Howard paused for a sip, draining his beer. “I won’t preach at you, my friend, and I won’t pressure you to come to church. But I will ask you to think about it. And while you’re thinking about it, you can still eat lunch with us, can’t you?”
Abe smiled and drained his own glass. “Oh, yeah, John. No problem there. As long as Nadine doesn’t sneak some widow in on me.”
The two smiled.
12
Chang was not impressed. Certainly not with the security at the facility, at any rate. Yes, there had been armed guards at a gate, who had come out and inspected Chang’s chauffeured car, looking into the trunk and opening the hood, with a dog sniffing about the tires, presumably one trained to detect bombs.
The guards had directed Chang’s driver to a lot several hundred meters away from the building, one surrounded by a tall chain-link fence topped with razor wire.
A small electric cart was waiting to take Chang to the building. The driver looked at Chang’s ID, and matched it to a handheld flatscreen before starting off.
At the entrance, more armed guards checked Chang’s identification again, and inspected his briefcase. They asked him if he had any kind of computer recording media with him. He did not. He knew that there were computers in this complex that were not connected to any network, inside or out, and that the only way material from those could be transferred was manually. He expected his case would be searched more thoroughly when he departed.
Still, the look into his case seemed cursory, and the guards did not pat him down.
He was issued an identity badge with his picture and a retinal scan pattern upon it. He guessed that if he went anywhere he was not supposed to go, an alarm keyed to his badge would trip.
An armed guard took him to an inner waiting area, where a receptionist placed a call. A few minutes later, a man arrived.
“Mr. Chang? I am Commander Thorn’s assistant, Dylan Lacey. Please come with me.”
Chang followed the man, looking around carefully as they walked. Yes, he saw carefully placed sensors mounted on the ceiling. No doubt there was some kind of reader there scanning his ID badge.
Still, they had not body-searched him, so he could have smuggled a weapon into the place. Even if there had been a hidden metal detector to ferret out guns, he might have a fiberglass or ceramic knife or pistol. Chang knew there were handguns that contained no more metal than a couple of teeth fillings, and even the cartridges were ceramic and plastic.
As if reading his mind, the assistant said, “Commander Thorn asked me to fill you in on our security systems. Aside from the guards and metal detector built into the door frame, we have IR card scanners in every and all rooms. Our house computer keeps track of everybody’s badge. If you remove the ID card and try to move around without it, a silent alarm goes off, and you will find yourself facing some edgy armed guards.”
Chang nodded.
“In addition to those, we have also installed the new Bertram Hard Object Scanners at various places — I’m not at liberty to say where.”
Chang frowned. “I had thought those were not yet in production.”
“You are correct. They are not yet commercially available. But we have a relationship with the maker — Commander Thorn is a major stockholder in Bertram Systems.”
“Ah.”>
That put a different spin on security. The HO scanners used harmless ultrasonic pulses to scan subjects, and worked on density. Anything hard enough to take an edge, or that would withstand the pressure generated by a bullet being fired, would show up, and that would include ceramic guns and plastic knives.
But it wouldn’t stop a chemical or biological attack—
“And we have also recently installed sniffers set to detect chemicals used in explosives, plus one of the new Morton bioscanners that can pick up certain substances, like, say, anthrax, down to a few parts per billion.”
Chang smiled. Ah. Better and better. Would that his government had such devices. At the offices and plant that he ran? They had some old men waving people in and out at the doors, and one old metal detector in the most sensitive areas.
Of course, terrorists had not targeted his industry in China, and anybody who wanted to steal the latest technology wouldn’t be looking for it there, either. You could pick up more advanced hard- and software in an Apple store than you could at most military computer centers in China…
“Here we are, sir. Commander Thorn is expecting you.”
“Thank you,” Chang said.
Thorn was a tall, well-made fellow, dressed in a business suit that was equally well-made. He stood, came around his desk, and extended his hand for a shake. “Mr. Chang. Welcome to Net Force.”
Chang recognized the Native American aspect of him — his coloring and cheekbones, mostly.
“It is my honor to be here, Commander Thorn.”
Chang bowed slightly, and they shook hands.
“Please, call me Tom. We aren’t big on formality here.”
“Thank you. Then you must call me Han.”
“Dylan filled you in on basic security?”
“Indeed. Most impressive.”
Thorn shrugged. “Would that it was not necessary. We live in interesting times.”
Chang smiled. “One of our proverbs.”
Thorn complimented him on his English; Chang filled him in on his college, days in the U.S. They visited for a few minutes about people and places they had in common. Someone brought black tea in heavy white mugs. They engaged in small talk, polite, and as much a part of every social function in China as whatever business lay behind those.
After a few minutes, Thorn said, “I know you came here to get an idea of how we do things, and I will be happy to pass along what I can. Our governments seem to get along pretty well these days, and we are always glad to help our friends. But something has come up that we could use your help on.”
Chang kept his face impassive, though this was a surprise.
“My help?”
“Yes. Let me explain… ”
Chang listened while Thorn — who seemed very candid and forthcoming — laid out the problem. He did not get into deep detail, and Chang did not expect to hear those specifics, but even so, even saying this much was astounding. Attacks on a secure network? And from within China?
It was not something from which Chang could turn away. If somebody good enough to attack a closed network — Thorn had not specified what kind of network it was, but had given the impression that it was a significant system — and not be caught by Net Force actually was in China and not just spoofing? Chang needed to know who that was. And if he somehow managed to help Net Force solve its problem? They would certainly be grateful. And that gratitude could translate into all manner of things that Chang would give his back teeth to get his hands on.
When Thorn was done, he said, “I would be most happy to offer any small assistance I can.”
“We greatly appreciate it, Han. I have another appointment soon, but if I might, I’d like to have my assistant introduce you to our head of computer operations.”
“Jay Gridley?”
“You know of him?”
“Commander, everybody in the computer world knows of Mr. Gridley. He is the top dog.”