Episode 1 The Code

This programme contains some strong language

# I could be loud man I could be silent

# I could be young man or I could be old

# I could be a gentleman I could be violent

# I could turn hot man or I could be cold

# I could be just like the calm before the storm, boy

# Waiting for all hell yeah to break loose

# I could be innocent or I could be guilty

# Doesn't mean that I don't believe in no noose... #

Oh, you guys remove the greenery, right? I'll be a sec.

UNZIPPING

CAR APPROACHES

Marcus! Marcus!

Give me the phone. Give me the phone.

SHE TYPES

Hey, Jess, it's me. I'm just checking to see if you're coming.

Don't make me do this on my own, OK?

You've got 20 minutes to get dressed.

-Up and at 'em.

-PHONE BEEPS

Are you sure we can't just stay here?

Hmm. It's probably a bit snug, but it'll do.

-Do people dress up?

-It's kind of a significant occasion.

Probably good to shave too.

I don't think anyone will care if I've shaved or not.

It's giving me pash rash.

Well, that's another thing altogether.

You write something?

I tried.

What can you say about a woman who fell apart when her marriage collapsed

and slowly went mad?

She got great joy from her painting.

CAR DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES

What the hell's he doing here?

Mum was born in 1953, here in Canberra.

She always wanted to be a teacher and graduated

from St Catherine's Teaching College with honours.

She fell pregnant with me two months before she was due to start teaching

her first class.

And then Jesse.

And she made a decision to dedicate herself to family life instead.

Sadly...

..the last few years haven't been kind to Mum...

..but she loved us as best she could.

She got great joy from her painting.

She had very beautiful hands, very soft.

She would tuck us in at night.

First Ned and then me cos I was on the bottom bunk.

And she'd kiss me on the cheek and then she'd stroke my eyelids

with her fingertips, as soft as a bird.

She'd crouch there...

in the dark, even though it would hurt her back,

for as long as it took until I was asleep.

"It's what mothers do," she used to say.

Hm.

It made me feel good.

(Who's that?)

(Who's that?)

My dad.

-I'll call you in the next couple of days.

-That's all right.

-Thank you.

-You're very welcome.

I'll just introduce you to the boys.

-All right, come on.

-Where?

Jess.

Oh. Hello, Dad.

Ned.

Hey.

-I'm Hani.

-Yes.

Dad, this is Hani.

Hani, Dad.

David.

-Hi.

-Of course, you wouldn't have to call him Dad, obviously.

-And this is Mandy.

-Hi.

Sorry about your mum.

Oh, there's no need for you to be sorry, is there?

It's not like you did anything to contribute to her demise...

..I assume.

How long have you been dad's girlfriend?

Not that long. Three months.

Three months? Oh, she's a keeper then.

We've got to go.

Where do we have to go?

You're kidding me.

Unbelievable.

I don't know what you think you're doing, but...

we're trying to bury my mother here.

-Burn.

-Eh?

We're cremating her, not...

So you can take your little surveillance kit

and go and spy on someone else today.

Ned Banks, Nolan Daniels, Federal Police.

Look, I was hoping to wait until things had wrapped up here

but we really can't wait any longer.

Well, unless you're planning to arrest us we're not talking to anyone.

Well, we could go that way - arrest first, talk later - but we'd rather not.

-What's he talking about?

-I don't know yet.

-What's going on?

I've got this. I don't need your help.

Listen, I think this is in everyone's best interests if we deal with this at the station.

Uh...no. No. No. No. I can't do that.

I can't possibly go to the police station.

Hey! What you doing?!

-HANI:

-Hey, hey, hey! How about you just don't touch him, OK?

Listen.

Hey, however we do this, you need to come now.

DOOR OPENS

On a scale of one to ten, how bad are you feeling?

Just, I don't have a paper bag on me,

and if you're going to have a panic attack, I want one.

Quite used to managing them on my own

without a paper bag, as it happens.

Right.

Cos I've got some news that's not going to make you any less stressed.

Section 12 warrants.

Extradition orders from the US Department of Justice.

They want us to surrender you and Jesse

to face charges for the theft and distribution

of the restricted data Jesse stole.

And he didn't do himself any favours

with his hack into the parliamentary network.

So, at the moment, the only thing standing between you two

and the American court system is a signature from the Attorney General.

You outed some powerful people, Jesse.

There's a feeling that an example needs to be made.

You and I both know that if the Americans get you to the States

you're toast.

And yet, if, as you say,

all that stands between us and the American court system is a signature

from the Attorney General,

why haven't they signed?

HE SIGHS

I'm going to be straight up with you, Jesse.

We've got a little problem that we're struggling with

and if you had a crack at helping us fix it,

it would go a long way to making

the Attorney General happier to argue the case for keeping you here.

What kind of problem?

The attack on the Australian surfers in West Papua.

You didn't see it on the news this morning?

I don't do the news.

My focus tends to be smaller than the whole world.

Lucky old you.

Well, there was a third man in the car.

You know him?

Dan Roth.

I've been chasing him for a while.

He's been living off the grid, operating under the radar.

I don't see how this could possibly have anything to do with me.

Roth is the brains behind this website on the darknet.

Darknet(!)

It's neither especially deep nor dark.

It's just not accessible without the right tools.

Not dark, eh?

Let's see what he's got for sale.

And then there was this.

A couple of months ago, this young boy

becomes friends with a girl online...

and they text message each other for a few weeks.

And then she suggests that they meet up.

I don't... I don't want to see that.

He hasn't been seen since.

Please, I can't have that kind of story in my head

cos once it's in there I won't be able to get it out.

Callum's parents, they don't want to have this story in their heads either, Jesse.

Callum was hassling us to stay at a friend's place for the weekend.

I wasn't keen.

His grades have been shocking lately.

Sometimes you just run out of steam.

You say yes to avoid the moods and slamming doors.

You are turning into a royal pain in the arse, mate.

You know whose fault that is? Mine.

You can get yourself to Ben's place.

I'm tired of playing chauffeur.

He has asthma and he didn't take a Ventolin.

We were going to drop one over,

-Michael called....

-He wasn't there.

-SHE SIGHS

There wasn't any plan for him to stay the weekend.

Mr and Mrs McCray, we believe that the person posing as Rachel...

has connections to known sex offenders.

There is a hidden side on the internet.

It's used as a marketplace for videos...

..images.

Last week a user posted a more serious proposition for sale.

There were images of Callum

-and an offer to spend time with him for a fee of 15,000.

-No.

MRS MCCRAY SOBS

The McCrays don't have a choice...

..but you do.

You can choose to help us find their son.

You're the brother that's always getting you into trouble, right?

Ned's the one that bails you out.

Surely you must be sick of that.

Yo!

-Where's Rachel?

-She's still with her step-mum.

They broke down on the way back, but she's going to get the train.

She'll be here first thing in the morning.

Just, you know, relax, man.

Eat some pizza.

Play some games.

She'll be here before you know it.

I might go down to the car and have another look for my phone.

No, I looked, man.

It's not there. I can ring it if you're worried.

-No, it's sweet.

-Sweet.

Eat up, huh?

PHONE RINGS

I've got to take this.

Uh-huh.

Just tell me you didn't agree to anything.

I just need to try and get Roth's attention.

I help them do this

and they make the trouble with the Americans go away.

I can get us out of it, Ned.

Might even be able to save the boy.

I know you don't think I'm capable of it...

but I can.

I can do this.

He does this and the extradition requests go away.

-I want that in writing.

-I'm not sure you do.

It'd tie you to a result.

If Jesse doesn't make any progress you're back where you started.

Look, this way his agreement to help gives me grounds for

a positive recommendation to the Attorney General.

Lara, come in.

This is Lara Dixon. Her company handles the tech requirements

on some of our cases.

Don't make it sound so glamorous, Nolan.

Well, I was hoping to meet you without these guys dangling an extradition order

over your heads, but I'm not going to be picky.

-Hello.

-Shall we go?

I'll have someone drop him home as soon as we're done.

Wait, where are you going?

My offices are off-site.

Well, he can't go on his own.

He won't be on his own.

-No, I need to be with him.

-It's not possible, I'm afraid.

You haven't been security cleared to come into the operations complex.

-Well, you need to organise for me to be cleared.

-As I said, it's not possible.

My number's there. Call any time to see how he's going.

-There's no address on this.

-As I said, call any time.

Right, so it's official.

We sub-contract our intelligence out to the private sector now.

I guess they're not bound by the same pesky rules their Government friends are.

You know, I'm surprised they've not been knocking on Jesse's door

every day since the Parliament House hack anyway.

Or yours, for that matter.

So, what you know about UndaCounta this site?

It's like eBay but for the underworld.

Some of its wares are incredibly dark, some are incredibly benign.

So anything from Afghani heroin to fluffy toys,

banned books, dangerous ideas.

Something doesn't sit right.

Why would the Americans trade in their righteous indignation

over what Jesse did to bust an Australian site pedalling kids?

Unless Callum was being pedalled to someone

with a reputation to protect, someone important.

How was he coping?

Like he scored a gig on the A-Team.

I just don't think he gets what happens if they toss us to the wolves.

Afternoon all.

(That's Jesse Banks.)

So...let's see if these rumours are true.

(That's Jesse Banks.)

I'm assuming from your file you know how to drive all this stuff.

Can I see it?

My file. I'm curious to see how much I managed to keep off the radar.

Of course you are.

Not a bad trophy list.

Hmm, not bad.

Not a complete list either.

Don't tell me or I'll have to chase you.

But for the moment let's move you out of the suspects pile...

..and into the white corner.

And let's see what you can do about finding this black hat.

Jan Roth.

If I had to Tweet it,

"Brilliant, ageing, wildly vain egomaniac

"hiding out in a drug-fuelled God complex

"having cast himself as captain of the darknet

"to prove to the world he still matters."

You exceeded your character limit.

Well, I didn't count the commas.

Born here, but lured overseas right after uni for a six-figure job in Silicon Valley.

It all went pear-shaped a few years ago and he disappeared underground.

But, as it happens, he was not enjoying an early retirement.

He set up UndaCounta.com.

A turnover of close to a 1 million in revenue a month

with a 6% commission to its owner. You do the maths.

Up until yesterday we couldn't pin this site to Roth,

but the unsecured call we intercepted after the attack

gave us proof he's the owner.

I need you to hack into UndaCounta.com

and locate the user who wants Callum.

Next time it'll be loaded.

Will it?

Ah! You're in such big trouble.

Come on.

HE GRUNTS

Come on.

Right.

Out you go. You do it.

Go on.

Are you sure? If they get them to the hospital maybe they're OK.

There is no hospital that can fix what happened to them.

Do you know who it was?

I'll talk to Rams, see what he knows.

-Does she know?

-No, but she can feel it,

and she'll ask where they are.

She will ask why people are trying to hurt you.

I don't want to raise her alone.

I'm not asking any more, Jan, I'm telling you - fight another way.

Roth left the States on August 12th four years ago.

He was never heard of again?

Not registered on the sex offender's list.

So he's just pedalling the wares, not involved in personal use.

Looks like it.

There's an apprehended violence order.

What?

The applicant's name has been redacted.

What do you think that that means?

I don't know.

But they don't want to be publicly linked to Roth.

PHONE BEEPS

Prick.

Who?

My father.

How long since you last saw him?

Don't know.

Really?

-What, you don't believe me?

-No.

I reckon you know how long it's been to the exact day.

Oh, you're confusing me with the other brother.

What sort of a dad was he?

He left for work early,

he got home from work late,

he slept in on Sundays till midday,

he took us down the coast for fish and chips,

he wrestled, he did not beat us,

and when things got tough, he ran.

Enough?

Yeah.

-Sorry.

-It's OK.

-Check this out.

-What is it?

'Parliament House for the latest on the tragedy in West Papua.

'An attack on the Helmston mine road yesterday,

'a bus bombing in Sumatra last week.'

Are we seeing a pattern of attacks against foreign targets?

As I said, I'm not in a position to confirm any link.

And I'd urge you not to engage in speculation until the police

have had proper time to conduct their investigations.

Minister, your personal experience with this kind of tragedy -

the injury of your daughter in Bali -

you must understand that the families are desperate for more information.

How long will they have to wait?

I do understand, Miss Jennings...

the utter incomprehension when somebody you love is in jeopardy far from home,

but I also understand the consequences

of getting the information wrong.

And that makes me more determined to make sure that we don't deal

in supposition, but in facts, and that's what you've had today,

ladies and gentlemen - the facts, exactly as we know them.

As usual, further updates will be provided as soon as we have them.

Thank you.

-REPORTERS SHOUT QUESTIONS

-Guys, guys, that's it for now.

Ladies and gentlemen... Ladies and gentlemen, please.

We'll have more to say on this shortly. That's it for now.

Christ!

-Never goes away, does it?

-You handled it well.

I'd rather not handle it at all.

And yet every time she gets a mention,

your numbers go up and your personal stock in the party goes through the roof.

Well, I'm going to have to earn that credit another way,

cos dragging Alyse into these things...

it's got to stop.

No more.

Is there any credible evidence

that links those boys' deaths to the mine?

Well, there's been an increase in ambushes on the road

since we started negotiating to expand the lease.

The timing couldn't be worse.

When does the final draft come through?

It should be on your desk tonight.

And the sooner the deal is signed off, the better.

Don't need that.

HE MUTTERS

Perhaps you could post something for sale,

something that could be backed up,

if he bites.

Thoughts?

Um...

The parliamentary network keys you poached. That was my thought.

But he'd know the keys would have been changed the day after I cracked them.

Of course he would.

You're going to tell him you took the new set last week.

I will furnish you with those keys.

And if he bites, we'll send him the keys with a Trojan going along for the ride,

which will give us a backdoor into his system

and the chance to find the IP address of the man who's trying to buy Callum.

Your perfume, it's...

-It's disturbing my train of thought.

-Oh.

Why don't I give you some space to...do your thing?

HE CHUCKLES

Ask him what it would take.

We don't need to start with anything too flamboyant.

How about this?

Un-fucking-believable.

What would give me the reassurance that I crave?

HE SCOFFS

He is joking, right?

There is nothing to think about.

I'm just saying, I think we could get special dispensation.

What kind of special dispensation have you got for the guys whose

cover will be blown in order to make Jan Roth feel warm and fuzzy?

You're being very dramatic, Nolan.

And if you calm down enough to think it through,

the choice doesn't have to be random. It could be a targeted weed -

officers who have to be brought in from the field anyway.

You know as well as I do, there's fat to be trimmed.

Well, lucky for some, that's not your call to make.

Neil asked me to keep him abreast of significant developments.

Let's see what he thinks.

How long have you had a direct line up to Neil?

Only the last four, five jobs.

Ends and means.

Hm.

What are you doing?

If I take that, I lose all credibility.

Or you blow the whole thing.

If he's offering 20, he can afford 25.

Ah.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Nice to get a nod now and again

from people who actually get what it is that you do.

Almost time.

Ask him if he wants you to send the keys to the UndaCounta site

or a private address.

I hope you won't take offence, but...

What's he talking about, "deliver in person"?

No, you're just not getting it.

The stress will cripple him.

There will be a dozen officers to support him,

and I'll be overseeing the entire operation.

Great! If you're already going to be there, why don't you just grab Roth,

-arrest him?

-He has no legal obligation to speak.

Every second he opts to use his right to silence,

Callum gets further away.

If we get the Trojan into his laptop, we can take him,

and then it doesn't matter if he talks at all

because we'll have access to his whole network and we can find Callum.

He's just not built for it.

It's one thing you ask him to wrangle a computer interaction.

But you load him up with the responsibility of saving a child,

it's too much!

-I think I can do it.

-Yes, sure you can.

You can't manage a bank account,

you can't go to the dentist on your own,

but you're all over this. I'm sorry, it's just...

It's not an option.

I can do it, Ned, if someone comes with me.

No, we're not going to far North Queensland

-to play undercover tropical cops.

-I wasn't asking you.

I want Hani to come.

The McCrays are here. Do you want me to...?

Bring them in, thanks, Rowan.

You can tell Callum's parents we're going to give our best opportunity a miss.

Michael, Courtney.

Thanks for coming in.

I was hoping to have some news for you.

But...

I'm going to do it.

This is Jesse.

He's going to help us find Cal.

Thank you so much.

Just, I don't know... I don't understand,

why do you need to go now?

He's the one who got you into trouble in the first place.

He dug this hole.

Why should you have to help him out of it?

Gee, I don't know, Baba,

cos that's what you do when someone you love is in trouble.

Hani, I understand, you want to help him, but...

He can't do that on his own.

I'm not sure what he can do on his own.

Don't, Dad. Don't you dare.

Don't I dare?

Don't I dare to try to speak the truth

about the future of my daughter?

It is one thing that he doesn't even have a job, but this?

Now he's going to drag you back into trouble with the police again

and I'm not allowed to say no?

I love him, Dad!

That's not going to change. So, you better get used to it.

What, you're going to marry him?

Nasib, not now!

Why not now? Why not now?

She's about to fly off to God knows where!

Really,

what kind of life are you going to have, Hani?

Married to someone like him,

trying to raise a family with someone like him?

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, but I love you.

And I'm watching you build this relationship on uneven ground

and that is a bad place to build.

First with his brother and now with you.

He will wear you out, Hani.

He will wear you into the ground!

I don't care.

I love him. COUGHING

I knocked but you didn't hear me.

Let's go.

-Hi.

-Hi.

What are you doing here?

What happened with the police?

Oh, it's a long story.

All right, well, I've got the time.

God!

The house just looks like it's been in a time capsule.

-It looks just the same.

-Dad.

I... I tried to call you earlier but you didn't pick up.

Oh, yeah. Don't take it personally.

I've stopped answering numbers I don't know.

I was at the nursing home and I got your mum's stuff.

I was going to do that in the morning!

Yeah, I know. Look, they said that. I...

I thought...

you might want to go through it together?

What, is there a significant piece of knitting you wanted to claim?

Sharp tongue, soft heart. Just like her.

I'll be here until the end of the week.

Here, Cal!

Callum!

Yoo! Hey-hey!

Got you some food.

Eat up, sunshine.

There's sweet relish on it.

-All right.

-See you, man.

Unbelievable. You knew the terms.

Yeah, well, there's a reason it's not cheap, mate.

No, I'm lucky enough to not be a fuckin' sicko like you.

What are you doing with my picture?

Mate, it's not what it looks like.

That's the photo I sent to Rachel.

-Why do you have it?

-Listen, Cal.

There is no Rachel, is there?

Can I just... Just let me explain, OK?

Cos there... There is a lot of money on the table.

I just thought... Man, these guys are loaded.

It's 15 grand, just for a couple of hours.

Get away from me!

Cal, I was waiting for the right time to talking to you about it, yeah?

See if you'd be OK with it, man.

I wouldn't have forced you to do anything.

-I want to go home.

-You can't go home.

-I want to go home!

-You can't go home! Get...

-Calm down, mate!

-Let me out!

-I'm not letting you out, Cal.

-Let me out!

Just calm down. Listen.

Listen, listen. I'll cancel the whole thing, OK?

I'm just... I'm going to go out. I'll take you home when I get back.

I sit down and I order a hot chocolate.

I give him...

Erm, I sit down, I order a hot chocolate,

give him my Bitcoin address, hand over the USB.

Sit down, order a hot chocolate,

give my Bitcoin address, hand over USB.

And once Roth puts the USB into his laptop,

the Trojan will be activated.

It'll be fine.

We've still got an hour until the meeting. We can relax.

Relax is not the word that springs to mind right now.

Hey, you can do this.

And in six hours, we're back home.

Back in the cocoon.

-I think you should come with me.

-No way.

You turn up with someone that Roth's not expecting, he'll run.

PHONE RINGS

Answer it.

-Hello.

-Small tweak in the plan.

I'm at the marina right now.

I don't have as much time as I thought,

so you can come now or not at all.

OK, I'll be there in five minutes.

Good.

Just one more thing, I'll be bringing my girlfriend with me,

just so you know.

You said he'd freak if I came with someone he wasn't expecting.

Now he's expecting her.

Argh!

We've set it up here, so you can have a look at what's going on.

Take a seat.

Order, USB, Bitcoin address, done.

Squeeze my hand if you're stuck.

(Hot chocolate, please. I'd like a hot chocolate.)

(Hot chocolate, please. I'd like a hot chocolate.)

Hot chocolate, please. I'd like a hot chocolate.

Erm, can I have an espresso, please?

There's, erm...

something I want to say,

probably better raised at another time.

But I don't seem to be able to leave it for later.

The thing that I don't seem to be able to put aside

is what your dad said.

Or rather, what you said in response to what your dad said.

Jesse, you can't take anything that my dad says seriously.

Please, let me finish,

so I might be able to move on to the next track.

Your dad said, erm,

a whole range of things about my prospects.

You know, many of which are quite possibly true.

About the uneven ground between us.

About you becoming...

the new Ned.

And you said...

You said, "I don't care.

"I love him."

Oh, for Christ's sake.

Which is a lovely sentiment.

But that's quite different to,

"That's not true...

-"I love him."

-Jesse!

The implication being that you agree with his assessment.

But yet love me enough in spite of all that.

God, you know, Jesse, I don't think of every detail sometimes.

I just...

Oh, what the hell's he doing?

Hani, get him on track.

It's OK. I'm going to talk to him.

USB, sit down...

You know how sometimes you're crap at expressing your own emotions?

Well, me too.

Lara, we've got an audio problem.

See if we can find them.

Now, as thrilling as your little romantic interlude was,

you brought someone else,

which puts us all in a bit of a predicament, really,

doesn't it? You bring the USB?

Oh, there are so many things I could do with this.

No!

But I'm more interested in you, Jesse.

Your insight into a particular technical problem that I have.

-What kind of problem?

-Didn't bring with me.

This was a meet and greet.

But if you come out to the boat with me and you crack it,

that 25,000 Bitcoin is still yours.

And the dickheads outside will be none the wiser.

I'm not good with boats.

-Or the water in general.

-Dead calm.

It's like dancing on ice.

There. Bring that up.

Nolan, they're on the pier.

heading towards a reef runner.

They're boarding the boat now! They're boarding the boat now!

All right, go, go, go, go, go!

Hey, guys, that push-bike out front, that kid who was riding it,

-you seen him?

-Yeah, he's inside.

He's just crashed out over there.

I'm just trying to get a hold of the police.

Oh, no need, mate. He's my nephew.

I'm looking after him for the weekend.

I don't think you're doing a very good job, man.

He was so off his face when he stumbled in here, he could hardly speak.

Yeah, I know, I know. Video games and vodka.

I came home and found him like that, then he took off.

Mm.

Hey, listen, mate, his parents are away on their anniversary.

They get a call from the cops, I'm never going to hear the end of it. Just let me take him home.

I'll chuck him in a cold shower

and I'll kick his arse when he sobers up, yeah?

Maybe when you've finished with him you can come to my place.

I've got two at home just like him.

No worries, mate. It's my first time.

PHONE RINGS

What's up, Rems?

I'm with Meg. We're at the attack site.

They've taken Eric and Crystal,

but there's another body.

The militia are taking photos.

What the fuck?

I need a better shot.

There's no point if I can't see who it is.

You're not going to see much if you're dead.

It's Marcus.

Marcus! Give me the phone.

Give me the phone.

This is bullshit. He lent me the motorbike so I could get back to the compound.

They killed him and they dumped his body back there

so we could take the blame.

Yeah, OK.

-Drop the jetty buoy.

-Erm, I don't know...

The buoy on the jetty, fuckin' drop it!

ENGINE REVS

Where are we going?

Just in from Intelligence,

they've got the guy responsible for the attack.