Part Twelve: Love don't pay no bills.
"Gary's bike's gone," said Hans, getting into the back of the Citroen with Bernie. "So we can add theft to Omni's personal list of misdemeanours." Sasha checked his pissed-off expression in the rear-view mirror and started the car.
"Noted," she said. "Now give Gary's laptop to Mister Taylor, and let's hope that the trail hasn't gone cold."
"Which trail?" asked David Cutter, studying the C1's dashboard instrumentation. In truth, he'd been considering getting the same Citroen himself to replace his Ford Focus.
"Actually, that's a good question," said Bernie, watching the laptop boot up. "Password?" he asked Hans, who gritted his teeth and typed it in for him. "Thanks. What I mean is, we know which train Sara Ryland was on, and I uploaded the Wi-Fi access data to the servers."
"Which may be compromised, if Gary was right about the Zero Day exploit, and if it's been triggered," added Hans.
Sasha Marx reached a decision.
"Too many ifs. Boys?" she said, "Swap laptops. Now. Hans, see how far Gary got with the exposure of AktionHive's AV project. Bernie? I need you to determine, if you can, what Sara's stepping-off point might be. Cade is central to all this, we just haven't found the connection yet, so factor that in."
"Got it," said Bernie, handing Gary's laptop to Hans.
"Don't mess with my files," warned Hans, handing his own laptop to Bernie.
Cutter turned to Sasha, looking amused.
"Kids, eh?"
Sasha kept her eyes on the road, heading for the A1 exit.
"You're not off the hook, Mister Cutter. I had to call a doctor to help my friend. Not your fault, I know, but Gary's last words to Hans were about your company and the AV, and that's got me really puzzled."
David Cutter sighed.
"Well, a lot of it's above my pay grade, and taking on two paid interns was never my idea, but Conway sees the Advanced Virtualisation deal as crucial to how AktionHive functions in the next decade."
"Conway? Peregrine Conway?" asked Sasha.
"Yeah," said Cutter, "He took over as CEO a couple of months ago. We're not listed, so it was no big deal. No shareholders to mollify, and the board couldn't believe their luck. Er, am I missing something here?"
Three brains in the car were working overtime, but it was Bernie Taylor who spoke up first.
"I never want the fact that I knew about this, and never bothered to do anything with the information to be held against me. If it's above David's pay grade, you can safely bet it's above mine."
"Nice cop out," said Hans.
"Thanks," said Bernie, "But I've got data, and we should all be grateful that Sara Ryland uses a Mac. Also, my subscription to Shodan finally paid off." He turned the laptop to show Hans.
"Impressive," said Hans.
"Explain," said Sasha.
"It's a search engine," said Hans, "But so much more. The internet of things? This is where it is. And that's a very big red dot." Bernie inclined his head, accepting the sideways compliment.
Sasha pulled her E-Cig out of her pocket and hit the button, inhaling deeply.
"Do we have a precise destination?" she asked.
Bernie was checking the property ownership register, and cross-checking with Hans' own findings.
"We do," said Bernie, scribbling down the address and handing it to Sasha.
"Confirmed," said Hans, "And the remote access codes are encrypted, but not for long."
He and Bernie allowed themselves a high five. David Cutter looked more than lost.
"I don't even know how you guys are getting Wi-Fi in here." Sasha came to his rescue - sort of.
"I take it that you've never met Perry Conway?"
"No," said Cutter, "He was in the building once, but I was porting the kids to their new school. Emily was having a bad day."
"Well," said Sasha, "Here's the thing. I have. And suddenly, everything makes sense. You should gen up on Cicero, David. The traitor within. Whatever you think you've gained with Peregrine Conway as CEO, you've lost with Phylos Cade as the supreme infiltrator."
Hans nodded.
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. A nod to you, Mister Cutter. But it cannot survive treason from within. Sly whispers rustling through all the alleys. My God, it's beyond the text of the book!"
"Textbook," offered Bernie. Hans inclined his head, mimicking Bernie's previous gesture. They were really getting along now. Sasha, however, looked worried.
"We're still missing a link. I'm probably being generous - several links. Can you connect Sara Ryland and Phylos Cade?"
"Not yet," sighed Bernie Taylor. "But it's just a matter of time."
"Well," said Sasha, changing gears and heading down the A1, "Let's hope that's not against us."
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment