clearance. The work we do for the Defense Department is pretty specialized.”
“What exactly do you make?”
She hesitated. Old habits were hard to break. Maybe easier for some. It was beginning to look that way. But she still felt bound to the confidentiality agreement that she’d signed.
“Let’s just say that we specialize in stealth technology.”
“Now who’s the super-duper spy?”
She shook her head, knowing that he couldn’t see her. “I’m the computer geek. Unfortunately, sometimes the computer people see more than they should.”
“And you saw something that has people wanting to force cars off the road, to blow things up?”
“That’s what I’m not sure about. It all happened so fast. A couple nights ago, we upgraded several of our computer servers. One of the servers hosts our email system. I was troubleshooting a problem and in the process, looked at some emails that had come in to various people in the company.”
He didn’t respond.
“I have top secret security clearance,” she explained. “But still, I know that information is always shared on a need-to-know basis. So I tried to pick emails that seemed very innocent. I clicked on one titled Strawberry Shortcake Recipe.” She paused. “I like desserts.”
“And...”
“And it was set up like a recipe, with ingredients and cooking instructions. But the quantities looked odd. I’m sort of a math geek in addition to being a computer geek. So I started looking at it closer.”
“What was it?”
“It was written in code. There were a couple pieces that I wasn’t able to figure out. But I think it was a confirmation of delivery.”
“For?”
“That’s what I’m not sure of. But...”
“But what?”
She hesitated. “I’m fairly confident it was confirmation of a delivery of raw materials and product specifications for one of our most advanced systems.”
He whistled softly. “Someone in your company is selling secrets to the enemy. And the means to reproduce technology that could be used against Americans.”
“I think so,” she said, her voice soft.
“Who was the email addressed to?”
“That’s the problem. It was addressed to somebody who no longer works for the company. An administrative assistant. Her in-box should have been deleted but the Help Desk must have missed that. But it doesn’t make sense that this person sold the data. She would never have had the security clearance necessary to see this information in the first place.”
“Did you know this person well?”
“Not well. She had worked for Claudia. She left the organization without much notice a few months ago. I didn’t know of any way to reach this woman, plus I didn’t necessarily think it would be a smart thing to do. I tried to search the sender but all I ran into was a dead end.”
“What did you do then?”
“I started digging.”
“Understandable,” he said simply.
“Our system, like most computer systems, electronically stamps every action that is taken. Every keystroke. Every transaction. It’s a clean audit trail.”
“And you found something?” he asked.
“I found something that was interesting, to say the least. You see, it’s only been recently, with the latest software upgrade, that we’ve been able to audit viewing.”
“Viewing?”
“Yes. Viewing is when somebody pulls up a screen but doesn’t take any action. Simply looks at the data. Just recently our system began stamping that activity and can tell us how long the person was viewing the screen.”
“And you found that somebody had recently viewed the specs on this particular product?”
“Two people. One was another analyst, just like me. His name is Marcus White. The other,” she said, unable to keep the misery out of her response, “my stepmother, Claudia Linder McCann. She’s the CEO. She’s always been the CEO. She’s only been my stepmother for the past year.”
She heard his soft hiss.
“Dicey,” he said finally.
She laughed,
“What exactly do you make?”
She hesitated. Old habits were hard to break. Maybe easier for some. It was beginning to look that way. But she still felt bound to the confidentiality agreement that she’d signed.
“Let’s just say that we specialize in stealth technology.”
“Now who’s the super-duper spy?”
She shook her head, knowing that he couldn’t see her. “I’m the computer geek. Unfortunately, sometimes the computer people see more than they should.”
“And you saw something that has people wanting to force cars off the road, to blow things up?”
“That’s what I’m not sure about. It all happened so fast. A couple nights ago, we upgraded several of our computer servers. One of the servers hosts our email system. I was troubleshooting a problem and in the process, looked at some emails that had come in to various people in the company.”
He didn’t respond.
“I have top secret security clearance,” she explained. “But still, I know that information is always shared on a need-to-know basis. So I tried to pick emails that seemed very innocent. I clicked on one titled Strawberry Shortcake Recipe.” She paused. “I like desserts.”
“And...”
“And it was set up like a recipe, with ingredients and cooking instructions. But the quantities looked odd. I’m sort of a math geek in addition to being a computer geek. So I started looking at it closer.”
“What was it?”
“It was written in code. There were a couple pieces that I wasn’t able to figure out. But I think it was a confirmation of delivery.”
“For?”
“That’s what I’m not sure of. But...”
“But what?”
She hesitated. “I’m fairly confident it was confirmation of a delivery of raw materials and product specifications for one of our most advanced systems.”
He whistled softly. “Someone in your company is selling secrets to the enemy. And the means to reproduce technology that could be used against Americans.”
“I think so,” she said, her voice soft.
“Who was the email addressed to?”
“That’s the problem. It was addressed to somebody who no longer works for the company. An administrative assistant. Her in-box should have been deleted but the Help Desk must have missed that. But it doesn’t make sense that this person sold the data. She would never have had the security clearance necessary to see this information in the first place.”
“Did you know this person well?”
“Not well. She had worked for Claudia. She left the organization without much notice a few months ago. I didn’t know of any way to reach this woman, plus I didn’t necessarily think it would be a smart thing to do. I tried to search the sender but all I ran into was a dead end.”
“What did you do then?”
“I started digging.”
“Understandable,” he said simply.
“Our system, like most computer systems, electronically stamps every action that is taken. Every keystroke. Every transaction. It’s a clean audit trail.”
“And you found something?” he asked.
“I found something that was interesting, to say the least. You see, it’s only been recently, with the latest software upgrade, that we’ve been able to audit viewing.”
“Viewing?”
“Yes. Viewing is when somebody pulls up a screen but doesn’t take any action. Simply looks at the data. Just recently our system began stamping that activity and can tell us how long the person was viewing the screen.”
“And you found that somebody had recently viewed the specs on this particular product?”
“Two people. One was another analyst, just like me. His name is Marcus White. The other,” she said, unable to keep the misery out of her response, “my stepmother, Claudia Linder McCann. She’s the CEO. She’s always been the CEO. She’s only been my stepmother for the past year.”
She heard his soft hiss.
“Dicey,” he said finally.
She laughed,
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