“We’ve got a bit of an issue and we need your help.”
Noah’s stomach jolted and sweat beaded the back of his neck. “What kind of issue?”
“It seems like our data center has been compromised—”
“What?!” Noah cut Agostino off. Numerous pairs of eyes shifted to him, making the uncomfortable feeling flare into something that moved under his skin and made him want to scratch it raw. “Sorry,” he muttered to the room-at-large and directed his attention back to the ambassador. “What do you mean it’s been compromised? That’s impossible.”
It should have looked that way, he’d been careful during his visit not to leave any traces that something was amiss. He was also sure that if anyone even suspected a breach—or had found out what he’d done—they would’ve brought it up long ago. As for the spyware he’d used, it was an advanced piece of software, the kind of which you couldn’t track or even notice was there unless you knew exactly what to look for.
So how? How did they know there was a breach?
“I’m not sure, but someone did something—a routine maintenance? Nessar has the details. They discovered this virus,” Agostino explained, sounding a little out of his element.
Frowning, Noah followed the ambassador to a computer where a group of people were standing. They parted and Noah took the chair, coming face to face with Nessar, an engineer based back in Lisbon. He took Noah through what he’d discovered and then explained how they needed someone to reset the entire system here in Seoul and how that someone was going to be Noah. He blabbered on about something else, but Noah didn’t catch any of it, forcing his mind to still as he tried not to lose it.
How did the Empire figure out what to look for? How did they know how the spyware encoded itself and integrated itself and—
He was going to vomit. This couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t. The only way the Empire would know was if someone had talked.If someone had spilled what the Federation was up to.Someone who was involved in some way with what Noah had done for the Head of Intelligence must have warned the Church. There simply was no other explanation.
Noah balled his hands under the table and focused on keeping his expression neutral. He couldn’t lose it here, not with so many people around. He had to keep his cool and pretend he wasn’t on the verge of a breakdown because his life might be headed back to that nightmare he’d been so close to escaping.
“…Noah?” someone, Nessar on the other end of the call probably, said with a raised voice, pulling Noah back to reality.
“Yes, of course, I can do the reset,” Noah strung together.
“I’ll send you the instructions after the call. Agostino will accompany you to the data center since you don’t have clearance.”
Agostino hummed next to Noah, stroking his beard. “We’ll postpone the general meeting and head over as soon as you have what you need.”
A knife stabbed Noah in the chest.No, no, no.They couldn’t go now. He wouldn’t have time to speak to Ms. Seongyun and get the spyware tweaked.
“Um, I’m not sure if that’s a good idea,” Noah rushed out, making the guy on the screen frown. “I mean, maybe we could track them? See who’s involved and get someproof we can use to make a case? I can help with that. I’m sure that would be in the Empire’s interests.”
It was bullshit, but the kind of bullshit that could buy Noah some time, and that was all that mattered. His freedom depended on the Federation getting what it wanted, and this was going to ruin everything if Noah didn’t figure something out.
“We tried already, but it’s a very smart piece of software. We can’t track it, Mr. Araya, and so I doubt you’d be able to either,” Nessa said in a clipped tone.
“If you give me a day and let me study it—”
“We can’t isolate it. Its integration rates are too high. We need to purge it,” the tech guy insisted, his tone leaving no space for arguments.
The world closed in on Noah and the room felt too small and suffocating. He shot up, needing to be out of here. “Okay. I’ll be in my office. Send me the instructions.”
Noah didn’t wait to be dismissed. He just nodded at Agostino and jogged out, bypassing his office so he could get to the balcony. He shut himself out there and leaned against the door, closing his eyes.
What the fuck was he going to do now? The reset itself wasn’t even the problem—he could ask Ms. Seongyun for the spyware again, but it would need to be tweaked, and that took time. He didn’t have time, maybe an hour or two at most.
Shit.
Noah concentrated on his shallow breathing, calming down. Once under control, he took his burner phone out and dialed the Head of Intelligence.
“Hello, Noah,” Ms. Seongyun replied almost immediately. “I’m assuming something happened for you to be calling this number prior to our meeting next week.”
Noah’s explanation was quick and to the point, his anxiety not letting him drag it out. “How long will it take you to change it?” he asked when he’d gone over what happened.
“Interesting that they find out about it when they shouldn’t be able to,” she pondered instead of an answer. “There were only a couple of people that knew what we were doing… and among them, I think only one stands to gain something from such a development.”
Noah clenched his jaw, his entire body vibrating at her implied accusation. “It wasn’t me.”
