The Viperob Files

by Alister Hodge

  Gwen wavered, uncertain again.

  Kane spoke before the girl could leave. “Jaego and Gwen, when you joined Ethan on an overnight jaunt, you sealed your parents’ fate. He has the files they want, and each of you…” Kane shrugged. “Well, you’re guilty by association.”

  Ethan felt both the gaze of Gwen and Jaego turn on him, expressions pleading for him to deny Kane’s words. But he couldn’t.

  “They’re on the data chip my dad gave me, aren’t they?”

  Kane nodded, eyes bright. “Yes. If you can take me to wherever it’s hidden, I can prove everything.”

  Kane walked at the back of the group as Ethan led the way back to their house. He risked a small smile as he saw a change in dynamic between the trio. Jaego and Gwen were hanging back from their friend, as if Ethan shared partial responsibility for his father’s actions.

  They’d swallowed his story enough to return and view the files. There was nothing like having an element of truth mixed into fabrication to make the whole thing believable, and knowing how Spec Ops worked, he’d bet good money his fiction would become fact before too long. Once he had their trust secured, he’d move on to his true objective.

  “I can see now how you guys managed to survive, these walls must be at least two feet of solid sandstone.” Kane turned on the spot, scanning the main room, taking in the damage wrought be the night’s storm. After a moment, he turned to Ethan, evidently keen to get to the reason of the visit. “So, where is it?”

  Ethan opened a cupboard at the edge of the room, lifted a false floor panel at its base and extracted the bang stick from concealment. The black metal tube felt cold and heavy in his grip, somehow deadlier due to the data chip contained within than the .303 round in the powerhead. Ethan rested it carefully on a wooden table in the centre of the room. The other three moved forward, and despite Kane’s story, both Jaego’s and Gwen’s eyes opened wider in surprise as he opened a concealed compartment in the middle section of the tube and extracted the data chip.

  Kane took it from Ethan’s open hand and plugged into a port on his tablet computer.

  “You guys might want to pull up a chair, because once you see this info, you might feel a little weak at the knees,” he said, opening the first file in the list.

  Twenty minutes later, Kane closed the last document and ejected the data chip. Ethan reached forward and retrieved it from the tablet, holding it up in the light cast through the neighbouring window. Satin black, no bigger than the nail of his little finger, and yet, by the information it carried, deadlier than any weapon in the country. As if holding a volatile substance, Ethan carefully slotted it back into the bang stick’s hidden compartment, somewhat relieved to have it out of sight.

  Kane slid his tablet back into his pocket then took a seat on the edge of the table. “Now you don’t have to take my word on it, you’ve seen the evidence with your own eyes.”

  “So, it’s basically an operating system.” said Gwen. “If I understood right, the program could be used from anywhere to hijack the current defence systems and take control of our AI drones.”

  “Can you imagine being on the front line when it happened? It would be sheer, bloody slaughter,” muttered Jaego. “No wonder your dad wanted this stuff exposed.”

  “And the worst bit of it,” said Ethan, his mouth suddenly dry of saliva as the realisation hit. “You probably weren’t lying about our parents being dead?”

  Kane met Ethan’s eye, and shook his head. “I swear to God, I wish it was just a bad joke.”

  To Ethan’s right, Gwen buried her face in her hands, sobs of grief racking her body as his words brought the reality of the situation home for the trio. They were now orphans. Ethan hesitantly put an arm about her shoulders, still not sure if she would blame him for her dad’s death. Rather than pulling away, Gwen leant into him instead. Jaego came and stood behind both of them, resting a hand on each one’s shoulder, his eyes glassy.

  Kane gave a short cough. “I know this has been a rough day, but now you surely understand the predicament we’re in. Every minute wasted raises the chance that Viperob will find us and the data chip. Now, I have a plan on how we can get to the mainland—”

  Jaego thumped his fist down on the table, making Kane jump in surprise. “Shut up! For five minutes, please, just shut the hell up.”

  Ethan stood and offered his hand to Gwen to help her rise. “Yeah, I need a while to process this stuff before I agree to anything. I’m getting some air. You guys coming?”

  Kane watched them walk outside, white-knuckled hands gripping the table as he inwardly seethed at the time wasted, let alone the insult of being dismissed by a group of kids. He waited a few minutes to make sure they weren’t coming straight back in, then quietly walked over to the cupboard where Ethan had hidden the bang stick earlier. The ancient wood of the door was dry and warped by the sea air, giving off a high-pitched squeak as Kane gently opened it. He looked over his shoulder, holding his breath to see if the noise had been heard. When no one appeared, he turned his attention to the hiding space again, quickly withdrawing two cut sections of false floorboards to reveal a hidden compartment the size of shallow suitcase. Kane swept his hand around the shadowed recesses in search of a package that might contain the rings.

  He rocked back on his heels, swearing violently under his breath as he found the hiding place otherwise empty. Kane stood and extracted a semi-automatic handgun from a concealed chest holster beneath his jacket. Holding the pistol close to his chest, he racked the slide and chambered a round before holstering the weapon with a frustrated grunt.

  Kane was nearing the end of his patience. His nerves were steadily stretching as time moved on, knowing that every minute wasted brought Lieutenant Harris closer to striking distance. He’d give them twenty minutes, but if they proved difficult, it would be time to change tactics.

  Ethan leant against the stone wall, then slowly slid down the surface until he sat on the tiles of the balcony. Beside him, Gwen sat with her knees drawn tight up against her chest, rocking slowly as tears streamed down her face. Jaego stared into space, jaw clenched and eyes red as he cuffed angrily at any stray tear that escaped. Neither talked, both lost within their private grief and shock.

  Ethan stared out to sea, annoyed of all things by the calm water and clear blue sky that seemed so out of place with the situation. He wanted a raging wind and ice-spattered surf. Something to match the growing rage inside, because as much as he wanted to grieve the loss of his parents, sheer anger at their murder outweighed any other emotion. Ethan’s eyes were dry, his insides feeling rasped, raw and empty, like part of him had been cut away by their death.

  He wasn’t angry that his dad had chosen a course of action that placed his family at risk. Far from it. Knowing the sheer danger facing the whole country, he would have been devastated if his father had seen any other option as tenable. What did frustrate Ethan, however, was only learning the true enormity of the man’s bravery after his death. If he’d only told him beforehand, Ethan thought he might have been able to help more rather than wasting time on treasure hunts and wagging school. Instead, he’d wasted his last morning with his parents by arguing with them, and that thought made him sick with guilt.

  Beside him, Gwen had fallen silent. Ethan ground his teeth together, bunching his hands into tight fists for a moment as he came to a decision. His father had proved himself brave enough to take on the corporation, and he was damned if he’d be any less of a man.

  “Viperob can’t be allowed to get away with this,” said Ethan, his voice raw. He leant forward, making eye contact with both his mates. “Those bastards have treated our families like slaves for years, and now they want to betray the entire country—and for what? A chance to turn a better profit and ensure they’re on the winning side?”

  “What are we supposed to do about it?” asked Gwen.

  “We need to fight back.”

  “Three teens against the resources of an entire corporation?” sai
d Jaego shaking his head. “All that will achieve is getting us killed.”

  Ethan flung his hand out in an arc. “Have a look around you. We’ve been effectively banished, trapped on land that is overrun each night by Tri-Claw. Even if we do nothing, our luck’s going to give out eventually, and if I’m going to die, I’d rather it be on my own terms.”

  “Bravo, Ethan,” said Gwen in a somewhat mocking tone. “Ok, so what are you going to fight them with? I don’t think that bang stick of yours is going to achieve much against automatic weapons.”

  “You’re missing the point,” said Ethan, shaking his head. “Viperob has forced us to undertake armed combat training since we were kids, so if it comes down to a physical stand-off, it’s not like we’re going to be defenceless. But I’d rather fight smart. I don’t want to launch an armed attack on them. Why would I do that when we already have the one item that could bring the whole corporation down?”

  Jaego’s head snapped up at Ethan’s words. “Bloody hell, you’re right. We’ve got the data chip and files.”

  A harsh smile cracked across Ethan’s face. “If we can get that information into the hands of the defence force, Viperob’s screwed.”

  “But there’s not exactly an army base on the island, we’ll need to get to the mainland,” said Gwen.

  Ethan looked west, picturing in his mind’s eye the narrow strait they would have to cross. Two hundred metres of open water teeming with Tri-Claw, spanned only by the Viperob Maglev bridge. With no boat, swimming the strait would be treacherous enough due to the current, let alone the threat of attack from below. That left the Maglev track fifty metres up in the air, a path that came with its own dangers. Ethan forced a dry swallow at the thought. “We were going to have to do that anyway, this just gives us a little motivation,” he said.

  “So, what do you reckon? They taught us to fight and it would be satisfying to use those skills against the bastards themselves.” Ethan paused, taking a breath. “I’m going get this data chip into the hands of the army. Will you two join me?”

  “I’ve got nothing left to stay for, and besides, you wouldn’t survive a day without me watching your back,” said Jaego.

  “So, you’re coming?”

  “Yes, you bloody idiot. I want to see them taken down as much as you.”

  Ethan swung his gaze to Gwen, eyebrows raised in question.

  “I’m done crying.” Gwen wiped over her eyes with the back of her hand, sniffed hard, then pushed herself to standing. “Neither of you can shoot straight anyway, so you need me.”

  Ethan extended an arm, gripping first Gwen’s then Jaego’s hand in a firm shake, sealing their pact. A low humming sound drew his attention from the south. In the distance, a black drone was flying a grid pattern, steadily working toward their position.

  “Shit, we need to get inside—looks like a formal search has begun.”

  “The biometric scanners along the perimeter wall and inside the complex have failed to identify any of the children in question, sir. It appears our phone contact this morning may have spooked them.” The security officer paused to check the time on his watch. “It’s already ten in the morning. If they were going to return it should have happened by now.”

  Lieutenant Harris sat at a desk, his eyes unfocused as he thought. If one phone call had been enough to make them balk at returning, it only fed his suspicion that the kids weren’t totally innocent and backed up an unrelated report from a school teacher that the kids had voiced revolutionary sentiments in class.

  “Sir? Lieutenant Harris, did you hear me?”

  Harris flicked his gaze up to the officer, lips tight with irritation. The officer took an involuntary step backwards, mouth opening in voiceless apology at the look on his boss’s face.

  “Get a set of drones in the air and boots on the ground. I want a search started outside the wall and those kids captured by nightfall,” said Harris. “And we’ll need to seal off the usual escape routes to the mainland just in case they start to feel adventurous. I want the main focus to be on the Maglev station and a few to the foreshore in case they’re stupid enough to attempt a swim.”

  The officer clipped his heels together as he snapped out a stiff salute. “Yes, sir.”

  Instead of leaving immediately, the man held his ground, looking exceedingly uncomfortable.

  “What now?” muttered Harris.

  “Zach and Rebecca Tan, sir. What do you want us to do with them?”

  “They were unfortunate casualties of the storm,” he answered with a dismissive flick of his hand.

  “I don’t understand,” said the officer hesitantly. “They’re still in the cells.”

  Harris sighed, feeling like he was talking to a child. He looked across at a stack of video monitors showing camera footage of the interrogation rooms. The bottom right screen showed the Tans. Zach lay inert, a pool of blood about his head, while his wife sat with knees clutched to her chest, rocking silently as her eyes stared into space. After watching Harris bludgeon Zach to a bloody unconscious pulp, Rebecca’s mind appeared to have gone. Harris grimaced in irritation as he regarded the woman. A blade hadn’t even kissed her skin, and yet she was for all intents and purposes as broken as her husband. He’d got nothing from her, not even an acknowledgement of his presence in the room, let alone any information about her son.

  After the trauma of his interrogation, he doubted either could be rehabilitated to a productive state for future use by the corporation.

  “The Tans have ceased to be of any use. There can be no loose ends with this operation. Make them disappear, Officer, then add their names to the cyclone casualty list.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “So, will you help us?” asked Ethan. The three teens sat opposite Kane in the main room of the house. They had hastily propped boards and bits of debris over most of the windows to hide from the drones that crisscrossed the air above, but there was still enough light punching through their basic camouflage to dimly light the room.

  A slight smile twitched the corner of Kane’s mouth before it reverted to his usual dour grimace. “Of course I will. As I said earlier, I gave your dad my word that I’d get you off the island.”

  Ethan felt a touch of relief that they’d have an adult’s help, and one who had a link to his father.

  His dead father.

  An image of his mum and dad at breakfast intruded on his thoughts, making his gut twist. He pushed the thought of them away, burying it deep. He had two mates to watch over now and couldn’t afford the pain of his loss to interfere with their chosen task. There’d be time for grief once he’d avenged himself against the corporation. For now, he had to focus on staying alive.

  Ethan shook his head and re-centred on the task at hand. “How do we get off the island? The only options we’ve come up with are a boat, which we don’t have; swimming, where we’ll be Tri-Claw bait; or the Maglev. Have you got any better ideas?”

  “Well, that depends,” said Kane.

  “On what?” asked Gwen. Her eyes were hard, words sharp. She obviously hadn’t lied earlier about being finished with crying; her tears of grief now replaced by eyes of flint. In the space of a morning she’d changed, the spark of humour and vitality that had lit her features was gone. But she wasn’t alone, both Ethan and Jaego were the same.

  Kane took a breath and sighed. “It all comes down to the resources on hand. Although the safest option at first consideration, we should rule out using the Maglev unless we have something to bribe passage. Otherwise I think we’ll be stuck taking our chances with the Tri-Claw on a night swim.”

  Kane watched as the boys blanched under their tan. “I wouldn’t worry too much. I reckon we’d have at least a sixty percent chance of getting across intact, and let’s face it, there’s probably more danger from the current than a Tri-Claw. If we go during the day, we’ll just end up as target practice for Spec Ops.”

  “We may have something valuable enough to barter a ride,” said Ethan. “On a
dive, Jaego and I discovered…”

  Kane’s pupils dilated slightly as he leant forward. “Rings… I mean, did you find jewellery or the like?”

  Ethan was caught off guard by the interruption, something sitting not quite right. “How did you…” he trailed off for a moment, eyebrows drawn together in question. “Well, yes, we found a ring. Just one, but it should be worth enough to do the job.”

  Kane rocked back in his chair, lips tightening. “Only one? That probably won’t buy passage for all of us.”

  “It’s topped with a massive bloody diamond. It’ll do the job.”

  Kane held his eye for a handful of breaths, looking like he wanted to speak further, jaw intermittently clenching under unshaved jowls like he was chewing something distasteful. Eventually he shifted his gaze to Jaego.

  “If you have something to say, get out with it,” muttered Jaego. “Ethan told you what we have. If it’s not enough, we’ll take our chances on the swim. So, what’s your recommendation?”

  Kane let out a slow sigh. “Fine. If that’s all we’ve got, we’ll have to chance it.”

  “Good stuff,” said Ethan. “Do you know how often the Maglev runs overnight? With those drones up in the air, we won’t make it to the station unobserved in daylight.”

  “Less often, but there’s still a service every four hours. We should aim for the ten P.M. train. I have a night-shift contact who should be receptive to our offer. He’s smuggled in plenty of contraband, so there’s every chance he’ll play ball.”

  “You’re talking about my dad’s business, you realise?” muttered Gwen. “I’ve worked beside him after school for years; half of the Maglev workers are like bloody family. If anyone’s negotiating our passage, surely it should be me.”

  Kane sighed. “I’d love to agree with you, kid. In fact I’m banking on their loyalty to you getting us all a ride out of here. But you can’t be the one to approach. All three of you are on a wanted list, and there’s a chance the station will be guarded. If that’s the case, better it’s me that makes the first contact so you three might still have a chance of escape by swimming.”