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Authors: David Solomons
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expectantly. Quite what she expected, I had no clue. “Luke, you’re up,” she said, pulling out the swivel chair.
“You want me to sit in the chair?”
She made a face. “You’ll be more comfortable when you hack into the security cameras.”
“Hack … the … cameras?”
“Yes. Why else do you think I brought you on this mission?”
“Uh, I thought that I was a distraction. Like a stink-bombor … a herd of wildebeest.”
“A herd?” She paused. “Of wildebeest?” She pursed her lips. “Out of interest, why wildebeest exactly?”
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “I panicked. It was the first thing that came into my head. I’m not sure exactly what a wildebeest even looks like. I think it might be like a cow. But with flair.”
I could see from her expression that she wasn’t sure if I was joking or serious. For information, I was serious. I knew as much about wildebeest as I did about hacking. She slid the chair squeaking across the floor. I caught the headrest with one hand and, with a gulp, sat down. I squeaked back to the desk.
“You want me to hack the security system for footage of Star Lad?”
She nodded. “You’re a boy. Boys know about this stuff.”
“That’s like saying all girls know how to bake.”
She snapped the seat round so that I faced the screen, leaned into my ear and hissed, “I have a black belt in fairy cakes. Now, get on with it.”
I looked down blankly at the keyboard. Little did Lara realise that she had played right into my hands. Not only did I want that footage to remain hidden, I had absolutely no idea how to find it in the first place. Ismiled inwardly. She had picked me for a task for which I was utterly useless. Brilliant! However, I thought I’d better play up to her expectations, so I prodded a few keys, creased my brow and sighed a lot. Then I got a bit carried away. I didn’t know any actual hacker jargon, but that wasn’t going to stop me. I smacked the keys in pretend frustration.
“It’s no use,” I said. “The Shweitzer interface on this thing is locked down tighter than the Hulk’s underpants. Whoever built this rig knew what he was doing. I’ve got perimeter uber-bots up the wazoo. And as for the borkedybork file, well, it’s completely … um … borked.” I pushed myself away from the desk and shook my head in mock frustration. I looked up to see if Lara was buying it. She was bent over the keyboard.
“Here,” she said, swiping a couple of keys and bringing up a menu. “It’s the backup directory.” With a shimmy of her hips she bumped me out of the chair and lowered herself in front of the monitor. Her face glowed in the screen-light.
She navigated swiftly through a couple more menus and then sat up. “This is it,” she said excitedly. “Look.”
She hovered the cursor over a folder dated to the day that Zack had first blazed to the rescue as Star Lad. Lara was a double-click away from revealing Star Lad’strue identity. If I was going to stop her, then I had to do something now. I needed a distraction. There was never a wildebeest when you wanted one.
“I think I hear the watchman,” I whispered.
With an anxious glance at the half-open door, Lara dug into a pocket and drew out a high-capacity flash-drive. She sucked the file on to the drive, before tucking it securely back in her jeans. I was going to have to get my hands on that drive.
The door swung inward. Beside me, I heard Lara let out a small gasp of horror. I held my breath, awaiting the inevitable. There was a rustle and a rasp and then a figure stepped into the dim light of the control room.
“ Bonjour ,” breathed Serge, Ventolin in one hand, bag of salt ’n’ vinegar crisps in the other.
Lara sighed with relief. “Let’s get the heck out of here,” she said, darting for the door. “That sausage roll isn’t going to last forever.”
13
ITâS NOT AN EVIL COMPUTER
Lara, Serge and I sat together on the bus home. She chatted non-stop
“You want me to sit in the chair?”
She made a face. “You’ll be more comfortable when you hack into the security cameras.”
“Hack … the … cameras?”
“Yes. Why else do you think I brought you on this mission?”
“Uh, I thought that I was a distraction. Like a stink-bombor … a herd of wildebeest.”
“A herd?” She paused. “Of wildebeest?” She pursed her lips. “Out of interest, why wildebeest exactly?”
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “I panicked. It was the first thing that came into my head. I’m not sure exactly what a wildebeest even looks like. I think it might be like a cow. But with flair.”
I could see from her expression that she wasn’t sure if I was joking or serious. For information, I was serious. I knew as much about wildebeest as I did about hacking. She slid the chair squeaking across the floor. I caught the headrest with one hand and, with a gulp, sat down. I squeaked back to the desk.
“You want me to hack the security system for footage of Star Lad?”
She nodded. “You’re a boy. Boys know about this stuff.”
“That’s like saying all girls know how to bake.”
She snapped the seat round so that I faced the screen, leaned into my ear and hissed, “I have a black belt in fairy cakes. Now, get on with it.”
I looked down blankly at the keyboard. Little did Lara realise that she had played right into my hands. Not only did I want that footage to remain hidden, I had absolutely no idea how to find it in the first place. Ismiled inwardly. She had picked me for a task for which I was utterly useless. Brilliant! However, I thought I’d better play up to her expectations, so I prodded a few keys, creased my brow and sighed a lot. Then I got a bit carried away. I didn’t know any actual hacker jargon, but that wasn’t going to stop me. I smacked the keys in pretend frustration.
“It’s no use,” I said. “The Shweitzer interface on this thing is locked down tighter than the Hulk’s underpants. Whoever built this rig knew what he was doing. I’ve got perimeter uber-bots up the wazoo. And as for the borkedybork file, well, it’s completely … um … borked.” I pushed myself away from the desk and shook my head in mock frustration. I looked up to see if Lara was buying it. She was bent over the keyboard.
“Here,” she said, swiping a couple of keys and bringing up a menu. “It’s the backup directory.” With a shimmy of her hips she bumped me out of the chair and lowered herself in front of the monitor. Her face glowed in the screen-light.
She navigated swiftly through a couple more menus and then sat up. “This is it,” she said excitedly. “Look.”
She hovered the cursor over a folder dated to the day that Zack had first blazed to the rescue as Star Lad. Lara was a double-click away from revealing Star Lad’strue identity. If I was going to stop her, then I had to do something now. I needed a distraction. There was never a wildebeest when you wanted one.
“I think I hear the watchman,” I whispered.
With an anxious glance at the half-open door, Lara dug into a pocket and drew out a high-capacity flash-drive. She sucked the file on to the drive, before tucking it securely back in her jeans. I was going to have to get my hands on that drive.
The door swung inward. Beside me, I heard Lara let out a small gasp of horror. I held my breath, awaiting the inevitable. There was a rustle and a rasp and then a figure stepped into the dim light of the control room.
“ Bonjour ,” breathed Serge, Ventolin in one hand, bag of salt ’n’ vinegar crisps in the other.
Lara sighed with relief. “Let’s get the heck out of here,” she said, darting for the door. “That sausage roll isn’t going to last forever.”
13
ITâS NOT AN EVIL COMPUTER
Lara, Serge and I sat together on the bus home. She chatted non-stop
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