Scene 15

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If I ever hear another pigeon after this, Maren thought, watching the chubby grey nuisances pitter patter across the sidewalk, cooing incessantly, it’ll be too soon. 

There were pros and cons to this clandestine form of communication. Koda had picked birds that lived in the area, so anyone who might hear one’s call shouldn’t be too suspicious. However, picking common birds which frequented the green spaces of the city – even the grey ones, in the pigeons’ case – meant almost every chirp and tweet could be a signal of Maren’s target. 

So now that she’d memorized the sounds – played from her tablet in the park – she wandered the city, keeping an ear out for bird sounds. She remained calm whenever a trill reached her ear, glancing about and smiling at the little birds making the noise. Koda had said the calls would be in an easy Peace-Keeper code, and all of the tweets so far had been the random and natural birdsong, so there shouldn’t have been much to worry about. Just pick up the pattern of Koda’s call. Simple, right? 

But those cursed pigeons! They were at almost every corner of the city. She hadn’t even noticed them before. But now they were wherever she turned, cooing, staring at her with blank, soulless eyes of the damned. 

Wait... that pigeon’s plumage looked familiar. Were these birds following her? Did Selene Hicks somehow train a legion of pigeons to conduct covert espionage missions on possible antagonists to her wicked lawyerly schemes? 

Maren chuckled, then jotted down the idea in her tablet. Could make for a fun and surprising part of a story. Or inane and unbelievable. She’d look back on it in a couple of weeks to see how she liked it. 

She shrunk her tablet, then stopped. She’d looked up the bird calls on it. If Selene had access to Peace Keepers’ private comms, then she should easily be able to gain access to a civilian’s search history. By the end of this, Maren would undoubtedly be discovered in this plot. It was entirely possible that Koda would make his bird call in the hearing range of a camera. Were Selene to have access to Maren’s searches, she would claim that Koda disobeyed his orders. 

That would be grounds for a dishonorable discharge, even before he swore his oaths. So, did he figure that the odds of that occurring were so slim it was worth the risk, or did his plan make it so he would contact her outside the range of any cameras to avoid the problem altogether? 

Or – Maren's stomach clenched – he could have surmised the truth about how high a level of security clearance one would need to access all of Maren’s data. 

A bird call struck her like a bolt. It followed a simple, rhythmic pattern: Three clear chirps that went down in pitch, then three two-parted whistles that sped up and ended in a low trill, then back again to the three clear chirps. 

A cardinal call. 

And it came from an alley between two apartment buildings, one that was devoid of cameras and empty save for several dumpsters. So, likely, Koda’s plan revolved around his signal not getting discovered in the first place. 

Good. Maren, for the most part, enjoyed working with Koda. And Mav was a good guy, if a little slow. She’d hate to distance herself from them, especially with a job to do. 

The cardinal song rang again. 

I heard you. Maren pulled out her tablet and loaded the map she’d made of the blocks surrounding Sekko Research, including the sewer system and private service tunnels. Time to go. 

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In times like these, it was always good for Mav to let himself enjoy the sights. The square he marveled at was the busiest he’d seen yet. Yes, the citizens gave him an annoyingly wide berth, and many gave nervous glances behind them, but it was nice to see that most of the people were being normal, honest-to-goodness people. 

Many crowded the massive theaters in which plays and performances were staged. The theaters themselves weren’t as physically impressive as the Sacred Skies’ palace or any of the massive temples he’d passed on his way here, but there was something charming about red and yellow brick buildings breaking the monotony of the dull grey in the rest of the city. 

Getting lost in the wonder was easy for him. Waiting for Koda’s signal to move was not. 

Mav trusted Koda with his life. His buddy undoubtedly had a reason for this long delay, but patience had never been Mav’s virtue. 

Then the message came: Hey man. Head to Central. They don’t have a match, but you’d like the look of the place. 

Mav beamed, his heartbeat skipping a beat. He gave one final glance to the families talking and laughing with each other, before making his way toward Central Arena, which oh so coincidentally would bring Mav near Sekko Research.