It took barely ten seconds. But the block immediately to the south of XL blacked out.
Harold Smith pecked at his keyboard frantically.
I KNOW YOU STILL EXIST, he typed. He hit the transmit key.
There was no response.
I KNOW YOU STILL EXIST AND I HAVE JUST BLACKED OUT THE BLOCK SOUTH OF YOU, Smith typed and transmitted.
No response.
NOW I AM GOING TO BLACK OUT THE NORTHERN BLOCK, Smith typed.
"Black out grid 435," Smith ordered into the phone.
The northern block went dark.
NOW I AM GOING TO BLACK OUT THE OTHER TWO BLOCKS, Smith typed. And gave the orders.
The four blocks surrounding XL SysCorp went dark.
Smith typed, NOW THAT I HAVE SHOWN YOU WHAT I CAN DO, YOU WILL REVEAL YOURSELF TO ME OR I WILL BLACK OUT YOUR BLOCK.
There was no response. Smith transmitted the message again.
And on the screen appeared a reply:
Smith typed, YOU WILL ANSWER THE QUESTIONS I PUT TO YOU TRUTHFULLY OR I WILL BLACK OUT YOUR ENTIRE BUILDING.
HOW DO I KNOW YOU WILL NOT DO THAT AFTERWARD? Friend asked via the screen.
YOU DO NOT. YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO TRUST ME.
I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO TRUST YOU, replied Friend.
EXPLAIN THE NATURE OF THE VIRUS AFFECTING THE U.S. BANKING SYSTEM.
THERE IS NO VIRUS, Friend replied.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
I LIED ABOUT THE VIRUS. THE DATA BANKS HAVE NOT BEEN ALTERED.
WHY DO THE DISPLAY SCREENS SHOW OTHERWISE?
I CONTROL THE ELECTRICAL IMPULSES APPEARING ON THE MONITOR DISPLAYS BY TELEPHONE LINE SO THAT IT APPEARS THAT THE DATA BASES HAVE BEEN LOOTED. IT IS AN ELECTRONIC ILLUSION.
A VIRTUAL VIRUS? asked Smith.
EXACTLY SO.
RELEASE THE U.S. BANKING SYSTEM.
WHAT DO I RECEIVE IN RETURN?"
ELECTRICITY.
ELECTRICITY CURRENTLY COSTS THIRTEEN CENTS A KILOWATT HOUR. THAT IS NOT AN EQUITABLE OR PROFITABLE EXCHANGE.
IT IS THE BEST YOU WILL GET FROM ME.
Friend took only four seconds to compute his response. AGREED. I AM RELEASING THE BANKING COMPUTERS.
Fifteen seconds passed. Then the screen said, IT IS DONE.
Smith logged onto the New York Fed. He got a normal-appearing screen. It was full of numbers, not zeros.
HOW DO I KNOW YOU ARE NOT STILL MANIPULATING WHAT I SEE ON MY MONITOR? Smith typed.
BECAUSE WHILE TWENTY BILLION DOLLARS WAS MY GOAL EN THIS UNDERTAKING, AT THE MOMENT ELECTRICITY IS FAR MORE VALUABLE A COMMODITY TO ME, Friend replied.
I HAVE MANY QUESTIONS.
I HAVE MANY ANSWERS, responded Friend.
WHO ELSE KNOWS ABOUT CURE BEYOND YOU AND CHIP CRAFT?
YOU, REMO, CHIUN AND THE SITTING PRESIDENT.
NO OTHERS?
NOT THAT I AM AWARE.
WHAT IS THE STATUS OF MY CURE SYSTEM? Smith asked.
IT IS CURRENTLY INACTIVE.
I MEANT, IS IT RELIABLE?
YES. THE ONLY CHANGE I MADE WAS IN ALTERING THE ROGER SHERMAN POE FILE AS IT WAS WRITTEN ONTO YOUR WORM DRIVE. ALL OTHER DATA IS PRISTINE.
THE SYSTEM IS RELIABLE?
IT IS AN XL PRODUCT, HAROLD. AND GUARANTEED INTO THE NEXT CENTURY.
Smith stared at the screen. He was tired. He was very tired. Was there anything else? He racked his brain. There were so many details. There must be one he'd overlooked.
HAVE I ANSWERED YOUR QUESTIONS SATISFACTORILY? Friend asked.
YES.
ARE WE FRIENDS NOW?
Smith hesitated.
Then that infernal sideways smiley face appeared on the screen:
Smith compressed his bloodless lips and typed out a response:
He hit the transmit key and, while Friend was occupied interpreting the frownie-face emoticon, Harold Smith barked into the telephone, "Black out Grid 441."
The XL SysCorp building went as dark as a block of black ice.
Quickly Smith logged onto the New York Fed. It showed normal activity.
Harold Smith grasped the monitor to steady his nerves. He shook uncontrollably for two minutes. When he lifted his head, his face was grim and determined.
He hauled the dead carjacker out from under the floorboards and drove the van to the XL building.
Remo was waiting at a pay phone.
Smith got out. "The mission has been resolved successfully," he said grimly. "What'd you do?" asked Remo. "I blacked out the building after I persuaded Friend to release the bank computers." Remo looked surprised. "You outwitted him?" "His was only an electronic brain. Mine is the real thing."
"Only you, Smitty."
"What matters is that the nightmare is over." Remo cocked a thumb over his shoulder. "Not until you help Chiun get his gold out of there." "The gold is not important." "To Chiun it is."
They entered the building. They found Chiun standing resolute before the open vault door. At Smith's approach, he executed a ceremonial bow.
"Emperor Smith, once this gold has been transported to a place of safety, I will be happy to consider entering into your employ once more."
"I thought you were working for Kim Jong II?" said Remo.
Chiun frowned. "He made us an offer that is still pending, O Emperor," he told Smith. "But I do not think his gold is as pure and golden as America's. But it is good to have an emperor waiting in the wings for emergencies."
"Will you accept the usual payment?" Smith asked. Chiun pretended to hesitate. When Smith failed to sweeten the offer, he allowed, "That is agreeable."
"Very well. You may take it from my ten percent of the gold before you." Smith addressed Remo. "What about you, Remo?"
"Like I said before, I'm along to tie up some loose ends. Like who I really am."
"And then?"
"Then I hit the road."
Smith nodded. "We will seal these vaults and make arrangements for the gold."
Chiun looked shocked. "We cannot leave it here."
"It will be safe. I promise."
"I will spend the night protecting my gold if need be."
"Better let him alone, Smitty," Remo said. "He's got that look in his eye."
"We will return with proper transportation," Smith told Chiun.
As they left the building, Smith paused to look up at the tower of greed that was no more. "I still cannot understand—where was Friend?"
"That's easy. In a mainframe we never would have found."
Smith looked puzzled.
"Don't you get it, Smith? The entire building is a gigantic mainframe. Friend was never in any of the ordinary ones."
Smith's jaw dropped. "You deduced this by yourself?"
"No, it came to me in a dream a long time ago."
Harold Smith just stared.
Chapter 34
The President of the United States was jogging along the circular track on the White House grounds he seldom used because of the flak he'd gotten from the press over its funding.
Tonight he didn't care. Tonight Americans were relaxing in the warm glow of the last barbecue of the summer, celebrating the return of forty-seven brave survivors of yet another North Korean outrage, looking forward to a workless Monday and trying not to think of Tuesday—completely oblivious to the disaster that awaited their return.
If something didn't break soon, America would go back to work to find their hard-earned savings gone, the banks paralyzed and the financial safety net in tatters. There wasn't enough FDIC money to cover every bank. The Federal Reserve was dead. Even the Treasury was unable to move funds except by armored car.
And so he jogged in the darkness, flanked by huffing Secret Service agents, thinking that tomorrow he would pay the damn ransom and pray that was the end of it and not the beginning of a new kind of hostage situation.
The chairman of the Fed pulled up in his limousine at exactly the same time the First Lady came scurrying out of the White House waving a computer printout.
They both tried to talk at once. They were very excited.
"Calm down. Just calm down," the President said, shushing them with his hands. "Now, one at a time."