King of All I Survey
Chapter 139: A Red Herring

Chapter 139: A Red Herring

As I walked out of the gate, the Marine closed it behind me. Joe, I called in my head, how much surveillance to I have on me right now?

At present, just the satellite. Tight focus on this location, actively being controlled in real time. I do see an unusual number of handheld radios in the area, looks like they’re in a pattern. Observers positioned to spot you as you walk by and report your location. Based on your movement, it’s likely they will redeploy those not in your projected path. With this set-up, they can tail you without tailing you.

Can you put a highlight on each one with a distance reading in my visual overlay?

Yeppers.

Yeppers? Really, Joe?

I got the impression that you found acknowledged to be too... I don’t too what, but I got the impression it bothered you.

Well, yeah. It’s a little off-putting, but let’s keep it for responding to specific requests for action. For more personal sorts of communication, speak however you like. OK, I see yellow highlights everywhere, chop it down to the closest three to my position so I don’t get overloaded with targets.

Acknowledged. Did you say targets? What exactly are you planning?

Don’t worry, no shooting. Can you get a face recognition ID on them?

Do you want me to repurpose drones for that?

No, can you use the android’s vision when I get close enough?

Yes, if their photos are on record anywhere, I can find them.

OK, call ’em out as you get names.

The nearest spotter was in a little tienda just down the street. I headed for the store. I opened the door and went inside. The overlay showed me that the cashier was the spotter.

Juan Garcia, he owns this shop. Listed as a low-level informant in the CIA country files. He’s in it for the cash.

I smiled as I headed for the counter and Juan. "Good morning, Juan. Can I have a Coke, please."

His eyes got big when I said his name.

"It’s over there." he pointed. "17 Quetzales."

"Pablo Rodriguez said to tell you to just add it to the fee when he pays you for spotting me."

"Who?"

I titled my head, looking askance at him, "Really, Juan? Pablo, from the embassy. If you don’t believe me, call him up on the radio he gave you and ask."

When I mentioned the radio, I saw him quickly glance down at something below the counter. I grabbed a coke from the cooler and popped the top. "Just tell him, Tim said to charge it to him." I winked, "If I were you, I’d charge him 20 Quetzales for the trouble."

"Oh, do you have a small pad of paper and a pen or pencil for sale? I’ll pay cash for that."

He pointed silently.

I grabbed a pad and pen and flipped it open. I spoke out loud as I wrote, "Juan Garcia, Informer for US Embassy. Owner of..." I looked up, "What’s the name of this place? Oh yes, owner of Mas por Menos store."

I paid him for the pad and pen. Luckily, Joe had the foresight to add a wallet with some currency to the android’s pocket at some point. "OK, Juan, have a good day. Be sure to tell Pable I said hello when you report in."

I left the store and headed for the next observer highlighted in my vision. He was just standing on the side of the street leaning against a building. "Hello, Carlos. How are you today?"

He looked at me as if I was crazy. "Do I know you?" he asked, with a facial expression that said he clearly did not know me.

"I’m Tim, you know they guy you’re supposed to be looking out for... from the embassy? Anyway, here I am! I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss me, so you could make your report on the radio." I nodded to the radio hidden in his jacket pocket.

He glanced down at it, reflexively. I took out my pad of paper, and once again spoke as I wrote, "Carlos De La Vega, informer for the US Embassy." I looked up at him, "Hey, they can’t pay enough for you to miss work. Do you need a job? I fished out a Food First business card and handed it to him. "Call this number and tell them Tim said you should call them for job. The pay is pretty good." He took the card and looked at it closely, trying to process what was going on. "Just remember, though, they have a strict no radios policy. You’ll have to get rid of that. Hey, when you report in, Tell Pablo that Tim said hello, will you?"

He stared at me and nodded.

"Great, and don’t forget to call them for work," I said pointing toward the business card. I turned and walked away heading for the next highlighted observer.

By the time I got to the sixth one, he saw me approaching and as I drew closer, he just pulled the two-way radio out of his pocket and handed it to me. "He pointed to the button on the side and said, "Push that to talk, let go to listen. Pablo wants to talk to you."

I smiled and took the radio. I pushed the button and held it toward my mouth, "Hey, it’s Tim. What’s up?"

"What are you doing?" Pablo/ Raul Vargas asked over the radio, with a slight background of static.

I chuckled, "I was about to ask the same of you," I replied. "I think it’s rather insulting for you to try to have me trailed back to... well, to wherever it is that I’m going. I appreciate you helping out the locals with a little extra cash, but a little one-time payment isn’t going to do much good. I mean, for a small fraction of the cost to dedicate that satellite time to watching me, you could give all these guys a couple year’s salary."

"How are you finding them?"

"Look, Raul, I’m not an amateur here. You’re not going to be able to follow me. I’m going to go sit at the café over there and have a hot chocolate. While I’m there, I want every one of your observers to walk to the embassy and wait there until I call you back. Pay them an extra fifty or a hundred bucks apiece for the trouble. Collect all the radios. I’ll take care of blinding the satellite, so you don’t have to worry about that. It’ll be temporary, it’ll come back online when I call you back. If we have to have a discussion like this again, next time it’ll have a catastrophic failure and be lost to you permanently. Do I make myself clear?"

"Tim, I can’t make decisions like that without consulting the main office..."

The ’main office’, assuming that’s Martin Lewis, is listening in on Vargas’ end, Joe informed me.

"Martin, please give Mr. Vargas the appropriate orders."

"He’s not..." Vargas began but was cut off by another voice.

"Do as he says, Raul," I heard Lewis tell him.

"Yes, sir. OK, I’ll need a few minutes to contact everyone and try to get them all headed this way. I can’t guarantee all of them will be willing to drop whatever else they’re doing to walk here, though."

"I’m sure you have the budget to convince them it’s in their best interests," I replied. "I’ll call you in forty minutes."

I handed the radio back to the paid spotter who had handed it to me. He looked at me curiously, wondering just who I really was.

I nodded a thank you and turned to walk over to a local café. I went and ordered a hot chocolate, with sugar and cream, hoping to get something like the hot chocolate we had back home. I hadn’t really developed a taste for the local variety. I took it back outside and sat at one of the outdoor tables.

Forty minutes later, I pulled a phone out of my pocket. How are we doing, Joe?

It looks like they got them all. Every radio is headed back or is already back at the embassy gate. I have the satellite blacked out. I’ll black out all street surveillance cameras as well. They may be able to get footage from the local vendors or government agencies.

So, with the satellite, they probably saw me exit the apartment building earlier.

Yes, but since they did not see you enter, they have no idea how long you were there or whether you entered from a hidden tunnel. I’d recommend using the same building. It would at least throw a red herring at them.

What? Isn’t that a fish? What... you want to throw fish?

Sometimes I forget you’re only eight and don’t have as much experience as a real person.

A real person! I’ve been fishing!

It’s not about fishing! They used to use the scent of a smelly fish to try to distract hunting dogs during their training. A red herring was used to try to lead them down a false trail, literally!

Oh. But doesn’t that just teach the dogs to look for fish?

Are you going back to the base or not, O Wise King?

Yeppers, let’s go.