by Yossi Porat
know as well. Since you live in Camden Town and she lives in Greenwich, your signals will be distinct, which is what we need in order to track them down.”
“Will do, Brian,” Morris replied. “And thanks.”
Deborah picked up the phone in her bedroom. “What’s up,” she whispered. Morris answered her, “Turn on your cell-phone tomorrow morning at eight. And let me know if you start feeling those heat waves.”
“Thanks, Morris. Good night.”
“Who was that – calling so late?” Lance wanted to know.
“Oh, just my boss. It’s about the Rome branch. I hope this doesn’t become a habit with him,” she smiled.
“Me too,” Lance replied. “But then again, that’s what happens when you move up in the company – your time is their time.”
Morris went upstairs, taking them two at a time. Anne was already in bed reading. “Have a good day?” she asked sweetly.
“I’ve been appointed second in command of a special task force, starting tomorrow. It’s about that technology I told you about. It seems that they have the ability to transmit directly to my brain and order me to perform all kinds of activities. That’s why I did what I did – but now we’re going to catch them!”
“That’s wonderful, darling!” Anne sat up in excitement. “I’m so glad you were honest with me and told me about everything. Just please be careful.” “Don’t worry – I have too much to lose,” Morris replied, caressing her arm softly. “Listen, I’m going to take a shower and turn in, OK?”
When he left the shower, Anne was already asleep. Lying down beside her, he kissed her neck and fell asleep as well.
Chapter Twenty-Two
At exactly eight o’clock the next morning, Deborah got into her car and turned on her cell-phone. She realized that she had missed the colorful image it projected and the jaunty little tune it played. At exactly the same time, Morris turned his phone on, sitting in his living room. They both felt the familiar warmth in their heads and neck, and knew that they were receiving messages. However, this time it was different. The feelings passed almost immediately. Morris hoped that the American satellites had had enough time to trace the signals.
…..
“Andrew, this is Bruno.”
“Yes, Bruno. It’s eight o’clock in the morning! What do you have to report this early?” Andrew fumed.
“1002 and 1003 both turned on their cell-phones this morning. We were able to transmit an erasure message to both of them.”
“Excellent!” Andrew exulted. “But meanwhile don’t transmit anything else.”
“Yes, sir,” Bruno hung up.
“Strange that they should both turn on their phones at exactly the same time,” Bruno wondered, but he did not want to upset the big boss, so he kept his doubts to himself.
…..
“Morris,” Deborah asked, her voice trembling, “Did you feel anything?”
“I did have that warm feeling at exactly eight o’clock but it passed almost immediately.”
“Same here,” Deborah agreed. “Let’s meet at that Starbucks at noon, and we’ll talk. OK?”
“See you there,” Morris hung up.
…..
Sir Joseph called Brian personally and brought him up to date. “The signal detection worked, but there’s a problem. Can you and Rob come to my office as soon as possible?”
“We’ll be there in an hour,” Brian answered.
“Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” Sir Joseph asked them after they had all seated themselves.
“Let’s start with the good news,” suggested Brian.
The American satellites were able to pick up a strong, extended signal to both the police officer and to the woman. They were able to identify the source of the signal, and the Americans were surprised to discover that there were eight stations involved, rather than the usual six. We have their exact locations.”
“OK,” Brian said. “So what’s the bad news?”
“The relays are not from Control,” answered the Minister. “They’re coming from some of the large European cell-phone carriers. So we can’t attack the relay stations without obliterating most of the cell-phone service in Europe. Add to that the fact that Control uses different relay stations for each cell-phone, and we’ve got a real problem.”
Rob leaned back and crossed his hands below his chin. “This is how I see it. We now know that they are using eight relay stations, which means that their signal is that much stronger and precise. Their algorithm works on eight
stations rather than six. So ‘Octagon’ is exactly the right name for the company.”
“What else?” Sir Joseph was impressed with Rob’s clear thinking. He hoped that Brian recognized his friend’s abilities.
“It relates to what you said, sir,” Rob replied. “How did they manage to hook up with existing cell-phone communications without these companies’ discovering them?”
“And I think there’s an additional problem,” Brian added. “These very strong signals that they’re transmitting could have a very negative effect on the subjects’ brains. Memory, comprehension, speech – could all be affected, without even mentioning the dangers of brain tumors.”
“And all for money!” Sir Joseph exploded.
“Not just money, sir,” Brian was emphatic. “We’re talking enormous power, the power to control people’s brains!”
“So what do we do now?” Sir Joseph asked with utmost solemnity.
Rob answered, “We’ve got to analyze all the information from the satellites. Maybe we will find a way to block their transmissions, if we think hard enough.”
“Use your formidable brains, fellows. My ministry and its resources are at your disposal, as you know.”
Sir Joseph shook their hands gravely and saw them to the door.
…..
At one o’clock, Morris was sitting in the Starbucks, a coffee and a bottle of sparkling Perrier on the table in front of him. Deborah entered and sat down opposite him, looking particularly harried.
“Won’t you have something, Deborah?”
“No, I have no appetite,” she replied.
Morris got up and brought another glass, and poured her some soda. “Please drink. It won’t help us if you get sick.”
She looked really exhausted and worried, but she drank all the soda, following Morris’s orders.
“So you had that warm feeling this morning?’’ he asked, and Deborah nodded morosely.
“Did it feel like all the other times?’’ he continued.
“I don’t know. I can’t remember anything,” she looked at him. “I remember that we met here at Starbucks, and I told you all my recent troubles, but I can’t recall what they were!”
“Do you remember anything about your boss, Raphael?” Deborah shook her head slowly.
Morris was stunned. “You must relax,” he told her, although he himself felt anything but relaxed. He put his hands on hers and looked deeply into her eyes, willing her to calm down. It succeeded, if only partially.
“We met in Fenwick’s department store,” he began. “And then the next day, I almost ran you over! You called me at my home and asked to meet me here, where you told me about your affair with your boss and how guilty you felt about it all. We developed a theory about our cell-phones and met with two
experts, Rob and Brian, who are helping us understand what’s been happening. Don’t you remember any of this?”
Deborah again shook her head. “It sounds like something from a movie,” she said wonderingly. “I would never have an affair, especially not with my boss! Are you sure I told you all this?” She was very upset. She got up and started pacing around the restaurant.
Morris reached out an arm and grabbed her, worried for her peace of mind. She looked straight into his eyes. “Morris, I must trust you, even though this is all so strange to me. Did I tell Lance any of it?”
“As far as I know, you didn’t” Morris assured her.
/> “Thank God!” she replied forcefully. “He would go mad if he knew anything. So what do we do now?” She poured herself some more soda, somewhat more at ease.
“Nothing,” Morris answered. “I’ll just fill you in on the latest developments. This morning I started my new position as second-in-command of the special task force that the Commissioner has set up. We’re employing surveillance on Control, the company that’s been transmitting to us. We’re hoping to solve this soon and remove this danger from all our lives!”
Deborah gave him a peck on the cheek and left the Starbucks. Morris watched her go, wondering if he should call Rob and find out the latest from him. When he did speak to Rob, they decided to meet at the Ministry, along with Brian.
Morris entered Rob and Brian’s new office in the Ministry, very close to the Minister’s office. He complimented them on their step up in the world, smiling, and sat down on a comfortable chair in the corner to hear what they had to tell him.
“Well,” began Rob. “We were right in most of our assumptions. They’re transmitting using eight relay stations from existing cell-phone companies. They’re able to hone in exactly on the cell-phone and send very strong signals, and then they can also wipe out your memory using these signals. Tell me, did you feel anything this morning?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” Morris replied. “The same feeling of warmth in the head and neck areas. Deborah also felt it, but she’s got a greater problem. She remembers nothing about what happened to her during the last few weeks!”
“And what about you?” asked Rob.
“No, my memory doesn’t seem to be affected,” Morris answered.
“That means their technology isn’t as perfected yet as we thought,” Brian pondered. “But now the main question is – how do we destroy it? If we knew how they transferred their signals to the relay stations, if we got them at the source, we could do it.”
“We know the company is divided into three divisions,” Rob thought out loud. “These divisions are probably divided like this: one for locating the receiver of the transmissions, one for transmitting orders to his brain, and one to wipe out the memory of his actions afterwards. If we could get hold of the whereabouts of each of these division’s managers…”
“We could block their transmissions,” Brian finished Rob’s thought. “And even more than that.”
“What do you mean, even more?” asked Morris.
“Maybe we could get right to the programmers, and mix up their code,” Brian explained.
“If we met with Adam, with the Minister present, maybe he would give us the information we need. Let’s ask Sir Joseph.”
The three entered the Minister’s office. “When do you think we could all meet with Adam?” Rob asked.
“He just wants to escape the company, and he doesn’t even care about his money any more. He told me that they’re planning to test the Beta version with a small bomb somewhere in Europe – and he’s just terrified!”
“But he can’t leave the company now!” Morris was furious. “He’s our main source of information.”
“You’re absolutely right, Morris,” the Minister agreed. “I’ll use all my powers of persuasion on him. As a matter of fact, he should be coming to my office soon.”
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and a young man in his early forties entered. He was dressed in an elegant three-piece suit, his shoes were gleaming and a prestigious watch was visible on his wrist. Every hair on his head was in place. He led a huge brownish-red dog on a leash.
“Welcome, Adam,” Sir Joseph rose from his seat to greet him. “Please meet Brian, Rob and, Morris. Brian works for the ministry in an advisory capacity, Rob is the manager of research and development at Orange cell-phones, and Morris is the second-in-command of the special police task force investigating Control.”
“I’m pleased to meet you all,” Adam answered shyly, and gave each of them a weak handshake.
“Is that a Dogue de Bourdeaux?” Rob asked in an attempt to put Adam at ease.
The question worked, and Adam launched into a long explanation of his dog’s pedigree. Now that he was more relaxed, Morris felt he could ask Adam for an update.
“The new Arab partners,” Adam began, “want to use the Beta for a small bombing in Western Europe. I left the conference room in anger, unfortunately. I couldn’t stand to hear about their plans. But my partner, Andrew, seems to have no scruples. He’s planning on selling this technology for two billion pounds and he’ll do whatever it takes. I’ve decided to try to get out of the company. I couldn’t possibly be involved in something like terrorist activities.”
“But you already are involved,” Morris pointed out. “You can’t leave now. The only honorable thing for you to do now is to stay and inform us of everything you know and find out. This way we can use your information to block their evil plans.”
“But I want to leave now!” Andrew had a slight whine in his voice. “I’m afraid for my life!”
“We’ll protect you,” Sir Joseph assured him. “You must help us.”
“What can I do?” Andrew was truly whining now.
“We need Andrew’s computer password, and we need to know what kind of security is in place in Control’s building,” Morris told him.
“I don’t know Andrew’s password,” Andrew’s voice was weak. “But I do know that there are guards all over the building, twenty-four hours a day. There are also surveillance cameras in the elevator. In our office we have a direct warning to the Bond Company.”
“Go to the office this evening when all the staff has left. Leave a window open. A member of our task force will enter and break into Andrew’s computer.
You will wait until he finishes. If he’s successful, we’ll have quite a bit of information to work with.”
“Maybe you know where the central operation of the technology is located?” Brian continued his interrogation.
“I have no idea,” Adam answered. “But I did hear Andrew mention to the Arabs that the GMLC is located in our offices in London. Does that mean anything to you? It doesn’t to me.”
“The GMLC is in your offices here?” Rob was amazed. “The GMLC is the Gateway Mobile Location Center. This is the central transmitting location! We’re on our way to solving this!” He was ecstatic.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Omar deposited the ten million pounds in the hotel safe, and set off for the Control offices. Without even a minimal greeting to Laurie at reception, he entered Andrew’s office with a confident air, already feeling that he was an equal to Andrew.
“Well, Andrew,” he began, “Where is our little ‘experiment’ going to take place? Have you thought that maybe we should do it here in London, after all? You would be close to the action and better able to control everything.”
“No, Omar,” Andrew replied angrily. “This is my city, it’s where I grew up, and my family lives her. Besides, don’t you think it would make things considerably easier for the police and the security forces to discover us? No, no, we’ll go with our original suggestion – somewhere in Western Europe. I’m thinking Barcelona. It’s Europe, yet it’s far enough away to take attention away from us. And even if it fails, we’ll learn something. After all, that’s what an experiment is, no?’ He smiled sardonically.
“I don’t really care,” Omar answered loftily. “What about Adam? Will he be with us in this?”
“Leave him to me,” Andrew smiled. “I know how to handle him.”
…..
Omar walked back to his hotel. “I’ve got to invest my money and get it out of the hotel safe,” he thought. “Probably a Swiss bank will give me the best security and discretion.”
He called the nearest branch of Credit-Suisse in London and asked to speak to the manager. They made an appointment for that afternoon at the bank.
When Omar entered the manager’s office, he saw that he fitted the image of a Swiss banker perfectly – three-piece grey suit, matching tie, grey hair bru
shed
back from a high forehead, a firm handshake.
Omar began, “I have a substantial sum which I would like to entrust to your bank. How much interest will I receive on ten million pounds?”
“That would be two percent, sir,” the manager replied.
“Two percent? That’s much less than other banks here in England would offer me,” Omar exclaimed.
