The Silence of Six (23 page)

24

Max pressed his face against
the glass andlooked down onto Folsom Street, three stories down. Three 25-foot stories. Even if he could get this window open, that was too far a drop to work as an escape route, no matter how desperate he was.

Max opened HackerAid on his phone. He searched for Penny’s handle, ^vengerGurl. She was still in the basement.

Max headed back towards the workstations. The guard didn’t try to stop him; he just trailed a few steps behind so Max knew he was there. Max spun around and stared him down. Hard to tell with the visor, but the guard seemed startled. He gave Max a little more space, but he held his hand on his holstered Taser.

Max doubted the guard would let him leave the floor, or sit down at an empty computer and upload the modified SH1FT program. Max had to figure out how to shake him and complete his mission.

There was a stairwell past the workstations in the far corner of the floor, but that door was being watched too—not by a Haxx0rade Cylon, but by a man built like a linebacker and dressed as a Secret Service agent, minus the official lapel pin. Another equally large man in a matching suit was stationed in front of the elevator.

Vic had his own security goons?

PHYREWALL and GroundSloth were still working at their desks. Max had a copy of SH1FT on the USB drive around his neck, but he didn’t think he could convince them to install it on the server. Despite their doubts, they seemed loyal to Vic and Panjea, and they didn’t have any reason to trust Max.

He had to change that.

He approached the hackers, unsure of what they were going to say or do. They eyed him warily.

“So. Vic’s 0MN1,” Max said. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“Isn’t he great?” GroundSloth said.

“Meh. He’s a script kiddie,” PHYREWALL said.

Interesting. Not everyone liked Vic after all.

“You mean he isn’t really a hacker?” Max asked.

“He thinks he is, but he’s not a very good one,” PHYREWALL said. “He’s great at recruiting though. He may not be able to code on his own, but he knows how to get the best to work for Panjea. STOP was a good guy. You’d be a good addition to the team.”

“Not sure he wants me for the team, or that I want to join. Does Vic always keep a guard on you?” Max asked.

“I thought they were here for you,” GroundSloth said. “What happened over there?”

“Vic gave me his best sales pitch. I’m still trying to make up my mind. Panjea has a great salary and benefits, but there’s that tiny chance of being murdered,” Max said.

“What are you talking about?” PHYREWALL said.

“If Vic didn’t order the death of Ariel and your Dramatis Personai friends, then he helped set them up. He’s the only person other than Evan who knew who they all were in real life, and the only one with any power. If he wants to stop them from telling the world that Panjea’s crooked, he knows people in high places who can make that happen.”

“I don’t believe it. Vic’s not like that,” PHYREWALL said.

“Hey, what’s that thing?” Max pointed at the silver globe on PHYREWALL’s desk.

“Why do you care?” GroundSloth said, an edge in his voice.

“It would make a great souvenir. Does the gift shop have them? Does Panjea have a gift shop?” Max asked.

“PHYREWALL,” GroundSloth said.

PHYREWALL picked up the globe and put it in his desk drawer.

“What about this?” Max asked. He held up Ariel’s puzzle piece. PHYREWALL’s eyebrows shot up and he frantically patted his pocket. He pulled out another puzzle piece and relaxed for a moment.

“Where did you get that?” GroundSloth reached for it, but Max yanked his hand back.

“Ariel had it,” Max said.

“She couldn’t have. Vic only gives these to . . . well, us.” PHYREWALL exchanged a glance with GroundSloth. “If Ariel had one, she must have been working on something important. Something we don’t know about.” He looked like he was going to be sick.

“And if she betrayed his trust by revealing something about Panjea . . . ?” Max said.

“Vic wouldn’t take it well,” said PHYREWALL.

Max pocketed Ariel’s puzzle piece. He caught GroundSloth watching him closely.

“Ariel wasn’t in Dramatis Personai, but she turned to the group for help, six months ago. She logged in to the forum as ‘dinglehopper,’” Max said. “Two weeks later, she was dead.”

“Oh shit,” PHYREWALL said. “That was her?”

“She didn’t know 0MN1 was her boss, but he obviously figured out who she was. You said he recruits lots of hackers. He—”

A loud alarm started ringing. Strobe lights flashed.

“What’s that?” asked Max.

PHYREWALL groaned. “Fire alarm.”

“Again? I’m just going to stay here and keep working,” GroundSloth said.

“Does this happen often?” Max asked.

“Like once a month. It’s an old building. We have to evacuate,” PHYREWALL said.

“Fine.” GroundSloth heaved himself out of his chair with a long sigh. He held onto his desk unsteadily.

Max followed them to the emergency stairs. The faux-Secret Service agents waited until he had gone through the door, then followed him down.

Shoot,
Max thought. Now he had three guards following him. He had to get away from these guys.

He got his chance when they went down the stairs and people from the second floor jammed into the stairwell. The stream of hackers pushed their way in, oblivious to the people around them because their masks were limiting their vision, or maybe because they just cared about saving themselves. Within seconds, Max was cut off from the others.

Now or never.

He pulled off his badge, tucked it into the hood of someone ahead of him, ducked down and curled into a ball near the wall. People kicked him on their way down, shoved and cursed at him.

He waited until he thought PHYREWALL and GroundSloth and the guards had passed him. Then he popped up and elbowed his way back up the stairs.

After he passed the second floor landing, the stairs were clear. He kept going up, stumbling over his flip-flops until he finally kicked them off and went barefoot. He burst back on to the third floor and bolted down the side aisle.

He slid to a halt when he found the cubicle with the axe. He grabbed it. The prop felt solid and real. It wasn’t sharp, but it could do some damage. He grabbed the red fire warden hat as well and put it on.

Max looked at the computer terminals in the center of the floor. This was his chance to install SH1FT. But the distraction of the fire alarm wouldn’t go on for much longer. If Penny was in trouble, he had to find her and get them both out of there and past the FBI. But he wasn’t going to leave empty-handed.

Max hurried to PHYREWALL’s desk and tried the drawer. Unlocked. He slid it open, nabbed the globe, then jammed the fist-sized object into his messenger bag. It was lighter than it looked, like it was hollow.

As he slid the drawer closed, he caught a glimpse of silver at the bottom. He reached in and came up with another puzzle piece that had been stuck to the inside of the metal drawer. This one was marked with an
N
where the piece had been removed from the globe.

Max dropped the puzzle piece into his pocket. He felt it click and latch with Ariel’s.

Finally, he checked HackerAid on his phone. Most of the dots, hackers and staff alike, were moving toward the exits around the main floor—including the one labeled as him. He thumbed down to the lower level and saw a red dot in a basement conference room. ^venger Gurl. Penny.

Max glanced at the computers one last time then ran back to the stairway and clattered down the steps. He flew down to the second floor. Everyone must have already evacuated. He hit the first floor landing and started squeezing past some people coming up from the basement.

“Excuse me! Sorry, coming through!” He raised his axe above their heads and they got out of the way.

Max jumped the last few steps to the basement landing and hit the ground running. He ignored the pain in his feet.

“Penny!” Max shouted. He ran past the cafeteria. There was another row of conference rooms down here. The fire alarm was more muffled, but lights flashed up and down the hallway.

“Penny?”

Max heard a thumping sound on the far end. And a familiar voice. “Let me out!”

There she was.

The room Penny was in was named Thunderdome. Max jiggled the handle. Locked. Penny pounded at the door.

“Hello? Help!” she called. “I’m trapped in here.”

“Penny, it’s me,” he said.

“Max! The door locked while I was trying to hack into the server. Then the alarm went off.”

“The building’s surrounded by FBI agents.”

“I tried to pick the lock with a paper clip—” Penny said.

“You can do that?”

“Apparently not.”

He looked around. The floor was clear. The last few people were trickling into a stairwell on the other end of the floor. They would have to hurry if they wanted to blend in with the crowd.

“Stand back from the door. I’m going to hack in.”

“Max, no offense, but even I couldn’t hack it.”

“Penny, just get back!”

Max stood with his legs apart and tested the weight of the axe again. He cocked it behind his shoulder and took a slow practice swing at the door handle.

“On three! One. Two. Three!”

He took a real swing and sliced through the metal doorknob like it was butter.
Bashed
more than sliced with the blunt edge, but it got the job done. The metal frame around the knob shattered and clattered to the floor.

Penny pushed the door open with a stunned expression. She had lost her mask too.

“You have a hatchet,” she said.

“Battle axe,” he growled. He grinned and leaned it against the door.

“Sometimes the best tech—” Penny began.

“Is low tech,” Max finished. He’d heard Evan say that dozens of times.

Max held out a hand. “You ready to go?”

“Beyond ready.”

She took his hand.

“Run!” he said.

They ran. He led her to the stairs and they hurried to catch up with the tail end of the crowd of employees ascending to the first floor.

“The FBI agents waiting outside are checking everyone as they exit,” he said.

“Is there another exit?” Penny asked.

Max checked the HackerAid map. “Auditorium. Probably also guarded,” Max said. “We have to assume they’re at all the exits. They’re really serious this time. They know I’m here.”

“We should split up,” Penny said.

“Not again,” Max said. He squeezed her hand. “Any ideas?”

“We could hide somewhere,” Penny said.

“It’ll just get harder to sneak out when it’s full of people again.”

“Get new masks?” Penny asked.

“They’re checking everyone.”

“I bet that’s going over well.”

Max stopped walking. “Wait. They’re looking for me.”

“Max. No,” Penny said. “That already worked once. They won’t fall for it again.”

“I can turn myself in. While they’re busy with me, you and Risse can drive away.”

“We’ll think of something else,” Penny said.

“It’s too late.” They were nearly at the doors. Max handed her the USB drive with SH1FT on it. She might not get another chance to install it, but they could keep it out of Panjea’s hands and add it to the rest of the evidence of what they were planning. He also handed her Ariel’s puzzle piece and explained what it was.

“One more thing, and this is a big one: Vic Ignacio is 0MN1.”

“What?” Penny said. Her surprise quickly turned to anger. “Evan said he couldn’t be trusted.”

“Think he knew about it?”

“Evan would have found a way to warn me. It would have been in his files. 0MN1 must have kept his identity from him too. God, and we came right to Vic.”

They were just about to step outside.

“It’s time,” Max said. “You hang back and get ready to run.”

He lowered his head and studied the crowd, still looking for a path to escape as he came through the doors, Penny just behind him, still holding his hand.

His whole body was tense, ready to spring into action. He raised his head slowly. Vic was standing in the middle of the street, watching everyone who exited. Vic locked eyes with Max for a long moment then murmured something to a tall man standing beside him. A man in a gray turtleneck, with his arms crossed.

Kevin Sharpe.

Max almost lost his nerve when Sharpe turned and faced him.

Max dropped Penny’s hand.

Sharpe leaned toward Vic and whispered in his ear. Vic shrugged, and Sharpe walked away. He quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Max raised his hand to the brim of his hat. He was about to pull it off and step forward when Vic shouted.

“There he is!” Vic turned and pointed. Across the street—in the opposite direction from where Max was standing. A figure bolted down the sidewalk, his flannel shirt flapping behind him. It looked like PHYREWALL, but why was Vic sending the FBI after his own employee? Five agents chased after him.

“What?” Max lowered his hat again and Penny pulled him to the right, to where Risse was waiting in the idling BMW.

“No, no.” Max yanked his arm away from her. “We should split up to be safe. Meet me at Fisherman’s Wharf, near the big sign.”