Free The Two Towers by Jamie A. Waters Page B

allow her access to their frequencies. Cruncher was in the process of giving her an overview of their system map and she leaned over to get a closer look. It looked like a security grid around the camp.
    She had to remind herself she was playing for the other team now as Cruncher pointed to the screen and launched into an explanation. “These systems track any movement within range. Any guests, invited or uninvited, are picked up. Our bikes have monitors that let us know when it’s one of us approaching or someone else. We’ll install one on your bike tomorrow morning.”
    She nodded. The system appeared much more sophisticated than what they had at Leo’s camp but there were some similarities. She made a mental note to investigate it more fully later on. For research purposes, of course. After all, her contract was only for a year.
    Cruncher moved over to another computer that monitored the camp’s UV Guard, air flow, temperature, light, and energy. Kayla looked at it and frowned, pointing to some numbers. “You guys are using way too much energy on your cooling unit.”
    He looked at her in surprise. “Oh? You think you can do better?”
    “Pfft,” she said with a grin, unable to resist a challenge. “Watch and learn.”
    He turned over the controls to her and watched as she rerouted the energy fields throughout the camp. After about thirty minutes, she turned the controls back over to him.
    “Damn, girl,” he muttered as he reviewed her work. “Where did you learn to do this?”
    She gave a small shrug. “Here and there. But while I was doing that, I noticed some potential energy conflicts with some of the new gizmos you’re testing. I think they might be causing a few hiccups in your system. A few months ago, I wrote a program that can help smooth some of these out. Mind if I upload it and run a scan to fix the problems?”
    “Not at all.” He pointed to another monitor. “You can set it up over on that screen.”
    She scooted over to the far side of the desk and pulled up an additional monitor. She scrolled through the data on her comlink until she found the program she was looking for. She uploaded the file and then paused as she recognized an old video file she'd never been able to bring herself to remove.
    Glancing up, she saw Cruncher was still engrossed in the screen. She slipped on her earpiece and watched the video in silence. A soft smile crept on her face and she blinked back the tears that threatened when the video ended.
    With a sigh, she turned away from the comlink, determined to focus on her task. She scanned through Carl’s system and looked for trouble spots.
    * * * *
    An hour later, Carl walked back into the tech room. He was anxious to find out how his newest recruit was getting along. Cruncher was hunched over a monitor reviewing some of the security system data.
    “Where’s Kayla?”
    Cruncher turned to look at Carl and put a finger to his lips, motioning to him to keep his voice down. He nodded over to the corner of the room where Kayla was sitting with her head in her arms on the desk. She'd fallen asleep at the computer.
    Carl’s mouth twitched in a smile. She was always so fiery and passionate. It was strange seeing her like this and he felt as though he were witnessing some forbidden rite. Some of her dark hair had fallen over her face and she appeared almost angelic in her repose.
    Cruncher's whisper cut through his musing. “That girl is freaking unbelievable. I showed her the systems and she jumped right in. She’s got some serious tech skills. Within minutes, she ended up recalibrating the cooling system here in camp. It’s some damn nice work too. She’s got it running about 30% more efficiently. When she finished that, she reconfigured a bunch of our new equipment that was causing glitches.”
    Carl rubbed his chin in thought. He'd known she was talented but Cruncher didn't hand out praise lightly. She must have really impressed him. “She’s definitely a find.