the eleven hours, and she would probably also have missed the landing if Julie hadn’t woken her.
“You have to eat,” she whispered. “And I’ve got news.”
Her broad smile told Ally that her friend had cracked the code. Instantly, she was awake. Sort of.
When she opened her mouth Julie raised a hand. “Now, pay attention.” She pressed a button on her armrest and a flight attendant sailed in to take their orders. “Well, Michelle” Julie started, all business. “We’d both take the large breakfast with Croissants and freshly squeezed orange juice. My friend here would like to have a Latte and I’d kill for another Espresso. And how ‘bout fresh fruit salad. Do you have something like that on board?”
“Bien sûr!”
“Well then. Oh, and please bring the drinks right away. We’re dying of thirst.” With that she gave the flight attendant a fake smile, who turned on her heels to fulfill their wishes.
As soon as she was gone, Julie broke into a cackle. “If you weren’t my best friend already we’d be inseparable by now. This First Class thing is awesome. I’ve been letting her dance by all night long, and every time she has the sweetest smile plastered on her face, although she hates my guts. We can order whatever we want, everything is for free. And did you see how penned in the poor bastards in cattle class are? I mean…”
Michelle’s arrival interrupted her.
“You’re a darling!“ Julie thanked her as sweet as sugar, throwing her a kiss. After Michelle vanished, Julie closed her eyes and downed the Espresso.
Ally bit her lower lip to stifle a laugh. “How many of those have you had so far?”
“No idea. I stopped counting after the seventh.”
“Seven Espresso?”
“No, no. Altogether, it was eleven or twelve…probably.” She shrugged like it was no big deal. “And now, listen up!” She put her cup on Ally’s table because hers was occupied by the laptop. “While you were in dreamy land I’ve been up to the elbows in data.” With that, she opened the laptop and typed in a combination of numbers.
“How did you get the code?”
“How dumb do you think I am? While you’re stirring up the school newspaper I am the administrator of the SecurityByObscurity forum. Do you honestly think I waste time with the brute force procedure or the tapping of algorithms, they’re taking us for stupid in computer science class? On our board, we’ve developed a program based on the rainbow table method…”
Ally cleared her throat. “Too many details.”
Again, Julie shrugged as if to say: You’ve got no idea what you’re missing. “Anyway, with this program it’s as easy as pie.”
Ally looked at her in anticipation while spooning up the milk foam of her Macchiato. “And?”
“Well, the thing is that we’re sitting on a ton of information, but I have no clue what it’s supposed to tell us.” She turned the notebook around, pointing at files that were opening one after another.
“I’ve sorted them a bit,” she continued and pointed at the subject line of the first note with her espresso spoon.
“The records I’ve looked at so far essentially revolved around a failed project. Do you see this?” She tapped her finger against the monitor. It read OSK , an abbreviation that ran like a golden thread through the records.
“The shortcut stands for Operation Special Skills ,” Julie added after a good yawn.
Ally scanned the monitor looking for the OSK, that appeared everywhere. She sporadically opened files, but their content didn’t make sense. Lists of behaviors, descriptions of blood-changes, medical reports. It sounded like the side effects of some screwed up medication. The more she read, the more her head spun. She’d hoped to find answers, instead she got more questions.
Could this be one of David’s cases? Had he represented a client who’d been involved in this weird project? Somebody who had gotten sick and wanted to sue a pharmaceutical company? If
“You have to eat,” she whispered. “And I’ve got news.”
Her broad smile told Ally that her friend had cracked the code. Instantly, she was awake. Sort of.
When she opened her mouth Julie raised a hand. “Now, pay attention.” She pressed a button on her armrest and a flight attendant sailed in to take their orders. “Well, Michelle” Julie started, all business. “We’d both take the large breakfast with Croissants and freshly squeezed orange juice. My friend here would like to have a Latte and I’d kill for another Espresso. And how ‘bout fresh fruit salad. Do you have something like that on board?”
“Bien sûr!”
“Well then. Oh, and please bring the drinks right away. We’re dying of thirst.” With that she gave the flight attendant a fake smile, who turned on her heels to fulfill their wishes.
As soon as she was gone, Julie broke into a cackle. “If you weren’t my best friend already we’d be inseparable by now. This First Class thing is awesome. I’ve been letting her dance by all night long, and every time she has the sweetest smile plastered on her face, although she hates my guts. We can order whatever we want, everything is for free. And did you see how penned in the poor bastards in cattle class are? I mean…”
Michelle’s arrival interrupted her.
“You’re a darling!“ Julie thanked her as sweet as sugar, throwing her a kiss. After Michelle vanished, Julie closed her eyes and downed the Espresso.
Ally bit her lower lip to stifle a laugh. “How many of those have you had so far?”
“No idea. I stopped counting after the seventh.”
“Seven Espresso?”
“No, no. Altogether, it was eleven or twelve…probably.” She shrugged like it was no big deal. “And now, listen up!” She put her cup on Ally’s table because hers was occupied by the laptop. “While you were in dreamy land I’ve been up to the elbows in data.” With that, she opened the laptop and typed in a combination of numbers.
“How did you get the code?”
“How dumb do you think I am? While you’re stirring up the school newspaper I am the administrator of the SecurityByObscurity forum. Do you honestly think I waste time with the brute force procedure or the tapping of algorithms, they’re taking us for stupid in computer science class? On our board, we’ve developed a program based on the rainbow table method…”
Ally cleared her throat. “Too many details.”
Again, Julie shrugged as if to say: You’ve got no idea what you’re missing. “Anyway, with this program it’s as easy as pie.”
Ally looked at her in anticipation while spooning up the milk foam of her Macchiato. “And?”
“Well, the thing is that we’re sitting on a ton of information, but I have no clue what it’s supposed to tell us.” She turned the notebook around, pointing at files that were opening one after another.
“I’ve sorted them a bit,” she continued and pointed at the subject line of the first note with her espresso spoon.
“The records I’ve looked at so far essentially revolved around a failed project. Do you see this?” She tapped her finger against the monitor. It read OSK , an abbreviation that ran like a golden thread through the records.
“The shortcut stands for Operation Special Skills ,” Julie added after a good yawn.
Ally scanned the monitor looking for the OSK, that appeared everywhere. She sporadically opened files, but their content didn’t make sense. Lists of behaviors, descriptions of blood-changes, medical reports. It sounded like the side effects of some screwed up medication. The more she read, the more her head spun. She’d hoped to find answers, instead she got more questions.
Could this be one of David’s cases? Had he represented a client who’d been involved in this weird project? Somebody who had gotten sick and wanted to sue a pharmaceutical company? If
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