Read Online Project Aura by Bob Mayer - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Bob Mayer
Tags: Fiction & Literature
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over next to her as Jackson did the same on the other side. "Anything on our people?"
"Nothing. We're keeping the bodies alive, but their psyches..." Hammond trailed off.
"Let me ask you something," Dalton said. "Sybyl tracks us when we go over to the virtual plane, right?"
"Track isn't the right word," Hammond said. "Sybyl has to supply your avatar with both power and form, so it’s always in contact with you, but the computer can't tell exactly where you are. We don't know what space and distance is on the virtual plane."
"Does the computer track where we come out in the real world?"
"Somewhat."
"Is there any sort of record of our trips when we go over to the virtual?" Dalton asked.
"Sybyl records all data on the link, both reported and requested," Hammond said.
"Could you pull up the data for the first team?" he asked.
Hammond turned to the computer and typed in a rapid series of commands. "Here it is."
Dalton looked over her shoulder but could make little sense of the words. "What does that mean?"
Hammond pointed. "Real time is recorded here. This is power data. This is communication's linkage. The first team was over for, let's see...” She scrolled down. "Forty-two minutes in real time before the linkage was cut."
Dalton saw something on the right side of the screen. "What does this mean?"
Hammond read what he was pointing at. "One of the team members, Eileen Raisor, was requesting information from Sybyl about a location."
"What location?"
Hammond moved the mouse and clicked. She read the letters out loud. "A-F-S-M-S-C."
"Which stands for?" Jackson asked.
"Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center," Hammond answered.
Dalton wondered what that had to do with HAARP.
"She wanted to know where it was and what it did," Hammond continued. "Sybyl gave her the data. The team was cut off less than a minute later." She continued to use the mouse and keyboard, searching further into the data, when she suddenly stopped. "Oh my."
"What?" Dalton asked.
Hammond's eyes shifted about as if afraid of being overheard even though there was no one else in the room. "Sybyl's been infected."
"Infected?" Dalton repeated. "With what?"
"A bug."
"From where?" Jackson asked.
Hammond frowned as she looked at the data on her screen. "That's the weird thing. I think the bug has been there all along. An integral part of the master program."
"A time-delay activation?" Jackson asked.
"It's been active all along," Hammond replied.
It was Jackson's turn to look confused. "What does the bug do?"
"As far as I can tell by looking at this, it tracks Sybyl's activity and notes whenever the virtual plane is accessed here. I think there's more to it than that, though. It's going to take me a while to break down the lines of code. But someone had access to this data real-time when that first team was on the psychic plane."
"So whoever it was knew about the request reference AFSMSC by Eileen Raisor?" Dalton asked.
"Yes."
"Who could have put the bug in there?" Dalton wanted to know. "And why?"
"It had to have been someone here inside Bright Gate," Hammond said. "We're secure to the outside world."
"No, you're not," Dalton said. "I don't know much about computers, but you just told me someone's monitoring Sybyl, which means that information is getting out of here in some manner, correct? And if information from the computer can go out, then someone on the outside can get into Sybyl, right?"
"No." Hammond was shaking her head. "We were tested by the NSA. We're secure from hackers."
"Unless the NSA did the hacking," Dalton said. He thought of what Eichen had said about the government being infiltrated and about Jenkins, Hammond's predecessor. "Raisor said the first PW team was betrayed by someone in our own government."
"But why would someone outside of here want to know when Sybyl is active on the virtual plane?" Hammond asked.
"To hide something from Psychic Warriors when they're deployed," Dalton said. He thought about it.
"Nothing. We're keeping the bodies alive, but their psyches..." Hammond trailed off.
"Let me ask you something," Dalton said. "Sybyl tracks us when we go over to the virtual plane, right?"
"Track isn't the right word," Hammond said. "Sybyl has to supply your avatar with both power and form, so it’s always in contact with you, but the computer can't tell exactly where you are. We don't know what space and distance is on the virtual plane."
"Does the computer track where we come out in the real world?"
"Somewhat."
"Is there any sort of record of our trips when we go over to the virtual?" Dalton asked.
"Sybyl records all data on the link, both reported and requested," Hammond said.
"Could you pull up the data for the first team?" he asked.
Hammond turned to the computer and typed in a rapid series of commands. "Here it is."
Dalton looked over her shoulder but could make little sense of the words. "What does that mean?"
Hammond pointed. "Real time is recorded here. This is power data. This is communication's linkage. The first team was over for, let's see...” She scrolled down. "Forty-two minutes in real time before the linkage was cut."
Dalton saw something on the right side of the screen. "What does this mean?"
Hammond read what he was pointing at. "One of the team members, Eileen Raisor, was requesting information from Sybyl about a location."
"What location?"
Hammond moved the mouse and clicked. She read the letters out loud. "A-F-S-M-S-C."
"Which stands for?" Jackson asked.
"Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center," Hammond answered.
Dalton wondered what that had to do with HAARP.
"She wanted to know where it was and what it did," Hammond continued. "Sybyl gave her the data. The team was cut off less than a minute later." She continued to use the mouse and keyboard, searching further into the data, when she suddenly stopped. "Oh my."
"What?" Dalton asked.
Hammond's eyes shifted about as if afraid of being overheard even though there was no one else in the room. "Sybyl's been infected."
"Infected?" Dalton repeated. "With what?"
"A bug."
"From where?" Jackson asked.
Hammond frowned as she looked at the data on her screen. "That's the weird thing. I think the bug has been there all along. An integral part of the master program."
"A time-delay activation?" Jackson asked.
"It's been active all along," Hammond replied.
It was Jackson's turn to look confused. "What does the bug do?"
"As far as I can tell by looking at this, it tracks Sybyl's activity and notes whenever the virtual plane is accessed here. I think there's more to it than that, though. It's going to take me a while to break down the lines of code. But someone had access to this data real-time when that first team was on the psychic plane."
"So whoever it was knew about the request reference AFSMSC by Eileen Raisor?" Dalton asked.
"Yes."
"Who could have put the bug in there?" Dalton wanted to know. "And why?"
"It had to have been someone here inside Bright Gate," Hammond said. "We're secure to the outside world."
"No, you're not," Dalton said. "I don't know much about computers, but you just told me someone's monitoring Sybyl, which means that information is getting out of here in some manner, correct? And if information from the computer can go out, then someone on the outside can get into Sybyl, right?"
"No." Hammond was shaking her head. "We were tested by the NSA. We're secure from hackers."
"Unless the NSA did the hacking," Dalton said. He thought of what Eichen had said about the government being infiltrated and about Jenkins, Hammond's predecessor. "Raisor said the first PW team was betrayed by someone in our own government."
"But why would someone outside of here want to know when Sybyl is active on the virtual plane?" Hammond asked.
"To hide something from Psychic Warriors when they're deployed," Dalton said. He thought about it.
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