The Babel Tower Page 13

  The camera paused on Kabir. His gaze was tilted up, and a look of surprise crossed over him.

  “Kabir has just seen this.” The view switched to a steel beam suspended in air over the pit. It was slipping, in slow motion, out of the chain hanging from the crane. “Watch what happens,” the narrator said, as the view switched again to the two workers.

  The action returned to normal motion, and things happened fast. Kabir began to lunge out of the way, but he paused to glance down at Abbas. He suddenly knelt down, wrapped his arms around the other worker, and dove with him to the side.

  The beam crashed onto the concrete, missing them by inches.

  “What—” Abbas yelled at Kabir, his lips forming the word in his native tongue. But as he stood and saw the beam and realized what had happened, the look on his face flipped from anger to relief. “You saved me...”

  Kabir nodded. He was breathing fast.

  Abbas clasped his shoulder. “Thank you. I must repay you…”

  The show switched to a dinner scene. Groups of Pakistanis and Indians sat across from each other, talking and eating. The sound of their conversation faded out, and the sound of Liz’s voice overlaid the scene: “This is just the beginning. We’ve cracked the problem of language, so now we’re going to fight back against death and everything else that holds humans back… This tower has unlimited potential, because we have unlimited potential.”

  Rachel recognized the words from Liz’s interview about the tower—it was all about publicity. She turned off the TV. She had already finished cleaning, and she had not meant to watch the rest. It was just a silly show, even if the idea was pretty good. And maybe the filming, too.

  She went to the living room and lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Her husband was on call tonight. The kids were asleep. She knew she should just go to bed, but hearing Liz’s voice had her mind racing. She picked up the phone and called Owen.

  “Hey Rachel.”

  “Hey Owen. Got a few minutes?”

  “Sure... How are you? It’s been a while.”

  “I’m fine. Just watched episode two of your new show.”

  “Cool, I like that one. You didn’t know if Kabir would save him or not, right?”

  “So he wasn’t just an actor?”

  Owen laughed. “No, it’s the real deal. They film hundreds of hours and pick only the best moments for the show. They hire interesting workers, too. Can you believe millions of people actually watch the live stream every day?”

  “No.”

  “I know, it’s crazy. Great for publicity before the IPO. And just wait until episode three. It’s even better.”

  Rachel paused. “I wanted to ask about Liz.”

  “What about her?”

  “Is she doing okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s great. Why?”

  “I just worry about all the attention she’s getting. Hard to stay grounded, you know?”

  “She’s the same as ever. It’s not like a Silicon Valley star stays grounded, anyway.”

  “That could be good or bad. What about the tower?”

  “She spends most of her time focused on it instead of the company. But you know how she throws herself into whatever she’s doing.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I guess there is one odd thing. She’s fixated by this farmer who lives near the tower.”

  “A farmer? Why?”

  “I’m not sure. I mean, he lives right by the tower and he slows down construction vehicles that have to go around the farm, but it’s not that big a deal. I guess she’s just frustrated that he won’t sell.”

  “Liz has always been fascinated by things she doesn’t understand.”

  “No kidding. And this farmer is…different. Liz and I have both met him. He’s about our age, but very old school. He hadn’t even heard of Babel.”

  “Welcome to the Nebraska heartland.”

  “Right… I bet Liz will eventually get the Conrads to sell, and then she’ll be onto the next thing.”

  Rachel sat up on the couch. “Conrads?”

  “Yeah, you know them or something?”

  “I’m related to them. Is the farmer Jake?”

  “You got it, Jacob Conrad. Man, that’s crazy. Small world.”

  Rachel rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of it. It can’t just be a coincidence. “Owen, are you still going to church?”

  There was a pause. “Every now and then. Why?”

  “I’ll be praying for Liz, and I think you should, too.”

  “I’m not really the praying type.”

  “Maybe you should start,” Rachel said. “You remember what I told Liz about the Tower of Babel story?”

  “Not exactly. God knocks down the tower or something?”

  “No, God sees the people building and says that if they continue, nothing will be impossible for them. So God makes everyone start speaking a new language. People got confused and scattered around the world. Don’t you think that could mean something for Babel?”

  “Not really. This is the 21st century.”

  “I’m worried about Liz.”

  “Okay…but maybe you should get some sleep.”

  “I know it sounds crazy.” Rachel sighed. “But just remember what I said, please?”

  “Sure, you know I’ll do whatever I can to protect Liz and the company.”

  “Thanks, Owen. Give me a call if I can help with Jake.”

  “Will do. Goodnight, Rachel.”

  She said goodnight and hung up. She went to the fireplace mantle and picked up an old picture from a family reunion. Fifty Conrads gathered around Pops, with a teenage Jake standing by his side. Rachel shook her head and closed her eyes. It was too much to be coincidence.

  29

  Jax and Veruca stood in the center of a sprawling underground parking garage, encased in concrete and steel. The ceiling was almost low enough for Veruca to touch if she jumped. But it was high enough for the hundreds of vehicles that would fill this space once the tower was built. Now it had an eerie feeling—dozens of thick columns, unmarked pavement, and exposed ductwork above. It didn’t help knowing that they were fifteen floors under the earth.

  Veruca climbed up a small ladder to inspect one of the pipes running along the ceiling. She studied the head of a small sprinkler attached to it.

  “Can you see the camera?” Jax asked.

  “From this close, yes.” Veruca looked down. “But you can’t, right?”

  “It’s invisible from here.”

  Veruca pressed a small button to the side of the sprinkler. Then she pulled out her phone and checked the feed. The video showed the top of her head, Jax standing below, and a fifty-foot radius around them. She waved her hand, and the video followed immediately. So far, so good.

  “The tower’s first camera has been activated,” she said with mock formality as she climbed down the ladder.

  “How many more to go?” Jax began carrying the ladder to the next sprinkler in the row.

  “Just a few thousand.” She grinned. “But you don’t pay me enough to do this for all of them.”

  “Hey, you won the million dollars. Spent it yet?”

  Veruca held out her arm and pointed to the old Timex watch with a velcro strap. “Yeah, on fancy watches and stuff.”

  “Seriously, you should take some time off. Treat yourself to a vacation. Somewhere tropical.”

  “You know my skin doesn’t take to the sun.”

  “Life must be hard for redheads.”

  “Oh, harder than you know,” Veruca said. “But I could wear sunscreen. The problem is that if I took a vacation, you’d get lonely. So…I guess you’ll have to join me.”

  Jax laughed as he set the ladder down under the next sprinkler. “Sure, let’s go to Cabo. I know a great place overlooking the Pacific. But first we’ve got to finish this project—a couple hundred floors of sprinklers. Maybe after the tower and the IPO are done?”

  “Cabo it is.” Veruca passed closely by Jax and
stepped up the ladder again. She began inspecting and testing the undetectable camera attached to the sprinkler above.

  Jax’s phone buzzed. He checked the text. The contact name appeared as “Agent”—it was Hunter Black.

  Liz incoming.

  How long? Jax replied.

  5 minutes.

  Jax took a deep breath and pocketed the phone. He looked up to Veruca. “Hey, almost done with that one?”

  “Yeah.” She began climbing down. “I’d like to check a few more. We’ll leave it to the construction crews to activate most of them, once I’ve confirmed the system is working.”

  “Sounds good. You can check the next floor later.” Jax folded up the step ladder. “Liz is swinging by, so let’s head back to the stairs.”

  The two of them began walking down the long garage, between the columns of concrete. Jax’s shorter legs shuffled quickly compared to Veruca’s long strides.

  “You seem nervous,” Veruca said.

  Jax stopped. “Me? Why?”

  “You’re walking fast. And you’re not talking.”

  “I’m fine. Just thinking.”

  “About Liz?”

  “No…well, yeah.”

  “You think a lot about her.”

  “We’ve been friends forever.”

  “I know. So does everyone else. The story of how Babel started is pretty famous…with you two working together.”

  “Kind of like how we work together.” Jax smiled. “Except you’re better at coding.”

  “Thanks, but I still don’t understand. Why are you doing so much work for this tower?”

  “Liz needs my help. And I’m…worried about her.”

  “So you’ve decided to spy on everything she does here?”

  Jax laughed. “You know it’s not just me. Our clients are the spies.”

  “Liz agreed to let us install the cameras, right?”

  “Of course. But not about who will have access to the video streaming. That stays within FireSpy.”

  “I know. It’s none of my business.” Veruca looked down at her feet. “I’m just the technician.”

  “You’re more than that.” Jax paused, studying her red curls. “Seriously, V.” He put his finger under her chin and lifted her gaze. “You’re—”

  “Hey!” Liz’s voice echoed through the garage. “There you are.”

  Jax and Veruca exchanged an awkward glance and turned to walk toward Liz.

  “We were just wrapping up,” Jax said.

  “How are the cameras working?”

  “Great,” Veruca said, coming to a stop in front of Liz, meeting her blue eyes levelly. “We’ll have live video covering every inch of this garage.”

  “Excellent.” Liz smiled and pointed to the ground. “You both know what will be stored underneath here. We want to make sure no can get down there without us knowing it.”

  “And even if they do get down there,” Jax said, “no one will get past my code.”

  Liz looked to Veruca. “Does he brag like this at FireSpy?”

  Veruca grinned but didn’t answer.

  “Anyway, yeah, I’m feeling good about moving the data. With our encrypted code and these cameras as security, it’ll be safe here.” She turned to go. “Let’s head back. I didn’t want you to miss the latest episode of Building Babel. We’ll be showing it for the first time in the main hall tonight. You’re going to love it.”

  “Let me guess. More close calls? More bickering foreigners?” Jax asked, following after her.

  “Hey now.” Liz glanced back, then continued ahead. “People are loving it. We had 33 million viewers last week, and thousands have requested to visit the construction site. I knew the world would understand once we got started. You know what they say—if you build it, they will come.”

  Jax caught Veruca’s gaze and rolled his eyes. Her smile in return was more genuine than it had been in weeks.

  30

  The Friday morning yoga class ended with Namaste. Katarina rolled up her mat and began the usual walk back to her place. Her agent fell into pace beside her.

  “All clear?” she asked, in her native tongue.

  “Yes.” The man glanced around, then nodded to confirm. “The boss wants the data now.”

  “We can’t rush this.”

  “There’s an issue with Ukraine. We have a target there who’s using a Babel. The boss needs to know what’s being said. Lives are at stake. Our agents’ lives.”

  “The IPO is only a few months away.”

  “They might not wait. They’ll kill to speed this up.”

  Katarina knew it was true, but this would all go smoother if no one died, especially not Liz. “Not the target,” she said.

  “You don’t have the final say on that.”

  “I learned something. The encryption is related to her DNA. It’ll be easier to get that if she’s alive.”

  “Not if we have the body.”

  “You don’t think that’ll raise suspicions?”

  He shrugged. “You can guarantee access after the IPO?”

  “Yes. Liz is definitely on her way out, and she’s actually fine with that once the IPO is done. The board knows I’m the one running the company’s translation business. As soon as I’m CEO, I can get into the vault. Even if I don’t get the board’s approval, I will figure out the encryption by then.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “The DNA part should be straightforward. We just need to figure out where the coder stores it. Probably in her hair… So there’s only one other piece.”

  “What?”

  “It’s almost too easy. I need a password.”

  “Whose?”

  “The coder’s.”

  “Should we bring him in? Rough him up?”

  “No, he’s close to Liz. Too many questions. We just need to have him followed for a while.”

  “Okay, what are we looking for?”

  “Not sure. Just collect information. Try to drop a camera in his office…you know, the usual.”

  “Alright.”

  “Be careful, though. This coder is pretty good. His company is FireSpy.”

  “Ah…their clients are not our friends.”

  “Exactly, and we know the government has placed assets who are working on the tower. I’m still trying to figure out where. So like I said, be on your guard.”

  The man smiled. “We’re always careful.”

  31

  The steel beams began to rise out of the ground. The bright spotlights and welding torches lit up the sky every night. Fall turned to winter and a new year as workers poured more tons of concrete into the pit, building up the massive foundation, like a giant’s fist clenching into the earth. Even more cranes arrived, so that a dozen of the birdlike metal creatures sat around the pit, hoisting beams and materials and men.

  Tonight, as the tower’s steel facade loomed two hundred feet over the pit, Jax and Owen sat together at the construction site bar. Like everything about the tower, the bar was huge. It stretched from one end of the old barn to the other, with dozens of workers lining up for drinks. Jax and Owen had found a small table looking out toward the rising tower, where lights gleamed on the machines in action. The work had not stopped since it began.

  Owen had come to Nebraska to meet with Liz. She spent so much time out there that if anyone wanted to see her, this is where they came. Owen was managing the IPO process, making sure all the legal pieces were ready for Babel to become a public company in the spring, just a few months away. It would make most of his friends very rich, and Liz most of all. She had already sold stock options to a Middle Eastern investor to fund this construction, and she wanted to sell more. But the regulations limited how much she could sell before the IPO, so Owen had to figure out how to make it work.

  Jax was sipping green tea. He had been working with Liz constantly on the tower technology, everything from building materials to the computer system. “We’ll be ready to move the data servers soon,” he told Owen. “T
hat’s what I wanted to talk with you about.”

  “The data servers?” Owen asked.

  Jax nodded. “Will anything need to change about their security once Babel goes public?”

  “No, the company will still have its privacy policy.” Owen thought through the many requirements for a public company. “We’ll have to report on that, but it should stay the same. The access rules could change if Liz isn’t the CEO, and if Katarina is.”

  “That’s what I’m worried about.”

  “Katarina?” Owen hesitated before saying more.

  Jax glanced around at the crowded bar, then back at Owen. “Up for a walk?”

  They pulled on their jackets and left, walking along a well-lit path toward the tower. Jax stopped when they reached a rope near the edge of the pit. A sign read: “Helmets required beyond this point.” The sound of clanging metal and machine engines roared in the night. No one was close to them.

  Jax slipped off his Babel device and pocketed it. He motioned for Owen to do the same. Owen had never seen Jax take it off, but he followed Jax’s lead.

  “In a couple months, the servers will be right there,” Jax said, pointing to the base of the tower. “I’ve been here overseeing the preparations, making sure security is ready. The chief engineer has made this a priority as well.”

  “Mr. Black?” Owen watched his breath drift off into the cold night air.

  “Yes. He’s more than an engineer. He’s on our side.”

  “What’s our side?”

  “I’m not completely sure,” Jax said, “except that we support Liz. And I’m realizing some people are supporting Katarina instead.”

  “I don’t get it. You’re acting like there’s some battle between them. I work with them both most days. They get along fine.”

  “Maybe that’s what Katarina wants Liz to think…” Jax handed Owen a small, unmarked memory drive. “Watch the video. You’ll see. It’s from one of my fire hydrants in San Francisco. I just discovered it a few days ago. I don’t know what it means, but Dylan and Katarina are up to something.”