Read In Fire Forged: Worlds of Honor V-ARC for Free Online

heart beat faster, as if Valless was causing Ruth to vanish more quickly.
    Valless had highlighted the A.A. van in pale turquoise, so it was quite easy to track. He pulled back the perspective, and directed their attention back to the tower.
    “Less than thirty seconds later, the ostensible Human Service’s representative also took her leave.”
    This vehicle was highlighted in a bright violet. Although air traffic did not follow roads as such, traffic patterns created the illusion of them in the trackless sky. It became rapidly evident that the two vehicles were following the same route.
    “Where do they end up, Vincent?” Michael said. “I’m assuming they end up at the same place?”
    “Yes, sir. At the Colonial Memorial Spaceport.”
    “No!” Judith gasped, but she was already on her feet, heading for the door.
    Dinah grabbed her. “Judith, this was twenty minutes ago. Nothing can be gained by blindly following them.”
    Reluctantly, Judith slowed. She looked at Michael. He was looking at Valless.
    “Yes, sir,” Valless said in answer to an unasked question. “I’ve accessed the records from the cameras inside the spaceport. However, no one matching our two alleged kidnappers has left the parking facility and entered the port.”
    “Aren’t there cameras in the garage?” Todd asked indignantly.
    “There are, Lieutenant Liatt,” Valless said, “but they don’t provide a hundred percent coverage. My assessment of the situation is that the kidnappers had located one or more of these blind spots in advance, and made their arrangements accordingly.”
    “Reasonable,” Todd said, “but where did they go? Did they go into the port, or did they merely use the garage as somewhere to change vehicles?”
    Judith felt that urge to scream again, to remind them all that this was no intellectual puzzle, but her living breathing daughter they were discussing. Dinah’s hand tightened on her arm, and Judith nodded. Screaming would not help, any more than tears and protests had stopped Ephraim Templeton from raping his twelve-year-old “wife.”  
    I must think, she thought. I must put aside that this is Ruth, and think.
    “Lieutenant Valless,” she said, “did you get a good image of the woman from Human Services?”
    “Not a very good one,” he admitted. “I believe she’d studied where the cameras were, and did her best to assure that her hand or hair would ‘accidentally’ block her face from view. You will note that the man from A.A. managed something similar between his uniform cap and the boxes he was carrying.”
    “Not a trick,” Michael said, “that would work at Mount Royal, but perfectly fine for an apartment building. Still, Vincent, pull me what you can. Judith, how did your image come out?”
    “Fairly well,” she said. “I think.”
    “Feed it to me as well,” Michael said, “and I’ll combine it with what Vincent has. I have some video feed of Ruth in here already.”
    He made a few adjustments with his minicomp as the data came in, then nodded to Valless.
    “All right, Vincent. Access images of the incoming traffic from the garage into the spaceport—foot traffic, arriving passengers, and the like. I’ve set up a program to search for any one of our three targets, separately or in combination. We’ll see what comes up.”
    “Separately?” Dinah asked.
    “That’s right. We don’t know that the same kidnappers will be operating at all stages. The woman from H.S. and the A.A. man might have handed Ruth over to someone else.”
    “You say ‘Ruth,’ ” Todd said curiously. “Don’t you mean the box?”
    “I don’t,” Michael said. “You’ve been in the Navy too long, bud. Routine security scans quite likely would find a child in a packing crate. My guess is that they’ve done a few things to change her appearance, and will bring her through as a sleepy little girl. No bored security officer would look twice except to be grateful that she’s not screaming or