Computer Secretshhh! The Quest for Treasure

By Katrina Hurrell

Bios’s beginning was before time began; she was an instrument of intelligence and great beauty. In the Kingdom, the One who had created her put her in a place of authority, allowing her much influence. Over an extended period, she became proud, haughty, demanding. She eventually turned away from the Creator, the One who is Supreme and Glorious and so she was thrown out of Paradise.
She lay in the sand, a beautiful golden object. Found by sailors who took her back to their ship, she was lovingly treasured and used by sailors on board the ship to predict times, seasons, new moons and stars. They sailed on a Roman cargo ship around the Mediterranean islands. Then came a mighty storm. The ship shook and swayed. The sailors shrieked as the vessel reeled to the bottom of the ocean where it would sit undisturbed for hundreds of years.
One day, twentieth-century divers discovered the wreck. While there was little left of the ship, her treasure and the crew’s piles of bones laying scattered at the bottom of the ocean, an encasement of gold had kept Bios secure. She felt hands gently brushing away the centuries of silt, sand and layers and layers of sea creatures embodied around her encasement. Many people were gazing into her very being, expressing great excitement about the discovery. She sat quietly within the golden apparatus; her peculiar trait of a curved upper lip gave her a smug smile. She waited patiently for them to uncover her mystery.
After some intensive research, with modern equipment such as x-ray machines, they discovered that within the golden casement there was an instrument that was made up of numbers, geometrical patterns and gears that operated so that it could be turned in any direction. Step by step, the mathematicians and technicians worked their 21st century innovated technology on her apparatus before making a grand announcement: they had discovered the first computer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katrina Hurrell
• Release date: Sep 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463615744

Katrina Hurrell

I had always had an interest in writing though it was not very serious until I retired from teaching. I am excited to release My first book Computer Secretshhh! The Quest for Treasure 2018 via smashwords.com. The second one, Computer Secretshhh! The Mystery of the Bios Chip will be released December 2018. They are fantasy tales. They combined technology, friendship, adventure and faith.I have surprised myself! I never thought I would write, let alone produce two books! When I look back to a reference from my former tutor when completing Post-Compulsory Education Training he said, 'Katrina has a fertile creative imagination which enables her to produce inspriing materials and lesson resources...' I am now putting that creative imagination into writing and it is very rewarding.

Book preview

Computer Secretshhh! The Quest for Treasure

By Katrina Hurrell

Copyright 2018 Katrina Hurrell

Illustrations: Copyright c 2014 Alan W Shelley

Distributed by Smashwords

Coming Soon

Computer Secretshhh! The Mystery of the Bios Chip

By Katrina Hurrell

Dedicated to

Jason and Abhishek

And All Who

Love the Computer

And

Adventure,

But Most of All for Those who Seek Treasure.

‘Ask and the door shall be opened to you; seek and you will find;

Knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him

Who knocks the door will be opened.’

The Gospel of Matthew 7:7-8

Contents

Prologue: In the Beginning

Chapter 1: The First Time through the Computer

Chapter 2: Andrew’s New Component

Chapter 3: Grandma’s Unusual Remark

Chapter 4: Family Crisis

Chapter 5: The Second Time through the Computer

Chapter 6: Back in Time 1st Century

Chapter 7: Matthew’s Story

Chapter 8: Home Again

Chapter 9: Treasure

Chapter 10: Tempers Fly

Chapter 11: The Special Effects Programme

Chapter 12: Back to the First Century

Chapter 13: The Bios Chip

Prologue

In the Beginning

Bios’s beginning was before time began; she was an instrument of intelligence and great beauty. In the Kingdom, the One who had created her put her in a place of authority, allowing her much influence. Over an extended period, she became proud, haughty, demanding. She eventually turned away from the Creator, the One who is Supreme and Glorious and so she was thrown out of Paradise.

She lay in the sand, a beautiful golden object. Found by sailors who took her back to their ship, she was lovingly treasured and used by sailors on board the ship to predict times, seasons, new moons and stars. They sailed on a Roman cargo ship around the Mediterranean islands. Then came a mighty storm. The ship shook and swayed. The sailors shrieked as the vessel reeled to the bottom of the ocean where it would sit undisturbed for hundreds of years.

One day, twentieth-century divers discovered the wreck. While there was little left of the ship, her treasure and the crew’s piles of bones laying scattered at the bottom of the ocean, an encasement of gold had kept Bios secure. She felt hands gently brushing away the centuries of silt, sand and layers and layers of sea creatures embodied around her encasement. Many people were gazing into her very being, expressing great excitement about the discovery. She sat quietly within the golden apparatus; her peculiar trait of a curved upper lip gave her a smug smile. She waited patiently for them to uncover her mystery.

After some intensive research, with modern equipment such as x-ray machines, they discovered that within the golden casement there was an instrument that was made up of numbers, geometrical patterns and gears that operated so that it could be turned in any direction. Step by step, the mathematicians and technicians worked their 21st century innovated technology on her apparatus before making a grand announcement: they had discovered the first computer.

Chapter 1

The First Time through the Computer

‘Oi, Jason!’

At the sound of running feet, Jason spun around only to be launched into the air as his legs were swept from under him. He landed with a thud on the muddy ground.

‘Happy birthday, mate,’ Abhishek grinned down at him, ‘I’ve made you a card.’

Jason, still on the floor, took hold of the card and looked at the front cover which showed two boys on skateboards, one looking very shaky; the catchphrase read, ‘I will catch you if you fall’. Jason laughed remembering the two of them at the skate park where Abhishek fell off his skateboard, and Jason had picked him up.

‘Remember?’ he protested. ‘It was me who picked you up when you fell, not the other way round.’

Abhishek shrugged his shoulders and laughed. Jason had good memories of him and Abhishek. He had known Abhishek most of his life and could remember most of the stuff they had done together.

Jason took his friend’s outstretched hand and stood up on one foot, but with the other, he swiftly and skillfully moved to give a gentle karate kick on Abhishek’s leg. But Jason had quite forgotten his own strength and the kick sent Abhishek flying to the ground. Abhishek quickly picked himself up, brushing himself down and looked at his friend with amusement.

‘That’s the reward I get for making you a card, is it?’

‘Thanks, Abhishek, it’s great.’

Jason usually enjoyed school but eager to celebrate his birthday, every lesson seemed to drag on. When the last class finally came to an end, he stuffed his things into his bag and ran out of class with relief and excitement.

‘What’s the hurry?’ shouted Abhishek, catching up with him at the school gate.

‘My party, remember! Besides my dad’s been hinting at a surprise for weeks,’ Jason puffed as he raced home.

‘Well, wait for me.’

They walked together briskly until they reached Abhishek’s place and as he turned to leave Jason and go up the stairs, he looked and grinned at his friend, ‘See you on the computer in ten minutes.’

Jason grinned back. ‘Yeah in ten,’ he replied.

Abhishek, who was now at his front door, waved his friend goodbye and the door closed behind him. Jason walked along for only a few metres before reaching his own house. As he approached the gate, he tapped in the numbers, and the gate slid easily aside. He walked up the drive to his house where he was welcomed with a hug by his mum who was at the door. They went into the house together, his arm around his mum’s waist and hers on his shoulder. He smiled as he looked at the decorated hallway of brightly coloured balloons with a huge party banner across one wall.

‘Is Dad home?’

‘Not yet, love.’

‘He promised to be home for my party!’

‘He will,’ she replied, ‘have a little patience. Now go upstairs and get ready for your party.’

Jason took the stairs, two steps at a time, breezed across the landing and opened the door to his room. For a boy who was nearly ten years old, his bedroom was rather tidy. One part of the room space was taken up by modern equipment, TV, computer, radio, X-box, and PlayStation plus other gadgets. He opened the cupboards underneath the top desk and inside were drawers all neatly labelled. From the middle unit marked ‘tools’, he took out his USB connector and webcam and connected them together. In a few minutes, he spoke with Abhishek who was waiting eagerly for contact.

‘Is anyone around?’ asked Abhishek.

‘No, I’m on my own,’ replied Jason.

‘When do you think we will have another adventure? I can’t wait to try it again. It was awesome.’

‘I don’t know,’ Jason replied, ‘but I hope it will be soon; it was out of this world!’

‘Yeah, me too,’ shouted Abhishek. Wistfully, he added, ‘It was an extraordinary evening, do you remember it?’

‘Could I forget!’

Indeed, their first adventure was impossible to forget. It was 8 p.m. on a Saturday evening in late June when Jason retreated to his bedroom to contact Abhishek to complete a game they had been playing on the computer for sometime. Jason switched on the computer his grandparents had given him knowing that Abhishek would be waiting at his home to connect via his webcam. Bingo! he exclaimed as the top of Abhishek’s head appeared on screen. He could hear Abhishek saying: 'No, not there, not there, either, no, that won't do!' When they had a clear view of themselves, suddenly, Jason’s webcam picks them up and sends them into his computer. Then something like lightning moved towards the boys. The eye of the camera opened and they were lifted off their seats and sucked through the webcam.

They ended up