Chapter 10 Marshalling Forces
Marshalling Forces
Jack arrived at work on Tuesday anticipating a stretch of sanctioned online snooping.
He filled his mug with coffee and settled down to read, trusting Julian and Gareth not to send him on a wild goose chase.
Julian had worked in mining since before he’d left school and knew the industry like a Michelin-starred chef knew his kitchen.
And while Gareth had come late to his corporate security job, twenty years of army service had given him a well-honed radar for threats.
Jack read until, at the end of two hours, he had identified the commonalities between the projects Julian had flagged, but no pattern to kick off an investigation.
He flipped to the second part of the dossier and perused the mix of investment firms and geotech services companies with incorporation documents on which the ink was still wet.
None of them rang any bells and a call to Alex didn’t produce any enlightenment.
Jack moved on.
He picked the first company on the list and dug into its background, unsurprised to find a subsidiary of a holding company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
The holding company would be a subsidiary of another such, each nestled into the other like a set of Russian dolls.
Jack didn’t rate their chances of unravelling the connections before the lack of cash flow affected Nancarrow’s operations.
Time to consider this from another angle.
By lunchtime, Jack had a list of tasks—and an idea. He grabbed his notes and knocked on Gareth’s door.
“You need something?” Dressed in charcoal trousers and an open-necked amber shirt that matched his eyes, Gareth looked like a sleek, contented cat.
Jack loved that he knew why. “I need something, all right,” he said, voice a touch rough. “But that’s not why I’m interrupting you. I want to rope Janet and Frazer into Julian’s project. Any objections?”
“You think we’ll need their help?”
“I do.” Jack slid his notepad across Gareth’s desk and wondered where his former flatmate was plying his trade these days.
Tom Walken’s people skills and nose for gossip could have put a spy to shame.
“I’m not qualified to assess the mineralogy and whatnot.
Until Julian or the guys from exploration tell me otherwise, I’m treating this as a case of cash flow sabotage. ”
“Same. Janet and Frazer?”
“Janet has experience auditing company finances, and Frazer is fabulous with people. Between the three of us, we can work out who is dicking around with Nancarrow projects and where the money’s coming from. We also—and more urgently—need to find out how they knew which projects to target.”
Gareth sighed. “Yeah, we do. I’d hate the idea of another leak.”
“I’ve swept the network and found nothing, which is a start.
” Jack didn’t need to point out that a clever intruder could mask their presence or that some opponents played long, patient games.
Gareth had spent two years watching Jack work to have a solid understanding of what an even halfway decent hacker could do.
“You want to keep looking.”
“I do. It’s why you hired me, right? And I want Frazer on board because he has a knack for spotting user stupidity and deals with it without bloodshed.”
“Which is always appreciated.”
“Can the sarcasm. So… can I share with the class?”
Gareth rolled his eyes. “Get out of here.”
“Yes, sir.” It was a shame Gareth’s desk had the acreage of a rugby field. Jack would have loved to lean across and kiss that smirk off his face. He contented himself with a smart turn and if he put on a bit of a strut as he left… well, Gareth had earned it.
Janet and Frazer were both at their desks and Jack wasted no time. “Hey! Are you up for a project? We can discuss it over lunch across the road.”
Those two sentences wouldn’t have made sense to many people, but they made Janet and Frazer light up. “You’re paying?”
“Since I’m asking. We have ten minutes to make it to our table.”
“You knew we’d agree?”
“If one of you turned down lunch at Simpson’s, I’d be looking for the off switch.
” Jack grabbed his leather jacket and led the way across the road to one of London’s oldest eateries.
From a coffee house and chess club, Simpson’s-in-the-Strand had grown into a restaurant that offered the grandest breakfast in London and an equally famous carvery.
Simpson’s held only positive memories for Jack—from the morning after his viva exam when he’d shared said breakfast with his friend Tom, to the day he’d come to Nancarrow Mining for an interview and had ended up at Simpson’s having lunch with Gareth.
He loved everything about the place, from the food to the décor to the chance to relax in the middle of a busy day, and was happy to spread that love around.
“You know I’ll be in a food coma by two o’clock, right?” Janet said after they’d placed their orders.
“Skip dessert,” Frazer suggested.
“Do I look stupid? I’d rather drown in black coffee and put in an extra hour in the gym than pass on the bread and butter pudding.”
Jack didn’t argue with her. “Treat yourself,” he advised. “You’ll burn those calories before you know it.”
Janet leaned forward. “Will I?” she asked, at the same moment Frazer blurted, “What’s on fire?”
Jack ran through the details. “Unless Julian and the exploration guys come up with a different idea, our best guess is cash flow sabotage.”
“I can see that,” Janet said. “What’s our exposure level?”
“If we lose all the projects, Julian has to borrow funds or lay off staff.”
“That sucks.” The expression on Frazer’s face mirrored Jack’s feelings to perfection.
Lunch arrived, and they suspended work talk in favour of refuelling.
“We have three objectives,” Jack said once their server had removed the empty plates, and they’d ordered dessert. “Identify the competition and any additional financial backers. Find out how they knew which projects to target. And make sure we have no rats in the network.”
“A day ending in Y, then.” Frazer stabbed his fork into his wedge of chocolate fudge cake as if it had done him an injury.
“You think the family is causing havoc again, don’t you?
If it was up to me, I’d boot them out, lock the door, and toss the key.
Maybe Julian will do just that if we give him enough ammunition. ”
“Now, wouldn’t that be nice?” The large helping of bread and butter pudding hadn’t mellowed Janet’s mood. “I suppose you want me to follow the money?”
“Yes,” Jack, who’d opted for cheese and biscuits to end his meal, agreed with her. “They’re all new companies, which isn’t shady at all, right?”
“And, I guess, they’re offshore?”
“British Virgin Islands—at least the two I looked at. I’m hoping you’ll see more than I do.”
“They’re all miners?”
“No. Mix of mining services and investment providers.”
“Oh, joy.” Janet smiled at the server topping up her coffee cup. “That’s me off the boredom list for the month, then…”
“Me, too,” Frazer said. “I assume you want me to run any names Janet finds?”
“Me, three. And if you would? Since you’re the walking who’s who of the mining industry.”
“You’ll comb the network?”
“Yep. Staring at code until my eyes bleed.” He raised his glass of Armagnac and grinned. “Here’s to good hunting.”
To get the most out of people—Gareth had learned long ago—he first needed to know what they valued. Offering share options to someone who thrived on public recognition wouldn’t motivate them, nor would awarding a fancy plaque to someone struggling to pay the bills.
He never objected to Jack holding team meetings over lunch at Simpson’s because Jack, Janet, and Frazer didn’t count the hours they worked, and all three were prone to skip meals when caught up in their work. Separating them from their screens for a couple of hours was practically a public service.
Gareth waved them off, then spent the afternoon meeting with the security team, the head of exploration, and finally with Julian. When he made it back to his floor, only four people remained in the large open-plan office.
“How goes it, Harry?” Gareth stopped beside the duty officer, who’d been on shift since six that morning. “Ready to call it a day?”
“Yeah. Rush is on the way up to relieve me.” Harry Taylor, ex-navy and married to the wonderful woman running the Nancarrow creche, shot him a grin. “The code miners over there are looking settled in for the night.”
“We’ll see about that,” Gareth said. “Anything new this afternoon I need to be aware of?”
Harry shook his head. “No smuggling. No break-ins. Only the usual visitors. Core store’s due a delivery of gas tonight. Quiet day.”
“Just how we like it. Thanks, Harry. Hand over to Rush and head home.”
“Will do.”
Gareth continued to his office and spent a few minutes reviewing his meetings.
The guys in exploration hated anyone muscling in on their patch.
They guarded their data like the crown jewels and access to it like the entrance to the Tower.
Outright betrayal from those quarters wasn’t likely, and even casual slips were becoming less and less common.
Frazer’s presentation a year earlier, and his regular refreshers on the latest phishing and social engineering techniques, were yielding results.
Nancarrow staff were aware of the danger and no longer felt uncomfortable asking for help from the IT team.
The number of affectionate nicknames for the trio kicking around the company made that ease all too apparent.
Gareth had heard them referred to as bug busters, cyber prospectors, and the white-hat trio.
He’d even caught himself calling the team the code miners once or twice, and admitted he liked the moniker.
What he didn’t like was seeing Frazer, Janet, and Jack determined to pull an all-nighter with neither preparation nor thoughts for dinner. While identifying their attackers was a top priority, it wasn’t an emergency.
Gareth called Janet’s husband first, pleased to find him already on the way to collect his wife.
Next, he called a taxi for Frazer, whom he didn’t want stuck on a crowded tube train while distracted.
And finally, he checked in with Daniel and Nico and found Daniel busy making one of Jack’s favourite dinners. He grabbed his briefcase and locked his office for the day.
“Right, you lot, time to call it a night,” he said, letting a hint of command seep into his voice. “Janet, your husband’s waiting below, and so’s your taxi, Frazer.”
“I didn’t call a taxi.”
“No, I did. Don’t make them wait.”
It wasn’t the first time Gareth had interrupted late night work parties, but Frazer never seemed to get used to being sent home. He flushed beet red, but he didn’t argue. He shuffled his notes into order, locked the files into his desk, and fled.
Janet was packing up, too. “You don’t have to do that, you know? My husband’s a professional. He understands that work can take over.”
“I know. And I applaud your work ethic. But this isn’t an emergency, and you have a life. It’s my job to remind you. Besides, have you seen the paperwork that comes with the Working Times Regulations?”
“We’re exempt from that,” she shot back. “Security and surveillance.”
“Paperwork,” Gareth reminded her. “Now go enjoy your evening.” He watched her leave, then turned to Jack. “You’re not staying here, either. I know you can do this from home if you really have to.”
“You think I don’t? Have to, I mean?” Jack sounded distracted, but he ended programs and closed down screens while Gareth watched.
“It’s a priority, not an emergency. Unless you’ve found something that makes it one?”
“You’d already know if I had. Still…”
“What?”
“I’m not fond of loose threads.”
Gareth chuckled. A mildly morose Jack, whining over loose ends, was preferable to a frustrated, angry Jack in need of a target to destroy. “Come on. Daniel’s turning the remains of yesterday’s roast into fajitas, and I feel a margarita calling my name.”
Jack finally stood and stretched. “I could do with a cold beer myself.”
“I’m sure we can manage that.”
They waved goodnight to Rush and left Nancarrow Mining in comfortable silence. Jack’s mind hadn’t disconnected yet and Gareth was happy to give him time to decompress. It wasn’t until they were halfway home that he asked, “How did you divide the jobs?”
“What?” Jack’s head came up. “Oh, Janet’s doing deep dives on the competition companies.
After that, she’ll trace the monies they’ve paid out for permits and such.
For now, she’s building company hierarchies and passing any names she comes across to Frazer, so he can put each under the microscope.
If it’s a concerted attack, eventually he’ll find connections.
To each other, to staff at Nancarrow, or to the family. ”
“And you?”
“I’m sweeping the network for bugs and intruders, going back about a year.” He raised a hand as if deflecting criticism. “I guesstimated how long it might have taken to steal data from us, assess it, and get set up to disrupt so many projects. And yes, a year might be optimistic.”
“Then why not go back further?” Gareth, stopped at a traffic light, turned his head to watch Jack’s response. “If you need help to wade through the data—there’s no shortage of people happy to pitch in.”
“Thanks, but… it’s not that. I’d hate to think that Frazer and I have missed something so important. We’re sweeping continually. We’ve practically rebuilt the entire network after Gorish, and that wasn’t even an outside attack.”
“You can’t watch every nook and cranny. You told me so yourself.”
Jack didn’t respond to that, but when Gareth held out a hand, he took it and twined their fingers. “Did I hear you mention fajitas?”