Tink pushed a few buttons on the keyboard and a satellite image zoomed in on the ocean. John felt a shiver of excitement at being in the same room as this beautiful, technologically savvy girl.
“Of course there wouldn’t be anything there. Neverland would have erased all evidence of it ever having been there. They probably have people working at NASA.” Tink munched on a Skittle.
“What am I looking at?” John asked. “I just see a bunch of blue.”
“No, look.” Her fingers flew across the keyboard. “This is the satellite image of these coordinates from a year ago.” A picture popped up on the screen. All blue like before. This is the same location from today.”
He couldn’t notice anything different between the two images. “So it looks the same.”
“Exactly,” Tink smirked, crossing her arms. “Although it’s not.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’ve been going through all the data and written accounts and interviews of everyone that had ever been on Neverland. I’ve been able to calculate a probability of a hundred-mile radius of where the island should be. But the problem is there are hundreds of islands and I’ve been searching and studying them all on the maps.”
“And?” He looked over at her as her hands started to wave excitedly.
“I hacked into the international satellites, John. I’ve been watching all the islands for years, and I finally figured out that I’m not looking for an island.”
“You’re not?”
“No, I am, but I’m looking for nothing.”
“So you’re not not looking for an island?”
“I’m looking for a non-island. I’m looking for nothing.”
“How can that be? Translation, Tink,” John chuckled.
“Oh, I’ll translate.” An unmentionable word dropped from her lips and her censor band kicked into high gear, cutting off the cuss word with a loud ringing noise.
“Someone hacked the satellite image before me. What do you see?”
John leaned in to look at the screen, his eyes squinting. “Nothing, just the ocean.”
“Well, according to the coordinates we have and the weather forecast from a year ago, this patch of ocean shouldn’t even be visible through the storm front that is surrounding it. They are broadcasting a signal clear as day of the open ocean, but it shouldn’t be. When I go and remove the hacked code, I can see the real-time satellite and . . .” She zoomed in the satellite’s camera feed. “How about now?”
“There’s an island.”
“See? Something hidden behind nothing. And when I put the hacked code back in . . .” Her fingers danced across the keys, and the island disappeared, replaced by ocean.
“But how can someone do that?”
She leaned back in her chair, grabbing a chip from the open bag on the table, and took a bite, the crumbles falling down her chin and onto the keyboard. “It’s hacker magic.”
“Did you find it?” Dr. Barrie’s deep voice bellowed from the stairwell as he came up from the lower garage. His hands were covered in grease and he was wiping them on a rag.
“I think so.” Tink grinned proudly, spinning her laptop around to show him the coordinates.
“That looks like the right island. That’s my girl.”
“What do we do now?” John asked.
Dr. Barrie tossed the rag on the kitchen island and went to the counter. “The engine is tuned and ready to go.”
He ran his fingers along the underside of the counter until he hit a button, triggering a secret panel in the wall. The panel turned, revealing an arsenal of weapons.
Dr. Barrie grabbed a gun and checked the chamber and extra magazines of ammo before handing it to John. “Now we go get our boys back.”
Tink let out a squeal of happiness.