Blood Money by K. J. Janssen Page B

things quickly and quietly. This one has me baffled.”
    â€œYou said a file was stolen. What was on the file?
    â€œIt looks like it was two years worth of disbursement records.”
    Dr. Orwell’s face drained of its color. He turned to Portman. “What do you make of this, John? This has the appearance of being more than a nuisance hacking.”
    â€œI agree with Paul, sir. I hate to say it, but I think you’re right. This has all the earmarks of an inside job by someone with a thorough knowledge of our systems and procedures.”
    â€œWhat have you done so far?”
    Paul replied, “We did the lockdown about half an hour ago while we checked on employees and visitors. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, as far as we can tell. I don’t see how it can be anything but an inside job. As a precaution, all processing has been suspended. I need your advice as to how to proceed with this.”
    â€œI think we need to have a group meeting of operating and software people,” he said, directing his reply to Paul. “I don’t think we need to involve anyone else right now.”
    â€œWhat should I tell them?”
    â€œWell, we owe them an explanation for the lockdown and suspension of processing. Let’s start with that. We’ll address the group in the auditorium in ten minutes. Attendance for those two departments is mandatory.”
    *
    The auditorium was about one quarter filled. The back door was closed and manned by a security guard. Paul checked to assure that everyone was in attendance. He motioned to Dr. Orwell that he could proceed. The Doctor stepped up on the stage and adjusted the microphone; the buzzing came to a stop. “I’m sure you all want to know what is going on.” He hesitated, cleared his throat and continued. “We’ve had an incident this morning that is extremely serious. It involves the theft, via the Internet, of a section of our financial records. We don’t know all the details yet, and we haven’t determined the ramifications, but I can assure you of one thing. We will get to the bottom of this, and anyone found to be complicit in this crime will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Our work here carries with it a trust. One that we take very seriously. Any action that violates that trust will be severely dealt with.” He hesitated for a minute, scanning the audience of curious faces. “I’m sad to say that everything so far points towards this infraction originating within our ranks.” That caused a stirring among the employees. He continued, “John Portman, our Director of Security will be in charge of the investigation. I expect each of you to give him your cooperation. Anyone who has a problem with this should be prepared to sever their employment at the NRBA immediately.” He turned towards Paul. “Now, I want to turn the microphone over to Paul Matheson.”
    Paul stepped up on the stage. He didn’t bother adjusting the microphone, he just tilted his head upward as he spoke. “Dr. Orwell expressed the same feelings I have regarding the integrity of the NRBA and everyone who works here. The quicker we resolve this puzzle, the sooner we can put this unpleasantness behind us. What occurred today will not be tolerated. Something happened during the processing of our daily transaction run that we can’t trace, or at the moment even figure out the cause of. We know that one of our financial files was copied and sent out over the Internet to an untraceable address. We also know that the blood banks aren’t involved, so the only logical conclusion is that the processing was tampered with, either from the software or the operating side.” Again, the audience buzzed among themselves. He added, “I hope to God I’m wrong; that there is another explanation. We need to get back into production as quickly as possible, so as a precaution, until further notice, all