Страница 60 из 77
The letters themselves provided confirmation: Je
IT, with the aid of the SC uplink, had cracked the simple encryption routines, and a feeling of amusement and relief flooded over the SC team. No wonder Je
By 8:51 the team was begi
Or was it?
The handwriting and linguistic analysis came back, and the first cracks began to appear in the story. The analysis suggested that there was a strong probability the letters hadn’t been written by an older man at all. In all likelihood they had been written by a woman in her early thirties.
The good-humored smiles evaporated immediately. The parents now realized there were worse things that could happen than an adventurous sex life.
The call went out to various field teams to intercept Je
The team was worried. They had heard about this sort of thing before. But it only happened in Japan, in America-not here, not in northwest England….
This could be bad. Very bad. The police were then alerted. The checking of the wafers assumed highest priority within the Social Care processing space. All available processing power was diverted to analyzing them in detail.
By that time Je
And then the memory wafer’s steganography was cracked. The message went out, highest priority. Countermand the previous orders. Do not stop that train.
Je
She was going to see Liam. Liam with his lazy smile and his big powerful body and his clinging wife who didn’t understand. Understanding, sexy Liam, his romantic, gentle side wasted on a frigid wife. Liam with his children that he could never leave. Liam with his active imagination and his naughty ideas.
“My desk is bigger than your bed, Je
“Oh, Liam, I can’t…” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him.
“Then why are you smiling?” he asked. “Trust me; no one will disturb us. I’ll say you’re an important client. This is what you are going to do. It will be so naughty. Are you listening? I’ll leave a bag in the lockers at the Lite station. You can bring it right into the offices under everyone’s noses. Champagne, and something for you to wear…”
As the Lite train slowed, some of the other passengers looked up. It wasn’t usual for this train to stop here…but then the driver seemed to change its mind. It picked up the pace, dropping into the tu
“What’s in there is a surprise. I want you to walk into my room without a word. I want you to stand in front of me and undress in silence. Do you think you can do that? Yes, you can. Take off your coat, and then your shoes. Unfasten your blouse and wriggle out of your skirt. I’ll just be sitting at my desk watching as you remove your bra and then slip off your panties. Just you, standing there naked. And then you unzip the bag, reach inside, and see what is in there for you to put on. I want you to walk up and down before the window, wearing it. There’ll be just you and me, and a whole office behind me and a whole city before you, not knowing what you are about to do…”
She didn’t notice the police waiting at the back of the platforms, waiting for their instructions. She didn’t notice the cameras in the carriage turning to scan her. It was rush hour and there were fifty-four people on the Lite train with her. There were many more passengers waiting on brightly lit platforms, strung out like pearls on the dark thread of the tu
Social Care was in turmoil. IT had identified the stealth programs on the memory wafers as being similar to those used by Gaia’s Children: a terrorist group that had, until now, operated solely in Japan. Gaia’s Children targeted those companies that they believed were harming the planet in some way. Their most successful attack to date had been on the Tokyo offices of DIANA. Fourteen of the company’s middle managers had been subtly reprogrammed through a combination of drugs and hypnosis. They had all turned up at work, on the same day, carrying bombs in their briefcases.
Something similar appeared to have happened to Je
“Where are they getting this technology from?” asked one Social Care operative in frustration.
“The military, rival companies. Government agencies like us can’t fight that sort of thing.”
A heartbeat, and then the world changed.
“I wouldn’t be so sure…” another said. His face was lit up with pleasure and disbelief. All this time waiting and believing, and now his faith was justified. The proof was here on the screen. This was where the individual started to fight back.
“Look,” he croaked, then he swallowed hard. “Just look at this. I’ve heard the rumors, but I didn’t believe them. Not until now.”
On the screen before him the indicator displaying available processing space was increasing rapidly. Something or someone out there was lending them a hand.
“What’s going on?” someone asked.
No one said anything. No one back then really believed in the Watcher. No one wanted to be the first to say the name.
On the train, meanwhile, Je
On the pavement above, James Sheldon-Eva Rye’s partner-was walking to work.
Judy awoke with a start. She was drifting in and out of consciousness. She had dreamed that she was really there, in that room with Social Care. She had been Je