All That Mattered, Ch. 19

Amanda turned to look over her shoulder before merging the minivan onto I-95 at full speed. Her touch on the controls was light and confident, even though she was demanding performance not usually associated with these types of vehicles.

When Francine flipped the computer logs to the next page, the edge of the flashlight’s beam caught something beneath the steering wheel.

“So you did have the Agency modify this thing,” she observed.

“Not in any visible way — oh. Those are hand controls. Lee’s been practicing with them.” A note of pride crept into the other woman’s voice. “He even drove us all the way in to the Agency this morning.”

“Huh,” said Francine. “I never thought he’d be the type who’s willing to use those.”

“His alternative is not driving at all.” Amanda signaled to move around a string of slower cars. Francine could just barely make out the speedometer hovering around 80. “Did you have any questions after seeing the logs?”

“Not about them. But would you run through the operation again?”

Amanda complied, using short sentences to explain. “Douglas and Lee are estimating the breach attempt will start at 9:00.”

Francine nodded. “And once we confirm the trace, I’ll have you run that diagnostic program I came up with. It should isolate the directory before the executable finishes running. That should prevent any operational changes.”

“Right,” confirmed Amanda. “The SYS_DIAG routine. Will you have enough time to create it?”

Francine glanced at the dashboard clock. “I think so. But we’re going to cut it pretty close.”

“Which is why I’m this far over the speed limit. What other questions do you have?”

“When will we know the breach has started? I know we’ll see the AEGIS_OPS user log in, but what will be the flag they’re actually starting to do something they aren’t supposed to?”

“As soon as we see it trying to modify any files.” Amanda glanced over her shoulder again, but didn’t change lanes. “Just changing directories isn’t technically a breach, although it’s evidence of something about to go down. We’ll want to watch very carefully.”

“At what point do we actually intervene? Especially since — didn’t you say we think this Ansar al-Safa group knows we’re on to them?”

“That’s why we’ll be running the actual operation out at Aberdeen. Mr. Melrose and Lee are setting up a secure phone line while we’re on the way.” Decelerating slightly, Amanda took the exit toward Maryland 22 and turned right. “The gates should be just ahead. You should go on and get your ID out.”

“Where’s yours?”

“Front pocket of my purse. Thanks,” Amanda continued as Francine tugged it out for her.

She brought the minivan to a stop at the sentry gate, rolling down her car window as quickly as she could. “Stetson and Desmond, from the Agency. Someone should have called ahead. Where are we going?”

The sentry checked a clipboard. “Central Communications. Straight ahead about half a mile. Gray building on the right.”

Francine checked the dashboard clock again. “Half a mile? It’s already 8:50.”

“We’ll make it, Francine,” said Amanda as she took their IDs back.

“Yes, ma’am,” agreed the sentry. “You’re cleared straight through. Nobody should get in your way.”

“Good. And thank you.” Amanda accelerated so fast a tire squeaked. “We won’t need to set up any special equipment, so that’s one thing off the list. Are you ready? Do you have all the files?”

“Yes,” confirmed Francine. She’d be able to hit the ground at a flat run once they got where they were going, and she knew what she needed to do once they were inside. Thank you, Jonathan, she whispered silently to anyone who might be listening.

---

Lee’s hand closed around the string of beads in his pocket, but he refrained from shaking his head. Nobody would listen if he tried to explain why he had them, and even fewer would understand.

To be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure he understood it himself. He’d meant to throw the things out, hadn’t he?

A clatter over the speakerphone drew his attention back to the middle of the computer room. Trent, who was already seated at a terminal, sat up straight. “Is that you, Sunlight?”

“Affirmative,” answered Amanda. “And Princess. Are you set up?”

“Affirmative,” answered Douglas Trent, signaling Lee to call up his own terminal. They were seated on opposite ends of the table with the speakerphone between them.

“Cutting it kind of close,” observed Lee.

“We got here as quickly as we could,” said Francine crisply. “Timers set. Breach attempt expected in three minutes.”

“Login expected in three minutes,” corrected Trent. “They’ll probably not start the attempt right away.”

“The login is the breach,” countered Francine. “Since they’re not authorized to be in this system. Two minutes, thirty seconds. Scarecrow, you with us?”

“I’m online,” he answered. “Although I’m still not sure what I’m watching for.”

“You’re watching for references to Aegis,” said Trent, softly enough to keep the phone from picking it up. “And monitoring my work, since you’re the American agent in charge.”

Lee nodded. “Do you have a code name?” The entire point of having Francine and Amanda at Aberdeen was operational security; use of actual names would compromise that.

A faint smile appeared. “An official one? No. But within the Service I’m sometimes called Merlin.”

“A wizard, huh?” Just like Paul Barnes had been, although the two men didn’t seem to be anything alike.

“More in the Arthurian sense than in the magical sense,” replied the MI6 agent. “Advisor and expert. Tutor and guide. Not the one in charge.”

Lee laughed briefly.

“Ninety seconds,” called Francine.

“All right,” said Trent in a normal tone of voice. “My terminal’s synced up with yours, Miss…” he caught himself. “Princess. Are you seeing any lag time on your end?”

“Negative.” There was a soft murmur, as though she’d turned aside to say something to Amanda. “Sunlight also reports ready.”

Lee’s terminal screen blinked off and then back on. When it did, he saw the difference immediately. “There they go. Trying to log in.”

“Should I stop them?” asked Francine.

“No,” said Lee and Trent together. Then Lee continued. “Wait for them to make a move. Sunlight, can you hear me?”

“I hear you,” said Amanda clearly. “Just let me know what you need.”

“Stand by.” He glanced at Trent. “All right. This is your show.”

“Thank you.” Trent tapped a command into his terminal. “Merlin here. Miss Princess, did you see that?”

“Sure did,” replied Francine. “Doesn’t look like AEGIS_OPS noticed though.”

“They’re not expecting a simple trace command,” replied Trent. “Ah hah…” He trailed off. Lee saw a series of commands appear on his own terminal, with words suggesting changing directories and listing files. And was that a search request?

“That’s strange,” said Amanda over the phone line. “Why didn’t they already know the name of the file from before?”

“If it’s the same operator,” said Francine. “Looks like it isn’t.”

“Confirmed,” said Trent. “I’m getting a lock on their location now and — blast it — masked.” He frowned at the screen. “It’s coming back as Aberdeen Proving Ground itself, which can’t be right.”

“They very well might be there,” Lee reminded him.

“Would they be that obvious?”

“Probably not, but we won’t rule it out,” replied Lee as he reached for a pencil and made a shorthand note. The beads fell out of his pocket, clacking softly on the floor.

Trent glanced at them, then up at him, and then turned back to his terminal. “I’m running a deeper location trace.”

“Don’t take your eye off the ball,” said Lee, bending down to retrieve the beads. “What’s the operator doing now?”

“He’s identified the file and — Princess? Did you see that?”

“Affirmative,” answered Francine. “Scarecrow, they’re downloading the file to an off-site location. That’d be consistent with making a backup copy in case something doesn’t work.” She whistled softly. “They’re meticulous. And cautious.”

“Seems like they’d want to be,” observed Amanda.

“Yes,” said Trent. “In case of contingencies. Very professional.”

“Can you both just stop admiring them?” asked Lee. “What are they doing now?”

Francine’s voice was all business now. “They’ve finished the download and — yes, there it is — you got that, Merlin?”

“Yes, I see it.” Trent nodded and glanced at Lee. “They’ve just deleted the file from the mainframe, which means they’re likely to try and upload a new version now.” He turned back toward the terminal. “Yes, there it is now. The new file’s just a hair larger than the old one.”

“So they inserted code,” said Francine.

“That seems most likely. We’ll need to do an analysis to find out what. But not right now, Stet — ah, Scarecrow,” he continued. “We haven’t the time. It can be done afterward.”

Lee nodded. “Got it. And I’ve seen enough. Go ahead and —” how was he supposed to phrase this order? “— do whatever it is you’re planning to do to kick them out.”

“With pleasure.” There was an almost feral tone in Francine’s voice now. “Merlin, your trace marker —”

“Affirmative,” interrupted Trent. “They’re trying to mask that too.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it. Sunlight, start running that diagnostic program I talked to you about.”

The words SYS_DIAG flashed on Lee’s terminal screen.

“Beautiful,” said Trent. “And it looks completely routine.”

“It is completely routine,” retorted Francine. “At least as far as they’re concerned. You think they’ll even see it isolate the directory from the rest of the operational files?”

“Hopefully not.”

Without any warning, Lee’s terminal went blank.

For a moment nobody spoke.

“What the — Merlin?” he asked. “Should we be seeing that?”

“No.” The MI6 agent had paled. “Princess?”

“Yeah, it’s happening here too.” Francine sounded stunned.

Lee began counting seconds in his head.

At five, their terminals flicked back on. At first glance, Lee couldn’t see any differences.

Trent cursed softly, giving him a clue. “Is that supposed to be running again?”

“No,” said Amanda. Her voice, too, betrayed tension. “And I didn’t send that command.”

Screens blanked again. This time, they stayed out for eight seconds before blinking back on.

“What the hell is going on?” demanded Lee.

“The diagnostic is running a second time,” said Francine before Trent could reply. “Merlin, are we sure that’s not just a reset? Correction and repeat?”

“It’s possible.” But Trent didn’t sound entirely convinced. “We should double-check.” They exchanged a few more technical-sounding sentences that Lee didn’t completely understand, but the sudden release of tension in Trent’s shoulders told him what he needed to know.

“So it’s nothing to worry about,” he ventured.

“No.” Trent shook his head. “I just didn’t realize that routine was also a self-correction module. We should see it do that one more time —” even as he made the statement, their screens blinked off. This time, Lee counted thirteen seconds before they blinked back on.

There was an audible whoosh of breath over the phone line. “Good,” said Francine. “Directory’s still isolated. Whatever they’re trying, it’s not going to get through. And the operator has logged out now.”

“Confirmed,” said Trent, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “I still have my trace though.” His eyebrows pulled together briefly. “Yes, there it is. Definitely not at Aberdeen, though somewhere in the Capital region. We’ll have to turn this telemetry over to the Signals chaps.”

Lee frowned. “Doesn’t that mean the Ansar al-Safa operative will have time to relocate?”

“They’ve already had sufficient time,” said Trent. “But it gives us another data point we can use to chase them down with old-fashioned detective work.”

“All right. Stand down, then,” said Lee. “Good work. I’ll give Lancer an update. Sunlight, Princess, come on home.”

There was a pause over the line, then another murmur of voices too low to make out.

“Princess?” asked Lee. “Sunlight? Are you all right?”

“We’re fine,” said Amanda, but there was an odd tone in her voice. “We’re both fine.” She dropped her volume again, but this time Lee was able to clearly make it out. “Just take some deep breaths, Francine. We can wait a few minutes.”

Lee exchanged a glance with Trent.

“We can wait and debrief in the morning if you need to,” he told them.

“No.” Francine’s voice wavered slightly, but didn’t quite lose its usual edge. “No. We’ll come back now.”

“Adrenaline spike?” asked Trent softly.

Lee shook his head. “She’s usually pretty steady through those.”

There was another exchange of murmurs too soft to completely understand, but Lee caught a single word: Jonathan.

“Yeah,” said Amanda quietly. “You did.”

“Of course,” said Trent. “I’ll just shut the terminals down and meet you all in the conference room. After I freshen up myself.”

“We could all use it,” said Lee as he nodded in dismissal. “Princess? Sunlight? I’m going to take the line down. Give me a shout if you decide to wait until morning after all.” He paused. “I’ll need a ride if you do.”

“I’ll call from the car, as soon as I know,” said Amanda as they signed off.

Now that he was alone, Lee let himself close his eyes and take a deep breath, releasing the tension he’d felt. His left hand slipped back into his pocket almost of its own accord, worrying the string of beads he’d put back in there. Keeping his breaths deliberately even, he leaned into the moment, identifying each piece on the string by touch: T-shaped charm. Thirteen ovals. Circular charm.

Then Lee’s eyes opened again.

Thirteen ovals.

Five. Eight. Thirteen.

Lee’s breath caught, but then he shook his head.

“No,” he told the empty room. “It’s probably just a coincidence.” There’d been no twenty-one, after all; nor had there been any lead-up to the five.

Silence was the only reply.

“Coincidence,” he repeated. “That’s all.”