His attention was suddenly drawn to an entry for the Global Patent and Trademark Office. It was a domain he wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with. Every new invention had to be registered and this was the place to do it. Jackson knew it was standard practice among the bloggers and forum administrators who traded in techno-rumour-mongering to trawl sites like this for evidence of new gaming devices and gadgets.
Jackson’s search had landed him at patent application number #5112-11877. Real Holdings Ltd’s System for Active Optical Camouflage. Notwithstanding the entry’s dense legal-speak, it described a means of making a vehicle ‘invisible’ by using an array of video cameras and what Jackson understood to be a razor-thin flexible screen that could be wrapped like a skin round whatever you wanted to hide.
Straight out of Star Trek, Jackson thought, poring over a series of diagrams and blueprints that showed a cube covered in what amounted to a stretchy TV screen that could be rolled out and stuck on like wallpaper. As he waded through endless plans, attempting to decipher paragraph after paragraph of lawyer-speak, he slowly built up an understanding of the amazing invention. Four tiny cameras stuck on the skin covering an object or vehicle filmed everything around it. Then – just like computer games wrap textures around shapes – the cameras fed what they saw on to the special wafer-thin video skin that covered every centimetre of the object. In one artist’s impression, a tank had been drawn, surrounded by a ring of clumsily etched Christmas trees, each with a unique number beside it. It was clear that from whichever angle the tank was viewed, the corresponding background of numbered fir trees was visible. But the tank was not.
He continued to skim through the document, looking for headlines:
Invention Summary
An invention is provided for concealing a vehicle.
Our Active Optical Camouflage system offers a solution for ‘total invisibility’ when used in conjunction with standard Infra-red and Radar evasion packages. Using a matrix of OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) that make up our flexible Optical Skin™, it is possible to ‘cloak’ most of the distinguishing features of a given vehicle. An advanced graphics processor reliably predicts said vehicle’s movement through even the most visually complex of environments – including forests, mountains and urban surroundings – and is able to cope with the effects of harsh sunlight and shadowing.
Brief Description of Effect
At the optimal viewing distance, defined here as +20 metres, the object is not visible to the naked eye, other than a faint shimmering effect and barely perceptible colour phasing caused by light refraction.
On an impulse Jackson returned to the top of the document, checked the company name and entered it into the domain’s own search box.
Let’s see if Real Holdings Ltd has invented anything else. A list of hundreds of exotic-sounding contraptions filled the screen, organized in date order, the most recent at the top. Most meant nothing to him but, after browsing several pages, a few entries caught Jackson’s eye.
• 5113-98554 Experimental liquid breathing system
• 5113-98544 Apparatus for emitting underwater pressure pulse
• 5113-98541 Flexible-plastic submersible boat hull
• 5113-98523 Memory-metal underwater propulsion system
Cool! But irrelevant …
He scrolled further down.
• 5112-11873 Automated target tracking system for aerial vehicle
• 5112-11861 Aluminium camera mounting for aerial vehicle
• 5112-11860 Titanium barrel for explosive projectiles
A picture was slowly starting to emerge. Jackson felt a buzz of excitement building in his stomach as he realized he was looking at everything required to build the kind of machine Brooke thought had shot the team down. There were also entries that described drilling equipment and something called ‘plastic rock amalgam’. There, in black and white, was a description of the technology Dragos would need for his Ukrainian operation – and Jackson couldn’t wait to tell Lear.
Then he noticed some of the company’s earlier applications for patent protection.
• 5112-11521 High-power, low-weight electrical fuel cell
• 5112-11520 Method for directing and ducting airflow
• 5112-11513 Aeronautical thermoplastic with stealth characteristics
That was odd. It read like a shopping list for the components of their MeX1 remobots. Jackson recalled Lear’s first briefing on the MeX1 … electrically powered, getting the juice for its ducted fan engine from fuel-cell batteries. What was going on? Could Dragos have access to MeX technology without Lear’s knowledge? Jackson imagined the MeX1 with another of the company’s patented inventions, ‘active optical camouflage’. An invisible flying machine with a dirty great cannon on board.
Something didn’t feel right. How had MeX technology been so easily accessed and used against them? This was so much more serious than the recruits’ failed mission. Jackson knew he had to contact Lear and tell him everything he’d just found out.
He pounded home, eager to access the MeX handset that he’d unoriginally hidden under his bed, away from prying parental eyes.
In his hurry he fell out of the lift as it reached the floor to his flat.
His dad stood waiting for him, filling the empty doorway. ‘I think you have some explaining to do, young man.’
CHAPTER 20
His dad was fuming. Jackson had forgotten to buy the sunflowers. He stood in the kitchen, taking everything his dad verbally threw at him. He understood why he was mad. As far as his dad could see, Jackson had got up late and been out all afternoon with his ‘gaming buddies’. His dad had even sent a polite reminder by email, which was his way of saying how important the flowers were, but Jackson had still failed to deliver.
Jackson knew that this was just his dad’s way of dealing with feeling so sad. It was like this every year. But he still felt awful – he knew he should have been spending more time with his dad. Jackson just needed to speak to Lear now to clear this mess up, then he would definitely find more time in between missions. It would be different from now on.
‘Dad, I’m sorry. I’ll sort everything out. There’s still time before tomorrow. I promise,’ said Jackson. Then, slipping guiltily out of the lounge, he went straight to his room.
As Jackson fumbled around for the MeX handset and the pen and coins that he had wrapped in a sports sock under his bed, the muffled refrain of ‘Rule Britannia’ gently rang out.
He pulled the package out and let the phone flop on to his desk, before eagerly picking it up and hitting the green ANSWER key.
‘Hello. Who is this?’ said the monotone woman’s voice.
‘It’s me … it’s Jackson Farley.’
‘Voice identification positive for Jackson Farley. Initiating secure voice call.’
There was a click, followed by a brief pause, and then Lear surprised Jackson by speaking to him directly.
‘Ah, Farley. How are you?’
‘Mr Lear, I’ve been trying to reach you. I’ve found details of several inventions which –’
‘Look, I’ll get straight to the point,’ Lear interrupted abruptly. ‘I know what you’ve found. I think it might be a good idea if both of us put our cards on the table.’
Jackson was gobsmacked. Was Lear talking about this afternoon’s surfing session in the cafe? How did he know what Jackson had been looking at?
‘The Global Patent and Trademark Office,’ said Lear. ‘You’ve got to laugh really, all the effort we go to, to keep things hush-hush, but we’ve still got to register them in broad daylight, otherwise someone else will claim they invented them first. Of course, sometimes the best way to hide something is to put it out in the open. Still, I have to say I’m impressed by your ingenuity, Farley. I always have been. So, what do you think of the clever inventions of Real Holdings Ltd?’
‘I’m not sure what you mean?’ A horrible suspicion was starting to make Jackson feel uncomfortable. And he wasn’t sure he wan
ted to hear what was coming next.
‘I kept tabs on all four of you for a while, as part of my selection process. And you, Farley, you really are a special case. I expected a lot from you and yet you’ve managed to exceed my expectations at every stage.’
Jackson remained silent.
‘Just ask yourself why the other three follow you, Farley, and you might understand that you and I are not so different. They follow you, like you follow me.’
‘We’re a team!’ Jackson protested. ‘And I don’t follow you …’ His voice trailed off. He knew that to some extent what Lear was saying was true.
‘Come now, you’ve followed me from the start. From that first Messenger contact you let Elan Drivel take the lead. As you yourself discovered, Farley, I am Elan Drivel. And what is it about MeX that you believe in? Those ideals? The desire you have deep down to make something of yourself and use your unique abilities to do something positive? Those are my ideals and my desires too. Surely, someone of your intelligence can’t fail to see the potential behind the technologies we’re developing?’
Lear’s words washed around Jackson’s head. He wasn’t sure about anything any more – neither his invisible gunship theory nor Lear’s strange behaviour in the mission debriefing. What the businessman was saying made sense. After all, Lear had seen something in Jackson from the beginning. It was strange, but the drive and single-mindedness that had made Lear so successful – along with his commitment and dedication to developing the MeX organization – these were qualities that Jackson respected and aspired to. But at the same time there were still so many unanswered questions.
Jackson shook his head, trying to clear the confusion. There was one thing he needed to know first of all. Something he needed to hear Lear say.
‘It was you, wasn’t it? You’re the one stealing the water. Dragos had nothing to do with it!’
Lear didn’t reply immediately. Jackson could hear him draw a deep breath or even sigh, as if the effort required to answer the question made him weary. ‘Dragos is a player in this game, as we are all players. His innocence or guilt, or mine, in all of this is unimportant. The fight to control the precious commodity of water in that region, just like similar fights the world over, will happen regardless of the right or wrong of it. Would you rather tens of billions of dollars of water be squandered or left at the behest of morally impoverished government officials? Don’t you think that with proper management, with the kind of technology MeX has at its disposal, that we are better suited to governing something so precious?’
Jackson felt sick. He couldn’t believe it had all been a big lie.
‘And who is Dragos? Someone who stood up to you, I suppose? You set us up to make him look guilty, didn’t you? You sent us there and used some secret invisible MeX unit to shoot us down and make it look as if Dragos had done it all.’
‘It’s called the Cloaker. The MeX3 is my most advanced dot.robot yet. Invisible and deadly even at long range. What can I say, Farley … it’s progress. It’s going to save us all. Think about it. We are on the verge of a new and magical technological age. Who holds the keys to our future? Who will lift us into space and beyond? The sleazy politicians? The snivelling bureaucrats who squander everything? Or the innovators and businessmen, like me, who by sheer force of will are responsible for our scientific progress?’
‘How is flattening a village “progress”?’
‘Don’t be so short-sighted, Farley. It’s a means to a better end. The poor homeless peasants. The evil rich General Dragos. And the four Experimental Mechanicals dot.robots that try to intervene but are hopelessly out-gunned. What better way to prove the case for giving us the extra weapons we need to do our job? What was it the Kojima twins said at the end of your first MeX1 test flight? Two birds, one stone. The governments give us the arms our robots need to help with their global security commitments, and I have them to hand when I need to secure the business deals that everyone will eventually benefit from.
‘This opportunity is bigger than either of us, Farley. And if a few ragged villagers have to suffer a little inconvenience along the way, then so be it. Water is the new oil. If we are not there to soak up this opportunity, some other ineffective organization or government will be. And do you think they will care if the people of some poorer country like Ghana, Nigeria or Somalia die of thirst in the meantime?’
‘Wait a minute.’ Jackson’s mind cut back to the first few MeX missions he and his team had undertaken. ‘You said Somalia. You had us guarding food aid there last week. But that wasn’t food in those shipping containers, was it? It was more of your water-pumping equipment, right? You mention those places because you’re already there. You’re already in those countries, stealing their water!’
‘Are you really so naive?’ said Lear, becoming increasingly agitated. ‘Already, one person in five doesn’t have access to safe drinking water. If we can control these markets, we can ensure that if they want it, they can have it – from us. Business first, Farley, then humanity.’
‘As long as they are prepared to pay whatever price you put on it,’ Jackson replied.
Lear was silent for a moment; the only sound, the static of the phone connection. Then he released a typically overdramatic sigh.
‘So now you know everything, what do you intend to do?’
Jackson seethed with hatred for the man who had conned them all. What could he do? He couldn’t exactly go to the police. Excuse me, officer. I’m a member of a top-secret organization that uses a fleet of robotic flying saucers to fight baddies. Except the baddies have turned out to be goodies, and the goodies … Oh, forget it! Jackson thought about Lear’s power and fortune and realized that he was probably one of those men beyond the law, that he had not so long ago accused the innocent Dragos of being.
‘If it’s all the same,’ said Jackson, ‘I think I’ll let others decide if this is just … business.’ He was trying to sound confident, but Jackson was spooked and he wasn’t sure if he was doing a very good job of covering it up.
‘How is your Latin, Farley? Testis unos, testis nullus. It’s one of the founding principles in law. One witness is not a witness.’
‘Yes, well, I’m not the only one who knows about you …’ The words were out before he’d realized what he was saying. From the moment Jackson had realized Lear was the unprincipled and unscrupulous money-grabber he clearly was, he’d been wary of what he might be capable of. Now he had implicated his friends.
‘Oh, I don’t think we need worry about them; everyone has been dealt with in the way they deserve. How is Brooke by the way, Farley? I know the two of you, in particular, are close.’
It sounded like a casual remark, but it chilled Jackson to the bone. He sank into his chair, a mixture of loathing and fear radiating from his side of the phone.
‘If you’ve done anything to Brooke or the twins –’ he began.
‘Now, now, Farley, there’s no need to get overexcited. Let’s keep things reasonable, shall we? You show me you can keep things to yourself and I’ll make sure nothing happens to our mutual friends. Do we understand each other?’
Jackson was quiet. In the space of just one phone call, events had taken an abominable turn for the worse and he didn’t know what to say.
‘I … understand,’ he muttered.
‘Good,’ said Lear, suddenly switching to a more upbeat tone. ‘I know how all this must seem to you, but I’m confident you’ll soon see the bigger picture. There’s more that unites you and I than divides us, you know.’
‘Get lost!’ Jackson spat the words into phone.
‘Why don’t you hang on to your MeX gear for the time being,’ said Lear calmly. ‘I’m afraid you won’t be able to login, but that will change when you come round to my way of thinking.’ And with that, he was gone.
Jackson remained frozen in his chair. He needed to make contact with Brooke and the twins, to warn them, but he was afraid there wasn’t enough time.
CHAPTER 21
‘Can I help?’ asked the assistant for J.P. English, Brooke’s dad.
‘I’m trying to get hold of J.P. English, or even better, Brooke. I’m a friend of hers from England.’
‘I’m afraid Brooke has gone missing. J.P. is flying back home. I’ve come in to collect a few of his things. I’m sorry, who is this?’
Jackson hung up. He felt numb. Lear had already betrayed his slimy assurance. He had taken Brooke. Jackson hadn’t received any replies to the emails he’d sent to the Kojimas either – Lear had them all. Jackson was going to do something. He would get them back. He cared about his friends – a sentiment he knew Lear wouldn’t understand. And when everything looked as though it couldn’t be any worse, Jackson felt slightly better – he was nothing like Lear. The smug billionaire was wrong about him. He would work at finding Brooke first because she was on her own and at least the twins had each other. He just needed to work out how to do it. He couldn’t call the police; he couldn’t do anything out of the ordinary for fear it might alert Lear. With his connection to MeXnet cut off he was just an ordinary Joe, trying to find three missing people who lived at opposite ends of the globe. Jackson tried to focus and shrug off the feeling that he might be being watched right now too. Was he next? He’d just have to go to school and act normally. He could continue his search for clues online, in the relative safety of school.
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