24 - Blackbird has spoken
London – 7 am Wednesday
Welcome to my online cyber thriller, The Phisherman. To learn more about the story and meet the three main characters, click HERE. If you'd prefer to start at Chapter 1, click HERE. To select another chapter, click HERE.
Nick awoke with a shout, his body covered in sweat, bed covers strewn across the floor. Unsurprisingly, he’d relived the same nightmare that had plagued him for over a decade, though he would never call it a nightmare. It was a night memory of the day his world went from safe and secure to ravaged and ruined in ninety minutes.
It was a day Nick could never forget.
How could I? It was my sixteenth birthday.
He was solving an algebra equation in class when the school sounded its alarm just before nine am.
‘Alright, everyone. Settle down,’ Nick’s teacher had said as the class erupted with curiosity. ‘You all know the drill. Let’s make our way down to the basketball court in an orderly fashion, and we’ll all find out soon enough what’s going on.’
As Nick and his classmates pushed their way into the bright daylight, his best mate, Steve, pointed at a distant black column of smoke billowing into the stratosphere.
‘What the hell is that?’
Several frantic steps later, they could all see where it was coming from: the North Tower, one of the Twin Towers that had stood proudly against the New York City skyline for as long as they could remember.
As Nick attended one of the best private schools in NYC, many of his classmates’ parents worked in the city’s financial center. For most of them, it meant one or, in Nick’s case, both parents worked within the dizzying heights of the Twin Towers.
Suddenly, a girl screamed, ‘There’s a plane.’
Students and staff turned as one to see where she was frenetically pointing.
Sure enough, an airplane was flying just above the jagged concrete and glass skyline. And it was low enough to tell the aircraft was with United Airlines.
Helplessly, the students watched as the large plane made a left turn and flew directly toward the South Tower.
Many students began screaming ‘stop’ with indescribable fear as they realized what was about to happen before their eyes, an image of terror they could never unsee.
And then, there was an explosion like Nick could not imagine as the torpedo of travelers smashed into the southern fortress of finance. An instantaneous fireball of orange flames and black smoke exploded from the building’s eightieth floor into the atmosphere, closely followed by the haunting sound of glass, metal, and concrete being pulverized by the winged beast.
As students howled in horror, Nick pulled his eyes away from the dark column of terror being vomited into the blue sky.
I can’t do anything about that. What I can do is find Lucy. I need to find Lucy before she realizes what’s happened.
It took Nick less than a minute to find his dazed sister anxiously staring at the North Tower. He gently wrapped his arms around her and pressed her head against his chest. He could feel her heart racing as it pounded against his. He soothingly whispered, ‘It’s okay, Luce. Mum and Dad will be alright – you’ll see.’
However, Nick felt a deep fear in the pit of his stomach.
That dread escalated when the headmaster came over to talk with them.
Nick wished he could block out the memory of Principal Delaney’s deep baritone voice.
‘I’m sorry, kids. I know your parents both work in the North Tower. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much. All I know right now is that both towers have been hit in what looks like a coordinated attack. I’ll tell you as soon as I hear anything more.’
With that, Principal Delaney walked off to calm down several other distressed kids.
Hearing words he did not want to accept, all Nick could think about was the night before as his family sat around the dinner table for their traditional pre-birthday dinner.
As Nick was the man of the hour, they’d all enjoyed his favorite meal – fondue. Nick had even managed to steal Lucy’s chicken from the end of her skewer three times as she vainly attempted to raise it out of the steamy broth.
And then dessert had come, again Nick’s choice – Flambé Bombe Alaska. When the lights were dimmed and their household chef had brought the ice cream cake out with foot-high flames, Lucy had clapped her hands and squealed ‘yes’ with delight.
As the flame flickered its final breath, Nick’s tall, dark and handsome father leaned across the expensive oak table. ‘Hey, Nicky. What do you reckon if we all take tomorrow off and sail the family yacht across the bay?’
Before Nick and Lucy could express their joy, Mary had responded.
‘That’s not fair, Henry. You know tomorrow is a school day. And we’ve got big plans for this weekend to celebrate Nicky’s sixteenth. So let’s not spoil that.’
If only Lucy and I had protested until mum relented as she often did.
Nick’s mind was forced back to reality when fourteen-year-old Lucy started sobbing in his arms.
‘Come on, Luce,’ he told his trembling sister with false confidence. ‘We both know, if anyone can make it out of there, it will be Dad. And there’s no way he’ll leave Mom behind.’
As Lucy continued to sob in his arms, Nick held her close. He strained to hear any positive news amid the constant screams of anguish and fear surrounding him.
Hope rose in his heart when Principal Delaney came over and said, ‘Good news, kids. I’ve just been told that people are making it out of the towers. Let’s hope your parents are among them.’
‘Did you hear that, Luce?’ Nick whispered as he gently squeezed his younger sister. ‘People are getting out. That means Mom and Dad are going to make it.’
Lucy looked up into Nick’s dark eyes, desperately searching for reassurance.
Nick was sure his parents would escape. His dad had never failed at anything.
Staring into Lucy’s large, blue eyes, he confidently said, ‘They will, Luce. I promise.’
Unexpectedly, there was an almighty crash, followed by a geyser of concrete dust exploding into the atmosphere. As the grey cloud thinned, Nick saw only one tower still stood against the murky skyline. It billowed a plume of thick black smoke and glowed an angry red as an unquenchable fire feasted within.
The other tower had disappeared.
Nick’s heart leapt with relief when he realized that the North Tower, the one with his parents, was still upright. That feeling was shattered in a second as a new level of crying and screaming erupted around him. For countless students, their lives were destroyed when the South Tower collapsed.
However, hope burned within Nick as desperately as the flames he could see inside the tower that still stood … for the time being.
Nick’s subconscious always reminded him that American Airlines Flight 11 crashed between the 93rd and 99th floors, the floors occupied by Marsh & McLennan. That was where Mary Davies, his mum, had worked as an insurance broker for the last seventeen years.
In Nick’s nightmare, he always saw his mum wearing the blue dress she’d worn that fateful day, sobbing as she realized she would never see her children again. Nor could she reach the man of her dreams, imprisoned mere feet above her. All she could do was wait, watching the intense fire eat into the North Tower’s steel structure as the building vainly fought a losing battle.
Only four floors above, Nick relived his dad comforting those who panicked around him, ignoring his own wounds. Helplessly, he watched the fiery heat and thick black smoke grow with an irrepressible hunger, getting closer and closer with each passing minute.
And then it happened, the one thing Nick desperately hoped would not.
The tower wherein his mum and dad had met by accident and worked virtually side-by-side to build a life together crumbled before his eyes.
That was the moment Nick always awoke, though this morning, it was to a different alarm. It was reception calling him on the hotel phone.
Still shaken from the dream, Nick reached over and picked up the white handset.
‘Good morning, Mr Davies. It’s Julie here with your friendly reminder that it’s a beautiful day and it’s time to get up.’
‘It’s not a beautiful day, you stupid girl,’ Nick thundered before slamming the phone down more aggressively than was necessary.
He was not ready to face the day after his big night at the casino, followed by the nightmare that had haunted him for most of his life. And anyone who got too close while he was still affected by his dreadful dream would pay the price.
He swiftly dressed in his regular white shirt, navy blue Italian business suit and shiny black leather shoes, then paused to check his phone. He wasn’t surprised to find a short message from Alison to make his own way into the NCSC.
That reminded Nick of what had happened the day before. He suspected his cyber ally had changed toward him after he lost it in the hacker’s haven. Reading Alison’s short message, Nick was sure of it. That meant he had three problems to resolve.
The first was easy to fix. He picked up the phone and dialled 0.
After three rings, a cheerful voice responded, ‘Good morning. Reception speaking.’
‘Hi, Julie. It’s Nick Davies here from Room twelve-twenty.’
‘Sorry, Mister Davies. Julie isn’t available right now. My name’s Kate – I’m the shift manager. How can I help you?’
‘Can you organize a taxi to pick me up as soon as possible and take me to the National Cyber Security Centre in Victoria?’
Kate replied with a businesslike tone, ‘That won’t be a problem, Mister Davies. Will you be ready to leave in five minutes?’
‘Thanks, Kate. That will be perfect.’
Kate terminated the call before Nick could say anything else.
One problem down – two to go.
His next concern was allaying Alison’s apprehension about him and Project 831. Hopefully, his coming clean about it being his laptop that was hacked would resolve that problem.
Women are suckers for vulnerable guys. I’m sure I can get Alison’s sympathy that way.
That left his biggest problem: catching his hacker and destroying the Project 831 files.
And to do that, I need to get into the NCSC.
Nick felt happier knowing that he would resolve the issue with Alison soon. He needed her onside if he was to catch the phisherman.
And he hoped that, once they’d caught Alan Jones, he could spend some personal time with Alison before returning to Langley for his hearing.
Not that I’ll tell her about the hearing either.
He jumped when the in-room phone rang.
‘Mister Davies, it’s Kate here. Just letting you know that your taxi has arrived.’
‘Thanks, Kate,’ Nick replied as warmly as he could. ‘I’ll be down in a minute.’
‘There’s no rush, Mister Davies. Take all the time you need. I’ll let the driver know you’ll be down soon.’
No longer grumpy, Nick gently replaced the receiver. Then, after gathering his phone and laptop, he exited the room.
Despite the light snow falling outside, it was time to melt a fair maiden’s heart.1
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into who Nick was before he let unforgiveness poison his soul, a choice most of us must confront during our lives. If this chapter has affected you personally because of trauma you've faced, you have my deepest apologies and my genuine sympathy. I hope you have learned, are stepping into, or will discover how to grow through the pain you have endured. If the chapter resonated with you, please consider clicking the heart-shaped LIKE button at the end of this chapter. And if you have any suggestions to help make it better or you simply want to encourage me as a storyteller (either would be appreciated), please leave a comment.The events described in this chapter are based on what happened on September 11, 2001. When American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the northern face of the North Tower at 8:46 am, most of its occupants would not have had a clue as to what happened when the building trembled or the inevitable fate sucking them into its vortex of death.
As I’ve written, Flight 11 crashed between the 93rd and 99th floors – the floors occupied by Marsh & McLennan. Countless workers died instantly from the physical destruction caused by the plane as its momentum forced it deep inside. Many who survived the initial crash were incinerated by the fireball that erupted an instant later when the plane’s fuel ignited in an explosion of fury. And for the few Marsh & McLennan personnel who survived that initial onslaught, there was no escape; the plane destroyed or blocked all three emergency exit staircases.
Sadly, the North Tower’s steel structure lost its fight to stand, collapsing at 10:28 am. There were only 102 minutes for people to escape the North Tower’s inevitable destruction and the avalanche of death it rained down upon its unfortunate inhabitants. However, because the stairwells were inaccessible, there were no survivors from the 295 employees and 66 contractors in the Marsh & McLennan offices.
It also meant there was no means of escape from the floors above the impact zone. Over 1300 people were trapped.
Occupying floors 101 to 105 was Cantor Fitzgerald L.P. where my fictional Henry Davies supposedly worked. Sadly, not one of the 658 Cantor employees working there that day made it out alive.
And to rub salt into already deep wounds, nobody could identify the remains of most victims from the immense pile of burnt-out ruins. All people knew was that too many innocent victims died in a senseless act of violence that changed both the physical & digital worlds forever.