Sorry to be posting this chapter late, but things happen. I’d like to thank Sam Hamdy for becoming a new subscriber! Thanks, Sam!
Chapter Forty-eight
Friday, 1650
—The news stations, all but the ones which supported President Henry, were off the air by executive order and the network shows had been replaced with a screen shot of an American flag waving in the wind. Overlaid across it were the words ‘MARTIAL LAW IN EFFECT’—
Mackenzie was saddened at how quickly D.C. had returned to something resembling normal. It hadn’t been a day since the coup attempt and people were busily walking to and from their various offices, and the nations work, the new nation, was beginning.
There was a lot of work that needed to be done, of course, and certainly people didn’t want to fall too far behind. The public also felt the savage press of patriotism that was being pushed down on them from the White House, and the conservative news media (the only ones still on) suggesting that anyone who didn’t return to work should be seen as unpatriotic, even treasonous. Fear of being labeled unpatriotic was now ever-present. It had become such a concern that people weren’t talking, at least not about what had happened, except to voice support for the President. Hyper-patriotism was encouraged; it was September 12th all over again.
Mackenzie sat on a bench across from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing quietly contemplating the building and trying desperately not to think about Reynolds, or Stanford. Reynolds had accepted that he could not make it out when they had their discussion, really an argument, about who should stay, but with a kevlar vest they hoped he would have the protection that could make the difference. She, despite trying to make him see reason (“I’m trained for this kind of situation.”), realized he was not going to accept any other option; he was certain that his staying behind was the only way Lopez would agree to the conditions, and she understood his desire not to leave something so important to someone else. This was his way of ensuring his family would be safe
She had only known Reynolds for a short while, but she liked him. He had a big heart and he was courageous. The compact and pressurized nature of their time together created a closeness that would otherwise have taken more time. She felt a kind of sisterly affection for both Matt and Stanley, and that brought out her protective side. Despite her concerns, she convinced herself he might be able to pull it off. Sadly, her delusion was now shattered, and the burden of his death was carved into her.
The Bureau was on a moderately traveled area, for D.C. This was both good and bad. Because there were so many people around it would be easier to hide within the crowd, but that also meant many more eyes, and cameras, that could potentially see them. And there were now more Bureau police than usual stationed outside the entrance, as well as more police and soldiers on the street—they were on every corner. Mackenzie wasn’t sure if the conspirators would be looking for them—it was another complication she had to figure out. They didn’t know about Lopez yet, which would possibly give her and Denton some time.
Denton was sitting beside her on the bench. Unlike her however, his mind was entirely on Reynolds. According to the plan he was suppose to call them as soon as he got out and was safe and it had been hours since they had listened to the shootout on the phone outside the deli, and with every passing minute the fabric of his hope became more threadbare. He had heard the same firefight as Mackenzie, but he could not accept that Reynolds had died in it (“I’m sure he made it,” he had said to Mackenzie), and so he stayed hopeful, despite Lopez’s ominous last words. “At least Maggie and Jenni are okay,” he reassured himself, trying to console his disappointment by holding onto that part. But the thought of the loss of his friend was a deep bone bruise and the pain was getting worse with time.
“Stanley…
“Stanley…
“Stanley!” Mackenzie said, staring at him. “You need to listen to me.”
Denton straightened as though awakened from sleep. “Sorry,” he replied somberly.
“Stanley, I know you’ve been through a lot, but you’ve got to pull yourself together. We can grieve later, but now you have to focus. We’re never going to be able to get to the key if you don’t get your head into the moment and concentrate on what we’ve got to do. Do you understand?” Mackenzie was trying not to sound like she was scolding him, but she had to assert herself, to take command, or Denton would never get going and they would never be able to get to the encryption key.
They had had a discussion about simply getting some computers and having him build a key like he had at his house, but they were concerned that the time it would take, days at least, would allow Henry and his cabal to solidify their hold on power and make it harder, if not impossible to stop them.
His mind was clearing as he returned to the present. He looked at Mackenzie, then turned to the building. He reflected on the months the NCSA had put into building the encryption key—it was a lot of trial and error at first, then he and his colleagues finally figured out how to ensure an encryption that couldn’t be undone. He didn’t think about it at the time (he was too involved with the challenge of making it work), but it became obvious to him later that it could be a dangerous device. And the events of the last few days had, unfortunately, proved him right.
He could probably walk from the front door to the key room with his eyes closed, and that meant he also knew what challenges awaited them in getting past security.
However, that was not what concerned him now. He only knew of the security checks that existed when he was working there, and that was over two years ago. There was no telling what they might have put in since then. Plus, if they did manage to get in, how was he going to get the time he needed to open, decrypt, and transmit the drive? It would not take long, but any time was a long time when working in a secure facility. Mackenzie had reassured him that she would handle that end of it, but she was one person, and the building had dozens of security personnel.
They had a plan, but….
“Stanley, we’ll have to make a move to enter in a few minutes. Are you ready? Once people start leaving the building to go home we’ll only have a short time to get in and find our spot so we’ll need to move quickly. You’ll also have to show confidence, but be casual. Don’t draw attention to yourself.”
Denton turned to Mackenzie with a look of amusement. “Can you see me?” he said with a slight chuckle.
Mackenzie was relieved and happy to see that Denton was able to joke. She was worried he was getting too obviously stressed and depressed to be able to get past the front door without catching the attention of security. They were definitely going to notice him, a man as large as Denton couldn’t help but be noticed. He had been there many times so their familiarity with him would help, and if he was relaxed enough, and confident enough he might be able to stride right in, but he had not shown anything like those qualities up to now. Seeing his smile gave her some hope, and helped her relax a little.
Mackenzie looked at her watch; it was ten to five. She figured at five till five she and Denton would get up and walk to the building and enter. Denton suggested they just walk straight through the crowd and back to the bank of elevators in hopes of getting lost in the crowd and being able to bypass sign-in. That would be the easier part—he hoped—getting to the second floor sub-basement was going to be difficult because it required an ID code card. He could work around it with the kit he had brought from the pool house, but it would take a minute and that would increase the chance of them being caught. She considered getting off at some public floor and hiding out in a restroom or janitor’s closet, but they were searched at the end of the day. So her plan was to hide out in one of the elevators and once the building was closing for the night Denton could work on the ID code swiper while they hide. The tricky part after that was going to be getting to the sub-basement before the elevators were locked down. Denton said he would be able to make the elevator take them there, but that someone with security would notice it was operating and would then see them when they looked at the monitor for the elevator. Mackenzie had an idea she hoped would get them around that. After they got there however, things were going to get complicated because Denton did not know what the second floor sub-basement looked like now. He hoped nothing had changed—that was the D.C. way—but if it had they would have to spend time searching for the encryption room, if it was still there, increasing the likelihood they would be caught.
“Well, time to go,” she said to Denton in as relaxed and confident a tone as she could muster. She stood up as she spoke, straightened her clothes, and turned to Denton, who was still sitting.
Denton looked up at her, smiled like a child who was about to sneak into a movie, and then stood. They both took a breath and then started walking to the entrance. People were pouring out of the building in a hurry to get home, or to a pub, or to their workouts, and Mackenzie led Denton toward the edge of the crowd-flow, hoping to get up and through the door with as little disruption as possible to the cascade of people pouring down the steps.
Mackenzie and Denton went to the far right side of the steps and walked as quickly as they could; they chanted, “Excuse me,” and “Sorry,” as they went. It worked well as people were more interested in getting out than with a couple of people working against the flow of the crowd. Some sneered, some said, “Idiot”, but most people didn’t even acknowledge their passing.
After they arrived at the top of the stairs they went through the doors and into the lobby. As soon as they entered, Mackenzie was struck by how noisy it was inside and, despite the crowd calmly moving to the exits, how chaotic it felt. She saw this as a good sign. She had hoped the movement of the crowd would help obscure her and Denton and help obscure their trek to the elevators. So far she was right. If they were stopped she would show her badge and tell whomever stopped her she was escorting Denton to a meeting. People respected and/or feared the badge, and she hoped that would be enough. This was a long shot however, because she would most likely be asked to go over and sign-in and they would then call to confirm her appointment, at which point they would be discovered and detained. It was a risk they had to take since they didn’t have time to plan for anything more elaborate.
Her fear was to be realized, as one of the bureau police officers standing behind a security kiosk in the lobby noticed them moving toward the elevators. He stepped out from behind the kiosk and walked toward them. As he moved in their direction the knot in Mackenzie’s stomach got bigger and tighter.
As they were moving and mixing into the crowd, to make it more difficult for the officer to reach them, a tall, slender, man with a full head of thick black hair and oversized glasses, wearing a grey suit with a white shirt and a bright orange tie, shouted, “STANLEY!”
Mackenzie and Denton both stopped and looked to their left and saw the man approaching them with a big smile and arms spread. When he got to them, Denton gave him a big smile, put out his hand, which the man shook, vigorously as Stanley said, “Charles! How nice to see you! It’s been a while.”
Their pause seemed to encourage the security guard, who had begun swimming his way closer.
“Too long, old friend. I’ve been meaning to call you a dozen times, but you know how it is around here. This place takes over your life. How have you been?”
“I’ve been fine,” Denton said. “Mostly gaming, but also doing some reading and working on a book about gaming…”
Charles Navender, the liaison for Denton when he worked at the NCSA and was installing the encryption key system. Despite the fact that he was very severe and authoritarian with his people, the two of them had hit it off while he was there and they became friendly. Navender’s management style—he was aloof and imperious—left him with no friends in his office, or anywhere else as far as Denton could tell, but because Denton worked outside his agency he seemed to feel it was okay for him to lower his guard a little and he struck up the friendship with Denton. Denton found Navender somewhat annoying—he would interrupt his work frequently during the day, “just to talk”—but he was nice enough, and even, occasionally, a good distraction from his rigid focus on installing the key.
“Sir,” interjected the officer who had finally made his way to Mackenzie and Denton, “the building is closing. Why are you entering?” The officer had assumed the air of authority common to some law enforcement officers who think the only way they’ll be taken seriously is if they act like they’re going to arrest you even when they’re just asking questions. For some it’s a technique, but for others it’s a way to hide their feelings of insecurity and inferiority. This officer straightened his posture, pushed out his chest, and put his hands on his belt.
Mackenzie, Denton, and Navender all turned to the officer. Mackenzie stood stoically, waiting, because she had seen him coming toward them and was ready for his approach. Denton slackened. He was sure they were caught and about to be arrested. Navender’s expression became severe, even angry; he was obviously annoyed at being interrupted.
“We’re here to work on…,” Mackenzie began, reaching for her credentials.
“Officer Samuels,” interjected Navender, “this is Stanley Denton, one of the five best programmers in the country, probably the world, and if he’s here you can be sure it’s for a very good reason.”
The officer froze for a moment, uncertain what to do. He was supposed to question strangers, but he knew that Navender was not someone with whom he should be messing.
“Yes, sir, Mr. Navender, but…”
“But nothing. I can personally vouch for Stanley.” The four of them stood silently, with the river of people dividing around them like water in a creek splitting around a rock, the chaos and noise filling the uncomfortable moment as the officer debated in his mind whether he was going to follow protocol and risk his job, or turn and walk away before this turned into something unpleasant, and risk his job.
“If you vouch for him I guess that’s okay.”
“Good. Then I’m sure you have something else you can be working on now.” Navender said this with such rancor that Samuels eyes widened, his shoulders fell, his chest dropped, and he immediately turned and walked slowly back toward his station at the kiosk, apparently awash in a mixture of embarrassment and humiliation, like a scolded child.
After Officer Samuels walked away Navender turned back to Denton and said, “Sorry Stanley, since the coup attempt everyone’s on edge. Right now it’s dangerous to be out of place, or to question…the authorities, which causes some to over compensate.”
“It’s okay, I understand,” Denton replied with a forced smile.
“It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? Our democracy endangered by our own military?” Navender added.
“Yes, it’s unbelievable,” replied Mackenzie, looking at Denton and then Navender.
A puzzled look came to Navender’s face as he asked, “Why are you here, Stanley?”
Denton couldn’t believe what had just happened. He was sure he was about to be arrested, and when that didn’t happen he was so relieved he just stood there, silently, staring at the retreating officer. Now it looked like he might be caught by a bureaucrat.
“Stanley?” Navender repeated.
“Oh. Sorry, Charles,” Denton replied absentmindedly.
Mackenzie realized what was happening and pushed out her hand to Navender and said, “Hi. I’m Meredith Mackenzie.”
He took her hand. His expression morphed from puzzlement into a perfunctory smile. He was uncomfortable with strangers, especially women, but if she was with Denton he decided she must be okay.
“Hello, Charles Navender,” he returned, professionally.
The exchange brought Denton back to the moment and he added, “Oh, I’m sorry, I should have introduced you two.”
“It’s fine, Stanley,” Mackenzie said.
“Yes. It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Mackenzie,” emphasizing the Ms., half disdainfully, after noticing the missing band around her ring finger, and half curious if she were one of ‘those women’: the ones who didn’t like men.
“Please, call me Meredith,” she said with a smile. The reply relaxed him a little.
“We’ve been sent to do some tweaking to a program. Kind of an upgrade,” she said, trying to be both friendly and professional.
“Well, if there’s anyone who can improve a system it’s Stanley here,” Navender said, jovially. “He’s the best.”
“Thanks, Charles,” Denton replied with a smile.
“Well, I guess we’d better get to it, huh?” Mackenzie injected, trying to get them out of the lobby as quickly as possible before any other officers noticed, ones who would not be intimidated by Navender.
“Yeah, enough pleasure, time for business,” Denton added.
“Well, it certainly has been good to see you again. We should get together,” Naveder said, obviously fishing for an invitation.
“Absolutely. How about I call you this week and we arrange a lunch?” Denton said.
“That’ll be great,” he returned, “I’ll be expecting your call.”
And with that they all exchanged handshakes and smiles, and Navender walked off, while Mackenzie and Denton walked toward the elevators with Officer Samuels watching them out of the corner of his eye as they disappeared past his kiosk and to the middle of the two rows of three elevators.
Mackenzie pushed the down button and they immediately heard a ding and the door to the elevator on their left opened and they got in the brushed stainless metal box.
When the doors closed they both let out a deep, audible sigh.