It was one day before the end of the world we know. A safe and stable place, organised,
predictable, and utterly dependent on people’s confidence in the world’s financial systems.
Whether it is the banks or pension funds, the companies and the currencies, people need to be
reassured that their assets are safe. Without money in some form, the modern world cannot
exist. Without computers to move that money there could be no possible “world domination”.
The combination of the two, made life unreal. This had made a lethal cocktail and the world
was about to drink it. The Euro crash in 2011 had shaken the world and the political changes
had resolved the problems but greed made people forget its lessons. The reality of “world
domination” would set nation against nation, people against people as they accused one
another of shattering their safe and secure existence.
After the antics of the night before, Jack seemed remarkably fresh and energetic. All five
friends were standing at the foot of the climbing wall. Timmo was on his crutches, which he
was finding hard to cope with and so Roger was standing close alongside to support him.
Jack was upside down hanging from a rope and feeling dizzy as the blood rushed to his head.
Marshall was horizontal at 2 metres above floor level as he clung to the artificial handholds
and Kit Kat was sat on the floor examining her nails as she had broken one on an earlier
climb.
‘We have a mole’ said Jack to them all.
‘That’s because we are underground Bro,’ said Timmo.
‘You dimmo, a mole, i.e. an informer within our ranks and that can only be one person.’
‘Who?’ asked Kate distractedly.
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‘Remember who seems to play the game badly but was in the UK’s top five players?’
Roger summed it up. ‘It’s got to be Hines hasn’t it?’
They all stared upwards apart from Timmo who queried, ‘57 varieties?’
Jack was exasperated. ‘Hines not Heinz dimmo. Flip me you can be so thick sometimes.’
‘Oh! Marshall’s a spy!’ Finally, Timmo had caught on as he dumped his crutches in favour of
the wheelchair.
‘Yes’ came a loud shout from the three friends.
‘No I’m not! I’m a friend not a foe.’ Marshall slowly let himself down and Jack twisted in a
somersault to simultaneously land beside him.
Jack added. ‘When I saw Brett at Outspan last night he confirmed it. It’s obvious what has
happened. Someone here has been manipulating Marshall’s scores on the game.’
‘I always knew I was rubbish at it.’ Marshall looked crestfallen.
Roger was quicker than the others. ‘Why would they do that?’
‘Brett told me that Techno is Marshall’s brother. Techno’s real name is Robert. Having his
brother here makes Techno totally loyal as the gamemaster for Madame Musseine.’ Marshall
was too upset to speak. His brother? Here!
Kate had lost her mum years before but she remembered the pain. It still hurt. ‘It’s not either
of their faults Jack. We should feel sorry for both Robert and Marshall Hines.’
‘That’s it!’ Interjected Roger. ‘You are so clever Kate!’
‘Am I? Why?’
‘Because Techno... or Robert can’t know that Marshall is his brother or we would have
noticed a difference in his behaviour.’
Kate followed the logic. ‘So MM can’t have used the info yet to bribe him, or we would have
noticed how their relationship changed.’
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‘And your point is?’ asked Jack.
‘My point is simple. If we reunite the brothers...well then Techno might join our side.’
A chorus of ‘fabtastic,’ ‘cool,’ and ‘maybes,’ came from the others.
Jack realised it was a watershed for his gang. ‘Are we going to crack this ourselves or call in
the adults?’
Roger quoted Steve Job the deceased founder of Apple, who was his hero. ‘Death is the
ultimate shared destination and so we should have courage to follow our hearts and
intuition.’ The others laughed. They couldn’t understand why Roger worshipped the
entrepreneur who had changed the modern world but none of them ever criticised as none of
them were exactly normal children. Jack loved an obscure San Francisco band called “The
Ebb and Flow” and believed he could conquer the world. Timmo at 9 years old already knew
more about cars, tanks and planes than Jeremy Clarkson. Marshall was a hostage and in
theory, a double agent and Kit Kat had conversations with her cat between flashes of psychic
insights.
‘Roger you are wrong about death,’ said Kate, ‘there are many places to visit before the final
destination. We are going to win through and we are not going to die Mr Morbid!’
‘How do you know Karmic Kate?’ The others laughed at her new nickname.
‘Because grandma predicted it and grandma’s are always right.’ It was an easy way out for
her. Pretending grandma had all the visions of the future rather than her but she was still
unsure about the things she sensed more often. She grabbed Timmo’s wheelchair handles and
wedged the crutches behind his back before she started to move away. ‘Come on you lot, it’s
time to eat some real food for a change and to celebrate our futures.’
‘Real food?’ Asked Timmo turning in his chair, ‘you don’t mean normal stuff?’
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‘Yes absolutely. Imagine I am your mum! You lot are going to the restaurant to eat a roast
dinner with extra veg and Yorkshire puddings.’ They were all smiling in in anticipation as
they marched out of the fun zone and headed towards some normality.
* * *
Deep inside, each one of the children was scared, totally out of their depth. It was only theSAS training that kept them stable and on course with their impossible mission.
After their meal, Timmo and Marshall went in search of Techno. Jack felt it was the best
combination to tackle him. Time was obviously short and they needed to find the software
key but Marshall was also desperate to see his brother now he knew he was there. He pushed
the wheelchair at speed as they cruised around level three.
Timmo turned in his chair. ‘Perhaps he’s with the boss or on level two checking up on
security?’
‘I need to see him now Timmo. Do you get it?’
‘I do get it Marshall, but remember he doesn’t know you, so don’t just blurt it out okay?’
‘”Kay”, no worries.’ They were wending their way through the fun zone for the third time
when they saw him on the world series baseball game, which featured all the top countries
playing across the world. Namely. America, Japan and...America. Techno swung his bat at the
imaginary ball and watched it shoot into the “pixellated” crowd.’
‘Robert?’ Marshall grabbed his brother’s shirt sleeve. Timmo sighed under his breath, there’s
nothing like a direct approach.
‘No my name is Techno.’ He looked away quickly. Timmo looked daggers at Marshall but to
no avail.
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‘No it aint. You’re my brother aint you?’ Techno looked into Marshall’s eyes. It was
undeniable, he was his brother, flesh and blood and he loved him.
Techno’s voice was barely a whisper, ‘mum’s here too.’
‘You what?’ Marshall was shocked for the second time in two hours. It was his worst
nightmare.
‘Our mum is held on level two in room 444. She’s here as a hostage to make me obey MM.’
Marshall’s voice cracked. ‘Is that why they manipulated my scores to get me here? Just to
add a second hostage.’
‘Yes and I’m sorry. It’s all my fault for falling in with The Black Hand Gang years ago.’
Techno held up his left hand. ‘I thought it was bad losing a finger but now I realise that
family are more important than expendable pieces of body.’ There was a long silence. ‘Come
on, I want to show you my quarters, we can talk there, I know there’s no surveillance. They
followed Techno at a distance of 50 metres as there was no sense in drawing attention to
themselves. At the door to his accommodation, he beckoned them in and after checking the
corridor to make sure no one had seen them, he quickly closed it behind him.
None of them had noticed Twip Twop stalking them.
* * *
Based on the assumption that MD day was going to happen within 24 hours, it was Techno’sidea to pull the whole group together and decide on what action to take. When he held
Marshall close for the first time, he had cried. They were tears of torment after years living
on the edge of reason. Genius runs parallel to madness and the new reality of his family being
so close had saved him from insanity. He told everyone to meet in the fun zone and to
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monopolise the replicas of the Formula one racing cars at 7 pm. He knew that there were no
hidden microphones or cameras in that area and the group would not be noticed with him as
they raced against each other.
The F1 cars howled like the real thing and jerked left and right as Kate, Marshall, Timmo and
Roger threw them around the Suzuka circuit in Japan. Timmo was a lap ahead of the others
by the time that Jack started a quiet conversation with Techno sandwiched between the
replica cars. Jack knew Techno was their last chance to defeat MM, as now they were out of
time. The CIA and MI6 boffins would take weeks to decipher the masses of data on the
memory stick and devise some anti-virus software. Whereas the solution was here, inside the
volcano.
‘Come on Robert, you have got to help us mate.’
‘Why? What can you do? They will kill my mum if I deviate one iota from MM’s plan.’
Jack thought quickly. ‘Look we need the key and then no one, even the other geek in LA
won’t be able to start the reality program. They might have 100 minds linked into the world’s
financial markets but without the key, the authorities might withstand the attack. For
example, they could stop all trading for 24 hours like when we had the 9-11 Al Qaeda attack.’
‘Okay, you’re right about the key. It’s a simple SD card. I know, as I created it. Dust proof,
waterproof and nearly bomb proof, it’s that important. Her virus that makes the markets
plummet, can’t be spread without it going live first but you are wrong about the 100 minds.’
‘Huh?
‘There are only 95 now!’ He smiled at Jack for the first time. ‘The key is on level four. I
know where the passageway starts, that’s on level one near MM’s bedroom and then it spirals
down to a cave way below us.’
‘Well at last we know how to get there.’
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‘Yes, but I don’t know where the key is hidden.’
‘So we can try to get the key then. Yes?’
‘I don’t know Jack. Only MM, Biceps and Twip Twop ever go down there. Biceps or Twip
Twop always have wet hair afterwards, so I guess the key is hidden in water somewhere?
That could be tricky if it is very acidic or hot. There may even be guards waiting to shoot
you.’
Jack glanced around to make sure no one was listening in. ‘What’s on the key?’
‘The SD card has a series of encryption codes. They set off programs within the “world
domination” game, which we have integrated into the real financial markets over the last few
months as part of the tests. MM will upload a separate virus within a few minutes of go live.’
He paused and held Jack’s arm. ‘If I help you guys, you have to promise to help save my
mum.’
‘It’s a deal.’ Jack shook his hand and they arranged to meet at 4 am near the lift that gave
access to both levels one and two.
* * *
Timmo had been left behind again but this time Marshall had decided to stay with him. It wassafer that way.
As Kate, Roger and Jack stood in the lift heading up to level one, Techno scared them. ‘No
one really knows what’s on level four but there have been many rumours. So beware.’ He
shuddered, ‘one of her ex-henchmen said she had captured something in a subterranean
passage in the bowels of the volcano. It was when she and Biceps first came to Mount
Kilimanjaro ten years ago.’
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‘Something?’ Kat gulped as she questioned him.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Techno. ‘The henchman was a wind up merchant, until he disappeared
that is.’
‘So you have no idea what my boys are facing then?’ She was nervous as well as scared.
‘The unknown Kate. The greatest threat to sanity that a man can face.’
‘But Jack and Roger aren’t men!’
‘No and that may help them in their quest.’ The lift door opened silently and all conversation
stopped. Techno led them to a small black door 50 metres away. There were no signs on it
and it looked innocuous enough. He signalled them to crouch. They heard footsteps coming
closer and as they remained motionless, they saw two ninjas cross the junction of the corridor
about 100 metres away.
Techno opened the door and led them through. He quietly closed it behind. ‘Ninjas. Two
patrols on this side of her quarters and brainless Biceps sleeps in a small room nearby. The
woman is paranoid about her security.’ He turned and started to lead the way down the
narrow steps. The staircase was poorly lit and extremely steep and narrow. Two people would
have had difficulty passing each other. After fifteen minutes steady descent, the stairs opened
out onto the floor of a small cave, no more than 30 metres square with a low ceiling. A third
of the area was a steaming pool and near the water’s edge, there were three scuba outfits
resting against the wall. Each contained a wetsuit, a mask, and a large yellow tank of
compressed air.
The two boys moved away from Kate and Techno to discuss their approach.
Roger spoke first. ‘Well old chap, tally ho and off we go hey.’ His eyes were watery and his
voice quavered. ‘It’s been nice knowing you... you are my “bestest” friend Jack.’
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Jack took a deep breath and let it sigh out calmly and slowly before he replied. ‘Ditto mate.
But we are coming back to Kate and Robert, I will not be beaten. I know we will return.’
‘How can you be so positive?’
‘Remember in boot camp, Sergeant Sargent said we should remember The Reason?’
‘’Surely you don’t believe in mumbo jumbo like that Jack?’
‘Billions of caring loving people around the world believe and so I am going to take all that
goodness into that evil pond of blackness and let The Reason help us win through. Are you
up for this or do I go alone?’ Roger rubbed his eyes with his fingers and wiped the moisture
on his dirty trousers.
‘Let’s do it Jack. JFDI – Just Flipping Do It!’ He said it with conviction and vigorously shook
Jack’s hand before they turned towards the piles of scuba gear to get ready. They started to
pull the wetsuits on over their power suits.
After they had dressed, Kit Kat came over. ‘Good luck both of you,’ she held them both in a
tight hug, ‘I need you here to help us out of this hell hole.’
Without turning back, the boys stood on the edge of the pool. They had fastened a loose piece
of polypropylene rope between their weight belts to keep them together in the blackness.
Clasping their hands across their facemasks, they stepped into the pool with a large splash
that echoed ominously around the chamber.
* * *
Kate and Techno were pacing by the side of the black waters. The air bubbles from the boy’stanks had disappeared after a few minutes and so they presumed they must be exploring a
tunnel rather than carrying on straight down. Kate was standing by the remaining scuba set,
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contemplating whether she would have the courage to use one if they didn’t return. She had a
lump in her throat when she heard Techno’s scream. The huge tentacle of a giant octopus had
snaked across the cave floor and wrapped itself lovingly around Techno’s leg.
He screamed again. It was demented and full of fear. ‘Help me Kate! Please help me!’ She
stood rooted to the spot and watched in horror as the tentacle dragged Techno closer to the
pool. Glancing around her she could see no no obvious weapon to hand. ‘Help me for God’s
sake!’ She thought of boot camp and The Reason, it helped her remain calm. ‘For God’s
sake’, the words repeated in her head. Techno was no longer an enemy, he was their friend
and Marshall’s brother. If he were dead, they would find it harder to escape. But that was a
selfish thought which was quickly replaced by another selfish one. No Techno, no financial
meltdown? Would the loss of his expertise force Madame Musseine to stop her attempted
domination of the world? Again, she fought the thought. He was their friend. She was rooted
to the spot, what took seconds to think about felt like hours. At that moment, she thought she
could hear her grandma’s voice echoing through the cave.
The words kept repeating in her mind but were far away and unreal. ‘Be yourself, be yourself
Kate.’ Would did she mean? Girlie? Skippy? Then it struck her - kind, giving, loving. The
very essence of Kate Shore. Techno was holding onto the rock by the side of the pool with his
fingernails, she could hear them scratch across the rock as he was pulled closer to the beak of
the giant octopus that had broken the surface and was snapping loudly in anticipation of
eating its prey. ‘Be yourself...’ the words were louder as she leaped to her right and grasped
the fire extinguisher near the door. Turning quickly, she ran to the edge of the pool and
gasped in horror as Techno’s legs slid slowly into the open beak.
‘Oh my God, my God, do something!’ She slammed the heavy extinguisher into the yellow
eye of the beast, which stopped Techno’s instant demise but also drew the octopus’s attention.
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A second tentacle slithered out of the black whirlpool, which had been whipped to a frenzy as
the beast took its revenge for years of captivity. The tentacle slimed its way around her leg
before the suckers clasped hard and made her cry with the pain. The beast commenced
pulling her towards the beak to make a double snack. Man and woman, like ham and cheese,
a tasty meal apart but better together. There was no noise all of a sudden, a deathly quiet. The
swirl of the water and the heavy breathing from the two potential victims ominously echoed
around the cave, a death knell. Kate looked at Techno and could see he had fainted. The
bottom half of his legs were only loosely held in the beak. As it opened wider to take them
both in a single gulp, she stared down at the extinguisher that was growing too heavy to hold
for much longer. CO2, carbon dioxide and then all her school chemistry flooded back. CO2,
of course.
She smiled at the blinking yellow eye as she was dragged closer. ‘Fancy a bellyful of wind
Mr Octopus? Well take that.’ She yanked the pin from the black handle of the extinguisher
and pressed to set it off. A spume of white powder rushed from the nozzle as she thrust the
cylinder deep between the sharp curves of the beak. As the octopus tried to fully close its
jaws, she heard the grinding noise of the extinguisher as it was crushed. Then the screeching
began in multiple echoes that resounded around the cave but the extinguisher was still
spurting the CO2 into the beast’s gullet. The tentacles suddenly retracted allowing her to grab
Techno under his arms and pull him to safety as the octopus thrashed around the pool,
poisoned by the CO2, which was now expanding violently inside its guts. She lay gasping,
covered in wet green slime but still wary of the octopus that beat itself around the pool.
Cradling Techno’s head in her arms, she willed him to revive. The beast reared into the air,
half out of the water, a giant balloon with trailing tentacles that flapped helplessly and then
suddenly it exploded. Puss and guts showered everywhere, the stench of decomposed fish
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was mixed with the rotten eggs of the volcano, making it a smell from hell. She vomited until
her stomach was empty and then lay retching for a minute or two without bringing anything
up.
Techno stirred and looked up into her eyes. ‘You saved me Kate. Why?’
‘Because my mum told me to be myself. Kind, giving and loving. You should try it, it makes
you happy.’ They both struggled to their feet, sliding on the copious amount of octopus guts
and black ink that was spread across the cold smooth rock.
Kate pulled her hair back into a wet bun and stared into the waters, wishing the boys back.
What had the octopus done to them? ‘Where are you boys?’
‘They are dead Kate, come on let’s go. MM will send Biceps down after all this rumpus and
then we’ll be dead too.’
‘No, I’m not leaving without them. They took The Reason down there and therefore they will
come back.’ He stepped away and sat on a rock ledge by the metal door.
He thought she must be deranged. ‘The Reason? What was that?’
Kate continued to stare into the pool. She thought she could see a few bubbles. ‘Do you have
a torch Techno?’
‘No, I have better than that.’ He rummaged in his rucksack and pulled out what looked like a
firework, a roman candle. ‘This is my own design of flare, it works underwater too.’ She
grabbed it off him and holding it at arm’s length, she pulled the red cord to set it off. The
bright magnesium light was so intense, it temporarily blinded them both. Quickly she threw it
into the centre of the pool and watched the whiteness disappear downwards.
‘Come on, give me all the flares you brought with you.’ Three times she sent the flare
towards the depths but there was still no sign of Roger and Jack. Her bravery was spent and
she slumped to the floor and started to cry.
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Techno came close and put a comforting arm around her. ‘Come on Kate. We have to save
ourselves.’ As he hauled her to her feet, they both jumped in alarm as there was a giant hiss of
escaping air. They turned back to the waters, expecting another octopus but it was only the
two divers surfacing in the centre of the pool.
A smiling face emerged from beneath a mask. ‘Hoy you! What are you crying for Kit Kat?
Have you messed up your dress?’ Jack threw his mask away into the water and pulled himself
ashore, quickly followed by Roger who was shaking and white with fear. ‘I said, are you
alright Kate?’ He stared hard at Techno, who still had a comforting arm around her. Techno
saw the look and released his grip before backing away. They were nominally enemies after
all. His brother and mum were Techno’s only concern now.
‘I’m fine Jack, just fine.’
‘Thanks for the flares, they are the only way we could have found our way to the surface.
There must be miles of cave down there.’
‘They were Techno’s flares.’ Jack looked at Techno.
‘Thank you both then.’ He paused and held out a steady hand. ‘I mean it, thank you. You
saved our lives, we were low on air.’ They shook hands firmly and then Jack turned his
attention to Roger. Helping him to remove his scuba gear, he talked constantly to his friend.
He had read in an adventure book that it would help reduce the shock. ‘Come on splodger, we
didn’t get splodged by Mr Slime, the power suits helped us...by the way, where is the octopus
Kate?’
She pointed to the ceiling and walls. ‘Splattered everywhere, can’t you smell it?’
‘No my lovely, I can only smell your gorgeous perfume!’ He smiled widely. ‘Nice one Kit
Kat. Very skippy that, splattering an octopus rather than barbecuing it like in Spain. A bit of
batter, a squeeze of lemon and it would have been really tasty.’
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‘Jack for god’s sake, please stop joking. Anyway, even you couldn’t have eaten that much
octopus.’ She giggled at him, his comment had done the trick, it had helped lessen the shock
that was overwhelming all of them. They all stared at Roger who never used a nasty word.
‘Well I’m glad that gruesome bugger copped it.’
Jack was happy, his friend was a