Read Online Code Name Firestorm by Simon Cheshire - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Simon Cheshire
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robots’ network was suddenly swamped by a fuzz of static. To counteract the effect, each insect fired a tiny, fibre-optic line to the robot next to them, forming a circle around which data could be rerouted.
“That’s better,” said Morph. “I don’t like being out of touch. My sensors feel strange.”
“That device of his is powerful enough to block all kinds of signals,” said Nero. “Some of our sensor readings will experience interference, as well as our communications.”
“Why is our recent upgrade to deal with signal jammers limited to fibre-optic lines?” said Morph. “Couldn’t Professor Miller devise a way toovercome them entirely?”
“The only way to do that is to boost power output,” said Nero. “We are very small. To generate enough energy, we’d have to carry around power cells the size of beach balls. It’s simple physics. We have many advantages over humans but nobody’s perfect. Blackwater must be worried about the possibility of being tracked or monitored.”
“He’s extremely cautious,” said Morph.
“Hercules would make a joke about him being bugged,” said Sabre. The stag beetle beside him remained dark and silent, burnt out and lifeless.
“This means we’ll be out of range of HQ until he turns it off,” said Chopper. “However, we must all remain in place here. Preventing Blackwater from carrying out any further attacks must be our first priority.”
“I’ll continue to cut Hercules free,” said Nero.
The robots could feel that the car was now in motion, although Blackwater’s signal blocker stopped their sensors keeping track of exactly where they were, and where they were going.
“At least we know why he added the extracircuits into these speakers,” said Sabre.
“He sold them to unsuspecting, and otherwise unconnected, members of the public,” said Chopper. “The speakers would remain in his customers’ homes, operating normally, until he activated the hypnotic wave circuits built into them. Then, those customers would become his servants.”
“He must have relayed detailed verbal instructions to each victim through the speakers too,” said Sabre. “He’ll have told them where to collect all those gadgets, and how to operate them.”
“The victims wouldn’t even remember hearing the hypnotic signal,” said Chopper. “Blackwater will have ordered them to forget it. If any of the attacks were foiled, as we foiled the first one, then he would remain undetected, in the background.”
“It’s a clever way of committing crimes by remote control,” said Sabre. “Blackwater is clearly a genius at electronics.”
“Although,” said Nero, snipping at the circuit board around Hercules, “he hasn’t been clever enough to outwit us.”
Blackwater’s car drove on through the streets of central London. By now, it was late afternoon. Darkness was creeping across the city.
5:42 p.m.
“Agent K is picking up Agent J and Sirena now,” said Alfred Berners. He tapped at a large screen in the SWARM laboratory. “Poor Agent J’s going to have a very confusing couple of hours!”
“We’ll have to worry about that later,” said Queen Bee. “Is Blackwater’s signal blocker still operating?”
“Yes, at full power,” said Alfred. “We’ve no way of knowing where the rest of the SWARM are until either it’s turned off, or one of the robots can get far enough away from it.”
“We can trust them to act correctly,” said Queen Bee. “In the meantime, is there any way we can track Blackwater’s movements from here?”
“I’m afraid not, Ms Maynard,” said Alfred. “We don’t know precisely what to look for. We don’tknow if he’s walking, or in the Underground, or in a car. The robots couldn’t ID any vehicle or method of transport before they were cut off.”
Simon Turing appeared, hurrying across the lab to intercept Queen Bee. “Agent K reports that the home address listed for Henry Blackwater is a dud. He lived there until
“That’s better,” said Morph. “I don’t like being out of touch. My sensors feel strange.”
“That device of his is powerful enough to block all kinds of signals,” said Nero. “Some of our sensor readings will experience interference, as well as our communications.”
“Why is our recent upgrade to deal with signal jammers limited to fibre-optic lines?” said Morph. “Couldn’t Professor Miller devise a way toovercome them entirely?”
“The only way to do that is to boost power output,” said Nero. “We are very small. To generate enough energy, we’d have to carry around power cells the size of beach balls. It’s simple physics. We have many advantages over humans but nobody’s perfect. Blackwater must be worried about the possibility of being tracked or monitored.”
“He’s extremely cautious,” said Morph.
“Hercules would make a joke about him being bugged,” said Sabre. The stag beetle beside him remained dark and silent, burnt out and lifeless.
“This means we’ll be out of range of HQ until he turns it off,” said Chopper. “However, we must all remain in place here. Preventing Blackwater from carrying out any further attacks must be our first priority.”
“I’ll continue to cut Hercules free,” said Nero.
The robots could feel that the car was now in motion, although Blackwater’s signal blocker stopped their sensors keeping track of exactly where they were, and where they were going.
“At least we know why he added the extracircuits into these speakers,” said Sabre.
“He sold them to unsuspecting, and otherwise unconnected, members of the public,” said Chopper. “The speakers would remain in his customers’ homes, operating normally, until he activated the hypnotic wave circuits built into them. Then, those customers would become his servants.”
“He must have relayed detailed verbal instructions to each victim through the speakers too,” said Sabre. “He’ll have told them where to collect all those gadgets, and how to operate them.”
“The victims wouldn’t even remember hearing the hypnotic signal,” said Chopper. “Blackwater will have ordered them to forget it. If any of the attacks were foiled, as we foiled the first one, then he would remain undetected, in the background.”
“It’s a clever way of committing crimes by remote control,” said Sabre. “Blackwater is clearly a genius at electronics.”
“Although,” said Nero, snipping at the circuit board around Hercules, “he hasn’t been clever enough to outwit us.”
Blackwater’s car drove on through the streets of central London. By now, it was late afternoon. Darkness was creeping across the city.
5:42 p.m.
“Agent K is picking up Agent J and Sirena now,” said Alfred Berners. He tapped at a large screen in the SWARM laboratory. “Poor Agent J’s going to have a very confusing couple of hours!”
“We’ll have to worry about that later,” said Queen Bee. “Is Blackwater’s signal blocker still operating?”
“Yes, at full power,” said Alfred. “We’ve no way of knowing where the rest of the SWARM are until either it’s turned off, or one of the robots can get far enough away from it.”
“We can trust them to act correctly,” said Queen Bee. “In the meantime, is there any way we can track Blackwater’s movements from here?”
“I’m afraid not, Ms Maynard,” said Alfred. “We don’t know precisely what to look for. We don’tknow if he’s walking, or in the Underground, or in a car. The robots couldn’t ID any vehicle or method of transport before they were cut off.”
Simon Turing appeared, hurrying across the lab to intercept Queen Bee. “Agent K reports that the home address listed for Henry Blackwater is a dud. He lived there until