Spyder Web

48

From her hotel room, Roe finished coding a new set of instructions for the Spyder. Just working out the parameters for the complex program had taken the better part of the weekend. Unlike the earlier instruction sets that she’d downloaded to the device, this one defined a live on-line connection with the Spyder. That extra step forced Roe to modify her normal programming to increase security for the connection; everything had to be perfect if she was to execute a live data transfer from Moy Electronics safely.

After thoroughly debugging the program, removing any errors that might cripple the execution of her complex instructions, she encrypted the text and prepared to send the message.

As before, Roe started by accessing a local Internet server, one that happened to host one of her favorite Web sites, the Piccadilly Gardener. From there, she accessed the British National Telephone Exchange and jumped a few electronic circuits to cover her trail. Then she linked into their satellite communications lines and made her way to North America, where she passed through several other computer systems before finally sending her E-mail message to the Spyder.

Then, with a flurry of rapid keystrokes, Roe backpedaled through the systems she’d penetrated.After downloading a few tips on spring planting, she logged off the Net. Roe smiled as she read over the gardening tips, hoping that the seed she just planted would successfully take root.

An hour after posting the latest instructions to the Spyder, Roe arrived at Parnell’s office for a noon meeting.

‘Still hard at it, Alex?’

‘Just finished, and everything looks fine. I’ve sent off the new program, which should be picked up by the end of business today. Once it loads this file, it will go dormant until Friday.’

Parnell leaned back and mentally ran over the checklist. ‘Excellent.We don’t want to draw any suspicion away from the current suspects, now do we?’

‘A remarkable stroke of luck, I admit,’ Roe replied dubiously. ‘I checked the Detroit newspapers’Web sites and it appears that Kilkenny and another fellow have been charged with several computer-related crimes, including ours. It’s like Cole said — who would believe that the computer itself was capable of doing something like this? Unfortunately, with all the attention over there, someone still might figure out what’s really going on.’

‘Perhaps, but by then, you and I will be safely out of reach, basking in the warm Caribbean sun.What do you say we step out for a bit of lunch?’

From their perch across the park, Axton was again sitting in with the watchers. Parnell’s days seemed filled with the mundane tasks that every businessperson deals with. Most of the man’s business operations were perfectly legal and, for the most part, ethical. Axton’s crew of watchers just sat and watched and listened for those little details that they would use to build their case.

‘Did you catch any of that, sir?’ the sound engineer asked as he adjusted the filtering levels on his equipment.

The conversation in Parnell’s office had ended and Axton pulled the headset off and rubbed his ears. ‘Just two little pieces of interest, a mention of Cole and Kilkenny. That confirms that they know about both of them.’

‘Who’s Kilkenny?’

‘He’s a Yank on the other end of this mess, lad, someone for whom those two reptiles have caused more than a bit of grief.Well, it looks like they’re breaking for lunch.’

Axton switched on his radio headset and flagged a warning to his ground crews. ‘Look lively, boys and girls. Tweedledee and Tweedledum are coming down for a snack.’

‘Roger, sir,’ the response came back over the radio.

Before real code names could be issued for this surveillance operation, the watchers started referring to Parnell and Roe as ‘Tweedledee’ and ‘Tweedledum,’ from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Following the same logic, their base of observation was christened ‘Looking Glass’ and Kang Fa had been dubbed ‘the Mad Hatter.’

‘Can you make me a copy of that last bit? Maybe the lab boys can filter out some of that background noise.’

‘Consider it done, sir,’ the sound engineer replied as he handed Axton a CD. ‘Figured you’d be wanting it for the folks at HQ.’