Encrypted: An Action-Packed Techno-Thriller

by Carolyn McCray

  “Epinephrine,” she said as Henderson’s eyes dilated to near-black saucers. “It’s constricting your blood vessels as we speak.” The director gasped. “And making your heart beat a hundred times harder and faster than it should.”

  He grabbed hold of a bed, trying to right himself as blood-tinged tears sprang to his eyes.

  Amanda leaned in close, taking the gun from his spasming hand. “And you might be vaccinated, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have the plague.”

  Henderson looked down at his fingernails turning black.

  “That’s right—all of your antibodies are binding to the bacteria, clogging your capillaries, and now, with your blood pressure?” Amanda explained. “It is trashing those weakened blood vessels.”

  Doubling over, Henderson hacked and hacked, spitting out blood.

  “Oh, yeah, and your lungs are a little fragile as well,” Amanda said as she got out of range.

  The man who thought he would be king of Plum Island gasped. His next breath sounded like scuba gear. His last breath sounded like a flood.

  He fell onto a cot, his dead eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

  Amanda would have thought she would have felt a twinge of something. Sadness. Remorse. But all she felt was relief.

  Grabbing as many drugs as she could, she stacked them on the crash cart and wheeled it toward the stairs. Since she had no idea if Ronnie had obtained the vaccine or if they were in fact on their way, she needed to stabilize Jennifer’s condition for as long as she could.

  Her own legs trembling, Amanda realized she might need to save some of the medication for herself.

  * * *

  Zach stopped his mad rush to the security hub as a brilliant beam of light streaked across the courtyard. Men yelled and scattered. Horses spooked and stampeded away. A section of the castle crashed down not a dozen yards from him.

  Panic filled the air of the Hidden Hand’s stronghold.

  All this, Ronnie had done. Zach wasn’t even sure how, but he knew it was her handiwork. But as much as he wished to stay and watch the guards lose their minds, he had his own work to accomplish.

  Breaking into a run, Zach hauled ass to the turret. The guards lowered their spears as Zach waved the parchment with the angelic seal at them. Without question, they let him pass. Yep, it was great to be a page.

  He took the stone steps two at a time, mainly because there was no way in hell he could take them three at a time. The staircase ended at a stout, wooden door. Two guards turned from the window, seeming startled that anyone approached. Zach again showed the parchment. One of the guards tried to take it from him.

  “No,” Zach said, pulling the scroll back. “I was told to deliver it directly to the…” Crap—what would the head of security have been called in medieval days? “Commander of the Watch.” Yah, that was it. Thank you, George R. R. Martin.

  The guards opened the ancient door into a very modern room. Even Ronnie would have been impressed. Of course, she had already hacked her way into their mainframe. She had the keys to the kingdom with the exception of one very important function.

  The auto-destruct. That one had to be done by hand, in person.

  Now, if Zach could just remember how in the hell to do it.

  * * *

  It took the laser making its way back for Ronnie to snap out of her shock. She had done it. Well, maybe not done all of it, but if their luck held at all,Quirk should be securing the vaccine on the helicopter.

  Now to rendezvous with Zach and get to that helicopter herself. Ronnie stumbled as she headed to the stairs. Francois’ body lay so still on the cold, stone roof. One of them would not be heading anywhere ever again.

  Ronnie dropped to her knees to check his pulse, even though it was way clear he was gone. Blood pooled so thickly around the body that even the storm couldn’t wash it away fast enough. She had barely known him, and for the most part he had been a pain in her ass, but she couldn’t help but feel her throat constrict as she closed his eyes.

  Francois had spent the greater part of his life trying to prevent this tragedy. He had died to protect her. To protect the world. And who would know of it? Who would know that the name Francois Loubom should be ranked right up there with Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill? No, not up there with them. Above them.

  That is, if they could actually get the vaccine the hell out of Maine and into the hands of the CDC.

  With a silent promise to remember Francois always, Ronnie rose and ran for the stairs. Zach should be in position at any moment.

  * * *

  Zach was not in position. Not by a long shot. He couldn’t remember much about the full plan. However, he did know that he was going to come in here guns blazing. Not decked out in a page’s outfit with only the Khan’s short blade.

  He should have already triggered the auto-destruct sequence and hightailing it to the rendezvous point by now. Or, in his condition, figuring out where he rendezvous point was. Of course that meant he had to subdue the room.

  Besides the commander, there were four other tech support officers in the room. Zach had only lasted this long in the room because he murmured something about waiting for a response to run back to the Captain of the Guard. Thank God they didn’t ask him what the guy’s name was. Zach’s time was running out.

  “Look!” one of the techies said pointing to a screen mainly filled with static. The only thing clear on the monitor was a bright red beam…heading straight for them. The loud cracking hum filled the air.

  Which, on the one hand was great, as the men ran, fleeing the room. On the other hand, Zach was pretty damn sure the beam wasn’t supposed to come anywhere near this room. They needed the self-destruct to blow to make sure no one followed them to Plum Island.

  Yes! That was where they were supposed to be heading. Plum Island. He couldn’t head there if he didn’t get the damned self-destruct online.

  “Did you really think it would be that easy?” a voice said from the back of the room.

  “Nothing’s been easy, Grant.”

  Zach might be a little punch-drunk, but he could never forget the voice of the man who’d betrayed not just his partner or his agency, but his country as well.

  Grant stepped from behind the bank of monitors, that shit-eating grin on his face. “What can I say? I land on my feet.”

  Sure, he did. Zach really shouldn’t be surprised that Grant was here. “The Hidden Hand must have made a lucrative offer.”

  Grant shrugged. “Actually, it was I who propositioned them.”

  “Of course you did,” Zach said as he inched the Khan’s blade from his belt.

  “Right about when I tracked you to Graceland, I thought, why? I mean, why track you down when it was pretty clear who was going to win? Sometimes you’ve just got to pick a side.”

  “Actually,” Zach said. “You kind of pick a side ahead of time, then stick with it.”

  Grant snorted. “That’s your problem, Zach, always thinking so linearly.” Zach loosened the knife, but the ex-FBI and ex-CIA agent brought up his gun. “Like I said. Linearly.” Grant cocked his head to the side. “Did you know that after the Black Death, because of the smaller work force, wages actually rose? That the plague helped spur economic prosperity and helped solidify the middle class?”

  Walking to the center of the room, Grant smiled. “The Hidden Hand has got some amazing room for career upward mobility. And, did I mention excellent health benefits?” Grant rubbed his upper arm. “A plague vaccine with each new hire. You really should read their pamphlet. It’s pretty impressive.”

  “Thanks, but no thanks,” Zach answered, praying that his ruse worked as the high- energy beam cut its way through the room. Smoke filled the air.

  “Oh, well,” Grant said as he leveled the gun. “I guess I won’t be getting that ‘refer a friend’ bonus.”

  Zach menaced with his knife, but threw a sweeping low kick. Grant awkwardly avoided the kick, but that was all the distraction Zach needed. Rush
ing forward, he knocked Grant’s gun arm to the side and sliced with the Khan’s knife. Grant screamed like the little girl he was, grabbing his side. He brought the gun around, as if that could help him.

  All those hours Grant spent training in deception, he really should have spent some time in hand-to-hand combat. Zach elbowed Grant in the wound, forcing the man to drop his guard on the left side. Zach grabbed Grant’s gun hand and forced it back around. Pulling the trigger again and again and again, Zach put three bullets in Grant’s belly.

  The man looked downright shocked as his knees gave out. Zach snatched the gun away as Grant slumped to the floor.

  “How’s that retirement plan working out?” Zach asked as he turned back to the task at hand.

  Leaning over the control keyboard—now smeared with Grant’s blood, Zach typed in his name. Ronnie was supposed to keep this specific, yet simple. The back door to the auto-detonation system opened. Then, of course, came the dreaded security question.

  Who is the leader of the Ewok nation?

  Seriously? A ray beam from outer space was about to fry his ass, and he had to remember something from Star Wars? Okay, so maybe there was some irony there, but still…

  * * *

  Ronnie rushed down the stairs still trying to get the laser under control. The damn stone castle dampened her signal then the X-ray beam itself was ionizing the atmosphere enough to really fritz the connection.

  No matter how hard she tried, the beam seemed to have a mind of its own. Basically the laser had gone rogue. Out the window, she watched the beam blink out for a moment only to appear two hundred feet to the left then back to the right. Right inside the security room. If the central mainframe was damaged, they could forget about any escape.

  She stopped on the steps and used the stone wall to help increase her keystrokes’ accuracy. It didn’t make any difference. The beam danced along the wall, gouging it, then headed out into the fields, only to come back again.

  Okay time for the beam to go beddy-bye. Ronnie typed in the override code only for the satellite to reject it. Um, not a great time for the beam to go all HAL-9000. She tried every trick in her very extensive list of tricks, but nothing worked. Then she realized why.

  Sure, the satellite’s job had been promoted as a way to knock nuclear missiles out of the sky; however, it’s higher purpose and function was to actually take out the missile silo itself. Specifically, the computer system running the silo.

  Unfortunately, the only way she could hack into the satellite’s controls so quickly was to convince the satellite that a castle in Cutler, Maine was actually a Russian missile silo in Siberia. At first, she could control the direction of the laser, but now that the satellite had locked on to the Hidden Hand’s mainframe?

  There was no keeping the satellite from the electronics hub.

  * * *

  The name of the Powerpuff Girls’ creator?

  Come on, Ronnie. It is me you built these questions for. Ask me the Kansas City Royals overall ERA or something. That he could answer.

  He typed in Groucho Marx, knowing it was wrong but hoping the next question was one he could answer.

  The screen flashed red, and then letters scrolled across. Dude. Seriously, have you listened to nothing I’ve ever said?

  Clearly, no.

  The walls vibrated as the laser chewed its way back through the castle’s thick stone.

  Okay. Last chance. What is the proper answer to this greeting… Hey, sexy.

  Zach smiled. This one he could answer.

  “Hey there, yourself,” he typed.

  The rest of the monitors went blank. The remaining screen bloomed a bright, happy green. A timer began ticking down as the laser broke through the door, aiming straight for him. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide as the air shimmered in advance of the blazing energy beam. Still, Zach wedged himself in the furthest corner.

  Then the laser stalled, sputtering. It wove right, then left. As if it were a hunting dog who’d lost its scent. Still, the beam set fire to anything it touched. Zach covered his nose with his tunic. How to get around the laser without getting crispy-fried himself?

  Inch by inch, the beam advanced on his position. Then the laser stopped, burning straight down. The floor melted away as the room thrummed with energy.

  Zach turned his face away from the blistering heat. His last thoughts were of Ronnie.

  Okay, maybe not last thoughts, as the beam suddenly lurched, buzzing away from him and the security room, making a beeline away from here. Not waiting for the laser to change its mind, Zach skirted around the now-gaping hole in the floor, Grant’s body, and made for the stairs, only… well… there weren’t any steps, at least not anymore.

  * * *

  Ronnie watched as the laser angled away from the turret and made for the southern fields. They were in luck that the Hidden Hand had planned for a lot of different attack scenarios, including a site-wide power outage. They had a generator and backup computer system in an underground bunker near the edge of the property.

  All she had to do was boot that baby up, remotely. With the main computer system going down for the auto-destruct sequence, the satellite had latched on to the next most active electronic bay. And since that computer system was busy trying to figure out the last digit of pi and the Star Wars satellite was running out of fuel, they should be set.

  That is, if they could get to the rendezvous point. Ronnie hurried down the rest of the stairs, jumping over a jagged gouge in the floor. All those hideous tapestries were now on fire, singeing down to their last thread. The only thing that kept the place from burning was the torrent of rain.

  Ronnie kept to the center of the dining hall, and then made the first right. She hit the chapel doors at a run.

  Streaks of light, from the lightning, the laser, or from those on high shone through the high, narrow stained glass windows. Windows decorated with angels of all types were each casting their own set of swirling angelic script on the floor.

  Tentatively, Ronnie stepped inside the chapel. If the symbols had been captivating at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this was…well, heavenly. She glanced up at the windows. Where were the symbols coming from? The stained glass, while beautiful in its own right, did not appear to have the pattern etched into the paint. How were the symbols appearing?

  Then she noticed thin strips of glass within the glass. Though they appeared nearly indistinguishable from the other pieces, these clearly were picking up the ultraviolet waves from the laser, splashing the symbols on the chapel’s floor.

  It made absolutely no sense, though. How could the craftsmen of the stained glass windows know there would be ultraviolet light to reveal the symbols? For a devout non-believer, Ronnie’s denial in the unknown was wavering a bit. Okay, maybe a lot.

  Especially given the message of the symbols. It would take her several hours on the computer to read them all, but their meaning was clear.

  Peace. Love. Hope.

  Ronnie’s eyes involuntarily filled with tears. Francois would have loved this place. A bastion of respite at the heart of such evil.

  She took picture after picture of the symbols. They had to be recorded, but as the laser moved further and further away, sputtering more and more, the symbols faded.

  A noise came from behind her.

  “Zach?” she asked as she turned around, her voice still filled with wonder.

  Only it wasn’t Zach at the entrance. Instead, there stood a half-burned Lino. His right side was marred by heat and radiation. His face melded into a Picasso-like visage. Lino’s skin, okay not really skin, but an oozing film glistened in the light.

  The features untouched by the laser were equally contorted. Contorted by rage. The rage kept him moving despite his body’s fatal injury.

  Ronnie backed down the aisle toward the altar. She had no weapon, and no defense as he stalked toward her.

  “Bitch,” he slurred as saliva dripped from the lipless side of his mouth.

&
nbsp; “Look around you, Lino,” Ronnie urged, pointing to the floor and the fading symbols. “Even the angels are begging you to let it go.”

  He closed his good eye against the sight, but the eye without lids must have seen what lay before him. Lino chose to ignore the message. “You will die,” he spat out, sending chunks of tissue to the floor.

  Ronnie gulped, keeping her eyes from the ground. Unfortunately, that meant looking at Lino’s ruined body. But even in ruin, he seemed intent on revenge. And Ronnie was all out of toys. She’d even take the untested fibrillator, but it was back on the helicopter.

  And where in the hell was Zach?

  * * *

  Zach’s foot slipped. His fingers dug into the tiny cracks in the stone wall. His foot fished in thin air, then found a purchase. He hissed out a breath. Glancing beneath him, the ground was still too far down to jump and take his chances on a good roll.

  Given the state of panic and disarray below in the courtyard, there wasn’t going to be any help soon. Some were fleeing, while others stuck to their posts, trying to put out the myriad of fires that the laser had started, while others were combatting flooding. He hated to tell them that in about two minutes, none of any of their efforts would matter. The entire complex would be blown sky-high.

  Yeah, that kind of thinking wasn’t going to get him off this turret any faster. Taking in another breath, Zach edged his way to a window ledge. He glanced in, but the room was blown out. No way down there. Nope, he had to make it down the sheer drop. Just another fifty of these holds on the way down, and he’d be good to go. Somehow, that did not make him feel any better.

  After another slip, Zach righted himself.