seemed like a cool lady.”
“We’ve had to put off our feelings. Natalie gave us a memory stick and we need a clean computer to see what’s on it,” Evelyn said.
“Whatever it is, it’s important,” Jenna added.
Tasha took a tablet out of her bag. “Michelle and I set this up, it’s clean.”
Evelyn handed her the memory stick and Tasha plugged it in. It took a few seconds for the directory to come up. It was quite extensive. Tasha flipped quickly through it.
“There is a ton of stuff on here, stuff the authorities would kill a whole lot of people to get at,” Tasha muttered, her eyes scanning files that seemed to cover the full breadth of ENIGMA operations.
“We need to focus on what we got from the drone we took down last night.”
Tasha sorted the data by date modified and the drone folders popped to the top of the list. There was a lot to read.
“This is going to take some time.”
Two hours later, Tasha found the data that made the grab so crucial. It was a document deceptively titled “L.I.E.S. Protocol 44932.”
“This is it you guys,” Tasha said. “I thought we were looking for coordinates, a specific location where the drone would be located. But this is actually better than that. We’ve got the L.I.E.S. control algorithm.”
“Oh goodie!” Jenna exclaimed, “Now, I don’t suppose you want to tell me what that means?”
“With the control algorithm, we can predict exactly what the L.I.E.S. drones are going to do. Not only that, we can predict exactly where Guzzler will go in response to an emergency.”
“Like the one that just happened?”
“Exactly,” Evelyn grinned.
Tasha asked, “When Natalie told you about this Guzzler, did she also tell you what to do with it?”
“She told us to destroy it.”
Tasha made a face. “Evelyn, I’m sorry, but that’s a stupid plan.”
Evelyn looked surprised. “It is?”
“Yeah, totally. We have the control algorithm, we can take over Guzzler and get access to their entire web of information—prior to when Clint Fleener’s people have a chance to scrub it clean. We need to take clandestine control in a way that no one knows we did it. That way, we can use their system against them.”
“But how do we get a Tick onto Guzzler without anyone knowing? Won’t someone notice it isn’t flying right?”
Tasha shrugged, “With the control algorithm, we can make Guzzler act completely normally. To any outside observer, it will be behaving as expected. The only difference will be that it will be sending a copy of its information to us, unfiltered.”
“And you can do that?” Evelyn asked.
Tasha gave her friend a look. Evelyn laughed, “Of course you can.”
“Let’s get moving then,” Jenna said, grinning.
Tasha shook her head. “We can’t just run off and do this. We’ve got a lot to figure out and it will take some time. I have to modify our new Secrets completely and I’ll have to build a new kind of Tick if we’re going to pull this off. We can’t do this ourselves—we’re going to need funding and facilities. I wish Fleener didn’t blow up ENIGMA headquarters, it sounds like it was a pretty amazing place.”
“There are other headquarters scattered around the country. Cindy told us they moved around all the time,” Jenna corrected.
“Well, then I guess that’s the next step, we need to rebuild. If we don’t screw this up, someday, people are going to feel about us the way we feel about Natalie,” Evelyn said.
“Isn’t that a little conceited?” Michelle asked.
“No. It’s just me embracing our new role as the head of the ENIGMAs. You heard Natalie—we were the best team in the Secrets. She left the future of the fight up to us. She could’ve given this information to anybody, but she chose our team. We’ve got to rise to the occasion and be heroes, whether we think we can do it or not—whether we think we’re good enough or not—Natalie Starr handed us ENIGMA on a silver platter. It’s our responsibility not to waste the chance.”
“Yeah, okay.” Michelle nodded her head. “Let’s be heroes.”
They put their hands together in a pile and stayed that way for a long time, meeting each other’s eyes, one by one. Four sisters—teammates—friends—the future of the revolution.
Then, with a guilty look on her face, Tasha said, “I don’t want to be all negative, but I think we’re lying to ourselves, there’s no way we’re going to be able to do this on our own, the funding alone…”
“Let me stop you there,” Michelle said, going back to the computer, “You guys need to see this.”
They all gathered around to see what Michelle was emphatically pointing at with her finger.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s all of the account information necessary to access a mountain of credits, you’d be correct.”
“Ladies, I believe we’re in business,” Evelyn crowed.
“So, Tasha,” Jenna said with a mischievous look in her eye, “you never told me, whatever happened with that Ken dude?”
Tasha rolled her eyes, “Please,” she laughed, “we’ve got a whole country to save. I am so over that fool.”
The girls all laughed and settled down to get some sleep.
Once everyone else had crashed, Tasha sat up and tapped her watch, calling up the message Natalie sent prior to her death. After reading it a single time, she knew she had to leave her grandmother behind.
It wasn’t easy and she felt fairly certain Bee was already on the phone telling the authorities that her granddaughter and her friends were terrorists, but she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.
The message read:
Tasha,
I write to you in despair. ENIGMA has been attacked. I’m badly injured and probably won’t survive. I’m taking the time to dictate this to you now because you and your friends are our only hope. There were traitors in my organization. It must be rebuilt and that task falls on YOU Tasha. You and your friends. Evelyn, Jenna and Michelle have told me that they cannot survive without you. I’ve reviewed your team files and I tend to agree with them. You are a very unique group of girls, each young, brilliant and dedicated—the future of the Secrets and ENIGMA will be safe in your hands.
I understand you have obligations to your family. I know you love your grandmother very dearly. But, as much as it hurts me to say this, I must tell you—in the grand scheme of things, your grandmother doesn’t matter. Her time has passed. Hell, my time has passed too.
Now, it is your time.
Familial obligations are important. But so are our obligations to the whole of humanity. You know this. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have become a Secret in the first place. I’m begging you, choose your human family. We need you now, perhaps more than ever.
Yours in admiration and hope,
Natalie Starr
Tasha closed the message on her watch, took one last glance at her friends and closed her eyes to sleep.
Tomorrow was going to be a very busy day.
TO BE CONTINUED
in
Drone Wars
Story Arc 2: Origins…
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