Against All Enemies Read Online Free PDF Page B

like a demonstration? I’ve never done it before, not for real.”
    “What do you know about me?” he asked, throwing a curve. The image on the screen looked perplexed.
    “Agnes has not been programmed to target an individual,” one of the whiz kids said.
    Durant was curious to see what the system could discover about his personal life. He was the only child of a Swiss couple who had immigrated to the United States prior to World War II. Although he was born in Virginia in 1945, he still had dual citizenship in Switzerland. Because he was an only child, his mother had tutored him at home, and owing to her early influence, he became something of a recluse. When his parents had been killed in a boating accident when he was nineteen, the young Durant gained his freedom and inherited a small fortune. Still preferring anonymity and remaining in the shadows, he parlayed his inheritance into a megabillion-dollar empire in computers and communications. But Durant’s aristocratic father had instilled in him a sense of obligation and service that demanded an outlet. True to his nature, he started to move behind the scenes exploiting his wealth and contacts. Soon, he branched out and was influencing elections and events.
    A reporter had once discovered Durant’s growing presence in the shadows and managed to penetrate the veil he had fashioned to protect his privacy. The reporter had learned, in very short order, what real power was and gave up the idea. The few senators and congressmen who did know of him were very discreet and only mentioned his name in private. Not even the IRS audited his tax returns, which were filed under a special arrangement and never entered in a computer. Durant valued his privacy above all else.
    Agnes looked positively embarrassed. “Mr. Durant, I can’t find a thing. This is unheard of.” A determined look came over her face. “If you want, I can force the gatekeepers to talk.”
    One of the whiz kids turned the monitor off. “I don’t want her to hear,” he explained. “Agnes has a built-in learning program and this is a good example of the problems we’re having bringing voice-activated interaction on-line.” He sighed. “We had a terrible time getting past idioms. You should have seen how she responded to ‘the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.’ But this is totally new. How in the world can she force a computer’s gatekeeper to talk?” No one could answer his question and he turned the monitor back on.
    “Sorry, Agnes,” Durant said. “We wanted to have a private conversation.” The image nodded in understanding. “I’m rather boring old stuff so forget me. What can you tell me about the number-one terrorist threat to the United States?” This was exactly what the Project had been created to do.
    “Oh, that’s easy, Mr. Durant.”
    “Please display,” one of the whiz kids said.
    Agnes got huffy. “Please. I’m working with Mr. Durant.”
    “Please display, Agnes,” Durant said. The second screen came alive. This time a man’s voice started to speak as Agnes looked on. This was all new to her. The words The Armed Islamic Group—the primary terrorist threat appeared on the screen. A series of pictures, maps, and video sound bites scrolled for viewing as the man talked.
    “The Armed Islamic Group, or AIG for short, is a privately financed terrorist organization currently operating in the Sudan and under the protection of the Sudanese government. The AIG is led and financed by this man, Jamil bin Assam.” A picture of a short, dumpy man wearing a general’s uniform appeared on the screen. He was smiling through a heavy beard and standing in front of a U.S.-built C-130 cargo plane. “The AIG has discovered a new strain of fast-burning Ebola virus in the Sudd of southern Sudan.” Pictures of corpses in a Dinka village ravaged by the virus scrolled on the screen. The pictures were horrible and showed bodies lying in their own mucus, blood, and