Part 14 (1/2)
”Dude! Why not ask for the keys to Fort Knox.” The man paced in front of them as he rambled out loud. ”That's a tough one, but we can do it. We'll have to use the multihomed unit with the spoofed addresses. Relay through a bunch of different other PCs that I've cracked, also spoofed. Can't stay on too long.”
”Understood.”
Melissa was glad he understood because she was totally lost in the techn.o.babble. Not to mention immensely grateful that Sebastian had graduated from the school of personal hygiene, unlike his little friend.
”Let's have at it, then.” Lenny motioned for Sebastian to follow him.
Melissa trailed behind the two men, pa.s.sing shelves filled with what looked like cast-off computer equipment and miles of a.s.sorted cables and wires. It was dark, forcing her to stay close to Sebastian to avoid getting lost in what she could only describe as a warren.
Toward the back of the maze of shelves and equipment, there was finally an opening and some light. Four tables sat in the midst of the clearing, each bearing at least two or three monitors and a few printers.
Multicolored cables trailed from the equipment down to the ground where a number of computers rested. Little green and yellow- orange lights blinked on each of the machines, and at every monitor there was a different kind of activity going on.
The two men went to one table and Sebastian motioned for her to take a seat. She found what was left of a disreputable-looking black leather executive chair. It was a little lopsided and dull yellow foam rubber peeked out of holes in the leather. She wheeled the chair over and sat on it daintily, not trusting it to remain upright. She leaned forward and watched what the two men were doing.
Seeing that Melissa was settled comfortably, Sebastian twined his fingers together, then flexed them. To make sure he was in sync with his friend, he asked, ”We get to their site. Do a port scan followed by-”
”That might not be necessary.” Lenny peered around the dark room, as if to make sure no one could see him. He then pulled a small black binder from amongst a slew of computer manuals and papers located between the two computers. He opened the binder, flipped about halfway through and motioned to the printed results on the paper. ”Here's the server address, open ports and some user names.” With a shrug, he continued, ”Got bored one night.”
Clapping him on the back, Sebastian said, ”Len, you should get a life, but then again, you just made mine a h.e.l.l of a lot easier.”
Sebastian wondered if Melissa should remain. He was sure that would make her a conspirator somehow, but as his gaze met hers, he detected the determined glint of steel there and knew better than to ask her to leave.
Typing in the address, he made his way through one of the open ports to a log-in screen. He picked one of the names on the list that didn't have a check next to it, a.s.suming the others had already been used by Len. ”Do you prefer CAIN or Cracker Jack?”
”Neither, man. Got my own little pa.s.sword cracker.” Len motioned to the one icon t.i.tled Cheese on the PC Sebastian was using.
”Get it? Crackers and cheese,” Len said with a little snort and a phlegmy laugh.
”Lame, Len. You definitely need to get out more.” Sebastian executed the program, which quickly began running through the millions of possible pa.s.sword permutations. Len kept time on his watch while also monitoring the relays he had set up. Still waiting for the program, Sebastian shot a glance at Melissa, who now sat anxiously on the edge of her chair.
”Remember, the clock is ticking. If we're not getting a result in the next minute or so-”
”We'll abort and try with the next user.” Sebastian kept a close eye on his own watch as seconds turned to minutes. He was about to abort the program when the dialogue box on the screen indicated he was being logged on.
”Don't waste time. In and out fast,” Len reminded him. Sebastian double-clicked the icon for what appeared to be a database.
The opening window confirmed that it was, but the program was pa.s.sword protected again. First he tried the one for the network log-in. When that failed, he once again executed Len's Cheese program. He kept an eye on his watch, knowing time was growing short.
When Len motioned for him to disconnect, he aborted the session. ”No,” he muttered under his breath, but before moving on to the next user name, he and Len changed the IP addresses on his computer and Sebastian studied the network pa.s.swords.
At first, it seemed like a random pattern of numbers and characters, but soon he thought he detected some kind of order in the first few characters. He narrowed down what he needed to know to the last four characters.
He accessed the remote computer again and plugged the first characters into the pa.s.sword cracker program. It took a fraction of the time to log on to the network. Once he was there, he searched out some files on the local drive and hit pay dirt in a file for one of the mail programs. Despite warnings, users often used the same pa.s.sword for various programs. Hopefully, this user had done just that and kept the same pa.s.sword across all his connections.
Entry into the database was almost instantaneous, confirming Sebastian's suspicions about the pa.s.sword, but that didn't stop Len from warning him again. ”Find whatever it is that you need and find it fast.”
Sebastian worked the keys like a concert pianist, locating the database table that held information on NSA operatives. Again there was another pa.s.sword and he cursed beneath his breath.
”Problem?” Melissa asked, but he ignored her, wis.h.i.+ng that the user of this pa.s.sword had high enough security clearance, but he didn't.
Again he logged off, frustrated with his failure.
”Maybe we should just wait-” ”Third time's the charm.” He examined the list of user names and properties that Len had obtained. There were a few administrators, typical of an organization of this size. And there were a couple of users with higher network security than others.
One of those higher security users might also have sufficient clearance for the database.
The third time was a charm as he logged in and accessed the operatives database. He entered the pa.s.sword and held his breath.
A second later, a search screen came up.
After typing in Sloan's name, he executed the search and got to the first entry in the file. Rather than waste time, or risk that a download would be detected, he copied the text from each screen and pasted it into a file saved on Len's PC. He was near the end of the history screen when Len said, ”Time to end it.”
The links on the database form indicated there were still a number of other screens, but Sloan's status and history were primary and he already had most of that. Another thirty seconds and he'd finished with the screens he wanted and terminated his session.
Leaning back in his chair, he breathed a sigh of relief and tried to control the shaking of his hands.
”You okay? You look a little flushed.” Melissa inched closer and laid a hand on his cheek. Her hand felt cool and dry. He finally realized he was damp with sweat.
”Just an adrenaline rush.” Glancing expectantly at Len, he asked, ”Any problems?”
Len examined his monitor and typed in a few commands. When he turned to look at them, he had a broad but gap-toothed smile on his face. ”Clean. Didn't detect anyone trying to trace the address back.”
”Cool.” Sebastian printed the information he had saved. For good measure, he copied the file on to a thumb disk he'd brought along and deleted the file from both the hard drive and the recycle bin. Motioning to the PC, he said, ”You'll do a better cleaning later, right?”
Len nodded his head emphatically. ”You bet. Can't risk anyone finding it.”
”Thank you, Len,” Melissa said and gave the man an impromptu hug. Sebastian chuckled when Len blushed a rather blotchy shade of red.
”Maybe you'll visit again?” Lenny asked, almost hopefully.
Sebastian clapped his friend on the back and said, ”Why don't we take you to dinner once this is all done. In a few weeks?”
Len nodded eagerly and led them to the door where he undid the numerous locks. Glancing out the peephole, seemingly to satisfy himself that there was no one there, he eased the door open a crack. Melissa and Sebastian slipped out and onto the street.
Once the door slammed closed behind them and the multiple locks clicked into place, Melissa turned to him. There was sorrow on her face. ”I feel bad for him.”
Sebastian cupped her cheek. ”Not everyone is lucky enough to find someone to share their lives with.”
The dismay in her eyes instantly vanished, replaced by contentment. ”No, they're not.” She gave his hand a rea.s.suring squeeze.
”Maybe when this is all over, we should invite him over.”
Something swelled in his chest. It might have been his heart expanding like the Grinch's. She was thinking there was a them beyond whatever was happening. A them that could be normal.
”That would be great.”
Chapter 20 The initial results were promising until the hemorrhaging began. Something essential is missing, and yet the red blood cells from the rats are identical to those from the frozen samples of the patient's blood. I need a fresh sample, but fear risking it again. If the patient discovers my interest I don't know how he would react. But my Elizabeth is fading quickly. I don't know if she has a few months or only weeks, so I have no choice.