Digital Fortress

Susan's heart skipped. Had she heard correctly? Suddenly this did sound like Greg Hale. Was it possible? If Hale had known about Strathmore's plan to release a tainted version of Digital Fortress, he could wait until the whole world was using it and then drop his bombshell-complete with proof!

Susan imagined the headlines: Cryptographer Greg Hale unveils secret U.S. plan to control global information!

Was it Skipjack all over? Uncovering an NSA back door again would make Greg Hale famous beyond his wildest dreams. It would also sink the NSA. She suddenly found herself wondering if maybe Hale was telling the truth. No! she decided. Of course not!

Hale continued to plead. "I aborted your tracer because I thought you were looking for me! I thought you suspected Strathmore was being snooped! I didn't want you to find the leak and trace it back to me!"

It was plausible but unlikely. "Then why'd you kill Chartrukian?" Susan snapped.

"I didn't!" Hale screamed over the noise. "Strathmore was the one who pushed him! I saw the whole thing from downstairs! Chartrukian was about to call the Sys-Secs and ruin Strathmore's plans for the back door!"

Hale's good, Susan thought. He's got an angle for everything.

"Let me go!" Hale begged. "I didn't do anything!"

"Didn't do anything?" Susan shouted, wondering what was taking Strathmore so long. "You and Tankado were holding the NSA hostage. At least until you double-crossed him. Tell me," she pressed, "did Tankado really die of a heart attack, or did you have one of your buddies take him out?"

"You're so blind!" Hale yelled. "Can't you see I'm not involved? Untie me! Before Security gets here!"

"Security's not coming," she snapped flatly.

Hale turned white. "What?"

"Strathmore faked the phone call."

Hale's eyes went wide. He seemed momentarily paralyzed. Then he began writhing fiercely. "Strathmore'll kill me! I know he will! I know too much!"

"Easy, Greg."

The sirens blared as Hale yelled out, "But I'm innocent!"

"You're lying! And I have proof!" Susan strode around the ring of terminals. "Remember that tracer you aborted?" she asked, arriving at her own terminal. "I sent it again! Shall we see if it's back yet?"

Sure enough, on Susan's screen, a blinking icon alerted her that her tracer had returned. She palmed her mouse and opened the message. This data will seal Hale's fate, she thought. Hale is North Dakota. The databox opened. Hale is– Susan stopped. The tracer materialized, and Susan stood in stunned silence. There had to be some mistake; the tracer had fingered someone else-a most unlikely person.

Susan steadied herself on the terminal and reread the databox before her. It was the same information Strathmore said he'd received when he ran the tracer! Susan had figured Strathmore had made a mistake, but she knew she'd configured the tracer perfectly.

And yet the information on the screen was unthinkable:

NDAKOTA = ET@DOSHISHA.EDU

"ET?" Susan demanded, her head swimming. "Ensei Tankado is North Dakota?"

It was inconceivable. If the data was correct, Tankado and his partner were the same person. Susan's thoughts were suddenly disconnected. She wished the blaring horn would stop. Why doesn't Strathmore turn that damn thing off?

Hale twisted on the floor, straining to see Susan. "What does it say? Tell me!"

Susan blocked out Hale and the chaos around her. Ensei Tankado is North Dakota….

She reshuffled the pieces trying to make them fit. If Tankado was North Dakota, then he was sending E-mail to himself… which meant North Dakota didn't exist. Tankado's partner was a hoax.

North Dakota is a ghost, she said to herself. Smoke and mirrors.

The ploy was a brilliant one. Apparently Strathmore had been watching only one side of a tennis match. Since the ball kept coming back, he assumed there was someone on the other side of the net. But Tankado had been playing against a wall. He had been proclaiming the virtues of Digital Fortress in E-mail he'd sent to himself. He had written letters, sent them to an anonymous remailer, and a few hours later, the remailer had sent them right back to him.

Now, Susan realized, it was all so obvious. Tankado had wanted the commander to snoop him… he'd wanted him to read the E-mail. Ensei Tankado had created an imaginary insurance policy without ever having to trust another soul with his pass-key. Of course, to make the whole farce seem authentic, Tankado had used a secret account… just secret enough to allay any suspicions that the whole thing was a setup. Tankado was his own partner. North Dakota did not exist. Ensei Tankado was a one-man show.

A one-man show.

A terrifying thought gripped Susan. Tankado could have used his fake correspondence to convince Strathmore of just about anything.