The Origin Point: A Future Tech Cyber Novella

  *

  Under conventional circumstances, Dallas would consider two straight days of permitted direct access to Marco Manuel to be the beginning of the apocalypse. Not only was he willing to see her again, but he also seemed enthusiastic about her request, as if a sudden realization had come over him. Fitfully, to her surprise the contentment was shrouded in mystery as he insisted on her being taken once again to his private office at Horizon. Twenty minutes prior to arrival, Dallas was blindfolded. After emerging from the building's underground parking structure into the public areas, she had little time to view her surroundings. The extreme northwest corner angle of the capital's diamond-shaped geographic layout was a sedate neighborhood of riverfront parks backing into Bethesda, Maryland. As Dallas looked through the lobby's glass entryway, she latently realized the location should have been a revelation. 'Why does FedSec have offices in a semi-residential nature zone?' No answer would be forthcoming as Marco's earlier friendly demeanor turned to soured concern.

  "You have an emergency?" Marco abruptly stated as she entered and sat down on the other side of his desk.

  "Yes, I think I do," Dallas responded, defending her appearance. "I received what I can only consider to be a threatening phone call about those files."

  "What files?"

  Dallas sighed. "Okay about the flash drive I spoke to you about yesterday."

  "What kind of threat?"

  "The 'stay away or you'll have trouble' kind."

  Marco raised his eyebrows and asked with genuine concern, "Any idea who threatened you?"

  "A woman. Said her name was Apex."

  "Apex? How original."

  "She knew where I'd been meeting, who I'd been meeting with. The conversation was very scary."

  "What do you mean 'where' you'd been meeting?"

  "She knew I had a meeting with you."

  "Oh. Did you recognize her voice?"

  "No."

  "Did you see anyone following you?"

  "No."

  "Any other clues?"

  "She said the files are part of a big discussion in London, Paris, Beijing." Marco imperceptibly braced in his chair but did not display any concern. "What do you think?"

  "You've been frightened by a crackpot."

  "Who knew how to find me and private details about my activities?"

  "That's a price we pay in today's world. No doubt you have plenty of private information already available online."

  "Hardly."

  "No public pictures of you with your friends?"

  "Well sure but—"

  "Posts about conferences you went to, photos of trips you have taken?"

  "Work yes, someone else's pictures, but personal no."

  "Only a couple of public data points are necessary and they've got you."

  "You think some random person has come along and found me, identified me, and knows I have the files? Does this person monitor surveillance cameras too? Because otherwise how would she know the drive was found at Infrared and given to me by Frez Tyler. Why are you so sure that could be possible? What is this really all about, Marco? What exactly was I handed?"

  "Did I not warn you about discussing this—"

  "You said don't discuss the content in the files. But now I'm being threatened, and a personal attack is another story."

  "You're okay. I'm sure she was playing out some kind of prank."

  "Marco, are you really going to leave me vulnerable to someone who had the technology to track me down so specifically?"

  "I don't think you are under threat from any—" Marco stopped to stare at his computer screen. Prior to Dallas's arrival, he had activated his laptop to emerge onto the top of the desk, and the screen had been statically on during their conversation. But as Dallas was speaking, the background image on Marco's monitor suddenly became overlain with a message he had not entered. "What the—"

  "What is it?" Dallas asked as she stood to walk towards him.

  "No!" Marco shouted stretching out his hand to stop her from advancing and seeing the screen. He hit a button on his desk phone and summoned security. When two men appeared, he said, "Escort Miss Winter home." The men nodded but Dallas did not move. "You're leaving now," Marco said, noting her reluctance.

  "What happened? Tell me?"

  "Go voluntarily or we'll force you out."

  Dallas glanced at the guards and back at Marco. "Just tell me."

  "Take her out," he ordered the two men. The guards grabbed Dallas's arms and dragged her out while her voice pleaded with Marco to explain.

  When Dallas was clear of the door, Marco instituted a security alert for his office and summoned his deputy at Horizon. "Has anyone reported an issue with our systems?" he demanded when the deputy entered.

  "No, nothing," the deputy insisted. "With our firewall? No one can get in here."

  At his words, Marco looked again at his laptop and glimpsed the USB drive Dallas had given him laying in a tray inside his desk cover. He picked up the plastic device. 'No one has managed to get in unless brought in,' he silently cursed. Marco's computer had an automatic scan for viruses on external storage devices, but a clever tech could overcome the standard process if the files on the drive were made to display, inside and out, internal FedSec protocols. "Okay thanks, out," he said to the deputy, who immediately left. "Shit," he exclaimed as he contacted his personal tech support to come and collect his laptop. Immediately afterwards he phoned the Secretary of State to confess that evidence of the 2100 policy files were now likely in the hands of an unknown cyber enemy. While he waited for Julia to connect, he stared at the glow emanating from his laptop monitor where the sight now displayed before him on the screen was quite decisively the words, 'Thank you.'

  *