Counting from Zero (34 page)

Mick took a deep breath and climbed up carrying his book.
 
He slid under the covers and started to read his novel.

“What are you reading?” she asked, closing her book.

“Still
The Innocents Abroad
,” he replied.
 
“And you?”

“Still
Anna Karenina
,” she replied, imitating him.
 
They were silent for a long moment.
 
“Mick, are you satisfied with your life?” she asked, looking at him.

“I will be, once this botnet is offline,” he replied.
 
She glared at him, so he tried again.
 
“I think I’m pretty satisfied and happy, yes.
 
Although sometimes I admit my life is a little solitary.
 
I mean, I have lots of friends, and I share all kinds of things and adventures with them, but I also don’t share a whole side of myself with them, if you know what I mean.”

“I think I do.
 
I’ve spent the last few years concentrating on my career.
 
But work isn’t everything, is it?” said Kateryna.

“No, it isn’t.
 
And we have a strange life, don’t we?
 
We travel the world; we don’t even live in the same country as most of our friends.
 
The work we do is self-motivated and self-directed, instead of being given to us by a boss.
 
We have such a different outlook on the Internet and the online world that everyone navigates every day, taking it for granted.
 
We see and participate in the daily battles and skirmishes that go on between developers and service providers and the bad guys.”

“This whole Zed dot Kicker thing – it is kind of surreal, isn’t it?” she added.

“It is.
 
And
who
can we talk to and tell about it?
 
Who can really understand us and what motivates us?” Mick replied.

“Well, for me, it has been such a pleasure working with you on it, so exciting and exhilarating.
 
And to be able to share the experience with you...” she paused.

“I know.
 
It has been unique.”

“So Mick, I’m really sorry about what happened before.
 
I should have told you right away, and not let you make incorrect assumptions…” she began.

“You are correct.”

“I’m truly sorry.
 
I just had no idea things would go the way they did.
 
You have probably figured out by now that I’m attracted to you, Mick.
 
I love spending time with you, and talking to you about everything and anything.
 
When we aren’t together, I have these imaginary little conversations with you in my head – I know it’s silly.
 
I haven’t felt like this since I was a teenager.” She had been speaking quickly but now paused.
 
Mick was silent for a moment.

“You know that I’m attracted to you, too, Kat.
 
But you are married!” Mick exclaimed.
 
Kateryna took a deep breath.

“Milos has been a good husband to me.
 
But, to tell the truth, I really can’t stand him these days.
 
I knew when we married that he had quite traditional views about the role of women, and a blunt way of expressing them.
 
I guess I thought it didn’t really matter, and that I could put up with it.
 
I think it really makes him angry that my career has gone a little better than his over the years, and I actually make more money than he does.
 
And he makes a lot of comments about my priorities.
 
Anyway, I just don’t know how much more I can put up with it...
 
and it has seemed more difficult to put up with since I met you.

“And these days, I find myself thinking a lot about you, Mick.
 
I know you are consumed by this botnet and all the attacks, but I just wanted you to know that I am here, and I want to help you in any way you might need it.”
 
Kateryna had been staring at the ceiling the whole time she spoke.
 
Now, she rolled over onto her side, facing Mick.
 
He shifted to his side, facing her as well.

“Kat, thanks for sharing that with me.
 
I don’t want you to take this the wrong way,” he began carefully.
 
“I just want you to know how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, and how much I appreciate your help.
 
But...” he paused.

“OK, you don’t need to say anymore, Mick, please,” she interrupted, rolling over to face the cabin wall.

Mick thought about trying to restart the conversation, but couldn’t find the right words.
 
He was still thinking hard about everything when he heard the sound of her sleeping.

He closed his eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep as well, as their train wound its way through the European countryside.

Early the next morning, they were all packed and ready to disembark by the time the train slowed coming into Berlin Hauptbahnhof station.
 
Trains to Kiev only departed in the evening, so they had nearly eight hours to kill before then.
 
As Mick had never visited Berlin on his previous trips to Germany, he was looking forward to exploring.

They had a light breakfast of coffee and croissants before leaving their bags in a locker at the hotel and setting out.
 
With his previous trips to Hiroshima and Los Alamos, World War II was still on Mick’s mind.
 
He knew that it was the German atomic program that led to the creation of the Manhattan Project, and ultimately, the detonation over Hiroshima.
 
Of course, history showed that the Germans were never close to building any kind of bomb, and were more interested in finding a power source for their submarines – a precursor to today’s nuclear powered submarines that can stay underwater for six months or more.

They strolled along Unter den Liden, under the Linden trees along the most famous and beautiful street in Berlin and enjoyed the afternoon sun, although there was a slight chill in the air.
 
They eventually stopped at a café to rest.
 
Mick’s new shoes still needed to be broken in, but he didn’t complain to Kateryna.
 
He had also stopped wearing the eyeglasses except when they went through customs and immigration, as they gave him a headache.

“About last night,” Mick began, breaking the silence on the topic.
 
“I just wanted you to know –”

“Mick, you don’t need to explain,” she interrupted him.

“Yes, I do, Kat,” he interrupted her, pausing to collect his thoughts.
 
“I think about you every hour of every day.
 
For those three weeks while I was at sea when we didn’t mail or video, probably more often.” He looked up and could see that he had her attention.
 
“I just don’t know what to do.
 
You have a husband, and I have...
 
I don’t know... motorcycles?”
 
She smiled weakly at him.

“I’ve been thinking about you a lot, too,” she responded.
 
She reached over and took his hand.
 
Mick liked how it felt.
 
“This is just a crazy situation we are in.
 
And all the secrecy and excitement of this adventure just seems to magnify it.”

“I know.
 
I think we should just take it very slowly – get through this and not do something stupid we might regret later.” Mick squeezed her hand, and she smiled again.

“You are right, of course.
 
Perhaps it will fade once this trip is over.
 
I don’t know what I was thinking last night...” then she changed the subject.
 
“So, are you all set to take down this botnet?”
 
Mick leaned back in his chair.
 
It took him a moment to shift gears in his mind.

“Well, I can’t take it down, but I think I can paralyze it – by making it so that the botnet can’t initiate an attack.
 
Jasinski gave me a root certificate for the botnet with revocation privileges.
 
Now that I have figured out the encryption and the format of the botnet control messages, I can use this to effectively lock out the criminals so that I’m the only person who can give the botnet commands.
 
But the criminals will know about it as soon as I execute the script, and I think they will know it was me.”

“Or Jasinski.”

“Or Jasinski – good point!
 
I think I understand why she planned to disappear.”

They enjoyed the rest of the afternoon together exploring Berlin, but they were both distracted.
 
By the middle of the afternoon they were back at the station getting ready to board their train to Ukraine.
 
Mick read a mail from Sam.

Cheerio Uncle Alec,

I am glad you are having fun in merry old England.
 
I read that the London Science Museum has a working version of Babbage’s Analytical Engine!
 
If you haven’t seen it, you must!
 
Do you think they’d let you write a program for it?
 
Could you write a buffer overflow attack for it?

When are you visiting Boston again?

Take care, my favorite (and only, LOL) uncle,

Sam

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He smiled and fired off a reply as they waited to board.

Their train, known as the Kashtan, departed Berlin as the sun set.
 
They had another sleeper car, but this time Mick didn’t feel as nervous as he had the previous night.
 
He wondered how they could go through such an awkward situation, and so quickly get past it.
 
Their ‘relationship’ certainly was nothing like anything he had ever experienced before.
 
And he didn’t know where he was going...
 
besides Kiev.

Skipping coffee, Mick and Kateryna enjoyed a packed dinner of schnitzel.
 
Mick finished up his script; he was ready to disrupt the botnet tomorrow once they arrived in Kiev and staked out the Zed.Kicker headquarters.
 
Just before bed, they discussed several scenarios for the next day.
 
This way they could react quickly without lots of discussion.
 
Of course, there were too many unknowns to really plan properly.

As he fell asleep, Mick felt both sorry he had involved Kateryna, and thankful for her steadiness and contributions to the effort.

Mick awoke first, slowly regaining consciousness.
 
For a minute he did not know where he was, then he remembered.
 
He felt Kateryna snuggled up against his back as he lay on his side, and he tensed up.
 
Then he realized that she (or perhaps he) had probably initiated the ‘spooning’ while asleep.
 
He stayed in that position for a few minutes, feeling her breathing and her warmth against him.
 
As the train shook slightly rounding a bend, Kateryna stirred, and Mick took the opportunity to slide away from her.
 
She made a noise and rolled over in the other direction.
 
He sighed silently in relief,
then
began to focus on the day ahead.

After customs and immigration in Kiev, they would get a hotel and a rental and find the Zed.Kicker location.
 
He pulled up a map on the GPS, noticing Chernobyl, about 2ØØkm north of Kiev near the border with Belarus.
 
He recalled the nuclear power plant accident there in 1986 and the bravery of the firefighters who prevented a meltdown and brought the fire under control despite knowing that they were receiving a lethal dose of radiation.
 
Mick wondered if the radioactive cloud that drifted across Europe afterwards and circled the globe were at all similar to the ‘black rain’ that fell on Hiroshima after the A-bomb.
 
He knew he probably wouldn’t have a chance to visit, and wondered whether there was anything to see on a tour.