GENESIS (GODS CHAIN) (34 page)

The office was
a riot now, at the peak of morning,
with phones ringing and people speaking in various languages.
Sunshine radiated through the tall windows
,
because most of the blinds were fully open. It was bright outside and blue
—
a heat haze could be seen
forming
in the distance beyond the gardens
,
and tourist masses already were beginning to mill around
the building
aimlessly.
Francesca thought that it would be the perfect opportunity for someone to slip out unnoticed.

The business
-
like pair headed towards Jonathan’s
desk. T
he
DBA
looked up when the visitors arrived at his desk
,
seem
ing
quite distraught.

Paulina spoke quietly to Francesca
.
‘Look at prime bitch walking in
...
by the way
,
who are those guys?
’ the
woman
watched the two corporate suits strolling towards the DBA
.
‘
Anyway,
I’ll have a new “Confessional” box set up by the end of the day with
an
updated operating system
and
the latest security patches
,
’
Paulina said, looking back at her monitor.
‘Di San Angelo will need to know about this security breach.
He’ll be in a right flap
over this one and he’ll make sure that someone else is to blame.
Expect the
e-mail
s that cover his ass
to begin—
’

‘
Have a look at this
,
’ Francesca
interrupted. She
point
ed
to the next three entries of code in the computer log
, which looked like
data someone
had
wanted to keep hidden
.
‘I’
m going to
run a few traces on them to see what they bring up. Look here, the Apostol entry again!’ she highlighted
the login
with her mouse
.
‘This is really odd
...it
looks like they have gained entry on this box
and
then attempted to jump from here onto “L
uk
e.”’
Francesca was now
beginning to think
that it was Michaelangelo who
had
disabled the logins
, although she didn’t know why. Who else knew their system so well?

Yet something still is not right, I feel it.
Why would Michaelangelo leave and not come back? There is still a fucking big piece missing
...
.

‘Did you not say that Apostol disabled the logins the other day?’ asked Paulina.
‘There are no more entries in the file, I checked earlier.
... Anyway,
I must take “Noah” offline in about thirty minutes
,
after
I
advis
e
the boss.’

‘Thank you Paulina
.
I am as confused as you are right now
—
this
whole mess
will
take more time to work out. Can you keep this issue to yourself for the moment, at least till until I find out a little bit more? Please Paulina?’

‘Hey Francesca, I have visitors
that need
to speak with you!
’ a voice shouted across the busy office.
‘
It’s about
your network!
’
S
he turned her head
;
it
wa
s that
p
ratt
,
Jonathan
.
The man
was trying
to
make
everyone
think
that Francesca and her
team
’s
operations were badly run
, when he’d been the one buried in panic all morning!

‘Seems like
you’re
passing the buck to me
,
Johnnie boy
,
’
she
repli
ed
with a wry half smile
. She
star
ed
at the two people with VIP badges
as
they headed over.
Her smile did not change. Francesca remained calm
,
although her heart
almost
stopped when she spotted their identification badges approaching closer
.
They
did not
read
VIP
,
but
VIA
!

Oh shit
,
it’s the
c
ardinal
’
s
o
ffice!
Francesca felt quite sick a
s
she
realised what a mess everything was about to become.
Struggling with her
best
smile
,
Francesca stood up from her console as they reached her.
Francesca extended her hand in friendship.

‘
Ciao
.
Miss DeRose
,
si
?
’ the man asked rhetorically and opened his
palm to hers.
‘
VIA
.
Mi chiamo
es
Agent Zito
.
and this is Agent Schiavone piacere di Conoscerla
.
W
e are
pleased to meet with you,’ his eyebrows lift
ed charmingly
above his dark sunglasses.
‘We would like to ask you some questions if that is ok,
si?
’
The man’s grip was light and felt
somehow
peculiar
, although Francesca couldn’t place just what was so strange about it.

‘I know you are busy,
but
can we sit down with you for a small moment please?
This should not take long.
Grazie.
’
T
he
man spoke
in a natural and friendly roman accent. Francesca shook his hand and nodded
, gesturing for
him to draw up a seat for them both.
He seems nice.
Francesca smiled awkwardly
,
taken back a little
by the man’s consideration
.

‘
Ciao
,
come sta
?
’ Fran responded.
Agent Schiavone
sat down
behind the man
without saying
a word
.
S
he did not extend her hand.
Francesca
could tell that the woman was
trouble
from her
hands
, which
were
absurdly large
for a female
and had
two
huge
knuckles each.
The systems administrator took an immediate dislike to the girl.
Trying not to
seem
unnerved or suspicious
,
Francesca showed an air of indifference and
suavely pressed the button to turn off her computer monitor
. She
sipped mineral water from her plastic cup as she
turned back to greet them. ‘Hi
,
I’m at your service
. H
ow can I help?’ Fran sighed
,
smiling at both visitors.

The two
sat patiently
, their dark glasses firmly planted on their noses
.
It must be a
VIA
thing,
Francesca
decided.
H
ere we go
, she thought
as the girl agent crossed her long legs
and pulled out a
respectable
notepad.

‘We require some information
,’ the man began.
‘
You are aware that there seems to be a major security incident
? W
e would like to clear things up.
It is important to keep all this in-house
, you understand,
and so your strictest confidence is essential in this important matter.’ he smiled
,
al
though
Francesca sensed
no humour in his tone.