It amazes Derek how he remembers most of the coding. Every now and then, like a flash of lightning going off in his head, that bit more comes back. At the time, he thought it was a waste of time. There were already better languages, even then.

Funny how things can work out.

A hand gently lands on his shoulder. He turns his neck. “Are you okay, Maeve?”

She nods. “Are you more like? I would have killed them if they hurt you. You could have trusted me with your problem.”

Looking back at his screen, he replies, “I know, and I was going to tell you. I was waiting for the right time.”

“Love you, no matter what.” She rubs the back of his head and walks away.

For the next five hours, with only the occasional break, he works away. Then bingo. He now has full control of the system.

Turning his chair around, he shouts. “I’ve done it.”

Claps come from the back of the warehouse where they are sitting.

Aaron gets up and runs towards him. “The security and all?”

Derek nods.

“Well then, you’d better join the rest of them at the so we can plan for tomorrow.”

“What about my relations?”

“My contacts will be able to bring them to safety once they get the message to proceed.”

“So, what is it?” Mick pulls out a Lurcha laser gun and points it directly at Derek’s head.

Gasps go out from the others.

“Don’t shoot him anyway. At worst, we’ll keep him prisoner,” James implores.

Derek grins.

“What’s so funny, Derek? You think I won’t pull the trigger?” Mick’s turns beetroot red.

“I think there’s a good chance you would. The blood might destroy some of that lovely equipment though. That would be a shame. And then there’s the whole shooting the person in the wheelchair after he saved the girl. That should go down with the public, really well.”

“He has a point, Mick.” Aaron nods.

“And anyway, I’m on your side. I was waiting for the right time to tell you the full story.”
Mick lowers his weapon. “You better not be lying to me.”

Derek takes a large breath. “Look let me a look at this code for a few hours. And you see if there’s something you can do for my relatives. How does that sound?”

There is silence amid node of agreement.

James speaks. “I know people who could get your relations somewhere safe. I’ll contact them now and see what sort of timeframe they can make their.”

Mick stares at him. “You know what that is, don’t you.”

“What’s going on?” Maeve asks.

Derek drove over to a console on the left of the holographic image. It was full of varying symbols of different sizes.

“How did you know? Like nobody knows.” Derek smiles shaking his head from side to side.

Aaron speaks. “About six months ago, the resistance broke into the Secret Services gaining access to the files of every human being in the system. So, when we heard that you had freed our Maeve, it made sense to learn more.”

Derek’s smile disappears as Aaron continues.

“We know they turned. you. But we also know that you are one of the few people who understand the Tomahaw code that could help us carry this out. To be honest, I found that your a nice guy. So, hopefully we can come to an arrangement.”

Maeves’ hands are up around her mouth. “What have you done?”

Derek goes red in the face and tries to speak. Then, he clears his throat. “It was the only way to save you, Maeve. I swear. I learned Tomahaw when I was young. It’s archaic, obsolete in many ways. That’s why so few know it. She said that she’ll kill my relations if I don’t do as she asks.”

She placed her hand on his shoulder. “Let’s rock.”

Derek spoke in a raised tone. “Okay, everybody, strap yourselves in. And somebody, remind me exactly where we’re going again.”

The others strapped themselves into their seats.

Mick piped up. “We’re going to a place called Fairgrounds. It’s close to the city of Liverpool. Stay close to the ground. We don’t want to attract any attention.”

Derek inputted the coordinates.

The ship shook as the thrusters ignited. The green field slipped from view to a vista of the blue ocean. The ship then propelled forward over the waves. Derek paid heed to Mick’s advice not to fly too high.

Half an hour later, the sea disappeared below, replaced by the greens of fields and trees. There are sparse human settlements. Before long, Derek is weaving his way through the Scottish highlands. There are forests, lakes, and farms.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Maeve says.

“How much longer?” Aaron asks.

Derek shouts to those behind him. “About an hour away.”

The mountainous terrain comes to an end and is replaced by undulating countryside. Then back over sea.

“We’re almost there now.”

The metropolis appears over the water in the distance. Skyscrapers reaching up into the heavens.