Page 27 of Rogue Hope
Grim-faced, Griff led the procession back into the computer lab, appliance in hand. He set it on the table and flipped it upside down, yanking the baseplate off.
“Here.” He located a small secondary circuit board. “Custom transmitter with built-in processing capability.”
Ronan and Deke rushed back in, weapons out.
“Clear,” Finn reported. “But we’ve got compromised hardware.”
Deke examined the device. “Military-grade. Modified DARPA tech.”
Ronan holstered his weapon. “What did they get?”
Zara gave Finn a long look before shaking her head. “It’s not what they got. It’s what they found. Cipher will know to look for our trace.”
A heavy silence settled as the implications registered.
“Options?” Ronan asked, unfazed by the setback.
Zara leaned back, thinking. “There’s no choice. We continue to comply. Give Cipher the useless intel he’s demanding. Pass the first test.”
“Time check,” Deke announced. “1749 hours. Less than 50 minutes to comply.”
All eyes turned to Zara, whose expression revealed nothing, though Finn recognized the tension in her shoulders.
“We’ve got this,” she said finally. “But there’s a problem. Authentication mechanisms have changed since my clearance days. I’ll trigger security alerts before reaching the seed.”
Finn spoke up. “I know someone who can provide temporary credentials. Sufficient for the authentication layer.”
“Your mysterious hacker friend?” Zara’s skepticism was evident.
“Yes.”
“And you trust this person?”
“With my life.” He resisted the urge to explain further. Either she’d trust him on this, or she wouldn’t.
She sought Ronan’s gaze before nodding. “Make the call.”
“It’s not a call. It’s a specific contact sequence,” he moved to his workstation. “And we’ll have maybe five minutes to spare if we start now.”
And if his old contact was still feeling generous.
While he and Zara waited, eyes glued to their monitors, the rest of the team retreated.
At 1743 hours, his screen displayed a confirmation.
Credentials incoming. One-time use. 15-minute window.
“We’re on.” He transferred the data package to Zara’s system.
She studied him. “If you’ve messed this up …”
He huffed a laugh. “I won’t make it back to my rental car. I know. I get it.”
“Just so we’re clear.”
More than clear. Finn simply nodded. No point attempting to assure her he was trustworthy. Only actions would do that now.
“Time check,” she murmured, fingers poised.
