Terminal Connection (12 page)

C
lick
. The sound grated on Steve’s nerves. Brooke had locked her bedroom door. Why did she shut him out like that? Didn’t she know how much he loved her? Steve took a deep breath. It didn’t help. He stormed into his office, hitting the light switch as he passed. Nothing happened. The lights were burned out.

Steve walked around his desk and stumbled over a stack of books and papers on the floor. His ankle twisted and he stubbed his toe on the foot of the chair. Steve slid into his chair and let out a sigh. As he flung open the left bottom drawer, the scotch and tumbler inside clanged together. He grabbed both, poured a drink, and took a gulp.

Brooke was so difficult to deal with. She had blatantly disregarded his warning. Yet, somehow, she had turned the situation on him and suddenly it was his fault! How had she done that? He took another sip and set the glass back down.

He was just protecting her. What if the Nexus had failed while she was online? Steve polished off the glass and poured another. He shuddered at the thought of Broke exposed to someone like Syzygy.

Twenty minutes and several drinks later, the doorbell rang.

Steve checked the time: 10:30 p.m.
Who in the hell …
? He grabbed a roll of breath mints from the desk and popped one, then two, into his mouth. Lurching to his feet, he fell back into the chair, his head swimming from a cocktail of alcohol, fatigue, and guilt. Steve fixed his gaze on the red light of the fire alarm. Two red dots danced on the ceiling. He couldn’t focus.

The doorbell rang.

“I’m coming. I’m coming,” he yelled.

He hated it when Brooke’s friends dropped by this late. He stood and steadied himself with the chair. Steve tripped over the stacks of papers and books, stumbled into the hallway, and jogged to the front door. He opened it.

A tall beautiful Ameriasian woman with black hair greeted him.

“Allison?” An alcohol-induced smile crept across his face.

She grinned back at him. “Well, aren’t you going to let me in?”

“Uh, yes.” He stepped back. “Of course.” He hoped she couldn’t smell the booze on him. Then of course swaying side to side was a dead give away. He leaned against the wall.

She smirked and handed him a Nexus. “Are you all right?”

He looked down. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just didn’t expect to see you. Come, sit down.” Steve turned and led her down the hall to the living room. They sat down on the couch.

Steve turned over the Nexus she gave him.

“It’s Xi Quang’s. I thought I would deliver it to you in person. I needed to make sure you were okay after Syzygy’s attack and all.”

He set the Nexus aside on the end table.

“I’m sorry I left you alone there,” she continued.

“Allison …” Her green eyes transfixed him. Her gaze drifted to his lips. Perhaps he had not been the only one doing a little drinking. He felt drawn, but not dragged. He could have stopped it if he wanted to. He was not that intoxicated, but he had drunk just enough to provide an excuse. Maybe he would bend his rule this once. It wasn’t really mixing business with pleasure, being after hours and all. He glanced back toward Brooke’s room. The door was closed. She was asleep by now.

He leaned over and kissed Allison lightly on the lips. His heart warmed with excitement as months of loneliness melted away, appeased for the time being.

She laughed and kissed him back, wrapping her arms around him. He leaned toward her. She gave way, falling back onto the couch. On top of her, he kissed her neck. She unbuttoned his shirt and explored his chest. He rolled to his side and suddenly felt the edge of the couch beneath him. Still holding Allison, he fell. She let out a gasp as she rolled over on top of him. Together they landed on the floor.

She laughed, getting up. “Maybe we should go somewhere safer.”

“Safe sex?” he said, taking her hand, leading her toward the hall. He tripped on the carpeted steps leading from the sunken living room to the hallway.

“Maybe I should take the lead,” she said.

They stumbled down the hall to Steve’s bedroom. He closed the door behind them.

The Calm

“Our thoughts, our words, and deeds are the threads of the net which we throw around ourselves.”

—Swami Vivekananda, 1902

Friday, June 12, 2020

A
llison wiped the sleep from her eyes and opened the door to the bathroom. A wall of fog washed over her. Steve had already showered, and a damp towel lay crumpled on the floor. The toilet seat lid was raised. “Men!” she groaned.

Allison lowered the seat. She picked up the towel and threw it into the nearby hamper. She showered, dressed, and found Steve in the living room.

He sat cross-legged on the carpet in front of the coffee table wearing a white cotton robe. Steve leaned against the couch while his fingers flew over the laptop’s keys. How could he type so fast?

“What are you doing?”

He continued to type, unfazed by her question.

She noticed Xi Quang’s Nexus on the coffee table, next to his laptop. A cable linked the two. Moving next to him, she said, “Can you hear me?”

Oblivious, he continued to type.

She looked over his shoulder. He stopped typing and stared intently at a spreadsheet on the screen.

You can be cute at times
. She leaned over him, placing her face between him and the screen. “Steve!”

Steve pulled back.

“Sorry,” she laughed. “Did you find something?”

“Yeah.” He moved aside.

She eased around the couch and sat down on the carpet next to him. He pointed at the screen. “See these messages?”

She cradled her legs with an arm and studied the log entries.

06/12/20 16:22:29 THE PROGRAM V-CHIP WAS NOT ABORTED AS REQUESTED BY A REMOTE HOST—ALIAS SYZYGY DUE TO A LOCAL PROGRAM LOCK.

06/12/20 16:34:11 THE PROGRAM SIGNAL AMPLIFIER WAS NOT ABORTED AS REQUESTED BY A REMOTE HOST—ALIAS SYZYGY DUE TO A LOCAL PROGRAM LOCK.

“These are from the System Log off my Nexus. This shows when Xi Quang attacked me. Now watch. When I pull up records on Xi Quang’s Nexus showing the attacks he made …” Steve typed several keys and two new records appeared on the screen.

06/12/20 18:22:29 A REQUEST TO STOP THE PROGRAM V-CHIP ON A REMOTE HOST: 193.168.122.15 FAILED DUE TO A LOCAL PROGRAM LOCK.

06/12/20 18:34:11 A REQUEST TO STOP THE PROGRAM SIGNAL AMPLIFIER ON REMOTE HOST: 193.168.122.15 FAILED DUE TO A LOCAL PROGRAM LOCK.

He looked over at her. “Do you see the problem?”

She leaned forward. “Yeah, I do! They’re hours apart!”

“No, that’s correct. He was two hours ahead in Chicago.”

“I don’t understand. What’s your point?” she said, picking a spec of imaginary lint from her slacks.

“My point is where is the attack on Camille? There should be four records—two for each attack from Xi Quang’s Nexus.”

“Quang must have altered the log.”

“Why would he cover up one attack but not the other?”

“DARPA caught Quang after he attacked you. Maybe he didn’t have time to cover his tracks.”

Steve nodded. “That’s true, but there’s no easy way to modify the logs. It requires an intimate knowledge of the system. Only a handful of people can do that—I know every one of them. Xi Quang isn’t on the list.”

“But what else could it be?” she asked.

“He must be part of a gang or group.”

Allison leaned back and laughed. “You mean Syzygy is a conspiracy.”

Steve bowed his head.

She lost her smile. “You’re serious?”

He nodded.

“I seriously doubt that,” she said.

“How else can you explain it?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out soon enough after DARPA interrogates Quang.” She stood and stretched. “Well, I hate to take off so soon, but I’ve got some business that needs my attention this morning.” She bent over Steve and reached for her handbag. It gave him an eye full. He forgot about the logs.

God, she smells good
. His gaze caressed her body. How much had he missed last night in his stupor? He was too intimate with the bottle and too distant from the important things. So much of his life he could not recall. He was quite possibly staring at his second chance. He wouldn’t blow it again. He had his life, Brooke, and now, maybe Allison.
Maybe
.

She straightened up. “Can I see you tonight?”

He gazed into her green eyes. “Maybe
may be
definitely.”

Allison cocked her head sideways.

“I mean, of course you can.” He pulled her close and kissed her, then brushed his cheek next to hers, smelling her scent. “God, you smell good.”

She grinned and straightened.

Getting up, he wrapped his robe around him and walked her to the door. “I have to take care of some things at Nexus Corp, but I’ll be in my virtual home office later this afternoon. Why don’t you meet me there? We could work more on the case.”

“Sounds great, except for one thing.”

“What?”

“Dinner.”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” he asked.

She folded her arms together. “Let’s put it this way. Getting as focused as you do, it seems that a planned dinner date will get you away from things easier.”

“Easier than what?” he asked. His gaze traced her figure.

“Steve!” She nudged him. “I’m serious. You’re one of those focused types. You know, the kind that ignores everything else, or rather
everyone
else around you when you’re focused on work.”

He nestled his face in her neck. “Did you like me better when I was tipsy and unfocused?”

She laughed. “No, I’m not saying focus is bad, but sometimes focusing in other areas can be just as rewarding. Maybe even more so.” With that, she winked and left.

Steve shook his head and shut the door. Her double meanings intrigued him.

“Dad? Who are you talking to?”

He spun around and saw Brooke wheeling down the hall.

“Hey! Good morning, sunshine!” Steve turned and walked toward the kitchen.

She followed. “You haven’t called me that in eons, Dad.”

He poured a cup of coffee. “Come into the kitchen and I’ll cook up some breakfast before I go to work.”

“I’m NOT hungry, not after last night!”

It came back to him. He had ripped her offline. “Brooke, look, I know pulling your Nexus off like that must have been horrible. It was … I guess, like a knee jerk reaction.”

“Yeah, well you can leave the
knee
part out as far as I’m concerned!”

Steve put both hands up in the air. “Okay. Okay. Guilty as charged. I was just trying to protect …”

“Just trying? Dad, can’t you see how you treat me? I am
not
a little girl anymore! Just because I’m in a wheelchair doesn’t mean I’m some kind of childish baby. Whether I wanted to or not, the accident forced me to grow up. Why can’t you?”

“Watch it.”

“I’ve accepted my fate, why can’t you?”

“This isn’t about that!”

“Yes it is! Shit happens, Dad! Just because something happens to my friend doesn’t mean that anything will happen to me. I think I’ve had my share, okay? I mean, look at me. What else
could
happen?”

Steve frowned. What could he say?

“I can take care of myself. Trust me. Everything will be fine as long as you chill about my Nexus.”

“No, Brooke.”

“The Nexus is all I have left, Dad. You’re never here anymore. It takes me places I can’t go anymore. It’s my only freedom. Don’t take it away from me.”

Steve sighed and looked into her eyes. He tried to remember what it felt like when he was her age. What would he have done if he had lost the use of his legs? The Nexus Healer would right this wrong. Monday would not come soon enough.

“Brooke, you know, this is so hard, and I love you so much. Just for now, don’t use it. That’s the way it’s got to be, for now.”

Her eyes filled with tears. She turned her wheelchair around and headed back to her room. She would understand Monday. The long wait would be over. Steve got to his feet and he walked to his room. He needed to clear his head. Throwing on a pair of jogging shorts and a sweatshirt, he laced up his running shoes. He had not run for days.

For the next hour he ran. He ran off last night’s booze and this morning’s upset. His mind cleared. The recall had to happen. One killer had already found the bug and others could follow. A new-and-improved software patch would only create a new-and-improved software bug. The only permanent fix was to replace the hardware.

On the plane he had thought about Austin and the financial numbers. They should be able to recall the Nexus. He had put it off too long; he had to look at the company’s finances. His talk with Brooke would come later. Just give her some time; she would understand things. Everything would work out in it’s own time.

A
llison glanced at the wall clock as she entered the Interrogation Center in Richmond to visit Xi Quang. It was only 9 a.m. She hated working outside of VR. It took her an entire thirty minutes to physically drive there.
What a waste of time
. Worse, since she was working in reality, Big Brother would be watching her interrogation. How was she going to make this guy talk without roughing him up a little?

She walked into the observation room.

A technician looked up from a complex array of electronic equipment.

“Allison Hwang. Where’s the prisoner. The technician pointed.

Through a one-way mirror she saw Quang; he was asleep. He had been left in isolation overnight. It gave her an idea. “I need to shake this guy down. Is there any way to have him wake up into VR?”

“He has to be conscious.”

“I know that. Come on, think. We need to get to this guy.”

The technician sat silent for a few seconds. “Well, I could try something.” He pointed to the equipment. “These are his brain waves. Once they reach here, I can put him in VR before he is aware of what is going on.”

“Okay. Slap a Nexus on him, make a simulation of this room, and place him inside.” She entered VR.

“Good morning, Quangster. Remember me?” Allison stepped into the virtual room and slammed the door behind her.

Quang snapped awake and glanced around. He then leaned back in his chair and focused on a point in space.

“So, what’s this all about? Why’d you go around doin’ in little girls and grown men? Do you like grown men? That last victim of yours was a man in a woman’s form. His name is Steve. I can arrange a little get together if you’d like.”

His eyes grew wide for an instant before they returned to their detached state. She let the silence accumulate. Quang fidgeted in his chair and said nothing. He drew out a Camel. Allison grabbed the lighter in her pocket, leaned over, and lit Quang’s cigarette.

“You know those things can kill you,” she said. The lighter snapped shut.

Quang shrugged. “Now or later we’ve all got to die, you know. It’s the meaning of life—death.” He took a drag from the Camel and hung his arm on the back of the chair letting the ash drop on the ground. Quang’s hand shook.

She smiled. “Deep stuff, Quangster, but some die sooner than later. Maybe you’ll be dead sooner, huh?”

“It doesn’t matter what you do to me, see? You’ll get yours before we’re through.”

“You mean friends? Your friends will
do
me?”

He shrugged and took a drag.

“So you’re just a terrorist. Is that it?”

“No, man,” he corrected her. “We’re the future—revolutionaries. We protect the innocent from injustice.”

“You’re no revolutionary, just a terrorist is all. There’s a difference, you know.”

Quang looked at his feet.

“The revolutionary has a plan. The terrorist simply messes things up. Do you have a plan, Quangy?”

He said nothing.

“You don’t have a clue, do you? Just tear things down is all you do. Mess things up. Where’s the nobility in that? You’re just a punk with an attitude.”

He smiled.

“Tell you what, Quangster. I want you take your clothes off and place them on the table here. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said.

Quang rolled his eyes and smiled, saying, “Yeah, right, man.”

“So, you’ll be cool?” Allison asked.

Quang’s smile disappeared. “You’re serious?”

She nodded.

“I know you, man, this cop routine of yours. You don’t scare me.” He took a drag from the Camel. Allison glanced down at Quang’s cigarette hand. It shook.

She leaned forward. “This is for real. You do it, man. I want you naked, see? If not, I’ll strip you myself.” She stood.

Quang stiffened. “No problem. It’s cool.”

“Really? I know your number, man. Contempt for the flesh, that’s your Achilles heel, see? You may be some sort of god in cyberspace, but you’re in my domain now. This is the realm of the flesh.” She left the room. Once outside Allison pulled back her sleeve, pressed the exit button on her wrist, and exited VR.

She materialized back in the room on the other side of the one-way mirror. The technician looked up from a VR screen, a window into the virtual interrogation room.

“Are you sure he won’t figure it out?” Allison asked.

The technician shrugged. “I don’t see how he can. We removed the VR buttons from his wrist and the time readout. As far as he can tell, he’s awakened in reality. One thing, though. Don’t rough him up too bad. I was liberal with the sensory levels. He can feel some pain, but there is no way to bypass the hardwired upper limits of the system. He’ll know if you push him too hard.”

She turned her attention to Quang on the VR monitor, a camera peering into his virtual world. After a few seconds, he set the Camel aside and disrobed. He flung his clothes about the room. Then he shifted his shirt and trousers to perfect the atmosphere.

“What the hell is he doing?” the technician asked, baffled.

“He cares what others think,” Allison said.

She looked back at the Camel. Most of the cigarette remained. In the real world it would be half gone by now. She glanced around his virtual room and noted a TV mounted in the upper corner of the room. “Can that display something?”

“Like what?”

“Like what we’re seeing through this VR monitor.”

“Yes.”

“How long will that take?”

The technician hit a series of switches and said, “Done.”

“Not now. I’ll nod to you when I need it.”

“Sure.” The technician shrugged and flipped off one of the switches.

She glanced back at the monitor. Quang sat in the chair cross-legged. He tried to lean back, spreading one arm over the back of the chair, the Camel dangling from one hand. Not satisfied, he shifted his weight and leaned onto the back legs of the chair while letting his own legs lift off the ground. He fell backward and his limbs flailed for an instant as he recovered. He resumed his original position and kept the chair planted on the ground.

Allison laughed as she put her Nexus on and entered VR.

Once in VR, she reentered the interrogation room. “I can read you, man. This thing you’re holding inside of you, it’s eating you alive.”

“It’s cool. I can take it.”

“Who’re you with? How many are you?”

“If I tell you, they’ll ice me.”

“We’ll do you worse.”

Quang fixed her with a serious look. “No one does them worse. Nobody.”

She nodded to the mirror.

The closed-circuit television flipped on with a pop. He turned and his jaw dropped. He stared at his naked image on the screen. Quang shifted in his seat.

Allison paced around him. “You didn’t think I wanted to see you naked, did you? I had a reason for asking you if you like men. Every sex-starved rapist in the joint is seeing your naked ass right now. You’re going to make some future cellmate of yours a very, very happy man.” She came around in front and flashed him a smile.

“Mean mother. Figures you’d do me this way,” Quang rasped.

“I’m not the one who will be
doing you
,” she chuckled.

He took another drag from his Camel and glanced at it.

Damn it.
She snapped her fingers. “Hey, Quangy, so you’ll talk? Or do I introduce you to Guido of Cell Block B?”

He shrugged.

“Be that way.” She walked toward the exit.

“Mei Hsien,” Quang rasped through clenched teeth. “We’re the Mei Hsien.”

Allison turned. The name alarmed her. Mei Hsien was the principal triad of the loosely organized Teochiu Chinese gangs, thought to be the most dangerous of the gangs run out of China. They involved themselves in everything: kidnapping, murder, extortion, drugs, counterfeiting, and prostitution.

Their roots in the States went back to the nineteenth century when the triads or tongs both exploited and supported the Chinese immigrants working on the railroads. Through the years, their numbers grew and their influence spread across the country. Among other things, they controlled over eighty percent of the heroin market.

“Mei Hsien? Is that some sort of code or what?”

“Stop playing. You know us.”

“You’re terrorists, right?”

“No, man. I told you, revolutionaries, the future. We protect the innocent from injustice.”

“So I’ll ask you again. When did the Mei Hsien start getting off by raping and killing little girls?” The remark still seemed to shake him. Not a good sign. The Mei Hsien would have no qualms about it.

“It’s nothin’ personal, man. It’s our calling card, that’s all. We don’t mean anything by it; it just works out that way is all. We’re founders of a new age, a revolution. You’ll see. Sometimes people just have to die. We needed to test some things out, I guess.”

“Test? Test for what?”

He shrugged.

“How many of you are there?”

“Enough.” He took another puff from his still lit camel. He stared at it.

She slapped his hand and the smoke flew across the room. “Look, I’m not playing around.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“How did you coordinate your attacks? Who trained you?”

Quang smiled and pulled out another cigarette.

She lit it.

He blew smoke in her face.

She backhanded him and launched his cigarette across the room. Quang fell to the floor.

“Get up,” she said.

Quang rolled over onto his back and sat up naked on the cold cement floor. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yeah, I know that. The problem is, you see, I wanted to.”

He got to his feet.

“Get your smoke.”

His body trembled as he retrieved it. His eye and jaw had started to swell.

“Tell me, how many of you are there?”

“Okay man, don’t be so pushy. I work with six others. Only know their aliases is all. We don’t ever meet each other in the flesh. Safer that way, see?”

“Really? You mean to tell me there are only seven of you? And you’ve never seen the others?”

He nodded.

“Does Camille Anderson sound familiar?”

He shrugged.

“What kind of targets turn you guys on?”

“Financial districts mostly, a few officials. Don’t remember their names though. Really trashed their lobbies.”

“Jesus,” she muttered. Something was off. “What do you know about the Nexus?”

“Stuff.”

Allison smacked him across his face. He tumbled to the ground and moaned. She hoped she had not hit him too hard. Allison stood up and placed one of her stiletto heels on the back of his neck. “Look man, I ain’t fuckin’ around. Your friends are knocking out the wrong people. We don’t take kindly to pedophiles and rapists. Now tell me who ya gonna hit?”

“No one.”

She applied some pressure. There was a pop.

“Crap, man. I told you. I don’t know. Don’t kill me, man.”

She released him, and Quang rolled over on his back and rubbed his neck.

“If you’re lying to me, I’ll kill you. Do you get me?”

He nodded.

“How’d you use the Nexus?”

“We made tools is all. Things to tap into people’s networks, plant things, you know?”

“What about brainwaves? Did you mess with their heads?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

“How’d you do them?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“You don’t know, do you?”

He smiled.

“How long have you been with this outfit of yours?”

“A while.”

“So what’s your game, your title, you know?”

Quang took another drag. “Hung Kwan.”

“You?” She laughed. Hung Kwan, a.k.a. Red Pole, was the title for the military leader of a triad. “No way man, you’re too green. You’re just a Sze Kau, a thug. Tell me. Exactly how long have you been with them?”

“Six months, I guess.”

“Six months?” Allison shook her head. The triads took at least a year to accept someone into their fold. “Who’s the Shan Chu, Fun Chan Chu, Pak Tsz Sin, Cho Hai?” Allison said, rattling through the designated titles of the triad’s hierarchy of leadership.

Quang shrugged. “As I said, no names, only aliases.”

“They didn’t tell you anything, did they?”

“Not so! It’s for the good of the whole. I told you, no names, see?”

“Crap!” She swore under her breath and exited VR.

Quang glanced around, moaned, and hung his head.

Allison removed the Nexus and asked the technician, “What did you see on the polygraph?” She looked back into the room. Quang sat in the chair, his body limp. He had no bruises, was fully clothed, and still wearing a Nexus.

The technician reviewed the recording of Quang’s brainwaves on the polygraph. “Except for the things you caught him on, he never lied.”

“That oaf doesn’t belong to no triad,” she said.

“What do you make of all this?” the technician asked.

“Doomed spy.” She sat back.

“What?”

“You haven’t read
The Art of War
I take it?”

The technician shook his head.

“It’s a two thousand-year-old Chinese manuscript about war logistics. Quang here believes everything he’s telling us and feels guilty about betraying his friends, but what he’s given us is all bunk. He knows very little about the previous murders, almost nothing about the triad he belongs to, and he’s admitted he is a new recruit. But he knows who he is, who he belongs to, and the type of targets they’re going to attack.” She shook her head.

“He’s a patsy. The gang fed him lies and false information. Hell, he’s probably not even part of the Mei Hsien triad, only he doesn’t know it. They created the perfect spy; he only knows false information
and
he believes it. They set him up to distract us. We’re lucky we only lost a morning on this guy!”

“Are you sure?”

“Come on. The triad makes him a fully-fledged member within six months, yet keeps him in the dark about the previous murders and the people in the organization? And all he knows is his name, the triad’s name, and the type of targets they’re going to attack? Great way to misdirect an investigation.”

Allison winced. Her career hinged on the success of Warscape, which, in turn depended on the Nexus. Ed had to remain in the dark about all this; but with Syzygy on the loose, that could change. If body count kept going north, he was bound to find out.

Perhaps Davis
could
find out about the defect but not about Syzygy. She would help Steve with the recall, but Austin had the numbers and she needed to keep him in his place. She composed an email.

FROM: Ed Davis, Assistant Secretary of Defense C4ISR

TO: Austin Wheeler, CEO Nexus Corporation

Austin,