Dragonflies: Shadow of Drones by Andy Straka Page A

skills she’d acquired and to maintain her discipline.
    She sat back down before her console and watched as Tye walked down the street. He really wasn’t a bad-looking guy. Maybe not as movie-star handsome as Dr. Murnell, but he had a different quality about him–rugged, dependable. She could see that their relationship was going to be complicated no matter where this all went. Sitting back down at her console, she spoke into her mike.
    “Hey, soldier. You need to hoof it back here. I’m having a few technical challenges.”
    “Something critical?”
    “Nothing I can’t handle.”
    Anyone watching Tye would think he was having a hands-free conversation with someone on his mobile phone.
    “All right. No more word from your Homeland buddy?”
    “He’s not my buddy, and no, nothing.”
    “Maybe that’s good. Maybe they just wanted to check you out and now they’ll leave us alone.”
    “Don’t sound stupid.”
    “Wishful thinking, that’s all.”
    “Does it ever freak you out knowing I’m watching you?”
    “A little. But not that much as long as I know it’s only you.”
    “You need to sit in this chair a while. I wish you could see what it’s like from the other end.”
    “Maybe I will.”
    But Raina was thinking not just about what she was seeing on her computer screens in the van but the inside of Murnell’s sphere and the type of virtual reality it created. Was it even real? Had she actually been flying some kind of a miniaturized drone down a street in China the night before? The screen in front of her told her told that it was all too real, and she wondered what Homeland was planning to do with their apparently secret technology. But if it was so secret, why had Murnell allowed her, even welcomed her to work with it, only to let her go when she was done?
    She wasn’t working for Homeland. She was no longer even an employee of the federal government, her veteran’s health benefits notwithstanding. Other than Tye, whom could she trust? And a part of her was beginning to wonder if even the soldier who had once saved her life could be compromised. Why hadn’t they heard back yet from Major Williamson?

17
    Tye didn’t clue into the guy following him until he was almost back to the van. He’d seen the stocky African American man out of the corner of his eye, walking along behind him on the opposite side of the street when he left the frat house, but he’d paid him no attention. Raina either hadn’t seen him or must have discounted his presence, too. As he rounded the third and final corner, however, he realized the man was still with him; hanging back a little, it seemed, but definitely still there, and Tye had a bad feeling about it. No matter how many high tech gizmos you brought to the party, they couldn’t replace the gut feeling you got from being from being right there on the ground.
    He decided to continue walking past the van without looking or stopping.
    “What are you doing?” Raina asked.
    “I think we may have company.”
    “What?”
    “Just sit tight.”
    He turned the next corner and proceeded along the block. At the next turn he glanced casually behind him. Sure enough, the man was keeping pace, about seventy yards behind him. He scanned up and down the street for any signs of police or campus security and saw none. A large university building loomed ahead on his right, with an adjacent alleyway formed by a retaining wall against a steep hillside. The sun was about to set and long shadows were overtaking the street.
    “I see what you’re talking about. I’ve got eyes on him if you need them,” Raina said.
    He thought for a moment. “What’s the layout with the alleyway up ahead?”
    “It parallels the building all the way around back. Must be for fire department access.”
    “Windows?”
    “Hang on a second.”
    “Haven’t got all day here, Rain.” He was drawing nearer to the alley and he didn’t want to slow down or appear to alter his gait in any