THE SECRET
Chapter 1
By Kiddo
In Loving Memory of Jonathan Brandis
Disclaimer:
I don't have any rights to the TV shows "seaQuest DSV" or "seaQuest 2032" (being on my Christmas wish-list and birthday wish-list hasn't changed anything about this), and I am not making any money with this story.
"The Secret" takes place with the crew of the first season; this is an AU and therefore I have changed a few things. This story is a translation of one of my german storys.
The books "BACK-UP" by Thomas Feibel and "Sleepy Simon" by Frank Stieper inspired me to begin this story. Everything else is out of my crazy imagination.
I know that the first two chapters of this story don't look too interesting, but nevertheless, please read them. They will become important for later chapters.
A spezial "Thank You" goes to my wonderfull and incredible fast beta reader Jackie.
Feedback or reviews are always very welcome.= = = = = =
"It is just as it is with the flower. If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers . . . In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night . . . You--only you--will have stars that can laugh! It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh... My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens . . . they will all be your friends! And when your sorrow is comforted you will be content that you have known me." (Antoine De Saint- Exupéry - "The Little Prince")
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Andy Braun, a 14-year-old boy with short hair, and Sean Richards, 15 years old, were both sitting in front a computer in Sean's room. The room was very big and even had a little bathroom next to it.
Like nearly every weekend, Andy was sleeping over at the Richards' house. The two boys had gone to the same kindergarten and had met each other there; it hadn't taken long and the kids had become the best of friends. But only after a few weeks in kindergarten, it had become apparent that Andy wasn't like the other children. He was more intelligent than kids who were nearly twice as old. The first IQ-tests had shocked Andy's parents (a taxi driver and a waitress) a lot.
When Andy turned 4, he started school, and now at 14, he had just finished Stanford. Luckily, Andy had gotten a scholarship; otherwise, the Brauns wouldn't have been able to pay for it. The Brauns were always short of money and were happy if they could pay the rent for their little apartment every month.
Sean was going to one of the high schools in town.
But even if the boys had gone to different schools, they had never lost contact with each other. And both teenagers were crazy about computers. Andy and Sean loved to sit in front of the computer for hours, surfing through the Internex or hacking into one thing or another. None of their parents were aware of the fact that the boys were hackers; they just thought that the teenagers were playing computer games. Okay, sometimes that was also true, but only when they just happened to "find" a new computer game before it was released. To be a hacker had its advantages.
Like every weekend, Andy had taken his laptop with him to Sean's house, and now, they were both surfing through the Internex.
Around two o'clock in the morning, Sean turned to Andy. "Guess what I just read?"
Andy shrugged his shoulders. "No idea."
"'Sheffield & Co" has just gotten a new computer system to keep out hackers. They say that this is the best system in the world and totally new. They call it absolutely hacker-proof." The boy with the black hair smiled conspiratorially. "Interested in finding out if this is really true?" Sean knew that he would never have a chance in braking into such a sophisticated system without Andy. His friend was so much better with computers than him. Andy had a special talent.
But one of the things that Sean liked the most on Andy was that the other teenager never treated Sean like he wasn't just as good; like he was something lower. Andy always gave him the feeling that they were both equals in front of the computer. But, the truth was that Sean was only helping Andy and trying to watch his back.
The short-haired teenager thought a moment about Sean's question. To hack into 'Sheffield & Co" sounded like an interesting challenge. But on the other hand, he felt a little tired already. Andy's hand reached out for the Coke next to him and the boy took a big sip. The caffeine and sugar would keep him awake. "Sounds like an interesting night."
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Only three hours later, Andy's eyes sparkled in triumph as his fingers flew over the keyboard.
In spite of the fact that the "Sheffield & Co" new system was called absolutelly hacker-safe, it had been pretty easy. He and Sean had been the first who had gotten through the firewall of "Sheffield & Co". They had won against a so-called safe, anti-hacker system. The fact that they had just committed a criminal offence with their hack was ignored by both.
Both teenagers looked around in the computer system for a little bit. After some time, Sean looked up and glanced at Andy. "And what do we do now? Shall we leave a little message in their system and tell them how great their system really is? Or should we just leave altogether?"
Andy Braun shut his burning eyes for a moment. Then, he took a sip from his second nearly empty Coke. "I want to look around their data set a little longer. After that, we can decide what we will do."
Sean nodded. "Okay."
Andy looked over the different names of the data sets. Suddenly he stopped. Their was one data set which only had a few letters and numbers as a name; all the others had normal names which explained what was in which data set. The blond teenager hesitated for a moment. Then, he opened the data sed by double clicking.
After reading the first few lines, his breath stopped short. He looked at the monitor as if he was hypnotized. "Sean, I think you should take a look at this." There was a tremor in his voice.
Sean looked confusedly at the year younger boy. "Why? What's going on?"
"You have to see this for yourself."
The dark-haired teenager stood up, walked to Andy, and looked over his shoulder at the computer screen. After reading a little bit, his breath stopped short as well. "Oh my god, this is... they can't..."
"Oh believe me they can. You see that they are doing this." Andy felt like screaming. How could someone do such a thing?
Both were silent for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts. After some time, Andy took an empty disk and saved the information from the data set on it.
Sean looked questionately at Andy. "What should we do now? We can't go to the police. They will arrest us because of the hack. Oh shit!" Sean sat down in his computer chair. Despair was written all over his face. "Shit, shit, shit! What should we do now?"
Andy bit his upper lip. Sean was right; they had committed a crime with their hack. If they told the police what they had found on "Sheffield & Co", the police would want to know where the information had come from. But they had to go to the police. They couldn't keep this information secret just because they wanted to save themselves. "Sheffield & Co" had to be punished for what they had done. And were still doing! "We'll go to the police."
Sean looked at Andy with eyes the size of saucers. "Are you crazy? They'll arrest us for our hack! I can't do that to my parents. No college will take me if I have a conviction in my record. Just because you're at loggerheads with your parents and have already finished Stanford doesn't mean there aren't consequences for me!" Sean was red in the face.
Andy thought about his best friend's words. Sean was right. His parents weren't really interested in him or what he was doing. His parents, Andrea and Mike, had been very glad when he had gone to Stanford so that he wasn't always around them. His parents were always fighting. Andy expected daily that his parents would tell him that they were getting a divorce.
Sean, on the other hand, had a good relationship with his parents, Mandy and Richard. Andy often envied Sean's family.
Andy took a deep breath. "Okay, then I'm going to the police alone. It's no problem. You know I can't let something happen where some idiots dump their toxic waste into the ocean and get away with it. I can't let it happen; the water will become even more polluted and animals will die. I couldn't live with myself if I knew about it and didn't do anything! It doesn't matter what happens to me!"
For a moment Sean looked impressed at the blond teenager's courage. The little speech had been typical for Andy; the boy always thought of others first and himself last. "Okay, you are right. We go to the police, but we go together."
Andy smiled. "Really?"
Sean's answer was a brief nod.
"Thanks... I was really afraid that I would have to go alone."
Both looked at each other for a moment. Nobody said a word. Then, they logged out of the system. But before Andy put his computer away, he also hid the information from the disk in the Internex. He wanted to be absolutely certain that the information wouldn't get lost.
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To Be Continued ...
Written Summer 2003 / Translated Summer 2004
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The message about Jonathan Brandis' death shocked and surprised me a lot. He had been my absolute favourite actor for years, and he will be forever. I still have his posters on my walls, even if I should past that age.
I have never met him personally, but nevertheless, he holds a special place in my heart. The moment he became my favourite actor and the moment I heard of his death will always stay in my memory.
His death makes me very sad and thoughtful. You really have to feel awful when you think that suicide is the only way out. My sympathy is with his parents, family, friends, and fans.
I will never forget you and I can only hope that you have found peace in death. I miss you!
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When I got the message about Jonathan Brandis' death, the first 13 pages were already written. I stopped writing for a month. After that, I decided to continue writing.
The plot of the story had been totally mapped out in my head during the summer holidays, and I decided to write the story the way I had originally planned it. But while writing, I realised that it wasn't possible anymore. I discovered that there were a lot of unplanned scenes that made their way into the story.
I personally have the feeling that in reading the story, you will notice the point where I took a break from writing. The story has gotten a different mood/spirit because of Jonathan Brandis' death. I also think that everything I wrote after the break is not as good and interesting as the first part. But, I could also be totally wrong and just hope that I haven't lost my writing ability. But nevertheless, I hope you like the story.
Writing this story was, for me, a way of remembering Jonathan. I tried not to be too sad and include a few happy parts because when I think of Jonathan Brandis, I don't only have sad memories, most are beautiful, happy and show me what a fantastic actor he was. And I want to remember him with real good moments.