Chapter 10

Gordon Colins III said, "Is this all you got?"

"Mr. Colins, I was paid to get into the system, not manufacture data for you. All the data files are encrypted and I have no way of defeating this even with a thousand computers."

"What can you tell me?"

"The person that owns these computers is paranoid. There is no other explanation. There was nothing to find. I took complete scans of all three hard drives. They were scrubbed daily. Most people would do that once a month. This person also had some good software that I had not come across before and it was very advanced. Even with the password to enter the system it took a week to just begin to siphon off the data. I worked eighteen hours a day during this time. It was a challenge to me and I worked hard."

"Ok, you worked hard. What about what you did find?"

I spent more time in those computers than I did in my own. I tried to build a program within their machines that would record all that was done on the keyboard but it proved impossible because of their system security. One time I got into the machine. It must have been a surge by lightning but I'm not sure. Three programs had been running in one computer. The temp files suffered a CRC errors. The power didn't go out and the computer didn't fail but the temp files were corrupt. New files were automatically made by the programs. I was able to salvage those damaged files before they were wiped just a few minutes later. I figured they were onto me but I was mistaken I guess, because I could get right back in again. In fact, I'm still there with a program to try to find something else."

"What are the files you found?"

"Two are spreadsheets with lab expenses. The last is a partial file from Word Perfect. I could only get some of the data. Due to its importance I printed off what I found and here it is."

The young man with acne gave me five sheets of paper. The first four were what he could recover. There were a lot of seemingly random characters with some sections that could be read. The last sheet had everything decipherable put together with some words in red that logically would go in place of the damaged area.

Once I started reading, I had to go over it again and again. "Who has seen this."

"You and me. I would not trust that data to anybody else, not even my mother."

"Do you know what this means?"

"That the world is going to change very quickly. By the way, I sent sealed envelopes to lawyers. In the event of me not phoning them once a month the letters they have will be mailed."

"What are you talking about?"

"Mr Colins, you're a very intelligent man. I had time to assess this information for a while. I could possibly end up very dead. I just want you to know that I am sticking with my deal. I won't say anything providing I get paid what we agreed to. If I stay alive you will not be bothered."

"What about your activities in her computers now?"