The Second Ship (The Rho Agenda #1)(94)
In a wonderful departure from what you would normally expect from a boy his age, Raul listened to her with an easiness that showed he didn’t feel he had to prove himself to her. And that allowed him to actually hear what she was saying. Even his strongly held religious beliefs built no wall between them. In fact, when Heather had asked to attend one of Raul’s Bible study sessions, he had laughed but demurred, telling her that he just wouldn’t feel right pushing his beliefs on her. It gave Heather a warm feeling inside to be around someone who had such a perfect understanding of who he was.
But this was a new Saturday, and there was no time for more than fleeting thoughts of school, basketball tournaments, or even Raul. Heather had barely gotten to sleep last night. After all, today was the day.
Heather had even begged off on the family shopping trip to Santa Fe, saying the science project demanded her full attention today. Although her mother had looked skeptical, her dad had understood. A science project was a science project. Heather had not even had to lie, except by omission.
Today was the day when she, Jennifer, and Mark would become the first humans to tap into the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNet as it was more commonly known, via an undetectable subspace signal. Actually, that wasn’t quite right. The subspace signal could be detected, but only if you had a correctly tuned subspace receiver, something that was pretty unlikely.
Heather was so excited she could barely contain herself. If all went according to plan, they could generate a remote digital signal on any line in the world, assuming they could attain the exact four-dimensional coordinates for that line. And that went for fiber-optic lines as readily as wired networks.
That concept was truly magical: In an optical fiber line, light carried the information instead of an electrical signal, as in a wire line. But in the subspace to normal space interface, there was no difference in the way either signal was generated. It was delicious. The NSA was about to get quite a shock.
It was no great surprise for Heather to discover that Mark and Jennifer were already gathered around the computerized control system for their subspace transmitter by the time she entered the Smythe garage. Her two friends huddled under the tall halogen lamp that provided indirect illumination to the work area.
Heather slid into the folding chair beside Jennifer, a spot she had come to think of as the copilot’s seat. As Jennifer’s fingers danced across the keyboard of the laptop, gradually bringing the cold fusion tank online, Heather monitored the output indicators. So long as everything stayed within projected norms, she just had to help with the tuning of the subspace wave steering.
Mark was on call with his language skills. Since seeing Jack deal with the Rag Man, Mark had become fascinated with spy agencies. He had read everything he could find on the subject and had also determined to understand the technical side of remotely tapping into the SIPRNet.
“So we’re going to tap into one of the lines directly inside the Puzzle Palace?” Mark asked.
“That’s the plan,” said Heather. “We have the coordinates for the building on Ft. Meade, but picking a line is going to take us a while.”
“From what I read, all of the SIPRNet lines will be shielded in TEMPEST-rated facilities.”
Jennifer raised her head. “What is TEMPEST?”
Mark turned back toward his sister. “It’s a code word used to describe the way secure systems have to be shielded so that the electromagnetic signals they give off can’t be monitored remotely.”
“Yes,” said Heather. “Even typing on a keyboard produces little electronic signals that leak out into the surrounding space. They are weak, but if someone has the right equipment, they can pick up the signal and find out exactly what you were typing. The same thing applies for all electronic equipment.”
Mark nodded. “So, TEMPEST-rated facilities have special requirements, like being wrapped with metal or wire mesh that blocks those electromagnetic signals from escaping.”
“But that won’t cause us any problem,” said Heather. “Every signal has a tiny leakage into subspace, and no TEMPEST countermeasures will stop that. We’ll be able to pick up the signals from any network once we narrow in on a specific line and pick up the data flowing across it. We only need a tunable subspace receiver for that.
“But putting a signal back on the remote line is what requires all this power and the subspace transmitter. And since we’re the only ones with a subspace receiver-transmitter, we’re the only ones that can do this.”
Jennifer glanced at her readings. “Power levels at seventy-seven percent. Now eighty.”
Heather leaned in closer. “Okay. Nice and steady.”
“Eighty-five.”
“Keep it coming.”
“Ninety-three.”
“Okay now, ease off a bit. Steady up at around ninety-eight and let it stabilize.”
“Got it. Coming up on ninety-six now. All right. Ninety-seven. Backing down a bit more on the stimulation. There it is, ninety-eight and holding steady.”
Heather stared at the displays for several seconds before she was satisfied. “Ever so slowly now, nudge it up that last two percent.”
For almost two minutes Jennifer worked the keyboard, making incremental adjustments to the reaction controlling signal strength. On the side of the tank, the banks of colored LED lights twinkled as data cascaded through the various registers in the central processing unit. As Jennifer watched that, Heather focused on the computer monitor. Perfect.