Now things really start happening…
See 1st chapter for disclaimer.
oOo
I waited 'til Mrs Johnsson had gone to the other side of the room, and fired up the internet. Hannah pulled her chair closer and I moved up so we could both see the screen. We'd been waiting a long time for this.
I logged on to the hacker circle where we were meeting Red Queen, under the name Hannah and I usually use when hacking and chatting together, FireoftheSky.
It was our first meeting with the Red Queen – or Trinity, as she was also known, and we didn't know how reliable she was. However, she was already there when we arrived.
"I've been waiting for you," she said.
"We know. Shall we?"
We went into a private chatroom. What we wanted to ask her about was not something we wanted heard publicly. We didn't know it at the time, but she was thinking the same thing.
We made a final check that Mrs Johnsson was occupied, and I began to type. My fingers were trembling.
'FireoftheSky: How long have you been waiting to talk to us?
RedQueen: About 15 minutes.
FireoftheSky: We've been waiting to talk to you for 7 months. You know something about Neo, don't you?
RedQueen: Yes.'
My breath caught in my throat. Hannah put her hand to her mouth. That's exactly what we were hoping for, but never in a million years did we expect to get it.
'FireoftheSky: What do you know? Do you know where he is?
RedQueen: Yes.
FireoftheSky: Will you tell us?
RedQueen: No.'
Our hearts dropped. Typical.
'RedQueen: Not while we're here. Anyone could overhear us.
FireoftheSky: Yes, of course. Where shall we meet you?
RedQueen: Wait. Slow down. First, tell me who you are.
FireoftheSky: We're his s-'
I began to type 'we're his sisters', as I would have answered anyone else who asked me that, but then thought better of it, and backspaced.
'FireoftheSky: We know him.
RedQueen: So do I. But you're not looking for Neo, are you?
FireoftheSky: What do you mean?
RedQueen: You're looking for Thomas Anderson.'
We gasped. How does she know that? How does she know what his real name is? I thought.
I don't know, thought Hannah, but if she knows that she probably knows a lot more. Go on, keep typing.
'FireoftheSky: That's right. How did you know?
RedQueen: I know a lot about you.
FireoftheSky: Like what?
RedQueen:I know you're his sisters and you've been looking for him ever since he went missing 7 months ago. I know you don't believe he was assassinated by the Mafia. I know you heard that I could help, which is why you're here now.'
We were both utterly stunned. I mean, we knew hackers have an uncanny way of gaining information, but that was just too much. This Red Queen character was obviously more than we had bargained for. Trouble was, we were too interested to leave. She knew too much about Tom.
'FireoftheSky: That's true. How did you find out?'
No reply. We paused. My fingers hung over the keys, waiting. She never answered the question. Instead, she asked another one.
'RedQueen: You're looking for something else, aren't you? Another way I can help you.
FireoftheSky: There is no other way you can help us. We just want to know where Thomas Anderson is.'
It felt strange, using his full name, when we were so used to calling him Tom. I didn't like it.
'RedQueen: Let me put it this way: why do you call yourselves FireoftheSky?
FireoftheSky: It means the sun and lightning – they were the twins born to the high god of Lithuanian legend.
RedQueen: You're interested in legends?
FireoftheSky: Yes. We're interested in the things people make up when they don't know the truth, or don't want to know the truth.
RedQueen: So am I. You want answers. I can give them to you.
FireoftheSky: What kinds of answers?
RedQueen: The ones you want. Meet me in the cathedral tonight at 21h.'
With that, she left. We sat completely still for several minutes, trying to take in everything that had just been said.
She knew where our brother was. She knew why we were looking for him. And she was willing to give us 'answers'.
But how did she know where we lived? Loads of cities have cathedrals; she could have meant anywhere. If she meant Salisbury cathedral, we would be utterly freaked.
It was just at that moment that something else very strange happened.
A window popped up in the corner of the screen, saying we had a message from 'Harsiesis'.
Funny, thought Hannah, do we know anyone called Harsiesis?
No…
We looked at eachother inquisitively, then opened the message.
'Going already? You should know that it is important to return home before setting out on a journey. Romulus and Remus must return to Chiron before they can become Gemini.'
What the hell…? I shook my head and deleted the message. They must have sent it to the wrong person.
Unless they were watching our conversation with the Red Queen? How else would they know we're going somewhere?
Oh come on Hannah, I bet there are loads of people going places tonight. Relax, it'll be fine.
But no sooner had I finished thinking the words than we received another message. I smiled. We're popular this afternoon.
'You have been warned – don't go, or Sekhmet will bring down her wrath!
Re-Harakhti'
What? Sekhmet? Re-Harakhti? What is going on? I quickly sent the message to the recycle bin.
Sarah?
Mm?
Wasn't Sekhmet the Egyptian god of war and sickness?
I looked at Hannah.
Probably. But I wouldn't worry about it. Just a couple of random people sending random messages to us by mistake. They've probably just got the wrong address.
I'm not so sure…
And anyway, even if they did mean us, it doesn't matter.
She knew it as well as I did – no matter what anyone said, we were going to meet this Trinity if it was the last thing we did.
Unfortunately, meeting the Red Queen meant sneaking out of school after hours. It was a risk – but one we were prepared to take.
At 8:35 we had changed out of our uniforms and were wearing black from head to toe. It was nothing unusual – we always wear that colour. And since we have black hair (Hannah's down to her hips and mine falling in dreadlocks around my shoulder-blades), and wear eyeliner most of the time, this apparently makes us "gothic".
However, it also means that we can hide in the shadows and slip out of school whenever we like, which, on this particular occasion, was worth the insults pathetically disguised as coughs as we walked past and Coke bottles that were usually thrown at us. The other kids at the school may be vaguely intelligent, but they're not by any means open-minded.
We slipped down the corridors and out of a science lab door that had been left open to air out the stench of burning aluminium. Being November, it was already dark, so we weren't seen as we wove our way silently through the gardens.
The only security cameras are on the school gates, so we climbed over the wall – an age old trick, but to our great relief, no one had dealt with it yet. Once on the road, we broke into a run.
It wasn't far to the cathedral, as we're usually dragged there every Sunday morning by school. There was a mid-week service beginning in half an hour, so the doors were open. We went quietly inside.
There were a couple of elderly ladies sitting side by side on the back pew, praying. We knew neither of them was the Trinity. An appropriate name for someone we're meeting in a church.
We scanned the other pews, but they were all empty. Then our eyes found their way to the front.
Standing in front of the alter was a figure all in black.
