Digital Fortress

"Y-you…" Becker stammered, staring at her unpierced ears. "You wouldn’t happen to wear earrings, would you?"

The girl eyed him strangely. She fished a tiny object from her pocket and held it out. Becker gazed at the skull pendant dangling in her hand.

"A clip-on?" he stammered.

"Hell, yes," the girl replied. "I’m scared shitless of needles."

Chapter 70

David Becker stood in the deserted concourse and felt his legs go weak. He eyed the girl before him and knew his search was over. She had washed her hair and changed clothes-maybe in hopes of having better luck selling the ring-but she’d never boarded for New York.

Becker fought to keep his cool. His wild journey was about to end. He scanned her fingers. They were bare. He gazed down at her duffel. It’s in there, he thought. It’s got to be!

He smiled, barely containing his excitement. "This is going to sound crazy," he said, "but I think you’ve got something I need."

"Oh?" Megan seemed suddenly uncertain.

Becker reached for his wallet. "Of course I’d be happy to pay you." He looked down and started sorting through the cash in his billfold.

As Megan watched him count out his money, she drew a startled gasp, apparently misunderstanding his intentions. She shot a frightened glance toward the revolving door… measuring the distance. It was fifty yards.

"I can give you enough to buy your ticket home if-"

"Don’t say it," Megan blurted, offering a forced smile. "I think I know exactly what you need." She bent down and started rifling through her duffel.

Becker felt a surge of hope. She’s got it! he told himself. She’s got the ring! He didn’t know how the hell she knew what it was he wanted, but he was too tired to care. Every muscle in his body relaxed. He pictured himself handing the ring to the beaming deputy director of the NSA. Then he and Susan would lie in the big canopy bed at Stone Manor and make up for lost time.

The girl finally found what she was looking for-her PepperGuard-the environmentally safe alternative to mace, made from a potent blend of cayenne and chili peppers. In one swift motion, she swung around and fired a direct stream into Becker’s eyes. She grabbed her duffel and dashed for the door. When she looked back, David Becker was on the floor, holding his face, writhing in agony.

Chapter 71

Tokugen Numataka lit his fourth cigar and kept pacing. He snatched up his phone and buzzed the main switchboard.

"Any word yet on that phone number?" he demanded before the operator could speak.

"Nothing yet, sir. It’s taking a bit longer than expected-it came from a cellular."

A cellular, Numataka mused. Figures. Fortunately for the Japanese economy, the Americans had an insatiable appetite for electronic gadgets.

"The boosting station," the operator added, "is in the 202 area code. But we have no number yet."

"202? Where’s that?" Where in the vast American expanse is this mysterious North Dakota hiding?

"Somewhere near Washington, D. C., sir."

Numataka arched his eyebrows. "Call me as soon as you have a number."

Chapter 72

Susan Fletcher stumbled across the darkened Crypto floor toward Strathmore’s catwalk. The commander’s office was as far from Hale as Susan could get inside the locked complex.

When Susan reached the top of the catwalk stairs, she found the commander’s door hanging loosely, the electronic lock rendered ineffective by the power outage. She barged in.

"Commander?" The only light inside was the glow of Strathmore’s computer monitors. "Commander!" she called once again. "Commander!"

Susan suddenly remembered that the commander was in the Sys-Sec lab. She turned circles in his empty office, the panic of her ordeal with Hale still in her blood. She had to get out of Crypto. Digital Fortress or no Digital Fortress, it was time to act-time to abort the TRANSLTR run and escape. She eyed Strathmore’s glowing monitors then dashed to his desk. She fumbled with his keypad. Abort TRANSLTR! The task was simple now that she was on an authorized terminal. Susan called up the proper command window and typed:

ABORT RUN

Her finger hovered momentarily over the ENTER key.

"Susan!" a voice barked from the doorway. Susan wheeled scared, fearing it was Hale. But it was not, it was Strathmore. He stood, pale and eerie in the electronic glow, his chest heaving. "What the hell’s going on!"

"Com… mander!" Susan gasped. "Hale’s in Node 3! He just attacked me!"

"What? Impossible! Hale’s locked down in-"

"No, he’s not! He’s loose! We need security inhere now! I’m aborting TRANSLTR!" Susan reached for the keypad.

"DON’T TOUCH THAT!" Strathmore lunged for the terminal and pulled Susan’s hands away.

Susan recoiled, stunned. She stared at the commander and for the second time that day did not recognize him. Susan felt suddenly alone.

Strathmore saw the blood on Susan’s shirt and immediately regretted his outburst. "Jesus, Susan. Are you okay?"

She didn’t respond.

He wished he hadn’t jumped on her unnecessarily. His nerves were frayed. He was juggling too much. There were things on his mind-things Susan Fletcher did not know about-things he had not told her and prayed he’d never have to.

"I’m sorry," he said softly. "Tell me what happened."

She turned away. "It doesn’t matter. The blood’s not mine. Just get me out of here."

"Are you hurt?" Strathmore put a hand on her shoulder. Susan recoiled. He dropped his hand and looked away. When he looked back at Susan’s face, she seemed to be staring over his shoulder at something on the wall.

There, in the darkness, a small keypad glowed full force. Strathmore followed her gaze and frowned. He’d hoped Susan wouldn’t notice the glowing control panel. The illuminated keypad controlled his private elevator. Strathmore and his high-powered guests used it to come and go from Crypto without advertising the fact to the rest of the staff. The personal lift dropped down fifty feet below the Crypto dome and then moved laterally 109 yards through a reinforced underground tunnel to the sublevels of the main NSA complex. The elevator connecting Crypto to the NSA was powered from the main complex; it was on-line despite Crypto’s power outage.

Strathmore had known all along it was on-line, but even as Susan had been pounding on the main exit downstairs, he hadn’t mentioned it. He could not afford to let Susan out-not yet. He wondered how much he’d have to tell her to make her want to stay.

Susan pushed past Strathmore and raced to the back wall. She jabbed furiously at the illuminated buttons.

"Please," she begged. But the door did not open.

"Susan," Strathmore said quietly. "The lift takes a password."

"A password?" she repeated angrily. She glared at the controls. Below the main keypad was a second keypad-a smaller one, with tiny buttons. Each button was marked with a letter of the alphabet. Susan wheeled to him. "What is the password!" she demanded.

Strathmore thought a moment and sighed heavily. "Susan, have a seat."

Susan looked as if she could hardly believe her ears.

"Have a seat," the commander repeated, his voice firm.

"Let me out!" Susan shot an uneasy glance toward the commander’s open office door.

Strathmore eyed the panicked Susan Fletcher. Calmly he moved to his office door. He stepped out onto the landing and peered into the darkness. Hale was nowhere to be seen. The commander stepped back inside and pulled the door shut. Then he propped a chair in front to keep it closed, went to his desk, and removed something from a drawer. In the pale glow of the monitors Susan saw what he was holding. Her face went pale. It was a gun.