Read more
Frog, Elaine, Zane, gathered in one of the Computing Common’s many stairwells with Sarah Pilgrim, Larry Pilgrim, and Brad Wright. Frog took up a position high on one of the nearby stairs; Sarah stood midway down a lower flight; the rest of the group gave Elaine enough room to wave her arms as she quickly … Read more
After they finished, Benjamin stepped back from his work. Each box included not only the coordinates but notes on where to go. He held his cryptophone aloft, photographed the board, and sent the image to everyone in the group. “That gives us six good locations and two probably good locations.” Zane waved his finger at … Read more
Frog rolled her eyes and tapped a long fingernail on an empty soda can. “Might I hazard a guess?” she said. “It’s not like we don’t all recall the effects from the last time you used it. If you were going to kick yourself into la vida rapido we should have gotten you a few … Read more