A massive white cloud rolled out over the dock. People ran past us toward the gate.
“Now, William. Go!”
We ran with the crowd. We fell into the mass of people who swarmed the gate. The guards tried to control the crowd, but when the cloud reached the gate, everyone, including the guards, ran out of the dock area. William and I followed the crowd for a while, but then I grabbed him and we peeled off towards the communications tower.
Anand’s diversion drew everyone’s attention, including people from across the island. People began to fill the streets to see what was going on. Everyone was so focused on the docks that William and I were able to get into the tower unnoticed.
When we reached the observation deck, my side burned like someone had stuck me with a hot poker. I looked down and saw a baseball-sized bloodstain on my shirt. William saw it too.
“You’re bleeding. What should we do?” he asked.
“Nothing, I’m fine. It’s just some seepage.” I didn’t want to worry him with the truth. “It must have squeezed out when we ran through the gate.”
He didn’t look convinced. “Maybe we should send Mohamed a message and ask what to do.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry, it’s okay. Besides, it’s time to kick off the plan. Do you remember what you need to do?”
He nodded and said, “I wait outside the hotel.”
“Right. And then?”
“And then I find someone who looks like they’re from the Mars ship and I give them Jin’s data mat.”
“Perfect,” I said.
“But how will I know who is from the Mars ship?”
“I don’t know exactly, but they’re not going to be dressed like anyone around here. I guarantee it.”
“Will they have space suits on?”
I laughed, “Probably not, but their clothes will look different.”
“I still don’t understand why I can’t help you here first, and then we can find the Mars people together.”
“Because when those messages go out, the bad guys will try to disconnect the servers remotely. I have to keep them from doing that. When I reconfigure the servers, someone will notice and come to the tower. Luckily, the guys that I taught to operate systems are about as sharp as a coconut, so I’ll have plenty of time to get out and join you.”
William smiled.
“Once I’m done, the only way they can stop the messages from going out is by powering down the servers.”
“What will happen if they shut down the servers?”
“The whole IICN will go down. But don’t worry… they won’t do that, because I’m the only one who knows how to bring it back up.”
“What if they catch you before you finish?”
I put my hands on his shoulders and said, “William, we don’t have a lot of time for ‘what if’ questions. If we stick to the plan, everything should turn out fine. Now get going. The sooner I get started, the sooner I can get the hell out of here. I’ll see you in front of the hotel. Just wait for me there.”
He nodded, but he studied me for another few seconds before he turned and ran down the stairs. Before climbing the ladder up to the data center, I sent a quick note to Helen and Mohamed telling them where they could find William.
I climbed into the data center. The pain in my side was getting worse.
Once inside, I disabled the electronic lock on the hatch and went to work. It took me half an hour to reconfigure the servers. Besides shutting off remote administration access, I also shut down all inbound message traffic. Now the only way a message could go out was through my console. Then I downloaded all of the messages that I had copied from Jin’s data mat onto the server. When that was done, I downloaded an app that William and I wrote. The app was designed to send all of Shannon’s and Viyaja’s messages, along with an explanation of Shannon and Jamal’s plan, out to every data mat. It was open kimono time.
Before pressing the SEND key, I said, “This is for you guys.” The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. I felt like Rick, Lanka, and Senil were all in the data center with me.
The app worked. I looked at the console and watched as the emails began flooding the network.
By now, Viyaja was shitting his pants. I got up and walked over to the radio relay box. I grimaced as pain shot through my side. I looked down and saw that the blood stain was getting bigger. I also saw that I had left a trail of blood on the concrete floor. It would take the app about twenty minutes to complete sending the messages. I should be able to hold on until it was finished.
I sat down by the radio relay box, turned on the external speaker, and set the radio to scan mode. From here, I could monitor all voice communications on the net. There wasn’t much chatter on the radio. Most of the calls were between the air traffic control tower and an incoming helojumper.
A high-pitched beep echoed around the data center. I looked over at the server and saw an alert indicator light up. Someone was trying to access the servers. I checked my watch. Another ten minutes and the app would finish.
Five minutes later, I heard the echo of footsteps coming up the stairs to the observation deck. I could tell there were two people. I prayed that it was some teenagers trying to squeeze in a quickie before dinner. Whoever they were, they had just reached the observation deck. I leaned closer to the hatch and listened. If they were lovers, then they were gay lovers, because the voices I heard were two men. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it sounded like they were having an argument. The argument ended and I heard the metallic sound of someone climbing the ladder.
Those technicians had never once showed up on time when I was training them. Why did they have to develop a work ethic now?
I listened to the soft beeps as someone punched in the combination on the electronic keypad. A loud buzz let them know that the combination was invalid. He tried again. Same thing. After a short pause, there was pounding on the hatch followed by more arguing. This time I could make out some of it.
“The hatch is locked. I cannot get in,” the guy on the ladder yelled.
“Well, you better call operations and ask for instructions,” the other guy responded.
“To hell with you! I climbed the ladder. You call operations.”
The other guy called operations. I listened to him on the radio relay box. Viyaja answered the call. He didn’t sound happy. “You idiot. Break through the door and get in there.”
“I am sorry, sir, but I cannot. It is a steel door and I do not have the equipment for that.”
“Just stay there, you incompetent imbecile,” Viyaja said. “I am coming over myself.”
I smiled as I remembered the hours that Rick and I spent playing Texas Hold ‘Em. It was my turn to bet. I was all in.
Viyaja’s voice rang out from the external speaker again. This time he was on the MDF net. He ordered a helojumper to pick him and his personal guards up from the hotel roof. I checked my watch. It was going to be close.
I felt lightheaded, but I was able to write William a goodbye message.
I read it over.