Free Encrypted by Carolyn McCray

prying eyes.
    Crawling out from under the equipment, Ronnie looked up . All the screens had stopped their incessant scrolling, but each blazed with a single symbol . But how could that be ? She had just cut the wiring . The screens should be blank.
    Before she could investigate further, Quirk recovered from his shock . “Okay, seriously, I am taking away your hacker’s membership card.”
    “It worked , didn’t it?” She nodded to ward the angelic symbols . “Get a screenshot of that, would you?”
    With great showmanship, Quirk hammered away at his now - defunct keyboard . Oh , yeah . S he’d cut those cables as well.
    “Maybe we should just pack up for tonight ,” she conceded.
    “ Ya think?”
    Contrite, Ronnie tugged on the free ends of the cables to see what they attached to, but Quirk slapped her shoulder as hard as a card - carrying member of the R ainbow Alliance could . “Just go home.”
    “But I — ”
    “You’ve done enough damage . Go!” That tone was about as close to blowing his top as Quirk ever came, so Ronnie obeyed, grabbing her Hello Kitty bag and hit ting the road.
    Time to go home and soak out the intellectual defeat with a nice , long , bubbly, bubbly, bubbly bath. Anything to wash away the sight of all those symbols.
     
    * * *
     
    Francois ignored the medic cleaning his wounds. They fretted and lectured. What would they know of his duty to God? They thought him mad. Most did. Yet , being graced with the language of t he angels, Francois did not bother with what others thought.
    Each symbol, fresh to his flesh , sang to him. The script burned in his blood reminding him of his duty. A duty to stop the Hidden Hand at any cost. They had already targeted Europe. That continent was more than likely lost. Just like t he last time , the Hidden Hand decided to make the world over in their hideous image.
    That was why , upon hearing of the first case of the Black Death in Venice, Francois left his homeland and trekked to the Americas. He had failed to predict the Hidden Hand’s bold move. Now his last hope was to stop the spread across the Atlantic Ocean.
    Which was why he sought the Picasso. Yet , even in that , he was thwarted. How he wished to see the script of the angels. To have them talk to him in their purity. Then , he could mark the oc casion upon his flesh. Dug in there to forever be at his avail.
    If only the agent had listened to him. If only he could have broken through the man’s stubborn denial. He could see the compassion in the man’s eyes. He could feel the worry through his grip. How many other agents had passed by the cell , not even giving Francois the least regard ?
    But now , the agent was gone. Off to live his life, not knowing how incredibly short lived it was going to be.
     
    * * *
     
    Jennifer nudged her again . Amanda had shut out the endless interdepartmental bickering and gone back into the only safe place she knew . Numbers . Facts . Science .
    So clean . So neat . So precise . So unlike human nature .
    She looked at Jennifer . W hy had she disturbed her? Why had her assistant reminded her that she was in a room full of her betters?
    Henderson cleared his throat , and then Amanda knew why her assistant had given her a heads - up . The director looked ready to make a call . How to handle the current situation given this new, potentially devastating information?
    “Unless we have anything else, I am going to brief the p resident.”
    Attendees answered with a quiet rumbling , signaling that they were unwilling to commit to anything yet . Amanda squirmed in her seat , trying to keep her feet out from under Jennifer’s abusive heel.
    “Yes, Dr. Rolph ?”
    She was on the spot . No sense in missing this opportunity . “What is your recommendation going to be , sir ?”
    Henderson rattled them off . “In addition to the current measures, we should step up surveillance on incoming international flights . We’ll d o postflight temperature checks , and quarantine