Real Chapter 254 -- LFN Storyboard 2

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Date Posted: 03:37:54 08/09/12 Thu
Author: taurus2124
Author Host/IP: CPE-58-161-98-169.nsw.bigpond.net.au / 58.161.98.169
Subject: Real Chapter 254
In reply to: taurus2124 's message, "Back on board at last !!!!! ... The Rising Dragons continuted" on 04:08:59 07/22/12 Sun

Chapter 254

Greg Hillenger�s supercilious face kept making a vivid image in Birkoff�s mind and he found that the man was doing his head in all over again just like he�d done when he�d first arrived at Section One. It had been a pretty select group of three people Birkoff had put forward to his superiors who could help solve a difficult code that he�d been unable to decipher much to his chagrin. But he�d had reservations about Hillenger from the very start, because of constraints about him. Birkoff suddenly remembered his words vividly as he pulled up the holograph profile and read the information noted to Operations and Madeline.

�He's young. ... His name is Greg Hillenger. Graduated high school at eleven; college at thirteen. Received his Ph.D. after six months. Wrote his thesis on non-linear principal components. Because he's the youngest tenured Professor in the history of the University, he's highly visible.�

�What makes you think he can do this?� Madeline had asked.

�He's written several papers on statistical L-trees. Exactly the kind of approach that's needed.�

He�d been a little peeved at the fact that Greg had been brought into Section because of something he�d been unable to solve and that must have reflected in his tone of voice when Madeline had replied.

�Birkoff ..., remember, this is not about who's smarter than whom. He'll challenge you. Stay above it. We have an objective and a deadline.�

There was truth in Madeline�s words but it still stuck in his craw and made Birkoff have some doubts about Greg�s ability, but nonetheless he nodded his acknowledgment of her statement. At the time they�d needed his expertise. Their plan to get Hillenger to decode the program without him seeing or knowing about Section so that they could release him when he was done had backfired. Greg Hillenger had figured out the code but got curious and wandered outside his room. Operations and Madeline found out that he had seen Section so they decided that he had to stay.

Birkoff was then left with a recalcitrant and pretentious operative working with him who was forever to be a thorn in his side. It was the attitude of the teenager that really riled him. His scornful jocularity was still a very vivid memory when he�d gone to his room and found Greg working on the computer. He�d ignored his juvenile obnoxiousness, and put the laptop down and started keying in commands to bring up the code that needed deciphering.

�Good. You know what? I wish you guys would let me in deeper, because there's really not too much more I can fix here.�

He�d looked up at him startled by his statement. Every time the boy spoke it was a personal affront to his own capabilities and Birkoff didn�t like it. �Fix?!�

�Yeah, you had some bad modification dates in your ... ah � master symbol table. Don't worry. I fixed 'em.�

Greg Hillenger was reprehensible, but he�d managed to shrug off the slight and got back to the job at hand, but Birkoff couldn�t help the sarcastic words that left his mouth in a rhetorical taunt of his own. �Let's just get to work, okay? Then you can go back home to your Mommy...�

�Sure. ... So ..., you're the guy who couldn't break the code.�

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Greg Hillenger was a vengeful, loose cannon, when he came into Section One calling everyone names and treating the whole thing like a game. At the time Birkoff had thought how could someone so smart be so stupid? Although Greg was very young, that was no excuse for his behaviour. There was also a rivalry and a jealously between the two computer geniuses and Seymour didn�t trust him one iota. Greg was very underhand and had been a thorn in his side on more than one occasion.

On one such occasion when he�d thought that his assistant Tatyana had compromised the data shield by running a piggyback on one of his programs, Birkoff had no other choice but to tell Spec Ops to allow them to look into it. However, he�d later found out that it was actually Hillenger who had penetrated the shield. Greg had tried to weasel out of it by stating that he was only protecting him, but Birkoff didn�t believe him. His actions were too telling. When Operations had stated that as soon as Greg had completed his training, he'd be taking Tatyana's place as his assistant; it was obvious to blind Freddy that Hillenger had ulterior motives in framing her. Birkoff could still hear his hollow words � We're going to make a great team, but there was an openly blatant, ulterior motive in his statement to Birkoff about his aspirations in the pecking order at Comm. �Yeah, well, you're the boss, for now ...� Trying to flippantly pass it off as a joke did not cut the mustard with Birkoff. If he could implicate Tatyana and hack into his computer, Greg Hillenger was one to watch very carefully.

There had been occasions too, where Greg Hillenger had humiliated him with his self importance and on one occasion his narcissism had nearly cost him his life. When transmission went haywire during a mission while they were at Comm., and he couldn�t get it back up, Operations had stood him down and placed Hillenger in charge. Greg succeeded but Birkoff thought that he had planned this from the very start to make him look bad. Hillenger was placed in charge of his post and he was sent on a mission. He�d wanted out but Operations told Birkoff that he was keeping him inside. If he hadn�t thought of a way to get out himself Operations would have left him there indefinitely � leaving Hillenger in charge of Comm., and thus fulfilling his promise to be the boss one day himself.

Those incidents were all very telling reminders about Hillenger�s motives and aspirations and were certainly a major factor to Seymour�s doubts in the situation that had now arisen with the Rising Dragons mission and breach of Section protocol. At the same time, all of these memories were raw and it was little wonder that he was suspicious of Greg Hillenger in supplying Intel to George. He had an axe to grind about a lot of people at Section and payback was a bitch. If he could do something underhand to destabilise the Rising Dragons� mission, then Birkoff knew that Greg would have no compunction but to do so. Hence it was imperative that he was able to solve this code and he wouldn�t let it defeat him � not like the last time.

Suddenly, Birkoff�s eyes lit up. D�j� vu. It all came flooding back to him as he thought of a different way to attack the code and decipher the Intel it contained.

Memories of that night had given him the clue he needed. Birkoff rushed back over to his station and once there gathered his thoughts, put his glasses back on and then started typing in a new set of parameters of a function that wasn't in the program. As he worked, Birkoff�s face changed from angst at not being able to resolve a problem to one of immense satisfaction knowing that he was about to solve a complex puzzle. He realised that this code had an outer shell ... but that was a big decoy. He then typed in another command and waited for it to cycle through the multi-threaded inner workings of his computer. Once he�d finished typing in the commands, he looked up at the monitor above him. It showed a percentage scale as the new program loaded and started deciphering the complex code.

The monitor showed a two dimensional grid in which the code appeared as a series of spikes, like a mountain range. The new program finished decoding and the scale at the top read "DECRYPTION COMPLETE." The grid now showed structures shaped like rectangular towers slowly surrounding the spikes. From this grid he could now convert the grid table to words and read the messages contained in the code.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Birkoff, flushed with a sense of triumph, leapt up from his seat yelling, �YEAH!� He was a computer genius and he knew it.

Seymour looked around the deserted Comm. with a sense of accomplishment and excitement, now wanting to share his sense of victory with others, but there was not a soul around to share in his delight. He couldn�t believe what he was seeing. His hypothesis was correct. At last he had found some incriminating Intel about his nemesis Greg Hillenger being the mole and with his involvement with George. Hillenger had been instrumental in Intel tampering and now he had the proof he needed.

Birkoff began uploading the data about him to his computer. �Come on, come on, come on.� He whispered impatiently to himself as the files downloaded.

This is what he had wanted to find and it just may be what would facilitate Operations and Madeline to reassess Belinda�s evaluation status. He sat back in his chair and waited until all the data was downloaded. Once it had done so he saved the information to a disk ready for the meeting with Section�s leaders in the morning.

Finally with exhausted release and immense satisfaction at what he�d found, Birkoff breathed a sigh of relief which echoed in his all conquering acclamation that echoed throughout Comm. when he�d finished.

�YES!�

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Play on text from � Fuzzy Logic and OTB

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