Thursday, May 31, 2012

Better Living Through Technology


My minder Irving had asked for three days leave, a request speedily granted. It would be churlish in the extreme to deny him, in that at least twice he had saved my life. So I was stuck at the Manor for the interval.

This was annoying, in that I had planned to attend a series of lectures given by my daughter Victoria, the historian, who had accepted an invitation proffered by  the University. She would be discussing and elaborating upon a thesis first put forward by Stephane Dion, that Canada works better in practice than in theory. Oh well, needs must, and I contented myself with needed practice on the gun range, listening to Mahler a lot, and  re-reading of Neal Stephenson's magnificent Baroque Trilogy.

In exactly three days Irving returned. He was not alone, and had Rachel in tow.

Readers will remember Rachel as the author of a piece of software, known as WRAITH. This particular software allows the take over other computers without the user being aware that someone else is now in control. Only five copies exist, with the U.S, Israel, and the UK having three; Rachel herself has one, and the last copy was given to me for safekeeping.It was some time before various governments and criminal organizations (they are somewhat similar) sussed this out, and in order to stop the infiltration had to delete all their material. This enraged them, and Rachel was forced to go to ground. This she did, being aided and abetted by Irving ( They became pals when in Mossad.)

I instantly noted that Rachel was deeply tanned, so at least wherever Rachel had fled to had lots of sunshine. In any event, I thought it better not to know. Of more importance, why had she come back here?

"My Lady, this is a safe place," she said. "Things now are a bit...difficult...and I would be greatly in your debt if I could just hang out for a week or two. Until things die down a bit."

"What things?"

Rachel was silent for a moment, but from the expression on her face, I could see she was debating just how much to tell. She looked at Irving, who gave a nod, and made a decision.

"Oh, the hell with it. Have you heard of this 'FLAME' virus?"

"Only that it alleged to have played havoc with a number of computer systems" I replied, " not the least of which are those that control Iran's nuclear program." Then I thought for a moment. "Good God, is that yours?"

"No, but WRAITH can counter its effects, as well as pointing to the perpetrator. All of which presents a dilemma."

"Well," I said brightly, "when on the horns of a dilemma, the best way to resolve the issue is to throw sand in the bull's face."

Long story short, Rachel's dilemma was as follows. She had developed the means to stop FLAME in its tracks. The solution had been put on five memory sticks. She, being of good heart, wished to get three of them to the three governments who had access to WRAITH, but was baffled as to the best method. She was not keen on advertising her whereabouts -- all three would dearly love to get their hands on her --  but sending memory sticks through the post struck her as a Bad Idea.

Well, she was right about that.

I said I could ensure that the U.S. and the U.K. would receive the material without ever knowing where it had come from, but I would have to leave Israel to her. Irving stepped in at this point, muttering something about a certain spot in the Negev, and Rachel relaxed. This left one question that remained unanswered.

I said, "Rachel, you mentioned you had suspicions about the perpetrator...."

"Yes," Rachel said, "but it is just a suspicion. On the memory sticks, I inserted some code that would point to Ukraine. It will cause them some difficulty. Actually, a lot of difficulty."

"Really!"

"No, but I remembered that you have little use for Viktor Yanukovych, and thought you wouldn't mind.."

"A great idea. Particularly the way old Viktor is treating Yulia Tymoshenko. I mean, she like Becky Sharp is no angel** but she doesn't deserve to be thrown into prison and then being beaten. Well done, Rachel! And feel free to stay as long as you like."

After all, what are friends for?

** The good Lady occasionally descends into the obscure. The reference is to the heroine in Thackeray's Vanity Fair. Ed.
















No comments: