Читать книгу The Fund - Jeff Edwards - Страница 15

The following day Eliza and Justine reported their findings to the board.

‘I say we go back and photograph all their files,’

said Eliza. ‘We need to know exactly how much information they’ve accumulated.’

‘From what little we did see, they’ve dug into Mrs Green’s past.

Right back to when she was a child,’ added Justine.

‘Why would they need to do that?’ asked Nori.

‘It seems to have worked,’ said Brian. ‘They’ve become very thorough, and in doing so they’ve been able to open up new lines of inquiry. How else would they have picked up on the missing Rolls Royce? I’d have sworn that the car had ceased to be a problem, especially after no one mentioned it for a few months. Now it’s back on our list of things that we need to be careful about.’

‘What will we do?’ asked Nori.

‘Absolutely nothing! Outside of this room we do not discuss it and we certainly go nowhere near it,’ warned Brian. ‘It’ll be safe enough where it is if we simply forget it exists.’

‘That still leaves our friends at Inland Security and their new sidekick,’ said Toby.

‘They will remain a problem until something positive is done about them,’ said Justine.

Lana was uncomfortable with Justine’s tone of voice. ‘That sounds far too ominous. I hope you’re not considering anything radical.’

However, Brian was nodding in agreement. ‘We will have to do something. Eliza, I think we’ll need to get your father and his friends to keep an eye on them for the short-term at least. Then, when the moment is right, we’ll make our move.’

‘What about the information they’re uncovering?’ asked Nori.

‘I think we should let them keep going,’ said Eliza. ‘That way, when we do make our move, we’ll have a good idea what sort of information is out there and how much harm it could do to us. When we know that, we can take steps to remove the most damaging parts.’

‘Will Mrs Green’s history hurt us that much?’ asked Suzie. ‘After all, we’re out to help the poor of the world.’

‘It could if the media drove home the fact that all our funds came from a woman who acted outside the law her entire life. It would ruin the public perception of us as a worthwhile charity,’ said Ali.

‘It would look even worse if it was revealed we were trying to hide the fact that our funds came from a doubtful source,’ agreed Brian.

‘So, what do we do?’ asked Suzie. ‘We can’t just go out and scream it from the rooftops that our funds are tainted.’

‘No we can’t, but that doesn’t mean that we have to hide where the money came from,’ said Toby. ‘I still believe Mrs Green should be recognised for what she was, an old lady who cared deeply about the wellbeing of others.’

‘How do we do it without actually advertising the fact?’ asked Nori.

‘We could name some of our projects after her. The Jade Green School in Rwanda, or the Jade Green water purifying plant in Somalia,’ offered Eliza. ‘That’s a wonderful idea!’ enthused Lana. ‘We’ll refer to it in our literature without needing to spread it all over the media. Just a gentle reminder of who our benefactor was.’

‘I think a picture of her should be in our lobby. Right next to the logo that Toby made,’ said Suzie.

‘I think that would be appropriate. I can see how a painting of our benefactor might be good for publicity, but I think there should also be one in a far more special place to act as a constant reminder to us,’ said Toby.

‘Where?’ asked Justine.

‘Right up there,’ said Toby, pointing to a spot on the wall overlooking the board table.

‘Down here in the basement?’ asked Suzie.

‘Most company boardrooms feature the portraits of their founders. Why not ours?’

Lana grinned. ‘And I know just the artist who’ll do both the portraits. Me! I’ve been playing with the idea of doing her image for some time. Now I’ll have a place for it. There’ll be two different portraits of her, one as a younger woman and one as the lovely old lady that we knew and loved.’

Suzie nodded. ‘I agree. She was a complicated personality, so a pair of portraits would be the ideal way to celebrate her life.’

‘I’ll get started on them as soon as we get back from Paris,’ said Lana.

‘Speaking of which, my father has a friend he wants to introduce you all to,’ Eliza said. ‘If we can spare them a short time. I’ll get them down here. It’s a security matter.’

* * *

Terry Strang, former career criminal and now head of security for The Fund, stood at the head of the board table and made his introductions.

‘Eliza has told me how you are all about to fly off to all parts of the world. Now that may be all fine and well if you were going on holidays, but the places you’ll be going to in future are not recommended for their hospitality. Even if you are using satellite phones you may have trouble keeping in contact with headquarters. They can be stolen or disabled and then we’d have trouble getting help to you.

‘Added to that you’ll be compiling the dossiers on the people that you have to deal with, and to do that you’ll want to record your conversations. A recording will show the way that person speaks and will give an even better idea of what they are really meaning to say. It will have more value than a word for word transcript of that same conversation.

‘I had a bit of a think about those things and decided to bring my friend Chuck here into the picture.’

Terry indicated the man standing beside him. ‘Chuck Towner here used to work for the CIA before deciding that he’d rather live in a true democracy while selling his unique services to the highest bidder, so he moved to this side of the Atlantic.’

Terry stepped aside and let Chuck Towner take centre stage. His blond hair was cut close and his tall frame seemed to reach towards the ceiling. When he spoke, it was in a quiet, self-effacing way, which bespoke a confidence in his own abilities.

‘Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Mr Strang has explained what your organisation requires in the way of security for your field agents and I hope to be able to assist you.’

He reached down and picked up an attaché case that had lain at his feet. Placing it on the table he opened it up and extracted a laptop computer which he proceeded to turn on. He then took out a small box which he placed beside the computer.

‘I’ve been told what sort of countries you’ll be visiting and the possibility that situations of a delicate nature may arise. For most of the problems there is usually a low tech solution as well as a high tech. As you’re all inexperienced field operatives I thought we’d start with low tech solutions. When you’ve become more experienced we’ll move on to the more high tech ‘goodies’. This way you’ll get used to relying on the equipment, which can be quite daunting if you haven’t had to think about these things before.’

He opened up the small box and pulled out what appeared to be a quite normal and inexpensive wristwatch.

‘Here we have a dreadfully boring digital watch that does all the usual things, including tell the time. It’s not pretty, so it won’t attract thieves. That may not seem to be important to you right here and now, but it will be important to you out in the field. Watches are still worth mugging the owner for in the developing world.’

Chuck turned the laptop around so that the screen could be seen by all. On it was displayed a map of the world.

‘Now,’ said Chuck, ‘I turn the watch’s bezel twice and press in this button.’

Suddenly a point of light appeared on the computer screen and as Chuck moved the mouse over the monitor and pressed buttons, the light on the screen moved to the centre as the world zoomed larger. Time and again Chuck narrowed the search until finally the flashing light was directly above a map of the street above their office building.

‘This program will track the watch no matter where in the world it goes. Your headquarters will know exactly where you are, day or night, to within a few feet.’

‘So, we’ll be able to keep track of every one of you from now on,’ said Terry.

‘This new technology is scary,’ said Suzie.

Chuck laughed. ‘This is hardly new. GPS has been around for years. You can walk into any electronics store and buy a GPS navigator for your car. The only thing that’s different about this one is its size.’

‘Now, you wanted something to record conversations. Well, how about this?’ said Chuck as he pressed another button.

The speaker on the laptop came to life and the group around the table heard Chuck repeating his earlier conversation.

‘How did you do that?’ asked Brian. ‘Where’s the microphone?’

‘It’s hidden in the watch as well. The conversation can be sent over a distance of about a hundred metres and is automatically downloaded onto your laptop’s hard drive or immediately routed via a secure Internet connection to a central computer.’

‘You mean we’ll be able to hear the conversation in our office as it actually takes place overseas?’ asked Ali.

‘Yes.’

‘Would we be able to talk back to our agent?’

‘Of course. Your people would just need to wear an earpiece.’

‘Wonderful! This could be a lifesaver,’ said Eliza.

‘It’s certainly a place to start,’ agreed Chuck.

‘So, this is an example of your low tech goods. What about the high tech?’ asked Toby.

Chuck smiled. ‘Do you really want to know?’

‘I’d love to know!’ enthused Eliza. Both she and Justine were always the first to adopt the latest technology that came onto the market. Neither had lived in a world where computers did not exist.

Reaching into his briefcase again, Chuck extracted what looked to be a small coin with a very thin wire protruding from it. ‘Since the end of the Cold War all sorts of things have come onto the market. I purchased this in Russia recently. They have scientists over there with far too much spare time on their hands.’

‘What is it?’ asked Eliza.

‘It’s a personal communications system. You can transmit and receive messages or speak to your base and anyone else with the same communicator.’

‘How does it work?’

‘It’s actually inserted beneath your skin.’

‘My god!’ said Suzie. ‘What next?’

‘Oh, this is old technology. The next generation of gadgets will have even smaller versions of this that would barely show up on an X-ray.’

‘I’m almost too afraid to ask, but what sort of things can they do?’ asked Ali.

Chuck looked around at their enthralled faces. ‘Imagine that what you are seeing and hearing is also being transmitted to a central computer for others to watch and hear as well. That‘s just the start. They’re working on connecting it all directly to a computer. The agent could request information and the computer would supply it directly to the receptor inside his body.’

‘The agent would be able to access the computer from anywhere?’ asked Justine.

‘Anywhere that the satellites are able to receive and forward the signals.’

‘How long has that sort of thing been in use?’ asked Toby.

Chuck shrugged. ‘I’ve been out of the “official” spook trade for a while now. So there are probably agents walking around with them inserted right now. Check out the next person who wins Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? They could be wired.’

‘I’m glad we’re going for low tech,’ said Toby. ‘I wouldn’t feel comfortable having my brain permanently wired to a computer somewhere. Imagine what would happen if there was a power surge.’

Chuck laughed. ‘I’m sure the scientific boffins have thought of that. Anyway, let’s get back to the equipment we have. If you’ll gather around I’ll show you how to operate it.’