Read Online Regeneration by Stephanie Saulter - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Stephanie Saulter
Ads: Link
not ask stupid questions, or make empty gestures. Nor did she act without purpose.
Have you forgotten with whom you’re dealing, Zavcka? Foolish girl. It was never about what you could learn from her.
What did she learn from you?
6
In another meeting room, many miles from where Zavcka Klist sat in contemplation while Aryel Morningstar, equally troubled, launched herself from the roof of the prison into a storm-wracked sky, Detective Superintendent Sharon Varsi was picking through the details of a different skirmish. It was not going as well as she’d hoped.
“I understand that the technical specifications filed with Planning would have been enough for someone to work out how to damage the turbines with a water-jet,” she said to Pilan and the young compliance coordinator, Qiyem. “And although access to the full application must be requested, there’s no real barrier to anyone getting hold of that data. But the security setup for the power plant is not public information. And yet whoever sabotaged the turbines knew precisely how to pilot their vehicle to stay out of sight of the cams as well as how to avoid setting off proximity alarms. So who has access to that information?”
“The security plan was included in the submission,” Qiyem pointed out. “It’s redacted from the infostreams, but it is nevertheless held by the city’s Planning Department and the Energy RegulatoryAuthority. It had to be approved by Environmental Management and the Home Office, as well as the police, in order for the submission as a whole to be successful.”
He nodded respectfully at her, and she felt her jaw tighten. She had at first been pleased to have his comprehensive knowledge of what information had flowed where, and when, placed at the service of the investigation, but his endless repetition of facts she already knew was becoming annoying.
“So at various points in the process it would have been reviewed by departmental specialists and signed off,” she snapped. “I get that. But as I said before, none of those people would have been able to make copies. They could only have accessed the files at work, via a secure connection. And that’s not just wishful thinking on my part—forensics have already confirmed there were no security breaches during the submissions process.”
She turned her attention to Pilan. “So let me rephrase the question: Who else could have had access?”
“Just us,” Pilan shot back. “And a detailed security schematic isn’t available to everyone on our own infostream either: only a handful of us can see it.”
“Do you think,” Sharon said steadily, “that there is anyone in Thames Tidal we should be taking a closer look at? Anyone who has that access, or might have been able to gain it?” She raised her hands for calm as Pilan’s copper-brown face began to turn red. “I know you’re not going to take kindly to that idea; no employer ever does. But we need to be realistic, Pilan. If there’s someone who might be disgruntled, for whatever reason, or could be persuaded to pirate a file in exchange for payment . . .”
Qiyem, she noted, was listening with a kind of placid disinterest; he appeared to be in no doubt about what the answer would be.
Pilan breathed deeply and flattened his webbed hands on the table. “None of our people have anything to do with this,” he said. “I’d stake my life on it. And remember, no one here is employed in the usual way. This is a cooperative—so everyone owns a share of the business. Everyone stands to win if it does well, and we all lose out if it doesn’t.”
“The owners—that’s us—will make a hell of a lot more money in the long run,” Qiyem interjected. “Trading that for a bribe doesn’t make any sense.”
Sharon and Pilan both looked at him in surprise; it was the first time he had spoken less than formally, or volunteered anything that sounded like a personal view. He shifted as though embarrassed by the attention
Have you forgotten with whom you’re dealing, Zavcka? Foolish girl. It was never about what you could learn from her.
What did she learn from you?
6
In another meeting room, many miles from where Zavcka Klist sat in contemplation while Aryel Morningstar, equally troubled, launched herself from the roof of the prison into a storm-wracked sky, Detective Superintendent Sharon Varsi was picking through the details of a different skirmish. It was not going as well as she’d hoped.
“I understand that the technical specifications filed with Planning would have been enough for someone to work out how to damage the turbines with a water-jet,” she said to Pilan and the young compliance coordinator, Qiyem. “And although access to the full application must be requested, there’s no real barrier to anyone getting hold of that data. But the security setup for the power plant is not public information. And yet whoever sabotaged the turbines knew precisely how to pilot their vehicle to stay out of sight of the cams as well as how to avoid setting off proximity alarms. So who has access to that information?”
“The security plan was included in the submission,” Qiyem pointed out. “It’s redacted from the infostreams, but it is nevertheless held by the city’s Planning Department and the Energy RegulatoryAuthority. It had to be approved by Environmental Management and the Home Office, as well as the police, in order for the submission as a whole to be successful.”
He nodded respectfully at her, and she felt her jaw tighten. She had at first been pleased to have his comprehensive knowledge of what information had flowed where, and when, placed at the service of the investigation, but his endless repetition of facts she already knew was becoming annoying.
“So at various points in the process it would have been reviewed by departmental specialists and signed off,” she snapped. “I get that. But as I said before, none of those people would have been able to make copies. They could only have accessed the files at work, via a secure connection. And that’s not just wishful thinking on my part—forensics have already confirmed there were no security breaches during the submissions process.”
She turned her attention to Pilan. “So let me rephrase the question: Who else could have had access?”
“Just us,” Pilan shot back. “And a detailed security schematic isn’t available to everyone on our own infostream either: only a handful of us can see it.”
“Do you think,” Sharon said steadily, “that there is anyone in Thames Tidal we should be taking a closer look at? Anyone who has that access, or might have been able to gain it?” She raised her hands for calm as Pilan’s copper-brown face began to turn red. “I know you’re not going to take kindly to that idea; no employer ever does. But we need to be realistic, Pilan. If there’s someone who might be disgruntled, for whatever reason, or could be persuaded to pirate a file in exchange for payment . . .”
Qiyem, she noted, was listening with a kind of placid disinterest; he appeared to be in no doubt about what the answer would be.
Pilan breathed deeply and flattened his webbed hands on the table. “None of our people have anything to do with this,” he said. “I’d stake my life on it. And remember, no one here is employed in the usual way. This is a cooperative—so everyone owns a share of the business. Everyone stands to win if it does well, and we all lose out if it doesn’t.”
“The owners—that’s us—will make a hell of a lot more money in the long run,” Qiyem interjected. “Trading that for a bribe doesn’t make any sense.”
Sharon and Pilan both looked at him in surprise; it was the first time he had spoken less than formally, or volunteered anything that sounded like a personal view. He shifted as though embarrassed by the attention
Similar Books
