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My day got off to a great start when I powered up my computer and the notification tool flashed. I grinned as I read the message. Bennet had provided me with a surefire way to identify her.
Elizabeth Bennet June 4 at: 2:58 AM
Hi Eli
I’m very impressed with your site, and the number of people that reply to your posts. I’ve got to admit that I’m finding it hard to get a dialogue going and would be very grateful for any advice on how to get people to comment on my blog posts.
I’ve published a new post: A is in arsenic and also in anthrax. My year 8 class is looking at different poetic forms and last lesson we looked at acrostics. I thought this form would be a novel way to present information about germ-warfare agents. What do you think?
Bye for now.
Elizabeth.
Reply
She’d asked me what I thought. If she’d been here I’d have asked her, how the hell a schoolteacher turned into a terrorist. I rubbed my eyes. They felt dry and itchy from staring at the computer screen for too long. I yawned and a rocket went off in my head. Bennet could be part of a worldwide network of educators recruiting Western students to join Islamic State. If she was, exposing her might blow the rotten organization wide open.
For the first time since I’d arrived I felt excited; not the buzz I’d experienced as a pilot when I’d flown combat missions to war zones in support of operations Slipper and Kruger. This was a different sort of buzz, but a buzz all the same. Truth be told, I’d like to find a way of fighting Islamic State that didn’t involve killing children.
I couldn’t get upstairs fast enough to tell the general we’d had a breakthrough. Somehow I contained myself long enough to dash off a reply to Bennet. And then I took off like Phar Lap[14].
* * *
Sergeant Kramer didn’t look up from his war game.
“Otis!”
He sighed. “Mmm?”
“I need to speak to General Lee. And before you ask ... it can’t wait.”
“Flight Lieutenant Jones is in reception,” Otis said into the phone. “Go through, Sir,” he added a moment later.
I paused at the door to the general’s office, “How’s about I drop round tonight and we hit the bars?”
He shook his head and with both hands mimed voluptuous curves. “I’ve got a date.”
“Half your luck,” I said, as I opened the door.
Kramer winked and went back to his game.
General Lee put down the document he was reading and shot me a hard-eyed glare. “I’ll give you five minutes,” he said grudgingly.
“Bennet’s made contact,” I said, and handed him the printout.
His eyebrows rose at the same point in the message as mine. “She has to be a first-timer.”
“I agree. A pro wouldn’t make such a careless mistake.”
“Now we know she’s a schoolteacher,” he said with obvious satisfaction,” she’ll be easy to find.”
“Easier.”
“Meaning?”
“Well what if she’s using a fake name.”
“You can’t avoid detection by using an alias. No one flies under our radar. We’ve got a web tool that traces a person through their social networking sites.”
There was no point in trying to sugar-coat my reply. “Tech support can’t find her on any social media site,” I blurted out, “not even on Facebook.”
“What about that blasted blog of hers?
“She uses a Gmail address.”
Lee groaned. I knew why. I’d learnt the reason from the geeks. Usually, it’s possible to find a user’s IP - the unique string of numbers separated by full stops that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network. Usually! There’s an exception. It’s impossible to identify an email sent from a Gmail address. Even for computer geeks.
“I don’t suppose she filled in a social profile on her blog either?”
I was shaking my head as he lifted the phone. “Sergeant, provide Flight Lieutenant Jones with a list of all teachers employed in Western Australian schools named Bennet.” He slammed the phone down, almost breaking it.
“Children are blank canvasses,” he continued. “Their attitude about the world is shaped by how events are represented to them. I don’t like the idea of someone like this Bennet character influencing impressionable kids. We can’t have al Qaeda using schools as recruitment centers. In fact, installing surveillance cameras in classrooms is one of the proposals currently being discussed right now by CRIMSPEAK.”
“Isn’t that a bit extreme, Sir?”
“The end justifies the means.” Lee’s authoritative voice was razor-sharp like his mind. “Censorship is a vital factor in the war on terror. Freedom of speech and freedom of thought must be curtailed ... not only on the net, but in the media and most importantly in schools. I hope you don’t have a problem with that? I’ll accept your resignation if you do.”
I felt like saying nothing would please me more. I opened my mouth and then shut it again. Two weeks ago, I’d have jumped at the chance of returning to my division. Now I was being offered an out. Rationally, I ought to have grabbed it. I was proud of my record as a fighter pilot. I knew exactly who I was and of what I was capable.
But irrationally, pride got the better of me. There’d been times before when I’d been tempted to give up, but always I dug my heels in. For example when Willie Hogg, a villainous arms dealer, pointed his gun at my kneecap and said he’d finish me off quick if I apologized, I told him to get fucked. I remember how good it felt when I got the better of him. I’d been not much more than a kid at the time, but nothing I’d done since had ever brought me such a sense of satisfaction, not even flying a million-dollar machine at the speed of sound, 30,000 feet in the air on an adrenaline-high.
“Well?” said Lee. “Are you in or out?”
“In.”
Any doubts, or reservations?”
“No Sir. I agree with you that mass surveillance is necessary to combat terrorism. National security is more important than privacy. The NSA can go through my computer any time they like. After all, if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve nothing to fear.’
Lee gave me an approving look. “On your way out collect the inventory of suspects from Kramer. Everyone on it is to be placed on an individualized watch-list. Forget about time off, I want you on the job seven days a week. Rooting out Elizabeth Bennet is your top priority. Is that understood?”
I understood, but I didn’t have to like it.
