Black Sun

"The following riddle needs to be solved in twenty four hours. If it is unsolved then a bomb will go off underground." Sphinx 2 said.

"We hurt without moving, we poison without touching. We bear the truth and the lies; we are not to be judged by our size." Sphinx 1 cut in.

Alastair observed the video for the second time and tried to think. Somewhere underground was obviously a train, but there was an issue with just going any old train station.

"The bomb is text activated. You will need the answer to this riddle, detective Blake."

He leaned forward, burying his face into his hands. A commotion outside made Alastair look up and glance at the door. He shifted in his seat and walked over, opening the door. Laura was talking to a very irate man.

The man was furious and Alastair glanced between the two. Laura was trying to diffuse the situation as calmly as she could, but the man was hell bent on becoming more enraged.

"Excuse me, what's going on here?" Alastair interrupted.

The man glared at Alastair and he noticed he was of average height and asian descent. Laura looked relieved the see Alastair and mouthed 'thank you'.

"Your police force is meant to be looking for my daughter." The man sneered.

Alastair frowned then and turned to stare at Laura. She mouthed the words 'Rini Maeda' at him and he turned back to the man, who was Rini's father. A thought struck, Alastair though. Rini's friends and colleagues said that her father had walked out when she was very young and had had no contact since she was ten.

"With all due respect, Mr Maeda, I was unaware that you and Rini were in contact." He snapped.

"How dare you. She is my daughter." Mr Maeda shot back.

"The missing persons unit is doing all they can to find her." Alastair said, and Mr Maeda's face scrunched up in anger.

"And what are you doing?" He snapped.

"I am focusing primarily on the Sphinx attacks." Alastair was growing rather annoyed by the man's line of questioning.

Mr Maeda stormed over to the missing persons unit and started raising hell with them. Laura groaned and ran a hand through her hair in frustration. She looked at Alastair.

"So, any luck with the riddle?" She asked.

"No, the bomb will be word encrypted." He sighed.


******************

"We want everyone off the train." CC was saying and I nodded.

This was the first time I'd participated in a bombing. I didn't want to, but I was assured that no one would be injured. I was wearing a pair of sunglasses and a large, sun hat. I looked odd, but there were stranger people out there.

I glanced at Dani. He was typing on the laptop at hyper speed. He was a hacker and seemed really good at it. Meanwhile, my job was to create a distraction. We left and made our way to the busiest underground terminal.

Ashley, CC and I went our seperate ways and I meandered through the crowds. I noticed them then. The police were here and were walking around, seemingly searching for something. They had probably figured out that the bomb was here.

I peeked round a corner and noticed two detectives across the way. They were both talking on walkie-talkies, possibly directing the other officers. I had to give Ashley and CC five minutes to get ready. I tapped the ear piece on the side of my head.

"They're ready, Rini." Dani's voice said.

I nodded and slipped through the throngs of people. I reached into my bag and pulled out some flares. Lighting them, I threw them to the ground. The smoke rose and set off the fire alarms. I ran through the crowd, dodging people and hitting another fire alarm along the way.

The police looked stunned, but started herding people to the exits. I raced by a camera and saw the trains had stopped. The doors were open and people were pouring out. Someone shoved me and I fell. I managed to get up before being trampled and followed the crowd of people.

Once outside, I made my way back to an alleyway where the bikes were. I observed from the hiding place as people evacuated.


****************

"Damnit." Alastair snapped.

He moved through the crowds of people and down into the lower levels of the underground with Laura following behind. The underground was starting to clear and all trains had been stopped from entering the terminal.

The only trains were the two already parked up. The bomb had to be somewhere on board. Alastair took one train with Luna. Laura took the other with a group of officers. Alastair moved up and down the carriages. The silence was nearly deafening.

Luna helped him search under seats and he heard an audible gasp escape her lips. He walked over and there under the seat was the bomb. No one would have noticed it with all the people around.

Alastair sat in front of it and stared at the small screen with keys on. He remembered the riddle and tried to wrack his brain. He glanced at Luna and she seemed to be thinking too.

"Thorns." She said suddenly and Alastair knew she was guessing.

This was a harder riddle than the last two. The riddles were obviously going to become more difficult. Alastair keyed in the word thorn and the screen flashed red. The wrong answer. The intercom crackled and Alastair looked up.

"And that is the wrong answer, detective." A voice said.

Luna moved to sit down in front of the device and the intercom buzzed again, making them both look up.

"Tut tut, no cheating, Subject 1278." The voice said, mockingly.

Alastair slammed his hand against the seat. He thought again about the riddle. It wasn't thorns. It had to a metaphor for something. He thought about Sphinx and the compund they came from. He typed in freedom and it flashed red.

"So sorry, detective, but times up." The voice came again.

The bomb flashed and started to count down from twenty. Alastair grabbed Luna and they raced out the open door. Laura was waiting with other officers. They rushed up the middle staircase and got to the top just as the timer hit zero.

The explosion rattled the train and Alastair looked back to see the carriage in ruins. The fire alarms went off. He pushed by Laura and rushed to the main office. They had spoken through the intercom. He got to the main office and pushed the door open to find it empty. He was panting and clinging to the frame.

No one had been hurt, thank goodness. His phone buzzed and he thought it was Laura texting him. He removed the phone and found it was another link. He braced himself and opened it. The link took him to that website again. There was a photo of the former owner of the train company.

Alastair knew he'd stepped down on his sixtieth birthday. This man had designed trains and various bits of macinary. Again the article alleged some pretty awful things. Laura appeared,
panting and gasping.

"Alastair, you need to see this." She said, catching her breath.

He followed her and they stepped into the street. All the people in the area had recieved the text and were muttering amongst themselves. They had been too late this time and that thought stung Alastair.

Luna appeared on the top step, clutching something in her hand. Alastair whirled round and she stepped forward. She held out the item and handed it to him. It was student ID, but not just any ID.

He recognised the face of Rini Maeda staring back at him. She had been down there when the evacuation took place and had probably escaped through the crowds. Alastair glanced around, but couldn't see her anywhere.

Notes