Ice Station - Matthew Reilly [103]
‘Like what?’
‘Like other sources of breakthrough technology,’ Trent said.
‘Such as?’
‘Well, for one thing, business.’
‘Business? You mean private companies?’
Trent nodded.
‘You’re telling me that the Government of the United States has planted people inside private corporations to spy on them?’
‘Microsoft. IBM. Boeing. Lockheed,’ Trent said, deadpan. ‘Plus, of course, all of the other major Navy, Army and Air Force contractors, especially if they have contracts with other countries.’
‘Holy shit,’ Cameron said.
‘There are other places, too.’
‘Like. . .’
‘Like universities,’ Trent said. ‘Universities are high on the list of ICG-compromised organisations. Cloning sheep – ICG knew about in 1993. Cloning humans – ICG knew about it last year.’ Trent shrugged. ‘It makes sense. Universities are the cutting edge. If you want to find out what’s in the pipeline, it’s best to put your people in the pipe.’
Cameron didn’t say anything for a full minute.
The sheer concept of an America-wide intelligence-gathering conspiracy made his spine tingle. An octopus-like network, with its tentacles stretching out from a small boardroom in the Pentagon to all the corners of the country, penetrating every major business and university. It was worth checking out some more.
Andrew Trent interrupted his thoughts.
‘Mr Cameron,’ Trent said seriously. ‘The ICG is a dangerous organisation. A very dangerous organisation. It owes its allegiance to one thing and one thing only. The United States of America. So long as America wins, the ICG doesn’t care what it has to do. It will kill to achieve that goal. It will kill you and it will kill me. Mr Cameron, patriotism is the virtue of the vicious. An organisation that is prepared to infiltrate its own armed forces and kill its own men to keep this country’s secrets safe is not one you want to mess with lightly.’
Cameron nodded solemnly. Then he said, ‘Mr Trent, do you have anything, anything at all, with names or something that I could –’
Trent grabbed a sheet of A4 paper from the table beside him.
‘The results of my search so far,’ he said. ‘Names, positions held, and rank, if any.’ Trent handed the sheet to Cameron.
Cameron took it, scanned it quickly. It read:
TRANSMIT NO. 767-9808-09001
REF NO. KOS-4622
SUBJECT: THE FOLLOWING IS AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PERSONNEL AUTHORISED TO RECEIVE SECURE TRANSMISSIONS.
NAME LOCATION FIELD/RANK
ADAMS, WALTER K. LVRMRE LAB NCLR PHYSCS
ATKINS, SAMANTHA, E GSTETNR CMPTR SFTWRE
BAILEY, KEITH H. BRKLY AERONTL ENGNR
BARNES, SEAN M. N. SEALS LTCMMDR
BROOKES, ARLIN F. A.RNGRS CPTN
CARVER, ELIZABETH R. CLMBIA CMPTR SCI
CHRISTIE, MARGARET V. HRVRD IDSTRL CHMST
DAWSON, RICHARD K. MCROSFT CMPTR SFTWRE
DELANEY, MARK M. IBM CMPTR HRDWRE
DOUGLAS, KENNETH A. CRAY CMPTR HRDWRE
DOWD, ROGER F. USMC CPRL
EDWARDS, STEPHEN R. BOEING AERONTL ENGNR
FROST, KAREN S. USC GNTC ENGNR
FAULKNER, DAVID G. JPL AERONTL ENGNR
GIANNI, ENRICO R. LCKHEED AERONTL ENGNR
GRANGER, RAYMOND K A. RANGERS SNR SGT
HARRIS, TERENCE X. YALE NCLR PHYSICS
JOHNSON, NORMA E.U. ARIZ BIOTOXNS
KAPLAN, SCOTT M. USMC GNNY SGT
KASCYNSKI, THERESA E. 3M CORP PHSPHTES
KEMPER, PAULENE J. JHNS HPKNS DRMTLGY
KOZLOWSKI, CHARLES R. USMC SGT MJR
LAMB, MARK I. ARMALTE BLLSTCS
LAWSON, JANE R. U.TEX INSCTCIDES
LEE, MORGAN T. USMC SGT
MAKIN, DENISE E. U.CLRDO CHMCL AGNTS
McDONALD, SIMON K. LVRMRE LAB NCLR PHYSICS
NORTON, PAUL G. PRNCTN AMNO ACD CHNS
OLIVER, JENNIFER F. SLCN STRS CMPTR SFTWRE
PARKES, SARAH T. USC PLNTLGST
RIGGS, WAYLON J. N.SEALS CMMDR
REICHART, JOHN R. USMC SGT
SHORT, GREGORY J. CCA CLA LQD SCE
TURNER, JENNIFER C. UCLA GNTC ENGNR
WILLIAMS, VICTORIA D. U.WSHGTN GEOPHYS
YATES, JOHN F. USAF CPTN
* * *
Cameron glanced up at Trent. ‘How did you get this?’
Trent smiled. It was the first real smile Cameron had seen from Trent for the hour