“I see. Who?”
“Dunno. I never met the guy.” She put her arm out to the corridor wall, blocking his path and leaned close to him. “Mick, why not stay a while? You interest me, and I plan to disappear in the morning and be untraceable by anyone until all this blows over,” she said, leaning toward him.
Mick did admit that he was intrigued by her, and wondered how she had discovered so much information about his past. And, he did find her attractive. But his thoughts were already going back to Kateryna.
“Sorry, must go... Lots to do, you know, botnets to take over, et cetera, et cetera...” he explained, lifting her arm out of the way. She frowned. “Cheers everyone!” he called to the room, then turned and walked away.
He felt her angry eyes on his back, but kept walking out the building.
Back at the hotel, Mick examined the transferred files. The location Jasinski provided was:
2Ø3 Knyazhyi Zaton St
Osokorky
He looked up the city and swore when he saw the location.
How the hell can I get to Ukraine?
He knew he could not risk traveling using his British passport or he might find himself detained. He paced the room, back and forth, thinking, but nothing came to him. Lars still wasn’t back, and he was beginning to wonder if perhaps he had made other arrangements. Mick sent a message to Kateryna saying they needed to talk, and was surprised by an immediate reply.
What is she doing awake at this hour?
Mick invited her up to the room, and she accepted.
As Mick let Kateryna in a few moments later, he smelled her perfume as she walked by, and began to doubt whether this was such a good idea. He turned on a pseudo white noise generator on his computer in case someone was listening in.
“So, what’s up?” she asked, sitting down on the window ledge, swinging her legs and glancing out at the view of the London streets. She was wearing jeans and a knit sweater.
“You won’t believe what I did tonight...” he began, and told her the story. At the end, she was almost on the floor laughing.
“I can’t believe she fell for that! That’s the oldest trick!”
“Yep, perhaps too old for someone as young as her... plus she was so sure that I’d fail that it didn’t take much to convince her.”
“So what information did you get?” she asked. Mick took a deep breath.
“Kat, I need to go to Ukraine,” he began. Her jaw dropped. “I have the address where the botnet developers and controllers are located. It’s in Kiev. I need to get there in the next few days to try to stop them from launching their big attack.”
“You want to go to Ukraine, and do what?”
“I need to shutdown this botnet and find the people responsible for it, and I think I’m the only one who can do it.”
“So let’s say I buy this, which I don’t by the way, how are you going to get there?”
“I don’t know, I guess I could sail to Sevastopol on the Black Sea.”
“That’s not going to work. It would take way too long.”
“I know, I know.”
“The train is the best way to get there, at least for someone who can’t fly.”
“I agree, but there are lots of borders between here and there. I don’t think my odds of making it there are very good, especially if more forged email threats come out,” he replied, referring to the fake email Miles had refused to distribute.
They sat in silence for more than a few minutes. Finally, Kateryna spoke.
“I have a thought,” she began.
“What?”
“When I arrived here, I discovered my husband’s passport in a side pocket of my carry on bag. I think he left it there from his last trip to Canada,” she paused to get his reaction, and got none. “So, perhaps you are unaware that your face is somewhat similar to his? You are a little taller, but not too much and he wears glasses, but...”
“Kat, are you suggesting... are you suggesting that I travel using your husband’s passport?”
“I’m not suggesting you travel alone. We would travel together. I’m sure it would work... we’d just need to add some highlights to your hair, and get some glasses to match...”
“No way – thanks, but no. There’s no way I’m getting you involved in this. Anyway, that is really breaking the law. Up ‘til now, I’ve just bent the law a little. Thank you for suggesting it, but I’ll need to find another way.”
“Such as?” she said, putting her hands on her hips.
“I don’t know. I’ll think of something. Maybe I could get a fake passport or something.”
“And that’s not illegal? And besides, you know they do automatic facial recognition at British airports, so regardless of what your passport says, you’ll be picked up.”
“True.”
“Well then,” she said, getting off the window sill. She walked over to Mick, standing right in front of him. She touched his arm, imploring him. “Mick, why are you so opposed to this plan? Is it because of breaking the law, or... is it because of me?” Mick didn’t answer. He studied her face, bathed in the lamplight, trying to read her thoughts.
“Um... it is a little of both,” he replied carefully. “Traveling under someone else’s passport is wrong. And traveling as... as your husband, also feels wrong.”
“Mick, I don’t think you are being truthful. I don’t think it will feel wrong for us to travel together... I’m far more worried about how right it might feel...”
“Yeah, that too...” Mick muttered in reply.
“I think we can deal with that – we’re both grownups. It would be silly to let that stand in the way of you doing what you need to do,” she replied.
“Perhaps,” he replied. Mick wondered how much more of this conversation he could stand. He thought hard about how he could bring this uncomfortable situation to a close. It occurred to him that Lars might get the wrong idea if he returned at this moment.
“You didn’t say what this Ms. Jasinski was like?” Kateryna asked. Mick shook his head, holding back a smile. “What?” Kateryna said, starting to smile as well. “Never mind. Look, Mick, it’s your decision. I’ll slide the passport under your door later on so you can see for yourself. After my presentation tomorrow morning, my schedule is free. I really want to do this. I want to see this through with you. But it’s your call,” she said, turning away from him and heading to the door. Mick was still staring into space as she stepped out into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind her.
Mick was still wide awake when he heard the passport slide under the hotel room door. Picking it up, he looked it over; he had to agree that there was a resemblance. He held up the passport to the mirror and looked at it and his reflection, trying to mimic the same bored look as Kateryna’s husband, Milos, in the photo. He just could not make up his mind on his course of action.
With the late hour and the time difference, it was a good time for a video call with Sam. He smiled seeing her tousled hair and sleepy look.
“Are we going to finish the book tonight?” he asked.
“Definitely!” she replied, opening up the book to the last chapter. When they were finished, they talked for a few more minutes. “I know Frodo is going to succeed, but it is hard to see it right now with him captured by Orcs,” she commented.
“I agree. Sometimes you just have to have faith that things will work out, even when things look black,” Mick replied, putting away his well-worn copy of the book.
“I hate cliffhangers, too. Will we start The Return of the King next week?” she asked hopefully.
“We’ll see,” Mick replied. “I might be a bit busy. You know how unreliable we grownups are...”
“I know! Well, I can wait a little while for you, but if you wait too long, I’ll just have to start it on my own.”
“Understood. I really want to read with you, Sam, but you have my permission to go ahead without me if I can’t for some reason.”
“OK. You look beat! What ti
me is it there?” Sam commented.
“Really, really late. I need to hit the hay. Hope to talk again soon...”
“Me too, Uncle Alec. Good night!” she replied, signing off.
Sometime during the conversation, Mick had made up his mind, and quickly fell asleep.
That night, Mick dreamed that he was lost in a strange city. He wandered the streets without being able to read any of the signs. No one could understand a word he said, nor could he understand their language. After a while, he started to notice that there were many ladders against buildings. In desperation, he climbed a ladder, and was amazed to find a whole other level of the city. He was about to start exploring this city, this new world as well, when his alarm went off.
Chapter 1F.
From the Security and Other Lies Blog:
No Q&A this week.
Instead, I want to thank everyone who has participated in this blog over the years. It has been a lot of fun, and you have asked good questions. And I’ve especially enjoyed the Raptor aliases you have created. It just shows how something can quickly become a tradition online, and how culture can be created. Or, maybe it shows how much you like dinosaurs!
This might very well be my last posting. No, I’m not dying! I’m just moving on to other things. I have dedicated my life to Internet security, but now I think things may be changing.
Now, this might not be the end of this blog, however. I’ve just reset my admin account to a password that does not meet my usual standards, i.e. it does not have enough randomness or entropy. As a result, a clever or determined person might be able to break the password and take over this account. If you do so, I’d just ask of you two things:
Ø. Keep the archive – there is lots of good information and good questions and comments over the past 4 years.
1. Keep the spirit of this blog alive, to help Internet users have better security.
So that’s it. Good luck to everyone!
I’ll check in from time to time if I have a chance.
Cheers everyone!
Chapter 2Ø.
Mick O'Malley – knows that when you start a journey, you don’t always know where you will end up. (14 comments)
Less than halfway between London and Paris, the view out the window disappeared, and the GPS stopped working. The Channel Tunnel was an amazing piece of engineering, and Mick eagerly anticipated the experience of riding through it. He glanced over at Kateryna, his ‘wife’ for the duration of this trip, and felt a twinge of nervousness.
They had left late that afternoon from St. Pancras station in London and boarded the Eurostar high speed train to Paris. Kateryna’s presentation that morning went well, or so she had said. Mick had avoided it and he told others that a short-notice business meeting meant he had to leave the conference early.
Kateryna shopped for glasses, and found a pair that was close enough to her husband’s. Mick had shopped for clothes.
They checked out of the hotel separately and made the short walk to the station at different times. Mick wore a hat to cover his dyed hair, and was relieved not to meet up with anyone he knew on the way.
When they met up at the station, Kateryna had laughed at Mick.
“What?” he asked, a little annoyed.
“Nothing...” she replied, regaining her composure. “It’s just, I’ve never seen you wear such clothes before.”
“Are they that awful?” he asked.
“No, not bad at all. Just... different,” she replied, looking him up and down for a moment.
“It’s the cravat, right? I’m going to take it off.”
“No, leave it. It looks fine. It’s sharp actually. I’m sorry – I will behave myself for now on, Milos,” she replied.
Kateryna purchased the tickets for herself and her ‘husband’ for the first two legs of their trip.
The GPS had shown the train was fast, but not as fast as the Shinkansen – they had only touched 25Ø km/h so far. Probably they would go faster on the other side of the English Channel. With nothing to see out the window, they conversed.
“It is a shame we won’t really have any time in France,” Kateryna commented.
“I know. I love Paris. And, I always find Parisians friendly.”
“Me, too. But perhaps that is because I always mangle their language,” she added.
“The rudest display I ever experienced was when I was in a group with a French speaker, but he was French Canadian. The waiter was incredibly rude, but the food was great, still.”
“We can still get some coffee, though, before we catch our connection,” Kateryna replied. “Do you have any pictures or stories from your transatlantic crossing?”
“Of course! I’ve got them right here,” he replied, pulling up the pictures. He told stories about his adventures with Ian and Mariana.
“Ah ha! Your ‘fresh’ fish dinner! I just figured that out! And your ‘life isn’t all smooth sailing’ post! You think you’re so clever, don’t you?” Kateryna chided him.
“Only sometimes,” was his reply.
The train arrived on time at Gare du Nord station, with a top speed of 285 km/h recorded on GPS. Mick wished he could share the trip with his friends, but knew this was yet another experience he would not be able to share with anyone. Except, of course, with Kateryna, who seemed much more relaxed than he did. He suspected she had not noticed wagon-lits printed on their ticket for the next leg. He had looked it up and confirmed that their ticket was for a sleeping car on their Paris to Berlin overnight trip.
Mick enjoyed the short walk with Kateryna from Gare du Nord to Gare de l’Est station where they were to catch the Perseus train to Berlin. They stopped at a café and lingered longer than they needed to drink their coffee. Paris, even this far from the Seine and the tourist hotspots, still had a unique feel and flair to it.
At Gare de l’Est, Mick let Kateryna check them in so he could watch her reaction to the traveling arrangements. He caught a slight look of astonishment as the lady behind the counter explained their accommodations, but Kateryna quickly recovered. Mick wondered if she were covering it up for the benefit of others, or for his benefit. He couldn’t resist a small smile afterwards when she glanced at his face.
“You knew!” she whispered, punching him in the arm. Mick shrugged, rubbing his arm. “You should have told me... I was surprised back there and had a hard time covering it up... Ah, I see... that was the point, wasn’t it?”
“We shouldn’t fight in public,” Mick replied.
“Yes, we should – French couples often argue in public and think it strange if others don’t,” Kateryna countered.
“I have no idea what you are talking about… Allez!” he said to her, grabbing the passports and tickets from her hand and heading towards the platform.
As darkness fell, their train pulled out of the station, heading north by northeast. Mick mused that the compartment was larger than some hotels in Nihon he had stayed in. Of course, he had been alone then. They ate simple baguettes for dinner. Mick walked down to the dining car and brought back decaf espressos.
They sipped the coffee as Kateryna read her book and Mick worked on his newly built computer. He was very happy with its performance. He had yet to charge the LeydenTech battery, and it was showing no signs of discharge.
They were due to arrive in Berlin at around eight the next morning.
How long are we going to stay up?
“Shall we turn in?” Kateryna finally asked, closing her book.
“OK,” Mick replied, shutting down his computer for the night.
Mick opened up the bed; it folded down over where they had been sitting, taking up nearly all the space in the compartment. Kateryna rummaged in her bag, then took out a few clothes and things and slipped into the tiny bathroom. Mick took advantage of the situation and quickly changed himself, putting on his tracksuit pants and a black long-sleeved shirt. Kateryna came out a moment later. Mick glanced in her direction, and was relieved to discover she was also in a
tracksuit – in white and day glow green.
Expecting lingerie? I'm such an idiot!
He went into the bathroom to wash up. When Mick came out, Kateryna had already climbed up in the bed and was lying on her back under the covers, with her mobile reader in hand.
Mick took a deep breath and climbed up carrying his book. He slid under the covers and started to read his novel.
“What are you reading?” she asked, closing her book.
“Still The Innocents Abroad,” he replied. “And you?”
“Still Anna Karenina,” she replied, imitating him. They were silent for a long moment. “Mick, are you satisfied with your life?” she asked, looking at him.
“I will be, once this botnet is offline,” he replied. She glared at him, so he tried again. “I think I’m pretty satisfied and happy, yes. Although sometimes I admit my life is a little solitary. I mean, I have lots of friends, and I share all kinds of things and adventures with them, but I also don’t share a whole side of myself with them, if you know what I mean.”
“I think I do. I’ve spent the last few years concentrating on my career. But work isn’t everything, is it?” said Kateryna.
“No, it isn’t. And we have a strange life, don’t we? We travel the world; we don’t even live in the same country as most of our friends. The work we do is self-motivated and self-directed, instead of being given to us by a boss. We have such a different outlook on the Internet and the online world that everyone navigates every day, taking it for granted. We see and participate in the daily battles and skirmishes that go on between developers and service providers and the bad guys.”
“This whole Zed dot Kicker thing – it is kind of surreal, isn’t it?” she added.
“It is. And who can we talk to and tell about it? Who can really understand us and what motivates us?” Mick replied.
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