Date: 2020-05-30T22:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Speculative
Description: Zhenyi Hypatia Drakos had two astrophysicists as parents, one Greek and one Chinese. They gave her a love of space and the intellect to study it. Her name, glasses and independent spirit made her the target of bullies from her first day of school. To survive Zen adapted by becoming self-sufficient and capable of fighting back. When the pulsar she discovered at age thirteen begins changing, she discovers that humans are not alone in the universe. Draconis is the story of how Zen shares this news with the world and prepares herself and the planet for what is headed their way.

Inform

DRACONIS - Episode 2

Ethan Stand

Copyright © 2020 by Ethan Stand

Ethan Stand owns the content in this book and reserves all his legal rights of ownership. ‘Inform’ is published for your personal enjoyment. He allows quotations in book reviews and social media posts. In fact, if they are positive reviews, he encourages their use. If you want to use it for some other purpose, then email him and get his written permission, if you don't then you may not reproduce or use it.

ISBN 13: 978-1-922336-08-8 (E-book)

‘Inform’ is fiction, Ethan isn’t writing about real people and doesn’t intend in any way to point the finger at anyone. If there is a similarity, then it’s unintentional and a coincidence. Some of the places, nations, corporations, institutions, public figures, books, movies and songs Ethan mentions are real. Ethan has used them in a made-up story (fiction), i.e., IT ISN’T REAL.

Ethan designed the cover using Photoshop. Vellum was used to prepare the e-book.

Published by Ethan Stand in 2020

You can find out more at www.ethanstand.com or write to Ethan at ethan@ethanstand.com.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

1

Zen looked out the airport window at the converted Airbus A330 which the Australian Airforce used to shuttle the Prime Minister around. After talking with her parents, they’d decided that instead of going with her, they would stay in Australia and settle Hal back into life in Brisbane. Not that it would be easy, now that he had a team of five agents assigned to keep him safe. They felt that Dr Edward Drayson, or Ted, as he was known, had a good enough grasp on the material to help Zen if she needed it, which wasn’t likely.

Standing beside Zen was the new head of her security detail, Miriam Friedler. Miriam was an agent with the Mossad who was on exchange with the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. Despite her status as a transfer agent, Dr Phil Bateman had asked her to lead Zen’s team. His main reason was that Miriam and Zen had bonded the day before at the ASIO gym during three five-minute rounds of MMA during which they had tried to beat each other up. Phil was looking for anything to lower Zen’s stress level, especially as it related to him.

Miriam said, “The Prime Minister’s team has just finished its final check of the plane so we can board whenever you are ready. Dr Bateman and Mr Morris are on their way so you should move soon. The reporters and other staff will board in ten minutes, and I’d like you on board before them. I’d rather not have to try and explain your presence until we get to New York.”

Zen looked over at Miriam and shrugged. “Whenever it suits you is fine by me. They said there was good internet access on the flight and I have some work to do, then I need sleep.”

“Then let’s go.”

Miriam signalled to another of the team who led the way out on to the tarmac and to the front of the airplane. Miriam walked beside Zen, and there were two other agents behind them. Another seven agents assigned to Zen were already aboard the aircraft. Miriam was personally nervous walking with Zen as not even the Prime Minister had more than the usual complement of five permanent agents on his team. He usually had two who travelled with him at any time, night and day, and the rest of his everyday security was done using unassigned agents and police. Dr Bateman had been ordered to double that number with Zen.

Once aboard, the airforce attendant showed Zen to her seat. Miriam had the seat beside her, and the rest of the team moved to join their fellow members in the central section of the aircraft. After making sure Zen had her seat belt fastened properly, Miriam took her seat. Zen turned to her, and in faulting Hebrew, said, “שלום, שמי זן”.

Miriam responded in Hebrew and said, “Hello Zen, my name is Miriam.”

Switching to English, she said, “What was the Hebrew for?”

Zen switched to Arabic, which she was reasonably sure Miriam would understand and said, “I learn best by immersion. My best friend is from Syria, and she taught me Arabic. I’ve been meaning to pick up another language, and as long as we have to be together, I thought I could pick up some Hebrew. Do you mind?”

Miriam also switched to Arabic and said, “That was almost perfect Syrian Arabic. What other languages do you know?”

“I’m fluent in English, Mandarin, and Greek. One of the boxers at my gym is Russian, so I can swear and carry on a simple everyday conversation in Russian. That’s it so far.”

Switching to Russian, Miriam said, “I’m OK with you learning Hebrew, but not when it might confuse the issue.”

Zen quickly used her laptop, then in Hebrew said, “That is good.”

Miriam corrected her pronunciation and syntax, then the two talked back and forth for a few minutes in broken Hebrew until they noticed movement at the front of the plane. Ted and Phil had just arrived and with them was the Minister of Defence, Leanne Riley. Phil was in the aisle across from Zen, and the others were seated further back. Each of the seats was able to be converted to a sleeping area, and curtains allowed for privacy.

When Mr Morris, the Prime Minister arrived, he stepped past his assigned area and said, “I’m glad you are here, Zen. I’m afraid I haven’t slept much in the last few nights, so I’ll not be doing much except sleeping for the next ten or so hours. If you need anything, then feel free to wake Phil up.”

Zen looked over at Phil, and smirked then said, “Thank you, but I’ll probably need some sleep myself.”

“You make sure you do. We’ll be very busy once we arrive.”

After takeoff, most of the people on board put up their privacy curtains and tried to sleep. Zen was able to sleep for about six hours, then she opened her laptop and began sorting through some of the data she’d downloaded but not yet been able to work through. She found it hard without her multiple screens, but her movement woke Miriam who said that there was a small media centre on board. Zen thought that would help, so Miriam went and evicted several journalists before calling Zen down. Zen wouldn’t have wanted to displace anyone. Still, Miriam knew both Phil and the Prime Minister wanted Zen to have priority.

Once Zen had set the screens up as she wanted, she began comparing information and moving things around. Miriam was mesmerised by the way Zen was moving between images of space and tables full of numbers, then making notes which pulled in other information from her files. After watching for almost an hour, she noticed Zen had pulled up several of the weather programs from around the world and began checking times against the data on her screen. As Zen became more focussed, she became almost frantic as she moved between the screens. Miriam sent word for Ted to be woken up and brought to her.

When he arrived, she stepped out and whispered, “Dr Drayson, I’m sorry to disturb you, but it looks to me like Zen needs an assistant who knows what they are doing and you are it. She’s talking to herself, and I have no idea what she’s saying.”

Ted nodded and slid into the media centre. He watched for several minutes, then Miriam heard him swear under his breath and say, “That isn’t possible.” He then stepped forward and said, “Here, let me record the variations as you read them out.”

Zen simply moved from the keyboard and began calling times and location by longitude and latitude then reeling off numbers with labels of height, depth or speed and temperature. Each of these Ted entered into a spreadsheet Zen had created. After half an hour, Zen said, “Back to the top, I need longitude and latitude to the nearest degree and the time, and I’ll repeat back magnitude, direction and divergence, go.”

On the screen, Zen had pulled up what looked like a huge swirling mass of colour. As Ted called out some numbers, Zen would scroll through the sequence then compare one section with a table and a map on two other screens and call out some numbers. They’d been doing this for over an hour when Ted said, “That’s it.”

Zen scrolled through the table, then said, “I need to run this through an algorithm to make it easier to represent graphically.”

Ted just moved out of his seat, and Zen sat and started adding extra columns with equations which pulled figures from similar tables on her laptop. Several times Ted queried a number or an equation, and Zen almost growled as she explained. Finally, she seemed satisfied and uploaded a graphics editor to the main computer and asked it to render the results in four dimensions.

When she hit execute a small circle on the screen began turning. It’d been working for almost a minute when it clicked over to one per cent. Zen grimaced and said, “Ah, it’ll take forever on this machine.”

Ted shook his head and said, “Maybe, but you and I both know what it is going to show. I’ve never seen that done before. I didn’t even know it was possible to connect those parameters.”

“It wasn’t. It’s an outflow of the gravity equations developed to explain the faster-than-light effect of the gravity pulse. This is just a test to see if the equations could effectively connect the parameters. Sort of like a second check on their validity. That’s only a sample of old data. If we had real-time data coming in from all the current data collection points, then it might help, but I just don’t know.”

Miriam finally said, “OK, what did you just do? Or find? Or show?”

Ted said, “Zen took a saved set of real-time magnetic, solar, tidal, ocean current and a variety of other data from eight months ago and used a new theoretical understanding of the relationship between gravity and electromagnetic fields to show that she could have accurately predicted the earthquake that devastated Eastern Poland was likely, at least six to twelve hours before it hit.”

Zen shook her head and said, “Not quite. I think it shows we would have predicted that there was a likely event occurring at a location in that region due to what amounts to a slowly rotating and localised gravity shear. The theory suggests these are a natural effect of the pulsation. When the shear runs longitudinally along a fault line, then there’s a possible added impetus for a quake. The shear tends to spike exponentially over the period of an hour. It’s like predicting the likelihood of rain. Looking back, it seems predictive, but there are checks and balances and all sorts of things that could have changed the event. If we had the real-time data and were able to collate it then we could possibly say something like, ‘there is a good chance there will be a significant tectonic movement in the next twenty-four hours. Please be careful.’”

Ted said, “So what made you look at this old data?”

Zen seemed to space out for a moment, then said, “Oh, um, yeah. I was reviewing the world data from just before we boarded the airplane. I noticed a similar data set near one of the large fault lines in South America. I just wanted to do a test run before saying anything more definitively.”

Ted and Miriam just looked at Zen and Ted said, “Where? Where in South America?”

“Um, northern Peru, up near the border with Ecuador.”

Ted said, “Why were you looking at data near Peru?”

“I’ve been reviewing real-time data and looking for possible interactions with the gravity phenomena. I recognised that I’d seen a similar pattern before and pulled up the Poland data.”

“How soon before you could say for sure if a shear might possibly line up along the fault?”

“I’m almost certain a shear will line up, the question is if it is during a peak period. My data is already eight to ten hours old, I pulled it before we left Canberra.”

“If we got the latest real-time since then, could we run a similar algorithm to see if the data shows something similar?”

“Yeah, we could, but we’d need a way to pull the data together. I put this material together when I did an assignment for geology at school, and it took me days to collate it.”

Ted said, “Yeah, but you did it yourself. Let me get access to the data. How many comparisons and interactions did you have to make?

Zen looked at the main tables and graphs she’d constructed and said, “More than twelve. I had to do it old school as the databases were a cow to merge.”

“Good, you go have a break and come back in ten minutes. By then, the data should be starting to roll in. Miriam, get Phil and the Prime Minister, then I need at least fifteen of the most detail orientated agents or journos you can find. Go!”

Ted ended Zen’s render and started requesting real-time data from various sensor stations and scientific sites around the globe, from NASA to Iceland. Zen still hadn’t returned when Phil and the Prime Minister arrived. Mr Morris said, “What’s happening?”

Ted said, “Zen’s modelling suggests there will be what she describes as a possible significant gravitational shear along a fault line on the Peruvian Ecuadorian border region sometime in the next few hours. At the moment, it is only a thought in her head. Still, if we can get some of the data processed using her new algorithms, we can increase the accuracy of the prediction.”

“How certain are you?”

“Mr Morris, I’m not certain at all. No one has ever done this before, and I’m operating on a gut reaction from a sixteen-year-old who was staring at solar activity and her made-up gravity formulas. She then compared that with old data from a geology assignment she did in grade ten. She just showed me that she could have predicted the Polish earthquake eight months ago. It all depends on how much you trust Zen’s gut.”

“How can you verify the prediction?”

“At our current science level, we wait and see if there is an earthquake. Looking to her data, I’m trying to get some agents and journos to data-mine the material, and I’ll be able to model the movement and show you in an hour or so what we are seeing.”

“What is your recommendation?”

“Call our ambassadors in Peru and Ecuador and tell them to inform the two governments that we have new, but unproven, science that suggests there might be a major quake in northern Peru sometime in the next twenty-four hours. They should warn their people to take substantial to extreme preventative measures, effective immediately.”

As he finished Zen appeared, she said, “Sorry I took so long, the loo had a line. Did I miss something?”

The Prime Minister shook his head and said, “No, nothing important. You keep working with Ted, while Phil and I deal with it.”

Zen nodded and stepped through, then began explaining to Ted how the data needed to be collated. Fifteen minutes later, runners began bringing figures from the back of the aircraft as journalists and agents pulled numbers and compared data according to the rules they’d been given. As Ted and Zen added the information to the final table, Ted began compiling the data into its final graphical form. The two worked through the brief stop in Honolulu to refuel, much to the annoyance of the flight crew.

Finally, two hours later, Zen said, “Wow, if we extrapolate this, then a significant gravity shear will possibly align along the fault at least twice. The first is in twenty minutes or so and then I’d suggest again two or three hours after that depending on how the fault moves during the first event. Is there any way we can warn them that it’s possible?”

Behind her, she heard Phil say, “The Prime Minister warned them two hours ago.”

“Oh. But the data wasn’t in yet?”

“Yeah, but Ted made the call.”

Zen looked sheepish and said, “That was a good call, Ted. Did you say there is the likelihood of a second larger quake after the first?”

Phil said, “Nope, but we will. Good work. Now go have a rest. Regardless of what happens, that was good work.”

Miriam wasn’t surprised when Zen stumbled to her seat. Minutes later as she was looking down at her sleeping charge, Phil came and stood beside her. She said, “Sir, I’d never have believed that looking at figures could take so much energy. I could almost see the power pouring out of Zen and Dr Drayton.”

“Yeah. The people up back are almost dead from the stress. Now, how do we deal with their questions? If the reporter from the Sydney Morning Herald wants to know what they were doing, what do I tell him?”

“I don’t know, sir. Sorry, but that’s above my pay grade.”

Half an hour later word started coming in of a massive Earthquake which had hit northern Peru. Despite the quake of 8.3 on the Richter scale, there had been a relatively minimal loss of life. However, the damage to buildings and infrastructure was substantial. Over the next three hours, reports were almost exclusively about the slow response from the national authorities, and then the second quake hit. This was an even more massive quake and measured 9.2 on the scale. This time, the response was rapid and seemed thoroughly prepared. Many commentators made the observation that if the responders had been quicker, they would have been caught by the second quake.

Phil came past to tell Zen, but Miriam wouldn’t let him wake her.

2

Zen slowly came awake as the smell of coffee filtered through her privacy screen. She pressed the button to transform the bed into a chair and pulled back the screen to see the airforce steward moving in her direction with a tray and some coffee. As he saw her, he slowed and said, “Can I get you something, Ms Drakos?”

“Oh yeah, I’d love a coffee. I’d better grab the ladies first, but then I’d like a long black if possible.”

“Certainly, I’ll get that for you right away.”

Zen felt stiff and sore all over, and it wasn’t until she’d finished using the bathroom that she remembered the night before. As she sat down, she was looking around for her laptop when the steward arrived. After placing the mug of coffee on her tray table, he said, “Is there anything else I can help with?”

“Um, I had a laptop with me. I may have left it back in the media room. I just wanted to check the news.”

“You stay here and wake up with the coffee, and I’ll see if I can find your laptop.”

A few minutes later he returned with the laptop. Zen was powering it up when the screen around Miriam was pulled back. Zen said, “Sorry to wake you. I just woke and wanted to check the news.”

Miriam smiled and said, “Yeah, I can imagine. You did good, Zen.”

As the pictures started scrolling across the screen, Zen was horrified by the devastation. Whole towns had been destroyed, and the topography of some parts had been completely transformed. Villages had been swallowed in liquefaction, and most of the roads had been destroyed. The number of confirmed dead was over eight thousand and expected to climb to over forty thousand.

She shook her head and said, “Good? This isn’t good. I was too late, I was too late at putting it together.”

Miriam took hold of her hand and then pulled her face around so she could look into Zen’s eyes which were tearing up. Miriam said, “No, you weren’t. The Peruvian government got the warning out in time. Wait till you read the statistics. The quake was at night when most people would have been home in their beds. The alarms and calls for the people to get up and get to safety went out two hours before the quake. If they hadn’t done that, then the expected death toll would have easily been in the multiple hundreds of thousands. Seismologists all over the world want to know how the government knew to hold back the rescue attempt for three hours. The Peruvian President has promised to share some of the details in a press conference at eight, which is just as we land in New York. You did good.”

Zen seemed to sink back into her seat as Miriam’s words sunk in. After almost twenty-seconds, she sat up a little straighter and said, “Thanks, I needed that. I need to thank Dr Drayson.”

“He’s still sleeping. Both of you almost collapsed.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I even left my laptop in the media centre, and I never forget stuff like that.”

Miriam sat up a little straighter and asked, “Was it tampered with at all?”

Zen double checked the computer then said, “I don’t think so. I’ve some pretty sophisticated protection, and nothing has been triggered, yet.”

“What do you mean, yet?”

Chuckling, Zen said, “Well, if one of the people on board starts swearing as their computer crashes spectacularly after having sent porn to everyone in their contact list then you’ll know they managed to get past my first level of mediocre security and found the decoy data.”

Miriam smiled and leant back into her chair. She then sent a text to one of the team telling them to keep watch of the reporters and their computer use. She then settled back and continued to think of ways to keep Zen safe. She had no idea what the knowledge was that Zen had, but after watching her and Ted, she knew it had to be earth-shattering if being able to predict earthquakes didn’t seem to phase them at all.

Zen looked through the news for about twenty minutes then began dealing with a backlog of work from her fiverr.com accounts. She’d been typing nonstop for almost ten minutes when the steward interrupted and said, “Ms Drakos, sorry for interrupting but the Prime Minister was wondering if you would join him for a working breakfast?”

Zen nodded. “Sure. Now?”

“In maybe ten minutes. I’ll come and get you.”

Zen looked back to her screen to keep typing, but Miriam said, “Before you start, I noticed you are typing in Arabic. Can I ask what it’s about?”

“Literature assignment for one of the Saudi princelings. He’s supposed to write two thousand words on the decay of the patriarchal system in western thought as promulgated by William Shakespeare. I don’t normally do literature assignments, but I’ve worked for the family before, and the pay is phenomenal.”

“You’re helping him cheat?”

“Well, yeah. I’m getting one Euro per word as long as he gets an A. It works out to three-and-a-half-thousand Australian dollars for a couple of hours’ work at the most.”

“That’s a pretty advanced topic for school.”

“He’s doing a liberal art type degree at King Saud University. His father’s going to cut his allowance if he doesn’t pass at least one subject this term. We’re going all out, and he’ll pass all four.”

“What if his father finds out?”

Zen grinned and said, “No worries, his dad is the one who’s paying me.”

Miriam started laughing and still hadn’t stopped chuckling when the steward turned up to say the Prime Minister was ready. Miriam followed Zen but stopped as Zen reached the security near the Prime Minister. She nodded, then leant against the side of the corridor to wait. The steward led Zen to a chair opposite the Prime Minister. Both Phil and the Defence Minister were already seated. Mr Morris said, “Zen, did you sleep all right?”

“Yes, thank you. Sorry, I faded so fast.”

“No problem at all. I’m impressed by the work and humbled that we could help play a part in helping so many hundreds of thousands of people. You are an exceptional young lady.”

Zen blushed and said, “Honestly, a lot of the credit goes to Dr Drayson. I wouldn’t have known to organise everyone like he did.”

The Prime Minister nodded, then said, “You are right. He did a great job pulling everyone together. That brings us to the reason for this meeting. Phil suggested we get a heads up on your thoughts on how we all work together to deal with what is approaching.”

Zen looked up at Phil, who shrugged, and said, “Your father told me you had plans. He sort of intimated I would be a fool if I didn’t at least ask what they were.”

“They are only rough and need fleshing out.”

Mr Morris said, “Most plans are at the beginning.”

“Do you have a screen where I can show some diagrams? I’ll need my laptop.”

“No need for that just yet. Just paint us a broad picture of what we are looking at.”

Zen took a deep breath, then started speaking. Ten minutes later, one of the security agents asked Miriam to get Zen’s laptop and to have all electronic devices in the press section of the aircraft turned off. She was to warn them that if they were found to have any recording equipment not turned off, they would face prosecution.

Two hours later as the plane began its descent into JFK International Airport, Phil escorted Zen back to her seat. As she sat, he turned to Miriam and said, “When you’re ready, I need a few minutes.”

Miriam called one of the team to take her place, then moved forward to where Phil was talking to the Prime Minister. As she approached Phil stepped away and said, “Miriam, ten minutes after the rest of the plane is empty, a local security detail for Zen will arrive. It took some wrangling, but the Attorney General has arranged for a Secret Service detail instead of one from the Diplomatic Security Service. Apparently, they almost renegotiated when they were told they’d be looking after a schoolgirl.

“After the talk we just had the PM has rescheduled several meetings, and the plan is to talk with Zen and me later than we’d earlier discussed. It looks like it will be moved to after dinner tonight. It’s also possible that he may be invited to dine with representatives from the State Department. They want a head’s up on what he wants to introduce tomorrow. Just be wary of the Secret Service detail which may have been asked to get information. Once people know what she knows, they may make plans to acquire her for themselves. Be prepared because it’s as likely to be our allies as any perceived enemies. Try and make sure she has some rest today as the meeting might not be until nine or ten.”

“So Zen is meeting free until then?”

“Basically. She’s assured us she’s ready for the presentation tomorrow and I agree.”

“What if she wants to leave the hotel?”

“I’d love to give a definitive ‘no’, but we promised not to lock her up. She’s still finding it hard to trust us so I’ll leave that up to you and the Secret Service people. I understand we’ve kept you out of the loop as to why she’s so important. Mr Morris has asked me to say this has nothing to do with trust. Besides his security council, only a few analysts and scientists have been read-in. All of these are sitting in secure premises at least until after tomorrow’s meeting. What he wanted me to ask is if this is going to be a problem?”

“No, Sir. I have no idea what could be more important than the way she helped those people last night, but the way you’ve all but ignored that scares me. She’s sixteen, and sixteen-year-old girls thrive on praise no matter how smart and self-sufficient they seem, so I hope you said something to her over breakfast.”

Phil stopped to think then said, “Um, I think the PM said she was exceptional, but then we moved on pretty quickly. Do I need to say anything else? I mean, she’s pretty level headed and seemed embarrassed and all.”

Miriam shook her head slowly, then said, “No, that’s OK. It would seem a bit weird now. From what you said about trust, I’m thinking I need to do more though than protect her physically. She’s only mentioned having one friend. What do you know about her background?”

“Not much. I looked at her school record but I’d suggest it’s mostly fiction, well the academic results certainly are. Apparently they consider her an average student with low self-esteem, mild communication and learning difficulties, and she has a major issue with authority. She’s been suspended from classes in every grade and every subject since preschool. I asked BB about it, that’s her mother, and she just laughed and said that was Zen’s way of coping with school.”

“I’m surprised she’s so well adjusted. Do you know why she doesn’t trust you?”

“Yeah, we’ve tried to keep it quiet, but you know the fugitive alert that went out yesterday, then was cancelled?”

“Yes.”

“That was Zen. I tried to have her locked up in a secure site. She ambushed an agent, escaped the cordon we’d set up and made her way to the Greek Embassy where she blackmailed the PM and me not to lock her up again.”

“Pardon my expression, Sir. But why the hell wasn’t I given this information before now?”

“We’ve been rushed. Look, I know that’s an excuse, but it’s also true. Full disclosure, before trying to lock her up, we tried to hack her information and take it without her permission.”

“Shit! I’m surprised she’s helping at all.”

“Oh yeah, in retaliation she destroyed a fifty thousand dollar computer system. Suffice to say, part of the reason you have the position is that she seems to trust you. We are just as concerned about her continuing good attitude as we are her safety.”

“I needed to know this, Sir.”

“Well, now, you do. I did mean to brief you earlier, but the earthquake thing came up. Sorry, the truth is, that is less important than you keeping her trust, so again, I apologise.”

“That you not only believe that but can say it so matter of factly scares me even more.”

“Good. Scared is good if it makes you extra careful of your charge. She’s given us everything she has at the moment, and I doubt she’s holding anything back on purpose. The PM and I think she’ll have even more to offer in the future, as the earthquake thing has proven.”

One of the stewards came and suggested strongly that if they wanted to keep talking, they needed to find adjacent seats. Phil said they were done and made his way back to his seat while Miriam sat back next to Zen. They’d only just had their seats checked by the stewards when the plane touched down at JFK.

3

Miriam explained the changes to the timetable while the plane emptied. She asked Zen to stay seated until she was sure it was empty, then let Zen stand to start packing her computer things back into her bag. As Zen packed, her phone gave off a small alarm. Zen opened it then started smiling. She turned to Miriam and said, “Looks like some of those reporters waited until they were in the airport and getting their luggage before trying to open what they downloaded from my computer. Would you like to watch?”

Miriam nodded, and Zen turned the phone to show two faces. From the view, it was clear they were peering into their laptops. Zen hit a red skull icon on her screen, and both faces went pale then disappeared. Miriam said, “Do you have a copy of those faces?”

Zen nodded and pulled up a photo. Miriam sent a copy to Phil and explained what had happened. A few minutes later he texted back and said that both reporters were in custody, as were two others who had helped them. After informing Zen, Miriam headed for the front entrance to wait for the Secret Service. Three minutes later and five black Chevrolet Suburbans pulled up to the bottom of the stairs. Two agents exited each vehicle, and three of them headed up the stairway. Miriam met them just inside the doorway and introduced herself. The agents seemed distant, and their attitudes cold and dismissive. The first one up the stairway said, “Agent Friedler, my name is Special Agent Ward, these are Special Agents Williams and Diago. We’ve been assigned to liaise with you regarding the security of a Ms Zhenyi Hypatia Drakos.”

“Yes, Zen is waiting inside. We need to get her to her hotel. She’s booked into a suite at the Plaza near to the Prime Minister. I haven’t discussed plans for later in the day with her yet because I wanted to talk with you first.”

“We have no information on your Zen as this was only arranged in the last hour. How big is the risk, and why are we involved?”

“You are involved because the Prime Minister believes her security is paramount. He considers her importance to be greater than his own. Her permanent detail is twice the size of his. I suspect the actual threat is low for the next twenty-four hours because most people are like you and have never heard of her. After tomorrow, I understand the threat will be extreme.”

“What do you mean by extreme?”

“My boss suggested the possibility that friendly nation-states will possibly deploy teams of assets to kidnap her, maybe even yours.”

The agent lost some of the coolness and said, “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope. Just be warned, if you try and take her from me then be prepared to kill, because I will be.”

He nodded then said, “We won’t take her from you. If she’s still under our protection, then we’ll stand beside you to keep her safe. Now, I hear you have a team of eleven.”

“That’s right. I’m lead mainly because she trusts me more than because of any particular skill of mine. I just found this out as we landed. Apparently, if you lose her trust, she’s been known to disappear and do her own thing. I’ve not seen this side of her except obliquely. I’ve found her to be cooperative but opinionated.”

The Special Agent sighed and removed his glasses. He said, “OK, I’m John. Look, I still don’t understand, but I’ll take your word for it for now. This still makes no sense, but I was wrong to take it out on you. I’d like you and Zen in the centre car with me, and the others of your team split between the other four cars. Her luggage will be delivered. Can you introduce us, then I’ll ask what her plans are? It’ll give me some time to plan as we head for the hotel.”

Miriam led the way to Zen, who was working on her laptop. As Miriam approached, she closed the screen and came to her feet. Miriam said, “Zen, this is Special Agent John Ward with the Secret Service. John, this is Ms Zen Drakos.”

Zen put out her hand to shake John’s. “Hi, please call me Zen. It’s so embarrassing them arranging for you guys.”

“No problem, Zen. Sure, it’s unusual, but it’s all good. Feel free to call me John. In a moment we’ll head to the hotel, and then we can sit and discuss your safety in more detail. To help me prepare, could you give me an idea of what your plans are for today?”

“I’ve only been to New York once before, and that was years ago. While I’d love to sightsee, I imagine that’d make your life absolutely miserable. I would like somewhere I can get some exercise. I rarely use weights, so maybe a boxing gym? Even better would be somewhere to do some rock-climbing. Hey, I have all day now, could we visit the Gunks?”

John put up a hand and said, “Hold that thought. I know we can arrange a visit to a gym, but something like climbing in the Shawangunks is dangerous all on its own. I’d need permission from my boss to take you somewhere like that, and from the sounds of things your Prime Minister might not appreciate it. Don’t worry, from what you said, I already have some ideas. We’ll discuss options at the hotel. Are you ready to leave?”

Zen nodded, and John touched a button on his earpiece and explained they were exiting the plane. He then led the way to the vehicles.

After arriving at the hotel, Zen was ferried upstairs in a private elevator. Once there she called her parents, and after explaining what happened with the earthquake, she said, “Mum, if I put the Secret Service guy on can you tell him it’s OK for me to do some climbing at the Gunks? I’ll probably never get the chance again.”

John was listening and smiled at Zen’s apparent youth in thinking only of the here and now. She handed him her phone and heard,” Hi, this is Zhenyi’s mother. I’ll fax through something written if you want it. If you can keep her safe from people, I’m OK with her climbing. She’s state champion, and we’ve climbed in the Chilean Andes several times. I’ve often talked about the times I climbed in the Shawangunks, so I understand Zen’s attraction to them. It would be a shame if she didn’t get to actually climb them.”

“Um, the fax would be good, but respectfully, she can always climb them later.”

He heard a deep sigh and then, “I wish that were true, but the likelihood is very slim. I know it doesn’t make sense now, but it will eventually. Still, I’m sure she’ll understand if it doesn’t work out. Hold on for a sec, … Her father suggested you get her a parkour lesson instead. It’s something she’s talked about and would love to do. Also, under no circumstances is she to get a tattoo, no matter what she says.”

Chuckling, John handed the phone back to Zen and stepping away he turned to Miriam and said, “That was weird. Her mother agreed this is possibly her last chance to climb over here.”

When Zen was off the phone, John said, “I will look into some rock-climbing, but would a parkour lesson suffice for the moment?

Zen’s face lit up immediately, and John moved away to see what he could organise. An hour later and Zen was introduced to one of the premier instructors from the Movement Collective. They were at the Hamilton Fish Park and the entire area had been cleared of everybody including staff. Both the Secret Service and Miriam’s teams were patrolling the area. Zen had paid for two one-and-a-half-hour lessons, and Miriam had paid extra to ensure the instructor’s confidentiality. Two hours into the lesson and John headed to Miriam, who was watching Zen jump between walls in the ‘Prince of Persia’ style.

John said, “Zen’s name just hit an internet information brokerage in connection with the Peruvian quake. There is no last name, no description, not even a gender. The source is the partner of a reporter who was on your plane. She says she has more information which she is willing to sell. Apparently, her partner was arrested by your security after he left the plane, but he’d already sent some files.”

Miriam called out to Zen, who dropped to the ground and after saying something to the instructor ran over. Miriam said, “Could one of the reporters who copied your stuff have sent it on before you caught them?”

“Yes, no problem. Don’t worry though, I checked what they took, and besides being bogus, it’s got several serious time bombs embedded. Even if they don’t open the files, it’ll get them in an hour so.”

“Someone is trying to sell the information.”

“Then it sucks to be them. People hate paying for stuff that’s toxic. We could wait, or I could crash the party early?”

“What does that mean?”

“If you get me their contact details and if they’re connected to the web I’ll send a ferret to find the files. After checking transmission data for anything copied elsewhere it’ll set off all the bombs ahead of schedule. I’ve limited it to a single level expansion so it won’t do too much damage.”

“So, if it finds them, the ‘bombs’ will kill their computer and the server it’s connected to but nothing else? It will also fry the computers of anyone who bought the data?”

“Um, basically.”

“What does the, ‘um’ mean?”

“The ‘um’ is in several parts, and all of them are kind of illegal.”

“I promise I won’t tell.”

“Nope, I’ve found that deniability is an important and highly underrated concept.”

“Fair enough. My job is to keep you safe, not correct your morality, go ahead and crash the party.”

Zen pulled her phone from a pocket, and with information from John, she sent a text then said, “This is so much fun. How much longer do I have?”

“Less than an hour. We’ll have lunch back at the hotel and then rest. Tomorrow is a big day.”

“Miriam, chill. You are supposed to act like a big sister, not a mother.”

With that, Zen hurried back to her lesson. Twenty minutes later John got another call. He went very still, then turned and looked at Zen before heading over to Miriam. He said, “It seems there has been a computer breach at the State Department. The main server has crashed, as has the computer belonging to the undersecretary responsible for US relations with Australia. Instead of using his own secure system he was still connected to the main State Department system. He’d used it to download a file he bought for fifty thousand dollars. Also, every member of his contact list has subsequently received unsolicited pornographic material which made it past their firewalls. This material went to the Secretary of State and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

Miriam started laughing and found it hard to stop but finally got herself together and said, “I’ve heard that deniability is an important concept.”

After lunch, Zen secluded herself in the huge bedroom to work on the presentation. John sat down with Miriam to look through the schedule for that night and the next day. The rest of the afternoon went slowly, and John insisted they eat in the room. There was a change of agents while Zen met with the Prime Minister and Phil. Throughout the day, the PM had fielded numerous questions about the content of Australia’s meeting at the UN. He’d also had questions about a statement by the Peruvian President that he’d received a phone call from Mr Morris to warn him of the earthquake. Each time he’d refused to comment ahead of schedule but allowed that the two things were connected. Zen, Phil and Mr Morris discussed the next day. Then Mr Morris asked follow-up-questions on Zen’s suggested plan, or more accurately, protocols, that Zen had mentioned earlier in the morning. They finished at midnight with Zen being given instructions to try and sleep.

After waking at six and eating in the suite, Zen was ready and dressed by eight. Although she was to enter the Security Council Chamber with Australia’s ambassador to the UN and the PM, she was was to make her way separately. The meeting was unusual in that, although it had been hurriedly convened at the request of The Australian Prime Minister, it had been formally scheduled only by the involvement of the US and the UK. Both had made it known they had not been informed of the issue to be discussed except that it was suggested science advisors be invited. The result was that the meeting was currently scheduled as a ‘public’ meeting. The PM was hoping to have the meeting closed to delegates and advisors before introducing Zen, so she was to wait in the wings, so to speak.

4

It was nine-thirty, and both the Australian ambassador to the UN and the Prime Minister had requested the initial meeting be closed, at least in the beginning. Discussions had been going on for ten minutes, and it looked like it might continue for some time. Zen was waiting with Phil, John and Miriam in the antechamber. While the others sat listening to the debate, Zen was working on her laptop.

At nine-forty-five the president called for a vote. It had been decided to allow the Australian delegation ninety minutes with the fifteen members of the council, their regular assistants and two scientific advisors. At the end of that time, the council would revisit the request. As the gallery section of the room was cleared, Phil was handed a note from one of the attendants. He stood and said, “Agent Ward, Agent Friedler, the PM and I want you in the meeting, so you understand what is at stake. The president has agreed for you to join the delegation. When we enter, use the red seats on your left.”

He then turned to Zen and said, “You’re on. Are you OK?”

Zen nodded, then followed Phil into the room. It was as huge as Zen had imagined from the pictures she’d seen. The delegates were all seated in their places on the large round C-shaped table. A podium had been set up for her in the gap, and several large screens had been lowered from the ceiling so images could be displayed behind her. There was a display set into the podium so she could see what was on the screens. An attendant was waiting for her data. Phil took her storage device and whispered that Zen should sit near Mr Morris.

At ten, the Chinese delegate who was the current Security Council President invited the Australian delegation to present their information. Mr Morris rose and as arranged, Zen stood with him as they walked to the podium. Zen stood half a step behind him and to his right. He stepped forward and said, “Mr President, Ambassadors, delegates, I want to thank you for the flexible and timely manner in which this meeting has been convened. To underline the importance I put on the issue we want to present, I should say I only learned of it myself less than four days ago. Even now, while I am entirely convinced of the accuracy of what we will present, I am still struggling to clearly see a way forward.

“Four days ago, one of the directors at ASIO was contacted by an old friend who asked if he would meet her, her husband, and their children for lunch. The only stipulations were that the meeting be arranged as soon as possible and that it be carried out in private. What was shared with our agent then is what we want to share with you now. Delegates, it is my privilege to introduce my companion, Ms Zhenyi Drakos. She will be making our presentation.”

The delegates all applauded softly as Zen stepped forward. Mr Morris stepped back and went back to his seat leaving Zen in the centre of the room, all eyes on her. She looked down briefly to check that everything was loaded then looking up she said, “Thank you, Mr Prime Minister. Delegates, my name is Zhenyi Drakos, but most people call me Zen. Both my parents are scientists. My mother’s interests are in…”

It was three hours before the doors of the chamber reopened. Each of the delegates and advisors ignored all attempts by those waiting outside the chamber to ask questions. Inside the chamber, the five delegates who represented the permanent members of the security council remained. With them was the Australian Prime Minister. Together they watched Zen gather things as John and Miriam stood guard. The US delegate said, “Why bring this here? No matter what everyone agreed, you know someone will talk.”

Mr Morris said, “I know. I’d have rather have kept it secret, but Zen had other ideas.”

The Russian delegate said, “Why would you let her dictate terms?”

“Because what she has shared this morning is less than half of the picture and the second half is dire. People know we are not alone, and your scientists will soon confirm that, but they haven’t yet had her put together the full picture. She agreed that in this session, she would focus on the science of FTL and the fact that we are not alone. I suggest you have a different set of advisors to the next session.”

The delegate from the United Kingdom asked, “Why? What more can she tell us?”

The PM’s voice dropped, and he said, “If what she said just then is true, and every person who’s looked closely at the evidence says it is, then she has the data to show that unless we do something drastic, the human race could be extinct even before the aliens arrive. She spent hours explaining her reasoning and the science behind all the dangers we faced. If you doubt her, then let me tell you that she predicted that earthquake yesterday. I thought that was all she had, but yesterday I asked her what she would do about it. I’ve spent the last twenty-four hours discussing things with my Defence Minister and ASIO advisor. We have yet to find a good argument against any of her suggestions, no matter how difficult they will be to implement. Already my full cabinet is meeting with the leader of the opposition and shadow cabinet to discuss options.”

The PM stopped talking as Zen approached. He said, “I need to discuss some things here, but you go back to the hotel. I’ll let you know as soon as I know when we’re meeting again.”

Zen nodded, then after waving at the other delegates she followed Miriam from the room with John bringing up the rear. On the way back to the hotel, both John and Miriam checked in with their various teams while Zen rested. Nobody said anything until they were approaching the elevator from the basement. John turned to the other member of his team who was on duty and said, “Ms Drakos asked to visit a gym this afternoon. Go with Mike and arrange to book out the Church Street Gym on Walker Street, the three of us will be safe enough in the elevator.”

The agent simply nodded and headed back to the car. Once in the elevator Miriam looked at John who said, “Sorry for that deception. My team and I are being relieved of duty, effective as soon as the replacements arrive. My boss said some Diplomatic Security and FBI agents will be sent over from the State Department within the hour. At that time, I will step away and no longer be responsible for Zen’s safety, nor will I have any further obligation. At the moment, all I know is what I have told you. After Zen’s presentation, I suspect any warnings you have heard could have some truth to them.”

Zen said nothing, just moved half a step away from John. Miriam glared at John for the rest of the elevator ride. Still, she did nothing more than shelter Zen, shielding her from him and the other Secret Service agents waiting near the suite. Once inside, Zen stepped toward her room then stepped back and said, “John, I respect you. Thank you for watching over me yesterday and today. Is it wrong to give you a hug before you go?”

He shook his head and allowed her to step close and give him a brief hug. She said, “I understand you have to do what you’re ordered.”

He looked down and nodded then said, “No hard feelings?”

She then stepped back and said, “Only one or two but I’ll get over it eventually. I’m going to have a shower. Miriam, can you call me when the food arrives? I don’t care what as long as there is plenty of meat.”

As Zen closed the door, Miriam turned to John and said, “How could you? She trusted you.”

He shook his head and said, “I’ve kept that trust. No harm has come to her. After what I heard today, I am pretty sure no harm will come to her. I can understand how people would think she’s safer with us. Personally, I think it’s the wrong move to get her offside, but I don’t make those decisions. If anything does happen, then don’t fight it. It’s stupid to hurt each other when we’re really, when you think about it, on the same side.”

Miriam didn’t reply but walked off to call Phil. She looked at her phone’s screen, then held up her phone to John and said, “No signal.”

He just shrugged as if it was to be expected. She called out to the two team members who were on duty in the room and had one stand outside Zen’s door while the other went to warn the others. When he didn’t return after fifteen minutes, John shrugged and said, “My team have taken no action against you. Whoever is involved will know how to do their jobs, so I doubt anyone is even injured. Be smart, Miriam.”

John looked up and then touching the send button on his earpiece said, “I understand, send them up.”

When the waiter arrived, he was accompanied by five agents, three men and two women. Ignoring Miriam, the lead agent turned to John and lifting his badge said, “Special Agent Ward, my name is Special Agent Wilson. I believe you have orders to hand off responsibility for the protection of Ms Zhenyi Drakos to my team.”

John turned to look at Miriam who had brought out her weapon. She turned to her only remaining agent and said, “Murray, step away from the door.”

As he stepped back, Special Agent Wilson drew his weapon, as did those on his team and said, “Sorry, Agent Friedler, but you have no choices here which end with Ms Drakos in your care. Lean down and place your weapon on the ground, then step back. My team now has responsibility for Ms Drakos.”

Miriam tensed, but John slowly shook his head. Five more agents entered the room. Miriam nodded to Murray, and the new agents were respectful as they put restraints on Miriam and Murray. Special Agent Wilson stepped towards the bedroom door. He knocked and said, “Excuse me, Ms Drakos, your meal is here.”

After waiting a minute without getting a response, he sent one of the female agents to open the door. It was locked from the inside. He said, “Agent Ward, do you have the master keycard?”

John nodded then reached into his pocket only to find the key was gone. Looking up, he said, “Actually, no. I think Zen took it.”

Special Agent Wilson turned to two of his agents and said, “Break it down.”

It took several tries, and even then, they had to push past the broken flat screen which had been wedged under the handle and the kingsize bed which had been pushed up against the door. Two agents moved into the room but came out twenty seconds later, shaking their heads. The female agent said, “No one is there. Only a message.”

Special Agent Wilson pushed past the broken door. He was directed to the bathroom. Drawn in pink strawberry lipgloss on the mirror was a skull and the words, “Sucks to be you.”

Hurrying back to the main area of the suite, he almost yelled, “Where are the rest of her detail?

John looked over at the restrained Miriam, who smiled and said, “She’s a smart girl, John. Smart and capable.”

* * *

When Zen had given John a hug, she’d lifted the master key along with his thin wallet of cards and cash. Once in her bedroom she locked the door then air-dropped a silent message to Miriam, “Pretend your phone has no signal. I’m leaving. I’ll contact you. Don’t be too hard on John, he kinda likes you.”

She then texted Miriam’s deputy, an agent named Nakul. She explained what had happened and asked him to collect the other guards and meet her at the top of the most western stairwell.

Zen then changed out of her business suit. Once in her track pants and t-shirt, she took the flat screen off the wall and carefully levered it under the door handle then shifted the bed against that. Zen quickly packed everything into her backpack, then stepped over to the small balcony. She was on the eleventh floor, and it was the first level with the balconies. Still, she’d looked at the outside and felt calm. She hopped onto the rail and slithered along the six-inch-wide decorative ledge to the corner of the building.

It was easier to climb upward, and she made her way to the roof. It was unnerving at the start not to have the safety rope, but she’d done enough free-climbing that she soon felt confident. From the roof, she dropped onto one of the large penthouse balconies. She had to break a window but was soon inside the larger suite. She headed for the corridor and then the stairs. Nakul was waiting with the other agents he’d collected. They escorted her to the ground floor. Once there, Nakul said, “We’ll head to the Australian Embassy.”

Zen nodded then sighed and said, “Nakul, that nod was a lie. My plan is to dump you as soon as I’m away from here. I know you have orders, but I also know they exclude you forcing me to go where I don’t want to. I think I’ll be safer on my own for a bit.”

Nakul stared at Zen for a moment, then remembered the briefing from Miriam and said, “OK, it’s your call where we go. I won’t detain you, but I will do my job. Let us at least provide a cordon around you.”

“OK, but keep a distance. I won’t ditch you on purpose. I know I won’t get off the island, so I’m heading toward Chinatown. If I do get stopped, wait until I start looking agitated then have one of the agents tell a cop they saw me down an alley or something.”

Nakul nodded. Zen took out her hoodie and flipped the hood over her head, then stepped out into the crowds and headed toward 6th Avenue.

5

She’d just turned left into 6th Avenue when it seemed every police car in the city switched on its lights and sirens. Three-quarters headed for the bridges and intersections while the other quarter made their way toward the Plaza. Zen didn’t change her pace but hurried toward the 57th Street metro station. As she walked down the stairway, she could see police cars coming to a stop in each intersection.

There was a female busker about Zen’s height getting ready to play the violin. Zen stepped forward and said, “Hi, how much does a violin like that cost?”

The woman looked scared, “Um, ah, not that much. Why?”

“The police are after me, that’s what the sirens are for. I’ll pay you three thousand dollars for the violin, and your hat and jacket. All you have to do is walk up the stairs and along 6th Avenue wearing my jacket with the hoodie up.”

Most of the fear was gone. The busker said, “Five thousand.”

Zen nodded and took out her phone, she said, “What’s the account number?”

The busker pulled out her phone to get the number then asked, “Will they be able to trace this?”

Zen said, “They could but I doubt they’ll bother. Just in case they can I’ll route it through my grandfather’s bank, that way it will arrive anonymously.”

“Deal.”

When the transfer had gone through, the two exchanged coats and Zen took the hat and violin. As the woman walked out of the station with the hoodie up, Zen said to Nakul, who was standing nearby. “Please, send some men to flank and protect her. I left my phone in the jacket pocket and changed the settings so they can follow the GPS.”

Nakul nodded and detailed three men to trail the woman and then followed Zen into the subway. Zen had let her hair fall in front of her face and hunched the way she’d used to do at school. With her glasses off, she looked nothing like she had the last few days. The metro guards were trying to check everyone's face, and Zen just looked up at them as if it didn’t matter. They waved her through. None of her four remaining security detail had any problems. She got on the next 6th Avenue Local train heading south. She left the metro system at the Broadway-Lafayette Street Station.

Instead of turning south, Zen headed east along E Houston Street. Nakul stepped close and said, “Chinatown is south of here.”

“I know, but I’m hungry. There’s a place this way called Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken. When I was here with my parents, we had lunch there. Can you hold my violin?”

He said nothing but took the violin and stepped away. As she walked, Zen got rid of the hat and coat. She paid cash for a new coat and scarf, and a new bag from a variety of shops along the street then made Nakul and the other guards change as well. She turned north on 2nd Avenue then left into E 1st Street where the shop was. Once inside, she ordered for herself. Halfway through the order, she had to stop as two police cars with sirens went past. She said, “What is that all about? There are suddenly police everywhere.”

The waiter looked up at her and said, “News says they’re looking for a terrorist, supposedly one of the suicidal ones. Apparently, this girl left a pipe bomb up near one of the big hotels. The FBI had warning and got there in time, but the girl escaped. They’ve closed the island. Don’t worry, they’ll catch her.”

Zen shook her head and said, “Sounds like a pretty dumb suicide bomber if she can’t even blow herself up.”

“Yeah. They say it’s one of those homegrown ones. They’ve just started showing her picture on the news. She’s all dressed up. She looks just like a pretty little rich bitch, so she’s probably trying to get back at daddy, or something like that.”

Zen shook her head then paid. After finding a seat, she took out her laptop. Nakul was the only one of her security inside. The other guards had spread themselves around the outer perimeter. While she waited, Zen connected to the local wireless system then set herself up with a virtual phone, so she could call and text. She then scrolled through the connections data her program had taken from the State Department’s server before crashing it.

When she found the private number of the Secretary of State, she plugged her headphones into the speaker jack. She kept scrolling, looking for a suitable number to call from. When she found the personal number for the Director of the FBI, she opened the virtual phone. Using one of her modifications she substituted the FBI Director’s number to change the caller-id. She used an anti-trace program which she used to hide her identity for her Fiverr jobs. She rerouted the connection through a thousand different random exchange servers across the US, assigning random in-use numbers at each one. It took several minutes, but theoretically they would need to search for and find each number in the sequence as they traced her call. Just to be sure she opened another app to follow their trace so she could add more numbers to the sequence if needed. Then she dialled.

* * *

Mark Palmerton looked down at the caller ID then picked up the phone and said, “Hey Charlie, have you caught her yet?”

Zen said, “Sorry, not yet, Mark. I’m still on the run. Just thought I’d check in and see how you are doing over there at the State Department.”

Zen sent a small mining program she’d designed through the connection. It was layered over the voice signal to get past any firewalls. It was designed to send her the contact list, text messages and the simple text from email, if available from his phone.

There was silence for a moment, then the Secretary of State said, “Ms Drakos, I presume?”

“Oh, come on Mark, you’re telling people I’m a suicide bomber. Normally bullies skip the whole, ‘I’m just trying to be polite’ shit. If you can pronounce it, then feel free to call me Zhenyi. If not, then you can call me Zen, like most of you white folks do.”

“OK, Zen. It seems we got off on the wrong foot here.”

“No ‘seems’ about it. You tried to kidnap me.”

“It was more a case of wanting to place you into protective custody.”

“Yeah, well, I call ‘Bullshit’ on that, and in this game each time I call ‘Bullshit’, then I get to release some data to the world. Let’s start with some easy stuff, something personal. Oh, this is nice, here’s a text from you to the National Security Advisor. You really should delete stuff like this. Well, to be honest, you shouldn’t ever send it in the first place. He said ‘What do we do about Peru? Thirty-one-thousand dead already.’ You replied, ‘Who cares, Ron, they’re from South America. More than that die every couple of days down there from one thing or another.’ Next time I call, let’s be nicer to each other.”

“Wait! Let’s talk about this.”

Zen hung up. They’d only back-traced two-hundred-and-thirty numbers, but she knew they’d be better next time. Zen clicked on ’new-email’. She typed, ‘interesting conversations’ in the subject line then added the Secretary of State’s private number, the private number of the Director of the FBI, the voice recording of their conversation and the text data she’d taken from his phone including the id information. She then sent that to the Peruvian Ambassador to the United States, the information desk at the White House, the editor of the New York Times, Miriam, and finally, Steven Morris, the Australian PM.

She disconnected from the wireless and closed her laptop as she saw the waiter heading in her direction with the food.

* * *

Miriam was still in handcuffs at the Plaza. John was waiting with her in the suite. They were surrounded by the new agents who were waiting for security footage from around the hotel. When her phone vibrated, she turned to John and said, “Can you open my phone for me?”

John looked at one of the other agents who nodded and said, “You can look only, no texting or calling. Do not answer a call.”

Miriam stood, and John put his hand in her pocket to get the phone. There was a notification which said, ‘1 new email’. John showed Miriam who said, “It’s set to only notify me if it is one of two people. My boss, or my charge.”

Everyone turned to look at her and John said, “Why would you tell everyone that?”

Miriam smirked and said, “I’ve known this girl less than three days, but I already know that when she says, ‘It sucks to be you,’ then you need to watch out. My girl isn’t going to give herself up with a simple email. She knows where I am, and that means she knows who has my phone, this is for you and the agents.”

The agent said, “Open it.”

John held it out to Miriam, who used her facial recognition and thumbprint to open it. John opened the mail program then touched on the new email. When Miriam saw the subject line and recipients, she started to chuckle then gasped when she read the text. John pressed the sound file, and both of them went pale. John marked the email as unread then put the phone back in Miriam’s pocket. He said, “I suggest we all forget that ever happened. I’ve heard that deniability is an important concept.”

Miriam laughed, and the other agents nodded, with one saying, “Amen.”

John looked at Miriam and said, “She called that easy. Whatever his orders were, his career is over. Zen plays hardball.”

Miriam nodded then whispered, “Yeah, ‘Sucks to be you’.”

* * *

The PM was at The Australian Embassy almost yelling on the secure phone as he arranged for the US Ambassador to be expelled from Australia along with every member of his staff. When his phone started ringing and flashing, he stopped mid-sentence and said, “I’ll call you back.”

As he pulled his phone from his shirt pocket, he said, “I set it up to do that for only one person.”

He touched the screen and opened the mail app. He read it then turned to Phil and said, “You know, when she went after us, we got off easy.”

The PM then pressed the recorded message icon and listened to the conversation. When it finished he pressed it again. After the third time, he said, “What do I do?”

Phil said, “Back her. Expel the ambassador and the entire embassy. Let her know you are on her side here. Don’t let her think she has to do all the heavy lifting, Sir.”

The PM nodded slowly, then turned to the Head of Consular Operations and said, “Get them back. I want the bastards on the next flight home.”

* * *

The Peruvian Ambassador to the United States was busy trying to find support for the earthquake victims when his secretary walked into his office. The Ambassador glared at him, but the secretary said, “Sir, you have an email you need to read.”

The secretary then walked around to the computer and opened the mail program and then the email. When the Ambassador had read the text, he played the recording. He said, “Is this genuine?”

“That’s his voice.”

“And the girl, Zhenyi Drakos?”

“Nothing concrete but there is word the Security Council session heard from a young female presenter. Australian. That sounded Australian to me.”

“Call the Australian Ambassador and ask if this girl had anything to do with the warning this morning. Get the State Department on the line and tell them the Peruvian Ambassador cares how many die in his country, South America or not. Then tell him I would like an appointment with his President. Also, send that to the president, ours, then get him on the phone.”

* * *

When Zen had finished eating, she thanked the waiter then said, “That was great. Hey, isn’t that New Territories dessert place near here? I read about it online.”

“Yeah, just head down Houston toward the East River. Turn right onto Orchard. It’s on the left.”

“Thanks.”

Nakul stepped close and said, “New Territories?”

“Dessert, ice cream, Asian fusion. It’s almost made just for me. You can stay outside if you like.”

“No, I’m OK. What’s really going on?”

“I’m hungry then I’ll make another call. Stop worrying so much. They had to get me in the first ten minutes if they were going to succeed. This place is too big without thousands of more people to stop and search. Now, if we see the national guard wandering the streets, then you can ask me if it’s a good time for ice-cream.”

6

The police stopped Zen twice on her walk to the ice-cream shop. The first just asked to move her hair out of the way and after peering at her waved her on. The second asked for her ID just as she was turning down Orchard Street. Zen looked at him blankly and started apologising in Mandarin that she was visiting and didn’t know what he wanted. He told her to wait, then asked the next Asian looking person if they could translate. It was a middle-aged woman walking with her young daughter.

The policeman said, “Excuse me but do you know Chinese?”

The woman looked up and said, “I do.”

“Can you ask this girl to show me her ID?”

Turning to Zen, the woman spoke in Mandarin and said, “He wants to see your ID.”

Zen smiled and said, “Yeah, I know. The problem is my ID makes me look exactly like the person he’s looking for.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Would you rather I lied to you?”

“No. What do you want me to say?”

Zen saw one of her security approaching a policeman on the other side of the intersection. She said, “Tell him you explained, and I’ll get it for him.”

As Zen started taking out her purse, the woman said, “I’ve explained, and she will get it for you.”

There was a cry from the other policeman, and as the one with Zen headed across the intersection, he said, “Tell her not to worry.”

Zen smiled, and as she stepped away, said, “Thank you for helping.”

As she stepped into the ice-cream shop, she noticed the woman glance through the window at her. There was nothing she could do, so she ordered a chocolate waffle with matcha green-tea ice cream, banana chips and a drizzle of hot fudge in a cup, then sat and opened her laptop. This time she rang the Speaker of the House’s private number and used the phone number of the Majority Leader of the Senate as her number.

“Hello Max, can I ring back? I have a meeting soon.”

“Hi, Nicole. My name is Zhenyi Drakos, I was wondering if you’ve heard of me?”

“No, I haven’t. Look, this number is private. Calling it and pretending to be the Majority Leader is an offence.”

“You don’t know who I am, darn! Please hold for the Director of the FBI.”

Zen rang the private number of the Director of the FBI pretending to be the Speaker of the House.

“Hello, this is Director Wright.”

“Hi Charlie, it’s Zhenyi Drakos, I have Nicole on with us in a conference call. She says she hasn’t heard of me. Why is that, Charles?”

There was a pause then, “Madam Speaker, please hang up.”

Zen said, “Charles, if she hangs up, I will call ‘Bullshit’.”

“Wait, Madam Speaker. Stay on the line, please!”

“Are you still there, Nicole?”

“Yes.”

“Great! Now, Charlie, why doesn’t Nicole know who I am?”

“Very few have heard of you for National Security reasons.”

“Who else knows?”

“The President, the Secretary of State, the National Security Advisor, the Attorney General, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, me and the Director of the CIA.”

“What story did you give the goons who tried to arrest me?”

“Just that you were a threat to our national security.”

“OK, here is the big question, Mr Director. What were the orders given to the Director of the CIA?

There was a pause then, “I’m sorry, I don’t know. All orders were compartmentalised.”

Zen watched as the number of connections traced hit six hundred. She said, “I don’t know. That sounded like ‘Bullshit’ to me. What do you think, Nicole?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand what’s happening?”

“Fair enough. I’ll suspend judgement. OK, Charles, you have five minutes to get the answer. When I call, I expect you, Nicole and the CIA Director to be ready in a conference call. Feel free to add others. Bye.”

Zen hung up.

* * *

Charles Wright, the Director of the FBI, was with his head of security who shook his head and said, “Whatever else she is, she’s a whizz with computers. Each time the search goes a little faster but not fast enough yet. How about cutting all internet and cell service to Manhattan?”

“Are you nuts?”

“It depends on how badly you want to catch her. At the moment she holds all the cards.”

“How fast can you arrange it?”

“Three minutes. We have a protocol for that.”

“Do it.”

* * *

Zen looked down at her computer and noticed the internet was down. She looked around and saw several people on the street looking at their phones and looking frustrated. Tempers were already fraying with the traffic gridlock and the police checks. Shaking her head, she pulled up an app she’d written to use at school, but hadn’t because Sahara had talked her out of it. Her laptop used the local wifi network to connect with all phones in range. She connected by mimicking the different 4G and 5G carrier signals. When her program had access to a phone or mobile device, it turned on both wireless and Bluetooth, then continued to search for more connections. It created a web which spread out across Manhattan. Within two minutes she’d found a link that had access to the internet. She stopped the cell-phone web from growing and was amazed to see she was now connected to over five hundred thousand phones and other mobile devices.

She hit the call button, and every single phone in her web rang, as did the Director of the FBI’s.

“Hello?”

“Hi Charles. For those listening in we are talking with Charles Wright, Director of the FBI. Charles, you are live with almost half a million of your fellow Americans. Charles, if you hang up, then things will get really messy, really quickly. Do you understand me, Charles?”

She could see people outside the restaurant listening on their phones. Most had stopped walking. There was silence, then, “I understand.”

“Great. Now, for those who have just joined us, I am the fugitive being hunted all over Manhattan at the moment. I apologise, but I’m the reason this afternoon is such a hassle. Charles, please tell our listeners why you are hunting me and why their lives are being messed with.”

“You have knowledge that is important to our national security.”

“Good, that is a good start because it is true. Now, did I plant a bomb?”

“No.”

“Good, now, does this important knowledge belong to you? Did I steal it from you? Or, is this knowledge mine, Charles?”

“It is yours.”

“So—and this is important, so answer honestly—in reality, you are trying to kidnap me so you can steal what I know, is that true?”

There was silence, then, “Yes.”

“Good. For those listening and wondering why I’m getting honest answers from a government official, it’s because we are playing a game I call ‘Bullshit’. If they lie and I catch them out, then there are consequences, and each time those consequences escalate. Charles is answering truthfully because I’ve called ‘Bullshit’ once already. Now, Charles, you were going to have the Director of the CIA on the line. Where is she?”

“She declined my call.”

“I believe that, folks. I wanted to know what the orders were to the CIA. I’m pretty sure they are looking for people overseas who can be used to pressure me to cooperate. Oh well, if she won’t talk, then I’ll have to play another game. The new game is called ‘Full Disclosure’. Charles, if she isn’t on the phone in thirty seconds, then I’ll tell all these nice people everything I know.

“While we wait, let me tell you about myself. I’m sixteen and discovered something I thought was important for the world to know. So important that my government asked me to share this with the United Nations Security Council. I did that this morning. When I got back to the hotel, your government pulled my Secret Service security detail and sent in some goons.”

Charles Wright said, “I have the CIA Director on the phone.”

“Great, are you there, Ms Hooper?”

“Yes. This is Director Hooper.”

“So formal. Do you know who I am, Director Hooper?”

“I do.”

“What orders were you given concerning me?”

“I was given no orders which specifically concern you, Ms Drakos.”

“Oh dear, now you want to play the semantics game. That’s a game for politicians, Director Hooper, not real people, and I was hoping we were going to play nice. OK, I call ‘Bullshit’. It sucks to be you.”

“No! Wait!”

Zen had downloaded her ‘megadeath’ option onto both the FBI and CIA Directors’ phones. She hit the red skull on her screen and hung up.

Nakul, who’d been listening on his phone, looked over at Zen in shock as she closed her screen and finished the last of her ice cream.

* * *

Charles looked over at the head of cybersecurity and said, “How did she do that?”

“I can think of several ways. We have the ability, but it’d mean she found a way to bypass the security completely instead of going through it like we do. If she can do that, then she already owns us.”

The red skull appeared on his laptop screen, and it started to laugh maniacally. Charles looked at his phone, which had begun to do the same. He turned to his Head of Security and said, “Turn Manhattan back on and pull the police.”

Turning to his secretary, he said, “I need to speak to the President.”

* * *

Zen slowly packed her bag and headed out of the shop. As she did, she saw the police listening to their radios before heading back to their cars as pedestrians and drivers clapped and jeered with about the same intensity. Within minutes the traffic lights also stopped flashing. The roads had been shut down for almost an hour, and she knew the traffic would take hours to clear. As Nakul appeared beside her, he said, “My phone has service again.”

Zen said, “I’m not out of trouble just yet. Let’s keep moving.”

“How do you know how to do all that?”

“I was bullied a lot in school. I had to keep ahead of the bullies. When I was thirteen, one of them hacked my phone and started a social media account in my name and basically humiliated me for a week or so. I decided never to be bullied on a computer again. I started looking for all the ways people could hack me, locate me, listen to me and steal from me. I find new ways every time some new technology comes out. Sometimes, it’s obvious that someone has put it there purposefully and sometimes it’s a way in that I doubt anyone has even thought about.

“Every time I close a hole into my stuff, I also find ways to break into other people’s. I don’t steal from people unless they try and steal from me. When they do, then all bets are off. That last program, I wrote so I could take over all the phones at my school. I wanted to be able to embarrass the next bully who tried to get me. Fortunately, it works the same for half a million phones as for five hundred.”

* * *

Miriam was still staring at her phone after listening to the conversation when Agent Wilson entered the suite and started to uncuff Miriam’s hands. He said, “Agent Friedler, I apologise for the inconvenience. My superior has asked me to tell you that they will be apologising to your government in person. I am releasing three of your agents who were in our custody. We have no idea where the others are, although, from the surveillance footage we suspect they have headed south. Your agents were with a young woman who had Ms Drakos’ phone. Apparently, Ms Drakos bought this woman’s violin and jacket. Ms Drakos left her phone in her jacket pocket. We are planning to let the woman go. We have the phone to return to you.”

John nodded and said, “Could I talk with this woman?”

“Certainly. I will bring her up.”

Miriam rubbed her hands as the door closed behind the last of the agents. She said, “I should kick you out, but Zen told me not to be too hard on you.”

“I need to check-in anyway. All this will bring the crazies out. Every conspiracy nut in the world will be baying at the moon tonight.”

“You mean all those who say the aliens are coming and the government is trying to hide the truth?”

John chuckled and said, “Yep, they’re the ones. I wonder if she realises she probably just brought down the government.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t care one way or another.”

There was a knock on the door, and Agent Wilson showed the busker in. He said, “Agent Ward, this is Ms Matthews. When you are finished with her, she is free to go. Here is Ms Drakos’ phone.”

After the agent had gone, the busker said, “So, what was all that about?”

Miriam said, “I’m security for the girl who bought your violin. Some people tried to kidnap her, and she was trying to escape.”

“So you aren’t going to be all in my face about it like the others?”

“Not at all. You helped a girl in need when I wasn’t able to. If anything, my government will want to thank you and reimburse you for your time. Please tell us what happened though. We’re pretty sure Zen will just gloss over it when she gets back as if it was no big deal.”

When she’d heard the story, she called Nakul. “Hey, it’s Miriam. Turquoise. Is Zen still with you?”

Turquoise was the code word for ‘all OK’. Nakul said, “Yes. She’s walking about two metres in front of me. I have three agents covering, the others are with a decoy.”

“Good, stay in the wind. The decoy is safe, as are the agents. I’ll reach out to the PM and see what he wants to do.”

Miriam hung up and called Phil. After introductions, he said, “Where is she?”

“Still in the city. She’s still got four of the team with her. The US set us free and apologised. What do you want me to do?”

“The PM is speaking with the President at the moment. From what I can tell the President is doing the usual, passing the buck while still pressuring for special privileges. The PM’s not buying it for a moment. He wants a public unconditional apology with the President to accept full responsibility. He’s also asking that the President pay Zen something to try and make amends. He says he won’t recall the ambassador for at least six months. Greece, Peru and Ecuador have already expelled their respective American Ambassadors, and it looks like the other South American countries are likely to follow. Can you get to her?”

“I could, but they’ll follow regardless of their intentions.”

“When we get her back, where is a safe place to stay?”

“Here is as safe as anywhere. Best bet would be to get her home. I suspect China and Russia may still want to have a go at her.”

“Stay there then. Once we get agreement on the combined think-tank, she should be safer. I’m sure she’s given us everything, but I doubt anyone else will be satisfied without pressuring her themselves. Then there is all the extra stuff she’ll come up with.”

“Can I get a room upgrade? The door in here is broken, and I’m sure they left bugs behind.”

“Arrange it with the Plaza, and I’ll send someone from the embassy over to clear the room. Upgrade the PM while you’re at it. Send the bill to their State Department.”

“Will we accept help for her security if they offer it?”

“Why even ask?”

“We need more people, and the Secret Service guy they assigned is still here. I’d rather them than a bunch of rent-a-cops. His team played nice. If they hadn’t been relieved, they would have stayed and helped. Even after this, I suspect Zen trusts them as much as she trusts anyone.”

“I’ll check with the PM. If he agrees, then one condition will be they cannot be relieved of duty until she leaves the US.”

“Agreed. Thank you.”

7

It was almost four in the afternoon, and Zen and her security had slowly made their way north to Central Park. Zen had been asked via a text from Miriam, via Nakul, to hold off on her escalations. A crowd had already formed outside the White House to demonstrate against the government actions, and South American communities across the country were demonstrating against the Secretary of State’s comments. Zen had visited the zoo and was heading back toward the Plaza when she spied a group of teens her age learning capoeira with two older teachers, a man and a woman.

Zen moved to where she could hear the music and dancers. As she swayed to the music, she formed the moves in her mind and allowed herself to let go of the tension that had filled her all day. The woman teacher must have noticed the interest or maybe Zen’s subtle movement with the music. Whatever the reason she approached and said, “Hello, my name is Julianna. The class is for anyone who is interested. You’re welcome to join.”

Zen acknowledged the woman then said, “I appreciate the offer. I was just enjoying the music and watching the lesson. I study capoeira back where I live, and it is always interesting to watch the differences in someone’s capoeira. There are things I might add to mine.”

“Ah, a fellow practitioner. What cordão have you achieved?”

“At the moment I’m a formado.”

“You must join us and show us your moves, please?”

Zen smiled and nodded. As she stepped after the woman she saw her guards set themselves around the perimeter and Nakul was talking on his phone. Zen took off her shoes, jacket and hat and then her shirt. She was wearing a sports bra, and that was all she usually wore in the gym. Her slacks were loose, and she slowly warmed up as the instructor finished the lesson. When he stopped, Julianna stepped forward and said, “We have a treat today. Many of you wonder if you can do what Baltasar and I are asking at your age. Our guest, who I suspect is about your age, is already an instructor at her school. She’s agreed to show some of her capoeira. Welcome?”

The woman’s inflection made it a question, so Zen stepped forward and stepped into the role of an instructor. She said, “Hello. My name is Zen. I will warn you that my capoeira is not only influenced by what I’ve learned from my Mestre, but it has elements I’ve added from both Aikido and Taekwondo. My own philosophy is that your capoeira should, in the end, reflect something of yourself, your soul, your skills, your character. Already you should have noticed from Baltasar, who I have never met, that he is bold, courteous, with a wicked sense of humour. Am I right?”

When everyone nodded, she said, “Many call this a dance, and in some ways that is true, it opens a window into your heart. But don’t be fooled, it is also a dance that should tell people to step back and re-evaluate their decision to attack you.”

Zen nodded to Julianna, who started the music. Zen slowly stepped forward as she took note of the beat and rhythm, and then with sinuous grace, let one leg bend as she dropped into a ducking weave. Then she began to dance, twirl, leap and any number of other acrobatic moves. When she felt the music coming to an end, she did a final leap and landing on her hands gently lowered herself to the floor before rising to stand upright before the students. There was silence for a moment then wild applause and cheers filled the area. Not only the students had watched, but a crowd had gathered.

Zen smiled then waited until the cheers died off before saying, “All it takes is a little bit of practice.”

The students laughed and groaned, but Zen just made her way back to Julianna and her clothes. Zen could see Nakul and tried not to react when she saw Miriam standing next to him. A quick glance showed the full team, including John’s, had slowly circled the area. Julianna said, “That was amazing, and you are right about Baltasar. I’d love to learn some of that. How long are you in town for?”

Zen could see Miriam approaching. She said, “I don’t think I’ll be here much longer. It depends on my minders.”

She’d timed it, so Miriam heard what she said. Miriam responded with a shake of her head and said, “Your minders would prefer it if you didn’t hand out your name so freely then let hundreds of people record your face and skills. If you listened to your minders, you’d be quietly hiding in a coffee shop.”

Zen poked her tongue at Miriam then said, “I really needed that, Julianna. It calmed me down. Thank you.”

“Um, no problems. Who are these guys?”

“My minders. This is my head minder. From the looks of things, I have to go. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise, that was great. I imagine we’ll see improvement in the next week.”

Zen waved, then followed Miriam only to be surrounded by a circle of agents so tight she could hardly see through them. She said, “Is this really necessary?”

“Yes. You and the PM have dealt with the official US threat, but there are others. Homeland passed on information of movement within a suspected Chinese cell as well as talk between Moscow and the Russian mafia here in the city. You have a meeting tonight that we all hope will get these guys off your back when they realise the full extent of the danger. Your conversation with half a million New Yorkers has gone viral. Everyone wants to know what the danger is. I doubt the delegates will be able to get away with anything less than ‘Full Disclosure’, as the news is calling it. The number one trend across the world right now is #Bullshit.”

“What is the Secret Service doing here?”

“I asked for John to be assigned to us. He’s been given an expanded team. Instead of an SUV, you now have a bulletproof limo.”

“Is the PM mad at me?”

Miriam took a moment to answer as she realised again that no matter how competent, Zen was still a teenage girl. She said, “Not at all. He had the American Embassy expelled and was about to deport every American citizen in Australia when the President called him to apologise. By the way, that routine was amazing.”

Zen smiled shyly then said, “Thank you, it was a bit different than normal. I hadn’t heard that particular music before, and I let too much of my emotions filter into the moves. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Miriam led Zen to the elevator and then pressed the button for the penthouse level. When Zen raised her eyebrows, Miriam explained it was a free upgrade for the hassle. The PM was waiting in her room and stepped forward and gave her a brief hug before saying. “Sorry, that was impulsive of me. We’re just glad you’re safe. Are you OK?”

Zen said she was, and then they sat and discussed the afternoon. Finally, Mr Morris said, “Zen, the night meeting is still a go. The Prime Minister of the UK is en route, as are senior advisors from Russia and China. Both the Presidents of Russia and China will be in the meeting by satellite hook-up. The US President and the Acting Secretary of State will also be there. Zen, I don’t want to hear any apology from you. Not now, and definitely not in the meeting. You don’t kidnap people and especially not children.”

He raised his hands in defence at Zen’s look and said, “I know you are not really a child, but in some ways you still are, and this is one of those ways. I understand what you said in your suggestions, but we haven’t formalised them yet so let me have this one, please?”

Zen nodded, so he continued. “So, as agreed, let’s keep tonight about the danger, and we’ll leave the plans and implementing them until tomorrow.”

“No problem.”

“Don’t be surprised if you are asked to address the full UN assembly. Members of the Security Council are being pressured by their allies and various power blocs to make this a global debate. Stop smiling. I know that’s what you wanted, but we need to get more traction from the leadership if we’re going to help move people down the path you’ve convinced Phil and I is possibly the best one, if not the only one. We’ve already got people working on the necessary legislation, and I hope we will move that way regardless of what the rest of the world does. For now, we must work within this system, and that means greater traction.”

“I do understand Mr Morris, I really do. The stress is getting to me. I’ve so much I want to do, and I’m stuck here and not even able to work on things because of people’s crazy power struggles.”

“Zen, you have done more while on the run to get the world behind you than you would have almost any other way. I hate to say it, but it has worked out in our favour. Accept it, and things will look better than they do.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good. Go check that all your stuff is here then make sure the presentation is ready. I’m having dinner at the Peruvian Embassy and will see you at the UN.”

Zen went to have a shower and rest before dinner. She read her email from BB and Ed. Both were disturbed by the attempted abduction but gave her encouragement over her game. Sahara said that some in the class had recognised Zen’s voice and that when they’d seen her capoeira dance video, they’d all realised who it was. She said there had been some significant changes in the way people thought about Zen.

About an hour after Zen had headed to the bedroom, Miriam heard some terrible screeches from the room. She rushed in to find Zen sitting on a chair holding the violin with her laptop open to YouTube. Zen frowned and said, “Seriously, it wasn’t that bad. Besides, I’ve always wanted to play, and this is my first chance to learn. Go away.”

Miriam just pressed her lips together and left the room while trying not to laugh. Zen continued making noises on the violin for half an hour before coming out to eat. She’d already ordered and had asked Miriam to sit with her and talk in Hebrew. They tried to talk about the day, and Miriam told Zen that while her vocabulary was still very limited, her pronunciation was improving.

When it was time, Miriam walked her to the elevator with one of the security. John was waiting inside. Zen stepped close and then handed him a wallet. She said, “If I were you I would change the cards for your banks. I have copied them, and if you do anything else to make me mad at you, I’ll spend it.”

John took the cards. “Then I’ll leave them the same. I don’t plan on doing anything that will get you hurt.”

Zen smiled and turned to face the door, so she didn’t see the smile of encouragement Miriam gave John. There were eight motorcycles, four SUV’s and a limousine waiting in the basement car park. Zen raised her eyebrows at Miriam, who just laughed. With their lights flashing the motorcycles led the way. Zen was shocked by the number of people lining the road and waving. Miriam said, “People are funny. They’ll applaud you now, but you need to be ready for when they hear the news. For many, their fear and anger will also be directed at you.”

“Yeah, Dad and I talked about it when I told him about the aliens. He said it was the way of the world to blame the bearer of bad news.”

John said, “Why bad news? Maybe they are friendly?”

Zen just sighed and said, “That’s what tonight is about. Ask me again on the way back to the hotel.”

8

The meeting began at seven, and for this meeting, Zen entered and sat with Mr Morris at the very beginning. The President of the Council stood, and after welcoming the other delegates, he also welcomed the Presidents of Russia and China who were watching via satellite. He then welcomed the Prime Minister of the UK who was in the room. Then he said, “Before I welcome the Prime Minister of Australia and Ms Drakos, the President of the United States has asked to share a few words.”

The US President wasn’t known for being either eloquent or humble. Still, he stuck to his script for the evening. After thanking everyone for the privilege of attending, he apologised to Zen and the Prime Minister of Australia, then apologised for the statements his Secretary of State had made concerning South America. He finished by saying he would discuss matters privately with the people concerned to see how the US could make amends.

When he sat down, there was light applause, then the President introduced Mr Morris, the Prime Minister of Australia. He made his way to the podium followed by Zen, who handed the data storage drive to an aide. Mr Morris let his eyes do a full circuit of the room before saying, “I thank the President of the United States for his apology. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will say I tried to do the same thing, but Zen let my government off with a lighter beating. That being the case, I will not say anything more on the subject except to ask those who are contemplating something similar, to reconsider. Don’t forget that Zen escalates her response each time the game is played. Be aware that Zen is not the only one with the data. She has given this to my government, and we will share this with others once the meetings here are concluded.

“I know some were offended by the way Zen released some of her information. All I have to say is, you need to get over it. The game Zen played is a national pastime in Australia. While many, including my government at times, have forgotten to respect the people, we would do well to remember that the best of them see through our fancy words and the nice sound bites we try and placate them with. They recognise when we skirt the truth and when we speak it to make a lie. I have decided that my government will not do this anymore. I understand that many of the people we serve can act like sheep and simply follow along regardless. I wonder though how much of that is because of the way we have treated them.

“This morning you heard that aliens are coming. Zen walked you through the data and explained the science. You’ve had all afternoon to listen to your advisors, and I would suggest they all said the same thing. They told you that while they didn’t understand everything, they also couldn’t think of any other explanation. I suspect that as your scientists gather more information, it will become even more certain. So why bring this to the Security Council and not to the tabloids? Because the data shows even more than just that aliens are coming. Once again, I will let Zen share her thoughts.”

As the PM walked back to his seat, Zen stood and took her place at the podium. She said, “Leaders, delegates, advisors and aides, this morning, I shared the data that I believe is evidence that aliens are on their way to visit us. I expect that they will arrive sometime in the next two-and-a-half years. This evening I would like to share two more hypotheses. First, that the aliens are most likely not amiable, but they want real estate in this solar system, and most likely I would expect, our planet. The second is that, regardless of their intentions, if we do not act now, then there is a very high probability that we will be an extinct species before they arrive.”

Zen waited until the delegates were quiet. She then said, “What our actions should be are best left for another session, but let me explain each hypothesis and show how the data both leads to and supports it. So, firstly …”

With time given for clarifying questions, the meeting didn’t end until midnight. As Zen stepped back from the microphone, there was absolute silence, and then the Chinese delegate stood and said. “Thank you, Ms Zhenyi Drakos, for the clarity you bring to our discussions. Delegates, as hard as it may be, I ask that you once again remain silent as to the matters being discussed. We will meet in closed session tomorrow morning to consider the numerous requests for a full explanation to the General Assembly. Ms Drakos, if we decide to go ahead, would you honour us by giving that presentation?”

Zen agreed, and the Security Council President continued. “Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow’s closed meeting, this group will meet again tomorrow evening. This gives you nineteen hours to consider the evidence given tonight. At that meeting, we will discuss a framework for moving forward. Mr Morris has asked that he and Zhenyi be given leave to offer such a framework. After what we have heard, that seems a useful start. I suggest you all consider what wisdom you might bring to this discussion. I declare this meeting closed.”

This time everyone remained seated, almost it seemed, in shock. The PM nodded to Zen, who stood and made her way to Miriam and John. The others in the room watched as she left. As the limousine pulled away, John said, “So, not friendly, and we’re all going to die anyway.”

Zen sat up and said, “I didn’t say that. I said, ‘If we do nothing’ then we’ll all be dead. If we do something, then that will change. Don’t be so negative, it doesn’t help.”

“I’m sorry, Zen. I wasn’t blaming you, and I didn’t really mean to be negative. I was just summarising. I also understand your comment about the Shawangunks. Even if we survive, the world will be too different.”

“Probably. I’ll be in Australia anyway, and it won’t be easy just hopping across the world for leisure. At least not in my lifetime, maybe afterwards.”

“It sounds like you’ll be free tomorrow until the afternoon. Do you want me to see about the climb?”

“I’d love to, but I also understand that it’ll be the best time for Russia to try and take me. They’ll use force, so maybe somewhere with no one else around would be good.”

“What about China?”

“I’m pretty sure they’ll try tonight. It won’t be a physical attack, it’ll just be a message asking me to find my way to them.”

John and Miriam looked at Zen. Her voice had softened to almost a whisper and tears slowly ran down her cheeks. Miriam said. “Why do they think you’d do that?”

“By now, I expect they have my grandparents and other relatives in custody. Mum said she would warn them, but we agreed it wasn’t likely they would even attempt an escape. I talked with them before I left Australia and kind of explained what was happening. My grandfather told me that no matter what, he expected me to do what is honourable. For him, that meant he wants me to remain free to help others. I won’t dishonour him or my grandmother by dishonouring myself, even though I know they’ll be the ones to bear the price of that disobedience. I hope the Chinese government doesn’t do that, but I suspect it will.”

Miriam put her arm around Zen and said, “I’m so sorry Zen. I had no idea. That’s what you were worried about with the CIA. What will you do?”

Zen looked up, sniffed, then said, “Hopefully they’ll leave my family alone. If not then Mr Morris warned them, things will get messy.”

John shuddered at the look on Zen’s face, and nothing more was said until they were in the hotel suite. As they stepped into the suite, the telephone rang. Miriam answered then stood straighter and said, “Yes, Sir, I’ll check.”

She said, “It’s the Security Council president. He wants to speak to you.”

Zen took a deep breath and said, “Thank you.”

Then she took the phone and in Mandarin said, “Hello, Mr President, how may I be of service?”

“Ms Zhenyi Drakos, I am sorry to disturb you, but I have been asked to pass on a message.”

“Mr President, I suspect the message is not something pleasant. Perhaps the honourable thing to do is to suggest others pass this message on themselves.”

“You may be right, but I am bound even more tightly to this path than you are.”

“Did you share the Australian Prime Minister’s warning?”

“I passed on his warning and my own. Neither was heeded. I am told our technicians have been able to provide a defence for your tricks against the Americans. They are not the leaders they once were. We now lead the world in digital technology. Those tricks won’t work.”

“What is the message, Mr President?”

“You are to go to ZhenyiDrakos.com.cn, the password is the name your grandfather used to call you. I am profoundly sorry.”

“So am I. I wish it had not come to this.”

Zen ignored Miriam and John and got her laptop, then setting it on the table logged in and typed in the address. It asked for her password. She typed in the four characters’ 沉鱼落雁’, and the screen showed the face of her grandmother with a cement wall in the background. Her grandmother’s face was calm, but it looked like she’d been crying. When she saw Zen, she said, “Be strong, Zhenyi.”

The picture changed, and she saw the face of a Chinese military general. He said, “Zhenyi Drakos, thank you for calling me. You will go to the lobby. Four men from the Chinese Embassy in New York will be there, go with them.”

“Why would I do that, General?”

“Your grandmother is not well. She will find a re-education camp very hard.”

“What of my grandfather?”

“Your grandfather was old. Your grandmother is alone now.”

“I see.”

“We are not like the Americans. Your tricks will not work. Even if they did, they would not change our minds. You are one of us, and you will work for the people of China.”

“How long do I have to make up my mind?”

“This is not a bargaining session. This is the final price. There is no time.”

“General, I loved my grandfather, and I love my grandmother, but I am not the one you should worry about. Whenever I had difficulty with my computer skills, I talked with my mother. Goodbye.”

Zen then used her laptop to call her mother. When BB answered, Zen said, “I’m so sorry, Mama.”

She then replayed the audio of her discussion with the President and the video of the conversation. BB’s face showed almost no expression as tears ran down her cheeks. She said, “No, this is not on you. You honoured him in every way. The choice was his and Grandmother’s. He loved you and was so proud. What do you want to do?”

“Whatever I decide, is it fair on the people who didn’t make the decision?”

“Zhenyi, the choice to be a sheep or a pawn, is still a choice. Choosing to live under oppression gives constant credibility to that oppression.”

“Over a billion people, Mama.”

“Yes. Even that many can choose the wrong thing to follow.”

“I know and I understand. Let me respond and see if it helps Grandmother?”

“Maybe Grandfather too. They never tell the whole truth.”

“That is my only hope. Tell Daddy I love him.”

“I will. We’re proud of the way you are going about this.”

“Thanks Mum, give Hal a hug.”

“Yeah, he’s missing you. He wants ‘En to come home. Try and get some sleep.”

When Zen hung up, she saw Miriam and John watching her. Miriam said, “I didn’t want to interrupt, but what happened?”

“The Chinese delegate didn’t want to pass on a message but did. The old woman was my grandmother. The guy pretending to be a Chinese general said there would be four agents in the lobby and I was to go with them, or they’d send my grandmother to a re-education camp. He said they were better than the US at computer stuff, so they had nothing to worry about. He pretty much said my grandfather died during the arrest. I told my mum, and she offered me first go at them. She said I needed to try and get some sleep after I’d started the ball rolling.”

John had started talking into his phone when Zen mentioned the agents. Miriam said, “Pretending?”

“Pretty sure. Whoever that was is probably dead already. Some poor private in a shallow grave. Why waste a real general? People forget that people value life like they do ice cream. If you only have one, then you lick the stick and don’t let a drop escape. If you own the company then losing a shipment isn’t a huge deal. Life is precious if I’m responsible for one, mine. Life looks cheap when you are trying to rule more than a billion people, where one is not even a blip on the radar. Several hundred thousand hardly causes a twitch.”

As Zen had been talking, she’d opened some files. Then, after changing several of the parameters, she pressed the return button. Her screen went blank, then a sentence in a large font was shown, which read, “Zen, are you sure about this?”

Zen typed ‘Y’ then hit ‘return’. The graphics showed her screen shatter into a thousand pieces and then crash to the edge of the screen. After a moment it blinked and returned to normal. Zen closed the laptop and said, “I need to sleep.”

Zen walked to her room and closed the door. When Miriam walked past minutes later, she could hear Zen’s sobbing as she wept for her grandfather.

9

Zen’s programming skills were centred around privacy, keeping hers and invading other people’s. Two years previously, she’d visited her grandparents and been faced with the lack of general privacy that her grandparents had, or even what was afforded to most people. It wasn’t that they couldn’t do things without being watched, as much as they weren’t afforded the freedom to think as they wanted to. When she checked the apps, she was concerned to find that some of her workarounds to break into people’s phones were already being used en masse by the government to spy on everyone.

It had taken several months, but she’d worked her way through the programming of the leading apps and found several options for using them to access the client mobile device. She set up a Fiverr account in Chinese, offering her services as an ‘app specialist’ who specialised in reverse engineering concepts from English-based apps into programs suitable for the Chinese market. She offered to modify the programming sufficiently to ensure there were no copyright breaches, not that the Chinese businesses cared one way or another. Besides making some serious money, she eventually landed jobs with both QQ and then WeChat.

She added a variety of measures which, if activated, would allow the owner to block scrutiny by the government as well as access the internet beyond the Great Firewall. She’d been considering when to use this, but her mother had insisted she waited until she was an adult to prevent BB or Ed facing any legal issues if she was caught. As with everything she did, there was always the possibility for the benefits to be used for harm.

To do harm, she’d uploaded a virus which was designed to spread through various social media using the code she’d already installed. As soon as her post arrived at the mega-influencers she’d chosen, it would be downloaded and then passed on through texts, posts, tweets, photos, videos, email and conversations. Each new device that was infected was given a semi-random number from ‘1’ through ‘19’. Only three phones had the number ‘1’, nine phones received a ‘2’, twenty-seven received a ‘3’ and so on. 1162261467 received a number’ 18’, and then everyone else was assigned a number’ 19’. All the numbers’ 1’ through’ 10’ were assigned at the beginning and then the later numbers. If the virus infected a phone which had never had any of Zen’s code changes, then it activated immediately, crashing the phone.

Once initiated, the virus wasn’t designed to be stopped. It was timed, and every ten minutes, the next number activated. The virus was reasonably straightforward, it made the phone shut down except for a small red skull on the screen with a stylised number ‘4’ as a nose. If the phone was off at the time then as soon as it was restarted it activated. The only remedy was to reset the phone using the firmware and replace the sim-card. If the phone downloaded an app or reconnected to a wireless network, it was reinfected immediately and crashed. Only phones using Chinese telco services were affected. It was just before one when Zen posted her small virus laden reviews on the pages of the two influencers she’d chosen.

Beijing was twelve hours ahead of New York. Ten minutes later, at four minutes past one in the afternoon, three phones crashed, two in Beijing and the other in Chengdu. Ten minutes after that, another nine failed around the country. Not much notice was taken of this until just after two that afternoon, when one of the nineteen-thousand-six-hundred-and-eighty-three phones that failed belonged to the CEO of a major corporation in Hong Kong. By three, over two million phones had failed across the country, and the government had been alerted. Thirty minutes later, when the first state-operated national news special broadcasts went out and reported the cell-phone failures, the number of phones and tablets that had shown the red skull was over sixty-four million. All cellular telecommunication towers were turned off across the country ten minutes later, but the number of ‘skull’ affected phones continued to multiply.

The Prime Minister had been woken at four with news of the event and after hearing about the red skull, had asked about Zen. Miriam was woken, and she shared what happened. Mr Morris just shook his head and said, “I warned them. Two weeks ago I would have been horrified. Right now, with everything else that’s going on, I’m too numb to even care. Don’t wake Zen, let the poor girl sleep.”

Miriam said, “Zen predicted something like this when we left the meeting. She also said the Russians would try and take her by force sometime during the day. She thought somewhere where no innocents would be in the way would be best to arrange it. John and I don’t know what to do. He’s had the NSA listening, and there have been thousands of messages back and forth between Moscow and known Russian mob members here in the US. I’ve already let Dr Bateman know.”

“Then let’s leave it with him. If he still has nothing by breakfast, ask Zen what she’d do.”

“Yes, Sir.”

By six, which was when Zen’s alarm went off to wake her for breakfast, over one and a half billion mobile devices had crashed, or were waiting to be turned back on when they would crash. The cost to the Chinese economy was already estimated in the tens of trillions of Yuan with the stock of Chinese-controlled companies plummeting across all markets. Zen was still in her pyjamas when she left her room with her laptop.

She grabbed a coffee and sat looking out over Central Park as she looked at the news. She then looked through the messages she’d received from the phones she’d hacked and then called her mother on a video call.

“Hey, Mum.”

“Hi, Sweetheart. Hal’s just gone to sleep and asked me to send his kisses.”

“Thanks. How are you?”

“Still devastated but I’m holding up OK. Are you done with them yet?”

“Not really. I wanted to get a reaction first and make sure Grandma would be OK. Who would be best to talk to?”

“Go through the Chinese delegate to the UN or the Consulate General. Either should be able to point you in the right direction.”

“I’ll call now. Do you want to stay on in a conference call?”

“Yes, please.”

Zen called the Chinese Embassy in New York but used a private number she’d taken from the US Secretary of State. One of the junior aides answered. “Hello, this is the private line of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic in New York. We are not open for business for another three hours.”

Zen spoke in Mandarin and said, “I know. My name is Zhenyi Drakos. I would like to speak to the Consulate General.”

“I am sorry, Ms Drakos, but the Consulate General is not available.”

“OK, then you please pass on the message that phase two of my retribution against the People’s Republic of China will commence in fifteen minutes.”

“Please hold, Ms Drakos, let me see if he is able to be disturbed.”

“Be quick.”

Two minutes later, an older, more polished and confident voice said, “Ah, Ms Drakos. I hear you have admitted to attacking the People’s Republic of China.”

“Yes. That was phase one. You harmed my grandfather. The messenger yesterday said no bargaining and I wanted to see if you had reconsidered that course of action.”

“Can you undo the damage you have done?”

“That isn’t on the table. All that is on the table is a discussion on phase two.”

“The People’s Republic does not bargain when its national security is at stake.”

“OK, then I apologise for wasting your time.”

Zen hung up and said, “Sorry Mum, looks like it’s phase two.”

“You aren’t very patient, dear. He was just making the opening moves.”

“Mum, I’m sixteen. For me, that was very patient.”

“Fair enough. What is phase two?”

“I’d rather not say right now, Mum. I’m not sure who’s listening.”

“Wait the full fifteen minutes just in case they want to negotiate. Daddy says goodnight.”

“I’ll wait. Love you both. Goodnight.”

Zen had started looking through the data on her computer when twelve minutes later, the hotel phone rang and asked for Zen.

It was the UN Delegate. Zen sent a call to connect her mother to the phone. The UN delegate said, “Ms Drakos. The Consulate General may have overstated the current wishes of the People’s Republic. We would always prefer a path of peace.”

“My mother is also listening in on this call. Is my grandfather dead?”

“No. He is currently in an induced coma. He had a major heart attack and stroke when he and your grandmother were arrested. They flew him to Beijing. He is in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital. They hope to operate soon.”

“Where is my grandmother?”

“She is in transit to the hospital.”

“When he is stable, I would like them transferred to Australia to be with my mother.”

“What do we get in return?”

“Nothing. However, I will not implement phase two. If he dies, I will implement phase two. Phase three happens if my grandmother is harmed or does not arrive in Australia. Then I will hand you over to my mother and watch you burn.”

“The President is being given contrary advice. Some think you have nothing else with which you can harm the People’s Republic. Perhaps a limited show of ability?”

“No. You doubted I had a phase one and now the People’s Republic is without communication abilities. Phase two is an escalation. Mr Ambassador, you have sixty seconds to decide, and then my grandfather’s safety will be in exchange for phase three. Decide.”

“We seek peace. Please have the Australian Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China contact the hospital. They will be given access to your family to assure you of our desire to work together.”

“Thank you, Mr Ambassador.”

“And your phase one?”

“It remains Mr Ambassador, as does the threat of phase two. However, if my grandfather lives and they arrive safely in Australia, then I will forget this ever happened.”

“Agreed. Now, I must get back to dealing with the other issues you have brought before us. I will see you this evening.”

Zen ended the conversation, then celebrated the news that her grandfather was still alive with her mother. When she hung up, she looked up and saw Miriam nearby.

“So, that sounded like your grandfather was still alive.”

“Yes. He had a heart attack and a stroke. Mum will see if our Ambassador in China will make sure he’s being looked after.”

“Phase two?”

“Yeah, well, the truth is I used the big one first.”

“You have no phase two! What about your mother?”

“Mum, no way. She’s good, but these days, I completely own her.”

“You lied to me.”

“Yes. I’m sorry, but I needed to convince myself there was more to come. Don’t give up hope just yet, though. I’ve a lot of data coming in from the phones I hacked so let’s wait and see. That’s why I let phase one initialise over several hours. I needed to get more data.”

“What about the Russians? Any ideas?”

“Not really, you know more than me. My knowledge is limited to their love of both bravado and force. With what’s at stake, that either means I walk to the UN all by myself or you line the way with tanks and RPGs.”

“Not sure I know that much more. You seem to have nailed the Russians I know. Is there anything else that’s bothering you that I should be aware of?”

“Honestly, the only other ones I’m a little worried about are the Israelis.”

“That’s fair, but I doubt it. If they do come then know I’ll be on your team. OK?”

“Yeah, OK. Breakfast?”

“Definitely, then we’ll see what John has planned.”

“Good. I need a few minutes to check my finances before we do anything.”

“Finances?”

“Yes. China tanked big time. I want to check my Greek grandfather followed instructions. I should have made a killing overnight. Sucks to have your shares in Chinese companies this morning.”

10

John joined Miriam and Zen while they were eating breakfast. He’d already eaten but did accept a coffee. He said, “Zen, I heard the good news about your grandfather. I’m pleased for you.”

“Thanks. He’s older than my grandmother, but he’s always been a strong man. I’m pretty confident he’ll pull through now he’s getting all the care he needs.”

“Good. Now, for today. I’ll be honest and say I’d rather you stayed inside all day. I don’t want to scare you, but the word from sources is that originally a sum of fifty million dollars was offered for you, undamaged. It is payable on delivery. As with anything, others have jumped on the bandwagon, and the offer is now around one hundred.”

Miriam voice oozed with sarcasm as she said, “Well, I’m glad you didn’t want to scare her.”

Zen laughed at Miriam, then said, “Is it the Russians?”

“In the beginning it probably was, but others are getting in on the act. It’s all hearsay, but the list includes everyone from the UK to North Korea, Somali Warlords to Saudi Princes. The actions of the US and China didn’t help because they gave credibility to the offer. Which reminds me, I know you didn’t say anything but the practically complete shutdown of China last night is universally attributed to you. Plenty of people would love to have that kind of power to hold over people. They’d milk it for every penny. Expect the bounty to go up regardless of what happens at the UN.”

Zen shook her head and said, “So what does that mean for me?”

“A permanent detail for at least the next three years. The bounty on the President is more than that, but most people eventually realise it isn’t feasible to take him, there are too many unknowns. Right here and now is the most dangerous because people know everything is in flux. We don’t have the systems in place yet to take care of the small details, and we don’t have a good enough grasp of who you are and what your days will be like.”

“So, that’s a ‘No’ to climbing?”

“That’s my recommendation. Miriam has the final say, but there is also your agreement to present to the UN. My briefing this morning suggested the Security Council meeting this morning will approve a general meeting for as early as this afternoon. Hundreds of high-level diplomats and representatives have been arriving all night in anticipation. We are drawing security people from every federal agency across the country for this. I asked for a larger detail last night, and we’ll find out more after eight what we’ll be getting.”

Miriam said, “Zen, John and I discussed this last night. We want at least three people within three metres of you around the clock at least until you get back to Australia. We have six people waiting outside to take up positions at each window. John already has snipers on the roof. Although we don’t need it, we are waiting for you to say it’s OK to add extra protection. We know it’s a lot to put on your shoulders, but someone has to make the decision, and that is you.”

Zen just stared at them both, then said, “What did my folks say?”

Miriam nodded to let Zen know they’d asked then she said, “They hated the idea but agreed in principle. I’m not sure what they meant, but they said they needed to get ahead of the curve and would let you make the decision yourself.”

Zen nodded, then said, “I don’t have the luxury of waiting till I reach the arbitrary age of eighteen, or twenty-one, before becoming responsible for the consequences of my actions. There is more involved, but it comes down to the fact that in this new world, I am responsible for my actions, and I need to be held accountable for them. The flawed concept that childhood is a time of freedom from obligation and consequence is dead. I have no idea what the aliens will be like but three years from now is not the time to teach a child that ‘be quiet’ is not a prelude to a tantrum but is an order to be obeyed or they may die.”

Miriam went still then nodded slowly, “Is that what you discussed with the PM?”

“That, and a hundred other things. Western democracy, regardless of form, won’t work. There is too much to do in too little time. That form of government isn’t suitable for the highly capable and military focussed culture we’ll have to become if we are to survive. Before that, though, we need to learn to cope with the new world of toxic air, poisoned waterways and fractured ecosystems. Then, in all of this, we have to be careful that we don’t lose our humanity or the desire to let people share in the decision making. But I need to keep that for tonight. All that to say that while I don’t like the extra protection, I do understand the need for it, at least for the moment.”

Miriam nodded and signalled for John to let the added protection in. Zen finished eating in silence then said, “I’ll stay in until this afternoon. Do you mind if I try and find out more about the Russians? I may have a plan.”

Miriam shook her head and said, “Go for it.”

Zen opened the laptop, and after plugging in her headphones, she called the gym where she boxed.

“Hello, George’s gym, how can I help you?”

“Hey, Kostas, it’s Zen.”

“Hey Zen, I saw you on the internet. Nice moves.”

“Thanks, Kostas. Is Danyl there?”

“Yeah, he’s trying to teach that idiot Gennady how to protect his face when he does an uppercut.”

“Can you get him for me?”

“Yep.”

Zen could hear Kostas as he yelled for someone to get Danyl. It was several minutes then she heard Danyl in Russian ask, “Zen, what’s up? You’re all in the news.”

“Yeah, I know. The US tried to kidnap me and the Chinese tried as well. Your countrymen are next. They have a bounty on my head, and I think they’ve offloaded it to the brotherhood. I need the name of someone in New York I can discuss this with.”

“I don’t know, Zen. You know I’m out of it. I’ve been legit for years.”

“I understand, Danyl. I just want a name. Someone who still has some shred of personal honour and who has a lot of influence?”

“Honour means different things to different people.”

“I understand that.”

“I don’t know, but I do know someone who knows someone who might know something. OK, I’ll see what I can dig up. Call back in twenty.”

“Thanks, Danyl.”

Twenty minutes later, she rang the gym, and Danyl answered. He said, “The word is that this man is not a good man. He is a very, very bad man. Still, it is said that he always keeps his word. Everyone steps very carefully around him. He won’t care that you are a girl. It is rumoured he runs the vory in New York.”

“What’s his name?”

“Don’t give anyone my name.”

“Danyl?”

“His name is Kirill Nikitovich Ivanov. He has a penthouse on Maddison Avenue.”

Danyl hung up without saying anything else. Zen turned to John and asked, “What can you tell me about a Kirill Nikitovich Ivanov? He has a penthouse on Maddison Avenue. “

John stepped away to make a call while Zen got herself another coffee. Ten minutes later and John said, “Organised Crime is pretty sure he heads up the Russian mafia in New York, if not most of the east coast. They’ve no proof, only vague references here and there. They’ve tried to get more information, but people keep dying. He’s untouchable. He acts and dresses like a businessman and is more likely to be seen at Masa or Per Se than any dive. He’s been invited to the Mayor’s Christmas party for the last ten years.”

“Do you have his number?”

“Yes, it’s his private number. What are you planning?”

“A chat. Can you book us a table at Kurumazushi?”

“I can, but why?”

“I want to talk. He’s Russian, and if he likes Masa, he’ll like sushi. He has a warped sense of honour, and I doubt even a hundred million is enough to make him break a promise.”

“OK, I’ll arrange it, but Miriam and I will be with you, and we will remain armed.”

“Thank you. The restaurant opens at eleven-thirty, so we have time before the UN meeting.”

John wasn’t convinced but handed Zen the number and stepped away to see what he could arrange. When he stepped back, he nodded to say they had a reservation. Miriam said, “This time I want to hear both sides of the conversation.”

Zen nodded, then dialled as she unplugged her headphones from the laptop. A voice answered, and in English, with just a hint of a Russian accent, she heard, “Speak.”

Zen spoke in Russian, “Hello Mr Ivanov. My name is Zhenyi Drakos. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”

“Not at all. Hello, Ms Drakos, what a surprise this is. I have been talking about you for most of the morning. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

“I’ve business this afternoon, but I was wondering if you were free for an early lunch? I understand there has been a lot of messages flying around about me and I would like to clear the air, so to speak.”

“What makes you think I’m the person to talk to?”

“Friends of friends said you were honourable. Evil, but honourable when it came to your word. I asked the Secret Service to check, and they confirmed it, as much as they could.”

“Evil is such a harsh word, young Ms Drakos. When you are older, you will understand that it means different things to different people. What then are the rules of this meeting?”

“I have a booking for eleven-thirty at Kurumazushi. Basically, just you and me. Let’s agree to two guards each. Mine will be my Australian minder and the team leader of my Secret Service detail. You bring who you want. Weapons are allowed. What is said, is private and is not to be discussed, ever. We both are free to come and go unmolested.”

“I am intrigued. They will permit this?”

“They aren’t happy, but yes.”

“Then you will be untouched until you return to the Plaza, this much I will agree to.”

“Thank you. Goodbye.”

Zen hung up and then looked up at Miriam and asked, “Miriam, what should I wear?”

* * *

After arranging for a dress, Zen began trolling through the petabytes of data she’d downloaded from the Chinese phones. After an hour, she had a few ideas of what to do if her grandfather died, but before she could work on an algorithm to mine the data or write a program, John and Miriam got her attention. John said, “I asked for more security, and the President has arranged for some. It wasn’t what I expected, but I’ve just received a Presidential directive which authorises one platoon from the 75th Ranger Regiment to be deployed under my direction. The order was given three hours ago, and one fully outfitted platoon is currently making its way down Park Avenue in six of the latest humvees. They will be here in ten minutes.”

“I didn’t think they could be deployed inside the US. Something about the Posse Comitatus Act?”

“Apparently the ruling has been made that this is not an attempt to enforce any domestic policies but to provide the necessary support for national security.”

Half an hour later and John entered the room followed by two soldiers dressed in full combat gear. John said, “Agent Miriam Friedler, Ms Zhenyi Drakos, I would like to introduce First Lieutenant Jeffrey Clark and First Sergeant Kate Kelso.”

Miriam nodded, and Zen said, “Lieutenant, Sergeant, please call me Zen. I suspect this is different from most assignments.”

The Lieutenant said, “Yes, ma’am.”

Zen rolled her eyes, then said, “I’ll let you guys talk. I need to get dressed.”

As Zen stepped away, the sergeant stepped with her. Zen turned back to look at John and said, “Really, in the bedroom too?”

“Yes. Last time you disappeared.”

Zen poked her tongue out, then hurried into the room. She got dressed quickly then turned to the sergeant and said, “Look, I’m sorry to ask, but I don’t understand the makeup stuff Miriam bought for me. Can you help?”

Kate just looked at her, then shook her head as she put her firearm on the bed and said, “I’m not supposed to, and to be honest I’m not sure myself, but I’ll give it a go. Now, stand still.”

A few minutes later, Zen walked out and said, “I bet you couldn’t get the humvees into the basement.”

John smiled and said, “No bet. We’ll take the limo, but instead of just motorbikes and SUV’s there will also be two humvees both in front and behind, they are waiting near the exit. My men have already staked out Kurumazushi, and the Lieutenant sent two squads to help. I really hope you enjoy the meal.”

“What? It’s only a kilometre from here.”

“Zen, you know what is at stake, and you agreed.”

Scowling, Zen let herself be escorted to the basement. She was so embarrassed as she left the hotel to find that the entire Fifth Avenue had been shut down from Central Park to E 45th Street, and there were police at every intersection. When they pulled up in front of the restaurant she had four soldiers flank her the entire way to the door. As per her agreement only John and Miriam went inside with her. She’d made sure to arrive five minutes early, and the restaurant was empty. Five minutes later and the door opened, and three people were allowed inside. One was obviously Kirill Ivanov, he was maybe ten years older than her father and looked fit and urbane. One was obviously a bodyguard. The third was a young woman, maybe two or three years older than Zen.

Zen stood and said, “Mr Ivanov.”

“Ah, Ms Drakos. Please, you may call me Kirill if you like. Like you, I planned to bring two bodyguards, but when I let it slip I was going to meet you, my daughter Daria asked to join us. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all, Mr Ivanov. I don’t think I can bring myself to call you Kirill, my mother would say that wasn’t respectful. Welcome, Daria. Please, you must both call me Zen. Have you eaten here before?”

Daria smiled and said, “Lots of times, the Chirashi Special is amazing.”

Daria had spoken in English, so Zen switched to that and said, “Great, John, I’ll have the Nameko Wan followed by the Chirashi Special.”

When the others had ordered, Kirill said, “So, Zen, you have burst onto the world stage out of thin air. Daria was one of those who listened to you on her phone yesterday, and now I hear you are talking at the UN later. I wonder what you might have to say to me?”

“I want to tell you a true story, then ask that you tell others that I am off limits while here in New York. The story will be public knowledge within days. Still, someone of your influence might benefit from knowing even a few hours before everyone else.”

“While I am intrigued, I won’t promise anything until I’ve heard the story.”

“Fair enough. Everything I say is true to the best of my knowledge, and many, including the Russian President, have had this truth explained to them. I don’t have time for that so you will only get the bare bones. Regardless of what you promise regarding my safety, will you agree not to say a word about my story?”

Kirill looked at Zen over his hands, then said, “Our lips are sealed.”

“OK. Three years ago …”

An hour later, as the dishes were cleared away, Kirill said, “You are sure of this? Everything you said is true?”

“Yes.”

“Why do they want you?”

“Information. I don’t have more, but you understand how powerful people want to hold on tight to their source of information.”

“It is not just the Russians. Many others have an interest.”

“I know. All I want is safety while I’m here in New York.”

Kirill took a deep breath then said, “OK. While you are here, you will not be touched. I will get the word out.”

“Thank you. I’d best go. I have a meeting at one-thirty and need to get changed.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

Daria had hardly spoken and was just staring at Zen. As she stood, Zen reached over and touched her shoulder. Zen said, “Be careful, Daria. What I said is true. You need to grow up if you want to survive.”

With that, Zen nodded to Miriam, who led the way from the restaurant. No one spoke until they were back in the room at the Plaza. When they arrived, John said, “I think you just made a deal with the devil.”

Zen nodded, then said, “True, but I don’t have time to discuss the morality of it right now. I’d best get changed. I have a meeting with people just as dangerous in less than half an hour.”

With that, Zen walked into her bedroom to get changed. This time she hardly even noticed Kate following along behind.

Zen looked up at Miriam and said, “I’m OK, really. I’d rather be informed than uninformed. My dad always says that knowledge is the currency of life, on its own it’s not worth much, invested wisely and the entire universe is open to you. The trick, he says, is working out where and how to invest it.”

“Your father is wiser than most. Even so, let’s leave Phil’s comments for the plane ride home. John will be here soon and he’s arranged a visit to F.A.O. Shwarz, it’s a famous toy store here in New York. They’re used to having the occasional celebrity and have agreed to open for you at eight. The store usually opens at nine so you’ll have an hour uninterrupted. That means we leave here in ten minutes.”

“Won’t it be crazy with all the security?”

“Yes. Your entourage will be leaving with the limo out the front and heading to the Lower Manhattan as if you are going to see the Statue of Liberty.”

“We saw that when we were her last time. If we hadn’t it might be worth it. I doubt it’ll last through the next two years. It wouldn’t surprise me if they try and move it. I hope they don’t.”

“Why on earth wouldn’t you want it preserved.”

“Because for the cost and manpower required they could save thousands of people by building more bunkers. This is what I was talking about. People don’t have time to waste on something as ephemeral as nationalistic nostalgia when your nation’s actual people’s lives are at stake. Sure, pack up the books in the libraries, we’ll need them to rebuild. Bring the easy to carry art to stimulate our thinking during the decades we’ll be hidden away in bunkers. They should take their constitution without most of the idiotic commentary of the last few hundred years and let that serve to remind them of liberty if they need a reminder.”

“That’s a pretty advanced political critique from a sixteen year old.”

“Yeah, I know. We’re just supposed to stamp our feet and glare at you old people for ruining our lives instead of working out ways to make sure we have the futures we want for ourselves. Sorry, the thing is I don’t trust most of you to make good decisions so I’ll let my voice be heard while I start doing some of the heavy lifting myself.”

There was a knock on the door and John walked in. He gave a wan smile and said,”Everything’s organised. You best hurry and get changed, Zen, we need to leave in five minutes.”

Zen stared at him for a moment then hurried to her room. Miriam said, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, sorry. I’m probably a bit tired. My mind was on something personal.”

“Um, OK. Let me check in with Dr Bateman then I’m ready to go.”

John nodded as Miriam stepped away and used her phone. She finished talking as Zen stepped from her room. Miriam said, “OK, let’s go.”

John led the way to the elevator but instead of going to the basement he went to the first floor then led the way down a stairwell and out through a large service entrance where a truck was waiting with its back open. Once Miriam and Zen were inside John closed the doors and made his way to the passenger seat. There were several comfortable seats with seatbelts in the rear container for Miriam and Zen. From the Plaza to the Rockefeller Centre was only one mile and the trip took five minutes. Once they were in the centre’s garage John let them out where they was joined by three more Secret Service agents, four rangers and three more of Miriam’s detail.

One of the Secret Service agents led the way through to the underground loading dock for F.A.O. Shwarz and then into the store. Zen had a pretty good idea what she wanted and knew she had an almost unrestricted luggage allowance. In the end she bought gifts for the next few years. As she’d been choosing the different gifts she’d had to rely on John’s advice more than Miriam’s as Miriam had been on the telephone for most of the time. When Zen was paying, Miriam turned to John and said, “Phil and the Prime Minister have decided to head back to Australia early. I’d like to arrange for us to go straight from here to the airport. My agents are already packing Zen’s things.”

“Why the sudden change in plans?”

“There are a number of reasons most of which I really am not allowed to share, sorry.”

John stared at Miriam for a few moments then nodded and said, “I’ll arrange for the cavalcade to be waiting at the Plaza. We’ll go straight from the basement.”

Miriam just nodded and turned away to watch Zen. When Zen joined them a few minutes later she looked between them for a moment then said, “What’s up? The tension is ratchet up a bit high.”

Miriam said, “The PM has decided to leave immediately. I have agents packing your things as we speak. We’ll go from here straight to the airport.”

“Um, OK. Can you ask them to get the electronic device in the air-vent above my bed? Ask them not to disconnect anything but bring the whole thing. There is also one under the comfy chair in the large lounge area, the one I used. It’s slipped inside the frame.”

Miriam raised her eyes and said, “What do these electronic devices do?”

“This and that, well, mostly that. That being a euphemism for being used as a storage devices.”

“Storage for what?”

“Data.”

“What data needs to be hidden in the air-vent?”

“It wasn’t full of data when it went into the air-vent.”

“And it is now?”

“Almost. It’s still downloading this and that.”

“Downloading?”

“Yeah, this and that.”

“Where is this information coming from?”

“The air vent. Otherwise I wouldn’t have put it there.”

“Are you going to tell me?”

“Not planning on it. You’d probably want to share a lot of moralising sound-bites and I don’t need the aggravation.”

“So you are stealing data?”

“That is an erroneous statement. This device doesn’t steal data in any way shape or form. All the data it is collecting is already is in my possession.”

“Then why is it in the air-vent?”

“I may have slipped out of my room when people weren’t watching and placed a relay antenna on roof with a cable running through the vent. It gives a clear signal and lets me collect my data easily without having to use the hotel wifi.”

“May have?”

“I’m not admitting to any actual crimes.”

“How is leaving a crime?”

“I may have had to sneak through the suite next to mine to get out.”

“That is the PM’s suite.”

“I know. He snores terribly and the agents aren’t anywhere as diligent as you guys.”

“Where is this data from?”

“Here and there?”

Miriam thought for a moment then said, “Would it be from half a million ‘here and there’s?”

“No comment.”

“You said you didn’t steal it.”

“No, I said I wasn’t stealing it with this device. This device collects and sorts information. I’ve not said anything about the source of the information. I said it is already in my possession and is being collated in the air-vent.”

“And the one in the chair?”

“It’s more of the this than the that.”

“More actively illegal.”

“No comment.”

“You can’t just go around stealing data.”

“Of course you can. Governments and companies steal data all the time. Google, Facebook, banks, government agencies. Everyone takes more than you give them. They use it to fleece, manipulate and control people everyday. Most people have no problem with others knowing stuff about them as long as it is used to pander to their appetites for information, safety, gadgets, merchandise and special deals. My rather tenuous ethical justification is that it isn’t fair that I have to compete with organisations who have greater access to data than I do. All I’m doing is levelling the playing field on my terms.”

Miriam looked to John for support but he was trying hard not to laugh. “Zen, we will discuss this when we get airborne.”

“OK. I suspect it’ll be interesting to listen to a Mossad agent’s ethical take on information gathering and who can and cannot do it.”

This was too much for John and he burst out laughing as Miriam tried hard not to blush. She was saved by Zen who said, “Why are we leaving?”

“I’ll explain on the plane.”

“Can I try and guess?”

“You can say what you want to. I won’t confirm or deny anything until we are in the air.”

“Cool. I play this with my teachers all the time. Stop me at any time. Let’s see, it has something to do with John because he was out of sorts when he arrived and you’ve been on the phone since then. It’s not personal because he’s too professional for that and I suspect it was his way of warning you without saying anything because he can’t and yet he has promised to protect me and because he likes you. He knows about what is happening but doesn’t really agree with it but he’s a good soldier slash secret agent. For us to leave it has to do with their government. It isn’t aimed at us or John wouldn’t have said or done anything. You know what it is because you contacted Mossad who are even better at stealing information than I am.

“Nothing has hit the news but it will within the next news cycle so we are leaving straight away. We won’t be detained so it isn’t aimed at us and most likely not at other countries so it is internal. My guess is the President has finally decided things are serious and is going to do something stupid that will cause panic and mayhem. Wow, both of you are not saying anything really loudly which means I’m on the money. I mean that, literally, ‘I am on the money’. When the dollar crashes I should make a packet. For the leader of a country he is so unpredictably predictable. Want me to guess what he is going to do?”

John said, “No. Not out loud. Guess quietly in your mind.”

“John, do you want me to do anything about it?”

“There isn’t anything that you can do at this stage. Please, that is not a challenge. Even if you could then my job is to support my leaders and I would have to stop you.”

“Not as far as I understand your oath. I thought you promised to defend your constitution. It isn’t a long document and it really isn’t that hard to understand. Even the amendments aren’t that hard to understand although some seem kind of against the whole vibe of the original. It’s all the added commentary that seems designed to confuse people. I’d guess that whatever is happening isn’t in line with it or what’s being organised or proposed wouldn’t really bother you.”

“Zen, let it go. In this you are too smart for your own good.”

“What a stupid saying. How can you be too smart for your own good? What that means is you think I’m not smart enough to weigh up the pros and cons and choose a suitable response. Smart people make judicious and wise choices. Stupid people act and speak out of turn. Still, it’s your country, so I’ll let it go. Let’s go, Miriam, I’m ready to go home.”

As she walked away to lean against a wall she took out her phone and started typing away. John turned to Miriam and said, “Did she just smile sweetly and lie to my face?”

“Probably. Her sense of right and wrong is heavily skewed in the direction of whatever she wants to do is right. Not that she doesn’t have a moral compass, she does. It’s just a bit temperamental and points where she wants it to. You know she’s right about this.”

“It isn’t that easy.”

“Not for you or me. I’m realising that we have years of dealing with political necessities and we can’t see the big picture with any real clarity anymore. For her it probably is that easy. She just asks herself if what is being planned will help save or prepare people so they can fight the aliens or will it add to the death and chaos. We see everything as a heavily nuanced and highly filtered multicoloured picture. She sees it in black and white and the outcome is boolean. Is it good, leave it alone or support it. Is it bad, stop it or kill it. Look what she did to China. You and I both know that what is planned is wrong. We’re just fooling ourselves if we say anything else.”

John glanced over at Zen then in a low voice said, “He’s backed into a corner. Zen ruined any chance he had to leave office on his own terms. It’s his final term and after the last few days his numbers have tanked to the lowest level of any sitting President, and that says a lot. This way he may even have a shot at keeping the job.”

“John, all that does is emphasise how wrong it is. He’s basically walking away from the few values he actually had that were admirable. Don’t even think of blaming Zen for what’s happening. She didn’t initiate her kidnapping or force his hand except to set herself free.”

John was saved from responding when he got a call through his earpiece saying everything was ready for their departure.

-End of Episode 2-