Immune (The Rho Agenda #2)(62)
Sure enough, the panel of multicolored LED lights twinkled in a manner that indicated the subspace transmitter was up and operational.
Jennifer looked at Mark. "Do you have the target coordinates?"
"Right here." he handed a piece of paper across the workbench.
Heather glanced at the text printed on the sheet. "The NSA again?"
"Why not? It's as good a test target as any." Mark grinned at her.
Before Heather had a chance to respond, Jennifer began typing the coordinates into the subspace transmitter control program. Watching his twin's fingers fly across the keyboard, Mark thought he detected just a hint of eagerness in her actions. Then again, why wouldn't she be eager? The controller was her design and represented a major advance from the crude controls for the original subspace transmitter.
As he watched the glittering LED lights on the display panel, Mark began to feel some of his sister's excitement. The thing was beautiful.
"I'm in," Jennifer breathed.
"Can you identify the network?" Heather asked, leaning in for a better view.
"Give me a sec."
The clicks of the keys reminded Mark of a snare drummer, so rapid that they sounded like the buzz of a drum roll.
"Looks like it's just an administrative subnet, but it is on the SIPRNet."
Mark nodded. "Good. Send the test message. Once we confirm that it’s been inserted, we can break the link. Then we’ll contact Jack."
Jennifer grinned. "It's done."
Mark leaned in to see what his sister had just transmitted. There on the computer screen, four short words clung to the white background.
"Hello, boys. I'm back."
63
"What have you got?" Jack asked, leaning over Janet's shoulder as she worked on the laptop.
"It looks like our source has decided to answer your query."
"What did he say?"
"I'll read it."
"Jack. Even if I wanted to provide you the names of the people in charge of the raid on your team, I couldn't. As you probably suspect, I am not a spy and wouldn't even know how to search for that information. However, after careful consideration, I have decided to provide you with an interface to a very unique system.
"I have transmitted a file to your laptop that contains instructions for remotely logging into my network controller. Through it, you will be able to access computer systems at any latitude and longitude you provide. And while that access will be detectable as an intrusion, your connection will be completely untraceable.
"Although I will not be able to leave this connection up at all times, you will see a small green indicator on your screen when it is available to you. Should you decide to take advantage of this offer, I believe you will find it most useful."
Janet lifted her eyes from the screen. "That's the whole message."
Jack slid into the chair beside her. "Interesting."
"If this person isn't lying."
"That should be easy to test," Jack replied.
"You know he will probably be monitoring whatever we do across this link."
"So long as the guy doesn't get in the way of what I want to accomplish, that won't be a problem. Pull up that instruction file," Jack said, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "Looks like my deadly little computer hacker is about to get back in the business."
Janet's eyes followed Jack's lithe form as he arose and walked out the hogan's doorway. Despite her growing uneasiness, she trusted Jack's instincts.
Turning her attention back to the laptop, Janet opened the instruction file.
64
Freddy Hagerman hunched forward, bathed in the dim red glow that struggled to keep the darkness at bay. A line of damp photographs dangled from clips along the clothesline, which stretched above the bathtub in the motel bathroom. As he studied a drying photograph in the makeshift darkroom, Freddy rubbed his chin.
His insistent need to cling to the old ways of doing things sometimes paid dividends. One thing you missed in digital photography was the way a photograph magically appeared from the foggy background as the development process continued. And for someone as good at that process as Freddy, there were moments as the picture emerged where otherwise hidden details stood out. One of those moments now stared him in the face.
Freddy had been photographing the Henderson House compound for the last six days, from as many different vantage points as possible. He hadn't known exactly what he was looking for, but before he set foot on the property he would. One thing he did know; the more he watched the place, the more he felt that he was peering at one of those old horror movies, the ones shot in black and white.
That was stupid, of course, probably a side effect of the utterly bizarre architecture and the white uniformed attendants that roamed the grounds. Still, Freddy was having a hard time shaking the irrational fear that had been growing in his mind.
But at the moment, his attention had been seized by a photograph of a helicopter landing on the back side of the estate. Freddy had been lucky to get it. The spot was mostly blocked from view by the buildings that surrounded it. Freddy had been in a spot on a hill opposite the gatehouse that yielded a very narrow line of sight to the helipad, when he had seen the helicopter approaching.