Mind Trace (6 page)

You don't know me, but I know
who you are. I know you sent the email about hacking SteelSafe. Don't worry. I'm
not interested in exposing you.  I am contacting you to let you know that I
have the information you want.  But I won't hand it over until you give me
something in return: immunity.

You know how sensitive this
information is, and to what lengths certain people would go to have it safely
returned. You must ensure that this data gets in the right hands to expose
EngineerCorp before they have a chance to retaliate and make me disappear.

Don't bother trying to trace
this email, or figure out who I am. You'd only be wasting your time. I will let
you know these things when the time is right.

I know you have the ability to
make this happen. Make the necessary plans. I will be in touch.

Garrett did not realize how anxiously he had been reading
the email, until he looked down and saw how tightly he was clutching the mouse,
his knuckles white.

That was not something I ever expected to see!

Yet, it was exactly what he had wanted. If
any
part
of that correspondence was true, it was worth pursuing.

The person seemed confident enough in his ability to make
the link untraceable, but Garrett tried to trace it anyway. He found out
absolutely nothing through his wasted efforts.

How did they find me? How do they know what I want?

Whatever this person had claimed, he doubted that the "information"
referred to what he was looking for.  Still, he was not one to pass an
opportunity just because it sounded impossible.

Stranger things have happened.

He opened up a new email window and sent a short reply:

I need a little
more proof than some random stranger telling me that he "has what I need."
Give me something to work with and I will make it worth your time.

No sooner than he had pushed back his chair, he heard
another soft "ding" from the speaker. In disbelief, he pulled up his
email program again and saw a new response sitting in his inbox.

As shocked as he had been earlier seeing the initial email,
nothing could have prepared him for the reply. It was as if he had been
transported back a decade to a time he tried to forget.

The sender included a short newspaper article detailing how
Cyberconn had stolen files and information from EngineerCorp and attempted to
publish them as their own. An excerpt from the article said:

The public is outraged following
the events of the Cyberconn scandal. EngineerCorp President, Eric Martin, made
a statement to the press earlier today, stating, "We are terribly saddened
to discover the treachery of our colleagues. They have taken what should be a
healthy competition and turned it into a sickening betrayal. Being the generous
and understanding people that we are, EngineerCorp will not dredge this matter
through the courts. We feel that it is enough that the public know the nature
of this company and do their best to withdraw support from any company or
person who acts in this way.

The article nauseated him and he quickly scrolled past the
rest, already knowing the details.

Below the article, under the title of "Blackmail
Evidence," there was a short list of names, dates, and corresponding file
names. There was also a short passage from one of the files, a transcript for a
phone conversation between an employee at Cyberconn and a board member at
EngineerCorp. Apparently the employee had been having an illicit affair that he
did not want publicized, so in exchange for EngineerCorp's silence, he agreed
to give the board member dates of when Cyberconn's servers would be down for
maintenance and therefore vulnerable.

Garrett's eyes widened.

If I could get my hands on those files, it would change
everything!

That file alone was enough to warrant a full investigation…but
having all of them would eliminate any doubt concerning what really happened.

The email served to confirm another suspicion that Garrett had
entertained. From the extensive array of filenames listed in the email, he
could see that it had, in fact, been an intricate web of lies and deceit that
led to Cyberconn's fall from grace.

This was planned...organized. Someone clearly put a lot
of thought into ruining this company...and that person will pay for what they've
done.

He quickly wrote back:

I think we can come to a
favorable agreement. I will get in touch with my contacts to ensure that there
are people we can trust in the right places. Once we have everything set up, I
will arrange for the files to be transferred directly to the FBI and media
outlets. After the data has been transmitted, EngineerCorp would not dare touch
you.

He sent the email and waited for another response. As
before, it was only moments before he received it.

Excellent. I
will be in touch.

He smiled confidently at the screen. Whoever this person
was, Garrett would make sure that he did everything in his power to keep him
safe.

An opportunity for redemption...practically handed to
me. It's a rare and extraordinary gift. It's foolish to imagine that another
chance like this would ever come along if I let this one slip through my
fingers.

With a budding hope, Garrett immediately began to make
arrangements.

Chapter 5

It was late, and Alice stretched out on her bed, deeply
inhaling the scent of the sheets. They smelled vaguely of lavender, the
lavender scented detergent her mother had always used. She pushed back the
thoughts of her mother and pulled the blankets up further.

Alice felt a great sense of accomplishment.

I have a solid plan in place. I traced the email to the
president of Cyberconn. He's making arrangements to prevent EngineerCorp from
retaliating against me... All told, a pretty productive day.

I just hope Garrett Wiggins can be trusted.

Once she discovered his name, she found herself recalling
an entire file on his life, which had conveniently existed somewhere on the
EngineerCorp network. Reviewing the pictures in her mind, she couldn't help but
notice he was quite attractive. Not in the dark and mysterious way that Eric was,
but in a courteous, yet reserved kind of way.

His record was clean; if you could judge a person from
their background, Garrett seemed like he was a decent man. She desperately prayed
he was the sort that could be depended on.

 Not that I have a lot of options.

Alice sighed. Her brain had been buzzing with all the
things that had happened in the past few days. Sleep seemed as far away from
her as did a solution to her problems. However, after closing her eyes for a
few moments, the fatigue took over and she was unconscious. 

She slept fitfully that night, tossing and turning with
dreams of people chasing her, desperately running, but never quite running fast
enough to get away. Somewhere in her dreams, Eric was looming over her, asking
all sorts of questions for which she had no answers. Then, she was with her parents
at the lake house, enjoying a lovely afternoon on the porch of the house. Her
parents suddenly disappeared, and she was left alone. A sharp, white-hot pain
burned in her hand, and Alice jolted awake.

Mom? Dad?

She looked around, not remembering where she was at first.
She looked down at her hand again, still faintly throbbing from the memory of
her dream, and reality returned to her. The clock on the bedside table read
6:17am.

Ugh. There will be no more sleep for me after those
dreams.

Giving in to the inevitable, she dressed and went into the
kitchen to make some coffee. Pouring herself a cup, she considered how
difficult it was going to be to wait for Garrett's response.

I have to find something to do today, to keep my mind
off everything, until I hear from him.

There has to be something around here...

She traced the rough edges of books along the bookshelf in
the living room as she sipped her pleasantly warm coffee. Alice had already
read most of the titles there, with the exception of a few of the less
interesting ones. At the end of the bookshelf, her eyes fell on the closet
door.

I don't even remember what we kept in there.

After a moment's hesitation, she pulled open the door and
peered inside.

There were several dusty shelves lining each wall in the
closet. On one of the shelves, she noticed a box with her name on it. Hoisting
it down, she glanced inside to see an assortment of computer parts, random
hardware, and her first soldering set.

Alice smiled at the memory, how happy she was when her
parents had given it to her, how they had repeatedly cautioned her to be
careful with it... 

Life had been so much simpler then.

If only my greatest worry now was getting third degree
burns from my soldering iron…

As she continued to sort through the box, her mind took
over and began systematically listing all of the different things that she
could create with those parts.

Well, why not? Let's see what my computer brain will
make of this.

Alice lugged the box to the dining room, and scattered its
contents on the table. She also pulled out a pad and pen from a drawer in the
kitchen and began making rough sketches for a design as the iron heated up.

Alice was not sure what she was designing at first, only
that her mind found it was the most appropriate thing to make, given the
circumstances and supplies available. When she was done, she glanced down at
the sketch.

What could that possibly do? It looks like some sort of
keycard device.

As she continued to stare at it, her mind graciously
answered.

When placed near an EngineerCorp security terminal, the
device will scan all transmissions going to and from the terminal to determine
the normal activity in that network. It will then open up a communications
channel disguised as a "normal" radio signal, and transmit it to a
preprogrammed target device. Essentially, it will allow someone to hack into a
security system unnoticed.

The concept would certainly come in handy if her future
continued in the direction it was going. Alice hoped she would never have a
cause to hack into EngineerCorp's security mainframe, mostly because that would
mean she was close enough to do so.

Combining parts from a wireless router/adapter, hard drives
and optical drives, she was able to create the device. When she was finished
building and programming, she held out the crude credit card-shaped device. 

Okay, now what? Add this to my repertoire of fun
conversation starters?

Alice laughed as she looked around. The dining room looked
like a disaster zone, with metallic parts strewn casually about everywhere. Not
wanting to clean it up, she pushed her chair back, intending to take a break, knocking
down the cardboard box from the edge of the table in the process. A stack of
papers flew everywhere.

As she bent over to pick them up, something caught her eye.
 It was a sealed and addressed letter from her mom, with a post-it stuck to the
front that said, "Buy more stamps."

Alice smiled. Her mom always had a hard time remembering
things. The letter was dated a few months before the accident, during the last
trip her parents had taken there. Alice had still been in college at the time.

She turned over the envelope and opened it with a shaking
hand.

Hey Alice!

I know you've been so busy
lately, being so close to graduation, but I just wanted to send you a quick
little note to tell you how proud of you we are. You have so many things to
offer the world, and we know you will go on to do great things. People may
doubt you and your abilities because you are so young, but don't let them hold
you back. You can do anything you set your mind to! We will always be here for
you, sweetheart.

Love you,

Mom and Dad

Alice pressed her eyes shut with the memory and a single
tear dropped onto the hand that still held the letter. She wiped away her eyes
and stared at the wood grains in the floor, trying to ignore the knot of
emotion that formed in her throat.

Her parents had done so much for her, always encouraging
her, standing beside her, no matter what. Then, they had been taken away from
her, far too soon.

I will make them proud of me. A strange twist of fate
gives me superhuman abilities and the chance of a lifetime. Fine. But no mere
man is going to take my freedom away from me, no matter how powerful he might
seem. I will conquer this and be worthy of the confidence they had in me.

She straightened up in her chair, feeling encouraged by her
resolutions. Although she could not make immediate plans until she heard back
from Garrett, she decided not to waste any more time waiting. Taking out the
pen and paper again, she began making more designs.

She found her mind beginning to wander as she sketched, and
it centered itself on her encounter with Eric.

Sure, he might have limitless resources and a brilliant
mind…but he is only a man. He can be outwitted and defeated. I won't let myself
be intimidated by some grand monopoly's figurehead.

I just wish I knew what I should do next...

***

It had been a stressful night. Eric dozed off and on, but
sleep was doing its best to remain a stranger to him. After several hours of struggling,
he gave up and returned to his office.