“What are those?”
“Scanning Electron Microscope images taken of lymphocytes in your blood.”
“Cool.”
“Cool does not even begin to describe this,” she exclaimed putting her arm around his shoulder as they stood hunched over the table. “We found a cell that we’ve never seen before… Oh my God, I’m such an idiot.”
“I’m confused,” he said.
She pulled away and started pacing. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize it until now. This…” she said tapping the picture repeatedly with her index finger, “is why they took you. I need more information. Is there anything else you haven’t told me? Anything at all?”
Her question caught him off guard, and so he did not answer her.
“Come with me,” she said, tugging him by the arm. She led him into her bedroom and sat down at her desk. She booted up her notebook computer, logged into her Wi-Fi network, and opened a browser window. She typed in the words Leighton-Harris Pharmaceuticals and ran a search. Instantly, she found the company homepage and clicked on the “About” button on the menu bar. A new page loaded and she scanned the text until she confirmed her suspicion.
“… Leighton-Harris is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vyrogen Pharmaceuticals.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Nervous?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t be. You have the easy job. No acting, no speaking, just walking around looking for the servers,” Kalen said to AJ.
“You can’t be serious! I’m the one who has to sneak around the facility, break into secure rooms, and risk being shot by armed guards. Oh, and how can I forget, hold my breath the entire time so I don’t contract the plague.”
“You don’t have to hold your breath the entire time. Only when you run into patients with purple pulsating pustules.”
AJ shuddered.
“Any last minute questions before we go?” Albane asked the group.
“Yeah, just one. What percentage of Victoria’s Secret’s annual push-up bra sales do you generate anyway?” Kalen said staring at her liberal cleavage, strategically framed by the low-cut gray blouse that she wore.
“Any serious questions before we go?”
“Actually, I’m still a little foggy on my role,” AJ said.
“That’s because it’s open ended. Sometimes ops are fluid, sometimes dynamic, sometimes chaotic. The truth is these things don’t go down in the real world like they do in the movies. We never have all the answers before we go in. Once Veronika, Kalen, and I have obtained the facility floor plans, the Coordinator will tell you what to do. To use a military term, think of yourself as being in ‘Hot Standby.’ You’ll be waiting outside in case we need you. If VanCleave is able to hack into their servers remotely, then your entry will be aborted. If not, you’ll be going in,” she explained.
“All I have to do is plug this device into the server rack, and VanCleave’s program will do the rest?” AJ said, holding up a memory stick with an Ethernet connection on one end, and a USB fitting on the other.
“Yes,” VanCleave replied, “Unless, of course, the server room is locked.”
“And if the server room is locked?”
“Hold out your hand,” VanCleave said.
AJ extended his hand, and VanCleave dropped in his open palm three, slightly flattened, oval-shaped objects. Each device was about the size of a grape and was constructed of black plastic and polished metal. A groove ran axially along the flattened side, and four smaller equally spaced lines radiated transversely outward from it. Upon further scrutiny, he noticed seams, as thin as hairs, scribing the entire surface in a complex geometric pattern.
“They look like mechanical origami. Whatever they are, they’re all folded up.” AJ said, inspecting the ovoids.
“Mechanical origami… I like that one,” VanCleave replied, “I’ll have to add that to the list.”
“What are these things?”
“They have lots of names: spiders, crawlers, Abbey’s ants, robo-bugs.”
“What do they do?”
“They crawl into wire ducts, server racks, computer terminals. They can plug themselves into ports, bite into data cables, and stream data wirelessly. They were my idea,” VanCleave sniffed. “The good old days when you could hack into anybody’s mainframe are gone. No organization concerned with file security would network their data centers to the Internet when their files contain ultra-sensitive information. Even the best firewall can be hacked. But the best hacker in the world can’t remotely access a physically segregated network.”
“You’re telling me these things are remote control bugs that hack computer networks?”
“Autonomous mechanical infiltrators… yes.”
“Next you’re going to tell me that the Coordinators aren’t actual people but Artificial Intelligence programs,” AJ said.
“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re at least five years away from having virtual Coordinators,” VanCleave replied stone-faced.
“All right boys, I’m sure this is all very interesting, but we have a timetable to meet. Our ride is waiting,” Albane said. “VanCleave, we’ll be live in twenty minutes.”
“I’ll be ready.”
“Yes, I understand, Madame Viskaya, but we were not made aware of this inspection, so I have no authorization to let you into the facility,” the sturdy woman at the reception desk insisted.
A small crowd had gathered in the lobby of the Chiarek Norse research hospital. The day manager had been called down from her office, and despite her bulldogged stance, was beginning to sweat. Two security guards had also joined the mix. The senior guard, a heavyset middle-aged man with dark circles under his eyes, and the door guard, a tall, muscular boy of about nineteen, had taken post on opposing corners of the desk. Like a pair of unmatched bookends they stood at attention, gargoyle and knight. Standing opposite the day manager was Veronika Viskaya with her hands planted firmly on the desk leaning forward over a stack of official Ministry of Health inspection documents she had ramrodded through the proper channels an hour earlier. To her left stood Albane Mesnil, and to her right Kalen Immel. They were dressed in fine dark-colored suits tailored in the physique-accentuating European fashion. Veronika had taken the lead and assumed a direct and assertive posturing. Kalen feigned boredom, frequently yawning and checking his watch. Albane had remained silent, but was passively garnering the attention of the male security guards.
Think Tank Scenario Bravo Fourteen Delta was proceeding precisely according to plan.
“Of course you do not have pre-authorization. This is a surprise inspection. If the Ministry were to inform your management in advance, it would no longer be a surprise, now would it?” Veronika barked in Czech.
“This is a secure building, and I simply cannot let someone walk in from the street and grant access for a tour,” the day manager retorted.
“I don’t think you understand. I have official government paperwork here that says that you must make your facility available for a health and safety inspection. We have received information that a biological contamination breach occurred at this very facility within the past seventy-two hours. An inspection is mandatory. We are not asking for your permission, we are informing you that we will be conducting the inspection and demand your cooperation.”
“I am sorry, Madame Inspector, but we are under strict instructions that no unauthorized personnel may enter these premises at any time for any reason,” the woman replied with conviction. “I am authorized to order the guards to use force to protect this mandate.”