Chapter no 73

Quantum Radio

โ€œHow?โ€ Nora asked.

โ€œFirst off, we have the pieces to stop the Covenantโ€™s rocket launch.โ€ Ty motioned to Kato. โ€œIn this world, Kato Tanaka is a Reich Europa intelligence operative. Whatโ€™s more, heโ€™s based at the Peenemรผnde facility.โ€ โ€œHow does that help us?โ€ Kato asked. โ€œIf heโ€™s already there, how would I

even get inside the facility? Theyโ€™d know I was a fake the moment I arrived.โ€

โ€œNot if we change your appearance.โ€ To Maria, Ty said, โ€œYou recently told us something about your past. What you did as a child when your mother had a bruise. And what you did before becoming a singer.โ€

โ€œI was a makeup artist,โ€ Maria said. She studied Katoโ€™s bruised, swollen face. โ€œSure. Wouldnโ€™t be hard to disguise him.โ€

Nora bunched her eyebrows. โ€œYes, but why would they even let us in to begin with?โ€

โ€œSame answer,โ€ Ty said. โ€œMaria. Sheโ€™s the missing piece. Sheโ€™s performing in Peenemรผnde at the A21 missile launch ceremony.โ€

Mariaโ€™s eyes went wide. โ€œRight.ย Thatย Maria. Notย me.โ€ โ€œThey donโ€™t know the difference.โ€

Kato stood. โ€œIt could work.โ€ โ€œThis is crazy,โ€ Maria said.

โ€œIโ€™m skeptical too,โ€ Nora said, โ€œbut I want to hear more.โ€ โ€œWhere does the Maria on this world live?โ€ Kato asked. โ€œArgentina,โ€ Nora replied.

โ€œNeutral territory,โ€ Kato said, pacing now. โ€œI assume the Pax Humana has an embassy in Argentina?โ€

โ€œI could ask my father, but I think itโ€™s a safe bet. Why?โ€

โ€œWe could use the embassy as a staging ground for an operation to kidnap this worldโ€™s Maria Santos. We simply hold her at the embassy,

which, if it works like our world, is sovereign national territory. No one will report her missing, because weโ€™ll replace her with our Maria. No one will even know the real Maria Santos is gone.โ€

โ€œThen what?โ€ Ty asked, thinking he knew where Kato was going but not certain.

โ€œThen, we start the more difficult part of the operation.โ€

Kato motioned to Nora and Ty. โ€œWe pose as Mariaโ€™s entourage as we all fly to Peenemรผnde for the launch ceremony. Inside the facility, weโ€™ll each have a role. Maria gets us in and gets us access. Iโ€™ll say Iโ€™m her security detail. Ty can be technicalโ€”lights and audio-visual. Nora will be hair and makeup.โ€

Kato paused for a moment. โ€œThe trick will be the second replacement: finding this worldโ€™s Kato andโ€ฆ subduing him so that I can slip into his role.โ€

โ€œHow does that help us?โ€ Nora asked.

โ€œIf Iโ€™m right, heโ€™ll have unrestricted access to the facility. At that point, I can try to find the rockets and destroy them.โ€

โ€œI see a better alternative,โ€ Ty said. โ€œThe rockets are likely guarded against someone trying to take them out.โ€

โ€œI agree,โ€ Kato said. โ€œBut what options do we have?โ€

โ€œInstead of destroying the rockets,โ€ Ty said, โ€œKato and I could find the launch control area and change where the missiles are supposed to land.โ€

โ€œWhat would the new target be?โ€ Nora asked.

Kato held his hands out. โ€œI see two options. The most benign would be to have them land in an unpopulated area. The northern region of Greenland, for example. The other option would be to target Covenant military capabilities. Their rocket-building facilities. The Seawall. Bases.โ€

โ€œThat might take a lot of lives,โ€ Nora said quietly.

โ€œIt might,โ€ Kato agreed. โ€œBut it would also change the balance of power in this world forever. It would give the Pax an opening to rebuild, to get back onto equal footing and give their society a chance at a real future.โ€

โ€œFor now,โ€ Nora said, โ€œletโ€™s simply assume we alter the rocket targets away from the Pax.โ€ She glanced at Ty. โ€œThen what?โ€

โ€œWe exit. No one will suspect Maria Santos and her entourage of being connected to the malfunction,โ€ Ty said. โ€œWhen we return to the Pax, we ask for the radio medallion back, then we decide what to do. We study it.

Maybe thereโ€™s even some information about it in the Covenant files, which we can access in Peenemรผnde.โ€

At that moment, Ty sensed a presence in the room. He jerked his head and looked over at the folding tables and empty metal chairs where the staff took their meals. But there was no one there.

โ€œWhat is it?โ€ Nora asked.

โ€œNothing.โ€ Ty rubbed his temple. โ€œItโ€™s nothing. What was I saying? Oh yeah, we get back here, get the radio, and go from there. Weโ€™ll have time at that point, with no impending rocket strike, and we will have built trust with the Pax.โ€

โ€œThereโ€™s one thing weโ€™re missing,โ€ Nora said. โ€œThe other Nora. If sheโ€™s at Peenemรผnde, we should try to rescue her. And the members of her team.โ€

โ€œIt might make getting out more difficult,โ€ Kato said.

The door opened, and Robert Brown stepped in and closed it behind him. โ€œYouย willย rescue her. Thatโ€™s part of the deal.โ€

โ€œYouโ€™ve been listening,โ€ Ty said.

โ€œTo every word. You people are either crazy, or Iโ€™m going crazy, and frankly, if all of this wasย slightlyย less crazy, Iโ€™d just throw you all in a prison cell on the surface and forget about the whole thing. But what youโ€™re talking about might be crazy enough to work.โ€

He studied the four of them. โ€œWe havenโ€™t had a chance to change the balance of power like this in a long timeโ€”not without doing something as damaging as Poseidon.โ€

โ€œSo youโ€™ll help us?โ€ Nora asked.

โ€œWeโ€™ll get you to Argentina. And weโ€™ll send a diplomatic pouch with orders for the special operators stationed at the embassy to help you with the Santos op in country.โ€ He paused. โ€œBut we have one more condition.โ€

Ty waited, knowing what it was, watching Nora, wondering how she would feel.

โ€œOur last condition is that those rockets need to fall on a specific list of Covenant military facilities. Thatโ€™s non-negotiable. If you say noโ€”or if those rockets donโ€™t hit the target list we supplyโ€”youโ€™ll never again see thatโ€ฆ radio device you seem so obsessed with.โ€

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