It’s not like it’s the end of the world.”
Mark stared at his computer screen waiting to bypass the Federal Reserve’s fire wall. He supposed all his planning was because of a nearly end of the world level event. A lot of people’s lives were about to be ended or turned upside down. Even then, life would go on. The contract John was losing his cool over would be long forgotten after the death wave from the collapsing stars passed through.
You have to keep everything in perspective, Johnny Boy, Mark thought.
John said, “It’s not government. If it was, I could send any bozo over.”
Mark shook his head. Who still used the word bozo for anything? Mark said, “I don’t know how many ways to tell you know, John, without just finally hanging up on you. I have a pretty full slate for … about the next month. If you have anything you need after that, you can give me a call.”
Mark wasn’t sure the phones would be working in a month. If John was still alive, he might be without Internet or power. His whole business might be long forgotten and he could be scavenging for food while Mark was selling gold on the black market.
John said, “CDR is not the kind of company I can say no to, Mark. I’m out of bargaining chips here. Can you just tell me yes as a favor, please?”
“CDR?” Mark said. He stared over the top of his computer screen at the dirty dishes piled in a tower in his sink. There were knife handles sticking out of the pile at precarious angles. Mark made a mental note to clear all those out and to secure everything in his apartment before the event so that he didn’t end up dead from a flying utensil or coffee table. He said, “Which CDR? What are you talking about?”
“I only know one and they are the biggest and best at what they do,” John said. “Conrad, Decker, Rand Research, man. They are the biggest applied research group in the world and their Chicago building needs security upgrades. I had to sign a non disclosure just to see the outline for the job. The systems and networks involved are out of this world. I can’t even wrap my brain around it all. I’m in way over my head. I’d fly a guy in from India, if there was anyone better in the world, but you are already in Chicago and you’re the only guy I have that can pull something like this off. It is hardware and network security. It’s big. Like I said, I’m basically offering you the whole pot on this one. There will probably be more work down the road too. What do you say, Mark?”
Mark sat back in his chair causing the ergonomic back to crack loudly. He put a hand on his forehead and stared at the popcorn pattern in the spackle above him. His grandmother’s house had that kind of ceiling. He thought it wasn’t done anymore which probably meant the apartments hadn’t been upgraded in decades. There was probably lead in the pipes slowly killing him and the angry Russians. He thought that spiky pattern would hurt if he hit against it floating off the floor. He planned to be somewhere else doing something else when that happened, but suddenly he was considering a whole new target.
Changing plans this close to execution was stupid, he thought. This was how fools got caught.
“Mark?” John asked in Mark’s ear.
“Just a minute,” Mark said. “I’m thinking.”
“I really need …”
“Just shut up for a moment and let me think,” Mark said. “I have a lot of balls in the air. Don’t say anything for just a moment.”
Mark could hear John breathing through the phone, so he moved it away from his ear. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and then blinked as his computer screen slowly came back into focus.
Was it insanity to change the plan now?
CDR was a hacker’s dream and nightmare. They were ten times tougher to crack than even NSA computers. Unlike the NSA, they would come after hackers, actually catch them, and make an example of them to others. No life in prison for people that messed with CDR. It might
Mark stared at his computer screen waiting to bypass the Federal Reserve’s fire wall. He supposed all his planning was because of a nearly end of the world level event. A lot of people’s lives were about to be ended or turned upside down. Even then, life would go on. The contract John was losing his cool over would be long forgotten after the death wave from the collapsing stars passed through.
You have to keep everything in perspective, Johnny Boy, Mark thought.
John said, “It’s not government. If it was, I could send any bozo over.”
Mark shook his head. Who still used the word bozo for anything? Mark said, “I don’t know how many ways to tell you know, John, without just finally hanging up on you. I have a pretty full slate for … about the next month. If you have anything you need after that, you can give me a call.”
Mark wasn’t sure the phones would be working in a month. If John was still alive, he might be without Internet or power. His whole business might be long forgotten and he could be scavenging for food while Mark was selling gold on the black market.
John said, “CDR is not the kind of company I can say no to, Mark. I’m out of bargaining chips here. Can you just tell me yes as a favor, please?”
“CDR?” Mark said. He stared over the top of his computer screen at the dirty dishes piled in a tower in his sink. There were knife handles sticking out of the pile at precarious angles. Mark made a mental note to clear all those out and to secure everything in his apartment before the event so that he didn’t end up dead from a flying utensil or coffee table. He said, “Which CDR? What are you talking about?”
“I only know one and they are the biggest and best at what they do,” John said. “Conrad, Decker, Rand Research, man. They are the biggest applied research group in the world and their Chicago building needs security upgrades. I had to sign a non disclosure just to see the outline for the job. The systems and networks involved are out of this world. I can’t even wrap my brain around it all. I’m in way over my head. I’d fly a guy in from India, if there was anyone better in the world, but you are already in Chicago and you’re the only guy I have that can pull something like this off. It is hardware and network security. It’s big. Like I said, I’m basically offering you the whole pot on this one. There will probably be more work down the road too. What do you say, Mark?”
Mark sat back in his chair causing the ergonomic back to crack loudly. He put a hand on his forehead and stared at the popcorn pattern in the spackle above him. His grandmother’s house had that kind of ceiling. He thought it wasn’t done anymore which probably meant the apartments hadn’t been upgraded in decades. There was probably lead in the pipes slowly killing him and the angry Russians. He thought that spiky pattern would hurt if he hit against it floating off the floor. He planned to be somewhere else doing something else when that happened, but suddenly he was considering a whole new target.
Changing plans this close to execution was stupid, he thought. This was how fools got caught.
“Mark?” John asked in Mark’s ear.
“Just a minute,” Mark said. “I’m thinking.”
“I really need …”
“Just shut up for a moment and let me think,” Mark said. “I have a lot of balls in the air. Don’t say anything for just a moment.”
Mark could hear John breathing through the phone, so he moved it away from his ear. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and then blinked as his computer screen slowly came back into focus.
Was it insanity to change the plan now?
CDR was a hacker’s dream and nightmare. They were ten times tougher to crack than even NSA computers. Unlike the NSA, they would come after hackers, actually catch them, and make an example of them to others. No life in prison for people that messed with CDR. It might
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