“Like I said, you’re coming with me. You’ve caused quite a fuss. You’re very lucky someone has deemed you vital, otherwise our visit would have been much different.”
“Someone has deemed me vital you say? I will come back, but I need to drop off Sarafina. She definitely is not coming back with me.”
“Didn’t you just hear me? You’re coming with me now, she can stay here if you’d like. I don’t want to have to make this unpleasant.”
“Don’t forget, I’m vital. I’ll get ready, but Mrs. Sullivan better not be wasting my time. She isn’t the only one that has demands.”
He shut the door calmly this time and turned to an inquisitive Sarafina, sitting up in bed, waiting for an explanation.
“Leo, are you kidding me? They tracked us here somehow? That’s nuts. What fuss is he referring to? I thought everything went smooth in there.”
“It did until Fox One decided to shoot someone. I guaranteed myself a return trip. I had to make sure I got what I came for. When they plugged in their precious tablet it uploaded a shutdown virus into their system.”
Sarafina put her hand to her face, surprised. “I wouldn’t return there if you paid me. Are you sure you want to go back?”
“I don’t really have a choice. I didn’t expect them to approach me so soon. I have to get back the e-Frond data anyway, and a little insurance for the road.”
Leo smiled as he said this and slipped on his shoes. “Will you be ok until I get back?”
“Yes. Besides, I don’t think you have a choice.”
He snatched the thumb drive sticking out from his laptop and tucked it under the waistband of his jeans.
“I know. I’ll get back as soon as I can.”
He reached for the doorknob and Sarafina’s voice stopped him before opening it.
“Hey Leo, don’t do anything stupid now. I don’t want to be stranded here cowboy.”
She wanted to hug him before he left but her hip was so painful. She threw the covers over her head and worked on going back to sleep. Leo took a deep breath and opened the door to a grumpy Fox One.
“All right, let’s get this over with. I have classes to study for.”
They both walked out and got into their vehicles. Leo led while Fox One in a white Camaro, followed closely behind. They were almost to the dirt turn off when Fox One sped around Leo and motioned for him to pull over. The Phantom exited his vehicle and approached Leo’s Vette.
“Find a place to park; we go in my vehicle from here.”
“I already know the location. What’s the difference?”
“Park your car and get in my vehicle!” Fox One tersely said, making a gesture toward his hip at his holstered weapon.
“I’ll park. Just take it easy, we both know you’re not going to be using that. So why are we carpooling?”
“Mrs. Sullivan wishes for your presence there to be unknown. And by the way I only have a do not kill order not a do not harm.”
Fox One smiled as Leo parked his car. Leo found the Phantom’s passenger door locked and Fox One motioned for him to get in the back. Once inside, he shut the door and noticed he was not able to see out any of the windows as well as the glass partition between the front and back seats. He did not like this feeling. He wished to finish this business and get back to his Sarafina.
The ride seemed long, but he had no reference point to go by. The car finally came to a halt and Leo pulled on the door handle. It was locked. That figures. Fox One opened the back door and Leo anxious to get out, exited quickly. Now inside, it was very dark. It appeared to be a garage, but he could not make out any details.
“Put this on,” Fox One said as he held out hand full of black fabric.
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“Just put it on. Mrs. Sullivan’s internal security will take over from here.”
Leo reluctantly pulled the black cloth over his head, feeling like he was being led to his execution. The cloth was permeable, but lack of sight and the heat of his breath made his head sweaty causing his hair to stick to his temples and forehead. Someone took his arm and guided him forward.
He assumed it was the British Butler who had pointed him to the library on the previous two occasions.
The man patted Leo down and they paused for a moment, until he heard the clank of metal object in front of him. He was led forward and standing still now, he could not piece all of this together.
“You’re on your own now, follow every rule she tells you,” the man said.
It was not apparent where he was until he felt the sway and slight nausea; a freight elevator lowered him down. He traveled quite some distance before it dawned on him he could remove his shroud and study his surroundings.
Removal of the cloth did little in terms of identifying where he was headed. The lift he was in was a stark black metal box. No markings existed, no buttons for floor destinations and no emergency phone. The walls appeared to be metal and the lighting a green glow from above, the source concealed. A single fan mounted on the ceiling circulated the increasingly chilly air.
The lift began to slow. He felt the decrease in speed in the pit of his stomach. As it jolted to a stop, Leo’s legs bent at the knees nearly causing his legs to fold. Leo waited for something to happen and he cupped his ears to shield the loud sound coming from outside the lift. It sounded like a generator.
He leaned against the lift’s wall and as he did, the door rolled back into the space covering the ceiling, which eliminated the green glow. Large stainless-steel gear cogs framed the door opening and the room in front of him appeared round. Tiny white lights rimmed the perimeter and glimmered off the highly reflective surfaces.
Leo waited at the edge of the opening. He wanted to obey the instructions given by the Brit, but as time passed, those rules faded. What would be wrong with stepping into the room? Leo stepped between two massive cogs sticking out of the floor and walked into the room.
A low ping sounded out and the lift door closed and ascended out of sight, leaving a gaping hole with gears around it that resembled an open mouth. Leo then heard a clickity clack sound as a smaller gear swung from the wall and fit snuggly into the larger one.
The opening was now gone, but the clickity clack sound continued as pins could be heard popping into place in a counter clockwise fashion. Leo worried that his exiting had triggered this sequence. The larger stainless-steel gears reminded him of a bank vault and the room seemed like a tomb.
He recognized Mrs. Sullivan’s voice as she said, “I believe he said follow everything I say.” Leo stepped farther into the space, looking all around him in search of her or her hologram image. “I wasn’t planning on closing you in but now you’ve gone and let the backup systems take over.”
There was a pause then she continued. “There are no remote devices, only you can let yourself out now. You will learn to follow instructions eventually. The only way to fix it is for you to input code to counteract your virus. This is a one-way interaction. Once you isolate the virus code, we will extract it ourselves. I hope you remember your code. Good luck.”
Her voice faded, and Leo was alone in the room once again.
“Whatever, lady. I better get what I came for too,” Leo muttered.
“You will,” she said. “And I can hear everything you say.”
Leo wondered how he would access anything from this location. She just said there is no remote link. A metal shelf extended from the wall and the steel above was illuminated, revealing a screen with a word processing program already pulled up. A metal seat rose up and Leo sat down. The shelf contained a keyboard and mouse and Leo got to work.
He knew how to fix what he had done but he wanted a few free minutes in the system. He knew there would be blocks and clearances required. He would, however, be able to have the system load up how it was before the crash. And, he hoped the archives still might be loaded to the geology book she had shown him. He wanted to poke around and see what they wanted him to decode yeste
rday.
First, he had to determine if they had eyes or just ears on him. He did not want Mrs. Sullivan or her Butler to know what he would be doing. Leo stood up and began to run around the room and pound on the walls. He hoped to make a scene and cause her to respond if she could see him. The reverberation from the pounding died out as Mrs. Sullivan’s voice came over the speaker.
“Leo what is that racket? It sounds like a thunder storm.”
Acting furious, “What racket are you talking about?”
“Never mind just let us know when you’ve completed your work.”
“Well wouldn’t you know when I complete it? It will bring all the systems online, right,” Leo asked.
“Well…Yes. Of course, How silly of me. Proceed.”
“I hope you know I’m not going to input anything until the gears are moved and the elevator is returned. I’m not stupid and I’m not going to be trapped down here in your dungeon.”
“A prison? I never thought of it like that, but like I told you I’m not in control until you complete your work here. Your hasty departure caused our backup systems to lock down your location. Only our main system can reverse that, and you decommissioned it. Fix the system and you’re free to leave. It’s in your hands now.”
Unable to hold his frustration, Leo sat down and slammed his fists down on the shelf, rattling the keyboard.
“Damn it!”
Leo knew they held all the cards now and worse he was dependent on them to release him from this vault. Confident no cameras were capturing him, Leo went to work. He typed away, but instead of working on the systems fix, he worked on another line of code. This code would be his ace in the hole if they tried to double-cross him or leave him in this dungeon.
It took him only thirty minutes to create the code. The stark quiet room and urgency made him feel rushed. After he finished the coding, he reached into his waistband and took out the thumb drive, plunging it into the terminal on the shelf. He saved the file onto the drive and left it plugged in. As he worked on the second code, Mrs. Sullivan’s voice broke the chatter of the keyboard clacking under Leo’s fingers.
“How are things coming along, Leo?”
“Peachy. Other than being trapped in this tin can.”
“I reassure you this wasn’t my idea. You triggered the backup system, and capturing your e-Frond data wasn’t my doing either. I want the air to be clear between us. I would love to work with you in the future and as I said previously, you have and will be rewarded.”
“Yeah right, we’ll see about that. I’m almost done. Once we square this away, I am going to hit the road.”
Leo had finished both codes and was now initiating a boot from memory to his terminal only. He hoped the system recall from yesterday would give him a snap shot of the book’s codes. If he could complete the sequence, it would let him see what material they were having him decode.
The screen flashed after the boot sequence and Leo looked over his shoulder, nervous Mrs. Sullivan might see what he is looking at. No response over the speaker made him confident they were not looking on.
He studied the screen, relieved the archive had pulled up what they had looked at yesterday in the library and soon became confident he knew the solution. Leo typed what he thought was the solution and then stood up.
He paced back and forth his hands clasped behind his head, taking a moment to decide if he should complete the code. He wondered what trouble he may be getting into and what sort of data or mapping they could possibly have. How would a non-industrial company have precious data on raw natural materials?
He sat back down and thought a few moments longer playing out advantages and disadvantages in his mind. He shrugged his shoulders. Curiosity killed the cat, but I have more life to live. He swiveled, turned to the keyboard and pressed enter.
Chapter 36
Stratus eased off the gas as he pulled off the expressway. He let the Porsche Carrera wind down, got in the left-hand turn lane, and pointed his car toward a small Pennsylvania Town. He turned onto the back roads and immediately felt constricted. The speed limit was 40 mph, but he had the thrill of the hunt to satiate his desires.
He knew his car would attract attention, so he wanted to be quick about things. He pulled into the Bed and Breakfast parking lot, noticing very few cars in place. He was alarmed Leo’s Corvette was not present.
Stratus quickly parked, exited and pushed opened the doors to the lobby. He was immediately hit with the smell of breakfast. Stratus took a deep breath and relaxed. He was slightly overdressed in this crowd, but the guests were only concerned with gathering their food. The lobby was free of anyone within earshot; the young woman behind the counter noticed him and immediately put on a smile.
“Good morning, sir. Breakfast is help yourself, it’s over that way.” She pointed in the direction of the buffet. “Take as much as you’d like, we just ask that you sit in the dining area.”
Stratus looked to the food buffet then faced her again.
The receptionist sensing something was off, tried to comfort him, “Sir, are we out of something, I can refill whatever we’re short of.”
“No everything is fine ma’am I just need to check a few things if you don’t mind.”
He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his wallet. The clear window flopped down revealing some sort of identification and the woman became rigid.
“What may I do for you sir?”
“Well it’s just a routine check. We do have a red-flagged item for some unusual financial activity. More than anything, we just want to be sure everything is ok. Where are your security cameras located, ma’am? I’d like to see them for a moment if you don’t mind.”
“Well, if it’s financial that you’re concerned with, I can look that up on the computer.”
“No ma’am the security cameras will do fine. Like I said, it’s routine. If you just give me a few moments, I’ll be out of your hair and on my way.”
The receptionist seemed distrusting. Even with the seriousness of the ID, she was still hesitant to let him back to the security area. She lifted the hand set of the counter phone while speaking to him.
“Okay. I’ll just run this by my manager really quick.”
“Ma’am this will only take a moment. No need to rouse your manager from their sleep. Like I said, it’s routine. I’m only requesting the last ten hours, mainly eight o’clock yesterday to ten o’clock this morning.”
Stratus gave her a smile, his firm yet comforting tone, clean cut appearance, and shiny glowing white teeth won her over. She put the phone back and smiled.
“All right, sir, come with me it’s just down the hall.”
He watched her exit the safety of the front counter and he met her in the hallway. He followed her down the short hallway, arriving at a door. Once again, she smiled, pulled out her key card and unlocked the door.
She extended her hand, welcoming him into the small room containing the security cameras. To his surprise and relief, no security guards sat at the desk. He would be able to check out the footage without anyone else knowing. He would make it quick and be on his way.
He put his hand on her shoulder as he entered the room and said, “Thank you very much Mrs…Phelps,” as he read her name badge.
He stared at her momentarily before sitting down. She stood outside with the door still open.
Wanting her gone, he smiled and said, “Thank you very much ma’am.”
Mrs. Phelps took the hint and walked off back to the lobby sensing he required a little bit of privacy while he viewed the tapes. Stratus began scanning the footage for Leonard. He wanted to see if he was alone. The tape re-wound and he was soon watching the footage from the night before. He saw two people come in and he paused the tape, then pressed play and watched the two individuals walking into the lobby.
One is a young man with blonde hair, the other a woman her hair appearing frazzled and what seemed to be some sort of scrape along one side of her face. Stratus
recalled Leo’s picture from his banking card and he immediately identified the man as Krueger. The woman unknown. The way the two came in indicated to him that they were together.
Seeing as Leo’s car was not there, he wanted to see why Krueger left so early. It took him a minute, but he finally located the camera outside the exit door of the B&B.
He rewound the tape a few hours and came upon the video from just a half hour ago. He spotted a stout man with very rigid posture walking to a room. To him it seemed like the man is someone in security, perhaps military.
A short time later Krueger and this man came into view. He could not identify the man’s face, but he now had him on camera.
He was able to move the file onto the hard disk, copying it, putting in his thumb drive and downloading the entire set of events. He would analyze it later; he just had to figure out how to search for information without his superiors knowing.
He continued to view the tape, it showed two cars exiting, Mr. Krueger in a Corvette. The unidentified guest in a white sedan, with Leo’s car leading the way. Stratus scratched his head, What is going on? It’s possible they could be friends. He needed to know for sure. Where are they headed? The only clue he had was they headed west. He made sure there was no way of tracing his activities and exited the room.
He was not ready to let this lead go cold yet. He considered questioning the woman that was left behind, thinking she might leak insider information about the possible financials of Mr. Krueger. His superior’s requests came back to him, and realized that would be foolish, he need to remain out of sight.
Stratus drove off and not far from there, found himself in the open countryside. Picket fences, cows, and large bales of hay scattered across the vast green fields. He began to think about his upcoming task. He did not have any idea where they had gone.
Dawn of Tomorrow Page 16