officers looked up from their screens to the captain.
Waterbrook boomed. "Now!"
Wide-eyed, the ten officers scurried from the room and the captain grabbed the last man by the arm and said, "I want everyone to return to their normal duties. Tell Branson to contact me immediately."
The captain returned his attention to Garboni. "Do it now!"
"Okay," he grumbled.
Waterbrook smiled to Victoria. "Thank you for helping us. If you have any trouble getting what you need, please contact me. I can be reached on extension 5634."
"Thank you." Victoria smiled. "I'll call you when I'm done."
"Perfect." He turned and walked out the door.
Turning her attention to Bobby, Victoria was treated to a view of him bent over banging on the keyboard with his ass crack showing out of his super-tight corduroy pants. She held back a laugh.
He grumbled, "Tell me exactly what you need."
"Full access." She shrugged.
"I know." He gave her a tired look. "But do you need a secure VPN tunnel or HTTP or HTTPS… What?"
"Um, I, uh… Can I use a phone?"
He scoffed then pointed to the wall. She moved to it, picked up the receiver then looked at him, waiting. "I need just a minute."
Rolling his eyes and mumbling under his breath, he left the room and closed the door.
She dialed the number for her cabin and cringed. "Come on. Come on."
"Hello," Ethan answered.
"Thank God you're there."
"Where are you?"
"In the computer room."
"The computer room on this ship?"
"No…" She sighed. "I took a helicopter and I'm at the Pentagon right now. Yes, I'm still on the ship."
"Sorry. With you, who the hell knows? When are you coming back to the room, I really—"
"Look, I don't have much time. You studied computers, right?"
"No, I was a math major. I thought I told you."
"That's the same thing, isn't it?"
"Um, no, not really."
"But, I'm sure you know some things about computers, right?"
"Yeah. Sure."
"Okay, so some nerdy computer genius is asking me what kind of access I need… He said VNP or TITS or something."
"Victoria, what the hell are you doing?"
"I'm pretending to be an F.B.I. agent."
"What? Why?" He scoffed.
"It's a long story, but I've convinced the captain that I can somehow review all the security footage with some facial recognition software."
"Wow, you're an F.B.I. agent? I think I just got a little hard."
"Really?" She giggled.
"Yeah, maybe later I can pretend to be a terror suspect and you can use whatever tactics you deem necessary to get me to talk."
"I'll get you to talk all right."
"I know you will."
"Okay, but we can talk about that later."
"All right. All right."
"Right now I need to sound convincing if I'm going to get sweaty nerd boy out of my hair. The captain was easy… All I had to do was give him some of that Sharon Stone Basic Instinct treatment and he was like putty in my hands."
"No way, you flashed him your beaver?"
"Desperate times call for desperate measures— I had to show him my ass too."
"You didn't!"
"I did, but something tells me that won't work with nerd boy, so short of handing him an advanced copy of the sequel to the movie Avatar I'm going to need to know what the hell I'm talking about."
"Okay, so first find out what kind of system they have. If he says UNIX or Linux then tell him you need root access if he says Windows then tell him you need full admin rights."
"Okay, UNIX or Linus equals root and windows equals admin."
"It's Linux not Linus."
"Whatever."
"And if he presses you, just say you'll setup your own VPN tunnel with special F.B.I. software or something like that."
"Good idea. Now don't leave the room in case I need you."
"Okay… And Agent Wilde?"
"Yes."
"I've been a very, very bad boy."
"I know, and I'll deal with you later," she said in a stern voice.
Smiling, she hung up the phone then took a moment to compose herself before opening the door.
Leaning against the wall chewing on his fingernails, Garboni scowled. "So what do you need?"
"What kind of system do you
Waterbrook boomed. "Now!"
Wide-eyed, the ten officers scurried from the room and the captain grabbed the last man by the arm and said, "I want everyone to return to their normal duties. Tell Branson to contact me immediately."
The captain returned his attention to Garboni. "Do it now!"
"Okay," he grumbled.
Waterbrook smiled to Victoria. "Thank you for helping us. If you have any trouble getting what you need, please contact me. I can be reached on extension 5634."
"Thank you." Victoria smiled. "I'll call you when I'm done."
"Perfect." He turned and walked out the door.
Turning her attention to Bobby, Victoria was treated to a view of him bent over banging on the keyboard with his ass crack showing out of his super-tight corduroy pants. She held back a laugh.
He grumbled, "Tell me exactly what you need."
"Full access." She shrugged.
"I know." He gave her a tired look. "But do you need a secure VPN tunnel or HTTP or HTTPS… What?"
"Um, I, uh… Can I use a phone?"
He scoffed then pointed to the wall. She moved to it, picked up the receiver then looked at him, waiting. "I need just a minute."
Rolling his eyes and mumbling under his breath, he left the room and closed the door.
She dialed the number for her cabin and cringed. "Come on. Come on."
"Hello," Ethan answered.
"Thank God you're there."
"Where are you?"
"In the computer room."
"The computer room on this ship?"
"No…" She sighed. "I took a helicopter and I'm at the Pentagon right now. Yes, I'm still on the ship."
"Sorry. With you, who the hell knows? When are you coming back to the room, I really—"
"Look, I don't have much time. You studied computers, right?"
"No, I was a math major. I thought I told you."
"That's the same thing, isn't it?"
"Um, no, not really."
"But, I'm sure you know some things about computers, right?"
"Yeah. Sure."
"Okay, so some nerdy computer genius is asking me what kind of access I need… He said VNP or TITS or something."
"Victoria, what the hell are you doing?"
"I'm pretending to be an F.B.I. agent."
"What? Why?" He scoffed.
"It's a long story, but I've convinced the captain that I can somehow review all the security footage with some facial recognition software."
"Wow, you're an F.B.I. agent? I think I just got a little hard."
"Really?" She giggled.
"Yeah, maybe later I can pretend to be a terror suspect and you can use whatever tactics you deem necessary to get me to talk."
"I'll get you to talk all right."
"I know you will."
"Okay, but we can talk about that later."
"All right. All right."
"Right now I need to sound convincing if I'm going to get sweaty nerd boy out of my hair. The captain was easy… All I had to do was give him some of that Sharon Stone Basic Instinct treatment and he was like putty in my hands."
"No way, you flashed him your beaver?"
"Desperate times call for desperate measures— I had to show him my ass too."
"You didn't!"
"I did, but something tells me that won't work with nerd boy, so short of handing him an advanced copy of the sequel to the movie Avatar I'm going to need to know what the hell I'm talking about."
"Okay, so first find out what kind of system they have. If he says UNIX or Linux then tell him you need root access if he says Windows then tell him you need full admin rights."
"Okay, UNIX or Linus equals root and windows equals admin."
"It's Linux not Linus."
"Whatever."
"And if he presses you, just say you'll setup your own VPN tunnel with special F.B.I. software or something like that."
"Good idea. Now don't leave the room in case I need you."
"Okay… And Agent Wilde?"
"Yes."
"I've been a very, very bad boy."
"I know, and I'll deal with you later," she said in a stern voice.
Smiling, she hung up the phone then took a moment to compose herself before opening the door.
Leaning against the wall chewing on his fingernails, Garboni scowled. "So what do you need?"
"What kind of system do you
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