Eva Sterling's Arc

Chapter 4 of 5

Eva's third week at the Counter Intelligence and Security College brought new lessons in covert communications. The instructor handed out practice materials. Students needed to learn how information traveled without detection. Eva studied the methods carefully. Dead drops. Coded messages. Signal systems that looked ordinary to anyone watching. She pictured Jacob needing to reach her during an emergency. He'd require a way to call for help that wouldn't expose him. That afternoon, she walked to a electronics shop and bought a small two-way radio. She tested its range across town. The signal held strong. She placed the second unit in Jacob's room with simple instructions taped to the back. Now he could reach her anytime, and no one would trace the call. The next morning, Eva stopped at the college library before class. She scanned the shelves until a grey and brown spine caught her eye. A Guide to Natural Camouflage and Stealth Techniques. She pulled it down and flipped through the pages. The book showed how ivy grew up walls and fences, blending into surfaces until it disappeared. Plants adapted to their surroundings to survive. Eva tucked the book under her arm. She'd study how living things hid in plain sight, then apply those lessons to keeping Jacob safe. After class, she walked through town to test a navigation exercise. Her instructor had assigned students to find three landmarks and map routes between them. Eva spotted the tall black obsidian monument first. Silver writings covered its surface. It stood at the center of town where everyone could see it. Two blocks further, she found an ancient stone monument with moss covering its steps. Both structures had stood for generations. People used them as meeting points. Eva marked them in her notepad and drew connecting paths. If Jacob ever needed to find her, she could give him landmarks instead of addresses. Monuments didn't change. They were permanent and safe to reference. Eva returned to the safe house as the sun dropped behind the buildings. She set the camouflage book on her desk beside her notepad. Every skill she learned moved her closer to the person Jacob needed. The radio kept them connected. The landmarks gave them shared reference points. The techniques in the book would teach her how to stay invisible when danger came looking. She opened her notepad and wrote down tomorrow's tasks. There was always more to learn, more ways to protect him. Eva adjusted her glasses and kept working.