Point of No Return by Rita Henuber

have a field day hacking into all this.
    Porter’s eyes darted to Bristol. She clicked a few keys on the nearest keyboard and the biggest wall screen divided into thirty smaller screens with as many views of the complex.
    “Who has access to real-time shots?”
    “Obviously this room. From his office and the Hummer Mr. Bristol can see any place in the complex. A few rooms have two-way audio. Others audio monitoring. The main task for the center is contact with job staff around the world. They need equipment, supplies, whatever, they have a direct feed to us through laptops. Here, we have a four-man team twenty-four-seven. Each team has a leader and they report directly to me.” She touched the next-generation high tech-smart phone attached to the waistband of her jeans. “I report directly to Mr. Bristol.” She hit a key on the nearest keyboard and a world map displayed on the monitor. “Red flames indicate hot areas. They report daily. Other jobs report weekly.”
    Honey noted the location of three flames. “Laptops are easily destroyed and worse, stolen. How do you keep information secure?”
    Porter scooped a flash drive off a workspace and held it up. “This is where everything is. They’re encrypted and use the algorithm approved by the Department of Defense. They’re tamper-resistant, shielded from electronic scanning, water, shock, and dustproof,” Porter droned on, as if explaining to someone who’d dropped in from the nineteenth century. Honey and her teams were required to use the same tamperproof drives. She didn’t mind being underestimated. In fact, she preferred it. She liked flying under the radar.
    “Everything we do is on the computers,” Bristol said. “We have protections and filters in place to ensure data is transferred under secure conditions. All approved by DoD. They can go right in and check up on us anytime.” He grunted and gave her a hairy eyeball look. “Which is why I don’t understand the need for you to be here.”
    He had a point. “Hard to let go of old habits,” she offered. “Lots of dinosaurs who don’t want to give up their old ways.” She gave him her best smile and turned to Porter. “I’d like my swipe card and master security codes for the system before I leave today.”
    “Not happening,” Porter blustered. “Master codes are for company officials and those with the highest security clearances.”
    “Yes, of course. Ms. Porter, I can see my security clearance wasn’t shared with you.”
    The women glared at Bristol.
    “It’s in the material sent you,” Honey said. She returned her attention to Porter before Bristol could respond. “Shall we get started?”
    The woman looked at her and blinked several times before she looked at Bristol, who seemed just as surprised. “I don’t . . . We never did this before.”
    “Really? It was scheduled for the previous review. But then the previous review was canceled.” Porter gave Bristol a menacing look. Gawd! There were more looks being exchanged than in a silent movie. “If you need to review the documents, I’ll wait.”
    “I can have that for you in a matter of minutes,” Porter said grudgingly. “I’ll need a handprint.” She went to a table holding a confusion of electronic equipment.
    Honey followed and Porter removed a cloth from a sealed packet. “Right hand.” Porter used the cloth on her hand and the acrid smell of rubbing alcohol assailed Honey’s nose. “Spread your fingers slightly and press here.” Porter indicated a device that looked like an iPad. Honey did as told. Porter checked another screen and tapped the keyboard. “Good. You’re done. I’ll have your card and codes delivered to Mr. Bristol’s office in a few. Codes will be on a flash drive.”
    “That to monitor my access?”
    “Yes, it is. It will record your every keystroke and allow page views only. You cannot change or copy content. If you attempt to do so”—she paused dramatically—“you will be shut down