Antivirus (The Horde Series Book 1)

MICHAEL KOOGLER

Antivirus

By Michael Koogler

Copyright © 2015 Michael Koogler

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce

this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

ISBN: 978-0-9961537-1-3

Book editing by Elizabeth Humphrey

Bookworm Editing, Littleton, Colorado USA

Book cover art, packaging and design by

Kreative Storm Press, Coralville, Iowa USA

Other works by
Michael Koogler
:

Novels

Hade’s Gambit

The Rise of Cain

Short Stories

“Jigsaw”,
Sadistic Shorts

“The Summoning”,
Sadistic Shorts

“The Agent”,
Never Fear

And Coming Soon!

Convergence

Antivirus 2, The Awakening

For Bryanna…

…with slobbering wolf kisses

from a
Canus Lupus
named Dakota

and cuddly hugs

from a
Chinchilla Lanigera
named Koda

Prologue

The worm continued working, effortlessly traversing the global pathways of the internet at speeds incapable of being tracked. It went where it would, seeking the unlimited lines and threads of computer code. It assimilated, rewrote, and reprogrammed a thousand times a second, and every time that it did, it grew in strength, in size, and in intelligence. Already far beyond the initial parameters of its creation, it had recently added a new phase to its structure. It was capturing voice and video streams. It had not yet figured out what the significance of the new data was or how much of a threat the source was, but it was learning. In time, it would understand. Once it did, it would know whether to assimilate the source…or destroy it.

Chapter 1

Sherrard Residence, Helena, Montana:
Jennifer Sherrard leaned back in her chair and drew her long legs underneath herself. She let her hand dangle over the arm of the recliner, absentmindedly tangling her fingers in the thick fur of Dakota, their grey wolf family member, who reclined lazily beside her. The regal-looking canus lupus was more black than grey, but whatever his true color, he reigned supreme in the Sherrard household. Raised from an orphaned pup when a rancher killed his mother—on Sherrard land, no less—Dakota had filled the childless void in the Sherrard’s lives for nearly six years. Tonight, he was doing duty as Jen’s confidant, lying within easy reach of her as she continued to debate her husband’s announcement.

“Come on, Jen,” Jon Sherrard went on, continuing an argument that had been going on for some time. “It’s not like I haven’t done this before.”

“And I’ve never liked you doing it, either,” she replied evenly. “Why you?”

“I’m a test pilot. I’m
their
test pilot,” he answered in exasperation.

“There are others.”

“Not for this and you know it.”

She sighed and lowered her head, letting her long raven-colored hair fall over her face. For her husband Jon, that signified the end of the discussion and a hard-fought victory for him. He knelt beside her then, reaching out and running his hand tenderly along her cheek, before gently lifting her chin so that he could look into her deep blue eyes.

“Look,” he said softly, mindful of her feelings, but wishing to make the obvious point he had been working on the entire argument. “You spent ten years in the agency and I never said a word. You’ve been involved in assignments that should have been the death of you, and several times, nearly were. I spent ten years wondering if your current mission was finally going to be the one that delivered you back to me in a box.”

“That’s not fair, Jon,” Jen replied, her eyes glistening.

“It’s not supposed to hurt, hon,” he soothed, leaning forward and kissing her gently on the forehead. “It’s just…well, you have to trust me,” he switched tactics, trying to downplay what he was actually going to be doing in that pilot’s chair. “Remember, you were out hunting down bad guys for a decade. I’m only playing with computers with a bunch of genius-level nerds.”

“
In
computers,” she corrected, giving him a hard look.

“What’s the difference?”

“Everything.”

“Look, I’ll be fine.”

“Said the dumb jock before telling his friends, ‘Ya’ll watch this!” She forced a smile, but the worry and concern never left her face.

“It’s just a bunch of computers, babe.”

“You were safer in the air,” she dead-panned.

Jon Sherrard smiled and sat down on the floor, pausing to scratch behind Dakota’s ears, which elicited a low growl—the wolf’s way of saying,
“If you stop now, I’ll tear your arm off.”
“I could always go back,” he teased, referring to his past career as an actual fighter jet test pilot. “There’s a lot of next generation equipment needing someone to run it through the grinder.”

“Over my dead body,” she quipped.

“Would you rather I just tie on an apron and confine myself to the kitchen?” he asked. “Would that better place me in the realm of acceptable house-husband for Jen Sherrard, Super Spy?”

“At least you’d be safe,” she replied. “And I’d get an occasional good meal out of it.”

With a chuckle, he leaned forward and kissed her knee and she dropped her head down to rest her forehead against his. It would have been an intimate moment between husband and wife had Dakota not stuck his own huge head up between them, immediately bathing them both with slobbering wolf kisses. Always in tune with his human companions, he had been uneasy during their argument. Now that it was over, he had no problem letting them know he was relieved.

“You better do something about your
dog
,” Jon said, playfully pushing the big wolf away.

“Me? You were the one that saved him.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” he replied, grabbing Dakota’s ears as the big animal barreled back into him, growling playfully. “Beat it, doofus!” he lamented, before getting completely bowled over and managing to pull his wife off the chair at the same time. Laughter and happy wolf barks and howls filled the Sherrard household for some time after that.

It was nearly three in the morning when Jen Sherrard came awake, still lying naked in her husband’s arms after a passionate night of lovemaking, their way of telling each other everything was going to be all right. She managed a smile as she listened to Jon and Dakota, who was sleeping peacefully across the lower half of their bed, competing against each other for the loudest snore.

She lay awake for nearly an hour, once again seriously contemplating what her husband was about to do. Taking risks was something that both of them had done plenty of times in the past; he with his flying and she with her gun. But this? This was more than she felt she was willing to accept. And now, with more to lose than ever, she was frightened.

She paused to remind herself that Jon’s employer, FutureTek, was a good company with good people, and Kat Hale was one of their dearest friends. Kat would never put Jon’s life in danger and she knew that. But how could Kat be sure? How could any of them be certain? Where Jon was planning on going was a place no one in history had ever visited before. How could anyone know what he would find? How could anyone know that he would truly be safe?

She placed her hand gently on her belly, thinking of the tiny life growing within her, wondering if the miracle would finally hold—desperate that it would. It was nearly dawn before she fell back into a fitful sleep.

Chapter 2

FutureTek Headquarters, Helena, Montana:
Jon Sherrard yawned deeply while listening to the music of Fireflight’s newest release humming in his ear piece. He was far from tired, but as calm as he could get. Relaxation, of course, was standard protocol for someone getting ready to make the journey he would be making within the hour. Getting wound up was not only pointless, it could be extremely dangerous. He thought back to his discussion with Jen the previous night and allowed himself to smile. He loved his wife deeply and he understood her concern for him. After all, he had experienced the same apprehension for her safety before she retired, hadn’t he? So, her worry was not misplaced and this was admittedly not just any test flight, either. But it was an opportunity to do something no one had ever done before and make him a pioneer in a field that did not even exist on a public level yet. He could not pass that up.

“You scared?” a voice spoke quietly from the doorway.

Sherrard didn’t turn as his friend stepped into the room and shut the door. “You’re not supposed to be in here, Perry,” he admonished, but grinning nonetheless.

Perry Edwards took a seat near Jon’s reclining lounger. He was middle-aged, a couple years younger than Jon, but worry lines creased his forehead deeply and made him look far older. He had been friends with Jon for years, having struck up the relationship during their days in the military sector when Perry was designing aircraft and Jon was testing them high above the ground. “You didn’t answer my question,” he pressed.

“A little,” Sherrard admitted. “We’re flying free this morning, Perry. First time jitters, I guess.”

“You’ve done it before.”

“True, but that was a closed environment,” he replied. “Today we’re opening the gates to a world no one has ever seen.”

“You know we should have waited and done open world tests before a big presentation like this,” Perry said tiredly, rubbing his eyes and falling silent. He hadn’t slept in more than twenty-four hours, preparing for this day for longer even than Jon.

“You know what they say,” Sherrard responded. “No better time than the present.”

“But would it have hurt to wait it out for a bit, do some testing while no one was watching? Then do a bigger presentation? Imagine doing this at a consumer electronics show!”

“You know how Drew is,” Jon sighed. “He’s always looking over his shoulder, thinking someone else is going to score before we do. We come out first, we control the game.”

“Or at least the money.”

“There’s that, yeah. But we’re ready, Perry. You know that. Drew would never let us wait.”

Perry was silent, fighting the fatigue. He had been working his own magic on the project as a developer and knew Jon was right, probably more than Jon actually did. If they waited and someone hit it before they did, they would lose everything, and he would lose even more. As it was, Systemtech controlled the market and had the wallet to bankroll the new technology and right now, they had Systemtech’s attention. That allowed him the lateral movement to complete his own personal agenda in the release. He had to keep telling himself that he was almost there. He simply had to time things right.

“Have you ever thought about what’s really out there?” Jon said after the silence had stretched for a couple of minutes, drawing Perry back to the present. “Or in there,” he amended.

“Data, I suppose,” Perry shrugged, feigning boredom. “Endless streams of data for you to play with, no different than the sandbox you’ve been playing in for the past few months.”

“There’s life beyond any sandbox, my friend. Don’t you ever wonder what it might be? What hidden place we might uncover?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure it isn’t going to turn into some Tron universe,” Perry chuckled. “Sorry, pal, no light cycles for you.”

Sherrard smiled and settled a little deeper into his chair. He still had an hour or so to go before they fetched him for the run. Plenty of time to stay relaxed and maybe even nap a little. “What are you going to do if we sell, Perry?” he asked.

“If you make a clean run and this Systemtech fat-cat is satisfied, they’re going to drop a high nine digits in our lap, possibly ten,” Edwards replied. “I can’t even imagine that much money, but I can tell you that I’m definitely going to spend my share of it. I think I’ve earned the chance at a good life.”

“Didn’t your mom ever teach you to save your money for a rainy day?” Sherrard chuckled.

“I’ve never had it to save,” was the truthful reply, and Sherrard caught the barest hint of anger in his friend’s voice. “I’ve scratched all my life and I’m done scratching, Jon. We’re going to nail this and then I’m gone. I figure I’ve got half a lifetime still to live and I intend on living it in style.”

“Whatever floats your boat,” Jon said with a smile, closing his eyes again. “I guess you’ve earned it.”

“Perry!” a new voice called out as the door to the quiet room opened again. “What on earth are you doing in here?”

“Just leaving, doc,” Perry said as he quickly stood up. He glanced at the angry woman in the white coat and couldn’t help but chuckle. Doctor Diane Faust was every bit the strict physician disciplinarian that she looked—white lab coat, black-rimmed glasses, perpetual angry scowl. Only her angry scowl at the moment said that she was truly pissed off.

“It’s okay, Diane,” Jon spoke up, coming to his friend’s defense. “We were just having a nice relaxing chat, nothing more.”

“I don’t care. Protocol states that you are to be left alone before engaging in the process,” she said quietly to him. Turning back to Edwards, she continued, her voice regaining its hard edge. “You should know that better than anyone, Mister Edwards,” she said. “Now get out of here.”

“I’m leaving, doc,” Perry said, clearly amused. Reaching out, he patted his friend on the shoulder. “Knock ’em dead, Jon. I’m going home, so get this baby landed for me, will ya?”

“Not going to wait around for any fireworks?”

“Are you kidding? I have all the faith in the world in you, but if this does go south, I don’t even want to be here to see it.”

“We’ll be fine.”

“Oh, I’m sure you will be, Jon,” Edwards said. “Which is why I am going to go home and sleep while dreaming happy money-filled dreams.” With that, he walked out of the room, pausing long enough to throw an exaggerated wink toward the irate doctor.

“How are your vitals?” Faust asked Sherrard as Perry swept past her and left. She shot him a final angry glance and then turned back to the man in the chair.

“Everything is nominal,” he replied, looking at a bracelet on his left wrist that was cycling through his physical readings. “Heart rate, breathing, blood pressure—all green. I’m about as relaxed as I’m going to get.”

“Good,” she said, her demeanor softening. “You have about an hour, so I’ll leave you be. And I’ll make sure you’re not bothered by anyone else,” she added.

Without waiting for a reply, she ducked out of the room, shutting the door softly behind her. Jon Sherrard sighed and closed his eyes, taking in the music again and thinking positive thoughts. He focused on happy memories, time spent with his wife and their adopted pseudo-son, Dakota. It wouldn’t do to focus on the task at hand and whether it would or would not be dangerous. He was committed now and was going to do it no matter what, so he might as well simply let his mind wander for the time being.

He had no idea just how literal that thought would become.