Free Memoria by Alex Bobl

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    So those were the reasons behind the government's year-old secret agreement with the Presiding Council.
    Frank was just about to tell his coach about it when Max headed for the front door. He turned the key in the lock, and the door opened, letting in the large shape of a man.

Chapter Seven . It's a Small World
     
    H e was bearlike, with a broad face, a fat mustache and two powerful paws like kettlebells . Frank immediately recognized the cabman who'd given him a ride from the airport.
    "Come in, quickly," Max grabbed the visitor's hand and pulled him inside. "This is Frank She lby," he pointed at an open-mouthed F rank. "And this is Barney Douggan ," he clapped the bea rlike man on the shoulder. "O ld friend and partner."
    Max locked the do o r and gave Barney a light shove , "Come in, don't just stand there. Want some tea?"
    Finally, Barney Douggan came back to reality. He blinked, adjusting his old army jacket with the shoulder mark of the 101 Paratroopers Division . "What's he doing here?"
    The coach turned to him, but Barney di dn't give him a chance to reply. "I'm six hours out of the police station. Had to give evidence in the Shelby case. Are you crazy ? He's in for a murder and terrorist connections. They can easily trace him by his bracelet. How on earth did he get here?"
    His powerful voice echoed over the gym.
    "Frank is an old friend," Max said calmly and disappeared inside the locker room. " The police are taken care of," they heard from inside. "They removed Frank's bracelet and didn't have a chance to replace it. So they can't trace anyone, I'm afraid."
    He reappeared with the device from Kathleen's parcel in his hands and gave it to Barney . "There, have a look. Tell me what you think about it. You're the expert."
    Frank came closer. Barney took the device and turned it around in his hands. He touched the connector, sniff ed at it a nd went on inspecting the box .
    "What does he do?" Frank whispered.
    "He's a field engi neer and liaison officer," Max answered. "Hopper's radioelectronic intelligence group. He's the best. Computers, gadgets, booby traps, the Net, you name it. Just shut it and try to look cool."
    "Will do."
    Barney looked around , mumbled something about the lack of lighting and headed for Max 's office. Frank and the coach followed him. Frank tried to get his head around it. How could this burly wrestler of a man — you couldn't, in all honesty, call him old — be a what , a computer whiz ? He looked more like a navy Seal , but not a geek.
    Frank took a chair by the door. Max sat at his desk opposite Barney who was inspecting the device under the desk lamp.
    "This is some kind of data carrier. Military hardware."
    "A data carrier," Max pulled his glasses on and took the device.
    "You could say so," Barney glanced at Frank. "But they've worked on it. They've made it lighter, to start with. It feels as if it's steel but it's not. Some kind of composite, I suppose."
    Max placed the device onto the desk.
    "Second, the connector." Barney turned the device to them and poked the connector with a thick finger. "It's been tampered with."
    "Which is good or bad?" Max asked.
    "No idea. All army models used to have two ports for cable connection. This one only has one. My educated guess would be," he slid his fingers along the grooves cut in the edges of the case, "that these are to insert the thing into some kind of docking device . Hermetic, maybe. To use it underwater or-"
    "I see," Max glanced at Frank. "Anything else?"
    "Inside there's a en coding system. Most likely, more than one. You need a key to access it, and the key is normally stored in the Pentagon database. Alternatively, it can be wired into the long-term memory of a submarine, a fighter plane or an aircraft carrier." He shrugged his wre stler's shoulders. "All depends what's in it. What it 's for and how important it is. To activate the key you need a password. Even if you bypass the connector and hook the thing up to a regular PC,