The Blue Nowhere

Jeffery Deaver

The Blue Nowhere

Copyright © 2001

When I say that the brain is a machine, it is meant not as an insult to the mind but as an acknowledgment of the potential of a machine. I do not believe that a human mind is less than what we imagine it to be, but rather that a machine can be much, much more.

– W. Daniel Hillis,

The Pattern on the Stone

GLOSSARY:

Bot (from robot): A software program that, operating on its own, assists users or other programs. Also referred to as an agent.

Bug: An error in software that prevents or interferes with the operation of the program.

CCU: The Computer Crimes Unit of the California State Police.

Chip-jock: A computer worker who specializes in hardware development or sales.

Civilians: Those individuals not involved in the computer industry.

Code: Software.

Code cruncher: An unimaginative software programmer who performs simple or mundane programming tasks.

Codeslinger:A talented software programmer, whose work is considered i

Crack: To illicitly break into a computer, usually to steal or destroy data or to prevent others from using the system.

Demon (or daemon): An unobtrusive, often hidden, software program that isn't specifically activated by a user command but that operates autonomously. It usually becomes active when certain conditions within the computer where it resides occur.

Firewall: A computer security system that prevents unwanted data from entering the computer it's intended to guard.

Freeware: Software made available by its developers at no charge.

Guru: A brilliant computer expert, a wizard.

Hack: Originally this word meant to quickly write a software program for a limited purpose though it evolved to mean the study and writing of i

ICQ. (I seek you): A subnetwork of the Internet similar to the IRC but devoted to private conversations. Similar to instant messaging.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat): A popular subnetwork of the Internet, in which a number of participants can have real-time conversations in online chat rooms devoted to specific interests.

.JPG (or.jpeg for joint photographers experts group): A format for digitizing, compressing and storing pictures on computers. Pictures in such formats are designated by the extension.jpg after the file name.

Kludge: A quickly written, often improvised, software program that serves a particular purpose, often intended to fix a bug or remedy some other setback in computer operations.

Machine: A computer.

MUD (Multiuser Domain, Multiuser Dimension or Multiuser Dungeons): A subnetwork related to the IRC in which participants play real-time games or engage in simulated activities.

MUDhead: One who participates in MUDs.

Packet: A small string of digitized data. All information transmitted over the Internet – e-mail, text, music, pictures, graphics, sounds – is broken down into packets, which are then reassembled at the recipient's end into a usable form.

Packet-Sniffer: A program loaded on a computer router, server or individual computer to divert packets to a third-party's computer, usually for the purpose of illicitly reading a user's messages or learning passcodes and other information.

Phishing: Searching the Internet for information about someone.

Phreak: To break into telephone systems primarily for the purpose of placing free calls, eavesdropping or disrupting service. The word is also used to describe one who engages in this practice.

Root: In the Unix operating system the word refers to the sysadmin or other individual in charge of a computer or network. It can also describe that control itself, as in "seizing root", which means taking over a computer.

Router: A computer that directs packets through the Internet to their desired destination.

Script: Software.

Server: A large, fast computer on a network – such as the Internet – on which are stored data, Web sites and files, which users can access.

Shareware: Software made available by its developers at a nominal charge or for limited uses.

Source Code: The form in which a programmer writes software, using letters, numbers and typographic symbols in one of a number of programming languages. The source code is then converted into machine code, which is what actually runs on the computer. The source code is usually kept secret and is highly guarded by its developer or owner.

Sysadmin (for systems administrator): The individual in charge of the computer operation and/or network for an organization.

Unix: A sophisticated computer operating system, like Windows. It is the operating system most computers on the Internet use.

Warez: Illegally copied commercial software.

. wav (for waveform): A format for digitizing and storing sounds on computers. Sounds in such format are designated by the extension.wav after the file name.

Wizard: A brilliant computer expert, a guru.

I . THE WIZARD

It is possible… to commit nearly any crime by computer. You could even kill a person using a computer.

– a Los Angeles Police

Department officer

CHAPTER 00000001 / ONE

The battered white van had made her uneasy. Lara Gibson sat at the bar of Vesta's Grill on De Anza in Cupertino, California, gripping the cold stem of her martini glass and ignoring the two young chip-jocks standing nearby, casting flirtatious glances at her.

She looked outside again, into the overcast drizzle, and saw no sign of the windowless Econoline that, she believed, had followed her from her house, a few miles away, to the restaurant. Lara slid off the bar stool and walked to the window, glanced outside. The van wasn't in the restaurant's parking lot. Nor was it across the street in the Apple Computer lot or the one next to it, belonging to Sun Microsystems. Either of those lots would've been a logical place to park to keep an eye on her – if the driver had in fact been stalking her.

No, the van was just a coincidence, she decided – a coincidence aggravated by a splinter of paranoia.

She returned to the bar and glanced at the two young men who were alternately ignoring her and offering subtle smiles.

Like nearly all the young men here for happy hour they were in casual slacks and tie-less dress shirts and wore the ubiquitous insignia of Silicon Valley – corporate identification badges on thin canvas lanyards around their necks. These two sported the blue cards of Sun Microsystems. Other squadrons represented here were Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and Apple, not to mention a slew of new kids on the block, start-up Internet companies, which were held in some disdain by the venerable Valley regulars.

At thirty-two, Lara Gibson was probably five years older than her two admirers. And as a self-employed businesswoman who wasn't a geek – co