6

 “No, professor! Your work is too important to just destroy like this.”

“But what if it falls in the wrong hands?”

“I will help you get it off this rig. Your granddaughter knows some people who can make the technology available to the world. It’s a movement called Climate Peace.”

“I have heard of them. OK, let’s do it young man, let’s see what these Climate Peace people can do for us!”

The professor’s data is stored in the cloud and too large to back up onto a single memory stick. It is also encrypted. He loads the decryption key onto a memory stick.

“Without the decryption key, the data is useless. Take care of it, it is the only one,” he says and hands it to you. He smashes his notebook on the floor, stepping on it is few times. “This will make any attempt to salvage the key impossible,”

“I’ll make sure nothing happens to it,” you say, feeling the weight of responsibility on your shoulders.

“Apart from the key, I will need to assist Climate Peace in making sense of the research. Without my help, it could take them months to organise the information into something usable. You could say I am the second key.”

 On the desk there are some blank memory sticks, identical to the one the professor gave you. You take a few, thinking that they may come in handy in the future

 “Professor, I will also call for some help, maybe the authorities can get here before the foreign agents will.”

You run up the stairs to the control room to find the radio. You switch it on and tune into the general emergency frequency that you use as a pilot, speaking loudly into the microphone. “Mayday, Mayday, to anyone listening,” you let go of the mic and listen. Only the hiss of static are returned. You try a few more times without success. Then you see it. Cut wires are just visible behind the radio. You throw the receiver down in disgust and walk back towards Emily.

Outside the storm has lifted a little. There are still bands of dark clouds surrounding the rig, but at least the rain has stopped and the wind is not gusting as badly anymore. You are keen to leave and can either make another attempt in the helicopter.

Go to chapter 7