Free The Novida Code by JN David Page A

really had hit home. He was not wrong, even though he'd got the wrong target. My main fear was that he'd pay a heavy price for his actions.
    But we had things to do and I resolutely pushed away all thoughts unconnected with our mission. The corridors were practically empty. Just about everybody was at the party. I'd noticed the absence of the two auxiliaries, Afren and Elden, but there was nothing odd about that. They surely wouldn't have been invited to a party. Even the Efeghis were afraid of them, and I could understand this, knowing what they were.
    Lauren slowed down as we approached the last corridor leading to the entrance to the prohibited zone.
    This was the only way in: the door with the special security system activated by the Efeghis' bracelets. Along with their arms, this was one of the few of their technologies that they had brought with them to Earth.
    I was puzzled by this lack of Efeghi technology, which meant they had to adapt to our less sophisticated devices. Combined with the lack of cultural references that I'd already noticed, this formed a baffling picture that I would have liked to be able to fathom out.
    We stopped at the end of the corridor. Lauren waited silently and I realised she was listening for any guards. The door was unguarded during the daytime, but we couldn't take any chances.
    All was quiet. She tilted her head forward slightly. One gesture told me the door wasn't guarded, and I followed her without a sound. At the door, she turned toward me. I then removed the bracelet from my bodice and handed it to her. Lauren had watched the Efeghis and knew exactly how to insert it into the identification system. The door opened a little and we were in the prohibited zone.
    My heartbeat was so loud in my ears that I could barely hear any other sounds. My hands were shaking but Lauren seemed calm. She moved quickly and silently. I forced myself to follow her, feeling that I was being terribly noisy. She guided me to the infirmary and once again used the bracelet to open the door.
    Without a sound, she went inside and I followed her. She didn't switch on the light, leading us to the infirmary's terminal in the dark. She sat down in front of it and activated the hologram, which promptly started flickering and asking for access codes. Lauren didn't know these, but she'd been a log hacker since childhood.
    Without a moment's hesitation, she began flicking her fingers over the hologram. I waited, praying she'd quickly find a security loophole, as I was growing more terrified by the minute that we'd be discovered. Perhaps there were guards in front of the access door? Had they gone off on patrol just at the right moment? If they came back before we returned, we'd be trapped.
    I'd have liked to have carried out more reconnaissance before tonight, but Lauren was against this on the grounds that we'd run too great a risk of being spotted. It was only because of the party that we'd been more or less undisturbed.
    After a while, I murmured very softly:
“Still nothing?”
“No…” she breathed.
“There has to be a security loophole!” I said.
“Shush”, she replied, calmly. “Obviously, there's no having to about it.”
    Lauren remained imperturbable and I couldn't resist the urge to tease her:
“What a pity we didn't bring a siphon with us…”
    She silently rolled her eyes, and sighed:
“Right, there's nothing else for it; I'm going to have to call in the cavalry.”
“What?”
“I sent a self-replicating Trojan horse to the council offices. I had hoped to use it at a more opportune moment, but I'm going to have to activate it now.”
“You hacked into the council offices?”
“No, I hacked into all the government systems. To be more precise, I've peppered them with little viruses that let me break into their archives.”
“But how did you manage that after the invasion? I thought all the networks were monitored.”
“I did it before the invasion.”
    I was speechless for a