Immune (The Rho Agenda #2)(92)
One piece of the data excited him. A subsection of the communications apparatus appeared to have survived with only minimal damage, a testament to the extreme gravitational shielding that had protected it. Housed within the most heavily protected area, the Rho Ship’s intelligence-gathering capabilities pulsed with a healthy heartbeat, only awaiting sufficient power to perform the information gathering and scanning capabilities for which the system had been created.
One other interesting piece of information introduced itself to Raul. The Rho Ship hadn’t had a crew for its last mission, its operation controlled by the onboard artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, the purpose of that mission was lost in the damaged databanks, hidden away as effectively as a single grain of sand at White Sands National Monument. But it was still there, and Raul knew that, given time, he would uncover it.
With a slight shift of his thoughts, Raul brought up a three-dimensional diagram of the ship’s systems, coloring the various pieces with a color scheme displaying relative status. Spinning in his mind, it looked like a bloody mess, the display showing only occasional specks of healthier yellow and green colors. Although the overall status was disheartening, he now knew where to focus his efforts for the fastest payback.
Raul glanced up at one of the cameras Dr. Stephenson had installed to monitor his progress, a slow grin spreading across his face. It wouldn’t be long now until he showed the deputy director who was going to be using who.
93
The lights of Las Vegas lit the low clouds in a neon color storm that was like nothing Jennifer had ever seen. Across the street, Celine Dion’s wonderful voice activated the fountains of the Bellagio, pulling Jennifer toward it, along with a horde of tourists. As she listened, she found herself unable to suppress a smile. “A New Day.” How appropriate.
Strolling past the mass of spectators crowding forward to get a better view of the dancing fountains, Jennifer made her way into the luxurious lobby. Ignoring the long line at check in, she made her way directly to one of the young women currently assisting another customer.
Spotting Jennifer standing behind the couple and their two small children, the woman glanced up.
“I’m sorry, but if you’re not with Mr. and Mrs. Alfonse, you’ll have to wait in line like everyone else.”
Jennifer ignored her.
“Excuse me, but my mom and dad are in the casino somewhere and I left my key in our room. You’ll find the reservation under Wilkinson. Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Wilkinson. I’m their daughter Gale.”
As the woman’s eyes locked with Jennifer’s, they softened, a sympathetic look spreading across her face.
Turning back to the couple in front of her, the hotel clerk held up one finger. “I’m sorry. Give me just a second to help this young lady get back into her room.”
In less than a minute Jennifer found herself in the elevator, key in hand, making her way up to her twenty-ninth floor, then to her mythical parents’ room, one of the penthouse suites occupying the top seven floors. As she opened the door, Jennifer paused, gasping in delight. A powder room was located just off the marble entry. Overlooking the living area, the wet bar fronted the credenza on the back wall.
Throwing her arms wide, Jennifer turned into the bedroom, then stopped to gaze at the spectacular view offered by the floor-to-ceiling windows. Continuing her tour, she moved to the “Her” bathroom, her eyes taking in the large whirlpool tub, vanity, illuminated makeup mirror, separate water closet with toilet and bidet. After that, the “His” bathroom, with shower, bench, and steam jets was a bit of a letdown.
Jennifer giggled to herself. “He” would just have to suck it down while she enjoyed all the luxury the suite had to offer.
The fake identities and reservations for her make-believe family had been trivial, even the credit cards, social security numbers, and Cayman Island bank accounts. It was truly amazing what someone who knew how to manipulate the world’s computing systems could do, when she put her mind to it.
Laying her backpack on the desk, she pulled out the laptop, the power cord dragging the two alien headsets out with it. For some reason the sight of the translucent headbands sent a chill flowing up her spine, accompanied by a momentary pang of guilt. Perhaps she had been hasty to take them both; surely, hers would have been enough.
As she fingered them, Jennifer noticed something. Although they appeared identical in every respect, she somehow knew which one was hers, almost as if it recognized her in a way the other one did not. As she thought back upon each time she, Heather, and Mark had gone out to the Second Ship, each of them had always picked up the headset they had initially tried on. It was odd that she hadn’t noticed it before.
Jennifer considered putting on her headset but discarded the temptation. Although she knew somehow that the ship would activate if she tried on the headset and commanded the computer link to activate, the thought of attracting Dr. Stephenson’s focus stopped her. Besides, she had more pressing business to attend to.
She pushed the two headsets back into her pack and slid into the chair, leaning forward as she logged in. Having been seriously disappointed in the Windows hard drive encryption software, she had written her own, and it was this algorithm that made it impossible that anyone else could log in and access the system. Even if the hard drive were stolen, there was only one other person on the planet who could decrypt it: Heather.