The Trust (The Downlode Heroes Book 2) Page 7

  “Come on, come on,” he grumbles, then he sits down on an antique chair and runs his fingers over the elegantly carved armrests. Like so much at Northridge House, the chair is a remnant from a different age; it comes from a time when there were no computers, and virtual worlds were beyond the imagination of even the bravest thinkers. It must have been nice, he thinks. No cyberwarfare, no bioterrorism, and no worldwide web to tangle the human race in its ubiquitous, sticky strands. He stares into space. What must it have been like to live a life without being at the beck and call of others twenty-four hours a day? Stewart sighs quietly and it turns into a yawn. I’m wasting time, he thinks. I should be preparing for this meeting.

  He pulls out his phone and swipes the screen to scroll through the notes he made earlier as he searched through the security logs. There’s precious little to see, and he’s already committed the details to memory. As head of operations, he keeps his fingers on the pulse of all the online activity in the Trust’s many centers. It isn’t easy to deal with that much data every day, but he has his own ways of working. He’s good at filtering out the digital noise and honing in on the critical issues. And with the help of the Trust’s talented staff of coders, he’s made sure that there are plenty of trigger points littered throughout the Trust’s systems: an army of bots, equipped with the latest machine learning software, sift ceaselessly through the Trust’s data streams, searching for tell-tale signs of suspicious activity. Very few people know the depth and complexity of the Trust’s systems, but ever since Stewart went up against the notorious cybercriminal Jacob Grimwood and found himself trapped in a VR game, he’s made it his mission to understand the security protocols from top to bottom. And he’s vowed to make them bullet-proof. It’s a herculean task, but it’s his job to be thorough, and so far he’s done well; his reputation is almost restored. But Brunner’s unexpected presence almost certainly means that someone has been up to no good, and if that’s the case and it turns out that Stewart has missed something, he’ll be in a world of trouble.

  He reaches the end of his notes then scrolls back to the beginning and reads them all again. And this time, a name catches his eye. “Asmita Sanjay,” he murmurs. “What were you doing logged in at that unearthly hour?” He scratches his chin and double-checks the time-stamp he’s copied into his notes. It doesn’t add up. He saw Asmita on duty at the reception desk as he came in, so there was no way she could be logged into the VR system. “I must’ve made a mistake,” he whispers. Sanjay is a dedicated student and an asset to the Trust. Agrippine’s corporate headhunters have been courting her for months, but she’s been indifferent to their generous offers. She’s always said she wants to work for the Trust when she completes her five years; she wants to give something back to the organization that recognized and nurtured her talents, and so helped her to escape the grinding poverty of her home.

  Stewart stares at the small screen and the densely typed figures swim out of focus. He rubs his eyes. “Christ, I need some sleep,” he mutters. And at that moment, the boardroom door opens and Angela Rosalyn, the head of faculty at the Northridge Center, steps into the corridor and closes the door behind her. She has the haughty poise of a ballerina, but when she looks down at Stewart, there’s a mischievous glint in her eyes, and she takes a sharp breath, flaring her nostrils.

  “I’ve just slipped out for a moment. I told them I needed the loo. I always like to slip in the odd Anglicism, it confuses the hell out of our trans-Atlantic colleagues.” She stops talking abruptly and looks Stewart up and down. “Good lord, H! What’s happened to you? You look like you’ve had a night on the tiles.”

  Stewart stands and gives Angela an appraising glance. She is elegantly dressed in a carefully tailored trouser suit that complements her slim build. The silky, gray material of her suit is set off by a simple white blouse, and her dark brown hair is, as always, elegantly styled. “Whereas you, my dear Angela, look every inch the English rose.”

  Angela raises her left eyebrow. “Save your charm for those who might be taken in by it. But whatever you do, wipe that smile off your face before you come in—they’re in no mood for levity this morning.”

  Stewart nods. “I don’t suppose you can give me a clue as to what all this is about?”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. Do you think I’d rob Brunner of his moment of glory?”

  “Quite frankly, yes.”

  Angela smiles. “OK, you’ve got me. I wouldn’t breathe this to another soul, but since it’s you…” She breaks off and takes a step closer to Stewart. “There’s been a breach, Stewart. A big one. Someone has been trying to hack into the MENT0R system, and they think it started here.”

  The blood drains slowly from Stewart’s face. “No. That can’t be right.”

  “Listen, I shouldn’t have told you, so when you get in there, look surprised. And if I were you, I’d be contrite, and I’d swear to get to the bottom of this as fast as possible.”

  “Yes. Yes, you’re right. Thanks for the heads-up, Angela.” Stewart runs a hand over his hair to flatten it. “Do I look all right?”

  Angela hesitates. “Heads-up? You spend too long in the States, H. Just be careful you don’t turn into a corporate dummy like Farlan.”

  “Ugh! Is he in there?”

  “Oh yes,” Angela says. “And like all ex-pats, he’s trying to be more American than the Americans. If I hear him utter one more word about his corner office in Seattle, I’ll scream.”

  Stewart shakes his head. “You and me both. But you’d better move. If they come out and find us chatting, it’ll look bad. Didn’t you need to visit the bathroom?”

  She shoots Stewart a look. “No, of course not, you idiot. It was a subterfuge. I guessed you’d be out here and I made an excuse.” She gives Stewart a conspiratorial smile. “If we leave it to Brunner, he’ll keep you waiting out here for hours, just for the hell of it. But if I bring you in with me, there’s not much he can do about it, is there?”

  “I’ve got to hand it to you, Angela. You know how to beat the stuffed suits at their own game. I’m just glad you’re on our side.”

  “Come on,” Angela says. “And remember what I said about acting surprised.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Stewart replies, and when Angela throws the door open and enters the room, he squares his shoulders and follows her inside.

  “Look who I’ve found,” Angela announces.

  While Angela takes her seat at the table, Stewart scans the familiar faces in the room. Stradford Brunner is standing, his back to the large window, and he acknowledges Stewart with a barely perceptible nod. “Stewart. We were just about to send for you. Take a seat. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

  “Yes, thank you.” Stewart takes the only vacant chair, and it puts him in an unfortunate position since everyone except Brunner is seated along the far side of the long board table. It’s like being hauled up before a disciplinary committee, Stewart thinks. But he pushes the thought aside and looks around the table, offering everyone a relaxed smile in turn. And he starts with Farlan Teller. As Agrippine liaison, Teller has his fingers on the purse strings of every major project at the Trust. “Nice to see you, Farlan,” Stewart says. “Although I guess this must be something important if it drags you from your office in Seattle.”

  Teller eyes him suspiciously. “Sure. We’ll get right onto that. Bradley was just giving us some background.”

  The man on Teller’s right clears his throat. Bradley Cameron is the principal at the Northridge Center, and though on paper he runs the place, Stewart’s always assumed that the man just does what he’s told by Brunner. “I was just saying, that we have good reason to be cautious,” Cameron begins. “Given our previous, erm…” he hesitates and casts an anxious glance at Stewart. “That is to say, we have been involved in high level security breaches in the past, and they turned out to be much more complex and serious than we imagined at the time.”

  Stewart sits up straight in his chair. “There’s been a breach
in security? Why wasn’t I informed immediately?”

  Cameron visibly pales. “That’s not for me to say, Stewart. It wasn’t my call. But the last time we became embroiled in an attempted breach, you were personally involved. And the matter was only resolved with some difficulty and at a cost in terms of time and expense.”

  Stewart stares hard at Cameron and the principal drops his gaze to the table.

  “Listen, Stewart,” Brunner says, and he moves closer to the table. “This is nothing personal. This breach is significant and there are some details that are beyond the pay grade of most of the people in this room. But however much we hate to admit it, what Bradley says is factually correct.” He pauses and looks down at Stewart, his dark eyes unblinking. “Perhaps you’d like this opportunity to clear the air.”

  “Certainly,” Stewart begins. “During a routine security check, we detected an attempt to interfere with our recruitment program. On further investigation, it became clear that we had inadvertently uncovered an attempt to breach Agrippine’s systems. Unfortunately, we underestimated the severity of the threat and the level of subterfuge. I remained trapped in a secure area of the Unlimited Combat game, and due to the intransigence of Agrippine, I was not given the clearance I needed to override the system, and so I was not able to proceed.”

  “How dare you?” Teller snaps. “You went on an unauthorized covert mission, and deliberately violated the terms of use of our systems.”

  “I acted as I thought best, with the sole aim of protecting those systems,” Stewart says. “And my mission was necessarily covert. We had to uncover the source of the breach.”

  “And it’s worth pointing out,” Angela puts in, “that not only did Stewart thwart the attempt to hack Agrippine’s systems, but he identified the culprit, protected a valuable encryption key, and recovered a great deal of useful data that Agrippine could analyze in order to harden its defenses.”

  Stewart looks Teller in the eye. “Tell me, Farlan—whatever happened to that encryption key? I’m sure you know it could give access to untold millions of dollars, so did you remove it? Did you make it safe? Or is it still floating around in your systems somewhere, just waiting to be found?”

  Teller shakes his head slowly. “You’re not cleared for that kind of information, Stewart.”

  “Interesting,” Stewart says. “Perhaps, with the help of a certain young gamer, I was able to succeed where the mighty Agrippine Corporation failed. Is that the situation, Farlan?”

  Teller’s face flushes. “I’ve had enough of this. It’s time you understood the real situation, Stewart. Without funding from Agrippine, you people couldn’t afford a pocket calculator.”

  An unguarded chortle echoes around the room and all eyes turn to Angela. “I’m sorry,” she says, “but I haven’t heard anyone talk about pocket calculators since I was a little girl.” She looks at Teller. “I’m afraid you’ve rather aged yourself there, Farlan.”

  Teller stares at her, his eyes burning, but before he can speak, Brunner lets out a growl of frustration. “We’re wasting time. Let’s get down to the nuts and bolts of this thing.” He turns to Stewart. “There has been a breach of our systems, and we believe, —no, we’re convinced—that it’s an attack on MENT0R.”

  Stewart shakes his head. “That’s not possible. MENT0R is our core AI system, and it has the highest level of protection. The only way that…” He lets his voice trail away as his mind works quickly. He looks from Brunner to Teller. “You think this is an inside job, don’t you? You think someone in the Trust is using their access to crack through the firewalls and break into MENT0R.”

  Brunner nods appreciatively. “Straight to the point. I guess that’s why you’re head of operations.” He glances at Cameron. “I had to explain it three times to some people.”

  “Right,” Stewart says. “Give me facts. No. Wait. First, we need to lock this place down. No one comes in or out. We need every terminal, every VR device, every possible point of access closed down and scanned for evidence.”

  “That would also be my recommendation,” Cameron says. “As principal, I have a duty of care to the students and we cannot allow any activity that might expose them to risk.”

  A silence fills the room.

  “What about the recruitment program?” Angela asks. “We have a batch of new candidates attending events all over the world. And within a few short weeks, some of those candidates will be arriving here.” She places her hands on the table, her palms pressed flat against the polished wood. “The preparations have taken months. Do we just cancel all that?”

  “Yes,” Cameron says. “I’m afraid we have no choice.”

  “There’s always a choice,” Teller insists. “And in this case, I think we should carry on as normal. If the enemy knows we’re onto him, he’ll withdraw and regroup. He may even shift the focus of his attack.”

  “You say he,” Stewart says. “Does that mean you have an idea who’s behind this?”

  Teller shoots a look at Brunner. “That’s not something we can be sure of at this time.”

  Stewart narrows his eyes and studies Brunner’s stony expression. “You have an idea, though, don’t you?”

  Brunner nods, but he keeps his lips sealed tight.

  “I see,” Stewart says. “You think it’s Grimwood.”

  “What?” Cameron blurts out. “That’s a…a ridiculous suggestion.”

  “For God’s sake, Bradley!” Teller snaps.

  “Now I know I’m right,” Stewart says. “You think that, just as before, he’s manipulating someone within a VR system—using someone as a proxy for his attack.” He nods thoughtfully. “But isn’t he in custody? And surely, after his last attempt, he’ll have no access to any sort of network.”

  Teller shakes his head sadly.

  “What’s happened?” Stewart demands. “What are you holding back?”

  “If you want Stewart’s input on this matter, and I think we all do,” Angela says smoothly, “then you’ll have to give him all the information we have at our disposal.”

  Brunner leans forward, his hands on the table. He fixes Stewart with a cold stare, and when he speaks, his voice is stern. “Shortly after your encounter with Grimwood’s associate—the man calling himself Will—Jacob Grimwood hacked into the systems at his maximum security facility and escaped.”

  Stewart’s eyes go wide. “Jesus Christ!”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Brunner says. “It seems as though Grimwood was biding his time, using his incarceration as a perfect alibi while he waited for Will to come through with the means to unlock his funds. But when his plans were thwarted…”

  “He had nothing to lose,” Stewart says.

  Brunner nods, his face a mask of bitter regret.

  “The security specialists at Agrippine have been searching for him night and day,” Teller puts in. “But since he absconded, there’s been no trace of him whatsoever.”

  “What do you think, Stewart?” Brunner asks. “You’ve crossed swords with the man before. Could this attack be Grimwood resurfacing? Could he be the one behind this whole thing?”

  “I’d need to see all the data,” Stewart says. “There’s no way I can speculate without the facts.”

  “Indulge me,” Brunner says. “We know it can only be conjecture at this stage, but, from your experience, could this be his style?”

  “I haven’t met the man, but I’ve researched his case thoroughly. He has a deeply held grudge against Agrippine, and from what I’ve seen, he’s clearly very driven and very dangerous. He’s also incredibly intelligent and skillful. Is he capable of finding a loophole in our security? It’s a distinct possibility. Would he be prepared to exploit an individual to gain access to our systems? Without a doubt.” Stewart pauses to scan the faces of his audience. “Grimwood is devious, calculating and utterly ruthless. If he is behind this attack, then God have mercy on any poor souls he draws into his plans.”

  “All the more reason to cancel the recruitm
ent process,” Cameron says. “We’ll have enough trouble protecting our current students. We can’t bring in a bunch of inexperienced young men and women when we have this threat hanging over us.”

  Farlan Teller slaps the table with the palm of his hand. “Haven’t you been listening, Cameron? This could be our chance to catch Grimwood. If you cancel the recruitment, you’ll have to give a convincing reason. And even if you can carry that off, which I doubt, the sudden change in plans will put Grimwood on his guard. He’s far too smart to take any unnecessary risks. He’ll vanish into the woodwork and we’ll never find him again.”

  “What’s your take on the recruitment, Angela?” Brunner asks. “You brought up the issue, but you haven’t told us what you really think.”

  Angela meets Brunner’s gaze. “When it comes to the safety of the students, we can’t take any risks. But I’d like to hear what Stewart has to say before I make my decision.” She looks at Stewart. “Could you handle this quietly and without any risk to the students?”

  “There’s no such thing as a covert operation with zero risk,” Stewart says. “And frankly, I’m concerned that a breach has occurred without my knowledge and without triggering any of my security monitors. But having said that, now I’m aware of the threat, then providing I get all the resources I need—including full access to all the relevant data—I’m confident I can minimize the risks to an acceptable level. “

  Teller exhales noisily. “Finally, someone talking sense.”

  “But I can’t do this on my own,” Stewart adds. “I want to bring in Eileen Barber. As you know, she’s runs our cybersecurity program here, and I’ll need her experience and her specialist knowledge to tackle this thing properly.”

  “Absolutely not,” Brunner says. “No one outside this room can know about this. Not now, not ever.”

  Stewart frowns. “In that case, I recommend that the center should be closed. Lock the place down. Tell everyone we have a power failure or something. Then we’ll check the records of all the current students and send them home one at a time, as soon as we can clear them individually. Eventually, we’ll find the evidence we need.”