Algorithm - Book 1 - The Medallion

Chapter 3

So there shouldn't be anyone downstairs right now.

 Adam maneuvered a little closer for a better look through the hole. He tensed when he saw a beam of light moving along a benchtop, followed by sounds of drawers opening and closing.

Who is that and what is he searching for?

After a few minutes he heard only the sounds of dripping water and saw nothing more of the light. Craning his head forward through the hole, he confirmed that there was no one inside the lab, but he did see light coming from a window, or rather, where a window used to be.

Maybe it was a fireman and he went out that way.

The opening led to the rear of the building. His level of anxiety clicked up a notch. Crawling along the floor of the breakroom, he found the laptop beneath part of the wall, still inside its leather case, only slightly wet. Since it was likely that the building entryway was guarded despite George's best efforts to distract, he slipped through the hole in the wall, baby-stepped between ruined lab equipment, and leaped out the window. Seconds later, within the dark solitude of the lab, where the only sounds came from the tick-tock dripping of water on flooded floors, the suspended ethereal wisps of smoke overhead moved suddenly as a figure emerged from hiding in the shadows and quickly made its way out the same broken window.

A few minutes later Adam met George in front of the building and the two walked back to the parking lot.

"Well, is that it … your laptop?"

"Sure is," Adam answered while lifting up the case for George to see. He opened it while they were walking, pulled out a sheaf of photos. "And, see what I've got?"

"Well, at least that's something. It's probably the only data that survived. All the stuff in the lab is gone. By the way, the cop I was talking to told me that they won't be letting anyone into the building for a few days. Looks like the explosion took out the building's electrical system. So, between that and the clean up, they'll be busy in there for at least a week. I guess that means we're on vacation." George forced a half-smile.

"Did you see anyone leaving the building in the last couple of minutes?"

"Nope. Anyway, I was busy distracting the guard, remember?"

Adam prodded further. "Is there any chance that someone knew about the analyses run last night?"

George adopted his contemplative, furrowed eyebrow look which Adam guessed he found most useful either to hide outright confusion or use as a prelude to pontification.

"Well, I certainly didn't tell anyone. However, the instruments are networked to enable data to be archived. It's theoretically possible for someone on the network to monitor which instruments are gathering data.  They could even take a look it, but it would mean that someone had to be up late, or rather, early this morning, and have an interest in doing so. Why do you ask?"

"How would someone go about monitoring the instruments?"

"Anyone with a valid userid and password can get on the system from almost anywhere on the campus, and …"

"With the right commands, they can access the instrument files," finished Adam.

George nodded, looking perplexed.  Adam turned as he started to walk back to his car.

"George, that was a great job you did last night. Do me a favor and please don't tell anyone about the medallion, especially anything about our findings. I need to see someone in New Jersey before we make any of this public."

Adam got into the car and rumbled away. He thought about George and the daunting prospect of replacing and rebuilding the lab. He had a nagging feeling that something was off, a disquieting certitude that there was something going on, something hidden just out of view. As he exited the parking lot, he watched George in his rearview mirror fade off into the distance, little realizing how justified his concerns would soon prove to be