She thumbed the lockpicks from her waistband and got to work seating the pins. The lock wasn’t terribly secure: she raked most of the pins and tapped the last one into place within a minute. She heard the cylinder turn so she gently tried the handle. The door opened.
Aviary’s apartment was larger than she expected. The living area was more a study area with two desks lined along the wall. She counted three laptops, their cables strewn across the desks and carpet underneath. One desk looked to be used primarily for electronics work. It was cluttered with smartphones, a digital multimeter, soldering station, pliers and tweezers. In the corner, a thick gas pipe ran from floor to ceiling, heating the apartment.
The couch and coffee table were bare, the television starting to collect a fine layer of dust. There was a balcony on her left, although there was really only enough room out there to stand. On her right, a neat kitchen, also with bare surfaces. There was a bookcase that ran along one side of the apartment, with no books in it. One shelf was dotted with ornamental candles, unused, but the others were empty.
Sophia locked the door behind her and drew her pistol. She moved through the apartment to the single bedroom at the end, clearing the apartment with her pistol held close. The powder room was untouched, just a toilet and basin and a packet of unopened toilet paper in the corner. She reached the bedroom and continued inside, moving along the wall, aiming her pistol to clear the far side. She found her barrel aimed at herself. The other side of the bedroom had mirrored closets and an en suite off to one side. The bed wasn’t made and the bedside table was littered with empty cups and cables. On the floor she noticed some discarded clothes. She recognized one of the T-shirts.
This was most definitely Aviary’s apartment.
She checked her watch. Still another twenty minutes.
Why would Aviary invite her to her own apartment? Sophia had taught her to be more careful. Standing in the bedroom, Sophia ran through as many scenarios as she could before realizing she desperately needed to pee. The en suite was cramped and filled with more personal cleaning products than she’d thought existed. She turned the light on and was almost blinded by a naked bulb that buzzed at her intrusion. She switched it off and sat in the dark — the light had kicked in the fan. She wanted to hear if someone entered the apartment.
Returning to the kitchen, she placed her Glock on the stone bench top, barrel facing the door, and looked around some more. There was a sponge in the sink. It was dry. A frypan on the stove, clean and dry. No utensils were out of place. A coffee-bean grinder with coffee grounds in it. She sniffed and quickly realized it wasn’t coffee grounds at all but iron oxide. She checked the dishwasher. It had a few plates and some cutlery. Aviary seemed to eat out a lot.
Taking the pistol, Sophia shed her jacket and sat on the couch to wait for Aviary. She imagined this is what normal people did, sitting on couches when they were waiting for someone. They probably watched television while they waited or played a game on their smartphone. Or checked their email online—on the line as Freeman used to say.
Sophia did none of those things so she sat patiently and thought of the possible reasons Aviary wanted to meet her. Her fingers ran through her wallet, checking its contents, revealing her photos once more.
The door closed, startling her awake. She grasped her pistol and aimed it one-handed at an intruder with fire-red hair.
‘Why are you already—?’ Aviary rolled her eyes. ‘Never mind. Sorry I’m late.’
Sophia lowered her pistol and stood. She checked her watch. ‘Twenty minutes.’
‘Trains were redirected.’ Aviary kicked off her sneakers and paused. ‘You didn’t black out, did you? That shouldn’t be happening anymore.’
‘No. I guess I dozed off.’ Sophia slipped her pistol back into her waistband. ‘Is everything OK?’
‘Yeah,’ Aviary said. ‘I mean, I’m fine. My shift ended late and I was really hungry and I wanted nachos but then I remembered the festival tonight so yeah, that’s my cool story.’
‘OK,’ Sophia said.
‘How’s Nasira, still in Peru?’
Sophia looked out the balcony window. ‘Haven’t heard from her. When she’s done, she’ll be back.’
Aviary emptied her pockets on the kitchen bench top. ‘And the boys?’
‘Running jobs,’ Sophia said. ‘The less we ask, the better.’
‘Why don’t they do some honest work, like you?’ Aviary said.
Sophia forced a smile. ‘Stealing cars? Trust me, their work pays better.’
Aviary grinned. ‘That’s because you’re stealing the wrong cars.’
Sophia noticed her wallet was sitting on the couch, part of Leon’s photo visible. She reached down to collect it.
‘You should never invite a terrorist into your home,’ Sophia said.
‘Really?’ Aviary said. ‘Because I’ve been doing that for weeks.’
‘I’m serious.’ Sophia noticed Aviary’s license on the kitchen benchtop. ‘Your name is spelled like a—’
Aviary raised an eyebrow. ‘Like a large enclosure for birds? Yeah, my mother liked birds. Really liked birds.’ Aviary quickly circled the couch to her desks. ‘I have to show you this.’
Sophia noticed an assortment of colored iPhones and HTC Ones on the desks.
‘I’m not using a fucking iPhone,’ Sophia said.
‘I knew you’d be receptive.’ Aviary laughed. ‘That was kind of a half-hearted pun and I need nachos.’
Aviary flipped open one of her laptops. Sophia barely recognized the operating system, Kirin, developed by the Shadow Akhana a few years back. It looked like Aviary had made some significant changes of her own. But she didn’t mention it and instead pulled up a new window.
‘Google Maps,’ Sophia said. ‘Yeah, I know how to use that now.’
Aviary snorted. ‘Hang on.’ She hit a few more keys and buttons until she was satisfied. ‘Look at the overlay.’
Sophia stepped closer until she was beside Aviary. The map had zoomed out to encompass the United States. There were dots sprinkled across different states.
‘OK,’ Sophia said.
Aviary zoomed out more, until half the planet was visible. There were more dots across Europe. She zoomed in on one of the dots, somewhere in northern France. She kept zooming in until she could make out the building number and the street name.
The dot moved fractionally to the left, then stopped.
‘It’s live,’ Aviary said.
‘You’re tracking someone,’ Sophia said, leaning in.
Aviary couldn’t hide her grin any longer. ‘Not just someone.’
Sophia’s heart kicked up a few notches. She stepped back, fingers moving over her pistol grip. ‘Where’s this data coming from?’
‘The Fifth Column,’ Aviary said. ‘I’m pretty good,’ she added quietly.
Sophia just stared at the screen for a moment, trying to get a handle on what she was seeing. ‘This is … this is incredible.’
‘You said you wanted to find them, right?’ Aviary said. ‘And with all the Akhana spies dead, because people killed them and stuff, that was going to be kind of hard. The operatives’ RFID implants aren’t just passive tags. They also contain geolocation broadcasting capabilities. So presto, you can see where they are anywhere in the world.’