“Me too.” I smiled back at her. “It has been a good opportunity to work with some voice recognition tech, though. There could be some interesting applications for us that I might have some ideas for.”

  “Sorry I couldn’t be there in person,” Marcus said from one of the monitors. “If I missed my daughter’s soccer game, I’d be in trouble with her. I’ve got one question.”

  “Of course, Marcus. What is it?” Lorenzo responded.

  “Theo’s been in the field twice now and Keys… well, she died in the field. Do you think we’re going to end up out there more?”

  “Field work will continue to be on an as-needed basis. We are, however, putting together additional training to better equip us mentally and physically when we’re deployed. It won’t be full field training, but it’ll be more rigorous that what we currently have. That’ll be rolling out by summer.”

  The new training was something Lorenzo, Joanna, and I talked about, both after Denver and in my debriefs from what just happened. I know what I’d learned from John and Coach helped me, so it made sense to expand everyone’s skill set since the IT team only had the most basic training. While that was renewed every six months, IT did not receive the more advanced courses Mom, Dad, and true field agents received.

  “Great. That’ll be good to have so we’re all prepared for anything that comes up.”

  Lorenzo nodded. “I hope Lila’s team wins.”

  “Thanks,” Marcus said.

  “Anything else?” Lorenzo scanned the room. “No?” He waited for another moment. “Okay. That was easy. I’ll let you get back to whatever you’ve got going on today. Thanks everyone.”

  People began filing out, and some of them stopped to offer me congratulations on the mission along with good thoughts on my shoulder.

  “Dean did quite a number on that machine,” Lorenzo said once we were alone. “I just skimmed the report that came in. It seems he exploited a few hardware and firmware holes to make it self-destruct.”

  “It looked pretty spectacular in person. I shouldn’t have been surprised by it based on what I’ve seen him do over the past couple weeks between his attempt to get into my phone, putting Wes through hell, and his work in class.”

  “Is he as good as you?”

  “Possibly. There hasn’t been a chance for a true head-to-head match. He poked at my phone, but didn’t get in. It’s possible, I suppose, given time that he could.” I quickly scanned the report. “They recovered file fragments and they’re reasonably confident it’s the original?”

  “Yeah. I don’t like the reasonably part. You saw the data when it opened and there was no error message like the first time. But there was certainly a hole in the initial security that allowed the stolen laptop to be compromised to allow the file to be moved. It’s not clear if Coyle managed to make viable copies. We’ve found an array of hacks that were in progress, and all of those revealed a copied file with the same error you saw. Other agencies have intercepted copies as well.”

  I nodded. “We should leave the bots in place to keep watch for anything, even copies.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Hey guys.” Dad stood in the doorway of the conference room.

  “Victor, good to see you.” Lorenzo stood and shook Dad’s hand. “You guys headed out?”

  “Only if you two are finished.”

  Lorenzo and I looked at each other and he nodded. “I think we are.”

  “Thank you,” I said, holding his gaze. “You took the total hit for the last-minute change. You didn’t have to do that. I was ready to own it.”

  “I put you in that position, though, so the fault was on me.” Lorenzo was about to clap me on the shoulder, but stopped even though it was my good one. “Fist-bump instead.” And we did, both grinning.

  “Now get out of here. Hopefully we won’t talk again until Monday when we should be back talking about souped up contact lenses instead of stolen encrypted keys.”

  “Sounds good. See you both later.” Lorenzo departed.

  “Contact lenses?” Dad asked, an eyebrow raised.

  “Yeah,” I said excitedly. “Think Geordi on Next Gen.”

  “Really?”

  “If we can get the bugs worked out, yeah.”

  “I’ve no doubt you will. The tech team is always working miracles.” I left the conference room ahead of Dad, and we walked side by side through the corridor. “Let’s get out of here. Mr. Robot is waiting on the plane.”

  I grinned. Our Mr. Robot viewing had been delayed by more than a few days, but the travel time was the perfect chance to get a couple of episodes knocked off our list.

  Acknowledgements

  I’m thrilled to bring Theo’s second mission to the page. He’s tremendously fun to write, and I hope you enjoy reading this adventure that keeps him closer to home this time out.

  Thanks to my friends who read early versions of Schooled to make sure it worked: Brian, Chris, David, Elvis, and Michael. Having their input was so valuable as I worked my way to a final story. Additional gratitude goes to Dawn, Laura, Victoria, and Liz. I appreciate the time you each spent with the story and your great suggestions to improve it.

  And, as always, thanks to Will for all of his love and support.

  Mission Preview: Audio Assault

  Chapter One

  “Winger, Amp here. My position’s about to be compromised. I’m not sure how much longer I can stay here.”

  Through the comm channel, tension dripped from the agent’s quiet voice. Twenty-three years old and new to Tactical Operational Support, Amp sounded green and unsure. Reminded me of my first field mission less than a year ago.

  “Hang tight, Amp. Focus on the neutralization of the firewall.” I projected calm because it’s what my team needed. Meanwhile, from an electrical equipment closet on the first floor, I worked to take over the research facility’s security system so it would appear as though multiple breaches were in progress. “Petty, do you have eyes on Amp’s position?”

  “There are three working to open the door where Amp is.” Petty didn’t have a tremble in her voice even though this was her first time too. No doubt part of that was her safer position in the van outside. “They’ve brought in a blowtorch to get through the door.”

  “Winger, what am I going to do?”

  “You keep working. You’re there because you know what needs to be done. We’ll keep you safe.”

  The building’s security was ridiculous in its complexity. Usually it was easy to find the logic in a system, this one seemed to have none. Maybe that was the point. I hoped to use the intricacies to force its downfall.

  “Petty, how many inside?”

  “Stand by.”

  As the seconds ticked by, I got fidgety. “Petty?”

  “Winger, one moment.”

  “Don’t have a moment, Petty.” Annoyance slipped into my voice, which I didn’t like. Petty and Amp were assigned to me for this mission, and it fell to me to be senior agent in charge.

  “Winger, they’re cutting through. There’s already a small hole in the door. I need at least another two minutes.”

  “Understood, Amp.” He was right on schedule. In the mission briefing, he said he’d need fifteen minutes, and he was at thirteen. “Petty, now.”

  “Seventeen across the three floors. Biggest clusters are on three and one.”

  Time to make a distraction. I sent commands to deceive the security system into thinking an intruder breached a second-floor lab.

  “Petty, disable the monitors on my mark but maintain your visibility.”

  “Understood. Standing by.”

  After a double-check of the commands, I poised my finger over the enter key. “Now, Petty.”

  “Monitors disabled.”

  “Distraction enabled.” The security statuses flipped from green to red on the south side of the second floor.

  “No one’s moving to that area, Winger.”

  “What?”

  “Confirmed.” Petty continued. “They’re ignoring it.”

  What the hell? My monitor returned to green status. Everything seemed in order to make this work, especially since I saw—There was a loop of logic checks. This design was clever. I read quickly through the code and found the subroutine causing the problem.

  “Stand by.”

  We got bad intel on this place. No mention of buried security measures appeared in any of the reports. If we’d known that, we wouldn’t have sent Amp in before we knew we had control. I shouldn’t have sent him to start before I confirmed we could keep him safe. Now we needed an improvised distraction or he’d be exposed and the mission would fail.

  I typed rapidly, looking for a way to make the security sensors trip.

  “Petty, keep me posted on Amp’s status.”

  “Copy that, Winger.”

  Nothing worked. Apparently only the door sensor could send the right command back to central control to confirm an intruder. There was no time to figure this out.

  “Damnit. Winger, I need more time. I’ve run into interference. Someone’s trying to kick me out. My timeline is shot.”

  “Understood, Amp. Petty, do you have eyes on me?”

  “Confirmed, Winger.”

  This sucked hard, but there was little choice. If I couldn’t make a distraction remotely, I’d have to do it manually.

  “Amp, I’m en route to your location. Keep at it and stop for nothing.”

  “But—”

  “Understood?”

  Silence filled the channel for a moment. “Copy that.” He clearly didn’t like it.

  “Petty, help me stay out of sight.”

  “Got it.”

  “You’re clear for the corridor you’re in and then on to the elevators and stairs.”

  “Understood.”

  Despite the info, I opened the door slowly and peeked around the corner. Since it was after hours, the lighting was at half, but that wouldn’t obscure me if anyone came into the hall.

  Amp was on the second floor, but I wanted a distraction down here to draw people in this direction. The windows would be a good target if I could disrupt those sensors. I pulled my phone as I got to the stairs and brought up the building schematics. I needed to know where the sensors were.

  “Winger,” Petty said. “Guards leaving the lobby. Get out of the hall.”

  I opened the stairway door slowly to avoid noise and ducked in. There was no window in the door so I couldn’t see once it closed.

  “Stand by. They’re past you but not out of the hall.”

  All the doors and windows had sensors. I looked around the perimeter of the stairwell door and found one along the top.

  Damn. No wires ran to the small block so severing the connection couldn’t happen. There was no time to figure out how to disrupt the wireless network that linked the sensors.

  New plan.

  I considered my options as I sprinted upstairs.

  “Petty, tell me about the third floor.”

  “Two guards are at the elevator bank behind a desk. Another is on patrol. Exit the staircase, go right and then left, and you’ll be out of sight for a few moments. But you’ve got to move now.”

  I moved quick, happy I kept up with endurance exercises during the hockey off-season. At the door, I asked, “Clear?”

  “Clear.”

  I ended up in a hall filled with doors locked by retinal-scan and card-access readers. This should do the trick.

  “Amp here. I think I’ve got less than five minutes before they’re in here. There’s even more resistance in the network. They’re tag-teaming me. I could really use you in here, Winger.”

  “Here comes the distraction.”

  I stepped up to the first scanner and pushed the only available button. Bright light hit my eye and the scanner turned red.

  “Unauthorized,” a mechanical female voice announced.

  Finally.

  I moved to the next door and did it again.

  “Three guards are headed your way.”

  I moved to the other scanners quickly. The more alerts the better.

  “Petty, next stairwell?”

  “Three doors down on your left. You’ve got maybe fifteen seconds before they’ll see you.”

  I ignored other sensors and made for the staircase.

  “Where am I going to come out on two?” I asked as I headed down.

  Another set of labs, bigger. Only two on the corridor. The guards are checking the doors on three, but one is headed into the stairway, and he’s on his radio.

  “Which way do I go to get to Amp?”

  “Out of the staircase, go right. That’s clear. Finding the best route from there.”

  “Copy that.”

  I followed the instructions and pressed my eye into the sensors at the labs I passed.

  “You don’t have time for that. Take the next right and then look sharp. There are a lot of intersections. You’re going to take the third left, and you’ll be in the corridor where Amp is. He’s still got one person on his door. The other guards have dispersed, most are on three.”

  I jogged down the hall with a stop to scan my unauthorized eye. Unexpectedly the hall lights went red and klaxons sounded.

  That was new. Even though I didn’t know what caused it, I appreciated the extra noise to bring attention here.

  “Amp’s door is clear. The guard’s coming your way. Two more from behind. Get to the last intersection and go left. That’s the clearest bet, and you’ll get back to Amp.”

  This was more fun than it should be. Sure, bad guys were coming, but running around in the corridors was an ultimate game of laser tag. I desperately did not want to get tagged.

  “Winger, I’m in.” I smiled at the thrill in Amp’s voice. “Beginning data transfer.”

  “Excellent. I’m on my way. Less than a minute.”

  “You need to hurry, Winger. The guards are all responding to the last alarm you triggered. Take the next right. Amp is two doors from the end of the corridor. They’ll cut you off if you don’t hurry.”

  I didn’t have much speed to add, but I pushed.

  “The guy’s back working with the door.” Petty broke the news just as I turned into the hallway. We were both dressed in black. Maybe he’d mistake me for security as well.

  “He’s almost through the entire frame.” To his credit, Amp sounded calmer.

  I slowed. The man at the door needed to believe I was part of his team.

  “Winger, you’re about to get pinned if the guard in the staircase to your left enters the floor.”

  There was nowhere for me to go.

  “Amp,” I was very quiet, knowing the comms would still pick up my voice, “no matter what finish the mission and make sure you get all the data.”

  There was only a short pause. “Understood.”

  I heard the stairway open behind me and boots on the floor.

  “You there,” barked a new voice, “identify yourself.”

  “Security. Hauer.” I didn’t turn or break stride.

  He’s closing on you, Winger.

  The loud clomps made that obvious. He must not have a stealth mode. The dude at the door turned his attention to me.

  “Amp, can you help Winger?”

  “No. The download is too unstable.”

  “Where’s your badge?” asked the guy who’d been cutting the door open. A badge clipped to the front of his shirt hung over the pocket. He dropped his hand to the holster at his waist.

  “Oh, man. Sorry. I forgot to clip it on when I started my shift.” Fishing around in my pockets, I had to buy a few more seconds.

  “I’ve never heard of a Hauer,” said the man behind me. He shoved me forward as the guy in front of me aimed his gun. “Get your hands out of your pockets.”

  When I didn’t immediately comply, he grabbed my right hand to forcibly remove it.

  “Who are you? How’d you get in here?” Another shove from behind sent me sideways into the wall.

  “I’ll have to talk to HR if you keep touching me.” I shrugged him off as he grabbed for me. “I told you I’ve got a badge. I just need to get it.”

  “Winger, what are you doing?” Petty sounded nervous.

  “Let me help you.” The man was in my face and he dug into my left pocket but came up with nothing. From my right, he pulled out my phone. “He’s got no ID.” He threw the phone to the floor.

  “Now, who are you?” The man with the gun asked as he moved closer.

  “Hey, Siri. Pulse.”

  “Opening app Pulse,” Siri said.

  “What did you do?”

  “Five….” A male voice came from the phone.

  “Turn it off.” The man with the gun twitched as the other guard picked up the phone.

  “Four….”

  He pulled the gun’s hammer back. “Now.”

  “Three….”

  “Hey, Siri. Stop Pulse!” the guard clutched the phone, screaming at it.

  Did he really think it would take commands from anyone but me?

  “Two….”

  “Stop it!” the gunman shouted at me, but I only shook my head. “Smash it!”

  The guy holding the phone threw it down and stomped on it with his heel.

  “One….” Despite the crunch of the screen’s glass, it kept going.

  The gun fired.

  The impact slammed my chest.

  “Pulse.”

  Sparks flew from the lights and door mechanisms as well as the guard’s pockets.

  I clutched my chest where the bullet hit.

  “Winger!” Amp and Petty shouted into my ear.

  Pain radiated from my chest as I crumpled to the floor.

  Both guards shook, and one cried out, as they fell.

  “Get that data secured,” I called out as red spilled out between my fingers.

  Winger’s missions continue with Audio Assault

  Available in ebook, paperback and audiobook

  * * *

  This excerpt is Copyright © 2018 by Jeff Adams

  Young Adult Books By Jeff Adams

 

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