we uncover something I fear it will involve some senior people.”
Lloyd thought about it for a moment, then smiled. “I’ve never been one to turn down a challenge.”
Lloyd immediately began a series of procedures, his hands caressing both the screen and the keyboard, sometimes so fast that Alan could barely read the messages that the screen was displaying before they were whisked away again.
Lloyd loved computers; they had been his whole life since high school. This was his niche. He’d learned practically every computer language there was to learn and for his graduate project, he had actually developed another. For his PhD thesis he had written a revolutionary program that would, if a computer with enough memory could run it and the particle assemblers could be obtained, teleport solid inanimate objects composed of one material. The first, tiny step towards teleportation, a concept that had festered in man’s mind for centuries, had been taken.
Unsurprisingly, Lloyd had been headhunted after he had been awarded his PhD. He’d had jobs in numerous IT departments until eventually he’d found himself on the moon-base developing software for all sorts of things, as far-flung as fully automated docking systems to security systems. It was the latter which qualified him as a hacker. If there was a back door into the system, then Lloyd would know all the cheats to find it.
“I’ll just check to see if I can’t get the coordinates from here. Not that I doubt you, Alan, but you may have a problem with your access.”
“Sure, sure…whatever.”
Alan watched as Lloyd ran through the same procedure that he had done earlier—and was rewarded with the same message. Access denied.
Again Alan watched as Lloyd typed furiously at his keyboard. He was frustrated now. Frustrated because he did not have a single shred of evidence to prove that Wyatt’s mission was anything other than routine, and frustrated because here in this room he was impotent, just watching as Lloyd went about the task at hand.
He got up from his chair and began to pace the room, head bowed, watching his feet. The minutes ticked by. Ten. Twenty. The room was silent save for Alan’s footfalls and the tapping of the keyboard.
“We got it, we’re in.”
Alan rushed to Lloyd’s side, retaking his seat, eyes frantically scanning the screen for the information he so desperately wanted. There!—the Santa Maria . Lloyd had spotted the ship’s name, too and was already typing in the request that would give him the ship’s coordinates. The cursor blinked twice and Alan feared for a moment that this effort would also prove worthless, but then the screen displayed three numbers. Three huge numbers.
“Where in hell is that?” Lloyd whispered.
Alan looked at the figures and knew one thing instantly. “Whatever that location is, it’s beyond the boundaries of charted space, and that means one thing for certain—it’s not Ionen Prime.”
Alan took out a pen-like implement from his breast pocket and ran it across the screen. “Find out everything you can about that location, and I mean everything. I’ll be back soon.”
“I’m on it, man,” said Lloyd.
* * * * *
Robert Eller was just tidying up his desk when the voice of the base computer filled his office. “Alan Chambers, head of engineering, is waiting outside.”
“Come in,” Robert said.
He heard the hiss as the door opened and footfalls as Alan approached his desk. He didn’t even look up. “What can I do for you, Alan?” There was no answer. Only when Alan was almost on top of him did Robert look up, and by then it was too late. Alan’s huge hand grabbed Robert’s tie and yanked him out of his chair and half way across the desk.
“What the fuck is going on, Robert?”
“Wha…what are you talking about?” Robert blurted. He wheezed for breath and his hands fought desperately to loosen Alan’s viselike grip.
“Don’t bullshit me, Robert.
Lloyd thought about it for a moment, then smiled. “I’ve never been one to turn down a challenge.”
Lloyd immediately began a series of procedures, his hands caressing both the screen and the keyboard, sometimes so fast that Alan could barely read the messages that the screen was displaying before they were whisked away again.
Lloyd loved computers; they had been his whole life since high school. This was his niche. He’d learned practically every computer language there was to learn and for his graduate project, he had actually developed another. For his PhD thesis he had written a revolutionary program that would, if a computer with enough memory could run it and the particle assemblers could be obtained, teleport solid inanimate objects composed of one material. The first, tiny step towards teleportation, a concept that had festered in man’s mind for centuries, had been taken.
Unsurprisingly, Lloyd had been headhunted after he had been awarded his PhD. He’d had jobs in numerous IT departments until eventually he’d found himself on the moon-base developing software for all sorts of things, as far-flung as fully automated docking systems to security systems. It was the latter which qualified him as a hacker. If there was a back door into the system, then Lloyd would know all the cheats to find it.
“I’ll just check to see if I can’t get the coordinates from here. Not that I doubt you, Alan, but you may have a problem with your access.”
“Sure, sure…whatever.”
Alan watched as Lloyd ran through the same procedure that he had done earlier—and was rewarded with the same message. Access denied.
Again Alan watched as Lloyd typed furiously at his keyboard. He was frustrated now. Frustrated because he did not have a single shred of evidence to prove that Wyatt’s mission was anything other than routine, and frustrated because here in this room he was impotent, just watching as Lloyd went about the task at hand.
He got up from his chair and began to pace the room, head bowed, watching his feet. The minutes ticked by. Ten. Twenty. The room was silent save for Alan’s footfalls and the tapping of the keyboard.
“We got it, we’re in.”
Alan rushed to Lloyd’s side, retaking his seat, eyes frantically scanning the screen for the information he so desperately wanted. There!—the Santa Maria . Lloyd had spotted the ship’s name, too and was already typing in the request that would give him the ship’s coordinates. The cursor blinked twice and Alan feared for a moment that this effort would also prove worthless, but then the screen displayed three numbers. Three huge numbers.
“Where in hell is that?” Lloyd whispered.
Alan looked at the figures and knew one thing instantly. “Whatever that location is, it’s beyond the boundaries of charted space, and that means one thing for certain—it’s not Ionen Prime.”
Alan took out a pen-like implement from his breast pocket and ran it across the screen. “Find out everything you can about that location, and I mean everything. I’ll be back soon.”
“I’m on it, man,” said Lloyd.
* * * * *
Robert Eller was just tidying up his desk when the voice of the base computer filled his office. “Alan Chambers, head of engineering, is waiting outside.”
“Come in,” Robert said.
He heard the hiss as the door opened and footfalls as Alan approached his desk. He didn’t even look up. “What can I do for you, Alan?” There was no answer. Only when Alan was almost on top of him did Robert look up, and by then it was too late. Alan’s huge hand grabbed Robert’s tie and yanked him out of his chair and half way across the desk.
“What the fuck is going on, Robert?”
“Wha…what are you talking about?” Robert blurted. He wheezed for breath and his hands fought desperately to loosen Alan’s viselike grip.
“Don’t bullshit me, Robert.
Similar Books
