Stan Stan Mason - Cathedral

Title Page

CATHEDRAL

by

Stan Mason

Publisher Information

Cathedral published in 2014 by

Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

The right of Stan Mason to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998

Copyright 2014 Stan Mason

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Prologue

It was a frightening experience... a terrifying ordeal! At such times, critical situations become serious foes.. They emerge as our most dangerous enemies causing havoc and chaos to instil profound fear. Often they prove that mankind can be completely helpless to cope with such developments in a civilised society. Sometimes they descend unrepentantly, cutting through reality like a shaft of light falling through a gap in the curtains. At other times, they creep into our lives like savage panthers stalking their prey in the darkness. On such occasions, there is a scarcity of emotion, no involvement of malice, no means to avenge, no vindictiveness, no move for justice, no sense of anything! For that reason, it should never have come about... but it did! Worst still, the ramifications were far beyond logic... far beyond the realm of dreams. Indeed. When calculated, the odds against it were likely to be astronomical but it was the result of naivety and ignorance... perhaps a simple mistake... a sheer accident. Nonetheless, the end result was stunning; enough to host a great deal of alarm, fear and suspicion, but then such matters draw on horror, to achieve effect/ On reflection, it might have been considered easier to have discovered the philosophers stone or the elixir of life or the secret of perpetual motion than for such a thing to come about. Yet destiny inspired in the incongruous way often beyond the understanding of mankind, manages to find a way to overcome the laws of probability and natural consequences because it did happen. Undeniably, there are many who believe firmly in the existence of the Cosmic Joker... a entity which lives in the spirit world that enjoys playing evil games with the lives of human-beings... of mere mortals. Those who do believe claim that it causes the majority of the coincidences and phenomenon to occur which tends to plague and astound most people on this planet. Whether such a view is true or not is incidental to this tale. But one thing is certain... the incident related below did happen! And furthermore, for the good or detriment of humanity, the process is almost certainly on-going... continuing at this moment... even now!

Chapter One

The pimply-faced youth sat studiously at the desk in his fathers study facing a computer screen with a determined expression on his face. His tired eyes flashed for a moment as the lids came down indicating an element of fatigue but his mental energies were at a sufficiently high level to stimulate him into wakefulness. He had been tapping out keys to find codes on the computer for the past two hours although the time seemed to evaporate like a thinly-veiled mist in the heat of the morning sun. Not surprisingly, his efforts continued to fail as experienced by many other computer hackers but he carried on working feverishly at the machine to his best ability in the hope of breaching someones database. Stephen Barnes was not particularly good at the task. At the age of sixteen, and still a pupil at a local schools, he was far ahead of his fellow colleagues in computer expertise. However, as with all hackers, he had never been trained in practising the art and it was literally a new field of operation for him. As far as he was concerned, it was simply a game and he did it for fun even though he knew that it was wrong or gave a moments thought that it was illegal. It was his flush of youth and the innocence it carried with it that carried that was the reason for him to ignore such boring fundamental laws. He felt it would be a feather in his cap if he could crack into a business database or other organisations. He also believed that having access to a computer was fair game for him to do anything he wanted with it. Not that he had ever succeeded into tapping any major source. Try as he could, he failed to hack into anyone elses database. But the Cosmic Joker and fate was about to take a hand in the proceedings and things were about to change dramatically. This was going to be his lucky day. At school, he had learned the lesson of Robert Bruce and the spider to try, try and try again. Subsequently, despite numerous disappointments, and seeing the phrase Access Denied many times on the computer screen, he was suddenly confronted with a list of files. At last he had done it! He sat back rather puzzled because there was no indication on the screen which organisation he had penetrated. Thrilled with success, he pressed on tapping the keys on the keyboard. It was exciting stuff... if only he could fathom out what next to do. Suddenly, all tiredness vanished from his face as he became primed for action.

He was in... but with whom? He surveyed the screen sullenly trying to make sense of the reason. He had always believed that after breaking into to a database he would be faced with a series of files. However, on this database, he found only five rectangles flashing on the screen, each with a small amount of text within it. The messages were extremely enigmatic... none of them making sense at all. What was happening here? What did it all mean? His brain ticked over at a rapid rate of knots unable to decode any part of it. He examined the words in the first rectangle, Continued indoctrination of new recruits. What was that all about? He looked at the second one. Inclusion into the system. As he was about to read the third message, the door opened and his father entered the room. The man stared at his son with a snarl on his lips, indicating his foul mood, and he released his ill-temper on the boy.

Get off that computer, Stephen! he ordered brusquely, looking evilly at the boy. Finish what youre doing! I want to use it now!

The young mans face fell in despair. Oh, Dad! he exclaimed disappointedly. Ive just hacked into a database. My first one. Give me ten minutes... just ten minutes!

His father eyes him sternly. Hacked! he muttered angrily. Hacked into a database! He almost hissed like an angry snake. Are you serious? You know its illegal! I wont have it!. he snarled. Not on my machine. Log off immediately!

Stephen was about to mount a protest but, at that moment, his mother appeared at the door like the cavalry saving a solder in a Western movie.

Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, she announced firmly. Dont be late or itll get cold! She gave them both a searing look to ensure that her message got home before turning on her heel to return to the kitchen.

Barnes senior, snorted angrily and then decided to follow her leaving his son alone with the computer. Stephen felt his heart thumping like a steam-hammer as he continued to tap out a few more keys before realising that he was making no meaningful progress. Reluctantly, and mindful of his mothers command, he unwitting pressed the wrong key on the keyboard which inwardly transmitted the information somewhere else. He tried to stop the process downloading but the action was irrevocable. And that was the start of the problem!

After dinner, his father used the computer for half-an-hour and then left the house to attend a meeting. From his bedroom window, Stephen watched him climb into his car and drive off. Satisfied he had a free hand to use the computer again, and would not be disturbed, he entered the study once more. Young Barnes sat at the computer and pressed some of the keys to establish his second success of his hacking career. He was finally beginning to get the hang of it. It was fantastic! He could hardly believe it. Nearly two years of failure and suddenly two successes in an hour. He soon discovered that the second one was the Employment Exchange in East Anglia. He pressed on wildly and that was when the accident... or mistake... began As soon as he penetrated the second database, he pressed the download section and released all the information from one database into the other. Within a few moments, all the data downloaded from the first organisation he had hacked into was installed into the programme of the Employment Exchange. The information in the two databases became incontrovertibly interacted with each other. The deed had been done; the stage was set; the problem was just about to start and, when they came, the impact would be devastating!