Binary: An Encrypted to Cipher Bridge Short Story Read online

  “But how do we get down to it?” Zach asked.

  After pointing to an electrical wire that ran from the corner of the building down to the dock, Ronnie knelt down and cut the ends off the straps of her pack. She handed him one of the short woven bands, then put the pack on her back.

  She placed the strap over the wire. “See you at the bottom.”

  For such a high tech gal, she certainly could go low tech when needed.

  * * *

  The warm Pacific air blew through Ronnie’s hair, her braids long since unwoven. Her fingers cramped as she held onto the strap and streaked down the power cord, which turned out to be slightly harder than it looked. For one thing, the insulation on the cord was uneven, at times bunching, creating humps which threatened her hold on her strap.

  And now, looking ahead, the end of the cord was pulling away from the post. If it came undone, they would be riding a live wire. Not a good thing. The ends sparked as they came unmoored.

  Ronnie released the strap, hoping that Zach followed suit, just as the cord split from the post. She fell into the harbor as the end of the cord became an electrical snake. Zach fell near her as the cord flailed back and forth above them, powered by 230 Kv of electricity. Forget her little light show back at the office. This high voltage would fry them both in an instant.

  She dove into the water, swimming under the nearest boat, and she didn’t surface until she had the boat between her and the cord.

  Zach splashed up right beside her, blowing out a breath.

  “Now what?” he asked.

  She pointed to the large yacht at the end of the pier. Swimming like their lives depended on it—which, of course, they did—they struck out for the yacht.

  Finally, Ronnie’s hand caught the stainless steel rung that led up a ladder on the aft side of the yacht. Clambering up, Ronnie’s very wet shoes hit the deck. She didn’t need to worry about slipping, since all walkable surfaces on the yacht were covered in either state-of-the-art high grip flooring or carpeting. You had to love the super-rich. Carpeting on a boat.

  She hit the deck at a run, racing past the large party pit at the front of the boat. There were numerous coaches that surrounded two, not one, but two Jacuzzis, along with a fully stocked bar. Climbing the short set of stairs up to the bridge level, she opened the door and headed toward the controls.

  Zach headed down the stairs to check below deck.

  Surprisingly for such a fancy yacht, the thing still had a turn-key start. She easily broke through the resin to grab the two wires and tapped them together to start the engine. From there, she powered up the rest of the controls.

  “Um, I think we stole the Triad’s yacht,” Zach said as he joined her.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “There were crates of weapons. Did you know there are five state rooms on this boat?”

  “It’s the Zeus, after all,” Ronnie said.

  “And they seem intent on re-securing it,” Zach said at the six gunmen running down the dock toward them. “They must have been guarding the boat at the gate.”

  They must not have expected anyone to slide down a power line and swim to the yacht. Imagine that.

  “Ronnie, are you stealing a Mangusta Zeus 165 super yacht?” Quirk asked in her ear.

  “Yes.”

  “Is it as magnificent as it looked in the catalog?”

  “Surprisingly, the bridge is lined in plastic, fake wooden paneling.”

  “No!” Quirk exclaimed.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, we can only hope they didn’t skimp in other areas.”

  “Exactly.”

  “What are you talking about?” Zach asked as Ronnie got the engines running and pulled the yacht out of the slip.

  “You’ll see,” Ronnie said.

  “I thought this thing was fast?” Zach said as they inched forward.

  “We need to work up the speed,” Ronnie explained.

  He put his hand on the bridge’s door. “I better get out there to lay down some cover fire, then.”

  “No,” Ronnie said, putting her hand on his.

  “But if I don’t back them off, they are going to spray this boat with bullets.”

  “Remember when I said the Zeus was pirate proof? Well, we’re going to test that theory right now.”

  * * *

  The rattle of automatic weapon’s fire filled the bridge. Ronnie watched a bullet bounce off the windshield, and it didn’t even leave a scratch. Glad to see the glass was not just bullet resistant, but bullet proof.

  “They weren’t kidding,” Zach said, putting a finger out to touch where the bullet glanced off.

  Even so, Ronnie pushed the engines, milking as much speed as possible out of the yacht.

  “How long until we rendezvous with Interpol?” Zach asked.

  “Should be out there in eight minutes,” Ronnie answered.

  “What? That fast?” Zach said.

  “I know, this puppy can go 37 knots, which is over 100 miles per hour,” Ronnie said, patting the dashboard. She just needed to get it up to speed.

  The shrill whine of Zodiac boats overtook her excitement. The long, low black boats fanned out around them, menacing their path.

  “We just need to get past them,” Ronnie said. “Their top speed is 20 miles per hour.”

  Which she wasn’t even doing right now. This yacht was powerful, but needed a long wind-up period to reach full speed.

  Their firing at the boat was not the concern, it was being boarded. They would be easily overwhelmed by the dozens of guards. Fortunately, they were on a Zeus 165 super yacht. She surveyed the instruments on the panel. Ronnie found the one that was labeled with a skull and cross bones inside of a large red circle with a slash through it.

  Quickly, she hit it. The sides of the yacht’s railing opened up and thick nets were hydraulically lifted, then dumped over the sides. Spikes popped out. Then the yacht sputtered for a moment as the entire anti-boarding net became electrified.

  “How’s that for pirate-proof?” Ronnie asked.

  “Impressive.”

  “The tech came from the Japanese whalers, actually. This whole system was developed to keep Greenpeace off their boats.”

  “Not from the Navy?” Zach asked.

  “Nope. Whalers, go figure.”

  The first zodiac pulled up parallel to them. The first man who attempted to board was thrown back over the Zodiac and landed thirty feet further back, in the water.

  “The Italians know their luxury yacht customers, obviously.”

  “And their pirates,” Zach commented.

  The other zodiac boats backed off. Guess no one wanted to try the anti-boarding device again. They fired and fired, punching holes in acrylic shell of the boat, but were stopped by the boron carbide bullet proof material just under the surface.

  Even the Triad soldiers seemed to understand that they weren’t going to shoot their way in. Instead, they took to crisscrossing her path. Like she was really going to slow down. She’d be more than happy to mow the Triad soldiers down.

  The boat thrummed with power as the engines began to warm up to their full speed. Soon, the Zodiacs couldn’t keep up, and they fell back. Ronnie put her hand up and Zach gave her a high five.

  Ronnie hit the anti-pirate button again. The net from the port side raised as it should. The starboard side, however, was caught.

  “You’ve got to go out and raise it manually,” Ronnie said, pointing to the netting caught on the mechanism. “It is creating too much drag. I can’t get up to speed.”

  Zach took in a deep breath. The guards were still peppering the boat with bullets.

  “Not like that,” Ronnie said, pointing to her pack. The brave fool really would have gone out there unprotected. Silly FBI man. “Get the bulletproof shirt out.”

  CHAPTER 3

  Zach just went on faith as he rummaged through the pack. He found the electricity spout, plus several other items that he had no idea what
they did. Ultimately, he found a tee-shirt rolled up at the bottom. He pulled it out to find it wasn’t a tee-shirt, but a long-sleeved turtleneck, although it was twice as heavy as it should have been.

  He unfurled it. “This it?”

  “Yes,” Ronnie said. “Put it on before you head out.”

  “And what exactly is this supposed to do, besides be a fashion statement?”

  “Oh, it will stop bullets,” Ronnie answered casually.

  Zach knew his look was incredulous. The thing in his hands weighed a quarter of his bullet-proof vest, and it had been rolled up, for God’s sake. You couldn’t even bend a vest using all your strength.

  “Just put it on,” Ronnie instructed with a tsk.

  Zach unbuttoned his shirt and yanked it off. “Do you want to give me a little more reassurance?”

  “Than just my word?” Ronnie said but there was a twinkle in her eye. “Fine. We fused boron, the same material that is stopping the bullets in the hull, with cotton, to create a lightweight body armor as effective as Kevlar, but actually useful.”

  Zach pulled the turtleneck on. It certainly wasn’t as soft as brushed cotton, but could it really stop bullets? “How?”

  “We bake the boron and cotton at temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees. It fuses the material. Plus, there are copper nanowires in there that should actually catch the bullets.”

  “Should?” Zach asked.

  “At least according to the Swiss scientist who first described the process.”

  “It’s been tested, though, right?”

  Ronnie just looked out the forward window, whistling a little tune. What else should he have expected from Ronnie and Quirk? The world was their R&D proving ground.

  He smoothed the thick black fabric down and opened the bridge door.

  “I’ve cut the electricity to the netting, so you just need to get it unhooked. The retraction motor should take it from there.”

  Ronnie always made it seem so easy, didn’t she?

  Zack ducked as he headed out the door. He didn’t take a single step before he was shot in the arm. However, not only did the fabric stop the bullet, it enveloped it. He picked the bullet out.

  It really was miraculous.

  Another bullet hit him on the chest, shoving him back a step. It was going to leave a bruise, but it didn’t even crack a rib like it would have if he’d been in a standard vest. Most women baked cakes, not impenetrable body armor. But that was Ronnie for you. He’d much rather have a lightweight bulletproof turtleneck than a red velvet cake, any day.

  However, if they decided to go for a head or leg shot, he’d be done for, so Zach hurried over to the side of the boat and freed the netting. It rapidly whisked back into its hull storage unit.

  He was about to turn back to the bridge when a glint on the horizon caught his eye.

  Crap.

  * * *

  Ronnie pushed the boat’s throttle hard against the metal instrument panel. She knew she could eke a few more knots out of the yacht. Normally, top speed was calculated based on the ability of the engine to survive. She couldn’t care less if she ground the engine to dust. They just needed to get out to international waters.

  They were less than five minutes from the invisible line. There was a smudge on the horizon that should be the frigate.

  Zach burst into the bridge. “Get down!”

  He tackled her and they fell to the floor just as a missile hit the bridge. The windows exploded inward, showering them with glass.

  “Guess it isn’t RPG-proof,” Zach noted.

  “If they target the engines, we’re toast.”

  Of course, the next explosion was below deck.

  He could hear the grinding of gears as the yacht slowed.

  “I’ve got to get down there,” Ronnie said.

  “No, you’ve got to get your butts on deck,” Quirk said.

  Only then could they see the helicopter sweeping in from the west.

  “Do you have another bullet-proof shirt?” Zach asked. Ronnie knocked her knuckle against her sternum.

  “It’s my new little black dress. I wear it everywhere.”

  He took her hand and they made their way out of the demolished bridge. Smoke billowed out of the engine compartment. They were at a dead stop in the water.

  Ronnie scrambled out onto deck as the helicopter hovered overhead. It wasn’t the pilot’s fault this time. The guy couldn’t land the chopper on the yacht. It might have two hot tubs on deck, but there certainly wasn’t enough room to land.

  Zach laced his fingers together and gave Ronnie a boost up. She grabbed hold of the struts and pulled herself up from there. The helicopter swerved to avoid another missile. Zach climbed on top of the charred bridge and launched himself into the air. His arm caught the prop.

  Clearly, the pilot took that to mean he was aboard, as he zipped the chopper out over the open water, heading due east. Zach’s legs dangled as the helicopter gained speed. There was no way he could overcome gravity and acceleration. Instead, he just held on as they approached the frigate, which came into view quickly.

  Then another missile was on its way. It whistled loudly, then the air all around him shimmered suddenly and the missile passed right by them.

  “Insta-mirage!” Quirk yelled, even though Zach had no idea what that was, how they created it, or even how it saved them from the missile.

  Once they were across the international waters line, the pilot slowed their speed. Zach went to climb up into the helicopter, but Ronnie stepped out onto the strut and stepped on his fingers.

  “I’m sorry, but we’ve got to make this look real.”

  True. With the frigate here as a launch point to the raid, probably every Interpol-signing nation had satellites trained on the air. Even the Triad seemed to understand that they were out of their league, as they turned back to shore.

  “Again, sorry,” she said, cringing as she stomped on his left hand. Wincing, Zach had no other choice but to let go of the strut. She then stepped on his right hand.

  “Better luck next time!” Ronnie yelled.

  As Zach fell through the air, heading for the ocean’s surface, he’d never loved Ronnie quite so much. As he hit the water, Zach knew that no one was going to question his loyalty to the FBI now.

  * * *

  Ronnie felt awful, just awful. She could still hear the sound her boot made on his tender fingers.

  “You’re sure he’s safe?” she asked Quirk.

  “For the thousandth time,” he responded yes. He handed her a flash drive. “There’s a video loop of his rescue by the frigate.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief. If Quirk was being so nonchalant, then everything was good.

  Ronnie opened her laptop and looked at the program that had distributed Triad’s money. Already, heifer-donating programs in Sudan were tens of millions richer. That money could help eliminate starvation in the southern section of the civil war-torn country.

  Another charity that gave micro-loans to village women in Colombia was also now flush. A feral cat spay and neuter program would also wake up to an early Christmas gift.

  She then checked their account balance. She’d lied back there. They had been nearly broke after the plague. Those damn international vaccines had drained her accounts.

  But now she was flush again. And they were going to need it for their next score. She had an island country to buy, after all.

  Looking back to the frigate that was barely a smudge on the horizon, Ronnie hoped that someday she would have a companion to share it with. One that wasn’t gay, that was. Gay guys had their uses, but making her feel wanted wasn’t one of them.

  Her finger went to her lip. The wound was still oozing a bit. Ronnie was loth to wipe her lips, since she could still feel Zach’s lips pressed against them.

  She’d have to store that memory, since it would probably be months before they could meet in person again.

  “No moping,” Quirk said, shaking his finger at her.


  Easy for him to say. His boyfriend was sitting in the pilot seat. The two of them hadn’t spent more than an hour apart since they met. Whereas Ronnie and Zach could count their time apart in months.

  Her fingers went back to her keyboard. Time to start the preliminary hack.

  No point in crying over spilled milk or, apparently, boyfriends dumped in international waters.

  Afterword

  Thank you so much for reading Binary. It was a blast to write and dovetails right into Encrypted’s sequel Cipher due out in February

  If you enjoyed Binary I would ask a favor and have you go back to Amazon and write a review. We indie authors live and die by our reviews!

  While you are waiting for Cipher, check out my other thrillers in the next section…

  Other Works by Carolyn McCray

  The Robin Hood Hacker Series – Carolyn’s action packed techno-thriller series

  Praise for the Robin Hook Hacker Series…

  “Encrypted by Carolyn McCray is a fast paced, hair-raising thriller with a cast of fascinating characters. The heroine, Ronnie, has Laura Croft’s moves, Sherlock Holmes’ intellect and Indiana Jones’ charm.”

  Charlotte

  Amazon Reviewer

  “From the moment I started reading this book, I was in awe. Encrypted is action packed from the first sentence. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. From hackers, special agents, to the plague, you won’t be able to put this one down until the end!”

  The Book Goddess

  Amazon Reviewer

  To purchase Hacked on Amazon, click here.

  To purchase Encrypted on Amazon, click here.

  * * *

  The Betrayed Series – Carolyn’s controversial historical thiller series

  Have you read the entire Betrayed series? From the prequel short story, Ambush to the post-Shiva short story Mayhem?

  Want them all in one place? Check out the omniibus collection - it is a $19.00 value for just $9.99!!!