The Hacker's Key by Jon Skovron

Author:Jon Skovron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

The streets of Reykjavík were empty after dark. Ada wondered if that was because it was between tourist seasons, or if people didn’t go out much. She could hear music coming out of a bar as they walked past, and a few restaurants were still open, but otherwise it was quiet.

“So …” said Cody. “I’ve been thinking about that Geiger counter thing.”

“What about it?” Ada hoped she didn’t have to explain how it worked. She didn’t think she could do it in a way that Cody would understand.

But Cody was thinking about it differently. “Would Jace have realized we were looking for a submarine without that counter?”

“I don’t know. Maybe not.”

“So whoever gave it to you wanted you to figure it out. But who?”

“Not the thief,” said Ada. “No real thief would give clues on how to catch them.”

“Probably not the US government, either,” said Cody. “If they wanted to help you, they wouldn’t be trying to catch us. What about that Russian guy, Shukhov, who helped us out at the airport?”

“I guess it could be him,” said Ada. “But if he already knew about the sub, he could probably track it, too. An army of Russian hackers could do what Jace is doing. So why bother with us?” She frowned. “Although we still don’t know the real reason why he even bothered to help us in the first place.”

“So you see where I’m going with this, right?” asked Cody. “Why is anyone helping us? What do they have to gain?”

Once again Ada was surprised and, she had to admit, a little impressed. Cody might not know a lot about technology, but she knew people. She understood how they worked. Ada thought about what Jace had said about them being rivals who challenged each other to grow. Maybe there was something to that after all.

“I don’t know what anyone could gain by helping us find the Key rather than just go after it themselves,” Ada admitted.

“Me either,” said Cody. “And I don’t like when I can’t figure all the angles. Smells like a setup.”

“But that’s just like the help question,” said Ada. “Who would set us up, and why?”

“I don’t know, but there’s a big chunk of this that we’re missing right now.”

They picked up three orders of fish and chips and brought it back to the hostel, where they found Jace waiting for them, his eyes wide with excitement.

“I got it!” he said as they sat down at one of the large common tables in the kitchen.

“You found the sub?” Ada bit down on a big piece of fried fish. It was a lot lighter and flakier than the British version.

“Yup.” Jace shoveled several of the thick chips—or fries, as he would have called them—into his mouth before continuing. Then he leaned back and sighed. “Man, I was hungry.”

“So?” pressed Cody. “Where did it go?”

“Well, that’s the part I’m not sure about,” said Jace. “It headed southeast. I lost it for a while in the Atlantic, but I followed its trajectory and picked it up again off the western coast of Ireland.

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