Read Brain Jack for Free Online Page A

cockney.
    Skullface continued, “It can’t have been an ’ack. It ain’t possible. It was an inside job. Some rogue trader with a grudge.”
    “So if it was an inside job—” a kid in a rubber rooster mask began.
    “Then it ain’t worth discussing,” Skullface said. “Some muppet on the payroll letting go a couple of wet farts ain’t what we’re here for.”
    “You don’t know it was an inside job,” Sam said quietly.
    “Ain’t no way in from the outside.” Skullface half turned to face Sam. “End of bleedin’ story.”
    “Any network can be hacked,” Sam said.
    There was a moment’s silence.
    Rock Chick Bride said, “Oh, he’s so cute! Can I keep him?”
    Sam glared at her through the C-3PO mask.
    “I suppose you could have hacked ’em, too, if you’d felt like it.” Skullface grinned and there was laughter from somewhere in the crowd.
    “If I had to,” Sam said.
    “Oh, please!” Rock Chick Bride said. “I promise I’ll look after him!”
    “Even if you got past the DMZ, you’d set off the zone alarm,” the mummy said.
    “Yeah,” Sam said, “but what if the hacker used a signal extender to pirate a wireless station and bypass the whole DMZ? Run a network analyzer, rainbow-crack the SAM file, and he’d have owned the network.” He shut his mouth abruptly.
    There was another short silence.
    “Come back when you lose the training wheels, muppet,” Skullface said.
    “Waste of friggin’ time,” Sam said. He whirled and strode off.
    He made it almost as far as the door, Fargas at his heels, when Skullface’s voice came from behind him. “Hold up, script kiddie.”
    Sam turned back, his fists clenched as Skullface and Rock Chick Bride approached.
    “Back off, duckweed,” Fargas said beside him.
    Skullface moved close and spoke in a low voice. “I was just winding you up,” he said. “Wanted to see what you got.”
    “More than you got, ass wipe,” Fargas said.
    “Just chill, monkey boy,” Skullface said, then to Sam, “You could be right about that Telecomerica job.”
    Sam looked at him for a long moment, then shrugged.
    “It’s just a guess.”
    “It was a good guess. Better than most of them would be capable of.” He jerked his head back behind him. “You want to go to Neoh@ck?”
    “Been there, done that,” Fargas said, looking around the old warehouse. “Ain’t buying the T-shirt.”
    Skullface made that macabre smile again. “This ain’t Neo. This is just the weeding-out party. Just a bunch of muppets who were lucky enough to crack the code in the invite.”
    Rock Chick Bride moved up beside him; a sneer appeared to be permanently attached to her lip.
    Skullface continued, “You want to go to the real Neoh@ck, you gotta earn it. Think you’re up to it?”
    Sam felt his fists unclench. “Where is it held?” he asked, intrigued despite himself.
    Rock Chick Bride shook her head. “They’ll never get in.”
    “It ain’t held anywhere,” Skullface said. “Think about it. Why would a bunch of serious hackers put on silly masks and compare weenies in an old warehouse? The real convention, Neoh@ck Con, is online . Tonight. Starts at nine o’clock. The best of the best from all around the world. You gotta hack your way in to prove you got what it takes.”
    “Where?” Sam asked again.
    “Out of your league is where,” Rock Chick Bride said.
    Skullface grinned evilly. “We’re meeting for dinner. Where the president lives. If you make it, it’s going to rock your world.”

6 | THE WHITE HOUSE
    No matter how deep you dug, Sam thought, there always seemed to be a level deeper. The more you knew, the more you realized how little you really knew.
    The real Neoh@ck Con was held somewhere inside the White House. One of the most secure networks in the entire world. Just the idea that there was a bunch of hackers so powerful, so skillful, that they actually held their meetings within the White House without anyone knowing was mind-blowing!
    And if he made