Covert Channels Jack Wood I'd been a hacker for the Man for 23 years. They recruited me the day I walked out of college. They called me a prodigy, graduating at the age of 16. I worked 17 hours a day, 6 days a week, most of the time out of a covert site, deep underground. It was loud from the hum of workstations and servers, smoky thanks to my chain smoking coworkers, and often riddled with the familiar smell of sweat. Even the best ventilation system in the world was useless in combating all that smoke and B.O. I didn't mind. In fact, most days I didn't even notice it. I was doing what I loved and getting paid more money than I thought I'd ever make in my life. In a couple more years I'll have the pleasure of taking an early retirement, perhaps moving to some secluded and placid island somewhere, and maybe even meeting someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. My only worry will be figuring out where I want to sit on the beach while sipping tequila and watching the incandescent red and orange hues that make up the sunset. But up until now, work was my life and cracking code was how I got my high. I was extremely focused on decrypting some hypothetically unbreakable code when she walked into my life; young, beautiful and smart. My boss walked her right over to my cubicle. At first, I didn't even notice, I was so lost in my work. "Um, Cas, you busy?" I look up, initially pissed, because any idiot could see I was in the zone. Then I saw her. I swear I had never been so obviously and embarrassingly affected by the appearance of another. She was tall and slender. She wore her raven hair in a tight ponytail, no makeup and these black, cat-like glasses. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't hide how beautiful she was. "Cas, this is Mai. She's starting today over in Crypto, but I'm taking her around to meet the crew before she gets settled in." I sat there, silent, taking in her beauty, trying to think of something smart to say. Finally, she broke the awkward silence. She reached out her hand and said in this rich, almost smoky voice, "It's a pleasure to meet you. Wallace says you're the best cracker on his team." I tried to wipe the sweat inconspicuously from my palm and took her hand. She shook firmly, like someone who was strong and confident. "No, no, no," Wallace argued. "I didn't say he was the best, though I may have said he was a wizard of sorts." With the awkward silence broken, I think I finally remembered to breathe. "Thanks pal. I'll remember that the next time you need something yesterday." "So you are his ‘go to' guy, so to speak?" Did I detect a slight accent? "Only when it's an emergency and he wants the job done right. Like the time when a roamer got into the Defence network..." "Okay Cas, need to know, remember?" Wallace interrupted. "Come on Mai, let me introduce you to the rest of the crew before this guy gives up all the State's secrets." I stared at her as they walked away. She turned to me and just smiled. My heart jumped and I was hooked. ------------------------- I'd been sitting there for hours, staring at my screen. I couldn't get the sight of her smiling back at me out of my head. This unbreakable code was going to remain unbreakable unless I got my focus back. I took a gulp of cold, stale coffee, shut my eyes and took a deep breath. I put my fingers on the keyboard and slowly opened my eyes. I stared at the code and my fingers started to move. The magic was slowly coming back. "Why are you still here?" I jumped from the sound of her voice. She was right behind me. "Do you always work this late?" "Ahem, yeah," I finally choked out. "I like my work." I swiveled my chair around and looked up at her. Unbelievably, she looked even more beautiful than before. She'd let her hair down, and added some lip gloss. Her glasses were on top of her head now, holding her long dark hair out of her face. She looked at me with the darkest eyes I'd ever seen. In a word, she was perfect. "I like my work too, but a girl's gotta have a life. Want to go grab a beer or something? I'd love to pick your brain and get the dirt on this place." I gulped and hoped it wasn't too obvious. Last time I had a drink with a girl...well, it's been a while. "Um, okay. Give me ten minutes to wrap up a couple things and I'll swing by Crypto to pick you up." "That's okay, I'll be back in ten and pick YOU up." She smiled and whirled away. I turned back to my screen. Who was I kidding? I wasn't going to get anything else accomplished in the next ten minutes. I answered a couple long overdue emails and waited anxiously for her to return. ------------------------- The bar we walked to was a couple blocks away. She was mostly silent as we walked through the misty rain that had started to fall. I tried not to be too obvious when I'd glance in her direction as we walked through the drizzle. "So, where are we going?" she finally asked. "This place I like to go to sometimes to unwind before going home for the night. It's quiet, but they have good food and soothing music." "That sounds good, I hate having to shout over loud music and people." "Then you'll love this place." We walk into Lockheed's Bar and Grill and there's maybe a dozen people scattered around, mostly couples. I realize this is the first time I've come here with someone. I usually sit at the bar, but this time I look for the perfect table. Then I'm almost startled when she grabs my hand and takes me over to a small table by the window. It was perfect. A waiter comes over and takes our order. She asks for vodka on the rocks and I get my usual tequila. "So tell me everything about yourself Cas," she says. "Well, the short version is I've been working at the agency for about 23 years, mostly doing what I do now." "Come on, Cas, there has to be more to your story than that. How many hearts have you broken?" She looks at me with the wry smile, almost like she knows what I'm about to say. "None. I work, I sleep and, occasionally, I have too much to drink. Tell me about you." She looks away and pauses. At that moment the waiter brings us our drinks. She looks at me and smiles. "There's not much to say either. I graduated from the University 7 years ago, I travelled for 2 years, and went to work for a bank for 3 years after that. An agency recruiter contacted me and asked me if I'd be interested in becoming an analyst. It sounded intriguing, so I accepted." "So how'd you end up in our group?" "I've always been good with numbers and puzzles, so I took some classes in cryptography. I was a natural at it. When I got my master's someone at the agency noticed and the offered me the job in Crypto." There was definitely a faint accent, but I couldn't place it. I took a sip of my drink and asked another question. "Travelled for two years after school? I guess you didn't have any student loans to pay off." She looked awkwardly down at her drink and ran her finger around the glass. She looked back up at me and smiled again. "I met someone in college. Frankly, he came from a lot of money and asked me to come with him. It seemed like a good idea at the time." "What happened?" She took a long sip from her glass. "I came back to our room one day and caught him in bed with two women. I cried and screamed at him, but he only laughed. I packed my things and went home." "Oh, sorry." She reached across the table and took my hand. "It was a long time ago." We continued to drink and talk. She got me to open up more and more as the night went on to the early morning hours. She was so easy to talk to. I looked up at the clock on the wall and it was nearly 2 AM. I realized we were the only two customers left in the place. I also realized I was pretty drunk. "Well, I think I better head home. I have to be back in the office in a few hours." "Where do you live?" she asked. "Not far, just a few blocks from here. I'd usually walk, but I think I'll probably take a cab tonight." She stretched her arms above her head and I couldn't help but stare at her. I cleared my throat. "So, um, where are you heading?" She looked at her watch. "Unfortunately, I don't live a close as you do. I'm afraid I have a long way home." "Well, you can crash at my place." Did I just say that? "I, um, have a really comfortable couch." "That's really sweet, Cas. Would you mind?" "I insist." My heart was almost pounding out of my chest. I actually was afraid she'd be able to hear it. ------------------------- We walk into my apartment and I point to my couch. "Um, there it is. I'll get you some pillows and sheets." I feel her hand on my cheek and she turns my face toward hers. We lock eyes and she gives me the warmest, most passionate kiss I can remember. She asks me, "where's your bedroom." All I can do is point. She takes me by the hand and leads me to my room. ------------------------- I wake up to the smell of coffee and see how bright it is outside. I'm usually up before dawn. I look at the clock and it's past 10:00. Mai walks in my room wearing one of my hacker con t-shirts with two mugs of coffee. I shoot up out of bed, "Shit, I'm late! They're going to be calling me." "They already did," Mai said as she sat down on my bed. She reached out with one of the mugs to hand it to me. "I told them I was your sister and you weren't feeling well so you wouldn't be in today." "And they bought that?" She nodded, "Um hum," took a sip of her coffee and sat it down on the nightstand. She slid down to rest her head on the pillow and looked at me with wanting eyes and said, "Now come back to bed." ------------------------- Hours later we sat at my kitchen table. I'd made us some breakfast, even though it was now afternoon. We chatted about our hopes and dreams, I filled her in on some of the office gossip. Then she asks me, "So what are you working on?" "Well, I really can't talk about it, especially here." "Why? Do you really think someone is listening?" "No, it's just that I can't. I'm sorry but it's need to know…" "And I don't need to know. I get it." She wipes her mouth and gets up from the table, noticeably angry. I watch her walk away and can't help but admire how beautiful she looks in my old t-shirt. I pause a moment and get up and follow her out of the kitchen into my bedroom. She's already changed into her clothes and is sitting on the bed putting her boots on. "Mai, don't be like that. You know how it is." "Yes, I know how it is," she says in a huff. "Mai, I could lose my job, my clearance." I sit next to her on the bed. She turns to me and says, "Who am I going to tell? I can't believe you don't trust me after all we've shared." "I do! It's just that…" I swallow hard, "Okay, fine. The other side has a new zero day that I've been trying to reverse engineer. It's the most sophisticated software I've ever seen, but I'm close, really close to cracking it." She looks at me and seems genuinely interested. "Tell me about it." And I do. I tell her everything I've uncovered to break the code. She seems to be soaking it all in, nodding and smiling. She actually gets what I'm talking about which just excites me, so I just keep talking and talking telling her all I've done. When I'm done, I realize I've been talking for over two hours and at no point did she look bored and lost. "That's amazing, Cas. When do you think you'll have it cracked?" "I thought I'd be done today, but I've been otherwise occupied." Mai grinned and looked down. "Yeah, sorry about that." She looked at her watch and her eyes widened, "Damn, I'm supposed to meet a realtor about getting a new place closer to work in like 20 minutes." "Go ahead. I'll be right here." "I'm sorry, I hate to run out, but she told me she may have found the perfect place for me." "Don't worry about it Mai, go" She kissed me on the cheek and squeezed my hand. "Thank you, Cas. You're a really nice guy." She lept up and nearly sprinted from my apartment. "You're welcome?" I whisper to myself as the door slams behind her. ------------------------- I'm in the shower when I hear a noise from the other room. I turn off the show and call out, "Mai? That you?" My bathroom door crashes in and men in full tactical gear are pointing guns at me and screaming to get on the floor. ------------------------- "So that's it. That's everything," I tell the two guys in suits sitting across from me at the table I'm cuffed to. One says, "So, this ‘Mai,' you don't know where she is now." "No, she was going to meet her realtor. That's all she told me." They look at each other and the other guy says, "She's long gone. Probably half way around the world by now." "What are you talking about? She's with the agency. She's been with us for years." "She's been with us for less than a year and you spilled your guts to her about everything you've been working on. She's a mole Cas and she got you chirping like a bird after a night in the sack." "No way, that's not right." "It's right all right. We've been watching her for a month." "Wait, how can this be? How could she have gotten into my group?" "She hacked her way in, forged her orders. We didn't even know she'd done it until we heard you two love birds chatting last night." "Heard us? How'd you hear us?" Both the suits laughed, "We've got all you guys bugged. You can't take a crap without us hearing it. But don't worry Cas, you'll probably only get 10 years, maybe less with good behavior." "Ten years! But I've been a model employee for 23 years! All I did was talk to a girl I thought liked me." "Yeah, well you talked too much. State secrets Cas. The only reason you're not going to be charged with treason is because you HAVE been a good employee. You're getting off easy, trust me." I feel sick. I really thought there was something there. I thought I'd met that person I wanted to sit on the beach with for the rest of my life.