I coughed, and when Tessa turned toward me I winked, a movement she wouldn’t be able to see unless she had enhanced her vision as well. I wasn’t at all surprised when she immediately winked back. Of course she did. She had probably ordered the nanites to give her night vision the moment we left the cabin.
I surveyed my surroundings for the first time, and along with numerous scary-looking mercenaries, I was astonished by all the wildlife scurrying about. Bats flying through the trees, owls, and a variety of smallish animals, most of which had no counterparts outside of Australia and which I couldn’t identify.
I had forgotten that this would be the case. Australia was the driest inhabited continent on Earth, and I had read that over half of the native animals were nocturnal, allowing them to conserve water and avoid the continent’s often blistering heat.
Who knew that my brief stay in Australia would include a nocturnal experience? An added bonus. I just hoped it didn’t include a death experience, as well.
Baga activated an electric lamp, keeping it on its dimmest setting so as not to attract attention, and set off to the northeast, away from the one dirt road and possible detection, taking the hypotenuse of the right angle made by the two roads that led to the parked trailer.
The lamp illuminated just enough real estate for us to proceed without tripping or slamming into trees or other large foliage, but not enough to see the dozen hired killers, all wearing night-vision goggles, who formed a moving circle around us. A circle with about a twenty-five-yard diameter.
This configuration was smart. Killing Baga would do us no good, even if we took his weapons, since we’d be sitting ducks, surrounded by soldiers who could see us when we couldn’t see them. Or so Baga had every reason to believe. Which is why he wasn’t wearing night-vision goggles himself, ensuring that Tessa couldn’t dispatch him, don his goggles, and be able to see the enemy and unleash her bad-assery upon them.
It was yet another demonstration of the respect he had for her. Or the respect that Michelle had, possibly aware of Tessa’s enhancements.
We proceeded in a line with Tessa in the lead, Baga and his dim lantern behind her, directing her when necessary, and me taking up the rear, each separated by about three feet.
After walking for a quarter mile, Tessa tripped, falling to the ground awkwardly. She turned toward me and brushed dirt off her legs with one hand while idly massaging the inside of her earlobe with the index finger of the other, as if this was a subconscious habit—something I knew wasn’t the case.
She was sending a message.
I almost slapped myself in the forehead when I realized her meaning. I could use the nanites to enhance my hearing also. I had known about that, but I’d been clueless just the same. It was becoming clear that I did my best thinking while sitting in front of a keyboard, not in the field.
I ordered the nanites to maximize my hearing as we began walking again. As soon as we did, I heard Tessa’s unmistakable voice, a whisper so soft that even a dog might have missed it, but the AI knew to amplify it to almost normal levels.
“Can you hear me, Jason?” she asked. “If so, reply in the faintest whisper you’ve ever tried.”
“I can hear you,” I replied excitedly, barely moving my lips and whispering so faintly I wouldn’t have been able to hear my own words under normal circumstances.
I had almost expected for her to say “it’s about time,” but she didn’t. “I’ve already focused my attention above us,” she whispered instead. “I heard four drones, probably using infrared imaging to follow our movements. I’m now focused on our escorts,” she added, referring to the dozen men who continued to surround us on all sides as we walked, roughly configured in a grouping of three soldiers at each compass point. “I’d like you to do the same. Several are having whispered conversations. I haven’t picked up anything useful so far, but we need any intel we can get.”
“Will do,” I whispered back, my admiration for her continuing to grow, which I hadn’t even thought was possible.
I picked up various conversations for several minutes, but nothing useful. The men were on the bored side. Based on some of what I heard, it appeared that they had been hired from several different mercenary forces, and represented only a fraction of those available to this Michelle around the world.
Most had Australian accents, which I took to mean that this mystery alien had recruited teams of minute-men—minute—assassins—on every continent. I guess that when you controlled an AI that could generate unlimited funds, recruitment was a simple matter.
“Did you see that, mate?” whispered one of the Australian mercs to my west, about fifteen yards away. “What the hell is that thing?”
“It’s an echidna,” said a merc next to him. “Also called a spiny anteater. That little bastard is covered in spikes, you just can’t tell using night vision. They’re super unusual creatures. Mammals that lay eggs like a bird.”
“Then how can they be mammals?”
“They still nurse their babies, that’s why. Even if their babies are hatched.”
“What are you, mate, a bloody animal encyclopedia?”
“You asked,” came an amused reply. “Forgive me for knowing. This is a pretty sweet job, hey. Simple, ridiculously high paying, and even educational.”
The first merc laughed softly. “No kidding. A massive amount of money to go on a bloody nature hike at night. Thirteen of us just to escort a knockout girl through the woods, along with the lucky bloke who gets to shag her.”
“Not so lucky, at that,” said the second merc. “Not after Michelle is finished chatting with them. That’s when our real job begins.”