Day of the Predator - Alex Scarrow [71]
Whitmore cut in. ‘Oh, come on! They’re professionals, the best in the world!’
Several of the others joined in. Some agreeing with that, some of them disagreeing.
Liam looked at Becks. ‘Maybe this is not such a great idea.’
‘You wish me to proceed with the alternate plan?’ she said softly.
Liam looked at her, pleased that she’d had the sense to ask that in little more than a whisper. Not so encouraged, though, seeing one of her hands flinching and reaching for a hatchet.
‘No, not yet,’ he said, reaching out and grasping her hand in his. ‘Not yet, OK?’
She nodded.
‘Unless,’ said Edward quietly, his voice almost lost beneath the to and fro of all the others. ‘Unless, there’s a really important reason not to hurt anyone.’
The others stopped and looked at him. It was the first thing he’d said all evening. All day, in fact.
Edward’s eyes widened as they all stared at him. ‘I … I was just saying …’
‘Go on,’ said Liam.
‘Well … if part of your message was a … was in, like, a code. Then there’s a reason to … you know, not to want to shoot everyone up, because they know they’d need someone to decode it.’
Liam pursed his lips in thought. ‘That’s true.’ A code, a secret, hinting at still further secrets and revelations. What person wouldn’t want to know more?
‘If a message is going to lead some government spooks right up to the front door of your secret organization,’ said Kelly, ‘then you can bet the bit of the message they can’t make sense of will be driving them nuts. Edward’s right. They’ll want your colleagues alive.’
‘All right,’ said Liam. ‘So then the first bit of the message needs to be the time and place of our field office.’ He turned to Becks. ‘That’s how the message will find its way to Maddy and Sal. The rest … the time-stamp they need to aim for, that bit should be the super-secret coded bit. Can you come up with a code, Becks?’
She nodded. ‘I can produce a mathematical algorithm and use that as an alpha-numeric offset code. My duplicate should be able to recognize the pattern of the algorithm and produce a decode key.’
‘No,’ said Edward, shaking his head. ‘It’s too easy to break a math-based code. If they … you know, if they put a big enough computer on it, they could crack it. Simple.’
Kelly nodded. ‘And you can bet the NSA or the CIA or whichever bunch of spooks ends up calling will have no shortage of computing power at their disposal to crunch your code.’
‘There is no other way to generate a code that can be unlocked at the field office,’ said Becks. ‘My duplicate needs to have the same library of algorithms –’
‘Every math-based code can be broken,’ said Edward, his quiet voice finding a little more confidence, ‘you know? Eventually. It’s just a case of how much computer power you put on it.’
‘Edward’s right,’ said Howard. ‘Think about it, what if the message is discovered, say …’ He turned to Whitmore and Franklyn. ‘When did they first discover fossils in this place we’re headed to?’
Franklyn shrugged. ‘Early 1900s.’
‘Right. So if the American secret services of that time secured that fossil back then they’ll have had a whole century of time to crack the algorithm and decode it before they come knocking.’
‘But computers powerful enough to work on it were only developed in the ’80s,’ said Juan. ‘Don’ forget that.’
‘That’s more than enough time,’ said Howard. ‘They’ll come knocking knowing the entire contents of the message. Their only concern will be securing your agency’s HQ and confiscating all your technology. Your colleagues will be a secondary consideration.’
‘Your code has to be like a personal thing,’ said Edward. ‘Like a secret. Something only you and they know.’
Howard shook his head. ‘I’m thinking this is a seriously bad idea. We could end up really messing with history. And I thought you guys are meant to stop that kind of thing happening.’
‘And staying here, young man?’ said Whitmore. ‘What do you think that’s going to do to history? Homo-sapiens existing right now? Sixty-five million years before they’re due?’
Howard shrugged. ‘We won’t exist for long, though,