Genius--The Revolution Page 9

  I stepped away from the scanner.

  “We’re back in business,” I said, and started the scanner.

  It whirred back to life, photographing and digitizing pages, as Dural sat back on the couch and watched as the code filled the monitor. I think both Cai and I had our nerves on edge as the scanner wrapped the sixth book. And when it was completed without comment, I tried not to visibly relax.

  I loaded up book seven and ran it.

  Twenty minutes later, the scanning was done. The last pages were photographed, scanned into the computer, and spat out as a finished code. With the flip-books finished, I walked over to the couch and Dural.

  “Do you have a flash drive?” I asked.

  Dural chuckled and motioned to Naya.

  Naya pulled a chain off her neck; on the end was a flash drive. It reminded me of the one that Teo had left behind, the flash drive I’d worn around my neck for those years he’d been missing. I took the drive from Naya and went back to the scanner. I plugged it in, loaded up the finished code document, and then unplugged the flash drive. Before I handed it to Dural, I paused.

  “This,” I said, “will give you everything Kiran has.”

  “What does it do?” Dural asked Naya.

  “It’s a virus,” Naya said. “Taps into the stock market.”

  “Which stock market?”

  “All of them.” Naya grinned. “Takes them all down.”

  Dural seemed very pleased.

  As she stood up, Cai turned to face her.

  “We have a deal,” Cai said. “You will honor it, correct?”

  Dural said, “Give me the flash drive.”

  Cai said, “Make good on your end of the bargain first.”

  Dural’s next-gen phone

  “Fine.” Dural shrugged, pulled her cell phone out. This phone was something radically different. It wasn’t so much that the phone was new, or even that high tech, but it was outfitted with all sorts of additional bits and pieces. My guess was the added tech was to cloak the call, but I have no idea why it wasn’t software related. Whatever the case, I assumed it worked. There was no way Dural would be making calls without the ultimate in security on board.

  She dialed, then dialed again. Then spoke into the phone.

  I couldn’t understand what she said. I’m guessing it was in German.

  Then she turned to Naya. “I need you to erase some files. They’re sending the links to your e-mail address now. Remove all of them, wipe it clean, do it the same way we did the operation in Ecuador. Make the guy a ghost and give a good explanation; leave some misleading bread crumbs like usual.”

  Naya pulled a laptop from her oversized purse.

  I watched Cai as Dural spoke. She was following along with what Dural was doing very carefully. It wasn’t just that she was listening intently because this whole thing involved her father. It was that she wanted to know how they were going to get him out—even though she no longer wore the guise of the Painted Wolf, she’d never lose that view of the world.

  Naya typed away.

  They had it done in a matter of minutes. Naya gave a thumbs-up to Dural, and Dural put the phone on speaker. We could all hear what happened next—a man with a thick Chinese accent said, “Mr. Zhang has been released from custody. He is being escorted by officials to the specified vehicle and will be taken to his home. All charges against him have been dropped. His record is clear.”

  Dural hung up the phone.

  Then she signaled Naya. Naya turned her laptop around so we could see what was on the screen. It was a video, grainy, surveillance, of Cai’s father being escorted out of the detention center to a waiting car.

  Just before Mr. Zhang got into the car, he turned and looked back at the building, directly at the CCTV camera we were seeing him through, and then nodded his thanks. It was subtle but clearly a message.

  Cai turned to Dural. “Thank you,” she said.

  “A deal’s a deal,” Dural said. “Now we run it.”

  I spoke up. “I’m excited to see it.”

  Dural grinned.

  “Of course,” she said. “Can’t have you all miss the fun.”

  11.2

  We followed Terminal down into the bowels of the opera house.

  Dural hurried, excited to see what the virus we’d just given her would do. Naya seemed downright giddy. She literally skipped down the stairs like a kid on Christmas morning.

  Teo was the last in line, walking slowly, barely hiding his concern.

  I was worried myself.

  I knew the code I’d written was decent. I just hoped it would actually function the way I’d designed it to. A lot of that was out of my control. If Terminal decided to target the virus on a particular institution, say a Norwegian bank, instead of letting it propagate naturally across the Internet, then the code might stall out.

  Cai kept her eyes on her cell.

  Watching the time and waiting for alerts about her dad.

  I wasn’t the least bit surprised to find they had a fully stocked basement lab down there. They’d transformed a storage room into a high-tech engineering space with rows upon rows of computers and all manner of Frankensteined components in the process of being built or refashioned.

  Engineering lab

  Dural dragged a rolling chair across the room as the overhead lights flickered on, erasing all the shadows, drenching us in artificial light. Dural sat at one of the computer towers and plugged in the USB. This was the moment, and my heart knew it; it leaped right up into my throat.

  On the monitors: Terminal’s logo spun to life.

  You can always tell the bad guys by their logos.

  Cold, brutalist, a spinning capital T in silver.

  Naya looked over at Cai and me. “The LODGE needs something like that. You guys are too stale. Need some flash to mix it up.”

  Cai said, “We’re not about the flash.”

  Dural logged in, opened the virus files from Tunde’s scanners, and then uploaded them to a dark Web Terminal site. From there, Terminal’s bot network did its thing, pinging the virus across the globe in a matter of seconds.

  My blood pressure was probably through the roof.

  As the virus geared up to do its thing, all I could think of was how it could fail. Each step, each computer handshake over the net was an opportunity for something to go wrong. For Dural to catch wind of our trap and sidestep it. I kept eyeing the door, ready to grab Cai and Teo and bolt the second trouble erupted.

  Only, that didn’t happen.

  Incredibly, the intrusion was successful and Terminal was delighted.

  Dural leaned back, nodding sagely to herself.

  Naya clapped and looked to Cai and me and actually smiled.

  “You did good,” she said. “Real good…”

  Despite their excitement, already it was happening: On the monitors the never-ending stream of data was slowing. Several screens began to flash, a warning display showing that the virus had been locked out and the intrusion picked up.

  Dural didn’t suspect the code at first; she barked over at Naya.

  “Our system’s lagging. We’re getting spotted.”

  Dural assumed it was their connection, that the bot net was being exposed and blocked by security software. She was wrong. The virus was tagged, little bits of code I embedded that made it easy to pick out. It’s complicated but think of it this way: Dural thought Kiran’s virus would sneak into these networks like a ghost, but with my tweaks it was barging in like a loud drunk.

  And every stumble the virus took, every alarm that sounded on a security server, the authorities were alerted. I knew they’d be knocking down the door to the opera house in a matter of minutes.

  When their eyes glued to the screens, I surreptitiously pulled out my cell phone and texted Tunde. I told him the scanner had worked flawlessly, and with the virus unleashed, it would only be minutes before Terminal bit the dust.

  Still, until those cops showed up, we were in serious trouble.r />
  The second Dural figured out that running this program was actually exposing Terminal, she would likely do anything she could to stop it. I didn’t even want to think about what lengths she’d go to in order to protect her agenda.

  We had to get out of there.

  Like she was reading my mind, Cai leaned in and whispered:

  “We need to leave.”

  Naya tried her best to fix what she could.

  But as more and more of the screens flickered to red—routed by firewalls and security software—even Dural could tell something was very wrong. She spun around to Naya. Naya was going crazy on a keyboard, trying to salvage the assault.

  Cai and Teo left the room first.

  They snuck out easily; Dural and Naya were so caught up in what was happening that they didn’t even turn around to look.

  I needed to be one hundred percent certain that the trick had worked, that my tweaked virus exposed Terminal and that the cops were for sure coming. As I backed up toward the exit, I noticed the screens: Naya was running everything she could to stop the rupture of Terminal data onto the Net. Dural was watching, eyes wide with horror, as Naya was helpless to stop it.

  Mission accomplished.

  I opened the door as quietly as I could and slipped out.

  As I ran down the hallway, the door shutting behind me, I heard Naya rage.

  “I don’t understand what’s happening!”

  11.3

  Teo, Cai, and I stepped outside to find the street had exploded.

  Well, it looked like it had exploded.

  The sound of sirens was near deafening as a sea of cop cars, their blue, yellow, and red lights flashing, careened down the street toward the opera house. Cai, Teo, and I quickly slipped into the gathering crowds that had emerged from the buildings to see what all the fuss was about. My code had worked.

  Terminal was … well, terminated.

  The cop cars screeched up the steps of the opera house. The chatter of the watching crowd fell silent as dozens of armed officers raced inside the building. A few performers—acrobats in ornate costumes and a singer with a wild headdress—rushed out of the opera house in a panic.

  Cai turned to me and held up her cell phone.

  “It’s done.”

  On her cell screen was a text message in Mandarin.

  “Good news?” I asked.

  Cai said, “My father’s home.”

  I gave her an excited hug, and as we embraced I caught sight of Teo.

  He watched the entrance to the opera house with a sad look.

  I bumped his shoulder, got his attention.

  “You didn’t sell them out,” I said. “This was all their own doing.”

  “I’m not upset about that.… It’s just … You’re sure the LODGE can stop Kiran?”

  “I’m positive.”

  Teo smiled. It was excellent to see his grin brighten again.

  Cai nodded, hugging us both.

  “Let’s go, boys,” she said. “You can give each other pep talks later.”

  12. TUNDE

  5 DAYS UNTIL SHIVA

  I ran through the crowd as fast as I could.

  I arrived at the opera house just in time to see the most incredible sight!

  The very second that I emerged from the crowd was the moment that Dural and Naya and the other Terminal flunkies were led out of the building in handcuffs.

  Such excitement! I will admit that I was being quite immoral, rejoicing in the pain of others, but these were bad people and taking some joy in seeing them arrested was surely not a horrible thing. It was, as they say, a long time coming.

  After Dural, Naya, and the rest of Terminal were stuffed individually into the backs of waiting police cars, the doors were slammed shut and the sirens blared again before the cars raced back out into the night. Within seconds, the whole scene had diminished, dwindling to a few scattered police officers attempting to clear the confused crowds of onlookers. That is when I saw Rex, Teo, and Cai walk over to me.

  I was so excited to be back with my family again!

  I wanted to celebrate our success together. Even though my part in it was quite small, the LODGE had just accomplished a feat that numerous law enforcement agencies were unable to pull off.

  I no dey rake but … we had taken down Terminal!

  There was once a time in my beloved Akika Village when we had to endure the nightly assaults of a panther. I was quite small at the time and have no memory of the events, but my father told me that this animal would descend upon our goats and sheep in the hour just before dawn.

  There must have been something quite wrong with the panther because it did not eat what it killed—this beast seemed to enjoy the thrill of the hunt and nothing more. I can tell you that even a decade after the incident with the panther, it is still remembered in my village.

  Our best hunter laid traps, but he failed to catch the animal. All of Akika was frightened, and parents, including my own, worried for the safety of their children. If this cat was after sheep today, our elders said, perhaps it will be after people tomorrow.

  So hunters were brought in from other, neighboring villages. But even these powerful men failed. The panther, they said, was like a ghost—it could not be caught by traditional means. My father is not a superstitious man. He knew that this poor panther was certainly ill; the behavior it displayed clearly said as much.

  To trap it, my father told me, would require the unexpected.

  The method by which the animal was captured was indeed surprising. It was not hunted or baited. Nor was it chased into a net or fed drugged meats. Rather, a medicine woman came up with a novel plan: She told the people of my village to prepare a bed for the big cat! Yes, I know, it does seem quite silly.

  But they did it.

  Sure enough, this animal was found a day later sleeping in the pile of blankets and rugs they had laid out for it. The hunters crept upon the sleeping cat and tossed a net over it as it was snoring.

  Once the big cat was caught, the medicine woman discovered that it had an abscessed tooth. This was, she told the village, certainly the reason why the animal was behaving so strangely. While the panther was in a drugged state, the medicine woman pulled the troublesome tooth. The next morning, the big cat was transported to a zoo in the southwest of Naija-land.

  My friends, I think it is obvious why I told you this story.

  The LODGE had done the same thing as the old medicine woman from my village—we had captured a rampaging beast that even the best hunters could not track down and we had defanged it. We had done this by tempting Terminal into a state of trust. We gave them what they wanted, and it bit them in the end.

  Even though it is not in my nature to celebrate the misery of others, even if they are truly awful people like the general, I was happy to arrive at the front of the opera house just seconds before Dural, Naya, and the rest of Terminal were shuttled into the back of the waiting police cruisers.

  My friends, right there in front of the opera house we had a group hug!

  A LODGE hug to celebrate a momentous victory.

  Afterward, Teo approached me and put out his hand.

  I shook it gladly, though I will admit that I was still quite wary of him, considering all that we had learned. I did not want to alarm Rex or insult him, but it would take more than just helping us expose Terminal for me to truly trust Teo.

  “Thank you,” Teo said. “The scanner was killer. Brilliant.”

  “I could not have done it without help,” I said.

  Then, turning to Rex and Cai, I added: “There are some people you need to meet.”

  12.1

  The introduction took place on the roof of an antiquated building.

  A cab took Cai, Rex, Teo, and me to the Beijing Ancient Observatory, a massive stone building that stood out in the midst of so many modern, soaring skyscrapers.

  On the ride over, Cai asked, “Can you tell us any more about ULTRA?”

  “Yes,” I said.
“But I think it is best for you to meet them for yourselves.”

  At the observatory, we took an elevator to the roof, where there was an exhibit of ancient Chinese telescopes and other instruments for stargazing. Most of them were installed during the Ming dynasty, over six hundred years ago. They were beautiful. On the rooftop, we looked over the sextant and theodolite, but Rex and Cai were too eager to meet my “mysterious” acquaintances to marvel at the old objects. I would have loved to spend a few minutes longer with the ancient technology, but, dear friends, it was simply not the time.

  I made a vow to come back again!

  “Rex Huerta!”

  Rex, Cai, and Teo spun around as though someone had just fired a cannon over their heads. The cannon, however, was merely Javiera. She stepped out onto the roof alongside Stella and Ivan.

  Seeing them, both Rex and Cai looked at me confused.

  “Meet my friends,” I said.

  Javiera introduced the team and their skill sets.

  “We call ourselves ULTRA,” she then said. “We’re big fans of the LODGE, and we’re after the same thing you are—finding a way to stop Kiran from breaking the world. We’ve discovered Kiran’s next step. There’s a black box lab in Mexico City. We need your help to get inside. We’ve been talking to Tunde, and we think we’re in the final stretch of this thing—we bring down that Mexico City lab and we can cripple Kiran’s ability to move forward. He’ll be scrambling.”

  “I like the sound of that,” Teo said as he shook hands with Javiera.

  “What do you need us to do?” Cai asked.

  “Come to Mexico City. Help us breach the lab,” Ivan said. “We were able to lose Kiran’s tail a few cities back. We’ve been in so many that, frankly, I can’t remember where it was. And while he might be expecting us to approach his Mexico City lab, he certainly won’t expect us together.”

  “So what’s in this Mexico City lab?” Rex asked.

  Stella spoke next. “We believe it houses the core of his brain trust,” she said. “All the folks who worked at the lab here in Beijing, they’ve gone to Mexico City. I think Kiran is scrabbling to get all his people in line. These folks are his closest advisers, the architects of the Shiva and Rama programs.”