Liberty by Stephen Coonts Page A

screen.
    â€œWe are set up to do crowd control from here,” the technician said. “Dozens of cameras monitor public places. We are installing two hundred cameras in the school system, over two hundred in the Metro stations, and a hundred more to monitor traffic. The merchants in Georgetown are installing cameras at their own expense. It won’t be long before there are cameras in every public place in the city.”
    â€œAnd you can monitor them all from here?” Toad asked.
    â€œRight. Of course, we have a computer setup ordered, a big project that will allow us to process digital images and search for that person in the database, see if he or she is on a wanted list. It’ll cost a bundle and take a while to procure and install.”
    â€œWhat about all those cameras in hotels, elevators, and stores?” Jake asked. “Can you access their video from here?”
    â€œNot yet. One of these days. The Supreme Court says that people don’t have a right to privacy in public places, and in this day and age, people don’t want to be mugged or robbed. Of course, the civil libertarians are squalling, but that’s inevitable.”
    â€œCan you record the feeds you do get?”
    â€œOh, sure. We record them all, but no one ever looks at them. We need a computer program that digitizes the data and allows us to search the data for one person, follow them through the city. That’s coming, too.”
    â€œCheck an alibi,” Toad suggested.
    â€œThe possibilities are staggering,” the technician admitted.
“ 1984 is almost here. And people want it.”
    He got a telephone call then. As he talked into a lip mike, he manipulated the controls on the screen.
    â€œAre you thinking what I’m thinking?” Toad whispered to Jake.
    â€œThe INS already has the software,” Jake said. “If someone cobbled it together with the video feeds we could glue all this together right now. Hack into the system in hotels and stores … we could track anyone in this town in real time.”
    â€œOr see what they did yesterday or last week,” Toad murmured. “Here and in New York. Los Angeles. Chicago. This system could put the dopers out of business.”
    â€œDopers, armed robbers, drive-by shooters …” Jake mused. “And terrorists.”
    â€œAnd terrorists,” Toad said firmly.
    Jake slowly walked the length of the room, looking at everything. When he returned to Toad’s side, he said, “We’re going to need serious help. What do you think of getting Zelda Hudson and Zip Vance out of prison and turning them loose with some computers?” Hudson and Vance had been convicted a few months ago of helping steal USS America. They hacked into U.S. government computers, defense contractors’ computers, everyone’s computers. They were probably the best two hackers alive.
    Toad whistled. “Jesus, Admiral. You must be desperate.”
    â€œI passed desperate last week.”
    â€œIf the press ever finds out those two aren’t in the can, you’re toast, sir,” Toad said as he carefully examined his boss’s face. He had known Jake a long time and thought he knew him pretty well. Grafton was a high-stakes gambler if ever there were one, but he never took foolish risks.
    â€œCan they help find those bombs?” Jake demanded. “If there is a decent chance, I’ll take the risk. If not, give me some better ideas.”
    â€œThey can get into databases that no one else can get
into,” Toad mused. “Even terrorists and mad bombers leave computer tracks.”
    â€œPeople use credit cards, they fly on airplanes, they make telephone calls, they rent cars, they stay in motels.” Jake made a gesture of frustration. “We don’t have time to build a case the old-fashioned way, even if we had the entire manpower of the FBI and CIA to help. We’re going to have to take serious