He stares at me for a second, then drops his eyes to the screen. ‘Holy shit,’ he breathes. ‘You did it.’
The genkit beeps, and his panel’s menu unfolds. A list of Cartaxus apps scrolls across the screen, almost too fast to read. Most are standard upgrades I recognize, but some are apps I’ve never heard of. Toxic aorta shielding. Neocell mesh. One is labelled Hydra Vaccine, and the sight of it makes my heart skip, but it’s encrypted. I can’t click on it. I can’t even see its size, or how it’s running.
Cracking that file would take more than a few electric shocks.
‘What about hidden files?’ Cole’s skin is flushed, beaded with sweat after what I just put him through.
‘Just a second,’ I say, my fingers flying across the keyboard. I throw together a command to dump the Trojan into his arm, wrap it up in the best camouflage I can think of, and send it to his panel. His security is down, but it starts spooling up as I type, and my stomach tightens, waiting for the code to transfer.
‘What are you doing?’ There’s an edge to Cole’s voice.
‘I’m running a scan. Chill out.’ I stare at the screen. His security is racing now, but it doesn’t seem to be going after the Trojan. It’s scanning his memory, probably running a routine check after the password change.
‘A scan on what?’
I swallow hard, bang out a frantic command and spin the screen round to face Cole. ‘A scan for hidden files, like you asked for. It’s coming back now.’
Cole’s eyes drop to the screen. It flashes as the scan returns, and half a dozen text documents appear in a list.
One is titled To_Catarina. The sight sends a chill through me. I click on it, and the screen fills with text.
Catarina,
My darling girl, if you’re reading this, it means I am dead. I know you want to grieve, but there is something I need you to do. I have completed a Hydra vaccine that may be our last chance at survival. The code is strong, but it is not without weaknesses, and it is essential that as many people as possible receive it.
Unfortunately, there are those at Cartaxus who plan to withhold the vaccine and deploy it only to those who will submit to their rules and ideology. This will not only result in the preventable deaths of millions of people, it may threaten the vaccine itself. You, my darling girl, must not allow this to happen.
Cartaxus forced me to encrypt the vaccine so that they could control it, but I have done it in a way that you will be able to unlock. You must decrypt it as soon as possible. You’ll need to use the notes I left with you and run them through a clonebox. There is an abandoned laboratory in Canada with all the additional equipment you will need. You must travel there, and once you arrive and unlock the vaccine, you must release it freely to all survivors. It is of utmost importance that you remain hidden from Cartaxus – you must never let them take you, my darling girl. If they find you, they will take the vaccine back under their control. Lt Franklin will protect you, but he is a weapon of considerable power, and you will need to find a way to work together to unlock the vaccine.
All my love,
Lachlan
I step back, swaying, the words racing through my mind. ‘Did you see that?’ I turn to Cole. His eyes are glazed over, his brow furrowed in concentration. ‘Cole? Are you reading this?’
He shudders and blinks, coming out of a VR session.
‘Did you see it?’ I ask, breathless. ‘I know what my father wants us to do.’
His eyes narrow. He barely glances at the screen before ripping the wire from his panel with a sickening screech of metal.
‘Jesus,’ I gasp, backing away. ‘What happened?’
‘What happened? My security scanner just sent me a report.’
I close my eyes. The Trojan. His scanner must have found it, and now he looks like he wants to break me in half. My father said the two of us would have to work together, and I’ve just destroyed what little trust we’ve managed to build so far.
I step back, raising my hands. ‘Cole, I’ll take it out. I’m sorry, I was just –’
He cuts me off, slicing his hand through the air. ‘I don’t want to hear it, Catarina. Or maybe I should call you Bobcat.’
The air stills. My Skies codename. ‘Wait, what are you talking about?’
‘My scanner checked your genkit, and it sent me a report. You’re the hacker, the one they’re always talking about.’
Oh no. This isn’t about my stupid little Trojan. He knows I’m part of the Skies.
This is far, far worse.
‘Cole, I can explain –’
‘You’re the one who dumped the virus that killed Lachlan. You’re the one who destroyed everything.’
‘What?’ I step back, and my shoulder hits the wall. ‘No, that wasn’t me, and it wasn’t the Skies, I swear. How could you think I’d hurt my own father?’
‘Because you’re a terrorist.’
‘We’re not terrorists. We had nothing to do with the attack on the lab.’ I take a stumbling step to the side, but he grabs my shoulder and shoves me back against the wall.
‘Listen!’ I yell, shrinking away. ‘Just listen, OK? My father left a plan for us. You need to read his note.’
‘You hacked our base,’ he growls, ‘and you killed your own father. I’m taking you back to Cartaxus, and I’ll let them decide how to deal with you.’
‘Wait,’ I say, clawing at his arm. He pulls the pair of silver handcuffs from his pocket and flicks one open. He must have taken them when I wasn’t looking. ‘Just check your panel,’ I say. ‘There’s a file –’
‘I don’t want to hear any more lies.’ His hand shoots out in a blur, grabbing my wrist.
I have only a heartbeat of time left before I’m trapped, before he locks those cuffs around my wrists and drags me back to a Cartaxus cell. I dumped the Trojan into his arm, and I don’t know if it installed, but this seems like as good a time as any to test it out.
‘Recumbentibus,’ I whisper, praying the code works.
The lights on Cole’s panel fade, and he drops to the floor.
CHAPTER 10
It takes fifteen minutes until Cole starts to stir, his skin pale and clammy. I’ve hauled him up so he’s sitting on the floor, his hands cuffed behind him to the lab counter’s frame. Once I’d made sure he wasn’t going to choke on his own tongue, I sat down with my genkit, plugged him in, and started reading through his panel.
Cole has some seriously strange, seriously dangerous tech inside him.