Cashback

by Duncan James

  ***

  Marian was dying to know what Robin meant by that, but she didn't have time to ask until they got back to their room at the small Bulawayo hotel where they were staying.

  As soon as the door was shut behind them, Robin said, "What I've seen and heard in the last two days has been quite awful, and has convinced me that we really should try to help these poor people, and right a few of the wrongs they have suffered at the hands of the Government and their henchmen. It has really made me very angry indeed to know what's been going on here, and if we can possibly help them, then we really must."

  "I agree," said Marian. "It has been totally distressing and I can't think of anyone else who could possibly do anything for them."

  "I'm going to have a word with Jim, and then try to get hold of Grudge if I can," continued Robin. "I think we should make a start now rather than later in trying to crack the banking system's encryption codes. The sooner we know whether we can do it, the sooner we shall know whether or not we can help these poor people."

  "And others," said Marian.

  "Yes, and others," agreed Robin. "I was equally furious when I heard of the way the Americans had treated Grudge and his colleagues."

  "Will this mean going home straight away, and cancelling the rest of our trip?" she asked.

  "Never! There's absolutely no way I would cancel it, although I remember that you did suggest it once quite recently. But it might make sense to go home for a short time while we do some work, and then come back afterwards," he replied. "Perhaps in a month or so - but that's one reason I want to talk to Grudge, just to see if he has any idea how long it might take us."

  "Why would he know?" asked Marian.

  "Breaking the code should be the easy part, especially with Grudge helping, since he developed it in the first place," replied Robin. "If he can't break it, then nobody can, since he should know its weak points. Once we have hacked into it, then developing a replacement for it can be done in slower time, since we shall want to use the system for a while before we alert the banking community to what we are up to."

  Robin paused for thought.

  "It would be good if we could work in Oxford, you know. I wonder if I could persuade my old tutor to allow me to use the University computers?"

  "Grudge was going to Oxford some time soon, wasn't he," Marian reminded Robin, "for an interview about a job at the University?"

  "Yes, in a month or so. I wonder if he could get there early? I'll get in touch through Valya, and ring Jim to see if he can get away from the Bank for a week or two."

  It was a week later when the team that Robin had managed to pull together finally started work in Oxford.

  It had been a frantic week of farewells and packing, as well as planning their journey, arranging accommodation again in Oxford, and briefing their bewildered parents about their sudden change of plan.

  Will and Bonkers were naturally surprised at the couple's sudden decision to return home, as well as being very disappointed.

  "We were just getting to know you, and now you're off!" exclaimed Bonkers. "Even if you won't tell us why you have to go, at least promise that you will come back one day to visit us again."

  "We may well be back quite soon," explained Robin. "But we have some work to do, so must get back to Oxford."

  "I promise we'll meet again," said Marian. "You've become dear friends in the short time we've known you, and you're such good company we couldn't bear the thought of not keeping up our friendship."

  "We've exchanged mobile phone numbers, email addresses and everything, so we can keep in touch while we're away," confirmed Robin. "But you two are such rolling stones, you must make sure you let us know where you are."

  "I shall probably stay in Zimbabwe, now I've come back," said Bonkers.

  "And I may just pay a flying visit to my parents, if I can talk them in to sending me the air fare," said Will.?

  9. BREAKTHROUGH?

  Their parents had been delighted that it was 'work' which had brought them home from Africa so unexpectedly; they always knew how clever Robin was with computers. And Robin's tutor was delighted that he had elected to carry out his research project at his old University; perhaps, after all, he could be tempted into a PhD course and take a teaching post there. As for Jim, he had managed to persuade the HR people at the Bank of England in Threadneedle Street that he could take leave of absence for up to four weeks. He had, in any case, two weeks leave owing to him, and had been granted an extra week as compassionate leave, given that his father had just died and his frail mother needed him at home to help sort things out. He had agreed to work off the other week as overtime, or something. The one thing he did not want was to resign from his job - it was too interesting, too well paid, and in exactly the right place to help Robin with his plans, whatever they might be.

  Grudge was very excited about the prospect of working at Oxford, and he was only too happy to get there early, with Valya. Sergei 'Grudge' Volkov had only been able, again, to get part-time work on his return to Russia after his vacation, and he had become even more resentful of the Americans and his previous employers. Valya also had only temporary work, although that was her choice rather than anything else. She was quite sure that the university authorities in Oxford would jump at the chance of providing her father with the long term and secure work he craved, and it had been agreed that she would move to England with him if that came about. Like her father, she was also a clever mathematician, although had not specialised in computer science as he had done.

  Robin and Marian paid brief visits to their parents before returning to Oxford, where they had found a couple of adjoining flats for themselves and the Volkovs, in one of the smarter northern suburbs of the City. There was a spare room for Jim, and it meant that they would all easily be able to work together when they weren't at the university science facilities. Robin was sure there would be some aspects of their work that would be better carried out away from the public gaze. He was sure, too, that Valya would make a useful addition to his team, if she were willing to help, even though she was not a computer specialist.

  Jim Farlow had arranged to meet Grudge and Valya at London Airport, and to travel on with them on the express coach from Heathrow to Oxford, where Robin and Marian awaited them. It was an excited reunion, which they celebrated later that evening with a meal and a bottle of wine at one of their old haunts, Ma Belle's. Everyone talked at once. The Volkovs wanted to know about Africa and the Bank of England, while Jim wanted to know about Russia and what Sergei had been doing, and they all wanted to know what scheme it was that Robin had in mind for them to get involved in.

  "We'll have a full briefing tomorrow," Robin promised. "You three need to get settled in first, but I suggest about half-past nine in our flat, when all will be revealed!"

  "Not even a clue?" pleaded Valya.

  "Not even a clue!" responded Robin. "Although I will tell you that, if things go according to plan and we are able to achieve what I'm sure we can achieve, then we should all make a considerable sum of money."

  "I'll drink to that!" said Jim. "Since we have about twelve hours to recover before your briefing, let's have another bottle of that excellent house wine."

  They met as planned next morning in the dining room of Robin and Marian's flat, in which two computers had already been installed, across the corridor from the Volkov's. Marian had coffee ready when they arrived, and they were soon settled, wondering expectantly what it could be that had brought them together. They were not kept in ignorance for long.

  "This has to do with the security of the world's banking systems," Robin announced. "It is my belief that the systems currently in place are not as secure as the banks and their customers assume, and that they are vulnerable to a concerted attack on their integrity. We shall be mounting that attack," he announced, "from here."

  They looked at him in disbelief.

  "You mean you dragged us here just to try a bit of hacking?" demanded Jim.

&nbs
p; "Before you start thinking you're wasting your time, Jim, just hear me out," demanded Robin. "If, at the end of this briefing any of you do not want to proceed, then of course you are free to leave, and I shall understand - and no hard feelings. But I firmly believe that we, as a team, are quite capable of breaking into the banking community computer systems."

  "And I suppose then we just help ourselves to the cash, do we?" asked Jim. "And nobody will find out! Is that what you meant last night when you said that we could all make considerable sums of money?"

  "That is not what I meant," replied Robin, sensing the growing opposition to what he was proposing. "I have no intention of turning us into some sort of criminal gang. That would be plain stupid."

  "But surely, in this country, computer hacking is a crime?" said Valya.

  "Let him finish, for goodness sake," said her father. "Robin and Marian aren't crooks, so give the man a chance to tell us what he has in mind. Then we can form an opinion and come to a judgement."

  "Thank you, Sergei," said Robin. "My theory is simply this. Breaking the security of the banking system is only a part of my proposal, and will probably be the easiest part. What we then do is develop a counter system that will prevent others from doing what we have done. This is what we sell, and this is where we make our money. Once the banks know that what they believe to be a foolproof system is vulnerable to attack, they will fall over themselves to get their hands on a system that will prevent that from happening."

  Grudge nodded, frowning. The others still looked apprehensive, but kept silent.

  "As Sergei told us when we first met him, Jim," continued Robin, "the present encryption system, which is the most widely used throughout the international banking system, was developed by a team of Russian mathematicians, which he led."

  "I remember," said Farlow.

  "Which is why I said," continued Robin Hood, "that finding weak points in the system should be the easiest part of the exercise. If the guy who developed it can't crack the codes, nobody can."

  Sergei nodded again.

  "So why would you want to do that, Sergei?" asked Jim.

  "Revenge," said Robin. "Am I right?" he turned to Grudge.

  "Yes," replied Sergei. "Although I am not entirely clear at the moment how breaking into my own system will help me and my colleagues. It will be inconvenient for the banking world, but that will hardly bring us the satisfaction we seek."

  "But it can, in two ways," said Robin. "First of all, you are all owed considerable sums of money by the corporation for whom you worked, who have paid none of you any compensation, or royalties or given you any share of the millions they have made from your development work. So if we can gain access to the banking systems, we shall be in a position to relieve that corporation's accounts of the sums they owe you."

  "Bloody hell," said Jim, and Grudge frowned even more.

  "That's not theft, but righting a grievous wrong," pronounced Robin. "Secondly, if and when we develop a patch for the system to prevent fraud by others, then we shall make sure that the thing is properly registered and licensed in our names, and that we get a fair share of the royalties when we sell it on. That should give us all an income for life, judging by what the people Grudge worked for have made from it."

  "Grudge?" queried Sergei.

  Marian giggled.

  "I'm sorry, Sergei, but you once said that you had a grudge against the Americans because of your treatment at their hands, and we have rather adapted that as your nick-name, I'm afraid."

  "I rather like it!" grinned Sergei.? "By all means call me that all the time. What do you think, Valya?"

  "I like it too," she said, and they all laughed.

  The tension was broken and they began to relax as Robin went into more detail about his plans.

  "There are several distinct stages to this little exercise," he said. "First of all, we have to crack the present system. Until we do that, we can do nothing else. But once we have access to the inner workings of the banks, then we can right a few wrongs, as I put it - and there are a few of my own that I need to attend to," he looked at Marian, who understood, "and that is the second stage. Finally, we can then take our time to develop a marketable solution to the problem which we will have created for the banking community."

  "I have some questions," said Grudge. "First of all, if we do gain access to corporate money, how can we possibly move it without immediately being traced??? It is the easiest thing in the world to find who has taken money from an account and where the money has gone."

  "I've thought of that," replied Robin, "and there is a way around it. But let's cross that bridge when we come to it."

  "Second of all, and perhaps most important, why are you so confident that we shall succeed?"

  "Just what I was going to ask," said Jim Farlow. "I've always enjoyed working with you and trying to hack into things you've developed, Robin, but this is of an altogether different order of magnitude, for both of us."

  "But between us," chipped in Valya, "we have considerable mathematical brain power to bring to bear on the problem, plus the man who developed the system we are trying to break down. So it should be possible, given time."

  "I agree," said Robin. "I'm sure we can do it, and probably it won't take all that long, as we shall be working on nothing else. Actually, I've already made a start, and, I think, proved that it can be done."

  "How on earth?" exclaimed Jim and Valya in unison.

  "I have already managed to devise a system - two systems, in fact, - which allow me to take money from any bank through its ATM machines."

  There was a shocked silence.

  "I have been able to adapt two credit cards, one of which allows me to withdraw money from the account of the last user of the cash machine, while the other allows me to withdraw cash direct from the bank's own reserves, without going through any personal account, either my own or anyone else's."

  "It was a brilliant piece of work," said Marian, "and I can confirm that it works. Not only in this country, either. We tried it out in Africa, and it works just as well there. You don't need a PIN number or anything."

  "Obviously, it is of only limited value, although any criminal would be delighted to be able to do what we can now do. The point is, though," continued Robin, "that it proves that there is a weakness in the banking security system. What we now need to do is to exploit that weakness and to gain access to their reserves through the Internet by using computers, rather than pieces of plastic."

  "What you have done is stealing, surely," objected Grudge. "You told us that we would be acting honestly."

  "And so we shall," Robin reassured him.

  "Once we had developed the first system," Marian explained, "we tried it out on our own accounts, so that was all right. The second system, though, did mean taking money that was not ours, so you are quite correct. To prove it worked, we took ten pounds from each of five banks - too little to draw any attention to what we were doing, but enough to prove that it worked at any bank. But we stole the money - there's no escaping the fact. But there was no other way of testing the card. I have kept meticulous records of every transaction with both cards, and we have donated the money we took from the banks to charity."

  "So we haven't personally benefited from this work at all," concluded Robin. "When we do benefit, we shall all benefit, and it will be legitimate, as I've proposed."

  "What about in Africa?" asked Jim.

  "We used the card there to help friends who had been robbed of almost everything they had," said Marian. "We took the money from the bank account of the man responsible, and returned it to them. Obviously it was only a drop in the ocean compared with all that they had lost, but it helped at the time."

  "That's part of what I meant," continued Robin, "when I said that I had a few wrongs of my own I wanted to right, apart from yours, Sergei."

  "I would like to see these cards work," said Grudge, "and to understand the methodology you used to develop them."

 
; "I can certainly demonstrate them to you later," agreed Robin, "and when we start work on this new project, I shall obviously brief you on how I managed to achieve the breakthrough. A fourth part of our work will be to devise a safer security system for cash machines, to prevent others doing what we are able to do. So we have a lot of work ahead of us, I'm sure you agree."

  "I had no idea you were working on these cards," said Jim. "That is a surprise."

  "I didn't tell you about it, chum, because I wanted to make sure it could be done, and that I could do it without your help. If that had proved impossible, then the idea of using computer networks to achieve the same thing would not have been a starter, and we wouldn't be here today."

  "As a matter of interest," asked Grudge, "have you tried your cards for buying goods in shops?"

  "No, I haven't," replied Robin. "The object was to see if the banking system was vulnerable to fraud, and it is. Checking the security of the chip and PIN system in shops is a different exercise, I think, although I know that each terminal at the checkout is linked direct to the bank's main frame computer."

  "We'll do that next!" joked Valya.

  "I take it from what you say that you are with us on this project?" queried Robin. "Is everyone else?"

  They all nodded enthusiastically.

  "Good! Now let's move on, then," said Robin. "As you will see, I already have two computers set up here. They are networked, with links to the powerful computers in the laboratory in the university science area. We also have the use of a study-room at my old College, Trinity, again with a computer terminal installed, so we have available considerable power and flexibility. My tutor when I was here as a student has offered us all the help we need, which is wonderful."

  "Have you told him we are trying to carry out a bank robbery?" asked the Russian, half joking.

  "As a matter of interest, he helped me with the work I did on the cash machine cards, and I've told him exactly what we are trying to do - i.e. find weaknesses in the banking computer systems so that we can make those systems more secure," replied Robin reassuringly. "He supports those aims, and thinks we are being very public spirited."

  "Which of course, we are," confirmed Marian. "We shan't be helping ourselves to anything we aren't entitled to, and will make our money, if possible, from selling the new security systems we develop."

  "As a matter of interest, Grudge," added Robin, "my tutor's nickname is 'electric whiskers', for reasons which will become obvious when you meet him, although for goodness sake don't call him that! If you don't meet him before, which I'm sure you will, he will probably be on the panel of Dons selected to interview you to decide whether or not to offer you a post here."

  "Why is he so keen to help?" asked Jim.

  "I think he hopes I shall come back here to do a post graduate PhD course," replied Robin.

  "My interview is in two week's time," said Sergei. "We should have made some progress by then."

  "Let's get started, then," said Robin enthusiastically. "Marian has agreed to do all the admin for us, and to keep us fed and watered as well as keeping detailed notes of what we do. We will keep all that on a second hard disc, here."

  "Don't hesitate to give me things to put on the computer," said Marian. "As I understand it, we need to keep the most detailed records we can of our development work. And it's so handy having our two flats next door to one another. I've had extra keys cut, so you can come into ours at any time to use these machines, if we're not here."

  "Now let's nip out so that I can show you how these reprogrammed cards work, then I can explain what I did to achieve that," said Robin. "I suggest then, Grudge, that you brief us as best you can on the encryption system you developed with your colleagues while in the States, and then we can decide the best way of trying to break it down."

  Once they all understood what Robin had done to alter the two credit cards, they settled to a long a detailed briefing by Sergei about the encryption operating systems he and his colleagues had developed. It was not immediately apparent to them where Robin's work fitted into the complex algorithms which Grudge had developed, but he had fortunately brought with him copies of his programmes, which they hoped eventually to be able to run on the computer network that Robin had been able to establish.

  By the end of the first week, they had been able to identify discrete tasks for each member of the team, under the skilful guidance of Grudge, and, with regular debriefing sessions, they all managed to keep abreast of what other team members had achieved. As Robin had thought, it was not proving easy, by any means, but some limited progress soon became obvious, and this they all found encouraging. They were now using some new programmes that they had developed between them, one of which had been running for two days and nights trying to unravel the complexities of the Russian's work.

  "This is computer hacking with knobs on!" commented Jim at one stage. "I really am enjoying the challenge of this, and I can almost begin to see that we shall succeed."

  "I agree," said Valya. "And I know my father is tremendously keen that we should succeed, and convinced that we shall."

  It was nearly two weeks later when they made their first major advance. After several attempts, each one of which ended in failure and disappointment, they suddenly achieved the breakthrough they had been aiming for. They were able to penetrate the initial line of encrypted defence in the operating system that Grudge and his Russian colleagues had developed.

  This caused huge excitement, and they carefully installed the new operating system into their own computer network, checking again that it really worked, so that they could use it at will in the future. As a fail-safe, back-up copies of the software programme were made and safely stored away. What all this meant was that, from now on, they could quite easily, and at will, infiltrate the first line of defence of a bank's computer system. They had found the major weakness that Robin had all along believed to exist. But there was still a long way to go before the new development was of any real use, but at least now they could plan the next vital steps.

  Eventually it was agreed that they would concentrate their future work on a single bank, which operated widely both in the UK and around the world. As it happened, the bank used by Robin and Marian fitted that bill exactly, and also meant that, if they should reach the stage of being able to transfer money electronically from one account to another, they would be able to experiment using their own accounts and not other people's. This was a vital safeguard against being detected.

  The next part of their operation saw them surreptitiously install a Trojan horse programme onto the bank's computer, which then enabled them to use the machine remotely and at will, without the bank's knowledge. To break through the bank's next line of defence, however, they needed to gain access to the passwords used by the bank's staff to log on to the various levels of the system. With an insider working in the bank, that would have been relatively simple, but they didn't have one. Instead, again surreptitiously, they introduced a keylogging virus into the system, which automatically recorded every key that was pressed when the system was switched on, and then emailed the results to the team's own network of machines in Oxford. Since the first thing any operator did was to log on, using both his own personal password, and then the encrypted password used by the bank for access to that level of the computer system, it was not long before they had almost all the information they needed for their own computer to search the pages and pages of data to identify the critical passwords.

  Valya was in charge of this aspect of the work, but it was a long process, and took hours of computer time.

  "I can see now," said Jim, "why you were keen for me to stay at the Bank of England. If I was at my computer terminal there, I would be able to access this information in half the time."

  "That's what I hope you will be able to do for us eventually," said Robin. "We can't sit here forever, getting this information from each of the banks we need access to."

  "Let's see how we get on with your
own bank first, working from here," suggested Jim, "but I should be able to help to get into almost any bank - certainly those using the Grudge protocols - just by using the software we have developed. After that, getting into individual accounts will largely depend on whether or not we can get sufficient detail about the accounts, not least the branch sort code and account number."

  "Does that include foreign banks?" asked Valya.

  "Any bank anywhere, so long as they are using a security system based on Grudge's encryption device," replied Jim Farlow.

  "That's good news," said Grudge. "I would certainly not want to make much use of our new toy before we offer up a counter-measure, so the less we use it the better it will be. We shall only draw attention to ourselves if we play around with it too often."

  "I agree," said Robin. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves - we must press on to complete the process we have started, but we really have made excellent progress so far, and, I dare suggest, done the hard bit."

  "I think you're right," said Grudge. "Once we know that we can get at both your accounts remotely, and move money between them, we shall need to carefully plan what else we can do - to right a few wrongs, as you put it. Then, with all speed, we must develop a patch for the system we have penetrated."

  "That will take carefully planning, too," said Robin.

  "I think," said Marian, "that we all deserve a bit of a break. Certainly the cook does! Why don't we have the evening off, and go out for a quick meal somewhere, if only to celebrate the progress we've made so far."

  Sergei Volkov stretched and yawned. "I for one could certainly do with a break," he said. "Let's have a meal out and an early night. I have my interview tomorrow. Perhaps we could agree what I can tell the panel about what we're doing."

  In fact, Grudge didn't need to worry too much about that, since 'electric whiskers' did it for him. It was obvious that Robin's old tutor was greatly impressed by the work they were all doing, and equally impressed with the pioneering work that Sergei had done earlier in the States. He was obviously keen for the Russian to join the tutorial staff of the University, and therefore set out to impress his fellow panellists.

  It was a few days later that Valya announced, "Do you know, I think we now have enough information about the bank's passwords to try gaining access to individual accounts. We could probably even try to penetrate the bank's own treasury system. What do you think?"

  "Let's try the easy bit first," suggested Robin, "and have a go at getting into my own account."

  "I suggest first of all," said Grudge, "that we shut down our whole system and start again from scratch, using the new software we have developed and the stored information we have accumulated to run through the whole sequence necessary, from start to finish."

  "Why?" asked Jim.

  "Just to make sure that our work is robust enough to run 'from cold', so to speak," explained Grudge. "Once we have developed a new security system to combat what we have developed, we shall have to demonstrate both to the bank, probably at a remote site from here."

  "Good thinking," agreed Robin. "If we are sure that all the information we need is properly saved and backed up, then let's log off and turn off the system."

  Everyone nodded, and, for the first time is several days, the team's computers were turned off. They all looked at one another, each secretly fearing that some vital piece of information might have been lost.

  "Right," said Jim. "No good sitting here looking at one another. Let's boot up again, and see if we can get straight into Robin's bank account."

  There were anxious moments, as the system sparked into life again. Robin sat at the keyboard, opening the various programmes they had devised, as they all gathered round him, to watch his screen.

  "So far, so good," he said, as the bank's logo appeared on the screen. "Now let's see if I can use the passwords we have found to get at some real money."

  "Not much real money in your account, my dear!" said Marian, breaking the tension.

  "Enough!" he exclaimed. "Look at that! You can even see that I paid for dinner the other evening!"

  They cheered and clapped him on the shoulder, punching the air.

  "We've done it!" exclaimed Grudge. "Congratulations everyone."

  "I knew the system had its weak points," said Robin. "Now we can set about patching it up - that's where we shall make a few bob, I hope."

  "So what's next?" asked Valya.

  "I suppose the next sensible thing to do would be to try transferring some of my limited funds in Marian's account," said Robin.

  "Or mine, if you like!" said Jim.

  "That's exactly what I shall do, next. We need to know if the system works between banks, as well as within a bank."

  "I was joking, really," said Jim, "but since I use a different bank from yours, it would make life simpler to use my account. I shall regard it as a loan, nothing else!"

  "Then we could try to gain access to the bank's own deposits," suggested Grudge. "We shall need to be very careful about that, but if we succeed, that will convince the banking world more than anything that they should take our security development, when we have done it."

  "And then," suggested Valya, "we should try the system out internationally, as you did with your cards in Africa."

  "That's a good point," agreed Robin, "not least because if we are to try to compensate you and your colleagues, Sergei, we shall need to move money between America and Russia. I have in mind doing it through Switzerland, too," he added mysteriously.

  "Now what scheme are you devising?" asked Jim.

  "Yet another security safeguard, I hope," replied Robin. "But we are getting ahead of ourselves again."

  He turned to Marian. "How much would you like?" he asked, smiling.

  "Ten quid will do, thank you," she replied, laughing.

  Robin set about making the electronic transfer of cash between the two accounts. He then closed down his own account, and tapped in the details of Marian's.

  "Look at that!" he exclaimed. "Quick as a flash, and you're ten pounds better off!"

  "My turn, next!" said Jim.

  "You come and sit here, then" said Robin. "Move my tenner from Marian's account to yours. Let's see if you can do it!"

  Jim repeated what Robin had done, in an attempt to move the cash from Marian's account to his own.

  "Now I suppose I have to shut this whole thing down, and hack into my own bank to see if the cash has moved across," said Jim with a frown.

  Jim managed the first stage without any real problem, but once he had got through the initial computer encryption system, he sat back and raised his arms in the air.

  "Damn and blast it," he swore. "We haven't trawled through this bank with the keystroke programme, so I can't get any further. We just don't know the passwords!"

  "That'll take a few more days," said Valya.

  "Try just typing in your sort code and account number," suggested Grudge.

  He typed in the numbers, as the Russian had suggested. "Access Denied" flashed on to his screen.

  "That's what you call a bloody nuisance," said Jim. "It would have been a very handy short cut if that had worked."

  "At least it shows that you can't get further without the passwords," said Marian. "That means that we shall have to do that work for every bank we need access to."

  "Unless we know someone who works there," said Jim.

  "If not, it will take a lot of time," added Valya, "in spite of the faster programme that we have developed."

  "And it will take a lot of computer power," said Robin. "And we shan't have that available to us once we've left here."

  Sergei's mobile phone rang, and he went into the hallway to answer it. Before long, he came back with a broad grin on his face.

  "From next month onwards," he proudly announced, "you shall have all the computer power you need. They've offered me the job here in the science laboratory."

  Valya rushed over to hug her father, with tears in her eyes. "I am so
pleased for you and so proud of you," she said. "I shall stay here with you and look after you."

  Everyone joined in the congratulations, and for a time, their project was forgotten.

  "I think a drink is called for," said Marian. "Let's all go to The Lamb and Flag for a change, to celebrate."

  "And on the way, I'll call in at the hole in the wall to see if my tenner is in the account," said Jim.

  "My tenner, if you don't mind," Marian reminded him.

  "When you two have quite finished," chided Robin, "let me remind you both that it's actually my ten pounds we're talking about!"

  "Whatever," said Jim. "If it's there, I'll buy the first round."

  It was, and he did.

  They were understandably in a happy mood as they celebrated not only Sergei's new appointment, but also their success in breaking through the banks' security systems.

  "Nice though it is to relax for a bit," said Jim, "I can't wait to see if we can get at the banks' cash reserves direct, without going through individual accounts."

  "Me too," agreed Robin. "Once we can do that, we can begin to move money about to where it's really needed before we offer up a revised security system to the banks."

  "Which we have to devise first," Grudge reminded them.

  "We can do all that tomorrow," Robin said. "We've made great strides so far, and the next steps shouldn't take all that long. After that, as you reminded us, Grudge, we have to start on the second part of this project."

  "Actually," said Jim, "I wouldn't mind a couple of days off, just to see how my Mum is getting on. I've hardly had a chance to talk to her on the phone even during the past few weeks."

  "We could take a break, I suppose," said Marian. "It would be nice to get home again, especially this weekend if we can manage it, as our parents are getting together at my place in Nottingham."

  "I'd forgotten that," said Robin, "So let's agree to do that, then, providing we continue to make progress at the rate we have. What about you two," he asked Valya.

  "There's plenty we could do," replied Valya. "For a start we need to find some permanent lodgings, now we know we are going to stay here. But I think a quick trip home would be out of the question for us at this stage - perhaps before my father takes up his new post."

  Jim and Valya worked hard during the rest of the week to speed up their programme for analysing the input from their keystroke programme. In the end, they were able to sift through the downloaded information far quicker than before, and to prioritise the likely passwords that it produced, using a new system of logic that they had devised to sort possibilities into a more sensible order of likely use. This greatly speeded up their ability to progress through the bank's security checks to access the facilities they wanted.

  In the end, Jim was able to hack into his own bank and access his account, which he had not previously been able to do, while Grudge and Robin eventually succeeded in accessing the central treasury of Robin's bank.

  Although they didn't know it at the time, this caused something of a stir. Their illegal access had been detected, and caused the immediate switching of the bank's normal Internet links to an emergency back-up system. It was soon established that there was no real threat to the integrity of the network, however, and it quickly reverted to its normal mode of operation. But the fact had been logged by the network operators at Global Crossroads, based deep in the vaults of the old Financial Times building at Canary Wharf, in the docklands area of London.

  Meanwhile, Robin and his team carefully saved the revised programmes they had developed, copying them onto discs as a back up to the information held on their own computers. Once they were certain that no information would be lost, they were able to delete the programmes from the network of computers that they had been using, so as to avoid any risk of detection by the other users of the university system.

  "I think we've earned our weekend off," said Robin. "We've achieved the first part of what we set out to achieve in only three weeks. The next stage is to develop countermeasures to prevent others doing what we have been able to achieve, and to market that within the banking industry. Between now and then, we can use the new system to apply a little justice around the world."

  "We need to think how best to do that," said Grudge. "It seems to me to be a high risk operation, if we are not careful, and if we get caught we shall all end up in prison."

  "I think there is a secure way of going about things which will reduce the risk of detection," replied Robin, "and I'll go through my thoughts on that on Monday. In the meantime, perhaps you would think, Sergei, of how we can get money to your colleagues. We shall need to know names, and if possible, bank account details, so that we can make the transfers."

  "We shall need that sort of information, too," said Marian, "from Will."

  "From what he's said," replied Robin, "I think that he and his network should be able to get us what we want, probably through Justice for Farmers, but we'll need to make contact with him again soon. Perhaps I'll ring him this weekend."

  They logged off and shut down the computers, and quickly packed for the weekend.

  "I've told my parents we shall be joining them, and they are delighted," announced Marian.

  "It shouldn't take us too long to get there," said Robin. "At least we've got a decent hire car and not the old Mini. Probably the best way is via the M40, then turn off right on to the A43 to Northampton and after that most of the rest of the journey is on the M1."

  "It will be so nice to have a break," said Marian. "But I can't quite work out what we need to do next."

  "Well, if we are going to start moving money about which doesn't belong to us, I need to talk to my father again. I told him I would, and I may then have something of a surprise for you," said Robin. "Then we will probably need to go back to Africa to see Will and Bonkers again to get them organised, and after that probably a trip to Switzerland would be a good idea."

  "Wow!" exclaimed Marian. "This all sounds so exciting again, and I thought we'd more or less done everything."

  "We haven't started yet!" replied Robin.?

  10. A RUSSIAN AT OXFORD?

  Robin's parents were already there when they swept up the drive of the FitzWalter home. Inevitably, there had been a delay on the motorway - there was always a hold-up on a Friday evening, but they were still in plenty of time for an excellent dinner.

  Robin was tired, and he could see that Marian was, too. They had gone through a very hectic and stressful few weeks, what with getting back at short notice from Africa, planning and setting up the office for their small team in Oxford and then working flat-out on phase one of their project. If it had not been for Will and Bonkers, they would never have rushed at it like that, but in many ways it had perhaps been a good thing. It had concentrated their minds. They had been given every reason to work fast, and to tackle the problem immediately rather than put it off, perhaps indefinitely.

  But there were even more problems to be tackled now. Having discovered how to bypass the banks' encryption systems, they now needed to put the information to good use before they closed the door again, so to speak, by devising the revised and strengthened security system and marketing their work to the banking community. Once that had been done, they would no longer be able to access the banks at will.

  Robin was deep in thought after dinner, as he sat in the lounge with his brandy. Marian was curled up on the sofa, trying hard not to doze off, while their parents chatted on.

  "You two are not very good company this evening," said Robin's mother. "Is everything all right?"

  "Yes, fine," replied Robin. "I'm sorry if we're a bit anti-social, but we've had a very busy few weeks, and need a bit of a break. It's just so nice to be able to relax."

  "But there's still a lot of hard work ahead of us, too," said Marian, stirring. "Lots to think about and lots of planning to do."

  "How's your special project going?" asked Denis Hood.

  "That's what has been keeping us so busy, D
ad," replied Robin. "We've been very successful, and completed the first stage, but now we have to put it to good use, and then do more development work."

  "If all this is about computers," said Richard FitzWalter, "then don't even try to explain to me what you've been doing! I am technically illiterate, I'm afraid, and don't understand a thing about them."

  "Neither do I," said Elizabeth FitzWalter, Marian's mother. "We don't even have one in the house. If Richard needs any posh typing done or anything like that, he gets it done at the office. He has an excellent PA who is very efficient and helpful."

  "And well paid," added Richard, laughing. "That helps!"

  "In that case," said Robin, "I won't bore you. But I do want to talk to you about it again, Dad, sometime this weekend if possible."

  "Of course," replied Denis. "I already know a lot about it, from what you told me the last time we were together. I'm glad the project has gone so well so far."

  "Does this mean you will soon start earning money from it," asked Robin's mother.

  "No, not yet," replied Robin. "But that's one of the things we have to work out. As well as doing more work on the computer programmes themselves, we shall need to form some sort of company, I think, to market the thing - and one or two other projects I've been developing - as well as things like getting it patented and all that."

  "That's where I come in," said Marian. "I'm proving to be an excellent PA as well, and I'm also efficient and helpful, like yours, Dad! The only problem is that I'm not paid for it yet!"

  "You'll get paid when I get paid!" responded Robin. "And the other members of our little team, too."

  "Who are they?" asked Marian's mother.

  "As it happens," replied Marian, "two Russians and a fellow graduate colleague of Robin's."

  "How on earth did you come to be working with Russians?" asked Sir Richard.

  "One of them is a girl who was at St. Catherine's with me," replied Marian. "We became great friends, even though she was studying mathematics, and we met her father when he came over to visit her at Oxford."

  "He turned out to be a brilliant mathematician and one of Russia's top computer scientists," added Robin, "so we were very fortunate to get him to help us out. In fact he is so good, that he has now been offered a post on the tutorial staff at Oxford, which he's accepted."

  "When I think," said Marian, "that I was planning to go into a boring old charity of some sort when I left Oxford, and now I've been to Africa and made friends there, as well as the Russians - what a dull life it would have been if I hadn't met Robin!"

  "I think we shall probably be going to Switzerland too, soon," said Robin, "and we shall certainly need to go back to East Africa."

  "Apart from anything else, we haven't finished our holiday there yet!" said Marian. "It's all very exciting!"

  "I'm sure we're all very pleased for you both," said Elizabeth. "But you do look so tired after all your work, and the drive across here as well - why don't you get an early night, and we'll talk again tomorrow."

  Robin was rather hoping to be able to walk with his father in the extensive grounds of the house the next morning, but it was pouring with rain, so that was out of the question. After all his time shut indoors recently, Robin had been keen to get some fresh air, but instead, he and Denis went down into the billiard room.

  "You know," said his father, "if this place was in Surrey, it would be little short of a stately home and open to the public!"

  "Marian told me once that they do open the gardens a couple of times a year for charity," replied Robin, "and it certainly is a wonderful old house."

  "Richard says he loves his garden, but still needs plenty of help to keep the estate going," said Robin's father, idly trying to pot a red, and missing. "Goodness knows what it all must cost, but they don't seem to be short of the odd bob, do they?"

  "Apparently not," said Robin, "although Marian is expected to pay her own way in life without too much help from her parents," said Robin. "It's money I wanted to talk to you about, as a matter of fact."

  "I thought it might be," replied his father, missing yet another easy pot. "Have you actually managed to break into a bank now?"

  "In a manner of speaking, yes." said Robin. "Since we last spoke, my small team and I have found the weak points which we were sure existed in the banking security arrangements. We are now able to get to the heart of the bank's computer operations, and have actually managed to move money around using the Internet and our own computer programmes. So far, we have only worked with our own personal accounts, just to show that the system is robust, but we know that we can get access to the bank's main financial reserves, without going through individual accounts."

  "So what does all this mean?" asked his father.

  "It means," replied Robin, nonchalantly potting his third red, and lining up perfectly to pot his third black, "it means that we are now in a position to develop a more secure system and, hopefully, sell it to the banking world."

  "How do you do that?" asked Denis.

  "Do what? Hack into someone else's computer?" asked Robin, hardly believing his father really wanted to know the technical details of what they had done.

  "No, no! I mean how do you pot those balls so easily? I never could work out all the angles."

  "I'll show you later," promised Robin.

  "Meanwhile," said his father, returning to the subject, "you are now at the point you mentioned before, where you need to move large sums of money around - money you don't have."

  "That's right," said Robin. "Shifting the odd tenner here and there, which is what we have been doing, is never going to worry a bank sufficiently to convince them that they need to upgrade their encryption systems. And unless we can convince them of that, they will never buy our new programmes."

  "Which you have yet to invent, right?" asked Denis.

  "Right again," said Robin. "But it shouldn't take us long to do, in all honesty, although we don't actually want to put it on the market too soon."

  "Why not?" asked his father.

  "Because I want to put to good use the facility we now have available to us before we offer the banks the upgrade. There are people we know about who have been denied huge sum of money which are rightfully theirs, and while I am in a position to access the financial reserves of banks and wealthy individuals, I can redress the balance a bit."

  His father frowned. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that," he said.

  "Let me explain," said Robin, who went on to tell his father about the plight of the white farmers in Africa, and of the Soviet mathematicians who had been exploited in America.

  "You see, father," he concluded, "I am now in a position to help these people, by moving cash from those who have profited from corruption, and returning it to those who have suffered at their hands. This is not theft, and I shall not benefit from it at all myself, but it is a form of justice that I can administer, which would not otherwise be available."

  "And Padre Tucker? What does he say?" asked Denis Hood.

  "He agrees," said Robin. "It's not without its risks, but it's worth doing, in my view," continued Robin, "and I think I can reduce the risks by working through the Swiss banking system."

  Denis leant on his snooker cue, and looked hard at his son.

  "How long will all this take?" he asked.

  "With luck, only a week or so once we are all organised, and have established where the money should go. I doubt we shall be able to help all those affected, as that will depend on how much money we can trace and how many people we can identify who need help. But while all that is being done, we shall be working on the final phase of our project, ready to launch and market a new system as soon as we can."

  "And that's where you hope to make a profit - from selling your new computer security system?"

  "Absolutely," agreed Robin. "We shan't profit at all from the redistribution exercise."

  "Is Marian totally committed to this venture with you?"

  "Totally," r
eplied Robin.

  Denis Hood made another, rather desultory attempt at potting a ball, which hit several cushions before finally coming to rest on the green baize as far from a pocket as it had started.

  "So be it, then," he said eventually. "You said when we last spoke about this that you needed a large sum of money to convince the banks that their system doesn't work. Presumably, you will do your best not to be identified with the large sums you will be moving about to impose your form of retribution, so we are talking about a separate sum, are we?"

  "Yes," replied Robin.

  "So I shall have to use my power of attorney over your Aunt Gladys's estate to arrange this in some way or other," pondered his father. "How much do you want, then?"

  "Oh, I don't want anything at all," replied Robin.

  His father mis-cued completely, and very nearly tore the cloth on the snooker table.

  "But I though you said?."

  "I've changed the plan," interrupted Robin. "What I want to do now is to put money into Aunt Gladys's account. I want to see if the bank notices the new, large deposit, and whether it can trace where it came from and then return it."

  "Blimey!" exclaimed Denis. "That sounds a bit devious, if you ask me."

  "Not at all," explained Robin. "Frankly, I doubt that they will be able to trace its source, if the security arrangements I put in place work at all well. And that's what I want to test, before I start returning money to farmers and others. If my security system works, then I should be able to do what I plan without the risk of being detected."

  "So if they can't trace it and return it, then what?" asked his father. "Presumably, this will be money you've moved from some bank or other somewhere."

  "Precisely," agreed Robin. "If Aunt's bank can trace the source of the deposit and return it, so well and good. If they can't, it will eventually be passed to me in Aunt's will, so I can return it myself. All that will be lost is a bit of interest that the money will earn while it's in Gladys's bank. I might just be tempted to keep that!"

  "And what do I tell them if they do ring me?"

  "Tell them to leave the money where it is until they have established its source, and to contact you again when they have done so. Then you can authorise its withdrawal from Aunt's account, for them to return it to its rightful owner," replied Robin. "And make sure they pay the proper rate of interest on it while it's there!" he added. "But first of all, I want to see if the bank notices the deposit, and contacts you about it."

  "How much have you in mind, then?"

  "Two million pounds should be enough," replied Robin.

  "I think they'll notice!" said Denis Hood, with a laugh.

  "They certainly should spot a sum of that size moving about," agreed Robin. "I'll let you know before I make the move, but that will probably be while we're in Switzerland. I need to open up a couple of accounts over there before I do anything else, and then we shall probably have to go to Africa again. I might even run the operation from there, if not Switzerland - I haven't decided yet."

  "You must let me know where you are, so that I can keep you in touch with any developments here," said his father.

  "Of course I shall," agreed Robin. "But you should always be able to contact me on my mobile phone. I shall also need to tell Marian what's happening, by the way, as she's keeping all the detailed records of what we do. That means that I have to tell her earlier than you wanted me to about being Aunt Gladys's only heir. Do you mind?"

  "No, of course not, if you're equally sure that your relationship won't be influenced by her knowing," replied his father.

  "I'm sure it won't," replied Robin. "We've more or less decided that, whatever happens, we shall stick together after this."

  "I hope you do, and I know the FitzWalters hope so, too. You make a lovely couple, if I may say so."

  "Thanks, Dad," said Robin. "Now let me teach you some geometry, and show you how to play snooker!"