controls?’
‘No.’
Jack let go. ‘Then which?’
Charlie pointed above the cabinet to a set of cables tied together. They were as thick as a human arm and terminated in something that looked like a network gateway.
Jack took a fistful of the cables.
Charlie stopped him. ‘Wait, if you disconnect them, we lose everything.’
‘We’ve got no choice. If we don’t do it, the door might jam and we’ll be stuck down here.’
Charlie nudged him aside, reached up and ran her finger over the cables, muttering to herself.
There was a thud from the main bunker.
‘No time left,’ Jack said.
Charlie disconnected two network cables and the thumping door stopped. ‘See?’ she said. ‘You gotta be gentle.’
Jack stepped back and breathed a sigh of relief. Then there came a grinding sound. ‘ What now? ’
They ran back into the corridor and stopped to listen. The noise was coming from the generator room, so they went inside.
In the centre sat a large diesel generator, fastened to a concrete plinth by thick steel bolts. The generator itself had a large radiator at one end and, at the other, wide pipes ran to the ceiling – one carried away the exhaust, the other dragged down oxygen from above.
Jack looked at the fuel gauge. It was reading half full. That was enough to last them weeks. In the corner of the room were five spare fuel tanks and they’d barely used up the first.
Charlie checked the radiator. It was full of water. Everything was as it should be.
Jack was about to suggest they go back to the main room when the grinding started again. He turned around. The noise wasn’t coming from the generator itself, but from the secondary motor that pumped fresh air into the bunker.
Charlie hurried over to it and crouched down. The motor whirred, raced, slowed, then sped up again. She looked at the meter on the side and frowned.
‘Its power is all over the place,’ she said.
‘Is that controlled by the computers as well?’
She nodded.
‘We’ll have to disconnect it too.’
Charlie stood. ‘We could cut power to the whole bunker. Give it a reboot.’
‘No.’ Jack had a funny feeling that would just cause them a whole lot more trouble. If the computers didn’t boot back up, then what? Who knew what extra problems they’d have to face. ‘Can you cut all the computer-controlled systems?’
‘Everything?’
‘ Everything .’
Charlie nodded. ‘Yeah, but it will take me ages just to get the air supply up and running again. I’ll have to reroute –’
‘Go on, do it,’ Jack said.
Charlie hesitated, obviously unsure how long fresh air would last way down there. Days? Hours? They had no way to guess.
‘We’ll be fine,’ Jack reassured her, though he wasn’t so convinced.
The motor let out a grinding protest as it sped up again. Without any more delay, Charlie hurried back to the control room and a moment later the motor slowed and stopped.
Jack met her back in the hallway. ‘Now let’s find out what’s been happening.’
They marched into the main room.
‘So,’ Jack said, in as calm a voice as he could muster, ‘what’s up?’
Obi pointed a shaking finger at one of the screens. It was the one with the code they were copying. ‘Like I said, it stopped, right?’
Jack nodded. ‘And you said Proteus is working?’
Obi nodded. ‘Right, so, I was going through the drives, trying to work out where the file had gone –’ he swallowed – ‘and I found it, here .’ He clicked the trackerball, brought up a window full of code and looked at it. ‘I think it’s a virus.’
Jack stared at the screen. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked, though he could well believe that from what had just happened.
‘I’m telling you,’ Obi said, ‘it is a virus. Stupid thing zapped the hardware and caused the computers to start sending all sorts of commands.’
Jack leant in for a closer look. It did seem like some sort of program, but how could it be? The syntax was wrong for a start. He
‘No.’
Jack let go. ‘Then which?’
Charlie pointed above the cabinet to a set of cables tied together. They were as thick as a human arm and terminated in something that looked like a network gateway.
Jack took a fistful of the cables.
Charlie stopped him. ‘Wait, if you disconnect them, we lose everything.’
‘We’ve got no choice. If we don’t do it, the door might jam and we’ll be stuck down here.’
Charlie nudged him aside, reached up and ran her finger over the cables, muttering to herself.
There was a thud from the main bunker.
‘No time left,’ Jack said.
Charlie disconnected two network cables and the thumping door stopped. ‘See?’ she said. ‘You gotta be gentle.’
Jack stepped back and breathed a sigh of relief. Then there came a grinding sound. ‘ What now? ’
They ran back into the corridor and stopped to listen. The noise was coming from the generator room, so they went inside.
In the centre sat a large diesel generator, fastened to a concrete plinth by thick steel bolts. The generator itself had a large radiator at one end and, at the other, wide pipes ran to the ceiling – one carried away the exhaust, the other dragged down oxygen from above.
Jack looked at the fuel gauge. It was reading half full. That was enough to last them weeks. In the corner of the room were five spare fuel tanks and they’d barely used up the first.
Charlie checked the radiator. It was full of water. Everything was as it should be.
Jack was about to suggest they go back to the main room when the grinding started again. He turned around. The noise wasn’t coming from the generator itself, but from the secondary motor that pumped fresh air into the bunker.
Charlie hurried over to it and crouched down. The motor whirred, raced, slowed, then sped up again. She looked at the meter on the side and frowned.
‘Its power is all over the place,’ she said.
‘Is that controlled by the computers as well?’
She nodded.
‘We’ll have to disconnect it too.’
Charlie stood. ‘We could cut power to the whole bunker. Give it a reboot.’
‘No.’ Jack had a funny feeling that would just cause them a whole lot more trouble. If the computers didn’t boot back up, then what? Who knew what extra problems they’d have to face. ‘Can you cut all the computer-controlled systems?’
‘Everything?’
‘ Everything .’
Charlie nodded. ‘Yeah, but it will take me ages just to get the air supply up and running again. I’ll have to reroute –’
‘Go on, do it,’ Jack said.
Charlie hesitated, obviously unsure how long fresh air would last way down there. Days? Hours? They had no way to guess.
‘We’ll be fine,’ Jack reassured her, though he wasn’t so convinced.
The motor let out a grinding protest as it sped up again. Without any more delay, Charlie hurried back to the control room and a moment later the motor slowed and stopped.
Jack met her back in the hallway. ‘Now let’s find out what’s been happening.’
They marched into the main room.
‘So,’ Jack said, in as calm a voice as he could muster, ‘what’s up?’
Obi pointed a shaking finger at one of the screens. It was the one with the code they were copying. ‘Like I said, it stopped, right?’
Jack nodded. ‘And you said Proteus is working?’
Obi nodded. ‘Right, so, I was going through the drives, trying to work out where the file had gone –’ he swallowed – ‘and I found it, here .’ He clicked the trackerball, brought up a window full of code and looked at it. ‘I think it’s a virus.’
Jack stared at the screen. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked, though he could well believe that from what had just happened.
‘I’m telling you,’ Obi said, ‘it is a virus. Stupid thing zapped the hardware and caused the computers to start sending all sorts of commands.’
Jack leant in for a closer look. It did seem like some sort of program, but how could it be? The syntax was wrong for a start. He
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