Free DEAD BEEF (Our Cyber World Book 1) by Eduardo Suastegui Page A

him as if he were climbing back on a bicycle for the first time in ten years.
    > 1101 1110 1010 1101 1011 1110 1110 1111 = DEAD BEEF
    > 0001 1101 0000 1010 1011 1010 1011 1110 = 1D0A BABE
    Martin felt blood drain from his face. Turning away from the Toyota and bending over, he wretched the entirety of his meal. Lit by the glow of the laptop's screen, he could see the steam of his vomit rising up from the cold desert floor.
    Martin drank water, spitting some out to dilute and wash out the bile. After turning off and repacking all equipment, he detached the ultralight sleeping bag from the camping backpack and unrolled it onto the front passenger seat.
    He got in, leaned back the seat as far as it would go and tried his best to fall asleep.
    After a few minutes, he turned on the XM radio, already tuned to the CNN station he'd been monitoring all day. An expert panel was discussing the possible reasons for the “cycling power outages.” Was it a terrorist attack? Was this a repeat of the numerous outages that took place during the 2000 to 2001 California energy crisis? Were weaknesses in the California power grid causing problems again? Did software intended to load-balance electricity demand during peak periods misbehave unexpectedly?
    “All of the above,” Martin whispered into the dark, cold air.
    He listened to the speculative banter for a few minutes and turned off the radio. Only then did Martin notice he was shivering.

    Julian slept little that night, and he woke up with a start to the beeping of his watch alarm. It was 4:30AM.
    He climbed part way out of the cabin and froze, listening. After a minute or so he convinced himself that there was no propeller sound. Then he tried to build on that to argue with himself that some kid flying a remote control toy had scared the crap out of him last night. That logic didn't totally satisfy.
    He had contemplated running off last night, as soon as that thing disappeared. But that's what they would expect him to do. So he did the unexpected thing. He stayed put. Besides, he didn't like sailing in the dark.
    What about now? Should he sail now, or should he wait until sunrise, another hour or so? He'd go at sunrise, he decided.
    Julian paused to listen again. No propeller sound. No mechanical bee.
    Julian dropped back into the cabin and considered what to do until sunrise. He was wired, so sleep would be no use.
    He didn't want to turn on his satellite phone or his computer. To pass the time, he plugged headphones into his XM radio, to keep things quiet, and tuned to CNN.
    They were talking about the previous night's power outages in L.A., which appeared to be a glitch. “A curious glitch,” the anchorman noted, “given the circular pattern.”
    Julian listened to the description of the outages, using his index finger to trace a circle on the cabin's bed.
    When it came to him, he grinned. “A message.” Then he stopped to consider who would have issued the message.
    It was time to sail, he decided as he scampered out of the cabin. The only question was in which direction.
    That thing came out of the north so they'd expect him to go south. West it was, then, maybe turning northwest toward Santa Rosa or even San Miguel Island. It was the random thing to do.
     

 
    Chapter 12

    Beloski woke up to Ochoa saying, “We're here, Captain.”
    Beloski straightened up. His stiff body seemed to tell him it had been just a few minutes since the Gulfstream took off from Dulles International Airport. The fact that it was dark outside didn't help dissuade this faulty impression.
    “Time flies when you fly asleep,” Ochoa said through his smile.
    Beloski rubbed his eyes, recalling how shortly before takeoff, he'd confessed that he had a terrible time sleeping in planes. That somehow had led to Beloski sharing how he'd served in the Air Force before reductions drove him out with the rank of Captain. In turn, Ochoa let him know he'd served as a medic in the Navy, making it into a Seals