Page 36

“That’s something I’d love to see.” Jude grinned as he shifted around in his seat, giving Octavia some privacy.

“What do you think of the message?”

Jude forced himself to concentrate on the garbled noise in his ear, and not the fact Octavia was stripping off. “Hold on. This is English I’m hearing.”

Octavia sat back down, pulling her cap on, but not bothering to hide her scars. “Our programs have partially decoded the messages. It’s not perfect. There are still too many letters missing. I heard a couple of words, though. Just listen and see what you can pick out.”

They sat next to each other in silence, both concentrating on the Dinnorm language.

“They’ll be changing the channel in a few seconds, if I’m right about this latest pattern,” said Octavia. Sure enough, ten seconds later, the noise vanished. “What did you hear?”

Jude’s shoulders felt tight. “I only got one word. Attack.”

“It had to be something like that,” said Octavia. “They wouldn’t go to such great lengths to hide what they were doing unless it’s something big.”

“An attack where and on what? When is it going to happen?” The unanswered questions spun through Jude’s head.

“That’s what we need to find out,” said Octavia. “And there’s a way we can do it. Now we know the basic patterns they’re using to broadcast their message, I have what we need to crack the rest of it.”

“Another piece of software?”

“It’s equipment.” Octavia looked steadily at Jude. “We need to go to my supply store.”

***

THE LOOK ON JUDE’Sface was just as Octavia expected it to be. A small frown played across his lips as he ran a hand down his face.

“It’s not a good idea to be out right now. We could find ourselves in the middle of this attack the State are planning.”

She nodded. It was a risk. But it was one they needed to take. “My supply store is secluded. It’s a hidden air raid shelter. You’ll find hundreds of them all over the place, often in people’s backyards or in fields.”

“I know what you’re talking about,” said Jude. “Old, solid concrete bunkers that people built during the last war.”

“That’s right. When I found it, I realized it was ideal for what I needed. I couldn’t carry all my kit in the van, so I used it as a central store.”

“What does this equipment do?”

“It will track the frequency-hopping pattern the State are using,” said Octavia. “We can follow along with them in real time. It will mean we won’t miss any of their communications. It will give us a chance to collect the data in a complete message.”

“We might still do that with the programs we’re already using,” said Jude.

“These have been running for hours. If they were going to work, they’d have done so by now.” Octavia ignored the frustration she felt. They needed this bit of kit.

“There might be another way.” Jude raised the wrist comm device he wore. “Kade, are you awake?”

“If you’d asked me five minutes ago, you would not have liked the reply.” Kade sounded sleepy. “Why the hell are you awake so early?”

“I’ve not managed to get to bed yet,” said Jude. “I’ve been working with Octavia on the comms mystery the State are broadcasting.”

“What have you found?” The sleepiness in Kade’s voice had gone. He loved solving a puzzle.

“A couple of words have been deciphered,” said Jude. “Come take a look. You might be able to help.”

“Give me five minutes.”

Kade arrived in three, his shoulder-length dark hair unbrushed and his crumpled shirt misbuttoned.

“Kade, this is Octavia,” said Jude.