Athena Lee Chronicles 0: The Lost Pilot Read online

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Copyrights

  Prologue

  In the early 21st century, computer technology was at its pinnacle. Almost everyone in the world had some sort of electronic 'gizmo' that they either wore, carried, or communicated with. Miniaturization was the name of the game. The machines that we used were getting smaller, faster, and cheaper to produce. Electronic advances allowed man to reach for the stars and to explore the deepest darkest depths of the Earth. Private space travel although still in it's infancy was booming. Groups such as Space X, Orbital ATK, and TQB enterprises, dominated the industry. Space planes that could carry passengers and carry necessary freight could now fly exo-atmospheric and what once took hours, now took minutes of travel time. Rocket assisted pods were now being launched and were replacing the major freight companies. These new pods used a form of safe nuclear fuel. The various world governments were rushing to incorporated all of these new and exciting technologies into their own military. It was only natural that someone would begin to use it for nefarious and anti-government purposes.

  The governments of the world called them Cyber Terrorists. The media called them digital freedom fighters. The man on the street called them a-pain-in-the-ass. The first and most infamous was a 12 year old boy in Valdosta, Georgia, Neville Maske. Neville was a child prodigy who really liked computers. He liked them so much that he began to write his own computer languages before he was 10 years old. As he grew older, Neville became more and more reclusive. He had tested out of mandatory schooling. His parents, both teachers, allowed him extraordinary freedoms not normally given to preteen children.

  His on-line business would have been Fortune 500 material if not for the government's interference. Social workers are the bane of many families lives. So are busybody neighbors. Child Protective Services descended on the Maske household one afternoon and took poor Neville, from a 'dangerous situation.' His parents, lost their jobs and their financial security trying to fight the 'system' to get Neville back. Not one government employee asked Neville if he was endangered or felt threatened. Trapped in an officially sanctioned group foster home, without even computer access, Neville longed for his parents to come and save him. The day before his court date both were killed in a freak hit-and-run accident.

  Neville,was heartbroken over the death of his parents. Revenge against the system that killed his family was the only thing that kept him going. The foster school that he was committed to had a computer lab, access was not much of an issue. Most of the students wanted out of the school, not to stay in and work. And work he did. Neville still had 'his' on-line accounts and his business contact lists. It was a small matter to hire someone to eliminate certain key workers at the CPS service. A little judicious hacking and Neville was set 'free' into the arms of hired actors who played his parents. Three days. Three days was all it took for young Neville Maske to bring the local Government to a grinding halt. Three days for state investigators to realized that something was wrong. Everyone involved with his 'abduction' from his parents were punished. Computer systems crashed, bank accounts were cleaned out, and lawsuits were filed. All of that was small potatoes. Neville wanted and needed to do more. To hurt them as much as they had hurt him. The Valdosta government buildings were new, their automated sensors and electronic controls were top of the line. A valve left on and a switch turned off was all that was needed to start a fire. Every fire alarm sensor at been deactivated. The fire was not even noticed until it was too late. The entire complex was already engulfed when the alarms went out. At the fire station no alarms were received. Firefighters only knew of the blaze by seeing it on the Vid. Gasoline trucks and several propane trucks were in the area at the time of the fire. They had delivery orders to fictitious addresses. The resulting explosions were seen for miles. Most of the city center and all of the government buildings were destroyed.

  Neville made one mistake. He told one person about what he had done. Everyone needs at least one friend, that one person you can confide in, give your secrets to. Neville's was a fellow 'hacker' named Toby. Toby just happened to be an undercover government law enforcement officer. A law enforcer who saw an opportunity to take down a hacker and get a promotion out of it. Tracing the address a veritable horde of SWAT teams and special police operations teams descended on a nondescript two story house in the suburbs. Flash bang grenades were followed with black clad armed men shouting orders. The lone occupant of the house, coughing and dazed from the explosions, was beaten to the ground. He was hauled out by his feet, his head bouncing off walls and then stairs, and thrown bodily into a police van. A hood was placed over his head and despite his cries in protest he was hogtied. The officers kicked him a few times as they left him there. Forensic teams rushed into the house to search for evidence. A personal office was found and the search began. It was only when one of the officers glanced at the wall did someone realized that they, possibly, had made a mistake. Pictures, awards and plaques covered the walls. The name plate sitting on the desk read Judge Jonathan Pepper. They had arrested and beaten a Circuit Court Judge for the state of Georgia!

  Sitting in the house next door Neville had laughed himself silly. The Judge had been the last person on his list. He knew that he really should have left the house and escaped when he realized that his location had been compromised but he just had to stay and watch. He called a cab and grabbed his computer. The local driver was rubbernecking watching the police drama next door, when a kid got into his cab. "Kid, you have to get out."

  "I'm the one that called, I need to go to this address please." Neville gave the man a small card.

  "Kid, I'm not telling you again. You need a parent or guardian to ride with me. I don't take children anywhere."

  "Sir, I have permission. Please, I really need go."

  The sight of a cab driver trying to haul a young looking boy from his vehicle, with the boy screaming at him attracted a lot of attention. Police attention. Subsequent investigation while trying to locate his parents, drew attention to the inconsistencies in his story. A search of the house discovered his computer equipment. Neville was found out.

  It was the trial of the century. Or at least the trial of the year. Neville's lawyers tried to play up the harm that had been done to him by the government agencies and down play the whole revenge bit. The media was having a field day. Calling him a Cyber Terrorist the media plastered pictures of his life across the screens. The whole world got to see his parents mangled bodies, interviews with the foster care families, and every detail of his short life. Among the disenfranchised youth Neville became a Robin Hood styled figure. Neville had become a legend among the 'black hat' hackers of the world.

  With two broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a broken wrist, and a slight concussion Judge Pepper insisted that he try the case. The fallout from the arrest and accidental beating of a court Judge was severe for many of the arresting officers. Only 'dirty' cops would harm prisoners. Many lost their jobs or were demoted back to traffic duty. "Toby" the computer informer did get a promotion out of the arrest. As a tenured Government employee his bosses could not legally terminate him. So they did the next best thing. He was made Technology Education Agent for the state's call center. His new office was a small windowless cube down in the basement of the building. For some reason the drains from the cafeteria leaked down into his 'office.' There was no ventilation
available so the office smelled like a sewer under a burger joint. Brown viscous grease dripped down the walls and clogged his computer terminal and systems. His primary duties now included repairing computers, removing malware, and teaching Computer Skills 101 to first time employees. Motherboard replacement and general cleaning took up the majority of his time.

  Cries of 'free Neville' and 'no prison for children' forced state law enforcement to make plans to move him from Maximum Security inside the prison, to a protective custody location near the State Capitol. Transfer paperwork errors temporarily slowed this process. Unable to exit the prison, state officers placed Neville in a general holding cell to await transport. An occupied general holding cell. The young boy did not survive the experience of being in general population among the killers, rapists, and thieves. His broken body shown in graphic detail by on line bloggers. The media firestorm of outraged accusations almost broke the government. Hackers, in protest, hacked government offices causing destruction and mayhem. Neville's personal crusade against those that destroyed his family and the reasons he enacted his revenge were lost. Now all that mattered to his fans and followers was that the government pay for his death.

  Effective computer security was now a thing of the past. The world had become too technological for its own safety. Government sponsored hackers joined the fray. Did you want to get back at a neighboring government? Have hackers shut down his electrical grid. Did you want revenge? Have your hackers freeze another country's financial assets. All the dirty tricks came out. Secret black operations groups came out into the light as the hidden war began to heat up. Then the international corporations got involved they pushed industrial sabotage and espionage to new levels. The undeclared war just got very real. The Cyber wars were beginning.

  Chapter 1

  He could hear the wild dogs howling. Eddie Bakker pulled his head back into his small and shabby apartment. The packs of wild dogs were still a major problem for those on foot at night. Despite whatever the local Government had to say about them. Still, he was very glad that Mrs Southcott down at the warehouse he worked at hadn't kept him very long today. Just last week he had been chased three blocks by a pack of dogs. Eddie sat down in his chair next to the window. His wife, Ann, should be home soon. She had a good Government job working for the local medico's down at the local dispensary. Seeing a flash, Eddie looked up, the lights were flickering again signaling a brown-out. He walked over to the kitchen cabinet. Reaching in he pulled out an old fashioned glass oil lamp. He hated to use it, because of the fuel cost, but it would be nice to see his wife's face as they ate dinner. With a buzzing sound the lights flickered and then went dark. He could hear the cries of outrage coming across the alley from his neighbors. These power outages were becoming more frequent. Goddamn Cyber terrorists! The National Government swore up-and-down that the 'war of cyber terror' was over. They swore that the Cyber terrorists were all dead or locked up in prison. Eddie was not so sure about that. They had lied about things before.

  He had seen, on the vid, that giant robotic drones operated by 'suspected' terrorists were still rampaging across Europe killing indiscriminately. Those stupid frakking Military leaders thought that those remotely operated drones were such a good idea. "It'll save human lives." Sure save them so that the out of control robots could kill them! At least in this country, they'd melted all those things down. Or at least they said they had, just like they locked up the terrorists that controlled them. Whatever happened to the 'good ol' US of A? Eddie could, just barely, remember a time when the power worked and hulking robots weren't trying to kill you. His parents had taken him to the park or the movies without fear. He really wished that he and Ann could just leave. Leave Atlanta, leave the US, leave the freaking planet and join the colonists!

  Those rich dudes had the right idea, a few years ago. He had just watched that vid last night, as a matter of fact. You have to hand it to American ingenuity. It was one of our scientists that built the first Boron-fusion drive. A woman named Elizabeth Arden using a modified Tokamak achieved stable fusion. Like Alexander Graham Bell, she made her discovery by accident. A janitor had used water to clean a very sensitive section of the machines equipment. The short circuits that occurred altered the machine in such a way that her experiment worked. She named the process after her favorite vid star, calling it the Doohan drive theory. It wasn't too long before Doohan enhanced explorer ships began leaving Earth's space stations in search of planets to colonize. At least those that the damn terrorists didn't shoot down. Terror in space made the Governments pay more attention and track them down. The US claimed that they had finally stopped most of their local cybers. When the war moved into space the damn hackers became easier to track down.

  With the colony ship construction business booming, lots of people with big money took the chance to leave Earth. Several dozen big religious groups payed to have ships built and just left. The planet Mars was the first target. Large domed colonies began to rise out of the red sand. Many of the breakaway religious groups settled on Mars, opting to stay close to earth, but not too close.

  Large groups of radio and film celebrities, who knew those people had that much money.They had pooled their money, built a ship, and left Earth's orbit with the destination being Mars. It was nice, sometimes, to think that out there on Mars, there were groups of movie stars, computer geeks, and famous talk radio guys trying to build a 'New' Hollywood.

  It wasn't too long until the American government got involved and started building big ships too. Using expansion and progress as the excuse they sent quite a few groups of troublemakers off planet. It was actually cheaper to do than just locking them up and paying to house them in prisons.

  Eddie was not really sorry to see those religious nuts and all the survivalists just go away. Some foreign Governments are still sending ships out in search of new planets to colonize. A slight few of the colony ships sent messages back informing Earth that colonies had been founded. Many of the early ships simply vanished into the depths of space. Conspiracy theories abound as to their fate. Some of the Government colonies started to send back resources. The US really needed the rare minerals and gemstones that were sent. All of this expansion opened up lots of opportunities for jobs on Earth and out in the far reaches of space.

  Eddie heard a shuffling outside his door. He ran over to the door, grabbing his baseball bat off the table. He stood to the side of the door and cried out, "Who is it?"

  "It's me, honey. The sky is blue, now let me in."

  Hearing the all clear and safe code words, Eddie let his wife Ann inside. You really couldn't be too careful these days. Especially when the power was off at night. That was when the real monsters came out to play. He hugged his wife to him. "Hi, honey, did you have a good day?"

  Ann removed her coat revealing a knife strapped to her waist. She took it off and laid it on the table for easy reach. Ann looked at the oil lamps casting a dull orange glow across the room. Eddie had fixed dinner and already set the table. The flickering light cast muted shadows across the table making the shadows dance on the walls.

  "Ed, I have really good news! We might have a chance to get out of here."

  Coming out of the bedroom Eddie looked questioningly at his wife. "Out of this apartment? Did someone at work die?"

  She chuckled. Someone dying was pretty much the only way to get a new apartment these days. "No, the Government has a new program. Since I already work for them I qualify. Honey, we can be colonists! We have a chance to leave the planet."

  "Ann, are you serious? You aren't messing with me right? No jokes. We can get on one of those ships and leave this shithole?"

  "It's not that bad, but yes. We have to submit to a couple of tests first but my boss swore to me that I was eligible."

  "What sort of tests?" Eddie had a real apprehensive look on his face.

  "My boss said it was nothing bad. A few intelligence tests, a very in-depth physical and we have to submit some genetic samples."

>   "Samples? Why does the Government want my DNA? Please tell me they aren't trying to make super-soldiers again!"

  Ann thought back to what she had learned in school. When the corporations got involved in the Cyber wars some of them tried making genetic freaks to do battle with the robot drones. It failed miserably. Some of the larger governments were rumored to have had successes but it was all covered up or the results destroyed. "No honey. It is just to test to see if we can withstand the g-forces and stress of space travel. That's all. I promise you."

  "OK, if you say so. So when do we go in for the tests?"

  "Holy crap! Honey you're happy to go? That is great." She gave him a big hug and a kiss that practically curled his toes.

  "We can go for the tests in the morning. Will your boss let you off for a few hours?"

  "She will if I tell her it is something for you. Mrs Southcott just loves you."

  ___

  Dr Howard Holmes watched the young woman who helped him run his clinic here in Atlanta. His bosses had put out a call for Government employees to volunteer to go to the stars to help run the colonies. The call was twofold. He had heard from some of his colleagues in the research division of the Government that they needed genetic samples for a secret project that was in the works. Ever since the failed 'superhero' project 20 years ago, Congress had outlawed genetic experimentation, Government experiments had been kept very hush, hush. The cover story was that the tests were needed to select eligible workers for the new colony ships. Testing for resistance to space hazards was for the most part, utter BS.