Bubble(43)

A decision.

He basically just had to make a decision.

Swallow the pill, and with it Mangas story that he, Nora, Hasselqvist and Muscles were the good guys. That they had formed a resistance group to depose the Game Master.

Or else he didnt buy it  …

Time to make a decision, Mr Pettersson.

Red

or

Black?

The revolver was gone. Someone had opened her safe deposit box without leaving any trace, and had removed both the gun and the tin box. Apart from her, there was only one person who had known where the gun was. So he had decided not to wait, or, even worse: he didnt trust her.

All bubbles are doomed to burst sooner or later  …

She took her phone out of her bag, scrolled through the contacts until she found the right number.

Hi, its Rebecca, she said when the voicemail kicked in. I know Im only supposed to call this number in absolute emergencies.

She paused for a moment and drew a deep breath.

But I think Henkes in trouble. Really bad trouble, and Ill do anything I can to help him. Anything at all  …

The noise made him leap out of bed. At first he couldnt remember where he was, but once hed figured it out, and what he was doing there, he tried to make sense of the noise.

It had come from the hall. The doorbell, of course.

He took a few cautious steps towards the front door, but before he got to it someone opened the letterbox. He stopped automatically, then took a couple of steps back into the living room.

The flat was on the third floor, too high to jump.

If there was a fire, he was fucked.

Its me  …  a voice hissed through the letterbox. Kent.

HP breathed out. He went into the hall and unlocked the door.

Hasselqvist with a Q and a V slipped in and squeezed quickly past him. An acrid burst of nylon-shirt sweat hit HPs nostrils.

Dont worry, he said before HP had time to open his mouth. I wasnt followed, I pulled every trick in the book.

He went into the kitchen, poured himself a glass of water and gulped it down.

Then another glass.

Here, he panted, putting a supermarket bag on the draining board. Thought your supplies were probably starting to run out.

HP opened the bag.

Milk, baked beans, ready meals, some vegetables and  –  YES!  –  cigarettes! Christ, what a relief! He suppressed a sudden urge to kiss Hasselqvist, tore open a pack and pulled out a Marlboro.

So, whats happening? He took a couple of deep drags.

Hasselqvist didnt answer, just gave HP a disapproving look.

If you have to smoke, stand under the extractor fan  …

Sure  …

HP shrugged, but moved a bit closer to the cooker.

The others are on their way, Hasselqvist said. Theyll be here in the next hour or so. Youll find out more then. Jeffs got a plan to get us into the Fortress.

Okay. So you havent dropped that idea yet  …

Why would we do that? If we can shut down the Fortress, its all over  …

Yeah, right  …

HP took another drag.

W-what do you mean?

Nothing, Kent, we can talk about it later. Im going to heat up some grub, do you want anything?

No thanks, had a hotdog on the way.

Okay, your loss  …

HP chucked the Findus version of a hamburger into the microwave and blasted it with full force.

By the way, Im not pissed off.

What? HP turned round.

About what happened out on the E4. The tear gas and all that, Hasselqvist elaborated.

Okay, thats good  …

I mean, it wasnt really your fault  …  Just wanted you to know.

Okay. HP wasnt sure what he was expected to say.

After all, it wasnt personal, was it?

Nah, course not  …  HP blew a column of smoke towards the greasy extractor fan.

A short silence ensued.

HP was squirming slightly. He had sprayed Hasselqvist full in the face with teargas, kicked him in the bollocks when he was already on the ground, and, to top it off, had threatened to smash the blokes skull in. But back then he was Player 58, HPs strongest competition, and someone he suspected of any number of things. Now, in hindsight, things looked very different. If fact he should probably  …  well  …

Listen, Kent  …  he began.

But the ping of the microwave interrupted him.

The dialogue box popped up a few seconds after she switched the computer on. At first she thought it was some sort of automated program update, and clicked the button in the top right-hand corner to minimize it.

But the window stayed open.

She tried again, but when that didnt work she tried closing the programme entirely.

But the window refused to obey. A two-tone bleep rang out, and then a message appeared:

Farook says: Hi Becca, Manga here. I got your message but cant call you back. Whats happened?

For a few moments she wasnt sure what to do. The dialogue box didnt belong to any of the usual chat programmes, she was sure of that, so he must have managed to install the programme on her computer remotely. But how had he managed to get hold of her IP address?

A new message appeared:

Farook says: No need to worry, this programme is encrypted and our conversation cant be bugged  …

Farook says: Tell me, whats happened to HP?

She moved the cursor and clicked inside the little text box, which was now showing her name.
 
 

 

Becca says: How involved in the Game are you?

It took a minute or so for his reply to appear.

Farook says: Who have you been talking to?

Becca says: An old friend.

Farook says: I thought I was an old friend.

Becca says: So did I, Manga  …

Another pause, slightly shorter:

Farook says: Okay, I deserved that. Youre right, Becca, I havent been honest with you, or HP. I was part of the Game long before he got involved. But everything Ive done has been meant to help him. Help you. You have to believe me!

Farook says: Youve been talking to Sammer, havent you?

Now it was her turn to hesitate. Manga was better informed than she had expected. She was rather taken aback. But, considering what Uncle Tage had said about him  …

Becca says: Thats right.

Farook says: Okay, now I can understand why youre worried. He must have told you a whole load of stuff. That Im one of the people behind the Game, and that HPs in great danger?

Becca says: Is he?

Farook says: Im not going to lie to you, Becca. HPs in trouble. But we can help him, you and me. If we work together.

Becca says: You lied to me before, pretending you didnt know anything about the Game. Why should I trust you now?

Farook says: Because the alternative is trusting Sammer.

Becca says: And that would be bad because  … ?

Farook says: Because he isnt who he says he is, Becca.

Becca says: And you are?

Another pause, two minutes this time.

Farook says: Sorry, got to go, Ill be in touch again soon. Youve got to be careful, Becca. Really careful!!

They arrived just a couple of minutes apart, which made him suspect that theyd actually come together. That Nora had hung about out on the stairs so HP wouldnt work out that they were an item.

He felt like putting a stop to their little performance, and couldnt help wondering what Jeff would think about his girlfriend snogging him in Medborgarplatsen underground station.

Okay, now were all here we might as well get going, Nora said as she hung up her coat. Lets sit in the kitchen.

What about Manga? HP muttered.

Hes not coming, too dangerous, she said, without meeting his gaze. But he can still join in  …

She pulled a black smartphone from her pocket, fiddled with it for a few seconds, then put it on the windowsill with its screen facing towards them.

Two more minutes. Can you get the plans out in the meantime, Jeff?

The mountain of muscle pulled out a bundle of papers from the bicycle bag he had brought in with him, and put them on the table. HP couldnt help seeing the stamp on the front.

Classified information!

Hes online now, Hasselqvist said.

Everyone looked at the small screen of the smartphone, where Mangas face suddenly appeared.

Okay, Im here. I can see you all fine, can you hear me okay? he said, almost in a whisper.

We can hear you, Nora said.

Good! HP, its a relief to see you looking a bit better.

HP didnt answer, and he was gratified to see that this seemed to unsettle Manga.

Well then, as we discussed before, the Fortress is our target, Manga went on after a slight pause.

A company like PayTag cant afford to lose the trust of its clients, and even a rumour that theyve been infiltrated will be enough to pull the ground from beneath them forever.

What we need to do is introduce the trojan I call Big Boy into their system. Its designed both to erase and mess up the information on their servers  –  to cause as much chaos as possible in the shortest possible time, if you follow?

The three conspirators in the room nodded, but HP didnt move a muscle.

Its impossible to implant Big Boy from the outside, Manga went on. Which means that we need a way in. Jeff, youve been looking at the various possibilities  … ?

Muscles straightened up.

Yes, Kent and I have been through all the options. Every gate, door and camera, and weve come to the conclusion that the place is extremely well-guarded  …  .

No shit, Sherlock. Evidently it took two sharply honed minds to come to that obvious conclusion  …  Or else you could just take a look at the plans. The description High security site  –  application pending in one corner ought to give a bit of a clue. These two morons were the perfect poster boys for a campaign against cousins getting married  …

HP, you look like you want to say something? Manga interrupted.