“It’s amazing how light it is,” Sandy said. “Almost feels like a toy.”
“They don’t kill like one,” Chen said and returned the front seat. “Now, everyone knows their part, right?”
Everyone nodded.
“Target ETA five minutes,” Yuri said.
“Good,” Chen said, “we have time to run through the plan.”
“Attention to detail. That is why I like you so much,” Yuri said.
As they reviewed, Yuri had questions about how they would hack the navigation systems of the eighteen-wheelers.
“Why do you have to use the decks? Why not just link up or cloud surf or whatever you call it,” he asked.
“We could,” Jacob said, “but if we sever the link with the satellite while we are still on the satellite side of the connection, we’re stuck there.”
“What do you mean, stuck there? Your mind will be stuck in the cloud? Like those transhumans?”
“Pretty much, but not by choice,” Jacob said.
Gomez added, “And a lot can go wrong if you are uploaded that way. I had a friend who got partially cut off while we were doing a job in Berlin. He wasn’t the same after that. Ask Evgeny about it, he knew him.”
Yuri whistled a low whistle.
With Yuri’s questions out of the way, they continued reviewing the plan until Chen was satisfied. Then they sat in silence, watching the screen, waiting.
Chapter 18
A voice came over communications, “All teams go.”
On the screen, a driverless SVU appeared from a side road, slamming into the vehicle immediately behind the second eighteen-wheeler, causing it to careen off the road, the vehicle behind it slamming on its brakes. A second SUV came into view and stopped on the bottom corner of the screen. Four men wearing body armor got out and began strafing the stopped vehicle
“Zoom in on target,” Yuri said. The view on the screen adjusted. “Everyone ready?”
Decks in hand, Jacob, Sandy, and Gomez nodded.
Yuri turned to Chen. “Can I turn the music back up?”
“Fine. But if it distracts them…”
“I will lower it.”
Yuri put the SUV in gear and gunned it, the tires screeching as they pulled out of the parking lot and fell in behind the eighteen-wheelers.
“Let’s hope their counter hackers aren’t as good as we are. It’ll make this so much easier,” Sandy said, preparing her deck.
Yuri’s music is perfect for this, Jacob thought, his fingers finding energy in the tempo. He instructed his deck to search for incoming satellite feeds. The plan was simple. They would use the satellite GPS feed to the eighteen-wheelers as a way to get into each truck’s system. Once in the system, they would take control of the self-driving program and bring them to a stop. Simple.
“Great,” Gomez said, his fingers quickly working his deck. “They have the trucks linked with a self-replicating AI protocol. It’s going to be hard to knock them out one at a time.”
A warning came over the communications panel. “Yuri, unit four is down. They did not subdue one of the SUVs, and it is in pursuit.”
“Zoom out,” Yuri commanded the drone feed. “Shit. They will overtake us soon.”
Jacob focused on his deck. Around him, the cabin of the SUV was a frenetic and chaotic scene.
“Do we try to sever the link and go at each truck, or try to get ahead of the protocol and take control all at once?” Sandy asked.
“Jacob,” Chen said, “in the back is a canvas bag. I need it.”
“We’re working here.”
“I need the bag to make sure you can keep working,” Chen replied with some force in his voice.
“You two see if you can get in and set up a man in the middle attack to sever the link with the first truck,” Jacob said, reaching for the canvas bag. “I’ll come in behind you and take control of the truck.” He handed Chen the bag. “If I stop the first truck, the second will have to stop to avoid hitting it.”
Chen opened the bag and took out what looked like a small grenade launcher.
“They are closing,” Yuri said.
Chen rolled down his window and leaned out, looking back. The headlights of the SUV appeared in the rearview mirror.
“We’ve got another problem,” Yuri said, indicating the drone video feed. One of the two SUVs leading the eighteen-wheelers had peeled off and started slowing. Yuri tapped the radio. “We need reinforcements.”
“Damn it,” Sandy said. She hunched closer to her deck as if she were trying to will the lines of code she entered to work.
Gomez said, “I’m getting small cracks. Try a cascading denial of service attack.”
In the front seat, Chen loaded the grenade launcher, his face betraying no emotion. He leaned out the window again. With only his waist and legs inside, he aimed at the SUV behind them. There was a low thump. Light from the explosion illuminated the backseat. Chen pulled his torso back inside the cabin and reloaded the launcher.
“It’s working,” Sandy said. “Piggyback on our code.”
Jacob entered lines of code as fast as his fingers would move.
The taillights of the other SUV appeared on the side of the eighteen-wheeler.
“I’m in,” Jacob said.
“I need you to ease into the other lane and block him,” Chen said to Yuri.
“You need to hurry,” Gomez said. “The protocol is adapting.”
Yuri eased into the next lane. Chen leaned back out the window.
Jacob looked at two separate streams of code. “I don’t know which is the lead truck. Any clue?”
“No idea,” Gomez said.
“Get ready to move out of the way,” Chen said to Yuri.
“I will do my best,” Yuri said.
A low thump and an explosion filled the road in front of them.
Yuri cut back behind the eighteen-wheeler, missing the twisted and burning wreck in the road. “That was exciting,” he said.
“You’ve got to hurry, Jacob. We can’t
