"What are you doing?" Lucy sounded panicked as she tried to reach for it.
He stopped and looked at her. "You have to trust me."
After a hesitant pause, she pressed her lips together, stepped back, and let him do his thing. Taking it into the kitchen, he pulled out a small tool kit from the drawer beneath the telephone.
"Here, let me." Jaeda took the tiny flathead screwdriver from his hand and gently began to pry at the tongs of the setting.
"Damn, your dad knew what he was doing." Elliot drew Lucy's attention away from Jaeda's dismantling project.
She slid up beside Alex and looked over the computer whiz's shoulder.
"Woah, the encryption used here is something new, something awesome. Not sure if I can break this thing without some serious firepower. May need to grab some time on Tianhe-2. Chinese are going to love me again." Elliot bent his head low over the screen and went to work.
"Do you think that's why Tenner kept the computer? Do you think he's spent all this time trying to hack into her dad's stuff?" Zach asked while keeping his eye on Jaeda's movements.
"It's a good theory." Alex stood back, crossing his arms. "I mean it's not like he could take it to anyone. He can't risk anyone seeing what might be revealed."
Elliot grunted, a deep frown marking his features. "It's not working. Maybe I could try—"
"Hey is that a memory stick?" Alex interrupted, reaching over Elliot and pushing some files aside. Lifting up the little black device, he studied it with a growing frown. "Maybe not."
"Let me look." Elliot practically snatched it from him, running his fingers over the hard plastic casing and spinning it in his hands. "It's not like any flash drive I've seen before." He squinted at it then grinned. "Ah-ha." Elliot slid his finger up the side and one click later, a flash of silver popped from the end.
Elliot slotted it into the computer and stared at the screen. After a moment his expectant stare became a confused frown. "Where is it?" He pressed a few more keys and flicked the mouse around. "There's no icon. It's not in the main..."
"What are you talking about?" Lucy leaned against the table, frustrated.
"The computer's not reading the flash drive...like it's dead or something." He pulled it out of the machine, blowing on the end before trying again.
Nothing.
"That's just weird." Elliot tapped the end of the memory stick. "I mean, I get not being able to open the files, but for the computer not to register the presence of an external device at all seems odd."
"Got it!"
Jaeda's triumphant call made them all turn back to the kitchen. Her eyes were practically glowing as she gently placed the casing on the counter and walked towards them with the jewel.
Lucy's breath hitched.
Within the back of the emerald was a perfectly cut indentation and within that lay a green square that looked a little like a SIM card, except it wasn't.
"Is that a computer chip?" Zach held out his hand so Jaeda could tip it into his palm.
Elliot lurched from his seat and peered over Lucy's shoulder. "No, that's a micro board." He nudged Lucy aside to get a better look. "At least I think it is."
It was ridiculously tiny. Elliot pressed his finger onto it and picked it up, holding it close to his nose.
"Look at the circuitry pattern. I've never seen anything like it." Elliot's words were breathy, his eyes glimmering with awe. "This is...I've never seen...This is incredible technology...I..."
"How does it work, Elliot?" Jaeda practically snapped as she crossed her arms.
"Well, it must fit into..." His eyes grew wide as he spun back to the computer. Yanking out the mysterious flash drive, he examined the edges more closely. Finally his mouth lifted with a small smile.
"Zachy-boy, you got some tweezers?"
Without a word, Zach stepped back into the kitchen, wrenching open the first aid kit and pulling out a pair of tweezers.
Everyone held their breath as Elliot gently lifted the chip from his fingertip and fed it into a tiny slot on the end of the memory stick.
"Cross your fingers, people." He let out a breath as he sat down in the chair and slotted the flash drive into the computer with a slight reverence.
Chapter 28
ZACH
It felt like an eternity before the icon for an exterior flash drive finally popped onto the screen.
"There it is!" Jaeda pointed at the screen as she jumped onto her tiptoes.
"Yeah, I see it Jae." Elliot double-clicked the icon. The computer screen flickered, made a whirring sound and then went dead. "What? No!" Elliot tapped the side of the screen. "Don't die on me. Oh man, please say I haven't wiped the hard drive," he groaned. He was just reaching to restart the computer when it burped with a musical sounding beep and a wheel started spinning on the screen.
Elliot drew his hands back, his eyes wide as he watched the screen turn white and then flicker to life.
The desktop reappeared just how it had been before.