The Interception

“Honey! I'm on my way,” Jake called.

“Wait! Please! Just some seconds,” Gwen responded.

“Ok.”

She came out to meet him. “Dear, hope you’ve eaten something?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“I’m so sorry I didn’t wake up early. I’d forgotten you were leaving very early today. I would have made your favourite. You should have reminded me last night.”

“No. Don’t worry. I’m OK. Didn’t want to bother you last night. I could tell you were tired.”

“Yeah. Actually, I was.”

“Honey, why don’t you go by air?”

“No. I don’t really need to. The meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. If I leave early I’ll be there just in time. I'll also save cost. Isn’t it?”

“Hmmm. It isn’t about saving cost. You haven’t dealt with your fear of flying. You had better deal with it because we’ll sure go on our vacation trip. The kids are so excited about it.”

“Ok. Honey. I'll try.”

“Thanks dear.”

“Please, can I be on my way now? I’m running late.”

“Sure, you can.”

They embraced and kissed. He headed for the train station. He was there right in time. The train was about to leave. He gets on.

“He’s on board.”

“That's good. Make sure you get on too.”

“Yes sir.”

The man also boarded the same train. He sat some seats away. Jake took a seat close to the window. Something he’s fond of. He loves having a view of the scenery. He joined Rave Spectrum two years ago. Before then he had worked with his former corporation for 15 years. He’s a specialist at security codes. He’s good at formulating highly secured codes. Codes that are near Impossible to breach. He was tutored by a genius system and software engineer, Franklin Bernard, one of the most sought after. He knows his onions too well. A times he disappears from the surface for some months. Some say he hibernates in a chamber in the midst of computer systems. Some say he goes on a recluse journey to seek for inspiration. Whenever he’s been asked where he goes for those months. He says, ‘I just separate myself for a while from the noise and craziness of city life and from its tearing apart pull.’ It wasn’t easy for Cornerstone Candela to let go of Jake. But he had to leave. His contract with them had expired and he wasn’t willing to sign another.

Jake was lost in thought. He later falls asleep.

“He’s onboard the train enroute Pastelville.”

“Ok.Good. Make sure you get him and get the codes from him.”

“Ok. Yes sir.”

He signals to two others. The chopper takes them above the train. They get down on top of the train with a rope. They hijack the train and divert it. The noise from frightened passengers woke Jake up. The leader of the gang walks up to him.

“Are you Jake Peterson?” he asked.

“No. I’m not,” Jake replied.

The man took out a picture from his pocket and showed it to him. “Are you not the one here,” he asked looking at him sternly.

“No. He’s just my look alike.”

The man signaled to one of his men and asked him to give him the scanner. He placed Jake’s finger on it. The next thing his bio data appeared. The man punched him.

“Hey, don’t joke with me and don’t fool me or else I'll waste you. Can I have the codes?”

“What codes?”

The man gave him another punch and brought out his gun. Jake was now bleeding seriously. 

The man points his gun at him. “I told you not to joke with me. You think am here for a play. If you don’t cooperate I’ll gun you down. Nobody messes with me. I’m asking one more time, Can I have the codes?”

“Ok. 134AH∆*68b.”

The man entered the codes into his system. It showed ACCESS DENIED. He turned to him angrily and was about to pull the trigger.

“No. Please it’s a small b. Please try it,” he spoke trembling.

The man tried it and it worked. ACCESS GRANTED. He entered all the information he had. It got to a point he couldn’t proceed anymore. It showed fire wall. He turned back to Jake.”

“Can I have the password?”

“I don’t have that. I swear.”

“Shut up! You liar!”

“I swear. I’m telling the truth. I don’t have it.”

“Then who has?”

“My boss.”

“Then call him.”

“Ok. Ok. I will.”

He called his boss. He was surprised to hear what happened. He said when he didn’t see him at the time the meeting was about to commence, he was worried. He also said he had tried his phone number but out of reach. As he was to talk further, the man grabbed the phone from him.

“Hey! Mr. Boss if you want your man alive and back to you in one piece. You had better give me the password.”

“Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?”

“Doing what? You’ve subverted all our course. You’ve thwarted all our mission. You've obstructed our route. You’ve taken our bread and given us crumbs. And you ask, ‘Why am I doing this?’, how about all you’ve done?”

“Please let him go. He’s just an employee. He knows nothing about all you are saying.”

“Hey! Mr. Smith. If you don’t give me that password. He's not only going to die. Everyone on this train will go down as well. I'll make sure I crash the train.”

“Ok. It’s Ok. Please don’t. I'll give you.”

As he was about entering the password, the other man that had boarded after Jake used his watch to shut down the system. The man got up angrily and was about to shoot sporadically when the other man used his watch to turn off the lights. He pulled out his gun and shot the man and his men. He later introduced himself to Jake. He said he was the security officer that was assigned to him and that since he was going on an interstate trip the corporation felt he might need protection. Jake thanked him.

It was dark when he arrived home. His wife ran to embrace him.

“Oh! What happened? It was all over the news. I was so worried. I tried calling but couldn’t reach you.”

“It was a hijack. The men wanted to access some information from my organization.”

“Honey, hope you're Ok.”

“I am. I just need to take some shower and rest.”

“But you’re bruised.”

“Yeah! I got some punches from the bad guy. I've seen a doctor. I’ve been given some medications. Am going to be fine.”

“Ok dear.”

“Where are the kids?”

“They’ve gone to bed. They were also worried. They wanted to stay up until you come. I had to assure them that you are OK and that they would see you in the morning before going to school.”

Jake kissed her. “Thank you so much, darling.”

As he lay in bed, he wondered what had given him the boldness at first. He never knew he could put up such boldness. He also wondered why his boss never told him in-depth about the corporation. He’s undecided whether to remain with them or quit. He"s still in shock.