A Free Online Science Fiction Novel- “Liberty”- Chapter 17

*Note-a short prologue on chapter one provides details of the world in which this story takes place. Each chapter links to the next to make reading easier.

This is chapter seventeen of a novel titled Liberty, A Daughter Universe Novel.

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Dex and Tony: Safe House Two

Tony trudged back up the stairs, wiped sweat from his brow, set Dex’s energy bars and soda on his worktable and flopped down into the old armchair.

“Alright, there’s your food, Dex. No need to thank me, though,” he added in a sarcastic tone of voice.

Dex finally looked away from his monitor and the lines of code scrolling down it so fast Tony could not even read it. That did not matter because he would not have understood it anyway.

“Thanks,” Dex said as he unwrapped one of the NuEnergy bars and took a bite from it. “What’d the Council say?”

“I told them what you’ve done so far and that you’re working on another idea. They want me to report back to them as soon as you figure out the next move.” Tony grabbed a dry towel and wiped his face again. “I would’ve been back a lot sooner, but they sent me out to find a bunch of containers to hold water. They act like they can’t do anything for themselves!”

Dex smiled. “You can do far more than they know.”

“So, what did you come up with while I was gone?”

“I worked on your idea of disrupting the supply of materials for the parts factories and that got me thinking, so I did some research.” Dex gestured to another monitor and swept his hand to the right, pulling up a different screen, “And I’ve already started it. I’ll tell the Council it was your idea,” Dex replied with a grin.

Tony smiled. “Thanks, Dex. That’s nice of you.”

“It’s true. You gave me the idea; I just did the programming.”

“I think the Council will like that, but they’re gonna want you to find a more direct way to attack the system.”

Dex nodded. Tony was right, the Council always wanted more. “Then tell them I’ve thought of something else that I think might actually work,” Dex replied. “And it’s a better idea than just slowing the assembly lines. I’m going straight at the heart of those rich bastards and hit ‘em where it really hurts.”

A grin filled Tony’s face and he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Now you’re talking. What’s your target?”

“I found it entirely by accident. See, I was testing how much control I had, and I came across one satellite that was transmitting to a single receiver. So, I ordered it to go into sleep mode and the thing responded immediately, so I powered it up again and traced the IP address- that satellite powers Central National Bank!”

“I thought you weren’t going after banks, anymore. You said that they’re all locked down too tight.”

Dex smiled. “I’m not trying to override the bank’s security and hack into their computers, Tony,” Dex said. “That would trigger their spyders and this line would be traced before I could even shut down our server. I wrote a virus and uploaded it into the bank’s satellite. I’m going to use their own satellite to reduce the power to their main servers. I think if I start lowering the available power the servers will shut themselves down to protect the system. That’s how they protect the data from being lost.”

Tony shook his head. “They’ll have backup generators. Not that I’ve ever heard of a power failure, myself, but banks and the military and government would have to have them.”

“You’re right, I’m sure they have one. But it’s probably never been used and might not work, anyway.”

Tony nodded. “Maybe. But suppose they do work, and you’ve accomplished nothing except alert the bank that their satellite’s been hacked?”

“That occurred to me, too," Dex said with a grin. "I’ll have the virus infect the rest of the SSP first. If the bank’s generators kick in and keep power going to the computers, then I’ll crank the bank’s satellite up to its full capacity and send an electrical burst strong enough to burn out the circuit breakers and inline fuses. If they want to play dirty, I can do that, too. I’ll wipe their financial records out of existence. That should satisfy the Council."

“Yeah,” Tony said. “I told them to give you some space and you’d do more for them than they could ever imagine. Now maybe they’ll listen to me.”

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Chapter 18

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This was originally published on Simily.co

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