Blackout (13 page)

The train pulled away from the platform and Slink waved as an enraged Connor stared through the carriage windows as they shot past.

Chuckling to themselves, the Outlaws strode to the other platform and stepped on to another train going in the opposite direction.

Twenty minutes later, Jack, Charlie, Slink, Wren and Hector were standing in front of the Science Museum in South Kensington.

Jack turned to Hector. ‘Wait here.’

‘Why can’t he come with us?’ Wren said.

‘It’s OK,’ Hector said, before Jack could answer. ‘I understand.’ He smiled at the others, but the grin slipped from his face when he looked at Jack again.

‘Stay here with him,’ Jack said to Slink.

Until they knew exactly what this Nexus was and what they were dealing with, Jack didn’t want Hector out of their sight.

Wren scowled at Jack, but he turned his back on her.

As they walked into the museum, Jack heard her mutter something to Charlie about him being paranoid and rude. Jack couldn’t understand how reckless the others were being when it came to Hector.

They tried to look as casual as possible and Jack put some money in the donations box as they passed into the main hall.

The whole place was buzzing with kids and parents.

‘This way,’ Jack said.

They hurried to a flight of stairs and at the top was the exhibition on Alan Turing – one of the early pioneers of computer technology and code breaking. There was a huge black-and-white photo of him. As they turned the corner, on the right-hand side, behind a large sheet of glass, was a wooden cabinet with dials and switches.

Noble stood staring at it. He was a tall, slender man, with dark skin and silver hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore a long coat and had a peaceful expression on his face.

Jack, Charlie and Wren gathered around him.

‘What is that?’ Wren said, frowning at the wooden cabinet.

‘Pilot ACE,’ Jack said. ‘It was one of the fastest computers in the nineteen-fifties.’

‘That’s right.’ Noble turned and his eyebrows rose. ‘What are you three doing here?’

‘We need your help,’ Jack said.

Noble glanced around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation. ‘Explain.’

Jack quickly brought Noble up to speed about the virus, how trying to capture it had led them to Hector, then Connor and his sidekicks had turned up but the Outlaws had managed to get away.

Noble listened patiently and finally said, ‘I gather you want to get to the virus before Del Sarto’s people or the secret service do?’

Jack nodded and, keeping his voice low, said, ‘Hector thinks he knows where the virus has gone.’

‘Where?’

‘Have you heard of something called the Nexus?’

Noble looked taken aback. ‘I should hope so,’ he said. ‘I helped create it.’

Now it was Jack who had an astonished look on his face. ‘You did?’

A group of tourists walked past.

Noble gestured for Jack, Charlie and Wren to follow him. As they walked, he spoke in barely a whisper. ‘Five years ago, I was asked to help on a secret project. At the time, I wasn’t informed of what it was. At first, I assumed the Nexus was some kind of advanced game.’ He looked at Jack. ‘It has high-end programming like no one has ever seen before. They used the best people in the world.’ Noble stopped in front of a display cabinet that held yet another old-fashioned computer. It had wires and buttons jutting out from every angle. He stared at it as he spoke. ‘Six months before the project was due to be completed, I was asked to leave.’

‘Why?’ Jack said.

‘I think they didn’t want me to see what the Nexus was going to be used for.’

‘But you know?’

Noble walked between the display cabinets again. ‘The Nexus is a state-of-the-art, three-dimensional virtual world, created by the British Ministry of Defence.’

‘For what?’ Charlie said.

‘They use it for multiple purposes.’ Noble stopped in front of a cabinet with another old computer inside. ‘The Nexus is a secret meeting facility. A place where their field agents can report in without having to compromise their locations.’ He lowered his voice even further. ‘The SAS also use it as an advanced training program – a way to rehearse for missions.’ Noble’s gaze roamed for a second. ‘I also heard that the Ministry of Defence run simulations of terrorist attacks.’

‘What’s the hardware like?’ Charlie said.

Noble waited until a family went past them and he whispered, ‘Out of this world. Hundreds of processors dedicated just to graphics.’

‘So,’ Charlie said. ‘The virus was attracted to the Nexus somehow? Because of its power?’

Noble considered this for a moment. ‘It’s probably one of the most powerful facilities in the United Kingdom. However, I wouldn’t have thought it would go there of its own accord.’

‘I don’t think so either,’ Jack said. ‘They must have sent a signal to attract it.’ The same technique he’d tried by using his program on the USB stick.

‘Yes,’ Noble said. ‘Which means they understand the virus’s potential to be developed into the world’s best hacking tool.’ He walked a few more paces and stopped next to another display cabinet with some kind of antique keyboard under a CRT monitor. ‘The virus is able to slip past any security system – quite a power if it can be harnessed or even worked out and duplicated.’

‘Exactly,’ Jack said. ‘That’s why they want the virus – to learn from it. They’ll dissect it and mani­pulate it to work for them.’ The thought made him feel sick. It was Proteus all over again.

‘Why put it in a virtual world though?’ Charlie said. ‘I don’t get it.’

‘Well, you did destroy their most advanced computer.’ Noble winked at them. ‘The Nexus is the only thing the government have left that’s powerful enough to hold the virus.’

‘But it still doesn’t make sense,’ Charlie said slowly. ‘Why would they put the virus in the Nexus? It could damage it.’ She glanced at Jack. ‘It’s already taken down one of their secret facilities, a whole load of power stations, a supercomputer and God knows what else. Why would they risk it?’

‘Like Noble says,’ Jack replied, ‘high risk means high reward. They know the virus could be turned into the world’s best hacker.’

‘I think they’d also have it under control. For now, anyway,’ Noble said. ‘The virus didn’t completely cripple Proteus, just stopped it from working properly. The Nexus is no slouch either – it makes a games console look like a plastic tiddlywinks set. It has vast arrays of hard drives and processors. It would take a long while for the virus to affect it all.’ He shrugged. ‘Besides, if it gets too much, they’ll simply shut it down and work out how to either resolve the problem or remove the virus entirely.’ He looked at Jack again. ‘Was it still mutating when you last saw it?’

Jack nodded. ‘Yeah.’

Noble stared off into the distance.

‘What?’ Charlie said. ‘What are you thinking?’

Noble glanced around again and they continued walking slowly between the exhibition displays, keeping their distance from the other visitors.

Finally, he said, ‘The Nexus is a good place for them to observe the virus. The code will be too complex to understand in its raw form, too quick to change. I believe they’re using the Nexus as not only a place to trap the virus, but also as a way to visualise it in three-dimensions. A way to understand how it works.’

‘How do we get inside this Nexus thing?’ Wren asked.

‘Ah,’ Noble said. ‘Now that’s the question, isn’t it? It’s not usually connected to the internet. They must have only opened the doors to the Nexus just that one time. And now they’ve sealed it off again, the virus will have no way out.’

‘And we’ll have no way in,’ Charlie said.

‘Yes.’

‘Brilliant. So it’s gone?’

Jack let out a snort of annoyance. No matter what they did, they just kept meeting new problems. ‘Wait a minute,’ he said. ‘The virus went from Hector’s laptop to the Nexus, and he said he can trace the location.’

Noble’s eyes widened. ‘An access point?’

‘A what?’

‘The Nexus is on its own secure system. As I said, they must have connected it to the internet briefly to trap the virus, but they would’ve used an access point. An access point is a direct connection to the Nexus. A way to interface with it without actually going to where the Nexus is physically located.’

‘Where is the Nexus?’ Wren said.

‘I don’t know.’

‘But we can connect to it via an access point?’ Charlie said.

‘Yes. There are a few scattered around the country, but I’ve never heard of their locations either.’ Noble looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘If you can find an access point, there’s a good chance you can log on to the Nexus.’

A flood of hope washed over Jack. ‘So, there’s a way?’

Noble nodded. ‘If your friend can provide us with the location, I can help you with the rest.’ A sly grin cracked his lips.

They all smiled back at him.

Outside, they met up with Hector and Slink, and walked back to the main road.

A way down, Noble stopped outside an alleyway. ‘I’ve parked there,’ he said, pointing at a ramp that led to a garage under a building. ‘They have secur­ity. I suggest you all wait here.’ He strode across the road.

Jack, Charlie, Slink, Wren and Hector pulled back into the shadows and waited.

Jack pressed a finger to his ear. ‘Obi?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Did you hear all that?’

‘Everything,’ Obi said. ‘And I’ve been searching for any references to this Nexus place on the Cerberus forum.’

‘And?’

‘Nothing.’

Jack watched cars go past. ‘Well, Noble says it definitely exists.’

‘Let’s hope Hector can find it then,’ Obi said.

Jack lowered his voice to barely a whisper. ‘While we’re on that, Obi, have you found anything on Hector’s background?’

‘Looks clean, so far.’

‘OK, keep digging and let me know if –’

‘Get off me!’

Jack spun around.

Connor was grasping Slink’s throat. ‘One false move and I’ll break his neck.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

Jack stood in stunned silence, watching Connor squeeze Slink’s throat.

Slink was starting to turn blue and, for the first time in his life, Jack couldn’t think of a way to help him.

‘Keep still,’ Connor growled in Slink’s ear, ‘and you might live through this.’

‘Get off him.’ Wren went to step forward, but Jack grabbed her arm. He looked around the alleyway, but still couldn’t see a way to save Slink.

‘Stand in front of me,’ Hector whispered to Charlie. ‘Block his view.’ He slipped the backpack off his shoulders.

‘What are you doing?’ Jack hissed through the corner of his mouth.

‘Keep him distracted.’

Connor said something and Jack looked at him.

‘We haven’t got the virus,’ Charlie said, defiant.

Connor’s eyes were mere slits. ‘Of course you have. Give it to me.’

Slink tried to twist his body free.

‘Careful, boy,’ Connor snarled and dug his fingers in. He looked at Jack. ‘The virus.’

‘We’ve told you – we don’t have it.’

‘I’m not falling for your tricks again,’ Connor said, redoubling his grip on Slink’s neck and making him grimace. With his free hand, Connor reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone.

Obviously, he was calling Monday and Cloud for backup.

‘Leave this to me,’ Hector whispered.

Jack glanced at him and then did a double take.

Hector was wearing some kind of gauntlet. It was black and had plastic cylinders moulded to the back of it. Cables ran from the cylinders and down the fingers, ending in silver pads on the tips.

‘What are you doing?’ Jack mumbled. ‘What is that?’

Suddenly, Hector burst forward, springing past Jack, Charlie and Wren and leaping towards Connor.

Connor started to react, but he was too slow – Hector rammed into him, knocking him backwards.

Just as Slink twisted free, Hector reached out and touched Connor’s arm with the gloved hand.

There was a loud
crack
and Connor crumpled to the floor.

Hector spun around. ‘
Run
,’ he shouted.

They sprinted down the alleyway just as Noble’s blue campervan pulled to the kerb.

Jack slid open the side door and they all clambered in.

‘Go,’ Jack shouted.

Noble stamped his foot on the accelerator and pulled away.

Half a mile down the road, he said, ‘What just happened?’

‘Connor,’ Jack said, pulling back the curtains and checking the cars behind them. Satisfied no one was following, he sat down and allowed himself to relax.

‘I owe you one, mate,’ Slink said to Hector.