Читаем Point of Contact полностью

“I hope you’re not waiting for an apology. Our police force takes drug offenses quite seriously. They felt they were doing their duty.”

“Even though they were wrong?”

“Being wrong sometimes comes with the job, doesn’t it?” She took another bite of curry. “Now that you’ve had time to think about it, who do you suppose made the call?”

Jack shook his head. “It’s either someone’s idea of a joke or it was somebody who wanted to get rid of us.”

“I promise you it wasn’t someone from Dalfan.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Lian blinked, processing. “I suppose I can’t be absolutely sure, can I?”

“I don’t want to risk offending you, but I have to ask: There’s no chance it was your brother who did this?”

Lian nearly spat out her curry. “Yong? No way! Not his style.”

Jack’s phone vibrated in his pocket. “Excuse me.” He pulled it out and answered as he began to step away from the table. “Gavin — thanks for calling. What did you find out?”

Paul pretended he didn’t hear Jack say Gavin’s name as he moved away, but Paul’s round face flushed with concern. Why is Jack talking to Gavin?

* * *

Those photos you sent of the security guards — or whatever they are — came up a big fat zero,” Gavin said.

“Nothing?”

“Nada. I broke into a few official databases where you are and I didn’t get any hits. OSINT didn’t yield anything, either. I’d say their identities were scrubbed.”

“Clandestine service?”

“That’s as good a guess as any.”

“But who? Why?”

“I’ve given you all I’ve got. Sorry.”

“Keep digging, will you? And while you’re at it, I need another favor.”

“Sure.”

“Can you hack the Singapore Police Force cloud server?”

Gavin sniffed. “Okay, now you’re just being insulting. What do you need me to find?”

“I’ll let you know.”

41

As promised, Lian delivered Paul and Jack back at Dalfan by three o’clock, just in time for their appointment on the fourth floor with the head of the department, Dr. Melvin Heng.

Unlike the other two research floors, this one was nearly as quiet as a library, with no sounds other than the click of keyboards and soft whispers between computer stations. Several of the young coders wore thickly padded noise-reduction headphones, heads bobbing to unknown rhythms as they attacked their keyboards.

Dr. Heng led them to his own small office. “Coffee? Tea? Anything to drink?”

“We just ate, thank you,” Jack said, as he and Paul took their seats.

Heng took the seat at his desk, brushing his long, graying hair behind his ear. “I apologize that my floor isn’t as interesting or fun as the other two research departments. It’s almost like a funeral parlor in here, but the silence is more conducive to our efforts. How may I serve you?”

“As you know, we’re here conducting a very informal audit in order to sign off on a final document that will complete the merger contract between your company and Marin Aerospace.”

Heng smiled. “We’re very excited about the merger, especially the senior management.”

“Senior management stands to profit handsomely,” Paul said.

“The beauty of capitalism.”

Paul pushed on. “Is that why you left your research post with the Centre for Quantum Technologies at the National University?”

“Technically, I retired from the CQT in order to start the department here.”

“Your research specialty was quantum cryptography.”

“Precisely. That’s the reason why Dr. Fairchild hired me. Is there a problem?”

“Not at all. We’re just trying to get the big picture. Along those lines, we’ve been sample-auditing various departments and we found a few files that we believe are linked to your department,” Paul said. “Specifically, we found a file marked ‘QC,’ which I originally assumed was the abbreviation for ‘quality control,’ but your department is developing quantum cryptography, correct?”

“Exactly. We’re primarily focused on the software side of QC. Quantum algorithms, in particular.”

Jack leaned forward. “What exactly is quantum cryptography?”

“That’s a very good question, and it requires a very long and complicated answer — unfortunately, it’s mostly technical jargon. Let me see if I can put it in some perspective.” Heng leaned back in his chair. “I’m sure you’re both aware that cyberwarfare is the new battlespace that the great powers are racing into. Financial markets, transactional commerce, energy infrastructures, military forces — virtually every aspect of modern societies is controlled, maintained, or directed by networks of computers that communicate with one another and, increasingly, with other computer networks, globally.

“If a hostile nation or terror group wants to destroy a modern industrial economy like the United States or its military forces, the most vulnerable points of attack are the computer networks, and this is why so many resources are being deployed into cyberwarfare.”

“Where does Dalfan play in all of this?” Jack asked.

Перейти на страницу:

Все книги серии Jack Ryan Jr.

Point of Contact
Point of Contact

In the latest electrifying adventure in Tom Clancy's #1 New York Times bestselling series, Jack Ryan, Jr., learns that sometimes the deadliest secret may be standing right next to you.Former U.S. Senator Weston Rhodes is a defense contractor with an urgent problem. His company needs someone to look over the books of Dalfan Technologies, a Singapore company — quickly. He turns to his old friend Gerry Hendley for help. Hendley Associates is one of the best financial analysis firms in the country and the cover for The Campus, a top-secret American intelligence agency. Rhodes asks for two specific analysts, Jack Ryan Jr., and Paul Brown, a mild-mannered forensic accountant.Both Ryan and Brown initially resist, for different reasons. On the long flight over, Ryan worries he's being sidelined from the next Campus operation in America's war on terror. Brown — who was never very good with people — only worries about the numbers, and finding a good cup of tea.Brown has no idea Jack works for The Campus but the awkward accountant is hiding secrets of his own. Rhodes has tasked him with uploading a cyberwarfare program into the highly secure Dalfan Technologies mainframe on behalf of the CIA.On the verge of mission success, Brown discovers a game within the game, and the people who now want to kill him are as deadly as the cyclone bearing down on the island nation. Together Ryan and Brown race to escape both the murderous storm and a team of trained assassins in order to prevent a global catastrophe, even at the cost of their own lives.

Майк Маден , Том Клэнси

Триллер

Похожие книги