Terminal Compromise Part 36

"Insha'allah."

"Yes, G.o.d willing."

Ahmed Shah put his teaching schedule on hold by asking for and receiving an immediate sabbatical. He then booked and took a flight to Tokyo three days later.

"I need an army, and I am told you can provide such services for me. Is that so?" h.o.m.osoto asked Ahmed Shah though he already knew the answer.

Ahmed Shah and Taki h.o.m.osoto were meeting in a private palace in the outskirts of Tokyo. Ahmed wasn't quite sure to whom it belonged, but he was following orders and in no way felt in danger. The grounds were impeccable, a j.a.panese Versailles. The weather was cool, but not uncomfortably so. Both men sat under an arbor that would be graced with cherry blossoms in a few months. Each carried an air of confidence, an a.s.surity not meant as arrogance, but rather as an a.s.sertion of control, power over their respective empires.

"How large is you army?" h.o.m.osoto knew the answer, but asked anyway.

"One thousand to the death. Three thousand to extreme pain, another ten thousand functionaries." Ahmed Shah said with pride.

h.o.m.osoto laughed a convivial j.a.panese laugh, and lightly slapped his knees. "Ah, comrade. To the death, so familiar, that is why you are here, but, I hope that will not be necessary. You see, this war will be one without bullets." h.o.m.osoto said waiting for the volatile Arab's reaction.

This was exactly what Ahmed feared. A spineless war. How could one afford to wage a war against America and not expect, indeed, plan for, the death of some troops. There was no Arab transla- tion for p.u.s.s.y-wimp, but the thought was there.

"How may I be of service?"

"The task is simple. I have need of information, much informa- tion that will be of extreme embarra.s.sment to the United States.

Their Government operates illegally, their companies control the country with virtual impunity from law. It is time that they are tried for their crimes." h.o.m.osoto tailored his words so that his guest would acquire an enthusiasm similar to his.

"Yes," Ahmed agreed. "They need to learn a lesson. But, Mr.

h.o.m.osoto, how can that be done without weapons? I a.s.sume you want to attack their planes, their businesses, Was.h.i.+ngton per- haps?" Ahmed was hopeful for the opportunity to give his loyal troops the action they desired.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, my friend. We shall strike where they least expect it, and in a way in which they are totally unprepared." h.o.m.osoto softened his speech to further his pitch to gain Ahmed Shah's trust and unity. "I am well aware of the types of training that you and your people have gone through.

However, you must be aware, that j.a.pan is the most technically advanced country in the world, and that we can accomplish things is a less violent manner, yet still achieve the same goals. We shall be much more subtle. I a.s.sume you have been informed of that by your superiors." h.o.m.osoto waited for Ahmed's response.

"As you say, we have been trained to expect, even welcome death in the struggle against our adversaries. Yet I recognize that a joint effort may be more fruitful for all of us. It may be a disappointment to some of my people that they will not be permit- ted the honor of martyrdom, but they are expected to follow orders. If they do not comply, they will die without the honor they crave. They will perform as ordered."

"Excellent. That is as I hoped." h.o.m.osoto beamed at the de- veloping understanding. "Let me explain. My people will provide you with the weapons of this new war, a type of war never before fought. These are technological weapons that do not kill the enemy. Better, they expose him for what he is. It will be up to your army to use these weapons and allow us to launch later attacks against the Americans.

"There are to be no independent actions or activities. None without my and your direction and approval. Can you abide by these conditions?"

"At the request of my Government and Allah, I will be happy to serve you in your war. Both our goals will be met." Ahmed glowed at the opportunity to finally let his people do something after so much waiting.

h.o.m.osoto arose and stood over Ahmed. "We will make a valuable alliance. To the destruction of America." He held his water gla.s.s to Ahmed.

Ahmed responded by raising his gla.s.s. "To Allah, and the cause!"

They both drank deeply from the Perrier. h.o.m.osoto had one more question.

"If one or more off your men get caught, will they talk?"

"They will not talk."

"How can you be so sure?" h.o.m.osoto inquired naively.

"Because, if they are caught, they will be dead."

"An excellent solution."

Chapter 10

Tuesday, October 13 New York

COMPUTER a.s.sAULT CLAIMS VICTIMS by Scott Mason

For the last few weeks the general press and computer media have been foretelling the destruction to be caused by this year's version of the dreaded Columbus Day Virus. AKA Data Crime, the virus began exploding yesterday and will continue today, depend- ing upon which version strikes your computer.

With all of the folderall by the TV networks and news channels, and the reports of antic.i.p.ated doom for many computers, I expect- ed to wake up this morning and learn that this paper didn't get printed, my train from the suburbs was rerouted to Calcutta and Manhattan's traffic lights were out of order. No such luck.

America is up and running.

That doesn't mean that no one got struck by computer influenza, though. There are hundreds of reports of widespread damage to microcomputers everywhere.

The Bala Cynwyd, PA medical center lost several weeks of records.

Credit Card International was struck in Madrid, Spain and can't figure out which customers bought what from whom. A few schools in England don't know who their students are, and a University in upstate New York won't be holding computer cla.s.ses for a while.

William Murray of the Inst.i.tute for Public Computing Confidence in Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., downplayed the incident. "We have had re- ports of several small outbreaks, but we have not heard of any particularly devastating incidents. It seems that only a few isolated sites were affected."

On the other hand, Bethan Fenster from Virus Stoppers in McLean, Virginia, maintains that the virus damage was much more wide- spread. She says the outbreaks are worse than reported in the press. "I personally know of several Fortune 100 companies that will be spending the next several weeks putting their systems back in order. Some financial inst.i.tutions have been nearly shut down because their computers are inoperable. It's the worst (computer) virus outbreak I've ever seen."

Very few companies would confirm that they had been affected by the Columbus Day Virus. "They won't talk to you," Ms. Fenster said. "If a major company announced publicly that their comput- ers were down due to criminal activity, there would be a certain loss of confidence in that company. I understand that they feel a fiduciary responsibility to their stockholders to minimize the effects of this."

Despite Ms. Fenster's position, Forsythe Insurance, NorthEast Airlines, Brocker Financial and the Internal Revenue Service all admitted that they have had a 'major' disruption in their comput- er services and expect to take two to six weeks to repair the damage. Nonetheless, several of those companies. .h.i.t, feel lucky.

"We only lost about a thousand machines," said Ashley Marie, senior network manager at Edison Power. "Considering that we have no means of protecting our computers at all, we could have been totally put out of business." She said that despite the cost to repair the systems, her management feels no need to add security or protective measures in the future. "They believe that this was a quirk, a one time deal. They're wrong," Ms.

Marie said.

Many small companies that said they have almost been put out of business because they were struck by the Columbus Day Virus.

"Simply not true," commented Christopher Angel of the Anti-Virus Brigade, a vigilante group who professes to have access to pri- vate information on computer viruses. "Of all of the reports of downed computers yesterday, less than 10% are from the Data Crime. Anyone who had any sort of trouble is blaming it on the virus rather than more common causes like hardware malfunction and operator error. It is a lot more glamorous to admit being hit by the virus that has created near hysteria over the last month."

Whatever the truth, it seems to be well hidden under the guise of politics. There is mounting evidence and concern that computer viruses and computer hackers are endangering the contents of our computers. While the effects of the Columbus Day Virus may have been mitigated by advance warnings and precautionary measures, and the actual number of infection sites very limited, computer professionals are paying increasing attention to the problem.

This is Scott Mason, safe, sound and uninfected.

Wednesday, October 14 J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI Headquarters Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.

The sweltering October heat wave of the late Indian summer pene- trated the World War II government buildings that surrounded the Mall and the tourist attractions. Window air conditioners didn't provide the kind of relief that modern workers were used to. So, s.h.i.+rtsleeves were rolled up, the nylons came off, and ties were loose if present at all.

The streets were worse. The climatic changes that graced much of North America were exaggerated in Was.h.i.+ngton. The heat was hot- ter, the humidity wetter. Sweat was no longer a five letter word, it was a way of life.

Union Station, the grand old train station near the Capitol Building provided little relief. The immense volume of air to be cooled was too much for the central air conditioners. They were no match for mother nature's revenge on the planet for unforgiv- ing hydrocarbon emissions. As soon as Tyrone Duncan detrained from the elegant Metroliner he had ridden this morning from New York's Penn Station, he was drenched in perspiration. He discov- ered, to his chagrin, that the cab he had hailed for his ride to headquarters had no air conditioning. The stench of the city, and the garbage and the traffic fumes reminded him of home. New York.