Page 53 of Shadow Blind

“Fuck you, dude. There’s no way I’d ever leave Kait home alone with Demi, unless I was certain she was safe. Unless I was certain our home was impenetrable. Tangos have been looking for us for years, long before you showed up.” Disgust replaced the icy rage. “You think Zane would leave Beth and his kids in an unsecure location? Or that Rawls would shrug off Faith’s safety? We know, without doubt, that our families are safe when we’re gone. Nobody can penetrate The Neighborhood’s shield.”

“All security systems are fallible.” Folding his arms, Aiden leaned forward, refusing to back down. “Guards can be bribed. Alarms can be neutralized. You can’t be certain your system is impenetrable.”

“Actually, we can.” Rawls ran a finger down his nose and winked. “Because our security system was designed by Faith, my wife, the most brilliant scientist in the history of brilliant scientists.”

Aiden glanced around. Zane had joined the cluster of hard-faced and opinionated men. “Where’s Demi?”

“O’Neill’s taking her to the Bell. Trust us, nobody will get to her under Faith’s shield,” Zane said in his perennially calm voice.

He studied his former CO’s unconcerned face. He’d never known Zane to ignore security concerns. Nor could he imagine the dude overlooking them now, not when it came to his wife and kids. Why were they all so certain this shield protected their families?

“What’s so special about this security system you have?” He looked from former teammate to former teammate.

Rawls slapped his back and grinned, looking unnervingly proud. “Because it’s a force field. Like you see on those sci-fi shows. Faith cooked it up a few years back. She re-engineered one of the NRO energy bombs into a force field, one fed by solar energy. The field envelops the entire Neighborhood. Only those with an entry chip, or—in Demi’s case—a badge, can enter.”

“You’ll need to be chipped to enter. So will Demi, eventually,” Cosky added, with an edge to his voice, like he was still pissed.

“Chipped?” Aiden grimaced. Hell, no.

USSOCOM had chipped most of its operators a couple years back. The chips were fancy GPS locators, which enabled leadership to pitch the technology as retrieval devices, technology that would locate missing or captured operatives. Aiden had refused to take part in the program. As had the rest of his team. Chips could be hacked, which would allow anyone to access their location at any time. Terrorists would pay top dollar for that information.

Cosky must have read his discomfort with the idea, because he scoffed. “For Christ’s sake, man up. This tech didn’t come from Uncle Sam. It wasn’t developed to keep tabs on you. It comes from Faith, who’s as wholesome as Mr. Rogers—if Mr. Rogers was a woman.” His voice took on a scathing tone as he switched his glare to Wolf. “Faith’s been a godsend. If she comes across any of Shadow Mountain’s secrets, she passes them on to us, unlike some of the closed mouthed bastards around here.”

Aiden cocked his head. “Yeah, like what?” God knew his big brother liked to hold on to his secrets.

“Like the fact this whole place is run on solar energy.” Cosky shook his head, like he wasn’t sure how they’d ended up down this conversational rabbit hole.

Rawls grinned, his blue eyes lazy and amused. “While my wife’s a genius, she’s not nearly as wholesome as Cosky believes. Mrs. Rogers, she ain’t.”

“How about we don’t dig into your sex life, asshole?” Cosky swung his irritation toward his longtime friend.

Rawls shrugged, running a hand down his face, which did nothing to wipe away the smirk.

“I’m not the one who misidentified my Faith as wholesome.” Rawls’s drawl slowed to a languid crawl. He turned to Aiden. “Point is, Demi will be safe in The Neighborhood. As safe as she would be tucked inside the mountain. Accept that and mosey along.”

Not so fast. It was Demi’s life on the line. “How does this—” what had they called it? “—force field work? Do unauthorized visitors…” he paused, frowning. “Bounce off it?”

“No bouncin’.” Rawls shrugged, his blond hair glinting beneath the hanger lights. “Faith calls it a holographic shield. She tried to explain the mechanics a time or two, but hell—I’m no scientist. Somethin’ about particle beams and heavy matter tunnels through holo-programs or some shit.” He rubbed a hand down his face and looked confused. “It’s pretty remarkable, though. If you try to cross the barrier without a chip or a badge, it sends you somewhere else.”

Aiden just stared at him. What the hell did that mean? “Where does it send you?”

Zane squinted, like the conversation was giving him a headache. “Don’t ask me how it works. But somehow Faith’s technology ejects you from the opposite end of the shield from where you tried to enter.”

Cosky nodded, with a half grimace/half wincing twist to his face. “It’s the craziest thing. You don’t see any houses or people or cars. You don’t even realize you’ve gone through…anything. The forest looks the same. You’re surrounded by trees, shrubs, even birds. It feels and looks like you’ve only taken a couple of steps. But then you realize you’re standing a couple of klicks away.”

Aiden digested that. Cosky had obviously tested the technology. At least from the ground. “What if someone tries to access it from above? By chopper or parachute?”

That weird flinching look flashed across all their faces. Except for Wolf. His brother just looked bored.

“Same thing as the ground.” Zane grimaced. “No access code, no getting in. You think you landed in the spot you targeted. Only to realize you’re a couple of klicks outside the shield. Now if you’re chipped, or you have a badge, or the chopper is rigged with a passcode broadcaster—like the Bell—you slip right through the force field and land where you intended.”

Aiden rubbed his eyes. This scenario was easier to believe in science fiction than in the real world. Zane’s explanation sounded impossibly farfetched. He needed to test this force field himself. “What happens if someone in the chopper isn’t chipped or carrying a badge?”

“Everyone who arrives in the Bell has a chip or a badge,” Wolf broke in.

Aiden moved on as another question hit him. “What does it look like from outside the shield? Can you see the community? The houses? Any people?”

“Nope.” Zane shook his head. “Looks like virgin forest until you pierce the shield.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Take my advice. Don’t try to figure it out. It will just give you a headache.”

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