The Black Hand Gang

by David Edwards

  ‘Flip, flip and flip again.’ He was pouring sweat and totally exhausted from all the adrenaline.

  Roger ran up. ‘I can’t believe you did that. It was better than James Bond!’

  He helped his hero to climb out of the seat and they both ran for the door and hid behind the barrels.

  Jack clasped Roger’s arm. ‘We did it Roger, we flipping did it.’

  ‘No Jack, you did it, that was better than fabtastic, it was out of this world.’

  The smiling boys quickly made their way back to the sleeping quarters.

  Nothing more was said between them as they collapsed into their cots and closed their eyes in exhaustion.

  It was all a dream, or more like a nasty nightmare.

  Chapter 11

  No mission is too hard

  It was one day before the end of the world we know. A safe and stable place, organised, predictable, and utterly dependent on people’s confidence in the world’s financial systems. Whether it is the banks or pension funds, the companies and the currencies, people need to be reassured that their assets are safe. Without money in some form, the modern world cannot exist. Without computers to move that money there could be no possible “world domination”. The combination of the two, made life unreal. This had made a lethal cocktail and the world was about to drink it. The Euro crash in 2011 had shaken the world and the political changes had resolved the problems but greed made people forget its lessons. The reality of “world domination” would set nation against nation, people against people as they accused one another of shattering their safe and secure existence.

  After the antics of the night before, Jack seemed remarkably fresh and energetic. All five friends were standing at the foot of the climbing wall. Timmo was on his crutches, which he was finding hard to cope with and so Roger was standing close alongside to support him. Jack was upside down hanging from a rope and feeling dizzy as the blood rushed to his head. Marshall was horizontal at 2 metres above floor level as he clung to the artificial handholds and Kit Kat was sat on the floor examining her nails as she had broken one on an earlier climb.

  ‘We have a mole’ said Jack to them all.

  ‘That’s because we are underground Bro,’ said Timmo.

  ‘You dimmo, a mole, i.e. an informer within our ranks and that can only be one person.’

  ‘Who?’ asked Kate distractedly.

  ‘Remember who seems to play the game badly but was in the UK’s top five players?’

  Roger summed it up. ‘It’s got to be Hines hasn’t it?’

  They all stared upwards apart from Timmo who queried, ‘57 varieties?’

  Jack was exasperated. ‘Hines not Heinz dimmo. Flip me you can be so thick sometimes.’

  ‘Oh! Marshall’s a spy!’ Finally, Timmo had caught on as he dumped his crutches in favour of the wheelchair.

  ‘Yes’ came a loud shout from the three friends.

  ‘No I’m not! I’m a friend not a foe.’ Marshall slowly let himself down and Jack twisted in a somersault to simultaneously land beside him.

  Jack added. ‘When I saw Brett at Outspan last night he confirmed it. It’s obvious what has happened. Someone here has been manipulating Marshall’s scores on the game.’

  ‘I always knew I was rubbish at it.’ Marshall looked crestfallen.

  Roger was quicker than the others. ‘Why would they do that?’

  ‘Brett told me that Techno is Marshall’s brother. Techno’s real name is Robert. Having his brother here makes Techno totally loyal as the gamemaster for Madam Musseine.’ Marshall was too upset to speak. His brother? Here!

  Kate had lost her mum years before but she remembered the pain. It still hurt. ‘It’s not either of their faults Jack. We should feel sorry for both Robert and Marshall Hines.’

  ‘That’s it!’ Interjected Roger. ‘You are so clever Kate!’

  ‘Am I? Why?’

  ‘Because Techno... or Robert can’t know that Marshall is his brother or we would have noticed a difference in his behaviour.’

  Kate followed the logic. ‘So MM can’t have used the info yet to bribe him, or we would have noticed how their relationship changed.’

  ‘And your point is?’ asked Jack.

  ‘My point is simple. If we reunite the brothers...well then Techno might join our side.’

  A chorus of ‘fabtastic,’ ‘cool,’ and ‘maybes,’ came from the others.

  Jack realised it was a watershed for his gang. ‘Are we going to crack this ourselves or call in the adults?’

  Roger quoted Steve Job the deceased founder of Apple, who was his hero. ‘Death is the ultimate shared destination and so we should have courage to follow our hearts and intuition.’ The others laughed. They couldn’t understand why Roger worshipped the entrepreneur who had changed the modern world but none of them ever criticised as none of them were exactly normal children. Jack loved an obscure San Francisco band called “The Ebb and Flow” and believed he could conquer the world. Timmo at 9 years old already knew more about cars, tanks and planes than Jeremy Clarkson. Marshall was a hostage and in theory, a double agent and Kit Kat had conversations with her cat between flashes of psychic insights.

  ‘Roger you are wrong about death,’ said Kate, ‘there are many places to visit before the final destination. We are going to win through and we are not going to die Mr Morbid!’

  ‘How do you know Karmic Kate?’ The others laughed at her new nickname.

  ‘Because grandma predicted it and grandma’s are always right.’ It was an easy way out for her. Pretending grandma had all the visions of the future rather than her but she was still unsure about the things she sensed more often. She grabbed Timmo’s wheelchair handles and wedged the crutches behind his back before she started to move away. ‘Come on you lot, it’s time to eat some real food for a change and to celebrate our futures.’

  ‘Real food?’ Asked Timmo turning in his chair, ‘you don’t mean normal stuff?’

  ‘Yes absolutely. Imagine I am your mum! You lot are going to the restaurant to eat a roast dinner with extra veg and Yorkshire puddings.’ They were all smiling in in anticipation as they marched out of the fun zone and headed towards some normality.

  * * *

  Deep inside, each one of the children was scared, totally out of their depth. It was only the SAS training that kept them stable and on course with their impossible mission.

  After their meal, Timmo and Marshall went in search of Techno. Jack felt it was the best combination to tackle him. Time was obviously short and they needed to find the software key but Marshall was also desperate to see his brother now he knew he was there. He pushed the wheelchair at speed as they cruised around level three.

  Timmo turned in his chair. ‘Perhaps he’s with the boss or on level two checking up on security?’

  ‘I need to see him now Timmo. Do you get it?’

  ‘I do get it Marshall, but remember he doesn’t know you, so don’t just blurt it out okay?’

  ‘”Kay”, no worries.’ They were wending their way through the fun zone for the third time when they saw him on the world series baseball game, which featured all the top countries playing across the world. Namely. America, Japan and...America. Techno swung his bat at the imaginary ball and watched it shoot into the “pixellated” crowd.’

  ‘Robert?’ Marshall grabbed his brother’s shirt sleeve. Timmo sighed under his breath, there’s nothing like a direct approach.

  ‘No my name is Techno.’ He looked away quickly. Timmo looked daggers at Marshall but to no avail.

  ‘No it aint. You’re my brother aint you?’ Techno looked into Marshall’s eyes. It was undeniable, he was his brother, flesh and blood and he loved him.

  Techno’s voice was barely a whisper, ‘mum’s here too.’

  ‘You what?’ Marshall was shocked for the second time in two hours. It was his worst nightmare.

  ‘Our mum is held on level two in room 444. She’s here as a hostage to make me obey MM.’

>   Marshall’s voice cracked. ‘Is that why they manipulated my scores to get me here? Just to add a second hostage.’

  ‘Yes and I’m sorry. It’s all my fault for falling in with The Black Hand Gang years ago.’ Techno held up his left hand. ‘I thought it was bad losing a finger but now I realise that family are more important than expendable pieces of body.’ There was a long silence. ‘Come on, I want to show you my quarters, we can talk there, I know there’s no surveillance. They followed Techno at a distance of 50 metres as there was no sense in drawing attention to themselves. At the door to his accommodation, he beckoned them in and after checking the corridor to make sure no one had seen them, he quickly closed it behind him.

  None of them had noticed Twip Twop stalking them.

  * * *

  Based on the assumption that MD day was going to happen within 24 hours, it was Techno’s idea to pull the whole group together and decide on what action to take. When he held Marshall close for the first time, he had cried. They were tears of torment after years living on the edge of reason. Genius runs parallel to madness and the new reality of his family being so close had saved him from insanity. He told everyone to meet in the fun zone and to monopolise the replicas of the Formula one racing cars at 7 pm. He knew that there were no hidden microphones or cameras in that area and the group would not be noticed with him as they raced against each other.

  The F1 cars howled like the real thing and jerked left and right as Kate, Marshall, Timmo and Roger threw them around the Suzuka circuit in Japan. Timmo was a lap ahead of the others by the time that Jack started a quiet conversation with Techno sandwiched between the replica cars. Jack knew Techno was their last chance to defeat MM, as now they were out of time. The CIA and MI6 boffins would take weeks to decipher the masses of data on the memory stick and devise some anti-virus software. Whereas the solution was here, inside the volcano.

  ‘Come on Robert, you have got to help us mate.’

  ‘Why? What can you do? They will kill my mum if I deviate one iota from MM’s plan.’

  Jack thought quickly. ‘Look we need the key and then no one, even the other geek in LA won’t be able to start the reality program. They might have 100 minds linked into the world’s financial markets but without the key, the authorities might withstand the attack. For example, they could stop all trading for 24 hours like when we had the 9-11 Al Qaeda attack.’

  ‘Okay, you’re right about the key. It’s a simple SD card. I know, as I created it. Dust proof, waterproof and nearly bomb proof, it’s that important. Her virus that makes the markets plummet, can’t be spread without it going live first but you are wrong about the 100 minds.’

  ‘Huh?

  ‘There are only 95 now!’ He smiled at Jack for the first time. ‘The key is on level four. I know where the passageway starts, that’s on level one near MM’s bedroom and then it spirals down to a cave way below us.’

  ‘Well at last we know how to get there.’

  ‘Yes, but I don’t know where the key is hidden.’

  ‘So we can try to get the key then. Yes?’

  ‘I don’t know Jack. Only MM, Biceps and Twip Twop ever go down there. Biceps or Twip Twop always have wet hair afterwards, so I guess the key is hidden in water somewhere? That could be tricky if it is very acidic or hot. There may even be guards waiting to shoot you.’

  Jack glanced around to make sure no one was listening in. ‘What’s on the key?’

  ‘The SD card has a series of encryption codes. They set off programs within the “world domination” game, which we have integrated into the real financial markets over the last few months as part of the tests. MM will upload a separate virus within a few minutes of go live.’ He paused and held Jack’s arm. ‘If I help you guys, you have to promise to help save my mum.’

  ‘It’s a deal.’ Jack shook his hand and they arranged to meet at 4 am near the lift that gave access to both levels one and two.

  * * *

  Timmo had been left behind again but this time Marshall had decided to stay with him. It was safer that way.

  As Kate, Roger and Jack stood in the lift heading up to level one, Techno scared them. ‘No one really knows what’s on level four but there have been many rumours. So beware.’ He shuddered, ‘one of her ex-henchmen said she had captured something in a subterranean passage in the bowels of the volcano. It was when she and Biceps first came to Mount Kilimanjaro ten years ago.’

  ‘Something?’ Kat gulped as she questioned him.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ said Techno. ‘The henchman was a wind up merchant, until he disappeared that is.’

  ‘So you have no idea what my boys are facing then?’ She was nervous as well as scared.

  ‘The unknown Kate. The greatest threat to sanity that a man can face.’

  ‘But Jack and Roger aren’t men!’

  ‘No and that may help them in their quest.’ The lift door opened silently and all conversation stopped. Techno led them to a small black door 50 metres away. There were no signs on it and it looked innocuous enough. He signalled them to crouch. They heard footsteps coming closer and as they remained motionless, they saw two ninjas cross the junction of the corridor about 100 metres away.

  Techno opened the door and led them through. He quietly closed it behind. ‘Ninjas. Two patrols on this side of her quarters and brainless Biceps sleeps in a small room nearby. The woman is paranoid about her security.’ He turned and started to lead the way down the narrow steps. The staircase was poorly lit and extremely steep and narrow. Two people would have had difficulty passing each other. After fifteen minutes steady descent, the stairs opened out onto the floor of a small cave, no more than 30 metres square with a low ceiling. A third of the area was a steaming pool and near the water’s edge, there were three scuba outfits resting against the wall. Each contained a wetsuit, a mask, and a large yellow tank of compressed air.

  The two boys moved away from Kate and Techno to discuss their approach.

  Roger spoke first. ‘Well old chap, tally ho and off we go hey.’ His eyes were watery and his voice quavered. ‘It’s been nice knowing you... you are my “bestest” friend Jack.’

  Jack took a deep breath and let it sigh out calmly and slowly before he replied. ‘Ditto mate. But we are coming back to Kate and Robert, I will not be beaten. I know we will return.’

  ‘How can you be so positive?’

  ‘Remember in boot camp, Sergeant Sargent said we should remember The Reason?’

  ‘’Surely you don’t believe in mumbo jumbo like that Jack?’

  ‘Billions of caring loving people around the world believe and so I am going to take all that goodness into that evil pond of blackness and let The Reason help us win through. Are you up for this or do I go alone?’ Roger rubbed his eyes with his fingers and wiped the moisture on his dirty trousers.

  ‘Let’s do it Jack. JFDI – Just Flipping Do It!’ He said it with conviction and vigorously shook Jack’s hand before they turned towards the piles of scuba gear to get ready. They started to pull the wetsuits on over their power suits.

  After they had dressed, Kit Kat came over. ‘Good luck both of you,’ she held them both in a tight hug, ‘I need you here to help us out of this hell hole.’

  Without turning back, the boys stood on the edge of the pool. They had fastened a loose piece of polypropylene rope between their weight belts to keep them together in the blackness. Clasping their hands across their facemasks, they stepped into the pool with a large splash that echoed ominously around the chamber.

  * * *

  Kate and Techno were pacing by the side of the black waters. The air bubbles from the boy’s tanks had disappeared after a few minutes and so they presumed they must be exploring a tunnel rather than carrying on straight down. Kate was standing by the remaining scuba set, contemplating whether she would have the courage to use one if they didn’t return. She had a lump in her throat when she heard Techno’s scream. The huge tentacle of a giant octopus had snaked
across the cave floor and wrapped itself lovingly around Techno’s leg.

  He screamed again. It was demented and full of fear. ‘Help me Kate! Please help me!’ She stood rooted to the spot and watched in horror as the tentacle dragged Techno closer to the pool. Glancing around her she could see no no obvious weapon to hand. ‘Help me for God’s sake!’ She thought of boot camp and The Reason, it helped her remain calm. ‘For God’s sake’, the words repeated in her head. Techno was no longer an enemy, he was their friend and Marshall’s brother. If he were dead, they would find it harder to escape. But that was a selfish thought which was quickly replaced by another selfish one. No Techno, no financial meltdown? Would the loss of his expertise force Madam Musseine to stop her attempted domination of the world? Again, she fought the thought. He was their friend. She was rooted to the spot, what took seconds to think about felt like hours. At that moment, she thought she could hear her grandma’s voice echoing through the cave.

  The words kept repeating in her mind but were far away and unreal. ‘Be yourself, be yourself Kate.’ Would did she mean? Girlie? Skippy? Then it struck her - kind, giving, loving. The very essence of Kate Shore. Techno was holding onto the rock by the side of the pool with his fingernails, she could hear them scratch across the rock as he was pulled closer to the beak of the giant octopus that had broken the surface and was snapping loudly in anticipation of eating its prey. ‘Be yourself...’ the words were louder as she leaped to her right and grasped the fire extinguisher near the door. Turning quickly, she ran to the edge of the pool and gasped in horror as Techno’s legs slid slowly into the open beak.

  ‘Oh my God, my God, do something!’ She slammed the heavy extinguisher into the yellow eye of the beast, which stopped Techno’s instant demise but also drew the octopus’s attention. A second tentacle slithered out of the black whirlpool, which had been whipped to a frenzy as the beast took its revenge for years of captivity. The tentacle slimed its way around her leg before the suckers clasped hard and made her cry with the pain. The beast commenced pulling her towards the beak to make a double snack. Man and woman, like ham and cheese, a tasty meal apart but better together. There was no noise all of a sudden, a deathly quiet. The swirl of the water and the heavy breathing from the two potential victims ominously echoed around the cave, a death knell. Kate looked at Techno and could see he had fainted. The bottom half of his legs were only loosely held in the beak. As it opened wider to take them both in a single gulp, she stared down at the extinguisher that was growing too heavy to hold for much longer. CO2, carbon dioxide and then all her school chemistry flooded back. CO2, of course.