Chapter Ten
The Traitor
Katie plugged her flash drive into the small community computer used in the barracks and pulled up the files she had found. Joshua looked over her shoulder as a long string of coding appeared on the screen.
"What are we looking at here?" he asked.
"Right here," Katie said, highlighting a line of code in the middle. "It's wrong. It doesn't match the coding for the makeshift suit you escaped with."
Joshua raised an eyebrow. Katie knew much more about coding than he did, so he decided to just take her word for it. "Alright?" he said.
Katie clicked on the bit of code itself and an entirely new file popped up on screen. Joshua leaned forward. It seemed to be a message written by James, addressed to him.
"Hey, Josh," it read. "I hope you not do actually see this. I'm rhino this just in case happens something does."
The letter went on like that, full of typos and words out of order. It looked to be several paragraphs long, going on for quite a while. After reading the first few lines, he simply skimmed over the rest. He focused instead on the weird spots and missing words. Knowing James, Joshua figured there had to be a code here. He went over it a few different times, trying to figure out any sort of pattern. Where was the key? He thought. He reached over Katie and navigated back to the coding page. He scanned the whole page before focusing on the incorrect bit of code that had led them to the message. An idea occurred to him.
"Hand me that scrap piece of paper," he said, pulling up a chair. Katie passed the paper to him and he started writing the numbers of the incorrect code down. He then clicked back to the message again and started matching them up word by word. Slowly he started to see the pattern.
"There you are," Joshua said, smiling slightly at his brother's cleverness. He scribbled down each word on the piece of paper, working his way through the message. Once finished, he read through it and pushed it over to Katie so that she could read it.
Katie read through it a few times, before looking up at Joshua. "What's this virus he's talking about?"
"When we escaped, James used a virus to wipe every piece of information on the Ranger Project from the Black Cross's system," he explained. "According to this message, he also programmed the virus to leave behind just a tiny bit of itself inside their system after it was finished."
Katie reread the message again. "He says he left us a code, that when plugged into a computer containing traces of the virus, those traces will react to the code." She flipped over the paper, squinting at it a bit. "But that doesn't help us here, really. We'd have to break into a Black Cross complex to . . . ," her eyes widened. "The mole."
Joshua nodded. She had caught on to the same thing he had.
Katie looked at him. "James left us a way to expose the traitor," she said. "Anyone who has had contact with the Black Cross's server from this base, their computer should have traces of the virus in it."
Katie scanned the message one more time. "Where's the code, though?" she asked.
She sat forward and scanned through James's message on the computer again. Her eyes widened for a second and she navigated back to the coding page. "You don't think?" she said.
She and Joshua looked at each other.
"The incorrect bit of code is the trigger code too?" Joshua said.
Katie scanned over the code for a second, figuring out what it would all do. "It is," she said.
Joshua looked at the ceiling, smiling and shaking his head. "James, you beautiful genius, you." He scratched at his chin, and studied the code. "Now, we've just got to plug this into every computer attached to the Ranger Project to see if one was used by the mole."
"Right," Katie said. "But the mole could be anyone. We'd have to do it without letting them catch on until it's too late."
"Right," Joshua said. "Which means we can't tell anyone in the Ranger Project what we're doing."
"And that will make us look suspicious," Katie said.
Joshua sat back, letting his strategic mind work. Katie would be best for the job since she was better at stealth and intel gathering. Lunch was almost over, meaning the complex would be full of people soon, so they wouldn't be able to do anything until the end of the day.
"Right after we're dismissed for dinner," he said. "I want you to double back, act like you left something behind. That will ease suspicion for anyone still in the complex, but it should be mostly empty at that point. Once you're in, plug the code into every single computer. Don't rule anyone out. Not Dayton, not General Kenpachi, no one. Not even me. I'd rather be safe than sorry."
"I got it," Katie said, pulling the flash drive out of the computer. "I'll see it done, Captain."
Several hours later, after they had gone back to work and spent the rest of the day going over the suit's performance with Anthony, General Kenpachi dismissed everyone to dinner. Joshua and Katie joined Dayton and the cadets on their way to the mess hall. A short distance out from the lab, Katie stopped.
"Oh," she said, "I think I forgot my pack. You guys go on ahead."
Dayton and the others glanced at her and shrugged. "Want us to save you something?" Dayton said.
"No that's okay. I won't be long." Katie nodded to Joshua. Joshua nodded back.
Leaving the group, Katie doubled back to the Ranger Project headquarters. As expected, the halls were mostly empty, most stragglers finishing up what they were doing so they could get to the mess hall. Katie walked with purpose so as not to arouse any suspicion. She came to the first room, waited until no one was around, and poked her head.
She crossed to the room's sole computer and plugged her flash drive in. Once the device was up and running, she entered James's code. No reaction. The computer remained exactly the same as far as she could tell. She clicked on a few applications just to make sure she wasn't missing anything before shutting it down. This computer was clear.
Katie stepped out into the corridor and made her way to the next room. That computer turned out to be clear too. Carefully, Katie worked through every room in the complex. Eventually, she came to General Kenpachi's office. She stared at the door for a moment, truly hoping he didn't turn out to be the one. She had grown fond of the old man. She poked her head inside to make sure he wasn't around before hacking into his computer as well. She plugged in the flash drive and repeated the process, breathing a sigh of relief to find that his computer didn't react either.
After a few more rooms, only the computers inside the lab remained. Katie wondered for a minute if she would find anything at all. It was possible that James's code was faulty. Or that the Black Cross had already eradicated the traces of the virus from their systems. She didn't dare hope that there truly wasn't even a mole at all.
Katie came to the lab door. She let a group of scientists pass by before tapping her keycard and letting herself in. The lab was empty for the moment, most of the computers having gone to sleep. Katie started with the computer next to the door and worked her way around the room. None of those on the left side reacted in any way.
She came to Anthony Starr's computer in the center of the room, connected to the worktable where the makeshift suit James had built lay. Katie looked over the suit for a minute before booting up Anthony's computer and plugging in her flash drive. She typed in the code, not expecting much to happen just like all the others. This time, however, the moment she typed it in, the entire computer lit up with hundreds, if not thousands, of files being forced open, each one popping up one after the other, to the extent that Katie worried they might crash the system.
Her eyes widened. "There's no way," she said. She glanced up at the door. "Anthony is the traitor?"
She started her flash drive downloading everything that had come up.
She leaned in close to the screen. It looked like most of them had been buried deep inside no-name folders within no-name folders within no-name folders. Most were either given no names at all, a series of incomprehensible numbers and letters, or simply "Mom." Most of them looked like they had been protected behind heavy-duty security measures, but those had all been blown clean through by James's.
She started clicking through each file. Most of them contained heavily sensitive information regarding the Ranger Project, from blueprints to recruit lists. She found her own file, alongside those of Joshua, Dayton, Doug, and Harriet. And then there were the correspondences. E-mails and messages sent back and forth between Anthony and the Black Cross dating back several years, long before the Ranger Project or EAGLE even existed. Back to the early days of Black Cross activity.
Katie pulled up a small video file created just recently. The face of the Golden Mask appeared on the screen, spreading his arms and welcoming Joshua to his trap. From the description Joshua had given in the debriefing, this looked like the video that had played inside the compound this morning. Katie squinted at the Golden Mask on the screen, a terrible thought occuring to her. She went back to the e-mails and scanned them for any reference to the Golden Mask. Every single one seemed to be in reference to Anthony himself.
"Oh, Jesus," Katie said.
"Looking for something?"
Katie froze. She stared up to see Anthony standing just inside the door watching her, his arms crossed over his chest, one eyebrow raised. Katie stared at him, her mouth open. "Doctor Starr," she said, quickly putting on a casual smile. "I thought you had gone to dinner."
Anthony stared at her a second longer before flashing her his lopsided smile and shrugging. "Forgot to call my mom," he said. "You?"
"I forgot my pack. And General Kenpachi asked me to get something off the computer since I was on my way back."
"The general sent you?" Anthony asked, stepping closer.
"Yeah," Katie said. "That intel I found today, he needed some information from the central computer to help match up some things. Don't worry, I didn't mess with any of your stuff."
She glanced down to see that the download had completed. Katie pulled out the flash drive and closed out of everything. "There we go. All done!" she said, holding up the flash drive to show him. She locked up the computer and stepped away, walking casually over to her locker to collect her pack. Anthony watched her silently, stepping around his computer to look at the screen..
"Well, I'm glad you found what you were looking for," he said.
"Thanks," Katie said. She shouldered her pack and waved. "See you tomorrow."
"See you," Anthony said, nodding, his eyes not leaving her for a second. Katie turned her back to him to show him she didn't suspect anything and opened the door. She kept walking, down the hall and out of sight of the door. Once out of view, she stopped and leaned against the wall, her mind racing. Anthony was the Golden Mask, she thought. That meant he'd led the attack on the base. That meant he'd held both Joshua and James hostage and tortured them. That meant he'd murdered James. She had to find Joshua and General Kenpachi, now.
"Everything alright?"
Katie looked up to see Anthony standing in the doorway, watching her. Katie dropped her pack and opened it up. "Oh, yeah," she said. "Just had to make sure I had everything." She dug through it, giving it a once-over before zipping it up and slinging it over her shoulder again. "We got it. Good night."
"Good night, Lieutenant Young."
Katie kept heading down the hall. She could feel Anthony's eyes on her back. She kept walking, maintaining her casual pace while trying to keep her nerves under control. He won't try anything, she tried convincing herself. Not as long as we're inside the base and the security cameras are rolling.
She rounded the corner and almost ran headlong into Dayton. "Hey," her friend said, smiling brightly. "Where you been? You never showed."
"Oh," Katie said, relieved to see his face. "I got held up," she said. "No big deal. How was dinner?" she aked.
"Oh, it was great," Dayton said, rubbing his stomach. "We saved you a bowl. We left it in the barracks—"
"Great!" Katie said. "Let's go get it right now." She grabbed his arm and steered him quickly in the opposite direction.
Dayton glanced back at Anthony. "What's going on?" he asked. He nodded to Anthony who nodded back.
"Nothing," Katie said. "Just starving. Can't wait for dinner." She flashed Dayton a warning look. He registered the look, seeming to gather that something was wrong. "Alright," he said. "Let's go. It should still be warm."
"That's great," Katie said. They walked around the corner, out of Anthony's view. "How many bowls of curry did you get through today?"
They walked together, through Ranger Project headquarters and out the high security door, making a beeline for the barracks. Joshua sat waiting on Katie's cot, a large bowl of curry sitting beside him. He got to his feet as they came in.
"What did you find out?" he said.
"Not yet," Katie said. "We need to find General Kenpachi. Immediately. Come with me. Both of you."
Joshua took in the serious expression on her face and glanced at Dayton. Dayton simply gave him a confused shrug.
"Lead the way," he said.
Katie led them both through the compound, to General Kenpachi's personal quarters. She knocked on the door, Dayton and Joshua watching the corridor. The general opened the door, dressed in his civvies.
"What is all this?" he asked, taking them all in.
"We need to talk, sir, immediately," Katie said, glancing behind her. "May we come in?"
Kenpachi looked at her face. He must have recognized how spooked she was. "Come on in," he said. He stepped aside to let them in and closed the door behind them. "What's all this about?" he asked.
Katie pulled the flash drive from her pocket. She handed it to him, her head down. "I owe you an apology, sir," she said. "I lied to you during the debriefing today. I did find something. Something important."
General Kenpachi held the flash drive in his hand. He scanned her face, then the faces of Joshua and Dayton behind her. "That's a very serious offense, Lieutenant," he said.
"I know, sir," Katie said. "I'm sorry."
General Kenpachi was silent for a moment, considering the small device he held. "And what did you find?"
Katie glanced back at Joshua. "A message, sir, left behind by James Cage. And a code to identify the mole inside the Ranger Project."
Kenpachi's eyes lit up. He gripped the drive and looked up at her. "I assume, then," he said, "that the fact you are coming to me with this now means that you have discovered the traitor's identity."
Katie nodded. "I do, sir."
"Whoa, seriously?" Dayton said, his mouth open. He thought back to their encounter in the corridor. "Oh," he said. "Then-"
"Yes," Katie said, nodding. She glanced at the door. "This room is soundproof?"
General Kenpachi nodded. "It is."
"Alright," Katie said. She took a deep breath. "The traitor is Anthony Starr."
The room was silent, everyone staring at Katie. General Kenpachi furrowed his brow. "Anthony Starr?" he said. "That doesn't make any sense. He's been with the Project since the beginning. The suits were his idea. Are you absolutely certain?"
"Yes, I am. All the evidence is on that drive."
She turned to Joshua. "There's one more thing," she said. "He's not just a mole, Josh. He's the Golden Mask."