The Whisper of Stars Read Free

when she wished the Government had been successful passing mandatory tracking chip legislation. The Central Transport System moved millions of people; the fact that they had to rely on old-fashioned methods to find one of them was ridiculous. They needed to actually see this woman?
    ‘Still nothing,’ Cole said.
    Jen imagined him scanning local camera feeds on his array of monitors. Needle in a haystack, she said to herself.
    ‘Nearest tube station?’ Jen shouted, frustrated with her lack of movement.
    ‘Presuming she isn’t going to Covent Garden, then it’s Arches or Embankment,’ Cole replied.
    Jen processed the options. Embankment also included a sublevel tube. The fastest route appeared, a luminous overlay in her vision. It was a seven-minute drive, four on her bike. She thought about Mrs Harvey, scanned the map, looked up and made her decision.
    She likes to walk.
    ‘Logan proceeding on foot to Embankment,’ she said, pushing her way through the crowds towards Victoria Embankment Gardens.
    ‘Is Logan always like this?’ she heard Cole ask. He had forgotten to mute his microphone.
    ‘Not always,’ McArthur answered. ‘But generally. Yes.’
    Jen smiled, then launched herself up onto the bonnet of a parked car and vaulted over the tall iron railings that surrounded Embankment Gardens. She landed, rolled and was up and running towards the tube station. She darted through trees, dappled by golden sunlight, until she came to a clearing. To her left she could see Waterloo Bridge and the River Thames, the sun sparkling on its silvery surface like a thousand excited bulbs. She turned right and continued running along Victoria Embankment, passing the pier towards the station. Her breath was controlled, her fitness paying off.
    ‘Just picked the target up at Embankment,’ said Cole. ‘Logan, she’s just ahead of you.’
    Victoria Harvey appeared in her retinal display, fifty metres from where she stood. Jen smiled again. Her intuition had been right.

Chapter 3
    Jen arrived at the station entrance and considered the various options highlighted in her retinal display. She couldn’t see the target.
    < Old tube or Sublevel? > she asked, flicking her attention left and right.
    Cole had a possible match, but he explained it was taking multiple cameras and way too long. A transaction linked to the account of V.HARVEY appeared on his screen.
    [London DTL: Embankment: c8.60].
    ‘Sublevel,’ he replied quickly. ‘She’s just bought a ticket.’
    Jen pivoted and raced towards the SUBLEVEL signs, pushing her way through queues until she reached a giant lift already crammed with at least a hundred people. She squeezed in as a large semicircular door span closed and the lift dropped in a rapid descent. Jen worked her way through the faces she could see, but it was difficult to move without arousing suspicion, so she reluctantly stopped and waited.
    ‘Target is already on the platform,’ Cole informed her. ‘The next train is approaching.’
    < Understood. > Jen composed herself, sending the thought as calmly as she could. There were other thoughts, laced with failure, but she kept those to herself. She exited the lift and broke through the mass of people to see a train waiting at the platform.
    ‘She’s on that train, Logan. Don’t miss it,’ Cole advised.
    Jen cleared the platform in three strides and jumped, the doors closing behind her. The train levitated, departed and quickly accelerated. She only managed to advance three of the eight carriages by the time it reached Canary Wharf Station. On Cole’s instruction, she stepped onto the platform and discovered she had, completely by luck, gained an advantage. She was next to the only exit stairwell, so the target would have to pass her. A crowd of sombre faces trudged past.
    < Logan holding, awaiting visual on target. >
    Nothing. More faces.
    Finally, as the wave of people thinned out she locked onto a confirmed identification. Victoria Harvey stood alone at