Backup files, everything.”
“Dodge,” Vienna said slowly, “you know that if that got released into the wild, it would destroy the computer infrastructure of the entire country.”
“The entire world,” Dodge said. “It was far too dangerous to ever think about releasing, so I rewrote it. I built in a safeguard. A time limit. After twenty-four hours it reverses. It starts decrypting. It spreads the same way as before but decrypts everything it finds.”
“What’s your plan?” Vienna asked.
“Simple,” Dodge replied. “Release the virus through the computers here in this room. Give it an hour or so to spread, and then get the hell out of the city while the networks are all shut down. We’ll have a twenty-four-hour window to get clear before it all starts up again.”
“Then what?” Vienna asked.
“I don’t know,” Dodge admitted.
“Can you rewrite the code?” Sam asked. “Remove the time limit?”
Dodge nodded but said, “That’s far too dangerous, though. What if it got loose?”
“What if we set it loose?” Sam said. “What if we unleashed the full version against Ursula?”
Vienna gasped.
“You’ll kick the world back to the Stone Age,” Dodge whispered.
“The world will survive that,” Sam said. “But I don’t think it will survive Ursula.”
“But we still have to get out of here, and it’s crawling with Tactical and surrounded by the police,” Vienna said.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Sam said. “And I may have a plan. But even if we can escape from the mall, we’ll have only twenty-four hours! And then if we get out of San Jose, Ursula has eyes and ears everywhere. Where can we possibly hide out while you modify the virus?”
“That’s easy,” Dodge said, glancing over to make sure Gordon could not hear them. “The safest place on earth. Built to withstand any kind of attack, including chemical or nuclear. And right now Ursula can’t see it at all. It’s full of computers, but they’re all still off-line.”
“Where?” Sam asked.
“Cheyenne Mountain,” said Vienna.
“Agent Tyler, it’s Control.” The voice sounded alarmed.
Tyler stopped halfway down the hallway toward the security office.
“Go ahead, Control.”
“PD reports a helicopter approaching the mall—appears to be coming in to land on the rooftop helipad.”
“The roof!” Hutchens swore violently.
“Get everybody up there now,” Tyler said calmly. “Maintain the mall security guards at the exits, but I want all agents to converge on the roof. What kind of chopper is it, Control?”
“PD reports a charter bird. ‘California Choppers.’ ”
“Get hold of their office immediately. Find out who booked it and see if you can stop it from touching down. Also, get a police chopper in the air; tell them to shadow the target until we advise further.”
“Copy that.”
“Let’s get up there,” Hutchens said, turning to leave.
“You go,” Tyler said. “Find them and hold them. I still want to talk to Gordon.”
“Okay, that’s it. The file’s uploaded to the main computer system at CNN,” Sam said. “At seven p.m. exactly, it takes over the teleprompter software. As soon as it finishes executing, it’ll infect the system with the Plague. From there it should spread rapidly.”
“Shame we won’t be here to watch it,” Vienna said, watching the security monitors carefully. “Tactical is all heading for the roof. We need to move, now. Before they figure out that the chopper is just a diversion.”
“Are you okay, Dodge?” Sam asked. Dodge had that vacant look in his eyes again and was starting to sway.
“Now please, Mr. Gordon,” Vienna said.
Gordon gave her a dirty look but picked up his radio. “Reid, Carson, report in.”
A voice came back immediately. “All clear here, sir.”
Gordon sighed before keying the radio and continuing. “Okay. Looks like they’ve located the fugitives on the roof. I want you to get over to the central elevators and secure the base of the roof elevator. Make sure they can’t come down that way.”
“What about the entrance, sir?”
“The police will cover it from outside. I need you at the elevators, now.”
“On our way, sir.”
“And so are we,” Vienna said. “Thanks for all your help.”
Gordon just grunted.
Sam said, “Whatever you think of us, you need to avoid using a neuro-headset. You put your life at risk if you do.”
“Whatever.” Gordon grunted again, but Sam had a feeling that he would take that piece of advice at least.
Vienna put Gordon’s gun out of sight in her jacket and took his radio. She picked up the telephone that was on the desk in front of him and wrenched out the handset. A rack on the wall yielded a couple of long, heavy security flashlights.
“It’s almost seven—let’s go,” Sam said, opening the door.
He took one step into the corridor and stopped, staring into the steady eyes and even steadier pistol of Special Agent Tyler.
“Or not,” Tyler said.
37 | CNN
Ben O’Hara shuffled the papers on the news desk in front of him and smiled studiously and professionally at the camera. The red light on top of the camera was not yet on, but it was only a matter of seconds away, and he didn’t want to be caught with a frown or a blank expression when the world tuned in to see his newscast. The papers he was holding were blank. They were a prop, put there by the studio crew to make him look studious and professional.
The floor manager said, “In five, four …” She closed her mouth and held up three fingers, then two, then one.
The light turned red and she pointed at Ben.
“Good evening,” Ben said in his richest, bulletin-opening voice. “And welcome to CNN evening news. In breaking news tonight …” Even as he read the words from the teleprompter, his mind was telling him that there was a problem. There had been no breaking news when they had rehearsed the bulletin just ten minutes ago. If there was now, the news director would have warned him, would have whispered into the tiny earphone that was clipped into his right ear. He had no choice but to continue, though. The words on that screen were the words of CNN, and a billion people were waiting for him to deliver them.
“A dangerous computer virus has been identified and tracked across the globe.”
What the hell …?
“Known as the neuro-virus, this hitherto unknown virus has been described as extremely dangerous by computer security analysts. It spreads through neuro-connections, infecting human brains through neuro-headsets. Once infected, a person may start to exhibit strange behavior. The public are asked to watch out for this symptom in neuro-users. There is no known cure for this virus, and all computer users are asked to avoid using neuro- headsets for the foreseeable future.”
He had a neuro-headset in his office. Why hadn’t he been warned about this?
“Users are also advised to expect a massive denial and cover-up of the virus as neuro-technology
