Chapter 10 Chapter 10

Shuangse felt a figure approaching him behind him.Seconds later, he fell to the ground with his neck broken. Jeba was lying in a disassembled mainframe computer when his cell phone rang. "Jbba, this is Mitch. The Cryptography Department is in trouble." Her voice was very anxious. Jebba frowned. "We've discussed this. Forgot?" "It's the electricity this time. It's pitch black!" Jebba sighed. "First, Mitch, there's backup power so it's never pitch black. Second, Strathmore can see the Cryptography Department better now than I can. Why don't you ask him?"

"Because this matter has something to do with him. He's covering up something. Jebba, this time it's really serious. I can feel it." "Well, well," he muttered, "perhaps the generator shorted out. As soon as this is over, I'll go to the Cryptography Department and—" "What happened to the backup power supply!" "I don't know. Maybe Strathmore is still running TRANSLTR and the backup power is used on that." "Then why didn't he abort the operation? Maybe there was a virus. You mentioned the virus earlier." "Damn it, Mickey!" Jebba said furiously. "I told you, there are no viruses in the Cryptography Department! Stop being so paranoid!"

There was silence on the phone. "Oh, Mitch, let me explain." His voice was tense. "If there's a power outage, it's the hardware -- viruses don't turn off the power." Mitch responded coldly, "Jeba, I have my own job. I don't want to be called out for it. When I call to ask why a multi-billion piece of equipment is in the dark, I want to hear from a professional. answer. A simple yes or no would suffice. Wouldn't there be a virus in Trickster?" Jebba sighed. "No, Mitch. Not at all." "thanks." He forced a smile, trying to adjust the atmosphere. "Unless you think Strathmore wrote a virus himself and bypassed my filter."

Mickey froze there, and when she spoke, there was an inexplicable fear in her voice. "Can Strathmore bypass the 'Gauntlets'?" The deputy chief and Susan stood by the closed trapdoor, debating what to do next. "What do you think we should do?" Susan just wanted to get out of here quickly. Strathmore thought for a moment. "Don't ask me how this happened," he said, glancing down at the locked trapdoor, "but it seems we've stumbled across North Dakota and captured him." He shook his head in disbelief, still seemingly in disbelief that Hale had a hand in Ensei's plan.

"Then why not call the security forces and let them take him away." "Not yet," said Strathmore, "if the System Security folks see the data left over from this long run of TRANSLTR, we'll have a whole bunch of new problems. I think The 'Digital Fortress' has been deleted without leaving any traces before opening the door." Susan nodded reluctantly. "Here's what we're going to do," Strathmore said calmly, introducing his plan. "I am in charge of the laboratory of the System Security Department, delete the running monitor statistics, mutation activity statistics, and all related information. You are in charge of the No. 3 branch. Delete all Hale's emails, and any communication records with Encheng Yuka , any mention of 'digital castle'."

"Okay," Susan replied, with a focused look on her face, "I'll delete Halle's entire drive." "No!" replied Strathmore sternly, "it can't be done that way. Hale probably hid a copy of the code there. I'm going to get it." Susan was dumbfounded. "You want that code? I thought we were going to destroy both codes!" "That's what it's supposed to be, but I want a copy. I want to open the damn file and see Ensei Yuka this program." Susan is also very curious about this program, but her intuition tells herself that it is not wise to decipher the algorithm of the "digital castle". "Would you delete that algorithm immediately after seeing it for what it is?"

"Leave no trace." Susan sighed, hoping that she would not regret it in the future. "If all goes well, it will take me about half an hour." "Let's get to work, then," Strathmore said, putting a hand on her shoulder and guiding her through the darkness toward Site Three.The light on the electronic keyboard on the door of Branch No. 3 was not on, and the door was tightly closed. "Damn it," he said, "I forgot the battery was dead." They pushed the door hard.The two doors began to part slowly and with difficulty.Susan squeezed her slender body into the opening before Strathmore could stop him.Just as the door slammed shut, Susan squeezed her way in, slamming to the floor on the other side.

The deputy chief leaned his face against the narrow gap and said, "My God, Susan—are you all right?" "fine." "Give me twenty minutes to delete the files in the System Security Department. After all traces are cleared, I'll go to my terminal and stop TRANSLTR." "It's better that way," said Susan, looking at the heavy glass door.She knew she would be imprisoned in Site Three until TRANSLTR stopped using its backup power. Baker's watch showed: local time, just past two o'clock in the morning.Across the hall, a conductor was about to close the Iberia counter.Baker ran over: "Has the plane to the United States taken off?" "You just missed this flight."

Susan walked to the depths of the No. 3 outlet, trying to clear her mind.It was strange to say that she should feel a little uneasy in such a familiar place.Susan hesitated suddenly, and glanced back at the doors that could not be opened.There's no escape, and twenty more minutes, she thought. As she turned to Hale's terminal, she smelled a strange, musky smell—a smell that seemed familiar, and she couldn't help but shiver. In an instant, she recognized the smell, it was cologne... She instinctively took a few steps back, and immediately understood the terrifying truth.Greg Hale wasn't locked in the sublevel—he was at Site Three!He crept up the stairs before Strathmore closed the trapdoor.In that instant she understood what was happening, and then staggered back through the darkness with only one thought on her mind: to get out.

Hale hurried after him.He stretched out his right arm and hugged her waist from behind.Susan screamed and stretched out her arms to fight back, but to no avail. He yanked her backward, onto the floor next to his terminal. Brinkerhoff paces Mitch's office. "Nobody can get around the 'gauntlets'. It's impossible!" "You're wrong," she retorted. "I just spoke to Jerba. He said he put a bypass switch in last year." "Mitch," Brinkerhoff snapped, "Jeba has a safety OCD! There's no way he's going to install a switch to get around—"

"Strathmore made him do it," she interrupted. "Remember last year when Strathmore hit that anti-Semitic terrorist group in California? Jebba says Strathmore intercepted the terrorist's code six hours before the bomb went off. But 'Gauntlets' always was to keep it out. The password for that file was a new public key algorithm. Strathmore lost his temper. He had Jerba put a bypass switch on the 'gauntlet' in case It happened again." "My God." Brinkerhoff whistled, "I don't know anything." "I think Strathmore used that switch today... on a file that was rejected by 'Gauntlet'." "What's the matter? Isn't that what the switch is for?" Mitch shook his head and said, "Not if this file is a virus." "You mean Strathmore put the virus in TRANSLTR on purpose?" "No," she said quickly, "I don't think he knows it's a virus yet. That just explains what he's been up there all night." "Put a virus into your own computer?" "No," she said impatiently, "trying to cover up his mistake! He can't stop TRANSLTR and get backup power right now because the virus locked the processor!" "Mitch, I know you hate Strathmore, but—" "This has nothing to do with Strathmore!" snapped Mitch. "The first thing we need to do now is make sure Strathmore bypassed the 'Gauntlets', and then we'll notify the Chief .Do you have the key to Fontaine's office?" Brinkerhoff looked at her in disbelief. "I won't let you into Fontaine's office." "You must give it to me!" she ordered. "I need a waiting list for TRANSLTR." "That's Top Secret, Mitch!" "It's an emergency. I need to see that list." Brinkerhoff put his hands on her shoulders. "Mitch, please calm down. You know I can't—" "I'll just print out a waiting list." She gave him a savage look. Brinkerhoff sighed, regretting calling her back to check the Cryptography Department report. "What you want is top-secret information in the director's private domain. Do you know what will happen if we are discovered?" "The director is in South America." Baker walked across the hall to the restroom door, only to find that the door marked "Men's Room" was blocked by an orange sign post and a cleaning cart filled with detergent and mops. "Is anyone there?" He pushed the women's room door an inch open. "Can you go in?" It was silent inside, and he walked in. "Hey!" said a woman angrily behind him.Baker was taken aback. "I—I..." he stammered, and hurriedly closed the zipper. "I'm sorry...I..." Baker turned to face the girl who had just walked in.Although she is young, she appears sophisticated and sophisticated.Her right forearm was a little swollen, with some red inflammation, and there were faint traces of blue on it.Intravenous drug use.Know it at a glance! "Get out!" she cried. "Go now!" "Susan," said Hale, breathlessly. "You have to help me get out of here." Susan froze there.This statement makes no sense at all. "Susan, help me! Strathmore killed Chartrukian! I saw it with my own eyes!" It took Susan a long time to come to her senses.Strathmore killed Chartrukian? "Strathmore knows I've seen him! He'll kill me too!" he cried. "We need help! I think we're both in serious danger!" She didn't believe him at all. Halle's thick legs were a little cramped, and he wanted to move his body.Susan's instinctive reaction caused her to raise her left leg violently and hit Hale's crotch... Susan came behind the rectangular maple conference table.Pushing the table with all her might, she strode toward the bowed glass wall.With a loud bang, the glass wall suddenly turned into a pile of fragments. What the hell am I doing?Brinkerhoff asked himself.Mitch strode over to the printer and picked up the waiting list. "I can't read the data," she complained. "Turn on the lights." "You look outside. Come on." But Mickey goes straight to the window and places the print at a better angle. Brinkerhoff shifted restlessly in the doorway. "Mitch...don't be like this. This is the chief's private domain." "It must be somewhere up there," she muttered as she studied the material carefully, "I'm sure Strathmore bypassed the 'gauntlets'." She took another step towards the window. Brinkerhoff began to break out in a cold sweat.Mitch was still looking at the data. After a few minutes, she gasped. "He did it! The fool! He bypassed the 'gauntlets'! Look!" Brinkerhoff rushed to the window and watched in disbelief. "What the hell...?" Printed on the paper was a list of the thirty-six files that ended up in TRANSLTR.Each file is followed by a four-digit "gauntlet" clear code.However, there is nothing behind the last one - it just says: manual bypass. "The idiot!" Mickey snapped. "Look at this! 'Gauntlets' rejected the file twice! It's a mutation! But he went around anyway! What the hell was going on in his head?" "It's none of your business!" said a deep voice like thunder rolling behind them.Mitch banged his head against the window.Brinkerhoff turned hastily to the voice. "Chief! I—I thought," Brinkerhoff stammered, "I thought you were in South America." Leland Fontaine stared down at his assistant, his eyes shooting at him like bullets. "That's right...but now I'm back." "Hey, sir!" Baker turned away.It was the girl he had accidentally met in the toilet who was walking towards him. "Can you lend me some money?" Baker stared at her suspiciously. "What do you want money for?" "I want to go home," said the blond girl. "Can you help me?" "Missed your flight?" She nodded. "I lost my ticket. I don't have money to buy another ticket." "Why can't I buy a ticket for you?" The blond girl looked at him in shock. "Would you buy me a plane ticket home? Oh God, thank you!" Baker was speechless.Obviously, he misjudged.The girl stretched her arms around him. "Oh, thank you! I can finally get out of here!" The girl let go, and he looked at her forearm again. She followed his gaze to the bluish rash. "I remember you saying that you don't take drugs?" The girl laughed. "It's from the magic fountain pen! I tried to wipe it off, but it took a big chunk of my skin off." Baker took a closer look.Faintly read under the reddened lump on her arm: Fuck off and die. Baker was speechless.Fuck off and die.The German didn't mean to humiliate him, but to help him.Baker looked up at the girl.He saw traces of red and blue in the girl's blond hair. "You—you..." Baker stammered, staring at her ear. "You don't still wear earrings, do you?" The girl pulled something small out of her pocket, a skull earring. Baker tried to stay calm.His crazy journey is coming to an end.He glanced at her fingers.Nothing on it.He looked down at her duffel bag.There's the ring, he thought.It must be there!He smiled, and could hardly hide his excitement. "It sounds crazy," he said, "I think you have what I want." "Oh?" Megan was suddenly at a loss. Baker reached for his wallet. "Of course, I'd be more than happy to pay you." He bowed his head and started looking for money in his wallet.Watching him count the banknotes, Meghan suddenly gasped in fright, obviously misunderstanding his intentions.She bent down and started rummaging in the duffel bag. Baker was suddenly full of hope. The girl finally found what she was looking for—her paprika amulet.She waved her hand violently and sprayed it directly into Baker's eyes. Tokumoto Shotaka lit his fourth cigar and dialed the switchboard. "Any news on that phone number?" he asked before the operator could speak. "Not yet, sir. It took longer than expected—from a cell phone. In area code 202. But we haven't found the number yet." "202? Where is that?" "Somewhere near Washington, D.C., sir." Deyuan Zhao raised his eyebrows. "Let me know if you find the number." Susan Fletcher stumbled through the dark code-breaking department toward the flyover next to Strathmore's office.The door to the deputy director's office was ajar, and the electric lock on the door was useless due to a power outage.She broke in. "Director?" Susan suddenly remembered that the deputy director should be in the laboratory of the system security department now.Hale's torture still haunts her.She had to leave the Cryptography Department."Digital Fortress" or not, it's time to act -- stop TRANSLTR and get out.She glanced at Strathmore's glowing display, then rushed to his desk.Abort TRANSLTR!Susan brought up the proper command window and typed: abort run.Her fingers hovered over the return key for a moment. "Susan!" a voice yelled from the door.It was Strathmore. "Hale is at Branch Three! He just attacked me!" "What? Impossible! Halle's locked in—" "No, he didn't! He escaped! We need security forces here now! I'm going to kill TRANSLTR!" Susan reached for the keyboard. "Don't touch the keyboard!" Strathmore rushed to the terminal and pushed Susan's hand away. "I'm sorry," he said gently, "tell me what happened." "I just want to get out of here." "You're not hurt?" Strathmore put a hand on her shoulder.Susan recoiled as though she were looking at something on the wall behind him.Strathmore followed Susan's gaze and frowned.That glowing keypad controls his personal elevator.The elevator, which connects the Codebreaking Division to the NSA, is powered by the main building. Strathmore had known for a long time that the elevator had electricity, but said nothing about it.He couldn't let Susan out -- at least not yet. Susan walked quickly towards the back wall. "Susan," Strathmore said quietly, "this elevator has a combination." "Password?" Susan turned quickly to him. "What's the password!" she snapped. Strathmore thought for a moment, then sighed deeply. "Susan, sit down." "Let me out!" Susan glanced uneasily at the open door of the office. Strathmore glanced at the panic-stricken Susan Fletcher, walked to the desk, and took something out of a drawer.That's a gun. Strathmore drew two chairs to the center of the room.Then he sat down and put the gun in his lap.He said seriously, "Susan, we are safe here. We need to communicate." Susan was silent. Strathmore patted the chair beside him. "Susan, sit down. I have something to tell you." She didn't move. "After that," he said, "I will tell you the elevator code. At that time, you can decide whether to leave here." David Baker felt as if his face was on fire, and dazedly saw that the girl was halfway to the revolving door.Terrified, she trotted all the way.She can't leave here! Baker knew that as soon as she walked out of that door, he would never find her again.He stumbled after her. "Wait a minute!" he said out of breath. "Wait a moment!" The girl pushed hard on the inside of the door. "Megan!" Baker's eyes were dark. David Baker didn't know how long he had been lying down. When he woke up, he heard someone calling him. "gentlemen?" Baker recognized the voice.It's that girl.She looked even more terrified than before. "Sir?" she asked in a trembling voice, "I never told you my name. How did you know my name?" Chief Leland Fontaine was a tall, sixty-three-year-old man with short, military-style hair.He was the first African-American to sit as the director of the National Security Agency, and his political strategy was absolutely free from any racial bias. "Virus?" The director asked coldly, "You two think we have a virus?" Brinkerhoff frowned. "Yes, sir," Mitch replied crisply. "Because Strathmore bypassed the 'gauntlet'?" Fontaine said, looking at the printed material in front of him. "Yes," she said, "there is a file that has not been deciphered for more than twenty hours." Fontaine frowned. "Maybe your data is telling you." Mitch wanted to express displeasure, but she held back."There's a power outage in the Cryptography Department," she said, raising her voice. Fontaine looked up, startled. "All the electrical systems are down. Jerba thinks maybe—" "Jeba?" Fontaine stood up, furious. "Why didn't you call Strathmore?" "We fought!" Mitch argued. "He said everything was fine." Fontaine stood up, his chest heaving up and down. "Then we have no reason to doubt him." His voice suddenly became hoarse. "Please forgive me, I have something to do now." Mickey froze for a moment and said, "I still have something to report." "I mean, good night, Ms. Milken," repeated Fontaine, "you can go now." "But—but sir," she stammered, "I . . . I object. I think—" "You want to express objection?" asked the director. "I still have to object! I object to your coming to my office. I object to your insinuation that the deputy chief of this department is lying. I object to—" "We've got a virus, sir!" Mickey stood there firmly. "Deputy Chief Strathmore bypassed the 'Gauntlets'!" Fontaine strode towards her, almost unable to suppress the anger in his heart. "It's his prerogative! I hired you to spy on analysts and department staff—not spying on the Deputy Director! Without him, we'd still be cracking codes with pen and paper! Now go away !" After a fierce struggle in his heart, Mickey nodded. "Very good. Good night." She turned and left. Brinkerhoff looked across the room at his immediate boss. This was not the chief he knew.The bureau chief he knew was meticulous about detail, always motivating his subordinates to examine and clarify inconsistencies in their daily work.But now he told them not to interfere. Brinkerhoff thought as he turned towards the door. "Chad!" Fontaine snapped behind him, "don't let her leave the command suite."