The Viperob Files Read online

  “It’s ok, you don’t have to tell me if it’s a secret,” said Gwen, her cheeks flushing light pink.

  Ethan immediately felt a bit of a fool for his reaction. After all, they’d already shared a situation with Gwen that could see them all in trouble. If they could trust anyone to keep their mouth shut, it was probably her.

  “Well you’ve already spilled half the story; are you ok with letting her in on the rest?” said Ethan, his face serious as he regarded his mate.

  Jaego shrugged. “Your call, but from what I’ve seen, I reckon we can trust her.”

  “You guys are starting to act a little weird. What’s going on?” asked Gwen, her eyes switching between each of the boy’s faces.

  “You have to promise to keep this information to yourself, ok? This is the biggest thing that’s ever happened to either of us.”

  Gwen sat up straight. “All right, now you’ve got me properly curious,” she placed a hand on her heart. “Whatever the secret, I swear I’ll take it to my grave. Is that good enough?”

  Ethan sighed and nodded. “Wait here, I’ll be back in a sec.”

  A few minutes later he reappeared, took a seat back on the ground and crossed his legs. Ethan held a small leather pouch in his hand, and without another word, passed it to Gwen.

  “We explored a house on a dive yesterday. It was deeper than we’ve attempted before, and in a location that…” he caught Jaego’s eye unwittingly, the memory of the Tri-Claw attack still fresh as blood. He shook his head slightly to get back on track. “Let’s just say, I don’t think we’ll be swimming there again any time soon. The pouch holds what we found.”

  Gwen undid the drawstring and upended its contents into the palm of one hand. Five gold rings set with gemstones tumbled out with a gentle clinking of cold metal. Her mouth dropped open in surprise, forming noiseless words. Forgetting that her drink wasn’t water, she lifted her glass with her free hand and downed the last of her drink in a swallow, causing her to splutter for a few moments.

  “That’s not everything either. There was a little safe box as well,” said Jaego. “But we haven’t had a chance to open it yet. Probably nothing in it, but I’m hoping to be wrong.”

  Once she regained her breath, Gwen lifted the rings in turn, examining each facet of the jewels in quiet awe. “Can you imagine the stuff you could get with these? You’d be able buy real food and eat vegetables and meat that were grown on a farm rather than processed crap. What’s their total value?” she asked.

  “No idea,” said Ethan with a sigh. “My dad’s going to make some enquiries through his contacts, try and find someone who could price them accurately. It’s going to be difficult though, as soon as word gets out, somebody’s guaranteed to try and steal them.”

  Gwen carefully put the rings back into the pouch, re-tied the drawstring and handed it back to Ethan. “Whatever you decide to do with them, that’s a truly awesome find.”

  Jaego poured a second drink for everyone and they settled back again, both boys quietly chuffed at her words. As warmth from the drink suffused Ethan’s gut, a gentle buzz filled his head and his eyelids began to feel heavy. He put the glass aside and lay down on the blanket, hands behind his head and closed his eyes for moment, enjoying the warmth of the gentle breeze over the balcony.

  Chapter Twelve

  Nikolai leant against his kitchen bench with mug in hand, gently swirling the dregs of coffee as he considered the time. Dusk was falling outside, and Ethan still wasn’t home. Normally this wouldn’t have worried Nik; at sixteen years of age, he tried to allow his son a degree of flexibility outside the heavy study and physical training load that Viperob imposed on all students. But his gut told him that tonight was different, and he couldn’t quite settle his discomfort at Ethan’s absence.

  Nikolai’s shift was due to start within the hour and he’d have to start moving soon if he was to keep up the pretence of a usual day. He drained the last of his coffee in one swallow and walked to the sink to clean up, still distracted by what he’d read early the previous morning before his family had woken.

  On the black-market computing device, he’d cracked the initial layer of security protecting the file. What he’d found had confirmed Kane and his worst fears. On one level, he couldn’t help but marvel at the intricacy of the work, and yet it made his gut roil at the implications. If the program hidden within the file was activated, The Australasian Defence Force would lose control of its most valuable asset. An outside master could now usurp control of the drones at a time of their choosing, free to turn the weaponry defending Australia’s northern coasts against its own army and people.

  Immediately understanding the implications, Nikolai had tried to disable the program, but was rebuffed by an additional layer of security with which he was unfamiliar. He needed time, but that was in short supply. The file had likely only been inserted into the overall system for a short testing phase when Nikolai and Kane had stumbled across it, and nothing of its significance would have been left unwatched.

  Nikolai looked up at the door, wondering how long he had before Viperob security came knocking. Once whoever owned the file ran an access check he’d be hauled out for interrogation. And then he’d be made to disappear like so many before.

  He and Kane had signed their own death warrants when they took the risk and downloaded the file. He could only hope that Jeanie and his son would be left alone, but he knew that chance was slight. What had he been told the last time he’d toyed with fighting the system via unionisation?

  “If you harm the corporation, you will find yourself as nothing more than a weed that must be removed. And Viperob is thorough. To ensure such a plant does not grow again, we will rip it out, roots and all.”

  If they were to survive, he had to get his family off the island and away from Viperob. But it wasn’t just his family’s lives at stake. He needed to get the file to the ADF before they were betrayed, and the floodgates opened to an invading force. He knew he needed to leave, and yet he’d wasted the last day and a half, frozen with indecision about how to escape.

  Nikolai jerked in surprise at a hammering on his apartment door, dropping the mug to shatter in the sink. They’ve come for me. He turned around and stared at the entrance, hands gripping the bench behind for support. Jeanie darted out of the main bedroom, her face drawn and pale.

  “It’s that damn file you downloaded, isn’t it?” she whispered.

  Nikolai grimaced but couldn’t disagree. “Don’t worry, it’s not here anymore. I sent if out of the complex today.”

  Jeanie’s face fell at his words, anger replaced with fear as her bottom lip began to shake. “Please tell me it’s not with Ethan?”

  A deep voice sounded from the outside corridor. “Nikolai Claymore, open this door!”

  Nik ignored the command, fixing his attention onto his wife. “Everything will be fine, I swear it, babe.” But he knew it was a lie. Nothing would be fine, and it never had been in the beginning. Nik grabbed his communication tablet off the bench, rapidly typed a message and hit SEND, then smashed the device under the heel of his boot.

  The hammering at the door stopped. Footsteps could be heard approaching, then a deafening crash as the lock holding the entrance shut was smashed from its casing. The door swung open, revealing a security officer holding a door-breaker in his grip. He stepped out of the way, freeing space for his senior officer to step through the gap.

  The officer, a man in his early forties, stepped over the debris and approached with an air of cool professionalism. His scalp was close shaved, grey uniform perfectly ironed, while his face remained impassive; neither excitement, anger or resignation marred his features as he passed over a white piece of paper to Nikolai.

  “Nikolai Claymore, you are under arrest for the crime of corporate espionage.”

  “Ethan! You need to wake up!”

  Ethan opened his eyes and sat bolt upright, startled to wakefulness by the shout. His head swam, and a headache was building be
hind at his temples. For a moment he had no idea where he was, then the pieces began to fall into place.

  “Ethan, you need to help me. Something’s wrong with Jaego.”

  Ethan turned to find Gwen kneeling at his mate’s side. They were still on the balcony of the house, but the scene was markedly different to when he’d closed his eyes seemingly minutes before. Where light had danced across the waves was now a grey twilight of dusk. And the breeze that had gently tousled at his hair had been replaced by fitful gusts that were growing in strength by the second. He got up and had to catch himself against the wall for a moment to get his balance before kneeling next Gwen.

  “What’s wrong with him?” asked Ethan.

  “He must have kept on drinking when we fell asleep,” said Gwen, her speech rapid. “He’s vomited on himself and I can’t wake him up.”

  Ethan rolled Jaego onto his side into the recovery position, then opened his mate’s mouth to make sure there was no obstruction to his airway. A glob of vomited food sat on Jaego’s tongue, and without a thought, Ethan stuck in two fingers and swept the food out. He leant forward, placed his cheek next to Jaego’s mouth to feel for air movement while looking for rise and fall of his chest. With relief he saw that his best friend was still breathing.

  Thankful that his mate was still alive, he picked up the bottle of spirits. “The stupid bastard must have got stuck in, there’s barely any left,” he muttered.

  In frustration, he stood and threw the bottle as far as he could. It was swallowed by the growing night before a sound of smashing glass heralded contact with stone.

  “It’s nearly dark—we can’t be outside the walls at night. If we don’t get moving, we’ll be stuck out here.” Gwen’s voice had taken an edge to it and she looked close to panic.

  Ethan rocked back on his heels as he sucked at his teeth. He’d been thinking the same thing. Even now it wasn’t safe to be outside and they’d be seriously at risk trying a run for the wall. Already, the first Tri-Claws would be emerging from the water in search of food. And within the hour, there would be hundreds of the things roaming the island.

  “Jaego’s not going anywhere in that state,” he said. “We’re going to have barricade the doors and wait the night here. If we stay quiet and out of sight, we should be safe from Tri-Claws.”

  “You don’t understand. I have to get home tonight. If I’m not there, the cops are going to haul my dad into jail.”

  Ethan raised an eyebrow in question. “Gwen, that doesn’t make sense. Your dad will be fine.”

  “Look, I can’t explain now, you’ll just have to trust me on this. I’ll help you get him inside, but then I’m bolting for the compound. I’ll let your parents know where you are, and that you’ve stayed to look after Jaego.”

  Ethan studied her face for a moment. It still didn’t make sense, but whatever was going on, Gwen looked serious about leaving. “What if you run into a Tri-Claw?” he said, trying to make her see reason. “I’ve seen one up close, and if it hadn’t been for Jaego backing me up, I wouldn’t have survived.”

  Gwen exposed her ankle, and a holstered Ruger pistol. “Don’t worry, I won’t be completely helpless.” She let her pants leg fall and squatted down to take hold of Jaego’s feet. “Now, do you want my help to move him or not?”

  Ethan realised his mouth was hanging in open in shock at her concealed weapon, and he snapped it closed. Bloody hell, there’s more to this girl than I thought. He had a stack of questions for her, but they’d have to wait. A fork of lightning branched down from the clouds, searing the back of Ethan’s retina with its brilliance. A split second later, thunder boomed. That was close. Heavy drops of rain started falling, quickly turning into a downpour as the first lightning strike was joined by myriad others across the horizon.

  Ethan leant down and hooked a hand under each armpit, then hauled Jaego’s bulk off the ground. Staggering backwards, they moved him inside and out of the weather.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lieutenant Ryan Harris sat on the one couch in the room, reclined and crossed his ankles as he contemplated the couple before him. Nikolai and Jeanie Claymore sat on a pair of tall-backed wooden chairs, facing each other in the middle of the small living room. Hands were zip-tied behind their backs and ankles fastened to respective chair legs to prevent any unexpected movement. Neither person had volunteered a single word other than a declaration of their own innocence and for the first time that day, he felt a worm of irritation begin to mount at the delay to his investigation. The fortieth floor was the last place he wanted to be during the onslaught of a cyclone. The forecast tropical storm had escalated rapidly on its approach to land and was now classed as a Grade Four cyclone. Repairs to the upper levels of the building after the last storm were still incomplete and considered a serious risk in the developing scenario.

  The Viperob Board itself had tasked his team with this clean-up operation when it became known that sensitive files had been stolen. The information in question was to be re-captured at any cost and any personnel who may have read its contents were to be silenced. Permanently. The mission order was unsigned for deniability. In short, it was precisely the type of work Harris completed for the corporation whenever required.

  Harris leant forward and stared at Nikolai, smirking slightly as the man looked away after a few moments. Harris knew most people found his gaze disturbing. With irises the cyanotic blue of a corpse, his eyes were as unfeeling as the dead when he conducted his work. Inflicting pain, whether it be emotional or physical, did not disturb Ryan Harris. The screams he’d elicited did not keep him awake at night with remorse, but nor did they particularly excite him. To him it was just work. Work that he was exceptionally good at.

  The lieutenant and his prisoners were an anomaly of stasis while Harris’s men worked around them, dismantling the small apartment systematically. Cupboards were stripped and emptied before his team began to remove even the wall and ceiling panels.

  “Stop wasting my time, Mr. Claymore,” said Harris. “I know you illegally copied a file. Tell me where it is.”

  Nikolai kept his mouth clamped shut and stared straight ahead, avoiding even the eyes of his own wife who had started to cry.

  “Regardless, we’ll still find the data chip. But every second I’m delayed earns another strike against your family’s name.”

  Nikolai looked at Harris again. “I already told you, there’s nothing to find here.”

  Outside, the gale steadily increased in ferocity and Nik was forced to raise his voice over the howling wind. The exterior window vibrated and flexed in its frame, close to breaking point. Somewhere above them came a horrendous noise of shattering glass and screaming metal as the storm tore its first hole in the skyscraper. A few moments later, an evacuation siren began to wail, announcing the evacuation of the top fifteen stories.

  One of Harris’s men appeared at his side, tablet in hand. “We found a black-market device in the bedroom wall cavity, sir. The files aren’t on it, nor is there a data chip. But if someone wanted to explore something off the Viperob grid, this would do the job.”

  A harsh smile cracked Harris’s face at the news. He took the tablet and held it up before Nikolai. “Nothing to find, eh?”

  Nikolai blanched. “So, what? There’s no data chip, and your officer confirmed it’s clean.”

  Harris’s man interrupted again, drawing a thunderous expression from his boss. “Sorry, sir, but should we move the interrogation back to headquarters?” Trampling feet could be heard from the hallway as residents fled, the screams of terrified children and stressed parents loud through the smashed doorway. “We’ve stripped the place to bare bones and I think the best chances of a new lead are now with their boy.”

  “Has Ethan been located?” asked Harris. He’d sent part of his squad in search of the teenager as soon as it became apparent he wasn’t in the apartment.

  “No. He left the corporation grounds with two other kids this afternoon, but there’s no record
of them coming back through security. If he’s out in that weather, it’s unlikely he’ll make it back to cause any trouble.”

  As the man spoke, a large crack snaked its way across the living room window, declaring imminent demise of the reinforced glass. Black smoke was starting to caress the ceiling in the hallway outside, sharp with the acrid smell of burning plastic.

  Harris gave a tight nod. “Take the rest of the team and head back.” He stared at Ethan’s parents as his men exited the room at speed, his gaze stripped of any compassion. “But I’m not leaving here until this bastard starts speaking the truth.”

  He reached into his jacket and pulled out a black plastic container. Dumping it on the table, he unclipped the opening and spread it wide to access a small collection of tools. Harris ignored the pliers, instead choosing a pair of secateurs to begin the next stage of interrogation.

  Nik struggled wildly as he realised what was coming. Blood oozed from torn skin beneath the cable ties at his wrist and ankles, but the restraints held fast. From behind his chair, Harris grabbed Nik’s right index finger, and clasped the secateurs blades at its root.

  “I know you’re lying, Claymore. This is your last chance. Where’s the file?”

  “There is no damn file,” muttered Nik, eyes wild.

  “Wrong answer.”

  The secateurs made a gut-turning crunch as the blades closed. Jeanie vomited as the first of her husband’s fingers hit the floor.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Wind howled, wrapping the house in a wall of noise as the wooden shutters vibrated and hummed within their frames. A headache gnawed at her temples as she pulled her hair into a tight plait, a bitter reminder of her earlier poor decision as she readied to leave. A buzz of nervous excitement built at the thought of entering the storm. Gwen racked the slide on her pistol, chambering a round. The small Ruger was by no means her favourite handgun. It may have been inconspicuous, but its diminutive size meant that it was difficult to hold and had limited accuracy. Even with her slight hand, Gwen could only wrap two fingers around the narrow grip. It was better than nothing though, and she was happy to have it while she ran the gauntlet of storm and Tri-Claw.