Chapter 6: Second Strike

They pulled into as underground parking area and took the elevator up to Hank Caldwell's offices. Mark looked around and remembered he had been there before with both his parents. It seemed so long ago.

Rachel got out first and motioned for the two teens to follow. "Come on guys, let's get this thing started."

A tall, slender man who would have looked at home modeling men's fashions was waiting for them at the office door. He came directly toward Rachel and exclaimed, "Rachel." He hugged her and added, "It's nice to see you again so soon. Now, what is this about an emergency?" He took her elbow and guided her toward his office while Melissa and Mark followed.

He gestured for them to be seated and waited, an attentive look on his face. Hank, you remember my son Mark."

The lawyer nodded yes. Rachel continued, "He has created a computer security program that is like none other. Nothing can get through it. It is also a near perfect encryption program as well. My now ex-employer, Walter Frost has tried to steal another version. When the program is demonstrated, the government will want it. No, they will demand to get all rights to it. It's amazing."

At first, Hank Caldwell tried to temporize, "Rachel, I realize that every mother is proud of her son, but..." He left the rest of the sentence unspoken.

"Look, Mister Caldwell," Mark interrupted him, "I've just come from beating their so-called super computer at chess. I designed a security program that not only keeps out the hackers and crackers, but also retaliates and wipes the aggressor's computer as well. It fights back in a proactive manner."

The expression on the lawyer's face changed from condescending to mildly interested, "How about a demonstration?"

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" Mark's smug look irritated the lawyer. Mark didn't care. He decided, when an adult tries to make a teenager feel like a dumb teenager, it is not a good way to make teenage friends.

"Well I have been defending a very bright young man who was charged with computer crimes. He got in to the Du Pont laboratory main computer and programmed it to use candy recipes for a screen saver. It was a harmless prank.

"Yeah, that must be Harvey Lee Jefferson. I remember when he said he was going to do it. I told him he wasn't good enough to cover his tracks. It looks like he wasn't. We took computer lab on line together. He's pretty fair."

"Mark, you're being way too generous with that sneaky little nerd turd." Melissa was not one to stay silent when she heard something she didn't like. She detested Harvey because he tried to date her and she couldn't stand him. "You know full well he is nowhere as good as we are, the little creep."

"Now dear, we are here for business," Rachel told them. She turned to Melissa and patted her shoulder.

"You'll have to forgive her, she just beat up on a man and she's still excited," Mark told the lawyer. He fought hard to not show any emotion.

Rachel interrupted and brought things back to the subject at hand. "Please. We're here to get protection for Mark's program from anyone who will try to encroach on it and steal it."

Mark decided it was his turn to interrupt, "You wanted a test, Mister Caldwell, what do you have in mind?"

"Well I thought it would be a fair test for Harvey to access your computer and try to hack his way in. Fair enough?"

"No sir, it wouldn't be fair at all," Mark answered him.

"Is he that good?" Mark realized the lawyer was a nice guy who had no idea how to talk to teenagers, especially the intelligent ones.

"No sir, I meant that he isn't good enough to even come close. My program will destroy his computer. I don't want to cause him to lose his hardware. He can't afford to buy another computer." The conversation reinforced Mark's first impression. Hank Caldwell was a nice guy who didn't know how to communicate with young adults.

"Look kid..." He began.

"Its Mark, sir," Mark corrected him, "Not kid."

Hank Caldwell was irritated when Mark had interrupted him again. "Uh, sorry, Mark, but if his computer is damaged I'll give him this one." He pointed to the one on his desk, a fancy looking piece of what Melissa called "pretty junk."

"He wouldn't take it," Mark answered him. "He is used to better than that. His motherboard probably cost about twice as much to manufacture as that whole pretty piece of doorstop you have on your desk. "Sorry, but whoever sold it to you cheated you."

Hank looked at the young man in front of him a little closer. "Ah, um, well. Very well, I'll replace his present computer if you damage it. Is that fair enough? Or are you afraid he will be able to get in to your computer?"

Melissa whispered, "Gotcha."

Mark grinned and pulled his personalized pocket minder out of his hip pocket. He wrote out the phone number to the dedicated line to his personal computer and handed it to the lawyer "This is the phone number to my computer." He struggled to not gloat over the offer. He knew Harvey would appreciate a new computer.

"Teacher, will you please install the new program on my computer?"

"It was done when you first ordered it. Both your computer and your mother's are protected.

Oh, Mark thought to himself. Teacher would take even more time to get accustomed to. "Thank you."

They waited and watched while Hank Caldwell called Harvey and made the arrangements. They waited a minute in silence; then Hank Caldwell exclaimed, "He says your computer is eating his computer. What does he mean?"

"I warned you," Mark told him, "But you wouldn't listen. Now you owe him about thirty-five hundred dollars to purchase all the components to build a new unit. His is fried."

He turned on the speakerphone just as Harvey screamed, "Is that Mark Stone there with you?"

"Yes, you little creep, and I'm here too." Melissa told him.

"Why didn't you warn me?" Harvey sounded close to tears.

Mark smiled when the lawyer said, "Stop whining, I'll buy you a new one." Mister Caldwell just proved to be a man of his word.

"Really. Can I pick it out?" Mark heard the greed in his voice.

"Thirty-five hundred dollars is the limit, Harve," Mark told him. He and Melissa both knew what Harvey wanted. IBM had recently introduced a new model designed to take unlimited upgrades. It had tera bytes of disk capacity and more memory than Harve would ever use.

"Well, okay," he answered. "I won't lose anything but my programs."

"Which you have backed up on disk," Melissa interrupted him. "Come on down and Mister Caldwell will give you a check. Goodbye." She nodded and Hank Caldwell shut off the speakerphone.

"Well, I seem to have egg all over my face, but I have a hunch it will be very profitable egg." He looked puzzled and asked, "If you kids are both such hotshots, how come I haven't defended you?"

"Two reasons sir..." Mark started to answer.

"First, we are too good to get caught." Melissa butted in.

Mark thought smacking Walter Frost seemed to have done something to her. She had become a changed person in less than two hours. All at once, she had started to change into someone totally different.

He interrupted, "And second, and more important, childish games like that are not the sort of thing responsible people indulge themselves in." He tried to sound above it all.

"When you're the best, what bother with kiddy games?" Melissa was on a roll. Then Mark understood. When she hit back at Walter Frost, it had freed her from her supposed father's domination. Teacher furnished Mark with the insight that Melissa had needed the emotional release.

"Ah, yes. I have an attorney in mind that can handle the government end. You only have one buyer, the US Government. However, I must warn you that there are times when the military and the security people feel that whatever you have is theirs by right. They may only pay you a few thousand dollars for your program."

"Normally I'd just give the program to the government, but I need..." He looked at Melissa's frowning face, "No, we need, a lot of money for some other projects. Now I will not sell the program to the government, I'll lease it to them, though."

Hank tried to explain, "Mark, they can agree to anything you say and then change the agreement on a whim. My advice is to take what is offered and walk away."

Mark shook his head no in disagreement, "Oh no, I have designed certain safeguards into the program that will make anyone who attempts to cheat me very unhappy." Mark smiled at the lawyer and nodded his head yes in agreement with his statement.

"Let's get the paperwork out of the way," Rachel said. Write up an agreement and we'll retain you to negotiate a lease deal with the government. Five million down and a hundred thousand a year, all tax free, is what we demand. That is non negotiable. The Israelis would love the aggressive potential of this program. Tell your Washington friends that we will not be bullied or cheated."

"You don't understand how national security operates. Since 9-11 the federal government can legally seize anything it wants and there is no recourse."

Mark interrupted, "Wait, I already have taken precautions. Whatever government agency tries to cheat me will be virtually shut down. I have the ability to do that and I will."

"Even from the grave?" Hank Caldwell asked in a soft voice with no humor in it.

That got Mark's attention. Then he became angry. It was a way down deep anger that burned hot and intense. "I want you to listen to me, anyone, or anything that threatens my family, my friends or me will draw a level of retaliation that you would find unbelievable. I mean just that."

"Wait Mark," Rachel tried to caution him to go easy.

He made an angry chopping gesture with his right hand and continued, "The little demonstration I gave with Harvey's computer is only a fraction of the potential I have at my command. Call your friend in Washington."

"You better listen to my son, Hank," Rachel cut in, "These two young people are part of the new breed. They are smarter and sharper than we are and their children will in all probability be even more so." She smiled at Melissa and Mark, and then sat back while she waited for the lawyer to respond.

Hank stared hard at Mark as he answered Rachel, "I have a hunch there is something more here than merely a computer program. I don't know what it is, but I have a hunch and my hunches are usually right." Rachel, Melissa and Mark all three gave him bright grins that showed a lot of teeth. Hank shook his head and dialed a Washington, DC area code while they waited.

All at once, the attorney part of him took over. He sat straighter in his chair. Right at that moment, he looked like the man in charge as he said into the phone, "I need to speak to Jack Parsons. This is his old room mate from college, Hank Caldwell."

He frowned a moment and barked into the mouthpiece, "Look, if you have ever seen the top of your boss's desk, you saw a picture of us mugging for the camera. I'm the guy on the right. This is an emergency that involves the government.

"I don't care if he's with the president or the pope, get him right now." Mark liked what he saw of the hard side of this mild looking gentleman. He began to like the lawyer more and more.

"Hello, Jack, this is Hank ... No kidding, the secretary of defense? Well, I'll apologize if I ever meet him. What I have is much more important. I have a client with a security program that not only locks out all intruders but also fries the aggressor computer. I just got a demonstration and believe me, I am impressed." He hit the speakerphone again.

"Hank, if this program is that good I know people who will want to gobble it right up.

Mark started to say something but Hank waved him off and told Jack Parsons, "I'm going to stretch a point here and tell you I am aware of your ties with the CIA." There was an audible gasp from the other end of the line. He continued, "But this is even more important than that. Do I have your attention now?"

"Yes, you certainly do, old buddy." Jack Parson's voice turned to steel in just a couple of seconds.

"I shall arrange a demonstration. I want DOD and the Pentagon to both have representatives there. This program is not for sale. It is for lease and the price is quite steep, but worth it. Do not think you can appropriate this software. The young man who created it has more tricks up his sleeve than a magician. In the parlance of your CIA cohorts, He is lethal."

Rachel stood up, "Hank, we have to go. We have more errands to run." Mark stood with her, and then helped Melissa up from her chair. It gave him a chance to hug her again.

"Wait." Hank said, "There may be other questions to be answered.

"Give them the Stones' two phone numbers for the dedicated lines and tell them to try to hack their way in. That will answer all their questions. You handle the business end and call us. Melissa gave a wave over her shoulder and said, "Ciao," as they left.

While they were still in the elevator, Mark got an alert from Teacher. "Mom, someone had broken into our house. Call the police." Melissa gave Mark a questioning look.

Rachel didn't bother to ask how her son knew; she grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and dialed 911. "This is an emergency. I am down town and my security system informs me someone is burglarizing my house." She started to frown, "Look, I do not have a security service. Someone is breaking into my house and I want the police to go arrest anyone inside. Please don't argue. I am just outside my attorney's office. Hank Caldwell is my attorney and if I go back in, we will sue the police for negligence. There are proprietary secrets there that are potentially worth millions of dollars."

The three ran to the van and jumped in. Even before Melissa and Mark had their seat belts fastened, Rachel had the gas pedal shoved against the floorboard. They tore out of the parking area and headed home. Rachel ran every traffic light and ignored every stop sign to get them to their house in less than ten minutes.

They rushed into the house and Rachel ran straight to the kitchen, while Mark ran through to his bedroom. Melissa's father was tied up on the floor and unconscious. CE Sharkey had Mark's computer open and had begun to remove the hard drive. Another man, a stranger had already tossed Mark's CDs and DVDs into a big plastic sack.

He was nearest to Mark. Without thinking, Mark ran at the man and stiff-armed him in the jaw. The intruder dropped and lay still. Melissa ran at CE, jumped up into the air and kicked him in the forehead as he turned. It knocked him back against Mark's computer, and knocked it to the floor.

"Mark. Duck," Rachel yelled.

He jumped back and grabbed Melissa and pulled her with him. Rachel had a fresh Pepper Spray canister. It was the big industrial size that could be used to take down a whole room of people. She emptied the entire thing into Sharkey's face. She was coughing from the mist that got back to her, her eyes watered as she kept on. Mark decided that the two women in his life were lethal, instead of just one.

"Mom. The man is down. Let it go. You're punishing yourself more than you are he. His eyes watered and it became hard to breath. Melissa had the same problem. Mark led her out and called to his mother, "You beat him. Come away while you can still breathe."

She turned and Mark saw her swollen red eyes. She started to make retching sounds and ran to her room. "Shower. She yelled, "Need a shower."

Then the police arrived. The driver, an aging refugee from a pastry shop ponderously moved his medicine ball shaped body out from behind the steering wheel, stretched and slowly waddled up the walk to the front door. His partner was a lanky blonde woman. She appeared to be nearly as tall as Mark after she slid out her door and stood straight. Mark hurried to open the door.

"What seems to be the problem?" the fat cop asked. The tall female stood back with her mouth closed. She seemed content to let her partner handle things.

"Well, since you people were so slow getting here we took care of the situation ourselves."

Just then, a whiff of Rachel's Mace came wafting through the room. The tall female cop asked, "Who got sprayed?" Her eyes narrowed and she looked as if whoever did the spraying should get arrested.

Mark looked disgusted at the quality of the two police sent to answer the complaint. "Oh, he's in the bedroom trying to get his breath back. His name is CE Sharkey. He's the head of security and skull bashing for Frost Electronics.

The other person in there who is all tied up is Carl Puffin, and this is his daughter, Melissa. I don't know the name of the other person who is on the floor unconscious. I believe he works for CE, though."

Just then, Rachel came out of the bedroom dressed in fresh jeans and a plaid shirt. Her head was bent forward as she dried her hair with a towel. "Oh but that water felt good. My eyes hardly burn now. Did the police show up yet? We still have to get to the mountains ... oh." She looked up and saw the two mismatched cops. "Well would you please arrest those people in the bedroom for burglary and get them out of here? They have tried to steal the hard drives out of our computers and they have ransacked the two bedrooms. Tomorrow I'll need to hire someone to help me get things straightened out. Right now though, we're in a hurry.