Chapter 473 - Security conference (1)

~ Somewhere nearby Las Vegas ~

Sarah and Aiden are in a luxurious VIP suite in an unknown resort-like place for the cyber-security conference.

How come they don't know where they are? The organizers went above and beyond to keep the location and participant identities a secret.

Both Sarah (aka Sigma, aka 30) and Aiden (aka Omega, aka 31) got information in their hacker emails about place and time. There, they were picked up by a van, and they took their seats in the back. There was a solid divider between them and front seats, and all windows in the back were completely blacked out so that they can't see where they are going. The van stopped after about half an hour drive in an underground garage, and they took the elevator straight to the VIP room reserved for participants 30 and 31.

Sarah was looking through the windows, observing the thick forest which surrounded the area. Down, she can see tennis and golf courses, as well as several swimming pools and lounging area. Everything is luxurious and well maintained. And that includes inside of their hotel suite.

They checked their phones, and there was no signal and no wireless. Not even one.

"If I knew we will be cut off like this, I would call Anna and Sophia before we left, just so that they know we are not available for three days.", Sarah mumbled.

"My missus… There is a network outlet here…", Aiden observed.

They checked it and it's not functional.

"It seems that they cut us off on purpose. Probably just for the conference.", Sarah concluded. "They are doing a good job in making sure that no information leaks out."

"I don't think the world will end in three days that we are off the grid. But if it's making you nervous, we can ask for a satellite phone…" Aiden was going through the brochure that was on the coffee table. "Come, check this out." When Sarah took a seat next to him on the sofa, he continued summarizing. "Satellite phone is available on demand. If we expose our identities, it's at our own risk, organizers will address us only by numbers… when we attend events, we should wear vests or capes they provided… masks are optional…" He looked around but didn't see any clothes or masks. "Maybe they are in the bedroom or closet… There is schedule of events… they provide shuttle service… hmmm… it seems that there is more than one building for this event…"

Sarah stood up and went into the bedroom, and then into the closet. "Found the vests and capes! The masks are here also!", she called from the closet.

Aiden followed after Sarah's voice and saw her checking out dark red vests and matching capes with hoodies, both vests and capes had golden numbers embroidered 30 and 31.

"Look…" She placed one dark red mask over her face. Mask covered top half of her face, only tip of her nose and below were visible.

"It looks very good on you, my missus.", he grinned. Aiden was not sure what got him more excited, Sarah's mysterious and exotic appearance with that mask, or that he gets to address her as his wife.

Sarah smiled helplessly and handed him a mask. "You also try… my dear hubby."

They agreed previously that they will act all husband-wife lovey-dovey in order to keep the appearance of a young married couple. Sarah was not very interested in the lovey-dovey part, but Aiden insisted. She decided to give in and let him have his way. It's not important to bicker over it. She was doubtful at first, but she saw him lit up whenever she called him hubby and thought that if that little bit makes him happy, she will do it… when she remembers. He called her wife, wifey and missus so many times that she already got used to it.

He put the mask on, and Sarah was dazed.

"How do I look?", he wrapped around his shoulders dark red cloak with number 31.

"Breathtaking…", Sarah admitted. He did look breathtaking, like royal-handsome-man with a bit of a mystery and danger, like a vampire. "You can suck my blood anytime.", Sarah mumbled.

"What?", Aiden was confused by her comment and happy that she is dazed.

Sarah only shook her head without explaining. She exhaled, "When is the first event?"

"We have just over one hour."

…

Sarah and Aiden were ready to head out to their first event, both of them wearing dark red cloaks and masks which covered upper half of their faces, when Sarah's gaze fell on the desk in the sitting area next to the living room of their VIP suite.

There was a gold colored metallic-looking item and a note.

Sarah observed the item for a second. It was a gold necklace with a large gold pendant which looked like a coin, but the shape was a hexagon. On one side pendant had 'AUM' symbol in Sanskrit and on the other it had carved in lotus flower and above it was a Sanskrit symbol for letter 'Pa'. Sarah flipped the pendant-coin-looking-object few times and then looked at the note.

"I hope you will accept this as a token of my apology.

Sincerely,

~ Saurabh Patel"

Aiden saw that Sarah stopped and went to see what got her attention.

"Ah! I forgot that he will leave something!" Aiden exclaimed after he read the note in Sarah's hand. "What did he give?"

Sarah placed the hexagonal pendant in his palm without a word.

Aiden looked at it for few seconds and then his eyes widened. He removed his mask and Sarah could see that he is shocked.

"What is it?" Sarah saw that Aiden is frozen, and he does not have such a reaction over regular jewelry. It's obvious that this thing has some other meaning.

"No way…", Aiden mumbled as he rubbed the pendant with his fingers gently, as if he is afraid to damage it, yet can't stop himself from rubbing it.

Sarah gave him a minute to compose himself before asking again. "What is it?"

"It's the Patel family token!"

"That does not tell me much…", Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Hmm…" Aiden thought for some time how to explain. "Are you familiar with the Phantom comics?"

"The man who cannot die? Yes, I know Phantom." Sarah confirmed.

"And you know that he has two rings, right?"

Sarah nodded while responding, "Skull Mark ring and Good Mark ring." She was not sure where this Phantom trivia is going.

"This is something like Good Mark ring." He gave her a meaningful look.

Sarah still didn't understand. Seeing that Aiden is expecting her to know what he means; she gave her best guess. "So… Patel is Phantom?"

"No, no…" Aiden flicked her mask in the forehead area and lifted the pendant so that it's in her eye level. "THIS will give you support of anyone who is associated with Patel family. They are mostly centered in India and central Asia, but it's a large network worldwide… something like: any friend of Patels is my friend, and this is the proof that you are his friend."

Sarah was not sure if she should believe him. He looks serious, but where did he get that information? "How do you know about this?"

"About a year ago I worked on a project… at work… task was to locate one of these."

Sarah nodded in understanding and another question popped into her mind. "Why would he give me this? If this is what you said it is, it's not something to give around just because of a small misunderstanding."

Aiden nodded in agreement. "I think so too… what if it's a payment?"

"For?" Sarah squinted while waiting for his response.

"For something he is about to ask."

Sarah remembered that before saying how there will be something for them in the room, Mr. Patel knew that she is Sigma, participant number 30. If Aiden is correct, and Mr. Patel is going to ask for something, it will be related to hacking. But he is a big shot in software industry… surely, he has many other hackers at his disposal. Sarah exhaled in frustration. "This week is getting worse and worse."

Aiden laughed. "I don't think it was bad… sure, there was some excitement, but so far everything ended great."

Aiden's words made her remember all the winnings, and that at the end she managed to get her revenge on casinos which banned her and took her prizes last time. "You know what? You are right…" Sarah kept the pendant back on the table. "No use worrying about this until we find out what Patel has planned. Worst case, I will return it." She adjusted mask over her face. "Let's go, my dear husband… we don't want to be late to our first event."

Aiden grinned and followed after Sarah.