Alternative 3, p.18
Alternative 3, page 18
‘OK,’ said Curtis, ‘let’s find out if Mr Roberts is here.’ He clicked onto the staff pages, and brought up the profiles of their reporters, most of whom had their own niche-market columns. As he scrolled to the bottom of the page, Curtis saw the name he was after. And a face he recognised. The ‘S’ stood for Samantha. Samantha Roberts, Junior Staff Writer.
‘Well I’ll be . . .’ Jim recognised her too. Hell, they’d only been sitting next to her an hour ago. Curtis looked at Jim with an expression that told him he couldn’t believe it either.
‘No wonder she was asking so many questions,’ said Curtis.
‘Who is she?’ asked Gina.
‘This woman was on the hike this morning,’ said Jim shaking his head. ‘She’s a reporter, and she sent me the videos and must have come on the hike for a story.’ He didn’t look happy. ‘Goddamn!’ Yep. He was very unhappy. There was something very weird about this, thought Curtis. Very weird indeed.
He looked at Gina. When she saw him watching her, she nodded her head towards the door. Let’s get out of here, it meant. Curtis nodded so Jim couldn’t see. They had what they were after. Time to go. But Jim had other ideas.
‘I think I’m going to have to pay Miss Roberts a visit before she leaves town.’
Curtis had to admit, he was suspicious at the coincidence. In fact he was sure it wasn’t one. But he also had a feeling gnawing at his gut that going back to the sponsor with the name of a reporter from an internet news organisation wasn’t exactly what he’d been asked to deliver. In fact, he felt deflated. The whole thing was probably a hoax to cook up a story for her column. Gina just wanted to make tracks, though.
‘Look, Curtis and I have to get back to Vegas. We’ve got what we came for. And we’re very grateful to you, Mr Maze.’ She really was keen to leave. Curtis couldn’t blame her after her episode in the night. But he needed to know, just like Jim did, where the footage came from.
‘Don’t you want to find out why she sent them here? Or where she got them from?’ asked Curtis.
Gina nodded impatiently. ‘Well sure, but that’s not what we were asked to do. I need a hot shower and — no offence, Jim — a decent night’s sleep. I want to go back, Curtis. Please.’
Curtis looked at Jim. ‘You going to see her now?’
Jim nodded. ‘Yep. Before she leaves the motel. Have to leave now if we’re gonna catch her though.’
‘Just give me an hour, OK?’ said Curtis. He could tell she wasn’t impressed, but Jim’s presence was keeping her from serving one at Curtis.
‘I’ll be in the car . . . with the engine running,’ she said abruptly, and promptly got up and left the trailer. Jim smiled.
‘You got a feisty one there, my boy!’ Curtis gave him a half-smile back. He didn’t know the half of it.
‘OK, let’s do it. We’ve got an hour,’ said Curtis, getting up.
‘Women,’ said Jim as they climbed into the pick-up. Sounded like there was some history there. Curtis decided not to ask. It was a short drive back to the A-Lee-Inn, and Jim went straight in to the woman behind the bar, who was now serving meals to a number of hungry conspiracy hikers. Curtis tagged along behind, since Jim seemed to know what he was doing.
‘Maggie, I need to get into one of your rooms. It’s important.’ Maggie gave Curtis the once-over, no doubt wondering what the hell they were up to. But she seemed to know Jim well enough to do as she was asked without asking why.
‘Which one?’
‘The young blonde woman. The reporter.’ Curtis could see a flash of understanding cross her face. She reached under the bar and pulled out a key.
‘Room three, down the hall.’ Jim thanked her and they made their way through the tightly packed dining tables out to the motel section of the ‘Inn. It wasn’t luxury by any stretch of the imagination, but it looked clean and comfortable enough.
Outside room three, Jim and Curtis looked at each other. They were unsure whether to knock or not, so Jim decided for both of them. He jammed the key into the lock and swung the door open a few inches. From where Curtis was standing, he could see Blondie — a.k.a. Samantha Roberts — sitting on the bed, wearing a towelling robe. Her hair was wet, and she looked freshly showered. She was busy typing on a laptop she had set up on her bed. He also noticed the video camera beside it. It was plugged into the lappie.
She looked up as they entered her room. ‘Hey! What do you think you’re doing?’
‘We need to speak to you for a moment. It’s important,’ said Jim.
Sam got up from the bed and came to the door. She didn’t look too pleased about the short notice.
‘Well, where I come from people knock before they go barging into someone’s room.’
But Jim came back at her, with interest. ‘And where I come from people don’t pretend to be something they’re not.’ Curtis saw a moment of doubt in her eyes, instantly suspicious. Suspicious that they were on to her little scheme.
‘Give me a couple of moments, will you?’ And she closed the door on them. Jim’s manners returned, and the two of them waited silently out in the motel hallway for the door to re-open. When it did, Curtis saw the lappie was gone. Only the camera remained.
‘Now what can I do for you two gentlemen?’ she said, inviting them in.
Jim came straight to the point. ‘You sent me some video footage. I want to know why.’ Sam instantly dropped the charm and poise she had collected while they were waiting out in the hall.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. What video footage?’ She was good. Curtis decided to have a go.
‘We know you work for News2U2day. We traced the email you sent Jim back to your address.’
To her credit, she took this revelation completely in her stride. Didn’t even bat an eyelid. ‘There must be some kind of mistake. Look, I have to get back to LA. I’m sorry to disappoint you both, but I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Now would you mind . . .’ She walked back to the door and held it open. They’d outstayed their welcome. Curtis looked at Jim. This wasn’t working out as planned. Time to get creative.
Curtis sat down on the vinyl sofa and made himself comfortable. He had a feeling this was going to get awkward. ‘Well, we’re not leaving until you tell us why you sent the video to Jim,’ he said. He was pushing it now, but the fact that he knew the emails came from her gave him the confidence to call her bluff. Then Jim walked over and gently closed the door, and really upped the ante.
‘And neither are you, Miss Roberts.’
Sam eyed both of them warily, sizing them up. Jim did a convincing job of looking like he meant business.
‘Look, I haven’t got time for this. Yes, I sent you the video footage. But that’s all I’m saying. You want anything else you’re shit out of luck.’ It was a small victory for Curtis and Jim. Curtis tried to bring the tension down a notch.
‘We just want to know why, that’s all. Is that why you’re here? You’ve been waving that video camera around all morning. Is this some sort of undercover exposé? Wacko alien-hunters alive and well in Nevada?’ But Sam wasn’t playing ball.
‘If I don’t call my editor at 11 a.m. on the dot, he’s gonna call the local sheriff’s department. You understand what I’m saying? You’re already up for breaking and entering. And this could easily be mistaken for kidnapping. Is that what this is?’ Curtis shook his head and tried to brush off the insinuation.
‘Hey, we’re just curious. We want to find out where the stuff came from. How did you get it? Or were they made up? Is it some sort of hoax to get a good story out here?’ Curtis looked at his watch. It was two minutes to eleven. He wasn’t prepared to play this bluff, even if Jim was. ‘All right, make your call. We got what we came for. Just wanted to know, that’s all.’
‘Give me a minute,’ said Sam. And with that she scrimmaged through her bag and pulled out some clothes, a mobile phone and a packet of cigarettes, and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Curtis looked at Jim. He appeared very relaxed about all this.
‘You think she’s shitting us?’
Jim shook his head. ‘She sent it all right. Could see it in her eyes.’ They sat listening to Sam’s voice coming from the bathroom. It was muffled, so they couldn’t make out what she was saying, but there was a lot of talking going on. Occasionally she raised her voice, as though she was arguing with someone. Eventually the talking stopped, and the bathroom door opened again. She was dressed now, like a blonde Lara Croft, ready for action.
‘I managed to talk my editor out of calling the cops. But if I don’t ring him in 15 minutes he’s on the phone, OK?’
‘That was gracious of you,’ said Jim sarcastically.
Sam sat back down on the bed. ‘We discussed your request. I’m prepared to answer any questions you have.’
Things were starting to look up.
But she hadn’t finished. ‘And no, the stuff isn’t a hoax. Not by us anyway. We got it sent to us a while back. There was no way we could find out where it came from, or who sent it. It got passed to me because no one else knew what to do with it. My editor decided it was too far “out there” to make a decent story. But I do have access to the email, and I’m prepared to show it to you.’ Curtis couldn’t help thinking that somehow this all seemed just a little too easy.
‘On one condition. You let me film everything.’ Yep. Way too easy.
So those were the terms. Curtis smiled wryly. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell she was going to be doing any filming while he was in the room. She was a hardball reporter, though, that’s for sure. Probably had a good future ahead of her. He had to admire her spunk.
‘OK by me,’ said Jim. Uh oh. Curtis decided enough was enough.
‘Hey, there’s no way I want myself on your website. With your cellphone and lappie you could have it posted before we even got back to Jim’s trailer.’ Curtis sat back. End of negotiations. But Sam had another card up her sleeve.
‘All right. How about I only use the old analogue camera. No digital. No wiring to the website. Not until you say so. What do you say?’ Curtis shook his head. Forget it, girl. Sam could see this wasn’t working for Curtis. So she tried her last trump card on Jim.
‘Look, if I get a story we can use, our company will pay you. Twenty-thousand dollars if we use it. And I won’t identify either of you if you don’t want me to. That’s my final offer.’ So that was what it was worth to them. If it ran.
Curtis could see Jim was giving the offer serious consideration. Twenty thousand was a lot in anyone’s language. He was probably thinking about all the hardware he could buy for 20 grand to stick on top of his trailer with all the other stuff. But Curtis found it hard to believe all this was worth that much to anyone.
‘No website I know would pay that for a story like this. Why’s it worth that much to you? It’s just some old black-and-white UFO movies. Hundreds of those around already. What’s so special about these ones?’
Sam flicked her hair back self-consciously. ‘The website is only offering five. I’m putting up the rest as part of a deal if it runs. I know some current-affairs’ producers who’ll pay that if it’s good enough. I’ve already got enough footage for background and context. I need a hard angle. You’re it.’ A real businesswoman.
So it was worth 20 grand to her. Curtis wondered what she’d actually sell it to a TV network for. Probably heaps more than that. Jim was watching Curtis carefully. Eventually he said, ‘I could sure use the money, Curtis. And all we’re doing is the same thing to this email as we did to hers. Just find out who sent it.’
Curtis found himself wanting to help, since Jim had been so accommodating to him, helping him earn his million-dollar pay cheque and all. But every bone in his body said this wasn’t a good idea. ‘How can we be sure you’ll protect our identities?’ he asked.
‘You’ll just have to take my word,’ said Sam. ‘But I’m not about to start revealing my sources this early in my career. It’d be over before it had begun. You can use any pseudonym you like. You could be Deep Throat for all I care.’ Yep. A real live Woodward and Bernstein. Except much better looking.
‘All right,’ said Curtis. ‘You got yourself a deal. No digital. Keep our identities hidden. We get a look at the email, and the 20 goes to Jim. OK?’ What the hell. Jim looked like he needed the cash more than him. And he didn’t have a million waiting for him back in Vegas. But even as he said it, Curtis had a feeling he was doing something he was really going to regret.
‘You gentlemen have got yourselves a deal. Let me just call my editor back.’ She went back into the bathroom with her phone.
‘That was a hell of a nice gesture, Curtis. You sure about that?’ asked Jim as soon as the door closed.
‘Yeah. No problem, Jim. Told you I’m not in this for the money.’ Not that kind of money, anyway.
Jim nodded. ‘Thank you. Mighty decent of you.’
Curtis waved it off. ‘Don’t mention it.’
Sam was back moments later. Obviously an easier conversation than the last one. ‘Just give me a moment to load the camera,’ she said. ‘My laptop’s under the bed. If you pull it out and switch it on for me, I’ll bring up the email in a second.’ Curtis did as he was told, while Sam busied herself loading a film cartridge into a large, chipped camera with stickers all over it. It looked heavy.
Once the lappie was firing on all cylinders, Curtis let her at it to dig out the email in question. Once it was up on the screen, she stood back and heaved the camera up onto her shoulder.
‘OK, boys, it’s all yours.’ Curtis stood looking at Jim. They were now being filmed. He could tell Jim felt as uncomfortable about that as he did. He knew Gina was waiting for him back at the car, and she wasn’t going to be impressed if he was late. So Curtis flicked the lappie round on the bed, and kneeled in front of it. Jim stood just behind him, watching. On screen was the $1 020 000 email. Curtis felt like Indiana Jones standing in front of the gold idol. Time to go to work.
The text of the email was exactly the same as the one Jim had received from Sam. She hadn’t altered it at all. He played the two mpegs attached to it. Exactly the same as the footage he’d seen back in Vegas with Ollie. Next he brought up the header. That was the real surprise. If Sam was good enough — or had access to someone who was good enough — to cloak her email to Jim, this was something else entirely. The whole header list was a jumble of letters and numbers unlike any he’d ever seen before.
He brought Jim up to speed. ‘OK, same email. Same text. And same mpegs. But the header looks like it’s been encoded. Or encrypted. Never seen anything like it.’
Jim leant closer to have a look. ‘Doesn’t make any sense to me.’ Sam was still filming.
‘I need to download some programmes off the net to see if I can make sense of this. You have web access on this?’ Sam shook her head.
‘Only for emails. I send them through my mobile.’
Curtis looked at Jim. ‘Reckon we take it back to your place for a closer look?’
‘Sure,’ said Jim. Curtis turned to Samantha, trying to ignore the camera lens.
‘I need a disk,’ he said. She fumbled around inside her bag, filming the whole time, and pulled a disk out and threw it at Curtis. He downloaded the email onto the A: drive and tucked the disk into his pocket.
‘We need to go and use Jim’s computer. You coming?’
Sam nodded, lifting the camera off her shoulder. ‘You betcha.’ Curtis couldn’t help smiling to himself as they left the room. Was this girl desperate for a story or what?
When they pulled up in Jim’s pick-up back at the trailer, Gina was sitting on the hood of the Hummer, waiting. Curtis could tell she wasn’t impressed by the blonde holding a camera in the back.
‘Curtis, can I talk to you for a minute?’ Uh oh. She walked him away from the others, who were still climbing out of the pick-up.
‘Curtis, we’re leaving. Why is there a camerawoman in the pick-up?’ The whispering was worse than if she’d been shouting at him. ‘Look, I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but she’s going straight back to whatever Barbie-doll box she climbed out of, and we are heading back to Vegas.’
Curtis was tired, and it started to show. ‘Do you want a million bucks, or not? If you do, then just go along with it for a bit. We’ll be 15 minutes.’
‘I’m not going on camera, Curtis. No way.’
‘Then stay in the Hummer. Put the roof up and we’ll leave you out of shot.’ Gina looked at him even harder. Man, she was furious. But she stormed off back to the car and pouted. It was very sexy. Curtis turned back to Jim and Sam. She was asking him about all the aerials and shit on his trailer roof. He was pretty much giving her the guided tour. The one they didn’t get earlier this morning. Curtis decided to get this over and done with.
‘OK people. Let’s do this,’ he said as he herded them into Jim’s trailer. He switched on the machine, and watched while Jim checked a video-surveillance camera in the roof.
‘Nope. Been no one here,’ he said, adding quickly, ‘but I knew that ‘cos Gina was here the whole time.’ Shut up Jim, thought Curtis to himself. Stop while you’re ahead. Soon the email was up on screen, and Curtis was running a sample of header text through several programmes he’d downloaded from the net. After his third attempt with the third programme, Curtis turned to Jim.
‘It’s encrypted. That’s for sure.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Sam, a little too quickly.
‘Well, whoever sent this has a programme that doesn’t just play hide and seek. It literally turns it into something else. This must be that 128-bit encryption I’ve read about.’
‘Can you crack it?’ asked Jim.
Curtis nodded. ‘Sure. But cracking it isn’t the problem. It’s how long it would take. Try three years.’
