Code Breakers Complete Series: Books 1-4 (100 page)

–
We can’t do it this way,
Petal said, hoping Gerry could hear while he battled with the server security.
 

–
Drop your attack,
he said after a few moments.
Take down the
’
droids. Leave the server to me.

After cutting the Denial of Service attack, Petal focussed her mind on the connection to the ’droids. Remembering what James had said during the war with the Red Widows, she hunted for the central routing ’droid.
 

A trace program applied to the data quickly identified a single point of reference where the orders were being sent. The lead ’droid would then use its limited AI capacity to route the instructions to the other ’droids on the network.
 

It was then she saw the pattern of the data and realised she didn’t need to decrypt the instructions at all. She just needed to divert the information and send her own orders out.

She scanned the network and found a node that wasn’t responsible for anything critical. Within the Cemprom network, a computer was setup to handle internal messaging. She scanned it for weak points and an open communications port that allowed the computer to send and receive messages.
 

–
I’ve found a way
, Petal said.
Can you hold off the server for a few more minutes?

Even as she said it, she knew he could. In fact, when she looked closer, his ghostly avatar had severed a number of the tentacles writhing out from behind the server’s firewall shield, and he was closing in on the centre of the server, his arms a blur of movement. In reality, his mind was overwhelming the security with an ever-evolving piece of code designed to infiltrate a networked computer. He had it locked in so deeply, the server would fall—it was just a matter of time.
 

–
Do it!
Gerry said.

Spinning a program that acted like a dam, Petal scrutinised the routes of traffic to and from the ’droid. The lines appeared to her like a river system, Gerry interpreting her attentions and creating the graphical overlay to make her job easier.
 

It amazed her how he could multitask so seamlessly. He was at one with the network now; she could tell from the strange hollow feeling in her mind.
 

He’d taken himself out, stretched his own mind into the system and beyond. It occurred to her then that he and Elliot were one and the same thing. She just hoped Gerry’s consciousness didn’t suffer the same fate as Elliot’s.
 

Focussing back on the job at hand, Petal spotted a main trunk in the river where the water split off. She dropped her program down into that location and watched the data crash into it. At first she thought it wouldn’t hold and the data would find another way through the network, but a second later the rivers had changed—flowing to the destination node: the messaging server.
 

Pulling back from the microview of the system, she became cognizant of the warehouse once more. The ’droid icons had turned to black, indicating they were offline. She’d done it!
 

Further into the system, she watched as Gerry ripped the last flailing tentacle from its place and threw it to the ground with the others. He approached the server and seemed to absorb into it. Gerry had won! Overwhelming the system, he’d got in. The UAV drone icons flickered before disappearing, deleted from the network. And then all became black.
 

With a harsh feedback screech, her connection via the slate cut off. For a brief moment she thought she saw Elliot, huge and all-encompassing like a black hole in space. And worse, Gerry was no longer in her mind, but trapped in the system.
 

“Gerry!” she screamed, trying to get back in via the slate, but it was futile. The slate had burned out. Nothing more than a blackened, smoking lump of plastic in her hands. She dropped it to the ground. But this time she wouldn’t let grief grip her.
 

Gerry was the Techxorcist. He knew what he was doing—even if she didn’t. She had to trust that he was capable of defending himself for now. She and the others had to reach the data-centre. With Gerry in the system, Elliot’s destruction was no longer the only mission.

Xian had shuffled to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “You okay? You hurt?”

He seemed to physically lurch back when she looked up at him. She wasn’t wearing her goggles. “They’re black, aren’t they?” she said, referring to her eyes.
 

Xian just nodded slowly, a sense of fear seeming to grip him.

“It’s okay.” She stood and took a deep breath. “This happens from time to time—they reflect my current state. Black isn’t as bad as it looks.”

Black meant that her internal code storage was empty. It meant she no longer carried Gerry inside of her. It meant that she was entirely alone; her mind was hers again, and she didn’t like it. She’d grown accustomed to Gerry being in there.
 

“Come on. We’ve got to get to Cemprom.”

She lifted her assault rifle and led Xian out of the alley. No longer could she detect the whine of the UAV drone engines. And the sound of distant gunfire had ceased. But there’d still be ronin lurking in the streets, looking for her and Enna and the others.

“Keep your eyes open, Xian.”

“Xian watching.”

Petal and Xian stalked through the empty streets of glass and steel buildings, keeping to the shadows and avoiding the glare from the various, large media screens. While they moved, Petal sent Enna a detailed message of what had happened with the ’droids, drones, and Gerry. She also found Malik’s VPN on the network and copied him in on the situation. She hoped he and his squad mates would join them at Cemprom. She didn’t exactly expect to just walk up to the place without some resistance.

Chapter 37

Malik fired and took a ’droid down with a headshot. The metallic fighter sparked before hitting the ground. Two more ’droids stood from behind one of their portable barricades, raised their weapons to his position, and... nothing.
 

Their arms dropped by their sides, their guns clattering to the ground. The thirteen other ’droids in the squad did likewise.
 

“Hold your fire!” Malik screamed. His ten security colleagues obeyed. Jasmine, one of the female officers crouched by a window next to him, gave him a glance that said, “What the hell?”

Malik waited, observed, and then to his utter surprise he watched the ’droids as one turn and walk up the street, heading for the centre of the city. They marched through the debris of their destroyed brethren. Bits of charred metal in the shape of arms and legs, heads and torsos littered the street and the sidewalk.
 

“Health check!” Malik shouted.

One by one every security officer in the building called in with a positive situation. Only one had suffered a wound, but it wasn’t fatal.
 

“Jasmine, can you rally the others downstairs? We need to regroup and make the most of this.”

Before she could stand, a crash came from outside. He peered through the gap in the boarded window and saw the fiery remnants of a UAV smashed to pieces amongst the ’droid parts. Another followed, whistling as it fell from the sky to crash to the ground.
 

“They’re like dead birds,” Jasmine said. “How could this be possible?”

Malik smiled. “It’s Gerry.”

“Who?”

He shook his head. He still couldn’t believe how he was more famous in Libertas than Gerry, the true hero of the city. Still, if he survived this, he would make sure the citizens knew all about Gerry Cardle and what he had done for them.
 

“Gerry is...” He couldn’t really explain. “It’s hard to get into now, but trust me, this looks like his work, and that’s a damned good thing for us.”

Malik pushed himself up to his single foot despite Jasmine offering to help.

He hobbled, using a crutch, down the stairs and entered the living room of the safe house.
 

The rest of the security force, and Jess, had gathered there waiting for him. They all had a ‘what the hell is happening’ look about them. It was then that his slate buzzed with an incoming message from Enna. He read it through twice. The silence seemed to take on an extra degree of tension as his colleagues waited for his address.

He was conflicted. Although the message was full of bad news with regards to Gabe and James, Petal’s return and Gerry’s success gave him hope. Without control of the UAV drones and combat ’droids, and the destruction of Samir, Fuentes only had the ronin on her side—and a number within Libertas Security and Cemprom whom she’d manipulated.
 

Either way, the odds were looking better.
 

He filled his squad in on the details, and they took on a hungry look, as though sensing the tide had turned and the momentum was on their side.
 

“What’s next?” one of the officers asked.

“We move out,” Malik replied. “Enna and the others will need our backup at Cemprom. Without the ’droids and drones, Fuentes will mostly likely concentrate her forces there, protecting Elliot’s data-centre. One way or another, that’s where this is going to be settled.”

“I’m coming with you,” Jess said, brushing her hair from her eyes. “Hajime might need my help.”

“I’m sorry,” Malik said, “but it’s too dangerous for you. Hell, it’s dangerous for all of us. There’s already been a great deal of loss. I can’t afford to put you at risk like that, Jess.”

“But, Malik, please...”

“No, Jess. You’re staying here for your own safety. In fact, that extends to any of you. None of you were ordered to be a part of this team. None of you were forced to fight against Fuentes, so I wouldn’t blame any of you if you wanted to stay behind. I’ve already seen so much bloodshed that I will not hold it against anyone if you choose to stay.”

Malik looked at each officer individually and saw his own steely determination reflected back at him. He swelled with pride and admiration. “However, I do want two volunteers to stay here and protect Jess from any rogue ronin who might wander by—at least until we’ve secured the data-centre.”
 

At first there was a reluctant murmur from the squad of people, as they were all eager to be heroes and join Malik. But then a gruff-looking male, one of the eldest of the group, put up his hand. “I’ll stay. It’ll be an honour to look after Jess.”

“I’ll stay too,” Jasmine said quickly.

At least that got a smile from Jess, even though she was clearly disappointed about not joining Malik and the rest of the squad.

“Okay, good. It seems like slate-to-slate communication is now safe since Petal and Gerry have returned. We’ll stay in touch and report back as things progress. I want you to let me know if there’s any trouble. Understand?” He addressed it to Jasmine, his attentions automatically transferring responsibility to her while he was away.
 

“Understood, sir.”

“Good. Okay, team, grab your ammo and your guns. We’ll travel on foot, sticking to the business areas for as long as possible—we can’t rule out that many of the citizens are spying for Fuentes.”

With that, the team prepared themselves. Malik had a quiet moment in the hall, thinking about everyone he had lost recently in the struggles. He used those memories as motivation to focus his mind on what had to be done. Fuentes had to die. He’d have to leave Elliot to the others, but the president, flesh and bone, was all his.

Once set, the squad joined him, and together they stepped out into the night. The dark street smouldered still with the burning carcasses of UAV drones and ’droid parts. Malik knew there was more carnage still to come.

He gripped his crutch and led his team to Cemprom’s HQ, following the ’droids stalking away further up the street. The light from the street lamps and the great, glowing media screens reflected off their tarnished metal surfaces, turning them into beacons.

Chapter 38

James stopped to gather his breath. They’d started jogging when they got to the end of the disused metro tunnel. A thin slice of light, coming from the street above, called to them, turned them into moths, urged them on.
 

“It’s here,” Enna said, reaching up to grip the metal rails of a ladder on the side of the tunnel. “The exit to street level.”

James had to give her credit. She’d navigated excellently and, despite appearing older than him and the others, had refused to slacken the pace; for most of the journey she’d actually set it, kept them driving on. Elaine came up beside James, leaning against him as she placed the Omega server to the floor.
 

“Give me a minute,” she said. “My back’s killing me.” She placed her hands on her hips and stretched and arched her back. Her spine cracked a few times. “That’s better.”
 

“You want me to take over?” Liza-Marie said, pointing to the server.

“Nah, I’m good. You’re a better shot than me; you need your hands free. I’ll be fine in a moment.”

Enna had ascended the ladder and was entering codes into the control panel attached to the round cover. Rust had colonised its underside, and the panel seemed as ancient as the lock he’d earlier hacked.