Lockdown

by Peter Jay Black

  ‘And?’ Charlie said. ‘Let me guess – he’s got that well protected?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Jack sighed, sat back in his chair and they both stared at the screen.

  ‘Wait a minute.’ Charlie sat forward again. ‘Is there a better view of those?’ She pointed at the two black cylinders next to the junction box.

  Jack rewound the recording to the moment Hector walked into the glass cube. As soon as he opened the door, Jack froze the image.

  Charlie leant in till her nose was inches away from the screen.

  Finally she sat back and grinned.

  Jack looked at her. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Hector’s mistake.’ She pointed at the two cylinders. ‘I think I know what those are. Can you get a layout of the building somehow?’

  ‘Already tried.’ Obi came waddling into the office, stuffing his face with some kind of small rectangular cakes.

  Charlie grimaced. ‘What are those, Obi?’

  He shrugged. ‘A sponge thing. It has cream inside.’

  ‘I can tell,’ Charlie said. ‘It’s all around your face.’

  Obi wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve and held one out to her. ‘They’re good.’

  Charlie shook her head. ‘Nah, you’re all right. I’ll grab something later.’

  ‘What were you just saying?’ Jack asked Obi.

  ‘Huh?’

  Jack gestured to the screen. ‘About getting a plan of the building.’

  ‘Oh, yeah, right.’ Obi sat down in a spare chair. ‘I looked while you lot were on your way back here, and I couldn’t find anything.’

  Charlie glanced at the screen, then at Jack. ‘I need a layout of the place. If I can get that, I reckon we’d have a good chance of beating Hector at his own game.’ She explained her idea to them.

  When she was finished, Jack stared at the screen, thinking. Now he understood why she needed a plan of the building. All he had to do was get Charlie inside, and she could do the rest. Only thing was, that was going to be difficult to achieve.

  ‘Wait a minute, I have a crazy idea,’ Jack said, finally tearing his gaze from the screen. He explained what he had in mind. ‘Go speak to Lux and Drake. See if they can help you gather the materials we need.’

  Charlie stood up and walked to the door.

  ‘Charlie?’

  She turned back.

  ‘Also, ask Drake if he can keep that boat a little longer. But if there’s a chance he might get caught, see if he can get another one somehow.’

  ‘OK.’ Charlie left the office.

  Jack turned to Obi. ‘We need every picture you can find on the internet of North Brother Island and all its buildings. Gather as much metadata as you can too.’

  Obi slid his chair in front of the computer, flexed his fingers and started the search.

  Jack marched over to the dining table, scooped up a bag from the floor and pulled out the laptop. He brought up a command box on the screen and started typing.

  After a few minutes Wren came over. ‘Sorry.’

  Jack looked at her. ‘For what? It’s me who should be sorry. I should’ve told you what Slink was going to do.’

  ‘Nah,’ Wren said, half smiling. ‘Probably best I didn’t know.’ She nodded at the display. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Downloading a program from the bunker’s computers.’ Jack pulled out the chair next to him. ‘You can watch if you like.’

  Wren sat down.

  Jack glanced over at the gadget room – Charlie was talking to Lux and Drake, while examining the equipment on the shelves.

  ‘Do you fancy her?’ Wren said.

  ‘Huh?’ Jack broke his gaze. ‘Who?’

  Wren cocked her head to the side and gave him a cheeky smile. ‘Lux, of course.’

  Jack focused on the laptop screen. ‘No.’

  Wren snorted. ‘Yeah, right.’

  Jack let out an annoyed breath. ‘Just watch this.’

  When the program from the bunker’s computers had finished downloading, he opened it. Code scrolled down the screen. Jack checked it, made the necessary adjustments so it fitted its new purpose and ran the program.

  A three-dimensional, wire-frame cube appeared on the screen.

  Jack accessed Serene’s network and transferred the point data and camera positions Obi had gathered from the drone to the program.

  Just as he finished, Obi sent the images of North Brother Island he’d downloaded from the internet.

  When Jack was all done, he said, ‘Watch this.’ And clicked the Run button.

  The program started to work its magic – hundreds of images flashed up, angled themselves, then dissolved into the three-dimensional cube.

  ‘What’s it doing?’ Wren said.

  ‘Combining all the data. The images, camera positions, GPS coordinates . . .’ Jack stood, strode to the gadget room and went inside.

  Drake was gathering equipment from a list and loading it into bags.

  Charlie and Lux were sitting at the workbench. Charlie was concentrating on the laptop that was connected to the 3D printer.

  Next to her were hundreds of pieces of Serene’s gadgets that she’d dismantled and robbed for parts.

  ‘She’s not going to thank you for that,’ Jack said.

  ‘Huh?’ Charlie looked up at him and followed his gaze. ‘Oh, right, yeah.’ She reached over the worktop and picked up a metal cylinder. ‘We need to wedge this in Hector’s computer.’ She then brought up a picture of the computer in the glass hexagon. She zoomed in on a point between two circuit boards. ‘Jam this cylinder in there. OK?’

  Jack shrugged. ‘Sure. What does it do?’

  ‘It’s basically a cluster of capacitors and batteries.’ She handed Jack a key fob. ‘When you press that button, the cylinder will release thousands of volts, destroying the computer components.’

  ‘Right,’ Jack said. ‘But we can’t just destroy it.’ He glanced at Lux. ‘We need to get evidence that Hector’s been setting people up.’

  ‘Already thought of that,’ Charlie said. She reached up to a shelf and grabbed a black cube, three centimetres on each side. She turned it so Jack could see it had network connectors on each face. ‘Plug this into the port. It’ll connect to Serene’s servers here. Obi will then need a few minutes to locate the evidence and download it. After that, we’re free to destroy the computer – including Hector’s hacking program – and get out.’

  ‘Brilliant,’ Jack said. ‘Now I’ve got to work out how to get us inside Hector’s lair.’

  ‘How’s the layout of the island going?’ Lux asked.

  ‘That’s why I’m here,’ Jack said. ‘It’ll be done in a minute or so. Want to see it?’

  Lux jumped off her stool. ‘Please.’

  Charlie rolled her eyes behind Lux’s back and stood up.

  At the dining table, Charlie, Obi, Lux and Wren gathered around Jack.

  He looked at the image count – one hundred and thirty to go. ‘It’s almost done.’

  The images flashed up on the screen one after another in rapid succession and the counter logged them.

  Finally a blue message scrolled across the screen:

  COMPOSITION COMPLETE.

  Jack hit another button and a three-dimensional view of the island appeared within the wire-frame cube. He moved his finger over the mouse pad and used the arrow keys to zoom in.

  All the images Obi had downloaded were now in various positions, some lined up with one another, some overlapping. There were large gaps between them, and a few looked as if they were in the wrong position, but the overall effect was better than Jack could have hoped for.

  Now they had a three-dimensional model of the island, complete with camera positions and angles.

  ‘That’s really clever,’ Lux said.

  Jack took a breath. ‘Now for the moment of truth.’ He steered the view towards the main building, over to the door which Hector had marched Slink through.

  He eased forward, through the doo
r and down the corridor. Finally he reached the main room and swung inside.

  There were only a few images in here, and they were more crudely aligned, but it was enough to get a good sense of the room.

  Jack then moved the camera view to the back wall and turned it to the left.

  There was a door.

  ‘That’s the generator room,’ Charlie said, pointing at the ghosted outline of the cables on the floor. ‘That’s where Hector expects us to break in.’

  Jack moved through the door.

  Beyond was a small room. It was dark, but high on the wall was a narrow, broken window. ‘And that’s where he wants us to get in.’

  It was weird, looking at pictures people had taken of the room months or even years before, knowing that it now held some sort of trap.

  In the images the room was empty, perhaps an old store cupboard. What had Hector put in there? Metal traps? A bomb of some kind?

  ‘How are we going to get up to that window?’ Wren said, looking at it. ‘We need Slink.’

  ‘Not sure yet.’ Jack steered the view back to the main room.

  Charlie pointed at the ghosted outlines of the computers, chairs and desk. ‘Here.’ She indicated the two cylinders. ‘Can you look behind the wall here, Jack?’

  He moved the camera view past the cylinders and glided through the right-hand wall.

  On the other side was another room. There was only one grainy image of it, but it was enough to pick up the details they needed. This room had only one door and no windows.

  ‘That’s our target,’ Charlie said, looking excited. ‘That room.’

  Jack nodded, understanding what she was getting at, and indicated the door at the other end. ‘I bet Hector has that either blocked or protected.’ He swung the view up to the top corner of the photo and could just make out a hole in the ceiling. Concrete had fallen into the room, exposing floor beams from the one above. ‘That’s our way in.’

  ‘So,’ Charlie said, ‘we have a target, but how are we going to get to it?’

  Jack pondered this a moment. ‘We’ll need to make sure we follow exact paths once we get to North Brother Island.’

  ‘That won’t be easy,’ Lux said.

  ‘I have an idea,’ Obi said to Jack. ‘Can you mark a route on the three-dimensional plan?’

  Jack nodded. ‘Sure. But how does that help us?’

  Obi looked at Charlie. ‘You can link it in with Serene’s AR Glasses?’

  They were one of Serene’s high-tech gadgets. They consisted of a small headband mounted with a camera, a screen over one eye, microphone and earpiece, and inside was a small computer – the ultimate in augmented reality and communication.

  Charlie hesitated, then smiled. ‘Of course. We can overlay the digital images on the real world.’

  ‘That’s brilliant, Obi,’ Lux said.

  Obi glanced at her and his cheeks flushed.

  Jack stood up. ‘Drake?’

  Drake walked into the room. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Any idea what Slink did with those inflatable people he got from the studio?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Drake said, smiling. ‘Why?’

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  An hour later, Jack, Charlie, Obi, Wren, Lux and Drake were on the police boat, heading towards North Brother Island.

  When they were a mile or so out, Drake idled the engine, stepped away from the wheel and turned around to face the others. ‘Are you sure this will work?’ He looked at Jack.

  ‘It’ll be fine.’ Jack glanced between Drake, Lux and Wren. ‘Are you all clear on the mission?’

  They nodded.

  ‘OK,’ Charlie said. ‘Let’s do it.’ She reached into her bag and pulled out four masks that she’d made using Serene’s 3D printer.

  Jack took one of them and stared down at it. It was an exact duplicate of Drake’s face.

  Wren shuddered. ‘That’s creepy.’

  ‘Understatement,’ Obi said.

  Jack nodded. Wren was right – it was creepy, especially with the real Drake standing right there. The detail was fantastic – all the way down to a mole on his cheek.

  Lux took a mask of Charlie, and Charlie had Lux’s.

  Drake grabbed the final mask – of Jack.

  Jack looked at Charlie. ‘You got those other two?’ he asked. She nodded.

  The four of them glanced at each other a moment, then put on their masks and lifted their hoods to hide the edges.

  To Jack, it was the weirdest feeling in the world – he was staring back at his own face. He let out a puff of air. ‘Remember to turn your face to the light as you pass the cameras,’ he said. ‘Let Hector get a good look.’

  ‘Not too good,’ Charlie said. ‘We don’t want to push our luck.’

  ‘Why don’t I get a mask?’ Obi said.

  Wren rolled her eyes. ‘We need to look like us, remember?’

  Obi shrugged and picked up a backpack. ‘I quite like the idea of being someone else now and again.’

  ‘You know what to do?’ Drake said to Jack, indicating the helm of the boat.

  ‘I think so,’ Jack said.

  ‘Push on the throttle to go forward, back to reverse and the middle is neutral.’ Drake smiled. ‘Push harder to go faster. That big circular thing – just turn it in the direction you want to go.’

  Wren giggled.

  ‘Well, err, Drake,’ Drake said in a mock British accent. ‘Please take us to North Brother Island.’

  Jack stepped to the helm. He gently pushed forward on the throttle and aimed the bow of the boat around the island.

  Charlie stood beside him. ‘I don’t get it.’

  ‘Don’t get what.’

  Charlie adjusted her mask. ‘There’s no way Hector won’t see through this.’

  ‘I know,’ Jack said, keeping his focus on the water ahead. ‘I expect Hector to realise these are masks. In fact, I’m banking on it for the mission to work.’

  The last time they’d seen Hector in London was at the top of the Shard. They’d used a friend of theirs called Raze to stand in Slink’s place. Hector had fallen for it that time, but Jack was fully aware he’d be on the lookout for tricks like that now.

  Charlie turned to him. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘No time to explain.’ Jack nodded at the island as they rounded the corner.

  A small beach loomed in the darkness. Jack eased back on the throttle and they glided to the shore. Obi, Drake, Lux and Wren stepped forward.

  As soon as the bow touched the sand, Drake jumped from the boat and helped the other three on to the island.

  ‘Remember to follow the exact path we planned,’ Jack said. ‘Don’t deviate. Any problems, let us know straight away.’

  ‘What happens if Hector comes out?’ Wren said.

  ‘He won’t,’ Jack said. ‘He wants us to go to him.’

  Drake nodded and pushed the boat back into deeper water.

  Jack put it in reverse and moved away from the island.

  Lux gave a small wave as they hurried up the path between the trees.

  After a few minutes Obi said, ‘I’m in position and patched in to Hector’s cameras. I can see everything he can. I’ll send the signal to you.’

  ‘OK.’ Jack glanced at Charlie, then opened the throttle and headed around to the other side of the island.

  When they reached it, Jack slowed the boat and looked at the display on the laptop Charlie placed in front of him. The screen was now divided into sixteen separate boxes, each showing a different view of the island, some inside and some out.

  Charlie pointed at the image showing Hector, Connor, Cloud, Monday and Slink. They were all still sitting inside the glass box.

  Hector’s gaze was fixed on one of the screens in front of him.

  ‘You were right,’ Charlie said. ‘He hasn’t ordered any of them to intercept us.’ She pulled two pairs of the AR Glasses from her bag. ‘Here.’

  Jack fitted one on over the mask of Drake’s face.

&
nbsp; Charlie put on her own pair as Jack reached over to the laptop and typed a few commands. A three-dimensional view of the island appeared on the screen.

  ‘Calibrating augmented reality,’ he said. ‘Look at the island.’

  Both of them turned their heads and the image in the devices’ screens swung around and zoomed in and out until it lined up perfectly with the real world.

  Now Jack and Charlie could see the island in three dimensions, along with the photographs Obi had collected, all overlaid in front of them. The virtual outlines were in blues and greens, with a green arrow showing their planned route.

  Jack followed it and glided the boat alongside a ramshackle pontoon that jutted out.

  Charlie hopped off and tied the bowline to part of the rotten structure.

  Jack switched off the boat’s engine and carefully climbed out after her. He reached into the boat, handed Charlie a long cylinder with a strap and grabbed a duffel bag.

  As they picked their way over the decaying timbers, Jack whispered into his headset, ‘Obi?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘We’re calibrated. Patch us in to the others.’

  ‘OK.’

  The screen image flickered, and in the bottom corner was another small window. It showed a view from Lux’s camera.

  She was hurrying after Drake and Wren. They were jogging along the wall of the main building, pretending to keep out of sight of the CCTV cameras. But Jack knew Hector would have a clear view of them and hopefully their faces too. He’d focus most of his attention on them, thinking they were the real Urban Outlaws, while Jack and Charlie, disguised as Drake and Lux, would have a little more freedom to move about.

  ‘Come on,’ Jack whispered to Charlie, and they picked their way carefully along the pontoon. When they’d made it safely ashore, Jack stopped.

  Ahead he could see the blue and green lines representing the data the drone had captured. A golden cone-shaped beam extended across a gap in the trees ahead.