The Edge 2

Julie went to dinner angry. She wasn't sure who she was mad at more; her father for putting so much trust into one person or at Mike Chilton for breaking that trust. Going thru Chilton's record she could hardly blame her father for believing Mike was the best man in the KaneCo Guard. She had heard her father praise Chilton ever since he was new recruit. Above average intelligence, he ranked high in leadership skills and but it was his record breaking physical abilities that had left a big impression on his superiors. It was only a matter of time before word of Mike's achievements reached her father. Based on his record Mike appeared to be almost super human.

Julie was about to click on the security footage of her father's office from earlier today but had been called to dinner before she could watch it.

He father didn't seem to notice her sudden change in mood as he cut into the meat of his pot roast. He was muttering to himself as he stabbed his fork into the beef and Julie had the sneaking suspicion her father was imaging he was cutting in a certain cadet. Julie shivered at the thought and concentrated on drowning her potatoes in gravy.

The door slid open and a tall gangly teen came in.

"Hi Ju-lie," Tooley said, grinning widely as he emphasized her name.

"Hello Tooley," Julie said numbly cutting a large piece of roast and stuffing it into her face so she wouldn't have to talk to the goofy boy.

He continued to stare at her as if he expected her to say something more, but Julie just continued to smile awkwardly at him. "Did you have something for my dad?"

Tooley blinked and seemed to come out of his daze. "Oh, yes. Good looking out Julie!" he chuckled and continued down the table to Kane.

"No problem," she replied dully and pushed a carrot around her plate.

"Good evening Mr. K," Tooley said and chuckled immediately.

"What is it, Tooley?" Kane demanded, ignoring the man's greeting.

"Well, Mister Kane, sir. It's appears someone has hacked into the KaneCo database."

"WHAT?" Kane roared his face transformed into the very definition of rage.

"I SAID SOMEONE HAS HACKED INTO THE KANECO DATABASE!" Tooley shouted into Kane's ear.

Julie nearly choked on her ice water and had to remind herself that she had used her father's own information to access the KaneCo's database, leaving virtually no trail. This hacker had to be someone else. Right?

Kane popped out of his chair. "I heard you the first time! What's being done to stop him?"

"I'm sorry, sir. Stop who?"

"Chilton!" Kane insisted.

Julie dropped her fork. It bounced onto the plate with a loud clatter. Both men turned to look at her. Julie grimaced. "Sorry," she apologized and sheepishly picked up her fork.

Kane, mistaking Julie's actions as a daughter's concern, collected himself. "It's me who is sorry, my precious Jewel. I shouldn't bring work to our family time." He smiled at her for a moment. "But this is an emergency so I hope that you can forgive me for cutting dinner short." Kane didn't wait for her answer and got up from the table and made his way to the door. Tooley followed close behind. "Let's try again tomorrow. Daddy loves you, Julie."

"And Julie loves Daddy," Julie replied automatically.

Feeling her appetite leave her Julie waited for the door to close before she got up and headed to the door. She opened it a crack and stuck her head out to see that there was no one in the hallway. When she was sure it was clear Julie ducked out, and keeping to the shadows, she made it back to her bedroom. She ran over to her desk and opened the computer window with the security footage; she needed to get to the bottom of this whole Mike Chilton mess.

Without knowing exactly why, Julie held her breath as she clicked play on the video.