Traveller Manifesto
28. Chicago - Today

Chicago – Today.

When Allen arrived, he looked troubled. That never made Peter Conti feel any better.

“You suggested this is urgent?” asked Phil. Lately, Allen seemed to be the bearer of bad news.

“Oh jeese guys, you make a man feel welcome,” declared Allen as he casually took a seat in the leather lounge in Conti’s plush executive office located on one of the upper floors of the impressive Willis Tower. Though the skyscraper had long ago lost the distinction of the world’s tallest building, it was still one of the tallest buildings in the United States. The view was stunning, especially when an afternoon haze had the city of Chicago look like it was bathed in pale gold.

The software specialist accepted his drink and then leaned forward and smiled. “I imagine you know there’s been a lot of supposition zipping around the Dark Web.”

Phil arched his eyebrows, “And I’m hoping you’ll tell us what that means?”

Conti felt irritated. “Oh for God’s sake! Out with it! We know you aren’t here to tell us our fortunes.”

Allen chuckled, for his close relationship with Conti was no secret. Together they had amassed fortunes, while they had also developed and then hidden software that would be terrifying in the hands of the wrong organisation, especially any government. “Okay, okay!” he exclaimed, his hands up in surrender. “You have me! It’s bad news, but also good news as it helps us to understand what’s been going on.”

“Who stole it?” asked Phil bluntly. He looked tired and stressed. His clandestine efforts for the US Government would likely have contributed to the mess in which they now found themselves.

“You make that sound like an easy answer, but it isn’t,” conceded Allen. “It could have been hackers from China, Ukraine, India, or the USA.”

“Not Russia?” asked Conti. He knew of Allen’s recent ties to Russia and felt suspicious at their absence.

Allen looked to him and frowned. “No, not bloody Russia. They’re always a convenient scapegoat, aren’t they, but they would have done very well to hide from the search my team has conducted over the past month. Let me put it this way, whoever accessed the data on the Transporter Ganglion might have had access to the Helguard mainframe. That means it could have been an inside job.”

Conti felt an initial wash of terror and anger at the news. He had checked his team. Even Allen’s super-software had been used. Those with questionable qualifications or ties to the intelligence community had been transferred to distant offices or found themselves unemployed. He opened his mouth to object, but Allen held up his hand to forestall him. “I know, I know! We’ve checked everyone. The system is not faulty and the safeguards weren’t breached on line, but they were most likely breached from mainframe access inside of Helguard offices here in Chicago. I believe it might have been an act of espionage, that someone physically accessed your secure systems, broke in, and took the secrets to the ganglion.”

“Holy shit!” exclaimed Phil.

“No way!” blurted Conti. “You’re suggesting the perpetrator actually broke into our systems after having avoided or dismantled our entire security system.”

“I’m not saying how it happened,” continued Allen. “The only evidence is what I found after a hack into China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

“Your hack?” asked Conti.

Allen shrugged. “Not me personally, but let’s suggest that my company has a reputation. Not all hackers are, um, bad guys. Anyway. Let’s just say that we were hired by the US DOD to replace something else and, hey presto, I replace that the Chinese have plans for the development of the Transporter, including the ganglion.”

“Our schematic?” asked Conti angrily.

“That’s the thing that gets me,” replied Allen. “”They aren’t ours.”

“What the hell!” exclaimed Phil angrily. “Whose are they if they aren’t ours?”

“Okay, now let me finish,” replied Allen. He took a slow sip and seemed to enjoy provoking them. Conti gave a huff of impatience, so Allen winked at Phil and continued. “It looks to me that the Chinese obtained the schematics from a hack that, according to our research, was probably by some lads in Kazakhstan. That means Russia, but that wasn’t some bogus hack but would have been part of the usual cyber warfare that most countries have been engaging in for years. If it was our schematics, then I would have thought it was due to a security lapse in Helguard. This hack had targeted the US Department of, wait for it, Energy.”

“God damn it!” exclaimed Phil in disgust.

“Senator Benton,” spat Conti. “That fucking woman has her dirty finger in every grubby pie. So, what do we suggest? Now you tell me it might not have been our lapse entirely, that someone hacked our system or that they developed the technology for the ganglion independently?” He looked to Phil accusingly. Phil had, after all, been involved in clandestine research to duplicate the accidentally fused ganglion that was the secret to the operation of the Transporter

“Look, I knew this would bounce back and bite me in the arse,” admitted Phil as he threw his hands into the air in surrender. “But I can’t see how they could have developed the technology without at least some input from us. I can tell you that when I was working with the US Government, we were close, but oh so far away. I don’t believe they would have had the inspiration and the science to just do this.”

“So you think some of the technology could have been stolen from us?” asked Conti, fishing for an explanation. “Maybe enough to produce their own schematics? You’ve been suspicious of this for a while.”

Allen nodded and then winced. “I hate to say this guys, but it looks like the most important components of our technology were stolen. Maybe years ago. I think your security systems have been changed?” he asked Conti.

“Of course!” Conti responded in irritation.

“Well, I suggest it was an inside job, probably by one of your senior people you found to have connections with the US intelligence community and dropped. It’s too late now. It’s all a ‘shutting the gate after the horse has bolted’ thing. Once someone stole enough of the schematics, others would have stolen it from them. They play with some of the technology to change the look, but it’s essentially the same Transporter that we know and love. If the US, Chinese and the Russians now have versions of the Transporter, I believe we’ll be able to prove it. As you know, my team have been working on a detector for the unique radiation signature emitted by any Transporter. It’s actually surprisingly close to the radiation used by our newer Detectomax Customs clearance scanners.

“Close, but not the same?” asked Conti.

“No, not the same, but to detect the use of a Transporter might be one of the smartest things we’ve ever developed,” added Allen. “I don’t know why we didn’t think of it sooner.”

“Mainly because we never thought we would ever need such a device,” replied Phil gloomily. Discussion of his past transgressions rankled.

“Stolen plans for the heart of the Transporter,” fumed Conti. “This can cost us billions,” he growled. “I want proof, I want our systems checked again and … Fuck! I want to tear someone a new asshole!”

“Agreed,” nodded Phil. “But there is some consolation in that the Transporter technology is extremely difficult to replicate, even with the schematics and some of the basic technology to back it up. We were the creators and yet, even with our knowledge and resources, we’ve only been able to do it a couple of times, and that’s saying something. You know how difficult it’s been to implement a reliable manufacturing process. It costs a fortune! Our strike rate has been under 1%. Having the plans doesn’t mean having their own Transporters.”

“Not yet,” grumbled Conti. “Someone will replace a way.”

“Leave it with me,” smiled Allen. “I think we need to take immediate action on this. Maybe Peter can get his lawyers all lubed up on the legal side while we work on the detector from our end. I’ll need your help on this one, Phil. It might take us a while, but I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”