The Infinity Program

by Richard H Hardy

  After he read the message, Jon smiled again. Harry’s persistence had opened up a new direction, an entirely new path on the quantum computer. Jon wondered where it would lead. His smile vanished. The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became.

  After he digested Harry’s news, Jon gave Ted Blume a call to report that he finally had a working beta version of the PKD software. Ted was shocked into silence by this unexpected turn of events. The phone line was quiet for half a minute before Ted was able to speak. “Incredible! Come on up to my office and we’ll test it together.”

  Jon sat in a small chair next to Ted as the older man logged onto Big Moe.

  “We can test it with Little Moe,” Ted said. He handed Jon a piece of paper that gave Little Moe’s IP address and Public key. Moving aside, he let Jon edge his chair over so that he was sitting directly in front of Ted’s terminal.

  Jon moved to the directory Harry had specified and ran the executable from the command line. A dialogue box opened up immediately. “Key in the IP Address,” said a succinct screen message.

  Jon keyed in the IP address and then pressed “Enter.” He was immediately prompted to key in the Public key. This took a while, since the public key was a very large value. Once it was keyed in correctly, he hit the “Enter” key and a new message flashed across the screen: “Running …. Running …. Running ….”

  He and Ted waited impatiently. Five minutes later the status message disappeared and they found themselves logged onto Little Moe as Super User. They had full access to every account on its system. A wild thought ran through Jon’s head. He could go to usr/sys/bin and key in rm * and delete every binary file on the system and bring Little Moe crashing down. Instead, he turned to Ted to gauge the older man’s reaction.

  Ted’s mouth gaped open and his eyes were wide. “Oh my God, he did it. I didn’t think it was possible, even for Harry Sale. Man, I thought I was going to be out the door on this one. I was seriously thinking about packing my bag.”

  “Me too,” said Jon.

  “Well, I’d like to crack open the champagne and celebrate, but I think we better tell John Balis before he decides to visit us with his hatchet.”

  Jon listened as Ted filled in Balis on the success of the test. There were long pauses and after each one, Ted said “Yes.”

  Ted turned to Jon again. “He wants to arrange an immediate test with the Pentagon people. Can you be ready at ten a.m.?”

  “Sure thing,” said Jon, “I’ll be there.”

  At the demo for the Pentagon personnel, Jon noticed that Eric Meyers studiously avoided eye contact with him and directed all his questions to Ted Blume. Jon and Ted ran the same test again and succeeded in logging onto Little Moe. Nearly all the Pentagon crew remained impassive, completely restrained. It was as though they did not realize that they were witnessing a major breakthrough in information technology. The one exception was Tom Delaney. The odd little man looked like he had been pole-axed. His eyes blinked uncontrollably. Jon glanced at Meyers out of the corner of his eye. Meyers’ cultivated look of bored cynicism remained carefully in place.

  The ranking officer, who sat next to Eric Meyers, was the first to speak. He turned to Ted Blume. “We need to do some testing in private. Can you arrange that?”

  “Yes, certainly,” Ted said and rose from the table. “Jon and I were just leaving. You can stay on in the conference room. I’ll leave word at the switchboard that you’re not to be disturbed under any circumstances. Just log off Big Moe and then log back on under your own special logon ID. You’ll have complete security that way.”

  “They certainly kept their cool,” said Jon when they were out of hearing distance from the conference room. “We give them the holy grail of decoding software and they hardly bat an eye.”

  “That was for our benefit, Jon. Now that we’re out of the room they’re probably jumping for joy.”

  The Pentagon personnel remained in the conference room the rest of the morning and then, following a short lunch break, on into the afternoon. Out of curiosity, Jon sounded out the security guard who worked near the conference room. “How did those Pentagon guys look when they went to lunch?”

  “Like the cat that swallowed the canary,” he said.

  Jon could well imagine. They had probably already logged onto the main computer used by the Chinese defense system. God only knew what they would do when they realized that Harry’s software was the open sesame for almost every major computer system in the world. Jon wondered if Harry had thought through all the implications of his new software.

  Oddly, Jon still felt depressed and discouraged, even after the successful test. He couldn’t focus or concentrate. Lettie had cancelled their afternoon meeting. She had been called away on an emergency assignment—finishing up a document Tina Johnston and Ed Merkle had failed to complete in the required time frame. It was just as well. Lately Jon had been feeling more and more dispirited about how things stood with Lettie. Seeing the fresh-cut rose on her desk nearly every morning had taken its toll. At first he had tried to ignore it, but lately his eyes were continually drawn to it. He fantasized about throwing it on the floor and grinding it with his heel or tossing it into the waste basket. He also wished he could tell her about seeing Eric Meyers at Miller’s, arm in arm with the resident bimbo. But Jon kept his anger and negative emotions in check … although he could not help but wonder if his control and reserve were killing him with Lettie.

  By three in the afternoon the walls of his office seemed to be closing in on him. Something akin to claustrophobia had him in its grip. He had to get out or risk becoming completely unstrung. He took the elevator to the first floor and told the woman at the security station that he had an appointment and would be out of the building for the next forty-five minutes.

  Then Jon did something he had never done before. He walked around to the back of Building C and through the park until he came to the meadow. After crossing the quarter mile or so of meadow, he arrived at the edge of the pine forest. The smell of the pines and clean air helped, but hopelessness still tugged at him.

  At the very edge of the pines, a large flat rock jutted out of the ground. Jon sat on it and began to sort through the many issues on his mind.

  Lettie first. Their static, business-only relationship was almost unendurable. He had to do something decisive to change it. Almost any movement would be better than continuing on like an ostrich with its head in the sand. He had been passive so far because of the risk of losing her forever. Well, damn the risk! He had nothing left to lose.

  Then there was Harry. The sheer scale of the changes Harry was in the process of making disturbed him. He could set off an international incident between China and the U.S., he thought. He could trigger a global economic collapse. Millions of people could suddenly be out of work because of Harry’s actions.

  By far the biggest issue was Jon’s fundamental belief in democracy. What right did one person have to make such wide-scale changes? While he was convinced of Harry’s good intentions, he realized that such unilateral action made Harry a dictator—a benevolent one to be sure, but still a dictator. What would happen to the human race once all of Harry’s changes were made? Obviously the current order would be smashed completely. But what would follow? Chaos and disorder or a sane path to the next stage of human development? Or something else altogether?

  The point that worried him most was whether the massive changes were all Harry’s idea. What if the quantum computer was behind all Harry’s actions? What if the human race was being forced down an alien path for purposes having nothing to do with humanity?

  After a long while he stood up and stretched. He had not been able to come to any conclusions about Harry’s activities. He was like a surfer riding the crest of a gigantic wave. He had to stay exactly where he was or risk being drowned or crushed beneath the water.

  When he returned to Building C he checked with one of the security guards. The Pentagon personnel were still in the confe
rence room, presumably running the PKD software through every conceivable test.

  When he left his office at five he felt slightly better in one respect: he had a plan of action with regard to Lettie. As far as everything else, the only reasonable strategy was simply to hang onto the tail of the tiger.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Carrying a long, white box, Jon Graeme crossed through the parking lot and walked toward Building C. He hoped no one would ask him questions about the box. As with any office—large or small, high tech or low tech—gossip travelled at light speed and Jon didn’t want anyone butting into his business. He had gained enough notoriety through his friendship with Harry Sale.

  As he walked into the lobby and moved down the hall to the stairway, he was shocked to see George Ludwig standing in front of the elevators. Ludwig looked at least ten years older than Jon remembered him. His hair, formerly salt and pepper, was now completely white. His suit hung in loose folds about his body and he had obviously lost at least twenty five pounds. His skin had a gray cast, and his glazed eyes were turned inward on some terrible landscape. Every movement and facial expression revealed with painful clarity just how tense and nervous the man was. Jon watched until Ludwig disappeared into an elevator. Much to his surprise, he actually felt sorry for him.

  As Jon walked down the stairway to his office, he made a mental note to ask Lettie about Ludwig. Then he tried to push the haunting mental image of the wraithlike programmer from his mind, replacing it with a positive one of Lettie laughing. Even this made him feel sad, because the vivid recollection of her laughing face was more than a month old. There had been no laughter in recent memory.

  Messages flooded his Inbox. He opened the message from Lettie first and was amazed at the content: “Jon, I missed seeing you yesterday. Sorry about the sudden cancellation. I look forward to our meeting today.”

  Jon read the simple message at least ten times. Finally, a personal touch! he thought. He decided to take it as a portent of success. Perhaps he was about to do just the right thing to get back in Lettie’s good graces.

  Jon plunged into his morning projects. He had always found that work was the best way to make time pass quickly.

  Shortly after ten in the morning there was a knock on his door. “Come in!” he called out.

  Benton Reeves entered his office. This time the smile on his face was genuine.

  “And how are you today, my boy?” he said in a hearty voice.

  “Very good, thank you.”

  “You’ve done it again, Jon. You always seem to come through for us in a pinch. Did you have to drag Harry out of bed to finish the software?”

  For a moment Jon was flustered. He had not expected this. “Just about, sir,” he finally said.

  “I have a little something here just to show my appreciation of your efforts,” he said as he handed Jon an envelope. “Open it up, my boy.”

  Jon opened it and saw a voucher for the only five star restaurant in the area, the Café La Fraise. The voucher was for two people. It specified no amount, only that the bill was to be put on Benton Reeves’ account.

  “What a surprise! Thank you so much, Mr. Reeves.”

  “Think nothing of it, my boy. If anyone deserves it, you do. And don’t stint yourself. Get a good bottle of champagne. You deserve it.” He paused and then smiled broadly. “Enjoy!” he said and turned to leave.

  I can’t believe it! Jon said to himself as he leaned back in his chair. First there had been Lettie’s friendly note and now the voucher to one of the premier restaurants in the state. These had to be signs that his luck had turned.

  At five minutes to eleven Jon picked up the long, white box from the floor behind his desk and headed for the elevator. The ascent to the sixth floor of Building C seemed interminable. A very real fear remained in the back of his mind that Lettie would take exception to his offering, leading to an awkward, uncomfortable scene.

  He knocked on her office door. “Come on in, Jon,” she called out.

  Jon held the long, white box behind his back and entered her office.

  “What’s going on, Jon?” she asked, eying him suspiciously.

  Jon placed the box across her desk. “I couldn’t help but notice that someone has been giving you a single rose. A single rose isn’t nearly enough for someone as wonderful as you, Lettie.”

  For a moment she seemed stunned. Her hands trembled as she opened the box. Inside was a bouquet of a dozen roses. The roses were such a deep red they almost seemed purple in the artificial light.

  Lettie’s eyes were wide and her cheeks were flushed. She opened her mouth to speak but not a word came out. She looked intently at Jon and then moved to his side of the desk and embraced him.

  “You are such a sweet and wonderful man,” she finally said.

  Jon could think of nothing to say in return so he just hugged her tighter.

  “Wow, what a surprise,” she said, smelling the flowers.

  A sudden inspiration came to him and he decided to risk everything.

  “I’ve got another surprise for you, too. How would you like to go out to dinner tomorrow night at the Café La Fraise?”

  She fumbled with the flowers, nearly losing her balance. Jon reached out to steady her but quickly withdrew his hand, not wishing to seem too forward.

  “Jon, that’s too expensive,” she said. “I wouldn’t feel right. It’s just too extravagant. How about Miller’s instead?”

  Jon pulled out the voucher Benton Reeves had given him and showed it to her.

  “Jon, you are absolutely the most amazing man I’ve ever met.” She laughed and gave him another hug, kissed him on the cheek, and then pulled back. “Hold on,” she said. “I’ve got to sit down before I faint.”

  Jon moved a chair next to hers, the way he usually did when they had a work session together, and sat down. Her face was radiant.

  “Can I ask you a question, Jon?”

  “Sure,” he said.

  “When did you decide to get the roses for me?”

  “Yesterday,” he said. “Why do you ask?”

  “I saw you sitting out there near the pine forest. I never saw anyone so troubled in all my life.”

  “But how could you see me? I was at least a quarter mile away.”

  “Binoculars,” she said. “I have a pair in my desk. Sometimes deer graze out near the pine forest and I like to watch them. When I saw you crossing the field the other day, I was curious. And when I saw your face … you looked so distressed. My heart went out to you.” She stopped talking for a moment and gazed at him. “Why did you wait so long to bring the flowers?”

  “You seemed so cool toward me. You were always so professional and businesslike.”

  “I was just following your lead. I thought you hated me.”

  “How could I ever hate you?”

  “I thought it was because I was such a terrible bitch that day you moved into my office. I was just awful.”

  “I never held that against you, really I didn’t. But then you called and said you needed space, so I gave it to you.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t have given me so much,” she said. She leaned closer and gave him another hug.

  When she drew back, Jon stared at her. He couldn’t believe how beautiful she was. She positively glowed. But the mood was broken when he caught sight of the single rose.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Of course you can.”

  Jon pointed to the single rose on the corner of the desk. “What about that?”

  “You mean the rose?” Lettie asked in amazement.

  Jon nodded.

  “Well, it’s nothing for you to worry about, that’s for sure. One of the guys from the Pentagon group is on my trail. I suppose it’s my own fault, in a way. A while back I ran into him at Miller’s. He seemed so friendly and was such a great listener at first. So I was friendly, too. To tell you the truth, I was really curious about what the Pentagon people were doing here and when he saw
how interested I was in that, he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut. I guess he was trying to impress me. He started to stop by my office every day to chat. He always gives me the low-down, and he always gives me a rose and asks me out to dinner. I always refuse.”

  “Eric Meyers, right?”

  “How did you know?” Lettie asked.

  “I saw you with him down at Miller’s. You seemed so … serious.”

  “Oh God, no, I was just curious about what was going on. I heard some rumors about the PKD project and I was dying of curiosity.”

  “He doesn’t seem like your type,” said Jon.

  “Well, he wasn’t. He’s one of these Mr. Macho types. I bet he keeps a score card of the women he’s slept with. I’ve tried to hold him at arm’s length, but the next time he stops by I think I’ll tell him to get lost.”

  “The guy’s a real bastard,” said Jon. “Did you know that he thinks Harry is gay?”

  Lettie laughed. “I heard about that. Ted Blume told me all about it. I wish to God I could have been there when it happened! It was at a programming conference, just before I started here. Eric practically asked Harry straight out if he was gay. And do you know what Harry said?”

  Jon shook his head.

  “Harry says, ‘Why do you ask? Do you want some?’ Eric just about went into orbit! Ted Blume had to step between them to stop Eric from punching him.”

  “But why on Earth would he think Harry was gay?”

  “Who knows? It’s hard to figure out what sort of stuff fuels that kind of ignorance. To someone like Eric, anyone who isn’t your typical Mr. Macho type is suspect.”