The Trade (25 page)

"Wilder than I ever believed.”

"Are you going to stay?"

"Probably. Maybe. I don't know.”

"Maybe?"

"The CIA offered me a job and I told them no
but with everything in the city so crazy I'm tempted to settle into
an analyst’s life in Langley.” Jay didn't even notice that he'd
said 'the city' like a lifelong New Yorker. Rick noticed that Jay
was turning into one of those people that New York grabs and molds
and never releases.

"You think that'd be more calm?" Rick
asked.

"Probably,” Jay said, then he caught his
friends eye and saw the wise older man's face turned up in a sly
grin.

"Why?" Jay prodded. "What is it that you’re
not telling me?" Jay asked.

Rick raised a finger to his lips. His steely
eyes lost their momentary glimmer.

"You neither want nor need to know,” Rick
whispered through his fingers. “But maybe a long time ago, before
we met, maybe I knew a few things,” Rick admitted.

The two friends spent the next days in each
other’s easy company. Not another word was mentioned about Jay's
troubles. The pure beauty and freshness of springtime baseball
renewed them both as only the crack of a ball on a bat and the
smell of fresh mown grass and the hoarse bark of a hot dog vendor
and the hustle of a hopeful rookie too young to be jaundiced by the
business of baseball could.

Jay said his goodbyes to Rick at his hotel.
They both paid cash Jay noticed.

"John J. Adams?" Rick asked at the checkout
counter as he scanned the name on Jay's bill.

"Rick Springfield?" Jay asked in return. They
each chuckled at the inside joke.

"So you know how to get in touch with me if
you need to?" Rick asked.

"Got it,” Jay answered.

He had no idea just how soon he'd need his
only friend's help.

Chapter

"I can't believe I have to go back to work
today,” Jay said to the mirror. "Vacation can't be over
already!”

But it was. After two languorous weeks in the
warm sunshine of a Florida spring with his best friend Jay's skin
had a light pancake tan, his hair had turned from tawny brown to
fawn and the worry lines around his mouth had dissolved. The
redness in his eyes from months of late nights had been erased. Jay
finished getting ready for work. "Back to the salt mines,” he said
as he strode out the door.

"Welcome back Jay.”

"Good to see you Mr. Calloway.”

"How are you Jay?"

"Have a nice vacation Jay?” Jay Calloway was
greeted warmly and enthusiastically by the members of his team who
had returned similarly refreshed from their vacations. Jay noticed
that Missy, the department secretary, gave him an especially warm
smile.

"We all missed you sir,” she said. Missy had
volunteered to work late several times during the most recent busy
stretch. Jay daydreamed about her for a minute while he looked
through the telephone messages arranged on Missy's desk awaiting
his arrival.

Angus MacKenzie's voice snapped him out of
his fantasy.

"Jay! Good to have you back. You look well
after your trip.”

"Thank you Sir,” Jay answered. Jay didn't
remember telling anyone specifically that he was going on a trip.
By perhaps the tiniest amount possible Jay's voice betrayed the
seed of doubt that Rick's caution had planted. Angus MacKenzie
didn't notice.

"Let's step into your office why don't we?"
Angus asked. In his brisk business Oxford voice Angus made orders
sound like collegial requests. Jay led the way to his office. The
early spring sun was reflecting at just the right angle on the
rippling swells of New York harbor. Constant flashes of gold danced
in an ever changing, hypnotic rhythm in the harbor.

"This is a New York few people ever see,” Jay
said.

"Aye son,” Angus answered. "Business can
wait,” he said as the two men continued to enjoy the executive view
of New York. A few minutes later Angus broke the comfortable
silence.

"It's good to have you back Jay,” Angus
started.

"Nice to be back,” Jay lied.

"Your system has performed admirably well in
your absence. That's a good sign. You know how to get your hands
off a system and move on to the next project.”

"Thank you,” Jay answered. Closer to the
truth was the fact that once Jay had something working he quickly
lost interest in it.

"But before you start your next project I
need you to be available to personally support some heavy
programmed trading we're planning on Wednesday for Panama.”

"Panama?"

"Panama,” Angus MacKenzie answered. "I need
you to get your new system ready to buy as much Panamanian currency
as possible starting at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.”

"We can program it to do anything we want,”
Jay said proudly, "but once someone catches on to what we're up to
the price will go through the roof. But I’m guessing you know that.
Once we turn something like this on it’s not that easy to turn it
off. If the price goes up too much and we can’t turn it off fast
enough you could be ruined.”

Angus studied Jay's face for a minute. He
walked over to the window and stared out. Jay got up from his chair
and stood beside the older man.

"What if I could work it so that people might
not notice so much?” Angus said. “And what if you did a few things
so that even if they did notice, they wouldn’t be able to do too
much about it?” Angus asked. The two men talked quietly yet
intently for a half an hour. Angus ended the discussion by clapping
Jay on the shoulder. "Do your best son,” he said.

Jay heard the words and also felt the implied
'or else'. Their friendship had just taken on a conspiratorial
aspect and though Jay was suddenly afraid of the deed the old man
had asked him to perform, he was also excited by the possibility of
doing what had been asked and the large rewards that had been
offered. Though Angus' explanation of how the buying was to be
accomplished had been crystal clear, his words on the whys and the
rewards and the legality had been shadowy and obtuse.

"I wonder if this room is bugged,” Jay
whispered to himself, knowing a tape would convict them both.
Maybe it should be?

"Missy, get everybody you can together in the
conference room at 12 noon. Order some pizzas and some soda. If
there's anybody on vacation but still local see if you can call
them in for this meeting okay?"

"Okay,” she answered on the intercom. "Is
everything alright? We're not getting laid off are we?"

"No. Angus just gave us a rush order on a
special job, that's all,” Jay said. “Don't worry Missy.”

"We have a big job to get done by 6 am
Wednesday. We'll be working around the clock from now until then.
You know the routine. One outgoing call to let whoever it is you
let know that you won’t be home for a few days. No outside calls
except incoming from family, no details even to them. As of now all
calls will be recorded. Missy, fire up the monitoring system.

“
We'll all take off
Thursday and Friday, with pay of course, and hopefully with a bonus
to make up for it. Bob, Ted, Sally, thank you for cutting your
vacation short, I appreciate the dedication.”

"What's the job Jay?" Bob asked.

"Panama,” Jay said, injecting just the right
amount of mystery and excitement into his voice to instantly
capture the imagination of his crew. "Panama,” he repeated.

Jay laid out parts of the plan that if
successful would capture over 75% of Panama's currency in one day
of global trading without driving the price up more than 25%. Jay
kept his special personal role to himself.

"But who wants all this Panamanian currency
anyway?" someone asked from the back of the room. “Don’t they use
mostly U.S. dollars?”

"I neither know nor care who wants it, other
than knowing that Mr. MacKenzie personally asked me to make this
happen,” Jay answered. "But I do know that if we pull it off it'll
mean mucho mucho dineros for all of us. Or, in this case, mucho
Balboas.”

“
Balboas?”

“
Panama’s official
currency.”

"Won't this destabilize their economy?" Sally
asked.

Jay wasn't used to fielding so many questions
about his projects. Usually people just did what he asked, and did
it enthusiastically. A hint of irritation and impatience crept into
his voice.

“
Not my problem,” he
answered. “Or yours.”

If he could have seen himself at that instant
he might have recognized himself as Hal and stopped. But he didn't,
so he didn’t. And if he’d seen himself in that moment he would have
seen exactly what C. Daniel had seen. And he wouldn’t have liked
it.

Jay raced ahead. Calmly allaying the concerns
of his team. By two pm the team was consumed with the details of
the awesome technical challenge they faced. The questionable
legality and morality slipped from their technical minds as they
embraced and rose to the challenge.

Chapter

"Tonia?"

"Yes,” the sleepy voice answered.

"It's Jay.”

"Hi Jay,” Tonia said. Her voice was the warm
comfortable feel of your favorite blanket after a great night’s
sleep. "How are you?" Tonia asked in her delicious dreamy tone.

"Tired,” Jay started to complain, "but very
glad to catch you in,” he finished.

"I'm glad you called,” Tonia said, her voice
drifting slowly. "What have you been doing. I haven't heard from
you in days,” she yawned.

Jay looked around the bank of payphones like
the guilty conspirator that he was. No-one appeared to be
listening.

"I've been working on a special project for
Angus,” Jay said.

"What?" Tonia asked. Her voice was wary.

"Some special programming for a big currency
deal today.”

"In Panama?" Tonia snapped, suddenly
awake.

"Yes. How'd you...”

Tonia cut him off.

"Where are you?"

"At work.”

"In your office?" Tonia asked.

"No. A payphone in the lobby, we've got
call-monitor on in the office. No calls allowed in or out because
of the pending trading.”

"Good. Now listen Jay. I'm only going to say
this once. Don't do it Jay,” she warned. “Just get out of there and
go somewhere and don’t look back.”

The phone went dead in Jay's hand. Jay stood
there, massaging the bridge of his slightly longer than normal
nose, staring at the now dead telephone. "What the hell is going on
around here?" he asked the lifeless handset. "What the bloody hell
is going on?"

No-one answered.

Chapter

"Ready?" Angus MacKenzie asked Jay Calloway.
Jay kicked his feet down off his desk. He hadn't been expecting
company.

"Yes,” Jay answered. His tired voice revealed
his lack of sleep in the last days.

"Good,” Angus replied. "Let's do it. Keep me
posted,” Angus ordered. Jay noticed that tension had replaced the
casual friendliness in Angus' voice.

"Yes sir,” Jay mouthed to the spot where
Angus had stood. Angus had already left, as though he didn't want
to spend one more second than absolutely necessary with Jay
Calloway. Jay walked down the hallway to his exhausted team. As he
passed the fire escape door in his hallway he wondered to
himself.

"What would happen if there was a fire in the
middle of all this? Would we be able to shut it down? Would someone
be able to track my virus if I couldn't turn it off?” Jay stopped
for a moment and considered one last time whether he really wanted
to do this electronic devilry. Finally the challenge overcame
him.

"I have to know,” he said to his reflection
in the fire glass in the fire escape door. "I have to know.” He
joined the team in the control center.

"Fire it up,” he ordered. The team started
typing in commands on several separate keyboards connected to
different computer networks all around the world. A few members had
to retype commands since their typing had deteriorated from
physical and mental exhaustion. After a few minutes their system
came to life. It was a marvel of distributed computing,
self-replicating viruses, and shady trading. Remote computers all
over the world started scheduling buy and sell orders for
Panamanian currency on all the major exchanges and many minor ones.
MacKenzie Lazarus' computers in a hundred countries had all been
loaded in the past days with Jay's special co-operating software to
accomplish the job. The software was based on an obscure virus
variant of the Tappan Internet worm.

As well as the "good" software they had
planted, Jay had looked after infecting some of the more vulnerable
systems of their competitors and also watchdog agencies like the
SEC, the IMF and the World Bank. The World Bank's monitoring
software had been secretly and illegally scheduled, by Jay, to
first track and then report on a problem with the currency trading
algorithms in the European Economic Community's currency balancing
system. The phantom bug would take days to track.

Jay chuckled to himself. Most of it wasn't
even illegal because no lawmaker had yet conceived that attacks
like this were even possible, let alone probable and imminent.

"We have 50% of the available currency Sir,”
Jay reported to Angus MacKenzie. "At the current rate of
acquisition, by the close of business today we could have upwards
of 90% of all the Panamanian money not in the hands of private
individuals or the government of Panama.”

"Excellent,” Angus MacKenzie replied. "And
the price?"

"Only up 1.7% since the start of the
operation,” Jay answered.

"Incredible,” Angus MacKenzie praised. It had
gone even better than he had hoped. "Schedule a meeting for 1:30
with your staff. All your staff, secretaries, everybody. I want to
personally congratulate them,” Angus instructed.