"Hey, Mum!"
Behind Jason's back, Brett climbed out of the small tube which led to the minifin.
"Darling," Diane replied and took a step towards him with an insecure expression. The hug was clumsy and brief.
"Are you alright?" she wanted to know and touched his face. "Brett texted me, telling me you had trouble waking up."
He made an unconscious movement away from her and she flinched. Guilt rushed through him but he banished it quickly. They had bigger problems to solve right now.
"I'm okay," he ensured her and squeezed her hand to signal his effort to forgive her. She smiled relieved.
"Tell me about the leak," Jason asked her when they turned into the hallway leading to H.E.L.E.N.'s lab. "Brett told us some delicate pieces of information appeared on the internet."
Diane's face darkened and she nodded. "Yes, and they are disturbingly detailed. Froggy has been working with H.E.L.E.N. since his arrival yesterday morning. He barely took a break to eat or sleep. But until now he only found out that someone overrode some of her security protocols to get access to the database. He restored them of course and H.E.L.E.N. apologised a thousand times to him while she completely ignored anyone else."
"Her and Froggy had always a special relationship," Brett said and grinned.
"What kind of information was extracted?" Jason wanted to know.
"We don't know yet," Diane replied. "Also, we have no idea who did it. But the person has to have special security clearances. Otherwise, he or she would have never been able to get access to H.E.L.E.N. in the first place."
"That nails it down, doesn't it?"
Diane grimaced. "Since ORCA is the unofficial interplanetary diplomatic base most people on board got special clearances."
They stopped at the door to H.E.L.E.N.'s lab and Diane pushed the button.
"Security code, please?" H.E.L.E.N. asked friendly.
"Commander Bates, security code alpha point six, delta vega omega."
"It changed again?" Brett complained as they entered the lab. "Great, every day a new code to learn by heart."
"Welcome back, Jason," H.E.L.E.N. said. "I am pleased to see you returned safe and sound."
"Thank you, H.E.L.E.N.," Jason responded politely.
"Jase!"
Jason had seen Froggy for several times on video calls but it still astonished him how he had grown up. He was almost as tall as Jason but his wide grin was still unmistakeable that of the boy genius they know and loved.
Jason pulled him into a brief but warm hug.
"Anything new?" Diane wanted to know.
Froggy shook his head. "Not yet. But at least, no more information got out since yesterday. My presence must have scared off the leaker."
"What exactly has happened?" Jason wanted to know.
"As you know, since I left ORCA I monitored everything which has to do with aliens and conspiracy theories on the internet," Froggy began. "Web pages about aliens living among us and conspiracy theories are usually nothing new or to worry about. They are whole sections about the red weather phenomenon and the Red Virus. But some of those theories in the last weeks came very close to the truth and revealed some details about the Ocean People nobody but insiders can know."
"How could you monitor this on you own?" Brett asked. "There must be thousands of websites!"
"I wrote a piece of software which is searching for keywords."
Brett looked impressed but Froggy just shrugged. "It's just a simple query, nothing special. Anyway, I traced several websites with those detailed descriptions to one mac-address in Tokyo which belongs to the computer of Akio Tenjou."
"That name doesn't ring a bell," Brett replied.
"He is well-known in alien conspiracy circles," Froggy told them. "He wrote several books, has an online blog and a web-series where he leads back any strange non-explicable phenomenon to an invasion of extra-terrestrials. Under normal circumstances, such a guy would mean no threat and the description of the Ocean People could be interpreted as a simple imagination. But recently a few disturbingly detailed pieces of information about the meeting in Darwin appeared on his websites. H.E.L.E.N.? Can you please show us the map?"
An image appeared on the main screen, showing the coastline of north-west Australia, the shapes of the islands and a cross marking the location of ORCA. A red blinking circle had been inserted at the Mako Trench.
"This map is to be found on every single one of his websites," Froggy explained."Tenjou describes an underwater pyramid, claiming it to be the aliens headquarter on Earth. But fortunately, there are no pictures."
"Yeah, the Pyramid has its own security system," Jason said. "There is no way you can save pictures or any data of it in H.E.L.E.N.'s database without its permission."
H.E.L.E.N. made a sound and Froggy looked at the screen. "Oh that's good news," he stated. "It seems no valuable data was extracted. Just last week's cafeteria menu and some stuff protocols. Nothing to actually support or prove his allegations."
"That is good news," Diane responded. "Maybe the meeting can still take place after all."
Jason turned around to face her. "What? The meeting was cancelled?"
"Not yet," Diane replied. "But we're definitely considering it. Tenjou may not be able to prove his allegations but all flights to Australia are nevertheless booked out since last week. He might be a nutcase but he is a nutcase with a lot of followers."
"Not to mention the folk, a Comic Con usually attracts anyway," Brett added. "No offence, Froggy!"
Froggy grinned. "Non taken. Most people on Comic Cons are pretty decent but there are always some weirdos like me, either."
"But this year, there will be also a whole lot who actually believe Tenjou," Diane tossed in, her expression still concerned and serious.
"Hey, we're in contact with the president of the Global Union," Brett pointed out. "There must be a way to take down his websites!"
"That would raise even more suspicion," Jason responded and Froggy nodded.
"I added some links which will forward to some really bizarre websites," he explained. "And I left some comments in blogs and forums where his theories are discussed, making him look ridiculous. Also, my query software will warn me about new activity."
"Good thinking, Froggy," Diane praised him.
Jason took a look at his watch. "The girls will be here soon. Maybe we should join the others in the cafeteria."