Read The Lazarus Moment for Free Online

a
little longer.
    “I’ll
kill you if you touch them.”
    The man
smiled. “I’m afraid it’s far too late for that.” He repositioned the mouse
pointer and clicked, the image now a video showing his wife and daughter
sitting on a bed in a room he didn’t recognize.
    And they
looked terrified.
    “What
have you done?” His voice was barely a whisper as his eyes widened.
    “We have
your wife and daughter. They are safe for as long as you do as you are told.
Should you not do what you are told, should you tell anyone what is happening,
they will die, slowly, painfully, your daughter first so your wife can watch
her suffer.”
    Lennox
leaned over and vomited for the first time in years, the harsh acid burning his
throat and mouth as he leaned to the side, trying not to get any on himself.
Bile dripped from his mouth as he fought for control.
    He spit.
    Get a
grip! They’re not dead yet!
    Or
are they?
    “How do
I know they’re alive?”
    “You
don’t trust me?”
    Lennox
gave the man a look.
    He
smiled.
    “I
wouldn’t either.” The man launched Skype, the video, looping, replaced with a
shot of the same room, his daughter now asleep on his wife’s lap, she sitting
up in the bed, her back against the wall, her cheeks stained with dried tears,
her eyes barely open.
    She
looks exhausted.
    “Can she
hear me?”
    His
wife’s eyes shot open.
    “Cam, is
that you?”
    A lump
formed in his throat as his eyes filled with tears. “Yes, hon, it’s me. Are you
okay?”
    “No!
We’ve been kidnaped!”
    “I know,
hon, I know. Did they hurt you?”
    She
shook her head, it clear she couldn’t see him, only hear him, her eyes
searching the room, settling on what he assumed was a camera. “No, no we’re
okay.”
    The man
clicked a button, killing the conversation.
    “Satisfied?”
    Lennox
shook his head. “Of course not.”
    “Well,
it will have to do. They are alive and unharmed, for now. If you do what we
ask, then they will be set free. If you do not…well, you know what will happen
to them.”
    Lennox
closed his eyes, praying for guidance.
    He
received none.
    “What do
you want?”
    The man
produced what appeared to be a standard USB memory stick and held it up.
“Tomorrow, when you board Air Force One, you will insert this memory stick into
a computer attached to the avionics network, bypass any security protocols,
then remove it.”
    “What is
it, a virus?”
    “That is
of no concern to you.”
    “To hell
it isn’t. That network is isolated from the main data networks used by the passengers,
but it’s tied into all the flight controls and communications equipment.”
Lennox’s eyes shot wide as he realized what it must be. “You’re planting a
virus to monitor the President’s communications!”
    The man
smiled slightly, shrugging. “See, no harm.”
    “But
it’ll be discovered.” Lennox bit his tongue, cursing himself for revealing the
fact the virus wouldn’t last long.”
    Let
them think they’re accomplishing something, so long as Cecilia and Janice are
okay.
    “Let us worry about that,” said the man, tapping the laptop. “ You worry about
your family.”
    Lennox
nodded. What was the harm? He would plant the virus, they might get some
classified intel, they might not. It would still be encrypted, so they might
actually get nothing, and the first time the system scanned itself, the virus
would be caught and either eliminated or quarantined so there would be no
further breach.
    “And if
I do this—”
    “ When.
    “Fine, when I do this, you will release my family?”
    “You
have my word.”
    “And how
will I know?”
    “They
will have instructions to call you.”
    “But
they have no way of reaching me unless it’s an emergency!”
    “You
don’t think their kidnapping and release would qualify?”
    Of
course, you idiot!
    The man
was right. The Air Force would immediately get in touch with him. And once he
knew they were safe, he’d simply tell them what he did and the system