The Codex File (2012) (45 page)

If Brown’s plan was to get his own life back by bringing down UKCitizensNet, then he probably didn’t need him anymore. They were now inside SemComNet and had received help from R.I.G over the app. In many ways wasn’t he now expendable? And if so, he could easily have let the Doberman rip him to shreds.

Had his paranoia and obsession with Vincent Trevellion clouded his judgement?

He turned and watched as Brown replaced the cover to the tunnel and began to head back in their direction. They really needed to get out of such a public spot and into the building.

As silently as they could the four men quickly reached the edge of the building, moving rapidly along the side of the premises. Simon had spotted a door about 100 yards to the left. As they reached the door, all gasping for breath, Brown slipped a small oblong console from his pocket. A tiny screen glinted in the middle of it.

Michael watched as he slipped a card out of the side of the console, a little smaller than a credit card. On the door in front of them he noticed a raised area intended for security card access to the building.

Ben watched anxiously as Brown placed the tiny card into the card holder on the door before typing in a series of commands on the console.

“
We’ve been fiddling with the configuration of this over the last couple of days. SemComNet will be changing their access codes every 12 hours, probably every 8 hours to coincide with their staff’s shift patterns. We had to adjust our algorithms a little to cater for this.”

Michael raised a quizzical eyebrow, barely understanding what Ben was talking about. So long as this device could find the necessary security code and give them access to the building he couldn’t care less about algorithms or shift patterns.

In the quiet of the night the sound of the door clicking as the security code was accepted seemed to echo throughout the grounds. In the distance they all heard the sound of one of the many Doberman security dogs barking. Was this one of the security guards and his other dog looking for his mate that Brown had just killed? After all, Digger had told them the security guards were traveling round with two Doberman’s at a time. Or was it sufficiently far away for it to be coincidental? They all hoped so.

Turning the handle slowly the door swung silently opened and the four men slipped inside the building before the sound of the dogs could get any nearer.

As the door closed the four men realised they were in some form of storage room. All around the walls were boxes piled high with monitors, servers, and numerous cupboards. At the far end of the room was a further door.

Approaching the exit Michael listened intently for a few moments before turning the handle. He couldn’t hear anything. And as light streamed into the room his gaze fell upon a quiet, pristine white corridor. Deserted in both directions.

Scanning the corridor he reflected on their plan. If they could get to a computer inside the SemComNet firewall they would have access to both the UKCitizensNet infrastructure and to Vincent Trevellion’s location on the network. And then his precious IP address.

The three others all agreed SemComNet’s attention would be focused on protecting their network from outside attacks. By the time they realised any threat was coming from inside the network it would be too late. The damage would be done. He just hoped they were right.

But before that, they had to find a room with a computer linked to the network. How easy would that be?

“
Well, this part of the building looks deserted,” he said finally after watching the corridor for a full two minutes. There were no security guards. No staff working the late shift. And most importantly no visible intrusive CCTV cameras monitoring the corridor.

Moving out into the long white corridor, which felt like a hospital but without the smell of disinfectant, the four men began their search for a SemComNet computer linked to the network.

The first two rooms they came to were similar storage rooms, containing nothing useful to them. Michael could feel his anxiety rising as they got nearer and nearer to the double doors at the end of the corridor. Who knew what was beyond there? Was that were the night shift were based? Or where the security guards were currently patrolling?

In the corridor they were currently roaming there was only one room left to investigate.

As the door swung open and Michael flicked the light switch, feeling his pulse quicken. In front of him was a suite of computers, surrounded by various papers and folder, and clearly in active use within the company.

“
This looks like an R&D lab to me,” Simon commented, taking a quick sweep of the room, investigating computers, equipment and files as he went.

Closing the door behind them Michael watched as Brown and Ben sat down at the nearest machine. All the computers were turned on, an indication of the 24-hour shift patterns of SemComNet, but not logged on to the company’s internal system.

“
Give me a few seconds and I’ll get past the security logon,” Ben said confidently as Michael eyed the door carefully, listening for any sound of footsteps in the corridor beyond.

“
I’ve always wondered what the inside of SemComNet looked like,” Simon said, pacing nervously about the room. “As much from a personal point of view because of Vincent as opposed to my own views on what they do here. It’s ironic isn’t it? Universities are trying to push the ideas of sharing knowledge yet work in cramped, relatively archaic conditions. Whereas companies controlling the information flow and infringing civil liberties have multi-billion dollar budgets and reek of wealth. There’s something wrong with a system like that.”

“
We’re in,” Ben interrupted excitedly as attention turned back to the monitor.

The four men watched expectantly as the screen booted up into the internal SemComNet system, providing various options organised by job role: analyst, contributor, editor, super-user, technical support.

Selecting ‘technical support’ the next information screen presented a range of technical options beyond Michael’s comprehension.

“
With a few clever shortcuts this should take us right to the kernel of the system, giving us access to UKCitizensNet’s infrastructure - the ideal place to drop off our present. Where’s the flash drive?”

Ben really seemed to be enjoying what he was doing Michael thought as Brown produced the all important drive from his pocket that stored the crucial app. Despite the dangers, it wasn’t every day the R.I.G had direct access within UKCitizensNet. He only hoped their plan worked.

Sliding the flash drive into one of the USB ports on the front of the computer they all watched expectantly as Ben entered various commands into the machine. Michael didn’t understand or care what was actually happening so long as they lay the app into the system. Every second brought him nearer to avenging Colette and Clare’s death.

Ben exhaled loudly, sitting back heavily in his chair, suddenly aware of the magnitude of what he had just done.

“
OK, the app’s within the system. We just need to find relevant IP addresses now to direct the app to. This may take a few minutes.”

“
Make sure Vincent Trevellion’s the first you find,” Michael said firmly, casting a sideways glance at Simon who didn’t say a word.

But before Ben could respond the entire wing of the building was suddenly filled with the deafening sound of an alarm going off. Michael could feel his eardrums beginning to throb from the force of the sound.

Had they discovered one of the security dogs was missing? They couldn’t surely have found the body. Brown had closed up the hole to prevent that.

As his pulse raced none of the men moved as the sound of heavy boots running into the corridor punctuated the sound of the alarm. Michael could feel sweat beginning to break on his brow as the sound moved past the lab before stopping. The four men looked at each other. Fear etched on their faces. No-one able to move.

With a further deafening crash Michael jumped back as the door imploded into the room, damaged from the thunderous force of the butt of a semi-automatic rifle pounding into the structure. Within seconds the room was filled by four armed security guards. Weapons were raised. Fingers threateningly poised on the triggers.

“
Get on the fucking floor, hands on your head,” the leading security guard barked.

Without thinking, and with memories of the men in black from the campus firmly fixed in their minds, the men dropped obediently to the floor.

As Michael lay prostrated, his hands clamped to the top of his head, the alarm finally stopped. The sound of footsteps tapping up the corridor, heading for the lab, filled the air. A pair of polished, expensive looking black shoes appeared in his vision.

Turning his gaze upwards he looked straight into the eyes of Vincent Trevellion who was looking down impassively at where they all lay. Despite the calmness Michael felt sure he could detect the slightest sign of satisfaction cross Trevellion’s sombre features.

As the anger welled up inside him from being in such proximity to Trevellion he became aware of the sound of further footsteps. But these weren’t coming from the corridor. These were from inside the lab itself. Michael watched in disbelief as Brown appeared alongside Trevellion. His hands weren’t raised or on his head. And he wasn’t under arrest.

“
Good to see you’re in one piece, John,” Trevellion said knowingly.

“
I’m glad I’m still in one piece. There were occasions when that didn’t seem likely.”

“
We had to ensure neither Tate nor his men knew you were involved otherwise their attempts to catch you and the others wouldn’t have looked genuine.”

Brown nodded, a malevolent smile crossing his face.

Casting a look across the three men lying on the cold floor Trevellion’s gaze came to rest on his brother. Michael watched for a moment, expecting some sort of reaction or sense of surprise. But instead all he saw was the merest hint of disgust, even loathing. A terrible thought struck him. Trevellion already knew about his brother’s involvement.

“
So, did everything go as planned?” Trevellion asked calmly.

“
Signed, sealed and delivered,” Brown grinned, looking down contemptuously at Michael.

Michael could feel raw, undiluted anger, rising. The knot in his stomach tightening at this betrayal. But before he could scream his fury he drifted into instant unconsciousness as Brown’s boot thudded heavily into the side of his head.

24
^th
June 2010

The pile of presents sat on the coffee table in the middle of the lounge. A delicately arranged tower Clare had constructed, a glittery silver bow perched on top that she’d kept especially for this day.

Michael smiled as he watched his daughter carefully arrange and rearrange the presents, making sure they looked as impressively tall as possible. If ever there was any doubt Clare was Colette’s daughter then this should be proof enough. Nevermind DNA testing, her attention to detail was second only to her mother. Although he wondered for how much longer as she turned gifts over, repositioning them to make the mountain on the table look even more special.

Finally, taking a step back, having moved the silver bow once more, she turned to him.

“
There. Now it’s perfect,” she said finally, admiring her handiwork.

Michael stroked her blonde hair gently, nodding approvingly. There was only one thing missing from the birthday celebrations. Colette.

“
When is mummy going to open her presents?” Clare asked, not for the first time that morning.

Looking at his watch, Michael shook his head, still smiling at his daughter.

“
Soon, I’m sure. Mummy has to finish some work first which is very important otherwise her nasty boss won’t be happy on Monday.”

Clare’s expression dropped a little and she sucked her lips in slightly as she thought about the horrible man making her mummy work on a Saturday. But not just any Saturday. This was her mummy’s birthday.

“
In the meantime, though,” Michael continued, lightening the atmosphere, “you can finish off your birthday surprise, can’t you?”

Clare nodded enthusiastically, skipping in the direction of the dining room and kitchen. And in a second she was gone, her determination to make the day special reinforced.

Looking back at the tower of presents Michael sighed inwardly, gazing at the gold clock on their dark wood mantelpiece. The time was approaching midday and Colette had been stuck at her computer working since before 8am. On her birthday.

The insurance brokers he worked for were demanding, and long hours were sometimes part of the job. But it didn’t compare with what Colette had to endure, particularly recently. SW Technologies certainly got their money out of her. Whether it was long hours at the office, or at home, or nights and days away at various events or meetings. Her workload was immense and she worked all the hours she could.

But despite the pressures on her she always found time for him, and most importantly Clare. It was a sign of the strength of both their marriage and her bond with their daughter. Never once had her work put a strain on their relationship. Somehow she managed to balance being a mother, a wife and a highly successful career woman. He really didn’t know how she did it. But it was one of the many things he loved about her.