The Wizardry Consulted (Wiz, #4)(43)

“Technicalities,” he grumbled into his coffee cup. “Tied in knots by damn technicalities.”

“I told you it was a mailbox,” Ray Whipple told him.

“It’s a top secret government mailbox and these hackers are breaking into it!”

“Look,” Ray said slowly and carefully, as if explaining something to a child. “We only know that some messages from that mailbox passed through her system. The messages we have were addressed to other accounts on that domain, she says she never got any messages from that account, there’s no sign of any such messages on her system and she doesn’t know where to find the people the messages were sent to.”

“Yeah, but someone had to send the message in the first place and that person had to break into the mailbox.”

“But she didn’t send mail to herself,” the astronomer said patiently. “The messages weren’t for her and she didn’t know that address was some sort of government secret. Hell, she claims she didn’t even know those accounts were on her machine. That makes her as much a victim as the government. You can’t arrest her for that. Especially since the thing’s so secret you can’t admit it’s a secret in the first place.”

“Hah!” Pashley said.

Whipple shrugged. “You can’t prove otherwise.”

“Technicalities,” Pashley repeated. “Picky little technicalities. They’re what’s ruining this country.”

“Myron, she’s innocent.”

Pashley snorted. “With a record like hers? She disappears, right out of a locked hospital ward, and no one knows where she’s gone, and she’s innocent?”

“She had a head injury. The hospital screwed up when she came out of the coma, she wandered around for a while before they found her. The hospital admitted they were wrong by settling with her, didn’t they?”

“For all we know she was kidnapped by aliens for experiments or something,” Pashley retorted.

Actually Pashley was closer to the mark than Whipple, although neither of them would have believed the real story. Judith had been taken to Wiz’s World as part of the battle against computer criminal magicians at Caermort. She had been healed there and returned to our world when the situation was stabilized.

Suddenly Pashley brightened. “A brain probe! Maybe she’s jacked into the net directly through her brain. We can find out with an X-ray or MRI or something.” He stood up and strode out into the main office. “Hey John,” he called, “have we got an X-ray machine around here?”

Ray Whipple put his head in his hands and groaned.

* * *



By mutual consent, the programmers and Judith Conally kept word of the FBI raid from Wiz. So naturally Wiz kept sending e-mail and chatting with thekeep.org as if it was still there.

Which it was, of course. In spite of what it said in the paperwork, the real server for the domain had always been in the Wizard’s Keep in another world. True, there was now no computer in Judith’s apartment, but that didn’t matter to the signal. It was tapped off magically between the junction box and the apartment. First, however, it traveled through the local telephone office, where the FBI was monitoring the line.

Clueless Pashley looked at the surveillance report and slammed it down on the table. “We didn’t get it,” he said disgustedly. “Someone’s still using that computer link.”

“But that’s impossible,” Arnold protested. “We got her computer.”

“Well, she’s still on-line. Look at this. She must have another computer in there.”

The other FBI agent went over the transcript and shook his head.

“But we got all the computer equipment in the apartment.”

“Then it’s got to be disguised as something else.” He riffled through the sheaf of pictures of Judith’s apartment. “What about that wall of electronic stuff?”

“That was a stereo system.”

“Are you sure? You can disguise a computer to look like anything. These hackers are diabolical. Come on, let’s go back to the judge.”

This time the agents carried off a complete stereo system, a big-screen television complete with video game console, and anything else in the apartment that looked electronic, including a clock radio. Again they gave Judith an itemized receipt with serial numbers. Then they departed as quickly and officiously as they came.

“This,” Judith said to the bare wall where her stereo had been, “is bloody ridiculous.”





Fifteen: Competition


Utter incompetence never kept anyone from underbidding and over-promising to get the job.

The Consultants’ Handbook



Wiz was having another lousy morning. He had left the house to escape the usual flow of people who wanted him to solve their problems only to run into the mayor at the town hall, who wanted to know how the dragon program was coming, and by the way did he have anything for a head cold? Wiz barely got out of that when he encountered Dieter Hanwassel and a couple of his council flunkies in the square.

“There you are, Wizard.” Dieter made it sound like an accusation.

“Here I am,” Wiz agreed glumly. Then he waited.

“I’m giving you one last chance, Wizard,” Dieter said at last. “You can see things our way or suffer the consequences.”