Survival Read Online Free Page B

a fee from a competitor. My dad hated idiots like you!'
    'You're talking about crackers,'' sighed Hex. 'Hackers don't steal. We break into secure systems just for the challenge. We don't take or destroy anything. We write our own programs and share freeware, instead of buying into second-rate corporate software for dummies. You know,' he added, giving Amber an icy smile, 'the sort of stuff your dad's company churns out.'
    'Go on, then,' said Li. 'What's the most difficult system you've ever broken into?'
    'I could tell you,' grinned Hex, 'but then I'd have to kill you.'
    'And you've never been tempted?' asked Alex. 'You've never gone into a system to get something out of it?'
    'Yes,' admitted Hex.
    'Ha!' said Amber. 'I knew he was lying.'
    Hex ignored her and continued talking to Alex. 'This PE teacher was giving my kid brother a really hard time. Mr Rutter. Except everyone calls him Mr Nutter. My kid brother, he's – not so strong. He can't run very far. Old Nutter kept making him do this cross-country course, week after week. Said it would toughen him up. My brother started skipping school on PE days. He took to wandering around the shopping centre for hours rather than face Nutter again. Then, one day, the police brought him home. He'd been caught walking out of a shop with a tuna sandwich stuffed inside his jacket.'
    'Shoplifting is wrong—' began Amber.
    'He was hungry!' yelled Hex. 'He'd missed his school dinner. So, I hacked into the school system – and the Local Education Authority system – and Nutter's bank account. Made a few changes. Planted a few time bombs.'
    'Such as . . . ?' asked Li.
    'Six hundred pairs of running shoes delivered to the school with his name on the order sheet. Last-minute cancellation of his summer holiday. One month's wages donated to Battersea Dogs' Home. Next month he should get his redundancy notice.'
    'Amazing!' giggled Li. 'Do the school know who did it?'
    'They know,' said Hex. 'They just can't prove anything. They got their own back on me, though.'
    'What did they do?' asked Paulo.
    'Sent me on this trip,' muttered Hex.
    Li burst out laughing.
    'What?' scowled Hex.
    'The look on your face,' giggled Li. The laughter was infectious. Even Hex was beginning to smile.
    'I'm serious,' said Hex. 'I didn't want to be here. They only sent me because they're scared of what I might do next. As if being out here is going to stop me from hacking.' Automatically he reached for his palmtop, then remembered that the pouch at his belt was empty. A spasm of pain crossed his face and he turned to give Amber a hard stare. One by one, the others stopped laughing and there was an awkward silence.
    Until Paulo belched.
    It was loud, deep and lasted for a very long time.
    'Pardon me,' he said, patting his mouth delicately as though he held a napkin in his fingers. Everyone laughed, even Hex. The tension was broken. They settled back in a companionable silence and watched dappled light playing across the hull of the Phoenix. The day was still hot and sticky, but it was cooler next to the water and the counter-stern above their heads sheltered them from the glare of the sun.
    The gentle rocking of the boat started to make them sleepy and, one by one, the five members of A-Watch closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep . . .

F OUR
    Alex dreamed he was back home in Northumberland, lying in the hammock his dad had tied between two trees in their back garden. The sun was shining and the hammock swung gently to and fro in the breeze, but something was not right. Alex frowned in his sleep as he felt the sun beating down on his hot face. The hammock started to swing more violently and Alex came awake with a start.
    He opened his eyes, then closed them again quickly against the glare of the sun. He was still rocking and, for a second, he could not remember where he was. Then he smiled. Of course! He was in the tender with the rest of A-Watch, bobbing along behind the Phoenix.
    Except, the little boat was moving