Aviary’s eyes lit up. ‘Whoa, seriously?’
Nasira was already walking past them. ‘Stay behind me.’
Aviary took the multitool and the knife. ‘Thanks!’ she whispered.
Sophia watched Nasira and Aviary leave.
DC sighed, crouched against the rail car, his carbine nestled between his legs.
‘I didn’t even know you and your friends were here,’ DC said. ‘I guess this sort of activity seems to attract you.’
Sophia stopped ten feet short, remained standing. ‘Or I attract it.’
Chapter 25
Nasira kept Aviary in the shadows of the tunnel while she crouched at the edge. She watched the platform.
The platform had columns covered in square white tiles, and the number 42 was emblazoned on each. There were no trains at the platform. Nasira and Aviary had been there for almost ten minutes and there was no movement, no patrols. DC was right: Denton’s soldiers would just rely on the security cameras.
It was empty, silent. A single row of fluorescent tubes lit the platform. There was really nowhere to hide. Nasira had left her carbine beside Aviary. It couldn’t fire with her fingerprints so she stuck with what she had, a Glock 19 pistol she’d taken from the cops in Time Square.
Nasira turned to Aviary. ‘Signal?’
Aviary shook her head. ‘Nearest wifi is the Apple Store, but that’s in the main concourse. I could maybe snatch it from the west balcony or the west-side escalators.’
‘Doubt I can get you anywhere near there in one piece,’ Nasira said. ‘I’m good, but not that good.’
‘OK, I’m trying cell-phone towers now,’ Aviary said. ‘We might need to go up another level so I can get a signal.’
Nasira noticed her eyes light up.
‘Or we can hijack a connection!’ Aviary said. ‘From one of the restaurants in the dining concourse! And I’m hungry and I would like some pie maybe.’
Nasira looked over the platform again. There was a security camera on one end of the platform, mounted to the ceiling with a black dome. It was safe to assume there would be another camera at the opposing end, where the ramp took commuters to the dining concourse of Grand Central terminal.
‘Getting you to the dining concourse is easy,’ Nasira said. ‘But getting you there without being seen is something else.’
Aviary frowned. ‘No signal here.’
‘Anywhere else we can stay this low and grab a signal?’ Nasira asked.
Aviary seemed to think for a moment. ‘There’s a hotspot under the Station Master’s Office. Near Track 36.’
‘We’re on Track 11,’ Nasira said. ‘Even if I knew how to get us back out to the connecting tunnel and take us to 36, it would take us fucking forever.’
‘Yeah,’ Aviary said. ‘I don’t even think we could get it from this far down anyway. So let’s pretend I never suggested that.’
Nasira focused on the nearest security camera. She had to think of something. Although the camera was inside a reflective black dome and she couldn’t see its direction, it was very likely to be facing inward. Facing the wall next to it didn’t seem very helpful.
The camera at the other end of the platform would be facing up the ramp. There was possibly a third camera in the center as well, and she couldn’t be as sure of its direction.
‘I think I have a way in,’ Nasira said. She turned to Aviary. ‘You a good climber?’
‘I did a beginner’s class in parkour once,’ Aviary said.
Nasira did her best not to sigh loudly. ‘Gotcha,’ she said. ‘Do what I say when I say. And don’t fuck up.’
Aviary nodded and pocketed her phone. ‘Wait.’
‘What?’ Nasira said.
Aviary removed something from her ruck. She extended what looked to be a large stubby antenna with a small square block at its base. She leaned between them and placed it on a metal beam in the tunnel wall. It adhered with a click.
‘Relay, so we can contact Sophia from the dining concourse,’ Aviary said. ‘I hope.’
Nasira glared at her. ‘You hope.’
She crept from the shadow and climbed on the end of the platform. From where she was standing, she was just out of range of the cameras. She reached down and hauled Aviary up. Not that Aviary couldn’t do it herself; Nasira just wanted to get this done without bumping into Special Forces or operatives. Neither of which would be fun.
Nasira pointed up. Above, a row of four metal pipes. The pipes were braced together and ran the length of the platform. There wasn’t enough room to climb on top of them so they’d have to hang underneath like monkeys and make their way across the platform.
‘Can I borrow your multitool?’ Nasira asked.
Aviary grinned. ‘Sure!’
Nasira took the multitool and zipped it safely inside her front pocket.
Aviary watched as Nasira walked up the wall and grabbed the pipes. She bounced from the balls of her feet, away from the wall, and lifted her body to the pipes. They held her weight. That was a good start.
‘Follow me,’ Nasira said.
She worked her way along the pipes and then stopped in front of the security camera. It was suspended before her, a fraction lower and aimed down toward the platform. There was a thick cream cable that snaked up from its base. She wrapped an arm around one pipe and used the other to unzip her pocket then pry a serrated saw blade from Aviary’s multitool. It wasn’t easy with one hand but at this angle she had no choice. It took her half a minute to sever the cable. No more camera feed.
Nasira could hear Aviary clanging about on the pipes behind her. Nasira shushed her and kept moving. She hooked her ankles on the outside of the four pipes and wrapped her hands around the inside pipes. Once she got the rhythm going she could move pretty quickly. The fluorescent tubes buzzed beside her. She soon reached a camera in the center of the platform, just as she’d suspected. So she got to work severing its cable.
Denton’s people might notice the disconnected camera feeds, but that was a chance she had to take. This was the most discreet method. It certainly beat blowing the cameras up or dazzling them with stupid lasers or, worse, walking out and trying to blend in without helmets. Of the hundreds of cameras in Grand Central terminal, she hoped three black feeds would not raise suspicion. At least not until they had been and gone.
Aviary kept a reasonable pace behind her, quieter now, as Nasira made her way to the platform entrance. She severed the last camera cable and, pocketing Aviary’s multitool, lowered herself carefully to the platform. She dropped the last few feet as softly as she could and immediately drew her NYPD Glock.
She covered the ramp and moved for the nearest railing. There was no sign of movement. She risked a glance over her shoulder to find Aviary landing softly next to a pair of trashcans. Aviary actually hadn’t done too badly. But it wasn’t time for congratulations: they’d barely started.
Nasira tapped her own shoulder, indicating for Aviary to stay close to her at all times. She didn’t know whether Aviary would understand but kept moving up the ramp nevertheless. Once she reached the top she paused.
‘Check,’ Nasira said under her breath.
Aviary pulled out her phone. Nasira kept her Glock on the narrow entrance that fed into the wide dining concourse.
‘Nothing,’ Aviary said. ‘We need a restaurant.’
Nasira exhaled slowly. This was getting more suicidal by the minute. ‘Stay behind me at all times.’
‘OK,’ Aviary whispered.
Nasira listened for any sounds. Again, nothing but silence. She moved out into the dining concourse. It was a long hall cluttered with cafés and bars. Punctuating the walls were entrances to different platforms. She moved along one wall, toward the center. She hated being this exposed.