Chapter Eleven

Jon Graeme slaved away all morning trying to make up for the time he had missed on the previous day. He was so busy in his small office that he barely had time to think about Harry. But Lettie’s kiss on the cheek stayed on his mind and kept resurfacing again and again throughout the morning.

Shortly after eleven a.m., he received a call from Harry. He did not say so much as hello.

“It didn’t work, Jon. I got all sixteen of ’em fired up and it didn’t do what it was supposed to do.”

“How were you able to get around their power requirements?”

“I didn’t get around them—I satisfied them. I don’t think I better tell you anymore, or the power company might make you the star witness for the prosecution.” Harry sighed loud enough for Jon to hear it over the phone. “I’ve got a big, big favor to ask of you, Buddy. And let me say up front, if you refuse, I won’t hold it against you.”

The line went quiet before Harry continued.

“I want you to stop by my office at work, fire up my PC and launch an executable for me.”

It was Jon’s turn to pause before replying. Harry’s request could result in his termination. He must be onto something very important to even consider such a request.

“On one condition,” Jon said finally. “You have to tell me what I’ll be doing when I launch that executable.”

“You’ll be allowing me to connect my PC cluster to Little Moe.”

“Why do you need to connect to Little Moe?”

“Because, like Big Moe, Little Moe has a superconducting loop—and that is what I’m missing in my PC cluster.”

Jon was aware of the superconducting loop in Little Moe. It was one of the first ever installed in the U.S. It was called a SQUID—a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device. It consisted of two Josephson’s Junctions connected by an inductor. In many ways it was analogous to a solenoid. It created a controlled magnetic field which provided an unimpeded flow of electromagnetic force without any additional voltage.

“Why do you need a superconducting loop?”

“Because it’s the only design feature that I didn’t factor in when we built our Beowulf cluster. It’s just a theory at this point, but the connection I made during the installation of Big Moe was, I think, possible because of the loop’s incredible sensitivity to magnetic fluctuations. Plus, there are unpredictable quantum mechanical effects that even the bright boys in engineering won’t own up to.”

“But it’s just a theory, right?” asked Jon. “I mean, you don’t really know for sure, do you?”

Harry paused a moment. “Right … it’s just a theory. Or, better yet, a guess.”

“What’ll you do if it doesn’t work?”

He thought he heard Harry chuckle, but it might have been a snort.

“Well, I guess I’ll bridge that cross when I come to it.”

Jon smiled at Harry’s skewed aphorism. For Harry, the English language was foreign. He was famous for his mixed metaphors and his scrambled aphorisms.

“Okay. Just give me the name of the executable and the folder it’s in. I’ve got to visit your section of the building, anyway. I’ve got some documentation questions for a guy in an office near yours, so I can just duck into your office on the way.”

“How long will it take you?” Harry asked.

Jon glanced at his watch. It was just past eleven. “With luck, I’ll launch your executable at about 11:30.”

“Good luck. I’ll be waiting,” said Harry before he hung up the phone.

Jon sat for a moment, still holding the dead receiver to his ear. Jeez, he said to himself. What have I gotten myself into?

Fifteen minutes later, Jon had secured a temporary security pass and was walking down the main corridor of the Advanced Programming Division. He paused in front of a drinking fountain near Harry’s office and looked carefully about. There was no one else in the corridor.

He ducked into Harry’s office and immediately toggled the rocker switch to boot up Harry’s PC. It seemed to take forever to connect to the network, but finally the password screen popped up and Jon typed in the password Harry had given him.

Jeez! he thought, What’ll I say if someone walks in on me?

Jon accessed a folder called HSALE and launched an executable named saleconn.exe. A series of messages flashed across the screen, too fast for Jon to read. Finally, a message displayed that said “Connection Successful.” As Harry had instructed, Jon turned off the monitor and headed for the door. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the empty corridor. When he left Harry’s office, he shut the door tightly behind him. His watch said exactly 11:29.

Jon wasn’t able to break for lunch until after twelve. After the cashier rang up his lunch order, he carried his tray into the main dining area and spotted Lettie sitting by herself at a table in the back area. She did not notice him as he approached. She looked distracted, deep in thought. She sat rigidly upright at the very edge of the chair with her head turned downward, but not enough to prevent Jon from seeing the frown on her face.

“Mind if I join you, Lettie?” Jon asked.

She had been staring off in another direction. Her head jerked around sharply and she flinched.

“I’m sorry,” said Jon. “I didn’t mean to surprise you.”

When she saw that it was Jon, she smiled. “I’m sorry. You kind of caught me off guard. Have a seat.”

Jon sat down at the table and there was an uncomfortable silence. He could tell that she was holding back a million questions.

Finally Jon broke the barrier. “You look really troubled. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“It’s that creep,” Lettie said in a low voice, her eyes stealing furtive glances around her. “Every time he comes near me, he snickers. He’s got something planned, I just know it. I feel like there’s a sword hanging over my head that could fall at any time.”

“Lettie, everyone around here knows your work is absolutely first rate. Ludwig would have a hard time cooking up anything that would reflect badly on you.”

“I hope you’re right,” she said. She clearly wasn’t convinced.

“He’s just bluffing. He’s your typical bully—if you stand up to him, he’ll back down.”

“I’ve decided one thing: I’m not going to let him force me out of here. If he wants a fight, I’ll give it to him.”

“That’s the spirit! And don’t forget, if you ever need my testimony to back you up, you’ve got it.”

“Jon, you’re such a great guy.” She paused before asking cautiously, “Are you going over to Harry’s tonight?”

“I think so. Want to come?”

“I don’t know. He kind of made me feel like an intruder yesterday.”

“I’m sure he didn’t mean to.” Jon looked down at his feet, worried that his glib answer wouldn’t be enough. After a long, uncomfortable silence, he put his hands in his pockets and tapped his left foot, eyes still avoiding Lettie.

“It was like I was invisible or something.”

“You know how Harry is—”

Lettie interrupted him. “Can we talk about something else besides Harry?”

“Like what?”

To Jon’s surprise, the worry lines disappeared from Lettie’s face and she appeared much younger.

“Like you, Jon. Let’s talk about you. What’s the last book you read, what’s the last movie you saw that you really liked?”

While he mistrusted the sudden change in her mood, he didn’t second-guess it. It was more than he could hope for. For the first time, the two of them had a lengthy conversation about something other than work or Harry Sale. They became animated and jabbered away like old friends, as though talking about this and that was the most natural thing in the world for them.

“Oh my God,” Lettie said, out of the blue. “It’s nearly one thirty. I’m late!”

They both got up from the table. “See you soon!” Lettie said, as she walked away. “Give me a call later if you can.”

At the end of the day, Jon drove over to Harry’s place. The living room drapes were open and Jon could see inside. Electrical cables were running everywhere. At least three originated from outside of Harry’s condo. One snaked over to the garage and the other two ran off toward the basement. There was no sign of Harry anywhere.

Jon knocked on the door for a good five minutes with no answer. Finally he went over to the window and pressed his nose against it.

“What the hell is going on,” he said under his breath.

Jon didn’t get an answer until he arrived home. As soon as he entered his kitchen he saw the blinking red light on his answering machine. When he punched the replay button a tinny reproduction of Harry’s voice sounded.

“Thanks for all the help, pal. After you helped me connect this morning, the PC cluster worked. Now I’ve got an even bigger question, but I know where I can get the answer. I’m off to Tartan’s Crag. I’ll call you when I get back.”

Jon replayed the short message several times. With each successive replay a feeling of apprehension grew in him. There was no doubt in his mind that Harry was headed for serious trouble.