Read Online Urban Outlaws by Peter Jay Black - Free Book Online Page A

up wanting more. His appetite for knowledge had grown into something bigger than he was.
    That’s when Jack had started to get good at circumventing security systems, pushing through firewalls, planting extra code where no one would find it. Opening backdoors. With this came a reputation but no name to attach it to. At first, he’d not wanted to declare himself, but, over time, he’d realised that he could learn from others, be part of a community, finally belong somewhere and mean something.
    Achilles was born.
    Jack remembered that day as clear as anything – the moment he’d chosen his alias.
    Months before, he’d been browsing the River forum and had come across a discussion on a new type of encryption. It was supposed to be impossible to break. To Jack, it was a challenge he couldn’t refuse. He hadn’t really expected to get anywhere with it, but much to his surprise, three months later, he had it cracked. He couldn’t quite explain it. He just could see the code.
    When Jack returned to the River forum to publish the results, he needed a name. He’d chosen Achilles because he’d used a Trojan – a bad program hidden inside a seemingly good program – to get behind the firewall.
    The Trojan horse, the battle of Troy and the Greek Achilles.
    Agent Connor slammed his fists on the table. ‘I’m talking,’ he shouted.
    Jack snapped out of his thoughts and focused on the man opposite him.
    The agent looked enraged. A vein pulsed in his neck and sweat glistened on his brow. ‘Am I boring you?’
    Jack shrugged. ‘A little.’ He didn’t want to discuss any of it. ‘Where’s my friend?’
    ‘Ah, yes, Pandora.’ Connor flipped through the file. ‘We have her listed as perpetrating a few crimes.’ He looked up. ‘What’s her real name?’
    Jack didn’t answer.
    They’d linked Charlie to her alias too? How?
    Agent Connor continued, ‘Is she your girlfriend? Have you got delusions of being the next Bonnie and Clyde?’
    Jack ground his teeth. ‘We’re friends.’
    Connor closed the folder, sat back and crossed his arms.
    Jack let out the tiniest of breaths. It seemed there wasn’t anything about Slink, Obi or Wren in that file. At least they were safe. For now anyway.
    A smile tugged the corners of Connor’s lips. ‘So, Achilles, what should I do with you?’
    Jack remained tight-lipped. He wasn’t about to give this smug git the satisfaction of seeing any fear or emotion.
    After a moment, the smile faltered and Agent Connor said, ‘I didn’t think Achilles would be a pathetic –’ he looked Jack up and down with contempt – ‘ child .’
    Jack’s fists clenched and the plastic bindings bit into his flesh. He wanted nothing more than to punch the guy in the face. He held back his anger, still trying to show no outward emotion. ‘Should I take the fact you thought I’d be older as flattery?’
    ‘No.’ Connor straightened his tie. ‘You ran into my trap. Someone with a little more . . . maturity wouldn’t have been so stupid.’
    Rage now tugged at Jack’s insides, and it took every shred of will power to keep calm. That was what Connor wanted – for Jack to lose the plot. It was part of his game. Jack continued to grind his teeth. ‘What do you want?’
    Connor cocked an eyebrow at him. ‘I have what I want. You. Here. Caught. I told you, you’ve caused a lot of damage.’
    ‘Not to you.’
    Connor’s eyes narrowed. ‘And how would you know that?’
    ‘I picked the targets carefully.’ That was true, though sometimes he did wonder about the bigger picture. In war there were always innocents caught in the crossfire.
    Connor let out a slow breath. ‘The thing is, Achilles, your presence here suggests you know too much. We can’t have you running around.’ He leant forward in his chair, locked his eyes with Jack’s. ‘It ends here.’
    So , Jack thought, he thinks I know too much, does he ? They saw Jack as a threat. Perhaps Obi was right after all.
    Jack allowed that