There was another beep and a flashing box appeared on Alex’s screen. ‘Jack, turn it off.’
‘I can’t do that.’
Alex’s face turned red. ‘What do you mean you can’t?’ More alarms went off. ‘Get rid of it, now.’ He sounded somewhere between panic-stricken and furious.
‘Calm down,’ Noble said.
Jack tried to move the virus on to the USB drive but it refused to go. The alarms from the computer’s sensors went into overdrive, becoming a deafening cacophony of screeching and wailing.
Alex shouted over the noise, ‘Nostradamus cost millions. If you blow it up, we’ll end up in jail for criminal damage.’
‘Give me just a bit longer,’ Jack said. Calmly, he opened a programming terminal on the USB drive. He looked at the virus and smiled. ‘I know how to trap you,’ he whispered.
Jack typed, his fingers moving in a blur.
Noble leant over his shoulder and squinted at the screen. ‘Clever.’
‘What’s he doing?’ Charlie said, her voice raised above the din.
‘He’s using parts of the virus’s own code to lay down a path for it to follow.’
This was a unique program for a unique problem.
Jack hit Enter and the virus started to flowtowards the USB drive.
Alex balled his fists. ‘Stop it. Stop it now.’
Jack ignored him, gripped the edge of the desk and stared at the monitor. ‘Come on.’
The virus continued to flow.
Alex shouted at Noble, ‘He’s destroying Nostradamus.’
‘No,’ Jack said. ‘It’s working.’
Alex stormed across the room, grabbed Jack and threw him from the chair.
Jack hit the floor hard.
Alex typed a few commands into the keyboard, yanked the USB drive from the slot and threw it at Jack.
Jack screamed, ‘No,’ but it was too late. Alex shut down Nostradamus, opened the network port and the virus was once again uploading itself back to the internet in search of more computers to feed off.
When it had finally gone, Alex let out a huge breath and slouched in his chair.
The alarms died one at a time and the room fell silent.
Jack buried his face in his hands. They were so close to trapping the virus. A couple more minutes and he would’ve had it.
‘No.’ Alex sat up and looked at the CCTV display. ‘No, no, no.’
A fat man, wearing a beige sports jacket and deck shoes, was opening the front door.
‘Who’s that?’ Charlie said.
Alex jumped to his feet. ‘The boss.’ He hurried to the door. ‘I’ve got to get out of here. If he realises what I’ve done, he’ll call the police.’
‘Where are you going?’ Charlie said.
‘My car. There’s a back way.’ Alex threw open the door and ran down the corridor.
Right at that moment, Jack didn’t care. Once again, they’d failed.
Noble knelt in front of him. ‘Jack?’
Jack lowered his hands.
‘Alex is right, we have got to leave.’
‘You go.’
‘Not without you.’ Charlie grabbed Jack’s shirt and yanked him to his feet.
The three of them crept into the hallway.
Charlie said, ‘Which way did he go?’
Noble pointed at an open exit door.
They sprinted to it and burst outside.
A beaten-up Vauxhall Nova with faded red paintwork revved hard and reversed out of a space.
The driver was Alex.
Wrestling with the gear stick, Alex slammed the car into first and – to their horror – sped away from them.
Charlie shouted and went to run after him but Jack grabbed her arm and pointed at the black SUV as it pulled off the road. It drove past Alex and towards the three of them.
Charlie’s face dropped.
Jack looked at Noble. ‘Shall we run?’
‘I assume these are the agents?’
Jack nodded.
Noble put his hands in his pockets. ‘I fear running will do us no good.’
The SUV stopped in front of them and Jack could make out Connor’s smug face through the windscreen.
‘Jack,’ Charlie said through the corner of her mouth, ‘not meaning to sound stupid or nothing, but how do they keep finding us?’
‘I know,’ Jack said, his eyes fixed on Connor as he got out and pointed a gun at them. ‘I’m getting bored with it too.’
Monday climbed out of the back and held the rear door open.
Connor smirked. ‘Get in.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The agents drove Jack, Charlie and Noble away from the business park. Connor sat behind the wheel, with Cloud in the passenger seat.
Agent Monday was between Jack and Charlie on the back seat. Obviously, the wall of man-flesh was there to make sure they didn’t get up to any funny stuff. Although, travelling at seventy miles an hour down a motorway, Jack was fresh out of ‘funny stuff’ ideas.
Noble was squeezed into a small seat behind them, and when he’d asked where the agents were taking them, his question had been met with silence.
Judging by the road signs, they were heading back towards London, and that made Jack feel uneasy. He’d wanted to be caught the first time, it was part of his plan, but this was a different matter – he had no idea how they were going to escape, or even if it would be possible.
Jack considered ways to signal Charlie to contact Obi with her . . .
It was at that point Jack realised how the agents had found them – the phone in Charlie’s pocket. They’d taken it off her when they interrogated them. It was then that the agents must have recorded the phone’s number and used it to track them.
They’d forgotten to check the phone over more thoroughly.
Jack stared forward, tight-lipped. It was a basic mistake, and one he was too embarrassed ever to admit.
Connor looked pleased with himself. Apparently, pointing a loaded gun at a couple of defenceless teenagers and a silver-haired man had been the highlight of his day, but Jack knew that probably wasn’t the worst thing Agent Connor had done in his life.
No sleepless nights over that one.
• • •
Eighteen miles from London, they turned off the motorway and headed towards a village called Little Joy.
Connor followed the winding country roads until he eventually turned down a narrow, muddy track.
After a mile or so, an old house loomed high on a hill. No lights were on and it stood silhouetted against the sky, lit only by moonlight. Ancient oak trees, with twisted-branch fingers outstretched, surrounded the house as if guarding it, or preventing whatever demon was inside from escaping.
What was Connor’s intention? To scare them to death? Take the kids to a haunted house and they’ll confess to anything?
Jack’s stomach knotted as he wondered what was in store for them.
Connor drove down the side of the building and parked. He and Agent Cloud climbed out and walked to the back of the car to get Noble.
Agent Monday leant over Jack, opened the door and shoved him out. Monday then turned back, grabbed Charlie’s arm and dragged her from the car.
She struggled. ‘Get off me.’
He looked at Agent Cloud. ‘Were you like that at her age?’
Cloud seemed unimpressed.
Connor turned back to the others and gestured down the side of the house. ‘Follow me and don’t do anything stupid.’
Heads bowed, they walked in silence.
Overgrown bushes and ivy obscured the ground-floor windows – so there was no way to see inside the house – and they had to step carefully over the cracked and debris-strewn path.
Jack was used to living in the city, where traffic noise was a constant hum in the background, broken by the occasional police siren. Even in the bunker, the rumble of trains would vibrate the walls. It was alive, moving, but here everything was as still as a graveyard. He couldn’t help bu
t shudder.
They walked round to the rear of the house and Connor glanced up at a security camera mounted high on the wall. The back door clicked and opened automatically.
The first room was a kitchen. Rotting cupboards lined the walls, their doors either fallen off or hanging from their hinges at awkward angles.
They marched through the kitchen and into a darkened hallway. Light spilled across floorboards from a door at the far end.
Connor opened the door and went inside.
With the hallway now illuminated, Jack could see the old patterned wallpaper peeling from the walls.
Monday shoved Jack forward.
On the other side of the door was a large room with walls painted a smooth white – a stark contrast to the decaying house around it – and the air smelt sterile.
In the centre of the room was –
‘Proteus,’ Jack whispered.
‘That’s it?’ Charlie’s eyes feasted on the chrome machine with its criss-crossing pipework and large coolant tanks.
Jack gave a small nod and glanced around the rest of the room. There were no windows. They must have been bricked up from the inside but left to look untouched on the outside.
Thick cables snaked along the floor, and a couple of technicians sat at screens that displayed top-secret documents, satellite images and a whole manner of stolen data.
By the far wall there were two armed security guards in front of a bank of monitors showing various CCTV images of both outside and inside the house.
The agents led Jack, Charlie and Noble through an archway to a smaller room with a table and chairs. Monday forced them to sit, while Agent Cloud used cable ties to bind their wrists through the backs of their chairs.
‘Is this really necessary?’ Noble asked.
Connor hit him across the face with the back of his hand. ‘Shut up.’
‘Hey,’ Jack struggled, ‘leave him alone. He doesn’t know anything.’
Connor’s cold eyes moved over Jack and Charlie, coming to rest on Noble. ‘Who are you?’
‘Me?’ Noble said in an innocent tone, licking his bloody lip. ‘I’m nobody.’
Connor’s eyes narrowed.
‘What do you want from us?’ Jack said, trying his best to hide any sign of fear or anger in his voice, but it trembled, betraying him.
Connor paced for a few moments, trying to control himself. He was like a lion prowling its cage, itching to be let out so he could do some damage.
After a few moments, he stopped in front of Jack. ‘Quite the adventure you’ve had the last few days.’
Jack remained silent.
Connor’s lip curled into a snarl and there was pure venom in his voice. ‘You really think you can outsmart us?’ He turned to Cloud and Monday. ‘They’ve been reading too many comic books.’ He cocked his head at Jack and Charlie. ‘Assuming you can read. You can, can’t you?’ He stared at Jack for a moment, then said, ‘I want the virus.’
Jack stared back, keeping his gaze level and strong. ‘We don’t have it.’
‘But you know how to get it. Otherwise, what was your trip to Chesterfield for?’
Jack glanced at Noble. He thought about lying but knew Connor would see through it. He took a breath. ‘I tried to catch it but it escaped.’
Connor looked at Agent Cloud. ‘Is he telling the truth?’
Cloud shrugged, and Connor resumed pacing.
‘Look,’ Jack said, ‘I don’t think the virus is a threat to Proteus any more.’
Connor stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned to Jack, his eyes mere slits beneath heavy lids. ‘What did you just say?’
‘I said, I don’t think the virus –’
Connor stepped forward and grabbed Jack by the throat.
Charlie gasped. ‘Stop it.’
Noble said, ‘Let go of him.’
Agent Cloud took a step forward. ‘Sir,’ she said in a firm tone.
‘What?’ Connor snapped.
‘It’s not –’
‘Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do,’ he snarled. His grip tightened on Jack’s neck.
Jack’s lungs burned and his vision started to tunnel.
‘I think it’s time I took over,’ a voice behind them said.
For a moment, no one moved.
‘How will he be able to talk with a crushed larynx?’ the voice continued. ‘Release him.’
Finally, Connor let go.
Jack coughed and gasped for air. When he’d managed to get his breath back, he looked up to see who’d intervened.
Stood in the archway was Richard Hardy – the money-laundering accountant from the mission that had started all this. ‘Step back,’ he said in a calm voice.
Connor hesitated a moment longer, then turned away in disgust.
Jack glanced at Charlie. Her face was a mixture of fright, anger and confusion. Even Noble looked rattled, and that was rare.
Right at that moment, Jack didn’t know what he felt. On the one hand it was a terrifying experience to have someone strangle you, knowing you could die. While on the other, it was surreal to see the man who’d just stopped that from happening was the same bloke they’d used to nick a million pounds of Del Sarto’s money from.
Jack looked at Richard Hardy. What was he doing here?
Hardy’s gaze locked on Jack’s. ‘The program . . . I want it.’
‘What program?’
‘Stop wasting my time.’ Hardy’s voice was controlled, but the unmistakable ripple of anger boiled just beneath the surface. ‘Give me the program you used to attract the virus.’ Hardy waited a few seconds, then said, ‘Have it your way.’ He looked at Monday. ‘Search him.’
Agent Monday stepped forward, reached into Jack’s coat pocket, and pulled out the USB stick. He examined it, then slid it into his own jacket pocket.
‘Who are you?’ Jack said.
Was Richard Hardy part of the government?
It made no sense.
Hardy turned to Connor. ‘The only thing I can say I like about these kids is they’re naive.’ He turned to Jack. ‘I am your employer.’
‘We don’t work for you,’ Charlie said.
‘Now, now, be fair,’ Hardy said, glancing at her. ‘I paid you over a million pounds. I’d say that was a good wage for a bunch of delinquent kids,’ his eyes moved to Noble, ‘and an antique.’
Noble cocked an eyebrow at him.
Charlie frowned. ‘What are you on about?’
Suddenly, everything clicked into place. ‘He’s Del Sarto,’ Jack said.
The arms dealer they’d stolen the money from. Richard Hardy was just an alias.
Jack winced inside.
Del Sarto smiled. ‘One hundred points to Achilles. Allow me to elaborate for you, young lady.’ He paced back and forth in front of them. ‘When Professor Markov first told me about the quantum computer –’
‘He was real?’ Charlie said.
‘Oh, yes.’ Del Sarto patted her on the head as if she were a three-year-old. Charlie recoiled from him. ‘Yes, there really was a Professor Markov.’
He put emphasis on the word ‘was’, which made Jack feel uneasy.
Del Sarto continued, ‘Professor Markov worked for the government, and he came to me with a problem.’ He glanced over at the technicians. ‘He’d designed this amazing quantum computer, said it was light years ahead of anything else on the planet.’ Del Sarto looked back at the three of them. ‘But the professor was afraid. Scared of the power he was unleashing. He was having second thoughts.’
‘I bet he was,’ Jack mumbled.
‘The professor asked me to use my resources and break into the facility. He wanted Proteus destroyed.’
‘But you stole it,’ Noble said.
Del Sarto resumed pacing, his lip curling into a snarl. ‘Professor Markov tricked me.’
‘Clever,’ Jack muttered. He looked at Charlie. She had a puzzled expression. ‘The professor used criminals to break in, but he knew they might not stick t
o their word and destroy Proteus.’ Jack looked at Del Sarto. ‘So, to be safe, he planted a custom virus to stop you from using the quantum computer for yourself.’
‘He played innocent for a while. As though he was as perplexed as we were.’ Del Sarto snarled. ‘But the joke was on him.’ He leant into Jack’s face. ‘When I worked out what Professor Markov had done . . .’ He ran a finger across his throat.
Jack ground his teeth and refused to show any emotion.
Del Sarto straightened up. ‘So, there I was, with a machine that didn’t work. Now, I couldn’t give up, I’d invested far too much time and money.’ He stared at Jack. ‘I had my own plans.’
‘To do what?’ Jack said. ‘Hold governments to ransom over the documents you steal?’
Del Sarto nodded, seeming to be impressed. ‘Very good, Achilles.’ He glanced at Charlie. ‘Can you imagine the potential? The power? I can sell any country’s secrets to the highest bidder.’ He puffed out his chest and gazed at the ceiling. ‘Then Proteus will help me start a global war. A war that I can provide arms for. For all sides.’ He looked back at them. ‘Think how much money that will make.’ His eyes moved to Jack and narrowed. ‘But I had a problem to solve first.’
‘The computer didn’t work,’ Jack said.
‘None of my own employees could fix it, and I couldn’t just pop an advert in the local newspaper. Wanted. Skilled technician to remove virus from top-secret quantum computer.’ Del Sarto sighed dramatically. ‘So, what to do? What to do?’ He looked at the three of them. ‘I needed someone on the wrong side of the law.’ He tapped his temple with an index finger. ‘Now, where to find such a person?’ He clicked his fingers and pointed at Agent Cloud. ‘She told me about this “Achilles” – a hacker who could get past any security. Break through any firewall. But how to snare him?’ Del Sarto glanced at the others. ‘So, we released information about a fantastic quantum device.’
Jack looked at the machine in the other room. ‘Proteus.’
‘Alas, Achilles seemed more cautious than I’d anticipated. Proteus did not draw him in. I had to use a different kind of bait, so I invented Richard Hardy – money launderer – and planted a false trail on the hacker forums.’ He looked at them in turn. ‘Clever?’ None of them responded. Del Sarto waved them off as if he didn’t care what they thought anyway. ‘Sure enough, Achilles took that bait. The temptation was too much.’ He stopped in front of Noble.
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