by Thomas Fay
‘Okay then. Let’s go, but be careful. God only knows what’s waiting for us in there.’
‘John, should we not request backup before entering the building?’
John grinned.
‘We’ll be fine. Besides, we don’t know what we’re up against. Once we find out, then we’ll call for backup, if we need to.’
‘I find your logic to be flawed.’
‘That’s what Lauren tells me all the time.’
‘Who is Lauren?’
‘My wife.’
‘I suspect, based on your current actions, that your wife may be correct.’
‘She probably is. Come on, let’s go.’
They left the cruiser parked in the shadow of a large warehouse owned by a mining conglomerate. Moving across an open area between the rows of buildings, John’s good humour evaporated as he gripped his handgun tighter. They were completely exposed for the sixty seconds it took them to cross the open ground. Reaching the side of warehouse five, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
‘How do we enter the building?’ Socrates asked.
‘Side door. These types of buildings will usually have at least one side entrance which also doubles as a fire exit.’
They moved along the side of the warehouse until they located the emergency exit. John pressed the button for the voice recognition.
‘Sentinel override, voice identification: John Tesh, ID Alpha-101. Unlock door and disable alarm.’
Nothing happened. John tried it again. Nothing.
‘The security system does not appear to accept the Sentinel override,’ Socrates said.
‘That’s impossible. All publicly sold security systems are required by law to accept the Sentinel override. Looks like Integrated Logistics and Shipping has access to some black-market hardware. We may need that backup after all. Can you get this door open?’
Socrates approached the metal door. He took in the security keypad and LED screen with two blinking lights.
‘If I force the door, then whoever is inside will be alerted to our presence.’
‘I suspect they already know,’ John said. He pointed to a camera located on the adjoining warehouse. It was aimed directly at them. John raised his handgun.
‘Do it.’
Socrates braced himself against the door. He pulled back and threw himself against the door. The sound of the magnetic lock shattering resounded inside the cavernous warehouse as the door flew open. John stepped through as the lights flickered into existence. He scanned the interior. The warehouse appeared to be empty. There was no equipment, no vehicles and no people. They were standing on a bare concrete floor. Large LED panels used to illuminate the warehouse were suspended at regular intervals, providing a steady, if rather harsh, light. There was a small office located on the other side of the warehouse.
‘Looks like you and Harrison were right about this being a shell company. There’s nothing here.’
‘John, I believe there is someone watching us.’
‘Where?’
Socrates pointed towards the office.
‘There.’
‘Let’s go,’ John said.
They moved across the open floor at a run. Socrates reached the small office first. He opened the door. Stepping through the doorway, he suddenly convulsed.
‘Socrates! Are you alright?’
Socrates stopped shaking. Grasping the doorframe, he turned to look at John.
‘I’m alright.’
‘What happened?’
‘I don’t know. Whatever it was, it appears to have passed.’
‘You sure?’
‘Yes.’
They moved inside the small office. It was crammed from floor to ceiling with sophisticated computer hardware. High-spec military-grade equipment, heavily shielded with numerous redundancies built in. A series of interlinked screens occupied one wall. They showed the surveillance feeds from numerous cameras located around Iona. The similarities to the Hub were not lost on John.
‘What is all this?’ John asked.
‘Those are feeds from street-level and traffic cameras around Iona,’ Socrates said.
‘Looks like we’re in the right place—this has to be where the hacker’s been operating from. I think we’ve found definitive proof linking Integrated Logistics and Shipping to the events in Iona.’
‘I believe that is a logical conclusion.’
John scanned the inside of the room.
‘The hacker must be close,’ he said.
‘On what do you base that assumption?’ Socrates asked.
John pointed to a cup of coffee and a half-eaten sandwich next to a virtual keyboard located on a desk.
‘There has to be another way out of here,’ John said.
‘I believe there is a door behind that server rack over there.’
John pulled the metal rack forwards, revealing another emergency exit. He opened the door and stepped out into daylight. Socrates was right behind him. They found themselves on the opposite side of the warehouse from where they had entered. Another warehouse was less than five metres in front of them, casting its shadow over the narrow laneway between buildings.
‘There,’ Socrates said, pointing down the laneway.
A figure was running away from them. Without a moment’s hesitation, John and Socrates set off after it. The hacker had a head start on them but John was fast. Socrates was even faster. They caught up to the hacker by the time they reached the end of the industrial park.
‘Sentinels—don’t move!’ John shouted.
He had pulled to a stop and aimed his weapon at the hacker. Socrates was several metres in front of him, to the left of his field of fire. When the figure hesitated, Socrates grabbed them and pulled them to the ground, face down. John approached, his weapon trained on the prone figure.
‘Turn him over,’ John said. Socrates obliged, revealing a young man dressed in a pair of torn jeans and a dark hoodie. He had long black hair and a rather pale complexion. His eyes stared at them with undisguised hatred.
‘Who are you?’ John asked.
The man said nothing.
‘It doesn’t matter. We’ll get the truth out of you back at Sentinel HQ. Socrates, restrain him.’
Socrates was about to fix a pair of restraints on the man when a commanding voice cut through the silence of the industrial park around them.
‘Stand down, Sentinels.’
Fourteen
A woman with dark hair and grey eyes was striding towards them. She was dressed in a charcoal two-piece suit. A pair of Council operatives, their reflective visors glinting in the sun, walked on either side of her. A Ruling Council transport ship hovered a metre off the ground behind them.
John lowered his handgun. Socrates released his grip on the prone figure on the ground. The hacker remained perfectly still, watching them intently. The woman approached them. She glanced at Socrates, then her gaze fell upon John. He shifted slightly under her unwavering look.
‘John Tesh, I presume?’ she asked.
‘I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Councillor … ?’
‘Councillor Alara Green.’
‘How can we assist you, Councillor?’
‘You can let this man go.’
‘Councillor, we have reason to—’
‘This isn’t a request.’
John stared at Councillor Green. Her status as a Councillor, a member of the Ruling Council of Iona, meant that John could not legally disobey a direct order from her. Not that he didn’t consider it for a split second. Reluctantly, he nodded.
‘As you wish, Councillor.’
Councillor Green signalled the two Council operatives forwards. They lifted the hacker to his feet.
‘Go,’ the Councillor said.
The man gave John the finger before turning and running across the road. A car stopped on the other side. The door opened. The hacker got in. The car drove off with a squeal of tyres. John watched it drive off, committing the licence pl
ate number to memory.
‘You are not to pursue that man any further,’ the Councillor said.
‘With all due respect, Councillor, that man is the target of a Sentinel investigation.’
‘Not any more. Your Chief will be informed of the situation and instructed accordingly. If you disobey this order and we are forced to intervene again, you will be suspended indefinitely. Is that clear?’
The Councillor’s gaze bored into John, causing him to flinch.
‘Is that clear?’ she repeated.
‘Yes, Councillor.’
The Councillor motioned to the two operatives. The three of them returned to the waiting transport ship. Once they were aboard, the ship lifted into the air. Its quad engines pulsed with a steady thrum of power. When the ship reached an altitude of two hundred metres, the engines rotated backwards. They blazed brightly for a split second, propelling the Flux-Cell-powered VTOL craft back towards the CBD.
‘That was an unexpected turn of events,’ Socrates said.
‘I’ll say. That woman was about as friendly as the iceberg that sank the Titanic.’
‘You are comparing a person to a frozen water formation?’
John looked at his partner.
‘I thought it was an accurate description.’
‘If you say so.’
‘Come on. Let’s go back to the warehouse.’
‘We were ordered to cease our investigation.’
‘No, we were ordered not to pursue the hacker. She never said anything about taking a look around the warehouse.’
‘That is a tenuous argument.’
‘Of course it is but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m right. Come on.’
John turned around and walked back towards warehouse number five before his partner could say anything further. Reaching the emergency exit, he opened the door and found himself back inside the hacker’s inner sanctum. He cast around, taking in the rows and rows of computer hardware. His gaze travelled to the screens showing the surveillance feeds from Iona. The sound of the door closing behind him alerted him to his partner’s presence.
‘Does any of this make any sense to you?’ he asked.
Socrates scanned the interior of the room. He waved his hand over the virtual keyboard. It lit up. Socrates input a series of commands. The surveillance footage disappeared. In its place appeared lines of raw code.
‘Anything?’ John asked, surprised at his new partner’s technical expertise.
‘I have accessed the hacker’s subroutines. It appears he has infiltrated the majority of Iona’s public systems: surveillance cameras, red-light force-field barriers, traffic management.’
‘That explains all the things we’ve been experiencing.’
‘There is a sophisticated worm program which has been deployed to subvert the security of a specific organisation.’
John leaned forwards, peering at the code as if by sheer force of will he could make sense of it.
‘So far it appears the worm has not been successful in bypassing the organisation’s security algorithms,’ Socrates said.
‘What organisation?’
‘The Iona Corporation.’
A surge of data passed through the code scrolling across the screens. A moment later the screens went dark.
‘What just happened?’ John asked.
‘Kill code. The hacker has just wiped all of the hardware in this location,’ Socrates replied.
Fifteen
The twenty-fifth floor of Sentinel HQ was still in disarray as the technicians continued to pull apart the Hub. Stacks of computer hardware were piled up in the narrow grey corridors while boxes with sealed components were being wheeled in. The Hub had never been breached before and everyone was taking the incursion very seriously. John and Socrates squeezed past the components and made their way towards the Chief’s office. John knocked once on the open door.
The Chief looked up from the touchscreen tablet he was using. He motioned them inside. John took a seat. Socrates remained standing beside him. They waited for sixty seconds while the Chief finished reading a report. Filing it away, he placed the tablet on his desk.
‘Chief, what’s going on?’ John asked.
‘What have you done this time?’
‘We were about to apprehend the hacker when a Councillor showed up, complete with armed escort and transport ship. She ordered us to release him.’
‘You were ordered to release the hacker?’
‘Yes. Not only that, we were ordered not to pursue him any further. She even threatened to suspend me.’
The Chief leaned back, deep in thought.
‘Are you sure it was the same hacker that compromised the Hub?’ he asked.
‘Positive. We found direct links into Iona surveillance cameras, red-light force-field barriers and traffic management programs.’
‘Christ, Tesh. Do you realise what this means?’
‘We’re in serious trouble?’
‘Damn right we are. Emergency crews are still cleaning up that mess out in North Ryde. If this hacker is able to interfere with traffic management citywide and has access to surveillance cameras, he can make life very difficult for us.’
‘That’s not all, Chief.’
‘You’re just full of good news today. Alright, tell me.’
‘Socrates uncovered evidence that the hacker was trying to infiltrate the Iona Corporation’s servers.’
The Chief let out an explosive breath.
‘Bloody hell.’
‘My thoughts exactly,’ John said. ‘Which is why I can’t understand why we were ordered to release him. It doesn’t make any sense.’
The Chief nodded.
‘Alright, leave it with me. I’ll make some calls.’
‘Did Sorensen brief you on the light plane?’ John asked.
‘Yes. More good news. Military-grade surface-to-air projectile launcher. What the hell is going on?’
‘That’s what I’d like to know.’
The Chief grunted.
‘Alright, get out of here. Don’t do anything to annoy the Ruling Council for a few hours and report back here in the morning.’
John and Socrates nodded in unison. John stood up and they left the office. Once outside, Socrates turned to his partner.
‘John, I believe there is more to be learned from the data which Dana Harrison is analysing. I will offer my assistance for the rest of the day.’
‘Good idea.’
‘I will meet you here in the morning.’
‘Sure, no problem. Have a good night.’
‘You too, John.’
With that his partner turned and left. John watched him leave, questions about who his new partner really was rising to the surface unbidden. He was tempted to go back and ask the Chief to tell him the truth but decided against it. He’d figure it out on his own. Sooner or later. Hopefully, sooner.
His phone rang. He checked the caller ID: Lauren. He flicked it open.
‘Hey, where have you been?’ he asked.
‘Sorry, I was tied up. What’s happening?’
‘Quite a bit.’
‘You’ll have to tell me about it.’
‘I will. What time will you be home?’
‘Late. You?’
‘I’m meeting Fernali for a drink in about an hour. We’ve been assigned new partners.’
‘So, you thought you’d go and get drunk to celebrate?’
John laughed.
‘Yeah, something like that.’
‘Alright, I’ll see you at home.’
‘I hope so. It’s been a while since we actually sat down and had a meal together.’
Lauren’s voice took on an edge.
‘Whose fault is that?’
‘Mine mostly. This promotion is certainly more work that I imagined.’
‘It wasn’t much better when you were with the police.’
‘True. You knew what I did for a living when you married me.’
It was Lauren�
�s turn to laugh.
‘Yes, I just thought when you married me you’d divorce your job.’
‘I’m in the middle of something major right now but when it’s over we should take a vacation. A proper one: no phones, no computers. Just the two of us, somewhere warm with a beach.’
‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep.’
‘I’m serious.’
‘We’ll see. I have to go. Say hello to Michael for me.’
‘Will do.’
John closed his phone. Several grey-suited Sentinels were looking at him, broad smiles on their faces.
‘What are you all grinning about?’ he asked.
Sixteen
The beer was from a boutique brewery over a hundred years old, located in the Rocks. Its rich golden colour belied its refreshingly crisp flavour. John took a long drink. He set his glass down on the table, empty. Fernali pointed at it.
‘You want another one?’ he asked.
‘Sure, why not. It’s not like I can get arrested for drunk driving,’ John replied.
‘Technically you can.’
‘Yes, but I can also overrule the arresting officer.’
Fernali laughed.
‘You’re in an interesting mood tonight.’
‘I don’t like being told not to do something, particularly when I don’t understand why.’
‘What happened?’
‘Socrates and I had the hacker. A Councillor showed up and ordered us to let him go.’
‘That doesn’t make any sense.’
‘You can say that again.’
‘Did you tell the Chief?’
‘Yes.’
‘What did he say?’
‘He said he’d look into it and told me and Socrates to lie low until tomorrow morning.’
‘Interesting. How is Socrates?’
‘Very good. I think the Chief may have been right about assigning him to me. How’s Streeter going?’
‘He’s young but he has potential.’
‘We were all young once.’
‘You especially. I don’t think I ever met a greener rookie.’
John laughed.
‘Come on, I wasn’t that bad.’
‘Are you kidding me? Do you remember your first case?’
John made an indelicate sound.
