PlotCounterplot by WILLIAM BERNHARDT

Author:WILLIAM BERNHARDT
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Babylon Books
Published: 2022-07-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 42

Seamus logged into yet another database and prepared himself for more hours of slow-scan boredom. So this was life at a desk job. Hard to make the adjustment. Even harder to keep himself motivated. To convince himself he was doing this for a noble cause. To help those in need. To defend this great nation.

Not for revenge.

He appreciated the modern miracle that was the computer. And CCTV. He appreciated the fact that he had access to some of the best research materials on earth. This new collaborative integration software was extraordinary. Not only did it allow him to search numerous databases with increasingly targeted parameters, it also provided alerts in real time, an invaluable asset when processing related data fields. Information junkies loved it. They could set it up so they received a constant flurry of data about potential threats.

That would drive Seamus mad. When he was working, he didn’t like distractions.

Where are you, Xavier? What rock have you crawled under this time, you son-of-a-bitch?

Americans already had precious little privacy, and the combination of increased tech and increased government paranoia would soon eliminate what remained. That was fine with Seamus. In his experience, when people were excessively concerned about privacy, there was usually a reason.

He set the playback speed faster than normal. He had quick eyes and still felt reasonably alert, even though he’d been doing this for hours. He’d already run scans on Johann Karelis and his buddy Scheimer, but he hadn’t found anything he couldn’t learn from the newspaper morgue or Wikipedia. He knew more than enough about Xavier’s past. What he needed was information about where the man was hiding.

“You’re taxing the server, Seamus.”

Eustace. As smoothly as possible, Seamus dimmed the computer screen.

“Got a call from the Pentagon. Said someone here made an unauthorized breach of their intelligence interface.”

“It wasn’t unauthorized. I used a password.”

“Yes. But it wasn’t yours.”

“You mean currently.”

“If it isn’t current, it isn’t yours.”

“If the Pentagon isn’t smart enough to change their passwords periodically, am I to blame?” In fact, the Pentagon did change their passwords and command codes almost every day, but unbeknownst to most, there were back doors that always remained open. Maybe he was the only one who still remembered they existed.

“How am I going to square this with the military brass?” Eustace asked, reminding Seamus why his colleagues called the man “Eustace the Useless.”

“We’re supposed to share information, aren’t we? What’s their problem?”

“They don’t like people hacking into their server.”

“Maybe now they’ll tighten security. I’ve done them a service. Better I show them the loopholes than the Taliban.”

Eustace grimaced but dropped the subject. “What are you working on?”

“That Cartwright/Taggart business.”

“You’ve devoted a great deal of time to that, but you haven’t produced much. Maybe you should leave it to Homeland Security.”

“I’m pursuing leads they don’t have.”

Eustace folded his arms across his chest. “I’ll give you twenty-four hours to produce something concrete. Failing that, I want you to move on.”

Seamus knew there was no point in arguing. “Understood.”

“Saw Ingrid at the club the other night.

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