The Summer Vacation
Chapter 49
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

I arrive back in Raleigh by 2 P.M.. The fairies change into butterflies to fly out and explore the area for Tiger and Tigress’ benefit and get an understanding of the campus. It takes me several trips to get the car emptied out. On the first trip to the apartment, I open the balcony door. They fly in to check out the apartment. They see the flowers are okay, but the flowers need some fresh air.

“Richard, these flowers need some fresh air to perk up. Then we can bring them back into tonight.”

“Okay, Amber. I’ll do that as soon as the car is unloaded.” I open some of the bags of nuts, seeds and small fruit into bowls. They take some to get their energy back up. I turn on the heater unit to get the temperature back up and take the chill off the air in the apartment. The fairies change into butterflies and explore more of the campus.

Once I get done get my things back in the apartment, I start bringing the flower pots and herb pots back out to the balcony. Soon some flying insects come by to check out the colorful offerings. They take a sip of nectar and go their way on the campus.

The fairies come back to the apartment about and an hour later. For an hour, I review my classes to remind myself what I need to do this week. I stop by the grocers and several stores until I find the right size pillow and blanket sets for Amber, Cobalt, Tiger and Tigress. I also do the same for Traphel and his fairy escorts as well. Then I look for some small cedar wood boxes that are hinged and with clasps to close tightly. I eventually find them at an import shop in Raleigh. I tell the cashier they are for my nieces. They smile that I’m thinking of them.

When I bring the items back, the fairies are thrilled to have their own dress and linen boxes that smell really nice. The rest of the week was uneventful until Thursday.

On that day, I walk out of the CE building with my books, notebooks and laptop, but something happened. When I sit down and put my things by my side, I get distracted by somebody who walks past me. When I look down, I see my laptop is gone. Where did the laptop go, Croin?

Someone took it. Do you want me to follow him?

It is a must Croin. I’ll go to the CE Director’s Office to report it.

Okay. I’ll also inform the fairies as well.

Yes, they must know.

I pick up my books and notebooks. I walk to Dr. Weldon’s Office to report the theft.

“Your laptop is stolen?”

“Yes, ma’am. I don’t know who took it. I think I was distracted on purpose for the theft to occur.”

“That’s not the first time. Hopefully we’ll get a clue soon. I’ll inform the police.”

I walk out to the hallway. Soon, Croin enters back inside me.

Richard, I know where he went. He’s hiding in a closet of a classroom trying to hack your laptop in the CE Building.

Thank you, Croin. Look. Here come the campus police. Tell me which direction to go.

Okay.

Then we see Corporal Lonigan walking toward me as well. He is behind the two campus police officers.

“We got a call that your laptop is stolen.”

“That’s right, sir. I think it is still on campus. I have been getting my notes together to do something new next semester for my Senior Project.”

“They probably want to steal that and take credit for it or destroy your hard work.”

“Is it password protected?”

“It is Corporal Lonigan. However, I replaced it with my own creation. They should be very frustrated by now.” I smile at him.

Corporal Lonigan smiles, “Good, then they will be easy to find.”

We start walking down the hallways. I hear Croin speak to me.

Down this hallway, it is the second door on the left.

We walk down the hallway and check the rooms. We don’t hear anything. When we get to the second door on the left and open it, we hear a lot of cursing.

~~~000~~~

“Arrrggghh! Curse this laptop!” He speaks into his cell phone, “What is this? I can’t break this password, sir.”

“What’s the set up?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it. It is a five-word sequence with voice verification. My flash drive refuses to access his hard-drive. It has the same five-word sequence as well.”

“Well go and bust that laptop, John. If this Richard can do this, then who knows what will happen. We must keep things the way they are.”

“I agree sir.” John closes the cell phone.

~~~000~~~

Then all of a sudden the closet door opens. Three guns are pointing at him from the officers. I’m standing behind them with a big smile. The CE Director is there as well.

“Oh . . . crud. . . . I’m . . . “

”Yes, you’re under arrest, John. Hand over the cell phone and the laptop, please.”

“Yes, sir.” He then hands the cell phone and the laptop to the officer.

The officer hands my laptop back to me.

“Richard, do you know this man?”

“I’ve seen him at the Job Fair we had last October. He’s a recruiter for the company called Intel-cetera, Inc. He wanted me to sign up with his company after my senior year. I said ‘no’. I told him I have plans for my Master’s degree first.”

“Thank you, Richard.”

“Is that true, John?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“You’re under arrest at least for espionage. Who is your accomplice to get the laptop?”

“A student here, he’s an intern here on campus for our company.”

“Will you please give the name of your accomplice?”

“Gary Thompson.”

I groan, “Ugh . . . I know who he is officers. He’s in two of my classes. He has been a thorn in my side saying my Senior Project will fail.”

“That’s interesting, Richard. When we trace that cell phone call, we’ll find who pulled the strings over there.”

John gets up and turns around. He gets handcuffed and taken away.

“Officers, when we get to that day in court, I’ll do a demonstration with this laptop. Then they will realize they made a very big mistake.”

“Of course, Richard.”

The CE Director and I smile as we shake hands together. We go our ways. Soon Gary Thompson is pulled out of class. He sees me in the hallway as he is taken away.

“It’ll never work, Richard!”

“You don’t know who’re dealing with! I’ll see you in court!”

I get called in at the police station the next day after class. The DA takes my testimony and my information on how I know these people. They call Anna Dawson to inform her what is going on and give her a tentative date for the trial. She thanks them very much. She’ll be in town a few days before the trial next month.

Charges are brought up on corporate espionage, theft and a few other charges on the company. Gary Thompson, John and the CEO of Intel-cetera, Inc., is also charged as well personally. The cell phone call was traced directly to the CEO’s office.

Because of the closeness to the end of the Fall Semester and the Holiday Break, the court date is set for the middle of January. Since I already signed up for the Spring Semester, I see I will miss two days of classes. I get permission from the President of NC State and the CE Director to do the court case and not get penalized for missing anything happening with the classes on those days.

The rest of the semester went along smoothly. The other student who hassled me about my Senior Project backed off when he saw the events unfold before him. I finally concentrated on getting the rest of the homework done and studied for the finals. It took three days to get the Finals done. The professors told me I will earn all A’s in the four classes. The one class that gave me most trouble is in Security Protocols. I earned an overall 93 for the class. Good enough for an A in the class. My overall GPA jumped back up a bit to 3.945. Nice, thank you Creator.

When the last test is over, I start getting myself ready for Christmas Break. I make sure the plants are brought in again. I adjust the self-watering tank to very slow drip to all of the pots. The fairies make sure there are no bugs hiding in the plants and the soils of the pots. When they did find one, they immediately took them out to the balcony and let them go free.

I pack up the car again with my clothes, presents, my armor, the stone carving, my ranger outfit, corsets, etc. I was able to eat the food in the fridge so there is nothing left over this time. I make sure there are plenty of nuts, seeds and fruits for us to eat along the way. I put a blanket on the front passenger seat for the fairies. The air is getting colder now. I know I will be seeing snow on the ground on the road up to Mt. Blanc. I put my hand on the apartment door and do a quick prayer to the Creator to keep the place safe until I return after the first of January.

We get into the car and I drive off to Mt. Blanc to have Christmas in the mountains. As I get higher up the mountains, I see the snow is starting to stick some more. There will be snow on the ski slopes for the tourists this year.

I stop by Chuck’s gas station to get filled up again.

“So, how did you do on your classes, Richard?”

“I got all A’s.”

“That’s good. Is there anything else exciting happening on campus?”

“I had a corporate spy to try and steal my laptop. He couldn’t hack into my new logon password sequence I created. It was easy to find him. We found him in a classroom closet cursing that he couldn’t hack it.”

“Heh, heh, serves him right. How far did the tentacles go?”

“It went right to the CEO of the company and a student intern on campus who caused the distraction. The court date is set for the middle of January.”

I get the car filled up and pay the bill. I get in and drive to the cabin. The fairies stay inside the warm car until I get the heat going in the cabin. Once I move my stuff back inside, the fairies fly in quickly and get their things in order. Once everything is done, we get back in the car to drive to the grocers to pick some fresh food. It is the only place available now to get fresh food in the middle of December. I make do with what is available. I purchase some frozen fish, chicken breasts, and an assortment of fresh fruit and vegetables.

I drop by the police station and the mayor’s office. We exchange holiday greetings and that we are glad to see each other again.

“I’ll be at the Wilkerson’s for Christmas and the Winter Solstice Festival in Cherokee on the 21st. How are the ski slopes doing?”

“They are doing fine, Richard. The hotel is about two-thirds full right now. All of the bed and breakfast inns are full.”

“That sounds like a nice plus for the local economy.”

“It is, Richard.”

“Well, I better get back to the cabin and unload the food. Have a great holiday everyone.”

They all shout back, “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Richard.”

I get back to the apartment and unload the food into the fridge and the freezer. I call Anna and Sarah to wish them a great holiday period. They thanked me.

“I’ll be there in Raleigh to represent you on the court date, Richard. It should be an open and shut case. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for your deposition to the DA. He did send me a copy of it right away.”

“It should be. Anna. Have a great holiday.”

“You too, Richard.”

The rest of the three weeks went as usual. I first went to the Cherokee Celebration first for the Winter Solstice Festival. I wore my feathered necklace there. I get greeted by a lot of my friends there. They are glad to see me there. It makes my heart and soul feel warm all over.

I then spent Christmas with the Wilkersons. Just like it was Thanksgiving, we had a great time together. Marcie and CJ thanked me for the gifts I got them. I get a few more sweaters from Chuck and Elizabeth. I got them a set of his and hers bath and soap set. They appreciate it very much as well.

The Butterfly Conservatory is in the slow season now. The butterflies who are staying there are now in extra sleep mode to conserve their energy as much as possible. They are in their roosts by 3:30 in the afternoon.

The rest of the holiday break went great. We saw some fireworks at the local park. We know we could have seen bigger fireworks elsewhere, but we didn’t want to chance it on the roads.

Once New Year’s is over with, I start packing up again to get back to Raleigh. I said my farewells to them and promise to see them come May again. I drive back to the campus to get ready for my last semester as a Senior at NC State. Everything is typical again with the events there, except for the court date.

The judge hands down the judgement and sentences the defendants. The jury declared them all guilty.

“Now I’ve been asked by the DA that we allow Richard to demonstrate his laptop. This is to prove to you had no chance to hack it.” The judge looks at me and nods his head.

“Thank you, judge.” I stand up and walk to the evidence table and turn it on. “All right, I give you another chance to hack my laptop.”

Gary and John come up to the table. They try to hack into my laptop. They keep getting the same message back.

“Incorrect passwords. Voice pattern doesn’t match. Access denied.”

“So, how does it work, Richard?”

“It works like this Gary.” I walk up to the laptop. “Password is Gamma-halftron-episilon-ninerton-photran.”

“Password is correct. Recognize voice pattern from Richard Moore. Revolving Password to next sequence.”

Then everyone is floored in the courtroom with astonishment except a few people I noticed. I see smiles on their faces, like some CEO’s, the CE Director, the Police Department Captain and their Lieutenant who is their network specialist, the County DA and Anna. I even see Lt. Brad Myers and Colonel Lawson there as well with big smiles.

The defendants scream out loud, “What?! You mean tell me you know what the next password sequence will be?”

“That’s right Gary and Intel-cetera.”

“Why did you do that?”

“I knew the current password models are known and can be hacked. Therefore, I came up with a new model on my own. It takes more than knowing the last password sequence. You have to know the last three sequences and several other pieces of information to even have a chance. The equation is quite complex.” I smile at them widely.

The defendants all scream out loud, “Arrrghhh!!!”

Then all three defendants lunge at me.

“No!!”

“We’ll not be defeated!”

“I won’t have my company taken apart by the likes of you!”

I take a step back quickly and get into a self defense position. Gary gets to me first. I quickly do a take down on him and put his face on the floor.

“Ooof . . . what the . . . ?”

“Not so fast, Gary. You forgot I’m a Shaolin brown sash.”

“Grrr . . . ”

Have Josh visit these three, Creator.

I intend to, Richard.

The officers come in quickly to restrain the three men. They get handcuffed again and taken out of the courtroom. The company’s Corporate Lawyer looks down with hands on his face in defeat.

The courtroom has a mixed reaction. There are clapping of hands, cheering and laughter. The others are grumbling that some kid came up with this new idea. The judge has to his gavel to restore order to the courtroom.

“Order in the courtroom!! ‘Bang!’ Order in the courtroom!! ‘Bang!’ Order in the courtroom!! ‘Bang!’ Bang!’”

Everyone settles down in their seats. “The sentences will be handed down next month. The courtroom is adjourned.” The judge hits the gavel one more time. ‘Bang!’”

A lot of people cheer for me. I shake a lot hands in the courtroom and get hugs from Anna and from people I know personally. Then some CEOs come up to me to give me their cards.

“Look us up when you graduate, Richard. We’d be very interested in changing the world. We need people like you to make a difference.”

Creator, I sense a problem with this man. I sense he is very nervous.

He lied through his teeth, Richard.

Thank you, Creator.

“Thank you.” I look at the card. “Thank you, Mr. Johnston of Beta-security.”

The last hand shake I do with a CEO gets my attention. “Hello Richard. That was a nice piece of work you did. My name is Mr. Bryson of Secure-Sys, Inc. I take it you have something new planned during your Master’s degree?”

“I do sir. Right now it is still in my head. It is going take more than that password sequence I did to keep curious eyes from looking at it.”

“That’s the problem with security measures. You don’t know who to trust and who is working with you. It takes a lot of research into someone’s background.”

“That it does, sir.”

“Like I know you’re tops in high school, martial arts, Boy Scouts and are good friends with the Cherokee Indian Tribe here in NC. I’m sorry to hear how your family died.”

I smile at him, “Yes, you did your homework.”

He smiles back, “Yes, I did, Richard.”

I shake hands with him again. I don’t get any reaction at all from him. He turns around and exits the courtroom.

He’s the one to work for when you graduate, Richard.

Okay, Maker. Remind me later when it comes that time. Does he know your Voice yet, Creator?

He just heard my Voice several weeks ago.

Thank you very much.

We leave the courtroom and go our way. Anna will do the follow up for me when the sentence phase is handed out next month.

The rest of the semester was finally uneventful. I write my Senior Project with all the references needed. When I gave my conclusion, all of the professors agreed something must be done to stop the hackers. I get all A’s for the last five classes. My GPA jumped up to 9.61. I’m now in the top five of the department. The only award I got is the continuation of my scholarships at NC State. I wasn’t selected for valedictorian and salutatorian, but that’s okay. I did get a nice standing ovation from several groups in the crowd. These groups are from Cherokee, Mt. Blanc, the Raleigh Police Department, friends in the Raleigh area and some students in the class. I’m sure my family is smiling proudly up in Heaven right now.

After an afternoon of celebrating with them, we all finally go home. Back in the apartment, the fairies and Croin all congratulated me in earning the degree. I get my bags packed up again for another summer vacation. The flowers survived the winter fairly well. We bring along the pots of herbs and Twainor fruits and seeds. I arrive back in Mt. Blanc that Sunday like last time.

When I arrive at the cabin, I get a very warm greeting from all of the fairies there. Traphel, Amber, Cobalt, Tiger and Tigress give the latest news what happened during the winter and Spring Semester. We make a joyful occasion one afternoon and evening by firing up the outdoor grill and enjoy each other’s presence again. King Oren and Queen White Dove give me the latest news what happened during that time. There were some fierce tornadoes when the spring storm fronts came through. No one got hurt between themselves and the people. They did their best in helping the damaged areas to recover among the plants and the animals.

A few of the Cherokees came by the glade and do another Planting Moon dance ceremony there before the big one later in the week. It wasn’t as spectacular as the last time, but they did see me welcome back the animals who came by to see me.

After spending my week there in Mt. Blanc, I pack up my things to get ready for some more training at the Peaceful Dragon. When I get there, I inform them what I can do.

“That’s great, Richard. Now we can have some intense practice and get your core strength built up.”

“Yes, sensei.”

For the next month I practice very hard. The new metal weapon to learn is the sama or the sickle. I continue to learn the additional moves for the crane and the tiger. Croin learns how to control his strength better.

You know I can’t wait for the dragon moves, Richard.

I know, Croin. When we get there, then we know you will be at full strength to do it all.

I continue to learn the mantis techniques for compact fighting and core strength. My abdominal muscles are getting stronger. I still don’t show any muscle definement despite my loose skin.

“You’ll use that to your advantage, Richard. It will disguise your abilities to anyone who comes against you.”

“Yes, sensei.”

When the month is over with, I’ve earned my brown sash with the second degree. When I do the crane kicks and defenses, they are amazed at the additional height I have in jumping above the opponent. The slashes from my arms and hands at an opponent are becoming very fast and creating a wind effect. Usually this doesn’t become evident until you’re halfway through the black sashes and you’re one of the legendary masters.

This gets repeated next year at Mt. Blanc. At that time I learn the broadsword and finish with all of the moves in the crane, tiger and the mantis style.

Croin and the fairies like the effect as well. Tiger and Tigress learn some wind slashing moves as well without using their flint knives. With some more practice they will become one of the best dragon and fairy protectors for their kin. The speed of their wings in flight will cause ripples in the air current and slice paper two feet away from them.

When the month of June is over with, I become pregnant with two more fairies. I drive back to the cabin in Mt. Blanc and enjoy a nice wind down to get ready for my first year of getting my Master’s degree. I enjoy a nice July Fourth with the town and the Wilkersons again. I leave Mt. Blanc during the first week in August.

We all have our tearful hugs and farewells. We promise to keep in touch as much as possible.

I get back to the campus and get ready for classes again. This time the phrases prove to be true about degrees in college. **** But this time I’m determined to beat that cliche about learning at a university.

I take three classes during the fall. I’m given a cage to keep my project in for safe keeping. It has a key lock on it. I decided to have an additional sensor inside the cage. It will send me a signal to my cell phone if someone should break it and open the cage. The room is full of cages for the student’s use. There are security cameras in several locations. I look at them and the security room where the feeds are sent to and recorded onto DVDs.

When I get done with my project, this will be obsolete.

I scheduled many hours in the lab to be there alone. I start assembling the six photon CPU’s and have it configured for a 3D cube with a frame mount I had to build from scratch. Each one augmenting the other in harmony. Once I have my core done, I start assembling the boards for each of the functions I want it to do. I also put an advance cooling system in there as well. I do a trial power up test. This is to see what the temperatures are. When it reaches the critical temperature for auto-shut down, I adjust the temperature for the cooling system to kick on a lot sooner. Soon I find the optimal temperature setting for the CPU core, the power supplies and the mother boards.

I then start to work on the chipset. Again everything is photon based at this point. I make sure all of the boards are maxing out to the highest RAM availability. The hard-drives are the trickiest part. Thank goodness they are getting smaller and require less power to operate. My next task is the 3D display. I start experimenting with several of the existing hologram setups we have and see how they work. Again it takes a lot of power to do this. I need to get the power demand reduced and find a way to save the images on the hard-drives and display them on the new 3D display. I look at the existing stop motion technology and see how it was done to create the effects in the classic Matrix movie series.

Then it dawns on me how I can make it better. It is how the images are stored for quick retrieval and display. The images will be saved onto a disk with a special coating. Instead of the electron, the disk will be photon based. I try several substrates, but each one fails. These crystals can’t be pressed on. They have to grow on them like when we put the polymer coating on it to protect it. I work with several crystal growing strategies until I’m happy with the best results. It should still work with the existing laser disk players and recorders.

I bring in a large safe deposit box and put it in the cage. I mount it to the table so no one can come in and steal it. I also make sure the table is secured to the floor as well. The security people wonder why I’m going through so much trouble to protect this project.

“It is because I don’t want it stolen or broken. There is a lot of hard work here.”

“Okay, we’ll do it for you, Richard.”

I put the boards, the CPU core, the disks and everything else I made in the safe. This continues for several months and into the next semester. I still have to keep up with the classes that I signed up for. I keep making A’s in the classes. Then I notice something about these classes.

This knowledge is based on current technology, Creator. If I’m doing something new, there will have to be new classes to transcend this old knowledge.

That’s right, Richard. You’re doing fine. Once your invention is on the market, then everyone will adjust to your new standard.

Okay, Creator.

I start working on the new holo-transmitters. I decide on four to create the cube display in space. Once I get the static cube adjusted in space, I connect them to the boards with fiberoptic cabling. The next steps is the peripherals needed to input data. I decide to keep the keyboard as a template, but I will design a 3D version of it in space. It will be reverse projected from the cameras for initial set up, then it will transfer to the holo-transmitters. The pointers on the finger tips each have a sensor on the end of the point. It receives it power from my body of my electric impulses. It is based on induction.

I build a new box in the metal work shop to house it all. The students are wondering what I’m making. I bring it into the lab and start assembling it all. I plug it all in with the peripherals again and turn it on. I still get a static cube. I make adjustments with the laptop until I finally see a cursor flashing in the 3D space. I smile when I see that. I then bring up the keyboard in 3D down at the bottom of the cube space. I turn on the mike and start doing my test runs. Once I’m satisfied that it is operating correctly. I start writing the code and create the 3D paths to protect the hard-drives. I make sure all of the ports go through the four gates to test all known viruses, Trojans, malware, etc. I make it also self learning just like I did on Captain Dar-re’s star ship. I download all of the ID patterns of the known bugs we have. The hard-drives of this new PC are in the Terra-byte range. I made it smaller and more economical. It is about the size of two PC boxes, side by side.

I then create the remote cameras for the system. Each one is stand alone and can send the video to the PC via a wireless system. I set the parameters so no one can hijack the images and put their own in like a thief would. The powers to these remote cameras are based on the water vapor conductivity in the air with the appropriate element in the wafer sandwich.

This whole new box I created still fits inside the safe I put in the cage. It takes me the better part of four semesters to get it done. I put up the new cameras in the lab and make sure the signal gets into the PC inside the safe. I do some trial walk ins into the room.

During these two years, I give birth to two more fairies. March 2100, I gave birth to Bianca and Lavan, these are two white Morpho wing butterflies. It is now April 2100. I will be getting pregnant with two more new ones four months from now. The fairies all help Bianca and Lavan learn the world around them and how to interact with it safely.

I then go into the safe and bring out the four holo-transmitters and place them where I want to in the room. I replay the scene of me walking into the room. I put on the pointers and do what I want to the image by turning it around, slowing down the speed or fast forwarding it. I can see all sides of me from one vantage point. I can zoom in for greater detail as well or zoom out for overall view.

I put the 3D system back into the safe and the peripherals in there as well. I secure the cage and lock it up. Two days later I think of another approach to hide it.

About two weeks before the demonstration to the review board, I get a beep on my cell phone at 4 A.M.. Everyone groans in the apartment.

I look at the display and see the note that my cage is broken into.
“Did someone break into your cage, father?”

“Yes Tiger. Someone broke in. We should know who it is when we get there this morning.”

“That’s good, father.”

We all go back to sleep as best we can. We get up at 5:30 A.M.. Everyone tries their best to wake up. We have our morning meal as usual. The fairies fly out in butterfly mode once I open the balcony door. I go out the front door and lock it once I get out. I start walking to the CE Building. I get greeted by the CE Director, Dr. Weldon, on the front steps at about 7:30 A.M..

“Richard, I’m sorry to inform you. Your project is stolen.”

“It’s stolen? Let me go in there and check it out.”

“The police don’t have any clues inside the lab. The surveillance system was compromised in the other room. There is no video recording of it being taken.”

“Well, let me still see it any way.”

We walk into the building. I see the police from the campus and the Raleigh Police Department as well.

“It’s not a pretty sight, Richard. See what you can find.”

“Okay, Captain Jackson.”

I go past the yellow tape and walk inside the lab. I see the cage busted wide open and the safe is gone. I look around the room and still see the cameras I put in place. I check inside the cage, I see they used a torch to cut the brackets and the bolts to steal the safe. I then carefully slide my foot under the table and touch something solid in an empty space. I smile when I feel it.

I get out of the cage and look at the people gathered in the room. “Sirs, I would like the Review Board for the Master’s thesis here now. I also want both police departments here and their technical staff with the County DA. Has Anna, my attorney been called yet?”

“She was called first thing this morning. She said she will be here by 11 A.M..”

“That’s fine. While we wait for her, I also want Mr. Bryson from Secure-Sys, Inc., with his attorney here and Colonel Lawson and Lt. Brad Myers from the air base south east of here to be present. I will need the NC State President and the attorney for NC State as well.”

“What is this about, Richard?”

“I wish I can tell you. But this needs to be a total surprise to the ones who stole this safe. I still intend to do a demonstration of my project.”

“Surely you jest, Richard? How can you do it if it is not here?”

“Just be patient with this, sir.”

“Okay, we’ll wait until 11 A.M.. We’ll make the calls. Officers, secure this room and make sure no one comes inside.”

“Yes, Director.”

Captain Jackson hangs back while everyone leaves the room. He whispers to me.

“Where is it?”

“It’s still here, sir. Trust me. Everyone will be amazed by what I created here.” I smile at him.

He smiles back. “I was hoping you would do it.”

We exit the room. Several officers keep watch by it. We linger around the lobby area of the CE Building waiting for the extra guests to show up. Some come sooner than others. By 11 A.M., everyone has arrived. We all walk back into the lab.

“I will now begin my Master’s thesis project. As we know with current technology, our surveillance systems are easy to compromise. We can see the results what happened this morning. The system I created is still here in this room. However, I hid it in plain sight before I locked it up the last time I was here.”

“Where is it, Richard?”

“It is under the table inside the cage.”

“What? All I see is nothing.”

“It is there, believe me.” I go to the cage and reach into the empty space and my hand disappears as if it is cut off. I then retrieve the box of finger pointers.

“How did you do that?”

“I’ll show you Mr. Lance.” I put the pointers on my finger tips. “I will now create a 3D keyboard in space here.” I point in space in front of them. Then a 3D keyboard appears suddenly in front of everyone.

“What!? Where is it coming from?”

“I put about half dozen cameras in this room. They are my own design. It is wireless and can’t be hacked. I will now display the new PC I created.” I punch some commands on the keyboard to turn on the microphone. There is a small five-line screen above the keyboard.

“Computer, password sequence is trillion-qwerty-jaybird-vorlon-belfry.”

“Password is correct. Recognize voice pattern from Richard Moore. Revolving Password to next sequence.”

“Computer, display PC Box under the table.”

Then all of the sudden the PC box appear under the table like magic. They see four new holo-transmitters around the PC box.

Everyone starts to laugh and clap their hands.

“This is great, Richard. I love it.”

“I knew you would like it, Lt. Myers. Now let’s see who tried to break in last night.”

I bend down underneath the table and remove the four holo-transmitters and place them on the table. “You can make the field how big you want it. If the space is small, the display will be small. You can still zoom in and out with the space you created.” I place the transmitters so it makes a square that is ten feet by ten feet with four tables in the room. There is no table in that space. I then speak to the computer again.

“Computer, display last night’s events at five times the speed. Speed time since 6 P.M. last night.”

“Displaying the image.”

Then the keyboard disappears. A static cube appears, then we see the room from last night. They see a 3D version of a time/date-stamp in one of the corners of the display. It progresses through the images very fast until we see two people come into the room at 4 A.M.. We don’t see their faces.

“Freeze the frame, Computer.”

“Frame sequence stop.”

I then step forward and place my hands out in front of me to grab the image. I then turn it around for them to see the faces. We see it is Gary and Bob Prescott.

“This is incredible, Richard. You just did a major leap in technology.”

“It’s too bad Gary came back again. He was in prison for a year only. Bob Prescott was the other student who was on my case saying my system will never work.”

“If they have the safe, Richard. What’s inside it?”

“I put a traditional college prank in there. I put two cans of glow in the dark clear spray paint and a note. I removed the paper on the cans so they don’t know what it is. I rigged it that when you open the safe door, it sprays out the entire contents really quickly. All you need is a UV light bar to see it. They should have a hard time washing it off their faces.” I smile at them.

Everyone laughs out loud. “What does the note say, Richard?”

“You’re busted!”

Everyone laughs out loud again.

“I also painted the outside and inside of the safe with the paint. So, it should light up really easily to find it.”

“Thank you very much, Richard.”

“You’re welcome, Captain.”

“Richard, how did you record the images in there?”

“Well, let’s open the box. I’ll show you, Mr. Restin.” I pick up the box and set it on the table. Then I take off the side cover. They see an elaborate cooling system. They see six photon CPUs mounted in a cube like manner. “There are six mother boards in there with six power supplies. The hard-drives are the latest on the market. The total memory is in the Tera-byte range. The chipsets match the photon CPUs. The RAM is also maxing out as well. If you want to make a copy of the video, you will need a new type of DVD. It will need a crystal substrate. Then the laser writer will write into it. It can be erasable or not. The images you see are all of the views from the cameras when combined together.”

“That’s amazing, Richard. Can I try and hack it?”

“By all means, Lt. Myers and Lt. Wolford from Raleigh Police Dept., let’s see you try to get in. I have an extra set of pointers if you need it. I suggest you use a wireless laptop to access it.”

“Of course, that’s what a thief would use.”

“I’ve got one here, Myers.”

They set up the laptop on the table. Wolford accesses his sniffer program. He gets to Gate 1.

“I see Gate 1 here, Richard? What does that mean?”

“That is the main data access point. You can try and hack my password sequence if you want to or bypass it with a virus that you know.”

“Okay. Since we can’t match your voice pattern, we’ll go around it.”

They both agree on a worm virus. Wolford types it in and sends it.

Then we hear out loud a statement from the computer speakers and displayed on the 3D screen.

“Detected worms, cannot access Gate 1. Add signatures to the database. No access for this attempt. Need password to reestablish command of systems. ”

Everyone groans when they see and hear it. However, some have a big smile on their faces.

“The password is zebrathon-octet-bluebird-Charon-blackwing.”

“Recognize Richard Moore’s voice and password sequence. Revolving and resetting new password sequence for next reboot of systems for Richard Moore.”

“It added the worm signature to the database. That means I can’t use the variants from it. You made it self learning.”

“That’s right, Lt. Myers. There is a directory on one of the hard-drives that is the library for all known viruses, Trojans and malware. It can be updated as needed like any other anti-virus program. There are four gates before you get to the firewall. Each gate will test the information is sent. It needs the password, the voice and the typical header information to get through. It is also critical timed if you send a bug. You have to be adaptive to go through each gate. If you can get pass the firewall, you can get access to the hard-drive. But now, to get out with the information, you have to go through four new gates. But, by that time, your viruses have been added to the library and you won’t get out with what you want. You are trapped. I set it up so that every single port is linked to the four gates. There are no more holes and back doors. If you tried to flood it with data or an energy burst, the four gates will turn into dams. If any get by it, the fire wall will snuff out the rest of it. Then it will reboot by itself to dump the overloaded data that was sent. I also protected the program core with its own four gates. The only ones who can access the program core will be the manufacturer or me. However, once it is up and running, even I will have hard time hacking it. It stopped me every time once I get past the first gate. The second gate picked up the new signature of the virus and blocked me.” I smile at everyone.

Everyone looks at each other with amazement. Mr. Bryson and his attorney see this is a great improvement over existing systems.

“What does the code look like, Richard?”

“I’ll show you, Mr. Lance.”

“Computer, display core code I wrote before compiling into EXE code.”

“Recognize Richard Moore’s voice for verification. Displaying core code programs.”

The image disappears and then they see a full screen of 3D code and lines, to ports, to fire walls and other line code for certain functions that are represented by icons. It looks like spaghetti in a bowl, but the pattern is discernable if you look hard enough.

“What? How?”

“The code you are seeing is the standard code from the photon CPU’s. I did all of the calls so that all six are acting in harmony and be able to multi-thread very fast. All of the data cables are fiberoptic. I used these pointers on my finger tips to draw the virtual lines and type the codes with the virtual keyboard.”

“I built this from scratch, Mr. Lance and Mr. Restin. This is the way my mind thinks. I think in 3D all the time. It all started when I was a kid when I built my first surveillance system to catch my brothers stealing stuff from my bedroom at the age of six. I was determined to prove it to mom and dad. It is the same here. When I started learning martial arts, I learned I have to be more aware of my surroundings all the time. Being with the Cherokees while in Boy Scouts helped me be aware of all five senses.”

“We have been inching this way for decades. But there are some companies who are deliberate in slowing it down and want it their way. They want the holes and back doors to do their thefts of knowledge and money. I say it is time to close those holes and back doors. I know for a fact the military, the banks and the police have a hard time in keeping up with these hackers. It is time to put them out of business and get a real job. There is another program that I’m going to write before I graduate. It is a new sniffer program. It will be called Rabbit Trails. It is a subroutine that samples seemingly loose pieces of data. It follows the scent to its destination with the parameters you give it. If someone detects the subroutine, it will appear as set of small code that seems harmless. When it gets to the destination, it will send a report back to you so you can display the path it took to get there.”

“This is a brand-new architecture in hardware and software. IEEE will have hard time classifying this one for a while.”

Everyone claps and cheers for what I created. I get a round of hand shakes and hugs from Anna. The four members of the Review Board get together in one part of the room to discuss what they have seen. Once they get done, they look at us.

“We have decided to give you an ‘A’ for your project, Richard. It is the most fantastic technology to come along since the IC chip. This is virgin territory. Now we see why you wanted these people here, Richard.”

“Yes, sir. That is true. I want Anna and the attorneys to start working on filing this invention. NC State will get the virgin royalties from the manufacturer. It was done here on campus. My income will come from in selling this on the market.” I look to Mr. Bryson with a smile. “I choose Secure-Sys, Inc., to manufacture my system. Their first sets of customers are Colonel Lawson and the Raleigh Police Department.”

Mr. Bryson smiles as he extends his hand to me, we shake hands together. “Then I also hire Richard Moore to work for Secure-Sys, Inc., to over see the production of the new 3D system. We need to get our Engineers together. You will need to teach them what you created here.”

“Hopefully, it won’t take two years to do that. Most of this was brewing in my mind since that Sunday at the end of the Spring Semester, my Junior year. I did a lot of sketching and typing in my laptop to get my ideas down first. The classes I chose showed me the current technology. I knew the photon CPU is the way to go. It was just a matter building from that. If you used one CPU, the images won’t be processed fast enough. With six of them, you have the redundancy if one fails. But I configured the cooling system so the temperature is ideal and the boards will not get hot. The space within the six cubes is the only warm spot.”

The CE Director looks at the police. “Will you please arrest Gary and Bob? They will be charged with destruction of school property? If you find any more who got spray painted with them, you can arrest them as well.”

“Thank you, sir. Now that we know what to look for in the surveillance room, we should find those clues in there. It’s possible they opened the safe elsewhere. Because the safe is huge, they probably unloaded it from the docks here at CE.”

“Then I suggest you get your detectives on the job and track them down, Captain Jackson. You can pick up Bob today. He has a class this afternoon. Hopefully he will lead you to Gary.”

“You heard the CE Director. We have a job to do.”

They all shout out loud, “Yes sir!”

I’m given a few more handshakes by the officers when they leave the lab.

“It looks we’ll need to do another show and tell in court, Richard.”

“That’s fine, Captain. I’m going to go ahead and hide it again.”

“What if the accused demand to know where it is? Their lawyer will need to know how it was done.”

“We’ll just do an external show and tell, Anna. I won’t explain the details like I just did to build this. It just a black box to them.”

“I agree, Richard. Now you need to protect your rights as well.”

I put the PC box back under the table. I leave the four holo-transmitters where they are.

“You realize there are a lot of applications with this.”

“We realize that, Richard. What are the initial uses?”

“To make gaming more interactive and realistic.” I take out a Yugioh card out from my pocket. “Computer, scan this card and display the character.”

The card gets scanned by the cameras. Then within the space of the four holo-transmitters, the Dark Magician appears standing in the space. You can see all sides of him.

“I love it, Richard. This will be a fantastic selling point. Those games will get a great re-boost in popularity. What’s the other use you see?”

“It will be in the medical field or the police field. You can download images from a CAT scan. It will compile it, then you can create a virtual 3D image of the body. Take the body apart to get the details. Or the scene here we just did. You can walk around in the space and see what they did if you want to.”

The police members clap their hands with great smiles.

“For Colonel Lawson, he can use this as a front line deterrent from hackers.”

“Will it be sophisticated if an alien ship decides to tap our network?”

“I don’t know, Colonel Lawson. We don’t know their level of technology. If these UFOs can travel faster than the speed of light, then it’s a problem. Here’s a thought for our engineers. We know we have been trying to create our own warp engine. They might be able to do it now with this new system.”

Everyone claps their hands again.

I put the four holo-transmitters around the PC box under the table. “Computer, hide PC Box.”

The PC box disappears under the table.

I stand up and point my finger in space to have the keyboard appears.

“Computer, continue monitoring with cameras in this room.”

“Continuing to monitor room.”

I then type the commands to turn off the microphone and make the keyboard disappear. I put the pointers into the box. I place the box back on top of the PC box to make it disappear as well.

“We’ll put another pad lock on the cage, Richard. The key will be with me.”

“Yes, Dr. Weldon. Just to let everyone know here, I put a sensor on the cage door myself. It gave me a message the cage was broken into last night at precisely 4 A.M..”

“Can I see that message, Richard?”

“Sure, it is still on my cell phone.” I hand my cell phone to the Captain.

The Captain hands it to Lt. Wolford. He accesses the incoming text messages. “Yes, here it is. The sensor went off exactly at 4 A.M., Captain. That was smart doing that, Richard. Now we have a starting point to work from.” He downloads a copy of the text message to his laptop for further analysis. He hands the cell phone back to the Captain.

The Captain hands my cell phone back to me. “That is smart thinking, Richard. Our technical staff and detectives now have a starting point in the investigation.”

“You’re welcome, Captain.”

We smile at each other. We now get out of the lab room and let the police department do their investigation. A lock is brought down to lock the cage up again. One key is given to the CE Director. The other key is given to Captain Jackson.

We walk down the hallways to the main atrium. The attorneys quietly talk among themselves to arrange meeting dates for the various subjects they will tackle.

Anna tells me a lot of arrangements are made now until I graduate and into the summer. First of all I have to finish my classes and pass the tests.

Bob Prescott gets picked up after his afternoon class.

“What’s the meaning of this, officers?”

“We’re taking you in. We have some questions to ask you about a break in last night.”

“I was asleep in my dorm room. My room mate can verify that.”

“Oh we’ll verify that.”

I stay out of sight while the arrest is made.

Slowly the detectives start getting the evidence together. They discover a pass key was used to get inside the CE Building near the docks and get into the surveillance room. Gary and Bob brought in a small hover lift from the docks. They found their fingerprints on it. This allowed them to move the safe out and not touch the ground. Once inside the lab, the CSI team determined they used a small acetylene torch they brought with them. They won’t find that until later in the investigation.

Once Bob saw the evidence piling up against him, he ratted on Gary. Gary then got arrested again. They asked him where they opened the safe up.

“We opened it at Beta-security. Bob is an intern there. Once the safe door opened, the aerosol cans sprayed a bunch of us.”

“Who was there to witness it?”

“Mr. Johnston, CEO. There was also his Security Chief, Mr. T. Wharton. There was one more. It was Mr. Gregor, their Corporate Attorney.”

“What did you do afterwards when you got sprayed?”

“We washed ourselves up really good. Once we washed the stickiness off, we noticed a small envelope inside the safe. We carefully opened it up. It said the words, ‘You’re Busted!”

“What happened next, Gary?”

“We panicked. The Security Chief took the safe to dispose of it somewhere. I don’t know where. Then we all got into our cars and left.”

“What did you do with the message?”

“The CEO took it. I don’t know what he did with it.”

“That’s an interesting story, Gary. Do you want to know what you were sprayed with?”

“Sure, why not. I hope it isn’t dangerous.”

“It’s not.” Then a UV light bar is brought out and turned on.

Then Gary sees traces of glowing green paint in the crevices of his finger nails. “Nooo . . . !” He quickly looks at the two-way mirror and sees the same outline around his eyes, nose, mouth, hair line, wrinkles in his skin and some still in the hair. “ARRRghhhh!!! I’ve been ghosted! Curse that Richard!!!” He has a ghastly ghost look.

In the next room, Bob sees the same thing. “Nooo . . . ! Curse that Richard!!!”

They are then put into a holding cell. About three hours later, the doors open to the holding cells and they see the other three men have that ghastly ghost look as well. They are all handcuffed.

“Where did you dump the safe?”

“I dumped it in the river, Mr. Johnston. They won’t find it.”

“Don’t be so sure. If we are marked with this paint, the safe is probably marked as well.”

“Grrrr . . . !” Grumbles the Security Chief.

The police divers carefully search the river near Beta-security. They found it really easy with the UV light bars. When it is brought up, they see the door already open. They see a drill was used to open the safe.

They go back to Beta-security to see if they can find the drill used. When they use the UV light bars, they see glowing hand and finger prints every where they touched. Eventually one of the hand prints leads them to the drill where it was put away. They also found the note I wrote in a waste can. They also found the truck used to haul the safe in from the CE docks. The same truck was used to transport the safe to the river. They found the portable acetylene torch in a storage compartment on the truck.

“Richard made it really easy for us.”

“I know. I wish all of our cases are like this.”

They start laughing as they gather the evidence together.

A week before the ceremonies, I get an envelope pushed under my door to my apartment at about 8 A.M.. I look down at it. Bianca sees it. She flies down to pick it up.

“Don’t pick it up, Bianca.”

“Why not, mother?”

“Look at the envelope, all it has are the words “To Richard,” and “From Anon.”

“What does that mean?”

“Anon. means anonymous. It means the person doesn’t want to identify himself. I need to call the Captain.”

“Okay, mother.”

I get on my cell phone to call Captain Jackson. “Ring” “Ring.”

“Hello, Richard.”

“Hello, Captain. I have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“I have an envelope that was just pushed under my door. It is addressed to me. The from part is from anon.”

“Have you touched it?”

“I haven’t sir.”

“Okay, I’ll send a CSI crew over to take a look at it.”

“Yes, sir. I’m staying in the apartment until they get here.”

“That’s fine.” “Click.”

I make sure my fairies are in butterfly mode and on the balcony before the police show up.

About fifteen minutes later, I get a knock on the door. I look through the peep hole carefully. I see some familiar faces from the Police Department. I open the door carefully. “It’s right on the floor as you walk in.”

“We see it, Richard. Step back from the door.”

I step back from the door. They carefully open the door some more. A CSI agent puts on some rubber gloves. Another CSI agent takes a picture of the envelope. The first one takes a filter light and sees if there is anything on the paper itself.

“There is a white powder on the surface. I need to carefully get a sample of that before I pick it up.” She takes a swab and rubs it across the envelope. She then puts it into a long vial and seals it. It gets labeled and dated. She then takes the tweezers and picks it up carefully to see the other side. She sees it is sealed. They shine a light from the other side. They see a folded note inside the envelope. “We’ll have to take it into the lab, Richard.” She puts the envelope into a plastic bag carefully and seals it. It gets labeled and dated as well.

“Meet us down there.”

“I’m right behind you as soon as I get my keys and wallet.”

“That’s fine, Richard.”

The door gets closed. I open the balcony door to talk to the fairies in butterfly mode among the flowers.

“Do you want us with you, father?”

“Yes, my fairies. Traphel, please watch the place. You didn’t see anyone leave the building at 8 A.M.?”

“There were several people who left the building at the time.”

“Okay, that’s fine. Keep watch anyway. I’ll be taking everyone else with me.”

“Sure thing, Omega. We’ll watch your apartment.”

My fairies stay in butterfly mode. I put my flash drive with cord around my neck. They fly around quickly to my car and wait for me to open it. Once I get there, the police van and the police car leave the parking lot. I open the door to my car, the butterflies fly in quickly and get on the floor. I get in the car, turn it on and drive to the station. Once I get there and park it. I open the door. The butterflies fly out quickly to find the flower gardens around the police station. Croin is already inside me.

I walk into the police station. I get greeted by Captain Jackson.

“We haven’t opened it yet, Richard. The CSI team is analyzing the powder right now and inspecting for fingerprints.”

“I’ll wait out here for the results. It’s strange, and this shows up a week before the ceremonies.”

“Yes it is. At least we have time to a plan something together if it is a death threat.”

“Let’s hope it is just that and nothing happens.”

“It’s too bad we don’t have your 3D system up and running.”

“It will take time to get more available, sir. Once I teach the engineers at Secure-Sys, Inc., it should be available within six months. That is my approximate time of building it from scratch.”

“But now you have a company that will make more of them faster.”

Then we see a CSI member come toward us and stands there. “Come, we have finished analyzing the powder.”

“What is it?”

“It’s cocaine. We also opened the envelope. We found a letter inside. You both need to see it.”

We follow the CSI agent back into the lab. We gather around the table and see the letter.

“There are no fingerprints on the outside.”

We read the words on the letter.

To Richard Moore,
We hope you’re having a nice trip down memory lane by now. When you give your speech at the ceremonies, you’ll be seeing the light of day that you can’t win. You can’t hide from us with your new invention.
From the Consortium

“First question, Richard. Are you giving a speech at the ceremonies?”

“I haven’t been told that, sir. The only positions are the two highest grade earners, the Salutatorian and the Valedictorian. I don’t think my GPA is number one on campus. I know it is number two in the CE department. All of the departments have separate honors for them. Unless they chose me to represent them.”

“That’s possible. What does this light of day of mean? Any ideas from any of you?”

We all think hard on it.

“It’s possible a laser gun could be shot at him.”

“Or a regular gun with a laser sight.”

“Well, they were hoping I would touch the envelope and get a cocaine reaction. I’ve never done drugs. Can it linger in the body like that for a week?”

“It’s possible, Richard. It depends on the strength of it and how it is cut. Find out the strength of that cocaine, Phyllis.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“What about the hiding in plain sight with the invention?”

“Wait a second, no one has seen me use this device yet or go to trial yet. It has to be someone who was in the lab when I did my presentation.”

“That’s right, Richard. We need to check out the people who were in that room. Someone in there is part of this Consortium. They want to keep the status quo.”

“I agree Captain. We already had two attempts to find out what I’m making. Then Intel-cetera and Beta-security could be part of this Consortium.”

“Is there is a way to tie this together more efficiently? It will take a lot of hours to do it.”

I smile at Lt. Wolford. “I think I can help you there. On my flash drive here, I have a copy of my Rabbit Trails program.”

They all smile. “Have you tested it yet?”

“I have, Captain. I did a practice run to track my purchases on my debit card. It works very well.” I take it from my neck and hand it to Lt. Wolford. I sign a document that I’m authorizing the use of my property for the police use. He plugs it in to access the drive. He sees the EXE program called Rabbit. He downloads it onto his laptop and runs the program. Then a popup screen comes up.

“All right, I see what we can put in Captain. Let’s type in the people who were there in the lab.” Lt. Wolford types in the peoples names in the ‘contact’ column. “Next is the ‘communication’ column. Let’s select Email and cell phones for now.” Lt. Wolford selects that pull down items. “Next are the key words. I’ll type in Consortium, Intel-cetera and Beta-security.” He types in those names. “And the last item is the date range or specific date.”

“Select the date we were all there. Let’s hope a contact was made after the meeting.”

“What type of report will come back, Richard?”

“It will go into a spreadsheet format. There will be two additional columns in the report giving the location of a node hit and the time it happened. Then you can do what you want with it. Put it into a database or a map database if you like.”

“Excellent, Richard. Let’s see how far it goes.”

Lt. Wolford hits the ‘send’ button. The rabbit icon jumps out of the hole and disappears on the edge of the popup screen. The popup screen clears then a spreadsheet appears, it soon starts listing lines of node hits. They see the columns with the items they selected. Each line has a time stamp of when the node hit occurred on the far left-hand side. Soon they start seeing a pattern until the 24-hour period is done. There are one hundred lines of data.

“Well, it started with Mr. Restin right after the meeting. Then it proceeds back to Intel-cetera, Beta-security and five other high tech companies in the area. It lists the cell phone numbers and the emails of each correspondence. If we map it out, we’ll get a nice diagram how it spreads.”

“ Okay, save that to a file Lt. Now we need to increase the time span up until today. Let’s see how this letter is related to this problem.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The Lt. changes the date parameter. He only leaves Mr. Restin in the contact list. He sends the Rabbit again. This time the list produces an interesting contact outside of the area. There are about five hundred lines now.

“Who is that contact outside the area?”

“Do the phone number check.”

“Yes, Captain.” The Lieutenant types in the phone number in a search database. It comes back with a picture and last known location.

“Oh, boy. We’ve got a winner here, Richard. It is a professional hit man. He has been tough to capture. The reports we get, he is long gone by the time the police arrive at the scene. That phone number will be a throw away cell phone.”

“What are his favorite weapons to use?”

“The laser rifle.”

I smile. “Then I have an idea to turn the tables on him literally.”

“What? You mean to reflect the beam right back at him?”

“That’s right, Captain. I will need to wear an armor underneath my graduation robe that is shining very brightly. It should reflect that beam away.”

“You’ll need practice on getting the angle right if he aims for your heart.”

“Then we’ll make it a flat surface there.”

“But we don’t know where his nest will be. It could be anywhere in the RBC Center.”

“We’ll have to keep security tight. He’ll find a way to sneak in that rifle now matter how hard our efforts are. He’s a very smart man. I bet the price tag is a million dollars. Do an additional search and see what kinds of transaction have taken place so far.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Could he have a tracking beam with him? If you have eyes on my chest that would be a signal.”

“No, he’s too good for that. The only hope is your reaction once you see the barrel light up, you have two seconds to get into position.”

“He could be doing it while cameras are flashing when I’m on the stage. I’ll have to distinguish the color difference very fast.”

“That’s true, Richard. Well, let’s do some practice on the gun range here. We’ll fire a laser to miss on purpose, see if you can distinguish the differences.”

“It’s worth a try.” Croin, I’m going to need your help with this and be an extra set of eyes.

I understand Richard. I’ll keep a sharp eye for it and the subtle movements in the shadows.

“Captain, the transactions showed he was paid five million dollars. All seven companies contributed to it.”

“Good, save that and print it out.”

“Yes, sir.”

Some of us walk into the gun range. A laser rifle is set up. I get escorted and stand at a specific spot and don’t move at all. The police officer steps to the side.

“Here it comes, Richard. It will be to your left.”

The laser rifle fires off a light beam. I see the hand move the trigger. The barrel lights up yellow for a brief second. Then a yellow laser beam flashes just to my left.

“What do you think?”

“That’s fast all right. But if he is further away, the time is really one second. There has to be another solution to the problem.”

I get escorted out of the firing range.

“I agree, Richard. There has to be another solution to this.”

We walk back to the team meeting room to discuss our options. “So, let’s have some ideas.”

We talk out a bunch of ideas. Some of them were pointless. “What if the target is not Richard? Could there be more than one?”

“That’s easy. There will be plenty of dignitaries on the stage. Each one is a valuable target.”

“He could shoot several people there to create more havoc and confusion. Then it will be easier for his escape.”

“That’s right.”

“So how do we protect the people?”

Then I smile, “Let’s use my 3D system. It can be a delay or a live feed from an exact stage elsewhere. We’ll have a real podium up there. We should have a light mist or smoke in the air. That is all that is needed to see the light beams trace in the air.”

Everybody else smiles as well.

“Then we’ll know exactly where he is shooting from. We’ll have plain clothes acting on levels, especially near the rafters.”

“There are several escape hatches up there. He could use one to get out of there.”

“I have a question, Captain. What is his background?”

“Well, he’s a sniper for hire. He was used to take out several important people in other countries. The ones who hired him are of the same ilk. They are dictators and ruthless drug and gun runners.”

“Does he have any martial art skills?”

“I think he has a black belt from a different discipline than yours. He earned his in China. I don’t know what degree it is.”

“Hmm . . . what is his nickname?“

”He calls himself the Jackal.”

“Nah . . . It can’t be him.”

“What are you thinking, Richard?”

“While I’m training in Charlotte, I hear old stories from my masters that get passed down. There was a story of a revolt in China. It was a small one, mind you. It happened about 500 years ago. A warlord was able to rebel against the current ruling dynasty. He lured and hired the best assassins to do the night work. In time, he killed the Emperor and several royal members. He sat on the throne for one year before the loyal Shaolin guard came in and dethroned him. They were able to rebuild the dynasty. But the feud between the assassins and the Shaolin monks has been going on since then. You don’t read about it too much. My sensei told me that a young student from the assassins exceeded all expectations. He rose quickly in their ranks about ten years ago. His nickname is the Jackal.”

“How did he hear about it?”

“Our Shaolin school still has connections to its roots. Messages would get passed around to inform them of the latest news.”

”Are you thinking of going against him one on one?”

“It’s possible, Captain. I can tell you right now what his frame of mind is. No matter what degree he has, he considers himself the best. He never met one who could test him or push him to the limits.”

“I see. He sees himself as the superior fighter. No one can beat him.”

“Can you beat him, Richard?”

“I think I can, Captain. First of all are the conditions for the match. Will weapons be used or just the hands? That will be the challenge.”

“I see, if we can control that to some degree, his self-worth will be tested. He is looking for a challenger.”

Everyone looks around and smiles at each other.

“Okay, we’ll use your 3D system to create the false impression up there. We’ll have all exits covered, including the roof hatches. Once he discovers there is no one on stage, he has no reason to stay there.”

“But if I show up before he runs away, I’ll challenge him to a match. If we can get him to the stage, everybody will be using their cell phones to broadcast it as quickly as possible.”

“Then when the fight is over, we’ll resume the graduation ceremonies. It will be one to remember for all time.”

“Who knows, we might get to exempt the keynote speaker if we’re running out of time.”

Everyone giggles and laughs on hearing that.

I look at them with a quizzical face, “Huh?”

“Richard, there was one keynote speaker who was practically booed the entire time he spoke.”

“Who was he?”

“I won’t say his name, Richard. Let’s just say he disrespected NC State at a fund raiser at another school before he came here to speak.”

“Oooh . . . I bet the committee had egg on their face with that one.”

“Oh, yeah. A lot of eggs were thrown on their cars.”

“Okay, let’s get busy and plan this. Will you have your armor on, Richard?”

“I will Captain.”

“That’s good.”

Then everyone starts planning the security for the event next week. They contact the campus police and inform them what is happening. They agree to the plan. Two days before the ceremonies I set up my 3D system on the stage. The PC is placed in a safe location and locked. I run the cables for the four holo-transmitters out to the stage. They are placed on the main floor of the four corners of the stage. We place the banners and flowers in key locations to hide them. They are mounted on telescoping stands and put at the right height and not blocked by the scenery there.

I take the wireless cameras an extend the range of them by changing the wafers with a more powerful combination. They are mounted in a separate room inside the arena. The Captain and I agree to put one camera out there on the wall behind the real stage. This is to see which direction the laser rifle is shot from and get it recorded. The workers are making sure everything matches on the real stage with the fake stage inside the room.

On the night before the ceremonies, at 10 P.M., I go there with the officers to do the final calibration with the static cube. The chairs in the fake stage room are seen on the real stage where they should be. I make sure there is no interference in the image transfer and no flickers occur. We get everything set and done by 12 midnight The ceremonies begin at 9 A.M.. I have to be at the arena by 8 A.M..

Two days before I graduated with my Master’s degree, I did find out I will be awarded as Salutatorian for the ceremonies. I earned the second highest GPA in the CE Department and for the entire campus by 0.05. That means I give the opening speech to the ceremonies.

No one can tell the difference if someone is coming from the curtains and walking up to the stage and sitting down. It is a perfect match. We’re all in the stage room. There are television units in there for us to see their reactions.

Everyone streams into the arena early and start filling it up fast. At 9 A.M. the band plays the introduction song. The President stands up to the podium. Then the President introduces me.

“I will now introduce our Salutatorian. He has shown great determination to solve problems and make life better for all of us. He has been active in the community with the Boy Scouts where he earned the Eagle rank with a silver palm. He also helped the Cherokee Indian Nation to organize their library to make it easier to find their material. He was with them for several years doing projects in providing a better outreach for their children to learn more about the land and for us as well. We just need to take advantage of that opportunity. Richard has also earned the Shaolin Brown sash. With that he also helped the Raleigh Police Department in teaching them better techniques in protecting themselves if they should come across a criminal who knows the martial arts.”

“His project that he created here on campus is the most fantastic piece of electronics ever created. It will revolutionize and provide better security for our networks so they won’t be hacked again, or if a criminal decides to commit a theft. I present to you, Richard Moore, our Salutatorian for the year 2101.”

I stand up to the podium. Then the entire school class stands up and gives me a standing ovation. The Cherokee’s nation tribe members and the Raleigh Police Department stand up faster than anyone else. The rest of the people in the audience follow their example. I see my fairies fluttering around in butterfly mode above me. Then they flutter back to the flowers on the real stage.

I wave my hands and smile to the crowd. Cameras are flashing all around. Then all of the sudden about a dozen lasers are shot toward the stage. Everyone screams. But then they realize something is not right. The people on the stage are still sitting there and not hurt.

~~~000~~~

A man looks from his vantage point after he has thrown the switch to his lasers.

“Oh crap . . . they are not for real. Richard used his 3D system and somehow the beams lit up in the air. I better get out of here.”

As soon as he steps from his hiding place he is greeted by several officers with guns pointing at him.

“Uh . . . hello officers.”

“You’re coming with us, Jackal.”

“If you say so.”

“We’re not going far. You get to hear a proposition from Richard.”

“I do? I’m curious what he has to say.”

They gather around him and bring him into the open.

~~~000~~~

The President and I walk up onto the real stage.

“Guests, may I have your attention! No one has been killed yet. I ask you to return to your seats. All will be explained.”

Slowly the seats get refilled by the crowd in about ten minutes.

“Thank you very much. We received a letter a week ago of a threat that something will happen today. I’m glad to say it was averted. However, Richard here has a proposition to the assailant.” He steps back.

I step up to the mike and speak. I look toward him where he is held. “Jackal, I know you were hired. The proposition I have for you is to settle an old feud between our ancient clans.”

~~~000~~~

“What’s this?”

~~~000~~~

“I was told of an old story in my Shaolin school that is 500 years old. A group of assassins was hired by a warlord to kill an Emperor in the South. The warlord sat on the throne for a year. But the loyal Shaolin monks were able to dethrone him and reestablished the Southern Dynasty. What was left behind, is a bitter feud between the assassins and the Shaolin monks.”

~~~000~~~

He smiles, “He’s kidding me what he is going to ask of me.”

~~~000~~~

“I am a student from that Southern Dynasty! I challenge you to a match on this stage right now!”

~~~000~~~

“To the death, Richard?”

~~~000~~~

“To the death, Jackal! However, if I show mercy to you. What will you do?”

~~~000~~~

“I will go with the police without a struggle! That is my word, Richard!”

~~~000~~~

“I accept the agreement, Jackal!”

Then everyone cheers and claps in the arena. Everyone gets their cell phones out and ready to record this major fight.

“Are you sure you can beat him, Richard?”

“He has some skill I don’t have. However, my skill level has exceeded the Brown sash third degree. You can ask my sensei about it. In fact he’s here in this arena.”

“He’ll be hard to find.”

“Don’t worry, President. I see him walking this way to the stage right now.”

My sensei walks up to the platform. We give our traditional greeting to each other.

“Thank you for the phone call last week, Richard. I had hoped to meet him.”

“What is your connection to the Jackal, sir?”

“The story is true what Richard said, Mr. President. He won’t be the last that we’ll hear from this assassin group from my homeland.”

We turn and look toward the floor and which direction he will be coming from.

~~~000~~~

Slowly, the Jackal is escorted down the stairs and to the main floor. He sees people cheering and clapping that a great fight will happen. He smirks as he sees their reaction. He looks up and sees Richard, the President and someone he thought he wouldn’t see for a long time. “I don’t believe it. It’s him.” He smiles widely. “This will be my greatest challenge.”

~~~000~~~

They walk up to the stage. My sensei and the Jackal stare at each other intently.

“So, you are here in America, Chou. I take it you taught him, old man?”

“I did Jackal. He is not finished with his training however. He has the brown sash with the third degree.”

“Phah! He’s a whelp then. He is not on my level.”

“Don’t be so sure about that, Jackal. He has some skill that is on par with some legendary masters.”

“That’s a big boast, Chou. I accept the match. What shall it be, with weapons or bare hands?”

“Let’s use bare hands, Jackal. That will be the true test.”

“The time limit is 30 minutes and with no armor. None of your police is any match for me.”

“Very well, no armor then and 30 minutes.”

I think to myself really quickly. Oh boy, no armor. Okay Richard, remember your training. He’s expecting to win quickly.

~~~000~~~

On TV screens in North Carolina people are watching this with great anticipation. Some TV stations cut into regular broadcasting and airing it live.

In the State pen, Josh is watching intently on the TV in the Recreation Room with a group of other inmates.

A lot of inmates are screaming that the Jackal tears into Richard. Some are holding their emotions back because of their dislike for the Jackal.

Josh continues to look at the TV screen. Come on Richard. You can beat this a-hole. You got more moves than he does. Besides, I got some bets I need to win here.

~~~000~~~

The fake stage and the real stage are cleared of any obstacles. I take off my college robe and reveal my armor. Some people are amazed I had it on underneath me. My sensei helps me takes it off. All I’m wearing are my shorts. I keep my muscles relaxed. He is down to his shorts as well. He starts to flex his muscles and begins to laugh.

“What’s this? I have a ten-pound weakling here? He’ll be on the ground bleeding internally with a bunch of broken ribs!”

There is a mixed reaction in the crowd, some start rooting for the Jackal and start rooting for me. A lot of side bets are taking place among the people. About ninety percent of the graduating class is rooting for me to win. The President and my sensei step down from the stage to watch the fight.

~~~000~~~

Croin, it will just be me for now. Once he sees I can match him, he should become unsettled. Then I will do some wing slashes. You need to protect my womb.

I understand the ploy, Richard. This will be a good fight.

~~~000~~~

We start circling each other slowly getting within each other’s reach. We do the classic moves of defense with every move. Some of the police are on the floor around the stage to keep order there. More of them are scattered about each of the levels. They are keeping an eye out for the trouble makers. People are yelling like crazy throughout the arena.

~~~000~~~

Once he comes within leg distance, he immediately swings his left leg and foot toward my head. I jump up to put my right arm around his leg and grab it under my right armpit.

I stand there, then he brings his other leg toward my head to knock me senseless. As soon as he lifts his leg, I then drive my weight forward and down to slam his back onto the stage. “Blam!”

“Ooof. . . . That’s . . . good, Richard.”

I then continue with the pressure and try to turn him over to bend his back. He quickly rolls and gets out of my hold. We back away from each other for another round.

“I think I finally have a match that is worthy of my skill, Richard.”

“It’s not over yet, Jackal.”

We come in close, then we start getting into a sparring match. I block all of his moves. Then he backs away to catch his breath. “You hid your strength, and you . . . know the mantis!?”

~~~000~~~

Josh has a big smile on his face. Take that, Jackal! I’ll see you in here soon. I’ll give the news to some of the creeps here when you killed their kin.

~~~000~~~

I smile at him, “I sure do.” Now Croin! “Now you will see this animal done to perfection!”

I then do the Crane moves to perfection. The people gasp when they see the moves I do at lightning speed.

The Jackal has his mouth wide open in astonishment with the speed I do it.

I back him up with some kicks. Then I jump up and come down with my arms and hands flying forward and toward him. The wind effect of the wing slash knocks him back staggering.

“Whhat?! . . . you never . . . Touched me!” He touches his jaw and sees blood trickling down both sides of his jaw.

A lot of people are astonished with the speed I just showed. Some are laughing. Then the yelling continues.

~~~000~~~

My sensei has a great smile on his face. All of the people I know personally are cheering me on wildly.

~~~000~~~

I come in with the classic crane kicks and kick him high in the air.

“Oooof!”

Then I jump up again and do another set of wing slashes on his back.

“Owwww! My back!”

He is now sporting a thin bloody red ‘X’ on his tattooed back when he slams onto the stage face down. ‘Blam!’ The tattoo art shows the jackal animal in an attack stance.

He is out cold.

I do a quick bow several times as I turn around to face the crowd.

Everyone cheers out loud that I won. Of course those who bet against me are sorry they did.

The police come up to the stage and cuff with him wrist and ankle chains quickly. He is taken away on a stretcher face down. As he promised, he leaves without a struggle.

A medic comes to me before he leaves. “Will he be able to walk around?”

“Yes he will. He won’t have the speed like he used to.”

He smiles, then leaves the stage and joins the medical team out to the ambulance.

The President gets up on the stage quickly with the mike. “Well, that fight took 15 minutes. We still have time to do a graduation ceremony. So let’s have one!”

Everyone cheers out loud.

I step down to the floor. I do the traditional hand clasp and bow to him with a smile. He does the same as well. The chairs are brought up to the stage and the special guests. I get my clothes, and armor and shoes back on. Then I put my robe with my sensei’s help.

The crowd quiets down. The President begins to speak. “Now, where were we? I present to you our Salutatorian, Richard Moore!”

Everyone cheers, claps and gives me a standing ovation as I walk up to the stage and the podium. I let it go for another a minute. Then I put my hands up to quiet the crowd down.

“I don’t know about you, Mr. President, I think the rest of our guests will have hard time following that performance.”

Everyone laughs and cheers.

I raise my hands to quiet the crowd down. I then go into my speech.

“Students, parents, teachers, coaches, musicians, athletes, friends and VIP of NC State I would like to say it have been a wonderful six years attending this wonderful university. We have seen our school through our ups and downs on the playing field and in the classroom. We’ve had championship years . . . “

Everyone cheers.

“We’ve had some questionable years. There is a common ingredient in them all. It is the student. They come here for the opportunity to learn more and do more. They will take this knowledge and the experience to better themselves and for the people they work for. They might even become owners of businesses in the future.”

“To the people who hire us, we ask that you be patient and tolerant with us as we learn how to work in your company, the military or the government. Some of us will become professional athletes or might even become astronauts to land on Mars again. Some will become rock stars, singers, great actors or actresses on the stage and screen. Some might become doctors who will do a life saving surgery to save your life.”

“We the Wolf Pack of NC State will cherish these memories for a long time. We’ll recall them when we meet each other on the street, the home or the favorite hang out for pizza and beer.”

“What you just saw up here, is just one part of the new system I created here. There are many potential uses for it. All it takes is a creative mind to do the impossible. And that’s what we’ll do Class of 2101! We’ll do the impossible! Thank you very much and have a great year everyone!”

I step away from the podium. Then everyone stands up and gives me another standing ovation. We hear my name being chanted, “Richard! Richard!”

The President comes up to the podium and shakes my hand. I step back to my chair on the stage. I get some handshakes there, especially with the Valedictorian. The President raises his hands to quiet the crowd. Everyone sits down.

The rest of the graduation ceremony went smoothly as expected. The students come up to the stage to shake hands with the President and their Department Director. The graduate students are done first, then the four year students. Some even come over to me to shake my hands as well.

I get a lot of thank you’s from them for putting on a great fight. It takes about an hour to get through them all.

The Valedictorian whispers to me after the handshakes.

“How many phone numbers and emails did you get from the ladies, Richard?”

“I think got about twenty of them palmed to me.”

“You did better than I. You lucky dog you.”

“Perhaps I am, John. I know some of them are too wild for my tastes.”

“I’ll take them if you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine, John.”

We both give a light chuckle. Then we pay attention to the ceremonies. Some more speeches are given and honorary degrees are conferred on some of the special guests and the rest of the graduation class.

Then the keynote speaker comes up to give his words. “Well, I was just notified I have to shorten my speech from one hour to five minutes.”

Everyone cheers and claps their hands.

“I thought that would make you happy. Actually the speech is fifteen minutes long. I’ll do a quick summary in five minutes.”

The speaker talks about the finer points in facing challenges every day and finds a solution to those problems. Then he discusses that success doesn’t happen until you go through some sort of test. It tests your convictions, your insights and determination to see it through.

He gets done with the speech in about seven minutes actually. Then the Valedictorian comes up to give the closing speech. When he gets done, the President then announces the end of the ceremonies. A lot of the students throw their caps into the air. The Valedictorian and I do the same thing. Fortunately for us, we were able to catch our own caps back.

We then clear out of the arena so the next set of graduation ceremonies can get ready for the afternoon. I make sure my 3D is system is boxed up carefully and gets delivered to the cage in the lab and locked up.

Before it is put away, I make a copy of the video in the Arena onto a regular DVD. It shows ten lasers coming to different parts of the stage besides me. The Captain takes that for evidence after I signed for it on a release form.

The 3D System stays there until the trial for the Consortium members and the Jackal. I hear from Anna, the incident with Beta-security and Intel-cetera earlier in the semester will be linked together with this trial.

****
What are the three degrees in college?
BS - well, we all know what means.
MS - that is More of the Same.
PHD - that is knowledge Piled Higher and Deeper.