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Deep out on the Pacific Ocean lay the Majors headquarters. A location so remote there was only one way in and one way out, and that was by air. One-hundred-mile Island did not even have a name, it was so unknown to the outside world. No one knew why it was called One-hundred-mile Island, it was a name they had made up, because it was nearer three hundred miles to the nearest land mass. It was not near any shipping lanes; not even fishing boats came here. The ocean bed was too rough with many small islands laying just below the ocean and coupled with the weather being so unpredictable, it made it a dangerous place to be in any sea going craft. The Island was basically a rock sticking out the ocean. A volcanic Island that had sprung up tens of thousands of years ago and had an area of around two squares miles. It was flat with no land features to speak of and over the last two years had been converted into a fully functioning communications base. It now had the facilities to house dozens of people, with its basic living accommodation at its hub, and a sophisticated control room. A huge satellite was above the control centre and each month supplies were flown in and on many occasions parachuted in, because of the severe weather conditions it was prone to. It had taken a long time to make the Island habitable and comfortable enough to live and The Major was nearing the end of his time there. He wanted it to be perfect. His only regret was his choice in crew. He had two armed guards there to keep order and the prisoners compliant, but signs were starting to appear that all was not well.
When the first wave of round ups happened, the Major had chosen a select few to not send to the processing plants. These were wealthy cyber-criminals, but with one big difference from the rest. They had insights into the internet and the elusive dark web. Something, try as he may, was never able to contain. The internet had become so infected with it, it was like a disease for peddling its evil. The Major thought recruiting the best he would be able to shut this down, but even these hand-picked crooks, with all their knowledge and skillset, could not close this secretive place that they had initially created for their secret communications, that was soon taken over by these unsavoury types. For now, he had to wait for that problem to be resolved and once Alex had delivered what he wanted, he would be in a better place to eliminate that enemy. There was no time to reprogram the whole internet, that, he hoped would come later once this first step had been completed. The programmers he did have though, paid for their lives dearly. Stripped of all wealth in exchange for their lives, but now two more of them had been executed and the others were starting to become weary, tired of his constant dictatorship. Questions were being asked, and he had no answers to tell them. They had been promised a new life away from the New World. A secret life of luxury they had paid for and this was not how it was supposed to be. He was losing control, but with the Island nearly complete and a final shipment due to arrive any day now, all he needed was to keep them compliant for a few more days. Then, when reinforcements arrived. All of them would be dealt with swiftly. He could not risk them turning on him now, because he only had two guards to protect him. The waiting for reinforcements outweighed the risk of one of them doing something stupid, like reprogramming the databases, which all of them were more than capable of doing. No, he had to wait. Patience, the Major told himself. It will soon be over for them, and he can then get back to civilisation.
The three months he had been there were longer than he had bargained for. The remote location was weather dependent on what could and could not get in or out and at times the weather could be so bad, it made it impossible to even go outside. One-hundred-mile Island offered no protection from the weather. A downside the Major had overlooked in choosing the site, but too much time and money had been invested to relocate. He was already behind with his promised schedule and the world councils were running out of patience with his promises to create a world of perfectly controllable populations.
The Major had called a meeting in the mess room and was hoping to calm the three remaining prisoners down. He knew it was not going to be easy and the last thing he needed right now was a rebellion on his hands. Supplies were running low, which added to the tensions and with the final programming nearing completion a meeting seemed to be a good idea to placate his minions.
“When are the new supplies coming?” Steve Longmire asked.
He was one of the best programmers the Major had found and one of the cockiest, young, and arrogant with an attitude to match. He was sat with his leg cocked on the table like he owned the place. The Major would be glad to see him gone. He was a troublemaker and was always asking too many questions.
“Steve, you know the answer to that question. A couple of days and the supplies will be here.”
“Yeah yeah. Have you seen the weather, fat chance anything getting here in a few days?”
“I can assure you the weather reports indicate a high pressure is coming and the weather will break in the next twenty-four hours.”
“What has happened to Frank and Tony.” Amy Knox asked.
She had been one of the Majors better choices. She was bright, clever, and seemed to have the ability to keep the others calm with her rational approach and sensible reasoning. He would miss Amy; she was great on the eyes and had a sparkle about herself and a charm that seemed to fill any room she was in.
“They have been isolated, again, I did tell you all this two days ago. They are deemed unwell and need to quarantine.” The Major said, clearly lying.
“Dead more like.” Steve muttered under his breath.
The Major heard the comment but chose to ignore it.
“Any further questions?”
“Why is the walk-in freezer in the kitchen now locked?” Dug Shaw asked.
He was the quiet one out of the remaining people left and rarely asked questions. He was a loner, kept himself to himself and quietly went about his tasks. It took the Major by surprise, and he could not ever remember Dug asking a question before.
“Ah, well... an inventory was taken, and it was necessary to ration the food. Just a precaution in case the supplies are delayed.”
“So how am I supposed to get access. I am the chef around here!” Dug moaned, even though he knew exactly why they were locked.
Three nights again when cleaning the kitchen late at night, he saw the Majors men drag two body bags in there. He had kept it quiet, fearing if he said anything, he would be next. They all knew about the argument Frank and Tony had with the Major about wanting off the Island and that he had double-crossed them on the deal he had given them, and fear of who would disappear next was on everybody’s mind. There had originally been twelve of them and gradually over the time it had dwindled down to this last three. The Major had been swift to deal with troublemakers and one by one they were dealt the same punishment, death. Each time a new shipment of supplies came in they were taken off the Island secretly in body bags. As the project had progressed, he needed less and less personnel to perform the tasks to get the project up and running. His view was simple, the fewer people he needed to control, the easier it would be to manage this vital phase in his New World vision. Nobody dare speak out and it was a shock to everyone when Dug unexpectedly did.
“It will be allocated as per request.” The Major replied, knowing this was not going well.
He needed to think fast and turn this around to alleviate any suspicions.
“Look, we are nearly done here and as I have told you before on many occasions. If you are all done with your assignments by the time the supplies arrive, you will be going to the new luxury Island, as promised.”
“Where did this new programming come from?” Steve asked.
“Is that relevant?”
“Yes. I have never seen anything like it before and it breaks all the coding rules. You must have somebody out there better than we are because there is not a person alive who could do this sort of programming. Not that I know of.”
They had been given the coding that Alex had sent to the base a few days earlier and were now able to finish the programming once they had uploaded all the satellite links, now having the means to work on the data that had been sent over. Up until this point, they could not work on the data, just implement the programming projects that Alex had written. Now it was different and what the Major did not know was that Steve had already found the secondary programming that Alex had implanted to find the information he wanted. He still needed to find that himself, but he was close. In a few hours’ time, he would also know exactly what the Major had been hiding and planning.
“Let’s just say you are not the only geniuses working on this project.” Steve smiled back at the Major and winked.
The Major ignored his foolery. He was tired of Steve’s endless sarcasm and not very funny jokes.
“Now, any more questions? I really am pushed for time.”
“Yes, just one. Can we see Frank and Tony?” Amy asked.
“I am sorry, that is not possible.”
“What have they got?”
“We do not know at this stage, but I can assure you. All is being done that can be for them.”
Everyone sat there silent. No one believed the Major anymore. His plan to calm the situation had the opposite effect. They all felt the same and now there was only three of them and the project nearing completion, they all thought the same thing. Nobody was leaving this Island, alive.
“Right then people, if you have no more questions, I must press on. I assume you are all nearly finished the final programming?”
“Just waiting for the uplinks to finalise?” Amy said, speaking for all of them.
“How long will that be?”
“Twenty-four hours, maybe less.”
“Well done people. You could be on your way off this rock very soon.” The Major said, expecting a cheer or some reaction to the news their long stay was nearly over.
Nobody flinched, and from the looks he was getting it was time to leave the mess room. He whispered into one of his guards’ ears before he left, and the other guard followed him out of the room.
––––––––
The guard stood in the corner of the mess room, with all of them thinking the same thing.
“We need to talk in private.” Amy said, indicating she did not want the guard that was left behind to listen to what she had to say.
“Outside, there is something you need to know.” Dug said, shocking the other two for speaking again.
“Me too. I have found something.” Steve whispered.
“All meet at the smoking bay in thirty minutes. That guard cannot follow us all.”
One by one they left the mess room, and the guard was left with the decision to follow one of them. He chose Steve.