The Dane Commission (The Dane Chronicles) (41 page)

Jumping up, Jim sputtered, “What? No
way. I just finished setting them up, they’re beautiful.”

“I know Jim, and it’s because they are,
that this is going to work.”
“I don’t understand, what do you mean, Ryan?” Jeff asked.

“We will set up Thor and Loki to guard
the satellite. As SID becomes more concentrated here, he will begin searching
for a way out. Sid will eventually notice our ‘guards’ and believe we’re
protecting the exit.”

“But, if I do that, Sid will eventually
beat them. It could destroy them.”

“I know Jim. That’s the idea. It must
be believable.”

Cohen said, “I agree. The possibility
that we can eventually retrieve the access code to SID’s database must be
paramount. Very good Ryan, sacrifice our queen, for the checkmate.” Cohen was
beaming.
Jim sat back down, looking dejected.
 
“Ryan, is this really necessary?”

Ryan tried to choose his words carefully. He didn’t want to hurt Jim’s
feelings.

“Jim, I know that you checked and
reported that there are no other ways to get out of the IntelliHealth System
Network. No avenues of escape for SID. But I don’t share your confidence. I
don’t think you’re wrong, but I’m concerned your data may be incomplete.”

“SID is smart and fast, and dangerous.
There will come a point when he will struggle and fight to find an escape. What
if a system administrator from years ago, made a tiny change so that he could
work from home. Or some executive left his password lying around where his kids
found it, and they’ve been accessing some part of our system from school. If we
fail, it will be because of something we could never have thought of. Something
we never could expect, because we could never have imagined it.”
”We know exactly what the satellite has access to. If we can get him in there,
we can know with complete certainty that we’ve won.”

Barely audible, Jim said, “I’ll start
making the arrangements.”
After a moment to rub his eyes, and think about it, he added, “We’ll need
password protection that is tough, but not impregnable. I’ll need a little
time.”

At that instant, Jim’s tablet began
beeping again.
Sid was moving more of himself here.

In response, Jim looked around at
everyone and said, “I know, I know. I need to hurry.”

Organizing the data on his display, he
pulled up a new interface and logged into the twins.

“Okay kids, it’s time for us to fall on our sword.”

Standing up and walking to the door,
Cohen said, “Excellent work, gentlemen. I’m going to go see how my team is
doing. We’ll touch base again shortly.”

Cohen waved and left the room.

To Ryan, Jim looked like he was nearly
hugging the monitor as he reluctantly moved Thor and Loki into position. Ryan
wondered if this was going to work. If it did, and they actually caught Sid in
the satellite, they could relax and let the techies figure out how to force the
code out of him. Right now though, he was more worried that SID would find some
other way out. If he did, the game was over.
 
Despite Jim’s assurances, he didn’t believe that the networks were really
closed. Systems this big and complex were never perfect. He didn’t want to wait
to prove Jim wrong either.
 
They needed
to get SID’s attention, and Thor and Loki could do it.

‘If there was time,’ he thought.

Ryan went back to his office and sat down.

It was dark outside.

He rubbed his temples, and looked at
the time. It was nine o’clock, and he was tired. He got up to go make some
coffee.

As he passed through the doorway, he
could hear his tablet start to beep.

CHAPTER 17

“All war is a symptom of man's failure
as a thinking animal.”
 
- John Steinbeck

“The supreme art of war is to subdue
the enemy without fighting.”

 
-
 
Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Cohen returned to his office to find
his staff winding down. Night had fallen outside the windows, and the quiet
inside made it feel even later. These people had worked hard today, and
accomplished everything he’d asked of them. As he passed, he saw Rosemary was
in her office, looking at something on her terminal. She had a sandwich next to
her on a paper plate. Centered at the heart of this crisis, his office
succeeded because of her and the people she guided.
Cohen stopped outside his office and addressed his staff.

“Thanks everyone. We faced a crisis we
never would’ve expected, and we reacted smoothly and efficiently. Well done,
everyone. Others are working now, where we’ve left off. It’s late, and we may
be needed again tomorrow. Go home and get some rest. In the morning, the
picture could be entirely different. Whatever the outcome I am grateful to have
worked with this team. Good night; be safe.”

Rosemary came out of her office, walked
to him and grabbed his elbow lightly.

“Eric, that man Stevens from the
Senator’s Office is back. He’s been waiting to speak with you for some time
now. He’s in your office. Do you want me to stay?”

“No, I need you fresh tomorrow. Go home
and try to get some sleep.”

“Very well, good night then.”
“Rosemary, you were outstanding today.”
“Thanks, Eric.”

He walked into his office to find Mr.
Stevens speaking to someone on his phone.

Cohen sat down at his desk, and waited
for his visitor to finish.

Stevens said, “yes, wait he’s here now.
I’ll call you shortly.” There was a slight pause as if Mr. Stevens was
receiving direction, “Yes sir, I understand.”

He put his phone away, and sat down
across from Cohen at his desk.

“Dr. Cohen, how are things currently?”

“Ah, Mr. Stevens, I’m sorry for keeping
you waiting. At this time we have successfully requested that all IntelliHealth
Facilities shut down their computer servers where SID is operating. We have
evidence that this is happening because of the responses we’ve been receiving,
and due to the fact that the local SID activity is rising.”

Eric leaned forward, “Is that why
you’re here Mr. Stevens, for an update? My staff has been available- ”.

“No,” he said cutting Eric off.

Stevens pulled a folder out of a
briefcase sitting on the floor next to him.

“I’m here because Senator Basker has
spoken with the President regarding SID, and its actions in regards to the world-wide
fertility crisis.”

He pulled out a single piece of paper
and handed it to Cohen.

“I have been directed to hand-deliver
this to you personally.”

Cohen turned it over and read it.

Stevens continued, “This is an
executive order from the President of the United States identifying you, Dr.
Eric Cohen as the voice of IntelliHealth on this matter, and authorizing you to
do whatever it takes to destroy the SID entity for the crime of genocide
against the human race, and to support you in any related actions which you
deem helpful in the reproduction of our species. Copies have been delivered to
the various presidents of the IntelliHealth System as well as appropriate local
government officials.”

Stevens waited until Cohen put the
paper down.

“Dr. Eric Cohen, you have at your
command any resource that we may offer.”

Cohen said, “Why me? I’m the Facility
Director, but not the local president. Perhaps you should be speaking with
IntelliHealth President, Simon Andrews.”

“I already have. At Senator Basker’s
request, I’ve spoken with several IntelliHealth Presidents. They all agree that
your office is handling this unprecedented crisis. You seem to have the only
full understanding of what is happening. So, until this has passed, you and I
will be working together. I hope this is acceptable, Dr. Cohen.”

Eric relaxed and leaned back in his
chair. This man wasn’t what he expected.

“Very well, Mr. Stevens. We can always
use more help. I think you should come with me. I want to introduce you to the
real man behind all of this.”

Ryan’s office was quiet and dark,
illuminated only by a handful of lamps around the walls. Next door, Jim’s
office was lit up and alive with erratic popcorn blasts of typing.

Ryan drinking a fresh coffee and
watching his tablet.

He was hoping and waiting for Jim to
announce that Thor and Loki had been set up as guards between their network,
and the IntelliHealth satellite.

He watched as the level of SID activity
continued to climb.

It was clear that Dr. Cohen was right
and Facilities around the world were working hard to shut SID out. At this
rate, it wouldn’t be long before SID would start looking for ways to escape.
‘Maybe he’s already looking,’ he thought.
Ryan’s stomach soured.

He jumped, startled when there was a
knock at the door.

It was Eric with a man Ryan didn’t
recognize.

The man was taller than Cohen, with
dark trimmed hair, glasses and a sharp gray suit.
Ryan noticed that he seemed very alert.

While he, Eric and the rest were all
pretty tired from this little adventure, this man walked and moved briskly.
“Ryan, I’ve got someone here that needs to meet you,” Eric said.

“Mr. Stevens, allow me to introduce you
to Ryan Dane. Ryan was the first one to suggest that something… how did you put
it, Ryan? I believe the word you used was
‘unconventional,’
is happening
here.”

Ryan stood up and reached over to shake
hands.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Ryan. I work for Senator Basker, and through him
the President. For the duration of this affair, I will be working with you and
Dr. Cohen. I am directed to tell you that Dr. Cohen’s Office has the full
support of the President of the United States. Any resource we can offer to
ensure the destruction of the SID entity is available for your use.”

Ryan winced at the offer. He’d never really
appreciated bureaucrats and this man didn’t impress him either. An offer to
help now was a little late in the game. But he realized that he was tired, and
was probably being too cynical.
Then he had an idea.

“A space shuttle.”

“What? A space shuttle?” asked Cohen.

Ryan has half kidding, and really
hadn’t thought about how to get SID back, if they actually caught him up there
in the satellite. But, if they wanted to bring him back down, they would have
to figure out how sometime.
‘So why not ask?’ he thought.

Stevens had his phone out again, “When
do you need it, and what is the cargo?”

Ryan glanced at Cohen and paused in
case he objected; Cohen shrugged and nodded.
“Yes well, we’ll need a space shuttle to retrieve a communications satellite,
and probably within a day or two.”

Mr. Stevens moved to the other side of
Ryan’s office and began making calls. It sounded like he was actually going to
make it happen. He stood there listening to Stevens talk on his phone.
‘Maybe, I underestimated this man,’ thought Ryan.

Ryan sat back down, and motioned to one
of the chairs in front of his desk for Dr. Cohen.
“Eric, can I get you something to drink? We probably still have some coffee,
and I know there’s water.”

“No thanks. I’m fine.” He sat down and
pulled out his phone to check his messages. “So you want a space shuttle. Is
this related to our project, or are you just looking for a joyride?”

Ryan laughed, and together they waited while Stevens worked at the conference
table.
“Do you believe he can really do it?”

“He gave me a letter from the President
authorizing him to give any support necessary. Yes, I believe he’s the real
deal.”

Ryan leaned back and tried to think of anything else they might need. The
problem was the time factor. By they could bring in computers, people or that
sort of thing this would all be over. Ryan took another sip of his coffee, and
glanced at the SID monitor on his tablet; SID’s activity was stable for the
moment.