by Hannah Ross
"Well, the man is obviously ingenious."
"The man is dangerous and you are acting irresponsibly getting involved in this. If Keller knows his formula has been stolen, he should go straight to the police and let them deal with it."
"But if the information is found by the police, it will end up in the White Tower, and that is precisely what Professor Keller fears. He wants to obliterate the secret of NOAGE."
"To be frank, that sounds like a terrible waste," said Daniel. "I mean…yes, obviously we can't just give everyone endless life, that would cause chaos. But if the injections are used sparingly – to prolong the life of people working on projects of national importance, or those who are facing a premature death due to illness…"
"Professor Keller believes that once the formula is out, eventually no one will be able to control its use. And you know what? I believe he's right. There'll be either civil war or corruption in every system, and the little we've managed to rebuild will all be lost. Think about it, Daniel. Would you be able to make the rational decision and say, 'I'll take NOAGE for the next decade because the country needs me, and as soon as my work is done I'll allow myself to die to free space for others?' Robots might think this way. Humans never do. We're too selfish, too fearful, too irrational. Yes, it's better to destroy the formula."
"But it's an incredible discovery."
"So were the formulae that were used to construct weapons of mass destruction. And where did it get us?" Rebecca made a sweeping gesture with her hand. "Ninety-five percent of our nation was killed. The rest are struggling to find the resources to preserve a sustainable society."
"Alright." Daniel let out a weary sigh. "What do you suggest we do?"
"We must track down Vincent Legrand's computer, hack it through the web, and destroy all the information on his hard disk."
Daniel looked at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. "You're out of your mind. That's impossible."
"Come on, Daniel. I know the Tax Office is pretty good at tracking down people's financial manipulations. You must have hacked a computer or three yourself in your years on the job."
"Yes, but that was easy work, some amateurish attempts to create a fake income record. I've never dealt with the more complicated cases. That was always done in collaboration with the police. And I'll bet you anything our friend Vincent Legrand knows all about covering his tracks."
"But…"
"Also, if he has information of this magnitude, do you really think he didn't create backup copies? The formula is probably concealed in a dozen different locations by now. Destroying his hard disk won't help. And besides, trying to resolve this single-handed will get us up to our ears in trouble. We're ordinary people, Rebecca. We have no authority to meddle in something like this, or to decide what's to be done with the formula. Let the governors up at the White Tower do the job."
"But Daniel, don't you realize…"
"No! You put this out of your mind, do you hear me? Don't let Jonathan Keller drag you into this. Tell him to report the theft, keep your head down, and let the government take care of it."
There was no use in arguing. Rebecca knew her husband well enough to realize he would not budge. She went into the kitchen to make tea, and while the kettle heated, she racked her brain for various possibilities. She did not have the skills to find Vincent Legrand or break into his computer, and though she knew a few people who could be useful, she was bound by her promise to the professor: Don't worry. I'll only consult my husband on this, and I know he won't betray us. This will stay in the family.
Some hot tea splashed on her fingers as she poured, and she mechanically put her hand under the tap, hardly feeling the pain. I won't really be breaking my promise. It will still stay in the family.
"Where are you going?" Daniel asked when she set down his cup, then walked toward the door. "Don't do anything foolish, Rebecca, or we might all pay very dearly for it."
"I'm not going to see Professor Keller. I just think a walk will do me good. To mull things over, you know. And while I'm out, I might as well check on Kate."
As Rebecca expected, she found Kate in her tiny office at the community center. Kate sat behind her rickety, cluttered desk, signing a pile of government aid vouchers which she would later distribute among the needy families of the district. When she heard footsteps, she lifted her head from the desk.
"Hey, Mom," she said, clearly surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Rebecca glanced over her shoulder. A group of teenagers, herded by their coach, was rehearsing for the charity play due to take place three weeks hence. "Can you close the door?"
Looking puzzled, Kate got up and walked to the door. "I normally keep it open. The floor's uneven and it gets stuck." She had to rattle it to get it to budge.
A rust-spotted key stuck out. It seemed as though it had not been used in ages and Rebecca barely managed to turn it. Her daughter looked at her with mounting apprehension. "What's up, Mom?"
Rebecca hesitated. Kate's grown so mysterious and evasive lately, like there's no room for me and Daniel. But time is working against us, and even our best efforts might not be enough.
It took about five minutes of rushed talking to pour it all out, Professor Keller's confidence in her, their work to destroy all the NOAGE research, Thelma's treachery, and the name of the mysterious Vincent Legrand. By the time she was done talking, Kate's bright green eyes were sparkling with excitement.
"So the formula is out of government hands?"
Rebecca sighed. "It appears to be so. Professor Keller is extremely concerned, and with good reason. Please, Kate. It might be easier to track down Vincent Legrand's computer than Vincent Legrand himself. Do you think one of your hacker friends might be up to the task?"
Kate bit her lip. "There might be someone."
Rebecca took hold of her hand. "Is this someone trustworthy?" she asked, her voice sharp with worry.
"He had better be," said Kate.
While they waited for the bus, Kate stepped into a phone booth and dialed a number she obviously knew by heart. "Tony?" she said. "Are you home? Well, you'd better get there now. No, not soon, I said now. What? I'll explain later." She hung up.
Twenty minutes later, when they stepped down from the bus, Rebecca looked around. They were in one of the Utility Districts. Row upon row of crowded buildings crammed with hundreds of tiny apartments intended for students or young couples. She and Daniel had lived in such a place before Jordan was born and they were able to upgrade to the little four-room flat they occupied to this day.
The elevator took them up to the fifth floor, where Rebecca saw a dozen doors, all with identical brown peeling paint. Kate knocked on number seven.
The door was wrenched open by a tall, dark-haired young man. "I surmise this is an emergency," he said, grinning, "and you're not just…" He noticed Rebecca and his eyebrows climbed up a notch.
"Tony, this is my Mom."
"Very nice to meet you. Anthony Wayne." He held out his hand for her to shake, then showed them in. "I'm afraid I hadn't counted on visitors. The place is a mess."
"Isn't it always?" said Kate, kicking aside an empty beer can.
A mess is no exaggeration, Rebecca thought as she surveyed the tiny flat. It looks exactly like the home of a single young man with nobody around to remind him to clean up after himself.
Clothes were strewn everywhere. The shaggy carpet looked like it could do with a good vacuuming. Plates and cups were perched on haphazardly stacked books, the computer desk was cluttered with papers, notebooks, and beer cans, and the sink in the little kitchenette threatened to collapse under a tottering pile of dishes.
Apart from the supreme untidiness of the place, Rebecca felt like she was hurled thirty years backwards. The outline of the apartment was identical to their first home. The only inside door led from the living room-kitchen area to the bathroom. There was no bedroom. She guessed the living room couch converted to a bed. When space was scarce, people came
up with all kinds of solutions. She remembered only too well the inflatable mattress she and Daniel used back then. The very thought of it was enough to bring on a backache.
Kate strode to the old fridge, the door of which was covered with magnets and Stick-Its, and pulled out two beer bottles.
"Here, Mom. And no need to look so shocked. I've been of legal drinking age for a while now."
"Hey, those are my last ones," a dismayed Tony said. His frayed, torn jeans, faded T-shirt with rolled-up sleeves, long ponytail and dangling earring would have earned Rebecca's instant disapproval if it were not for the keen, intelligent expression of a face that sported a Roman nose, straight, charcoal-black eyebrows, and light-hazel eyes that provided an interesting contrast to his cleanly shaved dark skin.
Rebecca thrust her unopened beer bottle into his palm. "I'd rather have coffee."
She and Kate sat at the tiny kitchen table while Tony scanned his shelves for a clean cup, and Kate began to talk. After a minute or two, Tony was so stunned he nearly dropped the sugar container. He stood there, leaning on the counter and facing them, his mouth hanging slightly open in fascination.
"You're kidding," he finally said in a hushed voice.
"I know you can do it, Tony," said Kate, edging past him to the electric kettle and pouring boiling water into a chipped mug. She added some powdered milk, passed the mug to Rebecca, and ripped open a packet of biscuits.
His head shook as he peeled the label from his beer. "I've never done anything like this."
"Sure you have. I've seen you break into people's computers loads of times."
"This is different," he snapped. "If someone else is following this Legrand guy…if we're somehow traced…"
"Nobody in the White Tower knows about the theft yet, right, Mom?"
"Nobody is supposed to know. Professor Keller pretends to be working as usual, and he still has stocks of NOAGE to ship to the White Tower. But this will be discovered, and soon."
"We can't let them have this formula, Tony," said Kate, laying a hand on the young man's tanned arm. "Things are corrupt enough as it is."
Tony sat down to his computer. His fingers dashed across the keyboard as he stared at the screen. "This is mad. Even if I'm able to do this, who says this Vincent Legrand, or whatever his name is, didn't make a million copies and stash them in a bunch of different places? That's what I would have done."
"I know, but maybe he didn't. He must have stolen it for someone who's going to pay him a lot of money. What will that person do if he finds out Legrand sold it to someone else?"
"Okay, that's a good point."
"It's either try to find and stop him, or do nothing, and we can't just do nothing."
A nod accompanied Tony's sigh as he turned to Rebecca. "What else do you know about him?"
"Just an email address."
"Seriously? Why didn't you say so? That changes everything!"
"What do you mean?"
Tony glanced at Kate, who gave the slightest of nods.
"You cannot repeat this to anyone, not even your husband. Ever. If you do, and those in power find out, we'll all have unfortunate accidents, probably on the same day."
"I understand. I promise."
"Almost all IslandNet traffic goes through computers in the White Tower. It's all checked for anything suspicious. The only traffic that doesn't is that which originates from or is addressed to a few dozen accounts in the White Tower."
"How do you know this?"
"I know the people who wrote the code for the last upgrade ten years ago. They left some back doors. You know what that means?"
"Yes. It means you can…what…log into someone's account in the Tower without them knowing?"
"Pretty much. And anything I do while using that account isn't recorded anywhere."
"But how…"
"I'm sorry. I can't tell you more than that." He turned to the computer. "This will likely take some time," he added, taking a sip from his beer.
A minute later, columns of numbers, letters and symbols were running down the screen so fast it made Rebecca's eyes water when she tried to follow it. She gave up and paced absent-mindedly around the small cluttered space, nearly tripping over a narrow end table almost entirely covered by haphazard stacks of old comics and computer magazines. An oval-shaped, pastel-colored hairbrush was perched on top of the stack. As she stared at it, she realized the few hairs tangled in it were exactly the same color as Kate's.
She stole a glance at her daughter, who was perched on the corner of Tony's desk, her foot swinging in the expression of nervousness that characterized her since childhood. So here's another thing you haven't told me. Oh well, I suppose you could have done worse. She stifled a sigh as she stared at Tony's fingers flying across the keyboard. Is it supposed to hurt this much to discover your children are truly adults who don't need mothering anymore?
During the hours that passed, Tony occasionally let out barely perceptible huffs and puffs of frustration. He drained his beer bottle and pushed it aside. With his well-muscled arms and solid tan, he did not look remotely like a hacker. If Rebecca had to guess his occupation, she would have offered something that involved spending the greater portion of his time outdoors.
She was about to get up and open the window in the hopes of catching a stray breeze to refresh the stifling air in the little room, when Tony's sharp intake of breath made her jump.
"What?" She edged quickly toward the desk. "Did you find something?"
"I think we've got him." His fingers flew across the keyboard faster than ever.
"Is it Vincent Legrand?" Kate asked.
"I'm not sure about the name, but I ran a search for his email traffic. It took so long because he rarely uses it. Once I found them in the Tower database, I checked the originating IP addresses and then searched for the computer it's assigned to. Unfortunately, most IPs outside of government are shared, so I had to search all the machines that share that address for the zip file, hoping he didn't rename it." He coughed and shook his head. "The worst part is that his was one of the first few I tried, but it was turned off. On the third pass through the list, he'd turned it on and was playing some game."
"So you're into his computer right now?" Rebecca asked.
"I am."
"Can't he tell?"
"Not unless he's monitoring the machine. But I doubt his computer skills are that sophisticated." A few seconds of typing later, surprise-party.zip appeared on the monitor.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"Genius," Kate said with quiet satisfaction. "I can't believe you pulled this off, Tony."
"Can you delete it so he can never get it back?" Rebecca asked.
"Better. I can wipe it so it can't be restored," said Tony. "Should I do it now?"
"Yes, as quickly as you can," Rebecca, hoping against hope the thief did not make copies as Tony suggested.
"Wait!" Kate said. "Can you make a copy of it first, Tony?"
"A copy?" Rebecca eyed her daughter warily. "The point is that no copies remain. That's what Professor Keller wants."
Kate took a deep breath. "I realize the professor is the author of his research. But I believe that…" She paused, searching for words. "I'm not sure he has the right to flippantly dispose of his discovery in such a manner. NOAGE should belong to the people, not to a single person. Just consider how much good the limited use of it could do." She trailed off with a dreamy expression on her face.
"Well, I happen to think Professor Keller is absolutely right," said Rebecca. "You can never control the distribution of something like this. It's too tempting, too powerful. People would do anything to lay their hands on it. Destroying it is the only way."
"But…"
"Kate," Tony said. "The file is encrypted with a very long password we don't know. Even if we saved it, it would take a century or more to decrypt it."
Kate's head shook. "Then I guess the very least we can do is try and make sure the formula does
n't fall into the hands of the White Tower. Do it, Tony."
"Just a second," he mumbled, as he typed in a few more commands before looking up at Rebecca. "Would you like the honor of wiping the file?"
"Thank you. Yes."
"Then just press Enter."
The three of them stood there, staring at the screen for a few seconds until the file name vanished.
"That's it," Tony said in a low voice. "God, I hope nobody ever finds out we did this."
They did not linger after that. They walked out of the apartment together with Tony, who volunteered to escort them to the bus stop.
"Professor Keller is a brave man," Kate said as they stood waiting for the bus. "He realized the White Tower must not be given more control over people's lives. Now that I've had time to think, I do believe you were right, Mom. We did the right thing. All gone, no copies. And all thanks to Tony. Tony?"
He stood with his arms folded, staring into space, contemplating the enormity of what he just did when he heard his name, started, and glanced at Kate. "Hmm?"
"I was just saying, isn't it a relief that the formula is destroyed?"
"Oh. Right. A relief, yes."
Rebecca thought he sounded a little uncertain, but she hoped it was be just her imagination.
She and Kate did not exchange more than a few words until they returned home. When they got there, Kate went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea, and Rebecca picked up a postcard.
"It looks like Jordan and Allie are enjoying their honeymoon."
Jordan did not have much money, and within the Boundary there were not many places to travel to, but Allie's family had given the young couple tickets across the ocean, to one of the few places in the Alps which could boast beauty that had not been destroyed by the War. The postcard featured some very tall, white-capped mountains silhouetted against the blue sky, with a picturesque little town nestled in the valley between them.
"Stop biting your fingernails, Mom," said Kate as she returned from the kitchen with two cups of tea. "We did everything we could. There's nothing left to do now but wait."
"I know."