The Seven Seals of Egypt

CHAPTER ELEVEN

FrameHub were both pleased and dubious. Their army of mercenaries had secured the first clue set right at the back of the first seal, but had come across a problem larger than they had anticipated. FrameHub weren’t entirely sure how to process the information, or how best to react.

They were IT gods, not military captains.

The man on the conference call was the leader of the mercs. He called himself Vladimir and spoke with a Russian accent.

“It is an American Special Forces unit called Team SPEAR. They’re off the books, specialists in everything you could name and many things you couldn’t. Taken down some of the world’s worst.”

“It sounds like you admire them,” Piranha said.

“They’re soldiers, and pretend to be nothing else. One time — we were all like that. At least, most of us were. They took out enough of my men to force me to recruit even more.” Vladimir sighed.

“The timetable must not be compromised,” Barracuda said in a robotic computer-generated voice.

“It won’t be. You employed me because I have good connections and get the job done when and how you specify, not for my shocking good looks and bowling arm.”

“Ahh, okay.” Barracuda’s uncertainty made the mechanical voice absurd.

“What do you know of this… SPEAR?” Piranha tried to cover for him.

“Too much to retell,” Vladimir said. “There’s about ten of them, I guess. Mix of nationalities. Here’s the interesting thing — the American government recently disavowed them. These guys’re acting on their own.”

Piranha was confused and didn’t try to hide it this time. “What are you saying?”

“It is too early to know but I do believe they’re acting on their own. That puts them in our territory and easier to kill. No backup, limited tech. All this helps. Also, if the American’s have disavowed SPEAR they will have someone hunting them down, but I haven’t found any details yet. Perhaps you guys could help?”

Piranha weighed and judged the request instantly. “We can find that information, but how will it help?”

“It will tell me the worst of what we’re up against.”

“Okay, I understand. I’ll have the information within the hour.”

“Within the…” Vladimir sounded shocked and doubtful. “Something like that will be deeply classified. It’s hidden behind so many—”

“Please,” Piranha murmured. “I said an hour because we have a retro office Galaga challenge planned. That will take forty-five minutes.”

Vladimir remained silent.

“Did you find out why this team were disavowed?” Manta asked. “That could help.”

“Couldn’t say. Usually though, these things have little to do with a team’s actions and much to do with political maneuvering. I doubt the real reason will be on file.”

“It’s fine,” Piranha said. “Please concentrate on the tombs and the seven seals. This knowledge is vital to our future and thus to yours. We can make you rich, Mr. Vladimir. Just work with us to find that seventh seal. That is your sole and only goal right now.”

“Understood. The seals are crucial. They’re also front and center on many men’s radars right now. What are you boys gonna do about that?”

Piranha smiled at the screen. “Something huge. You will hear about it, be assured.”

Manta snorted. “A Tibetan monk will hear of it.”

Moray glanced at him. “They have Wi-Fi in Tibet, idiot.”

“Yeah, I know that. It was a figure of speech, asshat.”

“Right,” Vladimir cut in. “I’ll let you boys get on with it. Keep me updated.”

“We’re not boys,” Piranha said. “Well, not all of us. Rest assured we have a method to distract the entire world from the seven seals of Egypt.”

“You said that already. I’ll be watching and listening.”

“Good,” Piranha said, unable to come up with anything witty. They needed Vladimir though — somebody out there in the real world dealing with real-world problems and situations. None of them had seen sunlight for months. They were too busy following their mandate: Knowledge is power. Down here they could accumulate vast amounts on everyone and anything, but if the curse of the seven seals was right and led to an incredible doomsday weapon…

FrameHub thought that was ultra-cool.

Vladimir signed off. Piranha shook his head at the entire group and called for FrameHub to reorder. It was bordering on an extremely momentous time.

“Tell me, FrameHub, are we ready?”

“We are ready,” the collective agreed.

“Shall we make them fear us?”

“We shall.”

“Shall we make them cower?”

“We will.”

“Press that start button then,” Piranha said. “It’s game on.”

Piranha arranged his thoughts. With the first seal broken and the clue discovered, the mercs would handle the second seal. Some kind of abandoned tomb according to Vladimir. FrameHub had been formulating a plan for some time now, a game plan, to bring three nations to their knees, and then two of them to collapse. It was a test and a warning, something to make the rest of the world sit up and beg.

Literally.

They were connected worldwide through the computer network. And not just to the Internet but every single thing on earth that required any kind of mainframe or processor. The best hackers of their time had become a divine and superhuman collective, and the world was about to find out what they could do.

Piranha watched proceedings. In their real-life war game three countries would be threatened, all by email message. The first to capitulate to their demands would win, the other two would be destroyed. It was pure gaming rules.

“We expect them to ignore the first demand,” Piranha said. “So prepare the second. We need to be taken seriously.”

A desire he’d felt his whole life.

FrameHub had researched carefully and identified the right agency, the right branch of that agency and even the correct person to send the threat to. It would be registered, so that when the second was received the level would be escalated. There was a procedure to go through and because FrameHub needed the time and the lengthy distraction they would happily adhere to and not force it.

Their rules. Their game.

Piranha ran it through his head. “The governments of Egypt, Turkey and Greece have twenty four hours to meet our demands, those being the delivery of three hundred million dollars to an account of our choosing. Failure to meet these demands will result in a catastrophic failure of your entire infrastructure, sending you back to the Dark Ages. You will face famine, disease, war and utter bankruptcy. Only one country will be allowed to meet these demands — the very first to do so. The other two will crumble. Do we — FrameHub — have your attention? Good, you have our demands. Take them seriously or perish.”

It would be analyzed, traced, taken apart. It would be subject to a deep data dive, an Interpol investigation — all kinds of scrutiny. It would do them no good. FrameHub had inserted several clever reroutes into the transmission that would force the authorities’ tech guys to attest to their genius and sincerity.

The rest would no doubt rely on the second demand, where a demonstration would be in order. Good. Really, I can’t wait. Piranha had never set off a real live missile. The difference between game theory and real life would be interesting to see.

“Message sent,” Orca said.

Piranha grinned at the collective, unable to hide his glee. “Just twenty four hours,” he said excitedly. “And we get to do this shit for real!”

A cheer echoed around the underground bunker.