Exponential

  *

  The diagram was quite perplexing. Chris had apparently quickly doodled some sort of process flow on the back of some meeting notes that offered Mara more insight. He had drawn a box with the word “Target” at the top. The ‘Target’ was connected by a line to a scribbled free shape that said “internet” in it. Between the ‘target’ and the ‘internet’ was a box that said “Listening Node”. A dotted line from the ‘listening post’ went through the ‘internet’ shape to a larger box that said “I-Data Corp”. Inside that box was a small box that said “Tomb”. From ‘I-Data Corp.’ was a line to a box that said “Client”.

  As she studied the sketch, she couldn’t help thinking it was like looking at a bizarre, modern form of a treasure map. She did note that Viiradium wasn’t shown anywhere on the paper. Alongside the ‘target’ box some names were listed. Chris’s writing was quick and rather cramped, so she wasn’t exactly sure of the names, but she recognized “J. Robins LLC” which was a large and successful Wall Street finance and investment firm which had been in the news a lot lately over some sort of stock trade scandals.

  There were other words or names: “Talicor”, “Riptide” and “Sequitus Tech.” Were those companies as well? They were names she was not familiar with.

  She was excited at such a discovery, but yet bewildered in not understanding the clues. Somehow Viiradium was at the center of this knot and the key to unraveling the mystery was the “Tomb”. She had to start somewhere, so the library seemed a good place to begin. There were some large libraries in the Boston Area plus, as an alumni, the much larger university campus libraries were available to her. She would also search the internet for information using the library’s internet terminals. She found some yellowing stationary in the room and began making a list of things she was interested in finding, including the names of what she suspected were company names from Chris’s ‘diagram’ as well as information on Viiradium and other companies that specialized in security and encryption products. She also wanted to find out more about the security technology itself. Perhaps she would discover some clue as to what this ‘Tomb’ was.

  She really should sleep, she thought to herself. But her anxiety level was at a peak and she could only think about getting to the bottom of what was turning into an incredible and now deadly mystery. No one else seemed able to find out why she was the target of some sort of conspiracy or why her mother was murdered and her brother kidnapped and presumed dead or even why the police seemed to be going nowhere. Her desire to expose the truth and to somehow retaliate against the forces at work were growing stronger. Every time she thought of her mother, a mental vision of her dead body crammed into the trunk of Mara’s car, she had to fight for control. She was walking a thin line between reality and being becoming completely swallowed in despair over the tragic death. It would be easy to allow herself to become overwhelmed in such anger that she would lose control and do something regrettable. Then to add the fact that her brother likely met some similar fate and that she was the prime suspect… She had to keep busy. Somehow, she would establish the identity of those who were responsible. She was determined to see justice. What choice did she have? Going to the police? Ha! They were out looking for her as the suspect! She would have to be extremely careful. They have demonstrated perseverance and determination to try to get to her first. Sitting still would only make things worse.

  It was early evening and the libraries would be open for a while yet. She drove toward Cambridge in the cold. The little car had some form of a heater, but it seemed as if driver comfort was not a priority with sports car makers or collectors. Needless to say, the heater did not work well. She considered the city libraries but thought - why stop at a city library when the libraries at MIT would likely have more to offer? She eventually crossed the Harvard bridge, passed Memorial drive with a comfortable feeling of familiarity as she drove down Massachusetts Avenue amidst the remaining, late autumn construction to find a place to park the little car. She had not been back to the campus since her graduation, but after spending a few years there, the old buildings carried a feeling of home. Her student alumni card would be in her apartment someplace so she would not be able to check any materials out of the libraries, but she only needed to take notes.

  There were actually over a dozen Libraries at the Cambridge campus, but she thought the Barker Engineering Library would offer the most information related to computer security and encryption. As far as doing research on companies, the Barton Online Catalogue would probably contain all the information she would need to know and that information would be accessible from the Barker Library. Unfortunately she would probably freeze during the long walk from her car to the library. She decided to cut through some of the buildings to get there. It wasn’t the shortest route, but warmer. She would definitely need to buy a warmer jacket soon.

  Eventually, she became settled in the study area with some reading materials which contained information on mathematical encryption techniques. The information was quite baffling. Much of the discussion was in regard to what was known as “PKI” or ‘Public Key Infrastructure’. She tried to concentrate, but her exhaustion was starting to catch up with her. After about an hour, she decided a change of pace was needed and she turned her attention to finding more about the names of companies Chris had written on the diagram. She didn’t have to look far, Talicor had a web site which she easily found using one of the internet access computers. Talicor specialized in producing generic drugs. She read some of the company bio information but could see nothing that might tie them into the mystery. She made a few notes, especially the primary address and contact information in case she needed to call.

  Sequitus had no web site but Talicor and Sequitus both turned up in several news articles when she searched some of the news sites. Both had been victims of recent negative press. A couple of older positive articles turned up in the San Jose Mercury News. According to the news articles, Sequitus apparently was working on some new futuristic technology based on a revolutionary discovery called the ‘pico timer’. None of the articles had the slightest indication of any relationship to her mystery. She was able to find the phone number of Sequitus in the on-line national business phone directory so she added this to her notes.

  She sat back and stared at the ceiling for a while. She began to reminisce about some of the time she spent in this very room when she attended the campus as a student. It’s funny that she started out with mathematics and ended up a business administrator working in the Human Resource department of a local company. She remembered one professor in particular, professor Tattinger, who acted as a career counselor as well as a classroom professor. He taught advanced calculus and differential equations, but even then was reaching the retirement age. He likely no longer worked here, but he was one of her favorites. He would have no trouble understanding the mathematics behind the widely used computer encryption methods.

  She thought “Why could she loose?” She looked in the on-line residential directory and did a search for R. Tattinger. She thought his name was ‘Reginald’. A listing for a Reginald Tattinger indicated an address in the local community and she made note of the phone number and address. She contemplated giving him a call but hesitated at the fear of being rejected. He was not that far away according to the address and it was about dinnertime. An older person would likely be at home this time of day. If she simply showed up at his doorstep with no appointment it would be rude, but she thought he would be less likely to turn her away.

  She packed up her notes, returned the materials she had removed from the shelves into the return bin and left for the car by way of the same path she came in. By the time she found the address and parked in front of the aging house, she was pretty cold again. She noted the warm glow of lights coming through the windows as she approached the front door. She hesitated a moment, then steeled herself and rang the bell. Anxiety was causing her to sweat which made her even colder in the chill of the night. She shivered
involuntarily as she waited for someone to answer the door.

  After a lengthy pause, the door opened a crack and the familiar professor’s face peered through. “Yes?” he began, “Can I Help You?”

  “Excuse me professor Tattinger, it’s Mara Chandler. I was a student of yours a few years back and I was wondering if you could spare a few minutes to help me out with something…”

  “I wasn’t expecting visitors right now. I wonder if you could be helped tomorrow by someone on campus instead?”

  “I’ve just come from there. I’m sorry for just dropping by with no invitation, but I was really hoping you could help me with a serious problem.” She hesitated a moment and on a whim took a stab at piquing his interest: “It has to do with a mystery that involves something called the ‘Tomb of Rivest’.”

  Her heart sank as he closed the door. He obviously knew nothing of what she was talking about. She was about to depart when then she could hear the rattle of the chain being released from the inside. He held open the door for her and motioned for her to come in. “So… Someone’s back to trying to discover the Tomb, eh?” He said in a delightfully cheery voice as he indicated a worn sofa on which to have a seat. He continued, “I was about to have dinner. I wasn’t expecting company, so I can’t really offer you much…”