Enemy In the Room (28 page)

“Perhaps adjusted a bit for project size—a
bit smaller or larger. But of course with a minimum to keep it
interesting. You know we’ll do a great job for USNet. Your folks
will like any space we build for them.”

“That’s what’s so good—getting paid a little
extra to make the decision I would make anyway, because you guys
are so good.”

“Exactly!”

“Well, I’ll check with Cheryl, and look into
Chicago and Denver. But I’m serious about no more phone calls or
emails. We’ll just talk in person. And you know, I’m really
starting to like having gone to business school with you.”

Mike drained his glass. “Excellent.
Excellent. It’s early, so why don’t we grab some dinner, and then
maybe go back to Cabaret later tonight?”

Another grin. “I thought you’d never ask. I
could get used to regular trips to Minneapolis to sign leases.”

Callie,

I enjoyed being with you last week. Both the
day in town and the day at the beach were wonderful. Thank you for
taking time from your busy study and work schedule to show me
around.

Enclosed as a small thank you is a gift
certificate to Dave’s Restaurant, which I downloaded. I hope that
you enjoy some more fish tacos. They were delicious.

I also hope that I’ll have a reason to get
back to L.A. again soon. And if you visit your parents, I’ll show
you some great new shops here.

Good luck with your acting.

Yours very truly,

Kristen

Late the next evening at the RTI command
bunker, Todd Phelps and Victor Mustafin were in an area next to the
control room in a special cubicle with two chairs and
keyboards.

As directed, Todd took the left seat.
Mustafin followed, and they put on their headsets.

Mustafin said, “I’ll log on with my code,
and we’ll walk through the process. The goal today is to show you
how it all works, and maybe in a while you’ll try handling some
messages yourself. Remember that this is the lowest level of
review. We’ll be seeing and hearing raw data that the computers
have pulled out because of key words, or in the case of about five
thousand names worldwide, because of who is involved.”

“You mean there are some people for whom we
basically listen to all their conversations?”

“And their emails, of course… OK, now look,
the screen is coming up, and you’ll see that it’s divided into a
top third and a lower two-thirds. The top third shows the word or
words that interested the computer, plus what is immediately before
and after them. It prints a cell phone conversation in the same
way.”

“So we don’t actually listen?”

“We can, which I’ll show you in a minute.
But since we read faster than we hear, the computer translates to a
written format. That brings us to the lower portion of the screen,
where you see several options you can select for what to do with
the passage. Notice in the lower left is the option Audio, which
you can click for intercepted phone calls, in case you want to hear
the speakers’ tones of voice or inflections to understand what they
really mean.”

Todd smiled. “Amazing.”

“Yes, it is, but you haven’t seen half of it
yet. You can send the same passage to several people. So, for
example”—he moved the mouse as he spoke—”if we have an email that
is discussing government plans to allow drilling for oil in a new
part of Alaska, you could send it to this address, which is preset
for the oil industry, and to this one, which says ‘State’, but then
lets you scroll through a list of all fifty, and to this one, which
says ‘Federal’. At the other end are individuals who specialize in
these areas and will be in a better position to know whether this
is truly new information, and what, if any, action to take.”

Todd just nodded.

“It’s your decision what to do. You wind up
tossing the majority. But in general at this first level you want
to err on the side of passing them along. You’re like a gatekeeper,
routing the passages to others. For brief periods it can be boring,
but there are usually quite a few gems on every watch. I love the
emails from the free wireless airport and coffee house systems that
we offer. Remember, these people have no idea that we’re reading
and listening, so they say incredible things to each other. We’ll
connect to the flow. See this icon? Just click here.”

Immediately a message appeared in the upper
third of the screen.

“The highlighted envelope in the upper left
corner signifies an email; if the handset were lit in the upper
right corner, it would be a cell phone call. Notice the key word
highlighted in the middle is ‘earnings.’ That’s one of about twenty
key business words that the computer always searches for. What does
it look like to you?”

“Well, looking at the lines just before and
after, it appears to be a father inquiring about how much money his
son has made since moving to a new city.”

“I agree. So we’ll toss it. Hit the trashcan
there on the right, twice. And it’s gone. But we keep a rolling
seventy-two hour back-up in case you suddenly have a different take
on something you’ve read and want to check again.”

“That’s good.”

“The next time you see the word ‘earnings’
it could be a CFO giving his boss an internal heads-up that their
earnings are about to be significantly higher or lower than was
expected.
That’s
the kind of earnings information we’re
interested in. In that case, you can send it to one of these
pre-designated areas—” he pointed to the screen—”like oil,
airlines, telecom; or else type in an industry name, and the
computer will find the right expert.”

“Impressive,” Todd said, smiling.

“Yes, it is. Imagine all the screens
overseas, continually snagging all of this information. Let’s do
the next one.”

Todd nodded and turned again to the screen,
reading the next highlighted message intercepted by the computer.
This is going to be incredible
.

It was late the next afternoon, and David
was about to switch off his computer and leave the office.

He, Elizabeth and Rob were to attend a
graduation party that evening for the daughter of a noted architect
whom David had employed on several projects. The young woman
attended Rob’s school, and David was looking forward to the mix of
family and professional friends who would likely be there.

His phone rang, and he could see that it was
Paul Burke.

“Hey, Paul. Working late on Wednesday
afternoon. Are you going to make it to Pat’s party tonight?”

“I think so, but that’s not why I’m
calling.”

David could hear the turmoil in his friend’s
voice.

“I’ve just emailed an article to you that
someone in News downloaded and sent to Trevor. You’d better read it
and then call me back immediately. The article will be out this
weekend in the print version of
Journal
. He’s going
crazy.”

“Give me a minute and I’ll call you
back.”

He clicked to his email and opened the
attachment to Burke’s message.

USNet expands in Adult Entertainment
Internet Giant will soon be the “King of Porn”

By Claudia Coleman Los Angeles

On the same day that President Harper signed
her landmark Media and Entertainment Reform bill, at least one
company is moving to take advantage of the recent uncertainty in
the adult entertainment industry.

Through a series of quiet acquisitions,
internet and communications giant USNet is set to become the
world’s largest producer and distributor of “adult movies” and
related goods and services.

USNet is widely known for its large market
shares in internet hosting, email, cellular telephones,
broadcasting, and other industries, most associated with high tech
applications.

It is not so generally known that through
its wholly owned subsidiary, XXXtra Cinema, USNet is also already a
major factor in the adult entertainment industry. But industry
sources, most wishing to remain anonymous, report that over the
last sixty days USNet and its flamboyant chairman, Trevor Knox,
have quietly penned deals to purchase almost all of the remaining
independent production houses in the San Fernando Valley.

Neither Knox nor USNet would respond to
inquiries about these acquisitions, but it is believed that the
company’s goal is to reduce costs and increase prices by virtually
controlling every aspect of the industry, including the actors,
production, distribution and even showings through its internet,
DVD and dedicated satellite systems.

Since XXXtra Cinema and its parent USNet are
private companies, exact figures are not published, but it is
widely believed that if this type of vertical integration could be
achieved in the adult entertainment industry, the profits would be
enormous.

While the acquisitions are being made
through dummy companies to avoid notoriety, a USNet real estate
executive confirmed that a senior member of the company’s real
estate group has recently spent significant time in the San
Fernando Valley, evaluating the targeted assets.

Although content censorship seems an
unlikely possibility today, even with President Harper pushing for
reform, one industry watcher quipped that these acquisitions may
spur the government to consider anti-trust investigations into the
mostly secret world of legal pornography.

Several attorneys familiar with the
purchases report that they are set to close over the next thirty
days.

David was used to press speculation about
USNet’s operations and future moves in its various markets. Such
reports were usually only moderately accurate and never involved
quotes or inferences from his real estate group. This article, on
the other hand, was highly accurate and apparently leaked from
someone on his team. And the only logical person was Kristen
Holloway. His heart sank as he finished it.

What has Kristen done?

He called Paul Burke. The COO answered. “You
read it? OK. I’ll conference in Trevor, who’s in L.A.” Instantly
the three of them were on the phone together.

“David’s on the phone with us, Trevor.”

“David, it has to be that Holloway woman!”
His anger was apparent. “We can’t have these kinds of leaks and
rumors. A female reporter getting information from a female
employee to help a female President’s absurd policies on adult
movies. This is unacceptable. I told you to get rid of her weeks
ago.”

David responded calmly, almost quietly. “We
said that we’d talk about it. She’s the most experienced person
I’ve got, with a full slate of projects. I talked to her, Trevor,
and told her not to make any more public statements about her work
or company policies. She agreed and said—”

“Obviously it didn’t work.”

“David,” Burke said, “this time she really
has gone too far. No company can have this kind of confidential
information spread around by people on the inside.”

“I know. But I’d like to talk with her about
it. Maybe the reporter put words in her mouth, or maybe she didn’t
realize that—”

“David.” It was Knox. “Fire her.”

He closed his eyes and grimaced.

“Did you hear me, David? Are we agreed?”

“Can we at least try probation? Then if
there is one—”

“David, you warned her after her last public
criticism of our business. If she gets away with this, what’s to
prevent others from doing the same? Actions have consequences. Paul
and I have agreed. She has to go.”

He paused then said, “All right.”

“Good. As quickly as you can. Have a good
evening.”

Knox and Burke hung up. David put the
handset in his lap and rubbed his temples.

This is impossible.

THURSDAY, MAY 26TH

Victor Mustafin had a special room in the
middle of the RTI control center to which only he had access. He
and Akbar Kamali, via a remote link, used it for communicating on
their most confidential operations—ones that even their own team of
duty officers had no need to know--operations that clearly broke
laws or risked lives.

Mustafin was alone in the darkened room at
one that Thursday morning, with Kamali on a secure link, to observe
a test being conducted east of Moscow, ten time zones away. Facing
them on the large screen, standing on the bluff overlooking the
firing range, were Simon North and General Yevgany Beleborodov.
Kamali and Mustafin used an encrypted feed through transmission
cut-outs that made it impossible for those in Russia to determine
the location or identity of their new owners. The Russian side
could hear Kamali and Mustafin, though they could not see them.

Mustafin spoke. “Congratulations again,
gentlemen, on your acquisition three weeks ago.”

Their counterparts smiled, and Simon North
spoke into the camera, “Yes, the General’s team did a great job. A
sad accident, indeed, for auto enthusiasts. But their handiwork is
now safely stored and guarded in our warehouse, waiting its first
use.”

“And that should come soon, depending on
today’s results.”

General Beleborodov spoke, his look serious.
“Understood. But you’re asking us to push our system to the limits
of its capability. Hitting a moving target on a battlefield is one
thing. But on a city street, even in a suburb, is quite
another.”

Kamali countered. “The cars may be traveling
at high speed, but certainly not too quickly for a GoFor
missile.”

“It’s not the target’s speed. This isn’t an
aircraft,” said the Russian. “It’s the difficulty of tracking a
specific target when it’s surrounded by similar targets, and all of
them are moving. If a car being illuminated stops at a traffic
light, and the car next to it leaves first, it’s possible that the
satellite will mistakenly shift to the second car. The true target
will be lost.”