The Dane Commission (The Dane Chronicles) (28 page)

He stood up,
“Did I leave anything out?”

No one said
anything.

“Okay, well
it’s late, Jim needs a shower, and I need to get something to eat. Everyone go
home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

A full week
passed as they continued to collect more data.

Ryan canvassed
a total of seventeen facilities, yielding fourteen hits and three misses.
Jeff’s database had grown too, now holding 824 instances of altered treatments.
And unfortunately, nearly every Facility had an example of at least one related
fatality.

Jim had
solidly established the new supercomputers, Thor and Loki at the facility and
Jeff had become quite adept at using them.
Jim was right, they were fast.
Very fast.
But even with their help, he still couldn’t find a connection.
The treatment errors still seemed to be an apparently random mix of treatments.
There were no tendencies or groupings visible. Ryan seemed so certain a trend
would reveal itself, but Jeff was starting to have doubts.

Jim worried
that since the activation of his network monitor program ‘Snoopy,’ there had
been no more incursions into the Hospital network. It didn’t make sense. With
so much activity before why would it stop now?

He followed
Ryan’s suggestion and took steps to prove Dave and Mr. James couldn’t have been
the culprit who was in the network. Fortunately, there were documented
instances of activity while either or both were at home, and not logged in. He
was relieved to cross them off the list.

Lara had been
able to cut down her list to about 15 names. It was more difficult with some of
the names, especially the lower level employees who didn’t have assistants to
keep their schedules. The directors, and presidents were relatively easy to
compare against the schedule of treatment errors. She found she could send a
list of the dates to all the assistants at once and get back results on whether
they had been present at their respective facilities very quickly. She would
have the list completed very soon.

Overall, Ryan
was very proud of his group, and pleased at the progress they were making. He
kept hoping with each new Facility, they would find the clue that would explain
everything.

At home the
news was full of stories about the fertility crisis. Everyone was speculating
about the cause. Ryan realized that it was a problem that didn’t actually
impact everyone in their daily lives. The force of what it meant varied from
person to person, creating a disparity between their reactions.

For the very
young, it meant almost nothing. They lived in the moment, and to them, their
lives were unchanged.

To the people
who already had their children, it was a sadness they could not express
outright. They understood exactly what it meant, but to delve too deeply into
the issue would be to bring that same sorrow and pain to their children as
well. They spoke of it when they were alone, in sadness and hushed whispers.

For the
couples trying to have children it was an unrelenting agony. New tests
concluded that at least one, but usually both of the parents were sterile. A
great race began to adopt the homeless children of the world. Costs soared, as
access and numbers dwindled.

And to the
very old, it was a sorrow they couldn’t really describe. How could they explain
what it meant to them, to have children and grandchildren?
To carry on.

Watching the
news was painful now. Ryan was frustrated with the sudden outpour of data.
Statistics of all kinds were ready to be debated. But there was no way of
knowing how much of it was true, and how much had been exaggerated.

These were
difficult times.

The day was
Wednesday, of the following week.

Ryan began by
identifying four more facilities, and their contact points.

By lunch, he
had nailed Cairo, and Beijing; two more hits. That afternoon he would go after
Moscow and Seoul. It was actually getting easier.

The memo
forming his commission had circulated around the system, and some of the people
he spoke with already knew why he was calling. He sent Jeff the contact
information for the next two facilities. Their data transfers would mean Jeff
had sixteen facilities in the database.
   

Lara wanted to
meet and talk about the list of names she was working on. Apparently she was
done. Ryan sent everyone a message asking that they meet in his office after
lunch. In the meantime, he headed downstairs to grab something to eat.

Afterwards,
Jim was the last to arrive to the meeting. He carried a pizza box and dropped
it on the table. “Help yourself, it’s got almost everything on it.”

Jeff took a
piece while Ryan got started.

“Okay, we’re
here because Lara finished with the list of users who could access the
network.”

Lara handed
out copies with the names sorted, such that the three at the top remained
active while all the rest were checked off.

The names
read:
1. Sid Frances

2. Steven
Ranks

3. Larry
Holmes

Lara said, “I
am unable to get information on these three names.”

“I know
Frances and Ranks, but who is Holmes?” said Ryan.

Jim grabbed
another piece of pizza, and leaned towards Lara.

“I know Larry
Holmes, he’s a network engineer over at the Los Angeles facility. I met him at
a security conference once.”

“Well, he
won’t return my calls or messages.”

“I can contact
his boss, and get you an answer on that one,” he said.

“So that just
leaves the big two, Frances and Ranks,” said Ryan.

“For me to
rule them out, I need a list of their travel arrangements over the last three
months,” she said.

“Is it
possible to compare to IntelliHealth meetings that they attended.”

“That’s a good
idea, I can try,” she said.

“Anybody else
with any news?” said Ryan.

No one had
anything more to add.

Jim nearly,
but not quite held a large burp at bay.

That was their
cue to go back to work.

Lara visited
Ryan at the end of the day.

“I have the
completed list for you,” she said.

“Really?”

“Jim found out
that the Holmes person was on sick leave. Apparently that’s why he wasn’t
answering me. Anyway, I got a list of sick days, and then I could check him off
the list,” she said.

“Ok, what
about Frances and Ranks?”

“Well, their
schedules are still technically unknown, but I tried searching for conferences
around the world at which they spoke, and I was able to eliminate them from the
list too.”

“Oh, Lara
you’re awesome. So you marked everyone off the list, yes?”

“Yes,” she
said.

“And you have
it all documented?”

“Yes.”

“Thanks Lara,
you did great. Save your work in the same place Jeff’s storing his. Get with
Jim for assistance, and then send me a link. I want to look at it too.”

She nodded and
left his office.

He called Jim,
“Jim send your list of user access along with a page documenting it to Lara.
She’s finished checking off the names. I want it all stored together in the
same place.”

“You bet, I’ll
do it now.”

Ryan turned and looked out the window.
He smiled.
‘So 141 users had the appropriate level of network access to change the
entries, and each and every one of them had a documented alibi,’ Ryan leaned
back in his chair, ‘that would be the first real piece of evidence he had…
excellent.’

It was almost
the end of the day when Jeff walked very quickly to Ryan’s office.

Waving him in,
Ryan thought he looked excited, or nervous.

“Hi Jeff,
how’s it going?”

“Ryan, I don’t
think I need any more data. You can stop contacting the other facilities, at
least for now.”

Jeff was
pacing in front of the windows, rubbing his hands together.

“Have you
found something Jeff?”

“Maybe so.
When I added the last two sets, it was like plugging in the last two pieces of
a jigsaw puzzle.”

“Jeff, what
exactly are you getting at?”
 

“I have Thor
and Loki working on it. I won’t know more until tomorrow.”

“Okay, well.
Lets plan on meeting tomorrow then,” he said.

Jeff walked
out without another word.

Now Ryan was
anxious.

CHAPTER 12

“The truth. It
is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should be treated with caution.”
― J.K. Rowling

“I believe in
everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons.
It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and
nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?”
― John Lennon

The next
morning found Ryan reviewing the list of names Lara had checked off. He wanted
to spot check a few of them. After more than twenty correct entries, he was
satisfied the work was solid. He put away the files, and went to get some
coffee.

When he
returned, Jeff was sitting at his conference table with a folder, and some
loose papers in front of him. Ryan was startled at the sight. Jeff seemed to be
rocking back and forth uncontrollably with his hands clenched so tightly his
knuckles were white. He had the look of a man who has just lost his last reason
not to shoot.

Without a
word, Ryan went and sat down next to him. He didn’t say anything. He had seen
people in this state before. He waited and let Jeff start when he was ready.

Moments passed
and then he seemed to recognize that Ryan was there.
He slowed down and began to speak.

“Ryan, what do
you know about cell signaling?” he said in almost a whisper.

“Well, not
much really,” Ryan said in a matching low tone. “I remember reading that it was
the breakthrough science that helped to cure cancer about twenty years ago.”

Jeff seemed to
relax a little.

“That’s right
Ryan. You see, cell-to-cell communication is necessary in all multicellular
organisms. A single cell’s activity is a function of the cells around it,
sometimes near, and sometimes at a distance.

Relaxing a
little more, and in a voice that Ryan imagined Jeff might use with a grad
student, Jeff began to explain.

“Our cells
send chemical messengers to communicate with each other. Each cell’s surface
will change in response to signals it receives. If the distance between each
cell is long, we call the chemicals, hormones. You can think of the points a
signal passes through to get to the cell, like a train track. This is called
the signal transduction pathway.”

“For a
molecule of a hormone to be received by a cell at a distance, it must be unique
and specific to the receiving cell. Think of it as a very unique key for a very
specific lock. Therefore, just throwing hormones at random typically won’t affect
the target cell. To encourage a cell to receive a signal, you must learn what
types of signals the target cell is capable of receiving.”

“Through trial
and error, we learn which unique synthesis of proteins is necessary for
success. Much of our work has been dedicated to slowly cataloguing different
types of cells, and the types of signals to which they are receptive.”

“This is what
we learned twenty years ago. How to design specific protein signals and send
them as pheromones targeting specific cells with the right receptors. Tricking
them into behaving in the way we want. It’s how we cured cancer.”