Authority, page 1
part #2 of The Tracker Sequence Series
Authority
The Tracker Sequence
Book 2
Jamie Krakover
Authority
Copyright © 2024 Jamie Krakover
Interior Format: Dorothy Dreyer
Cover Artist/Illustrations: Jennifer Stolzer
Published by Snowy Wings Publishing
PO Box 1035, Turner, OR 97392
http://snowywingspublishing.com
ISBN Hardcover: 978-1-958051-52-8
ISBN Paperback: 978-1-958051-53-5
ISBN eBook: 978-1-958051-51-1
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Dedication
For Karin Krakover, who fostered my love of science fiction
and taught me the importance of friends.
Table of Contents
Dear Journal
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Also by Snowy Wings Publishing
Dear Journal,
It’s been six months. Six months since the world (and my life) was turned upside down.
Six months since I ran from everything I knew and joined the Ghosts’ underground movement to take down the tracker network.
Six months since Rufus Scurry nearly exploited an unknown loophole in people’s trackers to mind-control them.
Six months of waiting for Dad to explain all his secrets. Why he hid the plans on my tracker and didn’t tell me my whole life.
Six months since Harlow and I broke up.
Six months since Bailen became the best thing that ever happened to me.
And six months since Jake…
Died.
I STILL struggle with that word.
Losing my brother is the hardest thing I’ve been through. I find myself blinking and trying to open a tracker message to tell him something funny, share a picture, share something about my day, or just check and see how he’s doing. Then I remember the network is gone and that he’s not here.
While Bailen and Peyton have been there for me, they knew Jake in different ways than I did. Jake was a friend to Bailen and something more to Peyton. But their love was different. Sometimes, they don’t understand what I’m going through.
Words were Jake’s go-to, so maybe they will help me too. Admittedly, it’s weird to write with a pencil and paper. The only time I had paper before was to draw, and even then, it was scarce. It’s a little less so now.
These are the kinds of thoughts I would have stored on my tracker. Unfortunately, private recorded thoughts weren’t as private as we all thought. Everything on the network was closely monitored and recorded by the authorities to read if they wanted. This feels more private, more intimate, even if the authorities have disbanded and there’s no network or conversations left to monitor.
These thoughts I wouldn’t even share with Lydia. As my best friend, she has privilege to a lot, but the pain I feel, the regret that strangles me—it’s for me alone.
I’ve been in a dark place, grieving the loss of Jake and struggling to adjust to life without a tracker. Without access to information in the blink of an eye, and without him, I’ve forced myself to move forward. I’ve been learning to type, working with sat phones, laptops, even old desktop computers, and doing everything by hand. I’ve managed to find some light through all the darkness and chaos.
I’m closer than ever with my friends and Bailen too. I find myself just getting lost in the moment. Forgetting where we came from. Just living.
I need those times.
Even though the memories pop up when I least expect them. Even when they catch me off guard.
But it’s in the quiet moments that the pain creeps back in. That the nightmares envelope me. When the feeling that something else is coming invades my mind. It’s these thoughts that grab hold and won’t let go…
-Kaya
One
Bailen Overland was going down—as soon as I could recall the right coding command. My fingers tapped the keyboard, willing my brain to remember. Why did I always forget this one? I should have created an alias, then I wouldn’t have to remember the command I was searching for. As much as I didn’t miss the iron grip of my tracker, instant access to every coding command ever created would have been really helpful right now.
If I pulled up the help documentation, would it be cheating?
“Done!” Bailen slammed his hands on the desk, rattling the row of computers on the long table, and jumped up from his chair in triumph. “I win again.” But his giant grin faded the minute he saw the newest member of the Ghosts, Ava Hunt, relaxing on the opposite side of the table in her oversized argyle sweater. She had her chair reclined backward with her combat boots propped up on the makeshift desk.
She tucked her chin-length brown hair behind her ear and laughed in a carefree way, clearly enjoying herself. “Actually, I beat the pants off you both. I programmed my submission not to notify anyone so I could see how long it would take you to notice.”
Ava tapped a button, and the challenge abruptly ended. Her time and score popped up on everyone’s screens, with Bailen’s score several minutes behind hers.
Bailen’s face turned red. I stifled a laugh, but not well enough, because he whipped around to face me. “Kaya! You think this is funny?”
“Oh, it’s definitely funny.” I reached to push a wild lock of brown hair out of his eyes, but he knocked my hand away.
Ava had arrived three months ago at the Coderie, the respectable computer and equipment rental business that hid the Ghosts’ underground tech. Shortly after joining, she’d given Bailen more than a run for his money in coding speed. As much as it bothered me that I had yet to beat Bailen in a challenge, it got under his skin infinitely more every time he wasn’t the top dog. Even he couldn’t deny having another excellent coder around was helpful in setting up resources for people who were learning to live without trackers and the instant access to knowledge and communication they provided. On the day of her interview, Ava helped wrap up crucial code that supported a government project to restore communications satellites before she was formally offered the job. But her skill wasn’t always enough to stop Bailen’s frustration from bubbling up.
“It’s not fair. Emily was distracting me with questions. I couldn’t focus.” Bailen scowled. He didn’t believe his excuse for a second.
“Did not!” Emily laughed like she was in on the joke even though it wasn’t planned. Emily had been glued to Bailen’s and my side ever since we unplugged her from the tracker network.
“Sure, blame your inadequate coding skills on a second grader. Real mature.” Ava crossed her arms with a serious expression that had to be an act to rile Bailen up even more. She loved to get under his skin almost as much as Peyton. She had discovered Ava using her coding skills to give stolen money to people who had been victimized by the authorities and could no longer pay their bills. While Ava’s mission had resonated with Petyon, it was Ava’s sass and ability to ruffle Bailen’s feathers that ultimately won Peyton over. She’d encouraged Ava to apply at the Coderie and asked if Ava would help play a trick on her twin, acting like they’d never met. When Bailen found out, he became salty, and their rivalry was born. He could hold his own against one of them, but when they paired up, it often was too much for him to compete with.
Bailen turned to leave, but I grabbed his arm. “Come on, you’re still one of the best coders I know. Plus, I wouldn’t have learned half the stuff I know without you. Why do you take it so personally?”
“One of?” He scoffed. “Not the best. I’ve always been the best.”
“And now you’re not.” Ava reached for the keyboard and brought it to her lap, then typed in a few commands. Even though I’d learned to type fairly well, I still envied her and Bailen’s speed and proficiency on the keyboard.
Ava’s avatar donning a crown and a first-place ribbon appeared on all thirty computers in long rows, including on Bailen’s laptop screen. Luckily, no one else was around to get mad that their pay by the hour computer sessions had been interrupted.
“I see he lost again,” Peyton said, emerging from the hallway behind the payment counter.
“Ugh, don’t start, Pey.” Bailen sank back into his chair and cleared his screen.
“T
“She’s like your clone. One of you was bad enough.” Bailen groaned.
“Up for another round, or are you finally going to admit that women are the stronger sex?” Ava wiggled her eyebrows, goading Bailen into the trap.
“Girls rule and boys drool.” Emily stuck her tongue out at Bailen but couldn’t keep the smile from exploding on her face.
He gave her a fake surprised face, then turned to Ava and pointed a finger at her. “Not a chance. It’s on.” Bailen typed some commands into his computer and a new challenge popped up on all our screens.
With Bailen randomly selecting the challenge from one of his favorite repositories, maybe I had a chance. He’d taught me a few of his tricks but made me promise I’d never share his secrets with Ava. He needed every advantage he could get. If only I could get Ava to share some of her favorite shortcuts, then I might be able to take them both.
“Emily, you can come help me this round.” I patted the empty chair next to me. She skipped over and hopped into the chair. I’d started training her on little coding tricks I’d mastered. It was a good way to prove I understood what I was learning. Emily had a knack for coding and picked it up faster than I could teach her—hence all the questions she’d asked Bailen.
Peyton weaved her way between the narrow row of chairs set on two sides of a long card table with computer terminals set up every couple of feet. She pulled up a chair to an empty computer station next to Ava. “I want in on this one.”
“Hey, with Pey joining, you might have a shot, Kaya.” Bailen’s smile didn’t hide the fact that he loved to provoke us both.
Peyton feigned a hurt expression. “I don’t know whether to be insulted or relieved I won’t come in last place.”
“Oh, it’s on!” I dragged my chair up to the desk and twisted my monitor so the sun streaming in the storefront windows of the Coderie didn’t interfere with my ability to read the screen. I could beat Peyton no problem, but if there was ever a time to beat Bailen, this was it. I glanced at Emily. “You ready for this?”
“Do you think we can win?” Emily asked.
“We can do anything we put our minds to,” I said.
She nodded with an excited gleam in her eyes. Maybe next time I’d set up another terminal for her. She’d be running circles around me in no time.
Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed a look between Ava and Peyton. They were up to something. I glanced at Bailen, but he didn’t seem to notice. Maybe I should’ve pulled out the popcorn and watched the show instead. It was bound to be good, but Emily wouldn’t let me sit back and watch.
“Ready?” Bailen asked with a hint of competition in his eyes.
“I was born ready.” Ava cracked her knuckles and laid her hands on the keyboard.
Bailen didn’t wait for anyone else to respond and hit the enter key, starting the competition.
The challenge popped up on each of our screens. I skimmed it to get a general feel for the prompt and what skills I might need to leverage. It wasn’t anything overly complex, something Bailen taught me to do a couple weeks ago, but I hadn’t had a chance to teach Emily yet, so she wouldn’t be much help. I’d have to pull it out of my memory. As I let everything sink in, I peered between the monitors at Peyton and Ava across the table, waiting for a hint at what was to come, but there was nothing except the clicking of fingers across keys.
I returned to my screen and started setting up some variables and quick commands, glancing sideways occasionally to see that Emily was following what I was doing. I was halfway through when a message window popped up on the screen with Ava’s initials.
A.H.: I need your help.
Ava could win with only one hand on the keyboard. Was this some kind of trick?
K.W.: When have you ever needed my help?
A.H.: Do you want to beat Bailen or not?
I wanted to beat Bailen more than anything, but I wanted it on my own talent. Cheating wasn’t my style.
Emily sucked in a breath, but I shot her a look, telling her to stay quiet. She held a finger to her lips. I nodded, then returned to my keyboard.
K.W.: Yes, but…
A.H.: Well, there’s nothing in the rules that says teamwork isn’t allowed.
She had a point there. But I wasn’t sure Bailen could handle another defeat, even at the expense of a joke. He was starting to take these challenges a little too seriously. While teaching others old tech kept him busy, it didn’t have the same stakes and sense of excitement that taking down the tracker network had. He didn’t have to work on his obsolete program, TROGS, that tricked the authority’s location scans. Without some difficult problem to solve, he’d lost a bit of his purpose.
Sure, we’d spent plenty of time in the Coderie, setting up outdated computers for people and enabling communication through old satellite internet services and phones. When we weren’t doing that, we were assisting the government with transitioning decommissioned satellites into a working communications system for computers and phones. Even though we had plenty to keep us busy, many people were skeptical that the obsolete tech would continue to function, especially after the collapse of the tracker network. It was one more thing Bailen couldn’t fix.
K.W.: That’s true but…
A blinking P.O. with three dots appeared at the bottom of the chat window. Peyton had joined the fun.
P.O.: Oh, come on, you know my brother could stand to be knocked down a few pegs.
A little ego check was good every now and again, but Bailen had been knocked down a lot lately. Maybe he needed a break or a small win. Unless I could make it worth it for both of us.
K.W.: I’m in, under one condition.
A.H.: Name your price, Weiss.
K.W.: I want 5 solid training sessions with you where you teach me your tricks.
Three dots appeared on the screen, then disappeared. She was considering my offer, but it was likely to come back with conditions. Ava always held some things close to her chest. While she was a great addition to the Ghosts and typically wanted to help, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was hiding something and that’s why she only shared things under the right circumstances.
K.W.: What’ll it be, Hunt?
A.H: 2 sessions, and you better not share what I tell you with Bailen.
P.O.: Ava drives a hard bargain. She’s not going to back down.
She said not to share it with Bailen but never said anything about Emily. If I taught her, then she could tell Bailen. This was playing out better than I anticipated.
K.W.: 3 sessions and it’s a deal.
A.H.: Sold.
Now that the deal was done, I could sit back and watch. But the blinking three dots appeared again. This wasn’t over. They needed me for something.
A.H.: I’m going to send you some code. Need you to run it.
Well, that seemed suspicious. What was she up really up to?
K.W.: Right, so you can mess up my machine?
A.H.: I need the code to come from you, so it looks like an authentic win. If I beat him, he’ll think I cheated.
K.W.: We kind of are cheating. Besides, he’ll be able to trace these conversations and the code you sent me. Or did you forget who you’re dealing with?
There were so many things that could go wrong with this. Emily was reading over my shoulder, and her poker face was worse than mine. Luckily, Bailen was glued to his monitor, but he was bound to figure it all out. Maybe I should back out. Although those coding sessions could definitely come in handy.
