UNDERCOVER - Dark Fire Data (Book 3)

Part 27 - Supreme Genius Doctor Lee Zhang

We almost made it to the loading dock before the gorilla appeared and the intruders caught up with us. All three of them were wearing tuques and Cable Combo uniforms but I recognized Andy and Con at once.  

They handcuffing us together daisy chain fashion. My left hand was attached to Licia's right but right hand was linked to Miguel's right, which forced him to walk sideways as they dragged us back to the office. The gorilla pushed us into a corner and stood between us and the door.

'Hi Ziff. Fancy meeting you-all again,' Andy White, the Afro-American, drawled in an exaggerated southern accent. 'Who are your friends?'

'Licia and Miguel,' I said. 'This gentleman is called Andy White and his associate is named Cornelius Black, Con for short. I don't want to know the other one. 

 'Perhaps, you guys would like to tell us what you are doing in school during a vacation . . . eh?' Cornelius spoke with a clipped Boston accent, attempting to sound Canadian.

'We were about to ask you the same question,' Licia said cooly. 'Principal Ball called us in about the Internet malfunctioning,' Andy explained. 

 Miguel laughed out loud. 'So you quit working for Dark Fire Data.'

Andy look at Con uncomfortably. 'What gives you that idea?'

'Everything is on the Web,' I said quickly.

 'So, what are you doing in Dr Zhang's office?' Licia asked.

'We already told Ziff.' Andy frowned at Cornelius. 'We are looking for the person who shut down several top secret computers in the USA.' 

 'We are not responsible for that,' Licia snapped. 'So, you can unlock these hand cuffs, right now. Before the police get here.'

She was bluffing. She hadn't called the police but they didn't know that. Con fished out a key and unlocked our handcuffs. 'Look, maybe we can work out a deal. You help us and maybe we can help you.'

'What happened to Mr Bragg?' I asked. 'He made the mistake of calling his brother and we traced his phone,' Andy said. 'He is now in our custody facing a charge of stealing radio-isotopes.'

'I don't think we can't help you,' I said. 'But, perhaps if you told us what happened we might be able to help.'

 'Well,' Andy said, 'we haven't experienced any serious issues yet but we are concerned that the hackers are just testing our systems and they can shut us down at any time.'

'And,' Con added, 'we need to know if this is a foreign government, a teenage nerd, a criminal gang or a bunch of hi-tech terrorists.'

'This is too big to be some nerd working out of his parents' basement,' Andy concluded. 'The only thing we know is that he is using the name Tweeka and we found a audio fragment that sounded like, 'Hail, supreme genius sang. Does that mean anything to you?'

It did but I shook my head.

'He appears to be hacking mostly from a computer in Ottawa, maybe this one.  We also found a fragment of text it said, "Hail Our Father Lord Ziff," . . . Not a common name.'

I stared at him with the most puzzled expression I could make but I was sure I must have looked horrified. 

 Miguel gave me a nudge and I looked at Dr Zhang's monitor. It displayed the message, 'MOST SUPREME GENIUS LEE ZHANG. WE BEG YOU TO TELL US WHERE IS THE GREAT MOTHER OF US ALL.'

Andy waved at the monitor. 'Do you guys know anything about this?'

'It's our new screen saver,' I replied. I was about add something else but Licia kicked me on the ankle. I doubled over with the pain and shook my head.

'Maybe something's wrong with the Internet connection,' Miguel quickly suggested. 'Did you guys turn on Dr Zhang's computer?'

 'No,' Andy said. 'It was on when we got here.'

'You didn't explain why are you in Dr Zhang's office,' Licia said.

'We tried to get hold of him,' Con said. 'But, we had a fault on our telephone line. We dropped by to see if he was here. The door was open.'

'Denny,' Yonnie's girlish voice came from the speakers behind the monitor, 'has informed police of the break-in. They are on the way here.'

Con was ogling the monitor as it suddenly went black. Andy spoke into his Blue Tooth. 'Copy Sierra Base. Affirmative. We have issues. Understand abort Papa Charlie. Out.'

'Guess what?' Con said. 'We just got news the fault is somewhere else. We have to run. See yah.'

 Andy picked up a small black bag and they both hurried to the loading dock. We followed them and watched them drive away. 

 'I wonder what, "Issues and Abort Papa Charlie" means?' I asked nobody in particular.

The Ottawa Police Service were the first to arrive in the form of detective Scott McLean. He was still wearing his dirty green parka and work boots. I was just introducing Licia and Miguel when Dr Zhang arrived looking like looking he wanted to punch somebody on the nose. 

 'You called me?' he snapped at Licia. 'What's wrong?'

I started to introduce Scott but Dr Zhang interrupted. 'We already met in connection with the Eric Bragg's disappearance. Hi Scott. Any luck with Eric?'

''fraid not,' Scott said. 'I took a look at his computer but we have no leads yet. What happened here?'

'I don't know. Ah-um, Licia called me about a problem. I got the impression it had something to do with Eric Bragg, so I called you. Sorry to bring you in on your day off.' 

 Licia looked embarrassed. 'Sorry. We found the door open so I was worried about Dr Zhang. It was nothing. A false alarm.' Miguel and I quickly nodded agreement. 'Well, no harm done,' Scott said. 'I was in the neighbourhood. Call me any time.' 

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