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  They walked down the lighted path to her garage. A floodlight came on automatically, shining down on her Porsche. Sonya turned her head enough to look at him.

  "Mind if I drive?" Sonya asked. "I know the way."

  "Okay." This would also give him the chance to keep an eye on her. "But I know where the compound is, too, so don't try to trick me by driving somewhere else."

  She gave him a sly grin, her eyes still half-closed. "Wouldn't dream of it."

  The two separated as Sonya made her way to the driver's side on her Porsche. Kent moved to the passenger side. Sonya reached for the handle of the door, then broke into a furious run for the beach.

  Kent fired three shots that thudded into the sand at her feet, bringing her to a sudden halt. She looked down at the grooves the bullets had carved out of the sand. Then she raised her hands into the air and turned to face him with the grin again.

  "Sorry," she said. "Just testing."

  "Yeah?" Kent asked, the ocean breeze ruffling his shirt. "Well, you're gonna flunk the next 'test,' so don't try it again. My patience is wearing thin."

  Sonya let her self-satisfied grin fall away as she said, "You're the boss."

  Kent grunted, then gestured with the Magnum towards the Porsche. In reality, he hoped he wouldn't have to use it, but hoped even more that he could use it if he needed to. He had never killed anyone in his life. Murder was a heavy responsibility, one he wasn't sure he was up to. But he had to be ready if it came to that.

  Sonya walked back to the Porsche and vaulted into the driver's seat. "Got the keys?"

  Kent tossed them into her lap. "Drive. We don't have much time." He looked at his watch. It was eleven o'clock. The virus was due to go off in one hour.

  "Right." Sonya started the car, and backed out of the driveway. Soon, they roared down Pacific Coast Highway, the wind ripping at their hair.

  "Here's a question for you," Kent said over the howl of the wind, "which you will answer."

  "Fire away," Sonya yelled back.

  "Why do you do this? How could you kill all those people and work for a maniac like Weaver?"

  Sonya shrugged. "It's a job. A gal's gotta do something between competitions, and the pay is phenomenal. But I don't have to do this for a living. I'm really an actress. I had a bit part in Channing Tatum's last movie."

  "Good for you," Kent snarled. "You make me sick. Treating the murder of innocent people like a nine-to-five job."

  Kent could see Sonya's face briefly in the light of a passing car. She smirked.

  "Hey," she said, "I'm not asking for sympathy. You asked me a question, I answered it. It just doesn't bother me to kill people, and I actually kind of get a kick out of it, and I discovered there's a market for that kind of talent."

  "Forget I asked." Kent settled back in his seat, keeping his gun aimed at Sonya, but keeping one eye on the road. "What's happening at Vulcan now? What are we getting into?"

  "Well, right now there's a party going on. Tomorrow is the company's official release of Lightning 6.0. The boss himself is gonna give a speech on his station, the Vulcan Network, in a few minutes. There's a tablet in the glove compartment if you want to see."

  Kent kept the gun aimed straight as he dug around in the glove compartment and found an iPad Mini. He turned it on. The screen glowed, lighting the interior of the car.

  "The boss gave that to me," Sonya said. "Wanted me to see his bigwig network whenever I want. Like I care. Anyway, it's got a mobile connection, and it has the Vulcan Network app installed. They should be streaming about it."

  "They are," Kent murmured.

  On a video stream, he watched a beautiful woman standing on a set designed to look like a gigantic computer keyboard and monitor. She said, "In just a few hours, Lightning 6.0 will be released to the world. Lightning has gone through an intensive testing program for the last six months, where it was installed on five million computers worldwide."

  The woman swept her arm towards a computer that appeared on a pedestal beside her. "The beta-testers have praised Lightning for being smaller and faster than any other operating system, as well as its ergonomic interface and advanced voice-recognition software."

  The woman faced forward again, but a box with Roland's smiling face appeared to hover in the air next to her. "The president of the company himself, Roland Weaver, will be on this network in a few minutes to tell you how Lightning is going to change your life. An estimated one and a half billion people will be watching--"

  Kent closed the app. He couldn't take anymore. He and Sonya continued in silence down the highway until they came to Wilshire Boulevard. They whisked down Wilshire until they passed the Veterans Administration Cemetery.

  There it was. The Vulcan Complex, its lights glowing so brightly that the compound was like a torch held against the horizon.

  "This is where Jan is?" Kent asked.

  "That's right," Sonya said. "She's in an abandoned section of the Hardware Division."

  "Can you get in?"

  Sonya glanced away from the road at him. "Sure. I've got a pass."

  "All right," Kent said. "Drive up to the gate. Get us in. Don't signal the guards, don't give any warning signs or secret codes. Anything goes wrong--"

  "I got it, I got it," Sonya said. "You'll shoot me. Sheesh, Kent, don't be so trigger-happy."

  Sonya rolled to a halt in front of the gate, watching a security guard approach the Porsche. He kept one hand on the gun at his hip, glaring at Kent beside her.

  "Hey, Sonya," the guard said. "You're here pretty late, aren't ya?"

  Sonya handed the guard a pass with her photo on it. "Yeah, the boss wants to work out some last-minute arrangements for a trip he's taking next week."

  The guard took the pass and passed a magnetic reader over the back. The reader bleeped. He nodded at Kent as he handed the card back. "Who's your friend?"

  "A new programmer Weaver wants to interview," Sonya said.

  The guard watched Kent closely. Kent tried to keep the burned side of his face out of the light.

  "Pretty late for an interview, isn't it?" the guard asked.

  Sonya shrugged. "You know the boss."

  The guard nodded, still fixed on Kent. "Yeah, but all the same, I think I should call in to make sure. The boss is pretty strict about unauthorized people on the compound."

  Sonya grinned. "Look, Frank, it's me you're talkin' to. I'm vouching for him. If anybody's gonna get canned over this, it'll be me, not you. Okay?"

  The guard grinned. "Yeah, I guess so. We're all just a little jumpy with the Lightning debut and all."

  The guard nodded and waved to his partner in the compound. The second guard flicked a lever causing the gate to rattle open. Sonya flashed him another grin, then sent the Porsche humming through the gateway into the Vulcan Complex.

  21.

  KENT HAD seen pictures of the compound, but they didn't do it justice. The Y-shaped central building was as beautiful as it was awe-inspiring, and the grounds surrounding it were like a paradise.

  It was even busier than Kent had expected. There was an air of celebration about the place. Massive tents and pavilions were scattered around the vast lawn. Even this close to midnight, hundreds of people roamed the spacious lawn, playing Frisbee or musical instruments, talking, or just lying under the trees relaxing. An abundance of lamps on posts transformed night into day.

  "This is incredible," Kent whispered.

  "Sweet, isn't it?" Sonya asked. "Yeah, I'm gonna miss this place. Hang on. I'll park, then take you to where your buddy's being held."

  Kent watched her every move carefully. He didn't trust her good Samaritan act, and made sure to keep the gun ready at all times.

  Sonya drove down a cobblestone road that led into a vast parking lot. She slipped the Porsche between two cars, then hopped out. Kent had to scramble to follow her, but she waited until he had caught up, still holding his gun to her back.

  "You know," Sonya said, "you might want to be a little less
conspicuous with that thing. Put it in your pocket, but keep the barrel aimed at me. If you need to, you can shoot through the cloth."

  "What do you care?" Kent asked. "I'd think you'd want me to get caught."

  "I'd love it, but if the guards get trigger-happy and it starts to go down, I could get caught in the crossfire. I want to be as far away from you as possible before that happens. Now, are you gonna take my advice or not?"

  Kent thought about it, wondering it it could be a trick, but it did make sense. He quickly tucked his gun-hand into his pocket. "You're a real pro at this, aren't you?"

  Sonya's smirk returned as she walked alongside him. "The best."

  They headed out of the lot together. Sonya led the way down a concrete path to the main building. The music grew louder as they entered the grounds. Kent tried to appear casual as they walked through the crowds. It wasn't easy. Everyone who looked in his direction sent a tingle of fear through him. A layer of sweat formed between his hand and his gun. But Sonya didn't appear worried at all, waving at people they passed by.

  After passing a woman playing a guitar, Sonya detoured to a less attractive side where plastic scaffolding hung from the walls. The brickwork was a jigsaw puzzle of holes and exposed concrete. Sonya stepped over a large plank of wood to reach the door sealed with three padlocks.

  She produced a ring of keys with which she unlocked the door. She pushed the door wide. The hinges groaned as she exposed a darkened room inside. A flood of dusty air poured out as Kent walked in. Thick ropes from the ceiling suspended catwalks. Light fell from soaped windows onto the center of the room. A woman sat, bound with duct tape to a chair, facing a TV flickering with images.

  "Jan?" Kent called out.

  The woman raised her head to look back at Kent. She broke into a smile. "Kent? You're alive. Oh my God. I thought they killed you."

  "I thought the same thing about you." Kent rushed towards her chair. He reached out his arms to hug her, then realized she was tied down. Instead, he began ripping away the tape holding her down. "Are you okay?"

  Janet winced as he peeled tape off her bare arm. "Well, I haven't eaten or had anything to drink for the last day or so, and I've been watching CNN non-stop. Other than that, I'm terrific."

  Kent tore away the last of the tape, allowing her to stand. Janet immediately threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his. They kissed passionately, and he felt a warmth and comfort he hadn't experienced in years.

  When they came apart, she turned and saw Sonya. Her smile stiffened.

  "Uh, Kent," she said. "It's--"

  "Sonya Hawke." Kent glared at her. "I know. I followed her to L.A. She led me to you."

  Janet nodded, watching Sonya with eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Yeah, that makes sense."

  Sonya gave her a finger-wave, said, "Howdy," then clasped her hands behind her back and watched with an amused smile.

  Kent ignored her, turning to his friend. "Jan, Weaver's involved somehow. I don't know how or why, maybe he's a member of the CLF, but--"

  Janet ripped a strip of tape off her sleeve. "Kent, I know. Weaver is Pluto."

  "What?"

  Janet sighed. "Roland Weaver is Pluto. I know all about it. I know everything. The CLF is a front. Cerberus has nothing to do with liberating cyberspace or any of that junk. The CLF is just a cover to hide its real purpose."

  "I don't understand."

  Janet rolled some of the tape into a sticky ball that crackled in her hands. "Look, it's real simple. Right after the fire...that reminds me, why aren't you dead? They found your body."

  "I got out before the building collapsed. The body they found was Herring's. Back to Cerberus--"

  Janet tossed the ball of tape into a corner. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, in the parking lot, I looked over the printout of the Cerberus program again. I found a piece that hadn't made sense before or I hadn't noticed it. It's a line of code that makes Cerberus OS-specific. In the same way that the Cerberus virus was tailored to attack only Diamond and Morgan's computers, the mainstream virus is programmed to attack only certain computers. The code tells the virus to check to see if its host computer is using a Lightning operating system. If it isn't, the virus is triggered. But if it is, the virus goes inert."

  "I don't understand. What's that mean?"

  Janet grabbed his shoulder and gave him a light shake. "It means that anyone with Lightning 6.0 on their computers is immune to the Cerberus virus. Think about it. Tomorrow morning, every computer in the world goes haywire. Millions of people die. Everyone's terrified to use their computers. But suddenly, someone makes a connection. Computers that have been using the beta-test version of Lightning aren't infected. The media releases the news, everyone rushes out and buys Lightning as a vaccination against Cerberus."

  Janet grinned as she gave him another shake. "You get it? Cerberus isn't about cyberspace. That was just a smokescreen. So was the CLF. Roland created it so that when Cerberus went off, there would be someone to take the blame. These guys would come forward, give their spiel about freeing cyberspace, then get carted off to prison. Newspapers publish trite articles about the dangers of terrorism, and no one thinks to look beyond them. All the while, Roland sits in his little penthouse, getting rich as the world buys up copies of Lightning by the case."

  "So that's it?" Kent looked up. "That's what this was all about? The murder, the lies, the deception? Selling software?"

  Janet shrugged. "That's about it."

  A cool evening breeze drifted through the warehouse from an open vent. It sent balls of dust floating across the concrete floor as Kent watched.

  "I can't believe it," Kent whispered. "It doesn't seem big enough to hurt so many lives."

  "That's because you're thinking in human terms. Look at the big picture. If Lightning became the prime operating system, Weaver would make another fortune. Second of all, Weaver is a sociopath. The idea of killing so many people for a few billion dollars means nothing to him."

  "But he's already rich."

  "It's not really about the money. It's about power. One day, Weaver figured out how to make a virus that kills people as well as computers. He also figured out how to use it to make himself a giant in the computer industry. So he did it. End of story. He doesn't care about anyone or anything but his own glory."

  "You're right. But there's only a half-hour before midnight, when Cerberus goes off. We've got to warn people and stop Weaver."

  Sonya shook her head. "You can't get to Weaver. The whole building is tight with security, and his penthouse is too well-guarded. It's got guards, a pass-locked elevator, the whole nine yards."

  Kent swung around at the sound of her voice. He'd almost forgotten she was there.

  Janet glared past him at her. Kent felt her grip tighten on his shoulder. "You know, for a gal who killed so many people and nearly broke my neck, you're being awfully helpful all of a sudden."

  Sonya shrugged. "Like I told Kent, I don't care if Weaver gets nailed over this, but I know enough that if he goes down, I go down. So I'm walking before it all hits."

  Kent raised his gun at her. "No, you're not. You're staying here until the police arrive."

  "Yeah," Janet said, "and forgive our suspicious natures, but we don't trust you to stay out of this."

  Sonya grinned and held up her hands. She began to walk away from them backwards. "Hey, if you two think I'm gonna sit here like a good little girl and let the fuzz haul me off to jail, you got another think coming. I'm leaving and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

  She turned away and began to walk to the door. Her walk was cheerful with swaying hips, and a deliberately casual pace.

  "I'll shoot you," Kent said.

  "No, you won't," Sonya called back over her shoulder. "I said it before, you don't have it in you."

  She reached for the doorknob.

  Janet let go of Kent's shoulder. She rushed forward to pick up a length of pipe from the floor. She raised it over her head. Sonya glanced back at
Janet. Her eyes widened.

  Janet swung the pipe into the side of Sonya's head. The pipe gave off a loud clang that echoed through the warehouse. Sonya's head led her body as she was sent flying. She crashed onto a heap of wooden planks and plastic sheeting against the wall.

  Sonya lay on the floor. She stared at Janet for a brief moment, her mouth hanging open in surprise. Her eyes rolled upwards until only the whites were visible. Sonya went limp.

  Janet let the pipe drop out of her hands to bang onto the floor. She winced and rubbed her fingers. "I owed her one. Okay, Kent, what's the plan?"

  Kent looked at his watch. It was twenty-five minutes to midnight. "We have to warn everyone to turn off their computers before it's too late. Call the police, the Times, NBC, CBS, Associated Press, the radio stations, somebody. Tell them about Cerberus as fast as possible--"

  Kent reached for his cell phone when Janet stopped him.

  "Wait a minute, Kent," Janet said. "You said it yourself, they're not gonna believe us. We have no proof."

  "We'll get proof. Somehow."

  Janet shook her head. "Even if we did, we'd never be able to convince the police and the media to broadcast the message before midnight."

  "You're right. You're right, this...we've got to do something. There's got to be a way--"

  Then he remembered. "That's it. We'll go on the air."

  "What are you talking about?"

  Kent ran over to a dumpster loaded with refuse from the construction. He began to dig through it. "Weaver's giving a speech in five minutes on his network, praising his new operating system. That's worldwide coverage. We've got to get on that broadcast."

  Janet clapped her hands on her jeans to dust them off. "That's a great idea, but how?"

  Kent managed to dig out a handful of trash; two empty glass bottles, some plastic tubing, and a handful of oily rags. It was all he needed to make a pair of Molotov cocktails, homemade fire-bombs.

  Kent knelt beside Sonya's unconscious body. He fished through her pockets until he found her pass. He also found the lighter she had used to start the fire at GameShop. "I have a plan."