Positioned unobtrusively in the corner of Monica’s workstation, a 128Kbs fax-modem sat dormant. Provided by the NSA, SkyTech was under contract to keep it active. It was connected by a direct land-line, the idea being that the NSA could still communicate with SkyTech if all other levels of communication, for whatever reason, failed. SkyTech didn’t even know the number, and when it was first installed, James figured it was just another of the NSA’s obsessive security measures. To the best of James’s knowledge, it had never actually been used.
Until now.
Monica was startled by the sudden clanging and hissing as the fax-modem came to life. She had no idea what this device sounded like, having spent her years in administrative duties with far more modern equipment. Next, a page with a short string of random characters was ejected from the ancient contraption’s peripheral printer. Not knowing what it was, she popped her head into James’s office.
“JW, that modem thing has just printed something out,” she said. “I have no idea what it is.”
James’s mind was elsewhere. “Thanks, Monica. Just leave it on my desk. I’ll look at it in a moment.”
Monica dropped the page on James’s desk and went about her duties.
An hour later, Nathan came into James’s office with a broad smile. “Just been on a call with Uri,” he said. “They’ve now got some good ideas on how Kubacki was able to manipulate the molecular structure of the lodestone.”
“That’s something, at least,” James said, looking up from his screen.
“Problem is, that without a raw sample, they can’t get much further. Trish still thinks that Kubacki’s technology may be a serious threat to the oil economy. Uri agreed and reminded me not to discuss it outside our small group.”
“Is Sven getting anywhere with that threatening email?” James asked.
“No,” Nathan said. He glanced idly down at James’s desk. “JW, that’s not something you want to leave lying around.”
“Oh. Monica dropped that off earlier. What is it anyway?”
Nathan looked at James with disbelief. “It’s today’s administrative password.”
“What?” James snatched up the sheet of paper and stared at it.
“Where did it come from?” Nathan asked.
“Monica,” James called out his door. “That piece of paper you dropped off earlier. Where did you say it came from?”
Monica came into the office. “The fax machine,” she said. “Is there a problem?”
“The fax?” Nathan said, turning pale. “Nobody even knows that number. Shit, we don’t even know it. And how the hell could someone determine what our password for today is?”
Concern was written all over James’s face. Could this fax be a subtle warning that the threatening email wasn’t a hoax?
Just then, Nathan’s phone vibrated. At the same moment, Phil Roberts, the systems administrator, came bounding into James’s office. “JW, Nate, someone has just hacked into our network domain and is wiping out our data.”
“I’ve just received a notification from the IBM,” Nathan said, looking at his phone. “Something’s attempting to attack our main databanks.”
James got up from his chair. “Nate, use my computer. We haven’t a second to spare. Get in there and see what’s going on. Phil, isolate our internet facing firewall. Unplug the damn thing if need be.”
Phil rushed out of the office.
Nathan’s fingers were already flying across James’s keyboard while the IBM continued transmitting urgent warnings to his phone.
Yvonne was spending some well-deserved time with her twins at James’s home. There were many activities for her daughters to amuse themselves with in the playroom and Antoine also gave her directions on how to get to a large playground within ten minutes walking distance.
Amy, Antoine’s wife, loved having the little girls running joyfully around the house. This is exactly what James’s home could do with on occasion, she thought. They brought some life into the otherwise subdued surroundings and were certainly more manageable than the mayhem caused by energetic kids that descended on the house during one of James’s charity events.
Yvonne loved talking to Amy and they had many woman-to-woman talks on any and all subjects. It had been a while since she spoke without having to guard every word or expression. Yvonne also found out a few things about James. He was truly a generous man. Every year, he paid for an all expenses vacation for both Amy and Antoine anywhere they wanted to go, and during their absence hired a cleaning service. He also arranged most of his business dinners in that time. Generous and extremely organised, she thought, with admiration.
Yvonne was also far more relaxed. She hadn’t given any further thought to Angelo Cevallos or Joseph Müller. She would simply take it one day at a time and let the future worry about itself. Her entire career had been one of covering her rear from all the politics and backstabbing. Even though she was in a senior position, she realised that it was by title only. She had no real authority to make any decisions but seemed accountable for everything that went wrong. In retrospect, she concluded that she was nothing more than Müller’s dancing monkey. Through the years, she had been conditioned to the way things were done in the workplace, but was a government run facility a good example? Her short association with James and the team at SkyTech brought some perspective back into her life. There really were people that had genuine concern for the well-being of their work colleagues.
Yvonne couldn’t remember when she last smiled or laughed so much. Even if it would only be for a short time, she had peace of mind. Having spent too many years making all the decisions, taking care of her girls, juggling monthly bills and the frustrations of working for Müller, she felt that someone else was taking care of things now. For a change, others were looking after her. It was a very calming experience.
Having no children of their own, Amy and Antoine doted on the girls, providing them with whatever they wanted. Yvonne never had the opportunity to spoil them quite so much but did feel a bit of guilt that she too was getting more attention than she deserved. If she needed to go anywhere, Antoine offered to drive her, or if she preferred, use his car.
Over the last few days, the dinner schedule was a little earlier than usual, Amy deciding that the girls shouldn’t be going to bed later than normal. Yvonne certainly didn’t want to disrupt the household routine, but Amy insisted, reassuring Yvonne that it really wasn’t that much of a bother. James would listen attentively to anything the girls had to say around the dinner table and patiently answered all their questions.
Yvonne so appreciated the sense of belonging in this home. Everyone was included in everything. Not like her normal life that centred more on selective exclusion than anything else. She could get used to this but knew that it was a short-lived illusion. Soon, life’s realities would be back upon her. She wondered what the SkyTech team was doing today. It was truly an eye-opener working side-by-side with Sven in SkyTech’s media room. She still couldn’t get over the fact that he was the world’s foremost hacker; someone the NSA was desperate to put on their payroll. Well, they were never going to find out who Trinity was from her. Even though Sven had a few quirky habits, she really liked him.