they’re connected. This isn’t math class. He doesn’t care how we arrived at our results. All he cares about is the results themselves.”
Roger pouted and went back to sipping his whiskey in silence.
Hicks kept typing.
Hicks was particularly interested in the London operative on Bajjah’s list—Shaban Ghasemi. Not because Bajjah had said he was in London, but because Shaban was the first name Bajjah had chosen to give them. In Hicks’ experience, the first name a prisoner gave up usually held some kind of importance. Sometimes, a prisoner used it to throw off the interrogator. Sometimes it was a slip of the tongue, but Bajjah didn’t misspeak. What was so special about Shaban he deserved top billing?
Hicks typed in the final name and location into OMNI and clicked on the SEARCH button. He sat back watched OMNI go to work.
Within nanoseconds, OMNI began accessing the databases of the world’s leading intelligence agencies to determine if the names on Bajjah’s list belonged to real people. If they were, the University may have uncovered elements of a new global terror network. The information might give the Dean enough leverage he could use to make Stephens and the Barnyard back off. The Mossad might not be happy about it, but he’d deal with it if and when the time came.
Hicks watched OMNI’s search results come in the way a political junkie watches the returns on Election Night. Roger looked on as well.
They knew the search was only the beginning, not the end of anything. If the names came back positive, a more detailed search would need to be conducted into the lives of each man to determine how they were working together.
OMNI may have been the most connected digital network in the world, but it was still only a tool. The Dean often pointed out how hammers and saws don’t build houses, humans do. He applied the same logic to technology. He believed a human perspective was needed to wield OMNI’s immense power in order for it to be truly effective. If the Dean had a motto, Hicks imagined it would be “Never let the computer do your thinking for you.”
The search took less than five minutes, which was an eternity by OMNI standards. One by one, checks began to appear next to each of the ten names Hicks had entered into the system. He didn’t react when he saw a green check appear next to the final name on the list.
Every name Bajjah had given them belonged to an actual person.
Roger cheered and slapped him on the back. “Ten out of ten! We broke him wide open!” He finished his drink and eagerly poured himself another. “Looks like Bajjah gets his shot at the forty virgins. Tali and the Mossad won’t like it, but I’m sure you and the Dean will handle it.”
But Hicks wasn’t opening any champagne bottles yet. He had to determine if Bajjah had merely spouted off a list of random names or if he had given up the men who belonged to his own network.
OMNI’s initial search showed each man had been flagged as a ‘Person of Interest’ by at least one intelligence agency somewhere in the world, but it was still the first name Bajjah had given them, Shaban Ghasemi, that caught Hicks’ attention. Shaban was living in London and was being passively watched by British Intelligence. Most of the remaining nine names on Bajjah’s list were already being tracked by multiple agencies at the same time. It was a good beginning, but now it was up to OMNI to determine if there were any solid connections.
The Dean would want more than a list of confirmed names. He’d want evidence of collusion. He’d want proof of Bajjah’s network. He’d want Hicks to have such proof by the time their conference call began in an hour.
He’d want hard evidence before he agreed to let Hicks kill Bajjah and violate their agreement with the Mossad and Tali.
Hicks opened a tactical search screen. OMNI generated a digital map of the world and quickly populated it with a passport photo or drivers’ license photo of
Roger pouted and went back to sipping his whiskey in silence.
Hicks kept typing.
Hicks was particularly interested in the London operative on Bajjah’s list—Shaban Ghasemi. Not because Bajjah had said he was in London, but because Shaban was the first name Bajjah had chosen to give them. In Hicks’ experience, the first name a prisoner gave up usually held some kind of importance. Sometimes, a prisoner used it to throw off the interrogator. Sometimes it was a slip of the tongue, but Bajjah didn’t misspeak. What was so special about Shaban he deserved top billing?
Hicks typed in the final name and location into OMNI and clicked on the SEARCH button. He sat back watched OMNI go to work.
Within nanoseconds, OMNI began accessing the databases of the world’s leading intelligence agencies to determine if the names on Bajjah’s list belonged to real people. If they were, the University may have uncovered elements of a new global terror network. The information might give the Dean enough leverage he could use to make Stephens and the Barnyard back off. The Mossad might not be happy about it, but he’d deal with it if and when the time came.
Hicks watched OMNI’s search results come in the way a political junkie watches the returns on Election Night. Roger looked on as well.
They knew the search was only the beginning, not the end of anything. If the names came back positive, a more detailed search would need to be conducted into the lives of each man to determine how they were working together.
OMNI may have been the most connected digital network in the world, but it was still only a tool. The Dean often pointed out how hammers and saws don’t build houses, humans do. He applied the same logic to technology. He believed a human perspective was needed to wield OMNI’s immense power in order for it to be truly effective. If the Dean had a motto, Hicks imagined it would be “Never let the computer do your thinking for you.”
The search took less than five minutes, which was an eternity by OMNI standards. One by one, checks began to appear next to each of the ten names Hicks had entered into the system. He didn’t react when he saw a green check appear next to the final name on the list.
Every name Bajjah had given them belonged to an actual person.
Roger cheered and slapped him on the back. “Ten out of ten! We broke him wide open!” He finished his drink and eagerly poured himself another. “Looks like Bajjah gets his shot at the forty virgins. Tali and the Mossad won’t like it, but I’m sure you and the Dean will handle it.”
But Hicks wasn’t opening any champagne bottles yet. He had to determine if Bajjah had merely spouted off a list of random names or if he had given up the men who belonged to his own network.
OMNI’s initial search showed each man had been flagged as a ‘Person of Interest’ by at least one intelligence agency somewhere in the world, but it was still the first name Bajjah had given them, Shaban Ghasemi, that caught Hicks’ attention. Shaban was living in London and was being passively watched by British Intelligence. Most of the remaining nine names on Bajjah’s list were already being tracked by multiple agencies at the same time. It was a good beginning, but now it was up to OMNI to determine if there were any solid connections.
The Dean would want more than a list of confirmed names. He’d want evidence of collusion. He’d want proof of Bajjah’s network. He’d want Hicks to have such proof by the time their conference call began in an hour.
He’d want hard evidence before he agreed to let Hicks kill Bajjah and violate their agreement with the Mossad and Tali.
Hicks opened a tactical search screen. OMNI generated a digital map of the world and quickly populated it with a passport photo or drivers’ license photo of
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