“I’m sorry about Hawk,” Mia said.
“He’s not dead. At least, not yet anyway,” Alex said. “He’s come back from far worse situations than this.”
“I hope you’re right,” Mia said. “We might still need him. I wish we had a way to communicate with him now.”
“That makes two of us. But it’s obvious they destroyed his earpiece. However, if he ever makes it back here, I’ve got another one for him.”
Mia stopped and glanced at Alex. “You brought a backup pair?”
“I’ve got two extras. I’ve been doing this long enough to know that anything can and will go wrong. It’s a common occurrence on every mission, no matter how many times I double and triple check our tech.”
“Maybe you need a new manufacturer,” Mia said. “I know a guy who can make top of the line stuff that’s nearly indestructible.”
“I’ll have to keep that in mind,” Alex said. “But that doesn’t do us a lot of good right now.”
“Right,” Mia said, her keys flying across the keyboard. “We’re almost there.”
The two women worked in silence, scrambling to get a connection with the weapons. After a couple minutes, they heard the rockets soar overhead.
“Almost there,” Mia said.
A few seconds later, she pumped her fist before slamming it on the table.
“You did it,” Alex said. “We’re in.”
“See if you can access the navigational tools,” Mia said.
Alex studied her screen before deciding what course of action to take. She identified a directory she thought would give her the power to redirect the weapons wherever she wanted. After a couple more minutes, she held her hand up to Mia for a high five.
“I’m driving this machine now,” Alex said. “Where should we send it?”
“Do you have the coordinates for Falcon Sinclair’s mansion?” Mia asked.
Alex chuckled. “Now that would be one for the revenge hall of fame.”
“I’m only joking. I’d put it in the water so you could retrieve it and study what he’s doing.”
Alex shook her head. “These rockets aren’t what we should be most afraid of.”
Mia furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
“When we were on the plane, I started digging deeper into those files,” Alex said. “And I realized there was more to the plan than just long-range missiles. Those things are a dime a dozen in today’s high-tech world of illegal arms dealing. If you want to fire at someone who’s a thousand miles away, you can find someone to sell you the mechanism to do that. It takes just a few clicks on the dark web and a boat load of cash, but you can have the weapon of your dreams.”
“So, what did you find?”
“I uncovered a hidden file, an Easter egg that Tyler Timmons had nested inside the encrypted files. He only wanted the right people to find it, so he made a little map inside. See.”
Alex pointed at her screen and showed Mia the fruit of Timmons’s labor.
“How did I miss that?” Mia asked.
“When you’re a hacker, you deal in code and see life through the lens of code. But sometimes you have to step back from what you’re working on and consider the possibilities that there’s more to see. While those rockets are destructive, I had a hunch there was more to what Sinclair was doing.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“These rockets are merely a demonstration of the real star of the show—a satellite weapons defense system that can eliminate a threat before it even arrives.”
Before Alex could continue her explanation, her laptop started beeping. She let out a few choice words and then stared slack-jawed at the screen.
“What is it?” Mia asked, crowding over Alex’s shoulder.
“We lost our connection.”
“How is that possible?” Mia asked as she nudged Alex aside and typed away on the keyboard.
“I don’t know, but something disconnected us.”
Alex sighed. “We need to find out what’s going on in that control room.”
“Already on it,” Mia said, sliding back to her seat. “I don’t have time to hack all the way into the mainframe, but I started cracking the ancillary functions like the intercom system and other things that aren’t as well guarded.”
“And?”
“I’m almost there. Give me another minute, and we might be able to hear what’s going on in that room with Sinclair.”
While Alex was waiting for Mia to finish, both women were startled when they heard footsteps drawing nearer. Alex poked her head outside the tent and saw a shadowy figure closing in on their position. She darted back inside and grabbed her gun. When she emerged from the door, she had it trained straight ahead.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Hawk said, his hands raised in the air. “It’s me.”
Alex dropped the weapon and sprinted toward him, clobbering him with a hug. “I wasn’t sure we’d see you again.”
“We’re not safe yet,” Hawk said. “Sinclair is going to have his minions combing the island as soon as the two bodies of those guards I killed are discovered. We need to get moving right now.”
“Actually, we’re not going anywhere,” Alex said. “In fact, I’m sending you right back into the fire.”
“Are you serious?” Hawk asked as he eyed her carefully.
“As a heart attack,” Alex said.
“Good work on the transmitter,” Mia said without looking up from her screen.
“I’m fortunate Sinclair’s goons didn’t shoot me on the spot,” he said to Mia before turning to Alex. “Why do I need to go back?”
“The transmitter stopped working,” Mia said without waiting for Alex to answer.
“What?” Hawk asked. “How?”
Alex shrugged. “I have no idea. We think maybe their onboard computer detected an intrusion and shut us down. But the bottom line is that we have no way of communicating with that rocket.”
“Unless I go back?”
She nodded. “It’s the only way. We need you to help us connect to the mainframe. We can’t hack it from here without a direct connection. And the only way we’re going to be able to redirect the missiles to a harmless landing is if we piggyback onto the command center computer and override the GPS system from there.”
“Are you trying to get me killed?” Hawk
