The Prophecy - 23. Chapter 23

"Shit," Alec exclaimed and pressed a key. He turned to Jason with widened eyes. "Intrusion detected," he said. "Shit. But no harm done. They have not yet tracked me down. They have just noticed that someone opened the folder."

"How do you know?" Jason asked, leaning forward and looking at the many windows on the screens.

"Got a message from a programme that is surveying the server activities," Alec said without going into details.

He turned back to the screens and studied the windows, and then he started to type frantically. Jason asked another question, but Alec ignored him and focused on the screens.

"What happened?" Leonard asked from the background.

Jason turned to the two men who were sitting slumped down on the couch.

"We’re facing difficulties," he explained. "Lefèvre Industries has detected our intrusion."

"God," Leonard said in a resigned voice. "Now it’s too late anyway."

"What does this mean?" Gary asked. "Can they find out now where we are? Should we leave the apartment?"

Jason turned back to Alec. "Alec?" he asked.

Alec gave him a sideway glance. "I must finish something and then we can go," he said curtly.

"Can they find us now?" Jason asked with some urgency.

"I don’t know," Alec replied in a pressed voice. "Their protection system is excellent. I’ve never seen that before. I don’t know, but, yes, they might be able to track us down."

"Then we must leave instantly," Jason said in a determined voice.

"Half an hour," Alec pleaded. "I must finish something and get my notebook prepared. Else we won’t have a chance to connect to their server again. Once we have left Dave’s lab, then this will be our only chance."

"It’s an enormous risk," Jason said.

"Our only chance," Alec insisted.

"All right," Jason said, looking at his watch. "We’ll leave at four o’clock."

He crossed the room and joined Gary and Leonard.

"We must think of a place where we can hide," he said. "A place that is safe but not deserted. We’ll need electricity and access to the internet."

"A place where they cannot find us," Leonard said in a gloomy voice.

"Why not do what they least expect us to do?" Gary asked.

"That is?" Jason asked back.

"Go home," Gary replied.

"It could work out,” Leonard said thoughtfully. "They’ve already searched our apartments. They won’t search them again. But, just to make sure in case they're observing our street, we can enter the underground garage from the next street over. The garage belongs to two blocks of flats. And we must not switch on the lights."

Jason nodded slowly. " It could work out, and yet it's an enormous risk, but we have precious little choice," he said. He turned to Alec. "Can we lay a false trail?"

"I’m already working on this," Alec replied. "Dave’s system will try another intrusion, an automatic one at six o’clock in the morning. It will leave a false IP-address. It will lead them to Birmingham."

"Ingenious," Leonard said admiringly.

Gary looked at his grandson with a mixture of admiration and shock. He shook his head slightly.

"I must be ready at six o’clock. I need to have access to the internet by then," Alec said. "I’ll be connecting to the server shortly after Dave’s automatic programme has connected to it. As soon as the company’s server responds and detects the automatic programme’s intrusion, I will infect their security programme."

"Sounds like a virus infection," Gary said.

"It is a virus infection," Jason replied. "Hopefully, it will work out."

Leonard looked between them. "Virus attack against virus attack," he said in a gloomy voice. "This is modern war."

Jason nodded. "A virus war. Quite appropriate," he said.

"Perhaps we should report our findings to the authorities," Gary said.

"What have we found so far?" Leonard asked.

"Nothing. They would not listen to us," Jason replied.

"I have found a lot," Alec said.

They turned to him.

"I've copied the documents and files from their server to Dave’s computer and my notebook. An automatic programme is currently running on their server. I was not able to open it. That’s why I must connect to their server again," Alec said.

He turned back to the screens, and then started to close the programmes and windows.

"I’ll shut down all devices and computers but one. The programme will automatically connect to the company’s server at six in the morning," he said.

The others watched him quietly. Finally, Alec rose to his feet. He looked at Dave’s computers and devices.

"Hopefully, they won’t intrude and destroy his lab. I’d feel forever guilty for it," he said.

Jason patted Alec’s shoulder and gave him a brief nod. Then he turned to Gary and Leonard.

"All right," he said. "Let’s get out of here."

They left Dave’s apartment and hurried to Alec’s car. They arrived at Jason and Leonard’s apartment house at a quarter to five. Alec parked the car in the underground garage. They climbed out and hurried to the elevator. Jason unlocked the door to his apartment and entered the corridor. The others followed him inside. Morning was breaking and the light was still poor, but they refrained from switching on the lights.

"Oh my God," Gary said at the sight of the mess in the corridor. "Hopefully, they didn’t intrude into my house."

Jason moved on and entered the living room. He looked around. "They have not been here again, I think," he said.

Gary sat down on the couch and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Leonard went into Jason’s kitchen to get them some coffee. Jason joined Alec at the desk.

"I’m getting prepared," Alec said. "I’m checking the programmes. So far, they are working properly." He looked at his watch. "It's a quarter past five. Dave's automatic programme will connect to the company’s server in forty-five minutes."

"Would you like a drink? Something to eat?" Jason asked.

"A Coke, if you have," Alec said.

Jason went into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and took two cans out of it. He thought of the young monk who had been the dark order's first victim. He saw his face, young, innocent, and clearly defeated. Jason gnashed his teeth "I will not give up. I simply won't. I will accomplish our mission," he said grimly and threw the door of the fridge shut. He joined Alec again and placed the cans of Coke on the desk. Alec seized one.

"Won’t your parents be missing you?" Jason asked.

Alec shook his head. "No, I sent my mother an email. I told her I’ll sleep over with a friend. I do this often. They’re used to it," he said.

"Where did you learn hacking computer systems?" Jason asked.

Alec smiled briefly. "I started early. I think I was eleven. I was curious. I started with cracking programmes. I looked for serial numbers on the internet. It was quite easy to find them until a few years ago. I joined forums and boards where they offered serial numbers and codes. I knew it was illegal, but this didn’t stop me. On the contrary, it intrigued me a lot. And then I started downloading and installing certain programmes. I joined a group on the internet and I met one of the members in person: Dave. He’s a freak. His skills amazed me. We became friends. Dave taught me all I know."

"You said he’s currently away?" Jason asked.

Alec nodded. "He studies computer science. He applied for an exchange programme. He’s currently in Moscow. He left two weeks ago," he said.

"Moscow," Jason said with a meaningful look. "Sounds interesting."

Alec smiled. "It is. As least this is what I understand from his messages. We’re in touch, of course," he said.

"Of course," Jason replied.

There was a brief silence.

"What's this all about?" Alec asked. "How did you get involved in it?"

Jason took a breath. "Well," he started. "It sounds totally weird. I had several dreams. A man called out to me and asked my help. He looked like a monk from medieval times. The man told me that there was yet time, but I couldn’t make anything of it. I started thinking that I was going insane. I even consulted a doctor. But then, more or less accidentally, I told Leonard of my dreams. He was intrigued. He’s interested in paranormal and supernatural stuff. He thought the dream was a message from the past. He contacted your grandfather and asked him to research on the year 1012."

"1012?" Alec asked.

"Yes," Jason said. "The man in my dream said it was the 18th of May 1012 and that he had been mistaken. I understood that he had not been able to complete his mission. He said it was up to me now. I know it sounds totally weird, but I’m chosen to accomplish his mission."

"What happened back then?" Alec asked with a questioning look. "You asked me to research on dark orders founded around the year 1020 in the South of England."

Jason nodded. "To sum it up, we found out about an old prophecy that announced the end of the world. The group that guarded the prophecy thought the date was the 17th of May 1012. We think that the man in my dreams wanted to reveal the prophecy and therefore was killed by four monks, the ones who guarded the secret. The monks founded a secret society, a dark order in England," he said.

"Near Buckfastleigh. Close to Buckfast Abbey," Alec said.

Jason nodded. "The monks fled France and went to England. Their activities were unconvered, though, and they fled again," he said. "Don’t ask me why, but they didn’t give up on the prophecy. They had either misread the date or they just delayed the end of the world. The new date is the 17th of May 2012."

"Thursday. Tomorrow," Alec said.

Jason nodded. "Alexandre Lefèvre and his companions are the monks’ successors. Operation Abbadon is proof of it and I want to finally find out about it," he said.

Alec nodded and looked at his watch. "Ten more minutes. I’ll infect their security programme, and then we can have a look at the documents that I’ve copied. And I can have a closer look at that automatic programme," he said.

They sat quietly and watched the computer’s time display. The minutes passed by, and then Alec straightened. It was five to six in the morning. A sudden rush of euphoria seized Jason. He felt like a sprinter waiting for the starting shot. Alec focused on a window on the screen, and then raised his right hand slowly. Jason looked at the time display. The seconds passed by and then the display showed 06:00.

Alec looked at a window. “Intrusion completed,” he said. His finger shot down and he pressed a key. He leaned back, crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at the screen for a minute before he turned his head to Jason.

"The game is on," he said. "I’ve boarded the enemy’s ship. We have entered Operation Abbadon."