Dominant Deception [Black Ops Brotherhood 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (14 page)

“Yes. Is something wrong?” Anna asked over her shoulder.

“Move, Anna,” Jack said.

“I can carry my own bag,” Anna said once they were in the Jetway.

“Keep moving,” Jack commanded.

When they reached the terminal, Anna turned and looked expectantly at Jack. “I can take my bag now.”

“We need to get to our next plane,” Jack said, ignoring her.

They walked through the terminal in Salt Lake City. It was still early morning. Jack had noted they had a very short layover in Salt Lake City so by the time they reached the gate they had less than fifteen minutes until the next flight. After boarding the plane, Jack noticed that Anna had become withdrawn again. Since the flight to San Diego was short, he decided to leave her alone. They reached San Diego and began to deplane. Jack once again took Anna’s bag and followed her through the Jetway and into the terminal.

“Did you check anything?” Jack asked as they walked.

“No.”

Jack was surprised she didn’t have more stuff. He’d never traveled with a woman but knew from the complaints of his fellow SEALs traveling with them could be a pain in the ass. They seemed to need the entire house when they went somewhere.

“I can carry my own bag,” Anna said as they made their way through the terminal.

“We need to catch the shuttle for the rental,” Jack responded, once again ignoring Anna.

* * * *

They were shuttled to the rental car agency, got the vehicle, and were out in San Diego within an hour. As they drove, Anna began to get a gnawing feeling. She was hungry. Anna remembered she hadn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon. She’d been getting ready for this trip. She usually cooked all day Sunday, after church. Her entire weekend routine had been interrupted over this trip. She glanced at Captain O’Malley as they made their way into traffic and swallowed hard. She was dizzy again and could almost hear her heart pounding. Captain O’Malley upset her so badly and she wondered how she would get through this week.

Jack quickly led them out of the San Diego Airport complex and onto the streets of San Diego itself.

Anna’s curiosity quickly made her forget her hunger and calmed her. The first thing she noticed about San Diego was that it indeed resembled the South Texas Valley. There were lots of palm trees as well as mission-style houses and buildings. The only thing that stood out was the weather. It was much cooler than South Texas. They crossed a long bridge over the bay that resembled those found along the Texas coast.

As she was admiring the surroundings, Anna’s sightseeing seemed to be cut short. In almost no time they had arrived at Coronado Naval Amphibious Base, home of Headquarters Naval Special Warfare Command.

Naval Special Warfare Command

Combat Support Systems Computer Lab

Coronado Naval Amphibious Base, California

August 6, 2008/1845 Zulu

Damn!
Anna admonished herself again. This stupid macro was not cooperating. She sat back in her chair and let out a frustrated breath. She looked at the ceiling above her and heard Chief Brooks in the background obviously having another sort of problem. She turned slightly and looked at Sara. Anna and Sara decided to trade projects because Sara wasn’t getting anywhere with the macro and Anna wasn’t getting anywhere with the virus. Anna sat back once more and closed her eyes and railed silently at Captain O’Malley.

I’m so outta my league here. I’m not a damn programmer!
Anna leaned forward again and went back to square one. She’d been at this for two days. Sara had been at it for two weeks.

“Any luck?” asked a familiar voice behind her.

“No, sir,” Anna responded, not turning.

Anna wondered how Captain O’Malley always managed to sneak up from behind without a sound. He took a seat next to her and watched as she typed. She was quickly scrolling through files and screens. Suddenly, she stopped.

“Whoa!” Anna’s eyes narrowed at the screen she was staring at. “Hold the phone,” she said to no one in particular as she minimized the screen and called up the Internet.

“What is it?” Captain O’Malley questioned.

Anna was furiously typing and changing windows. She was completely oblivious to the fact that someone was sitting next to her. She ignored
Captain O’Malley’s
question.

“Sara! I found it!” Anna called.

“What?”
Captain O’Malley
demanded once more.

“What is it, Anna?” Sara questioned, coming from her workstation to stand behind Anna.

“This is not a homegrown macro. This guy didn’t write anything. He modified it from something he found on the Internet,” Anna said without stopping her furious activity on the keyboard and mouse.

“Where did he find it?”
Captain O’Malley
asked impatiently.

“I’m Googling it right now, but every link I come across is dead. The webpage is gone.”

“That would make sense. That’s why we can’t manipulate it. We need to find the original and work our way back,” Chief Brooks said as she turned back to her workstation.

Chief Sara Brooks was still picking apart the virus files that
Captain O’Malley
had brought her a week earlier.

“Okay, from what I get from Google, it’s part of a package that has to be installed on the computer. It has a manifest and a help file that we should be able to find,” Anna said.

“Should people be doing stuff like that? Wouldn’t that be considered a security risk?”
Captain O’Malley
asked.

“Yeah, it’s a security risk. This thing could be a virus in itself,” Anna answered. She called up the search feature within the operating system and searched for the zip file name she found on her Internet search. “This macro is
old
. It was probably downloaded before some of the security standards were implemented.”

“Could also be another reason we’re having problems,” Sara added from across the room.

Anna nodded in agreement. “Who uses macros anymore anyway?” Anna added quietly.

* * * *

Jack could follow the conversation between Sara and Anna, but it was getting harder and harder to understand what exactly they were looking for. He sat back and watched Anna work. It seemed to him that when she was concentrating, she was a million miles away. He shook his head, recalling his observations of her.
Someone could walk up behind her and shoot her in the back of the head and
she’d never hear it coming
.

“Yes! Found it!” Anna said triumphantly. She turned to Sara. Jack felt himself forgotten and suddenly rendered invisible. “Sara! I found the original zip file. The creation date is 2002. This thing
is
really old.”

“Copy the original from this machine and let’s run it on another workstation. I have one that still has Windows 2000 loaded on it. That should be the proper environment for this code.”

“Let’s see if I can still navigate Windows 2000. They screwed up the command line with that version,” Anna scoffed.

“The command line is not the issue. Let’s see if we can get this macro to work for us like it did for him…” Sara said seriously.

Jack rolled his eyes. This could take all day!

“English, ladies, I don’t speak geek. Does the computer it runs on matter?” Jack interjected.

Both ladies turned and stared at Jack as if seeing him for the first time. He suddenly felt a little stupid. Chief Brooks was horrified.

“Of course it matters, Captain,” the chief replied indignantly.

“What’s an OS?” Jack asked Anna.

“Operating System. Windows XP, which is what’s on your computer at the office and on your laptop, is your…OS,” Anna said with a smile.

“Why does it matter?” Jack asked.

“Because it matters!” Chief Brooks snapped.

“Anna?”

It had taken him less than an hour after their first day here to learn if he needed an explanation in English he needed to ask Anna.

“It matters because computer programs like this macro are written for the OS they’re installed on.” Anna took out a sheet of paper and drew a line. “Here is the OS, and it’s the primary layer.” She drew a second line. “Everything that’s installed on the computer, hardware-wise, has to have drivers developed for the OS the computer is running. Otherwise the hardware doesn’t work.” She drew a third line. “Likewise with software. Any application written for the computer has to work with the OS the computer is running.”

“Really! This is not a remedial computer class! We have work to do here. When you’re finished let me know.” Sara huffed as she turned back to her workstation.

“And the macro?” Jack questioned, ignoring Sara’s outburst.

“The macro is designed to work with an application that’s installed on the computer, in this case Microsoft Excel. Macros were developed to do repetitive tasks, like adding numbers, which is basically what this one does.”

“Microsoft is Microsoft, right?”

“Yes and no.” Anna smiled.

“They’re pirates! Highway robbers!” Sara screamed.

“I thought you didn’t want to be in our computer class? We’ll call you when we’re ready for you. Until then, don’t interrupt. Do you understand, Chief?” Jack snapped. Anna smiled at the exchange. He tried to remain serious but smiled despite himself. “Continue.”

“In order to stay competitive and improve their software, Microsoft changes things up a bit every release.”

“You mean, in order to hold up people for more money, they change things all the time! Sloppy programming—” Chief snapped.

“Chief, I thought I told you not to interrupt. Can it, or I’ll direct the command master chief to get
you
some badly needed
remedial
training. And I know you don’t want to go there with JJ,” Jack barked. He turned back to Anna and smiled. “So?”

“So, one OS may not behave like the last one did.”

Anna’s eyes were twinkling because she was enjoying the exchanges between Jack and Sara. Anna clearly had a mischievous streak in her, he noted.

“You probably should run it on both,” Jack concluded.

“We also need the older versions of Microsoft Office, Excel specifically. That would be the application it was written for,” Anna said.

“Sounds like it,” Jack responded.

Jack had been in and out of meetings all day. He felt a gnawing sensation and realized he hadn’t had anything to eat since last night.

“Have you had lunch yet?” Jack asked Anna.

“No, I’ve been so tied up with this thing, I hadn’t even thought about it.”

“Come on let’s go get something to eat.” Jack stood.

“Uhm…” Anna hesitated awkwardly. “I–I really want to get this thing going, Captain. I’ll grab something later.”

“Seems like you’re at a good break point, come on. My treat,” Jack said.

“Really, Captain, I’m okay. I’ll get this thing loaded and…”

“I insist.”

Anna’s expression confused him slightly. She looked uncomfortable.

“O–Okay,” she stuttered.

Something in Anna’s expression made Jack suddenly understand why she was so hesitant.

“Sara, have you had lunch yet?” Jack asked.

“Is the computer lesson over?” Sara asked with a pout.

“Yes, it’s over. Do you want to go to lunch with me and Anna?” Jack asked.

“No, but can you bring me something back?” Sara asked.

“No, you and Anna need to get out of here for a while. You’ve been locked in here too long. You’re starting to speak another language. Come on, ladies, let’s move. I have another meeting at 1500.”

* * * *

Anna’s stress diminished several levels at Sara’s acceptance. Sara let out a frustrated sigh and locked her workstation. Anna had done the same as they were speaking. The trio left the secured lab and went out into the cloudy San Diego afternoon. Anna took a deep breath. She felt like she could’ve walked the rest of the afternoon. It felt good to be outside. They walked to the Coffee Shack and ordered sandwiches. She considered exploring on foot this evening when she finally left the lab. This afternoon Anna felt like she’d truly accomplished something.

When they returned to the lab Anna felt refreshed. They had had a pleasant lunch aside from the teasing Captain O’Malley had dished out to Chief Brooks. Sara had surprised Anna. She could dish out just as quickly.

Anna logged into the contract auditor’s replica computer that Sara had set up. She loaded the program and ran various scenarios, trying to gauge the performance as well as the mechanics of the macro. Finally she felt she was ready for the data. A copy had been made long before her arrival. Sara made a third copy and gave it to her.

It seemed like forever before Anna figured out how this thing was supposed to run. She’d made a few calls to contracting to try and understand how they looked for discrepancies in contracts as well as numbers. Sara decided to call it a day and reminded her to lock her workstation before leaving for the day. Before Anna knew it, Captain O’Malley was back.

“How’s it going?” Jack asked as he took a seat.

Anna turned slightly to answer and did a double-take. Jack had changed from his usual uniform into civilian clothes.

“F–Fine, sir.” Anna hesitated.

As Anna stared at Captain O’Malley she realized what was so frightening and dangerous about Jack O’Malley. It was his magnetism. Captain O’Malley was a striking man in uniform, and in civilian clothes he was downright smoking hot. She took in the way his jeans molded to the lower half of his body. She watched as he slipped off the light jacket he was wearing. His T-shirt didn’t hide his taut body and muscular arms. She found herself wanting to take off that T-shirt and trace her fingers over that sculpted belly.
Why use your fingers? Use your tongue!
Captain O’Malley
finally broke the silence.