I pressed back against the office wall, holding my breath, as a pair of soldiers swept down the hallway just outside the door, their boots thumping in unison. They marched around a corner and out of sight, and I exhaled slowly in relief. Getting into this place had been a huge pain in the ass, with more close calls than I was comfortable with. It had taken all my considerable skills to make it this far unnoticed, and I still had to get out again once I was done. But one problem at a time. A large wooden desk sat against the far wall, a computer perched atop the surface. Pressing into a corner, I hit a number on my phone and held it to my ear. One ring, and someone picked up. “I’m in,” I whispered. Slipping around the desk, I jiggled the screen to life and pulled the human’s thumb drive out of my pocket. “Inserting the program now,” I said, and stuck the drive into the side of the computer. For a few seconds, nothing happened.
