Tonya jumped down the steps to the cave five at a time, grinning like a Cheshire cat.  Techno raised an eyebrow at her as slid to a stop next to his chair.

“Can the code breaker break this?” she asked holding out a sheet of paper to him.

Techno eyed the paper warily, but didn’t take it.  “What is it?”

“I was watching this show on The Da Vinci Code on Discovery and they showed this code along with another one.  This one translated into a bunch of nonsense while the other translated into,” she paused and took a breath.  “A really important clue!” she added in an exaggeratedly dramatic tone a voice flipping the paper she held for emphasis.  “The guy who gave this to the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail has confessed he forge all the stuff including the codes,” she quickly explained.

Techno waited, but she seemed to be done.  He eyed the paper again.  “So?”

Tonya sighed softly.  “So, I was just curious if our code breaker would get the same result as the researchers, even if the encoded message is fake.”

Techno just sat there looking at her for a long moment, then down at the paper she still held out to him.  His gazed drifted to the long necked bottle in his hand and he raised it to eye level to inspect the half full bottle, swirling the amber liquid inside.  Tilting his head back, he drained the contents in three long draughts, Tonya watching his Adam’s apple bob.  With a practiced ease, he tossed the empty bottle in the trash can where it clinked against its siblings that were already present.

Looking at the paper again he shrugged.  “Why not?” he said looking at her as he finally took it.  “Unplug that cord there. The blue one.”

“Um, okay,” Tonya blinked and moved to comply.

“It’s the Internet connection,” he explained.  “So no one will know what we find out when we crack this.”

Tonya unplugged the cord, then stood and looked at him with a critical eye.  “Are you drunk?” she asked incredulously.

Techno grinned as she raised an eyebrow, then stared at him wide eyed as he started to laugh.  “No, I’m not drunk,” he replied.  “Just feeling really good about now.”  He smirked, “Have you changed your mind?”

“No.  Let’s run this thing.”

Techno scanned the code into the computer, then started the program.  The machine hummed for several minutes while Pac-Man darted across the black screen.

“It’s taking longer than normal,” Tonya said frowning.

“Code’s fake so it’s probably have trouble with that aspect,” Techno replied yawning.  “It’s not short hand, is it?” he asked after a moment.

“That translated quickly,” she answered.  “This is French…Or Latin…”

Techno started to reply, the computer beeped and the broken code appeared on the screen.  Both read it, then reread it, eyes wide.  The turned to each other in disbelief.

“That is NOT what is said on the show,” Tonya said quietly picking up the paper again.  “And it’s supposed to be fake.”

“Maybe he got it somewhere and just copied it.”

“What are you two doing?”

Tonya stuffed the paper down her shirt as Techno hit the delete button clearing the screen.  Zarbon looked at Tonya’s fluffy tail then at Techno’s ridge posture, opened his mouth to say something else, then shook his head and walked away decided he really didn’t want to know.

Techno let out the breath he’d been holding then fumbled in his pocket a moment before handing Tonya his Zippo.  Silently she nodded and took the lighter, as he turned back to his computer.  She quickly walked to the edge of the crevasse, pulled the paper from her shirt, and looked at it one last time.  With a well-practiced flick, she lit the paper and watched it burn.

Quietly, Techno walked up beside her and watched as the flames slowly licked up the page.  Just before it would have burned her fingers, Tonya dropped the last corner into the inky abyss and both watched the pinpoint of light until it faded from sight.  Neither moved or looked away from blackness before them.

“What do we do now?” Tonya asked softly.

“Nothing,” Techno asked gruffly.

“Do you…” Tonya hesitated.  “Do you think this is what got him killed?”

“Robert was too smart,” he replied quickly, but she could tell he was thinking the same.  “Don’t tell anyone.  I wipe the computer’s memory of this event, so no one will know.”

“I…I wish I hadn’t brought that stupid thing down here.” 

Techno silently agreed.  “It did give us something though.”  Techno countered.

“Yeah.”  Tonya sighed heavily.  “Another secret.”