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It wouldn’t budge, and his best guess was that debris had fallen into the chamber beyond.
“I’m just telling you what my boss told me. And I’ve seen the proof.” She sat on a boulder near the channel, now illuminated by his headlamp.
Phoenix.He still couldn’t believe she was here, in the flesh. And how he hadn’t recognized her before?—
His brain simply hadn’t wanted to believe what his gut was screaming.
She looked good too—her red hair cut short—still a little Mighty Mouse, fierce and currently smug as she folded her arms. Or perhaps angry that he didn’t believe her tall tale about Declan. She wore dive pants with pockets, and a neoprene shirt, an underwater thief.
Stein climbed his way down the rocks. He probably shouldn’t have left her sitting at the edge of the tunnel, but if she decided to slip into the water and disappear, where exactly would she go? He’d already searched the rubble for a way through, but it choked the exit, and who knew how far the debris went?
The other route, the one that snaked deeper into the mountain, however, did seem open.
Nope.
He landed next to her on the edge of the water. Everything beyond his puddle of luminance sucked away any light. It felt like being in the belly of a fish.
He shivered and sank down on a boulder. “Listen. I did my own homework on Declan before I hopped on his train. Funny, the wiki about my boss being a terrorist threat didn’t show up on my search. Declan the philanthropist, Declan the billionaire inventor, Declan the keen businessman and head of his own tech company, all yes. And he likes to sail, is interested in the space program, and enjoys quiet walks in the park.”
“All while playing real-life Risk with the world stage.”
“Declan isnot a terrorist.”
“Okay, listen. I’ll spell it out for you.”
He pulled off the headlamp. Set it between them. “I’m all ears.”
“It all started when a guy named Edward Hudson created an AI program called Axiom. He owned a company by the same name.”
“The AI program that Declan owns. This is not a secret. It’s the hallmark of his company Quantex.”
“Yes. Since acquiring Axiom, Declan has developed the program for other applications. You heard him speak in Barcelona. He can add human personalities to the program, make it adapt like a human might. This is at least how he’s selling it to the Department of Defense to make it seem more like a soldier on the field, able to figure out right from wrong. Although, by whose standards is the question.”
Stein frowned. “I talked with Declan. He hasn’t sold it to the US military. Just a tech group that’s using it for automation.”
“Yet. But that’s only because he’s playing the bidding game.”
“The what?”
“The US military isn’t the only organization that is trying to get their hands on his program. China, Russia, even Korea wants to see how they can use it for their defense. But it could also be used for its offensive capabilities. Drones, missiles... And that’s what makes it so dangerous. And that’s why we can’t allow Declan to sell it.”
She leaned back, and by the look on her face, she believed her own words.
He didn’t want to see her fatigue. Or to dwell on how, even in the dim light of the cave, and even a little waterlogged, she still possessed an exotic element, her red hair against creamy white skin, those green eyes that appeared almost haunted.
Do not be played, Stein.He sighed. “What proof do you have of this?”
“Back in Barcelona, did you happen to run into your cousin Colt?”
He frowned. “Yes.”
“Colt works for the Caleb Group, a US organization that partners with the Black Swans. They were there to keep tabs on a man named Tomas Petrov.”
Silence. “I have no idea who that is.”
“For a long time we thought Tomas Petrov might be just a guy who’d been coerced into helping his branch of the Bratva with their money laundering. Just recently we found out that he was the head of a rogue arm of the Bratva operating out of Europe. It’s a long story, but he was able to access money that the Swans had captured. We think he liberated it... to buy land.”
He raised an eyebrow.