The Medusa Curse Read online

  ‘It’s outrageous! There’s no way we could get away with that. We’d have police hunting us down from all over the world.’ There was a brief silence and then, his voice even louder, ‘I said, tell him no! I’m finished with this business! I won’t do it!’

  Jazz and Phoenix tried their best to fade into the background as Dr Zhang came storming out the door. They needn’t have bothered. Angry shoulders hunched up around his ears, hands clenched, he didn’t so much as glance in their direction. Then his phone rang again. Dr Zhang hesitated and brushed his hand through his neat, black and grey hair—it was clear to see he was considering whether to answer or not. Finally, he returned to his office to take the call. Instinctively, Jazz and Phoenix crept back to the door to listen.

  ‘I don’t care who you are!’ they heard him say. ‘I’m done with this whole operation.’

  After a short pause Dr Zhang spoke again, this time in a very different voice. ‘You wouldn’t dare . . .’

  Then there was silence. This time when Dr Zhang left his office, he was a very different man. He walked slowly, head down, pausing every now and then like someone who has had terrible news and forgotten for the moment how to put one foot in front of another.

  Jazz approached him. ‘Dr Zhang?’

  ‘Jazz,’ he said, speaking more to the carpet than to her. ‘I’m afraid I have to go.’

  ‘But what about Sir Robert?’ protested Phoenix.

  ‘It’s no use . . .’ Dr Zhang looked up. Jazz thought she saw despair and terror in his eyes. ‘Please just tell him I’m so very sorry.’

  With that, he trudged up the corridor past the security desks and disappeared through the heavy swing doors to the lobby.

  ‘What was that all about?’ Jazz asked, realising she’d been holding her breath.

  ‘Whatever it was,’ said Phoenix, gazing after Dr Zhang, ‘it wasn’t good.’

  CRASH!

  Bewildered, Jazz and Phoenix went back inside the Velocity wing to wait for Sir Robert. ‘I hope Dr Zhang is alright,’ Jazz said. ‘Do you think I should call Mack?’

  Phoenix shrugged. ‘And say what? We don’t know—’

  They were interrupted by the sound of the Velocity wing doors opening. Sir Robert Grimshaw, elegantly dressed, strode confidently towards them. He was wheeling a large trolley on which sat two irregular shapes, both with thick coverings.

  Without speaking, Sir Robert carefully lifted the larger shape off the trolley and placed it in the centre of a deep green rug a few metres away from the Medusa. Then he moved the trolley with the other object to one side. Only then did Sir Robert notice Jazz and Phoenix.

  ‘Ah,’ he said, putting out a hand in greeting. ‘You two must be the young museum helpers I’ve heard about. Pleased to meet you. Your names are?’

  ‘Phoenix Lyons.’

  ‘Jazmine—Jazz Mandell.’ They said their names almost together, shaking hands with the tall man.

  ‘Welcome to the Knowledge Institute, Sir Robert,’ Jazz said politely.

  ‘No need for the “sir”; Robert will do nicely. I must say, the room is looking splendid. You’ve done a fine job.’ He looked around. ‘Where is Dr Zhang?’

  ‘He, um, had to go somewhere,’ stammered Jazz, not sure what to tell Sir Robert.

  Sir Robert’s cheerful face clouded over and he anxiously ran a hand through his thick silver hair. ‘That’s rather a bother,’ he murmured.

  Worried Sir Robert would go looking for Dr Zhang without showing them the supercomputer, Phoenix pointed to the object on the rug, ‘Is that Sapphire?’

  The man brightened. ‘Yes, it is! I suppose you’re dying to have a look. Certainly safer than looking at Medusa!’ He chuckled as he unzipped the supercomputer’s tough protective cover. It fell softly onto the rug to reveal a clear glass case containing Sapphire.

  Jazz felt like the first time she’d looked through the window of her diving mask and glimpsed the coral palaces and brilliant swirling fish of the Great Barrier Reef. It had taken her breath away.

  ‘Wow,’ Phoenix breathed.

  Standing on a slim column, stood a multifaceted crystal. About the size of an apple, it glittered like an enormous blue diamond under the lights.

  ‘Breathtaking, isn’t it?’ said Sir Robert.

  ‘But where’s the computer?’ Jazz asked, dazzled by the blue crystal.

  ‘That is the computer.’

  ‘What about the super chip?’ Phoenix asked, puzzled.

  ‘That is the quantum chip!’

  ‘You mean that whole crystal is the computer and the chip?’ Phoenix quizzed.

  ‘Correct. It’s carrying quadrillions of bits of information. Perhaps you’ve heard of the binary system, used by most modern computers?’

  ‘Sure,’ said Phoenix. ‘They store information in binary digits—“bits” represented by 0 or 1.’

  ‘Precisely!’ said Sir Robert. ‘But quantum computers use quantum bits—“qubits”, which can have a value of 0 or 1 or amazingly, both 0 and 1 at the same time.’

  ‘So it can hold more information,’ mused Jazz.

  ‘Infinitely more! Sapphire will revolutionise the way we humans do things. It’s every bit as important as electricity.’ Sir Robert’s excitement and delight were infectious. ‘See that column it’s sitting on? That’s part of the hardware too. It’s a miniature multi-frequency broadcast tower that the AI manipulates to conceal the white-hat programs’ activity from the rest of the network. Thanks to the quantum technology, Sapphire’s programs can secretly investigate websites, scanning for weaknesses or suspicious activity in a matter of seconds.’

  Both Jazz and Phoenix were silenced for a moment by the immense power of the sparkling quantum computer.

  ‘That will make detective work much easier,’ Jazz said at last.

  ‘Yes, and that’s not all. Sapphire can be used for medical research, too. It’s capable of high-speed next-generation sequencing of biological samples. Researchers can use this to find cures for diseases.’

  ‘How do you turn it on?’ asked Phoenix, who couldn’t wait to see the supercomputer in operation.

  ‘Ah, now this is part of its genius,’ Sir Robert enthused. ‘Criminal organisations all over the world are eager to steal the technology behind Sapphire. Attempts have already been made! So, to keep my prototype secure, I’ve added an extra level of protection. Sapphire can only be activated by a Frequency Tripled Titanium Sapphire laser—but we call it FTTS for short,’ he said, pronouncing the initials as ‘Eff-Tiss’.

  At the mention of criminal organisations, Jazz felt her detective instincts kick in. ‘What attempts?’ she asked. ‘Who tried to steal Sapphire?’

  To her surprise it was Phoenix who answered.

  ‘Delgado,’ he said. ‘Publicly, he’s a famous tech developer . . . but everyone in the industry knows he’s a ruthless cracker.’

  ‘Cracker?’ Jazz hadn’t heard this term before.

  ‘A black-hat hacker, a hacker who breaks into systems for selfish or criminal reasons.’ Phoenix explained. ‘Delgado was behind an attempted attack on Sapphire during the installation of the AI software.’

  Sir Robert looked startled. ‘That’s right,’ he said. ‘But how did you know?’

  Phoenix shrugged arrogantly. ‘I’m a hacker, too. But I want to be a white hat. So I’ll need to try and stay ahead of guys like Delgado.’

  ‘I heard about that case against Delgado!’ Jazz realised. ‘But he was never convicted, was he? He walked free. Case didn’t even go to trial.’

  Sir Robert nodded. Then he smiled wickedly and said, ‘Delgado will be at the exhibition opening.’

  Jazz was shocked. ‘But why?’

  ‘Because I invited him. He’s desperate to see Sapphire up close. And I want to be there to see his face when he realises that there’s no chance he can replicate the device or its software with his grubby little mind. And even if he could, there would still be FTTS to contend with.’

  Jazz blinked and even Ph
oenix looked impressed.

  Sir Robert continued. ‘It needs to be tuned to very specific settings.’ He lifted the cover off the second mysterious item on the trolley.

  Jazz and Phoenix saw a complicated piece of equipment that looked like a cross between a power tool and a laser pointer. Shiny and covered in jewel-like buttons, it was about the size of a small drill.

  ‘This is the FTTS laser.’ Sir Robert let the cover fall again. ‘It can produce infinite sequences of powerful beams in a range of frequencies. Of course the sequence of the frequencies to activate Sapphire is top secret. That secret is kept in one place and one place only.’

  ‘Where’s that?’ asked Phoenix.

  Sir Robert’s eyes twinkled as he tapped his forehead. ‘Right here. I’m the only one who can make Sapphire operational and I want to share my vision with the public. Everyone should have a chance to see the next advance in computing science before it goes into a bank vault.’

  ‘Do the FTTS frequencies trigger the electron traps?’ asked Phoenix.

  Sir Robert looked at Phoenix admiringly. ‘I can see you know a little more about this than the average chap.’

  Phoenix smiled proudly. ‘Yes, sir. I found weaknesses in my school’s network last year—’

  ‘And got suspended for it,’ Jazz remarked dryly.

  Phoenix ignored her, and went on, ‘I was impressed by the reports of Sapphire’s white-hat programs, so I’ve been trying to make an app version of one of them.’

  Sir Robert opened a leather wallet and took out two business cards, handing one to each of them. ‘Join my son and me for tea any day next week, and we can discuss your ideas.’ He smiled at them. ‘I imagine you’ve already met Toby. Has he been working hard, getting this place ready?’

  Sir Robert seemed to expect an answer to this, so Phoenix shrugged awkwardly. He didn’t know how to tell Sir Robert that Toby hadn’t been near the place. He wanted to impress the billionaire, not make him angry. ‘We haven’t met him yet,’ he said finally.

  Jazz stayed silent. She wondered how well the old man really knew his son.

  ‘Ah, no matter,’ Sir Robert said. ‘Come to think of it, I haven’t spoken to him much myself lately.’ He frowned. ‘You know, Toby really should have been here tonight, to keep an eye on things.’

  He turned towards Sapphire and FTTS, checking the set-up of the exhibit for himself. When he next looked at Jazz and Phoenix, he was smiling again. ‘Well, it all looks shipshape!’ he said.

  Then Sir Robert turned his attention to the huge marble statue of Medusa. ‘Now, I must inspect my other treasure,’ he declared, walking over to it.

  He climbed up onto a packing crate to get on eye level with the statue. It was the crate Phoenix had stood on earlier when he’d scanned Medusa’s head.

  ‘It’s good to see you, Medusa,’ Sir Robert said. ‘I trust you travelled well?’

  Jazz and Phoenix exchanged a smirk at this eccentric billionaire talking to a statue as if it were a member of the family. But their smiles vanished when Sir Robert suddenly stumbled off the crate, staggering back as if someone had punched him in the chest.

  He stood staring, a look of deathly horror on his now white face. All traces of the chatty, friendly man of just a moment ago had vanished. His heavy brows contracted in a furious frown above shocked eyes. ‘Unbelievable! This is appalling!’ he cried. ‘Where the hell is Zhang?’

  Sir Robert turned to Jazz and Phoenix, his face dark. ‘You two,’ he barked. ‘Go and find Dr Zhang. I want him here right now.’

  As Jazz and Phoenix hurried out of the room, they heard Sir Robert on the phone, yelling at someone. ‘I don’t care what you’re doing! Explain yourself immediately or you won’t get another cent out of me!’

  ‘What just happened in there?’ Phoenix asked once they were out of earshot. ‘We’ve got no idea where Dr Zhang went,’ he added.

  ‘Maybe we should find Gustav, the security guy,’ suggested Jazz.

  ‘Good idea.’

  But when they reached the security office, there was no-one manning the desk. ‘Should we go check the Antiquities wing?’ asked Phoenix.

  Jazz turned a slow circle, taking in the whole office. It was very quiet and still. Too still, she thought.

  ‘Phoenix, look!’ she said, pointing to four blank screens. ‘The security monitors aren’t running.’

  He frowned. ‘Seems strange when Gustav was so worried about not having enough security for the night.’

  ‘I’m going to call him,’ Jazz said, pointing to a mobile number displayed on the desk.

  But before she could make the call she was startled by a big black cat jumping onto the desk, sending papers and folders flying as it bounded again to land on a shelf next to a brass antique clock.

  Phoenix jumped. ‘What’s that cat doing in here?’

  ‘I don’t know. But something very weird is going on.’ Jazz scrambled to pick up the fallen documents. ‘First Dr Zhang acts all mysterious and disappears. Then Sir Robert looks at the face of Medusa and goes kind of crazy . . . And now Security has gone AWOL!’

  The cat froze, paw in the air, as the clock chimed seven.

  A tremendous crash and squealing sound ripped through the silent museum.

  ‘What was that?!’ Jazz cried.

  ‘If it wasn’t impossible,’ said Phoenix, ‘I’d say it sounded like a car crash!’

  47:59

  Jazz and Phoenix ran out into the lobby, feet pounding. The sound of an engine revving came from the Velocity wing and they headed towards the noise, racing past the new exhibits. A smell of car exhaust filled the air.

  A car crash in the museum? How crazy is this? Jazz thought.

  About halfway inside the new wing, there was no sign of any car, but Jazz and Phoenix both stopped, shocked by what lay before them. The glass case housing Sapphire had shattered and the rug on the floor below was in tatters.

  Phoenix rushed to the display.

  ‘Is the computer OK?’ Jazz could barely raise her voice above a whisper.

  Phoenix turned to Jazz, his face white with anguish. ‘It’s . . . gone,’ was all he could manage.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Sapphire, FTTS—they’re not here!’

  ‘But . . . how?’ Jazz felt a cool breeze ruffle her hair.

  She turned to see where the breeze was coming from, only to realise that the central glass wall was gone! The triple-glazed glass panels had been smashed into tiny pieces that glittered where they lay. Muddy tyre marks made a wild arc on the wooden floor. Medusa was no more; the glorious statue lay in pieces.

  It took Jazz a few moments to work out what had happened. They had heard a car crash. Ram-raiders had driven through the landscaped garden and smashed their car into the glass wall. Now they were speeding away with the most valuable computer in the world.

  ‘We’ve got to get help!’ she exclaimed.

  Thudding footsteps approached and Gustav ran in, closely followed by Sammy, the security guard they had argued with earlier.

  ‘What the hell’s happened here?’ Gustav demanded, halting in his tracks as he saw Sapphire’s ruined case and the shattered glass wall. ‘Did you two see anything?’

  ‘No,’ said Jazz. ‘We heard the crash from the security office and by the time we got here, Sapphire was gone.’

  ‘Where’s Dr Zhang?’ demanded Gustav. ‘He was supposed to be guarding Sapphire.’ Jazz and Phoenix exchanged glances. It was the million-dollar question. Where was Dr Zhang?

  ‘He’s not answering the radio,’ replied Sammy.

  A low noise drew their attention to the wreckage of the Medusa. Was the statue moaning? Jazz’s hands flew to her mouth as she caught a glimpse of a pair of shoes on the floor beneath a large chunk of marble. ‘Sir Robert!’ she cried, and ran forward to find the billionaire lying on the floor behind the statue’s plinth. A pool of red spread outwards from underneath his head.

  ‘Sammy, bring the first-aid kit and get the police on the phone
,’ Gustav ordered, kneeling down beside the injured man. ‘Jazmine, can you please call the ambulance?’

  Jazz nodded and made the call. By the time she hung up, Phoenix and Gustav had moved the pieces of marble off Sir Robert and were bandaging his wounds. The billionaire appeared to be unconscious.

  A distant sound of sirens made Jazz look towards the road below the garden. Broken shards of clear glass lay all around. There were muddy footprints in amongst the tyre marks that led to and from Sapphire’s ruined display case. Then, beneath the case, something on the rug caught her eye—red and orange fragments. Not glass, but made out of something else. Another set of broken fragments lay nearby on the wooden floor. Her detective instincts kicking in, Jazz quickly snapped some photos of the coloured objects. As she stepped back to get a better angle, she bumped into Phoenix, who had come up behind her.

  ‘Watch it!’ he shouted, falling awkwardly onto the mess of footprints and tyre marks. Mud stuck to his jeans as he struggled back to his feet.

  ‘Oh! Sorry, Phoenix,’ Jazz reached down to help him up. The remains of Medusa’s marble head lay on the floor nearby and, almost unwillingly, Jazz looked down to meet the statue’s malevolent gaze. Suddenly she began to shiver in the cold night air.

  The sound of sirens grew louder, until the empty space left by the shattered glass wall was filled with red and blue flashing lights. Jazz and Phoenix moved out of the way as emergency personnel started running in.

  While the police spoke with the security guards, the enormity of what had happened suddenly hit Jazz.

  ‘The curse of Medusa,’ she whispered. ‘It’s happened again.’ Feeling shaky, she slumped to the floor near one of the remaining glass walls.

  ‘Are you OK?’ asked Phoenix.

  Jazz shook her head. ‘It’s a catastrophe. Sir Robert is badly hurt and Sapphire is missing. If that wasn’t bad enough, Dr Zhang was relying on them to keep his museum afloat. Everything he’s worked for—it’s all going to come crashing down.’

  Phoenix watched as Sir Robert was loaded carefully onto a stretcher. Then he slumped down beside Jazz. ‘The head wound looked bad,’ he said grimly. ‘And Sir Robert’s the only one with the frequencies that can activate Sapphire. If it’s found and he doesn’t recover . . . we all lose. That computer was going to revolutionise technology as we know it.’