The Invisible Assassin(25)

‘It looks like Block C is where all the security stuff happens,’ she announced. ‘According to the whispers and gossip on these blogs and posts, there are weird goings-on in Block C. So I’ll put my money on whatever you’re looking for being stashed there.’

She hit a key, and the architect’s plans for Hadley Park Research Establishment came upon again. She scrolled across the drawings on the screen, and then stopped, and they saw the diagram of a small block sub-divided into rooms.

‘Block C.’ Jo smiled. ‘That’s where it is.’

‘Hmm,’ said Jake doubtfully. ‘It’s all very well knowing that’s where the book is, but how do we get in?’

‘A book?!’ Jo’s voice rose in disbelief. ‘This is about a book!’

‘Not just any book,’ said Lauren. ‘This is a book the government doesn’t want anyone to know about.’

‘Government secrets?’ asked Jo.

‘In a way,’ said Parsons, shooting a guarded look at both Lauren and Jake. We don’t need to tell her about the Order of Malichea, he seemed to be saying. Let’s keep this simple.

Jake nodded.

‘Like I was saying, there’s going to be all sorts of security,’ he said. ‘Armed guards. Dogs.’

‘Electronic keypads on the doors.’ Parsons nodded.

‘They won’t be a problem,’ said Jo. ‘I’ll disable them.’

‘How?’ asked Jake.

‘I hack into their security system and override the locks on Block C, of course,’ said Jo. ‘Though it’s best to do it only for a short while. If I unlock all the doors too soon, there’s a chance it’ll be spotted. You know, someone walking around checking.’

‘So we’d need to fix an agreed time,’ said Lauren.

‘Right.’ Jo nodded. ‘If you’re standing ready by the door at, say, eleven thirty, I’ll make sure the locks are off.’ She flicked more keys and a series of schematic diagrams appeared on the screen, which she studied. ‘Though you won’t want the locks switched off for too long. There’s bound to be a fail-safe cut-in that sets an alarm off if they’re turned off for a certain length of time. There usually is with this sort of security system.’

Jake looked at Jo as she worked, stunned. This girl was just sixteen years old, and yet she could hack into a top-security government research lab and open all the locks on the doors just by pressing a few computer keys! It was incredible!

Then an awful thought hit him.

‘Hang on,’ he said, concerned. ‘How do we get into the place? And how do we get to this Block C? Like I said before, there are bound to be all sorts of security systems you can’t deal with just by hitting a computer. Guards. Dogs. Electrified fences.’

‘I might be able to cut off the electricity to the fence,’ said Jo, ‘but there could be a back-up system. The only way to really do it would be to shut down the electricity supply to the whole place.’

‘Which would alert the guards and raise the alarm,’ pointed out Parsons.

Jo had put the plan of the research base back on the screen; this one showed the plan of the whole base, including the fences that surrounded it.

‘The fence is electrified, OK.’ She nodded. Then she smiled. ‘But there’s one thing they forgot.’ She highlighted an area near the fence and pressed a key. ‘There,’ she said.

‘What are we looking at?’ asked Jake, puzzled.

‘Drains,’ said Parsons. ‘Storm drains.’

Jo nodded. ‘Right,’ she said. ‘A place like this can’t afford to be flooded. There’s a storm drain runs right across the base, and it comes out into a culvert just outside the fence . . . here.’

Jake and the others peered closer at the screen. Yes, there was a culvert of some sort marked on the plan. Jo moved the plan on the screen.

‘It looks like there’s a manhole from the drain just near the main building.’

‘How far is it from there to Block C?’ asked Lauren.

‘According to the scale on the plan, about a hundred metres,’ said Parsons thoughtfully.

‘We can do that,’ nodded Lauren.

Jake looked at her, shocked.

‘A hundred metres? With armed guards and dogs?’

‘We don’t know there are armed guards and dogs,’ pointed out Lauren.

‘Yes, we do,’ said Jo, studying the screen. ‘I’ve hacked into their guard roster.’

Lauren shrugged. ‘OK, so we run,’ she said. ‘It’s not that far. Usain Bolt can run that distance in under ten seconds.’

‘We are not Usain Bolt,’ countered Jake.