A word on this book:

This book is being created on Tablo, a website which allows independent writers a chance to develop their skills and show off their work. With this particular work, if people feel so inclined to add comments about the plot line, and what they would like to see as the novel evolves, I will take it into consideration. I have a general idea of the 'journey' of the book, but as many people know, these can change through the course of the writing as new ideas are developed. 

Regards,

K.A.Pasquale

Chapter 1

Government agencies were always so spotless; you could almost see your reflection off the polished vinyl floors which ran uniquely concurrent with the small tight cubicles border with blue dividers. The sound of a hundred of scientists, tapping away at their keyboard and the odd telephone conversation broke the monotony of the moment, penetrating the deep concentration which could be felt by even walking through the large office space to get the other side of the building.

It was in one of these cubicles that Robert rubbed the thick grey stubble that prostrated itself from his chin.

“This can’t be right” he said to himself, his knee twitching as he leant forward close to the computer visors in front of him. A thorough glance over the data on the screen prompted a feeling of an electrical charge running down his spine. “Hmm” he turned to neighbour in the next cubicle “Ahmed, if you are not busy, do you mind looking at this?”

A heavily accented voice responded “Is it urgent? I need to finish this analysis of Kepler 12057C”

“It might be Ahmed, I have some strange results” Robert slouched nervously in his chair, and slurped up a sip of coffee from the lonely cup, the sole item of note on his desk, apart from his computer. Robert prided himself on his cleanliness. Everything must have an order and place.

When Ahmed arrived, a brilliant young scientist from Iran, Robert pointed to the screen. “You see that?”

“Yes…” he paused “Oxygen”

“And see this here?” Excitedly sparked Robert, clicking his mouse like a Robin, flittering through some scrub.

“Robert your right!” said a measured Ahmed. “Goldilocks zone planet, trace amounts of key components.”

“We need to get this to management. They will want to know about this”

Ahmed nodded, slapping his comrade on the back as he left the cubicle. Robert began typing an email. It begun:

“Samantha, we have discovery what may be the first highly habitable planet…

The room itself smelt like old cigarettes and sweat, with traces of pizza crust thrown in. It was dark and cold, purposely so, as running multiple servers and interfaces always performed better in cold conditions. There was rising damp climbing up the walls, trying to reclaim the brick structure from its almost full time inhabitants, who called themselves ‘White Foxes’.

The door itself was locked tight from the inside, and only a vigorous security code would allow entrance from the outside, although this was not normal a problem as there were almost always a resident immersed in their activities operating inside the room..

A tall girl, with plats vigorously was typing to a friend on an online forum. Every now and again, she would stretch her arms out in an arc, before resuming her ‘conversation’.

Alongside her was a young slight woman of half-Asian origin named Qin, who stared intently into her computer screen, expertly clicking on multiple boxes, and sometimes swivelling her chain to another interface only forty-five degrees to her right.

“Qin” a familiar male voice said from another computer “You should really get some sleep. You have been at that project for weeks with barely a break. You know the ‘White Foxes’ are not supposed to take over your whole life. I am sure your studies are suffering”

“I know something is up Jav, and I want to find out what it is”. Javelin wasn’t the young man’s real name, but a handle. These aliases were common in the online community, to protect one’s identity. But in organizations such as the ‘White Foxes’, these handles were common place. “And besides, I am ahead of my studies” Qin continued.

“We just don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. What we do here, all of this…” Javelin waved his hand about the den, “… we do to uncover information that the world doesn’t want us to know. That doesn’t mean we have to risk our sanity to find it”

Qin turned to the older boy, her eyes narrowed, as she spoke from the heart: “Jav, I am fine. Honestly”

“Ok, it’s your life” he replied smugly, his bottom lip protruded when he smiles, making him appear even less attractive than normal. He was not exactly ugly, but with a round face and heavy lensed glasses, he looked stereotypically as if he was at a university studying a Masters of Computer Programming, which he was. “What are you doing anyway?”

“These satellite images from Goocorp” said Qin, her deep brown eyes looking at him.

“The ones we retrieved last week?” By retrieved, Javelin meant ‘hacked’.

“Yes, those ones. It’s been years since NASA had launched any space flights, but all of a sudden there have been four unscheduled ones in the past two weeks. It’s almost as if they have found something, but want to hide it”

“We all know that our government is hiding something, but it may just be co-incidental. You remember the Alaskan Crisis a few years back?”

“Of course. Satellite pictures showed missile launches from the Korean Peninsula, but there was no evidence they landed let alone exploded. No proof they even actually launched either”

“Exactly. Satellite pictures aren’t always perfect. Come on, let’s get some lunch, I will buy”

“I don’t mean to offend Jav, but I prefer to work on this. I need to see my mother later anyway”

“Your call” shrugged Jav and he typed in the code which opened the heavy metal security door to exit the room.

It was early afternoon when Qin Phillips peddled to her mother’s house, a quaint unit, one among three, built sometime in the late 20th century situated down a small lane lined with maple trees. Qin’s mother was lucky to be able to get this unit, as the applications to rent such a property in this suburb were in the hundreds, sometimes thousands. It was only her mother’s connections with some local property managers that allowed her to jump the queue, so to speak.

Qin placed her bicycle down near the door, and promptly e-chained it to a metal pole on the porch. E-chains dramatically reduced the chance of stolen bicycles, as when the code was set, and attempt to cut through the chain would set of an alarm which was loud enough to rattle your stomach.

Her mother answered the door with a bright smile, and she hugged her daughter lovingly, and led her inside the house.

Sitting on a simple moulded chair in the kitchen, a steamy bowl of soup was forced upon Qin.

“I haven’t heard from you. Tell me you have a boyfriend” said her Mother, Mrs Phillips, still cleaning the kitchen. Qin’s mother’s Chinese heritage meant that she was very direct with her conversation, often uncomfortably so for Qin’s liking.

“You know with University and everything I don’t have time for that”

“OH, one day you will find a nice young man”

“I don’t know if I want to mum” answered Qin, “I’m quite happy studying”

The mother turned her neck around and said in a tone which was not necessarily positive “And you’re still hanging around those strange friends of yours?”

“They are not that strange. Just …. Introverted” Qin replied.

“Careful you don’t waste your time with the wrong crowd! You were lucky to win that scholarship you know!”

“I know mum”

“Good girl. More soup?” She held the pan out ready to ladle more soup into young woman’s bowl.

“Ah no thanks. I need to go do some study” Qin said cleaning her bowl in the sink.

Qin’s mother was stunned “Already! But you just arrived!”

“Sorry, I will come around on Wednesday after you finish at the clinic, I promise”

“Oh before you go, I almost forgot”

Qin turned to her mother, who held a small wrapped package in her hand and placed it in Qin’s. “From your father. It arrived this morning” There was almost a sense of sadness when she said that.

Qin looked at the package closely, before her mother said “ I know it’s not your birthday for a few weeks but you might as well have it now. God knows your father won’t be here to give it to you”

“Have you spoken to him?” jumped Qin.

“Not for months” but before Qin could reply she said “See you Wednesday” and gave her a small kiss on the cheek as Qin cycled away.

Virgil International created their first application for phones in 2019, and by 2023 had a range of applications ranging from communications, schedule and other workplace integrated applications, working simultaneously together. Many businesses saw the practical use of their technology, where vast amounts of information could be displayed with simple voice activated requests. It was the database and referencing software for the 21st Century.

Virgil then expanded into their own mobile phone devices, perfecting the virtual-lensed glasses, computers and phones for your eyes which sold almost a billion units. Investing in further technology, Virgil then created components for infrastructure projects and mining projects, which propelled them into the top ten companies of the world, in terms of profit and prestige. They then bought out and annexed any smaller successful enterprises in many sectors, especially in the sphere of technology. They also had contracts with large government agencies, colluding with particular governments, whoever would further their interests to build a global corporate monopoly.

Their success was simply everywhere, in posters and street signs. Many with the tag ‘A partner of Virgil International’ in small print underneath the barrage of ad’s which accompanied individuals as they commuted.

Even Javelin, a modestly quiet young man with no outstanding public profile was barraged with tailor-made advertisements as he walked down the street towards the restaurant. Being a university student, as soon as he was within visual view of the endless stream of advertising pinnacles lined down the main street, they changed to display ads such as:

‘Tired of paying too much for public transport? Buy an Ivory pass and save thousands of dollars per year”

‘Computer Sale Now On! Get your new powerful gaming machine at Joe’s Bargain Computers’

‘Why spend money on academic texts? Subscribe to PYXjournals.com for only $100 per month”

But Javelin was used to these, and they had been there since he was a small child. He remembered when they were installed, not long after his twelfth birthday. They took the information from social networking sites and your credit card history to provide individual ads tailored to one’s taste. If more than one person walked down the street, it would calculate who was the more likely to be purchasing one of the items from a complex algorithm and correlate that with the amount the companies were willing to spend advertising their products and services.

His ear rang, symbolizing an incoming call. He blinked twice. “Yes?...   I will be there in a minute”

The restaurant was brand new, Javelin liked that. No natural light was allowed into the place, as a combination of strobes of LED lighting, replaceable wall paper, posters and table features created a different atmosphere each week, practically revamping the restaurant anew. This week was deemed to be Picnic week, which the owners decided to bathe the foyer in eerie green and purple lighting with plastic tree’s lined along the walls.

A small electronic voice greeted him as he entered the foyer “Welcome Mister Wright. Remember, your chip will be charged when you exit” That was reassuring. The waitress in waiting, dressed in a tunic which looked out of a Robin Hood film, led Javelin down a corridor into a private room, and left him alone to sit at the table.

The table was an outdoor setting made of wood, like one you would see at a camp site in the middle of what was left of the national parks. A flannelette patterned tablecloth was elegantly draped over the table, and a small pine ornamental holder containing wooden handled cutlery was placed in the middle. The room still had the green-purple light, but Javelin adjusted it brighter using a small remote control stuck to the wall.

The door slid open and a man dressed in a dark blue business suite walked in, a man bag swung across his torso. He also wore e-glasses, as did Javelin, but it was obvious they were not prescription like his own, as the lenses were thin. He looked around the room, looking for electronic surveillance of any kind.

“You ask me to be here, and then you are late?” asked Javelin, surely.

“Right on time to be factual” deliberately said the man, as if every word depended on its correct pronunciation.

“You know I should be talking to you”

“You didn’t have much of a choice did you?” The man chewed his lip.

“I guess not” replied Jav.

“You know who I represent, and you know the consequences of withholding information”

“We don’t have a whole lot of information to provide unfortunately” replied Jav, as the waitress walked in. A bubbly young woman, who zipped around the place, interrogating the two men on their menu choice. After she was appeased, the men continued.

“Well” The suited man said “It’s not only your college qualifications at stake now”

Javelin, sipping his milkshake widened his eyes. He was careful to calm himself, as he was sure the man he was dealing with could smell fear. “What do you mean?”

“We know of the ‘White Foxes’”

“What are they then?” bluffed Jav.

“Don’t be impudent. We have photographs; We know where your base is. IF I can call it that. We know what you do”

“Listen, whatever your name is” Javelin leant forward so there was no chance of someone overhearing him, and he whispered fiercely. “We are a small group, mostly college students. We have had no big hacks to our name and have no criminal convictions. We only want to uncover information…”

“And sell it to the online newspapers, yes?”

“It’s not about the money, it’s about getting the information out to the public”

“Even still it’s illegal” said the man evenly. He threw a photograph onto the desk. “Who is this girl?”

Jav looked at the photograph of Qin, sitting in an empty park reading a book. “Her? A new recruit, only joined a few months ago. Doing a bachelor of Computer Science specialising in virtual forensic analysis.”

“We have been monitoring her actions online. She has been writing protocol to bypass the internal high security of NASA”

“How can you monitor us? We have the most sophisticated encryption known to mankind? Anyway, it’s not as if it has been done before. Well not for six or so years since that teenage girl hacked into….. Wait a second”

The man nodded “One and same”

“I thought she went to child prison or something?”

“She did, but not for long it seems”

Javelin look perplexed, fidgeting with a napkin. “So what do you want me to do?”

“Nothing at all for now. But we want the information in a specific file” said the man, pushing a bit of paper to the young man, who looked at it and pushed it into a protruding pocket in his jeans.

Javelin observed thoughtfully. “If you can bypass our security, why don’t you just hack NASA yourself?”

“We are a private company, Mr. Wright. Or should I call you Javelin?” the man responded, again biting his lip. “Anyhow, if the government security catches on, it looks a lot better for us if it were a group of kids which were responsible. You agree?”

Reluctantly Javelin nodded, with a short thoughtful smirk, “I agree”

“Good!” The man pushed his man bag across the table. “Here is the initial payment for the information we require. It’s not much, but should be seen as…. Let’s call it an encouragement, yes?” He stood up. “I will contact you when your little girlfriend breaks through. By the way, call me Mr. P”

The suit then walked over to the door, where a small metal plate was secured to the wall and brought out an object, shaped like a thumb and placed it on the pad. An electronic voice said ‘Thank you for your business’