made.
âGive me a minute here,â Hawk said, holding the small M4-ZTom flash drive between the tongs. âIâll run it through my Tablet using a digital signal.â
Everyone watched anxiously as Hawk took forever figuring out how to connect old technology to new technology.
âWe have to connect through a wireless signal developed after the chip was madeânot easy,â Hawk continued. âItâs like driving a train on a freeway: a path that doesnât match the mode of transportation.â
âThis is what it will be like when the aliens invade,â Faith joked. âTheyâll find our Tablets and break them apart after weâve gone the way of the dinosaurs.â
Jade leaned in closer to Hawk and he quietly told her everything he was doing. Dylan moved his broad shoulder close to Faith and the skin on their arms touched. He was seeing the same thing Faith was, two kids falling fast for each other. Faith smiled in a way that said, That is adorable and dorky and perfect.
âGot it!â Hawk finally said. âSomeone read me that code again.â
A terrible silence settled over the room as they realized no one had written the code down and the device had been broken into and taken apart.
Hawk shook his head. âI give you guys one simple job. Just one.â
âNo, wait, I got it!â Jade said. â45.5.7.122. I think.â
âAre you sure?â Faith asked. âI thought there were more numbers than that.â
Jade hated that she might be wrong about the code, but she had to admit she wasnât 100 percent sure.
âItâs okay, I think I can play it back,â Hawk said. He took a deep breath and exhaled. âItâll just take me a minute. I hope.â
With Hawk, a deep breath followed by the words âItâll just take me a minuteâ could mean four seconds or four hours. It was impossible to know which, and Clooger groaned. Luckily for everyoneâs sanity, this turned out to be a reasonably simple coding issue for an Intel like Hawk, and it was solved quickly.
âChalk one up for the good guys,â Carl said. âThis kid is good.â
The room filled with the sound of the message for a second time. There was more static in the transmission this time as it made its way across the divide of many years and several iterations of technology.
âPrisoner One has escaped from maximum-security Western State detention zone. Message relay ordered. M4-ZTom unlock code 45.5.122.67. Do not respond to this feed. Terminating.â
âYou were really close, Jade,â Hawk said. âOnly one number off. Youâve got an excellent memory. Definitely better than Cloogerâs.â
Jade beamed with pride, brushing her dark hair back with a delicate hand as Hawk entered the full code into the driveâ45.5.122.67.
There was a pause and a series of static waves that made everyoneâs heart sink, and then a voice almost all of them had heard before materialized in the room: Meredith, Dylanâs mom and the former leader of the rebellion, was back from the grave.
If youâre receiving this message, then I am dead.
Iâll give you a minute to let that sink in.
There was a lengthy pause in the transmission and Faith remembered what a straight shooter Meredith had always been. She was the most matter-of-fact person Faith had ever met.
Faith looked at Dylan and found that he was staring at his shoes. She put her hand on his as Meredithâs voice returned.
Hawk, Iâm going to assume it was you who unlocked this message, which means you also know how to pause what Iâm saying. I can still give orders, and Iâm ordering you to pause this message until everyone who is still alive from the following list is present: Dylan, Faith, Clooger, Hawk, Carl, and Jade. You should all hear this information at the same time. That was what I intended.
Hawk tapped his Tablet screen and the recording