The Never Game

“I can try.” The man peered into the backpack. “SATA drives, three-and-a-halfers without enclosures, SDs... thumb drives. Some he’s made on his own. I don’t recognize them.” He looked up, his eyes eager at the idea of a challenge, it seemed. “You know, I might find a symmetric back door. And if he uses first-gen DES, then anyone can crack that.”

Shaw and Standish regarded each other, exceptions to the “anyone” rule.

“If that’s the case, I could have readable text or graphics in hours. Minutes, maybe.”

Standish eyed her phone for the time. “Brad Hendricks’s going to be out of class soon. Colter and I are going to follow him. He might lead us to Elizabeth. If he’s just left her to die, though, you’re the only hope.”

62

A half hour later, LaDonna Standish was piloting her Nissan Altima along an increasingly deserted region of western Santa Clara County, keeping a safe distance behind the car they were following.

Shaw texted Jimmy Foyle:

Brad Hendricks is on the road — not going home. Colton and I are following. Maybe on way to kidnap site but can’t tell. Success with encryption?

A moment later the game designer texted back.

First SATA drive, can’t crack. He used 2-fish algorithm. Working on SD cards now.

Shaw read this to her.

Standish gave a wry laugh. “Two-fish. Computer stuff. Who comes up with those names? Why Apple? Why Macintosh?”

“Google makes sense to me.”

A glance his way. “You gotta smile sometime, Shaw. It’s like a contest now. I’m going to make it happen.” She steered the Nissan around two more turns, then slowed at the top of a hill, keeping far enough back so they wouldn’t be spotted in the rearview mirrors.

In the distance was the hazy blue of the Pacific Ocean. From here, it lived up to its name.

“And our backup?” Shaw asked.

A glance at her phone. “Nothing yet.”

Both Shaw and Standish had understood they couldn’t request tactical backup from the California Bureau of Investigation, given their “renegade” investigation. They’d be closed down in an instant or would have to talk their way up through the ranks to find someone senior to support them. No time for that. Standish had sent some texts, to see if she might “improvise” backup. Apparently with no success. She sent another message.

Shaw opened The Whispering Man gameplay booklet that Maddie Poole had bought for him. He was skimming to look for anything to help them when — if — they found where Elizabeth Chabelle had been abandoned.

Level 3: The Sinking Ship.

You’ve been abandoned on a Forrest Sherman — class destroyer, the USS Scorpion, which has been struck by an enemy torpedo and is sinking in shark-infested waters, a hundred miles from land. You’re in a cabin with a bottle of water, a cotton handkerchief, a double-sided razor blade, an acetylene torch and a container of engine lubricant.

There are a number of crew members on the vessel and only one life raft remaining, hidden on board. You must find the raft before the ship goes under.

Gameplay clues:

1. The more members of the crew who die, the more resources will be left for the others.

2. The ship is rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of the crew of a World War II destroyer, also named the Scorpion, that went down in 1945. A ghost can achieve his final rest by taking the life of a sailor on your vessel.

3. There is something large cruising nearby underwater. It might be a megashark — or might be a submarine, though whether it’s friendly or enemy is not known. The radio gear on the Scorpion was destroyed by the torpedo strike.

You’ve been abandoned. Escape if you can. Or die with dignity.