Gaudet read it.
'Tell them five days until Cordyceps. Tell them four P.M. EST, on the fifth day." She wrote it.
"They will never give me a pardon." "You idiot. They won't give you a pardon anyway." They waited for Baptiste's reply.
"How are we doing with the scan? It should be a simple matter to trace the IP addresses on Benoit's last e-mail." Jill stood over Grogg while he typed with amazing speed, running through all manner of queries on Big Brain. Sam was watching as well over the video monitor in New York. They were working on two vital puzzles at once. One was the whereabouts of Benoit Moreau.
"I can't believe I have to ask a computer where Gaudet has taken Benoit," Sam said.
"Oh, come on, Sam, give me a break. We did the best we could. Besides, the idea was to get her in with Gaudet, not keep her out." Jill was unusually tense because, like everyone else, she was afraid for Benoit and she knew the stakes.
"I'm sure we did that. She's in him, he's in her… in out, in out."
"Grogg, don't be such a prick," Jill snapped.
Grogg smiled wickedly, and Sam shook his head.
"You two have almost achieved domestic bliss," Sam said. "Next you start marriage counseling."
"Forgive a guy a little levity, huh," said Grogg. "You know if this goes bad, it's gonna be hell. You think your port folio sucked after the last attack…"
"People are gonna die," Jill said.
"I know that, damn it. Shit."
There was silence for a while as they waited. No one was saying a word about the second item on their minds. Sam and Jill were waiting to see if Grogg's latest attempt to break into Gaudet's Cordyceps Windows folder would succeed.
"Damn, it disappeared again."
"Oh crap," Jill said.
"I gotta try the next idea," Grogg said.
"How's the work on the antivirus coming?" Sam asked.
"I've got twenty people in a contractor's shop working on it, along with four of our own. It's based on the assumption that they get in through Windows SMB/CIFS. I have made a lot of other assumptions. Like what I would do if I were an evil genius."
"Instead of just Grogg?" Jill patted his head.
A phone rang in LA.
"It's the FBI," Jill said, putting the call through to Sam in New York.
"This is Ernie."
"The director isn't into this yet?" Sam said.
"I'm the designated Sam expert. Around here they think you're a little crazy. They do take the threat seriously, on the one hand, but on the other, there isn't any evidence that anything is going to happen. Obviously, Gaudet is selling out to the French government, but maybe the Cordyceps thing is a hoax to hold the price up."
"Maybe. Let's hope so."
"But you don't think so."
"I think it's real."
"Our scientists don't think this can be delivered as easily as anthrax and the DNA in the vector would be damaged in the irradiation of the mail."
"Nobody says he has to send it through the mail."
"The CIA is considering destroying Gaudet's entire facil ity in Quatram. Defense, of course, would love to lend a mis sile or two," Ernie commented.
"Good idea. That way you can destroy Gaudet's main server, thereby making it impossible for Grogg to break in and read the Cordyceps files." It was a rare moment of sarcasm for Sam, but he was losing patience with the government's nonsense.
"Yeah, well, the State Department will like that argument. They aren't as fond of blowing things up. Arab countries tend to take issue."
"Tell them to wait until after we hack into the computer."
"When I tell them this, they'll want the CIA to try hacking in."
"That'll be good. They hire us to do that sort of thing, but now with millions of lives at stake, they want to learn. Tell them to do their hacking and rocketing after we access the computer."
"You gotta understand, Sam, this Cordyceps is like a bogey man that's everywhere and nowhere. We have no intelligence on it except what you dig up. The French claim they don't know anything about it. They're just buying technology that they already own-that's according to them."
Sam thought briefly of Figgy, whose voice had been oddly absent of late.
"I understand the frustration. I guess you can tell we're not too happy either."
"What do you think we should do?"
"Check every delivery system for the vector that you can think of. Check everybody coming into the country. Especially Mexico and Canada. Look for mercenaries, not terrorists. These people are not likely to be Arab or French. This is a money deal."
"How in the hell do you profile people like that?" Ernie was exasperated.
"You're the expert on that. Not to mention that you have the invaluable assistance of customs and the border patrol. While you're at it, you might consider shutting down all private aviation until we sort this out. Also look for phony gov ernment aircraft that could be used as a delivery mechanism. Lastly, if you'd like more good news, I'm guessing that the people who will deliver Cordyceps are already in the coun try."
"You know we don't have enough evidence to shut down private aviation. People will go nuts if we don't find anything."
"You are exactly right. If we don't find anything, hun dreds of thousands of people are going to go nuts and start killing people. So let me get back to what I'm doing. If we find out anything, I'm sure we'll need all the manpower of the federal government. Until then… I've made my suggestions."
"They want you at a meeting."
"Put some Tilok war paint on your face and go in my place. Either that or arrest me. I'm busy."
"Sam… the government pays you…"
"So put a stop payment on my check." Sam sighed. "We can video-conference if you must."
"Fine. One more thing. I ran this antivirus thing up the flagpole, and even though they are paying to build it, they think releasing gazillions of antiviruses on the Internet is way too risky. The cure could be worse than the disease. It's never been done. It's not tested. Off the record, they are going to say no. And whatever you do, don't release it without permission from Homeland Security. I think they have their own ideas."
"Hey, look at it this way, Ernie. We're on orange alert. What could go wrong with such vigilance?" Sam didn't bother commenting on the fact that the government was now apparently paying for an Internet antivirus that they were certain they would never use. It didn't matter, because Sam figured he might use it anyway.
"Our government does a good job," Ernie said.
"For a government it does. But it is a government."
"I've heard enough."
"No, no, Ernie, don't go away. I need your help."
"Sam needs the government?"
"Uh-huh."
"What for?"
"I want to go talk to Benoit Moreau and you could be of assistance."
Jill's mouth dropped at that one.
"And how might you do that if neither you nor the U.S. government has the faintest clue where she is? Somewhere in the U.S., I believe you said?"
"Well, actually, I've narrowed it down a little. Let me off the line for just a second." Sam put Ernie on hold. "Jill, I know you like to hear things first."
Even on the video monitor Jill looked like an egg would fry nicely on her forehead.
"I also had a team following Benoit."
"I was in charge of that," Jill responded.
"You were. And you did an excellent job. But I had a radio locator device."
"You said that was too dangerous."
"It was. That's why she had to drop it shortly after she left the train. But we had her long enough. I wanted both teams to be completely independent. This way, because they didn't know about each other, they were. Can I do something to win back your goodwill?"
"I'll give it some thought."
"Now that I've told you, I guess we better tell Ernie because we're a little tight on time." They conferenced Ernie back on the line: "Ernie, I believe I've narrowed it down a little, but you have to promise this is off the record."