GENESIS (GODS CHAIN) (21 page)

‘
Anatolio, I am as
surprised and confounded
at his untimely departure
as you
,’
Francesca
repli
ed
composed
ly.

             
‘What caused the problem
this morning
?’ Anatolio tried to establish some kind of connection but
,
drawing no answers, a gaze
of dissatisfaction
came over his brown eyes
, lending an aged look to his broad,
tanned face.

             
‘
A
fter a few system checks I quickly narrowed the issue on
“
L
uk
e’s
”
console.
The effects were widespread
,
affecting all users and preventing login to
all
systems
,
but
it was
easy enough to resolve.
I issued the “enable logon” command and
everything began to work as it was supposed to
.’

             
‘
How did this happen,
Francesca
?
W
ho would try to do this? Was it Michaelangelo or L
uk
e?’
Anatolio
drilled
her
for answers
,
trying to lay blame for th
e
major inconvenience
which had made him look a fool
.

             
Francesca sipped her black coffee with a steady hand and sat back easily in her chair
,
taking her time
before
answer
ing.
‘I looked at all the
“d
isciples
”,
but it was on L
uk
e
—
his logger screen
,
sir, where the disable command
was issued—
not Michaelangelo’s.’

             
‘Then who
did it,
my dear girl
—
who?’
Anatolio betrayed
signs of losing his patience
as
his tone raised an octave.

             
‘My analysis is not complete
,
but the login name was that of
“
Apostol
”. The login
is not one that I know
, it hasn’t been
in our naming convention for system users
...
but
,
as I said
,
my analysis is not complete. The tree was disabled about 03:00 hours Monday morning.
No one should be on the system at that time
,
’
she
concluded
with a puzzled expression
, trying to ignore Anatolio’s
rudeness.

‘Why would
Michaelangelo
play such a trick
,
knowing the problems
that
this would cause?’
she asked.

‘
I
t’s not him, did you not listen to Francesca
?’ Gabriella chimed in.
‘I
t was not his login
.
It would never be him,
anyway,
he is far too professional!’

‘So professional that he left with only an “arrivederci”, eh?’
Anatolio
interrupted. ‘Well
,
it’s up to you
,
Francesca
.
C
omplete your analysis and report back to me. I will contact the
p
ersonnel section and see if they know anything
about the user name Apostol
.
I want you to disable
Michaelangelo’s
login with immediate effect. However
,
keep this Apostol login open and monitor it.’ Francesca nodded
in understanding of his orders,
but not with agreement
.

‘I would also disable if not delete the “Apostol” account
,
Anatolio, just in case it causes any more damage
,
’ Francesca
allowed her
concern
to
show
on her face.

‘No
,
Francesca
—I know what I’m doing.
I’ll have one of our VIA guys observe th
e Apostol
account
.
I want
you
to find out what you can and report directly to me and no one else
,
is that clear?’ Anatolio commanded sternly.

Francesca showed no emotion other than looking at
Night Watch
with disinterest
.
The
last thing she needed was the
heavy Vatican hand snooping about and preaching its bureaucratic doctrine
on her turf.
...

That’s all I need, a few of those idiots from VIA sticking their noses in where they are not wanted and causing havoc with things they do not understand
.
J
ust
b
rilliant!

Gabriella moved slowly to get another cup of coffee, her pastel pink sleeveless designer top and short
,
light
-
red skirt with black leather belt
off-setting the gleam of
her short black hair.

‘He was having some problems with his girlfriend, I
saw
them having a bit of a tiff
,
an argument outside the office, just the other week
,’ Gabriella said quietly, seeming pleased to have knowledge that they did not.
‘
It was something to do with
his
not coming home one night. Not that I was listening to
o
closely
,
mind you, but anyone in the street could hear what was going on.
I think he had been out in the
c
ity with a few mates and gone to
an
all
-
night party.’

Francesca
was grateful for
Gabriella
’s
friend
ship,
but
now, as she often did,
felt
that the girl was
a little
too
gossipy.

It’ll be her undoing someday
,
thought Francesca
.

Anatolio di San Angelo
rolled his eyes a bit and
then continued for another hour or so
discussing the
other systems issues and updates
in
a
manner more
typical
of a
n
etwork team meeting.

He was never easy going and always one for sending e
-
mails
to
back up
every
thing he
said in order to have a
paper trail
, which Francesca viewed as an indication of his own
insecurity
.
More than once he’d
used
e-mails
to
prove to her
an
error
she’d made
, digging
a
remote
e-mail
from
years ago
in order to make an
irrelevant
point
.
Anatolio would send an
e-
mail
to God, if the Lord had an account set
up,
in order to
cover his holy ass.

**********

Francesca, Gabriella and Paulina
exited
the lift on the ground floor foyer and passed the inside of the front entrance of the
b
ank.
The foyer had
undergone
a recent facelift
that gave it
a more modern interior
while maintaining
its unique classical
,
Italian architecture.
Mario
the
commissionaire
stood smiling at the
girls
, but then what man wouldn’t
?
Two Swiss guards
stood
outside the entrance day and night
,
keeping a watchful eye on anybody
who passed by
and checking their identification with complimentary salute
.
The Administration building
like most building inside the Vatican City walls
was out of bounds to the
thousands of
general public
standing in their infinite queues in and around St Peters Square and
the exterior
walls heading for the Museum.