CHAPTER 6
The Hardys and Rileys were sat around a large meeting table, in a place known as Conference Room 1. With them sat Chief Collig. He and James were unable to get the office tidied in time, so Ezra had opted to evict the gathering already in there, and ordered those folk to take a smaller room, one without coffee facilities. Ezra Collig nothing, if not, practical.
Fenton attempted to eat humble pie with regard to Ezra's trashed office, but didn't want to lose face. "Ezra, send the bill to the agency for damages caused, and we'll compensate you."
Joe dumped another cup of strong coffee in front of Frank, and circled around to the other side of the table. He slipped into the seat next to Vanessa.
Frank jumped in, "Dad, it's my responsibility. Send the bill to me, Chief. It's not as if I didn't get enough financial reward from the government when I dealt with Pandora the first time."
Ezra hadn't allowed Frank to apologize again for what he'd done. The Chief had told him to 'shut the hell up' and made a remark about how he appreciated what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder did to a man. If Frank's emotions were to erupt, better it be in a violent but short outburst, than the previous slow-drip of destruction he'd adopted before as a coping mechanism.
Joe then admitted he would've reacted the same way.
Con snorted, "What, you? No way!" He turned to Fenton, "Ever heard the like of it, Flash?"
Frank sniggered.
Fenton gave his son's forearm a squeeze and addressed The Chief, "Ezra, would you like to bring this meeting to order?"
Ezra put his hands over his heart. "Fen, I'm not your boss. The only person I can legitimately order around is young Anderson here, and even he's off the clock."
"In that case, I think we should trust Frank to head this one up and follow his lead," Fenton said.
"Excuse me?" Frank turned to Fenton, nonplussed.
"You agree, don't you Con?"
"Absolutely, Flash."
Fenton turned to Frank. "We always move with our strengths and yours is in planning. No one can argue your resourcefulness pulled us through to the other side last time. You also know more about Pandora than any of us. You're the right person to lead."
Frank shook his head. "And what I knew put me in therapy, and nearly got Joe and Nancy Drew killed. It got crazy back then and I'm willing to bet it'll get even crazier this time. They know what I'm capable of, so they'll try to control me psychologically from the get-go. Can you trust me not to fall off the edge again?"
"Yes. If it wasn't for you before, it would've been a lot worse. This time, we're all on board. We'll find them, and we'll finish them."
"Well said, Mr H," Vanessa said with a nod.
"Right on," said James.
"Go on, Bro!" Joe encouraged.
Frank looked around at the determined faces staring back. "Right then, no pressure. So…erm…why don't I bring everyone up to speed on what's happened, then look at what we can take forward from that?" He looked at Fenton uncertain, but got a nod of encouragement. With a more authoritative tone this time, Frank continued, "Okay, listen up—"
Frank took them through the story, from walking in on a 'burglary', to when he ran into Officer Bach on Shore Road, and, thankfully arrived at Joe's place safely, in one piece, but with a sore head. Then, he told them how he, Joe, Vanessa and James met in the bar. About his encounter with a girl who had unusual eyes and picture perfect hair. A girl so keen to bag her man, she slipped something into his drink, but bagged Joe instead. Finally, he told them about the ambulance which had loitered outside the bar, presumably to spirit him away.
Frank nodded to Collig, who took up the baton to fill them in on how Officer Bach had been discovered, trapped and almost dead in his car, which had been encouraged to launch itself into the air and almost off a cliff, by a stinger strip slung across the road - a booby-trap designed, in all likelihood, for Frank.
At the end, Fenton swore loudly and slammed a palm down onto the table. "What's the reason Con and haven't heard any of this until now?"
"We're telling you now!" Joe answered, "None of us had enough of the pieces to form a true picture." He pointed to himself, "I didn't know the nuances about the stinger strip or the ambulance until now. We knew the way they'd dismantled and tampered with Frank's alarm pad pointed to something more than a robbery, but nothing more than gut feelings."
"That's right," Vanessa agreed. "I saw the ambulance but didn't put two and two together either. Frank worked it out, we didn't."
The conversation broke while Fenton thought about what they'd told him, so Collig jumped in. "Can I ask, so I'm clear as to what we're up against, what is 'Pandora' exactly, and why the hell would someone want to commit mass murder for it?"
Frank gave him a potted outline, "She's a—"
"She?"
"Yes, 'she'. She's a computer program Professor Hope created. An IT genius, and true eccentric, but such an oddball it got him killed. His idea, a brilliant one…to create the ultimate anti-terrorist and hacker software program that, once activated, would spread like a virus and attack any threat to the World Wide Web. He developed Pandora as a self-learning tool, to protect and automatically plug up weaknesses. Unfortunately, Professor Hope hadn't counted on her falling into the wrong hands, to be used for the opposite reason - cyber-terrorism."
"So, you were asked to look after Pandora?"
"Not all of her. Professor Hope created Pandora as a program of two halves. The first appeared as a child's game and sat on gaming sites. The other half, the one I babysat, they called 'The Key' - both harmless on their own unless someone introduced The Key to the net via a USB port. Then it would automatically connect to the Pandora game to become whole - alive. However, to trigger Pandora, they needed an activation code. I found out the code could also be used to destroy her, so I decided to kill the threat completely. I partnered up with Nancy Drew to find it. Nancy Drew has an eidetic memory, I needed it to help me crack the game and get the clues to find the code."
"That's how Miss Drew became involved?"
Frank looked ashamed of himself. "I never should've let her get involved any further, got too emotionally attached." He quickly got off that line of discussion and ploughed on. "The power lies in possessing the Pandora game, The Key, and the code. Have all three in your grasp and you have the ability to control the world. If the Posse are really in possession of the Pandora game and The Key, its little wonder they'll kill to get the code from me."
"And you ultimately held the entire Pandora program in your hands," Collig said.
"No, Nancy Drew did, not me." A haunted look crossed his face and he looked down at the table to break eye contact. "I wasn't getting up off the school roof, out of my mind…no…not out of my mind, trapped in my mind and halfway to dead. If it wasn't for Joe—" he stopped for a beat and then moved on quickly. "Nancy Drew dealt with Pandora."
Collig nodded. "And from what I understand, after Miss Drew killed Pandora she smashed The Key?"
"She did. Arthur Gray persuaded me to look after Pandora for The Network, to keep her safe. He assumed, wrongly, that once I'd run the Posse to ground, he could retrieve the code from them, get The Key back from me, and claim the prize. What he failed to realise…I'm not the good little corporate soldier boy everyone thinks I am."
Joe shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
"Yeah, Joe. I've heard you refer to me like that and you're wrong." Frank looked at Joe for a couple of silent seconds, then released him and continued. "Gray also underestimated Nancy Drew's stubbornness and Joe's tenacity. So although I delivered the Posse into Arthur's hands, he didn't get Pandora. He failed, the Posse failed, I won…a hollow victory."
"I see."
Frank leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms and looked out of the window. "So there you have it."
"Now I appreciate why they'll kill for it."
"Yep."
Everyone watched Frank to the point of it growing uncomfortable. Their intensity made him switch from gazing out the window to looking at them. His eyes tracked from face-to-face. "So, does anyone else—"
Con spoke up, "Why don't you tell us what the Posse said to you on the phone, Junior?"
Frank opened his mouth to answer, but James held up his cell phone. "I can do better than that." He stood, pushed the phone's volume up to its highest and placed it in the middle of the table. "Listen up." He hit 'play'.
They paid attention to the conversation which kicked off with James' voice, "Andddd…okay, ready. Go for it, Bud," followed by the distinct sounds of Joe's thumbs tap on his phone. The phone rang and someone picked up…a pause…and then a voice recited Frank's name.
Frank moved. He slid his elbows over the table, rested his forehead on his palms and stared at the phone thoughtfully. "That's the voice."
They heard Joe answer the call, but not give his name. Then the unremitted list of the names of the people who would die started. Frank and Joe locked eyes across the table as the voice continued interminably. They heard Joe grow more and more agitated by the content of the conversation, until he reached the end of his tether and bellowed, "GO TO HELL!"
James leaned forward and picked up his phone as his own recorded voice uttered a shocked, "Wowsers!" He switched it off.
"Jesus," Fenton said and blew air out of his cheeks. "That's what you contended with the last time, Frank, for all those months?"
"It wasn't an alien tone last time, just straight up threats delivered by a human voice. They've become more sophisticated, or at least it's the impression I get. The voice, it's more…insidious." Frank looked across the table at James. "How did you get the recording?"
"When they phoned you, they didn't withhold their number, so Joe called them back. I used an app to record the conversation."
"To not withhold their number's audacious," Fenton said.
"I think they want to provide me with a way to contact them," Frank surmised. "James, I heard your name included. I'm real sorry. You'd only been doing your job."
"So were you, technically," James said. "Yay me, I'm popular."
Con frowned. "I don't get it. Before, they needed the other half of the program, The Key, so why demand something they've already got?"
Frank paused, dropped one arm onto the table, and turned to Con. "Yes, it's odd."
"They lost it?" Joe suggested.
"The code's too valuable to lose. " Frank chewed his lip. "Perhaps only one of them knew the code, but he's no longer around for whatever reason. But, they don't possess The Key any more either, so why do they even want the code?"
Vanessa cut in, "And Nancy killed Pandora. As soon as Nancy hit the self-destruction command, she died, I saw it happen. Heck, the host sites crashed en-masse. Speaking as a tech-head, it doesn't make sense." Vanessa turned to Collig, "Can you get me a computer with internet access?"
"I'll take you to mine," James offered.
"Cool. Let's go dig." They got up and left the room.
Frank sighed loudly, he'd forgotten to breathe. "I'm going to speak to Arthur Gray, face-to-face, find out what the hell went wrong. Even he should appreciate releasing the Pandora Posse would cause massive problems, and not only for us. Pandora's potentially globally destructive."
"Oh no, NO WAY!" Fenton said. "Not happening; surely you can see it's a bad idea?"
Joe spoke up, "I'm with Dad on this one. For some reason, Arthur's able to influence you, despite your best efforts. You'll be running the northern region of his empire by the time you get back. I think I should meet with him. He won't crawl under my skin like he can you. And can you trust yourself not to tear him apart?"
"You're right," Frank conceded. "You go and see him Joe, but take Con with you. Arthur Gray's a little guy, so someone with Con's stature and the fact Con's an ex-police lieutenant might throw him off balance."
"Good thought."
"Sounds like a plan," Con agreed.
Fenton's eyes rose to the ceiling. "I don't like it. I don't want either of my boys anywhere near that man."
Con laughed, "Roll your eyes all you like, Flash, you decided to put The Frankster in charge. You gotta respect his decisions. I'll be with Joe, nothing's going to happen to him on my watch."
Collig made a horrible, guttural cough to draw attention. "Can I make a suggestion?"
Frank gestured his way.
"Why don't you share the code with someone and water it down. From what's been said, the code's the way to destroy it?"
"And the power to activate her," Frank confirmed.
"Then if more people than you and Nancy Drew know it, anyone could destroy it…her…should they get the opportunity? Unless I'm way off the mark?"
Frank nodded. "You're on the button, and you make perfect sense."
"And it's harder to silence a Chief of Police," Con remarked.
All attention turned to Frank in expectation. He paused, his eyes still, and then they travelled as he thought hard. He frowned, leaned forward on his elbows, and drove his fists into his eye sockets. Eventually he came out and looked confused at Fenton. "I don't know it."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, it's gone." He pressed his finger to his forehead, "I had it right there. My mind's blank. It's on the tip of my tongue...but—" He dropped his hand and frowned hard in concentration. "Dammit!" He hit himself in the forehead with the side of his fist. "I've forgotten it."
Joe interceded, "That's not right, Frank. You once told me it's etched on your brain like a tattoo. You said you dreamt about it, sitting at a computer, typing it in over and over. Stop trying to protect us."
Frank shoved his seat back, and got up to pace the room. "It's NOT what I'm doing, Joe! Trust me; I'll not make the same mistake again." He turned to glare out of the window. "The code's not there anymore.
"What about the final two sets of numbers? You and Nan were separated at that point. How did you communicate them to each other?" Joe asked
"We used our prepaid phones. I can't remember Nancy Drew messaging her numbers to me, but I know I sent mine to her!"
"What happened to the phones?" Fenton asked.
"They're back at the office, in the filing cabinet." Frank's face brightened, "Nancy Drew will remember the numbers, she's got an eidetic memory, instant recall."
Fenton opened his jacket and retracted his cell from his inside pocket. "An easy fix for once. Give me her number."
Frank laughed. "Why would I have Nancy Drew's number?" he asked, hands out at his sides.
Collig cut in, "He's right. We've got his phone. My techie's are trying to triangulate the positioning of where the phone calls came from, got their hands full."
"I'm sure Frank can remember it, he phoned her every day on his office phone. Ran up quite a debt."
Frank looked blankly back. "I can't remember it, and it's not on my phone. We're not together, so there's no need for me to keep it."
Silence ensued as they gawped at him.
