The African Diamond Trilogy Box Set

by Christopher Lowery

  Middleton added, ‘I think we should keep this information to ourselves, for the moment at least. If I’m right, we don’t want to alarm anyone into an impetuous burst of action which could have unfortunate consequences. Thank you for your excellent research, Ilona. I may occasionally conceive a few interesting theories, but theories are only as good as the research work which proves or disproves them and that is your great skill.’

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  Leo had spent the morning looking at the results of their Mark VII testing while Ed and Sharif were in the downstairs lab, trying vainly to knock out his primitive wireless networks. For the first time since he’d arrived at XPC, everything was working as it should. They met in the canteen at lunchtime to review their progress. Tom and Shen had flown off to New York that morning, safe in the knowledge that their teams were delivering the project.

  ‘You know what, guys?’ Leo took a swig of his Coke.

  ‘Tell us, oh Lord and Master.’ The Liverpudlian unwrapped another pack of chewing gum and popped a piece in his mouth.

  ‘Well, thanks to your terrific efforts, I think we’re going to make the launch date. We’ve got three weeks to tweak and refine and get the final package to Shanghai.’ He held out his bottle to clink with the others.

  ‘I think we’ll beat it by at least a week. Ed and I have prepared final testing on the end-to-end process for the teams tomorrow, and if it goes well, I’ll have the design and mask ready to print what should be the definitive card next week. After that, from where we’re at, a few days’ testing is more than enough.’ Sharif clinked his bottle with a beaming smile. He was enjoying his moment in the limelight. ‘But I’ve got a favour to ask.’

  ‘Ask away, you’ve earned a lot of favours.’

  ‘My brother’s flying in from Lahore this afternoon and I’d like to go and pick him up. But that’s not the favour. He’s only staying for three days and he’s never been before, so I want to show him around tomorrow and Friday, if that’s OK. I’ve already got the tests ready to give to my guys, and they don’t need me to look over their shoulder. I can come in to check everything on Saturday after he leaves.’ He looked at Leo hopefully.

  ‘What do you think, Ed. Can we cope without this genius?’

  ‘We’ll try our best.’

  ‘Go see your brother, Sharif. Then no more rest until we sign off the beta testing and get Shanghai started on Mark VII production.’

  London, England

  Ilona Tymoshenko was reading through her notes from the various meetings she’d been in that day. She had an excellent memory, but always wrote them immediately afterwards, while the events were still fresh in her mind. Before leaving the office in the evening, she would go back over them to look for any points she might have missed, or to add thoughts which had occurred to her later. The notes were well hidden in the private, encrypted personal files in her tablet, which was not connected to the general office system. Ilona was an expert in concealment, it was part and parcel of her upbringing and training in Ukraine, under the shadow of their Russian neighbours.

  The last item was her discussion with Hugh Middleton about Daniel Oberhart’s involvement with XPC, and his theory around the consequences of Shen Fu Liáng’s birth and the death of his parents. Hugh seems to have spent a lot of time thinking about this, she reflected. It’s not at all related to our business and yet he’s becoming obsessed by it. She remembered his phrase, ‘an impetuous burst of action which could have unfortunate consequences’. He must have meant Leo Stewart. There’s some connection there that he doesn’t want to reveal. But what?

  Ilona wrote, ‘Previous relationship/connection with Leo Stewart? Rwanda, mother – author, aunt Jenny Bishop – private equity’. She decided to do further research on the subject when she had time. Once again, she suspected there was something that her partner was concealing from her, and she didn’t like it.

  TWENTY-ONE

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  Wednesday, 7 July 2017

  Leo finished the paperwork that had accumulated in his inbox over the last few days and went along to put the file on Nora’s desk. He had refused the offer of an assistant, since he didn’t feel the small amount of admin work he had to cope with at XPC justified the cost. Tom’s PA had the time available and was more than happy to help him out. He had no further plans for that evening, so he could catch up on the less stimulating side of his job.

  He’d taken Angela out for dinner to the Crystal Lagoon the previous night and it hadn’t been an unbridled success. She was a complicated woman, with very changeable mood swings. Halfway through the meal she told him she had a headache, was bored and wanted to go home. Spurning a ride on the Harley, she called a cab, gave him a perfunctory peck on the cheek and disappeared into the night. Leo hadn’t had the chance to share the good news about his successful day at XPC; she wasn’t in a talkative frame of mind, she was rude and disinterested and then she was gone. He rode home wondering what he’d done to deserve such a miserable end to a great day, and went to bed in an unhappy state of mind. He still found her mysterious and beautiful and was sexually attracted to her, but he couldn’t cope with what he decided was simply a selfish and spoiled attitude to others. He would leave her alone until she called and apologised, if she ever did.

  It was not yet nine o’clock and he decided to re-run Ed and Sharif’s latest Mark VII upgrade tests on his Leo 1, 2 & 3 networks, which were still in place. This might save time the next day when the teams ran the suite of test programmes that Sharif had left for them. He would use the printed logs of the morning’s work from their files. This was another innovation he’d introduced since his arrival. Previously, test logs were often not printed and cross-checking was almost unheard of. He wanted fresh eyes to check every test, both the written code and the physical results.

  Down in the lab, Leo ensured that the networks were running correctly, then he recreated their morning’s upgrade test codes in his laptop from the file logs. He ran the upgrades together with his upload programme on Leo 1. The result was the same, Sharif was right, they would beat their deadline by several weeks. He felt justly proud, not only for his own work, but for the great performance of the teams under his two new friends.

  Leo pressed Print to get his test log and results, and have them checked over by Ed and Sharif. The printer didn’t respond, and he saw it was out of paper. It took him a moment to renew the supply and it immediately spewed out six pages of results. He checked the sheets and saw there were two pages numbered five. The additional log sheet carried Sharif’s ID code and yesterday’s date with an eleven-thirty p.m. timeline. The machine had obviously run out of paper after printing page four of his tests and he hadn’t noticed. He must have been working after I left to see Angela, Leo realised. That’s dedication. He put it to one side while he put the printouts of his own work into his master file then took everything back up to his office.

  Replacing Ed and Sharif’s morning’s test logs into their files, Leo had a momentary doubt. I don’t remember seeing a log of Sharif’s testing last night. He checked the file again; there was no log for testing at eleven-thirty the previous night. He pulled out the Pakistani’s morning log again and compared it with page five from the printer. The two logs seemed to be identical, showing that Sharif had run the same tests last night as he had this morning. That’s odd, why would he do the same tests last night and again this morning, with exactly the same results? He continued comparing the sheets down to the last instruction, then stopped with a shock. There were three extra lines of code on last night’s sheet, three lines that were not on this morning’s log. Why? What was in those lines that Sharif didn’t want me, or presumably anyone else, to see?

  It was now after eleven, and Leo’s head was aching after the long day and the concentration needed to recreate the coding and multiple testing he’d just executed. He decided to call it a night and leave that problem for tomorrow. There must be a good explanation for it, he tol
d himself. He rode home on the Harley, went straight to bed, and was instantly asleep.

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  Club 27 was quiet for a Wednesday night. Since DeeJai’s final show the previous Sunday, there had been a noticeable drop in customers. The club director was already talking to his management company about getting him back as soon as he’d finished his stint in New Zealand, he was the most successful act they’d ever had, and takings and profits had reflected that.

  Ed Muire and Lynne had got there at ten and had the place almost to themselves. They knew the regular DJ and sometimes dropped in for a drink and dance, when Lynne wasn’t working the evening shift at the Corner House. The disc spinner was less creative than DeeJai but he played a lot of eighties music that they both loved. Right now, they were dancing to a slightly upbeat version of Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, with Ed’s added lyrics in her ear. Ed was a genuinely funny man who fancied himself as another Jimmy Tarbuck, and what he lacked in talent he made up for in spontaneity. She liked his light-hearted approach to life and they got on well together, making life in the Emirates an enjoyable experience for them both.

  The DJ moved to a more romantic mood and they went over to sit in one of the alcoves at the back of the bar. They ordered drinks and talked for a while, Ed keeping an eye on the action in the club from his vantage point facing the dance floor. After a while, an attractive woman came in and sat in one of the side alcoves. Ed recognised her.

  ‘Don’t look now, but Angela just came into the bar, alone.’

  Lynne managed to refrain from turning to look. ‘Something happened with Leo?’

  ‘I don’t know. He said they had a date last night, but he didn’t want to talk about it today. I guess it wasn’t what he was hoping for.’

  She laughed and punched him on the arm. ‘You mean he’s just like you. What do you think he was hoping for?’

  ‘Wait, someone else has joined her, another woman. I don’t believe it.’ Angela stood up and embraced the woman fondly, kissing her on the lips. They sat down side-by-side at the back of the dim alcove, close together, holding hands and talking quietly.

  ‘Ed, if you don’t stop being so mysterious, I’ll turn around to see what’s going on. Who came in?’

  ‘It’s Shen’s partner, the Belgian woman. Looks like they were expecting to meet up.’

  ‘What’s so strange about that?’

  ‘I just didn’t know they were such good friends. Shen’s away in New York, so I suppose it’s only normal to have a girls’ night out, but…’

  ‘You know I haven’t got eyes in the back of my head. I’m going to the ladies. I can’t stand being told about something I can’t see. Get me another glass of wine please, I won’t be long.’

  Lynne walked on the other side of the room to the toilets, looking surreptitiously across at the two women. They were sitting right at the back of the alcove, invisible to most of the room, heads close together as they talked, still holding hands, looking into each other’s eyes. While the cat’s away, she said to herself. Almost as if they’re an item. Well, well, who’d have guessed?

  * * *

  Ed whispered, ‘Look, she’s stroking Angela’s thigh under the table.’

  ‘You mean like this?’ Lynne stroked her hand along the inside of his thigh. She was now sitting next to Ed on the other side of the alcove, from where she could partially see the two women.

  ‘I think it was bit higher,’ he said hopefully.

  She smiled coyly, ‘That’s turning you on isn’t it? Two women we know, being friendly in a bar. It might mean nothing. Not everyone is as unromantic as a Scouser.’

  Fascinated, they sat watching Angela and Elodie for another half hour, saying hardly a word. They were still sitting in the same pose, holding hands and looking lovingly at each other. There was a lot of kissing and stroking going on and they moved apart only when the waiter fetched their drinks, martinis for each of them, two lots. By now, Ed was convinced they were lovers.

  ‘Definitely a very involved item,’ he said to Lynne as they watched the two women walk out of the club at midnight.

  ‘Where do you think that leaves Leo?’ she asked.

  ‘Between a rock and a hard place, I’d say. It’s his boss’s partner, and it would be very nasty for him if he really falls for her and then finds out she prefers women, especially Elodie. In any case, we’d better not say a word about this to Leo, it’s not our business and he’s likely to get upset when he finds out.’

  ‘I don’t understand. Shen must know about this. I mean, if we’ve just seen them in the club together, we can’t be the only people who know.’

  ‘It depends on what his feelings really are for her. Maybe he doesn’t care, or she could be just arm candy. Shen’s a very peculiar character, cold and aloof, doesn’t show his emotions at all. You know, yesterday Leo managed to find a solution to deliver the upgrades that Sharif and I just couldn’t work out. It was the first time he’d really looked at the problem and he solved it in a few hours, just like that.’ He snapped his fingers.

  ‘Well done him. What’s that got to do with Shen?’

  Ed thought he picked up a slightly caustic tone in her remark, but went on, ‘He said absolutely nothing to Leo. No congratulations, no smile on his face, nothing. We were all like, wow! Cheering and thanking him, but Shen, nothing. Kind of like he’s jealous, or just doesn’t appreciate what other people do.’

  ‘So, you think he might know about Angela and Elodie and it doesn’t bother him?’

  ‘I think the real problem is he’s Chinese and they’re trained to hide their emotions. She’s a great looking woman and when we met her, she seemed smart and likeable, but to him, she might just be someone to show off with.’

  ‘Well, I think you’re smart and good to show off with. Take me home and you might find out how much you’re appreciated.’

  TWENTY-TWO

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  Thursday, 8 July 2017

  Leo went down to the lab at ten a.m. After a good night’s sleep and breakfast at the Corner House, he had examined page five of Sharif’s test log again. The last three lines of code sent a single instruction thousands of times within the space of a few seconds to cell S470C887,999: Sector 470, Cell number 887,999. A single cell among almost a billion components on the circuit card, all measuring less than a thousandth of the width of a human hair, impossible to identify without a complete diagram of the circuits and cells. Only Sharif, who managed the design of the physical unit, could explain why it was there and what its function was.

  I need to know what that instruction actually does, if anything. It could be just some kind of additional testing procedure that Sharif has designed and hasn’t mentioned to me.

  He tagged the last three lines of Sharif’s code onto the test programme he’d run the previous evening on the Leo 1 network in his laptop and sent it to his mini-hub. A sense of relief flooded over him when he saw the network was running just as before. Maybe it’s some kind of redundancy test he was running, to ensure the network wouldn’t break down under a barrage of commands to the same cell, he reasoned. He was about to close the test environment when he sat back in shock.

  Within a minute, every device incorporating a Lee-Win processor, eighty per cent of the network, had shut down. Not simultaneously and not in sequence, but sporadically here and there until nothing in the network was functioning, since those few pieces of non-Lee-Win equipment which were still running had no data to send because the transmission had been blocked further up the line.

  His heart started racing, and he realised he was sweating and breathing deeply. Hang on, he told himself. I must have screwed up somewhere. Let’s have another go. He changed the configuration to set up Leo 2, the second set of equipment, then sent the modified instruction to the hub again. He watched in horror as exactly the same thing occurred. All the Lee-Win supported devices closed down and the others were sending no data at all. He followe
d the flow of data in his mind. I must have messed up the hub somehow. There’s no data coming from it, so it’s not acting on the instructions from my laptop.

  Leo went to get himself a coffee in the canteen. He sat for a while, sipping the hot sweet liquid, thinking and rethinking the situation, going over every connection, every link in his network, trying to find the flaw, but he couldn’t. The network had worked perfectly until he’d introduced Sharif’s additional codes. But why?

  ‘Hi, Leo. How are things going with the final testing?’ Daniel Oberhart brought his coffee over and sat at his table.

  Leo was astonished. It was the first time the operations director had ever approached him in a friendly manner. ‘Morning, Daniel. I’m still working through the last clean-ups from Sharif and Ed. Still a few bugs to sort out.’

  ‘Anything I can do? I’ve helped manage a shitload of projects through the final stages, I know how tricky it can get.’

  Leo thought for a moment, Why not? He might know something about Sharif’s test routines that I don’t, he’s worked with him longer than me. ‘Do you know anything about a special redundancy test that Sharif uses to test a programme’s resilience? He’s off on a few days’ holiday with his brother and I’d rather not disturb him.’

  ‘You’d have to tell me exactly what you’re referring to, he uses a lot of techniques to test resilience.’

  ‘Something to do with a specific cell instruction?’

  ‘Do you know the cell he’s testing?’ The Swiss man took a pen and a paper napkin.

  ‘It’s in sector 470, cell number 887,999. Ring a bell?’

  Oberhart looked thoughtfully at the scribbled number and said nothing for a moment. ‘It means nothing to me, but I can look up his recent tests on the network if you like. That might tell us something.’