Ruby Redfort: try not to scream

Chapter 13- Key word

Clancy's eyes blinked open. It was Sunday 17th May and curled up next to him was Ruby Redfort. He smiled in the yellow light of the morning. A week ago he could have only have dreamt of being with Ruby but now she was holding onto him like she would never let go. Everything was finally looking up for him. Well, other than the fact that The Count was roaming the streets of Twinford trying to kill everyone at Spectrum and maybe him as well.But other than that things were great. Ruby's eyes flicked open to reveal the green shade and golden flakes behind the long eyelashes.
"Hey," mumbled a very sleepy Ruby.
"Goodmorning beautiful," replied Clancy, kissing her on the forehead. She smiled wearily and ran her fingers through his hair. He half smiled and half laughed at her sleepiness. He then felt a vibration near his ear. It was the escape watch on Ruby's wrist.

Come in asap - H was what flashed on the screen. Ruby groaned and rolled out of bed. Pulling on some jeans and a T-shirt that read current status: HUNGRY! Ruby rushed to get ready.
"Do you have to go?" complained Clancy as she combed through her long brown locks.
"I'm afraid so," she sounded even more disappointed than he was. She ran to the bathroom and washed her face, brushed her teeth etc and grabbed her backpack.
"I'll be back as soon as I can. You can hang out here if you want. I can hear Dan downstairs,"

Ruby rushed into Spectrum 8 HQ as fast as she could. She made it into the auditorium ten minutes after Hitch sent her the message.
"That was quick," said Blacker as he came to find her. He walked her into the Blue Room where LB, Hitch and Froghorn were already waiting.

"Good morning kid," said Hitch as she entered. In front of them was a laptop and on the screen was some security footage.
"We found this in a hotel room that we believe The Count has been staying in. It's fully sealed so we need both you and Blacker to get into it."
Ruby took a seat next to Blacker and looked at the screen. It was a string of random letters attached by lines.
"We think it could be a map of some sort and the letters could potentially be an anagram of something but we aren't sure," said Blacker.

They sat there for hours and as they did more agents filled into the room. Agent Delaware stood, looming over Ruby's shoulder; he had never been her biggest fan. The head of the British Secret Service who Ruby now knew as M stood near LB. Blacker and Ruby tried every code they knew, typing constantly but The Count was fighting back. The code spun around and changed position on the screen. Every time it did a little box would appear in the corner. An input section with the word Key printed above it.  Ruby almost wanted to laugh. She, a child who at the age of seven had created a code so complex that it took the FBI and CIA two weeks to crack, and Blacker, one of the smartest people Ruby knew and an excellent code cracker, couldn't get past a man who modeled himself on Dracula. Then it hit Ruby, she had seen this code before. Many times on folded paper in the oak tree on Amster Green. "Oh my god," exclaimed Ruby as she smiled.
"What is it, kid?" asked Hitch.
"It's RC code," Ruby smirked. How had it taken her this long to work this out?
"What is RC code?" asked Agent Delaware.
"It's a vigenere cipher that requires a key word. You add the values of the letter to that of the key word and you have your message,"
"Ok, but can you crack it?" asked M. Hitch smirked, LB smiled and Blacker and Froghorn fully laughed.
"Can she crack it?" repeated Blacker through his chuckles. Ruby grinned up at M.
"I invented it," said Ruby, proudly.
"RC stands for Redfort-Crew code. Ruby and her friend Clancy came up with it when they were seven," LB explained.
"So how do we get through it Ruby?" asked Blacker.
"Well we need to figure out the key word which could be difficult. We just have to think like The Count." Ruby shivered. She never once thought those words would come out of her mouth.  Blacker nodded and Froghorn started to make a list of potential keywords.
"If The Count is using a code I created he is either expecting us to read what's on this computer and is gonna use a code word we will guess instantly or he used RC code because he thought I would never guess he would and is going to use a code word he thinks we will never guess," said Ruby, looking at Froghorn's list.

They sat around the table guessing for several more hours. It was at 10.30pm that Froghorn finally got it.
"Wait," he said, jumping to his feet. "If The Count was going to use a key word surely it would be something that would mean something to him while freaking us all out,"
"What are you suggesting?" asked Hitch. Froghorn leaned over Ruby's shoulder and typed in four letters. R-U-B-Y. When he clicked enter the letters changed to form real words. Ruby looked up at the Silent G, slightly afraid of what that word had been but also astounded by how Froghorn had figured it out.
"Wow, maybe you can be useful," she joked. "For a potato head," He pulled a face at her and smiled. As she looked back at the screen it all made sense.
"It's a timeline," said Blacker. Written under files on different parts of the screen were the things that were meant to be stolen from all the missions Ruby had been on three years ago. The Jade Buddha, The Truth Serum, The Cyan Scent, The Key Tag, The Snakes and The Mushrooms. As Blacker scrolled across the screen there was another file labeled Spectrum Lives. Ruby clicked on it and there was only one message. I'm watching you, Ruby Redfort. Then the message faded and a picture appeared on the screen with another message. I'm always watching. The picture that was there was one from the previous night. It was from the Redfort's security cameras. It was Clancy in the kitchen after Hitch had left, kissing Ruby on the counter. He knows.

So excited to write more about The Count and his evilness. Thanks for reading xxx