Chapter 42

Rory

We had the Sunday to readjust to being back home and to prepare for starting work. It was all change for me as I would be starting work in the IT department.

I was a bit apprehensive about this because I was unsure how much of my computing skills that it should reveal to my new boss. All Sunday morning I swithered about whether or not I should have a talk with David and see how he felt about this.

Fortunately after giving us time to settle into the routine of being back home they invited us over to dinner. Once the dinner was over and we had filled them in on the vents of our holidays and how we had got on with the locals, I suggested that I would like to talk to him privately about my up and coming assignment. Ruth said that was a good idea as it would give her time to have a talk with her daughter about girl things.

Once we were ensconced in his office David handed me a glass of wine and said,

"Ok Rory, what do you want to discuss with me?"

"There are some things about my abilities I have not discussed with you and I would like to put you in the picture before I start my new job?" I told him. "Among my other talents, I am a whizz kid with computers."

"If memory serves me right," David said with a smile, "You have mentioned this which is why I have suggested you working in this department."

"I know that sir," I responded, "but I have not let you in on the full range of the skills I have mastered. That is especially true of the one which I now feel compelled to let you know about."

"Such as?" David asked.

"Have you read the Sven Larsen trilogy? The one which starts with 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?" I asked

"No, so far that has not been part of my reading list," He told me, "but what has that to do with you and your computing skills? He queried.

"I think you would have a better understanding of what I am trying to tell you if you had read those books." I answered. "Lisbeth Salander is a very unusual heroine. She is a very antisocial character, probably not autistic but certainly well up the Aspergers scale, but still brilliant. She has a photographic memory, is a mathematical genius and one of the world's most skilled computer hackers and belongs to a small select worldwide club. It is one only the very best are able to belong to, because you have to be among the very best to think your way into the club and jump through the hoops they set for would be entrants. I actually belong to a club like that."

"What?" David asked rather indignantly. "Are you one of those people who break into computers and damage them just to show how clever you are?"

No I am not," I told him, "but I can break into almost any computer anywhere in the world, no matter how secure their systems. I can do it without doing any harm and even if they know I have been there it would take somebody as clever as I am to try and trace where the break in came from and I don't think there are very many who could do that." That is why I asked you about the books. Salander would be a hero for me if she was real. Read at least the first book and you will see what I mean."

David walked over to his desk and turned on his computer. "Prove it," He said and indicated that I should sit in his chair and get to work.

As I had already been in his computer having stolen some of his passwords it only took me seconds.

"This is not a true demonstration of my skills," I told him, "for you keep a list of your passwords in your private office and I only need a glimpse to remember them and once I have a password I can go anywhere in your system. I could also do it without your password though I would probably try guessing them first."

"You have been in before?" He asked.

"Yes I have, especially as I am, going to work in the department. Your safety systems are quite good, but you need to update your programmes more regularly. An update among other things is there to plug possible leaks where someone could get in and tamper with your documents. But let's say I wanted to strengthen your security, I would need to let my boss know that I could do what I do, and I really don't want that knowledge spread abroad. I would really need to know I could trust the guy."

David looked thoughtful as I let him into a secret which till now I had only shared with Rebecca.

"Knowing you I do Rory" David said, "I will take your word for it that you don't use your talents in a malicious or destructive fashion. Let me think about what you have told me and I will get back to you. I have to consider how far we could trust Frank, my head of IT, with something like this."

Rebecca

When we got back home from my mum and dad's Rory told me about his conversation with my father. He was quite pleased with the way my dad had taken his confession and felt if he could persuade the IT chief with the secret that he would have him look into strengthen the firm's computer security. I was quite relieved, for I knew what Rory could do and had been worried about how my dad would react if he had found out that he had hacked into his systems already.

A few days later my dad phoned me and asked me to have lunch with him at Luccini's. Once we had ordered he looked at me and smiled, before saying,

"Your fiancé continues to surprise me. He told me about is ability as a hacker the other day. I take it that you knew about this?"

"Yes," I replied, "I came into our study one day when he was examining the company's finances. I expressed my surprise that you had given him access to that part of the firm's activities. He confessed that you hadn't and that he did not need permission, particularly as you were very careless about your passwords. It was then that he told me what he could do."

My dad laughed at this.

"He said the same thing to me about my passwords, and he also said that to understand what he could do it would have helped if I had read a trilogy by a Swedish author called Sven Larsen. He was right, I have started reading it and I am enjoying the story. It does open up a whole new world on what people can do with computers," He told me.

"They are good books" I told him. "I found them on Rory's shelves and I have read and enjoyed them. Lisbeth Salander is something else, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is," my dad replied, "but after reading these books I picked up on something else he said to me. I think our boy may also have a photographic memory. Because he said a glimpse was all he needed to remember what I had written as my password."

"That would explain in part why he is so good at languages and why it is so easy for him to pass exams." I said thoughtfully.

"Yes it would," my dad responded, "Especially when it is harnessed by his high intelligence rating."

"What advantage does his having this skill bring to your IT section?" I asked.

"Well legally he can certainly beef up our security if he knows how to plug all the loopholes and can keep them plugged. If we had serious competitors in his area, then illegally he could keep us posted on what their plans were, though I would not use him in that way." My dad replied.

"Are you going to get him to increase your security then?" I asked.

"Only if I am sure Frank Taylor, my IT Chief, can be trusted not to reveal what Rory can do. I am still pondering that question. He is a good guy and runs a good department and I would rather leave things as they are than upset things. You don't want too many people to know that your future son in law is a world class hacker," he said with a grin.

"Is that all you want to talk to me about." I asked.

"No it isn't," my dad replied. "Your wedding is coming up fast. By the time you go back to school, it will be less than a year away, so you want to get together with your mother and start thinking about your guest list. We have already booked the hotel but you should have a list of your friends ready to give to mum and then start thinking about your dress."

I suddenly thought, 'Dad is right, in less than a year I will be married woman and in a couple of months after that I will be leaving home to go to University.'

This brought home to me the speed and the vastness of the changes which were about to take place in my life. Perhaps I should be apprehensive, but strangely I wasn't. I was looking forward to the challenges and I felt secure in the knowledge that I had chosen wisely in my husband. I loved him dearly and I knew if anything, his love for me was even deeper.