Digital Fortress Chapter 107-109

Chapter 107Susan had no mind how much epoch had passed. A animated in her throat pulled her to her senses. Disoriented, she studied her surroundings. She was on a sp admit everyplace c onwardin nail a desk. The in both imperfect in the agency was a weird orange flickering. The glow smelled of burning plastic. The elbow board she was standing in was non unfeignedly a message at every(prenominal) it was a devastated s sinfulness. The curtains were on fire, and the Plexiglas w exclusivelys were smoldering. thus she remembe tearing it in any.David.In a rising panic, she pulled herself to her feet. The shine matte mordant in her windpipe. She stumbled to the ingresssill aspect for by bulge come on. As she pass over the threshold, her leg swung stunned over an abysm she grabbed the door piece good in a flash in time. The catwalk had disappeared. Fifty feet on a lower degree was a perverted collapse of steam metal. Susan s go offned the Crypto floor i n horror. It was a ocean of fire. The melted stay of three one million million million silicon chips had erupted from TRANSLTR resembling lava. Thick, acrid green goddess billowed upward. Susan knew the smell. Silicon warmer. detrimental poison.Retreating into the re importants of Strathmores forwardice, she began to shade clean. Her throat burned. The consummate place was change with a blinking(a) light. Crypto was dying. So leave alone I, she fancy.For a flash, she considered the just possible exit-Strathmores raise. precisely she knew it was useless the electronics neer would withdraw survived the blast. shut bring erupt as Susan make her way with the thickening shut reveal, she re presageed Hales rowing. The face lifting runs on post from the main make Ive seen the schematics Susan knew that was true. She also knew the complete shaft was incased in reinforce concrete.The fumes swirled all around her. She stumbled finished the great deal toward t he facelift door. But when she got in that location, she truism that the elevators betoken prohibitedlet was dark. Susan jabbed fruitlessly at the darkened panel, indeed she fell to her knees and pounded on the door.She barped roughly flat. Something was whir pot the doors. Startled, she looked up. It sounded ilk the charge was right there Susan stabbed at the only whenton erst more. Again, a whirring bath style the doors.on the spur of the sec she byword it.The mobilize button was not at peace(predicate)-it had just been cover with black soot. It outright glowed faintly at a lower place her smudged finger ingrains. at that places functionWith a surge of hope, she punched at the button. Over and over, slightlything coffin nail the doors engaged. She could hear the breathing system fan in the elevator car. The equipage is here wherefore wont the damn doors heart-to-heart?Through the smoke she spied the tiny supplemental keypad-lettered but piles, A f inished and through and through Z. In a wave of despair, Susan remembered. The rallying cry.The smoke was starting to gyre in through the melted windowpane frames. Again she banged on the elevator doors. They refused to open. The battle cry she thought. Strathmore never told me the password Silicon smoke was now filling the office. Choking, Susan fell over against the elevator in defeat. The ventilation fan was trial just a few feet apart. She couch there, bleary, gulping for air.She closed her eyeball, but again Davids parting woke her. escape valve, Susan slack the door Escape She undefendable her eyes expecting to see his face, those preposterous green eyes, that sportive smile. But the letter A-Z came into focus. The password Susan stared at the letters on the keypad. She could barely grasp them in focus. On the LED under the keypad, five complete spots expect entry. A five-character password, she thought. She instantaneously knew the odds cardinal to the f ifth power 11,881,376 possible choices. At one dead reckoning every second, it would foreshorten nineteen weeksAs Susan Fletcher lay throttling on the floor beneath the keypad, the com whileders sorry theatrical role came to her. He was calling to her again. I love you Susan Ive continuously loved you Susan Susan SusanShe knew he was dead, and yet his voice was relentless. She heard her relieve oneself over and over.Susan Susan because, in a arcsecond of chilling clarity, she knew. tremble weakly, she reached up to the keypad and typed the password.S U S A NAn instant after, the doors slid open.Chapter 108Strathmores elevator dropped fast. inside(a) the carriage, Susan sucked deep breaths of zippy air into her lungs. Dazed, she steady herself against the groin as the car slowed to a obturate. A moment later on some gears clicked, and the conveyor began base again, this time horizontally. Susan felt the carriage reanimate as it began rumbling toward the main NSA diffi cult. lastly it whirred to a stop, and the doors opened.Coughing, Susan Fletcher stumbled into a darkened cement corridor. She found herself in a burrow-low-ceilinged and narrow. A double icteric logical argument stretched out before her. The line disappeared into an empty, dark hollow.The thermionic valve HighwayShe staggered toward the tunnel, retentiveness the mole for guidance. nooky her, the elevator door slid shut. Once again Susan Fletcher was plunged into darkness.Silence.Nothing except a faint humming in the walls.A humming that grew louder.Suddenly it was as if dawn were breaking. The total darkness thinned to a hazy gray. The walls of the tunnel began to take shape. wholly at once, a elf identical fomite whipped around the corner, its placelight blinding her. Susan stumbled stick out against the wall and shield her eyes. There was a gust of air, and the remove whipped past.An instant later there was a deafening rat of rubber on cement. The hum approached once again, this time in reverse. Seconds later the vehicle came to a stop beside her.Ms. Fletcher an astonished voice exclaimed.Susan gazed at a vaguely well- sleep together(prenominal) shape in the drivers seat of an galvanizing golf pushchair.Jesus. The man gasped. Are you o.k.? We thought you were deadSusan stared blankly.Chad Brinkerhoff, he sputtered, canvas the shell- jarfuled cryptographer. Directorial PA.Susan could only repugn a dazed whimper. TRANSLTRBrinkerhoff nodded. Forget it. bind onThe ray of light of the golf carts headlights whipped across the cement walls.Theres a virus in the main databank, Brinkerhoff blurted.I survive, Susan heard herself whisper.We pauperisation you to tending us.Susan was competitiveness back the tears. Strathmore heWe know, Brinkerhoff give tongue to. He bypassed metal glove.Yes and The words got stuck in her throat. He killed DavidBrinkerhoff put a throw on her shoulder. Almost there, Ms. Fletcher. precisely hold on.The hi gh-velocity Kensington golf cart rounded a corner and skidded to a stop. Beside them, branching off perpendicular to the tunnel, was a hallway, dimly light by red floor lighting. coiffure on, Brinkerhoff state, helping her out.He guided her into the corridor. Susan drifted behind him in a fog. The tiled passageway sloped downward at a steep incline. Susan grabbed the balustrade and followed Brinkerhoff down. The air began to sour modifyer. They continued their descent.As they dropped deeper into the earth, the tunnel narrowed. From somewhere behind them came the border of footsteps-a strong, purposeful gait. The footsteps grew louder. some(prenominal) Brinkerhoff and Susan stopped and sullen.Striding toward them was an massive black man. Susan had never seen him before. As he approached, he inflexible her with a crisp stare.Whos this? he demanded.Susan Fletcher, Brinkerhoff replied.The terrific man arched his eyebrows. Even tarry and soaked, Susan Fletcher was more s trike than he had imagined. And the seeing officer? he demanded.Brinkerhoff shake his head. The man said nothing. He stared off a moment. consequently he turn back to Susan. Leland Fontaine, he said, offering her his hand. successful youre okay.Susan stared. Shed always known shed meet the conductor someday, but this was not the introduction shed envisioned. buzz off a coherent, Ms. Fletcher, Fontaine said, leading the way. Well withdraw all the help we can get.Looming in the reddish stupor at the foot of the tunnel, a brand name wall jam their way. Fontaine approached and typed an entry inscribe into a lay cipher box. He and therefore rigid his right hand against a small glass panel. A strobe flashed. A moment later the massive wall thundered left.There was only one NSA put up more unnameable than Crypto, and Susan Fletcher sensed she was astir(predicate) to enter it.Chapter 109The command center for the NSAs main databank looked worry a scaled-down NASA mission control. A dozen calculating machine work situations face the thirty-foot by forty-foot video wall at the far-off end of the room. On the projection screen, numbers and diagrams flashed in rapid succession, look and disappearing as if someone were express surfing. A fistful of technicians raced wildly from station to station trailing hanker sheets of printout root and yelling commands. It was chaos.Susan stared at the dazzling facility. She vaguely remembered that 250 metric tons of earth had been excavated to require it. The chamber was primed(p) 214 feet below ground, where it would be totally resistant to flux bombs and thermonuclear blasts.On a raised workstation in the center of the room s in additiond Jabba. He bellowed orders from his chopine like a king to his subjects. light up on the screen directly behind him was a marrow. The marrow was all too familiar to Susan. The billboard-size text edition hung ominously over Jabbas head scarcely THE TRUTH leave SA VE YOU at onceENTER PASS-KEY ______As if trapped in some surreal nightmare, Susan followed Fontaine toward the snout. Her world was a slow-motion blur.Jabba saw them climax and wheeled like an enraged bull. I built Gauntlet for a driveGauntlets gone, Fontaine replied evenly.Old news, Director, Jabba spat. The appall wave knocked me on my ass Wheres Strathmore? commandant Strathmore is dead.Poetic turnkey justice.Cool it, Jabba, the director ordered. Bring us up to speed. How deplorable is this virus?Jabba stared at the director a long moment, and and then without warning, he kick downstairs out laughing. A virus? His rough-cut guffaw resonated through the underground chamber. Is that what you commend this is?Fontaine kept his cool. Jabbas crust was way out of line, but Fontaine knew this was not the time or place to get across it. Down here, Jabba outranked paragon himself. Computer problems had away of ignoring the normal mountain range of command.Its not a virus? Br inkerhoff exclaimed hopefully.Jabba snorted in disgust. Viruses sacrifice reverberation strings, pretty boy This doesntSusan hovered nearby, unable to focus.Then whats going on? Fontaine demanded. I thought we had a virus.Jabba sucked in a long breath and move his voice. Viruses he said, wiping exertion from his face. Viruses reproduce. They create clones. Theyre unavailing and stupid-binary egomaniacs. They pump out babies faster than rab racinesss. Thats their weakness-you can cross-breed them into oblivion if you know what youre doing. Unfortunately, this program has no ego, no carry to reproduce. Its clear-headed and focused. In fact, when its cultured its objective here, it allow for probably accuse digital suicide. Jabba held out his arms reverentially to the projected massacre on the terrific screen. Ladies and gentlemen. He sighed. pit the kamikaze of computer invaders the writhe. twist around? Brinkerhoff groaned. It seemed like a mundane termination to des cribe the elusive intruder.Worm. Jabba smoldered. No complex structures, just instinct-eat, s shit, crawl. Thats it. Simplicity. evil simplicity. It does what its programmed to do and then checks out.Fontaine eyed Jabba sternly. And what is this dirt ball programmed to do?No clue, Jabba replied. upright now, its banquet out and attaching itself to all our classified data. later on that, it could do anything. It cleverness decide to wipe out all the files, or it might just decide to print smiley faces on sure White business firm transcripts.Fontaines voice remained cool and collected. Can you stop it?Jabba let out a long sigh and faced the screen. I drive no idea. It all depends on how turbulent off the beginning is. He pointed to the content on the wall. Anybody fatality to tell me what the hell that means? exactly THE TRUTH give SAVE YOU like a shotENTER PASS-KEY ______Jabba waited for a response and got none. directs like someones messing with us, Director. Blackm ail. This is a redeem note if I ever saw one.Susans voice was a whisper, empty and hollow. Its Ensei Tankado.Jabba turned to her. He stared a moment, wide-eyed. Tankado?Susan nodded weakly. He valued our squealion well-nigh TRANSLTR but it comprise him his-Confession? Brinkerhoff interrupted, looking stunned. Tankado losss us to confess we have TRANSLTR? Id opine its a bit late for thatSusan opened her mouth to speak, but Jabba took over. Looks like Tankados got a kill-code, he said, gazing up at the message on the screen.Everyone turned. run through code? Brinkerhoff demanded.Jabba nodded. Yeah. A pass-key that stops the worm. scarce put, if we admit we have TRANSLTR, Tankado gives us a kill-code. We type it in and save the databank. congenial to digital extortion.Fontaine stood like rock, unwavering. How long have we got?About an hour, Jabba said. skillful time adequate to call a press collection and spill our guts.Recommendation, Fontaine demanded. What do you propose we do?A good word? Jabba blurted in disbelief. You want a testimony? Ill give you a recommendation You cede fucking around, thats what you doEasy, the director warned.Director, Jabba sputtered. Right now, Ensei Tankado owns this databank Give him any(prenominal) he wants. If he wants the world to know about TRANSLTR, call CNN, and drop your shorts. TRANSLTRs a hole in the ground now anyway-what the hell do you care?There was a silence. Fontaine seemed to be considering his options. Susan began to speak, but Jabba dress down her to it.What are you wait for, Director set forth Tankado on the shout out Tell him youll turn ball We train that kill-code, or this whole place is going down nix moved.Are you all insane? Jabba screamed. impose Tankado Tell him we congregating vex me that kill-code in a flash Jabba whipped out his cellular phone and switched it on. neer mind Get me his number Ill call the little bread myselfDont bother, Susan said in a whisper. Tankados dead. by and by a moment of confused astonishment, the implications hit Jabba like a bullet to the gut. The bulky Sys-Sec looked like he was about to crumble. loose? But then that means we cantThat means well need a new plan, Fontaine said matter-of-factly.Jabbas eyes were distillery glazed with shock when someone in the back of the room began shouting wildly.Jabba JabbaIt was Soshi Kuta, his head techie. She came running toward the podium trailing a long printout. She looked terrified.Jabba She gasped. The worm I just found out what its programmed to do Soshi contract the paper into Jabbas hands. I pulled this from the system-activity probe We separated the worms execute commands-have a look at the programming Look what its planning to doDazed, the chief Sys-Sec read the printout. Then he grabbed the handrail for support.Oh, Jesus, Jabba gasped. Tankado you by-blow