Bullet Train

A large bang woke Terry up. Still half asleep he realized he was not in the bedroom of his San Fran Cisco condo. The question was where is he now?

It was dark and it felt like he was moving. Searching for alight or his iPhone.There was nothing to light up this world.

His previous training as a member of a special ops.team for the Canadian Armed Forces was kicking in as a computer geek on the team. It wasn't the time he had woken up in strange surroundings. Some of the gadgets he had invented were part of his daily life for his own security.

He reached for his running shoe and activated the high-tech GPS tracker in the heel of one of his shoes. Hopefully his partner Steve's iPhone ping let him know there was trouble if he was within a thousand miles of where Steve is.

Steve and I were in San Francisco at my condo, for some meetings with Interpol. We had a search and find contract with them There was a new list of anted who could be in the North and South America. We were brother in arms in the armed forces and expatriate business partners in Mexico.

The last thing he remembered was having dinner with an FBI contact Rob to pass on what he knew about the dark web crime syndicate group I had found.

Suddenly some strong overhead lights came on and a speaker said "Hello Terry your coding experience has caught our attention.You are going to fix what you have messed up in our business". Terry asked "What business would that be?"

Taking a quick look around realized he was in a converted baggage car on a train. It was set up like a studio apartment. There was a sofa,a bed, a table, a computer station a bathroom, and two flat-screen televisions. He had read about these reconditioned cars.

The speaker replied, "You don't need to know who we are you just need to fix the internet malware program you put into our system before it deletes everything."

Terry knew from that he just heard it was the crime syndicate he was dealing with. Waiting for a moment thiking about options Terry said, " I ''m not sure I can do that quickly".There was a quick reply from the speaker " Look at the TV screens you will see why you need to think fast.". Looking up Terry saw two pictures on the screens. One had a picture of the AmTrak Bullet Train he was on from the engine to the baggage car was in. The other picture showed a bomb that was in between the baggage car he was in and the passenger car in front of him. The speaker said, "Fix the problem before the train reaches Chigago or the train goes boom."

Terry inquired "What kind of computer internet capability he would have?" The speaker said, "All you need for what you need to do.Your technology will arrive with a meal in about twenty minutes". Terry asked "How much time does he have?" The speaker said "Seventy-two hours."

Terry spotted an old fashion clock on the wall. He figured he had about fifteen minutes before the meal so he started to text Steve from the secret iPhone in the sole of his shoe hoping Steve would get the message.

Steve was just having his first coffee when his phone started pinging with Terry's GPS. He thought Terry was at a meeting with a tech company. He headed to his laptop to connect his phone so he could get an idea of where Terry might be. The GPS was moving fast when Steve tied it into a map he saw Terry was on a fast-moving runaway train, going east. Steve googled AM TRAK Train Looking at the map he figured Terry was on the Bullet Train heading to Chicago.

.Steve put the team he and Terry had set up to find Interpol's most wanted on high alert and stand by if needed. He said Terry's GPS was pinging from a fast-moving train. The team was back at the Resort in Mexico.

Steve's phone pinged with an encrypted text. On train going east being held by Crime Syndicate wanting me to undo a malware program I have seventy-two hours, there is a bomb on the train. Contact Rob Marrentet San Fran FBI. Steve knew from the encryption it was a one way text.

A sliding window opened on Terry's car there was a pot of coffee and omelet and a laptop slid in on a tray. Figuring they wanted him alive for now he trusted the food He poured a coffee tried to enjoy the omelet, before setting up laptop.

Not knowing if Steve had got the message or if his GPS tracker was broadcasting. Terry knew he had to plug in his covert survival skills again and be ready to kill to obtain his freedom. He didn't want the dark side of his covert life to the surface. which was a natural born killier personality in him to come alive . Terry knew he had his special ops glasses on. One arm had a switch blade the other was a screwdriver. These pair of glasses became standard apperle since the hostage incident with Jenn back home at the Mexican resort.

What was bothering him was that he thought the Syndicate was operating from Russia. He was being threatened here in the United States where he had no aurthority just secure trusted connections. His other thought was the bomb. If he put himself in his captors shoes I would only be as valuable as long as the malware could not be triggered. then it would be mitigate any potential threat of Terry in the future by blowing up the train.

Terry said to himself "the cartel didn't get me who ever has me this time will not take me down.

Accessing the malware progam he had backed up into the internet cloud that he was working on, he could solve the problem in an hour. He would think about escaping while he worked on the codinng challennge.

Terry sat down a the computer station and powered up the laptop. He first went to settings and disabled the camera in a way that it would just show the inside of the bagage car so they wouldn't see what Terry was doing. He tried to access his malware program in the cloud. The log in didn't recognize the Ip address so it wouldn't open the program. This would be the first real challenge

Terry's thought process was interuppted by the speaker." Hello Terry are you hard at work fixing the problem time is running out?" Terry replied" I've tried to work on it however the internet provider address I am transmitting from will not open access the program. It will take sometime to figure out how to get around the problem." The speaker said "You better find away." Terry asked "Do you have my iPhone?" The Speaker said "Yes." Terry stated, "There is a note on the phone of the adresses I use. If you could give me the the phone I would be able to access the programm from the cloud". The speaker replied, "You will have to find another way". Terry knew he had another way.

He got up from the computer desk and went over to the speaker to examine it he discovered the speaker was internet connected. This told him the people he was dealing with were not on the train that could be blown up.

Terry poured another coffee still warm in the thermos and started to get his mind focused on his escape and the plan after. Once he got off the train he would get to Interpol's headquarters in France so he could take down the Syndicate or whoever was going after him. The first question was how could he escape.

He took another chance and messaged Steve. Twenty-four hours from the time you get this message plot where the train will be and blow up the tracks ten miles in front of it. Meet me in France at the Interpol headquarters my brother in arms.

The speaker announced, "Here is something for you while you work on the problem you have created". The sliding window opened and a full size pizza with another coffee thermos was slid in. Whoever has detained him knew some of his coding habits. Terry examined the sliding door to see if it was a way to escape as he picked up the food. Going out that way could have him stepping on a bomb.

Terry took off his runners and pulled out the inside soles and found the Ip address he could use to access the program in the cloud. If he was going to use it It would be to wipe the Syndicate off the world wide web It wouldn't be to fix the program. He made sure his emergency credit card was in the other shoe.

Terry took a walk around the train he figured there must be a backdoor on the baggage car possibly behind the wall where the single bed was. He pulled on the bed it moved from the wall. Terry looked closley at the back wall taking off his glasses he popped open the knife and checked the slit in the drywall in the center of the wall. He sliced a little opening in the wall to see if there was the usual back door. The question was how could he access it?

The speaker said" Enjoy the pizza Terry? We know it is your coding fuel. Are you making any progress on your problem? Terry replied," I should be able to access the program this afternoon. The question is why should I do what you want you are only going to trigger the bomb?" Speaker " That may be the case we would like to bring to your attention who else life is in your hands while you decide. The TV screen came on there were armed gunmen holding his wife Jenn hostage in her Travel Agency office.. Terry said let her go and I'll do whatever you want. The speaker said, "You will do what we want or she dies along with you. Get to work."

Terry sat back for a minute trying to quell his anger. He tried to think what he needed to do. He messaged Steve They are holding Jenn by gun in her travel office back door key pass is 2324 Go free her. Praying Steve would get the message.

This was the game changer. Terry decided he was going to drag the coding out as long as you could to give Steve time to get Jenn.

Terry said, " I don't know if you can hear me I have accessed the program. It will take me about twenty four hours to rewrite the program with security features so that nobody should infect your program again. The speaker said "Good."

All off a sudden the wall opened a door appeared someone walked in with a gun saying "They want me to keep you company while you do the work".

Terry thought this is my way out while he worked on the coding. He made it look like he was concentrating on the program. Terry worked for an hour when he stopped and turned to the gun holder "I need to use the bathroom and more pizza." The gunman said "Go ahead."

Terry got up. In the bathroom he took his glasses apart again and had his knife ready for action.

Walking over to the pizza he asked the gunman if he wanted some pizza? He said, "Sure." Terry walked up behind the gunmen while he was getting the pizza and slit his throat. Terry put his glasses back together walked over to the laptop and set the program to execute the wipeout of the Syndicate program in twelve hours.

Terry took the gun from the dead gunman and headed for the exit.

Jumping across to the passenger car he grabbed on to the ladder that would take him up to roof of the car Holding on he disconnected the studio car. Something he learned how to do as a teenager working on freight trains.

Entering the passenger car he took an empty seat and tried to figure out where he was along the train route.and how he was going to get off the train. He got up and walked over to a twenty-year-old on a laptop to ask "If he had a cellphone he could use? The kid looked up and saw Terry the world-famous coder. The kid said sure if you sign my coding book reaching into his bag pulling out Terry's second coding book.

Terry took the book and the pen while asking him his name. My name is Jason. Terry autographed the book and got an iPhone to call Steve.

Terry called Steve Hi Steve I have gotten out the predicament. How is Jenn? Steve said"Good to hear. Jenn is safe her captor is locked up. The team did some stellar work" Terry said."Tell Jenn to meet me in Paris". Steve asked" Where are you?" I said "I am still on the train in one of the passenger cars The car I was in has been disconnected The Syndicate must know by now I have escaped. Terry asked are you in a chopper? Steve said yes I am about an hour behind your train. Terry inquired "Do you want to try one of our old pick-up moves?" Steve said "Sure. can you get yourself up onto the roof off the passenger car?" Terry said, "Yes I'll be on the roof of the last car."

Steve said,"I'll update the chopper pilot and get the sling ready". Terry gave the phone back to Jason saying "Give me your contact imformation I'll make sure you get my next coding book." Terry sat down next to Jason trying to blend in like other passengers. Looking at the clock on Jason's laptop Terry knew it was time to get back on the roof of the car, As he got up Terry said "Nice to meet you Jason". Jason said "My college friends will never believe this"

Terry looked around before opening the door between cars he saw two guys starting to head in his direction. He opened the door and headed to the roof. Crawling along the roof for about ten feet he turned around lying down with the gun facing the end of the car where he had just climbed up.

He saw the first man coming up waiting until he saw the mans chest. Terry fired a shot and the man fell backward. Waiting for the second man Terry waited until he saw the mans forehead fired another shot to take him out.

Terry sat up took a deep breath to calm his heartbeat, It was time to focus on the pickup by helicopter. Steve and Terry hadn't performed this kind of rescue for over twenty years.

Hearing the helicopter coming he made his way over to the grab bar in the middle on the roof. The grab bar would support him while he reached for the sling. Terry gabbed the sling and was wenched up to the chopper deck. Steve pulled Terry onboard. Once Terry got settled he said "We have two first-class tickets to Paris while handing him a fake ID matching passport and an iPhone. Steve continued Jenn will meet us in Paris. She was leaving immediately Chuck was driving her to the Cancun airport." Terry said "Thanks".

On the flight to France Terry started putting the puzzle together trying to figure out who knew about the program test with the Syndicate The only name was his FBI friend Rob,.

Jenn was already at the hotel when Terry and Steve got there. She hugged Terry asking "What was going on?" Terry replied, "I need you here safe with us while Steve and I figure out who the group is that got upset about my new coding program." Jenn asked," Do you have any idea who?" Steve interrupted saying "Why don't we carry on this discussion later, let's get into our rooms then meet for a fabulous meal". Terry said, "Good idea let's meet in an hour".

Jenn had already booked in she gave Terry a key to the room he was not on any paperwork. They sipped champagne while they got ready. Jenn had packed a couple of outfits for herself and some changes of clothes for her new husband Terry.

Terry called his Interpol contact Raymond and set up a meeting for two pm the next day.

Meeting Steve in the lobby he was with his wife Carol. She flew over with Jenn so the two women could shop till the drop while Terry and Steve met with Interpol. It was a wonderful evening in Paris with lots of champagne.

Back in there hotel room after dinner Terry filled Jenn in about the abduction his escape saying he killed three people in the process. Letting Jenn what he was thinking about his friend Rob from the FBI. Jenn asked,"If the police were going to handle the Syndicate or he if was going to go after them?" Terry replied They were over here in France to turn everything over to Interpol". Jenns said, "I'm glad you are doing that." She started crying, the shock of being held a gunpoint was finally hitting her. Terry held her saying she should call the good Dr.Cheryl her friend who helped with the cartel hostage-taking when they got back home. Terry agreed to call his friend in Vancouver when they were back home. Killing three people to get free was something he was going to deal with. He thought the natural-born killer the Canadian Forces turned him into was finished after taking on the Cartel.

After breakfast, Terry went shopping for some needed technology. He picked up a laptop. He wanted to make sure the Syndicate internet scam program had been wiped off the world wide web and to be able to show Interpol the actual program the Syndicate was using to scam millions.

Steve leased a car for the travel to Leon to meet up with Interpol. The meeting started with Terry showing everyone the program the Syndicate was using He explained the abduction and his escape. He told Raymonnnnd his thoughts about Rob his FBI friend who might be tied into the Syndicate.

Steve talked about the team freeing Jenn and let them know the gunman that held Jenn hostage was in jail at the Resort being watched by Chuck.

Raymond brought out a file Interpol had on Rob, They had been tracking him for three years. He appeared to be laundering large amounts of money, and doing some illegal arms trading. They couldn't determine where the money was coming from. Terry said "Rob was a good enough coder to create that scam program.

He went on to say with closer exanimation of the program he might be able to prove it as most coders let a telltale sign in a program to prove it was theirs."

Raymond asked, "Terry if he knew Chuck?" Terry replied, "We both know Chuck". Raymond suggested they could quietly take the gunman off of Chuck's hands bringing him here for an interview to see what they could learn about the Syndicate and if there was a lead to Rob.

Terry offered to call Chuck. Raymond said "If he agrees he could have a Cancun agent go pick him up and bring him to France" Terry called Chuck after assuring him Jenn was fine Chuck agreed Terry gave the phone to Raymond to coordinate Interpols picking up the gunman.

Steve asked Raymond if he thought the Syndicate would come after Terry? Raymond didn't think so saying." Rob might be good old Rob with Terry not wanting to blow his cover as an FBI cyber crime analyst. They may not want to mess with Terry knowing he had taken three of them out to escape".

Terry asked "How do we catch Rob? Raymond looked a Terry, "Do you want to do a little covert stuff with Rob?" Terry asked "What covert work?.

Raymond said "Clone his phone?".

Terry said "Sure I can clone the phone" Raymond replied, "Do that and we will take it from there".Terry said "He would have the phone cloned within a few weeks. He will call Rob a couple of weeks after getting back to meet in San Francisco when he was going to be there to turn in the my latest security program to the tech company." Raymond gave Terry the contact information for the Interpol agent close to San Fran Cisco to give the cloned phone to.

.Raymond took Steve and Terry to a local wine and cheese bar for a relaxing finish of the meeting.

Steve and Terry met their wives for dinner back in Paris. While enjoying a glass of champagne they decided to enjoy Paris as tourists for a week before flying home.

When they got back home to the resort Terry and Jenn set up their schedules to spend twenty-four seven together. Their togetherness started with a twenty-one-day cruise Jenn was booked on for her to write the Travel with Jenn blog while cruising. Jenn would go to San Francisco when Terry was going to meet Rob. This was just to give Terry some peace of mind after his killing of three. It was also to make sure Terry wouldn't cross into the dark side of the covert life when he caught up with Rob. The meeting was set up with Rob for the week after the cruise.

Terry and Jenn landed in San Francisco for a five-day stay. It's the first time for Jenn to visit the City by the Bay. She was excited to see Terry's condo and this part of his coding world.

Terry was going to do his best to be a tour guide for Jenn. There was a dinner planned with the head of the Tech company was contracted with. The meeting with Rob was going to be on day four It was going to be a lunch meeting at one of Terry's favourite diners. Over this casual lunch Terry was going to clone Rob's phone.

Terry had his cyber technology ready for the meeting. When Terry sat down with Rob he discovered that there were two phones to clone. Terry suggested they turn off their business phones. Rob agreed he put his FBI phone on airplane mode saying he couldn't officially turn it off. Terry was able to clone both phones.

They agreed to meet the next time Terry was in San Francisco. Rob said "It was nice to see the newly married couple together."

Terry and Jenn went back to his condo and called his Interpol contact to turn over the phone. They would meet for breakfast before Jenn and Terry flew home.

Terry cloned the phone for himself before he turned it over.

Terry and Jenn were back home in their secure condo for a couple of days before he opened the clone phone from Rob. Looking at the second phone Rob had there was some mention of a replacement program called Money Pot.

Terry messaged Interpol saying Rob might be coding a new program to replace the last scam asking if they wanted him to research it.

Raymond messaged back If you can do it without being discovered go ahead. Terry messaged back thanks I'll let you know what I find.

Terry found the program on the dark web in about four hours. He traced the program back to the Syndicate through internet addresses. With a little more work he traced it to Rob. If the snooping was discovered it would look like Cyber Security from the FBI was looking. Terry called Raymond in Leon and told him there would be an encrypted message on the way.

Taking a break looking at a Cyber Security news site Terry saw there was an upcoming conference in Chicago.

Terry called Raymond with a plan to get Rob. Raymond said," I'll call you tomorrow to talk about the logistics of the plan."

The plan was set. Terry and Rob were going to attend the Cyber Security Convention together. They were going to take the Am Trak's Bullet Train from San Francisco to Chicago. Interpol would get Rob on the train.

Terry told Jenn that he was planning on going to the Cyber Security Conference with Rob. Jenn asked, "If that it was a safe thing to do?" He laid out the plan to trap Rob saying" I will confront him with the internet evidence on the train. Someone from Interpol is going to shove a needle in his arm He will wake up on a private plane to France. Interpol will arrest him for the money scams, money laundering, and illegal arms dealing in France. Jenn said," I hope it works." Terry said, "It will."

Rob and Terry boarded the first-class part of the train on the way to the conference. An hour after boarding Terry powered up his laptop. Over a scotch with Rob, he showed him his internet findings that implicated him. Rob was denying it. Terry put a tip of a knife in Rob's side saying "I know you put me in the studio car and your group held Jenn at gunpoint I could kill you right now," when the Interpol person walked by and gave him the knockout drug. Terry put a note in Rob's pocket Enjoy life behind bars you deserve it.

The Bullet train was stopped. Rob was taken off the train and put in an ambulance by Interpol.

Terry hitched a ride to the airport with them. He called Jenn from the airport saying he would be landing in Cancun at six. The airport limo should have him home by eight". Jenn asked,"Shall I order a pizza at seven-thirty?" Terry replied "That sounds good,Do you want to see if champagne pears well with pizza?". Jenn said"See you soon."

The End.