Читать книгу City of the Lost - Will Adams - Страница 16

Iain walked Karin down to the hotel lobby and pointed her to a nearby shopping street, then asked at reception about overnighting a package to the UK. He’d missed his window, however, so he asked instead for directions to a computer repair store, got sent across the river along the hospital road. A grizzled shopkeeper was hauling down rusted shutters with a hooked stick, a cigarette almost sideways in his mouth, as though he’d walked into a wall. He eyed Iain gloomily, but invited him inside. The place was dimly lit, as seemed appropriate for the computer morgue it resembled, shelves crowded with innards and peripherals. It would be easiest to have the man try to recover the footage for him, but it was too risky, so he bought himself a new laptop instead, plus a screwdriver and various other tools, then returned to the hotel.

Karin was still out shopping. He cleared space on the dressing table, opened up both laptops and transferred his old hard drive into the new machine. It wouldn’t boot. That, sadly, was the extent of his computer skills, so he called the office, got put through to Robyn. ‘I just heard,’ she said. ‘Poor Mustafa. I can’t believe it. He was so nice.’

‘I didn’t know you knew him,’ said Iain.

‘I put him on our system.’

‘Of course.’ Iain rubbed his neck wearily. ‘Listen,’ he said. ‘My laptop got pretty badly banged up. I’m sure you can imagine. But there’s stuff on it I need.’

‘What kind of stuff?’

‘Footage.’

A moment’s silence. ‘My God. You think you got it?’

‘It’s possible. I’d like to find out.’

‘Overnight it to me. I’ll start on it first thing.’

‘I missed last post,’ he told her. ‘And this needs doing fast. Can’t you talk me through it?’

‘You’d need a new laptop.’

‘Already got one. And I’ve tried switching drives.’

‘No luck?’

‘No luck.’

‘Then you’re going to need some more equipment. And it won’t be quick. Recovery could take a day, maybe longer.’

‘I’m only after a few video-files.’

‘It doesn’t work like that. What we’ll have to do is we’ll have to send in a special program to copy every bit of salvageable information on your old hard drive over to your new one. Think of it as like a photographer at a crime scene. You don’t know where the vital clue might be, right, so you photograph everything. But you won’t have to stand over it or anything. The program will run by itself.’

‘Okay. What will I need?’

‘Get Skype if you don’t already have it. And an external web-cam too, so that I can see what you’re up to. Plus a CD-writer and some blank CDs and a—’

‘Whoa!’ he said. ‘I need to write this down.’ He fetched a pad and pen. ‘Okay. Shoot.’

‘An external web-cam. A CD-writer. Some blank CDs. An external hard-disk drive with as much capacity as you can get, because you’re going to be sending everything to it. Oh, and does your room have a fan?’

‘No. Air conditioning. Why?’

‘You’ll need to keep the disks cool. They’ll seize up otherwise. Buy two computer fans to lay on top of them. And a couple of mouse-mats, to stop them vibrating.’

‘What about software?’

‘I’ll email it to you. Burn it onto a CD then boot up your new laptop with it. Call me back once you’re ready.’

‘It won’t be until morning. The shop’s closed.’

‘Try me on my mobile if I’m not in. And don’t go yet. Maria wants a word.’

‘Fine.’ He sagged and fought a yawn, the day’s adrenalin finally ebbing away. ‘What about?’

‘I think there’s some issue with Mustafa’s insurance.’

‘Oh, hell,’ he said, sitting up straight again. ‘Put her on.’