by R. Chauncey
“It’s a modern electric world, Karl,” Derrick said, returning to his seat and picking up his glass of wine and taking a sip before he said, “You should join it.”
“It’s an electronic world in which any smartass with basic knowledge of computers and electronics can hack into any system that exists and cover his or her tracks before they’re found out.”
“Paper is old fashion,” Derrick said. He took another sip of wine breathing air into his mouth like a connoisseur had told him to do in order to improve his enjoyment of the wine. He swallowed and said, “Our computers, as you should know, are impenetrable.”
“But if you’re the only one with a paper copy of something only you know what’s written on it.”
“Nonsense”
“Then why the fuck am I here?”
Derrick ignored his question. “Put that drive in your com-cell and project an image on one of the glass panes of the door in front of you, Karl. And don’t worry no one will see it but you and I.”
“Answer my question,” he demanded.
Derrick stared angrily at him for a few seconds thinking while Karl was the best soldier among all their excellent soldiers he was hard to get alone with because of his nasty personality. “Because Julian got into our records and downloaded everything onto a flash drive.”
“That wouldn’t have been able to happen if the records were on paper, and in a secure place Julian couldn’t have gotten to. But no! You leaders have to be modern.
Everything about the Society is in storage units hidden away from the world where only you can get to them.” Karl turned his head and stared angrily at Derrick and added, “And anyone else who has a computer and can access your com-cells and get into those storage units through hacking.”
“I concede you’re right, Karl,” Derrick said in a bored sounding voice.
Karl took the drive from his pocket along with his com-cell and inserted the drive into the cell’s USB port and projected the information on the window in front of him. He read the report on where Julian’s body was found. “How did you find him?”
“Implant,” Derrick said, finishing his wine and reaching for the decanter for another glass.
“A tracking chip?”
“Yes.” He poured himself a second glass of wine.
Karl turned quickly and looked at him. “I’ve got one of them damn things in me?” he asked in a surprised and angry voice.
“Everyone soldier and member has one,” Derrick said. “We began doing that over thirty-five years ago. It’s an excellent way to keep an eye on everyone.”
“Who’s idea was that?” he asked, knowing the answer.
“My father’s,” Derrick said in a nonchalant manner. “It’s best for the Society to know where all our members are at all times. Soldiers, too. So my father ordered that everyone be implanted.”
“When was it done to me?” Karl’s voice was low and angry.
“The year you took over your father’s position as a soldier, Karl.”
“Each implant has a code?”
“Yes.”
“Who has these codes?”
“I do, of course.” He finished his second glass of wine and decided he’d had enough. The servants could have the rest which they would do anyway.
“What about Turbo and Lighters and the Council of Twenty? They‘ve got these implants, too?”
“I said everyone has them.”
“They know?”
“Not necessary.”
“Isn’t it a rule of the Hidden Society that all members have a right to know about any changes in the Society’s methods of operation?”
“It was until my father changed it thirty-five years ago without telling the other two leaders.”
“By secretly have all of us implanted with microchips that allowed him to follow us wherever we went?”
“Yes.”
“When did you find out about this?”
“A few days before my father’s death.”
“Your father died in a car accident, didn’t he?”
“Yes.”
Karl now knew Derrick’s father didn’t die in a car accident. He was murdered by Derrick so that only he would know about the implants. “So you knew everything and everywhere Julian did and went after he gave up his position as a leader because you could track him by his implant?”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t know what he had done while he was a leader?”
“No.”
Karl turned back toward the window. “How did you find that out?”
“We have our ways.”
“We?”
“Yes. We.”
Karl turned and looked at him and said, “No. You have your ways, Derrick.”
“What does that mean?”
“You watched him. Tracked his movements and realized what he may be up to.”
“Yes.”
Karl looked at him thinking for a few seconds before he spoke. “He suckered you, didn’t he?”
“What are you talking about?” There was the sound of annoyance in his voice.
“Julian somehow found out about the implants. Didn’t approve of them, and realized that whoever had the implant codes had power over all the members and soldiers.
And then he realized that your father’s death by car accident was no accident, that he was murdered to make sure no one knew about the implants. And that meant that you had the codes, because he didn’t have them and he knew no one else had them. And that’s when he began to do what he’s done.”
Derrick said nothing.
“But before he disappeared he figured out a way to neutralize his implant long enough for him to hide.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe my ass!”
“I don’t like your attitude, Karl,” Derrick responded in a cold voice.
“Then kill me and get another soldier to do this job.”
“We don’t have that much time,” Derrick said.
“You don’t have that much time,” Karl said.
“What do you mean, Karl?”
“Whatever Julian gave to whoever you’ve got to get it back from, you’ve got to do it before the rest of the members find about the implants.”
“You know now.”
Karl laughed. Something he seldom did. “I’m a man who loves killing living things. As such, I accept my own death as inevitable. By whatever method.”
Derrick knew Karl was after something. “What do you want?”
“My code.”
Derrick nodded, reached into his pocket, took out his com-cell, and punched ten digits. “You have it.”
Karl looked at his com-cell. Eight letters and two numbers were on the screen. He looked at the window. Only the information from the flash drive was on the window. “The tracking chip codes are programmed not to appear on anything except the coded member’s com-cell?” Karl asked.
“Yes.”
“How do I shut down my implant?”
“Type ‘shut down‘.”
Karl did it. “So now I’m no longer being monitored?”
“No.”
Karl didn’t believe a word Derrick said. He knew Derrick to be a power hungry man who’d never give up an advantage over anyone. He looked back at the information displayed on the window. “I was implanted the day I replaced my father as a soldier. How were the others implanted?”
“During their annual physical exams.”
“Which all members and soldiers must have once a year by one of four doctors who are also members of the Society.”
“Yes.”
“Good way to make sure the implanted chips are still working,” Karl said.
“It certainly is, Karl,” he agreed. “I trust you won’t reveal the secret of the implants.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” he lied. He knew his survival depended upon the members and soldiers knowing about the implants. But he had to be careful about revealing them. Derrick would never have so freely admitted the existence of the implants if the present situation wasn’t very dangerous to his position as leader. Once he had gotten back what Julian had given away, Derrick’s position would become stronger, and his knowledge of the implants would become a death warrant some soldier in the Society would be glad carry out for the fat bonus he’d receive and winning favor with Derrick. He’d have to figure out a way to keep Derrick in a position where killing him would endanger his position as leader. That would be his life insurance. He quietly re-read what was projected on the glass pane.
A half an hour passed before Derrick said, “Well?”
Karl removed the flash drive from his com-cell, put it on sleep mode, and put it and the flash drive back in his pocket, and turned to face Derrick. “Well what?” he asked.
“Can you find this man?”
“You’re assuming Julian gave the drive to a man. Why?”
“Because of our forensic people’s report.”
“It isn’t worth a damn,” Karl told him.
“There’s evidence the person Julian gave the flash drive to was a man,” Derrick said.
“No definite foot prints, tire tracks, no blood or DNA. Everything washed clean and vacuumed, and the dust and dirt from the vacuum cleaner burned in a pit in the backyard. And I‘ll bet Julian told his visitor how to wipe his visit to Julian’s place from his car‘s trip computer.”
“I told that to Sally and John when we met earlier today.”
“Then we’re looking for a nettle in a haystack. And there are a billion haystacks out there for us to look in.”
“We have to find this man,” Derrick told him in a serious voice.
“I know that.”
“So where do you start looking?”
“With Julian,” he said as he stood up and started slowly for the door. “I want everything you’ve got on him.”
“You’ll have everything you need.”
“And no interference from any members or soldiers,” Karl told him.
“There won’t be, Karl,” he said. “You’ve my word on it.”
“I’m going to need working space at the Society’s secret headquarters,” Karl said.
“I’ll see to it that you get everything you need,” he promised.
“Good,” Karl said.
“Since you can’t handle this alone, I’m going to assign you some help.”
“I’ll pick my own help,” he said, stopping at the door. “I know who I work best with among the soldiers.”
“Suit yourself, Karl,” Derrick said without looking at him. “But I want daily reports.”
“You’ll get them,” Karl promised.
Karl reached out and grabbed the door knob with his left hand and started to open the door, but stopped. “These forensic people you used to go over this place Julian was hiding in were Society soldiers are not some forensic people from a private detective agency we use,” he said.
“Of course,” Derrick said. “I’m not foolish.”
“When did Julian disappear?” Karl asked him.
“He never really disappeared after giving up his position as leader,” Derrick said. “He just remained his regular self, going to his usual places.”
“He downloaded this information about the Society while he was still a leader, and no one knew, didn’t he?” Karl asked.
“Yes, I think he did. It’s the only explanation as to how he got the information.”
“Because as a leader he had access to the information.”
“Yes.”
“How did you find out about the download?” Karl asked.
“Twenty-four hours ago I ran a check on the computers that contained the information and learned information about the Society had been downloaded,” Derrick said. “I assumed it was on a flash drive.”
“So when did he stop going to his usual places?”
“A little over a month ago,” he said. “Why is that important?”
“You were elected by the members to your position as a leader after Julian retired right after Julian’s chosen replacement died of a heart attack, weren’t you?”
“Yes, I was.”
Karl looked at him and silently thought.
“What are you thinking, Karl?”
“Once Julian learned about the implants he began gathering the information he gave away to whomever,” he said. “And once he got that information and chose the person he was going to give it, he neutralized his implants and disappeared. You were elected as a leader long before he’d done that.”
“What’s your point?”
“He knew he was a dead man once he learned of the implants, so he decided to destroy the Society in revenge. And once he’d chosen this person he hid until he met this person and gave them the flash drive.”
“I don’t think I would agree with that assumption, Karl,” he said. “But once the person Julian gave this information to has been caught ask him or her why Julian gave them the information. Maybe they’ll know.”
“By the way,” Karl said. “Since this is a special assignment, what will the kill bonuses be?”
“In addition to your regular yearly salaries, three million apiece,” Derrick told him.
Karl left.
*
Derrick waited ten minutes before he got up and walked to his study. He walked behind the hand carved dark wooden desk, sat down in the matching black leather chair and took out his com-cell. He opened it and pushed the star key.
“I’m here,” a soldier answered.
“Keep an eye on him, let me know who he chooses, and report to me everything he does every day.”
“Yes, sir,” came the obedient reply.
***
Chapter 6
January 4, 2 p.m. central standard time.
Larson had been up since 11:30 a.m. After breakfast he had gone to his study and worked out a plan of action. He had first called his son, who lived in the first house he and his ex-wife had owned, and told him he was going on a three week trip to research a new manuscript he had begun. He told his son not to worry about him, and he’d called as often as possible.
His son had a private business of developing computer games.
Then he called his daughter at her work – she had her own home, she was an editor for a publisher of school books, and told her the same thing. He asked her to call her mother, his daughter was friendly with her mother as was his son, and tell her he was leaving town for a few days and none of them should worry about him. Larson was still friendly with his ex-wife. He didn’t see the purpose of hating a woman he’d had two children with just because they were divorced.
Then he went to his study and wondered where he should start?
Paul Duffy popped into his mind. He knew the town of Arden, Nevada existed but that didn’t mean the Arden Chip Company existed. So he decided to start there. But using his computer was out of the question. What if Julian Franks was right? This Hidden
Society would know about him with
in seconds. The only safe thing to do was go to the library. But not the main library in Oak Park it was too small.
Chicago’s Harold Washington Library was the perfect place to go. Hundreds of thousands of people used the library every day. Millions probably used the Internet which the Washington Library was attached to every day using their computers, laptops, and com-cells to access information from its servers that had detailed information in their hard drives about the Washington Library’s extensive records and book collections. And Saturday, even a cold Saturday in January, would be a busy day. The Harold Washington Library wasn’t just a library, but a place a lot people like to visit just to enjoy the sheer size of it and the art it contained.
He decided public transportation would be the best way to get to the Harold Washington Library. He didn’t think he was being watched by anyone, but his mystery writers’ intuition convinced him to use public transportation. Driving would mean he’d have to park in Chicago’s Grant Park Underground Parking Garage, and that was a computerized automated parking lot and such lots kept records, license and sticker
numbers, of every car that came and went. So did all the private parking lots in the downtown area of Chicago. The Society could easily access those computers.
If the Hidden Society did exist, they’d have a hell of a time trying to track his movements on the Chicago L. Chicago’s rapid transportation system. It was a modern computerize transportation system like every transportation system in the world with millions of people riding it every day. And all they needed was a prepaid ticket.
Larson dressed warmly, and took a pocket notebook and pen and pencil with him. He didn’t want to put anything on his com-cell. Julian just could be right.
Twenty minutes later he was walking into the research section of the library. It took him ten minutes to find, on his own, a thick, hardback directory listing the names of every computer chip company in the free world. There were far more of them in 2076 than there was in 2000. A thought popped into his mind and he walked over to the research department’s information desk.