The Zul Enigma (8 page)

He sighed. ‘I was
honoured when OOSA approached me. So honoured, I couldn’t refuse.’

‘Of course!’ Rebecca
said, and Carlos caught a note of admiration in her voice.

‘And I was inspired by
the mission. To promote international cooperation in the peaceful use of outer
space and to help developing countries by making space technology more easily
available. As long as I’m here, I’m committed to driving these initiatives
forward.’

 
Rebecca smiled. ‘Now tell me about the
Space Elevator,’ and she shifted forward on her seat. ‘What
is
it
exactly?’

‘The concept is simple.
You stretch a ribbon from an ocean-based station at the Earth’s equator and
counterweight it around 100,000 kilometres up in space. Lifter vehicles,
powered from the ground by lasers, climb the ribbon. Each lifter vehicle has a
maximum weight payload and will transport parts and people up and down the
ribbon, to construct anything from satellites to space stations.’

‘Incredible. 100,000
kilometres long! And how wide will it be?’

‘Just a few
centimetres.’

‘But how can a ribbon
that slim lift such huge weights?’

‘It’s high-strength,
low-weight material. It’ll be made from carbon nanotubes mixed with polymers.
It has the potential to be one hundred times stronger than steel. As I said,
the concept is simple but the engineering is revolutionary.’

‘That I can believe! And
LiftPort was created to develop this concept commercially? To build the first
Space Elevator?’

‘Correct. The first
lift’s scheduled for the early 2030s.’

Rebecca continued asking questions about the Space Elevator and although Carlos
enjoyed talking to her – he liked her freshness and enthusiasm –
uppermost in his mind was anxiety about the e-mails.

She sensed his
distraction. ‘I’m nearly finished,’ she said, biting the inside of her lip and
looking up at him from under her lashes, ‘just a couple more questions. What
practical help will the Space Elevator be once it’s commissioned?’

‘Firstly it will
dramatically reduce the cost of getting payloads into space and secondly it
will benefit many industries – from telecommunications to pharmaceuticals
– as well as creating some completely new markets.’

‘And how does OOSA fit
in?’

‘We’ll act as a watchdog
to ensure potential disputes between countries wanting to use the elevator and
the frequency of its use, for example, are resolved fairly. We’ll also ensure
no monopolies are exercised and that it’s only used for peaceful purposes. Also
we’ll identify ways poorer countries can benefit from the new technology.’

‘That’s a broad
mandate,’ Rebecca said, and Carlos nodded.

‘
Sí
, it is… it
will be tough.’

‘And what benefits do
you see the Space Elevator bringing to the world?’

‘It could give us a new
source of energy by lifting large solar arrays into space to create a
competitive source of clean, limitless and eco-friendly energy to be beamed
back to Earth.’

‘Amazing. Anything
else?’

‘Yes. Because the cost
of getting payloads into space will be halved and efficiency will be increased,
we can build more sophisticated and larger habitable space stations.’

‘For research?’

‘Not just that.’

‘You mean to colonise
space?’

‘
Sí
. The stations
could be used should we ever need to evacuate the planet.’

Rebecca shuddered, ‘Now
you’re frightening me!’ and her brown eyes grew huge.

‘You’re right to be
scared,’ Carlos said, ‘there’s no reason to believe our planet can support
human life indefinitely. We’re just one species inhabiting it – an
intelligent species for sure – but just a species,’ and yet again he
thought of Zul. ‘Whether we’ll survive all the natural disasters the Earth can
throw at us
and
all the crazy things we’re doing to destroy it, well…
that we’ll never know… not until it’s too late.’

Sitting motionless at his desk Carlos looked as if he was asleep with his eyes
open. He wasn’t. In actual fact he was experiencing the surreal verging on
meditative state that occasionally accompanies the mid-stage of a hangover and
acts as a welcome buffer against intrusion by the physical world. It is a
dreamy, ethereal place, where thoughts drift past like candyfloss clouds, demanding
only peripheral attention.

It was, however, no
match for Corrinne who burst through the door making him think his heart had
jumped out of his chest and landed between his feet.

‘Hans has been on the
phone again. He wants to see you. Urgently.’

Just one look at
Corrinne’s face and the interplay of emotions battling there warned Carlos she
was struggling to master an unfamiliar jumble of feelings. The combination of
irritation at delaying the Session meeting and worry about the security breach
was threatening to mess up her whole day.

‘Now will you please
tell me what this is all about?’ she demanded.

‘Sit down,’ Carlos
sighed.

She perched on the edge
of the chair, ankles crossed, hands folded in her lap and her head tipped to
one side like a plump little budgie. Just an inch further forward and the chair
would have overturned.

He stretched his arms
overhead, fingers interlaced, trying to release the tension in his shoulders,
and told her about the e-mails.

‘And just how much did
you have to drink last night?’ she asked, pursing her lips.

‘Corrinne, it’s no
joking matter.’

‘I’m not joking.’

‘Hey, I know it sounds
crazy,’ a crooked little smile started to form, then faded.

‘But it makes no sense.
Why’s this old man – this hacker…’

‘I call him Zul.’

‘Oh Carlos,’ she said
shaking her head, ‘but why’s he sending these messages to you?’

He shrugged. ‘I have no
idea.’

‘Well, Hans sounded
really worried.’

Carlos hooked his
forefinger inside his shirt collar and circled his head.

‘We can do without all
this,’ Corrinne muttered. ‘We need to finish preparing for the Session. And
you’re in DC next week for two days.’ She sighed. ‘I’ll tell Hans to come up
now. Meantime I’ll write up the meeting minutes and send them over. Please read
them, especially the parts you missed.’ She got up. ‘Looks like we’ll be
working late again tonight.’

She was halfway to the
door when she turned. ‘It’s past lunchtime, shall I send Sabine down for a
sandwich?’

‘Sounds good. Make it
two.’ All of a sudden he felt very hungry.

As Corrinne left his office, Carlos noticed the little swagger in her stride
had returned. She was back in control again but he wasn’t sure how much good it
would do them.

He leaned back in his
chair. He had no inclination to work. Nothing seemed that important any more.
He didn’t know if it was a symptom of his hangover or because he still didn’t
know where the messages had come from.

Hans walked into Carlos’s office, polishing his spectacles with the wide end of
his tie.

‘What have you got?’
Carlos asked. ‘Which UN location were the e-mails sent from?’

‘Here.’

‘And?’

Hans replaced his
glasses as he shuffled his weight from one foot to the other. ‘Carlos, they all
originated from
your
terminal sessions. The first from a session here
last night, the second and third from your home last night and this morning.’

‘That’s crazy!’ Carlos
raised his hands. ‘I was the only one on this floor last night. And at home?
Well Drew was there… hold on… you met him. But there’s no way he’s involved.’

‘I don’t know how to say
this…’ Hans paused.

‘Say what?’ Hans took
off his spectacles and started polishing them again. ‘Are you accusing
me
of sending the messages?’ Carlos jumped up jabbing himself in the chest with
his hands, ‘to
myself
?’

‘I
don’t
want
to. But what other choice do I have? It’s the only
explanation
we’ve got.’

Carlos paced up and
down. ‘The tag, my tag,’ he jerked the tag off his jacket pocket and skidded it
across the desk, ‘someone could have hacked into it,
sí
?’

‘No. The tags include a
random encrypted password generator that’s synchronised with the authentication
computer at the other end. It changes every minute. It’s impossible to hack
into the tags.’

‘Then someone hacked
into the system… from outside.’

‘How? The whole of UNO
City’s protected by radio frequency shielding – a Faraday cage. It stops
external signals getting in and internal signals getting out and being
intercepted. In any case, the internal e-mail server’s records can’t be
interfered with. They confirm that the source location is within our virtual
private network and that the messages originated from terminal sessions your
tag was logged in to.’

Carlos sat down. ‘So?
What next?’

‘I need information on
everyone who knows about the messages.’

‘There’s Drew –
you already know about him. He was at my apartment when the first video came in
last night, although he was in another room at the time. But this morning he
was sitting right next to me. He watched the whole thing. It’s all in the
Incident Reports. Then there’s Corrinne. I just told her. You and your
department. That’s it.’

‘And I’ll need to check
the CCTV records for last night. Your office, the corridor, the executive
bathroom.’

‘How long will that
take?’

‘Not long, but if I
don’t find anything…’

‘Which you won’t.’

‘Then I’ll have to pass
it over to ITU-T.’

‘ITU-T?’

‘The section of the
International Telecommunications Union that deals with all aspects of the UN’s
security for multimedia communications. They’ll study my report and supplement
it with their own investigation.’

‘Christ!’ Carlos slammed
his hands on the desk. ‘What are you trying to do to me? Hey? You want me
suspended?’ he waved his arms in the air, ‘arrested?’

Hans dropped his head as
the colour in his face deepened. ‘Of course not. But right now there’s no other
explanation.’

‘The minute you leave my
office, I’m calling the Secretary-General. I want to be sure he hears this
story. All of it. From me.’

CHAPTER 6

When Carlos walked into the Chill Out Lounge, Drew was already there, sitting
in a big rattan armchair sipping a Mojito. Carlos ordered a drink for himself
and also sat down.

‘Did you see the latest
headlines?’ Drew asked. ‘You were right. There’s talk Russia’s going to
threaten turning off the gas supply to Europe. The Germans are going mental and
the EU’s in a complete panic. The Yanks are shit-scared NATO’s going to
collapse, leaving their arse well and truly exposed.’

‘Jesus!’

‘Any news on your
messages?’ Drew asked.

Carlos shook his head.
‘Nothing. Still waiting for ITU-T to come back.’

‘What’s the boss say?’

‘I’m meeting him in New
York Saturday, on my way to see the Pentagon Monday.’

‘The Pentagon? I thought
you were sworn enemies.’

‘We are. I think they
want to negotiate concessions on use of the Space Elevator.’

‘By the look on your
face, that’s not going to happen.’

Carlos took a swallow of
his drink. ‘No way! It goes against everything I believe in and everything OOSA
stands for.’

‘Rather you than me
– fighting the US military single-handed.’

‘Carlos!’ A man
approached with his hand extended. ‘Long time, no see. It’s Joseph. Joseph
Fisher. Remember me?’

‘What are you doing
here?’ Carlos asked, turning to Drew. ‘Did you set this up?’

Drew grinned. ‘When I
found out Joe was in Vienna too, I thought I’d get him to join us.’ He reached
up to clap Joseph on the shoulder. ‘Glad you could make it mate. Pull up a
pew.’

‘It’s got to be what,
twelve, thirteen years?’ Joseph said to Carlos, drumming his nubby fingers on
the back of Drew’s chair. ‘How long have you two known each other?’

‘We met at USC in ’84,’
Carlos replied.

‘Shit,’ Drew said, ‘that
makes me feel old. Twenty-eight years ago.’

Carlos thought back to
his early days in the States. At the beginning it had been tough. American
culture was a new experience and he’d found it hard to adjust. He’d been
miserable and terribly lonely. He shook his head. ‘Where did you go when you
left NASA?’ he asked Joseph.

‘Northrop Grumman.’

‘Ah
sí
.
Baltimore. I remember now.’

‘Advanced electronics
for the military. I put together a strategic cooperation agreement with Israel Aerospace
Industries – IAI – back in ’02. Then IAI offered me a job back home
in Tel Aviv.’