The Rescue Mission
Chapter 4
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Tuesday Morning at Secure-Sys

I knew Dave would be able to find the Wilson family a three bedroom apartment for them to stay at. Since Richard’s apartment is a crime scene; it will be awhile before he will be back. I have decided to keep it paid up and locked down. The apartment manager gladly agreed to the arrangements. Then when he is able; we will decide what to do next.

The next day proves to be an interesting day at Secure-Sys. I arrive at 7 AM like I usually do to get myself ready for the day. As I sit at my desk; I check my incoming email. Sure enough there is an email from Richard there. Let’s see what this about. He mentioned it concerned Brent. Well let’s open it up and see what’s up ….

To Mr. Bryson,
I was checking some of my old programs up until this past Sunday and the ones you released to me. I found some sub-programs in there written by Brent. Apparently he has created a back door to access the firewalls and bypass them. The reason became apparent when I looked at all of the programs that he did to mine and to the ones he wrote. Sir, I need to report that he is planning some sort of take-over for control of the company.

What?!? Control?!?!

I think he wants to have you ousted through some type of scandal that will put the blame on you. You can tell Mr. Parker that is why I am slow in getting my programs written. Brent keeps cluttering up my programs. It takes just as long to clean them up so that the customer is happy with the product we are selling.

I think this is the just first step in his plans. If he has infected other programs that he has written for other companies; I fear he wants control of them as well.

Oh, that Brent has stepped over his bounds this time.

To prove what I am saying, you need to come to my apartment with Mr. Dave Parker, Central Security of Secure-Sys, the company’s legal rep, and also the local authorities from the police department and the AG. This way you will have more than one eye-witness of what you are about to see when you get there. Everything will be explained when you are all there. When you are in my apartment you will need to speak out your name and the password to activate the program there in my apartment. It’s not hard, very easy to remember, very easy to say, big as Brent’s ego.

Sincerely yours,
Richard Moore

Well … Richard wants a show at his apartment. If that is right; our own network is compromised here. It would seem he does not trust it now. Well let’s get everybody there for a meeting. I am curious how deep this conspiracy is that Brent has cooked up. Mr. Parker said that I sent a message to him to have Richard fired. That tells me Brent was able to originate the message from my PC remotely some how. But, I need proof for that. I think I better take a walk and do the contacting personally. Plus, I just figured out the password. As soon as he mentioned that last phrase he said basically the same thing when we talked yesterday morning.

Walking down to Human Resources, he enters Dave’s office. “Good morning Dave, I need to ask a few questions before everybody shows. I need you to come with me down to Central Security.”

“Sure, no problems; let me lock up and we will go down. I did change the key code to the door here. Hopefully that will keep unwanted eyes out of here for a little bit.” Locking the door we walk over to Central Security.

“I know what you mean. It is amazing that Richard is still alive after that beating.”

“Your right, Robert; but at least we have that recording to put those employees away for a long time. … Ah here we are sir, Central Security.” Entering the key and opening the door they both enter.

Looking up, “Robert!! What brings this honor for you to be down here?”

“I think we have a problem here at Secure-Sys. I think the system is compromised somehow, Ben. I also think the breach is caused by some employees here. But to help prove it we need to go over to Richard’s apartment for an explanation. I received an email requesting our presence with the police department and the AG. It might need state and federal help before it is all said and done.”

“That’s a tall order. Sounds like a conspiracy of some sort. I have not seen anything flashing across the screen except for the failed attempts to access certain directories.”

“Access directories? Which ones, Ben?”

“They are trying to access the financial records, email accounts, even your files, Dave and Robert. I just finished preparing a report for you when you came back.”

“Good, make several copies of it and keep it sealed. Take it with you. We are taking a lunch break at Richard’s apartment. I need to call the others to be there.”

“Okay, Robert.”

Mr. Bryson contacts his legal team, the police and the AG to meet at Richard’s apartment.

Let me call Detective Torres first, then AG Stephen Russell. He picks up the phone and dials Mr. Torres number at the station.

Ring…Ring “This is the Jacksonville Police Department. How can I help you?”

“Good morning. My name is Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I would like to talk to Detective Dan Torres please.”

“Yes, he is here this morning. If you will just hold a moment I will connect you to him.”

“Thank you”

Ring…Ring. “Good morning, Mr. Bryson. This is Detective Torres. How can I help you?”

“Good morning Mr. Torres. I have a request that you need to be at a meeting at Richard Moore’s apartment around noon time today. Can you make it?”

“Let me look at the schedule today. No, I have nothing planned. What is this about, Mr. Bryson?”

“Richard made a presentation that we need to see. He sent me an email last Sunday, I opened it this morning. He made some interesting discoveries about some employees here at Secure-Sys. He is also requesting the AG and some members of my company to be there when he reveals this information.”

“That is an unusual request. How is he going to present this information? Is it a tape recording?”

“Well, if I know Richard, it should be a 3D-video recording which should be more informative than a regular tape recording.”

“If that is the case, I will definitely be there for it. There is not much information on this recording from the beating, except for what the four men said.”

“Good, I will be calling the AG for a similar confirmation when I get done here. See you later today Detective Torres.” Click.

Now to call Attorney General Stephen Russell…. Dialing the phone number …Ring…Ring…

“Good morning this is the City Attorney General office, Mr. Stephen Russell presiding. Karen speaking, how can I help you?”

“Yes, my name is Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I would like to speak to Mr. Russell please.”

“Yes, Mr. Russell is here this morning. If you hold I will connect you with him.”

“Thank you Karen, I will hold.”

“Thank you Mr. Bryson.” Click.

“Good morning, this is Stephen Russell. How can I help you?”

“Good morning, Mr. Russell. I am Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I am sure you have read the news about one of my employees was beaten up very badly. He is one of my top programmers. He was able to record a video message the day before he was attacked. He sent me an email that he would like to have several people there to review the material. I was able to talk to him for a few minutes Monday morning. I witnessed the live feed from his apartment when the beating took place. The police have a copy of the recording. I would like to give you a copy as well when you come to the meeting.”

“Live feed from his apartment? How is that possible?”

“The employee’s name is Richard Moore; he is the inventor of the 3D-video system.”

“Richard Moore is your employee? I am intrigued.”

“Yes, I figure you might be. Richard has requested an audience of the police, the AG and some of my staff members to witness some information that will be of concern to everyone. Richard requested a 12 noon showing at his apartment today. Can you make it?”

“Yes, I can make it. I don’t have any appointments at that time.”

“Good, here is the address where Richard’s apartment. It is …. “
“Yes, I got the address, thank you. See you later today Mr. Bryson.”

“Thank you, Mr. Russell. See you then.” Click.

Great, everybody will be there. If I know Richard, this should be a great show.

~~~000~~~

Slowly the employees of Secure-Sys, Inc. arrive for work by 8 AM. Everybody has read the paper about Richard’s beating in his apartment. It was very subdued throughout the day.

“I am so sad to see Richard in the hospital. Who would do such a travesty to him? First he gets fired; then he gets beaten up. What is this world coming to Jennifer?”

“I do not know, Carol. Obviously someone had him marked. I can not believe Mr. Bryson would have let him go. Richard is one of the best employees that we have. Well, I am sure the authorities are on the case and hope they will find the ones who did this,” said Jennifer. “Look out; here comes Darren down the hall. We will keep this to ourselves. I do not trust that Darren. He made an awful pass at me earlier in the month. He makes me uneasy.”

“Good morning, ladies. How is everybody doing?”

“Oh we are doing fine. How was your day off yesterday? Did you see the paper this morning?”

“Oh, it was a great day off. Yes, I saw the headline also, I am sorry to see that Richard is in the hospital. I hope it is not too serious. But, since he was let go, I am sure he made some mistakes in working here. We take pride in our work to provide the best security for our clients.” He then continues walking down the hallway.

Carol whispers to Jennifer, “He’s got a lot of bug bites, Jennifer. Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. But if he stepped near a hive, he deserved it.”

The two ladies giggle quietly before returning to their morning work assignments.

~~~000~~~

Meanwhile; in the break room; Darrell is nervously filling a cup with coffee. In walks another employee.

“Hello Darrell,” said Mr. Parker as he walks in there to get a cup of coffee himself.

“Oh… you startled me, Mr. Parker. I am sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Can you come with me I have a question to ask you?”

“Sure, I have some time now before I get started.”

“Good. You look a little nervous today. Are you all right?”

“No, no… everything is f-fine sir,” as he stumbles the words out.

“I need you to review a video recording. I want you to give your best answer on how we are to approach this company that we are reviewing.”

“Sure, Mr. Parker; I have no problems with that.”

Both Darrell and Mr. Parker walk into the video room to review the recording. When all is settled down, Mr. Parker put in a DVD to play. It shows Darrell coming into Mr. Parker’s office and opening the file cabinet to find an employee’s address.

Darrell became very uneasy. Oh rats. I was told he did not have a monitor in his room. I have to get out of here now. He tries to get up ..

“Stay Darrell, you are in enough hot water right now to get you fired in three seconds. If you do not come clean; I will make sure you go down with the rest of them.”

“But I was told that your room is not monitored. It is just magnet-key locked sir.”

“Obviously you are wrong. Do not tell anybody else that there is a camera in my office, got that? What is Brent up to, Darrell?”

“Yes sir, I will not tell anyone we have met. Brent did not tell me too much sir. Only him and three of his friends have something planned for Mr. Bryson. They said it was time for a change here at the company. He just needed me to get Richard’s address and phone number.”

“Why did you call Richard a freak?”

“Because he was in the way of Brent’s plan. Plus we didn’t like how he was getting along with the women in the company. He looks so weak. We could not believe the ladies would pay more attention to him than to us. One day, one of the guys caught a glimpse in the bathroom while Richard was pulling his underwear and pants back on. I was told his male organ looked real small. We started laughing. We surmised that he was not a real man, just a baby who has not grown up. But, when the programs that he wrote turned out to be better than ours; that really flipped us out, especially Brent.”

“Let me tell you a story. One day, two friends were coming home from school; a boy and girl. Well some bullies came along and decided to pull some stupid pranks on the girl and hurt her. Well, the boy stepped in and tried to fight them off. But, he got pummeled by them. Once they were satisfied, they decided they had their laugh for the day and left. Well, the girl called home and was able to get him taken to the hospital. Now, you tell me. Who was the man in that scenario, the boy or the bullies?”

“I would say the boy. He acted like a man and protected his girlfriend sir.”

“That is the right answer. If you want to know, that boy was Richard. He told me that story one day while were having coffee.”

“What? You mean to tell me …?!?!

“That’s right. Your friends are a bunch of bullies and Richard is the real man. Do you want to associate with them now?”

“Well…let me think a moment… no…I do not want to go down with them. I really enjoy working here. It is the best job that I have had in some time. I can not afford to lose everything now. Brent was able to get a copy of the keys somehow and gave them to me. He said I was doing the right thing concerning Richard. He also told me that he was going to a baseball game with his friends yesterday. That is all I know.”

“That is good to hear. Because, if you decided to play poker with us; you would have lost. Now I want you to tell us everything that you know. Just to be fair, this whole meeting has been recorded. We need to know what Brent is up to.”

“Well Brent said that we need new leadership with a new vision. I guess I was sold to that. I mean Mr. Bryson is a good CEO, but it seems that he is holding back on what we could do. But, when Brent mentioned some of the ideas on how to run the company better and some of the products; Mr. Bryson said that would be a breach of trust that our clients need for their protection. Come to think of it, I think he wants more. How much more? I do not know. He has something planned. But, I am not part of his inner circle to know all the details. I am sorry, sir.”

The door opens and in walks Central Security and Mr. Bryson. “So, Brent says I lack vision.

“Mr. Bryson, I am sorry that this has happened. I did not know they were going to Richard’s apartment and do all that damage to him. I was told they just wanted to play a baseball game with him.”

“Well, this is what I want you to do. You will go about your day as planned. If Brent or the others ask for your help, deny it at first then accept if persuaded. You have decided to play it straight for awhile. Do not let on what transpired here, Okay?”

“Yes, sirs.”

“If you hear anything going on between the four of them let us know privately. Okay?”

“Yes, sirs; thank you for giving me this second chance sir.”

“You may go now, Darrell. I expect your daily time report on my desk.

“Yes sir, Mr. Parker,” getting up Darrell leaves the video room.

“So, you think he is telling the truth?”

“I think he is, Ben. He has some excellent skill in programming. I think he just got caught up in Brent’s vision,” said Mr. Bryson. “Well in about two hours we will be meeting at Richard’s apartment. I am very curious about what he found out. If it is true, we need to come up with a solution to stop it in midstream when Brent initiates his plan. We need to figure out how to catch him red handed in the cookie jar. Well, let’s get back to work. We will leave here about 2 to 5 minutes apart so as to not draw attention to the other employees. Ben, I want one of your best staff members at the console. If he sees anything out of the ordinary, we need to be notified on our cell phones.”

“I sure will, Mr. Bryson; I will assign David McGuire to the console. I will inform him that he is to call us if any thing happens.”

Dave and Mr. Bryson leave Central Security and then proceed to their morning duties.

Well I am glad to see the morning went as normal. Brent and his group did not do anything; apparently keeping a low profile for now; probably waiting for the right time to do it. I can still see those stings and gnat bites on their faces and hands despite their effort to use that fake tan spray. Well it is approaching 11:30 AM I better get going. “Ms. Thompson, I am going to a lunch meeting now. I should be back by 1 PM or so. If anything changes from that time I will let you know.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bryson. Have a good lunch. I will page Central Security if anything unusual happens here.”

Well let’s get over to Richard’s apartment. The police department has made arrangements to get a copy of the key from the apartment manager. It is going to take about 15 minutes to get there.

Arriving at the apartment I see some familiar cars. Ah, good, the others from the city are here already; and here comes my group. Let’s see what Richard has for us.

Stepping out of my car; I go to greet our guests. “Hello, I am Mr. Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys, Inc. Hopefully all of your questions and mine will be answered when we get inside Richard’s apartment. Have you finished going over the apartment for evidence Detective Torres?” Mr. Bryson then shakes hands with him and Mr. Russell, the AG from the city.

“Yes, we did. It is a one-bedroom apartment. The four men left in a hurry once the flying insects showed up. Everything is there since we left. We went over it with a fine tooth comb.”

“All right let’s go in and see Richard’s show.”

Detective Torres uses the key and we all enter into the apartment.
“Okay since we are all here, I need to initiate the program that Richard left behind. He gave me instructions to do so…..Computer…This is Robert M. Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys….the password is….it’s very, very, big.”

“Recognize Mr. Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. Recognize special password. Accessing pre-recorded interactive message.”

A light comes on in the corner of the room. Then an image of Richard Moore appears near us in the living room.

“Good afternoon everybody; my name is Richard Moore. If you are seeing this recording, then it is very possible I am unable to be here personally. I will give instructions to Mr. Bryson; instructions to initiate this program. What comes next are my findings from this past Sunday and the several weeks before. You are going to see some amazing images during this recording. If there are not enough chairs here, let me provide one for you.”

All of a sudden several chairs appear near the wall.

“I have been experimenting on how to make the holographic images more solid and touchable. Will one of you go up and see if you can move one of those chairs?”

Dave goes up to the chair and attempts to touch it. “What?! … I can touch the chair?! How is that possible?!?”

The others were amazed that this could happen. They all begin to touch the chairs.

So that is what Richard has been up to. They have the seen the original 3D-program already. Now it is becoming better. I knew I hired the right employee.

“If you are touching the chair then you are experiencing a feature that is an enhancement to the 3D System program that I created. This is going to be in the next version of the program once it is finalized. Just to let you know, this entire apartment has been outfitted with the 3D-video program. There is a separate power supply from the apartment. This power is from a solar converter. I was able to reduce the power demands of the program considerably. If I had to leave this apartment, everything is removable to move elsewhere. From that demonstration, I think I can now present my findings from last Sunday.

So, apparently Richard knew he had to convince the audience here of his expertise. Way to go Richard. You will definitely get a nice bonus.

“About two weeks ago last Sunday I was checking some old programs that were released to me before I was fired. I decided to double check their structure and make sure it can not be compromised. I found some backdoor protocols that would allow a person to sneak through the firewall and take control of the host program and get access to the directories. I had to find who wrote that sub-program. Here let me show you on the screen.”

A large display screen appears on the wall.

“That display screen is a virtual image. I will let you know where it comes from a little bit later. As you can see as I scroll down through the program I notice this series of blocks inserted and framed here. Here I will point to it with the pointer.”

Richard points to the display of lined data and circles around the blocked group.

“Once I saw that, I knew who the author was. But I need to prove to you who did it. Let me show another screen showing a program written by one of the employees at Secure-Sys. You can see it is the same style and layout with the blocks surrounding the sub-program. Now if someone here would mention that employees name now, once it is said then I will proceed from this point and verify the name for you.

“That program looks like Brent Morgan,” said Mr. Bryson.

A pop up screen came up; then disappears. “Thank you Mr. Bryson, it is Brent Morgan who wrote the program. So, I started checking all of the programs that I had with me. Brent’s sub-program is in most of them sir where he should not be. Mr. Parker, that is why my programming seems to be slow; I was cleaning up programs that Brent had infected.”

“You are forgiven, Richard. I can see that now,” said Dave.

Another pop up screen and disappears. “Thank you, Mr. Parker. I appreciate that.”

“So, let me continue on. I looked at the programs that Brent had written that belong to our clients. Every one of them has been compromised with his sub-program.”

“This is for Ben Hawkins to know now; Brent has infected not only Secure-Sys in secure areas, but his attempts will appear as attempts to gain access to several directories and not making it through. I beg to differ. He did get through and covered up his trail as failed attempts. Ben, you need to look real hard at the ghost images in the data bank. He did not thoroughly erase his steps. There is an algorithm tool that I will provide for you later during this meeting. It is in a secure area here. When you initiate the program it will start filling in the missing pieces of data like doing a game of hangman. If I know you, you came to this meeting with a copy of those records to this meeting. Wait until I am done here then you can share it with the others.

Ben, Dave, our legal rep and I started chuckling in amazement at Richard’s deduction.

Oh, boy, I can see the look of astonishment and wonderment on our guests faces. They are in for a treat. If I know Richard, he is not done yet.

"Okay, now the news for our guests. As you might surmise, Brent has infected several systems with key companies that affect this city; including the police department, the courthouse, city hall and other departments. How do I know this? It comes from the list of clientele that we provide our services to. Brent is in charge of most of those programs. What will happen when he initiates the program? Well, I think his first step is take control of Secure-Sys by having a security failure at these companies, the government, even the police data servers. When the lawsuits come then Mr. Bryson will take the blame and be asked to be removed."

Why that… no, I will keep cool; we need to catch him in the act….

“Now you are wondering if this can be fixed before there is a total meltdown of key systems with the city. Yes, it can. But, it will be better if we get this program installed on the servers in a null state. Then when Brent and his friends start their programs and attempts to command the servers and get access to the data, it will trigger the program and everyone who tried to get in will be caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Then we can come in and clean it up and expose Brent and his friends for what they are.”

“Ben and Mr. Bryson, I have an anti-virus program that will go in and remove Brent’s work and restore the systems. Plus, it will plug all other possible holes and ports that it finds in the firewalls. It will then install another programming layer with some sub-layers to the firewall that is even tough for me to break once it is initiated. For proper data to get through everyone knows about the header that accompanies it. But I also added several more check points along the way plus several unexpected tests. It will be in the portfolio that I will give to Mr. Bryson for patent approval. It belongs to the company. Obviously don’t tell Brent and his friends about it. I would love to see their faces when their plan falls apart and they are carted off to jail. It is very similar to the 3D System our SC branch is building. I do know our clients have balked at purchasing the 3D System since it came out last year. Let’s hope this incident gets their attention to upgrade their systems.”

Thanks Richard, I knew you would come through.

“Okay, now I am ready to show you something special. What you are looking at is not a one bedroom apartment. It is actually a two bedroom apartment. I have hidden the door way with a virtual image wall. I did this for protecting my investment and my assets….. Computer…reveal doorway…”

All of a sudden a wall disappears and shifts back several inches and an actual door appears for the second bedroom in the hallway. Everybody gasps at that.

“Whoa, that is unexpected. This kid is very smart. Mr. Bryson, you are fortunate to have him as an employee. Do not lose him,” said Stephen.

“I am very proud of him. He is one my best employees. Let’s go in and see what is in there.”

We all walk into a room that appears empty except for a table with a PC system on it and a nice comfortable chair to go with it. Plus, the monitor screen we saw out in the living room is here on a wall. I opened the closet and there are his file cabinets, servers, and the separate power supply to the system.

This is a very slick system. No wonder he is tops in his class.

Another image of Richard appears in the room.

“Hello everyone, glad you decided to come in. We are almost done here. I have gifts for all here. Mr. Bryson here in this room is the portfolio for you to patent the anti-virus program for you and the company. The royalties belong to the company, not me. I have my own royalties percentage with the university which owns the patent for the 3D-video system and the percentage I receive from our units being sold from our SC office.”

Then a table appears with a box on top of it.

“Go and open it up. It is very real; I had it hidden in this room.”

I remember this now. He did this for his demonstration that he did two years ago. This is slick he is able to conceal a real object. I open the box and pull out the envelope with the DVD.

“Now for Ben.”

Another box appears next to the first one.

“Open it and find a DVD. It contains the program to retrieve the ghost images and reveal the trail that Brent left behind from his trespassing.
You can add it to your collection of program tools.”

“Thanks, Richard”

“You are welcome, Ben.”

Ben chuckles and shake his head. The others chuckle as well.

“For Mr. Parker, I did not forget you.”

A third box appears to the second one.

“There is a folder named “Richard Moore” on the DVD. It contains a copy of my complete medical records and X-rays. I figure you should know the physical truth about me in case something happens to me. My doctor in Charlottesville has the originals.”

“For the police department and the AG, I have a gift for you both.”

Another table appears with a box on it.

“Open it and you will find several DVD’s. Secure-Sys is supposed to do a complete background check on their potential employees who they will hire. They are all copies. Please give one to the police department, the AG and a third one to Mr. Bryson. I did some further checking into the four employees in question. Brent was able to block part of his past and the others from close verification. Mr. Bryson, Detective and AG, there is a copy of the search program on the DVD for your use. If you use that program, you can verify Brent’s folder and the other three; you will find an amazing trail of their pasts. I was able to follow it outside of the company. The results are on the DVD’s also. Brent has connections that you would not believe. His plans are very ambitious. He is doing this in concert with other groups and known suspects that are very high on the police and AG international blotters.”

“I also provided a surprise sub-routine option; choose the “Rabbit Trails” option on the menu. It will seek out the rabbit trails that should lead you where Brent’s associates are or any other person you are interested in. It will give you a visual map as it traces the path back. More than likely sir; the bad guys are going through ghost ID programs to disguise themselves and their point of origin. It will display on the screen the address and the web address where they are at when it reaches the destination. But, they will not know they have been tracked; even if they have firewalls and alarms on their systems to protect themselves.”

“This is part of my life’s work. Please take care of it. If this apartment should burn down; a copy of this work will automatically be sent to the university and to my lawyer’s office immediately. Once you leave this apartment the system will shut down and go into sleep mode, but the sensors will remain active for intruders. If they are activated everything will be recorded and be sent to you Mr. Bryson and to the police department’s 911 system. Thank you for your patience. Have a great week.”

“I Richard Moore, creator of the 3D System am now Logging Off.”

Once Richard said that; the tables and the boxes disappear; then we step out of the second bedroom, the virtual wall appears and hides the door way and self locks.

We all gather in the living room to discuss what we just witnessed and were given.

“We have a lot of work to do. We need to verify these DVD’s and be ready for the take over, especially with Brent’s past. I am curious as to which suspects Richard is referring to. If it is as big he says it is we must be ready to act and see if we can catch the others,” said Stephen. “Ben, Richard mentioned something that you might have brought here, can we see it,” asks the AG.

Ben looks at Mr. Bryson who nods his head up and down, “Mr. Bryson asked me to seal this envelope. Mr. Bryson has not seen the results. I had just finished going over the logs for the previous weeks. I put them into a report format. It contains a listing of the directories of failed attempts on certain directories. From hearing Richard now, I think I better do a closer inspection of this. I was asked to make copies to give you all a set. Here let me open it and I will pass them around,” said Ben. Ben opens the envelope and passes out the report to Mr. Torres and Mr. Russell. They all look at it for the first time. “You can not see much, it just states the date, the time and the directories attacked. But, here on the DVD’s you can see the images of these directories. When Richard said there are ghost images and trails, I thought Richard was joking. But then I remember seeing some images and numbers in the background. It is like taking an eraser that does not erase too well, it leaves an image behind, not all of the graphite is removed from the paper. I thought it might be the equipment, but apparently it is not.”

“Well, I think we need to try out Richard’s program. See if we come to an agreement what we find on the DVD’s,” said Stephen. “Let’s have another meeting on Thursday at my office, two days from now, is that good for everybody?”

Everybody agrees to meet at the AG office at 10 AM.

“Before we go; how is Richard doing now?” asked Dan.

“I have not heard anything yet. I would assume he is still having surgeries this week. I was told it might be a week before he is conscious. I have a copy of the Richard’s beating here.”

“I have the one you gave me yesterday.”

So, I hand a copy to Mr. Russell.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” responded Mr. Bryson. “The Wilson family is staying at an apartment near the hospital. They were family friends when they lived next door to each other back in SC.”

“That’s good to know, he will have some familiar support when he comes to.”

“Well, it is time to leave, we have enough time for a quick lunch and back to our offices,” said Dave.

“Dave; is there anything on Richard’s medical report that we should know,” asked Stephen?

I look at Mr. Bryson who nodded, “When we met at the hospital yesterday we were informed of Richard’s condition after he was stabilized. Richard was born with two sets of gender organs, male and female. That makes him a hermaphrodite or inter-sexual. When you look at the video you will see what they did to him.”

“What the four didn't know, Richard put on a metal corset and an metal athletic support cup in the morning. It saved his vital organs from serious damage.”

“That’s amazing. This is going to be a tough one to follow-up. One scenario is that I could declare Richard dead then his female self will be the new owner of his works. I need to check with his lawyer to see what kinds of arrangements have been made. By declaring Richard dead; the four men could be charged with murder to some sort of degree. But we all need more information before it comes to that point and see how Richard fares on the operating table. Well, keep in touch. See you all Thursday.”

“Mr. Bryson, I have a question that Richard said during the attack.”

“What is it, Mr. Torres?”

“It appears Richard sprayed the men’s faces with something. Brent yelled back to know what it is. All Richard said is that Jackson from Raleigh would know. Then Richard said ‘buzz off ghosts.’ What is that about?”

Mr. Bryson smiles then begins laughing. “Hah, hah, hah . . . . Jackson from Raleigh is Captain Jackson of the Raleigh Police Department. Richard booby trapped the safe with glow in the dark spray cans. When it was forced open, two students and three employees from Beta-Security were sprayed in the face with it. Richard had his 3D System hid elsewhere in the store room. After cleaning themselves and not knowing what it was, when you take a black light near it, their faces had a ghastly glowing green image.”

Everyone else begins to laugh when they hear that.

“Then everything they touched had the glowing fingerprints.”

“That’s right, Detective Torres.”

“Then I’ll check those gloves that Richard used and find which vehicle they used for their escape. I’ll call Captain Jackson to confirm the story.”

~~~000~~~

[Detective Dan Torres]

We all leave the apartment laughing. I lock the door and re-seal the doorway. I then return the magnet key card to the apartment manager. I decide to ask her some questions about Richard.

“I told Richard that he could do his work in there provided it could be returned to normal before he leased it. Richard had to show me that he was not harming the apartment. Once I was satisfied; I purchased a copy of the program to monitor the buildings and key rooms for the complex.”

“Thank you, ma’am; I have seen his work; it is very good. Is it possible that you might have recorded the incident when Richard was attack?”

“It is possible; let me check my logs to see if it recorded that time slot and place.” She goes through the list on the PC. “Yes, here it is. It did record Richard’s apartment; let me bring it up. You will see over there in the corner of the office.

A 3D-video image appeared scaled down in the corner. “Let me change the scale factor and make it bigger. I think I see an SUV pull in now. I see four men coming out with bats … oh my God!!! They are entering Richard’s room. How did they get in? Wait a minute, one of them is putting a card into the slot with a wire hanging out connected to a device. Only Richard and I have a copy of the key.”

“Can you please make a copy of that recording; I need to enter it in as evidence. I think you better check your other logs; I hope none of your employees are involved in this. At this point I need to ask where the extra keys are kept,” asked the detective.

“The magnet keys are kept in the strong box in that file cabinet over there. It also contains the device to make additional copies. Yes, I will let you have a copy of the recording. Plus, I will double check the other recording logs. You can have that one also. But could you make it official by using a court order?”

“Good idea, that way you or I will not be held liable for improper gathering of evidence. Then do not have anyone touch that cabinet. I will have a team here to examine the cabinet and the strong box. I will bring one later today, Okay?”

“I will be here, good luck in getting those creeps.”

I leave the manager’s office; the AG is still talking with the others there, very good. “I have some good news, people; I just checked with the manager here, she has a copy of Richard’s system installed here. I just saw a recording of the SUV and the four men coming out with baseball bats. Stephen, I need to get a court order signed to get a copy released to us. The manager agreed to provide a copy provided we get one and to search her office. I just want to make sure they did get the key from the manager or not. Can we get one today?”

“You bet, let me call the office to get one prepared. You can follow me; I will have a judge sign it and give it to you on the spot. Is that fast enough for you?”

I chuckle, “Yes, that is fast enough.”

“Ben and Stephen, it appears Brent is using some type of electronic device with a wired card reader to get into his apartment.”

“Thanks, that answers one of my questions on how he got access to Dave’s office. I will tell Robert later.”

~~~000~~~

[Robert Bryson]

We all went back to our offices. Dave, Ben and I were able to grab a quick bite along the way. We decided to keep the talk neutral and not bring up what we know today. We were able to be back a little after 1 PM.

I go up to my office. “Good afternoon, Miss Thompson. I take it, no news happened while I was gone?”

“Yes sir, Mr. Bryson.”

“Good, all is quiet for now. I will be in my office; I can accept calls that need my attention. If they are from the hospital, the police department or the city AG, they go through without delay. The others you can weed out and write it in your phone message pad.”

“Yes sir, have a good day. I will remind you of your other appointments later today.”

“Oh and Miss Thompson, I want you to add into the calendar that I have a meeting at 10 AM on Thursday with the city AG.”

“Yes sir, I will put in. I will set the alarm for that one 45 minutes early.”

“That’s fine, which should give me plenty of time to get there.”

What can I say about today? It is just about normal. Brent lay low all day. I decided to test him today and the next few days.

~~~000~~~

[Secure-Sys, Inc.]

Ring…Ring…”This is Secure-Sys. How can I direct your call?”

“Yes, my name is Dr. Sarah Mitchell I need to speak with Mr. Bryson.”

“Yes, Mr. Bryson is here this afternoon. Let me direct you to his secretary.”

“Thank you. I will hold,” pushing a button Cheryl reaches Linda.

“Hello Linda, I have Dr. Sarah Mitchell on hold.”

“Thank you Cheryl, I will pick it up here. …. Hello, is this Dr. Sarah Mitchell? I am Linda Thompson, Mr. Bryson’s secretary.”

“Yes, thank you. Is he available? I have an update on Richard.”

“Yes, he has been expecting it. Let me send you through.” She pushes a button. “Hello Mr. Bryson, I have Dr. Sarah Mitchell on hold. She has an update on Richard.”

“Thank you Linda, I will take it from here.”

“Yes sir, she is on line 3 that is flashing now.”

“Line 3, thank you Linda.” Robert pushes the Line 3 button. “Hello Dr. Mitchell, this is Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I understand you have an update on Richard.”

“Yes, I do, sir. I am glad to report he is doing fine despite his injuries. Yesterday, we were able to remove his metal armor so we can do the CAT scans. We went into to stop the internal bleeding in his legs and arms. We also re-aligned only one in leg and one in his arm. He previous injuries that he had when he was eight held up and did not fracture. Then his arms and legs are put in a strap cast. This morning we did the delicate operation of his hands, jaw and throat. There was only one stress fracture line found in the jaw. There was no damage to the larynx fortunately. It is the hands we are concerned about.”

“Can he be available to talk to us on Thursday and Friday?”

“It’s possible Mr. Bryson. We are planning to bring him to consciousness so that we can discuss what to do next.”

“We are having a meeting Thursday morning downtown with the AG and the police detective to discuss some other issues that I will not discuss now. But it does concern Richard in the end. There are other developments that will be happening. I am beginning to think we all can come down that Thursday afternoon and we will meet with you and everyone else who needs to be there.”

“That sounds wonderful, Mr. Bryson. What would be an appropriate time?”

“We should be done about 12 noon. How does 2 PM sound?”

“That’s a good time. I will set up a conference room for all of us;
hopefully Richard will be coherent enough to know what is going on. We will make sure before you all arrive.”

“That is fine. See then at 2 PM on Thursday.”

“See you at 2 PM.”

Click. Mr. Bryson pushes a button. “Linda, I need to add a 2 PM appointment down at the hospital for Thursday afternoon.”

“Yes sir, Thursday afternoon at 2 PM. I take it that it concerns Richard?”

“Yes, it does. Please send a forwarding message to Ben in Central Security, to Dave in Human Resources and to our company legal rep to add it to their agendas.”

“Yes sir, I have the message. I am forwarding it now.”

~~~000~~~

[Central Security, Secure-Sys.]

Ben sits down at his desk and insert Richard’s DVD into the laptop and downloads it.

All right, let’s check Richard’s program and take a look at those directories. Then he puts in the data disk to analyze the directories and the trails that Richard was talking about.

Hmm…will you look at that; it is going back and retrieving the steps and revealing Brent’s path. I can see how Brent hacked into the directories. He has a sub-routine that finds the passwords and by-passes the alarm and encryption settings. He then inserts the email message to originate the letter from Mr. Bryson’s directories on his own computer. He then re-writes the directories to cover his trail. Let’s take a look at the other directories that appeared attacked. I see here that he is into the accounting directories. He has taken a little of bit of money from various different accounts, readjust the balances to reflect no changes. He then sends that to his own bank account. I can not wait until these holes are plugged. I better check to see how far back this embezzling goes. I need to report this to Robert and Dave when we have our meeting tomorrow. Then we will take this to the AG on Thursday as planned.

~~~000~~~

[Human Resources, Secure-Sys.]

Dave puts Richard’s DVD disk into the player. Let’s see what his records are. Here is a letter for me. Let’s open that and read it. … It states here that his parents kept his condition sealed until he opened it when his family was killed. According to this, his female organs are in an active state. I am going to need to check in with the doctor and his lawyer what his current situation is. There should be no change yet. It will not be until later this week when some of the surgeries are done. I can imagine that they will have to reassemble his hands. He will be in casts for about six weeks.

~~000~~~

[Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys.]

Robert puts in the DVD to see what Richard has found. All right, let’s see more of Brent’s past. According to this report, Brent and his friends have been together since they all came from the same university; which we knew already from their job applications. But the news about their time there is not known. The professors had a hard time keeping them out of the university private server areas. Brent even went in and changed the admin password and blocked everybody out. That made everybody mad at him. Brent and his friends did get their degrees, but from reading these letters from professors, Brent agreed to stay clean until he graduated. Even his other three friends tried to hack the computers with Trojans and worms. Let’s check this other folder titled “Associates”. Wait a minute I recognize these names. They were mentioned during the Security Conference when I was in DC last week. Brent is associated with them? This is bad. According to this list, Richard was able to find their last known locations. I need to show this to Ben. I am sure he will recognize some names as well. I bet the AG will be very upset when he sees this list. But I am sure he will be licking his chops that he will get a big score on this one. I am glad Richard was able to do this before Brent and his friends got to him. I will need to take this portfolio down to R&D and get the anti-virus program ready for distribution. Fortunately Brent and his associates are not in that department.

Pushing the extension number for the R&D Department, Ring…Ring… ”Hello Doug… Yes this is Robert up here. I have something for you and Beth that you need to jump on.”

“What’s up?”

“Let me bring it down, I will explain it when I get there.”

~~~000~~~

[R&D Department, Secure-Sys.]

“We’ll wait for you. See you then.” Click. “Beth, Mr. Bryson is coming down to meet us he has a project for us to do.”

~~~000~~~

[Robert Bryson, CEO]

Going down to the 2nd floor, Mr. Bryson goes to the R&D Department taking the portfolio with him. Opening the door he enters in. “Hello Doug and Beth, I have a special project for you two. It needs to be kept quiet, so no idle talk about it. I do not want Brent and his three friends to know about this. In this portfolio is an anti-virus program that Richard wrote before he ended up in the hospital.”

“Richard is in the hospital? What happened, sir?”

“I believe it was some of our employees who attacked. They broke a
lot of his bones in the assault.”

“If it was, I bet it was Brent who did this. He has hated Richard ever since he got promoted to Assistant to the Senior Programmer.”

“It is possible Doug. But right now, this software needs to be certified and ready for distribution to all our clients and to the city and county departments. It is only for them, it is to be privately sold to them. According to Richard it will stop a virus that Brent and some associates of his will unleash to cause chaos. This program needs to be in their hands as quickly as possible. I do not know when Brent will initiate the strike. But we need to be ready for it.”

“That is a tall order, sir. But I am sure Doug and I can pull it off. It will be like the updates that we have done before. We will get in the mail, send it as an attachment to a mass email, however you want it out. Even out on the website where it can be downloaded.”

“What does this virus do, sir?”

“Well the intention is to disrupt our client base so that we get blamed for the problem. Richard figures that lawsuits will come in and it will force me to leave this company and possibly get arrested on some charge. While that goes on, Brent moves in and takes over Secure-Sys as the new CEO. But then he will have access to our clients’ business and even access to the city and county governments.”

“Oh, that is nasty. So you are saying that Richard’s program will stop that in its tracks and prevent further damage?”

“That is right Doug. Not only that; but the program will make it tougher to hack through. It is similar to his 3D System that is being built in our SC branch. So, install it on a separate system, have one of Ben’s staff members come down and see if he can get into a secure server that you have set up here for testing. If he can not get in after several attempts then we know it can be trusted. You need to get this done in about 2 days I think.”

“Okay, Doug and I will verify the program today and have it tested tomorrow morning. If he can not get in after an hour, we know it is good. We will start the duplication process as quickly as possible and get it posted on the website, or put in the mail.”

“I suggest not putting it on the website, one of Brent’s friends oversees the website. Do it as a mass email to the clients with the link to a separate and secure server. It will be faster to get in their hands. Then follow it up with an actual copy that is mailed to them if they request it. One of Brent’s friends is in Shipping. If any copies are made and packaged; then deliver them to the post office during a break yourselves. You can put them in a box and say you are going to UPS to do a personal delivery for a friend. But, you will be going to Post Office to mail them. That should keep them guessing. You can use our account at the Post Office to expedite the payment. Make sure you send a note to Accounting for the total cost amount.”

“Sounds like a good plan. Well, if you will excuse us, Beth and I have our work cut out here. We will give you a report when we are done today.”

“Thanks Beth and Doug. I look forward to it.” Mr. Bryson leaves them both and proceeds to do his afternoon check up with the employees. Some of the conversations were about Richard, but most of it centered on the work they were doing at the time. Next stop is Brent’s office.

Walking up to Brent’s office, Mr. Bryson sees his door open, does a quick rap on the door to get his attention.

Looking up, “Hello Mr. Bryson. Around for the usual check up?”

“Yes, so how are you coming along with the current reviews?”

“It is not too bad. I am making sure the bugs are removed. I am sorry to hear that Richard is in the hospital. Is there any news on his condition?”

“Not much. He is still in surgery. I expect to get a report on him tomorrow. I understand you took a day off yesterday?”

“Yes, I went to see a baseball game yesterday.”

“Who did you see play? What happened to your face?”

“My friends and I went to see a minor league double-header game; our Suns won both games. Someone disturbed a wasp nest right in front of us and then ran away.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m sorry to hear about the wasp attack. Well, I need to continue on with my tour here. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, sir.”

You just messed up Brent. Our Suns play at night during the week days and it was a single game yesterday. You deserve more pain than what you gave Richard.

Mr. Bryson leaves Brent and continues on. Stopping by Darren’s office he sees that he is in there.

“Ahem … good afternoon Darren.

Darren looks up, “Hello Mr. Bryson.”

“How is the website holding up? No one has tried to hack it yet.”

“No sir, it is humming along just fine. I was just updating the web-
store. Here take a look at the pages that I created.”

I come around and take a look. “That looks good, Darren. You did get the latest prices from the Accounting Department to reflect current market value?”

“Yes sir, I just received them about an hour ago. I just finished putting them in.”

“That is very good, Darren. Do you have any questions for me regarding the format for the videos we want to show on the website?”

“Not at this time. I am still in the development stage of layout. I will not assign the tags until then. But the question remains how long the videos are. We do not want them too big like last time; right?”

“No, we do not want to hamper the speeds on most PCs out there. There are still a lot people who have not upgraded to the latest version. We will need to keep the choices available for the different speeds and viewer versions. How was your day off yesterday?”

“Yes, I will keep it like last time. Oh the day went fine. Some of the guys and I went to a ball game then to the beaches. It was a great day. Sir, I am little surprised that Richard is not here today. Where is he?”

“Didn’t you read the paper this morning? He is in the hospital. Well time for me to move on and check on the rest of the company. See you tomorrow.” Mr. Bryson leaves the office.

“I am sorry to hear that. See you tomorrow sir.” That was close, I am glad we all agreed to the same story about yesterday.

Way to go Darren. You just added fuel to your own problem. Richard was “fired” a week ago. Why should you be interested if he was here today or not? That goes double for Brent. Okay let’s see who else to visit? The only two left are Michael and Brian. Let’s check on Michael and Darrell while I am here.

Walking a few doors down he enters into the main employee area. Michael and Darrell are set up in the portables with the other employees.

“Hello Michael and Darrell, just the ones I need to speak today. Apparently it is your turn for my questions on how things are going.”

“Yes sir, the current projects are proceeding along fine. Once the syntax and bugs are worked out, we will check them to make sure they flow correctly the way they should. Isn’t that right Darrell?”

“That’s right, Michael. As you can see here with this one, one of the bugs we encountered was the speed it went through the verification process. We are trying to optimize it as much as possible. But our work load has increased since Richard has left.”

“I see. I know you are short handed right now. But, you will have to make do. It takes time to replace an employee with Richard’s credentials. Well, I know it is putting more pressure on Brent to verify these programs. We will have to make it work until then. I understand that you took a day off yesterday Michael. How was it?”

“Yes sir, we’ll make it through. My day off was great I was able to get some batting practice at the cages near the beaches.”

Darrell looks at Michael with a puzzled look. Michael and Mr. Bryson see it.

“That’s good I am sure it was a nice break from the routine here. Well I need to move on. See you both tomorrow.”

When Mr. Bryson left the room finally after greeting the other employees there Michael spoke in a low voice. “I thought he would never leave. Why did you give me that funny look Darrell? It was the story that we agreed with, right?”

“I don’t think so. I thought it would be a game that you four were going to.”

“Your right Darrell, I forgot. I better check with the others to see if we said the same thing. If he figures out that we said four different stories, it might raise his suspicion. Are you coming to the meeting tomorrow night?”

“I’m invited? I thought Brent would let us know if we were to meet.”

“Okay, I will check with Brent to make sure. Let’s get busy; we have about an hour left before we go home today.”

“Okay, I will wait until tomorrow.” That was close I am sure Mr. Bryson would ask me another question. Maybe my startled look at Michael perhaps gave him a clue.

Way to go, Michael. That’s the third different story from yesterday. When I saw that look on Darrell’s face I knew something was not right about the stories. Let’s see if Brian tells a different one. Try as they might, they are really not working together on all cylinders. But, still Brent is the key to this whole mess. Well, let’s get down to the first floor and check there.

Mr. Bryson does his usual question and answers with the other employees again. Some expressed sadness for what Richard is going through but they gave Mr. Bryson an update on their projects.

“I am sorry Carol, I can not tell anymore than what I know. He is still on the operating table right now. He won’t be conscious for a week. Hopefully no complications will come up.”

“That’s okay. But at least he has our prayers. I was talking with Jennifer and there seems to be an uneasy calm now. Like there is something going to happen.”

“Well I am sure it just everybody is trying to adjust with Richard’s presence gone. We will adjust to it.”

“Sir, did you fire Richard before you left for the conference? I was wondering.”

”Yes, I did. There were some issues that had to be dealt with. But I can not say what they are right now.” I wish I could tell her otherwise, but not yet. “I do ask you to be strong. There might be some rough waters ahead. Once the storm is gone; I think Secure-Sys will be stronger than ever.”

“I hope you are right on that point. Well I have a few more pages to type up for the current software documentations before I go home today.”

“I am sorry to take up your time. I need to make a few more stops before I am done. Remember what I said; be strong.”

“Yes sir, be strong.”

Okay, three more stops. Let’s go to the Shipping Department. Let’s see what Brian has to say.

Mr. Bryson walks through the corridors and to the back office where the Shipping Department is located with the loading docks.

Brian turns around and sees Mr. Bryson coming towards him.

“Hello, Mr. Bryson. Checking up on us again?”

“Of course, it is my job to make sure the company is running smoothly. Is everything caught up for the day?”

“Yes sir. All assigned shipments went out today. I have stacked over there what is going out tomorrow. It is the updates for our clients.”

“Good Brian. What about the roll-out for the new products?”

“We are getting there. From what I have been told we have the first batch sitting over there; which will go out first thing in the morning. The next batch should arrive from Carol and Jennifer sometime tomorrow.”

“That’s good, Brian.”

“I was hoping to do it all at once on one day. But I guess we can not inundate the post office too much.”

“No Brian, its one thing to do fliers which are easy to do. But to do boxes, that takes up space on the trucks very quickly.”

“You are right on that point, sir.”

“One other question before I go. How was your day off yesterday?”

“It was great. I was able to use the free time to watch a baseball game during the day. After that I went with some friends to the beaches and a club. Our minor league team won the game.”

“That sounds great, Brian. Well, I need to make one or two more stops. I will check in again as usual.”

“See you next time, Mr. Bryson.” Whew, that is close. It is a good thing we agreed that we went to ball game yesterday. Hopefully he will not become suspicious.

Oh Brian. You just made it four for four in telling four different stories. They did not know it but I had these conversations recorded with Richard’s system. Well let’s check in with Doug and Beth and see how they are doing.

Going back up to the second floor; Mr. Bryson arrives at the R&D Dept. Opening the door and entering in. “So, how is it going, Doug and Beth?”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Bryson. We were just about to call you; we just finished putting it together. We can tell you that we are always impressed with Richard’s work. His work is real easy to go through. But like you said, this is the most complicated piece of work that he has put together yet. I do not know where he gets these ideas, but they are great. Even from our initial testing, Ben’s crew will have hard time getting through. I doubt he will ever make it through, we could not.”

“That’s good to hear, Beth. Doug, the last thing that Richard told me is that he introduced some new and unusual tests of the data.”

“That’s an understatement. When I first saw the algorithm, I thought he was nuts. No way can a bunch of tests be done to a data header to verify it authenticity within the timeout slots. But, when coupled with the ports algorithm; it was so chaotic that it worked beautifully when all put together. I doubt anyone could hack through those layers before getting bumped out. We tried to introduce worms, Trojans, anything to see if it could squirm or fake its way through. We even tried to follow the data in its wake. No such luck. It recognized the attempts right away and blocked us out or strips off what we attached to the data packet while the data went through.”

“Richard said he made it even difficult for himself once it is initiated.”

“We did not get that close at all to read the directories and the data that we sent. It was like we were still 100 miles away from them. But when we entered the correct ID’s and passwords to access the directories, the data was sitting there unchanged from what we sent. Like I said before, it is a beautiful piece of work. I wonder what else is up his sleeve for an encore.”

“I wonder too. But it will be sometime before he comes back, perhaps months. It takes time to heal from those injuries.”

“I am sorry to hear that. Well, we need to put this to bed and get ready for tomorrow. It is going to be busy for us to start mass producing this product.”

“I will stop by Ben’s desk and inform him that you are done. Have a good night, see you both tomorrow.”

“Thanks Mr. Bryson. See you tomorrow.”

Okay, that is great. Step one is done today; onto step two tomorrow. Let’s get down to Ben’s office and give him and update. Ah, here is his door. Opening the door, “Hello Ben, I have some good news on the anti-virus program. Doug and Beth just finished it. They tried their initial testing as usual. Well, they could not break it. It looks real solid.”

“That’s good to hear. I will have David try to hack through it first thing tomorrow morning. If he can not hack it within an hour, we will declare it is ready for the real world. Is there any word on Brent?”

“Nothing right now, but I want to review the conversations that I had with them today. I think each of them all told a different story on where they were yesterday. They tried to tell the same story, but they are not the same. We will need to have it ready when the AG requests it for the prosecution.”

“No problems Robert. I will review the 3D-videos before I go and lock up for the evening. When do you think Brent will strike?”

“I don’t know right now. He will probably wait until he thinks he is safe. Remember what Darrell said. Richard is a better programmer than Brent. Once he feels he is not threatened by Richard, I think that will be when he jumps.”

”Could be. It could happen tomorrow or the next week. We will need to keep our eyes and ears open. Good night, Robert, see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, we need to be alert. Do not forget there is our meeting tomorrow. Then the next day is the meeting downtown. I will be getting a report from the hospital in the morning. I will share it then. Good night, Ben.”

~~~000~~~

[Brent Morgan’s apartment]

“Oh what a day I had today. I bet we are glad to be back here and meet at my place after work. I will be glad when Richard is forgotten from this place. So, how did it go? Did we tell the same story to Mr. Bryson when he did his rounds?”

“Well, I told him that we went to a baseball game yesterday to see the Suns play,” said Darren.

“I said the same thing but I added that it was a double header.”

“How about you Michael, what did you say?”

“I told him that we went to the batting cages near the beaches. I am sorry, Brent.”

“That’s okay. I think we are safe. And you, Brian?”

“I said we went to the baseball game, and then we went to the beaches and a club afterwards.”

“Well that’s sounds all right. Were there any responses to Richard during these talks?”

“I commented about the increased work load since Richard left. I can imagine it is the same with you, Brent.”

“True, Michael, but I get the final say and be able to put in my subroutine in some of these packages. So far no detection has been made.”

“I did not mention anything about Richard when Mr. Bryson came down to me. We just focused on shipments and the scheduling for then next day.”

“That’s good, Brian; how about you, Darren?”

“I think I goofed. I forgot that Richard was “fired”, I mentioned that he was not here today. I am sorry Brent.”

“Hmm, that's not good. I have been in contact with my associates. So far everything is a go. We are just waiting for news at the hospital plus some other news ….”

“Uh, Brent, I am just looking through the sports section here. I think we have a problem. The Suns games are played at night, plus there was no double header yesterday.”

“What did you say, Brian?!? Oh crud! Wait a minute let me think…. I think we can still make this work. I will contact my associates and see when the earliest time is to pull the trigger. It might be pushed up a couple of days.”

“Sorry about that, Brent, we should have rehearsed our stories better.”

“That’s okay, Darren. If we had told the exactly the same story I am sure it would have even surprised Bryson.”

“If it is going to happen earlier; do you think we ought to include Darrell in our next meeting? We might need him for a particular task.”

“We will have to play it by ear. I will just keep him on deck if we need him for a fall. Well it’s time to go. I am sure you all need to get back to your apartments.”

“Yes, I have some things to do this evening. See you all tomorrow guys. One down and several more to go. Hah, hah, hah, …”

~~~000~~~

Anna drives up to the apartment complex. She gets out of the car and closes the door. She locks it before she walks around back in the grass area between buildings. She finds the right balcony real easy. It has a great garden built there. She looks up and whispers to it.

“Amber and Cobalt, will you please come here?”

Two butterflies flutter down and land on her shoulder. They whisper back.

“How is Richard, Anna?”

“Richard is doing well so far. The metal corset helped him from getting injured seriously. It is just his legs, arms and hands. He was kicked in his jaw once before you sent the insects in.”

“That is good news. How are the doctors doing in realigning his bones?”

“They should have the bones realigned today.”

“That’s good, Anna. Then his healing powers will be faster. It can go faster if we are there with him.”

“I have an idea so that you can be there in his recovery room.”

“How is that possible? They don’t allow animals or insects inside the hospital. They are not ready to see fairies.”

“I know, Amber. There are going to be a lot of flower arrangements in the room. They will be from people he knows at work. Even the Wilson family will bring some in. I was hoping you would hide among the flowers in your butterfly mode. Then you can come out at night to help heal him.”

“That’s a worthy plan, Anna. What if they check the flowers for insects? They could try to harm us with a spray.”

“I will have a talk with the nurses tomorrow morning. I do know dogs and cats are allowed for special circumstances. The cats and dogs do lift their spirits up.”

“When is Richard planned to be awake?”

“Probably by Thursday, Cobalt. There is a meeting planned to find a way to stop Brent’s plans.”

“Did you know Brent is part of the conspiracy from Europe?”

“I don’t know all the details yet, Cobalt. What do you know about it?”

“Richard thinks there will be a virus attack on the world wide banks. There is some talk on certain European blogs, they want the Euro to be the supreme world currency.”

“I’ve heard of that news for about ten years before you came here. It is possible they are pushing for it because of Richard’s invention. They want to do it before the banks become impossible to break in via the internet.”

“It’s possible, Anna. See what you can find out if butterflies are allowed in the room. Bianca is really heart tied to Richard. We are trying our best to comfort her.”

“I’ll let you know as soon as possible tomorrow, Amber and Cobalt. Thank you for having this talk with me. Try and get a good night of sleep.”

“We’ll certainly try, Anna. Drive safe and return safe to us.”

“I will. Good night my friends.”

Amber and Cobalt fly back up to the balcony garden to give the latest news. Bianca is relieved to hear the latest news, but she has high hopes to be there in the room soon.

Anna walks back to her car. She drives to the hotel where she is staying at while in Jacksonville.

Chapter 5 Tuesday morning at the Hospital