Binary: An Encrypted to Cipher Bridge Short Story Read Online Free PDF Page A

know, this puppy can go 37 knots, which is over 100 miles per hour,” Ronnie said, patting the dashboard. She just needed to get it up to speed.
    The shrill whine of Zodiac boats overtook her excitement. The long, low black boats fanned out around them, menacing their path.
    “We just need to get past them,” Ronnie said. “Their top speed is 20 miles per hour.”
    Which she wasn’t even doing right now. This yacht was powerful, but needed a long wind-up period to reach full speed.
    Their firing at the boat was not the concern, it was being boarded. They would be easily overwhelmed by the dozens of guards. Fortunately, they were on a Zeus 165 super yacht. She surveyed the instruments on the panel. Ronnie found the one that was labeled with a skull and cross bones inside of a large red circle with a slash through it.
    Quickly, she hit it. The sides of the yacht’s railing opened up and thick nets were hydraulically lifted, then dumped over the sides. Spikes popped out. Then the yacht sputtered for a moment as the entire anti-boarding net became electrified.
    “How’s that for pirate-proof?” Ronnie asked.
    “Impressive.”
    “The tech came from the Japanese whalers, actually. This whole system was developed to keep Greenpeace off their boats.”
    “Not from the Navy?” Zach asked.
    “Nope. Whalers, go figure.”
    The first zodiac pulled up parallel to them. The first man who attempted to board was thrown back over the Zodiac and landed thirty feet further back, in the water.
    “The Italians know their luxury yacht customers, obviously.”
    “And their pirates,” Zach commented.
    The other zodiac boats backed off. Guess no one wanted to try the anti-boarding device again. They fired and fired, punching holes in acrylic shell of the boat, but were stopped by the boron carbide bullet proof material just under the surface.
    Even the Triad soldiers seemed to understand that they weren’t going to shoot their way in. Instead, they took to crisscrossing her path. Like she was really going to slow down. She’d be more than happy to mow the Triad soldiers down.
    The boat thrummed with power as the engines began to warm up to their full speed. Soon, the Zodiacs couldn’t keep up, and they fell back. Ronnie put her hand up and Zach gave her a high five.
    Ronnie hit the anti-pirate button again. The net from the port side raised as it should. The starboard side, however, was caught.
    “You’ve got to go out and raise it manually,” Ronnie said, pointing to the netting caught on the mechanism. “It is creating too much drag. I can’t get up to speed.”
    Zach took in a deep breath. The guards were still peppering the boat with bullets.
    “Not like that,” Ronnie said, pointing to her pack. The brave fool really would have gone out there unprotected. Silly FBI man. “Get the bulletproof shirt out.”

CHAPTER 3
    Zach just went on faith as he rummaged through the pack. He found the electricity spout, plus several other items that he had no idea what they did. Ultimately, he found a tee-shirt rolled up at the bottom. He pulled it out to find it wasn’t a tee-shirt, but a long-sleeved turtleneck, although it was twice as heavy as it should have been.
    He unfurled it. “This it?”
    “Yes,” Ronnie said. “Put it on before you head out.”
    “And what exactly is this supposed to do, besides be a fashion statement?”
    “Oh, it will stop bullets,” Ronnie answered casually.
    Zach knew his look was incredulous. The thing in his hands weighed a quarter of his bullet-proof vest, and it had been rolled up, for God’s sake. You couldn’t even bend a vest using all your strength.
    “Just put it on,” Ronnie instructed with a tsk.
    Zach unbuttoned his shirt and yanked it off. “Do you want to give me a little more reassurance?”
    “Than just my word?” Ronnie said but there was a twinkle in her eye. “Fine. We fused boron, the same material that is stopping the bullets in the hull, with cotton, to create a