Then Chris had died from the MalX. A disease Helios had created. Dalton’s lips clenched as he slipped on the Rogue Waves headset and flicked the systems on, pinging the signal through a thousand different points on the globe so it couldn’t be tracked.
“This one’s for you, Dad,” he whispered and began to type furiously on the holo board. Across the city the Senate news waves froze in place and the Rogue Waves strip began scrolling over every screen linked to the Grid.
Think you know Curtis and Co? Think again. Links have been found between the corporation and Helios. There’s a secret group who run Helios called the Pantheon. A list of five names. No one knows who they are, or where they are, but Rogue Waves does. And one of the names on that list is Jebediah Curtis, the very man you trust to cart our water, terraform our planets and take us out to Gliese. Do you still trust him now? Rogue Wavers, fight for our freedom
.
Dalton’s hands were shaking as he signed off and powered down. A sick scared feeling lay in his stomach. He was sure he couldn’t have jeopardised Rosie by putting that out there. If his dad was with Sulawayo, he would already be aware that Rosie knew his name was on the Pantheon list, and if he wasn’t, then he didn’t see how he could know Rosie had the list. She should be okay. But it would upset his dad, and the Senate wouldn’t be able to ignore it, not with the major campaign they’d launched so publicly against Helios. Maybe it would shake him up enough to make a mistake, but until then …
Dalton stashed his gear in the alcove and drew out a slim stylus he’d had made months before he even knew who Rosie Black was. It was a replica of his father’s security coded device. The best he could get made. The tapered black tube gleamed in the light. He’d used it four times already without result, but it had become habit whenever his dad was away to check things. He shoved it in his pocket. He would probably find nothing again, but it was worth a try.
He left his rooms and walked on bare feet up the stairs to his parents’ floor.
It was after one in the morning and all was quiet. To his right was the entrance to his mother’s suite and Pilar’s room. To his left his father’s room and straight ahead his office.
He pulled out the stylus and held it to the lock. A soft whirr and the door slid back. Dalton reached around the inside and shoved the tip of the stylus into the security plate. There was the softest of beeps and a light that had been blinking in the centre of the ceiling went out.
Jebediah’s office was dominated by a huge solid wood desk. Old-fashioned, antique and with the top covered in a sheet of bio interface holo. It represented his father perfectly: handsome, rich with a sheen of high tech.
Behind the desk was a floor to ceiling pane of curved plasglass with views of the city. One wall of the office was covered in bookshelves filled with priceless paper books. They had stopped being produced in the early twenty- second century, and the other was a floor-to-ceiling bank of holos and interface coms.
Dalton closed the door and wondered where to start. He didn’t bother with the desk. The bio interface was linked to his dad’s DNA and impenetrable. He’d tried numerous times already. He drummed his fingers on his leg. Maybe the wall of holos again? But he’d gone through them last time and found only Curtis and Co files and documents. He stood undecided in the middle of the room. Wait, what about the books? Too precious to be touched, let alone read, they were purely for display.
He approached the shelves. A protective energy shield encased them, and it took him nearly ten frustrating minutes to figure out how to disable it. Finally, he found the coded switch on the floor underneath a false board. He read slowly across the spines.
Mysteries, crime, books about history, geography, novels hundreds of years old. He stopped. It had to be that one, only his
“This one’s for you, Dad,” he whispered and began to type furiously on the holo board. Across the city the Senate news waves froze in place and the Rogue Waves strip began scrolling over every screen linked to the Grid.
Think you know Curtis and Co? Think again. Links have been found between the corporation and Helios. There’s a secret group who run Helios called the Pantheon. A list of five names. No one knows who they are, or where they are, but Rogue Waves does. And one of the names on that list is Jebediah Curtis, the very man you trust to cart our water, terraform our planets and take us out to Gliese. Do you still trust him now? Rogue Wavers, fight for our freedom
.
Dalton’s hands were shaking as he signed off and powered down. A sick scared feeling lay in his stomach. He was sure he couldn’t have jeopardised Rosie by putting that out there. If his dad was with Sulawayo, he would already be aware that Rosie knew his name was on the Pantheon list, and if he wasn’t, then he didn’t see how he could know Rosie had the list. She should be okay. But it would upset his dad, and the Senate wouldn’t be able to ignore it, not with the major campaign they’d launched so publicly against Helios. Maybe it would shake him up enough to make a mistake, but until then …
Dalton stashed his gear in the alcove and drew out a slim stylus he’d had made months before he even knew who Rosie Black was. It was a replica of his father’s security coded device. The best he could get made. The tapered black tube gleamed in the light. He’d used it four times already without result, but it had become habit whenever his dad was away to check things. He shoved it in his pocket. He would probably find nothing again, but it was worth a try.
He left his rooms and walked on bare feet up the stairs to his parents’ floor.
It was after one in the morning and all was quiet. To his right was the entrance to his mother’s suite and Pilar’s room. To his left his father’s room and straight ahead his office.
He pulled out the stylus and held it to the lock. A soft whirr and the door slid back. Dalton reached around the inside and shoved the tip of the stylus into the security plate. There was the softest of beeps and a light that had been blinking in the centre of the ceiling went out.
Jebediah’s office was dominated by a huge solid wood desk. Old-fashioned, antique and with the top covered in a sheet of bio interface holo. It represented his father perfectly: handsome, rich with a sheen of high tech.
Behind the desk was a floor to ceiling pane of curved plasglass with views of the city. One wall of the office was covered in bookshelves filled with priceless paper books. They had stopped being produced in the early twenty- second century, and the other was a floor-to-ceiling bank of holos and interface coms.
Dalton closed the door and wondered where to start. He didn’t bother with the desk. The bio interface was linked to his dad’s DNA and impenetrable. He’d tried numerous times already. He drummed his fingers on his leg. Maybe the wall of holos again? But he’d gone through them last time and found only Curtis and Co files and documents. He stood undecided in the middle of the room. Wait, what about the books? Too precious to be touched, let alone read, they were purely for display.
He approached the shelves. A protective energy shield encased them, and it took him nearly ten frustrating minutes to figure out how to disable it. Finally, he found the coded switch on the floor underneath a false board. He read slowly across the spines.
Mysteries, crime, books about history, geography, novels hundreds of years old. He stopped. It had to be that one, only his
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