Dead Man's Switch by Sigmund Brouwer

open to my right, which is your left. Click the mouse to bring the program to the front, then hit return. That’s all it takes.”
    King felt like a zombie. He did as instructed.
    The browser popped open. It brought him to a website: www.blakesdms.com . The browser window slowly filled, showing a place to log in with username and password.
    â€œThe username is your name, in lowercase,” Blake said. “L-y-o-n-k-i-n-g. That’s also the password. Once you enter it, you’ve bought yourself and your father 24 hours. Do it, King. You have less than 60 seconds on this browser window before it shuts automatically and starts the countdown.”
    King’s fingers were shaky. But he managed.
    â€œGood,” Blake said. “I know you did it because I’m still speaking to you. I’ve got this laptop set up for all of its software to self-destruct if you don’t follow my steps precisely.”
    King knew he was being manipulated. Blake—or, more accurately, Blake from the past—was pressuring King to make decisions without having any time to think. But what choice did King have?
    â€œOkay,” Blake said. “Now it’s time to tell you why I’m doing this. Forcing you to help.”
    Blake leaned forward. His voice rasped a little. “I’ve been trying to outthink them, like a chess game. What I won’t know until it happens is how they might choose to get rid of me. It’s got to be an accident ofcourse. Drowning is my bet. That’s how I’d play it if I were them. Make it look like I was trying to get off the island. It’s no secret that I fight a lot with my parents. Only natural that I’d run away, right?”
    Blake kept leaning forward. “The people we’re dealing with are very careful. If they suspect me, then they know my computer skills. And they know what I found out. They’d be stupid to just get rid of me without finding out what I’ve left behind. They’d suspect that I’d put something in place to leak everything. And that’s why I don’t think they’d just snuff me without first finding out all that I know and what I’ve done with what I found.”
    Blake smiled grimly. “The way I’d play it is find a way to get me off the island and then threaten to kill me if anything was released. But if that’s the case, I can’t trust them not to just get rid of me after they feel safe. If I tell them about the dead man’s switch, they’ll make me put in the code every 24 hours until they find a way to hack into my site and block everything. No, King, it’s got to be someone from the outside who puts together everything I put together and goes to them and tells them to release me if they want all the information. That’s going to be you.”
    Blake leaned back. “Yes, King. I’m guessing there’s a small chance I’m still alive. So here’s the million-dollar question. Was there a body at my funeral? Because if there wasn’t, I promise you, they are holding me somewhere. And the clock is ticking. For you to save me and to save your father. Because half of your deal with them is for my life. And the other half of the deal is that they are going to protect your dad too from all that he’s done. So get ready to hack into your dad’s computer.”

CHAPTER 23
    â€œClose the top browser window,” the virtual Blake said. “I don’t need to remind you, do I? The clock is ticking. I’ve got everything programmed and timed. You have 60 seconds to go to the next step, or everything starts melting here.”
    King blinked a few times. He was on a roller coaster and feeling so overwhelmed that he couldn’t process it all. So it was easier to just do as directed.
    â€œFirst,” Blake said, “under Applications, look for the program called Terminal. Open it now.”
    Back to being a zombie again, King did