The Drone Pursuit

by Victor Appleton

  “Any motion sickness, Amy?” I asked.

  “I’m good,” she replied.

  “Amy says she’s all good, Noah,” I said a little louder.

  “Oh, sure,” said Noah in my earpiece. “Ask her after some of your crazy flying-through-the-halls action.”

  “What is that blinking red light at the bottom of the screen?” asked Amy.

  I hissed with surprise. I was so focused on the room that I hadn’t noticed. A red dot slowly flashed at the bottom right corner of the viewscreen.

  “We’re almost out of juice,” I replied. “That’s the low-battery light.”

  “We better hurry, then,” said Amy.

  I scanned the shelves and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Basically, the shelves were full of nothing particularly sinister, just stuff you’d expect to find in a custodian’s storeroom in the basement. There were a couple of toolboxes, office supplies, and rows of plastic jugs that looked as if they contained industrial cleaning solutions. You know, stuff that’s probably safer locked away from students who enjoy experimenting with various chemicals.

  “Sam says Mr. Conway is heading toward the elevator,” Amy reported.

  I didn’t reply. Instead I rotated the drone more and discovered the source of the light we had seen earlier.

  “I think we have something,” I said.

  “What is it, Tom?” asked Noah.

  A computer monitor and keyboard sat on a small desk. The monitor ran the same screen saver as those in the computer lab—colorful geometric shapes bouncing through black space.

  “He has a computer down here,” I replied.

  “Is it tied into the school?” asked Noah. “If it is, how is it even running?”

  “That’s not all that’s down here,” said Amy. “Turn the drone to the right, Tom.”

  “On it,” I said as I nudged the joystick.

  The view slowly shifted. Beside the computer desk were rows and rows of computer servers. The green dots we saw in the darkness were the tiny power lights on each individual hard drive. Multicolored cables connected them to each other. The unit nearly reached to the ceiling and the drives were in four rows, stacked eight deep.

  “Whoa,” I whispered.

  “Uh . . . Sam says Mr. Conway is in the elevator,” Amy reported.

  “I’m heading to the second floor to see if he gets out there,” announced Noah.

  I hardly paid attention to what my friends said. I was too amazed by what I saw. I couldn’t believe that Mr. Conway had access to the entire school’s server farm. This system would not only back up every computer in the school but also power the entire school intranet. If Conway truly was Shadow Hawk, it would be no big deal for him to hack into the system. He could do it so easily, anytime he wanted and in complete privacy. But if that were the case, then why would he need the virus?

  “He didn’t get out on the second floor,” Noah reported. “I’m going down to the first.”

  “Sam thinks Mr. Conway is on his way down,” said Amy. When I didn’t reply, Amy bumped my shoulder. “Did you hear me, Tom?”

  My mind was still running through different scenarios. Did Conway just want to crash the system for some reason? Maybe he needed to introduce the virus to keep the system busy so he couldn’t be detected hacking into Swift Enterprises.

  “Tom?” Amy nudged me again. “Mr. Conway is coming. You have to put the drone back where it was, so he doesn’t suspect anything.”

  “Oh, yeah. I will,” I replied. I turned the drone back to the computer. “I just want to check something first.”

  “What?” asked Amy.

  “He didn’t get out on the first floor,” Noah buzzed in my ear. “He’s coming to you.”

  “What are you doing?” Amy squeaked.

  I lowered the drone. “If I can bump a key on the keyboard, it’ll shut off the screen saver. Then we can see what he’s working on.”

  Noah heard my plan. “What if Conway sees a drone hovering over the computer?” asked Noah. “What happens then, huh?”

  I piloted the drone closer to the keyboard. I had to be careful to just tap one of the keys with one of the drone’s landing struts. If I hit it with too much force, I could lose control of the drone and crash it. The battery light blinked faster at the bottom of the screen. I was running out of power.

  I heard the elevator doors open.

  “He’s here,” Amy whispered.

  I knew that Mr. Conway couldn’t see us hidden under the stairs, so I wasn’t worried about getting caught that way. But I knew I was running out of time, too.

  “Park the drone where you found it, Tom,” Noah ordered. “He’s gotta be down there by now.”

  I didn’t reply. Instead, I edged the drone closer to the keyboard. The battery light flashed faster. I just needed a little more time.

  I heard the basement security door open and shut.

  “He’s through the door and going down the hallway,” said Amy. “He’s going to see the drone.”

  I was out of time.

  8

  The Persuasion Situation

  I GROWLED IN FRUSTRATION. I pushed up on the joystick, leaving the keyboard be. Now I just had to make it back to the shelf before Mr. Conway entered. The drone rose and then rotated away from the computer. The battery light flashed in the corner as I tried to concentrate on flying. I tried to rotate as fast as possible without losing control or overshooting my destination. As the entry door came into view, I saw it crack open. I spotted Mr. Conway’s hand on the doorknob as the door began to swing in.

  I wasn’t going to make it.

  Tap-tap-tap-tap!

  Something made a loud noise beside me. I peeked out from under my headset and saw Amy at the security door. She tapped on the glass with one of her rings.

  I turned my attention back to the drone’s camera. The storeroom door closed. Amy had bought me some more time. I moved the joystick forward and took the drone higher. I flew it into the shelving unit and rotated it around. Maybe I could park it in such a way that the camera would be aimed at the computer. That way we could at least see what Mr. Conway was up to later.

  I heard him open the main security door.

  “Hi, Mr. Conway,” Amy said.

  “Hello, Amy,” he replied. “What are you doing down here?”

  “Well, uh . . . first we looked for you on the third floor,” she replied. “But you weren’t there. So then we checked the second floor and then the first floor. But we didn’t check the basement. But that’s where you are. Down here in the basement.”

  Amy tended to ramble when she was nervous. But I think she was also trying to stall him.

  I didn’t let her effort go to waste. I took the time to get the drone’s camera angle just right. The computer screen was in view and, from my new angle, it wouldn’t be blocked by whoever sat in front of the keyboard.

  Mr. Conway laughed. “Well, you found me. Your quest is at an end, young lady. Now, what do you need?”

  Amy laughed nervously. “Uh, okay . . . uh . . . yes. What do I need? That’s the question. The one you just asked me. The question I need to answer.”

  Oh boy. She was just plain rambling at this point.

  “Amy?” asked Mr. Conway.

  “There’s been a spill in the cafeteria,” she blurted out.

  Mr. Conway chuckled. “Well, don’t worry. These things happen. I’ll be right up to take care of it,” he replied. “Oh, and Amy?”

  “Yes, sir?” she asked.

  “They got the intercom up and running,” he said. “No need to form a search party or come all the way down to the basement. Just have the office call me next time.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Amy. “Thank you.”

  I heard the door shut and Amy return to our hiding spot under the stairs. “Did you get the drone back on the shelf?” she asked.

  “Almost,” I replied. “I’m trying to aim the camera at the computer.”

  “That battery light is flashing faster
,” she said. She must’ve put her visor back on.

  I made a couple more adjustments and then let the drone drop back onto the shelf. The screen tilted to the left as it settled onto the pile of cloths.

  Within a few seconds, Mr. Conway entered the frame. He looked up at the lights and then over to the door.

  “I forgot about the motion-sensor switch,” I said.

  Mr. Conway looked around the room. I didn’t know if he was checking to see if anything was disturbed or if someone was hiding somewhere. Then he reached toward the drone.

  “Oh no,” Amy whispered.

  He reached past the drone and pulled back his arm to reveal a strange device in his hand. It had a blue plastic shell and was the size of a small, thick book. A white wire was wrapped around the device. He smiled as he turned the object over in his hands.

  “What is that?” asked Amy.

  “I don’t know,” I replied.

  Mr. Conway gently unwrapped the wire from around the device and moved the ends of the wires toward his ears. They were earbuds. He placed a bud into each ear and pushed a couple of huge buttons on the side of the device.

  “What is that thing?” Amy asked. “That’s way too big to be a phone or an MP3 player.”

  I didn’t have an answer for her. I had never seen a machine like that before. Was it some kind of surveillance device? Was it something to sweep the room for bugs, like you see in spy movies? If it was, would he pick up the transmission from our drone?

  Mr. Conway certainly didn’t act like a wanted criminal. He’d been as friendly as he always was when he spoke to Amy. Although he had been surprised to see her down in the basement. Did he suspect anything? He did ask her to get the office to call him next time. Was that to keep her from coming back to the basement? To his “lair,” as Sam had called it.

  Mr. Conway moved to exit the room but then stopped. He turned back to the computer and reached down to touch the keyboard. It looked as if we were going to see what he was up to after all.

  Then my viewscreen went dark.

  “What happened?” asked Amy.

  I let out a large sigh. “That’s it for the battery.” I pulled off my headset and tucked it into my backpack. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  Once the visors and controllers were put away, Amy and I ran up the stairs, out of the basement level.

  “Ask Sam to meet us in the library,” I told Amy.

  “The bell’s about to ring,” Amy replied. “Besides, she’s busy making a spill in the cafeteria so I won’t have lied to Mr. Conway.” Amy winced. “And she’s not too happy about it.”

  True to Amy’s prediction, the bell rang. We had five minutes to get to our fifth-period classes.

  “All right, everyone come up with an excuse to get out of class fifteen minutes after class starts,” I said. “You got that, Noah?”

  “Got it,” Noah said in my earpiece.

  “Sam says she will too,” Amy said.

  We split up and went to class. And even though engineering was my favorite subject, fifteen minutes into class I asked to be excused to go to the restroom.

  The school library stayed busy throughout the day. With so many class projects going on, students constantly filed in and out for research, so it was no big deal for four of us to gather in the back.

  Noah was the last to arrive. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a granola bar, trying to open it as quietly as possible.

  Amy’s eyes widened when she saw it. “You’re not supposed to have food in the library,” she scolded.

  “We didn’t get to eat lunch,” he said with a shrug. “All this sneaking around builds up an appetite.”

  “So we’re not just imagining this stuff, right?” I asked. “I mean, Mr. Conway having access to the school servers and the only working school computer?”

  “This better be real,” said Sam. “Otherwise, I just pretended to spill soda in the cafeteria in front of the whole school for nothing.” She shook her head. “I swear I heard someone say ‘Soda Girl’ instead of ‘Water Girl.’ ”

  Noah opened his mouth to say something but Sam shot him a glare. He took another bite of his granola bar instead.

  Amy and I told them about the weird device Mr. Conway pulled from the shelf.

  “Maybe it’s some kind of old-school hacking machine,” Sam said with a grin. “Maybe the tech is so old that it can’t be recognized by Swift Enterprises’ firewalls. That’s how he gets in!”

  Noah winced. “I don’t think it works that way.”

  Sam glared at him. “Well, what do you think it is?”

  Noah took another bite. “I have no idea.”

  “The question is, what do we do next?” asked Amy. She turned to me. “Now we should tell your dad, right?”

  I shrugged. “We could, but . . . we still don’t have any real evidence.”

  “Too bad the battery died,” said Amy. “We could be spying on him right now.”

  “What if you could sneak in there and change out the battery?” asked Sam.

  “Hold up,” said Noah. “First of all, the basement is locked, remember? And second of all, even if we could sneak in, why don’t we just get our drone back?”

  “Dude, we have plenty of time before Friday,” I said. “Don’t you think it’s more important to find out what Mr. Conway is up to?”

  Noah shook his head. “No. I don’t.” He held up his hands. “Look, Tom, I know it’s your dad’s company and all, and I’ll admit that it’s been fun playing spy.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “But this is really a job for the authorities, don’t you think? We should just report what we know and let someone else figure it out.”

  “But we really don’t know anything yet,” I said.

  Noah nodded. “My point exactly. There’s nothing to know because nothing is going on with Mr. Conway. I guarantee it.”

  “You probably could’ve just asked for the drone if not for all this sneaking around,” said Amy. “He knows most drones have cameras. If he really is a hacker, he’s bound to be suspicious now.”

  Noah pointed at Amy. “There. See?”

  “So we should definitely change out the battery,” said Sam.

  I slumped in my chair. “It doesn’t really matter because we can’t get into the basement anyway.”

  Sam smiled. “What if I had a way?”

  “What are you thinking?” I asked.

  “Don’t ask. The less you know, the better,” she replied. “But do you trust me?”

  “Of course,” I said.

  Noah cocked his head. “When you have that evil gleam in your eye, not so much.”

  “Let’s get back to class,” Sam suggested, getting up from the table. “Let’s meet here after school.” She nudged Amy on the shoulder. “Amy and I will take care of getting access to the basement.”

  “What?” Amy asked as she got to her feet. “Why me?”

  “Because you still owe me for that soda thing,” Sam replied as they walked away.

  “Changing out the battery, man,” I said, standing up with Noah. “If Sam can really get us in . . . just think about it. Okay?”

  “Yeah, all right,” he said with a sigh. Then he walked out of the library.

  I started to follow.

  Ping. I received another text.

  I stopped and checked my phone. There was another message from the unknown number. I said to back off, it read.

  I didn’t get it. If this was Mr. Conway, like Sam suggested, then why the cryptic message? It should’ve been more like, Stay out of the basement. Or, You’ll never get your drone back. The message just didn’t make sense.

  I shook my head and typed back. Who ARE you?

  I didn’t expect a reply, like before. But I was wrong.

  Ping.

  I’m watching you, was the reply.

  My head jerked up from my phone and I looked around the busy library. Students worked or spoke quietly with each other. I scanned each and every one of them. No o
ne met my eyes. No one was watching me. But the hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention, as if someone was.

  9

  The Extraction Distraction

  I WAS THE FIRST TO arrive at the library after school. Although I had two other classes with Noah, we didn’t speak much. I didn’t get a chance to tell him about the second text I had received. Then again, I didn’t know if I would. I didn’t think it would help convince him to keep the drone in the server room. And, to be honest, I was a little upset that he didn’t want to help keep someone from hacking into my dad’s company.

  I scanned the library. There were fewer students staying after school to work on projects, but there were still enough to keep our meeting from looking out of place.

  Sam and Amy entered the library. Sam wore a smug smirk, while Amy stared at her feet more than usual. Noah was right behind them. They joined me at the table near the back of the library.

  “So, are you ready?” Sam beamed.

  “Ready for what?” I asked.

  She reached into her backpack and pulled out something thin and flat. She cupped it in her hand and placed it in the center of the table. She removed her hand and Mr. Conway’s face was smiling up at me. It was his ID badge.

  “What did you do?” I asked, covering the badge with both hands. I slid it toward me and hid it with my body.

  “I said not to ask, remember?” Sam replied, giddy with excitement.

  I looked around the table. Noah was speechless, eyes wide with both hands over his mouth. Amy stared at her lap, wringing her hands together. Sam grinned as she pulled her glasses off and cleaned them with the hem of her shirt. She put her glasses back on, glancing expectantly at all three of us.

  Finally, she rolled her eyes. “Okay . . . ask.”

  “What did you . . . ?” I began.

  “How in the . . . ?” Noah began.

  Sam put a hand on Amy’s shoulder. “Amy was amazing!”

  Amy groaned. “Don’t remind me.” She covered her face. “I’m a thief now.”

  Noah and I were shocked. “Amy stole it?” I asked. “Amy?”

  Sam gave Amy a playful shove. “She didn’t steal anything. We’re just borrowing it for a half hour. An hour, tops.”