Scarlet Angel (18 page)

Hackers are a dime a dozen. Good hackers are one in
a million. Great hackers are the stuff of legend, especially in
their own minds.

* * *

Scarlett found MakerMasters near the back of a light
industrial warehouse complex. Several minutes of searching passed
by before she found the right place. On the front glass door was a
small decal of a crossed screwdriver and a soldering gun with plain
white letters above it saying “MakerMasters.” The lip of a metal
roll-up security screen peeked out from overhead. Scarlett’s own
image showed in the reflective tint coating.

She pulled the door open and a small bell dinged
overhead. Inside, the smells of burnt plastic, ozone, and pizza
assaulted her nose, while the stark contrast from the bright
outside light to the interior darkness blinded her. She blinked a
few times and her vision returned to normal.

To her left sat a counter with an eCash register.
While the entryway was a small office-like space, the rest of the
shop was very much a warehouse. Racks of metal shelves, heaped over
with pieces of engines, electronics, and random raw materials
reached almost to the ceiling nearly twenty feet overhead and
created deep, dark shadows. Farther back, a few people worked under
a series of bright halogen lights.

An older man, in his fifties by Scarlett’s guess,
rose from one of the stools and walked toward her. His blue apron
was stained and burned in several places. His voice, scratchy from
many years of inhaling solder and paint fumes, echoed off the
concrete floor. “As you can see, sweetheart, this ain’t a crafting
shop. We don’t do flowers, cards and knickknacks.”

Scarlett blinked. “Excuse me?”

“
Look, I ain’t got time to explain
to you what we do here. You’re lookin’ fer something like the
Crafty Castle or some foofoo store like that. Well, this ain’t it,
lady.”

“
Actually, this is exactly what
I’m looking for.”

“
Really...”

She walked toward the isles and looked up at the
equipment. Most of it was junk and obsolete. “You know, it’s a
shame you don’t have a Callison HyperVac III motor. They’re a real
bang for the buck and they were never PatProtected. I see you have
the Mark One, but not the Mark Three.”

“
I got one in da back. You sure
don’ look like a maker. Yer too clean.”

She smiled. “Let’s just say I know my way around a
workbench.”

“
Alright. I’m Janson. What can I
do fer ya’?”

“
Actually, I’m looking for
Dax.”

Janson looked her up and down. He wrinkled his brow
and glanced down the aisle at a couple other men sitting at the
work tables. He looked back at her and shrugged. “He’s got good
taste, can’t say the same fer you though. He’s back here.”

The man led her through the shadows to the work
area. Strolling down the aisle, a strange sense of nostalgia crept
over Scarlett. In her current life, her electronics expertise
included little more than changing batteries and browsing the net.
But the more she looked at the parts and junk, the more she
remembered that this was the kind of place she once called
home.

Scarlett and Janson stepped out of the shadows and
into the brightly lit workshop area. Two men sat on barstools in
front of a small six-legged robot. She walked over to the side to
get a look at their faces.

The younger man’s voice was loud and irritated. “I’m
telling you, it’s a software problem. I see it right here. This
line right here is calling a broken object. Not to mention, your
code is sloppy as shit.”

The other man glanced up at Scarlett and brushed a
bit of greasy blond hair away from his face. Dax hadn’t changed a
bit.

Dax adjusted his glasses and turned back to his
friend. “Are you nuts? That object is not broken. Besides, that
line is something YOU put in there. Gimme that.” He snatched back
the commpad.

“
C’mon, Dax!”

“
Mickey, you couldn’t code your
way out of a wet paper bag. Don’t touch my hack again. It’s a
hardware problem, end of story.”

Janson stepped up to the two men and put a hand on
each of their shoulders. “Boys, do I need t’ sep’rate you?”

Mickey reached for the commpad and missed. “Jan,
tell this stub that his hack sucks and that it’s a software
problem.”

Scarlett stepped up beside Janson and eyed the
robot. “Actually, it
is
a hardware problem.”

Mickey and Janson turned to look at Scarlett with
wide eyes. Dax kept typing on the commpad. “Honey, I got no
hardware problem with you around.”

Dax turned to his head, his eyes level with
Scarlett’s breasts. He whistled. His eyes trailed upward until he
reached her face. “Jill?”

She cocked her head to one side and looked at Dax
with a faint smile. “Good to see you too, Dax. Sexist pig as
always. And it’s Scarlett now.”

Mickey reached over and punched his friend in the
shoulder. “Dude, don’t be such a stub. Janson, who’s the pony?”

Janson just shrugged.

Scarlett stepped around Janson and picked up the
spiderbot. “See, right here. You didn’t leave any play in the
joints. Nothing’s gonna move.”

Mickey took the robot from her. “What?!”

Janson snickered. Mickey’s face turned a bright
crimson. The younger man tossed the robot down on the table and
glared at him.

“
Jillian?” Dax stared at her, his
mouth hanging open

Scarlett took a step back. “Scarlett.”

“
Nice hair. I heard you was
dead.”

“
Not anymore.”

Mickey whistled. “Clearly.”

“
But…” Dax chewed his lower lip.
“What happened?”

“
I got better” Scarlett reached
into her pocket, pulled out an eCash card and held it up for him to
see. “I’ve got a job for you.”

“
For me? You were the one with ace
scores.”

She leaned against the large work table. “C’mon,
Dax. You know I’ve always been a hardware-kind-of-girl. Besides,
you can cut the false modesty shit. You know you were the best damn
code monkey that campus had ever seen.”

Dax’s confused expression finally broke into a
smile. “Yeah, I was.”

“
Please, Dax. You’re just a punk
stub. I own you.” Mickey socked Dax in the shoulder.

Everyone scowled at Mickey. His expression flashed
from a confident grin to that of a terrified and cornered
mouse.

Dax’s smile turned into a smirk. “You must need
something pretty big if you can’t handle it yourself.”

“
I’ve been out of the game for a
bit. And, yeah... It’s pretty big.”

“
What makes you think I’m even
interested?”

Scarlett set the eCash card down on the table.
“Thought you’d find ten K interesting.”

“
Bullshit.” Mickey waved her off.
“That kinda cred? It’s either bullshit or
stupid-dangerous.”

“
Well, I suppose it is a little.
Oh well.” She picked up the card and started for the
door.

Dax jumped off his stool and raced in front of her.
“Whoa, there. Easy does it. I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it, I just
wanted to know what’s in it for me.”

She held up the card between them. “You sure?”

Mickey jumped off his stool and raced to Dax’s side.
“Hey, now wait a sec. I want a piece of this.”

Dax eyed his friend. “No one said anything about a
partnership.”

“
No problem.” Scarlett smiled. She
walked over to the table and slapped the eCash card down. “Let’s
make it a competition.”

Dax’s watched Scarlett for a moment then turned to
Mickey. His eyes narrowed. “You’re burnt toast.”

“
You wish.”

“
Wet paper bag.”

The two men pulled out folded tablet computers and
flipped them open. Mickey’s screen slid to the left, revealing a
second screen. The second screen slid to the right revealing a
third.

Dax looked over and frowned. His own screen unfolded
into just two.

Mickey kept his eyes on his screens and snickered
“What’s the matter, Dax? A little screen envy?”

“
No. Was just thinking of how much
of a waste it is... ya’ know, you using a computer that’s smarter
and better looking than you are.”

“
Whatever.”

Dax nodded to Scarlett. “Any preferences?”

The two men’s banter sparked an idea and she smiled.
“Yeah. His system.”

Mickey’s mouth dropped open and his head snapped
over to her. “What?”

“
Hack each other’s
systems.”

“
Hey, now. Dat ain’t cool, right
Dax?” Mickey looked back and forth between Scarlett and
Dax.

Dax had already started typing and swiping at his
screen. His fingers were a blur.

Mickey’s eyes flashed wide with panic. He turned
back to his own system. “Shit.”

Scarlett strolled back and forth between the two.
She tried to decipher the furious code scrolling across their
multiple screens, but it passed by too fast. A few minutes later,
the corner of Dax’s right screen blinked “Access Denied.”

“
Ha! Told you my wall was
untouchable, Dax. You punk-stub.”

“
Oh, I can touch it. In fact...”
Dax continued typing for a few seconds then stopped, punctuating
his last keystroke. “Done.”

A second later, Dax’s screens went dark.

“
Ha ha ha. Gotcha!”

Small, black and white squares started appearing on
Dax’s screens. Dozens, then hundreds of them continued to appear,
forming an image. Mickey laughed and pointed at his friend. Dax
just folded his arms and leaned back. Eventually the image on the
screens formed into two words. “Stub Bitch.”

Scarlett sighed. “Well, that wasn’t quite as
exciting as I’d hoped for. Then again, it has been a few years, huh
Dax? Maybe you’re just not—”

Dax cleared his throat. “Wait for it.”

Mickey swiped his hand at the air. “Psh... Wait for
what? I pwned your system. I own you!”

Dax’s computer beeped. “Not quite.” He smiled.

The image on Dax’s screens began to shift. The words
broke back into their tiny blocks and began to swirl around like in
a drain. Faster they spun and disappeared into nothing.

Dax stood, clapped his hands once and pointed to
Mickey’s computer. Tiny blocks poured in from the top of the center
screen. The screens filled up with the small squares until they
revealed a new message. “Who’s a stub now?”

Mickey’s mouth dropped open again. “But... How...
I...”

Scarlett looked at Dax and smiled. She looked back
over at Mickey’s screen and gasped. “Um, Mickey?”

The black and white image on Mickey’s screens
crumbled, revealing a new desktop image. Dax’s computer no longer
used two screens. It used his and Mickey’s, for a total of
five.

Scarlett shook her head and snickered. Dax sat and
folded his arms again. “What did that say again? Oh yeah, who’s the
stub now?”

Dax leaned back on his stool. His eyes caught
Scarlett’s gaze. “So, do I get a cookie?”

She scoffed. Scarlett flipped a small white card out
of her pocket and laid it on the table. “There, tomorrow, at that
time. One thousand for showing up and listening. Nine more when you
complete the job.”

Dax’s brows furrowed. “What’s the job?”

She just smiled.

“
But... Wait! What’s the
job?”

Janson walked over and smacked the back of Dax’s
head. “Yer a real bright one, ain’t ya?”

The ding of the bell at the front door signaled a
new customer. Janson chuckled, slapped Dax on the shoulder and
headed for the storefront. A moment later, he yelled from between
the shelves. “Uh... Dax? There’s someone else here for you.”

Scarlett, Mickey and Dax turned. Out of the dark
came Janson, followed by two large men. Janson’s hands were on his
head.

Chapter 28
Mr. Zinchenko

Sometimes I think people intentionally hold back on
their description of things, just so you can get that “Holy Shit!”
feeling.

* * *

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed. She assessed the two men,
gauging their strengths and weaknesses. As she looked them up and
down, the phrase ‘Brick Shithouse’ came to mind. The one on the
left had a slight limp, but not enough to hinder his movement. He
was slightly larger and had short-cropped hair compared to the
other’s ear-length Eurostyle bowl cut. Each of the two men held a
handgun; Euro held a nine mil, the other, a forty-five. Their grips
were firm and confident.

She glanced around the room without moving her head.
There were plenty of potential weapons. Using the plasma pistol in
her back waistband was her last resort.

When Euro spoke, his Russian accent was thick. “You
are Dax Lewis?”

Dax’s mouth opened. Scarlett stepped forward,
stopping him short. She put herself between the man’s gun and Dax.
“I’m sorry. This is a private event. Uninvited guests are not
welcome.”

Euro shoved Janson away with his weapon then leveled
it at Scarlett’s smiling face. “Who the fuck are you?”

She didn’t move. A voice in her head urged her to
strike first. Still, she didn’t move. “My name is Scarlett, how
about you, big boy?”

“
I work for Mr.
Zinchenko.”

Scarlett’s smile disappeared. “Dax? What did you
do?”

Dax’s voice came from behind, weak and shaky. “I...
uh... I
borrowed
some money from Mr. Z.”

She kept her eyes on the thug in front of her. “Now,
when you say
borrowed
...”

“
Borrowed without permission. But
I meant to pay it back. Really! I just had to pay off a few
debts.”