by Raymond Bean
“Good evening, Saunders,” I said.
Saunders opened the roof of the building. The stars shined about as bright as could be. We lifted off slow, rising up like a helicopter, hovering above the hangar. Once we were high enough and had cleared the building, I hit the booster rockets, and we were off like a bolt. Within minutes, we were out of Earth’s atmosphere.
I turned on the GPS and asked Saunders to show us all the satellites in orbit. Then I asked Saunders to show me all the satellites owned by Mr. Crow’s companies.
Saunders was a robot, I understood that, but I kind of thought of him as a person too. He seemed so human that it was hard to remember that he was simply a complex computer program.
“I’m displaying all the known satellites orbiting Earth in blue. I’ve highlighted the ones owned by the Crow Corporation and its companies in green.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You do not have to thank me, sir,” Saunders said.
“It’s just a computer,” Dad said.
“Yes, but he’s extraordinarily smart.” As I said the words, I felt something about the mission click into place. The transactions were done by computers. People slid their credit cards through the computers at the store and after that every other step was completed by a computer.
The reason why Mr. Crow and his companies couldn’t figure out who was stealing their money was because the person stealing their money wasn’t a person at all. It was probably a computer programmed to steal and then cover its tracks.
Luckily for me, I just had five hundred new computers installed at school. All I had to do now was program them to work together, and we might be able to catch the thief.
“Benji, are you okay?” Dad asked. “You haven’t said anything in a while.”
I had slipped off into a daydream. It felt like only a few seconds had passed. “I’m fine,” I said. “Just thinking.”
“We’re approaching the first satellite,” he said.
I looked out the window of the spaceship. The satellite was like a floating tube with mirrors and long, flat panels on either side. The panels were solar panels and tilted toward the sun for power.
We zoomed ahead to the next satellite. It looked a lot like the first one, but it was much larger. The most interesting thing about seeing the satellites up close in space was that you couldn’t see the data. It’s completely invisible. Dad and I zipped from satellite to satellite. If you didn’t know each one was transmitting loads of data back and forth to Earth, you’d think it was just a floating piece of metal.
There had to be a way to follow the data and track where it went and how it moved. For that, I realized, I’d need a few satellites of my own.
Dad and I had made and launched satellites ourselves in the past. We even have one that orbits Earth looking for dangerous asteroids. The ones we’ve made, though, were not nearly as advanced as what I needed for this mission. I needed a few satellites that could work faster than the satellites being robbed. And I needed them right away.
Chapter 17
Welcome To My Lair
That night I called Mr. Crow while we were in space and told him we’d need a few satellites immediately in order to solve the problem.
“Benji,” Mr. Crow began, “I can honestly say that when I was put in touch with you I didn’t really have high hopes that you’d be able to actually find a solution to my problem. I didn’t think a child was capable of tackling something so enormous, but people told me to trust that you were capable of the task, and I did. Who knew there were twelve-year-olds with their own spaceships?”
“Actually, I’m the only one,” I said.
“Of course you are,” he said. “I will get you the satellite you need, but I’d also like to meet tomorrow morning to talk about your plan. Can you put together a price list for me so I have an idea of what I’m going to spend? I’ll have to run it by my partners.”
“I’ll be at school tomorrow,” I said. “But if you’d like to stop by, I’ll be working on your mission. I’ll send over exactly what I’ll need and a price breakdown in a few minutes.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” said Mr. Crow. “Right now, I’m going to get to work on finding you those satellites. See you in the morning.”
I typed out the bill for Mr. Crow and emailed it to him.
Fuel for spaceship
$175,000
Satellite delivery
$200,000
Total cost for project
$4,175,000
20% Consulting fee
$200,000
Total amount due
$4,375,000
*2,000 computers No charge, supplied by Mr. Crow (Value $2,200,000)
*Satellite Supplied by Mr. Crow (Value $1,600,000)
The next morning, I had Kensington pick me up at four o’clock.
“You’re really getting a lot of schoolwork done,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this committed to school.”
“I made a deal with my mom and the principal. I agreed to not miss any school, and I agreed to solve the mission by the end of the week.”
“It sounds like a lot of pressure,” he said.
I guess it was, but I didn’t think of it that way. To me it was an adventure and a game all rolled up into one. I’d managed to convince Mom to let me take the mission, and I’d convinced the principal to let me skip class all week. I had to succeed.
I was at school before Mrs. Petty. I put a note on her desk to call me when she arrived and went to my office to work.
I tried to hack my way into one of Mr. Crow’s satellites, but it was too complex. Then I tried to access the computers at a few of his stores, but the code was too complicated to crack. I knew if I had more time I’d be able to get in without a problem, but we didn’t have time. I’d have to figure something out—and fast.
Before I knew it, my phone rang, and it was seven thirty. It was Mrs. Petty. “Good morning, Benji,” she said. “I just got in and saw your note. Also, there’s a man named Mr. Crow and two other gentlemen here to meet with you.”
“Super! Can you all come down to my office?”
A few minutes later they knocked on the door. I let them in and closed the door behind them. I had set up my computers already and was busy at work.
“What is this?” Mr. Crow asked.
“Good morning, Mr. Crow. This is my lair.”
“I should have figured you’d have a lair,” he said. “A secret hide out, stopping the bad guys—all you need is a cape and you’re all set.”
“You’re not the first person to tell me that,” I said. “I’ve been thinking about wearing a cape, but I think that might be going a little overboard.”
“Just a little,” Cindy said, walking in.
I didn’t know how she’d made it in again! I’d closed the door behind Mrs. Petty and Mr. Crow. She had figured out a way to hack my security and instead of being mad about it, I was kind of curious.
“How do you do it?” I asked.
“I told you,” replied Cindy, “you’re not the only genius in our school.”
Chapter 18
It’s All About You
Cindy looked like she woke up on the wrong side of the cage or something. I decided it was probably the wrong time to ask her more questions about how she was getting through my security.
“I know that you and I haven’t exactly gotten along in the past,” I said.
“You can say that,” she said.
“But I have a new mission, and I think you can be a big help.”
“Why would you want my help?” Cindy asked.
“Well,” I began, “you’re
always giving me a hard time about missing school when I’m on my missions. I thought that if you helped me with one, you might understand how important they are and get off my back.”
“So it’s all about you? Why am I not surprised?”
“Actually,” Mrs. Petty said. “Benji’s missions are usually about helping other people. If they weren’t, I would never let him miss school. In this case, the people he’s helping are the students of our school.”
“Can I tell her what’s going on?” I asked Mr. Crow.
“If you think she needs to know,” he said.
I explained to Cindy that Mr. Crow’s companies were being robbed and that I had a plan to stop it, but I needed her help.
“Why do you need my help?” she asked.
“You’re the head of every committee in this school. You’re used to working with large groups of people to get something done.
“I still don’t understand why you need my help,” she said.
“I’m launching a few satellites today that are going to capture all the digital activity at Mr. Crow’s businesses. I’ve written a program that captures the data and slows it down, but the program is too long and complicated for me to enter it on my own. I don’t have time to enter the computer code by the end of the week. Also, I think that whoever is doing the hacking on Mr. Crow’s system has coded the computers so other computers can’t detect what’s going on. To catch this cyber criminal we’re going to need eyes on the data, not just computers. This project is going to take the whole school. We’ll need every student working.”
Mrs. Petty leaned back in her chair and made a strange face, like she was in pain. I thought she must make the same face when she’s in the dentist’s chair.
“You can guarantee new computers for the entire district?” she asked.
“Guaranteed,” I said, looking at Mr. Crow. He nodded.
“I’ll have to meet with the teaching staff and see if they agree to this,” said Mrs. Petty.
“Think of it as a team-building exercise. If we can work together as a team, we can learn so many skills we’ll need in the real world,” Cindy said.
“We never discussed this,” Mrs. Petty said. “The school gives the student assignments, Benji. It’s generally not the other way around.”
Mrs. Petty was quiet for a few minutes, and then she said, “What do you think, Cindy? Can you put together a committee to write the computer code for Mr. Crow?”
“I can. And I will under one condition,” she said. “I don’t take orders from you. I’m in charge of the kids.”
“This is all highly unusual,” Mr. Crow said. “My partners are never going to believe I’m letting a bunch of school kids solve a multibillion dollar cyber heist. I’ll give you until the end of the week, Benji.”
“Are you in?” I asked Cindy.
“I’m in,” she replied. “Let’s get to work.”
***
Mrs. Petty called a meeting with all the teachers to explain that for the next few days the kids in the school would be working on a school-wide computer project.
Cindy got to work breaking up my code into assignments for small groups. Each group would be assigned a part of the code to enter in the computer.
At nine o’clock, Mrs. Petty announced that we were having an assembly. The entire school stopped working and went to the auditorium. Cindy and I joined Mrs. Petty on the stage.
“Good morning, students,” she said. “I’ve called you together to share some very exciting news. As you all know by now, Benji Franklin is often out of school because he has been working on top-secret missions. This week, you will all get a chance to be involved in one.”
The room was quiet. The kids didn’t seem to know what was going on. Mrs. Petty waved me over to the microphone. I’d never talked to a large group like that before and felt really nervous all of the sudden. I leaned in to the microphone, which I could hardly reach.
“Good morning. I know a lot of you secretly hate that I get to miss school a lot because of my super-cool missions, but this week you guys get a chance to be a part of one.” The room was still quiet, and I couldn’t tell what the kids were thinking. I knew I had to turn up the interest level if I was going to win them over. “Mrs. Petty has agreed to cancel classes and homework for the rest of the week!” I announced.
The room erupted. Kids acted as if they’d won the lottery or something.
Mrs. Petty made her way back to the microphone, and the room quieted. “We’re going to work together on a school-wide computer-programming project,” she explained. “While we’re working on the project, I have canceled classes and homework. Cindy Myers will divide the school into one hundred groups of ten. Each group will be responsible for entering a string of code that will be part of the larger code that will help Benji complete his mission.”
The room cheered again, and then Cindy took the microphone. “I’ll email every student his or her group and the string of code to enter. Benji and I will be around if you need any help. We have only a few days to do this, so please work together and do your best. If we can complete the project successfully, we can earn computers for the whole school district.”
Chapter 19
Invisible Money
The next day, Mr. Crow sent me the access codes and passwords to all of his satellites. Cindy and I helped each group at school to start working on writing code and linking everything into the new satellite. It was a massive job, but by breaking it into smaller pieces it didn’t seem impossible. Cindy was really good about making the groups and keeping them on track.
After school, I was in my room waiting for Mr. Kensington to pick me up and drive me to the farm so Dad and I could launch the satellites. There was a knock at the door, and Mom walked in.
“Benji, I got emails from a few of the moms from your school today,” Mom began. “When I told you that you had to stay in school if you wanted to work on the mission for Mr. Crow, I didn’t expect you to shut down classes and put the entire school to work.”
“I didn’t either,” I said. “But it’s how things worked out. If we can pull it off, Mr. Crow will give new computers to the entire school district.”
“I don’t know how you do it,” she said.
“I keep telling you,” I said.
“Oh right,” she said. “You’re a superhero.”
“I’m superhero-ish,” I said.
I heard Mr. Kensington honk outside. “I’ve got to go. Dad and Mr. Crow are waiting for me at the farm. We’re launching the satellites tonight.”
“Remember, you have school in the morning. Don’t stay up too late.”
I grabbed my bag and ran out to the car. Kensington opened the door, and I jumped in.
Mr. Crow was waiting with Dad when I arrived. We all walked into the hangar. Dad had already attached the satellite to the spaceship. It looked a lot like the ones we’d seen up in space but was much smaller.
“It’s all ready to go,” Dad said.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” I asked. “Let’s launch a satellite.”
I piloted the ship up to the level of LEO satellites, lower Earth orbits. They travel at a height of about 100 to 1,200 miles above the planet. We released the first satellite and then descended to get the second.
After that we traveled a bit higher to the middle-level satellites and released the second one. Finally, we lifted the third satellite to the high-level orbiting satellites. Mr. Crow explained that the companies he represented controlled about two hundred of the satellites in orbit.
My plan was that all the existing satellites that Mr. Crow’s group controlled would receive information like always, but the information would also go through my new satellites. The new satellites would work like a filter. My program slowed everything down and made it easier to understand what was happening and where things were going.
Each satellite’s data was tagged with a code so we could track it as it moved through the system. One of the reasons Mr. Crow’s company couldn’t track the thief before was because of the speed of their system. It was always churning out data and didn’t have the ability to slow down and look at where the data was going or where it was being controlled.
I remotely turned on the satellites from my ship and they blinked to life.
“Can you really keep track of all this data and make sense of it?” Dad asked.
“I guess we’ll find out. It’s amazing how much money is flowing invisibly right now through all these satellites. There are billions of dollars just floating in the air. I’m not surprised someone found a way to steal some of it. It looks like the data is flowing through the new satellite well. The question now is whether the thief will strike again.”
We orbited all the satellites a little longer to make sure everything was operating correctly, and then headed back to Earth. I felt like a hunter setting a trap. Now I just needed to wait and see if I caught anything.
Chapter 20
The Hero Never Sticks Around
The next day the kids at school had finished programming all the satellites and entering the codes. We spent the day monitoring and looking for anything strange, but nothing happened. All the money made by the companies flowed as it was supposed to from the stores, to the satellites, to bank accounts.
I went home that day feeling discouraged. I had involved the school, I’d promised Mrs. Petty new computers for the whole district, and I’d promised Mr. Crow I’d catch the thief. The pressure was starting to really get to me by the middle of the next day. Kids were starting to look bored, and I could tell Mrs. Petty was nervous that the whole thing was a mistake. Then, on the third day, it happened.
