Read Online The Cassandra Complex by Brian Stableford - Free Book Online
Authors: Brian Stableford
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“If that’s what the people who burgled my flat were looking for, they were mistaken.”
“Or misinformed,” Kenna pointed out. “They must have had confidence in their source, don’t you think? They must have thought it was necessary to secure all three targets: the mice, the data, the backup. But there might, of course, have been four targets.”
She presumably meant Stella Filisetti—but Mike Grundy was quick to say: “Or five. We still haven’t established contact with Dr. Chan.”
“But it must be significant that Miller’s computers have been taken,” Kenna countered, “and that Dr. Friemann’s backups were cleared out. If Miller isn’t the perpetrator, he’s certainly the key. Do you suppose, Dr. Friemann, that he might have placed a wafer or a sequin on your shelves without your even knowing it?”
“Not recently,” Lisa replied coldly. “He hasn’t visited my home for over a year.”
“Of course,” the chief inspector said with a perfunctory nod. “You’ve … moved on since then.”
Lisa clenched her fists reflexively, and regretted it when pain flared up in the wound she’d only just grown used to protecting.
“Morgan would never do something like that,” she said.
“But he could have discovered the codes to your locks easily enough, if he’d wanted to?”
“He wouldn’t have wanted to,” Lisa insisted. She barely prevented herself from naming the one person who did know the codes to both her locks—but Judith Kenna already knew that name.
“Do you know the codes to his locks, Dr. Friemann?” Kenna went on inexorably.
For a moment, Lisa considered raising the possibility that Morgan might have changed his codes, as everyone was supposed to do at regular intervals, but she knew full well that he wouldn’t have done any such thing, anymore than she had. “Yes,” she said finally. “And I could have told the bombers how to get into the labs, at least as far as Mouseworld—but I didn’t. Neither did Morgan.”
“I’m merely trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together,” Judith Kenna assured her vindictively. “You see, I can’t think of anyone else except you and Morgan Miller who had ready access to all the necessary information. The missing research assistant might well have been able to tell someone how to open Miller’s locks, but I presume that neither she nor Dr. Chan could have told anyone how to get through yours.”
“That’s not all they did,” Mike Grundy pointed out. “They blacked out half the town. Anyone who could hack their way into that system could hack any number of locks. If Miller, Chan, or Burdillon had found something that someone else wanted to get a hold of, we’ll have to look a lot farther than their friends and colleagues. We ought to backtrack their communications—trace every phone call and every e-mail, internal and external. That’s where we’ll find the clue to what this is all about—because that’s where the people who did all this must have found their motive.”
“I’m afraid that we won’t be able to do any such thing,” Kenna informed him—and she really did seem slightly regretful. “The MOD has already placed all those records under a security blanket. If we’re lucky, they might let us in on whatever they find—but that will depend on how much help they think they need. If Morgan Miller is still being held in the area that was blacked out, they’ll probably let us help them find him—and get him back, if possible—but if the people who have him manage to smuggle him out and away, we’ll be out of the loop. I’d like to ensure that that doesn’t happen, if possible.”
Lisa realized that Judith Kenna would far rather that this turned out to be a local operation, and that it really was Morgan or one of his friends and colleagues who was behind it. If a megacorp were behind it, the likelihood was that Morgan would never be seen again and that no one outside the secret meeting places of the
“Or misinformed,” Kenna pointed out. “They must have had confidence in their source, don’t you think? They must have thought it was necessary to secure all three targets: the mice, the data, the backup. But there might, of course, have been four targets.”
She presumably meant Stella Filisetti—but Mike Grundy was quick to say: “Or five. We still haven’t established contact with Dr. Chan.”
“But it must be significant that Miller’s computers have been taken,” Kenna countered, “and that Dr. Friemann’s backups were cleared out. If Miller isn’t the perpetrator, he’s certainly the key. Do you suppose, Dr. Friemann, that he might have placed a wafer or a sequin on your shelves without your even knowing it?”
“Not recently,” Lisa replied coldly. “He hasn’t visited my home for over a year.”
“Of course,” the chief inspector said with a perfunctory nod. “You’ve … moved on since then.”
Lisa clenched her fists reflexively, and regretted it when pain flared up in the wound she’d only just grown used to protecting.
“Morgan would never do something like that,” she said.
“But he could have discovered the codes to your locks easily enough, if he’d wanted to?”
“He wouldn’t have wanted to,” Lisa insisted. She barely prevented herself from naming the one person who did know the codes to both her locks—but Judith Kenna already knew that name.
“Do you know the codes to his locks, Dr. Friemann?” Kenna went on inexorably.
For a moment, Lisa considered raising the possibility that Morgan might have changed his codes, as everyone was supposed to do at regular intervals, but she knew full well that he wouldn’t have done any such thing, anymore than she had. “Yes,” she said finally. “And I could have told the bombers how to get into the labs, at least as far as Mouseworld—but I didn’t. Neither did Morgan.”
“I’m merely trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together,” Judith Kenna assured her vindictively. “You see, I can’t think of anyone else except you and Morgan Miller who had ready access to all the necessary information. The missing research assistant might well have been able to tell someone how to open Miller’s locks, but I presume that neither she nor Dr. Chan could have told anyone how to get through yours.”
“That’s not all they did,” Mike Grundy pointed out. “They blacked out half the town. Anyone who could hack their way into that system could hack any number of locks. If Miller, Chan, or Burdillon had found something that someone else wanted to get a hold of, we’ll have to look a lot farther than their friends and colleagues. We ought to backtrack their communications—trace every phone call and every e-mail, internal and external. That’s where we’ll find the clue to what this is all about—because that’s where the people who did all this must have found their motive.”
“I’m afraid that we won’t be able to do any such thing,” Kenna informed him—and she really did seem slightly regretful. “The MOD has already placed all those records under a security blanket. If we’re lucky, they might let us in on whatever they find—but that will depend on how much help they think they need. If Morgan Miller is still being held in the area that was blacked out, they’ll probably let us help them find him—and get him back, if possible—but if the people who have him manage to smuggle him out and away, we’ll be out of the loop. I’d like to ensure that that doesn’t happen, if possible.”
Lisa realized that Judith Kenna would far rather that this turned out to be a local operation, and that it really was Morgan or one of his friends and colleagues who was behind it. If a megacorp were behind it, the likelihood was that Morgan would never be seen again and that no one outside the secret meeting places of the
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