Hi-Tech Hijack (24 page)

After dinner Alfonso entered Eddie’s room. “Time for some decisions, Eddie.”

“I’m ready to sign the papers,” he said.

“Thank you,” said Alfonso, trying to keep a straight face and conceal his surprise of how easily Eddie agreed to sign. Once the last page of the contract was signed, Alfonso said, “So tomorrow after breakfast, we’ll come take you to the lab. Reuben started arranging the materials today and your help will be very welcome.” Alfonso smiled and shook Eddie’s hand. “Have a good night.”

“Good night,” said Eddie, and he forced himself to smile back.

After breakfast Reuben and Eddie were taken separately to the lab hall. Reuben was taken in second and saw Eddie there with Isabella and the two lab techs.

“Good morning, Eddie,” Reuben greeted his partner in Hebrew, encouraged to see him there. Despite the deep chasm that grew between them thanks to Mickey’s videos, they still shared the misfortune of being held in captivity and isolation. Reuben took comfort in knowing that from now on he’ll be able to spend his days with Eddie in the lab.

“English, please,” said Isabella harshly.

“Good morning,” answered Eddie in English adhering to the rules of the place. He kept scouring the lab hall in search of a weak spot.

The way Reuben was acting, making such an effort to please and pass on the information to Isabella, astonished Eddie. Reuben was behaving as if someone had actually bought the information off him, and he was obligated to deliver it in the best way possible. In the few minutes they had alone together, Eddie tried to ask Reuben a question.

“Why are you trying so hard to give every scrap of information like that?”

“Because they bought it from us for three million dollars each, and I don’t intend to leave them dissatisfied.”

“They kidnapped and are blackmailing us for the data, and as for the three million, I seriously doubt you’re ever going to see it.”

“You don’t have to believe them if you don’t want to, just don’t screw up my payment for me with this reserved way of cooperation of yours.”

“What do you even know about them? About the bank they’re working with? You can count on them to withdraw their money before you get to Switzerland if they’ll even let us out of here alive. You need to understand, the longer we can stretch the time it takes to pass on the data, the better our chances of staying alive.”

“I believe they’re going to keep their part of the deal and honor their contract with us.”

“Tell me, did you tell Mickey about our secret breakthrough?”

Reuben looked up at Eddie, but didn’t have a chance to answer. He was saved by the guard telling them off.

“Quiet!” shouted the guard who caught the two of them whispering, and the conversation came to a stop. Eddie tried to get Reuben to slow down and not deliver the material so quickly but failed. He decided he had to count on no one but himself and treat Reuben as one of the kidnappers. Reuben’s greed could make him disrupt any attempt Eddie might make of escaping or of sabotaging the transfer process in the fear he might lose out on his dodgy three million.

Isabella knew how to get Reuben talking. Every now and then when Reuben completed the explanation to another segment of information, Isabella would marvel at his wisdom and compliment his creativity and ingenuity. And Reuben, flattered and proud, would in return try even harder to explain and clarify every detail.

Eddie chose the don’t-volunteer-any-information tactic. He provided minimal explanations for the areas he was responsible for, which got Isabella to work hard questioning him. At first she tried to do so in a friendly fashion, hoping that a naturally introverted Eddie would eventually warm up. But Eddie kept walking the fine line between being seemingly cooperative and avoiding giving out any information whenever he could. Isabella shared her experiences of the two Israelis with Alfonso and urged him to pressure Eddie, even threaten him, to get him to cooperate more.

“There’ll be nothing for us to gain from that,” Alfonso said regularly. “Eddie is a smart, strong man, and he won’t break easily. However, he understands he must cooperate to be saved. So try a little harder, be more patient with him, and play the slow student who just doesn’t understand quickly enough and has to keep asking and asking.”

“You know I have no problems being nice and fetching,” said Isabella, giving him a crafty little smile.

“Unlike I was back in Argentina, here I’m not worried, my darling. I’m sure you never forget for one second that he’s a Jew, which guarantees you can never be genuinely be interested in him,” said Alfonso, smiling back, but his eyes gave his promiscuous wife a threatening stare.

“Not to worry, darling. After all, our love life has gotten so much better since we got here. I’m sure you’re not really concerned.”

“We’ve been making good progress,” said Alfonso, changing the subject all of a sudden. “We have no need for everything they know, and no interest in the cancer-healing Ebola. All we need to know is how to master the virus combined from several DNA sources and procure from it the ability to survive in air or water. So, once we have the genetic markers, all we have to do is get the specifications of the electromagnetic radiation.”

“Yes, but the matter of the genetic markers isn’t that simple, Alfonso. Those two have been living with the different genetic markers for two years now, and they probably know more about their traits than anyone else in the world. I must have several weeks to learn all that from them. If we could get Eddie on board like Reuben is, I’m sure he could steer us in the right direction and save us precious research time. As for the electromagnetic radiation, we still don’t know where they’ve hidden the results. I hope it’s on their computers.”

“The information about the genetic codes is on each of their laptops. I’m sure the electromagnetic specifications are on there as well. Whether Eddie likes it or not, he’ll have no choice but to explain everything there is to us. I believe most of the information he isn’t willing to talk about is present there. Perhaps once everything is out and Eddie sees we already have possession of it all, he’ll be more talkative. He’ll see he has nothing to hide.”

“That man has nerves of steel. I have to crack him and get him more motivated.” Commented Isabella

“I’ve ordered two monkeys like you asked. They’ll probably be delivered today. I gave the order to prepare a room for them next to the lab.”

“Yes, they’ve actually finished the mice stage and were meant to move on to monkeys or pigs, and then since they ran out of money, Eddie did that crazy thing and performed the experiment on himself. For someone who’s been lying in hospital for six weeks, barely alive, he seems to have bounced back very well with the help of Reuben’s wife of course,” said Isabella, smiling suggestively.

“There’s no doubt the risk he has taken upon himself sets a whole new standard of sacrifice and determination, which only makes me more positive that the only way for us to get information from him is by pleasant, deceitful ways. Intimidation won’t work on him.”

“Would you like me to work some charm on him, like Reuben’s wife did?” Isabella smiled her naughty smile once again.

“You’re too old for him, Isabella,” said Alfonso, and immediately he wished he hadn’t. Fearing his words might open up a Pandora’s Box of their time back in Buenos Aires, he quickly returned to the subject. “The good news about what Eddie did is that their development has passed a serious feasibility test, and we can go straight on to monkeys and not waste any more precious time on mice.”

Isabella smiled devilishly and whispered, “It would be interesting to test our work on him once it’s done. He’s been immunized to some degree and perhaps developed antibodies. It’ll be intriguing to see if that makes him more resistant than Reuben on whom the substance will work with no previous immunization.”

“Like our parents have taught us—the Jews make excellent subjects to experiment on,” said Alfonso, smiling at Isabella, who drew him close to her and kissed him passionately. Young men and sadistic ideas had always been things she found arousing.

“Save that appetite for tonight,” said Alfonso patting her buttocks and backing away. “I’m going to check on the monkeys. It’s crucial we have them here as soon as possible.”

Later that day around noon, Reuben and Eddie’s luggage and computers arrived from Zurich and were brought to the lab. It was a reminder for the both of them of the existence of another world, beyond the walls of their underground prison, and the sight of the suitcases made them both quite excited, even emotional, which Reuben made no effort to hide. Eddie who had no idea their luggage was meant to arrive was very surprised and went over to his laptop with a sense of awe. The laptops had become an inseparable part of the researchers, and without them, they felt like soldiers deprived of their personal weapons. Except this time this personal weapon was going to render them less in control of events. Their suitcases were also waiting for them at the lab hall.

The luggage had in fact been delivered the night before, but the Science City’s security officer wanted to inspect its content before handing it over to Eddie and Reuben. As security officers do everywhere and anywhere around the world, he wouldn’t take any short cuts. The suitcases and laptops were sent to be scanned by special equipment outside the lab wing before the permission was given to lower them underground to Science City. Alfonso had to obey and wait another day before he was given the luggage, and none of his protests about the critical delay this was causing helped.

Eddie had been secretly glad that he had been too lazy to carry his computer with him on the short trip to Lucerne, which was quite unlike him. He took comfort in knowing that without the computers there would be no possibility of handing the genetic markers files over to Isabella. Now that they were here, he was filled with rage and impotence at this stupid, disastrous move of Reuben’s.

Alfonso was right. He knew once the computers arrived it would be more difficult for Eddie to avoid handing over any information. The data on his computer defined the scope of his control over the bacteria’s growth habits, and he would have to explain it. And in any case, most of it was in English and accessible to Isabella even without his help.

“One moment please!” said Alfonso, who had accompanied them on their way to the lab. “We will open your suitcases at the end of the day. We will go over each suitcase and let you keep only your clothes. Anything else will be stored away. And now to the computers. Let’s turn them on one at a time and see what’s on them together. You go first, Reuben. Turn your computer on, but don’t open any file or folder . . .” Like that, slowly, while making sure no information was accidentally or deliberately erased, Alfonso followed Reuben’s fingers, then did the same with Eddie, who cooperated with a heavy heart.

During the day, Alfonso and Isabella never left the lab hall. In order to create a backup for the files from the laptops for transfer, Isabella gave Reuben permission to enter her office, and there, folder by folder and file by file, Reuben transferred his filed onto Isabella’s computer. The process was done slowly in order to allow Isabella to update the title of every document and specify what it was about, as well as make a record of the last time it had been updated.

Work on Reuben’s computer went on until early evening, and then it was Eddie’s turn. He entered Isabella’s office with her to repeat the process. Alfonso joined them just to be on the safe side. They planned on working as late into the night as needed.

Before long it became clear to Alfonso and Isabella that the nut that was Eddie Bartal was tougher to crack than they had thought; the most important files, the ones that involved the genetic markers, were in fact degenerated files that could not be used as is. Eddie explained to them both that for reasons of compartmentalizing, he never stored sensitive pieces of information on his computer but kept them on the main server of the company that the lab techs had only partial access to. He was the only one who had complete access to all the information stored on that server via a password only he knew. The server was also used for a weekly backup of all the company’s documents and files, which was why it was not at the company itself.

“So how do you do any work when you’re away from the company? Say at home or abroad?” asked Alfonso.

“I use the Internet to contact the server and download the information I need,” said Eddie. He kept staring at the screen in front of him, concealing his satisfaction of the unexpected hurdle he had set.

“That means you need to access the company computer to download it here.”

“I can’t download it here. I can use the data that’s on there for calculations, but I can’t drag that database. It’s like a library you can browse through, but not edit or make any changes to the books. You can read as much as you want when you’re there, but you can’t take the book home with you.” Eddie was extremely proud of his security arrangements that he had set in place when he started the company after consulting with his patent lawyer. Of course, they had no way of anticipating the strange situation in which these security measures would prove themselves handy.

“Then we will have to let you access your server through the internet so that you can show us this library of yours. Like in any library there has to be a way to copy the information, and that’s what we’ll do.”

“The thing is the server isn’t working right now,” said Eddie, trying to keep an indifferent tone of voice and to hide his contentment of the further setback he was now confronting Alfonso with.

“How do you know?” asked Alfonso, his voice revealing his mistrust toward Eddie’s explanations.

“Before the move to the new company offices we unplugged it. It’s not at the company itself, as I said, for security reasons. We planned to be back from Japan within a week and turn it back on.”

“I assume your accountant has it, or your lawyer.”

“That’s what wealthy companies do, but in our case for financial reasons it just sits at my home. That way we don’t have to pay anyone for something that doesn’t take any time or effort.”

“You mean to tell me the entire secret data of your company is just sitting in your apartment?”

“It’s somewhere an ordinary thief wouldn’t think of.”

Alfonso stormed out of Isabella’s room furious and turned to Reuben who was sitting in the lab. He had to make sure what Eddie was saying was true. Reuben who hadn’t heard their conversation confirmed it and added that to reactivate the server a code was required that they both had.

“I don’t remember it by heart since I’m not usually the one to activate it. I have it at home just in case.”

“I’ll have to get it from Eddie,” said Alfonso to Isabella, and he went back inside her office where Eddie still was.

“Give me the code and tell me where the key to your apartment is,” he demanded.

“It was in my suitcase along with the rest of the stuff you confiscated.”

“Then it’s safe. What about the code to activate the server? Reuben said you know it by heart.”

“I do,” said Eddie, and he made no attempt to hide his anger at Reuben.

“What is it?”

Eddie gave Alfonso the code that was comprised of seven digits and three letters, and Alfonso wrote it down.

“You must have it written down somewhere in your documents, too.”

“Just at my home.”

“Are you sure?”

“I have no reason to carry a secret code that I’m not meant to use around the world with me.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Alfonso had to agree. He left the room and rushed to the guards and ordered them to search Eddie’s confiscated belongings for his apartment key.

On his way out, he peeked at the monkey cages. Two pairs of rhesus monkeys that were brought over that same morning were going wild in their small cages, trying to release some of their pent up energy.

“We have to make sure those cages are sturdy enough and can withstand a rampage. The last thing we need is for a cage to fall over and open and for one of the monkeys to be loose in the room,” said Alfonso.

“We ordered a large cage for the four of them. It should be here in a day or two,” said one of the lab techs. “These cages were only used to get them here. Tomorrow I hope we’ll be able to move them to the bigger cage. The next room will also be ready soon, so we’ll move the monkeys there before the end of the day,” he went on, but Alfonso was already out the door. He rushed to his office to call Mickey.

At the end of the night, Eddie could sum up the following facts for himself. Four doors led from the main lab hall—one to the lab techs’ room, one to Isabella’s room, one to the bathroom, and a fourth door out onto the hallway. Next to the fourth door on the inside was usually a seated guard and a second guard always waited on the other side of the door, or at least was seen whenever Eddie and Reuben were brought to and from the lab.

The bathroom for the lab workers was adjacent to Isabella’s room and had an adjoining door to it. That way Isabella could go directly from her room to the toilet without going through the lab itself. When Eddie went to the bathroom he found that the door leading to Isabella’s room didn’t open from the bathroom. Whenever she needed to use the bathroom she could get there directly from her room, but then she would always come out through the door that all the others used.

To enter her room, Isabella would use a little personal tag she always carried in her coat pocket. It was a magnetic card that had her photo on it. Most of the workers Eddie and Reuben came across had the same tags hanging from their shirt or coat pockets. It was also used as an electronic key card to open doors that led to restricted areas.

The workers were classified to several different levels of security clearance, and very few had unlimited access to all areas. Isabella and Alfonso did. Only senior staff members like them took the liberty of placing their cards inside their pockets. Everyone knew who they were. It was also somewhat of a status symbol. Eddie noticed that when Isabella entered her room for the first time every morning, she would punch in a series of numbers and only then swipe her card. However during the day, she simply had to swipe her card before hearing a click and pushing the door open.

When Isabella was with them in the lab, she, Reuben, and Eddie would work close by with no desk or any other object separating between them. The lab techs spoke perfect American English with no trace of any foreign accent, and said they came here from Chicago and Detroit. They both had a Middle Eastern appearance, but their flawless American accents and casual mentioning of school in Detroit and Chicago reinforced the sense that they were born in the States. Eddie hoped with time, he could strike up a conversation about where their parents were from and perhaps gather some more information about where they were now. The techs were careful to always speak of where they were as here and never mentioned the name of the nearby city they left to go to every night.

As the hours passed, the atmosphere in the lab hall became looser, and Isabella and the two techs became less alert and focused more and more on the materials Eddie and Reuben explained to them. Even so, Isabella’s room and computer remained off limits for everyone but herself. Eddie wondered whether she restarted her computer each time she entered the room. If so, she probably used a password to do that. If, however, her computer stayed on and open, it would make it easier for anyone to use.