Hi-Tech Hijack Read online

  “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.

  Chapter 47

  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.

  Week Two

  Chapter 48

  Every morning Eddie and Reuben would be taken from their rooms to the lab hall. The guards made sure they didn’t travel through the corridor at the same time, that way neither of them could tell their rooms were exactly opposite one another. The same routine would repeat itself at the end of the work day, and they would have dinner in their rooms. Lunch was the only occasion they went to and from together, and they almost always ate with Isabella and Alfonso in their private dining room.

  Eddie’s main concern during the day was to try and find an opportunity to enter Isabella’s room or that of the lab techs and use their computers or phones to make a connection with the outside world. In the lab itself, there was a phone for internal calls only. The lab techs hardly used their room during work hours and spent most of day in the lab hall. Isabella however would often come in and out of her room. Eddie managed to sneak a peek one time before she shut the door and saw that the computer was left on. That meant she probably didn’t bother locking it every time she left the room, and she apparently didn’t need to punch in a password before accessing it. With the fragile state between him and Reuben, Eddie made sure not to share his thoughts and escape plans with him. He didn’t feel he could trust Reuben’s judgment, which had been completely clouded by the illusion of three million dollars. He had become a willing cooperator with his kidnappers. In the rare opportunities they had to exchange a sentence or two in private, Reuben totally dismissed Eddie’s hypothesis that perhaps their kidnappers were not simply from a competitor company, but from an organization hostile to the state of Israel. Reuben also denied what Eddie had already guessed, that he had told Mickey about the usage of electromagnetic radiation thereby providing information that could be used by international terrorist groups. Even though Eddie still couldn’t prove that was the case, he also couldn’t accept that their kidnappers were simply a rival company whose sole interest in Ebocell-Tech was purely commercial.

  The day after spotting Isabella’s open computer, Eddie took advantage of a situation where she and Reuben were busy with the PCR machine and had their backs turned to the center of the hall. The two lab techs were absent that morning. Eddie took a pair of small forceps and placed a disposable latex glove in his pocket, and waited for an opportune moment. It happened when the bored guard went into the techs’ room to see why the light was left on. Eddie swiftly stuck the forceps into an electrical socket in the wall opposite the one where Isabella and Reuben were working, and quickly released his hand before the latex glove melted from the heat. The shock he took was thankfully not strong enough to hurt or electrocute him. He used the darkness that fell over the lab and took two quick steps toward the center of the room. An alarm went off. The panicked guard rushed back into the lab hall, and Rueben and Isabella also turned to face the room. Eddie stood in his place.

  “Don’t worry, this happens quite often. The generator should kick in in about thirty second,” said Isabella. She got up from her seat and said, “I’ll just go and see if this is a one-time thing, or if there are any electrical works we haven’t been told about that will cause more disturbances today.”

  Eddie couldn’t have prayed for a better scenario. He was left in the room with Reuben and the guard. Had he been able to rely on Reuben’s cooperation, he might have chosen a more drastic course of action, but with the w
ay things were, all he did was take a few paces and casually lean against the door to Isabella’s room. As he had hoped, the short cut had disabled the electric lock, and the door opened gently. The facility’s general security system apparently still hadn’t rebooted itself. Eddie kept pacing without drawing any attention to the matter and when the lights came back on walked over to Reuben and watched him try to reactivate the PCR machine.

  A few minutes later Isabella returned to the lab and they resumed their work. When she went over to her room a little later she was surprised to find the door unlocked. She glanced at Eddie and Reuben, but Eddie kept his eyes on the papers in front of him. Isabella thought for a few seconds, then entered the room without a word. It seemed she thought it was her fault the door was left open. She stayed in her room longer than usual, and Eddie assumed she was probably making sure nothing in there had been tampered with. When she came out, she looked completely reassured.

  Eddie was also reassured. He had figured out a way to get into Isabella’s room.

  Not long before the end of the work day, the opportunity Eddie was waiting for presented itself. The two techs had already left the lab, and Isabella received a call and left the hall. Eddie caused another power outage and loudly said, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

  He opened the bathroom door and shut it quite loudly, but stayed in the lab hall itself. With a quick step, he went over to Isabella’s door, lightly pressed and opened it, and went inside. Seconds after the lights were back on.

  “Everything all right in there?” asked the guard from his seat by the door.

  “Everything’s fine,” answered Eddie from Isabella’s room as he sat at her computer. Outlook Express was open.

  Ronit, do not respond to this e-mail address for our safety. We’ve been kidnapped. They are trying to extort us for information. Don’t know where we are. Possibly Spain. We are both ok. Our lab equipment was stolen and brought here. Go to police or Nir. Try to find out where I’m writing from. I’ll find a way to make contact in a day or two. Do not speak to anyone else, especially not to Mickey. He is involved in the kidnapping. Keep your cell on day and night. Eddie.