Obi nodded again. ‘My friends helped me.’
Jessica’s eyes glazed over and she stared unseeing into the distance.
‘Jess,’ Obi said. ‘You know what this means? You don’t have to work in that place any more. You can run the company. Mum and Dad’s business. It’s ours.’
Jessica’s eyes focused on him. ‘I don’t know how to run a company.’
‘Yeah, you do,’ Obi said. ‘Dad always said you’d –’ He stopped himself.
They stared at each other.
Finally, Jessica seemed to regain her senses. ‘What about you? We can be a family again. You can come home.’
‘I will one day,’ Obi said. ‘But not just yet.’
‘Why not?’
‘I’m not ready.’
‘But,’ Jessica said, ‘the money. You’re entitled to half.’
‘Hold on to it and I’ll let you know if I need any.’
Jessica’s eyebrows rose at that. ‘Are you sure?’
Obi nodded and grinned.
Jessica reached across the table and squeezed his hand. After a moment, she let go and stood up. She held up the will. ‘I’ll take this to a solicitor.’ And started to walk away.
Obi called after her, ‘Hey, Jess.’
She turned back. ‘Yeah?’
‘You’ll be great, I know it.’
Jess smiled. ‘Are we seeing each other again next week?’
‘Sure,’ Obi said. ‘You can buy the brownies.’
‘Fine,’ Jessica said. ‘And you’re sure you’re all right?’
Obi nodded. ‘Never better.’
Jessica hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked away.
Jack looked back at Obi and could’ve sworn he saw a glimmer of a tear.
‘Right,’ Charlie said, slipping the directional microphone into her bag and zipping it up. ‘Now that all the excitement’s over, back to the real world.’ She looked at Jack. ‘We’re out of supplies, so who’s going to do the shopping?’
Jack groaned. ‘Flip you for it?’ He pulled a coin from his pocket. ‘Heads you go, tails I go.’
Charlie’s eyes narrowed. ‘OK.’
Jack tossed the coin into the air but before he’d caught it again Charlie snatched it from him.
She examined the coin and swore. ‘You idiot.’ She held it up. The coin was double-headed. ‘You tricked me.’ Her eyes went wide as she remembered the other times Jack had used it.
‘Hey, guys,’ Obi said. ‘Fancy a takeaway?’
Charlie stood up. ‘Sure, why not?’
Jack got to his feet and pulled the USB drive from his pocket.
‘What’s that?’ Charlie asked him.
‘The virus. I wasn’t comfortable keeping it on the bunker’s servers, just in case it did more damage and escaped again.’
‘What are you going to do with it?’ Obi said.
Jack gazed at the USB drive for a moment. He sighed, the power was tempting but – he dropped it to the ground.
‘Jack,’ Charlie said. ‘No –’
But it was too late – he stamped on the USB stick, breaking it into pieces.
Charlie and Obi stared open-mouthed.
‘What did you just do?’ Charlie breathed.
‘Solved a problem.’
She looked at him. ‘What problem?’
‘I know that, as long as the virus existed, I’d be tempted to use it.’ Jack half smiled and walked away.
Charlie and Obi followed him in stunned silence.
When Jack, Charlie and Obi got back to the bunker, Slink and Wren were practically bouncing off the walls with excitement.
‘What’s going on?’ Charlie said, setting down three pizza boxes.
‘You’re not going to believe this,’ Slink said. He hurried over to Obi’s chair and spun the main monitor to face them.
Jack, Charlie and Obi walked towards it.
Jack frowned. ‘What’s this?’
‘A signal from your program popped up on the screen. You know, the one you used to trap the virus? Well, it opened a direct line to the bunker and went to transmit itself, but stopped.’
Jack glanced at Obi. ‘That’s impossible. I destroyed it. Unless –’ Jack’s blood ran cold and he felt the colour drain from his face.
‘Unless what?’ Charlie said.
‘The other server in his apartment,’ Jack said under his breath. ‘Oh, my God.’ Now it made sense.
Too little, too late.
‘What are you on about?’ Slink said.
Jack turned to them. ‘Hector. He had another server in his apartment. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.’ Jack closed his eyes. ‘Now I understand.’
‘Understand what?’ Slink said.
‘Hector’s cloned the virus. He’s copied it.’
‘Wait,’ Charlie said. ‘I thought you said that’s impossible.’
‘It is.’ Jack opened his eyes again. ‘It was. But I gave Hector another way to do it. It’s my fault.’ He looked at them. ‘Don’t you see? I wrapped the virus in my own program, right? Hector’s copied the entire thing. And now, Cloud has had the time she needed to hack into my program.’ He looked at the screen. ‘Where did the signal come from?’
Obi climbed into his chair. ‘Looks like they’ve severed the connection now.’
‘They would,’ Charlie said. ‘Can’t risk the virus escaping to the internet again.’
‘I think I can still find a location,’ Obi said. ‘I’ll check the logs.’
‘Let me get this straight,’ Charlie said. ‘Hector has managed to copy the virus?’
Jack nodded slowly. ‘We need to stop Hector before he figures out how the virus works and uses it to hack every secure system in the world.’
Obi brought up a map. ‘The signal came from here.’
Jack stared at a pulsating red dot over America. ‘New York.’ He turned to Charlie. ‘We have to make a call.’
EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
‘The BEST BOOK EVER. I loved the cool gadgets and how they always get caught but manage to escape. Slink is my favourite character’
Ollie, aged 10
‘I have finally found a near-equal to the Harry Potter series. It’s right here – Urban Outlaws’
Frankie, aged 9
‘Jam-packed with the latest tech and gadgets and inspires kids like me to become skilled and cool like the characters. This book was a bit like CHERUB . . . BRILLIANT’
Lewis, aged 12
‘I really enjoyed Urban Outlaws because it is about children who lead an exciting underground life, free from rules and parents. My favourite character is Charlie because she is REALLY COOL and can do everything the boys can do, just a lot better!’
Scarlett, aged 9
‘I loved the fast-paced thrill of the action and the idea of living in a secret bunker. I enjoyed it so much I wish it was longer!’
Sam, aged 12
‘It is a 10 out of 10 book. I hope there is another one
and, if there is, I will be first in line to buy it!’
Jack, aged 9
‘An adventure-packed book full of amazing twists and characters . . . The main characters are a group of nobodies put together by fate and so you feel as if you are part of the book more’
Luke, aged 13
‘I enjoyed this book because there was lots of machinery and action. It was fast-paced, never standing still at all, which made it very exciting . . . This book definitely goes into my top ten’
Milo, aged 10
‘A gripping read with many twists in the story. It is a mix of Fantastic Four and CHERUB. I recommended the book to some of my friends and, after they read it, they said that they loved it as well’
Tom, aged 13
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Peter Jay Black loves gadgets, films and things that make him laugh so hard he thinks he might pass out. He went to Arts University Bournemouth and a career in IT followed. One day, a team of super-skilled kids popped into his head and, writing in a Hollywood apartment, he brought them to life. Peter lives in Dorset and in his spare time he enjoys collecting unusual artefacts like Neolithic arrowheads, ancient Egyptian rings and fossilised dinosaur poo.
Bloomsbury Publishing, London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney
First published in Great Britain in February 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP
This electronic edition published in February 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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Bloomsbury is a registered trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Copyright © Peter Jay Black 2015
The moral right of the author has been asserted
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You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 4088 5146 3
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